What Are You Reading Now?

[BigPiney]

I recently read Red Rising. It was a fun YA book. Kind of like the Hunger Games set on Mars 3000 years in the future. My daughter loved it.

[LiveCoug]

Angels Flight.

Wait, I guess it's book 6

[SteelBlue]

Edit: list will be released just after midnight tomorrow in the U.K. But 4pm pacific today for us.

The Man Booker Prize long list is released tomorrow. They have fairly recently made American authors eligible and so it has become much more of a "best book written in English" prize. Books published between October of last year and scheduled for release through September of this year are eligible. As I've mentioned before this particular long list is a great one for choosing new reads.

Of the novels I've read I'd expect to see at least some of the following make the list:

Lincoln in the Bardo - This seems a slam dunk to me as I imagine it will show up on just about every long list for this prize year. I will be shocked if it's not there.

Exit West- A novel that I could see actually winning the prize.

Autumn- A Brexit theme that critics have loved

The Golden House- in a weird twist Rushdie's new one wouldn't have been eligible just a few years ago because he is now an American citizen. But, thanks to those new rules I won't be surprised to see his new one on the list.

And then of course there is Colton Whitehead's The Underground Railroad which I believe is eligible based on its international pub date. This one has me the most curious because it seems like it could be an anticlimactic award especially in the states where the novel is thought of as belonging to 2016. In addition it seems like the major prizes mostly despise coming to the same conclusions (though TUR snagged two of the biggest already).

I haven't personally read anything else that feels like it'll end up on the list and my reading list has been heavy on American authors . There might be one or two that I think of as last year that are eligible but I'm having trouble bringing any to mind. Anyway, looking forward to some new titles for the tbr pile.

[SteelBlue]

Here it is:

http://themanbookerprize.com/news/man-booker-prize-2017-longlist-announced

Title Author (nationality) (imprint)

4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster (US) (Faber & Faber)
Days Without End by Sebastian Barry (Ireland) (Faber & Faber)
History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund (US) (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (Pakistan-UK) (Hamish Hamilton)
Solar Bones by Mike McCormack (Ireland) (Canongate)
Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor (UK) (4th Estate)
Elmet by Fiona Mozley (UK) (JM Originals)
The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy (India) (Hamish Hamilton)
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (US) (Bloomsbury)
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie (UK-Pakistan) (Bloomsbury)
Autumn by Ali Smith (UK) (Hamish Hamilton)
Swing Time by Zadie Smith (UK) (Hamish Hamilton)
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (US) (Fleet)

The leading prize for quality fiction in English

First awarded in 1969, the Man Booker Prize is recognised as the leading prize for literary fiction written in English. The list of former winners features many of the literary giants of the last four decades: from Iris Murdoch to Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan to Hilary Mantel.

The rules of the prize were changed at the end of 2013 to embrace the English language ‘in all its vigour, its vitality, its versatility and its glory’, opening it up to writers beyond the UK and Commonwealth.

[clackamascoug]

Just finished Shoe Dog actually written by Phil Knight himself. I was shocked when he referenced Don Frisbee, the CEO Chairman of Pacific Power and Light, and a member of the ward I grew up in. I enjoyed every minute of listening to the book. It was much more interesting than I ever thought it would be, and goes into great detail of the money issues in the early years. Was fascinating really.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Just finished Shoe Dog actually written by Phil Knight himself. I was shocked when he referenced Don Frisbee, the CEO Chairman of Pacific Power and Light, and a member of the ward I grew up in. I enjoyed every minute of listening to the book. It was much more interesting than I ever thought it would be, and goes into great detail of the money issues in the early years. Was fascinating really.

Great book.

[Scott R Nelson]

On the advice of my son-in-law, I'm reading Ghost in the wires : my adventures as the world's most wanted hacker by Kevin Mitnick.

Quite an interesting book. I may have to track down a few similar books when I finish this one. It probably helps to have a computer background to understand everything in the book. He probably got into a lot more trouble than he should have because law enforcement and some judges didn't really understand what he had done and made it sound worse than it was.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Just finished The Fleet at Flood Tide by James Hornfischer. Focus is total war in the Pacific in 1944-45. Very detailed analysis of battles for Truk, Tinnian, Saipan, and Guam. Some coverage of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Also in-depth focus on fire-bombing and everything associated with the atomic bombs.

Great book. Reinforces my opinion that the a-bombs most likely saved millions of lives. Anyone who claims the Japanese were about to surrender is ignorant of history.

[Green Monstah]

Don Quixote

I'm trying to read several of the classics. I admit to laughing pretty hard during the book (about 1/2 through), but struggling to understand what makes this one of the all time greats.

[chrisrenrut]

On the advice of my son-in-law, I'm reading Ghost in the wires : my adventures as the world's most wanted hacker by Kevin Mitnick.

Quite an interesting book. I may have to track down a few similar books when I finish this one. It probably helps to have a computer background to understand everything in the book. He probably got into a lot more trouble than he should have because law enforcement and some judges didn't really understand what he had done and made it sound worse than it was.

Kingpin by Kevin Poulsen is a fascinating book about a hacker who became one of the biggest players on the dark web. It very insightful into the hacking schemes and financial fraud methods used.

[Parrot Head]

Just finished Shoe Dog actually written by Phil Knight himself. I was shocked when he referenced Don Frisbee, the CEO Chairman of Pacific Power and Light, and a member of the ward I grew up in. I enjoyed every minute of listening to the book. It was much more interesting than I ever thought it would be, and goes into great detail of the money issues in the early years. Was fascinating really.

It's like we're twins as I just finished it yesterday. I enjoyed the first-person look into the work it took to get it running and the painstaking efforts to keep it going. I read JB Strasser's Swoosh:The Unauthorized Story of Nike and... about 14 years ago and I may need to browse it again to see how it compares especially since it was written in the general timeframe of Uncle Phil's parting with Rob Strasser -- and by Rob's wife and former Nike employee.

[creekster]

It's like we're twins as I just finished it yesterday. I enjoyed the first-person look into the work it took to get it running and the painstaking efforts to keep it going. I read JB Strasser's Swoosh:The Unauthorized Story of Nike and... about 14 years ago and I may need to browse it again to see how it compares especially since it was written in the general timeframe of Uncle Phil's parting with Rob Strasser -- and by Rob's wife and former Nike employee.

in one of the infinite number of universes I am sure you two look like identical twins.

[Sleeping in EQ]

I am reading Marie Louise Van Franz's book on interpretation of fairy tales, and am reading a couple of collections of fairy tales as I do so.

Fun!

[old_gregg]

The Guns of August - Barbara Tuchman

This is the best book I've read on the causes and the events leading up to WW I.

reading this for the first time. the dry commentary is hilarious.

[happyone]

Just finished The Fleet at Flood Tide by James Hornfischer. Focus is total war in the Pacific in 1944-45. Very detailed analysis of battles for Truk, Tinnian, Saipan, and Guam. Some coverage of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Also in-depth focus on fire-bombing and everything associated with the atomic bombs.

Great book. Reinforces my opinion that the a-bombs most likely saved millions of lives. Anyone who claims the Japanese were about to surrender is ignorant of history.

I agree, great book!