What Are You Reading Now?

[Applejack]

I found and watched several interviews in the days after finishing Gilead and Home. She's a very interesting interview.

Discussion of Mariyln Robinson! I love it!

I've read Gilead, Home, and Housekeeping. Gilead is my favorite novel of the past decade, bar none. It is easily in my top ten novels of all time, as well.

I also really liked Home, although you have to have read Gilead first, I think. I was not a huge fan of Housekeeping.

I can't wait for Lila.

[Indy Coug]

1493, the sequel to 1491

[SteelBlue]

Discussion of Mariyln Robinson! I love it!

I've read Gilead, Home, and Housekeeping. Gilead is my favorite novel of the past decade, bar none. It is easily in my top ten novels of all time, as well.

I also really liked Home, although you have to have read Gilead first, I think. I was not a huge fan of Housekeeping.

I can't wait for Lila.

I didn't know she was writing Lila, that's great news. I haven't read Housekeeping yet, but plan to very soon.

[bluegoose]

I just finished One flew over the cuckoos nest. Had never read it or seen the movie, so it was good to check another one off the to do list. Loved the book. Mcmurphy and the big Indian are great characters.

[Applejack]

I didn't know she was writing Lila, that's great news. I haven't read Housekeeping yet, but plan to very soon.

It's good, but I think a step down from her other two novels. I'll be interested to hear what you think as the only other person I've ever met who read it was my wife (who turned me on to Robinson in the first place).

[MartyFunkhouser]

The Audacity of Hops.

[PaloAltoCougar]

I just finished One flew over the cuckoos nest. Had never read it or seen the movie, so it was good to check another one off the to do list. Loved the book. Mcmurphy and the big Indian are great characters.

I loved the movie (never read the book), esp. the scene when McMurphy discovers Chief had been playing everyone. "Mmmm, Juicy Fruit."

[SteelBlue]

Just finished Empire Falls by Richard Russo. Loved it.

[SteelBlue]

Tenth of December by George Saunders. Ten short stories, each one excellent. I highly recommend it, and will be surprised if it isn't a Pulitzer finalist this year.

This book has won 2 awards since I posted this back in Jan. It won the Story Prize a couple weeks ago, and then last week it became the inaugural winner of a new major prize, the Folio prize, awarded in th UK. Really is an excellent read.

NYT review (thought I'd posted this originally, but don't see it):

George Saunders has written the best book you'll read this year

Prize announcements


http://www.theguardian.com/books/201...er-folio-prize

http://www.thestoryprize.org/news.html

[Surfah]

Gavelston by Nic Pizzolatto. I expect to be disappointed after True Detective.

[SteelBlue]

For those who read The Goldfinch, it looks like a movie is in the works. My prediction: it will suck.

http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketc...#axzz2vl5zHh7T

The team behind the blockbuster film adaptation of "The Hunger Games" has signed on to make Donna Tartt's 2013 bestseller "The Goldfinch" into a film -- or something.


The Wrap reports that Nina Jacobson's Color Force is looking for the right director for the project. She expects the shape of the project to evolve once the director has signed on.

"We are looking for the right filmmaker, and then we'll choose the right home based on that filmmaker,” Jacobson said. “We've been thinking we are more likely to make a limited series for TV. There's so much scope to the book. At the same time, a filmmaker could come in with a perspective that changes our mind.”


http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketc...#ixzz2vl76fCxj

[Jeff Lebowski]

Just finished You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself.

Basically, it is a book on thinking. Goes through all of the standard logical fallacies (argument from authority, confirmation bias, straw men, etc) but covers a bunch of fascinating insights into how we think and interact with others. There are 48 chapters and each chapter covers a different topic. Most chapters include descriptions of recent research and controlled studies. Some chapters will blow your mind. Easy to read and it provided fodder for lots of fun discussions around the dinner table.

Just one example: there is a chapter on groupthink. It says that whenever you have a large group discussing an issue (typically in a work environment), people are likely to just agree with the consensus no matter what in order to seem pleasant and agreeable. This is worse if you have a boss who is intimidating and doesn't like dissent.

True groupthink depends on three conditions— a group of people who like one another, isolation, and a deadline for a crucial decision.

To fix the problem:

It turns out, for any plan to work, every team needs at least one asshole who doesn’t give a shit if he or she gets fired or exiled or excommunicated. For a group to make good decisions, they must allow dissent and convince everyone they are free to speak their mind without risk of punishment.

Research says the situation can be avoided if the boss is not allowed to express his or her expectations, thus preventing the boss’s opinion from automatically becoming the opinion of others. In addition, if the group breaks into pairs every once in a while to discuss the issue at hand, a manageable level of dissent can be fostered. Even better, allow outsiders to offer their opinions periodically during the process, to keep people’s objectivity afloat. Finally, assign one person the role of asshole and charge that person with the responsibility of finding fault in the plan. Before you come to a consensus, allow a cooling off period so emotions can return to normal.

Highly recommended.

[SteelBlue]

War Trash, by Ha Jin. Fictional account of life as POW's for the Chinese and N. Korean soldiers during the Korean War. While the characters are fictional, most of the events are said to have actually occurred. The Americans basically appointed or approved POW leaders, let them organize, and then guarded the gates leaving the prisoners to police themselves under that leadership structure. So the brutality and injustice so far (I'm half done) has been Chinese on Chinese.

[Topper]

Just finished Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth, about medieval church construction through fictional rendition of the sinking of the White Ship until the murder of Thomas Beckett. It is surprisingly well done as it discusses innovations in building construction developed through church building. It has also been praised for its relatively accurate description of life during that time, minus a few anachronisms, such as the use of Francis before St. Francis of Assisi. Overall very entertaining and worthwhile. I'd be interested in the comments from civil engineers or building contractors.

Started A Bend in the River, by V.S. Naipaul. It is a fascinating description of mid 20th Century Africa, but the book is more psychology and sociology than story telling.

[Topper]

Does anybody have any suggestions for books, fictional or otherwise about Medieval Europe's history. There are so many twists and turns with which I am unfamiliar.

Just following English history is a major undertaking, but trying to wrap in the Huns, the Holy Roman Empire, the Visigoths, and so many other major events is mind-boggling.