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I'm putting the What I'm Reading Thread here. Feel free to start a July thread if you like. Anyone can do it. If you have a book you think would be good for a discussion of more than just a few lines, I encourage you to start a dedicated thread in the Constant Reader folder. I would discourage just naming the book, and really discourage just putting up the cover, since I find that impossible to read. Say a little about it, whether you're surprised by it or engaged in it or think it is not worth your time. Give us something to go on.

Helen wrote: "Mary Ellen wrote: "I finished reading The Spy Who Came In from the Cold a couple of days ago. It was the 2nd book I've read by John le Carré, the first being A Most Wanted Man.

I was very disap..."

LeCarre is another gap in my reading. I think I'll add this one to my list.

I read both years ago, and can remember very little.

Sherry wrote: "I'm putting the What I'm Reading Thread here. Feel free to start a July thread if you like. Anyone can do it. If you have a book you think would be good for a discussion of more than just a few lin..."

Sherry, a good and wise decision. Don't see how anyone can find fault with it ... although in my experience someone always finds fault with something. (Just wait .. .someone will argue about your statement about just putting up covers, which is also one of my major annoyances!I like all of your words here ... Whoever starts a new thread each month would do well to quote them.

Peace,

Larry

Larry wrote: "Sherry wrote: "I'm putting the What I'm Reading Thread here. Feel free to start a July thread if you like. Anyone can do it. If you have a book you think would be good for a discussion of more than..."

Thank you, Larry. Peace, indeed.

hello. i am about to finish Dracula by bram stoker. Yes, The classics by a well-known author. It has to be confessed that a classic can only be describe in my words as "And so it goes...��
Well. The June plan is for The Stone Monkey. as i am going to travel to the other contienent with bagfull of books and going to enjoy my heartly hobby of reading and watching skies from my window seat..
hope it to be good.

Have a good trip, and happy reading from your bag of books.

Sherry wrote: "Have a good trip, and happy reading from your bag of books."

thanks sherry. :)

Mary Ellen wrote: "Helen wrote: "Mary Ellen wrote: "I finished reading The Spy Who Came In from the Cold a couple of days ago. It was the 2nd book I've read by John le Carré, the first being A Most Wanted Man.

I ..."

"Tinker Tailor" is...amaaaaaazing. I am always debating which is my favorite of the two, though I think I lean slightly toward "Spy." They are equal in their humanity, their heartbreaking ambiguity, and the prose is stunningly beautiful.

I'm halfway through Alex Berenson's The Night Ranger. This is the seventh book in the series about the ex-CIA operative John Wells that started with The Faithful Spy. Set in Kenya and Somalia, it has an authenticity that sets it apart from so many of the novels in the suspense genre. Berenson also clearly understands how decisions get made at the higher levels of the CIA.

Lyn wrote: "Scott, I haven't read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy since college years, but I still often remember that wise advice, to always bring a towel!"

Enjoying it so far! One of those books that I've always wanted to read but never got around to doing it. Making up for lost time ... and, yes, the wisest advice haha

I'm halfway through King Leopold's Ghost, an account of the "Belgian" Congo. It's a great companion piece to Heart of Darkness and fleshes out all the horrible details of what was happening there, details that turn out to be more horrific than I could have imagined. . . . It's estimated that as many natives were killed by the forced labor of the Belgian ivory and rubber trade as were killed in the Holocaust.

John wrote: "I listened to The Lovely Bones as an audiobook (NOT the author-narrated one), and as Susie sounded so okay with herself, the nasty episode wasn't all that horrifying."

I read the book when it first came out. At the time I thought the device of having the murdered girl narrate was unique and interesting. I was engaged and interested until ... well ... there's a scene towards the end that just stretch credulity too far, and that cost it a star or two in my opinion. I wound up giving it 3 stars.

What I'm reading this afternoon is this Virginia Quarterly Review article, "THE WRITER'S DILEMMA: HOW TO FLOURISH IN THE DIGITAL AGE." I'm sure that some writers would be happy enough just to survive. Anyway, here' s a link to the article:

I’ve just started to read Claire Tomalin’s biography of Charles Dickens. It reminds me very much of my maternal grandfather who was a great fan of Charles Dickens. Even though he died before I was born, my enduring image of him is drying pages of his books using a ruler in the back garden on a sunny day. Why? Because part of his library, including some of his beloved Dickens volumes, had been water damaged in WW2. The remaining volumes are still in the care of his youngest daughter, my aunt.

Bernadette wrote: "I’ve just started to read Claire Tomalin’s biography of Charles Dickens. It reminds me very much of my maternal grandfather who was a great fan of Charles Dickens. Even though he died before I was ..."

I picked up a remainder copy of that book recently and am looking forward to reading it. I also want to read more of Dickens' works.

Book Concierge wrote: "John wrote: "I listened to The Lovely Bones as an audiobook (NOT the author-narrated one), and as Susie sounded so okay with herself, the nasty episode wasn't all that horrifying."

I read the book..."

The brother via the fountain? I thought that was really well done.

I am reading Lucrezia Borgia: A Biography because I have been enjoying the Showtime series (which I just learned has been cancelled--Sunday's episode will be the finale).

Sue wrote: "Bernadette wrote: "I’ve just started to read Claire Tomalin’s biography of Charles Dickens. It reminds me very much of my maternal grandfather who was a great fan of Charles Dickens. Even though he..."

I love Dickens. Have listened to a number of audiobooks in the past few years. Bleak House and David Copperfield are tremendous.

Nursery Crimes, Mum's the Word, The Face of Deception, and Grade A Stupid... I like to read light in the summer.

Ruth wrote:Do check in on our discussion of this book. It was a great discussion and its never too late to add comments.
---------------

It was this groups good discussion on the book that prompted me to purchase the book. I'm about 100 pages from the end and it's clearly a 5 star book and I don't give out many 5 stars.

Finished Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler �� 3.5***
A road trip gives 89-year-old Isabelle the chance to tell her black hairdresser, Dorrie, the story of her youth, and the great secret she’s kept for decades. I was caught up in the story and thought Kibler did a good job of a tricky device �� alternating chapters between two narrators and two different time periods. The ending was poignant if predictable. All told, this is a good debut novel, and a nice summer read.
Link to my full review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Sue wrote: "Bernadette wrote: "I’ve just started to read Claire Tomalin’s biography of Charles Dickens. It reminds me very much of my maternal grandfather who was a great fan of Charles Dickens. Even though he..."

I love Claire Tomalin's work. I've read her bios of Dickens, Pepys, and Austen. Or at least large parts of them, I have a bad habit of putting aside my nf reading for fiction. I did read all of the Austen bio! And I keep meaning to read her life of Katherine Mansfield, who is a writer I studied intensively in grad school.

Currently I am reading this book. The first chapter is quiet happy one. Have anyone read this book? How is it?

Just finished Ready Player One, which I enjoyed and has encouraged me to look for more decent Science Fiction. Just about to start Little Women, a classic that has strangely passed me by. After that, the rest of June is an open book (so to speak!).

Sayantani wrote: " Currently I am reading this book. The first chapter is quiet happy one. Have anyone read this book? How is it?"

Sayantani, just a gentle reminder to please add author and title to your posts instead of just the picture of the front cover. I bet you'll get more responses that way. ;-)

Sayantani wrote: " Currently I am reading this book. The first chapter is quiet happy one. Have anyone read this book? How is it?"

I have not read Genova's Left Neglected but I did read Still Alice . That book was very personal for me, as my mother suffers from Alzheimer's. I'm certainly interested in reading more of Genova's work, but just haven't gotten to it.

Just finished Alex Berenson's The Night Ranger. Really good book. I started a discussion of it with its own separate folder. On to James S.A. Corey's Abaddon's Gate. This is the third book in the space opera series that started with Leviathan Wakes. The series has some of the best hard science fiction in years.

Helen: Thanks for the response on Tinker, Tailor. I hope to get to that this summer, then.

Geoff: That sounds horrific. I checked (Wikipedia, of course) and see that the Belgian Congo is today's Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country that seems perpetually embroiled in violence. I work in a nonprofit immigration service, and we have a number of refugee clients from DRC. I don't know that I'd be brave enough to read King Leopold but appreciate your post.

Finished The Rook by Daniel O'Malley the other day, rather interesting combination of genre...spy, mystery, science fiction. Sometimes the sci-fi bit was, to me at least, some over the top, but interesting all the same. Here is my review...
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

The story really pulled me along, sometimes almost in spite of myself. :)

Am still in the middle of Jean Plaidy's Mary, Queen of France on my Kindle. I can't say I'm enthralled, and find it slow going. Lets just say her prose leaves much to be desired.
I know she writes under a great many names, most familiar to me. I've enjoyed her books in the distant past, but can't enjoy this one too much. Will finish though, in spite of it.

Larry wrote: "Just finished Alex Berenson's The Night Ranger. Really good book. I started a discussion of it with its own separate folder. On to James S.A. Corey's Abaddon's Gate. This is the third book in the space opera series that started with Leviathan Wakes. The series has some of the best hard science fiction in years.
"

Very glad to hear that Larry, I have Leviathan Wakes on the shelf, wanted very much to read it, but it managed to become buried.....shall move it up. :)

This morning I just finished Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity. I found it to be a very impressive work of essentially nonfiction that I will be thinking about for some time. I will save other comments for the coming discussion on this book.

Yesterday, I finished my first Austen - Northanger Abbey. So romantic!

Becky wrote: "Yesterday, I finished my first Austen - Northanger Abbey. So romantic!"

I love Austen. Northanger Abbey is fun because it lampoons the Gothic romances of Austen's day. It's ironic that her books are considered so romantic in our century, because in her own time she was rebelling against the heroes of Sir Walter Scott's novels, who were full of flowery compliments for ladies. I wonder if she should get some of the credit for inventing the "strong, silent type"?

I'm reading The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker. It's lyrical and magical and I'm loving it!

I'm currently reading:

Diana S wrote: "I'm currently reading:
[bookco..."

Diana, just a gentle reminder that putting only the book covers gives us very little information. Please add the name of the book and the author and a little bit about the book. Do you like them? Are they worth our time? Also, on a smart phone or a tablet, these covers are little question marks or black boxes.

I'm currently reading The Killing Circle. Andrew Pyper

I am currently reading, The Orchardist, by Amanda Copeland. The writing is beautiful. The first line is," His face was as pitted as the moon."

This weekend, we watched my granddaughter, Ella ... when she was asleep, I moved deeper into James S.A. Corey's Abaddon's Gate. The writing is as strong as the first two books in the trilogy. And when Ella was awake and we were looking at her books, I rediscovered some of my old favorites. I looked at one, Munro Leaf's The Story of Ferdinand, that I can remember with great fondness from decades back. I also loved the 1938 Disney cartoon of this bull that loved flowers.

... I looked at one, Munro Leaf's The Story of Ferdinand, that I can remember with great fondness from decades back. I also loved the 1938 Disney cartoon of this bull that loved flowers.

As I read it to my kids, I always wondered if the story of Ferdinand, the peace-loving bull, was meant to be a fairy tale or fable for what was going on in the world when it was written--it was published in 1938.

I'm currently reading
Martha Washington: An American Life~Patricia Brady
The book started slow as the author was giving the background of the million relatives. However, now she is up to Martha and her first marriage and I'm enjoying it.

I am listening to on my i-pod nano
The End of Your Life Book Club~~Will Schwalbe
This is the first time I've downloaded an audio book to my nano. I don't completely have the hang of it yet. I can only fit a few chapter at a time on the nano. But so far I am enjoying the book. I thought it would be very depressing, but so far no. I have no idea what chapter I am on....maybe 3 or so.

Currently reading Shutter Island. Awesome book! Can't put it down. (Haven't seen the movie.)

Alias Reader wrote: "I'm currently reading
Martha Washington: An American Life~Patricia Brady
The book started slow as the author was giving the background of the m..."

So many biographers begin that way, and it's such a snore, at least for me! I'm interested in mom and pop, and occasionally the grands, but rarely in anyone who was dead before the subject was born.

I am reading The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. Well, I am down at its fifth book right now, and I am enjoying it so much! I am looking forward for the next book of its series to be released. :-D

I'm just starting The Phantom of the Opera (Gaston Leroux). It's a reread but it's a while since I've read it. I adore the film and the musical and I remember enjoying the book last time I read it. I'm only a chapter in but so far, it's easier going than a lot of the classics as the language is better (at least in my opinion).

I read The Books of Rachel yesterday (somehow read it in one day!) It was a really thought provoking book, horrific in its descriptions in places but a thoroughly interesting story. If any one else has read it, I'll happily start a discussion about it.

Helen wrote: "... I looked at one, Munro Leaf's The Story of Ferdinand, that I can remember with great fondness from decades back. I also loved the 1938 Disney cartoon of this bull that loved flowers.

As I read..."

Helen, I think that part of its greatness is that it can be read just as a sweet story about a bull who would rather smell flowers OR as an allegorical tale about loving peace (and not choosing to fight) as Spain descended into the Spanish Civil War. When I found the book in my granddaughter's bookcase, I first remembered that I hadn't read this in a long time. I eventually remembered that my wife and I had given the book to her at Christmas, but only had the time to write a few words and then wrap it up. Since Ella is just a bit past two, I don't think she has discovered the pleasures of this book yet. But I bet she will.

Claire wrote: "I'm just starting The Phantom of the Opera (Gaston Leroux)....."

Claire, I read both Phantom and The Books of Rachel and loved both of them. You know, I've read, (and forgotten) like, a million books, but Rachel stands out in my memory. What a great storytelling device, the diamond being passed down from Rachel to Rachel, telling the history of the family--and of the Jews, from era to era. Thanks for reminding me of it! I think it deserves a re-read!

Two more books came this weekend. I'm not reading Shakespeare Beyond Doubt: Evidence, Argument, Controversy, just published by Cambridge University Press. As the title implies it's the latest word in the controversy over who wrote Shakespeare's plays and the assembled essays come down squarely on the side of the man from Avon. The book annoys me in that the printing is rather faint. Oh, it's legible but still faint. I ordered the book on Amazon before it was published and at the time there was no Kindle edition. I'll keep this one, but I would prefer a Kindle copy. And at some point, I will read this one.

The other book is one that I am ever so glad to have as a hard copy. It is Philippe Petit's Why Knot? How to Tie More Than Sixty Ingenious, Useful, Beautiful, Lifesaving, and Secure Knots!. Petit is the man who walked on the high wire/tight rope that he put up between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. And he is a man who knows how to tie knots that hold. The book comes with a small rope so that you can practice tying the knots that he has selected. The book is a beautiful book itself. I've been sitting, watching tv, and practicing tying knots all morning. Hint: Buy another small rope of a different color. It makes tying the knots a lot easier.