What are you reading at the moment??

[norby]

If you let me know what you want changing, Kelly, I can alter it for you. Hope you're enjoying the forum, by the way.

Thanks Jayne, I am enjoying myself! 

I also managed to figure out how to edit my posts (after posting them), so I got the last one unitalicized except where it should be.

Another book I just finished reading (yesterday actually; living up the fall break woohoo!) is Between the Bridge and the River by Craig Ferguson.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but it's some wonderful combination of Jerry Stahl and Terry Pratchett -- complete and utter insanity with random rants and weird sex bits (okay, not that weird, but definitely odd...or something).  I finished it in a day, and laughed throughout most of it.  Not a book to read in a public place unless you don't mind explaining why you just blew coffee out your nose while laughing (and no, it doesn't feel good  ).

I liked Craig Ferguson's book myself, Kelly.  I wasn't sure what to expect when I started it, but I love Ferguson's show (just wish it wasn't on so late) so I tried it.  You're right, you definitely have to read it somewhere that you can get away with laughing out loud.  Um, sorry you had coffee squirt out your nose, that sounds painful.

[Anne Gray]

I'm reading Chuck Palahniuk's Invisible Monsters.  It's different, but it's the first novel I've managed to read more than 50 pages into.  It's about a model who gets her lower jaw shot off, and then runs around with a drag queen on the verge of a complete sex-change operation.  Like I said, it's different.  But the character's are such morons, they make me feel smart. 

[JoshSchrank]

*sigh*  Does anyone else have the problem of having to complete a trilogy/series even if you don't really care for it?  I'm still working on the Incarnate series and getting bored, but dammit I bought the books so I have read them!

[doublecola]

I just finished Cold is the Grave by Peter Robinson,
which, like In A Dry Season, I loved.  The last paragraph of Cold
is the Grave is wonderful--perhaps not the right word, but it's
a great piece of writing.

I just started The Geographer's Library by Jon Fasman, which seems
pretty good!

[alisonoc]

Car magazines about Jap imports............I REALLY want a 2001 Celica!  I'll never be able to afford insurance on it tho 

[Lee Y]

I just read my first Richard Laymon novel....."To Wake The Dead".
Was this a good example,of the type of horror writer he was. I was wondering how the different charactors stories were going to be tied together.Which he did,rather well.Interesting story.
I also noticed (on fantasticfiction) that he was a very prolific writer.....10 novels in '85, alone.
He passed away in 2001,and I was wondering,when other novels are published after an authors death,were they already written,or is somebody else writing,under his name? Because I noticed there are about 6 or 7 that came out after he passed.  Thanks...

[Gaz]

Richard Laymon was an excellent writer, although some novels don't quite hit the spot for me personally. I would highly recommend The Travelling Vampire Show. Some great moments of tension and fear are built up in it.

[Killme00]

I am reading a book called I am Legend..cant think who wrote it just now but it is fantastic..there is only on person left alive on the planet and everyone else is  a vampire....it is so paranoid..i love it

[Heidi G]

I am reading a book called I am Legend..cant think who wrote it just now but it is fantastic..there is only on person left alive on the planet and everyone else is  a vampire....it is so paranoid..i love it

That'd be Richard Matheson, I think.

Gaz, am 2/3 of the way through The Historian and I second, third and fourth (just 'cause I can  ) SammyK's opinion.  Reviews be ignored; I'm loving it. 

[norby]

I just started reading The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue.  I'm not too far in, but so far I'm impressed.  The book is based on the poem by Yeats and is about a little boy who is kidnapped by hobgoblins so that one of them can take his place as a human.  The book switches back and forth between the hobgoblin and the boy's perspectives and so far is doing so successfully.

[susiesue]

Last week I finished U2 by U2 - that great big coffee table book. I quite enjoyed it, although sometimes it got bogged down with various tellings of the same story by the different band members. If you're a U2 fan then it's a must have. Loads of people say that bono is a big headed egotist, but he really doesn't come across this way in the book. He's kind towards others, self-mocking and very intelligent. The religion thing puts me off a bit, but he handles religion in an intelligent, non-judgemental way, which is always a nice change. Adam comes across as the real good guy of the band. Edge, a bit of competitive control freak and Larry is just larry. Give him a pair of drum sticks or a motorcycle and he's happy.

Nearly finished with Cronicles by Bob Dylan. Oddly written, but fascinating. He manages to go through the book without giving any of his wives names. Because the book doesn't go in cronilogical order you have to guess which wife he's talking about! He's gas!

Started Michael Palin's Diary. I bought it on a whim, not really knowing what to expect. (It was a bloody expensive whim at E25!) So far, so good. It's not a laugh a minute, but everynow and then he slips in a hilarious one liner that catches you off guard and the laughter wakes your sleeping partner...

My typing is terrible. on a different computer and not used to the keyboard. sorry.

[Lee Y]

I just finished three of C.J. Box's....Joe Pickett series....
Open Season
Winter Kill
Out of Range

Found them at a used book store by me,quick,enjoyable reads.
Joe's,love for his family,his job,in the great expanse of Wyoming....
and his,almost...."Aw Shucks" (at times) attitude,make him a great character.
Also....the author is a Wyoming native ("neighbor" to the north),really shows in his writing,description of the back country,and small town living. And,since I hunt big game also,these were a good read.
If Joe is told..."case closed".....not for Joe,till he does his own investigating.
I recommened Joe,for anyone for a good mystery.....and,enjoy the great outdoors!!! I'm on the prowl for his 3 others!!!

[Lisa]

Just read The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly.  Well-plotted, as usual, and I liked the characters. 
Also read A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore, in which I liked the characters more than the story. 
And Between the Bridge and the River by Craig Ferguson, which was funny and sweet. 
Next is The Thirteenth Tale, although you guys have just about talked me into picking up The Historian while it's still at Target.  I also want to read the new Stephen King when it comes out.

[norby]

Just read The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly.  Well-plotted, as usual, and I liked the characters. 
Also read A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore, in which I liked the characters more than the story. 
And Between the Bridge and the River by Craig Ferguson, which was funny and sweet. 
Next is The Thirteenth Tale, although you guys have just about talked me into picking up The Historian while it's still at Target.  I also want to read the new Stephen King when it comes out.

I'm curious what you think of that one, Lisa.  I've got it reserved at the library-it looks pretty good.

[Heidi G]

Lisa, The Historian's worth it.  I meant to only read one chapter and then get to work yesterday, then went "Gee, only 150 pages left" and finished it. 

Stylistically, it was a 180 from what I read at bedtime, which was the story Brokeback Mountain.  It took only 20 minutes to get through 54 pages, she's that quick of a read.  I know Proulx is a multi award winner, and I realize that everything (well, 99.9 % of it) that's in the movie was pulled directly from the story (albiet with some reordering) but I don't know.  She just leaves me feeling flat.  Her stories rush along so quickly that there's no time to stop and feel anything.  It's like rushing down a bunch of rapids and never stopping in an eddy to take a moment to look around you at the amazing scenery. 

I think the screenwriters, and especially Ang Lee and the actors, did a much better job of conveying the emtion of her story.  I was left feeling like I'd read a really good rough outline that could be stupendous if only she'd fleshed it out. 

Anyone else feel that way about her writing?  Shipping News hit me the same way, but after seeing the movie version of Brokeback, I decided to give her a second go.  Same reaction, though.

Oh, and Lisa?  King's wife, Tabitha, has a new book out as well--Candles Burning.  Gonna see if the library has it, and the CJ Box as well, though I'm probably stretching my luck a bit there...