Weekend book thread: new books

[jane_pippin]

What are five titles that you've read or picked up and intend to read recently? Define "new" any way you want--library borrowing, just bought, just borrowed from a friend, newly published new books, newly published reprints--whatever. Just make it something you're reading for the first time--no reruns.

Mine are:

What Is the What by Dave Eggers I finally finished it the other day and highly recommend it. If you don't know what it is, it's the biography of one of the Lost Boys of Sudan but it's been fictionalized for style and continuity purposes. Even if you're not a huge Eggers fan, and I'm not, it's worth reading. It's very well done and it even made me cry, which never happens when I read books. (But it's not totally depressing either--don't worry.)

Finn by Jon Clinch This is a brand new book I got talked into buying. It's the story of Huck Finn's father. It's supposed to be a dark, literary exploration of who he was and some terrible things he may or may not have done that Twain hinted at in Huck Finn. It's fiction, and I'm only about 20 pages in but so far so good. It's also the author's debut, which is a pretty ballsy way to start out, but based on what I've read so far I think he can pull it off.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl I got it for Christmas but haven't felt like reading it yet. It's another fiction debut that I think is sort of an edgy, modern-nerd mystery but I don't know if that's accurate. It was all over the NYT best of 2006 lists, so I guess that's good.

Adverbs by Daniel Handler (yes, aka Lemony Snicket's "associate'). It's his book for grown-ups. Haven't gotten to this one yet either, but it's about love--modern love!--and all its glorious bullshit. My friend recommended it and says it's very good, great writing, funny, etc. We'll see. I hate adverbs, so the title cracks me up already. It's fiction too, of course, because apparently that's all I read.

The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas This book gave me a headache, but in a good way. It's about a grad student in England who's studying philosophy, mystical (like seance and elixir kind of mystical) literature, science--all kinds of things--and trying to link them together. She stumbles on this old book that alleges anyone who reads it dies. So she reads it of course, and gets sucked into this crazy world where she can--with the aid of an elixir described in the book--literally jump into other people's consciousness and access their pasts--basically time travel through others' memories. Evil bad guys want the power for various evil bad guy reasons, so she has to save the world from inside this strange alternate universe. It was weird and (since it takes place in a snowy, old town in England and for other reasons too) it was a good book for winter.

So hows about you? You don't have to go into mad-detail or anything. I just like giving mini-reviews, so I did.

[billyskank]

1. Hey

:hug:

[jane_pippin]

5. Hey Billy, how've you been?

:hi:

[billyskank]

7. Up and down

I hope you are well. :hi:

[jane_pippin]

10. Oh I'm doing ok, thanks. Very busy though.

New job, new apartment--lots to do for both. In my limited lurking time, I saw that you were a little down recently. I hope things even out for you and you're back to feeling great soon. (If you aren't already that is).

[dolo amber]

2. I've been reading this book some crazy woman gave me

It's called "Metallic Love" and it's basically a soft-core porn novel about robots. :o

[Hugin]

3. Wild!

Sounds like a 'must read' kind of thing to me.

:)

[jane_pippin]

6. Wait, it was a gift?!

Robot Porn?! People are weird.

[dolo amber]

26. This chick is SUPER weird

She's like, young and hot but has a massive crush on Larry David. And/or Lewis Black, depending on if she's drunk or not. :shrug:

[jane_pippin]

31. I think it's admirable that someone young and hot is able

to see past superficial beauty and instead appreciate a person's inner charm and scathing wit. But Lewis Black? I don't believe it. She'd have to be reeeeally drunk to say that. :o

[nuxvomica]

27. Ha!

:rofl:

[mitchum]

35. Must not make "jokes" about:

"the sexual passages are mechanical"
"getting a nut off"
"sexuality is hardwired"

must not...must not...must not...must not...must not... :)

[hippywife]

4. I just finished

Queen of the Oddballs by Hillary Carlip. It wasn't very good. I was really expecting it to be more than it was.

I'm waiting for two books from the library now: You on a Diet: The Owner's Manual to Waist Management by Mehmet Oz and Michael Roizen and The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier. Also waiting for book on CD, The Easy Way to Stop Smoking by Allen Carr.

[jane_pippin]

8. The Brief History of the Dead is supposed to be great

And the cover is very striking. (Yes, I judge books by their covers sometimes. Sue me.) :D

What's with the oddballs book? The title is vaguely familiar, but I don't know why. Is it fiction, or is it one of those "look at my wacky family" memoirs that are so in vogue lately?

[hippywife]

12. It's more of a

this is the quirky crap I've done in my life since I was 8. She grew up in Hollywood and a lot of her life revolved around the entertainment industry. But not much substance to it really. I kept waiting for it to lead to something more but it never did.

And I am really looking forward to The Brief History of the Dead. It came off of the same person's reading list, Nancy Pearl, as the other did, but I really hope it's better. It sounds like it should be.

[jane_pippin]

15. Those books are really wearing out their welcome

It's like everyone who had anything remotely odd happen to them, I once had a hangnail shaped like the Virgin Mary. Hey, let me write 200 pages about it! feels the need to publish it. It's getting old. Also, those I'm going to do something weird like only eat at Chilli's on the even-side of the street in towns throughout the country and then translate my musings into a Deep Statement About Modern Life type memoirs need to stop.

I wonder why Nancy Pearl was hot on that--she's generally a great source for these kinds of things. But then, we can't agree with everyone 100% of the time either.

[hippywife]

16. That's true.

I really found it disappointing coming from her list but I'm giving it another shot. There's another one on there I want to read but not until my head's in a better place for it and that's "The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million" By Daniel Mendelsohn:

Ever since he was a child, Daniel Mendelsohn loved to listen to his grandfather’s tales about their family’s long and eventful history. He was especially interested in hearing about his great-uncle Shmiel, whom he closely resembles, and who remained behind in Ukraine with his family when the rest of his family emigrated to the United States. All anyone really knew about their fate was that they were “killed by the Nazis,” as his grandfather told him. As he went through some family mementos, Mendelsohn discovered a series of increasingly frantic letters from Shmiel begging his American relatives for help in getting his wife and four daughters away from Hitler’s rapidly approaching “final solution.” The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million is an account of Mendelsohn’s investigation into what happened to Great Uncle Shmiel and his family. His search takes him all the way from Bolechow, the shtetl where the family lived, to Australia, Israel, and Scandinavia. I put off reading this book for a long time, mostly because I felt it would simply be too painful. And, of course, many parts of it are, especially as we discover the fates of each of his six lost relatives, but this impressive and poignant narrative has much to say about loss and remembrance, about the ties of family and the power of memory to animate the past.

[jane_pippin]

17. Yeah, The Lost is another one that's supposed to be amazing

But you're right--I think you need to be in the right place to read something like that--certianly not a casual read. A friend of mine is doing her graduate work on a similar topic and she reads all sorts of personal accounts, articles, and so forth, and she's still not quite able to pick that one up.

[mitchum]

22. I too have grown really weary of the plethora of banal memoirs out there...

it's been a real publishing trend for the past fifteen years or so.
I saw where William Shawn's other son (not Wallace) has just published a memoir about his phobias. Yes, his phobias. I guess it's for those who want to read an even more self-absorbed modern memoir...

[jane_pippin]

29. I think I saw that listed on Salon.com this morning

It's goofy--I don't know why publishers think anybody wants to read that nonsense. Sure, some people--famous and regular--have interesting lives, but not everyone is a David Sedaris or Joan Didion. I mean, Courtney Love's mom has a memoir out. Is that really neccessary?

[terrya]

9. 5 titles:

Bought:

"Man in the Middle" by John Amaechi. The book written by the former pro basketball player who came out as gay. I'm looking forward to reading it.

"The Castle in the Forest" Norman Mailer's new novel about Hitler as a youth. Haven't read it yet.

"The Robber Bride" by Margaret Atwood. One of her few books that I still haven't gotten around to reading.

From the library:

"The Company" by Max Barry. He wrote "Jennifer Government", which I liked very much.

"Fluke" by Christopher Moore. I've become a new fan of Moore. Looking forward to reading this as well.

[jane_pippin]

11. Ooh, lots of good stuff there!

I'm itching to read that Max Barry book, but I'm trying to wait--I think it comes out in paperback in the next month or two. I read an excerpt online though, and I just might not be able to resist it any longer.

That Mailer book sounds good too--I heard an NPR interview with him a week or so ago and I'm intrigued. When you get around to reading it let me know what you think.

Now Christopher Moore. I've been resisting that guy for some time but so many people swear by him. They all say Lamb is where it's at. So now you're in the fan column too--I just might be persuaded to give him a chance.

[terrya]

13. I will, Jane.

I'm so glad Mailer is still writing. He's had some hits..."Harlot's Ghost" and "The Executioner's Song" among them. And some duds...try sloughing through "Ancient Evenings". But no one can deny his power as a writer.

I'll let you know about them.

[jane_pippin]

18. Thanks! I look forward to it. I should really

be forced to turn in any and all book-nerd credentials. I've still never read any Mailer. Isn't that terrible? :blush:

[hippywife]

20. Oooh!

I loved Ancient Evenings. I've read it twice.

[JitterbugPerfume]

21. I loved "The Robber Bride"

I listened to it on tape while traveling with my sister.

I recently bought The Nightmare Years by Wm L Shirer It was published in 1984, so it doesn't qualify as new , but it is quite fascinating account of the Hitler years as told by an eye witness ,with pictures . I am also reading It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis . It is more "contemporary" than a lot of recently published books ---scary as hell, it is

I am SOOOO behind in my reading


I also LOVED Ancient Evenings -- I love Mailer

[auntAgonist]

14. audio book. Innocent Man: John Grisham

from the library a book Dreams of Ada: Robert Mayer

Highly recommend both.

The books are both about the same town Ada Oklahoma and the corruption therein. (true stories)

aA

[jane_pippin]

19. I was aware of the Grisham, but not the other...

It's his first non-fiction book, right? (Grisham that is).

What's the "story?" Is it some kind of criminal trial gone wrong? Or is it more like a look at widespread corruption? Do both focus on one case or do they only overlap a little?

[auntAgonist]

24. His first non-fiction, that's right

From Publishers Weekly
Grisham's first work of nonfiction focuses on the tragedy of Ron Williamson, a baseball hero from a small town in Oklahoma who winds up a dissolute, mentally unstable Major League washout railroaded onto death row for a hometown rape and murder he did not commit. Judging by this author-approved abridgment, Grisham has chosen to present Williamson's painful story (and that of his equally innocent "co-conspirator," Dennis Fritz) as straightforward journalism, eschewing the more familiar "nonfiction novel" approach with its reconstructed dialogues and other adjustments for dramatic purpose. This has resulted in a book that, while it includes such intriguing elements as murder, rape, detection and judicial injustice, consists primarily of objective reportage, albeit shaded by the now-proven fact of Williamson's innocence. The absence of dialogue or character point of view could make for a rather bland audio. Boutsikaris avoids that by reverting to what might be called old-fashioned round-the-campfire storytelling, treating the lengthy exposition to vocal interpretations, subtle and substantial. He narrates the events leading up to the 1982 rape and murder of a young cocktail waitress with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity, moving on to astonishment at the prosecution's use of deceit and false testimony to convict Williamson and Fritz and, eventually, elation at the exoneration of the two innocent men. Throughout, he maintains an appealing conversational tone, an effect made all the more remarkable by the book's nearly total absence of conversation.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

---------

It's a heartbreaking story of life and justice gone wrong.

Dreams of Ada focuses on another travesty in the same town and does overlap a little. It goes to show the corruption is alive and well.

I thoroughly enjoyed both. Maddening as they are. Frightening too, to think that it happened in society such as we live in.


aA

[mitchum]

23. Have already read it, but I picked up a signed First of "Celebration"...

by Harry Crews yesterday. For 50 cents.

[oustemnow]

36. Ooh, I hate you!

I'm trying to read more of Harry Crews; he's definitely one of the most unique voices out there. So far I've only read Car and Scar Lover. Any recommendations?

[mitchum]

39. "Childhood: Biography of a Place", "A Feast Of Snakes", "Naked in Garden Hills"...

"The Gospel Singer" and "The Knockout Artist" are all first rate.
The rest of his novels are also quite good. However, I would not recommend "The Mulching of America" That book is just wretched.

Also, look for his essays and articles which have been compiled in "Blood and Grits" and "Florida Frenzy"

Nice to find a fellow Crews reader here. He really is phenomenal.

peace,
mitchum

[nuxvomica]

25. I'm in the middle of "The Tipping Point"

I got "The Secret" recently but haven't more than skimmed through it and a book I ordered at the local bookstore just came in and I'll be picking it up today: "The Cave Painters: Probing the Mysteries of the World's First Artists" by Gregory Curtis. I have a feeling I'll finish the cave painters book before I finish "The Tipping Point" and not just because it has pictures.

[MassLiberal]

28. heard Special Topics in Calamity Physics is good

A friend who reads a lot of new fiction highly recommended it to me, but I haven't gotten to it yet.

[jane_pippin]

30. That's how I got mine. A friend loved it and gave it to me.

I'll get around to it sometime. I do like the title a lot though.

[MassLiberal]

32. me too

This same friend also loved _The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay_ by Michael Chabon. Have you read that?

[jane_pippin]

33. I have not, but *my* same friend also loves that book

and has been harping on me to read it. It won...I want to say the Pulitzer but maybe it was something else..not long ago, so apparently our friends have great taste!

[MassLiberal]

34. OMG, maybe it's the same friend?!

;)

[oustemnow]

37. Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer

An exhaustive and fairly warts-and-all biography of the late Clash frontman.

Another recent read that I enjoyed was Rated F--a satire of that video-rental place in Utah that edits out the "dirty" parts of the videos.

[tigereye]

38. ok,

possible spoilers if you haven't read these.


Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. I had never read any KIngsolver before and I really enjoy her writing style and character development, plus her gentle love of nature and people's foibles. This book follows several characters in a small rural region of the south and also has great sensuality, like many of her books. I am also in the middle of Animal Dreams, which is set in the Southwest. She really develops a great full perspective of culture.

Notes on A Scandal by Zoe Heller. I wanted to read this when it came out as "What Was She Thinking." The title was changed for the movie or American release, not sure. It's hard to read since you know the disaster of the main married character's very poor judgment in her choice of a lover is going to play out in a terrible way. Also fascinating from the point of view of another teacher who "befriends" her. Good character study, but I disliked most of the characters, a no-no for me.

Dust by Martha Grimes. I'm a mystery junkie and love Grimes, but lately the last few books haven't grabbed me. If you know the series, you get to see Jury fall in love/lust for a change. Lately, I prefer her other novels about a young girl who lives in an old hotel in the Midwest, to the mysteries, even though the wacky characters who gather in a British pub and analyze life in her pub mysteries, are a lot of fun.

Plainsong by Kent Haruf. I read this for my bookclub and the man draws a wonderful, heart-filled portrait of rural American life. I really like his spare, but compassionate writing style. This book was a National Book Club Award Finalist.

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai, Man Booker Pirze winner, 2006. I also read this novel for my book group, and although the author has a wonderful, funny, touching lyrical style in this tale of the diaspora of young people living in America, as well as those at home in a part of India bordering the Himalayas, I didn't feel for the characters the way I would have liked. The writer is brillian, but I have to say that I liked Zadie Smith's White Teeth more.