Now reading...

[paul secor]

One of my favorite authors

[jazzbo]

A family history (of the Armstrong side, my grandparents' generation) my Dad compiled and wrote and gave me for Christmas.

Edited January 26, 2012 by jazzbo

[fasstrack]

A great one-day read: The World in a Phrase (John Geary). It's about aphorisms, with great sample one-liners and informative bios of their authors (from the Confucians to modern times). I really recommend this.

In the past several months also read and loved: Pete Hamill's Flesh and Blood; Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye.

For any songwriters or lovers of song, do yourselves a favor and grab anything by Sheila Davis. She's a foremost thinker on the subject IMO.

[A Lark Ascending]

After a reading a couple of Elizabeth George's more recent Lynley detective novels I've gone back to the start and whizzed through:

And have just kicked off with:

Perfect reads for a busy term-time when I only get a short while to indulge - narrative drive that draws you on and a nice tension between the aristocratic Lynley and the working class Havers. Don't think I ever saw the TV series.

Edited January 28, 2012 by A Lark Ascending

[jazzbo]

Just for fun and to bring out the inner biker in me.

[Jazzmoose]

Been getting into my old 'baseball library', which is pretty odd considering I don't follow the game anymore...

[BillF]

Elmore Leonard is an excellent writer, as is currently being recognized:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jan/27/elmore-leonard-great-american-novelist

[alankin]

Just for fun and to bring out the inner biker in me.

Ah, I used to like Mike Ploog's art...

[jazzbo]

Yes, Ploog worked for a spell with Will Eisner and it really shows in his work. (I'm a huge Eisner fan). Too bad he only penciled four issues of Ghost Rider I think.

[Jazzmoose]

Yes, Ploog worked for a spell with Will Eisner and it really shows in his work.

I'll be damned. That's the influence I couldn't figure out! Now that I've had it pointed out, it's so obvious I feel like an idiot.

Edited January 29, 2012 by Jazzmoose

[jlhoots]

Elmore Leonard is an excellent writer, as is currently being recognized:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jan/27/elmore-leonard-great-american-novelist

I wonder if Raylan will be good.

I know I like the TV series, Justified.

[alankin]

Elmore Leonard is an excellent writer, as is currently being recognized:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jan/27/elmore-leonard-great-american-novelist

I wonder if Raylan will be good.

I know I like the TV series, Justified.

I just read "Pronto," which is the first book with Raylan. I thought the book was good but there are other Leonard books I've liked better.

I haven't seen "Justified." What do other people think of it?

Edited January 29, 2012 by alankin

[jazzbo]

Yes, Ploog worked for a spell with Will Eisner and it really shows in his work.

I'll be damned. That's the influence I couldn't figure out! Now that I've had it pointed out, it's so obvious I feel like an idiot.

LOL! Yes, it's quite visible. Which is not a bad thing.

[Leeway]

Taking a bit of a break from Dickens, with another great Victorian:

[Jazzmoose]

This is embarrassing, but I've never read this book before. I thought I'd read 'em all (up to a certain point), but I now realize I was confusing this one with Dr. Bloodmoney. I'm glad I decided to start rebuilding my PKD library! (Got to find Clans of the Alphane Moon damned fast, though...)

[jazzbo]

I'm ashamed to say I have multiple copies of almost all titles. . . I've been a bit of a PKD nut since I was 13! That is a good one indeed.

[Jazzmoose]

I sold all mine about seven years ago. Along with all my other Ace Doubles, my collection of Archers, etc.

It will be nice to have them back again, and in non-first editions that I don't have to be careful with!

[jazzbo]

I hear ya. I don't think of my books or cds as collectibles and just treat them nicely as I try to treat all my things nicely.

One interesting thing about the Penultimate Truth for me is the little bit of "The Man Whose Teeth were All Exactly Alike" that were incorporated.

[Jazzmoose]

Another couple arrived today. One is A Scanner Darkly, which thankfully the book I remember; the other is Wait Until Next Year, which I've never seen before; I was thinking of Counter-Clockwise World. I'm beginning to wonder how many of Dick's books I've actually read. With any other author this would be extremely disorienting, but with Dick it kind of adds to the experience.

It's funny how Heinlein seems so dated now, but Dick still seems fresh.

edited to fix a sentence that made no sense...

Edited February 7, 2012 by Jazzmoose

[jazzbo]

Now Wait for Last Year is a fun one. I agree, Dick seems to be adapting to the Post-Dickian world quite well, blending into the cracks and still making meaningful quips.

[johnlitweiler]

Le Carré's latest.

Bill - you're obviously a big fan. I am currently reading "Tinker Tailor" on the recommendation of my wife. I am bored with it - none of it makes sense to me. What am I doing wrong?

You're doing nothing wrong. LeCarre was in his depths by then. His best are his earliest 5 or so novels, and he's written better ones (like The Night Manager) in later years.

[Dave James]

As close to actually being there as I'd ever want to get.

[paul secor]

Percival Everett: Assumption

The most disturbing Everett book that I've read.

[crisp]

Le Carré's latest.

Bill - you're obviously a big fan. I am currently reading "Tinker Tailor" on the recommendation of my wife. I am bored with it - none of it makes sense to me. What am I doing wrong?

You're doing nothing wrong. LeCarre was in his depths by then. His best are his earliest 5 or so novels, and he's written better ones (like The Night Manager) in later years.

I couldn't follow Tinker either. Struggled to the end then got rid of the copies of The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People that I had been planning to read next. I consoled myself while reading Tinker with spotting instances of bad grammar and poor sentence construction. A pity, as I liked The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.

[ejp626]

I finished Pharr's S.R.O. Definitely an underground classic. Some parts are a bit repetitive, but it actually has some interesting echoes of Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London.

I am trying to wrap up Ellison's Juneteenth for Black History Month. It certainly has some strong passages, but overall kind of diffuse and unfocused. I suppose that is what happens when a book is written and rewritten and rewritten. I can't even imagine reading the entire thing that came out a couple of years ago. It is supposedly three times as long.

On the bus, I am reading Banville's The Sea, which won the Booker Prize in 2005. I find it very much in the spirit and perhaps even style of Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse.