What have you read recently? 2009 -2020

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Just finished La sombra del viento (The Shadow of the Wind) by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. It turned out to be an amazingly well-written book. It's hard to pin down Ruiz's style, J.K. Rowling meets Michael Connelly perhaps.
 
Prompted by a friend, I started reading A Tale of Two Cities, and was surprised to find that I am really enjoying it. I had it in my head that Dickens was gloomy and stuffy, but I had never actually read anything of his. Nope, not even in high school. (rural Texas, no surprise there).

Downloaded the Gutenberg project version for free from the iBook store. Whoopee!

Even better, I found the Discovering Dickens website
Discovering Dickens - A Community Reading Project

In addition to maps, pictures, and reproductions of the original serialization, it explains all of the allusions and stuff that a modern reader might miss. Really, really great.

We live in a golden age of information.
 
IndependentlyPoor said:
Prompted by a friend, I started reading A Tale of Two Cities, and was surprised to find that I am really enjoying it. I had it in my head that Dickens was gloomy and stuffy, but I had never actually read anything of his.
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Funny how our preconceived notions can close us off from things, eh? I remember a scheduling conflict forcing me into an English Lit class once - in which half the semester would be spent on Chaucer. The class started with me dreading the reading, but the instructor started with The Canterbury Tales and my attitude was transformed. Reading the stories made me laugh until I cried. It changed my mind about literature.
 
Leonidas said:
Funny how our preconceived notions can close us off from things, eh? I remember a scheduling conflict forcing me into an English Lit class once - in which half the semester would be spent on Chaucer. The class started with me dreading the reading, but the instructor started with The Canterbury Tales and my attitude was transformed. Reading the stories made me laugh until I cried. It changed my mind about literature.
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The "Wife of Bath" was my Hero(ine).
 
I just finished book I got from the library, "A Charmed Live: Growing up in MacBeth's Castle." It is an autobiography written by a daughter of the 25th Thane. The title is misleading...her life was anything but charmed in my humble opinion.
 
I'm in the middle of "Homebrewing for Dummies", "Trees of Illinois" and ebook "The Silent Sea" by Clive Cussler. "The Silent Sea" is my 1st ebook - on my netbook.
 
Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment on audiodisc. Slow in spots, but gets good again just in time to keep you listening.
 
Bought Rain Gods by James Lee Burke at the Seattle airport last week when my flight was delayed. It's a "murder in the SW" story in which some really twisted villains are chased by (and chase) a couple of ex-military guys who are partially damaged goods. Kind of formulaic, but with gratifyingly vivid descriptions of the splendor and squalor to be found in the West Texas desert.
 
I am finishing up The Good Earth, by Pearl S Buck. Wow... I have enjoyed it thoroughly, both the storyline and the characters, and even how it is written. The prose is unusual, and it lends itself to the story well. I'm not sure how I missed this book in college, but I'm glad to have found it now so many years later. Highly recommended to someone looking for a more serious read.

Charlotte
 
The Good Earth is one of my all time favorite novels. I still have my mother's book club edition that I first read in my teens and re-read several times later in life.
 
Today I read James Patterson's "Swimsuit " . It was a can not put down book . I literally started it at 2PM and finished at 6PM . I had to know the ending . If you are a Patterson fan do not miss this one .
 
I just started reading Lisa Scottoline's "My third husband will be a dog ". This book is a must read for women . It contains columns she wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer and it is a funny commentary on middle age women and there problems including spanx,going bra less and ex husbands . If you need a good laugh this is it .
 
Thanks for the recommendation Moemg. I will have to read it. It sounds good.
 
While moving some notes from my old Palm database to the iPod, I noticed this reading list from years ago. It has the author, title, rating (1-10), and notes. DNF=Did not finish.

Reading List
Crichton, Michael,A Case of Need,8,
Francis, Dick,Bonecrack,9,

Freedman, J. F.,House of Smoke,9,

Kellerman,Over the Edge,7,Better at the beginning.

Hoover, Thomas,Project Daedalus,1,Bad. Stopped at about page 30.

Thomas, Ross,Protocol for a Kidnapping,4.00,Clever, interesting dialog. Hard to follow plot.

Francis, Dick,Reflex,9,Typical Francis

Mason, David,Shadow over Babylon,3,Boring and tedious

Sandford, John,Shadow Prey,7,

,The Alienist,3,Too slow. Stopped reading at about page 200

Sheldon, Sidney,The Doomsday Conspiracy,2,Really stupid stuff. Stopped reading

Hailey, Arthur,The Evening News,8,

Puzo, Mario,The Fourth K,7,Very good until 2/3 through

Dunlap, Susan,The Last Annual Slugfest,3,Didn't finish. Interesting at start, but seemed to turn into standard murder mystery.
Puzo, Mario,The Last Don,10,

Forsyth, Frederick,The Negotiator,8,Middle section is best

Grisham, John,The Runaway Jury,10,

Simmel, Johannes,The Secret Protocol,3,DNF

Brown, Sandra,The Witness,7,

?,Trial,7,

Martini, Steve,Undue Influence,4,Well-written, stopped reading it after 48 pages, since plot seemed obvious, tedious.

Taylor, Charles,War Ship,3,DNF

Sandford, John,Winter Prey,8,
 
I am currently reading "Noah's Compass " . It is Anne Tyler's typical slightly weird book . Only read if you are a die hard Anne Tyler fan as I am .
 
I am reading a little book called "the American frugal housewife". It was written in the early 1800's I believe, and it is loaded with pearls of wisdom that people around here could appreciate.

It is available in the iBook store.
 
Just back from the beach. I read:

Game Change, John Heilemann and Mark Halperin - excellent read. You get to revisit all those fun moments from the 2008 campaign ;) with all kinds of inside info about what was up with the candidates and the staffers.

The Tourist, Olin Steinhauer - another very good read. Follows a CIA agent tracking an international assassin gets while undergoing an existential crisis.

Currently reading The Big Short, Michael Lewis, author of Liar's Poker. The Big short is about several financial types who saw what was happening in the subprime fiasco and made billions shorting it. So far a good read. For some reason I can't get enough of these exposes of the insanity that is Wall Street.
 
FIREdreamer said:
I am reading a little book called "the American frugal housewife". It was written in the early 1800's I believe, and it is loaded with pearls of wisdom that people around here could appreciate.

It is available in the iBook store.
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Thanks for the tip. I just downloaded it to my favorite reading device.
 
I just finished Lois Lowery's young adult series: The Giver, Gathering Blue, and Messenger. Absolutely amazing and if you are ever at a loss of what to give a young person, these are it! Future-set dystopian novels with mature concepts but simply presented. The Giver is a Newberry Award winner. I never read young adult fiction so these took me completely by surprise.

I can't wait to read again (for fun) now that I'm out of school! My library card is burning a hole in my pocket!

Don, several of our money managers have recommended the new Michael Lewis. I will request it at the library. Thanks!
 
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