What have you read recently? 2009 -2020

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Neal Stephenson - Seveneves

Excellent, although I felt he could have cranked up the tension a bit more in the first half by showing more of what was happening on earth as most people were preparing to die.

I'm looking for novels which deal with AI's becoming sentient (like Skynet from the Terminator series or I, Robot) - any recommendations much appreciated.
 
Just finished Christopher Moore's Dirty Job, and it was quite good. We'd read Lamb a few years ago and this was on par with it for witty and compelling writing.
Set in San Francisco, it is about an unassuming secondhand store owner who winds up fighting with demons from the underworld, or as he calls them, sewer harpies.
Funny stuff, with enough action to keep it moving right along.

Oh and I struggled all the way through Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood on audio. It never really grabbed me, and I was fairly creeped out by the songs inserted somewhat randomly into the book. I loved the Handmaiden's Tale, and The Heart Goes Last, but this one was just too weird and slow.
 
Christopher Moore is one of my favorites.
If you like him, you might also enjoy Magnus Mills. Very different, but seems to appeal to a similar audience.
 
Fiction Book Review: The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville, Author . Soho Crime $24 (336p) ISBN 978-1-56947-600-0

The Ghosts of Belfast........read most of this today while sitting in Emergency at the local hospital.......the story of an IRA killer, haunted by the 'ghosts' of his victims, who tries to make them disappear by eliminating those who were penultimately responsible for their deaths.

Very good...(hey, if James Ellroy, John Connolly & Ken Bruen profess to liking it how could I go wrong.........discounting the possibility that they might have written the blurbs sight unseen).
 
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Last thing I read was a Shadowrun 2nd edition sourcebook. I really like tabletop games, but SR2e is home for me.
 
Sarah in SC said:
Just finished Christopher Moore's Dirty Job, and it was quite good. We'd read Lamb a few years ago and this was on par with it for witty and compelling writing.
Set in San Francisco, it is about an unassuming secondhand store owner who winds up fighting with demons from the underworld, or as he calls them, sewer harpies.
Funny stuff, with enough action to keep it moving right along.

Oh and I struggled all the way through Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood on audio. It never really grabbed me, and I was fairly creeped out by the songs inserted somewhat randomly into the book. I loved the Handmaiden's Tale, and The Heart Goes Last, but this one was just too weird and slow.
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I like your taste! I absolutely adore A Dirty Job, the first Christopher Moore book I read. We listened to all his other books on road trips and had to pull off the road a few times from laughing so hard, like during Island of the Sequined Love Nun. I liked YOTF but I didn't do it as an audiobook. It was the first Atwood I had read since The Blind Assassin.

I'm reading Ellie Griffiths' Ruth Galliway series now, not quite so literary but good imo.
 
I read this new Stella Rimington book Breaking Cover : https://smile.amazon.com/Breaking-C...UTF8&qid=1472934891&sr=8-1&keywords=rimington

I think this is probably her best novel to date. It is rare to have an author of such spy novels that has inside knowledge. It doesn't hurt that I tend to agree with her world view. About the author:
Dame Stella Rimington joined the Security Service (MI5) in 1968. During her career she worked in all the main fields of the Service: counter-subversion, counter-espionage, and counter-terrorism. She was appointed Director General in 1992, the first woman to hold the post. She has written her autobiography, Open Secret, and nine Liz Carlyle novels, including Close Call and The Geneva Trap. She lives in London and Norfolk.
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Price of inequality, stiglitz.


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Currently reading "Originals" by Adam Grant. How non conformists move the world.
 
Just finished Life, Animated by Ron Suskind. It's about raising his son who has Autism and how they learned to communicate with him through dialogue in Disney animated movies. It's really interesting and touching.


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Ally said:
Just finished Life, Animated by Ron Suskind. It's about raising his son who has Autism and how they learned to communicate with him through dialogue in Disney animated movies. It's really interesting and touching.


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I just finished Thinking in Pictures, as part of my research on mental illness. It's written by an autistic woman who didn't speak until age four. You can see her talk here: here

There's a Hollywood version of her life in the movie Temple Grandin.

You can view my ratings of many books on my GoodReads shelves.
 
Alibi by Joseph Kanon

ALIBI - Joseph Kanon

"Alibi is at once a murder mystery, a love story, and a superbly crafted novel about the nature of moral responsibility."
 
Long Time Gone: The Autobiography of David Crosby. I knew he had had drug problems, but did not know how serious they were. I am surprised he is still here. Saw him a few times when he was with CSNY. He is coming to our town 12/1 and we bought tickets to see him. I figure it will probably be our last time seeing him. He is 75 yrs old.

I just finished Second Honeymoon by James Patterson and Howard Roughan. It was about FBI agents and serial killers. I enjoyed it.
 
Dreamer said:
Long Time Gone: The Autobiography of David Crosby. I knew he had had drug problems, but did not know how serious they were. I am surprised he is still here. Saw him a few times when he was with CSNY. He is coming to our town 12/1 and we bought tickets to see him. I figure it will probably be our last time seeing him. He is 75 yrs old.
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Yeah, but his liver is only in it's 20s.
 
If you want another good book that's largely about David Crosby, read Graham Nash's Wild Tales: A Rock & Roll Life. I swear it's more about Crosby than Nash. Nash obviously worshipped Crosby, while being aware of his faults. Although I think the shine is finally off the apple. I remember reading somewhere recently that Nash said he'd never perform with Crosby again.
 
I was up at the cottage and got 11/22/63 by Stephen King out of the LittleFreeLibrary box near our place. Good fun and the price was right!
 
TromboneAl said:
I just finished Thinking in Pictures, as part of my research on mental illness. It's written by an autistic woman who didn't speak until age four. You can see her talk here: here

There's a Hollywood version of her life in the movie Temple Grandin.

You can view my ratings of many books on my GoodReads shelves.
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I'm very familiar with Temple Grandin.😊 She spoke at our Education Service Center a couple of years ago for a training day for educators.

I have a very good friend who has a 22 year old son with Autism, but he is far less able to be independent. In fact, he can't be unsupervised. He sometimes has become very aggressive with my friend and it's just heart breaking. This is why I am drawn to learning more about what happens to adults with Autism and their families. 😥


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I'm currently reading My Family and Other Animals by Durrell. I wanted to retread it before the PBS show comes on.


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Wow, Gerald Durrell. We read his books as kids.
 
I read a book called My Brother's Keeper based on these brothers' story. It was sad but interesting.


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I just finished 1Q84, , Haruki Murakami's 1000 page Magnus Opus, originally published as three volumes. This is one you will either be fascinated with or bored to tears. Set in 1984 Tokyo, it is a magical fantasy about a slightly changed parallel world with two moons and mysterious "little people" from another dimension. Lots of compelling imagery and insight into Japanese culture. I liked it but think at least half of its readers probably toss it aside.
 
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Ally said:
I read a book called My Brother's Keeper based on these brothers' story. It was sad but interesting.
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They were surely 'different'. :)
 
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