What BOOK are you reading right now?

reading "the stuart age - a history of england 1603-1714" .
i had taken guenter grass' "my century" from the library - made several attempts to read it ... but gave up .
"the stuart age" is actually a rather interesteing book ; it's a great account of life at that time . since i am also reading - very slowly - boswell's "the life of samuel johnson" ; i think it's a fitting companion book .
hbg

Old Filth by Jane Gardam

This also touches on the British rule in the east McTag but in this case it focusses on "Raj orphans" children sent back to Britain (for schooling) at ridiculously young ages many of whom became permanently estranged from their families. Old Filth is the nickname of the main character, a lawyer, who was given the advice "Failed in London? Try Hong Kong". She's an excellent writer and I'm really enjoying it.

i just read "old filth" about a month ago - thoroughly enjoyed it !
i'm kind of fond of english writers - hope you enjoy reading it TC !
hbg

I like British writers too, hamburger, especially mystery writers. It's partly the anglophile in me -- I love all the background stuff -- geography, fashion, even food shopping.

Just finished reading Dress Your Family in Courdory and Denim by David Sedaris. It's my third of his, and I tell you, I never get tired of being in his unique mind for a while.

Now I'm on to Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto.

Just finished Exit Wounds by John Westermann, part of the Soho Press Mystery/fiction series. As I keep mentioning, I at least appreciate and often enjoy anything they publish.

Am about halfway through the short stories in The Country of Marriage by Anthony Giardina. I don't care what he writes in the last half, I so much have fallen in the spell of the first stories.

Have also started Perfect Skin by Nick Earls. So far so good.




The Country of Marriage, Anthony Giardina

Perfect Skin, Nick Earls

Exit Wounds, John Westermann



(I like Sedaris too, Shazzer..)

Yea, David Sedaris!

Chez Panisse Fruits by Alice Waters

I'm not kidding. I've had this book for some time and, as I had to work the day shift at the gift shop yesterday, I took this for a change of pace and read all the heading sections about the fruits themselves. I recommend it to anyone interested in the environment, in consumer choice and, of course, in wonderful food.

America is the land of the frontier, the covered wagon, Route 66, the road west. To read Kerouac is to read a part of what America is, a rambling nation that has always sought the open road.

Literature must be taught with an eye toward history . . . a philosophy, although that is far too European for some! We can not divorce any piece of writing from the period in which it was written, although many writers transcend their period.

It may be that the open road, looping the purple moors . . . sorry! wrong era, wrong country and wrong continent . . . will become a thing of the past as we devolve into the creatures H. G. Wells wrote of in THe Time Machine. But, until then, let's keep an eye on who we are, where we came from and what makes us tick.

a great quote from bill hicks about the need to read

"I was in Nashville, Tennesee last year. After the show, I went to a waffle house. I'm not proud of it, I was hungry. And I'm eating, I'm alone and I'm reading a book, right? Waitress walks over to me: 'Hey, what you readin' for?' Is that like the weirdest f**king question you've ever heard? Not what am I reading, but what am I reading ... for. 'Well, God damn it, you stumped me. Why do I read? Hm ... I guess I read for a lot of reasons, and the main one is ... so I don't end up being a f**king waffle waitress.' But then, this trucker in the next booth gets up, stands over me and goes: 'Well, looks like we got ourselves a reader.' What the f**k's going on here? It's not like I walked into a Klan rally in a Boy George outfit, God damn it. It's a book!"

I ended up really liking Perfect Skin by Nick Earls.

The Beet Queen by Louise Erdrich

why'd it take me so long to pick this up from the reading stack? it really is engrossing. almost missed my bus stop coming home tonight.

Anna Quindlen's Loud and Clear

two books at once right now

"is tiny dancer really about elton's little john"
music's most enduring mysteries, myths and rumors revealed

and

"the mammoth book of how it happened"
eyewitness accounts of history in the making from 2000 bc to the present

Currently, I'm sating a penchant for history by reading No Better Place To Die by Peter Cozzens about the Civil War battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro). It's part of a three book series by the same author and I'm looking forward to reading the remaining two.

Just finished Thud! by Terry Pratchett. It's a mystery involving dwarves, trolls, vampires, werewolves, humans and things like humans. Very funny, though predictable. A good light read between courses.

I don't think that Thud is one of Pratchett's best books--but I don't think he wrote any bad ones.

Discworld is a very satisfactory sub-universe.

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

Ahhhhhh, Didion..




I'm reading Hotel Honolulu by Paul Theroux right now, like it so far. Well, I don't know about the book as a whole yet, but I like specific insights, specific paragraphs.

reading friedman's "the world is flat" - it's a little stilted at first imo ; it gets better in the second half of the book .
of course , mostly it's stuff we are aware of already ; he has just fleshed it out .

for bedtime reading it's : beryl cook - the bumper edition (beats friedman anytime ) - highly recommended by mrs h also .
hbg

a taste of beryl's "writing" :