What BOOK are you reading right now?

found the next one to read on the bookshelf <cough>stairs<cough>



too dangerous to read on public transit so it will have to be evenings only reading

It did. One that's pretty high up there on the spectrum.

I was reading a collection of pre 1952 short stories - Conrad Aiken, among others. But I picked up To Kill a Mockingbird, to reread, while Watchman is fresh in my mind.

Finished CARTOON COUNTY. Its a (sort of) biography of the fellowship and cartooning styles lives and of many of America's best known newspaper and comic strip cartoonists that worked in the "Golden Age " of Cartooning (1930's through the 1980's). Th thing was that all these cartoonists settld in Fairfield County Connecticut .
They all needed to be near their publishing houses and Cartoon "Bullpens" that were exclusively in New York .

Cullen Murphy wrote the book that focuses on his father, John Cullen Murphy who penned "Big Ben Bolt' and "Prince Valiant" (after Valiants creator Hal Foster wanted to retire) .
ANy appreciator of the art of cartooning will love this work. It delves into the stylistic tricks used by all the greats,as well as their demonstration that they were motly just a bunch of big Kids.One example is the time Al Capp (lil Abner) and Ham Fischer (Joe Palooka) became embroiled in a huge fight that resulted in civil and almost criminal charges nd counter charges. The fight required the Cartoonist guild to create a charge upon which Fischer a founding- member of the Guild was ejected from membership. He was ejected on a newly created charge. The charge "Conduct Unbecoming a Cartoonist" - became a "bit" that provided even more material to the remaining members for years.

Do you know those little things that cartoonists use to indicate intense feeling or denote an environment (like little beads of sweat emanating from the head of someone who is working hard at his desk?). All those thingys had names that were invented by Mort Walker (Hi and Lois). These things were called "Emanata". The beads of sweat ere called "PLEWDS" . The squiggly lines coming from a cup of hot coffee were called "INDOTHERMS" and the lines of aroma from an apple pie were called "WAFTAROMs". Obviously these were begun as inside jokes among the cartoonists but they actually became industry standards for instructions given to inking room minion who finished and polished cartoons for publication.

EDWARD, you especially will enjoy this one. It starts too slowly (like a telephone book , it has not much story to tell). Then it gets really interesting about midway through chapter 2

sounds great

sounds like something our library should carry

Right now? Neil Gaiman’s The View from the Cheap Seats, a pretty long book of essays and speeches.

after having this on the shelf for years, I've finally started



it's the size of a big brick, which is why I put off starting it - it's probably a book I should have loaded onto the Kindle instead of waiting to read the hard copy

it's fantastic so far

http://waynejohnston.ca/thecolonyofdreams.html

My "reading "of the new biography GRANT, was done as a B.O.T. It took me about 3 months to get through it because of its daunting length and detail. It was well worth it, now Ill look for a cc in a book sale so I can keep it as a reference

b.o.t.? book on tablet?

Books on Tape was/is an audiobook publisher. Probably that (cassette tapes and CDs).

they do streaming too but unless you listen all at once streaming can block up your car players. I prefer a CD in a car(bigger libraries also)

I'm currently reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey.

Not so long back I began a book titled "100 hair-raising little Horror Stories." I gave up on it after several tales. They just were not that good. Example: A man stomps some ants before entering his house and uses abusive language toward them at the same time. He then goes in the bathroom, which fills with a huge army of ants. He tells the ants, "All right. I will give you anything you want." He is next described as being in a food store, purchasing the largest container of corn syrup he can get.

Sounds similar to the campfire stories told at that summer camp I was shipped off to way back when.

Sped through Nimona by Noelle Stevenson in a day. Started Patti Smith's M Train memoir this morning.

Currently reading Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur on the Kindle app of my phone.

I just finished "Cutdown" by John A. Miller. It was an easy read and only took a few days. I am not a heavy or avid reader, but got sick of what was on T.V. Will probably tackle "Mayday" by Jonathan Lynn next.

I'm about to start re-reading God Emperor of Dune, which I first read more than 30 years ago (I think). I'm also currently re-reading Memoirs of the Confederate War for Independence by Heros von Borcke, a Prussian cavalry officer who went to great trouble to run the blockade into South Carolina, and then to join the Confederate States army. He's a tedious racist, repeating all the shop-worn bromides about lazy, shiftless blacks. He also knew far less about what was going on in the war than he seemed to think he did. But his is a primary source, and one of the few first-hand accounts of what the French call la petite guerre, the "little war," the war of posts between armies in which the cavalry attempts to discover what the enemy is doing, and to prevent the enemy from discovering what their army is up to.

Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. I don't know why but I was really hesitant to pick up this book even though it was highly recommended. Maybe I thought that a domestic narrative by a butler might be somewhat boring. But it hooked me from the start. The language is precise, the descriptions beautiful, the pace perfect, and the psychology fascinating. Call me an Anglophile but I'm really loving this book.

To me? Most of his books in summary wouldn't appeal to me. But I loved each and everyone I've read so far.

Never Let Me Go is a great work of science fiction but the science is so far into the background, it's like wallpaper... hardly noticeable. Yet, it's still the foundation of the novel. This one had the best chance of appealing to me... which probably helped that it was his first book I read.

When We Were Orphans is an unorthodox mystery that transcended its coming of age in period Shanghai framework.

I'll get around to Remains of the Day but since it's relatively short, I won't get in on audiobook (as the other two I've read) and will likely get it in paperback.