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Books you are reading - part 2

Does anyone have recommendations?

by Anonymousreply 307May 14, 2018 1:54 AM

Haruki Murakami - The WindUp Bird Chronicle

by Anonymousreply 1December 12, 2012 11:13 AM

The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust

by Anonymousreply 2December 12, 2012 1:21 PM

A Good American by Alex George

by Anonymousreply 3December 12, 2012 1:35 PM

Please let us know a bit about the book. Is it fiction or non-fiction? Why did you love or hate it? Why do you recommend it?

by Anonymousreply 4December 12, 2012 2:01 PM

.

by Anonymousreply 5December 13, 2012 12:54 AM

Breakfast at Tiffany's.

I've never read anything by Capote and I didn't want to read In Cold Blood. It seems quite different from the movie version. I was shocked to see a Blacks referred to by the N word, and an Asian man referred to as a Jap.

On the other extreme, Holly Golightly makes light of lesbian relationships and suggests that people should be allowed to marry whomever they wish, regardless of gender.

by Anonymousreply 6December 13, 2012 1:04 AM

Check out "The Wicked Education of Henry Holliday"...

It's a fun read - perfect for the "holidays" - and available on Amazon.com.

by Anonymousreply 7December 13, 2012 1:15 AM

I have that Murakami book on my To-Read pile, R1.

These days, besides "Gillespie and I" (which I mentioned in the previous thread), I'm tackling Christopher Hitchens' essay collection "Love, Poverty, and War" - highly recommended!

by Anonymousreply 8December 13, 2012 2:00 AM

"Wolf Hall"...about Thomas Cromwell and his service to King Henry. A rough read, tons of detail but I am finding it hard to get into it. Let's just say it's not a "can't-wait-to-get-back-to-it" book.

by Anonymousreply 9December 13, 2012 2:05 AM

r9 if it's any consolation, I couldn't get past about 100 pages of Wolf Hall. I really don't get the fuss on that one.

by Anonymousreply 10December 13, 2012 2:09 AM

In response to R600 on the other thread, David Foster Wallace was well-regarded long before his suicide. It definitely wasn't a case of unwarranted lionization based on a tragic event. One example: in 2005, three years before his suicide, Time included INFINITE JEST in its list of the 100 best English language novels since 1923.

by Anonymousreply 11December 13, 2012 2:13 AM

More?

by Anonymousreply 12December 15, 2012 5:56 PM

The Wonder Boys. Sadly, I saw the movie (which I loved). But I am still enjoying the book, even though I can't read it without constantly being reminded of the corresponding scenes in the movie.

by Anonymousreply 13December 15, 2012 6:27 PM

"Check out "The Wicked Education of Henry Holliday"..."

Spare yourself. After repeated postings praising it, I broke down & bought it. I can only assume the author is the person recommending it--it gives fiction a bad name.

by Anonymousreply 14December 15, 2012 6:33 PM

"Former People - The Final Days of the Russian Aristocracy" by Douglas Smith. Very interesting account of the Russian Revolution. This would probably be a good book for the 1% to read.

by Anonymousreply 15December 16, 2012 7:35 AM

A Perfect Time for Pandas

by Anonymousreply 16December 16, 2012 8:07 AM

Like half the nation, I recently finished Gone Girl. It's the best non literary fiction book I've read in a long time. Tight, tight writing, great premise. You could tell the Gillian Flynn enjoyed the hell out of writing it.

Now I'm reading Handmaid's Tale by M. Atwood. It's one of those books I've been meaning to read forever and am finally getting around to it.

by Anonymousreply 17December 16, 2012 8:11 AM

The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

When did referring directly to the reader go out of style? In a lot of older novels the author usually says something like "If It pleases the reader, let us now imagine...".

by Anonymousreply 18December 16, 2012 8:57 AM

Lorrie Moore's recent A Gate at the Stairs has a brilliant update of 'Reader, I married him.'

by Anonymousreply 19December 16, 2012 12:17 PM

Roget's Thesaurus

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 20December 16, 2012 12:32 PM

R19 --

That Lorrie Moore book has been on my TBR pile for a while, so may work it in soon - thanks for the info!

by Anonymousreply 21December 17, 2012 2:33 AM

"Terry: My Daughter's Life and Death Struggle with Alcoholism" by George McGovern. I had meant to read it for a while and I picked it up after his recent death. It recounts how he and his family coped with their daughter's drinking problem. She was talented, loved and attractive, yet ended up freezing to death one winter night.

by Anonymousreply 22December 17, 2012 2:58 AM

I recently finished the first book in a mystery series set in Southampton, NY - "The Last Refuge" by Chris Knopf. While the protagonist himself is straight, he's a loner whose (essentially) only friend is a very wealthy, gay attorney. Some nasty violence, and I didn't really "get" the attraction for the woman who becomes Sam's gf in the series, but I'm interested in reading the next book; Sam himself is NOT wealthy at all, living in a modest house his dad built after World War II.

by Anonymousreply 23December 20, 2012 3:09 AM

Dr. Mary's Monkey by Hasslam. It's time I caught up and got in front of the latest conspiracy theories!

by Anonymousreply 24December 20, 2012 6:06 PM

Christmas reading bump

by Anonymousreply 25December 25, 2012 11:15 AM

Manhattan White Pages. I'm up to page 585.

by Anonymousreply 26December 25, 2012 12:22 PM

The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall

by Anonymousreply 27December 25, 2012 1:02 PM

Just finished the new John Irving novel IN ONE PERSON. The main character is bisexual and also like trannies. Wasn't my favorite Irving novel but still worth a read.

by Anonymousreply 28December 25, 2012 1:07 PM

I just received Jaron Lanier's "You Are Not A Gadget" via Amazon.

It was published in 2010, but warns against social media's hive-mind mentality and the internet's destruction of the middle class.

by Anonymousreply 29December 25, 2012 1:21 PM

I'm working on Traci Foust's memoir "Nowhere Near Normal" about her life with OCD. I feel sorry for her family having had to deal with some of her crazy shit; they finally can't take it, so she's sent off to live at the nursing home her grandmother manages.

Also finishing up the second Sam Acquillo murder mystery "Take Two", set in the Hamptons, where he's a longtime resident of modest means among the snoots. Better than the first one, although the occasional violence I find a bit graphic. Sam's a loner, with a gay "best friend" who's a very wealthy genius attorney, as well as a straight female (non-romantic) sidekick, who's a hoot, and later gets her own spinoff books. There's a romantic angle introduced that I found awkward, but luckily the author doesn't write sex scenes, so that's implied offstage.

by Anonymousreply 30December 25, 2012 4:39 PM

I loved Wolf Hall & Bring up the Bodies...once you get the language, they flow beautifully, I thought.

I wondered what made them so page-turning, and it occurred to me they're like Harry Potter for adults...but about Voldemort.

by Anonymousreply 31December 25, 2012 4:56 PM

Just bought Ian McEwan's latest novel Sweet Tooth.

Can't wait to begin it but I'm currently in the middle of Thomas Hardy's Return of the Native. Last year's favorite book was his Mayor of Casterbridge.

by Anonymousreply 32December 25, 2012 5:26 PM

Kitty Kelley's Unauthorized Biography of Nancy Reagan. Wow. A very entertaining eye opener.

by Anonymousreply 33December 25, 2012 5:36 PM

R23, I'm always on the lookout for mysteries. But when I checked it out on Amazon, it only had 15 reviews, mostly high-star. That is a dead giveaway to the self-published novel, with reviews written by friends. I fell for one of those and it was really crap. So I put a 2 star review on and the friends all attacked me.

The good news about your mystery, though, is that it has a review from Publishers Weekly and Book List, so that makes it legitimate to me. You might want to write a review on Amazon, R23, if you liked it. Even if I don't get the book from there, I always check the reviews. I'll be reading this book and thanks.

by Anonymousreply 34December 25, 2012 5:41 PM

Thanks, r11. You took the words right out of my mouth. Wallace's death was such a shock partly because he was so highly regarded.

Reading Anthony Burgess' Earthly Powers, based on Somerset Maugham and Lee Child's thriller The Enemy, because I need the contrast.

Just read and Loved Toibin's Last Testament of Mary.

by Anonymousreply 35December 25, 2012 5:48 PM

R34 -- if you don't really care for the first Sam Acquillo mystery, I found the second one easier to get into, but you need the first one for the backstory. I listen to them as audiobooks; Amazon tell you the name of the publisher!

by Anonymousreply 36December 25, 2012 6:14 PM

I read part of that, R33 and, after awhile it was too depressing to finish. I have found that Kitty Kelley's books have the evidence to back them up, but are slanted on the hate side. And I mean all of her books. Any of you have enemies. Think about a book written about you that included some standard stuff, but had a lot of input from your enemies. Yes, they'd be talking about things that really happened, but their view of them is skewed. Now take a famous person and there are more enemies and jealous people around them. Those are the sources for her books.

by Anonymousreply 37December 25, 2012 6:53 PM

r35 please tell us a little more about Toibin's latest book about Mary.

I loved his Brooklyn and The Master. Have you read them? How did this latest one compare?

by Anonymousreply 38December 25, 2012 8:15 PM

Love it that R1 was Wind-up Bird Chronicle...Murakami isn't to everyone's taste but if you like him, I can't recommend 1Q84 highly enough. Don't be daunted by the length...you will wish it was longer. Unless you aren't a Murakami fan, in which case you will hate it.

by Anonymousreply 39December 25, 2012 9:05 PM

r38, I loved those Toibin books, too. This is a novella, a mere 81+ pages, narrated by Mary, who is a skeptical, observant woman not at all convinced Jesus was the son of God. She hates the zealotry of his followers, is afraid of his enemies, and tells her side of what happened at the Crucifixion. Her rendering of the death and resurrection of Lazarus is beautiful and haunting and scary. It was done as a one-woman theater piece in the UK and is supposedly coming to B'way next year starring Fiona Shaw, who would be perfect. A must-read for Toibin fans, who I think is one of our greatest living writers.

by Anonymousreply 40December 25, 2012 9:36 PM

Dick Cavett's latest. He's the only guy from Nebraska I've heard of who uses the word "shan't" in conversation. He's good though.

by Anonymousreply 41December 26, 2012 12:26 AM

When you post the novel you recommend, could you also say why you recommend it? Yes, I can google it, but I feel a lot more inclined to look up the title if you can tell why the book is fascinating. Thanks guys.

by Anonymousreply 42December 26, 2012 12:49 AM

The Hive by Charles Burns (graphic novel)

and London Particular by Christianna Brand because I am interested in the English "Golden Age" detective story.

by Anonymousreply 43December 26, 2012 12:53 AM

I just finished Sweet Tooth, which is now my favorite Ian McEwan novel.

by Anonymousreply 44December 26, 2012 1:03 AM

Are Murakami's books all about people who are dead inside?

by Anonymousreply 45December 26, 2012 1:05 AM

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is pretty fabulous. It was a sensation this year, and rightly so. It is ambitious and a lot of different things but above all a very sharp thriller and a terrific character study.

by Anonymousreply 46December 26, 2012 1:18 AM

Shadow Tag, by Louise Erdrich. A woman discovers her husband is reading her journal, so she fabricates entries in the fake one while writing in another kept in a bank lockbox. I've only started, but it's totally heartbreaking and merciless.

by Anonymousreply 47December 26, 2012 1:27 AM

Agree with R40, the Gospel of Mary was a very good book and gave an interesting perspective - Jesus as this religious zealot that his mother doesn't understand and his followers (who she considers losers) don't have his back, but try to re-write history after he dies a martyr's death.

Just got done reading "Code Name Verity" - it's actually young adult fiction (yes, a kid's book) but it's a very good book and a pretty quick read. I never read anything that smart or sophisticated when I was in high school!

by Anonymousreply 48January 1, 2013 12:00 AM

r41, I agree that some of the best fiction today is for younger readers, among them the Phillip Pullmann books and John Green's The Fault in Our Stars. So much better than when I was a kid.

by Anonymousreply 49January 1, 2013 12:37 AM

The Woods by Tana French

by Anonymousreply 50January 1, 2013 12:44 AM

White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

A driver in Delhi kills his employer and uses his money to start a great new life in Bangalore.

by Anonymousreply 51January 1, 2013 2:29 AM

"Winston Link: Life Along the Line." I am a fan of his photography.

by Anonymousreply 52January 1, 2013 9:39 AM

Is White Tiger fiction r51?

by Anonymousreply 53January 1, 2013 12:26 PM

1. THE HOUR I FIRST BELIEVED by Wally Lamb (the best book I read last year and now one of my all-time favorites). 2. IN ONE PERSON by John Irving 3. WATER FOR ELEPHANTS by Sara Gruen 4. BERTRAM COPE'S YEAR by Henry Blake Fuller 5. DROPPED NAMES by Frank Langella 6. HOT SEAT by Frank Rich 7. MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN by Ransome Riggs (another one that zoomed up to one of my all-time favorites). 8. A SEA OF WHITE IMPATIENS by Loren McLeod 9. WISHIN' AND HOPIN' by Wally Lamb (I cannot remember a book that has caused me to laugh out loud as much)

by Anonymousreply 54January 1, 2013 2:55 PM

"The High Window"--Raymond Chandler. Love those mean streets of LA

by Anonymousreply 55January 17, 2013 10:19 PM

Sir Thomas More. Utopia.

by Anonymousreply 56January 17, 2013 10:23 PM

Wally Lamb?

by Anonymousreply 57January 17, 2013 10:50 PM

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson

by Anonymousreply 58January 17, 2013 10:54 PM

Heads in Beds, Bruce (Springsteen), and Brain on Fire.

by Anonymousreply 59January 18, 2013 12:24 AM

I am proud to say that I am right now reading WAR & Peace.

Currently on Book Four...

by Anonymousreply 60January 18, 2013 1:52 AM

Touching My Father's Soul: A Sherpa's Journey to the Top of Everest. Jamling T. Norgay

Thanks to the Dead Bodies on Mt. Everest, I went to my local library and looked up any book. I have a few on hold but this one was on the shelf. I only read about 50 pages of the first chapter. Norgay climbed the '96 expedition and is the son of a sherpa. First thing that got my attention was before the expedition, Norgay sought the blessing of a priest or monk (don't remember book in the car and it's cold out) about the impending expedition. These monks or priests are often asked to bless or fortell any bad luck regarding an expedition. The monk/priest told Norgay the expedition was doomed.

by Anonymousreply 61January 18, 2013 3:49 AM

Over Christmas we watched the Oliver Stone movie Alexander, and it pissed me off so much, that I wanted to go back & re-read the Mary Renault trilogy.

I've finished Fire From Heaven, The Persian Boy, and I am now in the midst of Funeral Games, and I have to say that his is the saddest story I'be ever read in History.

Historical novels are a passion of mine, and Alexander is a particular favorite. I hadn't read these in 20 yrs. They still have such power, and evoke such emotions, that it lingers, it stays with you, and you feel the loss and the pain.

by Anonymousreply 62January 19, 2013 1:18 PM

I'm listening to Gillian Flynn's "Gone Girl" -- everyone has an opinion on it, so I wanted to see what it's all about. Great narration, but man does she ever write creepy characters!

by Anonymousreply 63January 19, 2013 3:47 PM

I am about to begin Ian McEwan's latest Sweet Tooth.

Has anyone read it? Am I in for a good read?

by Anonymousreply 64January 19, 2013 8:56 PM

I read the 1980 Fodor's guide to Israel. Wow. Best Fodor's I ever saw. They just don't "write" travel books anymore, they "produce" them.

by Anonymousreply 65January 20, 2013 3:18 AM

Currenty reading the third in a five book series by Patricia Highsmith. I saw the film The Talented Mr.Ripley years ago, which was based on the first title.

The series follows a sociopath, Tom Ripley, through a few murders and crimes while he lives comfortably in society. Highsmith renders him somewhat sympathetically while never avoiding his amoral nature. In fact he seems to have morals at odd times. Very engrossing.

The Talented Mr. Ripley Ripley's Game Ripley Under Ground The Boy Who followed Ripley Ripley Under Water

by Anonymousreply 66January 20, 2013 3:47 AM

I feel Datalounge misled me in getting me to pick up "Canada" by Richard Ford.

by Anonymousreply 67January 20, 2013 3:55 AM

I'm on a Barbara Pym kick. "Excellent Women" and "Quartet in Autumn" are my favorites so far.

by Anonymousreply 68January 20, 2013 4:26 AM

I'm the poster who's going to Mexico City in a few months, so I'm reading "La Capital: The Biography of Mexico City" (1990) by Jonathan Kandell. I'm just past the Spanish conquest and the death of Hernan Cortes and it's fascinating.

by Anonymousreply 69January 20, 2013 4:33 AM

Barbara Pym is the best! I read all of her books as they were republished in the 1980s and just recently picked up Excellent Women for a reread. I was not disappointed.

I wonder why none of her books have ever been filmed for British TV?

by Anonymousreply 70January 20, 2013 12:34 PM

R70, Quartet in Autumn and Excellent Women would be good for British TV especially Quartet because it has four roles for older actors and they're on every street corner in Britain.

by Anonymousreply 71January 20, 2013 1:04 PM

Listening to audio of Pym's books, I'm sent into paroxysms of giggles over her character Everhard Bone!

by Anonymousreply 72January 20, 2013 4:47 PM

Finished Sliver by Ira Levin yesterday. Definitely not his best work, but a pageturner nonetheless - read it in one sitting. Good bit of easy reading after having read Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Now onto Les Miserables. Then back to some more Ira Levin. Any fans here?

by Anonymousreply 73January 20, 2013 5:08 PM

Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T. E. Lawrence. Dude did not know how to write good gay porn.

by Anonymousreply 74January 20, 2013 5:15 PM

Much of the humor in Pym is in the internal voices of the characters and narrators. Hard to capture in a screenplay. I agree that her novels are wonderful.

by Anonymousreply 75January 20, 2013 5:22 PM

Loved Levin's A Kiss Before Dying, Boys From Brazil and, of course, Rosemary's Baby but haven't read any of his others.

Are there others besides Sliver?

by Anonymousreply 76January 20, 2013 6:19 PM

It's mentioned in another thread, but thought I'd ask here among the bookworms whether you folks download library audio and ebooks like I do?

by Anonymousreply 77January 20, 2013 7:13 PM

I just finished Thomas Mallon's WATERGATE and thought it was great. I highly recommend it.

by Anonymousreply 78January 20, 2013 7:14 PM

Love Thomas Mallon! Henry and Clara especially, and Dewey Defeats Truman. He's gay, too.

by Anonymousreply 79January 22, 2013 10:04 AM

Thomas Mallon's Bandbox is also a fun read, much lighter than his other books.

I enjoyed his Fellow Traveler (about McCarthyism) and Dewey Defeats Truman but with my sadly lacking knowledge of political history, I was sometimes a bit confused by the storylines wrapped around those eras.

by Anonymousreply 80January 22, 2013 12:35 PM

R1, that is one of my favorite books of all time. Incredibly original and just an incredibly rich reading experience. Enjoy!

by Anonymousreply 81January 22, 2013 1:24 PM

I'm struggling to get through 'Freedom' by Jonathan Franzen, which surprised me because I really loved 'The Corrections,' and his collections of essays. But I hate the main character in this one soooooooooo much, it's like flames on the side of my face.

Does it get any better? Like, do we switch pov's to someone else at any point? I might drop it if it doesn't perk up in the next 20 pages.

I just finished 'Gone Girl' by Gillian Flynn and absolutely loved most of it, but found the ending not as clever as the rest of it.

by Anonymousreply 82January 24, 2013 11:27 PM

Has anyone read the Patrick Melrose novels by Edward St. Aubyn? I keep reading about the series since the latest one came out. Is it worth starting from the beginning and reading all of them?

by Anonymousreply 83January 24, 2013 11:32 PM

Carole King's autobiography. It's pretty good so far! She could have really trashed on Gerry Goffin, but she took the high road.

by Anonymousreply 84January 24, 2013 11:35 PM

R82, you and I may simply not agree on books. I liked FREEDOM so much more than I did THE CORRECTIONS (I could not stand Enid, mostly). So, of course, I think it gets better.

AFAIC, Gillian Flynn owes me whatever I paid for that POS called GONE GIRL, plus the hours it took me to read it. The only thing that saved it for me was picturing David Walton as the male lead (whose name, thankfully, I no longer remember). It may be the worst book I've ever read.

Now, are you going to finish FREEDOM?

by Anonymousreply 85January 24, 2013 11:36 PM

I liked THE CORRECTIONS overall (though I had many criticisms of it), but FREEDOM was so terrible I couldn't finish it.

by Anonymousreply 86January 24, 2013 11:38 PM

For me, both of Franzen's books had intermittently brilliant and then dull chapters/passages, very much based on characters I liked or didn't. But I ultimately felt both books were worth finishing and were very satisfying reads.

If any Franzen fans care, you may be interested to know that HBO shot a pilot for a miniseries of The Corrections but then decided not to pursue it and even the pilot will not air.

I tried reading the Patrick Melrose novels and read the first four but found the characters simply just too morally corrupt for my my refined tastes. I don't get why people love those books at all.

by Anonymousreply 87January 25, 2013 1:35 AM

r87: Completely agree with you about the Franzen books. The Corrections had several brilliantly funny chapters in the beginning of the book. Thought Freedom became a bit tedious as it went along, but certainly both were worth finishing.

Thanks for the Patrick Melrose tip. That's what I was wondering about. Why the hype, do you think? They sound quite gruesome.

by Anonymousreply 88January 25, 2013 2:23 AM

Thanks, R85, I'll take your advice and keep with it.

I enjoy Franzen's writing style, but yeah, he can create some pretty obnoxious characters. Patty is an embodiment of everything I despise in a lot of women. I just want to get out of her thoughts. She flat out makes me angry. I'm hoping we get more of Joey's story from his p-o-v.

For me, Flynn's book was more about her commentary on our perceptions in marriage and media, and how the literary world is shrinking every day. The plot was almost beside the point.

by Anonymousreply 89January 25, 2013 3:24 AM

Those having problems with Wolf Hall, i had the same thing initially but after a while you lock into the strange punctuation and (mis)use of pronouns, and i absolutely loved it by the end.

Also recently read the Wind Up Bird Chronicles - an interesting read. I found it worthwhile but not a book i would rush to recommend.

Just finished The Hare With Amber Eyes - real-life account of renowned potter Edmund de Waal's family history. First chapter was underwhelming but then it just becomes this fascinating and beautifully written family story spanning around 150 years.

by Anonymousreply 90January 25, 2013 4:00 AM

I've read 3 of the five St. Aubyn novels. They're well-regarded because they're astringent, funny, and beautifully written. If you're looking for warm and fuzzy and "characters I can relate to," then they're not for you. But they're destined, I think, to be modern classics, and I suspect many DL posters would relish the chilly bitchiness that suffuses the pages. One scene about Princess Margaret attending a dinner party is great and treats hr like the over-privileged dumb bunny she was.

by Anonymousreply 91January 25, 2013 10:24 AM

Re: St Aubyn. I've read the Melrose quintet with admiration, and would read them again. (For one thing I read them out of sequence, number three proving elusive.)

St Aubyn observes sharply, and evokes an unlovely slice of upper-middle class English life. Idealised it isn't: the author is an insider, and as the books imply, a survivor of his harsh 'privileged' milieu.

His range is narrower than Waugh, but the social barbarism of say 'A Handful of Dust' is still very evident. As you'd expect, the sex and snobbery are more overt. Book two explores New York, high and low.

The reader (like the author) doesn't want anything to do with the characters, but observing them has a dark fascination, and some laughs.

by Anonymousreply 92January 25, 2013 11:14 AM

R90, my problem with Wolf Hall is mainly due to the format I'm reading. I bought the paperback for 25 cents at the local thrift store. I enjoy the writing, Mantel is clearly talented. But the paperback print really affects my enjoyment of the story. But I'm too cheap to buy the e-book and unfortunately, Overdrive doesn't carry any of Mantel's books in e-book format. And the audiobooks are in WMA format only which doesn't work on either my phone or mp3 player. I'm about 1/2 through the book but set it aside for Cloud Atlas which was available from Overdrive in epub.

Thanks to all who recommended Cloud Atlas. What a fantastic read. David Mitchell really has a great knack for bringing the narrators to life. I loved all of the main characters, even those who annoyed me initially. But as the story went on, I really began to identify with and care about them. There are some really funny moments and there are some very exciting and tense passages. I haven't seen the movie but I hope those moments were captured well on screen. For those who have seen the movie--is it worth watching? It seems to have garnered very mixed reviews.

And are other David Mitchell books just as good as CA? Or close enough to warrant reading?

by Anonymousreply 93January 25, 2013 2:08 PM

Mitchell's Black Swan Green is miles apart from CA, but as wonderful. The coming-of-age of a young English boy. Ghostwritten s great, too. Haven't read his others yet. But I will. He's the real deal.

by Anonymousreply 94January 25, 2013 7:19 PM

Rachel Maddow - Drift

by Anonymousreply 95January 25, 2013 7:20 PM

Thanks R94, both those books are available on Overdrive and I have them on my Wish list. I'll get to them once I finish Wolf Hall...

by Anonymousreply 96January 25, 2013 8:00 PM

I had Ghostwritten on my Overdrive wishlist already, so perhaps I'll move it up on the TBR list.

by Anonymousreply 97January 25, 2013 8:55 PM

Just fiished War and Peace, Before that read Anna Karenina and Crime and Punishment.

Now onto The Dead Souls.. then Lolita...

by Anonymousreply 98January 26, 2013 1:05 AM

I have a long list of books I hope to read this year.

I'm starting with a novel, The Forgiven, by Lawrence Osborne. English couple are driving to an international jet set party hosted by a gay couple in the Moroccan desert. Husband and wife argue, he's had too much to drink, the car accidentally hits and kills a young Moroccan man. Complications ensue. Almost done, and very good.

by Anonymousreply 99January 26, 2013 1:17 AM

Just read HOME, Toni Morrison's new book. Amazing! Just under 150 pages, but has everything you expect from TM at her best.

by Anonymousreply 100January 26, 2013 1:27 AM

Just finished Jo Nesbo's latest Harry Hole thriller, Phantom. Loved it, but so dark!

by Anonymousreply 101January 26, 2013 1:37 AM

Just finished GONE GIRL -- hated the ending, had a hard time suspending disbelief enough that the villain was that clever in foolproofing all those plans, and have NO INTEREST in any sequel. Still, for those who are curious as to what it's all about, I'd recommend reading to get it out of your system. Hope that idiot Nancy Grace is royally pissed off at Flynn's skewering of her!

R85 -- I had a tough time believing that the husband wasn't bisexual, and absolutely could NOT buy the prissy rich St. Louis guy as straight!

by Anonymousreply 102January 26, 2013 1:38 AM

r91/92: Thanks to you both. Sounds like St. Aubyn is for me after all. Probably nothing like Alan Hollinghurst (he's not really a comic novelist) but the insider take on the upper clawsses reminds me a little of his earlier novels, especially perhaps "The Line of Beauty" and even his first "The Swimming Pool Library."

By the way, I recommend all AH's novels up through "A Stranger's Child," which I left halfway.

I read "Handful of Dust" years ago but remember it was very funny.

by Anonymousreply 103January 26, 2013 3:29 AM

I read the ridiculously overhyped Gone Girl a while ago. It was totally unbelievable and a waste of time. I cant believe so many people have praised this mess.

I read recently the Denmark mystery The Keeper of Lost Causes (it's called Mercy in the UK) which was very good.

I read a lot of mystery/thrillers and I've noticed that most of the modern ones will throw in at least one walk in Gay or lesbian character.

I'm currently reading a Thai mystery called Grandad, There's a head on the beach. The main character has a (flamboyant) gay friend who's a cop and in addition has a transexual (beauty queen) sister. This may turn out to be one of those overly quirky books but I like the diversity trend going on.

by Anonymousreply 104January 26, 2013 4:47 AM

R104, the audio narration of GONE GIRL is really, really well done! As another reviewer put it, "I loved the first 16 hours, the last three - NO!" It's fairly suspenseful, and who wouldn't like the trashing Nancy Grace got?

I tried the first of those Thai books, but the tranny sibling was a huge internet fraud character, and all around creepy, turned me completely off the book! If you want books with a good gay secondary character, try the Sam Acquillo mysteries by Chris Knopf, set in Southampton, NY.

by Anonymousreply 105January 26, 2013 4:57 AM

R105, I didn't read the first book but she says she's giving up her life of internet crime in this one.

I'll check out the Knopf books.

by Anonymousreply 106January 26, 2013 5:23 AM

r48 I know the author of Codename Verity - how cool you liked it!

I just read Gone Girl and actually enjoyed it but for the ending...

by Anonymousreply 107January 26, 2013 5:25 AM

I wonder what Flynn thinks of so many readers HATING her ending? I mean c'mon ... Nick behaves like a real jerk much of the time, but still ...

by Anonymousreply 108January 26, 2013 5:41 AM

My problem with Gone Girl is that it's totally ludicrous. There's no rooting interest as the characters are all unlikable so there's not much to keep you going.

The female character made tons of mistakes. There are at least 2 witnesses left alive. The timeline doesn't fit. The person accused of the crime lived in a different town and probably had an alibi as well. They also never once entered the crime scene residence so their DNA was never there and the evidence collected would never, ever match them. It would actually be a quite simple case to resolve.

A book that relies on the cops being total idiots and the criminal the most cleverest person alive usually sucks as this one does.

As for Flynn, I'm sure she's perfectly happy. There are lots of people praising her book and it's probably going to be a movie soon somewhere.

by Anonymousreply 109January 26, 2013 5:57 AM

r109 it is and she's writing the screenplay!

by Anonymousreply 110January 26, 2013 9:25 AM

I started and have almost finished [italic]Someday This Pain Will be Useful to You[/italic] by Peter Cameron. It's supposedly a young adult book, but seems a bit more adult than young, and it's not too bad overall. Close to [italic]The Catcher in the Rye[/italic] in form and tone. A little...much in places but short and it moves quickly, so 3.5/5.

by Anonymousreply 111January 26, 2013 9:48 AM

The two Stalin biographies by Simon Sebag Montefiore. I couldn't put it away. It's so informative, full of the most hilarious and vile anecdotes and very very well written

by Anonymousreply 112January 26, 2013 9:57 AM

Love Peter Cameron, too, and his latest, Coral Glynn, is very different from his others, a kind of Barbara Pym pastiche. Recommended.

I agree that Alan Hollinghurst's Stranger's Child is a bit of tough sledding, but totally worth it for me. I think he's one of the great prose stylists of our time.

by Anonymousreply 113January 26, 2013 10:58 AM

Love Cameron. His best are Weekend, Someday This Pain, and City of Your Final Destination.

Currently reading Truth in Advertising. Laugh out loud funny at times and rather poignant at others.

by Anonymousreply 114January 26, 2013 11:40 AM

I bought [italic]Someday this Pain will be Useful to You[/italic] and [italic]City of your Final Destination[/italic] together (one was used, one was in Amazon's bargain bin) and I'll start the other as soon as I'm done with [italic]Someday[/italic].

I'm the reader from the first BYAR thread who has been struggling with [italic]Infinite Jest[/italic] for months; I decided to shelf it for a while and read some other things.

Hollinghust. I have a copy of [italic]The Spell[/italic] with me. It's very short but every time I crack it open I find my attention drifting by the second paragraph. I haven't made it past the first page yet! I (generally) loved [italic]The Line of Beauty[/italic], so I expect I just need to plow through the slow beginning to find the good part.

by Anonymousreply 115January 26, 2013 11:56 AM

I, for one, thought Hollighurst's Stranger's Child was the best of his 3 major books.

The problem for me with St. Aubyn is I found NO humor in the Melrose books.

by Anonymousreply 116January 26, 2013 12:50 PM

Just finished reading "Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter", by Tom Franklin and loved it.

The story takes place in the 70's in rural Mississippi and Franklin brings his characters to life. Highly recommend this one.

by Anonymousreply 117January 26, 2013 1:36 PM

I thoroughly enjoyed Gone Girl (OK not the ending, but at least it was different).

I also really enjoyed "Crooked Letter."

by Anonymousreply 118January 26, 2013 1:50 PM

I listened to the audiobook of Coral Glynn, which was interesting, though a bit slight.

I tried listening to a gay mystery Fingering the Family Jewels, but the story is SO bad I'm going to ask Audible for my credit back!

by Anonymousreply 119January 26, 2013 3:57 PM

Currently on a fantasy kick, but still pretty new to the genre. I'm reading Patrick Rothfuss's "The Name of the Wind". A friend recommended his books to me, along with those of Steven Erikson, to tide me over until the next installment in the Game of Thrones series comes out.

by Anonymousreply 120January 26, 2013 5:37 PM

r115, The Spell is for me the least of his books, so you're not alone.

by Anonymousreply 121January 26, 2013 7:07 PM

Just started All This and Heaven, Too by Rachel Field.

It was a huge bestselling novel in the 1930s and recounts the true story and scandalous trial of a mid-Victorian French governess accused of murder. I bought the very handsome new paperback edition just recently reissued.

Bette Davis played the heroine in a much admired Warners film in 1938.

The author was the actual granddaughter of the portrayed heroine. It's an intelligent page-turner with highly evocative descriptions of the period....kind of a combination of Trollope and Wharton.

by Anonymousreply 122February 3, 2013 2:15 PM

The Year of Magical Thinking--so I didn't rush to read it, mostly because I'm not a Didion fan. However, it is much better than I anticipated, although I cannot imagine life with Joan--part of me keeps thinking that she gave John Gregory Dunne heart trouble.

by Anonymousreply 123February 3, 2013 2:16 PM

I just finished HHh by Laurent Binet. It's a fictionalised account of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich and, once I got used to Binet's style, was an excellent read.

I'm going to move on to Quiet by Susan Cain next.

by Anonymousreply 124February 3, 2013 2:37 PM

R123 - I read both that one, and "Blue Nights" about the loss of her daughter. Joan sure had one hell of an entitlement complex!

by Anonymousreply 125February 3, 2013 6:20 PM

A Judy Garland bio called The Other Side of the Rainbow. It's horribly written.

by Anonymousreply 126February 4, 2013 4:08 AM

I started a Joan Didion book recently. Something about a river in the title. I got about 30 pages in and found that I couldn't care less about the characters, so I ditched it.

by Anonymousreply 127February 4, 2013 6:29 AM

For R85,

I wanted to let you know that not only did I finish 'Freedom', but that, like you, I loved it even more than 'The Corrections'.

Perhaps it was due to me feeling somewhat wistful and depressed lately, but by the time I'd reached the end of the novel, I'd found the Berglunds' story unbelievably poignant and profoundly moving.

Thanks for telling me to keep reading. Now, I'm debating whether I should pick up Roberto Bolano's '2666' next or something a bit lighthearted.

by Anonymousreply 128February 4, 2013 11:28 PM

I am reading Packing for Mars by Mary Roach. It is a nonfiction book about space travel and astronaut training. I had to stop reading it at lunch when she started writing about vomiting and hygiene (the lack thereof) in zero gravity. Gag me.

by Anonymousreply 129February 4, 2013 11:48 PM

I have been feasting on Larry McMurtry's Thalia series. The series begins with "The Last Picture Show." The latest entry is "Rhino Ranch." Following the lives of Duane, Jacy, Ruth, and Karla has been a treat.

by Anonymousreply 130February 5, 2013 12:11 AM

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, by Ben Fountain. By far the best novel of 2012.

by Anonymousreply 131February 5, 2013 12:39 AM

I listening to the audio of Ann Leary's "The Good House", read by Mary Beth Hurt - great story that I'm strongly considering getting as a print book as a gift for my mom.

by Anonymousreply 132February 14, 2013 3:21 PM

I'm reading "Rebel Land" by Christopher de Bellaigue. It is still self-serving, particularly around his reluctance to use the "G" word about the Armenian massacres, but it is interesting. I don't find him to be particularly intelligent, observant, or analytical.

by Anonymousreply 133February 14, 2013 8:14 PM

I'm finishing up The Wild Places, by Robert MacFarlane.

It's non-fiction about travelling to the last wild places in the UK.

It's not bad, but only has grainy B&W photos scattered throughout.

r129, I never thought of that--how do you vomit in zero gravity?

by Anonymousreply 134February 14, 2013 10:56 PM

A Cultural History of Shoplifting by Rachel Shteir.

by Anonymousreply 135February 14, 2013 10:59 PM

"Kiss the Girls: Make them Spy" by Mabel Maney

An original Jane Bond parody

by Anonymousreply 136February 16, 2013 10:31 PM

I recently finished The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman. This one is about a man who manages a light house on an island in Australia. He marries a woman who's had problem pregnancies. One day a baby and a dead man washes up onshore. The story concerns what happens after this happens.

It's not for everyone as it's female centric family drama but the writing is beautiful.

by Anonymousreply 137February 16, 2013 11:07 PM

r135, I read that book last summer and was pretty disappointed with it. It wasn't very well organized--everything was just kind of mooshed together.

I just finished "Watergate" by Thomas Mallon, which I highly recommend. It's Watergate through the eyes of seven of those close to the scandal: Richard Nixon, Pat Nixon, Elliot Richardson, E. Howard Hunt, Rosemary Woods, Alice Roosevelt Longworth (who is hilarious), and one more of the burglars (I forget his name). The unexpectedness of the choices--and the focus particularly on women--made it really seem fresh and new.

by Anonymousreply 138February 20, 2013 5:30 AM

r138, is Mallon's Watergate a good read if you know essentially nothing about the scandal and the politicians involved in it?

I like some of Mallon's novels but they do require more than a passing knowledge of the various historical eras they are set in.

by Anonymousreply 139February 21, 2013 12:39 AM

I'm 1/4 of the way through Trollope's "The Way We Live Now" read by Timothy West, husband of actress Prunella Scales, and I'm hooked, lined, and sinkered! I had liked the BBC production starring David Suchet, but the book is a different experience.

by Anonymousreply 140February 21, 2013 1:26 AM

r139, I love Fellow Travelers by Thomas Mallon, about a gay relationship in the McCarthy period.

by Anonymousreply 141February 21, 2013 1:29 AM

Song of Achilles. Story of the demi-god through the eyes of his lover, Patroclus.

by Anonymousreply 142February 21, 2013 10:20 AM

R75 and R182, you must be batty if you like anything written by Jonathan Franzen. It's not writing, it's typing. Dude has never met a woman he didn't want ultimately to belittle. His sentences are pompous and self-satisfied. His characters are simpering and entitled.

by Anonymousreply 143February 21, 2013 10:54 AM

Trollope's The Way We LIve Now is one of the best books I've ever read.

Sadly, I've tried reading a few of his other books but haven't been able to get into them. Any other Trollope fans that might guide me?

by Anonymousreply 144February 21, 2013 12:44 PM

R144 -- Have you tried "Barchester Towers"? It's a hilarious satire, featuring two characters any gay boy ought salivate over: Mrs Proudie and Contessa Neroni (bitch and diva, respectively). You do NOT need to read its prequel "The Warden" at all, which I found quite dull. If you want an approchable, shorter, non-series novel, try "Dr. Thorne".

by Anonymousreply 145February 21, 2013 4:03 PM

I don't think there are any Trollope fans. I battered my way through Can You Forgive Her? when I was 18 (for fun), and I promised myself never again.

by Anonymousreply 146February 21, 2013 4:33 PM

All of the Barchester novels are worth reading. And as for me, I'd start with The Warden and read all the way through.

by Anonymousreply 147February 21, 2013 4:54 PM

R17

Gone Girl? It was the worst! Poor, insipid prose and characters who, if you knew them in real life, you'd avoid like the plague. And the worst part (or maybe the best) is that it doesn't end, she just stops writing. It's the kind of bestseller that just makes me scratch my head.

by Anonymousreply 148February 21, 2013 5:27 PM

"Orphans is emblematic of what is wrong with Broadway"

I thought for sure you were going to cite the producers and Dan Sullivan for thinking for even a minute that Alec and Shia could share a rehearsal space.

Dan Sullivan admitted as much in his email to Shia.

by Anonymousreply 149February 21, 2013 10:45 PM

Thanks for the Trollope recommendations.

I did try reading one of the Barchester series but couldn't get into it.....can't even remember now whch one. But I'll have a look and try one of them again. The other one I tried and only read about 1/2 way through was The Prime Minister.

But The Way We Live Now....yes!

by Anonymousreply 150February 21, 2013 10:48 PM

Sorry, I made a mistake above! "Dr Thorne" is one of the Barchester titles (although would make a decent stand alone). For an approchable non-series Trollope title I meant "Dr Wortle's School" instead. I have no interest in the Palliser series at all, but understand that one of them "The Eustace Diamonds" can be read as a stand-alone, and comes highly recommended, so it's on my TBR pile.

by Anonymousreply 151February 21, 2013 11:43 PM

Sorry! r149 was obviously intended for the Shia LaBoeuf OUT thread.

by Anonymousreply 152February 22, 2013 12:15 AM

The new "Justin Bieber" novel, "The Love Song of Jonny Valentine" is excellent. So is John Lanchester's "Capital."

by Anonymousreply 153February 22, 2013 2:48 AM

Trollope's Can You Forgive Her? is another good stand-alone.

by Anonymousreply 154February 22, 2013 10:00 AM

Ship of Gold, non-fiction. The author goes back and forth between 1857, when the steamship Central America took 4 days to sink in one of the worst hurricanes of the era, and the 1980's, when a young engineer developed techniques to locate and recover its cargo of gold. A really fascinating true story.

by Anonymousreply 155February 22, 2013 10:16 AM

Anyone read The Dinner, the French book getting a lot of buzz here?

by Anonymousreply 156February 23, 2013 10:10 AM

Is that one about the dinner between parents of two nasty schoolboys? If so, no thanks!

by Anonymousreply 157March 1, 2013 12:04 AM

I third Code Name Verity. The audiobook is intense. Two Brit girl spies in WWII France.

by Anonymousreply 158March 1, 2013 1:34 AM

R156, I'm 2/3 through The Dinner. It will be interesting to see how he wraps it up.

by Anonymousreply 159March 1, 2013 1:39 AM

"Interviews with History and Conversations with Power." Orianna Fallaci. All her old interviews with the world leaders of the 70s. Amazing interview with Khomeini!

by Anonymousreply 160March 1, 2013 1:48 AM

Sordid Truths: Selling My Innocence for a Taste of Stardom - by Aiden Shaw.

Surprisingly good, but a little gross in parts as is to be expected.

by Anonymousreply 161March 1, 2013 1:54 AM

i like the books with pictures of happy fish

by Anonymousreply 162March 1, 2013 1:58 AM

A light and fluffy mystery by Ellen Byerrum called "Veiled Revenge."

It has gays in it. Two of them. I can't decide what I think of the characterization of the two men. Each is very flaming, but is it funny, the way they're written, or kind of mean-spirited?

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by Anonymousreply 163March 1, 2013 2:10 AM

"I love Fellow Travelers by Thomas Mallon, about a gay relationship in the McCarthy period."

I am rarely moved to tears while reading, but the touching ending of this book had me reaching for the Kleenex.

by Anonymousreply 164March 1, 2013 2:13 AM

I'm reading Gersberms!

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by Anonymousreply 165March 5, 2013 1:56 AM

r156 and r159, I read The Dinner yesterday morning in one sitting and LOVED it. Chilling, brilliant.

by Anonymousreply 166March 9, 2013 1:59 PM

By the way, it's Dutch, not French, r156.

by Anonymousreply 167March 9, 2013 2:02 PM

R166, I kind of agree. It turned out to be something quite different from what I expected.

I'm reading The Moviegoer now.

by Anonymousreply 168March 9, 2013 2:47 PM

The Making of the Prefident 1789. Hilarious.

by Anonymousreply 169March 9, 2013 2:48 PM

I'm reading Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey right now to calm my nerves during a very stressful period of work.

I must say, it really helps. And it's a lot more comical than I expected.

Perfect for reading a couple of chapters before going to bed at night to relax me.

by Anonymousreply 170March 9, 2013 2:59 PM

Gob's Grief by gay author Chris Adrian. About Walt Whitman and the aftermath of the Civil war. Lovely.

by Anonymousreply 171March 17, 2013 1:52 AM

I've finished Anthony Trollope's "The Way We Live Now", which despite being a long book, goes really fast, like a 100-chapter soap opera. There are two characters who are after the same woman, but seem like a gay couple to me: one is a "confirmed bachelor" except for the one girl, and the other practically squeals with delight giving fashion advice to a female character. As well as a bunch of young nobles whose interest in women seems rather desultory. Now, I'm about to go back to the second half of "Brideshead Revisited" read by Jeremy Irons. Repressed homosexuality and Roman Catholic angst = Good Times!

by Anonymousreply 172March 17, 2013 3:43 AM

"History's Passion: Stories of Sex Before Stonewall," edited by Richard Labonte.

Four novellas that explore male-male erotica/romance in a historical setting: "Camp Allegheny" by Jeff Mann (author of the magnificent "Purgatory") presents a love affair between two Confederate soldiers during the Civil War; "Heaven on Earth" by Simon Sheppard explores the erotic adventures of a criminal on the lam during the Great Depression; "Tender Mercies" by Dale Chase is set in a mining camp during the California Gold Rush; and "The Valley of Salt" by David Holly re-imagines the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. All four novellas are extremely well-written (especially considering the genre), though the first two are the best -- Mann is an astonishingly exquisite writer (he's also a poet), while Sheppard vividly evokes his time-period as well as offering a neat twist ending; Chase's tale, while well-written, suffers from implausabilities and, being that the author is a woman, a fatal misunderstanding of how men have sex; Holly's tale is a fun romp (Lot is the villain here) but the dialogue is incredibly silly. Still, if this genre is your sort of thing, I highly recommend it.

by Anonymousreply 173March 17, 2013 4:01 AM

I'm reading I Suck at Girls!

by Anonymousreply 174March 17, 2013 7:48 AM

I agree with R109 about "Girl Gone"; I get the whole trendy Nancy Grace, trial by internet thing, but I found the story preposterous in that the cops would have assumed she'd been kidnapped which would've involved the FBI who wouldn't be so quick to take "Amazing Amy's" word for it. Plus, the family would've offered a reward which surely would've attracted the two grifters. I have no doubt that it will be made in to a movie, but I just don't get the love for this book.

Anyone read "Dr. Norrell & Jonathan Strange"? Any recommendations for books like it?

by Anonymousreply 175April 24, 2013 11:52 PM

.

by Anonymousreply 176October 30, 2013 2:18 AM

I want to read on kindle this book 'Classic rock conspiracy theory: ‘Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon,’ the dark heart of the hippie dream', immediately!

However, i don't want to give money and buy it, i'm a cheap ho. I found it in PDF format for free, but PDF sucks, i cannot change the chapters with fuckin' PDF.

Could someone of you convert pdf to epub? I would really appreciate that.(Don't give me a link that explains how to convert pdf to epub, it's like Chinese to me!)

Below is the link with the book i want...please, take a look at it and you if you can find it in your heart and your mind skills allow if of course, find a way to put it somewhere in Epub format.

Thanks...

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 177July 22, 2014 12:23 PM

Martin Booth's "A Very Private Gentlemen."

G. Clooney's "The American" is based on this book. Very well written.

by Anonymousreply 178July 22, 2014 3:38 PM

Thomas Fleming, "The Perils of Peace: America's Struggle for Suvival After Yorktown"

Really well written

Also, Guy Fregault, "Canada: the war of the conquest by Guy Fregault" (badly translated by Margaret Cameron)

by Anonymousreply 179July 22, 2014 4:55 PM

Julian Fellowes' "Past Imperfect" is sensational. I was looking for something to read and because I like "Downton" I figured I'd give it a shot, and it's wonderful. I'm looking forward to his other book "Snobs"

by Anonymousreply 180July 24, 2014 12:20 AM

Gods of Guilt right now. I like Michael Connelly and the Mickey Haller books are the best.

by Anonymousreply 181July 24, 2014 12:45 AM

Both Snobs and Past Imperfect by Julian Fellows are great. I also loved Beautiful Ruins.

I just finished The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer (good) and am about to start Speedboat by Renata Adler.

by Anonymousreply 182July 24, 2014 12:48 AM

Just finished [italic]The Maybelline Story.[/italic] Almost too incredible to be believable!

by Anonymousreply 183July 24, 2014 12:50 AM

Just started "The Goshawk" by TH White.

It's an old book by the author of The Once and Future King Arthurian trilogy.

White chronicles his struggles taming and raising a goshawk for falconry.

The prose is over the top in that dated Oxbridge way, especially the exposition, but the nature descriptions are good.

Some reviewers suggested White's struggle to tame, yet accept the raptor's temperament paralleled his own struggle with his homosexuality.

I don't know if that's explicit in the book, I'm not that far in.

by Anonymousreply 184July 24, 2014 12:58 AM

The Charioteer, by Mary Renault. I never read it before. I always thought it was one of Renault's novels about ancient Greece, like The Persian Boy and The King Must Die. Actually it's set in the months following Dunkirk and concerns a love triangle between a soldier and a naval officer, both maimed there, and a young conscientious objector who works as an orderly in a hospital where the soldier is recovering.

The story is as romantic as any I know, the more so because the language is precise and restrained and the narration, seemingly straightforward, turns out to be more elliptical than I originally supposed. There's nothing sentimental in it, and moments that seem headed toward treacle or moralizing unexpectedly take the opposite direction. I particularly enjoyed a party scene full of mean, predatory queens, which, as shrill as it is, surprisingly doesn't come off dated or homophobic, but funny, observant, and humane instead. (For a comparison look at the lurid gay bar scene in Allen Drury's nearly contemporaneous Advise and Consent.) Giving all her characters their due, Renault has a knack for letting them speak for themselves, even the least appealing of them. It's both a bildungsroman and a suspense story in which the hero's fate is up for grabs until the last page.

If anyone else here has read it, I'd love to know what you think and if there's any other novel like it that you'd recommend? I'm sad I've finished it, and I haven't felt like that in a while.

by Anonymousreply 185July 24, 2014 2:01 AM

Bird, thanks for mentioning the Mary Renault book. I've always heard good things about her work and I will definitely add it to my list.

On an unrelated note, I'm currently reading Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and I absolutely love it.

by Anonymousreply 186July 24, 2014 2:09 AM

Has anyone read any of the longlisted Booker Prize nominees for this year?

by Anonymousreply 187July 24, 2014 2:43 AM

No, but I just bought an advance copy of the David Mitchell book.

by Anonymousreply 188July 26, 2014 10:41 PM

I don't read a lot of literary fiction, but Dan Vyela's "The Crooked Maid" (set in 1948 Vienna) is turning out to be really good.

by Anonymousreply 189July 26, 2014 11:36 PM

Please don't bother with the Bookers. I think they proved they're back to nominating only tedious crap again.

by Anonymousreply 190July 27, 2014 12:14 AM

I'm reading California, which got tons of buzz on Colbert because of the Amazon/Hachette fight. It's from a debut novelist, Edan Lepucki, and it's pretty horrible. The author won the freakin' lottery (her book is number 3 on NYT Bestseller's List because of the Colbert push)! It suffers from "telling, not showing", unsympathetic characters, and it's simply dull.

by Anonymousreply 191July 27, 2014 12:22 AM

r185, I had a used copy of "The Charioteer" for over a decade before I finally set myself to reading it -- and kicked myself for waiting so long. Such a wonderful, deeply moving story, and you're right, it's one of those rare romantic triangles where you don't know which man the hero is going to end up with.

Racking my brain, books that are somewhat similar to "The Charioteer" would be Colm Toibin's "The Story of The Night" (excellent) or John Boyne's "The Absolutist" (less excellent, but still good).

by Anonymousreply 192July 31, 2014 8:18 PM

Just finished "We Are Our Brains: A Neurobiography of the Brain, From the Womb to Alzheimer's" by the Dutch neurologist D.F. Swaab, a fascinating, easy-to-read examination of how our brains work, told "chronologically," from it's development in the womb, through further development as we grow to adulthood, the perils of injury and ultimately it gradually shutting down due to dementia and Alzheimer's.

I think it's a must-read, not just because Swaab forcefully points out that sexual orientation is determined before we are born but also because he makes some strong arguments against the insidiousness of religion.

by Anonymousreply 193July 31, 2014 8:23 PM

R187, I didn't realize until I read the link below that this is the first year that the Booker Prize will be open to English language novels from any country.

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by Anonymousreply 194July 31, 2014 8:28 PM

Reading the new Sarah Waters, The Paying Guests. So far so good.

by Anonymousreply 195August 2, 2014 2:09 PM

"We know where you live: a Maggie Garrett Mystery" by Jean Taylor. I forgot about these from back in the day.

by Anonymousreply 196August 3, 2014 11:28 PM

I like the below website for chinese books.

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by Anonymousreply 197August 4, 2014 7:52 AM

Finished the new Sarah Walters, Loved it.

by Anonymousreply 198August 16, 2014 10:59 AM

"Bitch in a Bonnet" by Robert Rodi. I love his gay fiction, and this Cliff Notes style commentary on the books of Jane Austen, where he takes on her slobbering pack of Gandhi's, is a hoot!

by Anonymousreply 199August 16, 2014 2:13 PM

Bumping to say that I liked Part One of Rodi's essays, that I sprung for Part Two (a whopping $2.99). Also, about halfway through Christopher Isherwood's 1947 travel narrative "The Condor and the Cows" - not sure whether the photographer he travels with is gay or not?

by Anonymousreply 200September 1, 2014 11:49 PM

I'm finishing up David Mitchell's "the Bone Clocks" and though is all a kind of big mess, it's a glorious mess, I've really enjoyed it

by Anonymousreply 201September 22, 2014 2:40 PM

Last Exit to Brooklyn. If there are any better books about urban life made between 1950 and the 1970's, let me know.

by Anonymousreply 202September 22, 2014 2:41 PM

King of the Confessors

By Thomas Hoving

by Anonymousreply 203September 22, 2014 2:44 PM

STATION ELEVEN

by Emily St John Mandel

by Anonymousreply 204September 22, 2014 2:45 PM

"Station Eleven" is a beautiful, frightening book about the world before, during, and after a plague. The writing is magical.

by Anonymousreply 205September 22, 2014 2:49 PM

Finished Mary Miley's "The Impersonator" today, which may have been a better audio than print book. About halfway through David Farley's "Irreverent Curiosity" -- the search for Jesus' foreskin.

by Anonymousreply 206September 23, 2014 3:39 AM

Richard Dewhurst, "The Ancient Giants Who Ruled North AMerica: the Missing Skeletons and the Great Smithsonian Cover-up"

I had no idea tall people had been subjected to such a horrific erasure of history.

by Anonymousreply 207October 3, 2014 6:23 AM

Agree about Station Eleven. Totally mesmerizing. Same with Paying Guests,

by Anonymousreply 208October 3, 2014 6:32 AM

Almost finished with Shelley Winters' auto-bio, Shelley II: the Middle of My Century. It's long, about 450 pages, much like her first one. She's like an eccentric, worldly aunt who loves to cajole the kiddies with her stories, mixed with a female version of Commander McBragg. Loved both books. Sadly, the third installment was either never written or never published.

by Anonymousreply 209October 3, 2014 9:22 AM

The Dog by Joseph O'Neill - very funny and adroit tale of an expatriate in Dubai.

by Anonymousreply 210October 4, 2014 9:16 AM

Rene Levesque, "My Quebec"

by Anonymousreply 211October 5, 2014 6:57 PM

I recently finished Infinite Jest....whew. It felt like a chore in some spots, and when I finished I was pissed off about the whole thing. But then I found a great website where apparently dozens of very smart people dissected the book's timeline and made a great case for what actually happened.

I found this thread searching for readers of Station Eleven....I have this book on reserve at the library and hope to get my turn over the holidays.

I'm starting a biography today about Whitey Bulger..the mob killer who was recently apprehended living with his girlfriend near Venice Beach. Apparently there is a lot more to the story....he actually ratted out many other mobsters and had rumored help inside the FBI.

I love the DL reading threads and have enjoyed many great books that I discovered here. Thank you fellow readers!

by Anonymousreply 212November 11, 2014 6:34 PM

Currently on a major PD James kick: this woman was amazing, her series starring Detective/Poet Adam Dalgliesh actually became better - more profound - as she got older. Now how many other writers whose writing can be said to have improved with age?

Not many, I'm afraid...

by Anonymousreply 213January 26, 2015 5:25 PM

The late Baroness James of Holland Park:

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by Anonymousreply 214January 26, 2015 5:27 PM

I'm reading 'The Girl With Glass Feet' by Ali Shaw. I usually prefer to read classic literature, but i gave this book a chance, because when i found out about its theme, i felt intrigued. It's certainly not a masterpiece, but it is very interesting and i feel glad that i'm reading this. Have you read it, or do you know about this book?

Ali Shaw was born in 1982, he is from England. Personally, i don't read writers who are that young, but i made an exception with this one.

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by Anonymousreply 215March 15, 2015 12:32 PM

Deployed. NPR also did an excellent session on the book.

by Anonymousreply 216March 15, 2015 1:04 PM

You by Caroline Kepnes. Recent Brown grad (female) afloat in NYC and the hilarious but crazy bookseller who stalks her. Quite a good read.

by Anonymousreply 217March 15, 2015 1:08 PM

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. Slow-going, but powerful.

by Anonymousreply 218March 15, 2015 3:15 PM

r213, I'm reading The Maul and the Pear Tree right now.

by Anonymousreply 219March 15, 2015 3:38 PM

Finally reading "London Fields" by Martin Anus and love the characters. Dreading the Johnny Depp film version due this year.

by Anonymousreply 220March 15, 2015 3:40 PM

Powers' The Time Of Our Singing

by Anonymousreply 221March 15, 2015 8:34 PM

Pennsylvania Beautiful by Wallace Nutting

by Anonymousreply 222March 17, 2015 1:13 AM

Jean Chretien, "Straight from the Heart"

He was smarter than he looked on t.v. Or else somebody else wrote the book for him.

by Anonymousreply 223March 17, 2015 8:11 PM

Just wanted to thank you guys for all the great recs on here. Would not have read Beautiful Ruins or Gone Girl if it hadn't been for you.

by Anonymousreply 224May 7, 2015 12:03 PM

Didier Eribon, Returning to Reims.

by Anonymousreply 225May 7, 2015 12:32 PM

The Girl Next Door by Ruth Rendell (RIP)

by Anonymousreply 226May 7, 2015 2:23 PM

"H Is for Hawk" by Helen Macdonald. It's fantastic.

by Anonymousreply 227May 7, 2015 2:25 PM

"Andes" by Michael Jacobs. Dude really hated Bruce Chatwin.

by Anonymousreply 228May 7, 2015 7:34 PM

"The Great Migration" by German communist Hans-Joachim Diesner. Most interesting interpretation of the Germanic tribe migration period.

by Anonymousreply 229May 7, 2015 7:36 PM

Alistair Horne, "A Savage War for Peace, Algeria 1965-1962"

by Anonymousreply 230May 7, 2015 7:38 PM

Also reading A Little Life - big book. Some of it is grueling but I don't want it to end. Fascinating main character.

by Anonymousreply 231May 7, 2015 7:55 PM

R223) If you like books on Canadian politicians, read the autobiography by Svend Robinson. It was very entertaining. He details his coming out and his campaign to have discrimination on the basis of sexual attraction included in human rights legislation. Of all the books I've read on Canadian leaders (Rosemary Brown, Trudeau, Levesque, Broadbent), this was the one I most enjoyed.

by Anonymousreply 232May 7, 2015 7:56 PM

"London Fields" by Martin Anus

by Anonymousreply 233May 7, 2015 7:58 PM

I just bought that book, r230! What are your thoughts on it so far?

by Anonymousreply 234May 7, 2015 7:59 PM

Halfway through The Secret History by Donna Tartt, and I'm loving it. I'm tearing through it. I enjoyed The Goldfinch well enough, but I like this one a good deal more. I hope it doesn't fall apart towards the end.

by Anonymousreply 235May 7, 2015 7:59 PM

BF tells me he just bought me the new Kate Atkinson. Cannot wait to begin it this weekend!

by Anonymousreply 236May 7, 2015 8:00 PM

Sorry. I meant to write "sexual orientation" and not attraction. As I was typing, the same telemarketers who have been phoning for days called...again. I loathe those people, but I digress.

by Anonymousreply 237May 7, 2015 8:34 PM

If you like show biz bios, I just read two that I highly recommend:

All That Jazz; The Life and Death of Bob Fosse by Martin Gottfried

Madeline Kahn; Being the Music; A Life by William V. Madison

Both discerning and well-researched and seemingly done with the cooperation of family and friends.

by Anonymousreply 238May 26, 2015 2:37 AM

Another rec for "H is for Hawk". Great metaphors and use of language (the author is a poet and artist).

The Old Ways by Robert MacFarlane is another good one about the vanishing English countryside; not sentimental and a great writer.

He has a new one out, blanking on the title, that is well-reviewed.

by Anonymousreply 239May 26, 2015 2:41 AM

Is The Old Ways a novel? Please tell us a little more about it!

by Anonymousreply 240May 26, 2015 2:50 AM

r240 it's non-fiction about the ley lines, or old pathways that cut through Britain. He follows the paths outside his home into a journey that takes him through and around the cities.

In general, it's about the vanishing wild landscape of Britain, England in particular.

by Anonymousreply 241May 26, 2015 3:00 AM

A Tale For The Time Being by Ruth Ozeki.

Ozeki references Proust's In Search of Lost Time a lot. I've never read it so I wonder if I may have missed out on some finer points of Ozeki's book. In any case, I used to live in Japan so it was a pleasure to read a book that is at least half set in Japan. The narrative parts by the teenage Japanese girl are the best, funniest and saddest. The Japanese soldier parts were the least enjoyable though they are meant to be the most important to the theme of the book. Overall, highly recommended. I look forward to reading more from Ozeki and I may even give Proust a shot.

I'm just about to finish Tom Rachman's The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. Another book I would recommend but I won't say anymore until I finish it. Just in case the ending is complete trash.

It's nice to have a run of two good books. I had been on a couple of months' run of some mediocre reads. The most disappointing being Hilary Mantel's The Assasination of Margaret Thatcher. I'll just pass on Mantel until she comes out with the 3rd and final book on her Thomas Cromwell trilogy.

I also have Kate Atkinson's "sequel" to Life After Life on hold. LAL was my favorite read last year so I'm a little wary God in Ruins won't live up to my expectations.

My next book is Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It was a NYT Top 10 book of the year for 2013. Again, expectations...

by Anonymousreply 242May 26, 2015 1:50 PM

I am battling my way through House of Leaves right now. I was nursing a sick dog all through the Memorial weekend (recurring pancreatitis) so I read a lot while she was sleeping.

The book is strange. Very strange. It is a sort of horror story within another disturbing story and the narrative switches back and forth frequently. There are a lot of strange footnotes, but unlike Infinite Jest they are included on the same page, so you don't need to flip around to find them.

The book is nothing like Infinite Jest though. It kind of reminds me of the format of The Blair Witch Project----people focusing on what happened previously to other people, with fake "hype" overlying the entire enterprise.

It's hard to find the book. I think it's out of print and the entire library system only had one copy that I reserved months ago. I'm looking forward to finishing it and then visiting a few of the websites that explore it in depth. That really helped me with Infinite Jest.

I already have Casebook by Mona Simpson waiting in the bullpen...

by Anonymousreply 243May 26, 2015 3:34 PM

R243, hope your dog feels better.

by Anonymousreply 244May 26, 2015 3:39 PM

Thanks R244. I would switch with her if I could...hate to see my little sweetpea in pain.

by Anonymousreply 245May 26, 2015 3:52 PM

Just pre-ordered In The Unlikely Event by Judy Blume

by Anonymousreply 246May 26, 2015 11:56 PM

Has anyone read EUPHORIA, a novel about an anthropological adventure in Borneo with a Margaret Mead-like character?

I hear it's great and I am thinking of ordering it on Amazon.

by Anonymousreply 247May 27, 2015 1:25 AM

In Montmarte, by Sue Roe

An account of the period after Impressionism in France. The photographs are good, and some of the descriptions are interesting, but it might be old hat to those familiar with the period.

IMHO, her other book, Private Lives of the Impressionists, was much better.

by Anonymousreply 248May 27, 2015 1:58 AM

Andy Cohen's book. It is more interesting than I expected it to be.

by Anonymousreply 249May 27, 2015 2:09 AM

I have, r247. Recommend it highly. Beautifully written and a wonderful, intelligent airplane read.

by Anonymousreply 250May 27, 2015 2:12 AM

Thanks r250! I just ordered it.

by Anonymousreply 251May 27, 2015 2:13 AM

Years of Rice and Salt

by Anonymousreply 252May 27, 2015 2:13 AM

Also intrigued by Our Town by Kevin McEnroe, son of John and Tatum. Getting dazzling reviews.

by Anonymousreply 253May 27, 2015 2:34 AM

In Bed With Gore Vidal.Lots of dirt on midcentury literati,politicos,and phoneywood. Quite entertaining. Sad end for a great wit.

by Anonymousreply 254May 27, 2015 2:44 AM

The Horne book on Algeria is well-written and dramatic if a bit less analytical than I would like.

by Anonymousreply 255May 29, 2015 3:51 AM

Loved H is for Hawk, which someone mentioned earlier on. Thanks for the rec. I did not expect a book about grief to be so uplifting, or funny. A beautiful read all the way through. Prefer it to The Goshawk.

Just re-read James Purdy’s In A Shallow Grave – still my favorite of his. So witty and moving. Pity the movie was such a disappointment. Didn’t capture his black comedy at all.

Read the first book of a Lord of the Rings style fantasy series The Charndras. Lot of gay and bi characters and refreshingly non-hetero-normative attitude. Took me a while to get into it but then got really suckered in. Not as dark as ASOIAF but similar depth of world-building.

Disappointed in The Miniaturist. Too saccharine for me and it never seemed to fulfil the promise of the beginning. Started to find it a drag by halfway through. Really had to force myself to read to the end.

Anyone else read The Children’s Act? The new Ian McEwan. I’ve liked most of his more recent books but I’m always worried he’s going to revert back to his enfant terrible period and it’s going to be dismembered bodies all over the place.

by Anonymousreply 256June 2, 2015 8:17 PM

I reading "A Little Life" by Hanya Yanagihara and I'm completely absorbed by it. The writing is really great - quite beautiful at times - and the characters are etched so realistically. I don't want it to end.

by Anonymousreply 257June 29, 2015 6:16 PM

NON FICTION: Just finished "Madeline Kahn: Being the Music, A Life" by William V. Madison - not very well written, but decently researched and "You Fascinate Me So: The Life and Times of Cy Coleman" by Andy Propst - far superior in terms of writing and a joy of a book to read. Going back to "Thornton Wilder: A Life" by Penelope Niven, which I just can't seem to get through.

by Anonymousreply 258June 29, 2015 6:23 PM

Listening to the audiobook "Bettyville" by George Hodgman . Resonates strongly with me as an older gay guy. Jeff Woodman does a great job reading; he also narrates Marc Acito's gay - themed novels.

by Anonymousreply 259June 29, 2015 6:59 PM

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Reminded me of my mom and her sisters growing up. The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks. Great true life story and medicine that reads like a mystery. This is where I leave you. The movie is not as good as the book, but I enjoyed both.

by Anonymousreply 260June 29, 2015 7:22 PM

"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" is one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read. IIRC, it's being made into an HBO film.

by Anonymousreply 261June 29, 2015 7:39 PM

I finished Rob Delaney's memoir "Rob Delaney: Mother. Wife. Sister. Human. Warrior. Falcon. Yardstick. Turban. Cabbage." Very funny, as was his new show on Amazon Prime Catastrophe.

Will pick up A Little Life next.

by Anonymousreply 262June 29, 2015 7:57 PM

"The Rationalists: Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz"

by Anonymousreply 263June 29, 2015 8:14 PM

I just finished "Housekeeping" ny Marilynne Robinson and wasn't all that impressed.

Who's read "Gilead"?

by Anonymousreply 264June 29, 2015 8:27 PM

"The War of the Roses"by Dan Jones; it's a follow up to the "Plantagenets" though it's much more interesting and readable book. In a previous thread, some poster indicated indicated how GRRM heavily borrowed from the War of the Roses for "Game of Thrones" and it's certainly true.

by Anonymousreply 265June 29, 2015 8:27 PM

"Gilead" is fantastic. Haven't read the two follow-up books, however.

by Anonymousreply 266June 29, 2015 8:30 PM

Daughters of Joy, Sisters of Misery: Prostitutes in the American West, 1865-90 by Anne M. Butler

by Anonymousreply 267June 29, 2015 8:34 PM

"Housekeeping" was beautifully written, but ..... NOTHING happens - pretty much all setting and characters.

by Anonymousreply 268July 1, 2015 6:57 PM

What is "A Little Life" about?

by Anonymousreply 269July 1, 2015 7:04 PM

"A Little Life" is such exquisitely rendered prose - beautiful characterizations, huge moments of empathy between the characters - but it is a very hard novel to get through because of the painful descriptions that make up Jude's past. Jude is carefully written around in the beginning while the focus coalesces around the three other primary characters and their brief moments of observation about him. But once Yanagihara shifts the focus to Jude's backstory, it's some of the most devastating material I've ever read. Just ghastly. My heart aches for him as he were more than a character in a book.

An astounding achievement, especially for only a second novel.

by Anonymousreply 270July 21, 2015 2:45 PM

New Mark Merlis, "JD".

by Anonymousreply 271July 21, 2015 2:52 PM

Just finished "The Unfortunates" by Sophie McManus and really liked it. I've never read a book twice but as soon as I finished it wanted to re-read this one.

by Anonymousreply 272July 21, 2015 2:59 PM

Due to DL, I added Yanagihara on my book wishlist recently. Excited to read her books but a little worried they may be pretty heavy stuff.

The best book I read recently was Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Enjoyed the main female character's observations on race in America. She, like the author, is an African who immigrates to the USA as a young adult.

I just started David Mitchell's The Bone Clocks. I just finished a chapter where it gets seriously strange...I'm enjoying it so far. I loved Cloud Atlas but hadn't read any books by Mitchell. Cloud Atlas is probably my favorite recommendation from DL. I was afraid of a major let-down. Fingers cross TBC will finish strong. It's a pretty long book. I'm listening to it and it clocks in at over 24 hours. Many novels usually fall in between the 10-18 hours range.

I have Go Set a Watchman queued up on my library list but I'm pretty wishy-washy about reading it. I don't know if I want to go there...TKAM is my favorite book of all time.

by Anonymousreply 273July 21, 2015 3:17 PM

"Bettyville" - outstanding memoir by a gay man.

by Anonymousreply 274July 21, 2015 3:20 PM

The first 3 Agatha Raisin books by M.C. Beaton in audiobook format. Better yet, the BBC Radio 4 serial adaptations are narrated by none other than Margo Ledbetter herself, Penelope Keith.

by Anonymousreply 275July 21, 2015 3:36 PM

I've read all of the Agatha Raisin series. You have a nasty surprise coming in that the most recent one is read by someone very WRONG for the part! Roy Silver's character is quite awful.

by Anonymousreply 276July 21, 2015 4:16 PM

I can't possibly imagine playing Agatha anywhere nearly as well as Penelope Keith! Why the hell was she replaced? I'm very much enjoying listening to them on my commute to work. Am onto the 4th now. The Radio adaptations are funnier, plus they seem to conflagrate James Lacey and Sir Charles. I liked Roy Silver better in the Radio adaptation. But the books are great and I'm looking forward to listening to the whole series. The first one I actually listened to was a later one - I can't say I'm keen on Toni. She needs to be written out.

by Anonymousreply 277July 22, 2015 11:09 AM

Another recommendation for A Little Life. Agree that it starts slowly, but gathers speed, as well as impact. The cumulative effect is like taking several heavy blows the the stomach, but the overall effect is exhilarating. Not for everyone, though.

by Anonymousreply 278July 22, 2015 11:57 AM

Seveneves by Neal Stevenson

by Anonymousreply 279July 22, 2015 2:30 PM

“A Little Life” is a very dark and disturbing novel. It took me to places that I thought I’d never go in literary fiction and held me there, forcing me to take it in just as the characters had to. What really impressed me most about it was the pacing and the slow reveal of the horror at the center. But also the beautiful, sometimes fleeting, moments of kindness between the characters. It’s an exquisitely written novel and I’m emboldened enough to say that it’s the best book I’ve read in at least a decade. It can be very upsetting/unsettling though. I agree with R278 that it is not for everyone. Jude St. Francis is an instantly iconic character.

I read an article recently arguing that it is the “great gay novel” of the millennium which is interesting to me considering the deft (at times, casual?) way that sexuality is handled and (to a certain extent) revealed about the characters. Sexuality does not seem defining, but is used as a way to draw characters together, explore connections in a dark world.

by Anonymousreply 280July 28, 2015 1:35 PM

Thanks, R280. I just ordered it.

by Anonymousreply 281July 28, 2015 3:15 PM

I'm just as haunted by the book as you are, R280. It's the best book I've read in ages, too.

by Anonymousreply 282July 28, 2015 5:21 PM

Just finished "The Origin of the Brunists," about a small midwestern mining town that experiences a disaster then finds itself home to a weird apocalyptic cult. Focuses on the different people in town and how they react to what's happening around them. Pretty good, if not flabbergasting.

"Between the World and Me," which I'm finding every bit as good as I'd been told. Very moving.

by Anonymousreply 283July 28, 2015 6:15 PM

[quote]"Rob Delaney: Mother. Wife. Sister. Human. Warrior. Falcon. Yardstick. Turban. Cabbage."

He's trying too hard.

by Anonymousreply 284July 28, 2015 6:50 PM

Thanks r280. So glad you liked it. Went to a discussion with the author a few weeks back. She's lovely, and it's amazing to realize that she wrote it in 18 months, while at the same time holding down a full-time job. I understand her first book, The People in the Trees, is also terrific.

Interesting about its embrace by the gay community. A straight male friend who is a critic for a major newspaper loved the book, but says he's perplexed by its being called a gay novel—since, he says, "none of the characters is really gay." We had quite the conversation.

by Anonymousreply 285July 28, 2015 9:58 PM

"A Little Life" was just longlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize.

by Anonymousreply 286July 29, 2015 5:28 PM

Yes! I must say I was surprised, r286, but thrilled. That's quite the prestigious honor. Don't know many of the other authors, except Tyler, Robinson, and O'Hagan. Surprised about Clegg, since his memoirs I thought were only just ok. Robinson gets nominated for everything!

by Anonymousreply 287July 29, 2015 11:22 PM

R287, the two moments when the title is invoked in "A Little Life" are shockers. The first one hurt. But then when the second one comes along, you feel like someone just punched you in the gut.

by Anonymousreply 288July 30, 2015 5:23 PM

Edgwise - A Picture of Cookie Mueller...bio on the author/actress/80s downtown club denizen...fuck Just Kids...this is the real book on how awesomely dangerous, edgy and bursting with bohemian energy NYC was back in the day. The pics are amazing too.

Teatro Grotesco - Thomas Ligotti...compendium of short metaphysical horror stories by a modern master. Akin to HP Lovecraft but def its own animal. It's freaking me the fuck out.

by Anonymousreply 289July 30, 2015 6:02 PM

The section titled "The Happy Years" in A LITTLE LIFE contains some of the most disturbing, graphic, horrifying things I've ever read in a book.

by Anonymousreply 290August 11, 2015 3:21 PM

I agree, r290. And I found it incredibly powerful and moving. Were you turned off the book for this reason?

by Anonymousreply 291August 11, 2015 3:55 PM

Oh no, not at all, R291. It was just an especially difficult section to get through (and that title is a bit of a misdirection!). I felt so bad for poor Jude (as well as Willem in the earlier part of the chapter as he tries to negotiate their new relationship). The writing is so vivid and the characters feel very much like real people to me. I think the book is a modern-day masterpiece.

Do you think it has a chance at the Pulitzer Prize? It's better than The Goldfinch which, of course, won two years ago.

by Anonymousreply 292August 11, 2015 4:05 PM

I read that the original manuscript of "A Little Life" was 900+ pages, and that the author's editor found Jude's suffering over the top.

Here's an interesting quote from Yanagihara about the book:

[quote]“Everything in this book is a little exaggerated: the horror, of course, but also the love. I wanted it to reach a level of truth by playing with the conventions of a fairy tale, and then veering those conventions off path. I wanted the experience of reading it to feel immersive by being slightly otherworldly, to not give the reader many contextual tethers to steady them.”

by Anonymousreply 293August 11, 2015 5:29 PM

I've read reviews from readers who said that they found the GOOD things that happened to Jude more believable than the bad things.

Should we have a thread devoted just to "A Little Life"? I would like to hear more readers' opinions.

by Anonymousreply 294August 11, 2015 5:32 PM

I really love Yanagihara's explanation at R293. That makes a lot of sense. The Atlantic astutely pointed out something similar in their review:

[quote]To understand the novel’s exaggeration and its intense, claustrophobic focus on its characters’ inner lives requires recognizing how it engages with aesthetic modes long coded as queer: melodrama, sentimental fiction, grand opera.

R294, I'm all for an "A Little Life" thread. I'd really like to discuss the novel with others who've read it and don't want to derail here.

by Anonymousreply 295August 11, 2015 5:42 PM

Since it's longlisted for the Booker, I'm sure it will get awards attention elsewhere, but I suspect it's a bit raw for the Pultizer. National Book Award, maybe or the NBCC award.

by Anonymousreply 296August 11, 2015 7:05 PM

Whose going to win the Pulitzer? Paul Beatty? Lauren Groff? Hanya Yanagihara? Donald Hammam?

by Anonymousreply 297April 14, 2016 10:24 AM

Hey, my Datalouge buddies, guess what i started reading, the night before.

It's so interesting, highly recommended and not boring in the least!

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 298May 29, 2016 5:56 PM

READ IT.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 299May 29, 2016 6:03 PM

The Midnight Assassin by Skip Hollandsworth. Interesting book about a serial killer in 1800s Austin, Texas

by Anonymousreply 300May 30, 2016 1:19 AM

Has anyone read Rules of Civility? I'm enjoying it quite a bit so far.

by Anonymousreply 301June 6, 2016 10:21 AM

No, i haven't read it.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 302June 6, 2016 10:46 AM

----

by Anonymousreply 303June 6, 2016 11:32 AM

All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

Prince Caspian (Chronicles of Narnia, #2) by C.S. Lewis

by Anonymousreply 304May 7, 2018 2:33 PM

Just bought Ian McEwan's Nutshell can't wait to begin it!

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 305May 11, 2018 12:08 AM

I just started David Mitchell's The Bone Clocks.

by Anonymousreply 306May 13, 2018 10:32 PM

The Art of the Deal

by Anonymousreply 307May 14, 2018 1:54 AM
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