What are you reading?

[Richard Reyes]

Recently finished Home Front by Kristin Hannah. My second novel by her. Good book. Currently reading I Am Death, two novellas by Gary Amdahl. This is my third Amdahl book this summer. On deck I've got a Milan Kundera loaded on the Kindle because I realized I have only read one Kundera and should probably read more. 

[pjbear05]

Clive Cussler:  Fire Strike, by Mike Maden (Oregon Files series).

[New_World_Man]

Earlier today I finished reading Neil's Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road. I started it back around mid May. It's 460 pages plus I'm a slow reader. This is the kind of book that leaves you wanting more so I might check out some of his other ones at some point. Anyway, it was a pretty interesting book. 

[GlamMistress]

Alice in Wonderland, the Twilight Saga

[Turbine Freight]

Hemingway - The Old Man & the Sea

 

[Rhyta]

On 6/22/2023 at 10:57 AM, jamie said:

I've been slacking on reading The BFG. I just bought Bound by Donna Jo Napoli, it's a Cinderella retelling about Chinese foot binding that I really enjoyed in 8th grade. I'm slowly but surely trying to read for leisure as an adult, because I haven't done that as much as I would have liked to. One of my goals is to get a library card this year.

A bit late, but as a former library employee, I encourage you to get the library card.  It opens the doors to so many good books!

[Turbine Freight]

14 minutes ago, Rhyta said:

A bit late, but as a former library employee, I encourage you to get the library card.  It opens the doors to so many good books!

 

 

Absolutely. A library card is a free pass into the world of knowledge.

[Richard Reyes]

Somebody's Fool by Richard Russo.

[Jack Aubrey]

Right now I'm reading House Of Leaves (The Remastered And Full-Color Edition) by Mark Z. Daniielewski. I was intrigued by some reviews I stumbled upon as I was by it's description of "ergodic fiction" and decided to get a copy. I'm not too far in, maybe page 45, but it's good so far. I do recommend y'all look into it.

Edited August 20, 2023 by Jack Aubrey
fix typo.

[invisible airwave]

Heard her interview on John Fugelsang's SiriusXM show on Friday and thought I'd check it out.  Feeling better about myself since I went Cali sober with cannabis and lost 30 pounds but I need to get back with sane people in these tough and divided times.

 

[pjbear05]

Re-reading The Only Plane In The Sky:  An Oral History of  9/11, by Garrett Graff.

Which has somehow triggered an obsession for more books on 9/11.  I have hold requests for four more in at the library.

[Bahamas]

pjbear05 - wow, that is quite a journey. Dark?!

But I can relate to reading something and wanting so much, much more of it. 

Incidentally, there was a movie and a long running theatre play called Come From Away about planes diverted to Gander, Newfoundland and how even two decades later, many of those same people are still getting together to remember that horrific event. Thousands of passengers from different flights descended on this little town and for days, the cooking, accommodations, generally anything needed to help strangers stranded in a foreign place is still being shared to this day. And another anniversary approaches. 

 

Hold requests on books, 22 years later. Amazing, truly. 

[pjbear05]

On 9/3/2023 at 8:53 PM, Bahamas said:

pjbear05 - wow, that is quite a journey. Dark?!

But I can relate to reading something and wanting so much, much more of it. 

Incidentally, there was a movie and a long running theatre play called Come From Away about planes diverted to Gander, Newfoundland and how even two decades later, many of those same people are still getting together to remember that horrific event. Thousands of passengers from different flights descended on this little town and for days, the cooking, accommodations, generally anything needed to help strangers stranded in a foreign place is still being shared to this day. And another anniversary approaches. 

 

Hold requests on books, 22 years later. Amazing, truly. 

While reading this I kept referring to Graf's footnotes and his sources (for some reason he did not have a separate bibliography), and found three of them.  The fourth was listed in my library system's subject file dump, and having read other fiction and non-fiction from the same author (FDNY Firefighter Dennis Smith) I was immediately drawn to the fourth source.

And so stories begin:  Never Forget:  An Oral History Of September 11, 2001, by Mitchell Fink and Lois Mathias.

Edited September 8, 2023 by pjbear05

[pjbear05]

#2, Running Toward Danger, by The Newseum.   A picture album of 9/11 photos, with most comments by photographers taking the pictures.

 

#3, The Lives They Saved, by Douglas L. Keeny.  The story of the largest marine evacuation in history- the 9/11 transporting nearly 300,000 people from lower Manhattan to places of safety, as told by the captains and crew of the ferry boats, Coast Guard vessels, Port Authority boats, and privately owned marine craft involved.

[pjbear05]

On 9/11/2023 at 12:27 PM, pjbear05 said:

#2, Running Toward Danger, by The Newseum.   A picture album of 9/11 photos, with most comments by photographers taking the pictures.

 

#3, The Lives They Saved, by Douglas L. Keeny.  The story of the largest marine evacuation in history- the 9/11 transporting nearly 300,000 people from lower Manhattan to places of safety, as told by the captains and crew of the ferry boats, Coast Guard vessels, Port Authority boats, and privately owned marine craft involved.

The Lives They Saved was stunning, considering the scope of the operation. For comparison:

In 1940 a flotilla evacuated some 340,000 Britsh soldiers from Dunkirk over the span of 9 days.

On 9/11 a flotilla shuttled 278,000+ survivors off the southern tip of Manhattan in 12 hours. Near!y all the evacuees walked from Ground Zero and the surrounding area to the points of departure.

[Krystal]

[Richard Reyes]

Just finished Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead. Great prose with a fun sense of humor but missing any ambitious literary vision (and that's okay). Just started I Have some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai. 100 pages in and I already like it way more than her last book which was a Pulitzer Prize finalist but I though was a dud. 

[NoahLutz]

Exodus by Leon Uris.  One of the most thrilling books I’ve ever read.  

[Rhyta]

1 hour ago, NoahLutz said:

Exodus by Leon Uris.  One of the most thrilling books I’ve ever read.  

Fantastic writing, read it in the 70's, glad it still holds up after so many years.  I read Trinity in the 80's and his take on the troubles in Ireland is just as suspenseful.

[Rhyta]

Finished a re-read of Junkyard Dogs by Craig Johnson, he's got a winner in Longmire for sure...or should I say Boy Howdy

 

Got to see him on his book tour last weekend and enjoyed his tales about writing and how he comes up with the plots.

[chemistry1973]

Nick Mason’s Pink Floyd book.

 

very good so far.

[condemned2bfree]

Towton, England's Bloodiest Battle.

[TheAccountant]

Justice is Coming by Cenk Uygur.

 

Very good book but that should not be a shock - I watch the Young Turks for news as much as I can and he is the host of the show.  His views most align with mine.  Mostly.

[pjbear05]

First books after onslaught of 9/11 volumes:

Clive Cussler-Condor's Fury:  A Novel from The NUMA Files, by Graham Brown

Tom Clancy:  Weapons Grade, by Don Bentley

[NoahLutz]

Moby Dick: it is a bit frustrating that a book can be so brilliant and so boring at the same time.  The use of language is often beautiful, but there are long sections about cetology which are boring.  It’s also a slow read as virtually every page requires me to look something up, but I rather enjoy that aspect of it.