What book are you reading?

smarchee

"Those old cows knew trouble was coming before we did." So begins the story of Lily Casey Smith, in Jeannette Walls's magnificent, true-life novel based on her no-nonsense, resourceful, hard working, and spectacularly compelling grandmother. By age six, Lily was helping her father break horses. At fifteen, she left home to teach in a frontier town -- riding five hundred miles on her pony, all alone, to get to her job. She learned to drive a car ("I loved cars even more than I loved horses. They didn't need to be fed if they weren't working, and they didn't leave big piles of manure all over the place") and fly a plane, and, with her husband, ran a vast ranch in Arizona. She raised two children, one of whom is Jeannette's memorable mother, Rosemary Smith Walls, unforgettably portrayed in The Glass Castle.

Lily survived tornadoes, droughts, floods, the Great Depression, and the most heartbreaking personal tragedy. She bristled at prejudice of all kinds -- against women, Native Americans, and anyone else who didn't fit the mold. Half Broke Horses is Laura Ingalls Wilder for adults, as riveting and dramatic as Isak Dinesen's Out of Africa or Beryl Markham's West with the Night. It will transfix readers everywhere.

Byrnzie

Mao's Great Famine - The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe 1958-1962 - Frank Dikotter


'Between 1958 and 1962, 45 million Chinese people were worked, starved or beaten to death. Mao Zedong threw his country into a frenzy with the Great Leap Forward, an attempt to catch up with and overtake the Western world in less than fifteen years. It lead to one of the greatest catastrophes the world has ever known. Dikotter's extraordinary research within Chinese archives brings together for the first time what happened in the corridors of power with the everyday experiences of ordinary people, giving voice to the dead and disenfranchised. This groundbreaking account definitively recasts the history of the People's Republic of China.'

smarchee

In 2005, Freakonomics exploded in the culture, forever changing our understanding of how the world works, how we really make decisions--even how we name our children. This revolutionary book spent two years on the New York Times bestseller list, sold more than 3 million hardcover copies, single-handedly spawned a new genre of books, and led to a column in the New York Times Magazine and a blog on the New York Times website. Now, University of Chicago economist Steven D. Levitt and award-winning writer Stephen J. Dubner return with this all-new book that is bigger, more provocative, and sure to challenge the way we think all over again.

polaris_x

The Art of Racing in the Rain ... by Garth Stein

just finished this book ... decent read, especially if you are into dogs and auto racing ... book is told / narrated by the dog ... and is the story of his owners life from whence he adopted the dog as a puppy ... funny and sure to choke a few people up ... :oops:

Leezestarr313

I'm reading Love is a mixtape by Rob Sheffield again. I've read it before but liked it very much and I was in the mood for it again



It's something of an autobiographic novel about a couple and how they sort of communicate via mixtapes. It's a sweet, funny and touching story with lots of musical inspirations. I love to stop reading to look for and listen to the songs that are mentioned.

dcfaithful

Leeze wrote:

I'm reading Love is a mixtape by Rob Sheffield again. I've read it before but liked it very much and I was in the mood for it again



It's something of an autobiographic novel about a couple and how they sort of communicate via mixtapes. It's a sweet, funny and touching story with lots of musical inspirations. I love to stop reading to look for and listen to the songs that are mentioned.

Sounds like a fun read.

dcfaithful

Started This Boy's Life last night...

RKCNDY

polaris_x wrote:

The Art of Racing in the Rain ... by Garth Stein

just finished this book ... decent read, especially if you are into dogs and auto racing ... book is told / narrated by the dog ... and is the story of his owners life from whence he adopted the dog as a puppy ... funny and sure to choke a few people up ... :oops:

I didn't think it was a really sad cry...more of a happy cry.

Currently reading:



just started, and I can already tell it's gonna be a tear jerker.

rrivers

Leeze wrote:

I'm reading Love is a mixtape by Rob Sheffield again. I've read it before but liked it very much and I was in the mood for it again



It's something of an autobiographic novel about a couple and how they sort of communicate via mixtapes. It's a sweet, funny and touching story with lots of musical inspirations. I love to stop reading to look for and listen to the songs that are mentioned.

I read that and really enjoyed it too.

F Me In The Brain

dcfaithful wrote:

Started This Boy's Life last night...

Great book!

F Me In The Brain

Reading:


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MK1980

F Me In The Brain wrote:

Reading:


Up next:

Blood's A Rover is an amazing and (sort of) redeeming end to my favourite book trilogy of all time, my personal fave of the three is American Tabloid 'cause Pete Bondurant is the best character in the books. Also the way Ellroy writes them is fantasic, the way the jargon evolves through the late fifties and into the early seventies. I'm assuming you've read the other two, this one easily lives up to them. Enjoy!

chiquimonkey

Then starting on these:

Nastasja

The Emperor's New Mind - Roger Penrose

Wobbie

polaris_x wrote:

The Art of Racing in the Rain ... by Garth Stein

just finished this book ... decent read, especially if you are into dogs and auto racing ... book is told / narrated by the dog ... and is the story of his owners life from whence he adopted the dog as a puppy ... funny and sure to choke a few people up ... :oops:

I didn't really like that book....until the end. Then I loved it

reading this:



de-press-ing. I don't get addiction :wtf:

Newch91

Reading "The Rum Diary" again so I can go watch the movie.

rrivers

Reading "The Imperfectionists" by Tom Rachman and still working through "A Dance with Dragons".

iamica

I'm on Chapter 3 of Moby Dick...it's pretty good so far...my husband warned me to skip the chapters that describe the whaling industry because they're so boring...

F Me In The Brain

MK1980 wrote:

F Me In The Brain wrote:

Reading:


Up next:

Blood's A Rover is an amazing and (sort of) redeeming end to my favourite book trilogy of all time, my personal fave of the three is American Tabloid 'cause Pete Bondurant is the best character in the books. Also the way Ellroy writes them is fantasic, the way the jargon evolves through the late fifties and into the early seventies. I'm assuming you've read the other two, this one easily lives up to them. Enjoy!

Thanks, I look forward to it, mid-way through The Sherlockians and am enjoying it more than I thought I would.

I have read most of Ellroy's work and while I find it tough to pick a favorite I agree that American Tabloid is fantastic. His characters *spark* and I think AT, White Jazz and Black Dahlia all are so great in that way. I thought that Cold Six Thousand was a bit of a let down so am excited to read the close out of his trilogy.
Living in LA I love his LA stuff especially.

oona left

imalive wrote:

polaris_x wrote:

reading this:



de-press-ing. I don't get addiction :wtf:

I'd be curious to hear your opinion when you've finished "Tweak." Addiction and I are actually very well acquainted

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Just finished "Five Against One."