what are you reading?

Joyful Uke said:

I’m still reading The McCartney Legacy,

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Just finished this a few days ago, and WOW, what a ride! Astounding scholarship, written as propulsively as a thriller, with acres and acres of new stuff, even for a diehard Beatles reader and Paul fan.

That really was a spectacularly unpleasant time in his life in so many ways. I remember the absolute fusillade of negativity rained down on him at the time, especially in the American press, Rolling Stone in particular, that it's almost impossible to believe he made anything good in that stretch -- and much of it is spectacular! Maybe I'm Amazed, Live and Let Die, Band on the Run, My Love and Uncle Albert are the biggest hits, but there's another dozen all-timers in there.

With both this series and Lewisohn's Tune In, it makes me sad to think that I may not live to see them completed, but I'm sure glad to have what I have so far!

That said, these nearly 800 pages flew by so quickly that my wife (with whom I was sharing what I found along the way) pulled the trigger on the 1800 page Expanded Edition of Tune In. Cheaper to get shipped from the UK than to buy from Amazon US, but I'm ready!

There's a lot more I want to say about the McCartney Legacy, and I will, but for now I'll just now again that I really did love it. I got it from our public library (I was first to check it out, natch), but I may have to buy it on Kindle to consult again from time to time.

Looking forward to talking about it with you too!

Renaissance-Man said:

I saw this book on display at our library today.
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I thumbed through it. It seems interesting. There are two people here in particular who I think would enjoy this book. Maybe they'll see this mention and take a look.

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The Great Divorce also by C.S Lewis is brilliant.

Currently reading two books of old ghost stories: 'A Warning to the Curious' by M.R. James, and 'Tales of Terror and the Supernatural', by Wilkie Collins.

Luke Plays Uke said:

I just finished a VERY British mystery called The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. My favorite part was that the protagonist, though dismissed by inspectors (as female characters almost always are in mysteries) had zero love interests (which is WAY too common in mysteries) because she’s 11.

I liked that a lot. She was also smart - an aspiring chemist with a specialty in poison. Pretty cool.

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This book finally came available from the library and I devoured it in a few days. Great read. My daughter will be starting on it as soon as she's finished The Inquisitor's Tale. Thanks for the recomendation Luke Plays Uke, I have the next book in the Flavia de Luce series put on my hold list at my library!

Rereading Project Hail Mary. My daughter has listened to this, The Martian and Artemis so many times on Audible that I think she has them memorized. I don't really listen to audio books a lot, so I'm doing it the old-fashioned paperback way

ploverwing said:

This book finally came available from the library and I devoured it in a few days. Great read. My daughter will be starting on it as soon as she's finished The Inquisitor's Tale. Thanks for the recomendation Luke Plays Uke, I have the next book in the Flavia de Luce series put on my hold list at my library!

Rereading Project Hail Mary. My daughter has listened to this, The Martian and Artemis so many times on Audible that I think she has them memorized. I don't really listen to audio books a lot, so I'm doing it the old-fashioned paperback way

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I’m glad you liked it!

Last night, at the stroke of midnight Utah-time, the first of Surprise! Four Secret Novels by Brandon Sanderson Kickstarter shorts dropped, so today I (virtually) tucked away the books I had been reading (Mercedes Lackey's Into the West and PN Elrod's The Hanged Man) and started in on the no-longer-secret novel Tress of the Emerald Sea. So far, so good! It's stylistically different from most of his others, and it reminds me somewhat of Rothfuss' The Slow Regard of Silent Things, though I couldn't explain why.

Those who like Gaslamp Fantasy mysteries should check out The Hanged Man. It's not Holmes, but it's similar genre (plus magic) and so far a delight to read. I'm looking forward to finishing it, but had to mindshare before library books were due.

Rolling through a few "Jack Reacher" novels I found at a thrift store.

Almost done with this great book

Finishing up L. P. Hartley’s novel The Go-Between, which I’d read and admired many years ago and only dimly recalled. I was prompted to read it again after @mountain goat mentioned it here. Thanks, Jon!

One of the (few) pleasures of getting older is that you can rediscover great books you’ve loved in the past but forgotten.

The Library Book by Susan Orleans.
About the 1986 fire at the Los Angeles Public Library.
Interesting subject and very well written.

Does anyone else prefer short stories to novels? I find them more concise and to the point. I think many novels are padded to sell better and play to today’s readers. I remember reading something in a writing book about publishers prefering larger books with more pages, a long time ago, when I was trying to write. Novels certainly seem to be larger these days.

Years ago I went through my books and got rid of the novels. It was difficult for me, but I had read and reread most of them anyway. Now, when I read fiction, I read short stories and poetry.

Down Up Dick said:

Does anyone else prefer short stories to novels? I find them more concise and to the point. I think many novels are padded to sell better and play to today’s readers. I remember reading something in a writing book about publishers prefering larger books with more pages, a long time ago, when I was trying to write.

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In general I prefer novels, the larger palette, though I like a good story now & then. Right now I’m reading a collection by Katherine Mansfield.

But a novel isn’t just a padded-out short story. These are two different forms, they do different things, and require different things from the reader. A novel can convey a whole world, while a story conveys a flash of intuition.

It’s true that a collection of short stories can be harder to market than a novel, but it’s not true that publishers like huge books. They require a minimum for trade reprints to be profitable, but too many pages is a problem at the other end.

A friend in publishing used to talk about one of his novelists, a wildly successful writer of police procedurals (now dead), who had to be prodded to come up with 224 pages, the minimum that was profitable in paperback reprint. Then there were other novelists who always wrote too much and had to pare off several hundred pages, both for artistic and for profitability reasons.

Some novelists are exempt of course. A Stephen King can write as much as he wants!

Right now I’m reading “Women’s Diaries of the Western Journey” by Lillian Schlissel. I’ve been bangin’ away at it for a log time, reading other stuff on and off. My wife and I both read a cupla others about the crossing a while back, and we like the the subject. She’s from Nebraska where a lot of it started.

Last night I read a Mark Twain story (again). That’s how it goes.

I really appreciate the skill of authors of short stories: they have to make a tight plot that's immediately engaging and resolves within very few words. I also appreciate the skill of a good editor: they demand ruthlessly and end up with a good end product. I do find a lot of books now seem to not have good editing, and bloated books abound.

Just finished the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. Very moving, and a brilliantly constructed narrative line.

Highly recommended!

I recently finished Batman: Damned.

It was pretty dark, even for a Batman story and exists out of DC continuity. Some characters are treated differently, with different abilities (Deadman can only possess people for a short time, for instance) but it was good. It had a hell of a twist and I wish the Batman mythos wasn’t so concrete because adopting this twist as canon would make the overall story a little more interesting.

Ah well. Still a good book.

And the art! Oh my god, the art was spectacular!

dancephoto said:

The Library Book by Susan Orleans.
About the 1986 fire at the Los Angeles Public Library.
Interesting subject and very well written.

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This is an excellent read, and extremely well written. Fascinating subject covering an event that I did not recall.

bbkobabe said:

Just finished the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. Very moving, and a brilliantly constructed narrative line.

Highly recommended!

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Loved it!

Oldscruggsfan said:

This is an excellent read, and extremely well written. Fascinating subject covering an event that I did not recall.

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I enjoyed that one, too. My mom was a librarian prior to retirement, so I think that made the book come to life even more for me.

bbkobabe said:

Just finished the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. Very moving, and a brilliantly constructed narrative line.

Highly recommended!

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There’s also a Tony-winning musical. Very good stuff