What book are you reading/reccomendation thread

[GR]

This week I've been reading Tracy Chevalier's historical novel Remarkable Creatures.

The story's portrayal of the friendship between young, working-class Mary Anning and middle-aged, middle-class Elizabeth Philpot in early 1800s Lyme Regis, England is genuinely heartfelt (in alternating chapters, Chevalier's first-person narration nimbly shifts back-and-forth between Anning's and Philpot's unique voices). And while the details of their fossil-hunting make for somewhat dry reading (unless you're really into geology and/or paleontology), things turn more interesting when the story addresses the treatment of women in the scientific community at the time, and the religious controversies (such as the then-unheard-of notion that God could've created any creature that went extinct) that arose regarding these scientific discoveries.

[GR]

I'm almost finished with Maeve Binchy's latest book, Minding Frankie. An extraordinarily cozy story even by Binchy's typically warmhearted standards, it concerns an alcoholic young Dublin man who learns that a terminally-ill young woman (with whom he'd had a drunken one-time fling) is pregnant with his child. After their daughter is born and the mother dies, the father turns to a network of family, friends, and neighbors to help him raise his little girl as he works hard to straighten his life out -- all the while being hounded by a dogged social worker.

As with most of her other books from the past decade, Binchy integrates old-favorite characters -- here including the Scarlet family and the twins Maud and Simon from 2002's Scarlet Feather, nurse Fiona from 2004's Nights of Rain and Stars, Dr. Declan (Fiona's husband) and the staff of St. Brigid's heart clinic from 2008's Heart and Soul, Father Brian Flynn from 2006's Whitethorn Woods, etc. (even Aidan Dunne and his beloved Signora, first introduced in 1996's Evening Class, are mentioned) -- into a deftly drawn cast of new characters. Fortunately, this tendency seems especially well-suited to this story's "it takes a village..." premise.

[GR]

This past week, I've been reading Erik Larson's Thunderstruck (2006). Very similar in feel to his previous book, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America (2003), which also juxtaposed an inspiring story of creation/invention with a more disturbing true-crime story, Thunderstruck deals with Guglielmo Marconi's development of the wireless telegraph in the early 20th century and the exploits of mild-mannered Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen; the new communication tool, in 1910, became instrumental in helping to bring Dr. Crippen to justice for killing his wife. Gripping stuff all-around -- from the science and technology behind wireless telegraphy, to the exhaustive detail of the Crippen murder investigation.

[saffy]

I've never been a fan of the crime novel, but desperation drew me to read a book my daughter left by the bedside whilst I was bedridden after my last op.

I am now a fan of Karin Slaughter books. Pretty gruesome but it had me riveted until I'd finished the whole book .. And yes, i now have everything she's ever written on my I pod.

[jill]

I've been doing a bit of reading lately, though not crime drama. Just started to read Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose-heavy going, not everybody's cup of tea, but I am interested in the idea behind it. Also read the book of Let the Right One In recently. Liked the film and the book helped me make sense of some of the more curious moments in the film. If you're becoming a fan of crime genre Saffy, I would definitely recommend The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher. Paddy starred in the TV adaptation which was re-shown on TV a few nights back (missed it again-damn), so maybe you've already seen it or read it? If not, I think you'd like it. Very well written-total page turner.

[Bill Edwards]

I've just finished Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.

First fiction I've read for a long while. I enjoyed it immensely right up until I finished it when I felt is was a bit rushed and a bit unsatisfying.

I was annoyed by a character's name which was Chapter Eleven. I was waiting with mounting tension to find out why he was called this. I didn't as I don't know enough about American Law. I had to look online to see why and it was rather glib.

Still the main character had a great voice and it all felt very real and the narrative flowed effortlessly despite it jumping around through time.

[GR]

I'm almost finished with John Grisham's newest book, The Litigators -- arguably his funniest since The Brethren (which I just recently reread). Quite topical, too: The main plot seems to have been inspired by the class-action lawsuit against Merck & Co. over the prescription painkiller Vioxx, which was found to increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes (in this book, the company is called Varrick and the object of the lawsuit is a cholesterol drug called Krayoxx); and a more serious subplot involves a child poisoned by lead from a China-imported product.

[GR]

I've got one more chapter to go in Theodore Boone: The Abduction, and I'll have read everything of John Grisham's. ;D I thought this was actually much more entertaining than his first "kid lawyer" book -- just a straightforward mystery/adventure story with emotional undercurrents (Theo's best friend, April, has disappeared without a trace, and he fears she may have been kidnapped and/or possibly killed), not bogged down in a lot of explanations of legal matters.

[Bill Edwards]

Notes from an exhibition by Patrick Gale

A great cast of characters with secrets and mysteries and a non-linear narrative made for an enjoyable read.

[GR]

I'm currently about halfway through Echoes by Maeve Binchy (the only one of her fiction books -- including story collections -- I hadn't read before). A coming-of-age / love story set in Ireland in 1950s and early '60s, it primarily concerns David, the son of a well-to-do doctor, and Clare, the daughter of a struggling sweets-shop proprietor; but it also features a slew of deftly sketched supporting characters (even the most disagreeable ones, such as David's snooty mother and Clare's ill-tempered older sister, are given some shadings and complexity).

[jill]

Somehow, I never get around to contributing to this thread-I do read stuff though

A couple from me:

Slaughterhouse 5 (Kurt Vonnegut )

A book I have been meaning to read for years and finally got around to it last night. Wow! Often described as one of the best anti-war books of the 20th C. Tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, an American prisoner of war who was in Dresden on the night of the infamous bombing, recountered by a narrator who was also there (the author). Odd, but really interesting style. Billy Pilgrim has become 'unstuck in time' (lost his mind) and so the story flits back and forth in time. Described as 'gallows humour'-more powerful than that-a paragraph (or two) that is totally absurd and often laugh out loud funny, followed by one (or two) that just kick you in the gut. Fantastic flights of imagination, followed by descriptions of really horrific stuff-all the more arresting because it's told in such a prosaic/matter of fact way ('so it goes'). A deeper story about free will versus fatalism running underneath. Absolutely brilliant book.

In Cold Blood (Tuman Capote)

Been meaning to read this since watching the film (Capote, about his travel to Arkansas to research the book). A mix of fine literary craft and journalism that has been done a few times since (The Suspicions of Mr Whicher type thing). Did Capote invented this style? Not sure, but also a great read. All the more powerful because it is told/drawn in depth and detail-the murdered family, who they were, their everyday lives and dreams (unrealised) and the killers, who they were, where they came from, how they came to commit such a horrific act-without explicit judgment. That's left to the reader and is all the more chilling for that.

[GR]

Slaughterhouse-Five and In Cold Blood -- great stuff!

I recently got around to reading Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, after having seen the film version a few months ago. Very odd book (especially when the little boy is narrating), and the pictures and stuff seem borderline gimmicky; but it's also quite a touching story (especially regarding the backgrounds of the grandmother and "the renter," which weren't really touched upon in the film).

[GR]

I finally got around to reading The Help this month, and I'm almost finished with it (haven't seen the film version yet, but I hope to very soon...).

Even if I hadn't waited for the hype to die down, I think I still would've at least been quite impressed with the distinct, compelling and likable narrative voices author Kathryn Stockett has given her three main characters (two black maids and a white aspiring writer in early 1960s Jackson, Mississippi), as well as the array of believable supporting characters she has developed.

[tashab92]

I'm currently reading "Crying in the dark" by Shane Dunphy, then next on my list is "In the midst of life" by Jennifer Worth.

I really want to read Shaun Ryder's autobiography though - has anyone read it?

[GR]

Finally finished War & Peace today (started a couple months ago). Whew! Oddly enough, I thought some of the "war" parts kind of dragged, but there was enough stuff happening on the homefront to keep my interest throughout, and Tolstoy's meditations on history in general were fairly compelling.