What is IN reading?

[lolo]

I've got lots of work trips coming up and am thinking about the hours I'll have to fill. What have you been reading? What do you think of it? Tell me about the Kindle samples I should download.

[VillainV]

I've been reading a lot of Lisa See lately. Some of her stuff is set in 18th-19th century China, and some follow a family that came to America from Shanghai in the 1920s. It's very enjoyable.

[frlcb]

Jun 17, 2012 8:53:32 GMT -5 VillainV said:

I've been reading a lot of Lisa See lately. Some of her stuff is set in 18th-19th century China, and some follow a family that came to America from Shanghai in the 1920s. It's very enjoyable.

I hope you have read Shanghai Girls and Dreams of Joy, so good.

[GilliC]

Right now I'm reading The Catcher in the Rye because I've never read it, but I find it rather boring.

I've only given 5 Goodreads stars to two books so far this year: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (an 80s pop-culture treasure-hunt set in a future world where everyone lives in an online virtual reality) and The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2011 (an eclectic mix of magazine articles, short stories, and lists of random topics).

My 4-star books this year include:
- A Night to Remember by Walter Lord (fantastic description of the Titanic disaster, based on first-person accounts)
- The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (novel about a Paris concierge with delightful language and observations,
- Hiroshima by John Hersey (first-person accounts of the bombing; relatively short and well worth reading)
- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (yeah, I'd never read this one before either)
- Captains of the Sands by Jorge Amado (1930s novel about street urchins in northeast Brazil)
- The Two Kinds of Decay by Sarah Manguso (memoir of dealing with a rare auto-immune disease; well-written, but not as humorous as tofuninja)- I'm Off by Jean Echenoz (slow-paced, surprise-ending French art mystery)
- The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton (novel about a lock-pick/safe-cracker; a bit violent, but I love a good heist)
- Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins (quick reads, and probably deserving of the hype)
- Bossypants by Tina Fey (an interesting behind-the-scenes look at SNL and 30 Rock, with plenty of feminist perspective)
- The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot (surprisingly less mindless bubble-gummy than the film)
but almost no plot; rec'd by WhereInTheWorld I think?)

[clogged]

I am reading Fanny Burney's "Cecilia, or memoirs of an heiress". Chapter 8 in volume 1 (of 3). Gonna take me aaaaaaaaall summer, at least.

loving it so far, but I never recommend books I read. They are a bit, um, fluffy and moralistic by modern standards.

[irish]

I'm reading The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue (wrote Room).
Just finished The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright, which I really enjoyed and got lots of discussion at our book club last week.

[clickerish]

I am reading Philip Roth's Nemesis and The Murmuring Coast by Lidia Jorge. I just finished The Desire to be Punk by Belen Gopegui.

This is a good thread!

[cupcakes]

Just finished "Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend." LOVED it!

[anna7602]

Jun 17, 2012 9:41:12 GMT -5 GilliC said:

Right now I'm reading The Catcher in the Rye because I've never read it, but I find it rather boring.

This is a book that I think needs to be read when you're still in the thick of teenage angst. I loved it when I was 14 or 15. Read it again in early college and thought it was good, but it wasn't my favorite anymore. Then I read it once more at 25 or 26 and thought the main character was unbearable, which made me sad because I had been recommending the book to everyone I knew for over a decade.

I agree with GilliC that The Elegance of the Hedgehog is well worth reading.

Most of what I have been reading lately has been with an eye to translate it into English myself, both on assignment and for pleasure. I've been reading David Lebovitz's "The Sweet Life in Paris" as a break from the intense stuff. It's enjoyable, but I probably wouldn't recommend it to someone unless you love food/memoir combos or have a thing for Paris particularly.

[travelingturtle]

I'm reading the Hex Hall trilogy which I am enjoying way more than I thought I would. I have The Elegance of the Hedgehog on my soon-to-read list. I started it, but got sidetracked. I also liked Ready Player One. The Tana French mysteries are good and there's a new one coming out soon I can't wait for. Oh, and I also love Lisa See.

[dorothyinAus]

I'm still slogging through Wuthering Heights.

And it's getting less appealing. Not only do I have Murder on the Eiffel Tower tempting me from my bedside table, but DH surprised me with SuperChef Australia -- a parody of the MasterChef competition. I may just have to throw in the towel on Wuthering Heights.

[Deleted]

Reading '50 Shades of Grey'. Seems like a load of utter wank (and not in the way they intended).

[clickerish]

Jun 17, 2012 18:39:14 GMT -5 @cheshire said:

Reading '50 Shades of Grey'. Seems like a load of utter wank (and not in the way they intended).

I couldn't get through it at all. Gave up and called the $4 loss an "educational experience".

[Wanderista]

The Believing Brain by Michael Shermer and The Moral Landscape by Sam Harris because my SO wants me to. He loves "popular science" books and I am open-minded. I really need to go in search of some good fiction though. I have not really been reading that much lately.

[blushing]

I am reading 'Run Fat Bitch Run - www.amazon.co.uk/Run-Fat-Bitch-Ruth-Field/dp/184744542X

I am trying to get motivated.

[Deleted]

Jun 18, 2012 7:51:07 GMT -5 clickerish said:

Jun 17, 2012 18:39:14 GMT -5 @cheshire said:

Reading '50 Shades of Grey'. Seems like a load of utter wank (and not in the way they intended).

I couldn't get through it at all. Gave up and called the $4 loss an "educational experience".

The whole thing lacks believability. Mills and Boon for the 21st century I guess.

[travelingturtle]

For 50 shades, I downloaded the sample and couldn't even get through that. I think I'll just wait for the movie.

[blushing]

Jun 18, 2012 10:48:00 GMT -5 @cheshire said:

Jun 18, 2012 7:51:07 GMT -5 clickerish said:

I couldn't get through it at all. Gave up and called the $4 loss an "educational experience".

The whole thing lacks believability. Mills and Boon for the 21st century I guess.

I got about half way through it and gave up. It struggled to keep my attention.