What are you currently reading?

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: What are you currently reading?

Iron Man, by Tony Iommi
Not as good or as funny as Ozzy's I Am Ozzy, but still a must for Sabboteurs.

Vinyl Tap Stories, by Randy Bachmann
He was such a good boy that there's no banana sex stories ala Tony, but still interesting stuff from the rare Canadian rocker perspective, and he certainly was there and did most of that when it really mattered.

[Honoruru]

Re: What are you currently reading?

Black Swan Green, which I finished reading last week, was the least favorite of David Mitchell’s five works that I’ve read, but even so, it was very good. The best quote from this coming-of-age story of a bullied schoolboy: The world’s a headmaster who works on your faults.

Currently, I’m reading Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy. McCarthy’s literary reputation has been climbing steadily over the last few years. This will be the third novel of his that I’ve read, and so far, this is by far the best.

[scrivener]

Re: What are you currently reading?

What else of his have you read? I read All the Pretty Horses in 1992 when it won the National Book Award and loved it. I only got halfway through the second book in that trilogy, The Crossing, and although I purchased the third, Cities of the Plain, I still haven't opened it. I admire the heck out of McCarthy's style and voice, but I guess that second novel just wasn't what I was expecting and I never regained my interest.

I was reading All the Pretty Horses one day somewhere in public. Someone nearby asked me what it was about. I was about fifty pages in, so I answered, "I'm not really sure yet."

Then he said exactly what I was thinking when I purchased the book: "I guess with a title like that, it doesn't matter what it's about."

Amen.

[Honoruru]

Re: What are you currently reading?

What else of his have you read?

I read All the Pretty Horses back in 1992 (or 1993) when it won the National Book Award, so just about the same time you read it. More recently, I read The Road, which won the Puliter Prize (2006). I liked both of them. What prompted me to read Blood Meridian was another forum I belong to (a literature forum) where I was surprised to find what a volatile subject Cormac McCarthy was. Whenever his name came up, there were heated discussions, some really loving him, some really hating him. But of those who liked him, the consensus was that his early works (Suttree and Blood Meridian in particular) were his bests.

At the same time, in the last couple of years, Ladbrokes, a British-based sports gaming company (similar to a Vegas bookie, only larger) has been giving odds on who would win the Nobel Prize in Literature. This has spawned many interesting discussions of what writer would win (or not win) and why. McCarthy’s name has surged recently, and has been among the favorites. The various forum discussions are really interesting, similar to discussions about who’s going to win the Super Bowl, only in this instance, the discussions are literary.

[scrivener]

Re: What are you currently reading?

T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton (2007)

Kinsey Millhone’s twentieth mystery unfolds in the house next door: Gus Vronsky, a curmudgeonly, elderly neighbor, has injured himself and is in need of care. Since his only living relative is a niece on the East Coast, a nurse is hired to help Gus through his recovery at home. Kinsey is asked to do a quick background check on Solana, the new nurse, giving Gus’s niece the all-clear. Before long, Gus’s condition seems to worsen, and there is something strangely possessive about the way Solana treats him, as if simply asking about Gus or paying him an encouraging visit were an affront to her ability or professionalism.

Kinsey becomes convinced that Solana is up to something, but she doesn’t know what it is and can’t convince any of the interested parties (except her landlord Henry, of course). The reader knows, however, because for the second consecutive novel in the series, Sue Grafton employs intercalary chapters, told from Solana’s point of view, to provide background, motivation, and details about what Solana’s doing. The author gives the reader the answer to the mystery while the reader observes Kinsey’s attempts to figure out. It’s a different way to unwind a whodunnit, one that would seem to take some of the suspense out of the reading. But Kinsey is given enough action to keep it interesting, and as we root for Kinsey to succeed, we also root for Solana to stumble, and Gus, an otherwise unpleasant fellow, is turned into an object of the reader’s compassion.

As stories go, T is for Trespass is merely pretty good, but where most of the Kinsey mysteries focus on character development and on Kinsey’s problem-solving talents, this one is framed as a failure. Additionally, the author provides a prologue, in which the main character expounds for one short paragraph on how she has spent her professional career “trying to separate the wicked from that which profits them.” The setup seems to hint at a message the author has about evil, and Kinsey’s nemesis, a truly evil character passing herself off as an angel of mercy, is first characterized as being able to go through life with no real emotional attachment to anyone. The message seems to be that the people we need to be most wary of are not the ambitious, the unscrupulous, or the greedy, but those who are incapable of sympathy.

Not the most compelling in the series, this installment at least gives us more Henry than we’ve had in a long time, and that’s always a good thing. As we creep closer to the end of the alphabet, our precious time with these characters is running out, and I savor these remaining moments.

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: What are you currently reading?

Ed Francis' big book on 50th State Big Time Wrestling http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/2...time-wrestling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSMR_TVlGHU

Without a doubt, the best book released in years.
Ed even mentions Freddie Blassie and the infamous 'acid' incident which occurred in LA, but it wasn't acid, I know...

[lensperson]

Re: What are you currently reading?

Found a cool book called

McQueen:

The Untold Story of a Bad Boy in Hollywood.

Writer Penina Spiegel unfolds a story of a legendary icon.

The "Great Escape" and "Bullit" were some of the epic legends that fuel

the desire to be free.

"Up in Smoke" is also worth considering.

Here in the rugged wilds of the Pacific Northwest, Target has the first two seasons of "Hogan's Heros" for 12.99.

[Kaonohi]

Re: What are you currently reading?

Ah, The Hemingway Hoax, by Joe Haldeman. Top notch! Much derived from his own experiences in VietNam.

Also I just finished book 26 of Usagi Yojimbo series of graphic novels. Now I have read them all, and am waiting for Stan Sakai to create more!

[lensperson]

Re: What are you currently reading?

When I was a small child my father was transferred to Habana

Esso had a large operation looking for off shore resources.

I attended a kindergarden school there.

When the revolution spread across the island from Oriente to the west, the TV

stations were taken over .

[lensperson]

Re: What are you currently reading?

We lived a few blocks away from the "Nacional".

The casino had more of everything.


Jack Hemingway lived on the floor above and his wife "Puck" was a much appreciated friend of my mother

One day, the Fidelistas reached the office where my father worked.

Politely they told them to stop feeding maps into shredding machines.

Wisdom dictated swift compliance


After all, they were wearing huge belts of ammo.

That's the way it was .

[scrivener]

Re: What are you currently reading?

Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool (2013)

Clare Vanderpool’s first published novel was deservedly awarded the 2011 Newbery Medal, and I have been anxious to see what Vanderpool would do for a second act. Is that medal a liberation, giving the writer confidence and freedom to pursue whatever the muse dictates next, or is it a burden, an impossible measure of success? Expecting a Newbery-quality novel again seems silly, and Navigating Early is probably not that, but it is a worthy follow-up to a fantastic debut.

Jack is the new boy in a Maine boarding school a few months after his mother’s sudden death at their home in Kansas. His father, an officer in the navy, has been serving his country in World War II, and he’s been gone so long that Jack feels they hardly know each other. Left to deal with his losses in this strange environment, he forms a quick friendship with Early, a boy whose own losses are so devastating that he’s given the freedom to live in a storage room, away from the other boys, and to attend classes whenever he feels like it. Early claims to have the ability to read numerals like a language, attributing textures and colors to them as they unravel themselves in pi, telling a story in this mysterious number that has puzzled thinkers for thousands of years and may contain secrets only Early seems to be aware of.

Jack’s odd friendship with Early begins with rowing lessons and Billie Holiday on rainy days, but it isn’t long before the middle-schoolers find themselves adventuring north on the Appalachian Trail in pursuit of a legendary black bear, the distant decimal places of pi, and an explanation of what happened to Early’s older brother, a war hero and school legend.

Unlike Abilene Tucker’s journey through letters, newspaper articles, and oral histories in Moon over Manifest, Jack’s adventure with Early is quite literal: they encounter wild animals, spooky old women, gigantic broken-hearted hermits, and drunken loggers who steal their boat. But the two novels have several themes in common, including the power of story and the importance of connectedness. There is an almost overwhelming mood of loss throughout, as just about every character is burdened with heartbreaking personal loss in some form. Add a really cool theme about language (metaphorical and spoken), and you have a novel that seems to be all over the place, but is held tightly in Early’s reins as his story drives Jack deeper into the woods and further off the trail.

There is probably too much coincidence in Navigating Early to accept seriously, but this seems to be the author’s point, that none of it is coincidence and that sometimes the world just works this way, mysteriously and without rational (pun intended) explanation. In a lesser writer’s hands, this plot would likely be a huge failure, but Vanderpool develops characters who are easy to sympathize with, and her storytelling device, having one character telling a story in installments while the boys venture north, mostly works. Jack and Early both have clear, well-crafted voices, and the author manages to carry them through while also suspending constantly the sadness that blankets them both.

One of my favorite things about Moon over Manifest is that it isn’t a book for just any young reader, and the same can be said of Navigating Early, although its adventurous plot will appeal to a wider audience. It has a kind of ponderousness that will probably touch the most thoughtful of readers, and this who I’d recommend it to.

[Kaonohi]

Re: What are you currently reading?

Just got a copy of "OFF LIMITS," - Tales of alien sex, a compilation of stories edited by Ellen Datlow,`1996 (when I was merely 9yo., or was it 59?). Spurts and fits, incl. one story by Joyce Carol Oates (believe it!). Worthwhile, available at the Kaneohe library (in a few days, when I'm done).

[GregLee]

Re: What are you currently reading?

Just got a copy of "OFF LIMITS," - Tales of alien sex, a compilation of stories edited by Ellen Datlow, ...

I didn't see any stories I'd read in the contents, but Silverberg's introduction reminded me of some great SF sex stories:

1. By Asimov, The Gods Themselves, about a species with 3 sexes.
2. From Larry Niven, Rishathra, referring to inter-species sex.
3. From Frank Herbert, the Pan Spechi, a species with 5 sexes.
4. By Cordwainer Smith, The Ballad of Lost C'Mell, about a prostitute of a humanoid species derived from cats.

[Honoruru]

Re: What are you currently reading?

[*]By Cordwainer Smith, The Ballad of Lost C'Mell, about a prostitute of a humanoid species derived from cats.[/LIST]

Now, that sounds interesting! You don't suppose the cat could have been a homeless cat?

[scrivener]

Re: What are you currently reading?

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (2012)
recipient of the 2013 Newbery Medal

The One and Only Ivan is a gorilla, but he hasn't seen another gorilla for decades. Stolen from his home in the wild when he was young, he lives in a shopping mall where his owner sells his drawings for thirty dollars. His companions at the mall are an elephant, a poodle, a macaw, and a stray mutt who sleeps on Ivan's tummy at night when the mall is closed.

Ivan doesn't remember what being a real gorilla is like anymore, at least not until a new baby elephant named Ruby is introduced to the tiny mall circus (shows at 2, 4, and 7, 365 days a year) and begs Ivan for stories. As Ivan begins to see his home in the mall through Ruby's eyes, he comes up with a plan to get him and his friends out.

In very simple, sparse, double-spaced prose and very short chapters, Ivan tells us his story the way a gorilla would, I suppose, if he could type in English. Ivan is a gorilla, but he is also an artist, and although his words are few, he uses them to include the details that best convey his experience, as when he says, "Right now I would give all the yogurt raisins in the world for a heart made of ice." This is how author Katherine Applegate elevates Ivan's story above just a talking-animal story: she finds a singular, noble, elegant, artistic voice with which she shares Ivan's plight.

It's more than a nice little story, but it fails somehow to tap into a universal or personal theme, tugging at heartstrings without putting fingers on those vulnerable places inside. The One and Only Ivan is therefore merely very good, and just a few rungs shy of Newbery-worthy.