What are you currently reading?

[Brian]

Sounds too interesting to pass up, have obtained the Kindle edition.  The last two books on my list have been historical novels describing horribly violent phases of human history. I'm hoping to find something gentler on frayed nerves.

Well, I should warn you, there is a Nazi occupation in there, and there are some truly heartbreaking moments, but nothing that's outright disturbing or super-violent or that kind of thing. It achieves a specific kind of beauty.

[Parsifal]

Well, I should warn you, there is a Nazi occupation in there, and there are some truly heartbreaking moments, but nothing that's outright disturbing or super-violent or that kind of thing. It achieves a specific kind of beauty.

That's fine. My current book, Paradise Alley, deals with the New York draft riots of 1863. The civil war battle scenes in the book are a relief, by contrast.

[Parsifal]

This may be a bit off topic, but to those who read ebooks may be interested in subscribing to bookbub. It is a service which sends you a daily email with a list of ebook bargains, typically 2 or 3 per day. You can put in favorite categories (literary fiction, historical fiction, etc) and you can also select authors you are interested in. Typically they notify you of books which have been discounted from more than $10 to $1.99 or $2.99.  The discounts are usually available on both Amazon.com and Apple iBook, I'm not sure if these discounts are specific to the U.S. market or if they are available globally.

Most days I'm not interested in the books they bring to my attention, but I have gotten a fair number of books by my favorite authors, or which sounded just intriguing, for a steep discount.

[NikF]

Taking a break from Henry Miller.

Doting by Henry Green -



"Satirizing the tedium of upper-middle-class life in post-war London, this novel depicts a world in which substance is far less important to anyone than appearance. The question asked throughout the text concerns the differences between doting and loving."

[SimonNZ]

[NikF]

Love by Stendhal -

[asin]014044307X[/asin]

[Turbot nouveaux]

Mrs Dalloway (Virginia Woolf)

This is my second attempt to read this quite experimental novel - in preparation I have read "The Voyage Out" and "Jacob's Room". My bookmark, a train ticket from 1994 marks my previous voyage like an abandoned base camp.

[Parsifal]

Mrs Dalloway (Virginia Woolf)

This is my second attempt to read this quite experimental novel - in preparation I have read "The Voyage Out" and "Jacob's Room". My bookmark, a train ticket from 1994 marks my previous voyage like an abandoned base camp.

For what it's worth I read it twice in succession and found it far more satisfactory the second time through. The first reading gave me the structure to organize the interlocking series of episodes that make up the novel. In the end I found it very moving.

There is other Woolf that is a lot more experimental, in my opinion. I found Orlando utterly unreadable, although some regard it highly.

[Parsifal]

A book about the draft riots that took place in New York City in 1863. If you want proof that things were a lot worse than they are now, this is your book. The cruelty and brutality is hard to fathom, with mobs racing through the streets, dragging black people from their homes, torturing them and hanging them from lamp posts to die. Not an easy book to read but worth the effort, I believe.

[NikF]

Nexus by Henry Miller.

[asin]0141399104[/asin]

[Androcles]

John Calvin: The Institutes of the Christian Religion.

He was not a big fan of music, unfortunately for large swathes of Northern Europe and later, North America. Luther was the music dude.

[Karl Henning]

Roger Ebert on Crimes and Misdemeanors

[SimonNZ]

[Mahlerian]

Just finished this book:



Filled with information about the genesis of many of these works, Zaslaw digs into the questions of provenance and occasionally disagrees with the editors of the latest edition of Mozart's works.  His discussions of period practice and of the shift in the purpose of symphonies that began in the middle of Mozart's career are thorough and fascinating.  Although the book is not especially heavy on analysis, and what analysis there is leans more towards the less well-known early works, it remains a valuable study.

[NikF]

Dangerous Liaisons by Choderlos de Laclos.

[asin]0140449574[/asin]

[André]

My second Arnaldur book. Deceptively simple writing. Nothing fancy in terms of structure (it's a mystery novel). Just the dogged, clue by clue, slow step by slow step inquest of police inspector Erlendur Sveinsson.

I had to look up wiki to find out Erlendur's last name (it is never mentioned in the books). Iceland telephone book pages are organized by first names...

[Parsifal]

Just finished "Hood" by Emma Donogue. Although Donogue is now considered a period novel specialist, this book is a contemporary story in the genre of "lesbian fiction." It is actually a story of human relationship which seems rather universal in its themes, with social complications that come into play in a same-sex relationship. The outline of the story is that the Penelope's long-term life partner is killed in a traffic accident and Penelope must cope with the loss, a society that she is not allowed to reveal the relationship to, and the local same-sex community which seems to want to take possession of the memory of her deceased partner. There was only one part of the book where I found there was too much information about same-sex sexual practices, but that's just me. A fine book, I'd say.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Having read about 2/3 of the Wanderjahre, I decided to also return once again to Faust. I seem to prefer latter parts in Goethe's work, what I've read so far about Wanderjahre appeals to me more than some things in Lehrjahre and Faust part two I've always preferred to first one, especially the development of Mephistofeles's character. Yet, from what I've read, it took a long time for Wanderjahre and Faust part two to receive the same admiration their predecessors instantly got. Guess I'm not always as conventional as I usually am.

[Artem]

I finished The Sellout by Paul Beatty, which won this year's Man Booker Prize. It was good satire, like contemporary take on Vonnegut.

[Brian]

I finished The Sellout by Paul Beatty, which won this year's Man Booker Prize. It was good satire, like contemporary take on Vonnegut.

Thoroughly enjoyed this, too. The donut intellectual society, the fruits of his farming, the bus party sequence - memorable stuff. And unusually funny while being dead serious.