I just read through the Arsene Lupin thread and it was starting to morph into a discussion of what people are currently reading. I thought maybe a new discussion just for that might be nice.

I just finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and enjoyed it very much. I confess that I read it so quickly I now want to go back and re-read so that I can get more of the details and so forth. I loved it!

I've also just finished It's the Little Things:Everyday Interactions That anger, annoy and divide the races by Lena Williams. I find it very interesting reading. I have been quite uncomfortable with some of what she says, and I have also said "Oh, yes, that's right" quite often, too. Working in a predominantly Af-Am neighborhood as I do, this has been an interesting book.

I am also skimming through Lucia, Lucia by Adriana Trigiani. Delightful book, recommended to me by KHC. I've convinced both of my book groups to read it, and thought I'd best remind myself of the plot, etc, before our August meetings!

I"m listening to an odd book about girls in a Victorian-era boarding school who have some sort of magical powers. The book is called A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. Very interesting, really.

I've also just started Closing the Racial Academic Achievement Gap by Matthew Lynch. I've not really read enough to say anything about it yet.

Since I work in a middle school library I read a lot of books aimed at "young adults", but I find quite a few are more interesting and better written than a lot of "adult" fiction.

I've read the Midnighter's books by Scott Westerfeld this summer. The premise of the Midnighter's series is that there is a secret hour between 12:00 and 12:01 that is only able to be experienced by people born in that moment. Intersting idea.
I've also read "Uglies", "Pretties" and "Specials" by the same author. The premise of this series is that at some point in earth's future, everyone is made "pretty" on their 16th birthday. No more pimples, bad teeth, bad attitudes, worries, etc. You get an operation and you're pretty... Utopian, right? Maybe not.

The best of these supposed kids books that I've read this summer, though, is "The New Policeman" by Kate Thompson. It takes place in modern times in Ireland and is really a magical read. Plus, it divulges the secret of where the socks go when they disappear from the dryer.

What am I reading now?

Harry Potter, of course, for the theme. Just finished it now, and enjoyed it.

Guess who I thought of when the Caterwaul Curse made its appearance?

I'm rereading Janny Wurts Fugitive Prince, which is the 5th book in the series.

I read an awful lot. I tend to read books, not serially, but in parallel. Currently being read: (1) The Secret Lives of Trebitsch Lincoln by Bernard Wasserstein; (2) The Invisible Art: The Legends of Movie Matte Painting by Mark Cotta Vaz and Craig Barron; (3) Out Of The Inkwell: Max Fleischer And The Animation Revolution by Richard Fleischer (just finished yesterday); (4) Fight for English: How Language Pundits Ate, Shot, and Left by David Crystal; (5) Hitler's Gold: The Story of the Nazi War Loot by Arthur Smith; and, (6) Paul Celan: Poet, Survivor, Jew by John Felstiner.

You do read a lot, z! It has always impressed me. I bought Shu several books while I was in Prague and Vienna, from Austrian and Czech Republic authors, and of course when he is finished, I will read them. Since I was in Prague, I simply had to buy a Kafka novel for myself and am reading The Trial. The books I bought Shu are Rainer Maria Rilke's Two Prague Stories; Elfriede Jelinek's Wonderful Wonderful Times; Thomas Bernhard's Old Masters: A Comedy; and Walter Abish's How German Is It.

As I was traveling and reading, I was thinking of this forum. Maybe we shouldn't all read one book together because that just hasn't worked. Perhaps we could use this forum to just discuss, like this, what we're reading.

z, I am interested in your Arthur Smith and Paul Celan books. Are they good?

I just finished A Child Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel and it's sequel:
She Got Up off the Couch. Wonderful, wonderful... autobiographical stories of growing up in a 300+ town in Indiana in the early '70's. Humorous and touching... both books.

Still in line for Harry Potter 7...

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I bought Shu several books while I was in Prague and Vienna, from Austrian and Czech Republic authors,

If you haven't already read it, I warmly recommend The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek. Hilarious!

EDIT: Or even if you have read it, read it again!

Walter Abish's How German Is It.

A great novel. Abish is an American author.

I am interested in your Arthur Smith and Paul Celan books. Are they good?

Yes, both are good. The Smith book is an academic history and quite short. It deals mainly with the looting of the various occupied nations during and before the war and repatriation or not after. The Celan bio is great! It's about 50-50 straight bio and interpetation of his poems.

Milan Kundera's good, too: The Joke or The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

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A great novel. Abish is an American author.

Well, not according to the Austrians. I suppose because he was born in Vienna, they consider him to be an Austrian author.

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Guess who I thought of when the Caterwaul Curse made its appearance?

Yea - wasn't that great?

You are all way over my head. I am re-reading Dyllan Thomas' "Under Milk Wood" for the 4th or 5th time and still trying to understand it. I just read a Wikipedia review and I think I have been trying to read more into it than I should.
I am also reading "Salt," by Mark Kaurlansky. It is the history of the world in terms of salt economics. Also Agatha Cristie's "The Mysterious Mr. Quin."

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Also Agatha Cristie's "The Mysterious Mr. Quin."

One of her earlier and less well-known books. But not bad for all that. Definitely one of the finest of English popular authors.

not according to the Austrians

He couldn't have been more than 6 or so when his family fled Austria. There might be more of a reason for saying that Conrad was a Polish writer. He was in his thirties when he decided to become an English-language writer.

The Austrians have enough fine authors to choose from: e.g., Stefan Zweig, Karl Kraus, Peter Handke, Georg Trakl, R M Rilke, Robert Musil, et al. Bonus question: was Franz Kafka a Czech, Austrian, or Jewish writer?

Z, the owner of the bookstore was assisting me to choose some of her favorite books written by an Austrian author, and that was one of her choices. Surely we both realized there were others to choose from, but she particularly liked that one. While he fled Austria, it's surely where his roots are. Where do you say you are from? I've lived in Illinois a lot longer than I lived in Wisconsin, but I consider myself as being from Wisconsin. There have been similar discussions here about American inventors who were really born in Scotland, for example. It's an interesting question, and I suppose technically you are right to consider him American. The Austrians are just proud of him.

From my brief visit to Vienna and Prague, the Czech's consider Kafka theirs. I guess I'd consider "Jewish" as a religion, though I know we've had this discussion here too. I go back and forth on that one.

While in the museum of the Pinkas Synagogue in Prague, I found 2 authors I endlessly searched for as I thought Shu would enjoy them. One was humorist Karl Polacek and the other was the poet Franz Werfel. I went to many bookstores looking for these books, and finally the owner of Anagram (a highly rated bookstore by my Prague book) told me that they both wrote in hiding and their books weren't easy to find. Is this true? Has anyone read the works of these authors?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,

It is great having more time for reading now that summer is here. I recently read "The Day of the Owl" (Il Giorno della Civetta) by Leonardo Sciascia. Highly recommend this terse, mysterious, wise writer on his subject, Sicily. Enjoy a master at work.

Now reading "Inheritance of Loss" by Kiran Desai. Hard to believe it's a first novel. Highly recommend. It's almost sleight-of-hand. It's a slice of life from a NE corner of India (near Nepal) which manages to cover other eras and other places, all related to these characters' lives and to its post-colonial theme. Vivid portrayal of otherworldly scenery & many insights into being in the shoes of a colonial subject during & after the Raj.

Just finished two fun but forgettable Alex Delaware novels by John Kellerman, & now reading the eminently better myserty-writer Reginald Hill (Dialogues of Death). Also reading Les Confidence d'Arsène Lupin, and re-reading Cien Años de Soledad.

Thank you everybody for all the interesting suggestions for reading.

KHC - have you finished Harry Potter yet?

I'm reading "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" by Michael Chabon.

Has anyone read Jane Hamilton? With her first book, "The Book of Ruth," she was the winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award for First Fiction. Her "A Map of the World" had good reviews as well. I read a little about her in the library today, and they said her characters are very down-to-earth and a little eccentric, much like the characters in Anne Tyler's books.

I just read the Heritage of Shannara series by Terry Brooks, for maybe the 3rd time. I had lost track of these books for several years when I moved, but found them in my parents basement.

I'm now reading Isaac Asimov's "Magic".

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Seanahan,

quote:

Originally posted by Kalleh:
Has anyone read Jane Hamilton? With her first book, "The Book of Ruth," she was the winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award for First Fiction. Her "A Map of the World" had good reviews as well. I read a little about her in the library today, and they said her characters are very down-to-earth and a little eccentric, much like the characters in Anne Tyler's books.

We read both of these when they came out in paperback, in my book club, Kalleh. Downbeat-- mighty grim, in fact! But excellent writing, interesting characters (B. of Ruth) and provocative questions asked (M. of World). Hamilton's writing is engaging, which makes both books quick to read-- so one's plunge into the depths of despair is mercifully short.

Well, thanks for that. I like the engaging part, but I'm not sure about the grim part!

Just finished Harry Potter.
Just beginning Children of Húrin.

Nice to see you posting, Michael. Now, stay with us!

Yes. Welcome, Michael.

It's good to see someone else from the south-east of England - and from such a historic town as well.

Take a look at the posting about our 2008 gathering which is to be held in Columbus. the last gathering, held in Chicago, attracted four of us from England; it would be nice to do the same, or even better, for 2008.