What Are You Reading

[HadleyH]

I am battling between 2 second hand books I got.... one is my 4th bio of Amadeo Modigliani... "Modigliani: A Life" by Jeffrey Meyers or "A Girl Like I" by Anita Loos ... I have to make up my mind tonight or tomorrow night the latest. I will let you know my dears

Well....giving it a lot of thought and searching many,many books I haven't read in my library, I saw this one about Oona O'Neill, so this is the one I started reading, the other two I will leave for later.

This is my second bio of Oona.

 

[AmateisGal]

I just started a rather interesting novel last night called The Little Book by Selden Edwards. It's not a "little" book by any means - rather long, in fact. It took the author 30 years to write it. It's a time-traveling, historical novel, of sorts. The main character arrives in 1897 Vienna with absolutely no clue how he got there.

Also reading a plethora of research books for upcoming writing projects...

 

[1961MJS]

Hi
I'm reading trash, Dave Barry's I'll Mature When I'm Dead. It's a great book, I like his views on men versus women and their DNA. It all makes sense, which is of course bad since he's a journalist not a doctor. This is deep stuff, the chapter is called the Elephant and the Dandelion. Men are the Dandelion who, in order to assure the spread of their DNA must share as much of it as is humanly possible in the shortest amount of time. Women on the other hand, must actually make sure that the spawn of their DNA actually grow up causing a minor difference of dating strategy etc. Neither can help doing what they do...

The chapter on dance recitals is even funnier.

Later

 

[HadleyH]

Just to say... I am loving this new Oona's biography!

 

[BigFitz]

"Vampires of Great Britain" by Tom Slemen. Fantastical reports of vampires and ghouls but I'm enjoying it.

 

[J.W.]

I'm currently reading up on youth movements and school in Germany in the era of the Nazis.

 

[Flicka]

Rome, Britain and the Anglo Saxons, by Nicholas Higham. And Decline & Fall, by Evelyn Waugh.

 

[Touchofevil]

Vengance is Mine (1950) by Mickey Spillane. Finished David Wellington's 32 fangs last night. As with most of Wellington's, it was entertaining.

 

[maduro 5]

Gore Vidal 'Lincoln'

 

[AmateisGal]

For anyone who likes to keep track of new releases set during the Golden Era, keep on the look-out for this one:

Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures
by Emma Straub
The enchanting story of a midwestern girl who escapes a family tragedy and is remade as a movie star during Hollywood’s golden age.

In 1920, Elsa Emerson, the youngest and blondest of three sisters, is born in idyllic Door County, Wisconsin. Her family owns the Cherry County Playhouse, and more than anything, Elsa relishes appearing onstage, where she soaks up the approval of her father and the embrace of the audience. But when tragedy strikes her family, her acting becomes more than a child¹s game of pretend.

While still in her teens, Elsa marries and flees to Los Angeles. There she is discovered by Irving Green, one of the most powerful executives in Hollywood, who refashions her as a serious, exotic brunette and renames her Laura Lamont. Irving becomes Laura’s great love; she becomes an Academy Award*-winning actress—and a genuine movie star. Laura experiences all the glamour and extravagance of the heady pinnacle of stardom in the studio-system era, but ultimately her story is a timeless one of a woman trying to balance career, family, and personal happiness, all while remaining true to herself.

Ambitious and richly imagined, Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures is as intimate—and as bigger-than-life—as the great films of the golden age of Hollywood. Written with warmth and verve, it confirms Emma Straub’s reputation as one of the most exciting new talents in fiction.

 

[J.W.]

I'm currently skimming through some books on the German youth movements between 1900 and 1945.

 

[BigFitz]

"The Vampyre" by John William Polidori from "The Ultimate Gothic Collection", vol. 1

 

[sknight]

Finding Ultra. Great book for anyone interested in the vegan diet and endurance sports.

 

[Antje]

"The Vampyre" by John William Polidori from "The Ultimate Gothic Collection", vol. 1

oohhh like to read that one, i'm in sort of a vampire craze at the moment, already read 9 different vampire stories in less than 5 weeks

 

[TraditionalFrog]

Besides the Bible, I'm reading Valkyrie by Hans Bernd Gisevius. It's about the July 1944 plot to overthrow Hitler and the German Resistance. I'm also reading OUTBREAK 1939 by Terry Charman. It's about the lead up to the beginning of WWII (3 Sept 1939). It's a book published by Virgin Press (UK).

 

[William Stratford]

Re-reading Roger Scruton's "On Hunting" and Brett and Kate McKay's "Art of Manliness"...

 

[C-dot]

I'm reading "Robert Mitchum - Baby, I Don't Care" by Lee Server and laughing my head off!

 

[Miss Golightly]

I'm reading "Robert Mitchum - Baby, I Don't Care" by Lee Server and laughing my head off!

I read that a couple of years ago - one of the most enjoyable bio's I've had the pleasure of reading! By chance have you read "Love is Nothing", his bio on Ava Gardner? If not, I would highly recommend it.

 

[O2BSwank]

I've started reading Walter Mosley mysteries. His stories are set in post war Los Angeles and are great detective fiction. One of the most interesting aspects are that they take place in the African American community. It gives a much different perspective. His best known story is probably "Devil in the blue dress." It was made into a movie starring Denzel Washington.

 

[Sefton]

I just finished Jaron Lanier's "You Are Not A Gadget" which is a critique of computationalism and the collective hive/mind of the internet. I am now onto Armond White's "The Resistance-Ten Years That Shook Pop Culture". It's an African-American film critic's rather Marxist reading of American popular film/TV/Music culture from about 1984 to 1995. I'm not a Marxist but I try to keep an open mind and some of his works are fascinating. He seems to be the most hated movie critic among the "fan-boys" but he just speaks the truth as he sees it;which is what a critic should do.
-Jon