What Are You Reading

[Ethan Bentley]

Charles Williams - Shadows of Ecstasy

 

[Wally_Hood]

Charles Williams - Shadows of Ecstasy

Mr. B, we had exchanged views a while back about the writings of The Inklings, and I see you are still at it.

In your opinion, are there any current writers that continue in the vein of Lewis, Williams, et al?

 

[The Lonely Navigator]

Berlin Cabaret

Very interesting as it also touches upon the same subjects brought up in The Great Naval Game and the other book I got done reading not too long ago - Before the Deluge by Otto Friedrich.

 

[Mav]

Re- reading Albert Pike's Morals and Dogma.

 

[Ethan Bentley]

Mr. B, we had exchanged views a while back about the writings of The Inklings, and I see you are still at it.

In your opinion, are there any current writers that continue in the vein of Lewis, Williams, et al?

Ah yes I recall! At the moment I think Shadows of Ecstasy is my favourite Williams so far. As for modern authors, that is a tricky one and nothing currently springs to mind - I'd like to find something though.

I have noticed that JK Rowling's books seemed to have been influenced by William's worths there are too many similarities with the plot devices to be coincidental. That said they are not really the same kind of book.

 

[Maguire]

I'm currently reading The Tomb of Tutankhamen by Howard Carter- an account of his excavation of the tomb in the 1920s. Its rather dry but has some interesting points nonetheless.

 

[Rainsfan89]

Unfortunately, I am currently reading about 300 pages of textbook material every week.

 

[The Lonely Navigator]

Just got done reading Flapper by Zeitz. Very good book as it touches on advertising, the 'mass/public' mind, dieting (to achieve that thin flapper look), consumerism...many things that are actually being discussed now. I'd strongly recommend the book as I found it very interesting in relation to what is going on now.

One of the things mentioned was about a person's worth being based upon their ownership of material things and not who they are.

And I enjoyed reading it because of these things in the 'past-present' relationship.

 

[Mr. 'H']

Quick read on vacation recently:

Michael Connelly's "Brass Verdict."

Currently: "Wild Blue" by Stephen Ambrose about a bomber squadron in WWII (Sen. Geo McGovern's.)

Next up: Gabler's bio of Walt Disney then a Tony Curtis bio (only because he is coming to Dublin later this month - probably to my barbershop where I will hopefully get to meet him.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

"The Good Old Days," by David L. Cohn. Published in 1940, it's a cultural history of one of the touchstones of the Industrial Era, the Sears-Roebuck catalogue, from 1905 to the then-present. Unlike most modern cultural histories, however, Cohn's work retains a sense of humor about its subject:

"Sex and sin were synonymous in the 1905 catalog. But by 1915, the tentative conclusion seems to have been that sex, whether we liked it or not, was a fact just as typhoid was a fact, and America decided to give the apparatus and the manifestations of human reproduction a belated de facto recognition. A sperm, it was at last discovered, need not necessarily be a species of whale."

A fascinating, entertaining book, republished at the height of the nostalgia craze of the early 70s, but still easy to find in its original 1940 edition.

 

[Edward]

Currently reading the second volume of the Jack Fleming Vampire PI series, as recommended in another thread by another lounger. Very much enjoying the tone of the books - essentially a Chandleresque, thirties noir setting with an injection of the vampire genre. To follow on from this will be a noir anthology on which I blew the last of my Rupees at Bangalore airport last week.

 

[Annichen]

Queen of Ice, Queen of Shadows: The Unsuspected Life of Sonja Henie

Rather juicy piece of work,probably not all true but she most certainly was not the "innocent" sweetheart most people know from her films and the Ice Revues.

 

[Slate Shannon]

I have finished The Ruins by Scott Smith, which was a darn good horror/thriller, and From Baghdad, With Love by Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman, which was okay but not as good as I was expecting.
I am currently reading Cat Country by Di Francis, Boneshaker by Cherie Priest and Living Dangerously: The Adventures of Merian C. Cooper by Mark Cotta Vaz.

 

[Feraud]

Living Dangerously: The Adventures of Merian C. Cooper by Mark Cotta Vaz.

This sounds interesting. I've added it to my Amazon wish list.

 

[Slate Shannon]

This sounds interesting. I've added it to my Amazon wish list.

Even though I don't generally care for biographies, this one has really held my interest so far.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Jim Thompson's "The Killer Inside Me". I was informed I should read it before going to see the film … Good book.

bk

 

[swinggal]

'On the Homefront -Melbourne in wartime' - by Kate Darian-Smith

What really happened on the Australian home front during the Second World War?

For the people of Melbourne these were years of social dislocation and increased government interference in all aspects of daily life. 'On the Home Front' is the story of their work, leisure, relationships and their fears-for by 1942 the city was pitted with air raid trenches, and in the half-light of the brownout Melburnians awaited a Japanese invasion.

As women left the home to replace men in factories and offices, the traditional roles of mothers and wives were challenged. The presence of thousands of American soldiers in Melbourne raised new questions about Australian nationalism and identity, and the 'carnival spirit' of many on the home front created anxiety about the issues of drunkenness, gambling and sexuality.

Kate Darian-Smith's classic and evocative study of Melbourne in wartime draws upon the memories of men and women who lived through those turbulent years when society grappled with the tensions between a restrictive government and new opportunities for social and sexual freedoms.

and a biography by one of my favourite travel writers and authors - Bill Bryson. And that's what this book is, a laugh-out-loud remembrance of a simpler time. Bryson's travelogues are what made him famous, and he never would have made it without a fantastic memory for detail and an ability to convey a vivid mental picture of the topics he chooses. His descriptions of 1950's Des Moines are consistently evocative. It's like a travelogue unearthed from a 50 year old time capsule. I feel like I have visited there.


"The Life and times of the Thunderbold Kid"

 

[Jack Scorpion]

The Joke by Milan Kundera, which is taking me forever, because I can't get excited about picking it up.

On the other hand, just read John Updike's classic essay on Ted Williams and now I'm starving for more baseball lit.

 

[MudInYerEye]

Jim Thompson's "The Killer Inside Me". I was informed I should read it before going to see the film … Good book.

bk

POP 1280 is even better.

The Joke by Milan Kundera, which is taking me forever, because I can't get excited about picking it up.

On the other hand, just read John Updike's classic essay on Ted Williams and now I'm starving for more baseball lit.

YOU KNOW ME, AL by Ring Lardner. If you don't like it then you should jump off a bridge.

 

[Touchofevil]

If you like the old pulp/noir stories of yesteryear, Jim Thompson is a good read. Always twisted, dark, and suspenseful.