What are you reading now?

[lovelight]

I read Stiff and ended up bored 2/3 of the way through. The part that I read was pretty interesting, vaguely creepy, but interesting.

Oh man, Stiff was the book that dissolved the first book club I was in because nobody else finished it. What a terrible book.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

I finished the Breast book and I loved it - it was so fascinating.

I'm 50% of the way through Nurture Shock right now and LOVING it - thank you guys for the recommendation!

[Curegirl]

Just started I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe. Anyone else read it?

[houseelf]

I read Charlotte Simmons a few years ago and enjoyed it immensely. Tom Wolfe is kind of a mixed bag for me. I like his views on the excesses and extremes of our society, but sometimes he makes me wince.

I have a weird reaction to Charlotte Simmons because my former boss compared me to the character Charlotte Simmons. Hmmm. If I took her comparison positively, she meant I was attractive, driven, and accomplished. At worst, she meant that I'm white trash from Appalachia trying to better myself and often at a disadvantage by being a bit out of my league. Yeah. Go analyze.

[houseelf]

I just finished Becoming China's Bitch: And Nine More Catastrophes We Must Avoid Right Now by Peter Kiernan


My review is honestly mixed. I'll go the teacher route and list the positives first. I loved his plea for more centrist discussion instead of the extremes that color our national dialogue. Kiernan also nailed it with his pragmatic views on immigration, national health care, and his belief that a mosaic of initiatives that inevitably will happen in order to cobble together an energy plan to to satisfy our oil dependency. Honestly, at some level it isn't a matter of what is right or wrong, it is a matter of taking the most practical, long term, least expensive route possible.

On the other hand, I didn't like his first five chapters, the prelude to his discussion on 9 critical national issues. The beginning of the book is fairly disjointed. He attempts to demonstrate where the country is by offering several short narratives without creating a cohesive enough thread. I got what he meant but I was annoyed and wondered what the hell his editor did. Like most major published economists, his voice is tinged with a bit of arrogance. Also, when he does enumerate his 9 issues, there is not enough depth of discussion. Immigration and Energy are massive subjects that deserve their own books. Finally, I didn't care for his salacious title, although admittedly it grabbed my attention enough to spur me to read it.

I have thought about this book a lot since finishing it. In my mind, that makes a book worth reading. Still, this book needs a bit more polish and depth.

[Curegirl]

I read Charlotte Simmons a few years ago and enjoyed it immensely. Tom Wolfe is kind of a mixed bag for me. I like his views on the excesses and extremes of our society, but sometimes he makes me wince.

I have a weird reaction to Charlotte Simmons because my former boss compared me to the character Charlotte Simmons. Hmmm. If I took her comparison positively, she meant I was attractive, driven, and accomplished. At worst, she meant that I'm white trash from Appalachia trying to better myself and often at a disadvantage by being a bit out of my league. Yeah. Go analyze.

I haven't gotten too far in the book yet and I'm new here but my money's on the attractive, driven, and accomplished part that your ex-boss is referring to

[DCJenn]

We just finished Kingdom Coming: The rise of Christian Nationalism for book group. The next one is Coming Apart: The State of White America 1960-2010 but I'll be gone for the meeting. (Same author as the Bell Curve) I have no idea what the next one will be. I'm also reading Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself and this is what I'm going to select for my turn at Book Group (October) The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded American is Tearing Us Apart. As you can tell, my group tends to non-fiction and semi-political.

They apparently always have one selection of semi-erotic reading but everyone as agreed that 50 shades of grey isn't going to be it.

J.

[MrsSz]

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

old thread, but I'm looking to see what to put on the nook for my trip and found this... love love loved stiff!!

ETA: just read that some of you hated it! LOL

[Curegirl]

Awesome book! Read it a few years ago before dating SO funny enough and here we are

[Cinderella]

I just went to the library and picked up some old reads from the high school days that I haven't read in around 20 years such as Brave New World, 1984, and another more recent and popular dystopian fiction Hunger Games. I want to read the trilogy but Catching Fire is all checked out so I'll start with the first book for now.

I also picked up some new material too. I'm currently reading Chicago by Alaa Al Aswany. I also have his books Friendly Fire, On The State of Egypt: What Made the Revolution Inevitable, but the book that made him famous and was made into a movie is Yacoubian Building. I've seen the movie but I also checked that book out to read as well.

This should keep me busy for awhile.

[houseelf]

Game of Thrones.

Freakin' awesome.

[diggitydot]

Game of Thrones.

Same here!

[BonBon]

I keep nudging the husband to read GoT with me, maybe this summer. I just read Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (YA) and just started a trilogy by the same author. Delirium. I haven't read anything pleasurable in a while and am now completely sucked into these books. Unfortunately, I have a few weeks left of school and have ZERO interest in studying. *sigh*

[Sheherezade]

Even my nonreading teen is reading GoT. Highly addictive. I find myself very concerned about George Martin's health. Finish the series already!!!!

[HouseofWool]

I think it was my reading GoT that has caused The Winter That Will Not End (tm).