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Book club 📖 What are we reading right now? (Planning related or not)

I've been reading Johnny Got His Gun. I've been meaning to read it for years. So sad, but so well-written. I can't wait till my girls are in bed tonight so I can read more.
 
I just ordered "Are You There Vodka? Its Me, Chelsea" by Chelsea Handler. For those that don't know her, she has a talk show on the E! cable network. Funny stuff.
 
Bill Clinton: Mastering the Presidency

The more I read of presidential history, the more convinced I am that the true role of the President is to help define "the struggle" at that time, and to figure out how to get the American people to come together. It took a few years, but Slick Willy figured it out. It's too bad he was such a horny dude. Without the whole Monica thing, the Clinton presidency could have been great, not just good.
 
My Secret Santa Gift was

Americam Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham.
 
Yesterday, I finished reading "The Lazy Millionaire" by Marc Fisher. Yesterday, I started reading "Automatic Millionaire" by David Bach.

Other books that I've read since I last posted here include:
- "Go Green, Live Rich" by David Bach
- "Small is possible: life in a local economy" by Lyle Estill
 
I'm reading "The Making of Milwaukee". It gives a really great in depth history of the City of Milwaukee's growth and development.
 
I'm reading William P. Young's The Shack at the request of my wife. I've only gotten through 2 chapters, so far, though.
 
AIB Super Amputee Cat and his posts about Cairo, Illinois, I found a nearly pristine copy of Far From Home: Life And Loss In Two American Towns by Tom Powers.
 
Screw the Roses, Send Me the Thorns: The Romance and Sexual Sorcery of Sadomasochism by Philip Miller and Molly Devon.

It was a gift. :-$ :p :)
 
I just finished Outliers by Malcomb Gladwell and am now starting Flight of the Creative Class by Richard Florida. I read "Rise" years ago and can't believe I haven't gotten back to Flight until now!
 
Just finished the new Tim Dorsey, Nuclear Jellyfish. Serge the serial killer is back. Laugh out loud funny, totally loony, like his others.:)
 
Zoning Goddess said:
Just finished the new Tim Dorsey, Nuclear Jellyfish. Serge the serial killer is back. Laugh out loud funny, totally loony, like his others.:)
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I loooove Tim Dorsey. Nothing brings me back to Florida and all its craziness like his books. I am one behind you, just finished Atomic Lobster.
 
I've finally gotten around to reading the Harry Potter books. I'm about halfway through the first one. My 4-year old likes me to read it to her, and she asks a lot of questions, so it is taking awhile.
 
beach_bum said:
I loooove Tim Dorsey. Nothing brings me back to Florida and all its craziness like his books. I am one behind you, just finished Atomic Lobster.
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A co-worker started me on Dorsey's books 5-6 years ago; I read a lot of FL authors, couldn't believe I missed him. Now RJ is reading his books, too. If you order anything from his website, you get an autographed draft page from a book. And, he answers his own email.

Jellyfish is convoluted as usual, but hysterically funny. But I think newbies would have to start with the first book to understand Serge.
 
Zoning Goddess said:
A co-worker started me on Dorsey's books 5-6 years ago; I read a lot of FL authors, couldn't believe I missed him. Now RJ is reading his books, too. If you order anything from his website, you get an autographed draft page from a book. And, he answers his own email.

Jellyfish is convoluted as usual, but hysterically funny. But I think newbies would have to start with the first book to understand Serge.
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What's the first book? I'm looking for a good beach book or two for my vacation.
 
Sacred Geometry, by Miranda Lundy.

One of Wooden Books line of "little books about big ideas".

Real basic info, with each page faced by illustration, and designed as a page to be a complete unit.

Good basic design material.
 
I am really tired today. Why? Because last night when I should have been sleeping I was reading The Watershed Years, the sequel to In Open Spaces, which I mentioned in a previous post.

I love this book as much as the other. I am halfway through the book. On one hand I want to see how it turns out but on the other hand I don't want it to end.

Once again Russell Rowland has made a compelling story about everyday people and events. In the first book geography and nature played a big role, which is typical of literature about the West. In the second book, it is mostly about family issues. The Arbuckles have family issues equal to those found in Shakespeare or in your own family.

Great stuff.

Rowland writes like I wish I could.
 
I just started The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. Pretty good so far, sort of chick lit, the cover says, "Steel Magnolias for the Manhattan set"
 
I just finished Richard Florida's Flight of the Creative Class and am now starting Tom Vanderbilt's Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do and What it Says About Us
 
on vacation i read Florida Roadkill by Tim Dorsey and The Birth House by Ami Mckay. both were pretty decent. one dealt with criminals, drugs, good guys, murder and the other dealt with a mid-wife from Nova Scotia.

now i'm close to finishing The Lobster Chronicles by Linda Greenlaw. an interesting read about lobstering and life on a small island in Maine. not a typical pick for me but i borrowed it off my friend after i finished both my beach books before the trip was over.


next up Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.
 
dandy_warhol said:
on vacation i read Florida Roadkill by Tim Dorsey and The Birth House by Ami Mckay. both were pretty decent. one dealt with criminals, drugs, good guys, murder
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Dandy, Dandy, Dandy, .... I guess it helps to read Tim Dorsey's books if you're a FL native. Or have a sick mind. I think they are hilarious. Serge is such a creative serial killer. You didn't like where the college guys trashed the old railcar, and Serge staked them on the rooftop and salted them? But you might not appreciate some of the references if you don't live here; or haven't lived here a long time.

:8:"Spring is in the air...":8: as many of my fave authors are publishing...

Just finished the new Randy Wayne White "Dead Silence". Coming up, a new Carolyn Hart "Death of Demand", the new Anna Pigeon, and the last Riordan "The Olympians". Gotta wait 'til June for the new Evanovich.
 
For the Time Being by Annie Dillard. I was lucky enough to have a class with her in college and she sure can write a sentence. Sometime she gets a little repetitive and obscure but generally I enjoy reading her. She is one of the few authors that can lift my mind out of the day-to-day and remind me that I once was trying to make it as a professional writer. Of course, being a planner is much better ;)
 
Saturday I bought a Nicholas Sparks book called The Choice. I've never read anything of his before, but like the movies I've seen based on his books (The Notebook and A Walk to Remember). I bought it, intending to read it during flights on a trip I'm taking in a month...a trip to NC coincidentally, where the book takes place. But, I opened it and started reading, and couldn't put it down. I'm more than half-way through it in only a day. I've never read anything so fast.

Yesterday I bought another one of his books, called At First Sight, and I'm vowing not to open it until I leave on my trip. I think I am officially hooked on Nicholas Sparks :).
 
Last week I read a new thriller, Too Close by Home, by Linwood Barclay, in two days. It was definitely one of those books you can't put down. The author's last book, Too Late for Goodbye, is reportedly even better. I'll have to look for that one.
 
Just knocked out "Bad Samaritans: The myth of free trade and the secret history of capitalism" by Ha-Joon Chang.

Ignoring the ominous title, Mr. Chang is a South Korean economist who has personally experienced the miracle of South Korea's economy which propelled it from a destitute 3rd world country into a strong 1st world country. The book is critical of the IMF, World Bank, and WTO and the prescriptions those entities lay out to countries which accept funds from those sources. To frame the discussion, he provides a well-cited and fair review of Britain's, the US's, South Korea's and to a lesser extent, Japan's economic maturation. He dispels mythology related to cultural behaviors which assume that a culture deemed "lazy" or "untrustworthy" will always be that way and never be able to achieve economic success.

The book represents a contrarian viewpoint to the neo-liberal idea that free-trade and a level playing field is the only true way to economic prosperity. He does admit that as countries mature, they have moved from highly protective economies to free economies as the native industries matured and gained the capabilities to compete on an international stage.

I highly recommend this book. It is needed for one to find a better and comprehensive understanding of globalization and the apparent "best practices" which should be followed to ensure economic prosperity.

It reads at a high-basic to intermediate level.

Now on the table: "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
 
I have this terrible habit of biting off more than I can chew when it comes to books. I absolutely love to read......nearly anything as long as it is written well.

I am currently reading:

The Three Musketeers ---> Alexandre Dumas
Getting Things Done ---> David Allen
Getting From College to Career ---> Lindsey Pollak
Understanding Power ---> Noam Chomsky

I seem to always be reading several books, each from a different genre.
 
I just finished The Mountain Men by George Laycock. Good book, now I'll read a Daniel Boone biography.
 
I just devoured Turn Coat, the newest installment in The Dresden Files. I love this series! It took Jim Butcher a couple of books to really sink his teeth into the rhythm of the series/characters/arcing storylines, but by Book 3 he was on a roll!

Next up: Brad Meztler's The Book of Fate, just check out of the library.
 
OK ZG so I am slow, just picked up the new Nevada Barr - Borderline - set in Big Bend NP, TX
 
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