What are you currently reading?

[kengleong]

Any portuguese genre to recommend? Hey guys, i got some portuguese whatsapp status to share with you all while i am in the process in learning portuguese language. Hope you guys can enjoy it

[Lopez]

I'm about a quarter of the way through Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King by Lisa Rogat. I've always enjoyed reading King's stuff, now I'm getting a kick out of reading about him. Interesting guy. I'm at the point where his wife rescues the first 15 pages of Carrie from the trash and helps him through the rest of it. He had no idea about girls and girl stuff, especially in the girls locker room.

On deck is A Boy Named Shel: The Life and Times of Shel Silverstein by the same author as above. Besides reading fiction, I'm fascinated by the people who write it.

[JKL2000]

"Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America" by Eboo Patel

Pretty interesting - starts out with a section about the resistance to building a Muslim community center close to the WTC site in lower Manhattan.

[JKL2000]

I'm about a quarter of the way through Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King by Lisa Rogat. I've always enjoyed reading King's stuff, now I'm getting a kick out of reading about him. Interesting guy. I'm at the point where his wife rescues the first 15 pages of Carrie from the trash and helps him through the rest of it. He had no idea about girls and girl stuff, especially in the girls locker room.

On deck is A Boy Named Shel: The Life and Times of Shel Silverstein by the same author as above. Besides reading fiction, I'm fascinated by the people who write it.

If the book about King has some real insight into his youth, let us know. I'm a huge fan of his writing, and would really like to know something about his upbringing, which I'm convinced must have been somewhat less "ideal" than he seems to claim, but of course, I don't pretend to know.

[SteveSly]

I'm about a quarter of the way through Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King by Lisa Rogat. I've always enjoyed reading King's stuff, now I'm getting a kick out of reading about him. Interesting guy. I'm at the point where his wife rescues the first 15 pages of Carrie from the trash and helps him through the rest of it. He had no idea about girls and girl stuff, especially in the girls locker room.
e it.

I might have to check this one out. I was a huge King geek back in the day. Have not kept up with all of his books recently, but have never read that much about him personally. I this biography “authorized” by chance?

[Lopez]

If the book about King has some real insight into his youth, let us know. I'm a huge fan of his writing, and would really like to know something about his upbringing, which I'm convinced must have been somewhat less "ideal" than he seems to claim, but of course, I don't pretend to know.

According to the book, he was brought up in poverty. When Steve was two, his father went out for a pack of smokes and never came back. He was afraid of everything. Much of his hard-scrabble early life comes out in his stories.

[Lopez]

I might have to check this one out. I was a huge King geek back in the day. Have not kept up with all of his books recently, but have never read that much about him personally. I this biography “authorized” by chance?

I believe it is, even though it doesn't say so. It's loaded with quotations from King, so the author must have received permission to use them; if not from King, at least from the original sources. She does have an extensive list of quotation sources in the back of the book.

The same author wrote a biography of Dan Brown that is subtitled "An Unauthorized Biography." Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean the King one is authorized.

[interbellum]

Although written in 1981 King's "Danse Macabre" gives some insight in his youth plus a whole lot more.
It's been almost 30 years ago I read it though.

[JKL2000]

If the book about King has some real insight into his youth, let us know. I'm a huge fan of his writing, and would really like to know something about his upbringing, which I'm convinced must have been somewhat less "ideal" than he seems to claim, but of course, I don't pretend to know.

According to the book, he was brought up in poverty. When Steve was two, his father went out for a pack of smokes and never came back. He was afraid of everything. Much of his hard-scrabble early life comes out in his stories.

This is interesting, because I remember when the movie Stand By Me came out, King was asked in an interview how much of the book was autobiographical, and he said that it really wasn't, and that he'd had a happy childhood. But I always thought the emphasis on alcoholic fathers in Stand By Me and The Shining, and a lot of other elements of abusive and neglectful parents and other male figures in his work seemed like he was drawing from his own experience. And the emphasis on adults having to take care of other peoples' kids, or usher kids through horrific things seemed to be a sort of fantasy of his.

He sure puts a lot of interesting details into his work. I feel like I've read a lot of King, but I've actually just scratched the surface, and most of what I've read is later stuff - The Shining is the only one of his early works I've read. People who think they know his work from the movies are dead wrong, because IMO most of the most interesting stuff from his books doesn't make it into the movies.

[Jerjo]

There is also a lot of King's background in his book On Writing (as well as some decent advice on writing).

[SteveSly]

I believe it is, even though it doesn't say so. It's loaded with quotations from King, so the author must have received permission to use them; if not from King, at least from the original sources. She does have an extensive list of quotation sources in the back of the book.

The same author wrote a biography of Dan Brown that is subtitled "An Unauthorized Biography." Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean the King one is authorized.

Cool, I will check it out.

[interbellum]

Although written in 1981 King's "Danse Macabre" gives some insight in his youth plus a whole lot more.
It's been almost 30 years ago I read it though.

Accourding to this site this book was republished in 2010, including a new essay.

[roylayer]

I have an opinion of "Saturn Run" that is different from the previous reviewers:

I just read Saturn Run and enjoyed it a lot. I don't know whether to recommend it to people or not.

It deals with Earth's first interplanetary travel and includes a lot of technical stuff which I found interesting but many might find confusing or boring. But the story also has interesting characters, a lot of intrigue, some action, some romance, and some humor. I think people would be safe skimming through the more technical stuff and just understanding the end results.

[spellbound]

The Flicker Men by Ted Kosmatka. Outstanding science fiction. I stayed up reading past 1:00 am, something I haven't felt compelled to do in a while. I'm only 1/4 of the way into the book, and looking forward to the remainder.

[PeterG]

A compilation of stupid jokes so stupid that they're actually very funny, and so stupid that they're actually quite smart. For example: What is the stupidiest animnal in the jungle? ....the polar bear.

[-=RTFR666=-]

I have an opinion of "Saturn Run" that is different from the previous reviewers:

I just read Saturn Run and enjoyed it a lot. I don't know whether to recommend it to people or not.

It deals with Earth's first interplanetary travel and includes a lot of technical stuff which I found interesting but many might find confusing or boring. But the story also has interesting characters, a lot of intrigue, some action, some romance, and some humor. I think people would be safe skimming through the more technical stuff and just understanding the end results.

To reiterate, I enjoyed the book throughout - Sandford's knack for characters and dialogue, combined with Ctein's science, the handling of the alien technology depot concept - until that rushed resolution of the international conflict pretty much brought everything to a screeching halt - - - for me. I recommend it with reservations.

[Scott Bails]

To reiterate, I enjoyed the book throughout - Sandford's knack for characters and dialogue, combined with Ctein's science, the concept of the alien technology depot - until that rushed resolution of the international conflict pretty much brought everything to a screeching halt - - - for me. I recommend it with reservations.

Right. I agree. I was also disappointed in what I consider to be a pretty major MacGuffin.

[NogbadTheBad]

A compilation of stupid jokes so stupid that they're actually very funny, and so stupid that they're actually quite smart. For example: What is the stupidiest animnal in the jungle? ....the polar bear.

[Scott Bails]

I just finished Stephen King's Mr. Mercedes. Really enjoyed it, despite it being a little predictable. It was a nice ride, and a bit of a departure for King. I'm about to start the sequel, Finders Keepers (part two of a trilogy, apparently). Finders Keepers seems to explore some of same ground covered in Misery, so we'll see how he handles this one differently.

Just finished Finders Keepers. It has a similar tone to its predecessor, with several allusions to what will be happening in End of Watch, the third entry in the Bill Hodges Trilogy. The third book, however, seems that it will be more "Stephen King-ish," bringing in a supernatural element, where the previous two were more straight-forward.

So far, so good. Looking forward to the third one being published in June. The first two are quite enjoyable. King writes interesting characters, as always.

In the meantime, I'm going to start Peter Clines' The Fold.

[philsunset]

Almost finishing reading "Hang on to a Dream: The Story of The Nice" by Martyn Hanson. A little on the short side but has some interesting factoids.

[StevegSr]

House of Earth by Woody Guthrie. There's no way a book this explicit could have been released unedited in the nineteen forties. Amazing that the original manuscript survived until now. The man was a genius.

[Lopez]

Having read a biography of Shel Silverstein, I looked for his Playboy-era material and found a book at the library called Playboy's Silverstein Around the World. It collects all of the travelogue stuff he did for Playboy in the late 50s through the late 60s. Absolutely hilarious. It's mostly cartoons of himself interacting with natives, tourists, and locales he encountered on his trips to various places around the world. There's one feature of himself at a nudist camp in Pennsylvania in the late 50s. There are photos of him with gorgeous nude babes around the pool and at various activities. I'm wondering, wow, what have I been missing; I always thought people at nudist camps were middle-aged, sagging, and chubby. A disclaimer says he brought models with him so not to embarrass the secretaries and bank tellers who attended the camp.

[Adm.Kirk]

The Architecture of Warren County North Carolina 1770-1860s by Kenneth McFarland.

My area of North Carolina is full of great old houses, particularly in Warren County.

Bill

[Scott Bails]

In the meantime, I'm going to start Peter Clines' The Fold.

Just finished this one. Really, really enjoyed the first two acts of this, was greatly disappointed and let down by the third act. What began as a really cool hard science fiction novel devolved into.....something different, I'll say, to avoid spoilers.

Still recommended for the good parts - this was a quick read because of that alone. And I like how Clines writes his characters.

Now I'm off to read his earlier novel, 14, which apparently takes place in the same "universe." The Fold is ripe for a sequel, so we'll see if 14 can hold up, as well.

[Lopez]

Just finished a most wonderful book, The Lord God Bird by crime/mystery writer Russell Hill. It's about a young man, Jake, and his tiny girl friend's quest to find the presumably extinct Ivory Billed Woodpecker in the swamps of Louisiana in the late 1940s. (When people would see the bird, they'd exclaim "Lord God," hence, the title.) The fact that the girl, Robin, is so small is important as she dresses up as the woodpecker with black and white feathers and dyed red pomaded hair and sits atop a tree calling for the bird. Eventually she lures one, but just as the bird comes close a couple of bayou men shoot the bird and intend to kill Robin. Jake shoots one of the men and the other runs off. What occurs then is part To Kill a Mockingbird and part Deliverance with a relentless Javert-like sheriff tailing Jake.

I just started another Russell Hill book, The Dog Sox, about a guy who buys a down-and-out minor league baseball team.