Books on the Nightstand discussion

Time for my favorite month of the year YAAAAAY *muppet arms*

I am back and recovered from Booktopia, and am reading so many things. I recently read and finished Doc and We Have Always Lived in the Castle (which was DELICIOUSLY creepy), and now I'm reading Tell the Wolves I'm Home, The Wave Watcher's Companion: From Ocean Waves to Light Waves via Shock Waves, Stadium Waves, and All the Rest of Life's Undulations, and The Funeral Dress: A Novel.

What's on tap for everyone else?

@callie,
Tell the wolves I'm home is one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy it.

I am reading Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter which is quite good thus far.

I am enjoying it so far. It was actually the book I took home from the Yankee Swap in Petoskey!

I just finished Doctor Sleep, and it was much better than I'd hoped it would be.

Right now I'm reading Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith, and after this is done I'm going to find something a bit happy.

In preparation for my trip to Sri Lanka next month finished When Memory Dies. 5 stars. My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Currently reading How to Be Idle - could have written this book! Still a fun read. Also listening to Joyland, which is good so far.

I'm reading Burial Rites. Good so far!

I'm listening to The 19th Wife in the car and it's not at all what I expected. I'm especially enjoying vetting the history and so far David Ebershoff is passing with flying colors. In paper, I've got a light read The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles: A Novel..it's an ARC that I picked up at BEA, a translation (from the French novel) that is coming out in December.

To my surprise, in September I was able to keep my promise to make a dent in my Teetering Stack (which long ago outgrew the traditional nightstand). This month I'm modifying that pledge to say that I will only borrow one book not related to my new business at a time; any other pleasure reads must come from the TS or the pre-1923 titles already on my Kindle.

At this writing I'm slogging through the dullest 1920s society novel in the world; I'd give it up but have invested too much time with these characters not to learn their fates. Am also finally about a third of the way into a purchase from Christmas 2011: Vol. 1 of the great, thick, square Autobiography of Mark Twain. Next up: Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter's The Long War (library), Alan Jacobs' The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction (TS), something light and fluffy by Carolyn Wells (K), and--closer to Halloween--Cornell Woolrich's Night and Fear: A Centenary Collection of Stories (TS).

I had an extremely poor reading/listening month in September having only listened to two audiobooks and read two print books! I can't remember the last time my numbers were this low and I was actually still reading! There were stacks and stacks of books crowding me and creating unnecessary pressure on me so I did a couple of things: I returned all the library books, I stored more audiobooks onto my audiobook drive (and off an ever increasing queue on my iPod) and, I've pushed a number of backlist books back to next year! So what do I have left?:

Proven Guilty (The Dresden Files #8 by Jim Butcher; narrated by James Marsters) - Harry Dresden, the only practicing wizard detective in Chicago, is called upon to investigate more suspected necromancy (see Dead Beat (The Dresden Files #7)) and, bail one of his best friend's daughters out of trouble. Of course the plots are interconnected and are ultimately tied into another ongoing thread about the war between The Red Court of Vampires and every body else! As I've mentioned before, the series is terribly uneven, but this, like Dead Beat before it, is one of the better ones. Still prone to cliched imagery and suspect choreography when it comes to the action scenes, the story is nevertheless intriguing with moments of true suspense. James Marsters sounds exhausted: His voice register has dropped a couple of ranges and there is little to no differentiation between many of the characters at this point. If Marsters' rumblings, even in this condition, are still pleasant to the ear, it must also be said that the editing is poor: there are noticeable places in the recording where there the sound levels don't match.


Gregor the Overlander (Underlander series #1 by Suzanne Collins; narrated by Paul Boehmer.) This is Suzanne Collins' (of The Hunger Games Trilogy fame) first book! Gregor, a twelve-year old boy and his little two-year old sister, "Boots," drop through a vent in his apartment building's laundry room into a subterranean world populated by giant, talking rats, cockroaches, spiders and, a small population of humans with purple eyes! Gregor is believed to be the fulfillment of a prophecy and goes on a quest to find his father. The story contains violence and death; but despite this and the overall creepiness of the setting, the story is engaging and even my timid daughter is grooving on the story! Also, as fantastical as the characters are, no magic or otherwise paranormal elements appear: Characters act in a realistic way despite their size and anthropomorphic attributions.

I just finished Night by Elie Wiesel in print. This is a very slim novel, but a very powerful testimony to the horrors of the Holocaust.

I'm now reading This Gun for Hire (by Graham Greene.) It's a story about a hit man in England who has been double-crossed. This is a mystery/suspense novel (as opposed to a work of literary fiction like The Power and the Glory) but still bears the hallmarks of an amazing writer: fine attention to detail in regard to setting & characters and, fast but thorough plotting that mixes interior language with action. I've heard some people claim that Graham Greene may be one of the finest writers of the twentieth century and I'm beginning to see why they make this claim.

Jen wrote: "I just finished Doctor Sleep, and it was much better than I'd hoped it would be.

Right now I'm reading and am thoroughly enjoying it so far. I love King's writing and feel it's like welcoming home an old friend. Glad you enjoyed it. I'm really looking forward to an adventurous week. Happy reading!!

Just back from a wonderful weekend in Booktopia! Reading The Sparrow and The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles.

Lil wrote: "Just back from a wonderful weekend in Booktopia! Reading The Sparrow ..."

I'm jealous- I wish that I could read it again for the first time :-) Enjoy!

Jen wrote: "Lil wrote: "Just back from a wonderful weekend in Booktopia! Reading The Sparrow ..."

I'm jealous- I wish that I could read it again for the first time :-) Enjoy!"

Me too. I don't read much sci-fi but The Sparrow is in a class by itself.

I am also reading

October - my favorite month of the year!

My book club is reading Jewelweed to celebrate this author who is attending the Iowa City Book Festival this month, and as a follow-up to a book we read in 2011ish, Driftless.

Oldest TBR (2011): The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Oldest TBR on my bookshelf: Home Safe
Published in 2013: The Goldfinch
Titles with Numbers 1 - 12: The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food
Random: Bloodroot
Booktopia 3: The Aviator's Wife (started in Septemeber, but just couldn't finish it)

Other: WILL read The Shining and Doctor Sleep to be festive for Halloween! Maybe Tampa, but that is a strech as the Stephen King books are looong!

Listening on Audible: The Ocean at the End of the Lane (should've vetted this book more, not really a fan of fantastical writing, but maybe it will surprise me) and Mrs. Poe.




.

Not related to an actual book I am reading but I just read where Tom Clancy has passed away, 66 years old

Too young...too soon.

Elizabeth wrote: "@callie,
Tell the wolves I'm home is one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy it.

I am reading Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter which is quite good th..."

I LOVED Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter! I couldn't get over how beautifully written it was. The man can write a sentence! I hope you enjoy it too!!

Thanks Kate. I am half way through it and really invested in the characters.

Lil wrote: "Just back from a wonderful weekend in Booktopia! Reading The Sparrow and The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles."

Those are two of my very favorite books! (Naturally.) Enjoy!

Becky wrote: "I am also reading "
Great minds think alike!! We are always doing this! I love it so far!

I had a slow September and want to step it up in October. I am teaching a class this semester and it is seriously limiting my pleasure reading. My book club is reading Shine Shine Shine this month so I definitely plan to read that and hope I have time for a couple of others.

I just finished , which was wonderful, and started !

Finished physical book It Happens in the Dark 5 stars and audiobook The Aviator's Wife 4 stars. Starting Tampa and the audio for You Changed My Life

Abook finishing FREE FALL by Cris Grabenstein.EBOOK Basically starting STRONG POISON byDorothy L. SAYERS. I am a very big fan of The Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries on PBS and I am really looking forward to this.

I am reading The Living Great Lakes: Searching for the Heart of the Inland Seas I picked this up in Petoskey. It's right up my alley and I'm enjoying it very much.

I am reading Night Film. So far I really like it and I'm hoping it is as good as Special Topics in Calamity Physics which I absolutely loved.

Just finished and .
Still enjoying .
And tomorrow I start .

Kate wrote: "Elizabeth wrote:

I am reading Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter whi..."

I LOVED Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter! I couldn't get over how beautifully written it was. The man can write a sentence! I hope you enjoy it too!!

I finished The Tilted World: A Novel, the new novel he co-wrote with his wife, at the end of last month and it was FANTASTIC.

Tampa I'm only on page 5 and I don't know if I'm going to be able to finish it.

Working on these...
and and .

At the end of September I finished The Rookie which was as good as I remembered.
Next a friend lent me The Gun Seller so I just had to ignore my TBR pile and start it straight away.
But then Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore turned up in my post box so I cracked it open on the way home and then couldn't put it down.

Linda wrote: "Tampa I'm only on page 5 and I don't know if I'm going to be able to finish it."

I tried it. I didn't get far. Too prurient for my tastes.

Tampa is on it's way to me. After seeing these posts, I now have mixed emotions about reading it.

Just finished listening to FREE FALL yesterday. A decent crime story set on the Jersey shore and a decent narration. The one thing that bugged me about the narration was the decision to give the main character a burly manly voice. I have noticed that most male narrators change their voices slightly for men but this was a real change in the voice that really through me off and caught me off guard. I wish that he would not have done that.

Shannon wrote: "Kate wrote: "Elizabeth wrote:

I am reading Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter whi..."

I LOVED Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter! I couldn't get over h..."

I had no idea he had a new book out! Thank you, thank you for the head's-up!!

Eric wrote: "Linda wrote: "Tampa I'm only on page 5 and I don't know if I'm going to be able to finish it."

I tried it. I didn't get far. Too prurient for my tastes."

I only got a few pages into it, too. Wish I hadn't paid for the book!

I didn't like Tampa either, but had it through the library.

I just finished Paris by Rutherfurd. I was disappointed. I had read a few of his other books years ago and don't remember them seeming as historical lecture-y as this one. It was a slog to get through all 800+ pages.

However, I am starting Night Film momentarily and I am excited!

Mary wrote: "Eric wrote: "Linda wrote: "Tampa I'm only on page 5 and I don't know if I'm going to be able to finish it."

I tried it. I didn't get far. Too prurient for my tastes."

I only got a few pages into ..."

By responding to Mary's comment, maybe Eric and Janet will hook up on this, too.

I think Eric hit the nail on the head. I have to admit this has brought a question to my mind..."What's porn, then?"

I knew the subject matter, I had read other's comments and hoped that it was going to be like 40 years ago when I read
Flowers in the Attic. that one I think I got because I didn't return the card for a book of the month club. I kept thinking, "This is a disgusting subject." but I kept reading through 4 books. (My reading metaphor for a a driving by an accident.)

I'm not used to blushing and looking around to see who is watching me read a book. (Surely everyone understands what I"m reading.)

Listening to the read of the month from another book podcast, Sword and Laser. Supposed to be a combination of steampunk and zombies so I am looking forward to it.

Gerald wrote: "Listening to the read of the month from another book podcast, Sword and Laser. Supposed to be a combination of steampunk and zombies so I am looking forward to it."
I liked it but not enough to continue the series. It was quite slow at points.(And I am also looking forward to the S&L discussion)

Reading Survival Lessons and listening to The Passage

Laura wrote: "I just finished The Secrets of Happy Families: Improve Your Mornings, Rethink Family Dinner, Fight Smarter, Go Out and Play, and Much More and am about to start Arsenic and Old Puzzles: A Puzzle La..."

I read with a small group, it was fun, I have the next 2 sitting here ....

Alex on audiobook. That book is all sorts of messed up. Good though. Reading some more volumes of DMZ the graphic novel by Brian Wood.

I finally read . Wow. As I was reading it, I was thinking that it wasn't as great as I thought it would be based on so many rave reviews. And I think that is still my overall assessment. But towards the end, I was bawling like a baby! I guess the story did really get to me because I am not usually one to cry while reading. But this time, the flood works started big time.

Finished Tell the Wolves I'm Home this weekend, sobbing late into the night. A beautiful story, well told, compelling. Highly recommend.

I need to comb through my TBR and find some seasonally appropriate horror to get into. Since it's October, I've started re-listening to The Night Circus, for the fourth time. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I love it.

A common piece of advice given to would-be writers is "Write what you know". With this book, King is writing what he knows. Stephen King knows alcoholism and recovery. It's no accident that Steve dedicated the book to Warren Zevon. Warren, another fighter of that same battle, was sober for about two decades, until his terminal illness arrived. At that point, apparently, it didn't seem to be as worthwhile to stay on the wagon. Zevon's life is a case in point that there is no such thing as an ex alcoholic.

"Doctor Sleep" is a sequel to , one of King's earliest novels. That one was also about alcoholism, written at a time when King perhaps was in denial of his own problem. Maybe he didn't know at that time he was writing what he knew. He certainly didn't know much about recovery. The late eighties were to be a "lost weekend" for King.

Anyway, this book is about the grown up Danny Torrance, son of Jack, who has inherited from his old man the hereditary disease of alcoholism. He still "shines", but not as brightly. As a hospice orderly, he ends up using his remaining paranormal ability to ease dying patients out of this life and into whatever follows. Complications arise when he meets Abra, a young girl with a similar power. He also finds out about the True Knot, a predatory clan of RV dwellers who live unnaturally long lives, fueled by the dying essence of people like Dan and Abra.

Although the background material about addiction and recovery were spot on, I never felt Dan and Abra were up against a very significant threat. The point is made by the heroes, long before the final confrontation, that the bad guys are basically cowards who prey on the weak. The problem is that I, as a reader, bought into this characterization, and thus never saw the True Knot as a significant threat to the heroes. Thus, the feeling of actual peril to the heroes was diminished. The ending seemed a foregone conclusion.

Nonetheless, I am one of Stephen King's "Constant Readers" and will continue to read every release, hoping it's "one the the good'uns". In recent years, a good many of them have been. And even his weaker efforts get you turning the pages.

I'm current reading Night Filmand need to go to the library to pick up The Rosie Project and Sister Mother Husband Dog: Etc.. I'm really looking forward to all my reads this month. I just bought new coffee to go with all my books!

Wally Lamb's "The Hour I First Believed" The Hour I First Believed. Its been on my TBR shelf forever and I finally picked it up last night - and ended up staying up 2 hours past my normal bedtime because I couldn't put it down!