What book are you reading right now?

[purpleshoes]

Some of the books on my reading list:

“Amelia Earhart’s Guide to the Pacific Ocean”
“America’s Most Popular Lawyers”
“Career Opportunities for History Majors”
“Detroit: A Travel Guide”
“Different Ways to Spell ‘Bob’”
“Dr. Kevorkian’s Collection of Motivational Speeches”
“Easy UNIX”
“Ethiopian Tips on World Dominance”
“Everything Men Know About Women”
“Everything Women Know About Men”
“French Hospitality”
“Guide To Dating Etiquette” by Mike Tyson
"How To Build Your Own Airplane” by John Denver
“How to Sustain a Musical Career” by Art Garfunkel
“Human Rights Advances in China”
“Intelligent Quotes” by Strom Thurmond
“My Book Of Morals” by Rev. Jessie Jackson
“My Life’s Memories” by Ronald Reagan
“My Plan to Find the Real Killers” by O. J. Simpson
“My Super Bowl Highlights” by Dan Marino
“One Hundred and One Spotted Owl Recipes” by the EPA
“The Book of Virtue” by Bill Clinton
“The Wild Years” by Al Gore
“Things I Can’t Afford” by Bill Gates
“Things I Love About Bill” by Hillary Clinton
“Things I Wouldn’t do for Money” by Dennis Rodman
“To All the Men I’ve Loved Before” by Ellen DeGeneres
“Staple Your Way to Success”
“The Amish Phone Book”
“The Differences Between Reality and Dilbert”
“The Engineer’s Guide to Fashion”
“The Microsoft Guide To Data Security”
George Foreman’s “Big Book of Baby Names”
Janet Reno’s “Beauty Secrets”

Most of them shouldn't take too long to read.

[purpleshoes]

Just completed The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling. While quite well known for the Harry Potter series (none of which I've ever read) this was her first novel written for an adult audience.

Set in a small town 120 miles outside of London, the plot revolves around the aftermath of a town councilor's abrupt and unexpected death. Three men want to be elected to the casual vacancy this creates.

I thought Rowland's character development was slow. Even nearing the middle of the book I had to stop and think about the character each time the focus shifted to a different one. Once you can seamlessly identify each of the characters, it gets more interesting.

Overall it's a bit of a grim story delving into the foibles of human nature in general and the specific insecurities of the main characters.

[_priapism]

Rowling also wrote the Cormoran Strike series under the pen name Robert Galbraith.

[purpleshoes]

Confessions of a Prairie Bitch, an autobiography by Alison Arngrim, who will forever be identified as the character Nellie Oleson on the iconic television series Little House On The Prairie.

A surprisingly entertaining read. I learned that her mother, Norma MacMillan, was quite a famous cartoon voice (Gumby, Polly Purebred and Casper the Friendly Ghost) and her older brother, Stefan Arngrim, was a teen idol in the late 60s during his role on Land of the Giants.

I came away from reading this book with a lot more respect for Ms. Arngrim both as a performer and a person.

[MintJulie]

Confessions of a Prairie Bitch, an autobiography by Alison Arngrim, who will forever be identified as the character Nellie Oleson on the iconic television series Little House On The Prairie.

A surprisingly entertaining read. I learned that her mother, Norma MacMillan, was quite a famous cartoon voice (Gumby, Polly Purebred and Casper the Friendly Ghost) and her older brother, Stefan Arngrim, was a teen idol in the late 60s during his role on Land of the Giants.

I came away from reading this book with a lot more respect for Ms. Arngrim both as a performer and a person.

This sounds very interesting.   I may look into this one.  Thank you, Purple!

[vinney]

Stranger in the Woods by Anni Taylor. Mystery about a missing young girl who was drugged and died in hospital. A real whodunnit complete with additional plot lines...

[GEMINIGUY]

Everything's Eventual by Stephen King. I just started the short story "The Man In The Black Suit".

[GEMINIGUY]

Confessions of a Prairie Bitch, an autobiography by Alison Arngrim, who will forever be identified as the character Nellie Oleson on the iconic television series Little House On The Prairie.

A surprisingly entertaining read. I learned that her mother, Norma MacMillan, was quite a famous cartoon voice (Gumby, Polly Purebred and Casper the Friendly Ghost) and her older brother, Stefan Arngrim, was a teen idol in the late 60s during his role on Land of the Giants.

I came away from reading this book with a lot more respect for Ms. Arngrim both as a performer and a person.

Off subject, but she posed for some pretty hot photos. Nothing nude, but she was hiding an amazing body under those old-fashioned clothes.

[purpleshoes]

Off subject, but she posed for some pretty hot photos. Nothing nude, but she was hiding an amazing body under those old-fashioned clothes.

She was not unaware. Chapter 12 is called BOOBS, BOYS AND SATAN. 

[_priapism]

Off subject, but she posed for some pretty hot photos. Nothing nude, but she was hiding an amazing body under those old-fashioned clothes.

She was not unaware. Chapter 12 is called BOOBS, BOYS AND SATAN.  

[purpleshoes]

The Dirty Parts of the Bible by Sam Torode.

In spite of the eye-catching title, the Bible is not what this book is about. It is a coming of age novel about one Tobias Henry, a 19-year old son of a Baptist preacher who is struggling with things any of us who were once 19-years old can identify with.

The adventure, set in 1936, begins when his father compels him to travel from a small town in Michigan to the family farm in Texas for the purpose of retrieving a bag of money hidden years ago in an abandoned well on the property.

Predictably, the naive young man loses all his money in Chicago but then is befriended by an old Negro hobo named Craw who travels with him all the way to the farm in Texas and stays on to work there.

A whimsical tale, somewhat reminiscent of Huckleberry Finn if Huck had ever traveled outside of Missouri. An entertaining story about young Tobias growing into his manhood.

[MissBarbara]

I finished "The Underground Railroad," by Colin Whitehead, last night, and I cannot recommend it more highly.

The novel starts out seeming like an oft-told story that I've read several times before. A woman is captured in Africa, sold to slave traders, transported across the Atlantic in horrifying conditions, sold to a slave-owner who has a cotton plantation in southern Georgia, and forced to endure life as a slave. Forty years later, her granddaughter, who's around 16, after receiving severe mistreatment from her master, hears of a white man nearby who helps runaway slaves escape to the North, and she escapes the plantion with another slave, seeking his assistance.

So, far, it's a well-written, but otherwise "standard" story.

And then, about 40-50 pages in,  everything changes completely, in a way that I won't describe, to avoid giving anything away. It's astonishing, compulsively readable, and plainly yet elegantly written.

Don't miss it.

[purpleshoes]

Thanks MissB. I'll be looking for this one.

[MintJulie]

Listened to the audio sample on Audiobooks.   Not a fan of the narrator.  Bought the Kindle version.   Thank you Barb. 

[watcher1]

Isaac's Storm by Erik Larsen.  He intertwines the story of the U.S. Weather Bureau's beginning with the devastating hurricane that hit Galveston, TX in 1900.

[MissBarbara]

Isaac's Storm by Erik Larsen.  He intertwines the story of the U.S. Weather Bureau's beginning with the devastating hurricane that hit Galveston, TX in 1900.

I LOVED that book. In fact, I think it's one of the most enthralling nonfiction books I've ever read.

After reading it, I've gone on the read all of his books, and I would recommend all of them, especially "The Devil in the White City" (which takes place in Chicago), "Thunderstruck," and "In the Garden of Beasts."

Great recommendation, Rick!

[vinney]

Little White Secrets by Carol Mason... a family tale of sorts.

[_priapism]

Isaac's Storm by Erik Larsen.  He intertwines the story of the U.S. Weather Bureau's beginning with the devastating hurricane that hit Galveston, TX in 1900.

I lived on Galveston Island while my father attended UTMB.  120 years later, the Great Storm is still a topic of conversation.  The island never fully recovered.

[watcher1]

Isaac's Storm by Erik Larsen.  He intertwines the story of the U.S. Weather Bureau's beginning with the devastating hurricane that hit Galveston, TX in 1900.

I LOVED that book. In fact, I think it's one of the most enthralling nonfiction books I've ever read.

After reading it, I've gone on the read all of his books, and I would recommend all of them, especially "The Devil in the White City" (which takes place in Chicago), "Thunderstruck," and "In the Garden of Beasts."

Great recommendation, Rick

Thank you, Miss B.  I had read The Devil in the White City when it was first published. I have also read his Lethal Passage, about the story behind the sinking of the Lusitania. Both good reads.

[Indian Babe]

Marion Keyes - Murder at Mystery Close

Pretty good though I'm only a quarter way through.