What are you reading the week of Sunday, July 19, 2015?
Just managed to get back here. Maybe I should be a host or whatever it takes here to pin a thread. I'd be willing.
Meanwhile, finished All the Light We Cannot See. A really great book but I don't agree with the critics who called it uplifting. I found it horribly depressing and infuriating. We are dealing with that same mindset and game plan now, it seems to me, and I don't like it one bit. There is nothing redeeming about war. Granted, we FINALLY got around to looking into those "camps", but it was a bit late. We need to stop this sort of thing before it takes hold. Maybe reading this book will make others see "the light," but I am not optimistic.
Now I am reading The Shipping News by Annie Proulx. I am finding it quite amusing. I love how she turns a phrase. Her relative wanted to be "incinerated and strewn." I'm still chuckling over that. It is sad, as our protagonist suffers such degradation and abuse. But he forges cheerfully ahead, into the weather of Newfoundland, which is about as bleak as it can get. I look forward to see what happens next. I am halfway through.
Happy reading! 
= new reply since forum marked as read
This past week I read Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. Suite Francaise was about the Nazi occupation of France and the adjustments people made to accommodate the invaders. Irene was arrested by the Nazis and sent to a death camp in 1942 where she lost her life shortly afterward. I wonder about Irene. Did she believe we would eventually overcome the Nazi scourge? Did she hear the allied bombers overhead and take satisfaction in knowing we were fighting back? I guess we will never know.
After Suite Francaise I started Savage Run by C.J. Box. This is the second in the series. Once again I find that I have already read Savage Run. I seriously doubt that I read the third book but I hope to find out. Anyway, I will continue to re-read Savage Run as it is really an exciting fun read.
Mrs. Enthusiast read Black Widow by Randy Wayne White. She said this is action packed from beginning to end. She really enjoyed Black Widow. After Black Widow she read River Thieves by Michael Crummey. River Thieves will be with her for a while. She has yet to decide on a new book.
I had the opportunity to live for many years in the woods of North Ontario and I have met a few people from Newfoundland. Good people, all. Haven't got to the part of the book yet where they are living in the house, but I can imagine. I lived in an old shack and there were challenges every day. But I loved it. Was glad to get away, finally, but it was a real learning experience at the time.
The wind off the Newfoundland coast is pretty wicked. I imagine there are a few places there holding on by cables.
I look forward to a further discussion when I finish the book.
I hope you will share more about your readings as you go through them. Is this historical fiction? I think it's important to learn more about the South to get a better perspective on what's going on there now. 
Now I have MORE books on my list. 
I haven't seen that movie with Val Kilmer, but now I want to. I did see the ancient movie about it, though. And I've been there, Tombstone. It left a life-long impression.
I look forward to hearing more about your current books.
This summer I'm trying to up my German reading to "comfortable" instead of painful. It was good enough to make my way through math papers or manuals, but I'm reading fiction now and that's a lot more fun 
Finished last week the German translation of Hilary Davidson's _The Damage Done_ and yesterday, _Enders Spiel_. It still pisses me off the Card went so off the rails, because even in translation the construction of the book and the focus on the feelings of the child are really moving. Added bonus: this is my third time reading it and I'm turning 60 this year and I found myself really identifying with Colonel Graff this time around. I rarely re-read, but it is a pleasure, some times, to visit things decades apart.
Now I'm on to an older mystery, _Der Richter and sein Henker_ by Durenmatt. Not sure where I'll go from there, because my local libraries don't have fiction in German. Guess I'll go to the downtown Milwaukee library and see what they have. Went into B&N yesterday and the only foreign language fiction they had was in Spanish, which makes sense.
Not looking for classics--mysteries and SF and lighter novels are just fine. If I want serious stuff, I'll probably read it in English translation so I know I'm getting the right sense. But for entertainment, I'll be happy to peruse auf Deutsch.
I'll be happy to make you a host! As soon as I post this I'll find the instructions for how to do it. 
Thanks and between us we can hopefully keep this thread current. Haven't had a chance yet to read about all my "powers" here but it was a very busy day. Tomorrow, for sure.
Honestly, the only powers I was ever interested in were the ability to pin and unpin threads - and that's all I've done up to now.
Making you a host was a whole new power! Wow! The rush!
You also have the power to ban people and lock threads, but I've never imagined ever needing to do those things in this wonderful group.
Thank you again for being willing to take this on! And DUmail me anytime if you want help! This summer has gotten increasingly complicated for me on the weekends (taking care of my 88-year old dad), so I'm really relieved to not have to feel totally responsible for keeping up the Sunday reading threads - much as I've loved doing them for these past months.
Have fun!
to attend to him. My mom died in 2008, and my sisters and I are bound and determined to keep our dad with us as long as we possibly can.
He's been our hero all our lives, for more reasons than I can count. But among those reasons are the love of books and lifelong intellectual inquiry, along with our strong, unwavering liberal political bent.
He's a WWII veteran (Navy), staunch Union man, and still damn intellectually sharp. For my whole life there's been nothing more satisfying and stimulating than discussing politics with my wonderful dad.
I've just bought a laptop for him - he finally decided that he really wanted to get on the internet. It's going to be a whole new adventure for both of us to get him online!
I'll for sure still be around. I'm planning on writing at length, at some point, about the Tibetan mystery novels I'm currently working my way through.
There's a good reason why my signature is a Tibetan Buddhist Prayer Wheel.
I have no idea if the laptop is going to work out for him or not. For starters, he came up here on vacation and forgot it at home. LOL
Mostly he wants to get on the internet so he can look up information. He's a lifelong autodidact, and only just finally realized that he might really enjoy being able to travel around cyberspace and learn more stuff. We daughters have been trying to talk him into getting on the internet for years, and he's been resisting up to now - he's got a bad case of technophobia.
But, we'll see... Although I seriously doubt he will ever reach the point of wanting to post on DU! 
Anyway, I'm not going away. I'll be reading here every day, and will post as the spirit moves me.
And as I mentioned elsewhere, reading this Tibetan series has been deeply involving - these are not light-hearted escapist reads. It will take me a while to digest and be ready to write about them. There are 8 books in the series, most of them over 400 pages long. It's a lot to absorb, and they are affecting me very emotionally and spiritually.
I would also like to thank you turn for all the wonderful energy and enthusiasm (Ha!) you bring here! It's been truly a joy hanging out with you! Give my regards to Mrs. E, too!
We tried to interest our mother in the internet before she passed away at 91. She would have loved it. She was a wonderful writer, very accomplished. She was an avid letter writer with beautiful cursive longhand.
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