What are you reading this week of October 11, 2015?

[scarletwoman]

Hi all! I saw that the weekly reading thread hadn't been started yet and thought that maybe it was about time that I took a turn and give hermetic - who's been doing a wonderful job of keeping up the weekly thread! - a surprise day off.

Anyway, early last week I finished the 8th and final book of Eliot Pattison's Inspector Shan series. What a journey it has been! I know I've been promising for months that I would write up an overview of the series once I finished the final book, but I'm still gathering my thoughts. In any case, it will be in a separate thread when I do it.

Right now, I've been reading The Drowned Boy by Karin Fossum (Norway). It's a small book, and I could have finished it in a day or two, but it's the only book I have on hand until some of the other books I have on order at my library come in. Like all of Fossum's novels, it's very much a psychological study, as the detective protagonist painstakingly attempts to unravel the truth behind the seeming accidental death of a 16-month old boy with Downs Syndrome. It's a very sad story, told with compassion and compelling insight. I've very much a fan of Fossum.

So, what are you reading this week?

[Enthusiast]

1. Hello everyone! Thank you for the thread, scarletwoman.

I finished Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig. I was entertained by this one. It's not earth shattering or anything but you care about the characters and it has a happy ending.

Now I am reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Once upon a time, for the Summer between grade school and high school, I was given the assignment of reading To Kill a Mockingbird, I didn't do it. I'm sorry, Sister Margret.

This past week Mrs Enthusiast finished The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver. She liked it very much. Then she read Skeleton Man by Tony Hillerman. Skeleton Man is not a large book so she zipped right through it. She likes all the Hillerman books. Now she is reading Driftless by David Rhodes which she is enjoying very much.

[scarletwoman]

8. Hi, Enthusiast! I guess I must confess that I've never read "To Kill a Mockingbird", either.

I'm pretty sure I saw the movie on TV ages ago, for whatever that's worth. As for the book, I don't find any great desire to read it at this late date, so I probably won't. There are so many other places I'd prefer to go in my reading than the American South.

Hillerman, of course, will always remain dear to my heart - especially after travelling through the Southwest with my dad 3 years ago. It was so awesome to be near so many of the locales that Hillerman wrote about. I will never forget my first sight of Ship Rock as the highway we were on curved to the south - and there it was, standing in the far distance! All the magic I had imbibed from reading all those Hillerman books through the years just burst my heart open!

[Enthusiast]

15. Hi scarletwoman! We are also fascinated by the magic of the Southwest.

We watched Antiques Roadshow from New Mexico yesterday and found it especially interesting because of the paintings and artifacts from the region. Mrs. Enthusiast is soon to find herself out of Tony Hillerman books. We will try the Anne Hillerman's books after we exhaust our supply of Tony's.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/anne-hillerman/spider-womans-daughter.htm

I understand your feelings on the American South. I'm just about finished with To Kill a Mockingbird. I cannot imagine Atticus Finch as anyone other than the Gregory Peck character from the movie. That isn't an entirely bad thing as Peck was simply fabulous in the role. Mrs. Enthusiast was very disturbed by To Kill a Mockingbird. I think this might stem from the fact that she had just read The Poisonwood Bible. I have yet to read The Poisonwood Bible so I can't say for certain.

I very much hope things are going well for you.

[leftyladyfrommo]

26. Hillerman's daughter is writing

and using the same characters.

They were ok but no one is as good as Hillerman.

[Enthusiast]

27. Thanks, leftyladyfrommo.

We will try them eventually.

[leftyladyfrommo]

28. I don't think I will read any more of hers.

She had Joe Leaphorn get shot in the head. He survives but is very disabled.

He was my favorite character. I hate it when authors ruin their main characters. I quit reading their books if they do that.

It would have been better if she had developed her own characters instead of using her father's

[TexasProgresive]

2. Now that I have all this free time as a retiree

I can't seem to read as much as when I was working. Go figure. Anyway I just finished The Guts by Roddy Doyle. I read his Barrytown trilogy but I don't remember if The Guts was written in the same style. There are no quotation marks for the dialogue, and there is lots of dialogue. I don't know that most women would get much out of it because the men while taking in Dublin slang, talk like men when women aren't around. It might be an eye opener. They constantly used the f word and c**t which is only used to describe men.

The humor is typical Irish black humor- basically "we're all gonna die but f**k your man, that c**t death anyway."

A note to those who want to know- the polyp was benign. That's good news but still don't know why I am anemic.

Oh and what am I reading now. Well I have nothing new but I picked up a book on the shelf called The Orwell Reader: Fiction, Essays, and Reportage by George Orwell. I found it in the library discards months ago and this is the 1st time I've picked it up.

[Enthusiast]

3. Glad your polyp was benign.

I like the F word and the C word. I think they add color. Maybe I'm just an unsophisticated lout. Or maybe a galoot. What's the difference between a galoot and a lout?

If you have Celiac Disease you would be anemic. I mean if there is no better explanation.

[Enthusiast]

5. TexasProgresive, I meant to ask if you have ever read

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt?

[TexasProgresive]

6. I did and found it depressing on the whole

Then I read younger brother Malachy's A Monk Swimming and was amazed at the contrast between the brothers. This from Amazon's page on Malachy's book.

http://www.amazon.com/Monk-Swimming-Memoir-Malachy-McCourt/dp/0786884142/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
Slapped with a libel suit after an appearance on a talk show, Malachy McCourt crows, "If they could only see me now in the slums of Limerick, a big shot, sued for a million. Bejesus, isn't America a great and wonderful country?" His older brother Frank's Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, Angela's Ashes, took its somber tone from the bleak atmosphere of those slums, while Malachy's boisterous recollections are fueled by his zestful appreciation for the opportunities and oddities of his native land.

He and Frank were born in Brooklyn, moved with their parents to Ireland as children, then returned to the States as adults. This book covers the decade 1952-63, when Malachy roistered across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, but spent most of his time in New York City. There his ready wit and quick tongue won him an acting job with the Irish Players, a semiregular stint on The Tonight Show hosted by Jack Paar, and friendships with some well-heeled, well-born types who shared his fondness for saloon life and bankrolled him in an East Side saloon that may have been the first singles bar. He chronicles those events--and many others--with back-slapping bonhomie.

Although McCourt acknowledges the personal demons that pursued him from his poverty-stricken childhood and destroyed his first marriage, this is on the whole an exuberant autobiography that pays tribute to the joys of a freewheeling life.

[Enthusiast]

16. Thanks! I had no idea about Malachy's book! I'm happy to hear this. I'll have to get a copy.

I agree that Angela's Ashes was depressing. The extreme poverty alone was bad enough. I mean, when a sheep's head is considered a rare luxury food, jeez. I cannot fathom such an existence or I don't want to.

[TexasProgresive]

18. It is so interesting to see the some of the same incidents through different eyes

Frank is so serious and Malachy humorous. One caveat; it has been years since I read either brother. But I just remember Malachy's great sense of humor that is so characteristic of how the Irish have dealt with suffering and death. Some call it "black" I say it's brilliant.
I just found a great interview that Malachy gave in 2010.
http://bigthink.com/videos/big-think-interview-with-malachy-mccourt

[Enthusiast]

19. That was thoroughly entertaining. Thanks, TexasProgresive.

Malachy sure has a fun way to look at life.

[TexasProgresive]

21. Brothers like the McCourts causes me to wonder

if the Nature v. Nurture contention is missing another unknown factor. 2 men with similar genes and the same upbringing and yet can be so different.

[Enthusiast]

22. We see such differences all the time. I am often struck by my differences with my younger brother.

While we do have a number of similarities I have qualities that he lacks and he has positive qualities that I lack. I think much of it comes down to simple genetic variation within a family.

[scarletwoman]

9. Hi TexasProgresive!

Good to see you, and I'm very glad to hear that the polyp was benign. I hope your anemia will also be resolved!

You must be quite steeped in Ireland by now! Do you find yourself exclaiming, "Jaysus!" at odd moments?

[TexasProgresive]

12. Not from this one.

I have to make sure I don't start speaking in Doylespeak.
Here's a small sample.

Aoife the wife took Messi the small dog to the vet because he wouldn't eat or wag his tail. The vet: put his finger up poor Messi's bum and said, Aha, and pulled out something. It was horrible at first. I thought it was a worm or a lizard. but then I knew.

She wiped her eyes.
--I think I recoginsed them before Eamon did--
--I fuckin' hope so.
.......
--You must've been pleased, said Jimmy (the husband)
--Releived, she said. --Mortified.
--Still, said Jimmy,--Your knickers able to fit inside a dog this small. At your age.
--Fuck off.
(Their sons were in listening range)
They loved hearing their mother use bad language.
(Jimmy) handed the dog to Brian.
--Hear you go. Mind he doesn't eat your jocks.

[scarletwoman]

13. LOL!

That's quite a visual, there. Jaysus!

[hermetic]

4. Hi scarletwoman!

And thank you. Went over to a friend's yesterday afternoon and ended up staying til way past my bedtime.

I'm trying to finish The Corrections, another 175 pages to go. I'm getting rather bored with it but I will see it through. Waiting by my bedside are first 4 Outlander novels which my sister sent to me for my bday last month. I am really looking forward to immersing myself in the land of my ancestors.

Glad to hear you are okay TexasProgresive and hope you get the anemia cleared up soon.

[scarletwoman]

10. Hi hermetic! I'm glad it worked out so well that I went ahead and started the thread.

We all need a break once in a while!

Looking forward to hearing how you like the Outlander novels. I'm waiting on the latest installment of one of my favorite Scottish series, A Kind of Grief by A.D. Scott. It's book 6 of her Joanne Ross series, which mainly takes place in a small Scottish town during the 50s. The series is full of wonderful geographical, historical, and cultural tidbits - especially about the Highlands and those who still spoke Gaelic back then.

It was Ian Rankin's Rebus series that set me off on my Scottish kick. I've become quite enamored of that part of the world.

[SheilaT]

7. The latest Jack Reacher book

Make Me. Love those books.

[scarletwoman]

11. I can certainly see why that would be fun series to follow!

Enjoy #20!

[SheilaT]

14. They really are.

I like the very logical way Reacher approaches everything. I know next to nothing about guns, but they often figure prominently in a particular book, and it feels as though the author gets everything right about them. In one, a woman was wanting to get a gun for personal protection, and he gave her some very specific advice, which I don't recall precisely, but was essentially steering her away from the sort of "feminine" gun she was going to get, telling her brutally and practically why she needed a specific kind of gun. And made sure she practices with it so she could actually use it if the need arose. It had an air of authenticity that was nice. I hope that those who do know about guns could confirm my impressions here.

[japple]

17. Finished reading David Rhodes' book, Jewelweed, which is a wonderful

book, and one I highly recommend. I am now reading Ivan Doig's The Bartender's Tale.

[Enthusiast]

20. Good Morning, japple!

Mrs. Enthusiast is about done with Driftless. She seems to be enjoying it very much. I'll order a copy of Jewelweed.

[japple]

25. I got a download from the library for Jewelweed, but they don't have Driftless. Will

see if I can get it somewhere else. I think some of the same characters pop up in Jewelweed. Happy to have found David Rhodes. There is so much good writing out there and I'm a bit dismayed that folks keep on seeking the familiar--those writers who churn out book after book, year after year.

When I tried to post this reply, I got an error message, so I tried to post it again and got another error message. Just looked and found a duplicate post, which I deleted.

[Goblinmonger]

23. Reading the 2nd book in The Strain series: The Fall

I like a lot of things about the TV series, so started reading the novels. As expected, I like the books better because more gets to be explored and some things are abandoned because they won't work on TV.

[Enthusiast]

29. Thanks, Goblinmonger. I've never watched the TV series.