kidsmoke Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 I've just noticed that our "Now Reading" thread is more than a little outdated...http://viachicago.org/topic/49623-now-reading-in-2014/ so I thought I'd start us off with a fresh new thread for this fresh bright Spring! I've been gone for at least the past week or so, at least mentally, my brain swimming in vivid images of wartime Europe cast up by these two brilliant, spellbinding books: and I can't recommend them highly enough. Both are stories that will play out in my head for a lifetime, beautifully told, original, utterly captivating. Both are lock-yourself-in-the-bathroom-so-the-family-will-let-you-read-just-one-more-chapter books, books that you slow down reading to try to prevent them concluding. I'm jealous of all of you who still have these ahead of you! Both invite rereading, especially Life After Life, which practically demands it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Inside of Outside Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
calvino Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 Haven't gotten around to the above yet --- recently read Plainsong and Eventide --- nice to see others reading his stuff. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chez Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 The Sportswriter by Richard Ford Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Oil Can Boyd Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 untitled.png The Sportswriter by Richard FordI'm halfway through his new one, Let Me Be Frank With You. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
calvino Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 Ford is great -- oddly enough Haruf was the one who told me that I should read him. I reread a random story in Ford's Rock Springs every year or so. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GtrPlyr Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 I reread a random story in Ford's Rock Springs every year or so. Such a great short story collection, probably in my top 5. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PopTodd Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 My first time picking up one of these 33-1/3 books and I am loving it. It's extra nice that the author, J., is an old high school friend of mine. Always was an excellent writer and it's nice to see him published. And he was always an R.E.M. fanatic (I remember him raving about their show at the UIC Pavilion during the Pageantry tour), so it's extra-extra cool that he was able to hook up with these guys to do the research. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Smith Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Glyn Johns Sound Man, kind of boring and not written very well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GtrPlyr Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Glyn Johns Sound Man, kind of boring and not written very well. Yeah, I finished that one about a week or so back. Was disappointed in how little he revealed about anything. The guys worked with everyone, and engineered/produced some of the greatest records of the past 40 years, but when it comes to telling his story, he seemed unwilling to share anything more than the most perfunctory details. And as a musician, I was disappointed in how little he revealed about his recording techniques. He gave us his mic technique for drums, that was about it. And that info was pretty widely known already. Anyway, now reading: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NoJ Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 "No Simple Highway: A Cultural History of the Grateful Dead" by Peter Richardson. Thirty pages in and its great. Still plodding thru Shelby Foote's "The Civil War, A Narrative" Vol 1 as well. Lots of great insight and Shelby offers some funny tidbits but this fat bastard is killing me. There's two more volumes too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
calvino Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 "No Simple Highway: A Cultural History of the Grateful Dead" by Peter Richardson. Thirty pages in and its great. Read that last month or so --- one of the better reads on the Dead and the 60' San Fransisco scene in general. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smells like flowers Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 After living in Florida for 20+ years, I'm finally getting around to reading Cross Creek by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. It is a gem of a book. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lammycat Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Read that last month or so --- one of the better reads on the Dead and the 60' San Fransisco scene in general.Nice. Just got So Many Roads: The Life and Times of the Grateful Dead, by David Browne, which I heard was a good read with a varied angle. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NoJ Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Is that the taper guy who's constantly pushing his book on the FB 80s page? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mr. Heartbreak Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Taft by Ann Patchett. Just met her a couple weeks back and got it signed. She wrote, "Nobody reads this book!" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lammycat Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Is that the taper guy who's constantly pushing his book on the FB 80s page?No, that's Scott Allen with his Aces Back to Back. I actually purchased the book last year before he started cramming it down our collective throat. I stopped reading it due to inaccuracies in it as well as out of spite due to his pushy nature. he's not a taper dude, I don't think. That's some other cat with a book that doesn't push nearly as much as Scott Allen does. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Boss_Tweedy Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Just picked up The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Oil Can Boyd Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Just picked up The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson.I loved that book. Fascinating story. A few weeks ago I saw him read from his new book about the sinking of the Lusitania. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Boss_Tweedy Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 If I like this one (and I've been told by more than one person that I will), I'll have to pick up the Lusitania book next. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chez Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Finished The Sportswriter so it's on to Independence Day. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Smith Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Battle Cry of Freedom. 200 pages in and it's pretty darned good so far. The war is at least 100 pages away. Just as good as Foote, but different Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moss Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 I tend to like the sci fi and horror stuff Simmons does best but went to a book signing and picked this one up. Pretty good so far. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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