Now reading...

[Matthew]

Not as interesting as one might think. It's sort of schizophrenic, not cohesive. An overview of the "re-emergence tour" of '74 with The Band, with a sprinkling of rabbinic and extra-rabbinic thought to prop up a rather flimsy argument that Dylan is really following a Jewish singer/poet tradition with more intent than I believe likely.

Thanks for the review, and ditto to what The Moose has to say.

[jazzbo]

I was traveling to Ohio to be with my folks for four days centered around a partial mastectomy performed on my mom due to the discovery of a cancerous lump.

All that went well, but now she faces four weeks of radiation, possibly followed by chemotherapy. The whole situation has been pretty stressful for my Dad. He had some stroke like symptoms a few weeks ago, that ultimately they don't believe was a stroke; he was at the hospital with my Mom for her last pre-operative appointment when it happened. They're both 79. This is going to be a pretty tough time. My previous experience with cancer care has made it rather hard for me to be hopeful and positive. . . but I'm doing my best.

[Elissa]

I don't know about the movies with Deneuve and Signoret, but the two books I have just finished Belle de Jour (Joseph Kessel) and Thérèse Raquin (Emile Zola) are masterpieces.

both films extraordinary too

[ejp626]

One of two authors I've always wanted to try but never seem to find, along with Effinger.

I like Effinger a lot, especially his trilogy When Gravity Fails/A Fire in the Sun/The Exile Kiss. They've slowly been putting a lot of his short stories back in print in various collections, but they almost never show up used (and/or cheap), but they should be at larger libraries (or could be requested through ILL).

[ghost of miles]

[fasstrack]

Nell Irvin Painter: The History of White People. Trying to unload my mind enough to let it in and what I read so far I like.

If the book is half as good as that name, we got a winner, ladies and gents.

[jlhoots]

Arnaldur Indridason: Arctic Chill

[A Lark Ascending]

Arnaldur Indridason: Arctic Chill

Read that myself a couple of weeks back. Unbelievably bleak!

Really enjoyed this tale of a relationship with its stresses and strains over the 90s:

Just started the fourth of Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie novels:

Think they are filming or TVising the first (Case Histories).

[JSngry]

[medjuck]

Douglas Coupland's biography of Marshall McLuhan. I studied with McLuhan in the mid-'60s and stayed n touch with him for a few years after. This books really nails it. A lot of fun too.

[gslade]

China Mieville Kraken

[BillF]

Chandler's last novel and the only one I haven't read.

[Jazzmoose]

Strangely enough, the only one I own!

[aparxa]

Exquis!

[jazzbo]

Edited April 21, 2011 by jazzbo

[jlhoots]

Tea Obreht: The Tiger's Wife

[BillF]

Watching the Jackie Brown movie took me to this one.

[aparxa]

Anatole France, Les Dieux ont soif.

Edited April 26, 2011 by aparxa

[A Lark Ascending]

Read about 1/3 of this about 5 years back and for some reason lost track - read straight through this time. Chilling.

Finished the Kate Atkinson mentioned above which was as oddball as ever.

Just starting:

[jazzbo]

The sequel to "An Evil Spirit from the West," which I really enjoyed.

[Jazzmoose]

Just finished Douglas Adam's Mostly Harmless. Due to life changes at the time, I'd stopped with So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, so this was new to me. Looks like I stopped at the right time...

[alankin]

Dan Morgenstern - Living with Jazz: A reader edited by Sheldon Meyer (Oxford)

[paul secor]

Peter Carey's The Tax Inspector

[JSngry]

[BillF]