Now reading...

[felser]

Using this in the Men's group I lead:

 

[ghost of miles]

... and also contemplating revisiting Camus’ The Plague, which I haven’t read since high school.

[Brad]

In times like these, I want to avoid reading books like The Plague or seeing Contagion, which Wesley Morris in the New York Times recently discussed. 

[David Ayers]

I’ve got Anna Reid’s book on the siege of Leningrad lined up. Um. 
 

Anything to screen out the I-told-you-sos from preppers...

[ghost of miles]

Went ahead and pulled out my old Modern Library copy of The Plague for first rereading in 35+ years. As a teenager I all but worshipped Camus, so going back to this novel at this particular moment will be interesting, I’m sure:

[jlhoots]

I'm going to re-read Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. 2014 novel about a pandemic. Scary shit.

[Brad]

A flash sale from NYRB Classics.

https://www.nyrb.com/collections/ides-of-march-flash-sale?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NYRB%20Ides%20of%20March%20Flash%20Sale%202020&utm_content=NYRB%20Ides%20of%20March%20Flash%20Sale%202020+CID_4d0c1e0cab8148bf16d463680955e2f1&utm_source=Newsletter&utm_term=Browse%20the%20books

[jazzbo]

[ejp626]

3 minutes ago, Brad said:

A flash sale from NYRB Classics.

 

Thanks for the update.  From this list, I've read The Jokers, which was interesting and well-written, and Letter to Survivors, which is kind of a one-joke graphic novel.  (I would definitely recommend borrowing from the library...)  I own, but haven't read, Ride a Cockhorse and The Alteration.  (One of these days...)

I'm nearly done with Pale Horse, Pale Rider and will tackle The Plague next.  I've heard that the newish translation by Robin Buss is the way to go.

Since the libraries are closed here(!), I'll be going through the tall stack of books near my desk.  Maxwell's Château and DeLillo's Cosmopolis and probably Kundera's Unbearable Lightness of Being and eventually Celine's Journey to the End of the Night (another uplifting tale...).

[Brad]

Although not my idea for reading, here's an article on books about pandemics such as The Plague and Station Eleven. 

Your Quarantine Reader 

[ghost of miles]

6 hours ago, jazzbo said:

My best friend just gave me a grocery bag full of books from the Hard Case Crime series.

[jazzbo]

Yes, there are some fun titles. I like the Quarry series and the A.A. Fair/Earle Stanley Gardner et al.

[GA Russell]

4 hours ago, jazzbo said:

Yes, there are some fun titles. I like the Quarry series and the A.A. Fair/Earle Stanley Gardner et al.

Lon, I gather from the Amazon reviews that the Cool & Lam Hard Case books aren't very good.  Can you recommend one?

[jazzbo]

I've always loved them and consider them great fun. The earlier the better in some ways, in other ways the later ones are very good. "The Bigger they Come," the first one, is a must. They recently published what would have been the second, "The Knife Slipped," which is interesting to me as it was rejected at the time of writing, not for quality reasons imo. "Spill the Jackpot" is fiun, as is "Fools Die on Friday."

It occurs to me that the series was to be a sort of inverse of the Nero Wolfe series. . . I love those books as well.

[David Ayers]

17 hours ago, jazzbo said:

I’m sold on the cover!

[GA Russell]

1 hour ago, jazzbo said:

I've always loved them and consider them great fun. The earlier the better in some ways, in other ways the later ones are very good. "The Bigger they Come," the first one, is a must. They recently published what would have been the second, "The Knife Slipped," which is interesting to me as it was rejected at the time of writing, not for quality reasons imo. "Spill the Jackpot" is fiun, as is "Fools Die on Friday."

It occurs to me that the series was to be a sort of inverse of the Nero Wolfe series. . . I love those books as well.

Thanks!  It looks like your recommendations are out of print, but I'll keep my eye out.

[jazzbo]

5 hours ago, GA Russell said:

Thanks!  It looks like your recommendations are out of print, but I'll keep my eye out.

Yes I collected these in the 'eighties and read them then though I have re-read a number of them since, they're fun. "The Knife Slipped" is still in print. . . .

As is "The Count of 9"

 

[jazzbo]

And "Top of the Heap" and "Turn on the Heat." "Shills Can't Cash Chips" is coming out in June in the Hard Case Crime series.

Edited March 15, 2020 by jazzbo

[Brad]

On 2/17/2020 at 7:39 AM, Brad said:

I have also picked up Toni Morrison’s Home. This is my first time reading anything by her.

I finished reading Home but found it a bit unsatisfying. It seemed to build a crescendo and then dissipates. One reviewer said it seemed that Morrison got bored with it and brought it to a swift conclusion. 

Edited March 20, 2020 by Brad

[jazzbo]

Decided to re-read some A. A. Fair. Starting with this first one, in this edition from '63:

 

[sidewinder]

Bill Birch’s ‘Keeper of the Flame’ book about modern jazz in Manchester 1946-72. Should keep me going until Xmas !

Edited March 21, 2020 by sidewinder

[mjazzg]

Hilary Mantel - The Mirror and the Light

14 hours ago, Brad said:

I finished reading Home but found it a bit unsatisfying. It seemed to build a crescendo and then dissipates. One reviewer said it seemed that Morrison got bored with it and brought it to a swift conclusion. 

Don't let it deter you from trying another at some point.

Maybe 'Sula', 'The Bluest Eye' or 'Beloved'

[Brad]

33 minutes ago, mjazzg said:

Hilary Mantel - The Mirror and the Light

Don't let it deter you from trying another at some point.

Maybe 'Sula', 'The Bluest Eye' or 'Beloved'

It probably won’t. 

[ejp626]

37 minutes ago, mjazzg said:

Hilary Mantel - The Mirror and the Light

Don't let it deter you from trying another at some point.

Maybe 'Sula', 'The Bluest Eye' or 'Beloved'

3 minutes ago, Brad said:

It probably won’t. 

I think her single best novel is Song of Solomon, though in my case (as I am rereading most of her novels in an irregular fashion), I want to end on a high note, so I will finish with Song of Solomon.

[Brad]

Starting on this:

And this:

Edited March 21, 2020 by Brad