Now reading...

[Brad]

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

Having finished Soldiers of Salamis, which was outstanding, I have now begun his latest Lord of All the Dead, about Javier Cercas’ uncle who was killed in the Civil War. 

I just finished reading Lord of All the Dead. It’s one of the better books I have read about the Spanish Civil War. The title comes from The Odyssey where Achilles says he would rather be a slave of a penniless laborer than lord of all the dead.

Next up is probably this:

Edited March 10, 2020 by Brad

[Brad]

On 2/6/2020 at 10:21 AM, erwbol said:

Re-reading Adam Hochschild's King Leopold's Ghost in this Folio Society edition, bought in last month's sale (50% off).

He has a new one out, Rebel Cinderella, about the socialist and feminist Rose Pastor Stokes.

The Unlikely Life of a Socialist Activist Resonates a Century Later

[ejp626]

Just wrapping up the stories in The Word of the Speechless.  A bit hit or miss, as many short story collections are, but on the whole pretty interesting pieces from a writer completely new to me (thanks again, NYRB!).

I've decided to take a short detour into contagion literature, so will tackle Porter's Pale Horse, Pale Rider and Camus's The Plague (I've been remiss and never actually read this previously).  While only a chapter of Ben Cohen's The Hot Hand is about Shakespeare and the plague, this excerpt was intriguing enough for me to put a hold on it at the library: https://slate.com/culture/2020/03/shakespeare-plague-influence-hot-hand-ben-cohen.html

Whenever I am through all this, I will go back to Maxwell's The Château.

 

[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'