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Spoilers What Book Are You Reading?

Scepticalscribe said:
If you liked The Pearl, might I suggest (strongly) that you take a look at East of Eden, which, to my mind, is by far the best thing that John Steinbeck ever wrote.

The movie of the same name, (starring James Dean), was based on the final third of the book, but I think that the earlier two thirds of the book are what gives the entire book (including the final third) its power and heft as a story.
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I've never read it because I'd heard it was 'unfinished". True story. lol.


Grapes of Wrath, Cannery Row, and Sweet Thursday are three of my all time favorite books.

The Moon is Down is also pretty good...
 
Reading an excellent, solidly researched and very well written - above all an exceedingly thought-provoking - book by Gillian Tett (of the Financial Times): "Fool's Gold: How Unrestrained Greed Corrupted a Dream, Shattered Global Markets and Unleashed a Catastrophe (2009)".
 
Treated myself (which means that I bought it in an independent bricks'n'mortar bookshop) to a book that has received excellent reviews: "Europe: A New History" by Roderick Beaton, which comes in the form of a gorgeous hardback, with a wonderfully attractive and legible font, an unexpected warm thank you extended to the purchaser in the 'copy-right' section - usually found on the front page opposite the fly-leaf - along with an expressly and explicitly stated prohibition on any use of this work, for, or by AI - not something that I have laid eyes on before now.

In any case, it is an excellent and engaging and very well-written work, and I am currently happily immersed in it.
 
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Have just finished "The Patient Assassin - A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge and the Raj," by Anita Anand, a book I collected from the library, earlier this week, where it awaited me.
 
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Since I bought a few Air Fryers...
 
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William Crompton -- The World Of Flags, 1990

German edition: Die Welt der Flaggen und die Wappen aller Länder

It's old but gold. Today there aren't books about flags anymore. A saleswoman told me several years ago that this has been replaced by Wikipedia.
 

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I visited the library yesterday, where two books that I had reserved awaited me.

One of the books - the work of fiction - is by the excellent Tan Twan Eng (The Garden of Evening Mists) - I recently read his outstanding The House of Doors, and love his elegant, elegiac, writing.

The other is by the stunning Irene Vallejo, an astonishing work entitled "Papyrus: The Invention of Books in the Ancient World," and I am already utterly captivated and entranced (and immersed in) this wonderful work.
 
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Huntn said:
I just started Eragon- a boy and his dragon. I am surprised how young the author is/was when he wrote it. Am liking it so much I just ordered two more from Amazon.

Prior to this I just finished The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo trilogy. Hard to believe it has been in the top ten books for the last year, but it is good enough for me to recommend.
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Ooh, I LOOOOVE Eragon and the book series that it's a part of, the Inheritance Cycle!

I've had the pleasure of meeting Paolini a few times now, and he's so down to earth and cool!
 
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As for what I'm reading right now, I'm starting a re-read of what's become my favorite book series, Warrior Cats by Erin Hunter!

Starting that re-read with my favorite book in the category of them that are called super editions, Graystripe's Vow!
 
Am already 161 pages into Irene Vallejo's quite brilliant and utterly compelling "Papyrus"; I cannot recommend this wonderful work - meticulously researched, intelligent, inquiring, informed by a love of learning and libraries, with an astonishing range and scope, not to mention beautifully written (and exquisitely translated) - highly enough.
 
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Finished the superb "Papyrus" by Irene Vallejo, and have now started the haunting and elegiac and utterly compelling "The Garden of Evening Mists" by the wonderful writer, Tan Twan Eng, (who has also written the excellent "The House of Doors").
 
Scepticalscribe said:
Europe: A New History" by Roderick Beaton, which comes in the form of a gorgeous hardback, with a wonderfully attractive and legible font
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(I'm only mentioning this because I've read on this message board that language and writing are important to you)

As a former graphic arts person, I think "typeface" is used for printed material such as books and "font" is used for electronic displays, at least in North American English (traditionally, fonts are different sizes and styles of type in a typeface). So a printed book is set in a typeface, say, Palatino, with Palatino fonts—such as 12-point plain, 12-point italic, and 20-point bold—used in various places in the text.
 
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KaliYoni said:
(I'm only mentioning this because I've read on this message board that language and writing are important to you)

As a former graphic arts person, I think "typeface" is used for printed material such as books and "font" is used for electronic displays, at least in North American English (traditionally, fonts are different sizes and styles of type in a typeface). So a printed book is set in a typeface, say, Palatino, with Palatino fonts—such as 12-point plain, 12-point italic, and 20-point bold—used in various places in the text.
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Ah, thank you for the clarification.

I must investigate further, as I have no idea whether it is the same -mor, whether this applies - in publishing in the British Isles.

In any case, Roderick Beaton's history of Europe is a gorgeous book, with wonderful production values; as I have given it (along with strict instructions regarding returning the book) to friends to read, I cannot confirm what the font/typeface actually is.
 
This has been my main vacation read:

Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst

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My second Hollinghurst. I'm already liking it as much as the first I read, though it is one of those novels that's more about the characters than the plot (as some label it "no plot, just vibes"). I wouldn't say there's no plot, but it is mostly about a man and his relationships over the years, including a complicated relationship with a man who becomes a famous politician. But I could read Hollinghurst's writing all day...
 
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I really like this one! I read about half of it last night. That's rare for me, I'm a "chunky" reader usually, even if i like something, I will read it 20 or 30 pages at a time.
 
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"A satirical horror novel about a woman who works as an ice princess at a theme park by day and haunts dive bars by night, emulating literary villains like Patrick Bateman."

Started it last night. First two chapters seem promising.
 
pachyderm said:
I think I want to get into to those.
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I think that you will enjoy them.

Actually, they are quite wonderful, rich in atmosphere and setting, rollicking good tales, terrific characters, and with a warm, yet ethical, core.

Moreover, Philip Pullman writes terrific female characters, not just the heroes, such Sally Lockhart (among others) in this series, and Lyra Silvertongue in His Dark Materials, but terrific female villains, too; and his male characters - especially those on the side of "good" - are warm and engaging and attractive people.
 
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