Anyone who knows me knows that I read. A lot. A LOT. Blame my parents. I don't think they feel the least bit bad about it.
I've read a spate of really good books lately, and thought I'd list 'em. I've read a lot of the Iraq War and "Pile on the Bush Adminstration" tomes, and they are of varying value and interest. I find Cobra II most interesting simply because military strategy is not my field.
The Best of the Best so Far, in no way a complete list, and in no particular order:
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
You can see this happening.
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Creepy.
Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier
A bit far-fetched, but good.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Marvelous.
The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast
by Douglas G. Brinkley
How that feckless moron Nagin got himself reelected is a mystery.
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky, Sandra Smith (Translator)
Another voice silenced by Hitler.
The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier
This was just fantastic.
Next to my bed:
Ten Days in the Hills by Jane Smiley
I always preferred the Decameron to the Canterbury Tales.
Traveler by Ron McLarty
I loved The Memory of Running
In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien
The Things They Carried is genius.
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama
As cynical as I am, and as angry as I am about the direction this country has taken in the past six years, I'm not ready to give up on my country.
Last Town on Earth by Thomas Mullen
Inés of My Soul by Isabel Allende, Margaret Sayers Peden (Translator)
I'm about halfway done with this one.
The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud
People either love or hate this one.
3 comments:
Thanks Briefwriter,
I added several books to my request list at the library from your recommendations. I've been on the list for Suite Francaise for so long, I think I'm just going to go out and buy it when it comes out in paperback next month. I agree, Brief History of the Dead is excellent. Have you read The Emperor's Children yet? I've avoided it thus far as it seems whiny and annoying, but I'm curious to hear what you think.
It was as whiny and annoying as self-important Manhattanites tend to be. I disliked Emperor's Children enough to leave a review on Amazon.
I just finished The Book Thief. Wonderful, superb, stellar, and most other superlatives. My favorite so far this year. Thanks for the rec.
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