What Are You Reading

[Fading Fast]

Just started "Flight of Dreams" by Ariel Lawhon which is historical fiction set aboard the last flight of the Hindenburg. I picked it up because I love airships and am fascinated by their moment of glory and ignominy. So far, it's a pretty by-the-numbers novel where several of the characters on the ship have ulterior motives, conflicted loyalties, secrets to hide, etc.

About 100 pages in and it's only marginally brought the Hindenburg alive for me and the characters are only marginally interesting, but hopefully, all the set up will pay off in the next 200 pages.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Emily's Diary, a 1977 novel by Patricia Highsmith, set (so far; I'm only halfway through) in 1955-1967. Much more readable than some of her other works . . . though as I read, I keep worrying something bad will happen to Nelson the Siamese cat. . . .

 

[Harp]

US Supreme Court certiorari, Fisher v University of Texas at Austin; Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause jurisprudence according to Justice Kennedy.

 

[Fading Fast]

US Supreme Court certiorari, Fisher v University of Texas at Austin; Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause jurisprudence according to Justice Kennedy.

I read those sometimes as well - fascinating to follow the legal logic (or not) that drives these decisions that meaningfully impact all of our lives.

 

[Harp]

- fascinating to follow the legal logic (or not) that drives these decisions that meaningfully impacts all of our lives.

The Court in Fisher follows Grutter; Rice, and Richmond with a bastardized view of inane penumbra supposedly found within the Fourteenth Amendment.
Strict construction tethers law to the Constitution instead of fashioning societal calculus.

 

[AmateisGal]

At Home with Ernie Pyle. Edited and with an introduction by Owen V. Johnson. Includes all of Pyle's columns he did about his home state of Indiana, some of his WW2 columns, and more.

 

[1mach1]

Alan Moore's Top 10.

Again....

 

[Rumor Control]

Beautiful Joe

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Tales Of The Bizarro World," a paperback collection of comic book stories originally published in "Adventure Comics" in the early 1960s.

This is just what I need today, given the great gobs of frustration that seem to be falling out of the sky -- entertainment that seems to be mindless at the moment, but is actually some of the sharpest, most pointed social satire to come out of an era where sharp, pointed social satire was becoming mainstream. For those who don't know comics lore, Bizarro is a strange, flawed clone of Superman -- who does everything in the opposite way. He lives on a cube-shaped planet populated entirely by other strange, flawed clones of himself, Lois Lane, and other members of the regular Superman cast.

Within this framework, the stories don't just mock the comic-book conventions of their time, but also those of mainstream American culture, and the satire is just as sharp today as it was in the 1960s. When Bizarro is honored by his fellows for pulling an audacious, corrupt swindle at their expense -- "Us love you for hoaxing us! Me give you medal for pulling cheating, sneaky trick! You adorable cheat, you!" -- one realizes that maybe we aren't so far from the Bizarro World as we think.

 

[Fading Fast]

^^^ Have you ever seen the Bizarro World Seinfeld episode?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yep. In fact, the forward to this collection is written by the guy who wrote that script -- and he even contributes a mock "Us People" magazine interview with Bizarro himself. "Everyone on the Bizarro World love Yakov Smirnoff -- all the Bizarros go to see him when he comes to our house and we sit on the stage and watch him in the audience. And he's not Russian, he's Chinese."

Some of the panels in the stories themselves are gems of comic-book dadaism. Right now I'm snorting out my lunch over an illustration of Bizarro flying over a cornfield in which all the scarecrows are square-jawed figures dressed like elegant businessmen in suits, ties, and fedoras.

 

[Harp]

At Home with Ernie Pyle. Edited and with an introduction by Owen V. Johnson. Includes all of Pyle's columns he did about his home state of Indiana, some of his WW2 columns, and more.

I seem to recall seeing his grave in The Punchbowl cemetery on Oahu, many years ago. I know he covered both theatres during WWII and was killed in the South Pacific.

 

[AmateisGal]

I seem to recall seeing his grave in The Punchbowl cemetery on Oahu, many years ago. I know he covered both theatres during WWII and was killed in the South Pacific.

Yes, he was killed on Iwo Jima.

 

[AmateisGal]

Still reading the Ernie Pyle book and am also reading Black Roses by Jane Thynne. It's an incredibly well-written novel, set in Germany in 1933.

 

[Fading Fast]

"A Perfect Summer" by Juliet Nicolson which appears to be an example of an editor choosing a title for marketing and not to reflect the book's content. Fortunately, I had read several reviews and understood that this was a wide-lens look at England in the summer of 1911 - it touches on the different classes, the social struggles, the early winds of war, the political machinations, the economic changes - and not just a light look at wealthy people enjoying a particular warm and pleasant summer.

The real theme of the book is that England was being England at the time - rigidly class structured (with some cracks showing) - and not paying particular attention to the geopolitical environment that was pointing toward potential war. It also highlights how post War changes - unions gaining strength, servants losing interest at careers "in service," economic wealth shifting from land to manufacturing and trade - were aborning in the pre-War years.

 

[Bushman]

I read "Old Man and the Sea" yesterday, so that's another one I can cross off my "Books I wanted to read this summer" list. Only ones I have now are "A Moveable Feast" and to finish "Moby-Dick".

 

[Fading Fast]

I read "Old Man and the Sea" yesterday, so that's another one I can cross off my "Books I wanted to read this summer" list. Only ones I have now are "A Moveable Feast" and to finish "Moby-Dick".

I liked "A Movable Feast" but would have been somewhat lost in it if I didn't already know the Paris-ex-pats-in-the-'20s story before reading it. Look forward to hearing your impressions.

 

[AmateisGal]

Just started "Flight of Dreams" by Ariel Lawhon which is historical fiction set aboard the last flight of the Hindenburg. I picked it up because I love airships and am fascinated by their moment of glory and ignominy. So far, it's a pretty by-the-numbers novel where several of the characters on the ship have ulterior motives, conflicted loyalties, secrets to hide, etc.

About 100 pages in and it's only marginally brought the Hindenburg alive for me and the characters are only marginally interesting, but hopefully, all the set up will pay off in the next 200 pages.

This has been on my radar for awhile, so I'm anxious to hear your overall impression when you finish.

 

[Fading Fast]

This has been on my radar for awhile, so I'm anxious to hear your overall impression when you finish.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed. The book never took off (tee-hee). I never "felt" the Hindenburg as if I was on it and the story's seems and stitches were too obvious - who was good, bad, etc. was clear from the beginning and two-dimensional. I really wish I could recommend it, but it just wasn't very good.

Have you heard anything about "Everyone Brave is Forgiven" by Chris Cleave? Amazon sent me an promo email about it based on my prior WWII historical fiction picks. For some reason, the "look inside" feature isn't working today, but when it comes back up, I'll read a few pages to get a impression. But thought it might have already hit your radar.

 

[AmateisGal]

Unfortunately, I was disappointed. The book never took off (tee-hee). I never "felt" the Hindenburg as if I was on it and the story's seems and stitches were too obvious - who was good, bad, etc. was clear from the beginning and two-dimensional. I really wish I could recommend it, but it just wasn't very good.

Have you heard anything about "Everyone Brave is Forgiven" by Chris Cleave? Amazon sent me an promo email about it based on my prior WWII historical fiction picks. For some reason, the "look inside" feature isn't working today, but when it comes back up, I'll read a few pages to get a impression. But thought it might have already hit your radar.

Good to know. I probably won't bother with it, then.

Yes, I've picked up "Everyone Brave is Forgiven" at Barnes and Noble and looked through it, but haven't bitten the bullet yet and bought it. I do want to read it, but may wait to just get it at the library.