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The Reading Lounge

I just finished 'The Summer Book' by Tove Jansson of Moomin fame....just a wonderful short, quiet book. I'm now tackling one of those bucket list books, The Iliad.
 
Working on a couple of different books...

I finished The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Meltzer and Mensch. It was just okay. It contained an abundance of choppy "sentences" aimed at creating suspense, but came off as an annoyance (at least to this reader). E.g.: It was night. People were plotting. Etc. etc. Oh well, it was a quick/easy read and somewhat entertaining.

I'm still working on Pet Semetary (S. King), but I've had to take a break--just over halfway through and it's way too depressing (particularly for someone with a toddler!). I'm sure I'll pick it up again shortly.

I'm several hundred pages into Chernow's Grant. Really like this book so far! Just as engaging, if not more so, than Alexander Hamilton.

Halfway through Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Pirsig) for the second time. It's a great combination of philosophy and travel novel--I'm really enjoying the reread. It's the first book in a fledgling book club that I'm trying to get started with a few friends. We'll see how it goes!

Finally, a new Malcolm Gladwell released today: Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know. I'll probably pick it up tonight! 🤓🤓
 
I’m now doing a re-read of The Silmarillion. A tough book, no doubt, but a wonderful series of stories.
 
After putting it down for a while and then coming back to it, I literally just finished Blood and Fire by George R. R. Martin. It was...ok. I think I’m kind of disappointed because he could have taken the time he devoted to this book and put it into finishing the next book in the Song of Ice and Fire series.

I also re-read The Hobbit again for the 3rd time. Finished that about 2 weeks ago. It’s always been one of my faves.

Next up is The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski (Witcher Series). Also still going back and forth to David Mcullough’s John Adams biography.
 
Currently reading (listening) to A Better Man, the latest Inspector Gamache novel, by Louise Penney. Good read, really like the narrator.

Also, like @SteveChuckFrank, I reread the Hobbit, and the first two parts of the Lord of the Rings. Love those books, and this summer read 2 books on Tolkien and the Great War.

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If anyone is interested in a Christmas themed book that is off the beaten path...this is one of my favorites. An interesting take on things...even for Krampus lore. Not just a story centered around Krampus...but St. Nick makes an appearance (well more than just an appearance) in it as well.

www.goodreads.com

Krampus: The Yule Lord

Santa Claus, my dear old friend, you are a thief, a tra…
www.goodreads.com www.goodreads.com
 
beginish said:
I totally agree. Having read both the Two Towers and Return of the King this year, I was ready for the voice in The Silmarillion. Fantastic book, and worth the effort of getting through it the first time.
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Given these comments, I think I need to read it. I only tried once, in my late teens, and bounced pretty hard off it. Now as an almost grown up (wink, wink) I should give it another shot.

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The entire Tolkien Middle Earth world of books (I think at one point or another I eventually got through nearly all of them, even some of the more obscure) I eagerly consumed many times in my elementary through junior college years. Still today one of the most original and most epic fantasy worlds ever thought up.
 
MaineYooper said:
Given these comments, I think I need to read it. I only tried once, in my late teens, and bounced pretty hard off it. Now as an almost grown up (wink, wink) I should give it another shot.

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I tried reading it as a teen too and it didn't do anything for me. I listened to the first one on Audible recently and fell in love with the story. Now I'm reading the others on my Kindle.
 
Of all the nerds out there, I'm in the middle of listening to The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean. It's a fun romp through the periodic table with interesting and educational discussions from the early days of atoms and molecules to interesting properties of different elements. Sometimes their physical properties, sometimes their influence on society. Well written I think and not dry at all.
 
I almost never know the name of the book I'm reading. Kindle did this to me. I tend to read junky and not so junky sci-fi and fantasy series. Sometimes I'll have 3 or four of these series going, although I typically only 3017 my books, so to speak. Once started, Kindle doesn't show a book's cover, so I never know the title, often can't recall which author, etc. Doesn't stop me from enjoying whatever it is I'm reading.
 
GearNoir said:
The entire Tolkien Middle Earth world of books (I think at one point or another I eventually got through nearly all of them, even some of the more obscure) I eagerly consumed many times in my elementary through junior college years. Still today one of the most original and most epic fantasy worlds ever thought up.
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Since I worked through the main Tolkien canon in the last 18 months (Hobbit thru Silmarillion), I plan to tackle the other sets of stories in the next year. Unfinished Tales and both volumes of The Book of Lost Tales are the main ones. My Unfinished Tales has sat unread on my bookshelf since my grandparents gave it to me in 1982 or so.
 
Cvargo said:
I tried reading it as a teen too and it didn't do anything for me. I listened to the first one on Audible recently and fell in love with the story. Now I'm reading the others on my Kindle.
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I listen often to Audible on my drive to work. I will get The Silmarillion soon thanks for your input!

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NurseDave said:
Of all the nerds out there, I'm in the middle of listening to The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean. It's a fun romp through the periodic table with interesting and educational discussions from the early days of atoms and molecules to interesting properties of different elements. Sometimes their physical properties, sometimes their influence on society. Well written I think and not dry at all.
Click to expand...

 
NurseDave said:
Of all the nerds out there, I'm in the middle of listening to The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean. It's a fun romp through the periodic table with interesting and educational discussions from the early days of atoms and molecules to interesting properties of different elements. Sometimes their physical properties, sometimes their influence on society. Well written I think and not dry at all.
Click to expand...
😋
 
Has anyone read/listened to much of Patrick O'Brian's Captain and Commander series (Captain Jack Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin)? I'm in the middle of the 2nd on audio right now, and am enjoying it. It's incredibly detailed on the lives of early 1800's British navy men, but they mix in a lot of action, too.
 
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