Books: What are you reading tonight?

Philip K. might ask if you're a replicant...

On The Horizon by Lois Lowry. Illustrated by Kenard Pak.

A short book about kids, one living in Pearl Harbor before the attack, another in Hiroshima when the bomb dropped, and still others serving aboard the USS Arizona.

Written so well in various types of verse that I didn't know it was verse until I caught myself keeping the beat several pages in.

One type is a triolet, with which I wasn't familiar, but found really interesting -- formal rhyme scheme with repeating elements -- which is great for storytelling.

About halfway through reading it, I Googled the author to see why I hadn't heard of her, and discovered that this is a children's book written for ages 10-12. It is comforting to know that books of this quality are still being written for children, and it also explains how it escaped modern editing sensibilities and found its way in print.

A masterpiece of craftsmanship. 80pp. Check it out.

Wow I haven't heard the name Lois Lowry in 30+ years.

Number the Stars was an all-time great children's book, at least when I was 8. Must've read it a half dozen times and I was not a major re-reader.

I have an 8yo and a 5yo so thanks for the reminder.

Cloud Cuckoo Land could have been at least 100 pages shorter. The attempt at a serious message about climate change is too half hearted. All the story threads spread across multiple times connext and wrap up nice and neatly. This read like it was made for Netflix.

i feel that way about most nonfiction, they clearly made their point long ago and now are just trying to stretch it out long enough to justify calling it a "serious book"

sapiens had a brilliant 50 page start and terrible waste of existence final 250 pages

I wonder if a lot of these aren't excellent magazines articles that got padded into lousy books for questionable purposes.

Gringos in Paradise by Barry Golson. Golson and his wife retired to Sayulita, Mexico, and this is the story of them getting a house built there, and how they integrate into the community.

He was a travel writer in pre-retirement life, so it's pretty well written. Fairly interesting, writing about how Mexican culture works in terms of getting things done. A nice insight into living there.

No doubt this happens all the time. I am currently reading My kind of Place by Susan Orlean (author of The Orchid Thief) and it is exactly what you describe. The content is largely made up of travel essays from the New Yorker. I find the overall tone a little bit too glib and twee. Much more successful was her collection On Animals, also comprised of essays drawn largely from the New Yorker, yet somehow more unified and more readable than the previous. Perhaps she became a better writer as the years passed by...

Hyperion by Dan Simmons - first book of the Hyperion Cantos quartet. I'll read the others but need some time to recover. This is hardcore sci-fi, the sort that doesn't try to explain its jargon and universe. The reader has to figure things out.

The book is structured as several characters telling their stories to explain why they're travelling to Hyperion. Their horror stories are littered with disturbing violence, inexplicable events, and a godlike machine creature that all point to an impending apocalypse. It's very good but unsettling.

Funny, just put a hold on this last week. Am listening to Death By Black Hole (also by NdGT) in the meantime. I read E=mc^2 by David Bodanis last week.

I know it will be a few weeks but I am eager for Table for Two, a collection of stories by Amor Towles as well.

Yeah I read the first two when they came out, Hyperion made quite the splash when it came out long before all the apocalypto fiction/tv.

The new Anthony Horowitz mystery dropped yesterday, 5th in the series where there is a character with his name who's an author who's the Watson in his relationship with an ex-detective.

His mystery Magpie Murders, which was turned into a very good series is as good [and funny] as mystery writing gets, that one is also a literary-based mystery but he himself is not a character in that one.

Def read before seeing it, because the multiple twists are excellent.

Best Travel Writing 2007, various authors.

I've come across several of these anthologies at the local thrift store. Always at least a few that are good.

Some are only tangentially travel related, so I don't understand how they made the cut.

One I really liked was called Fishing with Larry. The author and his sister took their late brother's cremated remains, and spread a bit here and there on a trip through Bolivia at places he would've liked. I'm not usually one for that sort of reminiscing, but it was well done; quite touching.

Maybe it helped that the author was also from up north. Couldn't find anything more specific to see how close we might've been in time and geographically though.

I'm not surprised The Shipping News film adaptation was bad. The book is heavy on imagery, light on plot. It doesn't lend itself naturally to a movie. There's some beautiful writing, although all the metaphors could be a bit much. I was drawn into the atmosphere of Newfoundland without ever loving it, quite the opposite in fact. I've read comments from people who said reading The Shipping News inspired a trip to Newfoundland. Apologies to any Newfoundlanders but based on this book, I would stay a million miles away from the place. Sounds thoroughly depressing.

The Time Traveler's Almanac - collection of 65 short stories by a bunch of top sci-fi/fantasy authors (Ray Bradbury, Douglas Adams, Isaac Asimov, Ursula K. Le Guin, George R. R. Martin, to name a few).

Book report, please. Count Crash my favorite driver growing up. :envy:

Downriver by Dean Krakel II.

Tells the story of him going down the Yellowstone River, over the course of three different trips. Started out hiking with his wife and son. The second segment was during the winter in the park with a park worker, then the final bit was floating the river with his dog to its confluence with the Missouri.

IDK, it was OK but not compelling. I usually like this kind of "travel and tell of my adventures and the people I meet," stories, but this is certainly not Blue Highways. Not bad either, just not something I could put a strong recommend on.

Sure, it's a hard climate and pretty isolated, but it has incredible natural beauties and a powerful sense of community. For depictions of Newfoundland from a writer born and bred, try some of Michael Crummey's terrific fiction: The Innocents, or Sweetland, or The Wreckage would be good starting points. Or his magnum opus, which is Galore--Crummey's version of One Hundred Years of Solitude. Enjoy!

Crummey is really worth reading, including his poetry. The way he is willing to put it all out there reminds me of Roberson Davies, although I'm not sure what else they have in common besides an insistence on telling the story.

Newfoundland has recently produced a number of engaging writers. After Crummey, I would particularly recommend Lisa Moore,

Finished The Franklin Cover-up recently. Absolutely vile ****. A really rough, but necessary read. If you're unfamiliar with the story, here's a little intro. This doc was set to air but pulled at the very last second. I wonder why.....

So gross.

Bummed to hear about Paul Auster. I devoured everything he wrote in the mid-90’s and love the audio book version of him reading “I thought my father was God”, which started as an NPR listener submitted true story collection I believe. There’s a poker story in there that had a hand history that’s the most insane I have ever heard. Wish I could remember it.

Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon by Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton, with Jay Barbree and Howard Benedict.

Really written by the last two--everything is in the third person. Also goes beyond the moon program, as Slayton was one of the astronauts involved in the joint Apollo/Soyuz program in the 70s.

Also has some details about the Soviet program which I didn't know.

For people who are interested in the space race, a good read with a lot of the viewpoints of those who experienced it firsthand,