Oly Reads discussion

Hey everyone! I've just recently had a chance to read Stephenie Meyer's latest book, an adult SF title called The Host and it was so good, I tore through all 600 pages in a couple of days.
The premise is aliens who take over the minds of beings on other planets have come to Earth, where they are getting more resistance than they have ever experienced before. The main character is an alien named Wanderer, who is gradually being won over to her host's point of view.
Are there any books you've read recently that you are excited about? Do tell...

Hey Jackie - what I want to know is, where did you get a copy of The Host???! Do we already have it in? I missed getting a galley at midwinter and was very frustrated - and I'm WAY down on the holds list... :-(

I'm really enjoying "The Westing Game!" I know I like a book when I think about the next time I'll get an opportunity to read and/or plan scenarios where I'll get to read sooner...
ex: If I don't go home right away after work but instead go have a bloody mary at the Voyeur, I'll get to read some more of "The Westing Game."

I was wondering how Ms. Meyer would do on an adult book- it's good to hear that it was a satisfying read.

Jean Padovan gave me an advanced readers copy, as it is officially adult SF. I passed it on to one of my teens in the book group. I can see if she could bring it back next month.

Ghetto tags.... veddy interestink concept. Do romances and westerns fit in there, too? What about mysteries?

I've never understood the prejudice against genre fiction. Too me, it seems more creative, and the writing just as good, or bad as plain old "literature".
So much of literature is booorrring!

Yes please!

I don't get it either. A good book is a good book, regardless of the genre.

I'm with you on the genre-defying. I do tend to read a lot of SF, but just because it's strong writing about interesting ideas...not because I have a preference for stories about green people or space.

But recently, I've become smitten with the writing of Christopher Moore. He's completely nuts, in a good way. Writes novels that could be considered SF, or horror, or fantasy, or something. But mostly he seems to like taking a character with a perfectly pleasant life and messing with them -- tossing them a demon, or some supernatural skill, or small-town zombies, or a rekindled relationship with a Native American trickster god. The books aren't particularly deep or literary, but they sure are fun. And in the case of Fluke (about whales and the scientists who love them), particularly well researched.

Also, I like kids books. Been reading the wonderful illustrated kids books by Neil Gaiman recently. Also the wonderful adventures by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu. You're never too old for a young-spirited adventure.

I've been wanting to read Christopher Moore for a long time. One of these days, as I say about so many books.

I'm currently reading "My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time" by Liz Jensen. It was a Jenny recommendation from a while back that caught my eye erroneously filed on the new book shelf the other day when I didn't have a lunch book. I'm not very far in, but it's very intriguing so far. The language is very strange and stilted and wonderful, and the main character is a prostitute in Denmark in what seems to be the 1800's. I think she's going to start time traveling in the book very very soon. How can you go wrong, really?

Sounds fantastic!
I'm finally reading Middlesex, and really enjoying it. It's a lot like The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, in that it's an immigration story with quirky characters. Plus incest and hermaphroditism!
But so far, those things just add a little zest to a good solid story of 3 generations of an Armenian family.

For the first time ever I've been reading A Wrinkle in Time. I'm not done yet and I have not been spoiled with the ending.

It started out strong but then I nearly put it down in the God-Awful boring spot when they're on Uriel prior to reaching Camazotz. At that point I had felt disappointed by what I percieved to be lazy and/or cheap writing - but then the hump was passed and I've been legitimately hooked from this point on.

Meg's about ready to head back and rescue Charles Wallace from IT - but I have to wait until after work today to get back to it.

I think it's time for me to reread "A Wrinkle in Time" and the rest very soon. I probably read them at least five times each when I was tennish. I seem to remember a really boring spot in Wrinkle, too- I wonder how many people who have read the book felt the same way about that section?

I love reading horror - but I also love reading Eugene Field and Beverly Cleary. Am I well-rounded or bi-polar?

You are complex and fascinating, Rummy. Always keep 'em guessing, that's what I say!
I don't think I've ever read Phantom of the Opera either. Too much baggage, maybe, with the musical being so hyped.

I just finished The Luxe, the hot new teen book set in 1899 New York, with, once again, all the rich kids behaving badly. It was decently written, not great but the girls will eat it up.

I think I'm going to have to read several books at once, since I can't decide. I'm going to read the Julie Andrews memoir Home, City of Bones about teenage vampires I think, and the new Kiki Strike, which I must review for WashYARG but completely forgot I had taken!

Man, am I behind in reading the books I said I would read. I didn't read anything I thought I would read, and I am instead, thanks to the power of peer pressure and morbid curiosity, re-reading The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon.
Man is it one choppy, strange book, that seems to have something to do with an evil underground postal service.
Yay?
Any books y'all are reading worth commenting on?

I recently read The Raw Shark Texts, which I loved-- very innovative and interesting.

I read The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz, and I liked it a lot, but not sure why it won the Pulitzer. I'm in the middle of Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson, now, which was a Pulitzer finalist, so we'll see how they compare.

Manek

Wow, I've never heard of that book, but what a title! I'm reading "Armadillo" by William Boyd. It's pretty strange. As far as I can figure, this mild mannered insurance adjuster discovers one of his clients hanging from the rafters when he goes to file a claim at the client's mannequin factory. This seems like it's going to have some sort of ripple effect, but I haven't gotten far enough to figure that out yet. I also started "Night Train to Lisbon" recently, but I wasn't in the right mood for it and now it's time to return it. Maybe another time.

It has been a poetry summer for me so far...Rae Armantrout, Theodore Roethke, Ted Kooser and Marvin Bell. I just finished The Einstein Theory: Late Talking Children (my granddaughter is a late talker) which was very good, interesting. My summer novel will be To Kill a Mocking Bird. Also, I recently discovered podcasts and listen to NPR shows on fiction and poetry and writing when I am not actually reading.

I contribute to Bookmarks magazine, and I was assigned to do the Raw Shark Texts a few months ago; that's how I came across it.

Bookmarks is a great resource, by the way-- it collects and summarizes reviews. Here's the website: http://www.bookmarksmagazine.com/. The reviews on the website are free.

Manek

I just bookmarked bookmarks, thanks Manek! I'm always looking for new review sources... tell us which reviews (besides the Raw Shark Texts) you wrote on there so we can go read them!

Susie, do you know of any local poetry events happening this summer? I know the Olympia Poetry Network does monthly meetings at Traditions- is there anything else that you know of? Also, To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favorite books ever.

I highly recommend Tree of Smoke, by Dennis Johnson. It won the National Book Award, and was a Pulitzer finalist. It's about the Vietnam war, and isn't a book I'd ordinarily pick up, but it came highly recommended.

I loved it. There are multiple POV characters, a few different settings, and it begins by jumping around in time before settling down to a straight chronology... I never felt like giving up, but it took a little while before I knew who the main characters were, and what it was going to be about.

I listened to the audiobook, read by the actor Will Patton, who did a great job.

Again-- Highly recommended.

Manek

I know someone who's reading that right now (Tree of Smoke) and loving it. He's told me to read it about three times, forgetting that he already told me. I'm currently reading the Mysterious Benedict Society, which is a book that my daughter read for her book group with Jackie, and it's great. It reminds me a little of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory crossed with Edward Gorey. Most of the characters are kids with unusual talents, and they all rule. I also finally read The Plain Janes by Cecil Castillucci which has been recommended to me by about twenty people. It was great. I wrote a tiny review for it on here. Normally I'm so lazy that I only write reviews for the books I loved or hated.

Thanks Manek -
I've been wondering what to give my bookish dad for his birthday this weekend, and it sounds like something he'd love. I'll have to be sneaky and see if he's read it...

cheers -
ks

I'm actually reading two good books at the same time right now- Little Brother by Cory Doctorow and A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby. Little Brother is a thrilling cyberpunk romp with some kick-ass teen hackers who get on the wrong side of homeland security following a terrorist attack on the bay area. I am a huge fan of Boing Boing (http://www.boingboing.net/), which is one of Cory's projects, and have long admired his commitment to freedom and sharing on the internets, so this book is just an extension of his other projects in a lot of ways. Plus, it's exciting and funny. Plus, you can download the ebook for free because Doctorow always publishes under a creative commons license- you can find several versions to download here:
http://craphound.com/littlebrother/do...

The Hornby book tells the story of four totally dissimilar people who meet up on New Year's Eve at the roof of "the Topper's House" in London, a nasty apartment building that is famous for being a go-to destination for those wishing to commit suicide. They end up forming some vaguely-conceived pact between the four of them to delay killing themselves until valentine's day, and then set out on a strange mission to find the former boyfriend of one of their crew so that she can get some closure on his reasons for ending the relationship. I won't tell you any more than that, but this book has just the type of dark hilarity that I tend to really enjoy. This is the first book I've ever read by Hornby, who also wrote "High Fidelity."

Anyhow, so far so good on both of these.

I just finished Heartsick, by Chelsea Cain. Anyone else read it? It's a serial-killer mystery/thriller set in Portland... very good, but has some very graphic descriptions of torture, so watch out. I'm not a fan of the genre, but it was well written. The main character is a detective who was kidnapped and tortured by the woman he was tracking in his last case-- now he's obsessed with her as he works on a new case. I recommend it-- but the faint of heart will want to skim through some scenes.
Manek

That sounds right up my alley, Manek. I'll check it out and report back...

Is anyone else a fan of Carolyn Chute (The Beans of Egypt, Maine)? I'm excited that her new book is coming out (first in more than a decade +). There's an interesting article about her in the NY Times-- she's a fascinating person, who breaks some of my stereotypes.

Manek

The Beans of Egypt, Maine

I loved the Beans of Egypt Maine! I didn't know she was writing a new book, that's really exciting. Thanks for mentioning it, Manek.

Holy goodreads gremlins! My message went from refusing to post to posting eight times. Thank god for delete.