What are you reading these days?

[Susan G]

Rereading for the nth time "The Tale of Genji" by Shikibu; the Lonely Planet "Guide to Sardinia"; and "Tales of a Low Rent Birder" by Peter Dunn. Also various quilting books....but only flipping through them for ideas.

[suzilightning]

just ordered 4 titles through interlibrary loan

finished The Georgetown Ladies' Social Club. how the hostesses really affected politics - lorraine cooper, vangie bruce, kay graham, sally quinn, pamela harriman.while many of them had no idea how to cook they knew how to entertain. pretty interesting stuff.

The Master Quilter latest in a series and since i quilt as well....author wrote this one in the style of Rashomon, an intriguing way of telling the story.

i've got the Imus Ranch: Cooking for Kids and Cowboys on order.

i'm so desperate i'm going through old cookbooks i'm getting rid of and copying out any recipes i think i can use in the future.

guess it's off to the stacks for inspiration....

[Mayhaw Man]

I just finished one that I loved. I am a reader of information and rarely get sucked up in the emotional side of things, but I highly reccomend this to anyone looking for a good read. It's one of those things that just makes the whole thing seem better (whatever that means). Google on the book, the reviews sound just as dumb as my explanation, but the general consensus is that there is "something about this book". If you like Tom Robbins and you like Larry McMurtry and ever wondered what a combo of the two might be like, this is probably it. Anyway, if you order it through the nice folks at Amazon with this link Fat Guy and Jason can continue to keep this thing operating.

The Blue Moon Circus

[davebr]

Food related: The Fire Never dies by Richard Sterling

Awesome book!!!!!!!!!!

Is there anything worth reading not food related??

[bloviatrix]

Rereading for the nth time "The Tale of Genji" by Shikibu

You should pick up The Tale of Murasaki by Liz Dalby. It's a novel about the woman who wrote the Tale of Genji. I read it a couple of years ago and couldn't put it down.

[gus_tatory]

not food-related:

i just finished "The Republic of Love", by Carol Shields, and it is life-affirming and wonderful.

i also just finished "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-tme", by Mark Haddon. great book--it's a 'murder mystery' told by an autistic boy, but it's soo much more.

food-related:

not a week goes by that i don't pick up my Larousse Gastronomique and spend an hour or two in it.

ps: if you buy one, get it through the eGullet Amazon link at the top right of the page.

edit to add: yeah, it's the top right...

Edited April 18, 2004 by gus_tatory (log)

[Shannon_Elise]

Right now I am plodding my way through "Red Meat Cures Cancer" by Starbuck O'Dwyer. I am not sure how much I like it yet, very dry humor (the best kind), but a little bit too over the top. Alas, I am only 20 pages into it, so I can't be the best judge of it yet. Looks like with my horrid use of comma's and apostrophes I should read "Eats Shoots and Leaves".

Shannon

[bourdain]

Just finished The Epicure's Lament by Kate Christensen. Only marginally food-related but wonderfully entertaining and well written.

[sml311]

Right now I am plodding my way through "Red Meat Cures Cancer" by Starbuck O'Dwyer. I am not sure how much I like it yet, very dry humor (the best kind), but a little bit too over the top. Alas, I am only 20 pages into it, so I can't be the best judge of it yet. Looks like with my horrid use of comma's and apostrophes I should read "Eats Shoots and Leaves".

Shannon

I looked at picking that up last time I was at the bookstore, but after reading that far I found that it was a little too hyperbollic as well. Let me know if it gets better.

SML

[Susan G]

Rereading for the nth time "The Tale of Genji" by Shikibu

You should pick up The Tale of Murasaki by Liz Dalby. It's a novel about the woman who wrote the Tale of Genji. I read it a couple of years ago and couldn't put it down.

Read it. Liked it alot. But I preferred Ms. Dalby's Yale thesis on the day to day lives of Japanese geishas - it was cited as a source for Memoirs of a Geisha. (Yale University Press).

[cakewalk]

i also just finished "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-tme", by Mark Haddon. great book--it's a 'murder mystery' told by an autistic boy, but it's soo much more.

I recently finished that, and thought it was very good.

I'm re-reading Les Miserables, since it's been about 20 years since I last picked it up (well it's heavy ). Definitely food related, since the whole plot revolves around the theft of a loaf of bread. And considering eGullet's most recent thread on French baguettes, that theft becomes so much more understandable ...

And I always look forward to the next edition of Bon Apetit showing up in my mailbox.

[LEdlund]

I just finished The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kid. I loved this book and it made me crave all things southern and honey.

I just started Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer.

[jabolster]

Ahem.

Some people disagree with that assessment. 

Seriously? You mean people may have different opinions as to who is the greatest living American writer?

Well, to quote Tommy, color me shocked.

Actually, last week I thought that Chabon was the greatest. Next week, I am angling toward Lorie Moore, but it could be Richard Ford. Totally depends on my mood.

I had to comment on your choice of reading material. You mentioned several of my favorite authors, Auster & Chabon (I'm just about to start The Art of Hunger by Auster), but what about Raymond Carver, probably the greatest American short story writer! If you haven't read him please consider it. Also Harry Crews' novels are fantastic although they can be a bit hard to find. As far as food-related reading goes I'm finally reading The Man Who Ate Everything by Steingarten and Serious Pig by Thorne. Happy reading.

[Jensen]

I've just now (and I do mean just now) finished "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay". Wonderful. My penultimate read was "The Way the Crow Flies" by Ann-Marie MacDonald. It is devastatingly brilliant.

I haven't decided what I'll read next. I'm almost done with "Sailing the Wine-Dark Seas: Why the Greeks Matter" but it can be picked up and put down at any time. I've got in my unread pile: Drop City, Stuffed: Adventures of a Restaurant Family, The Master Butchers Singing Club, The Dogs of Babel, The Cave, and some others I can't think of right now. Faith Fox by Jane Gardam should arrive early next week.

[Mabelline]

I am reading my whole set of "Tros of Samothrace" stories by Talbot Mundy. Written in the twenties. Gorgeous, sumptuous-sp- and no one but me and one librarian know of him, I guess.

I am also making it through a fascinating history called "Ermengard of Narbonne and the World of the Troubadours" by Fredric L. Cheyette. Fascinatinating woman.

Edit to add that I had to collect the Mundy books over eight years.

Edited April 26, 2004 by Mabelline (log)