what I'm reading now
Jinx High, Mercedes Lackey. Second of a trilogy about Diana Tregarde, witch, sorceress, and Guardian of the helpless and innocent. Imps, demons, body-jumping evil sorceresses, etc.--all the paranormal fun you could wish for.
Collected Poems, Edna St. Vincent Millay. Still making my way through this--both highlights (poems about her lovelife) and lowlights (poems about death).
Tolkien's letters. More interesting than I thought they'd be.
The Soul of a Chef, Michael Ruhlman. 3 chefs, 3 philosophies, much time spent in the kitchen, plus some recipes at the end.
Bookmarked to Die, Jo Dereske. A mystery: the amateur sleuth is a librarian. Another library patron has been murdered! A cozy of the new sort.
The Artist's Journey into the Interior, Erich Heller. I picked this up when a colleague of mine put out the books he didn't want to take with him when he moved to New Zealand. It's the kind of book that I sometimes think I should read, but then when I do, I find insufferable. But I'm giving it more time.
Another Country, James Baldwin. Rereading this for maybe the 5th time--it's my favorite of his books. The first chapter is 78 pp. that stands among the best writing of the 20th century. One of the back-of-the-book blurbs says "The book itself is... an act of violence," and maybe it was perceived that way in 1960--possibly because it says (implicitly) that American society is a killer of black people; and possibly because it features a black-white romance; and maybe incidentally because some of the (sympathetically portrayed) characters are gay. But it seems to me to be a tender and intimate book that focuses on the importance of love and friendship in the face of despair and horror. Also, one of the characters (Vivaldo) is a writer, which I'm always a sucker for.
A Multitude of Sins, Richard Ford. Short stories--I just started this although I bought it in April. The synopsis claims that each story focuses on "liaisons in and out and to the sides of marriage," and the last seems to be a short novella (I love novellas).
The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs. Jacobs died recently (last month?) and I got interested in this book from reading all the encomiums in her obituaries. Have only read the first chapter so far, but I can tell anyway that she's a good writer, and likably passionate about her subject.
Finally, a lot of vintage cookbooks that my son-in-law found for me at a garage sale last week--one is entirely filled with recipes using Knox's unflavored gelatin.
Collected Poems, Edna St. Vincent Millay. Still making my way through this--both highlights (poems about her lovelife) and lowlights (poems about death).
Tolkien's letters. More interesting than I thought they'd be.
The Soul of a Chef, Michael Ruhlman. 3 chefs, 3 philosophies, much time spent in the kitchen, plus some recipes at the end.
Bookmarked to Die, Jo Dereske. A mystery: the amateur sleuth is a librarian. Another library patron has been murdered! A cozy of the new sort.
The Artist's Journey into the Interior, Erich Heller. I picked this up when a colleague of mine put out the books he didn't want to take with him when he moved to New Zealand. It's the kind of book that I sometimes think I should read, but then when I do, I find insufferable. But I'm giving it more time.
Another Country, James Baldwin. Rereading this for maybe the 5th time--it's my favorite of his books. The first chapter is 78 pp. that stands among the best writing of the 20th century. One of the back-of-the-book blurbs says "The book itself is... an act of violence," and maybe it was perceived that way in 1960--possibly because it says (implicitly) that American society is a killer of black people; and possibly because it features a black-white romance; and maybe incidentally because some of the (sympathetically portrayed) characters are gay. But it seems to me to be a tender and intimate book that focuses on the importance of love and friendship in the face of despair and horror. Also, one of the characters (Vivaldo) is a writer, which I'm always a sucker for.
A Multitude of Sins, Richard Ford. Short stories--I just started this although I bought it in April. The synopsis claims that each story focuses on "liaisons in and out and to the sides of marriage," and the last seems to be a short novella (I love novellas).
The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs. Jacobs died recently (last month?) and I got interested in this book from reading all the encomiums in her obituaries. Have only read the first chapter so far, but I can tell anyway that she's a good writer, and likably passionate about her subject.
Finally, a lot of vintage cookbooks that my son-in-law found for me at a garage sale last week--one is entirely filled with recipes using Knox's unflavored gelatin.
posted by mary grimm at 12:09 PM
3 Comments:
Lucette: This is a delicious post. (And not just for the vintage cookbooks.) It's great to read about your literary avenues. I'm wondering about your method of juggling these. Right now I'm re-reading "In Cold Blood" (because I saw "Capote," of course); and "The Naked and the Dead" (book group), while thinking of starting "Why Cows Speak Dutch," the Randy James book about the Amish, which got a reading recently in Cleveland. Got a couple of watercolor technique books that I treat myself with when I'm feeling too lazy for actual literature.
I am reading anything that has to do with sex in preparation for a discussion I am going to read on writing about sex.
How do I get myself into these situations?
Sex anyone?
Karen--I tend to read nonfiction in the morning, more serious stuff in the afternoon, and mysteries or cookbooks at night--who knows why?
Rinn--not sad at all! It's communication, after all.
Erin--Another Country has some nice literary '50s era sex in it.
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