^^^^Sounds riveting.
The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry
My Mom just recommended a book called Fingersmith. Anyone out there read it?
Recently read Hitler’s Holy Relics - “An American art historian turned Army sleuth tracks down the Crown Jewels of the Holy Roman Empire, hidden by Nazis at the end of World War II.” Though I know very little about art history and WWII, I really enjoyed this non-fiction mystery.
Now I’m reading Agathe von Trapp: Memories Before And After The Sound Of Music. The prose is simple, but the story she tells about her childhood is amazing.
I had very mixed feelings about “Lit.” Ultimately, her conversion seemed rather narcissistic to me, largely about God answering her prayers with money and fellowships and worldly success. At one point she says, clearly intended as a joke, something along the lines of “Jesus loves me better than other people,” but I wonder if it’s entirely a joke. Still, if it works for her and helps her to stay sober, it’s all good.
The best book I’ve read recently is “I Will Bear Witness, Volume I, 1933-1941,” by Victor Klemperer. I’m currently in the middle of the second volume of his diaries, covering 1942-1945, and it’s even more compelling.
The best book I’ve ever read has to be Dreamcatcher,by Stephen King.Critics massacred the book,but I’m guessing they are either jealous,or have never really gotten serious with their reading.
The book is about four friends,and a fifth friend who has downs syndrome,plus the invasion of aliens which trigger a man feeding virus called “the byrus/ripley” that grows as a fungi on human flesh.Steve King’s a regular genius.
“The Five Quarters of the Orange” by Joanne Harris
God, I read Dreamcatcher years and years ago when it came out. The first section of the book wasn’t bad, if you like gruesomely revolting scenes in which somebody dies on the toilet because an alien monster bursts out of his rear end, but the rest was excruciatingly dull and cliched – the typical evil government/corporate menace theme.
@ Donna, ditto on Klemperer. Currently am really enjoying, for lack of a better term, “Berlin at War” by Roger Moorhouse.
I just read “Atlas of Depression: The Noon Day Demon” by Andrew Solomon. Someone close to me suffers from depression. This book was hugely helpful to me in better understanding the illness. Oddly, it was a very enjoyable, uplifting read.
Sewemma, Just wow…that book is a huge undertaking. I read it when it came out because I’m in the psych profession (psychiatrist). It’s an encompassing lesson on depression, but it is so much more, including a father’s determination to save his son. There is a quote by the author that has stayed with me; I am paraphrasing, but he states how the price of love is grief/loss. I find that to be so true.
Presently I am reading “Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption” (not sure if it’s already been mentioned).
^I’m giving “Unbroken” to my dad for Christmas, after hearing the author read an excerpt on NPR. Highly recommend it.
I read we need to talk about Kevin. It is really something. Highly recommend.
It has been a while since I read “Five Quarters of the Orange” mentioned here… but I do highly recommend. Some of my recent reads have been “The White Tiger”, “The Elegance of the Hedgehog” and “Olive Kittredge”. I recommend all-currently catching up “Three Cups of Tea”.
Got around to reading “We need to talk about Kevin”. From the topic, I thought it would be sort of “movie-of-the-week”, but I found it very well-written and compelling.
Thanks for the recommendation.
New book by Walter Mosley- “Last Days of Ptolomy Grey” I usually enjoy Mosley’s books, this one was especially sensitive and gritty.
I loved Cutting for Stone.
Read The Dome by Stephen King. He really weaves a world that is totally believable.
Can’t remember if I posted this one before or not–Feed, by Mira Grant. About zombies and bloggers. 
A great read…I got it from the library and 3 of my kids read it after me as well.
Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand (author of Seabiscuit). Amazing story of one man’s true experience in WWII.
It’s been suggested by many- People of the Book, Geraldine Brooks.
For those who have read this book, you will find her article in New Yorker (2007), about her research and a more factual account of the “incredible” events about the saga of Sarajevo Haggadah.
From her website- a link to the article!
<a href=“http://geraldinebrooks.com/people.html[/url]”>http://geraldinebrooks.com/people.html</a>
Geraldine’s essay detailing the WWar II history of the Sarajevo Haggadah, “The Book of Exodus: A double rescue in wartime Sarajevo”, appeared in the New Yorker Dec 3, 2007