What book are you currently reading?

I am in the middle of "Diane Arbus-A Biography" by Patricia Bosworth

You?:hi:

combo of the hunting of a serial killer in a futuristic world - different and entertaining.

i can identify because i also have a confabulator who keeps popping up in my life, i guess we all do

i'm at the part where our put-upon hero has finally composed his poem

i hope he gets an uzi and mows down all his tormentors at the end in a big bloody blow-out but as it's a historical novel probably not

Another Place at the Table by Kathy Harrison. I found it in a used book store Sunday and can't put it down. It's about a foster mom who can't say no and it's hilarious, though sad when you see the histories of some of her placements.
Used book stores.....Hmmmmm....heaven on Sundays :hi:

the novel

Very witty. Has anyone here read the parody of The DaVinci Code, entitled The Asti Spumonte Code?

by Strunk and White, a decision that reading Eats, Shoots and Leaves inspired.

Is The Asti Spumonte Code any good? I can't bring myself to invest the time in DaVinci Code from what I've heard.

rereading

Just finished Little Scarlet by Walter Mosley. It was GREAT!!!

Silly, considering:
A) I don't have a teaching job lined up for the fall, and
B) I might end up going back to copywriting

I don't think it's silly. I envy you. I never read teaching books in the summer.

Move to KC. I can get you a job here. :)

I wonder, however, if it will do any good. I was fired at the end of this year, my first as a teacher, because of two fatal errors: first, I had no success in managing discipline and behavior; second, I let other people find out about my problems.

Moving to Kansas City--as much as I love the city--would not change the root of my issue, which is that I have no natural aptitude for working with adolescents.

As you can see, I may have picked the wrong second career.

I'm still giving it a shot, for some bizarre reason. I just finished a grad course on behavior management, and I'm reading everything I can find. This may or may not ameliorate my nonexistent instincts.

How bad are my instincts? Well, perhaps it would be informative for me to tell you that I am a recreational "submissive." Got it? Yeah.

Not many teachers can manage adolescent behavior well. You are certainly not alone there. No way would I even want to try. My close friend was fired last year after one year teaching music in a middle school. It was a frickin nightmare. She finally just this month was hired to teach music in a charter school.

We need a computer teacher at my elementary school. You would be good at that. You should consider going down to elementary, IMO.

:hi:

:scared:

"Blind to the Bones" by Stephen Booth. Before that I read "Brimstone" by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Very good--I love Preston and Child books.

good book but it is a long one

I really need to get reading Mcullough.

his book on John Adams is fantastic and I just picked up his book on Theodore Roosevelt (the title escapes me right now) along with the Truman book for 3.99 at Borders. I can't wait for the paperback version of 1776 comes out

Schlesinger Jr, streak when I finish my current group of books I have now.

so far ranging from boring to hysterically funny. Not decided yet on my critique.

its about the magician Wm Robinson at the turn of the century. Pretty good bedside reading so far

and Across The Great Divide - The Band and America - Barney Hoskyns
I always juggle 2 books.

by Ian Frasier

Just finished it today. It is a wonderful book about Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in SD.

and the Goblet of Fire.

Zora Neale Hurston
:hi:

It's not an addiction so long as I'm ahead! :)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1580421431

by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

Egads!! $8.00 for a 200 page paperback? (You can tell it's been a long while since I've bought a paperback.)

If I find it, I'll let you know and I'll send it to you. :hi:

Thank you! :hug:

The Coming of the Third Reich was very interesting and educational. Exspecially in these times. Highly recommend.

Lone Voyager is about the life of Howard Blackburn, born in Nova Scotia and sailed out of Gloucester Ma. Another great read if you are into inspirational books about overcoming very bad odds.

Contemplative Prayer:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0385092199/qid=1122432513/sr=1-11/ref=sr_1_11/002-8009139-4281638?v=glance&s=books

Hitler's Pope:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0140296271/qid=1122432567/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-8009139-4281638?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Rama Revealed:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553569473/qid=1122432673/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-8009139-4281638?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

She's a new author for me. Set in Scotland, murder mystery, genetic engineering, a little gay scene and forensic pathology. It's all good!

And Diplomat" By Don Oberdorfer. I haven't actually started it yet, but I am tonight.

I also just got a book about Ansel Adams in the mail. Can't wait to get into that one!

It's nothing earth shattering, but the authors offer a lot of interesting anecdotes so it's a good read.

I'm taking a break from all the grad school intellectualism and I'm reading Stephen King's "Desperation." Sorry, no matter how many degrees I get, I'll always love SK.

I was so tired of hearing every one reference it I finally went and got it at the library last week. It really is very good and informative!

By Christopher Moore.

It's hilarious!

:hi:

The narrator's engaging but not all that likable. The tale seems to be sucking me in though, so that's a good sign.

How could that little boy write something so powerful it made me cry? I hate him and admire him in equal measure.

Khash.

...among others. I usually keep several going at a time.

In the same vein as the annual Best American Short Stories and Best Essays series. Edgier fiction, non-fiction, and comics. Some good readin' so far.

... before that ... it was ... Hairstyles of the Damned by Joe Meno, which I loved! Coming of age tale with punk kids in Chi-town.

Serbs - can't remember the title (surprisingly it starts with "The Serbs") or author.

I got them for a little light reading to take on holiday with me.

Me, I'm finishing up "Running with Scissors," that first crazy Augusten Burroughs memoir.

For the umpteenth time! But I also like the "Mission Earth" series by L. Ron hubbard. It's a 10 book series and one of the funniest I've ever read! I must have read those books a thousand times!

Rather, re-reading them. Shirley Jackson is one of my favorite writers.

I haven't had a chance to read anything else by Jackson since then, but she is a very good writer.

Currently I'm in the middle of 'The Namesake' by Jhumpha Lahari.

It's about fundamental Christianity in America and how they are trying to change our culture into a Christian nation.

Typical Koontz weirdness. This is a really creepy book.

I'm in the middle of my summer semester, and I try not to get into any non-school related books. In two more weeks I will have three weeks to read something before I go back in the fall.

"Robbing the Bees" by Holly Bishop

and a couple other books about bees.

Guide to the Galaxy. Also looking over volumes I & II of the Encyclopedia of Genocide. I finished Harry Potter the other day.

because i'm very boring. just finished "Ender's Game" a few days ago. only took around 6-7 hours to finish, so it's popcorn reading. dunno if it's worth all the hype i heard about it. but then i find sci-fi to be a rather shitty genre on the whole. maybe i should read more sagan and asimov, but i don't look forward to it.

A serial murder mystery is just what I needed to take my mind off of my own problems.

unlike SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS with which i fell immediately in love with, i am not sure how i feel about OUR LADY OF THE FOREST.