Currently reading Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. Picked it up last Monday, along with the sequel, Tis. It's actually quite a sad story, but not the way he tells it. Reading it aloud makes it even funnier.

I really liked Angela's Ashes! He's got a great storytelling voice, that makes heartbreaking things somehow... not!... and even, yes, quite funny.  :)  Seems like I liked AA better than Tis, but I don't recall why... both good books tho!

I just finished 'The Devil's Star' by Jo Nesbo, and was unexpectedly impressed... it's a very intelligent noir mystery novel, reminiscent of Elizabeth George or Dennis Lehane. Really good 3-d characters, really twisted plot, really good antihero main character; suspense throughout is well-played, believable, knuckle-whitening without hyperbolic special effects. The only stumbling block, initially: author's Norwegian, & some of the people/ place names are unfamiliar/ clunky/ take some getting use to... but a REALLY good read. Recommended if you like mysteries!

Also, currently reading Eric Brende's 'Better Off,' and Susan Jacoby's 'Freethinkers: a History of American Secularism'... both are very good, especially Freethinkers... almost TOO thought-provoking: taking a while to read, 'cause they give me so much to think about (which is a good thing!)... Full reviews pending!

I just started "The Lovely Bones" courtesy of Hespy. Have been curious about it. I find it disturbing, but not unsettling, which in my lexicon is better than the other way round.

Does anyone know, was Alice Sebold the victim of rape/abuse?
(OK, yeah, she was. I Googled. I thought so.)

Yabbit, did you know she wrote a memoir about her own rape experience? It is called Lucky. I loved Lovely Bones and it is certainly a different experience reading her own story. I did find it interesting, however, to try and understand more about her frame of reference!

'Lovely Bones' didn't do much for me... some of the prose was well-done, but too often I could see the author typing (if that makes sense). To me, the book just didn't pull me in... I was always OUTSIDE the story, going, 'yeah, I see the point the author's making, here,' or whatever.

I've been 'reading' John Robbins 'Diet for a New America' for a while now... slow going, but not the author's fault! It's 'cause I already (a) know about, and (b) agree with (!) the information he's (doing a good job of!) presenting... I came across it at a used book store fore like $1.50, thinking I'd make it a gift to one of my friends who's veg-curious... feel like I should read it first, to make sure it's a good book before I call it a gift. But I get so mad when I read it! so it's slow going... Anyone else have this problem? I've thought of reading 'Eating Animals' or 'Animal Factory,' since the more knowledge I have about the enemy, the better I can represent the other side! but... based on the difficulty I've had getting through this one at a reasonable pace (know!/ agree with!/ mad!), idk how that would go...  :-\

I have just finished I know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. A truly moving biography that basically reads like a fiction. Eye opening as well.

Excellent read. She has a whole series of books, including Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas, and All God's Children Need Travellin' Shoes. I have a copy of Caged Bird that I reread periodically and it is always fresh.

Currently reading Tis, the sequel to Angela's Ashes. Not quite so good in my mind, or at least not quite so ironically humourous.

I am reading The White Queen by Philipa Gregory about the War of the Roses in England. I love anything that is drama with a historical bas.

Janel

Phillippa can be very good... Have you read 'The Wise Woman'? It's a really good, suspenseful, historical drama anti-hero story, 14th century setting or so, witchy themes (true and perceived), with a lot of (to me) very intelligent feminist thought about what the title's definition actually is, and what (conversely) it's defined as by traditional society... and it's a REALLY beautiful story about someone, plunked down in a hideous world, who's done hideous things that you can't support at all, looking for a way to be something/ someone better... I really liiked it, & she doesn't write my usual genres.

That's my fave of Gregory's, that I've read... Haven't read 'White Queen,' tho.  :)

I'm reading The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams (same author as Watership Down). Just finished The Colour Purple (amazing!!! one of my favourites ever) and am also reading Ivan E. Coyote's book of short stories "The Slow Fix" here and there, plus the Sexual Politics of Meat (still...I need to do those ones in small doses!)

I have a question for you all - Any recommendations for books about urban community gardens? I've found lots about how to grow an urban garden, but what I'm really looking for is a kind of history of them, or a book about the movement itself. I found "city farm" but it seems to be largely about animals raised for food in the city. I'd prefer a plant-focused (or ideally plant-only!) book. Specific enough for you?! heh

tino- not really what you're looking for exactly, but a wonderful community garden book is Seedfolks, by Paul Fleischman. It's a short novel for kids but it's a super sweet book about a city neighborhood turning an empty lot into a garden. I highly recommend it to everyone!

I recently finished Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, by Christopher McDougall. Probably the best book I've read all year. It's really interesting, whether or not you're a runner. It was great to be reading while doing the Couch to 5k though because it is very motivating.

Now I'm reading World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, by Max Brooks. Fun!

Just finished Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism, by Susan Jacoby...

I HIGHLY recommend this book: like 'Fast Food Nation,' I think it should be required reading for U.S. high school students! It took me a while to get through, because it is SO packed with interesting stuff that I kept backing up and re-reading... there's a lot in here to mull over... it's so densely packed, it *can* read a bit like a school history text, at times... but it's totally and completely worth reading!

Jacoby starts with the conception of the U.S. Constitution, and the hard-fought battle the framers (finally!) won to keep reason in/ theocracy out of the new government... beautifully traces the journey of this radical idea through abolition, women's suffrage, censorship, birth control, public (non-religious!) education, civil rights, evolution, 70's feminism, and modern fundamentalist 'culture wars'... it's a riveting, thought-provoking, and timely review of how and why secular government came to be -- and why it's worth fighting for! I'm really glad I read this book.

I am reading Holy Cow by Sarah Macdonald its ok, not the best book I have ever read.  I am also reading No Self No Problem by Anam Thubten and Buddhism for Mother of Young Children by Sarah Napthali.