What Are You Reading ?

[Music Head]

Henry Bushkin - Johnny Carson - 2013



Written by Johnny's lawyer of 18 years. He was fired for going behind Johnny's back in a financial deal. Some sour grapes I guess but he claims to have loved Johnny. I wouldn't write all that bad stuff about someone I loved. Always a downer to read about celebs I like only to learn they are just asses like all of us. I already knew all lawyers were. This writer did not enter Carson's life until he was already famous. He takes credit for making him wealthy. He may have but he made himself wealthy also. Johnny had near 500 mil in assets at his death. Married 4 times and he paid dearly to get out of 3 of those. He didn't care. He just bought his way out. Very generous with his money. But he treated people like crap, even those he loved. Blamed it on his mother. Parents are always a good scapegoat.

Grade - C

next up - The Signature Of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

[david14beck]

"YOU CAN WIN" written by Shiv Khera. It is a great self motivation book. :couch2:

[Maryna]

"The Agony and the Ecstasy" by Irwing Stone - amazing book about Michelangelo

[Big Ears]

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin - it was a Christmas present! We is regarded as the first of the dystopian novels, inspiring George Orwell's 1984, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Ayn Rand's Anthem and many others. So far I have found the novel very compelling and it was years ahead of its time, but the tacked-on introduction by Will Self is complete gobbledegook. The book has made me want to go back to 1984 or even seek out Ayn Rand's story. The trouble is I've got lots of other books to read, including Tony Iommi's Iron Man and a pile of Alexander McCall Smith stories.

[Music Head]

Elizabeth Gilbert - The Signature Of All Things - 2013



A chick book I guess but I have my chick side. Recommended to me by our fellow member MAG2NYC. I have previously read Gilbert's memoir Eat, Pray, Love and liked it. This novel is much better than that. Set in the 18th/19th centuries and we travel around the globe with Alma, a botanist who has a fascination with moss. The botany angle was a plus for me as I like plants. Alma inherited her profession from her father who became wealthy by using his plant knowledge in the area of pharmaceuticals. Alma soon develops other worldly interests and learns how to satisfy those by herself. I'll leave it at that. This is a very well written book and I would love to see it made into a movie. Has to be better than Eat, Pray, Love.

Grade - A

next up - Epicenter by Joel C. Rosenberg

[Music Head]

Joel C. Rosenberg - Epicenter - 2006



A bible prophecy end of times book with Israel at the epicenter. The guy must be a genius! Rosenberg has written a series of fictional novels relating to this topic. This book is non-fiction telling how he came up with his bible interpretation in order to write the novels. So this is a book to promote his books. Sounds like his books rip off that Left Behind series. This book doesn't make me want to read his other books. Some interesting history but the rest is fiction.

Grade - D

next up - A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines

[CRAZY-HORSE]

i bought this one for Dani at Christmas....
we're both fans of King(or more to the point were fans!)



amazon.com's description:

A spectacularly dark and electrifying novel about addiction, religion, music and what might exist on the other side of life.

In a small New England town, in the early 60s, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister, Charles Jacobs. Soon they forge a deep bond, based on their fascination with simple experiments in electricity.

Decades later, Jamie is living a nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll. Now an addict, he sees Jacobs again - a showman on stage, creating dazzling 'portraits in lightning' - and their meeting has profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil's devising, and Jamie discovers that revival has many meanings.

This rich and disturbing novel spans five decades on its way to the most terrifying conclusion Stephen King has ever written. It's a masterpiece from King, in the great American tradition of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe.

MY THOUGHTS:

this is the first Stephen King novel ive purchased since 1999's "the girl who loved tom gordon"...
i wasnt impressed with that one or several of his releases leading up to it ie: "regulators","desperation" and "insomnia"....
this one starts off okay, then flatlines for a while, then builds up again, only to drop off at the end into something that makes no sense IMO....
it was a good idea and promised so much, but as usual Stephen King,the master of not being able to finish books properly is true to form!

this one gets a rating of "C" from me....

[Music Head]

Ernest J. Gaines - A Lesson Before Dying - 1993



Reminds me of James Baldwin's work. Set in 1940's Louisiana. Black man gets caught up in a robbery/murder that he had no involvement with. First chapter covers the trial where the mans lawyer refers to him as no more intelligent than a hog. He is sentenced to death. The rest of the book is about a school teacher who tries to convince the man that he is better than his lawyers reference. Not really much to this and it was rather slow. Mostly black characters other than the police and jail people. You feel bad for the guy the whole book and I guess that's the intent. He gets the chair at the end and I'm not sure the teacher ever accomplishes his goal.

Grade - C

next up - The Population Explosion by Paul L. Ehrilch

[Music Head]

A left wing nut job (yes there are right wing nut jobs) informing us that we will all die due to over population. Maybe if he hadn't have thrown out it was all due to Reagan policies it wouldn't have been so obvious. He wrote another book called The Population Bomb in 1968 but it didn't convert enough people. I am not a denier of the problem, just of the messenger. This guy even pushes for laws limiting birth. And the problem lies with the rich consuming all of the natural resources. At the end he gives us samples of letters to write to our public officials to make them aware.

Grade - D

next up - The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein

[Amanda]

I'm reading "The Painted Veil" by Somerset Maugham.