What 📔book are you reading right now?

Rivendell_librarian · Sep 11, 2023

Squint-eyed Southerner said:
A week under a heat dome having baked my brain, I had to fall back on "comfort reading" -- namely The Big Sleep. Heat relented, but I was sucked in once again: finished Farewell My Lovely and am well into The High Window.

Third time through the series. The man had a way with words.

Have you worked out who killed the Sternwood's chauffeur?

Squint-eyed Southerner · Sep 11, 2023

If Chandler himself couldn't, I doubt I can.

I'm now up to The Lady in the Lake.

Rivendell_librarian · Sep 11, 2023

Well as it's early autumn, I'm going to read The Fellowship of the Ring up to The Council of Elrond. I'm going to take my time over it up until Christmas. I recently bought the Hammond and Scull Reader's Companion and I have some other books to read as background.

Glorfindel Goldtress · Sep 11, 2023

Rivendell_librarian said:
Well as it's early autumn, I'm going to read The Fellowship of the Ring up to The Council of Elrond. I'm going to take my time over it up until Christmas. I recently bought the Hammond and Scull Reader's Companion and I have some other books to read as background.

That's so fun to read it at the same timepoint of the year!

I am currently working my way through the indexes/appendices of the Sil.

Olorgando · Sep 11, 2023

After re-reading Stefan Klein's untranslated 2004 book on coincidence, and the 2010 one translated in 2015 as "We Are All Stardust", now re-reading the 2008 one translated in 2010 as "Leonardo's Legacy".

Amon Rudh · Sep 12, 2023

Also just started a reread of Stephen King's 'seminal' work, Carrie. Currently collecting his books. A classic horror, although in his case it's often society that supplies the horror characters 🤣

Duguay · Sep 12, 2023

Amon Rudh said:
Also just started a reread of Stephen King's 'seminal' work, Carrie. Currently collecting his books. A classic horror, although in his case it's often society that supplies the horror characters 🤣

A couple years ago I read his book, On Writing, and almost thought that would be the first and last book of his that I would read. However, On Writing left me curious about his fiction, so I grabbed a small handful of his books. And I started with Carrie. Now normally, I'm a very slow reader, but for some reason I plowed through that book in record time. After which I accumulated a very large reading library of his works.

How did you like The Children of Hurin, by the way? I notice you mentioned it shortly upthread, last month. I finished reading it for the first time myself yesterday; read alongside The Silmarillion, slotted into it's place in The Silmarillion's narrative.

Erestor Arcamen · Sep 12, 2023

Watched Silo on Apple TV+ and really liked it so have been reading the books by Hugh Howey. Currently on Book 3, Dust. The books were awesome and I'm excited to see the how the show portrays them. Season 1 definitely wasn't an exact match to the books but the author's been involved in production and it wasn't too far off.

Squint-eyed Southerner · Sep 12, 2023

Rivendell_librarian said:
Have you worked out who killed the Sternwood's chauffeur?

I guess the story should be related for those unfamiliar with it. When Howard Hawks was making the movie version, he contacted the author, Raymond Chandler, because he couldn't figure out who'd killed one character. Chandler said something like "I don't remember. Let me check and get back to you".

When he got back to him, he said "I don't know".

Hawks included the scene anyway. The requirements of film forced him to leave out some things from the book, but he still ended up with a classic noir.
Three screenwriters, among them William Faulkner and Leigh Brackett, who some may know as a science fiction writer; in fact, at the time of her death, she was working on the script for "The Empire Strikes Back". She was married to Edmond Hamilton, another Golden Age SF writer.

Amon Rudh · Sep 12, 2023

Duguay said:
A couple years ago I read his book, On Writing, and almost thought that would be the first and last book of his that I would read. However, On Writing left me curious about his fiction, so I grabbed a small handful of his books. And I started with Carrie. Now normally, I'm a very slow reader, but for some reason I plowed through that book in record time. After which I accumulated a very large reading library of his works.

How did you like The Children of Hurin, by the way? I notice you mentioned it shortly upthread, last month. I finished reading it for the first time myself yesterday; read alongside The Silmarillion, slotted into it's place in The Silmarillion's narrative.

I think whilst he's a completely different style to Tolkien, he's (as far as I'm concerned) just as good in his genre. He really has a knack of putting what he writes in your head. Equally he's an excellent societal commentator.
COH is a fantastic book and story! Such a tragedy and yes I agree, brings more light to the Silmarillion. Next Tolkien for me is The Lays of Beleriand which, as I understand it, is in some respects the source data for COH amount others.

Olorgando · Sep 12, 2023

The 2014 expanded 20th impression of the 1991 untranslated German management classic "Mythos Motivation" by Reinhard K. Sprenger, in which he shreds the incentive stupidity to subatomic particles.

Rivendell_librarian · Sep 17, 2023

Squint-eyed Southerner said:
I guess the story should be related for those unfamiliar with it. When Howard Hawks was making the movie version, he contacted the author, Raymond Chandler, because he couldn't figure out who'd killed one character. Chandler said something like "I don't remember. Let me check and get back to you".

When he got back to him, he said "I don't know".

Hawks included the scene anyway. The requirements of film forced him to leave out some things from the book, but he still ended up with a classic noir.
Three screenwriters, among them William Faulkner and Leigh Brackett, who some may know as a science fiction writer; in fact, at the time of her death, she was working on the script for "The Empire Strikes Back". She was married to Edmond Hamilton, another Golden Age SF writer.

A great little trailer. I love the reference to the book store scene in the actual film (this time without the whisky in paper cups) and name checking The Maltese Falcon - this one will be "even better". Take that John Huston.

Squint-eyed Southerner · Sep 17, 2023

Halfway through The Long Goodbye at the moment. I don't recall if I ever saw the Elliot Gould film.

Starbrow · Sep 17, 2023

Smith of Wooten Major 😁

Ent · Sep 18, 2023

Squint-eyed Southerner said:
Halfway through The Long Goodbye at the moment. I don't recall if I ever saw the Elliot Gould film.

Please advise your thoughts when done. I've heard of this, seen its title frequently, but never read it and cannot recall a single 'review' of it, positive or negative.
I don't care so much about the film and wouldn't watch it until a read is done.

Ent · Sep 18, 2023

Still working my way through The Battle for Middle-earth by Rutledge. He has much to say, and makes some interesting points. I appreciate his method, starting at the beginning of Hobbit and working linearly through to the end of LoTR, as he unfolds his thoughts. An interesting approach.

Looking forward to Theology and Tolkien: Practical Theology by Estes, Editor and Contributor, and 13 other contributors. Due out in November. A bit overpriced given it's only 292 pages... but well, there are a number of contributors to pay, I suppose.

Squint-eyed Southerner · Sep 18, 2023

Ent said:
Please advise your thoughts when done. I've heard of this, seen its title frequently, but never read it and cannot recall a single 'review' of it, positive or negative.
I don't care so much about the film and wouldn't watch it until a read is done.

It's my third time reading it, if that tells you anything. See my earlier post for why.

Amon Rudh · Sep 18, 2023

Just started the latest on my Tolkien marathon, The Lays of Beleriand. I'll no doubt enjoy it having recently finished Beren and Luthien plus The Children of Hurin. My process (necessitated by a rather large library of books to get through on various topics) is to read one of the HOME books, then a 'finished' work (e.g. the two above or Silmarillion or LOTR), then a science based book (Dawkins, Krauss, Greene, Fortey, Darwin, Wilson, Cox et al), then a Stephen King (working my way through his works from the beginning again) whilst concurrently reading a bit of the bible daily plus either a paperback (currently Shelley's Frankenstein) or a biography as a private time (toilet) book. Phew.

Olorgando · Oct 8, 2023

Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations.

Amon Rudh · Oct 8, 2023

Currently on Stephen King's 'salem's Lot, plus The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing (a series of about 70 short samples from all avenues of science over the last 100 years with commentaryby Richard Dawkins), with daily five chapters of The Bible ongoing.

What 📔book are you reading right now?

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