Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[Ron.]

I just finished The Kite Runner I read it from cover to cover in one sitting, I could not put it down. It is the best book I jave read in awhile..

Hosseini's stunning debut novel starts as an eloquent Afghan version of the American immigrant experience in the late 20th century, but betrayal and redemption come to the forefront when the narrator, a writer, returns to his ravaged homeland to rescue the son of his childhood friend after the boy's parents are shot during the Taliban takeover in the mid '90s. Amir, the son of a well-to-do Kabul merchant, is the first-person narrator, who marries, moves to California and becomes a successful novelist. But he remains haunted by a childhood incident in which he betrayed the trust of his best friend, a Hazara boy named Hassan, who receives a brutal beating from some local bullies. After establishing himself in America, Amir learns that the Taliban have murdered Hassan and his wife, raising questions about the fate of his son, Sohrab. Spurred on by childhood guilt, Amir makes the difficult journey to Kabul, only to learn the boy has been enslaved by a former childhood bully who has become a prominent Taliban official. The price Amir must pay to recover the boy is just one of several brilliant, startling plot twists that make this book memorable both as a political chronicle and a deeply personal tale about how childhood choices affect our adult lives. The character studies alone would make this a noteworthy debut, from the portrait of the sensitive, insecure Amir to the multilayered development of his father, Baba, whose sacrifices and scandalous behavior are fully revealed only when Amir returns to Afghanistan and learns the true nature of his relationship to Hassan. Add an incisive, perceptive examination of recent Afghan history and its ramifications in both America and the Middle East, and the result is a complete work of literature that succeeds in exploring the culture of a previously obscure nation that has become a pivot point in the global politics of the new millennium.

[HomeInMyShoes]

^I liked it a lot.

Just finished The Chinese Maze Murders by Robert van Gulik and am just started two books:

Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krugg
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

[maianhvk]

Originally Posted by Ron.

I just finished The Kite Runner I read it from cover to cover in one sitting, I could not put it down. It is the best book I jave read in awhile..

Oh. I'll read that soon.

[alansplace]

just finished the 2nd of the 6 charlie chan mysteries by earl derr biggers and have become an earl derr biggers fan in the process. i guess this means that i recommend his books, the charlie chan mysteries and his other novels as well.

[WT Sharpe]

Just finished the September 24 issue of Science News, where I learned that panda poop may hold the key to the next big advance in biofuel, and how Google Earth helped researchers fight a polio outbreak in the Congo. There's also a good article about how the Tevatron Collider may yield clues about nature's secrets for years to come after it is shut down and much more.

Still reading the first Charlie Chan mystery (The House Without a Key by Earl Derr Biggers), as well as a book written by a Jewish scholar that was recommended to me by a friend who's a Reform rabbi: A Jewish Understanding of The New Testament by Samuel Sandmel.

[MickeyC]

Originally Posted by Ron.

I just finished The Kite Runner I read it from cover to cover in one sitting, I could not put it down. It is the best book I jave read in awhile..

I read this some time ago and agree it was a great read.

[xg4bx]

just finished Death's Disciples by J. Robert King. what an odd book. it was like the ghost whisperer mixed with the matrix and fight club. it was unusual but excellent.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Ron.

I just finished The Kite Runner I read it from cover to cover in one sitting, I could not put it down. It is the best book I jave read in awhile..

I read the book a while ago.. and my opinion was more "meh". Not a bad book but not a page turner for me. I guess it goes to show, different strokes for different folks.

BOb

[MickeyC]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I read the book a while ago.. and my opinion was more "meh". Not a bad book but not a page turner for me. I guess it goes to show, different strokes for different folks.

BOb

What I liked about it was the vivid insight it gave the reader to life in Afghanistan. I understand that country and its people a lot better because of this book.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by cassidym

What I liked about it was the vivid insight it gave the reader to life in Afghanistan. I understand that country and its people a lot better because of this book.

Yes, the cultural aspects of life there was interesting. I'll agree with that.

BOb

[anjirlly]

I snuck Illegal Asset by Stella Rimington into the queue before Thousand Kingdoms. I like the fact that the series has a female heroine, and is written by a woman with 30 years' experience in British intelligence. So I'll stick with the series, but I liked the first (trying to find a Jihad Jane-like bomber in Britain) and second (finding an MI5 mole planted by Irish nationalists) books better than this third one (vendettas between ex-KGB and exiled Russian oligarchs in England threatening diplomatic ties between the UK and Russia).

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Ill Met By Moonlight by Sarah A. Hoyt

Elves and Shakespeare. It should be fun. Also available in a bundle with the other two books in the series and a book of short stories.

Oh, it is fun. And the book is a complete story in itself — it's not one story over three books, as so many trilogies are, but the trilogy seems to be three separate stories that are linked.

Straight onto All Night Awake by Sarah A Hoyt, which takes up the story ten years later.

[Ron.]

I just finished Before I Go to Sleep

Every day Christine wakes up not knowing where she is. Her memories disappear every time she falls asleep. Her husband, Ben, is a stranger to her, and he's obligated to explain their life together on a daily basis--all the result of a mysterious accident that made Christine an amnesiac. With the encouragement of her doctor, Christine starts a journal to help jog her memory every day. One morning, she opens it and sees that she's written three unexpected and terrifying words: "Don't trust Ben." Suddenly everything her husband has told her falls under suspicion. What kind of accident caused her condition? Who can she trust? Why is Ben lying to her? And, for the reader: Can Christine’s story be trusted? At the heart of S. J. Watson's Before I Go To Sleep is the petrifying question: How can anyone function when they can't even trust themselves? Suspenseful from start to finish, the strength of Watson's writing allows Before I Go to Sleep to transcend the basic premise and present profound questions about memory and identity. One of the best debut literary thrillers in recent years, Before I Go to Sleep deserves to be one of the major blockbusters of the summer. --Miriam Landis

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Ron.

I just finished Before I Go to Sleep

This book was recently serialised by BBC Radio. I agree - it is excellent.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Ron.

I just finished Before I Go to Sleep

Every day Christine wakes up not knowing where she is. Her memories disappear every time she falls asleep. Her husband, Ben, is a stranger to her, and he's obligated to explain their life together on a daily basis--all the result of a mysterious accident that made Christine an amnesiac. With the encouragement of her doctor, Christine starts a journal to help jog her memory every day. One morning, she opens it and sees that she's written three unexpected and terrifying words: "Don't trust Ben." Suddenly everything her husband has told her falls under suspicion. What kind of accident caused her condition? Who can she trust? Why is Ben lying to her? And, for the reader: Can Christine’s story be trusted? At the heart of S. J. Watson's Before I Go To Sleep is the petrifying question: How can anyone function when they can't even trust themselves? Suspenseful from start to finish, the strength of Watson's writing allows Before I Go to Sleep to transcend the basic premise and present profound questions about memory and identity. One of the best debut literary thrillers in recent years, Before I Go to Sleep deserves to be one of the major blockbusters of the summer. --Miriam Landis

That sounds interesting. I just downloaded a sample from Amazon for future reading. The description reminds me of one of my all-time favorite movies, Memento (directed by Christopher Nolan).