Whatcha Readin'? A Book Thread

I just finished the mystery, Mean Streak by Sandra Brown. It had a lot of twists to it. I hate when I can figure out the plot two chapters in. I was able to connect our library to my Kindle. Now I can put a book on hold or borrow right away. I don't like to depend on Amazon for my books. In the fall I will be dropping Prime so I'm sure I will no longer be able to get their books.
 

They delivered three books in one day whoooohooooo!!!!!:D:D:D
Just started "Billy's World" by Bill Stauss, the story of a pup who runs away from a professional dog fighter...I'm hooked after the first chapter.
"The Dog Who Saved Me" by Susan Wilson. I've read all her other dog stories, I know it will be a good one.
The Best of Creem magazine...not depressing at all I subscribed for years. A trip down memory lane.
 
I usually give the book two chapters. If it doesn't pull me in from there, I skim for anything interesting and donate it.
 
Recently finished, Year Of Yes, Shonda Rhmes, I'm working my way through two books at the moment, The Rift, (non-fiction,) by Alex Perry, I'm about fifth of the way in and Family Life, (fiction,) by Akhil Sharma, I'm half way in on this one, but may fast forward through the rest of it.
 
I'll recommend all of Susan Wilson's dog stories. The first one I read by her I found by chance on the used book shelves. It was "One Good Dog". The cover has a man and dog sitting on a park bench, their backs away. I saw the profile of a bully and that is the dog breed. But it's much more than that. A love story eventually...I just adore her writing. Every character in her books has a back story and their own unique voice.

In "One Good Dog" the chapters alternate between the man and the dog. Each has their own thoughts and expectations of what is going on in the story. I'm more than halfway through "The Dog That Saved Me". The only difference is more characters and more points of view...including the pup. In a nutshell it's about an ex-K9 officer who moves back to the town he grew up in. His Dad was the town drunk and his brother a drug dealer.

He accepts a lowly job as animal control officer. He keeps a distance from everyone including his Dad with his police training. But there's a dog that he meets...he won't even name it, but he goes to some effort to catch it. Then he has to grudgingly make peace with the old neighborhood. Peace understanding his Dad but his brother is still a bastard.Despite himself he starts to get some feelings back...some of it will make you cry, but what a beautifully written story.
 
Just finished a auto-biography "Not My Father's Son" by Alan Cummings. Starting "Marmee and Louisa-The Untold Story of Louisa May Alcott and her Mother" Trying to finish "Belle; Slave Daughter and the Lord Chief Justice....a historical biography.
 
I have to look at that Alan Cummings book again. I'm typing this from my favorite library where I've been lost a few hours. Two books I'll be reading cover to cover eventually:
An autobiography by Joel Grey
In the Country We Love-Diane Guerrero

I was just a kid the first few times I saw Cabaret. Now I'd really be interested in seeing it again. I mean I understood that WWII was coming and the Emcee was supposed to be a spooky sort...but at 9 or 10 the whole backstory is over your head. Now I would understand completely what was being shown there.
 
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Just saw this about Alan Cumming. I've read a bit about his personal life. Talented actor! And he does a great American accent. He comes from a charming village in central Scotland.
 
ndynt said:
Just finished a auto-biography "Not My Father's Son" by Alan Cummings. Starting "Marmee and Louisa-The Untold Story of Louisa May Alcott and her Mother" Trying to finish "Belle; Slave Daughter and the Lord Chief Justice....a historical biography.
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I've been looking for something good to read, this sounds like it should go on my list. I'll see if my library has it and put it on hold.
 
Presently working my way through "Pay It Forward", by Catherine Ryan Hyde. Just started it, so, we'll see, I've really enjoyed some of her other books, this was one I was hoping to read.
 
Reading a book called Nightfall on Ardnamurchan. It is about a guy brought up on a croft in the remote area of Ardnamurchan. It tells of a hard existence which has pretty much gone now.
 
Ameriscot said:
Sounds interesting. Are you familiar with this website of Scottish books: http://booksfromscotland.com/
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It is quite an interesting book but I originally found it hard to read. I stopped half way through some years back and started it again recently. It is partly written as a diary, using the author's father's diary and the later he uses his own diary. However, it does highlight the hardships that the crofter's endured. And the very strong sense of community.

I had not seen that site you mentioned. But it does look good. I tend to use Birlinn for many books. I am sure that they still send me their catalogue.
 
ossian said:
It is quite an interesting book but I originally found it hard to read. I stopped half way through some years back and started it again recently. It is partly written as a diary, using the author's father's diary and the later he uses his own diary. However, it does highlight the hardships that the crofter's endured. And the very strong sense of community.

I had not seen that site you mentioned. But it does look good. I tend to use Birlinn for many books. I am sure that they still send me their catalogue.
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My sis in law gave me Sea Room - An Island Life, by Adam Nicolson, years ago but I never finished it. It's about living on the remote islands of the Shiants, off the Isle of Lewis.
 
ossian said:
Reading a book called Nightfall on Ardnamurchan. It is about a guy brought up on a croft in the remote area of Ardnamurchan. It tells of a hard existence which has pretty much gone now.
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Thanks for mentioning this one, sounds like another I will add to my list, I already put Alan Cumming's book on hold. :)
 
Ameriscot said:
My sis in law gave me Sea Room - An Island Life, by Adam Nicolson, years ago but I never finished it. It's about living on the remote islands of the Shiants, off the Isle of Lewis.
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I think the Shiants are unpopulated? So that must have been a hard existence!

A book that I would recommend in the same vein as Night Falls on Ardnamurchan [....sorry, got the title wrong last time. I hope you can change that list, April!], is A Croft in the Hills by Katharine Stewart. It is not a big book but I found it quite enchanting. It tells of a couple who moved from the city to a hill croft at Abriachan above Loch Ness. Katharine may be dead now, but she lived in Abriachan for the remainder of her life, as far as I know, and was the post mistress for a long time. I think she also set up some kind of small museum there too.
 
ossian said:
I think the Shiants are unpopulated? So that must have been a hard existence!

A book that I would recommend in the same vein as Night Falls on Ardnamurchan [....sorry, got the title wrong last time. I hope you can change that list, April!], is A Croft in the Hills by Katharine Stewart. It is not a big book but I found it quite enchanting. It tells of a couple who moved from the city to a hill croft at Abriachan above Loch Ness. Katharine may be dead now, but she lived in Abriachan for the remainder of her life, as far as I know, and was the post mistress for a long time. I think she also set up some kind of small museum there too.
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No problem, I had already looked it up on Amazon, prior to responding, they corrected it, I can't put it on hold just yet anyway, but, I can check to see if my library has it. At the moment my library hold list is maxed out, you can only put five items on hold at a time. :( I'm going to go check to see if my library has a copy maybe there is one on the shelf at my branch already not checked out. :)
 
Interesting, they, my library district, don't have the book, nor anything by the author. I may have to put in a request to see if they can get it, probably better for me to wait till after I move depending on how long it will take them to order and process the request.
 
ossian said:
I think the Shiants are unpopulated? So that must have been a hard existence!

A book that I would recommend in the same vein as Night Falls on Ardnamurchan [....sorry, got the title wrong last time. I hope you can change that list, April!], is A Croft in the Hills by Katharine Stewart. It is not a big book but I found it quite enchanting. It tells of a couple who moved from the city to a hill croft at Abriachan above Loch Ness. Katharine may be dead now, but she lived in Abriachan for the remainder of her life, as far as I know, and was the post mistress for a long time. I think she also set up some kind of small museum there too.
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A young man inherited these islands with nothing to live in but a primitive bothy. Can't remember how long he stayed, but it wasn't permanent.
 
AprilT said:
Interesting, they, my library district, don't have the book, nor anything by the author. I may have to put in a request to see if they can get it, probably better for me to wait till after I move depending on how long it will take them to order and process the request.
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Neither author is well known. Stewart is better known here than Maclean. She has written several books about her life in Abriachan. Maclean is a poet and I think this may be his only book.
 
I scanned a book, don't recall the title but it's new and there' a teddy bear on the cover. A girl who was 17 in 1979...1979 so it wasn't the dark ages. But she finds herself pregnant. Her mother's solution is that she'll go to a home for wayward girls have the baby and then never mention it to anyone. One of those books you can't put down despite yourself.

At the end she graduates, marries and has a bunch of kids. She asked her mother before she died if it was okay to write the book. I just can't imagine. My youngest and I'd suggest terminating it or I'd raise the baby. If one of my other girls dropped someone on my doorstep I would raise it...the adoption thing no...
 
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