What are you reading now?

[marcshoe]

I just received the following email from Barnes & Noble:

Dear Borders Customer,

My name is William Lynch, CEO of Barnes & Noble, and I'm writing to you today on
behalf of the entire B&N team to make you aware of important information regarding your Borders account.

First of all let me say Barnes & Noble uniquely appreciates the importance bookstores play within local communities, and we're very sorry your Borders store closed.

As part of Borders ceasing operations, we acquired some of its assets including Borders brand trademarks and their customer list. The subject matter of your DVD and other video purchases will be part of the transferred information. The federal bankruptcy court approved this sale on September 26, 2011.

Our intent in buying the Borders customer list is simply to try and earn your business. The majority of our stores are within close proximity to former Borders store locations, and for those that aren't, we offer our award- winning NOOK™ digital reading devices that provide a bookstore in your pocket. We are readers like you, and hope that through our stores, NOOK devices, and our bn.com online bookstore we can win your trust and provide you with a place to read and shop.

It's important for you to understand however you have the absolute right to opt-out of having your customer data transferred to Barnes & Noble. If you would like to opt-out, we will ensure all your data we receive from Borders is disposed of in a secure and confidential manner. Please visit www.bn.com/borders before October 15, 2011 to do so.

Should you choose not to opt-out by October 15, 2011, be assured your information will be covered under the Barnes & Noble privacy policy, which can be accessed at www.bn.com/privacy. B&N will maintain any of your data according to this policy and our strict privacy standards.

At Barnes & Noble we share your love of books — whatever shape they take. We also take our responsibility to service communities by providing a local bookstore very seriously. In the coming weeks, assuming you don't opt-out, you'll be hearing from us with some offers to encourage you to shop our stores and try our NOOK products. We hope you'll give us a chance to be your bookstore.

[reds1869]

I'm reading George Vescey's biography of Stan Musial. The anecdotes are entertaining and Musial is shown to be a complex, interesting character. Unfortunately the writing is awful and focuses more on the author's personal feelings about Stan The Man than on Stanley himself. I really expected more from such an accomplished writer.

[bigredmechanism]

What Do You Care What Other People Think? by Richard Feynman.

~15 pages left. Interesting stuff, a lot about his time spent on the Challenger Commission in the 80s, but not nearly as good as his other book I had read.

[SunDeck]

That used to be Us- Thomas Friedman, Michael Mandelbaum
BRIC countries are eating our lunch, basically, and if we don't get hungry as a country, we're screwed.

[Literati]

The Camel Club series by David Baldacci - his books are always great

[zacharync]

I am reading Bill Clinton's book/memoir. About half way through it but it's clear he went into far more detail than necessary. I am a Peace Corps volunteer though which means I have lots of time on my hands.

[SunDeck]

I am reading Bill Clinton's book/memoir. About half way through it but it's clear he went into far more detail than necessary.

I hope the detail was about economic policy and not about "that woman".

[marcshoe]

I'm reading a book called "Driven West" about how Indian Removal developed and listening to Ron Chernow's biography of Washington. I may be listening for a while--I just started and it's 41 hours long.

[BillDoran]

I just finished You Deserve Nothing by Alexander Maksik; a good book by a very promising young author. If you have any interest in existential fiction, I'd recommend it.

[Sweetstop]

reading through the justifiably well-regarded ann patchett..finished "truth and beauty", "bel canto" and "the magician's assistant" currently reading her new novel, "state of wonder"

[Roy Tucker]

reading through the justifiably well-regarded ann patchett..finished "truth and beauty", "bel canto" and "the magician's assistant" currently reading her new novel, "state of wonder"

I read "bel canto" a few years back. Liked it a lot.

From the junk book side of things, I've recently read:

"A Time For Patriots" - Dale Brown - not one of his best works. A mishmosh of ultra-right wingers and the Civil Air Patrol.

"Carte Blanche" - Jeffrey Deaver - Deaver writes a James Bond 007 novel (evidently with the blessing of Ian Fleming's estate). A well-told tale with Deaver-ish blindside twists, but not Bondish at all. None of Bonds' savoir faire at all so it was disappointing in that regard.

"Dead Zero" - Stephen Hunter - Hunter recently retired as movie critic for the Washington Post and has re-concentrated on his books (his last couple were very blah). A welcome return to form. Extremely dry very black humor, Bob Lee Swagger, rogue snipers, and really bad government bad guys. Lots of fun and I loved it.

[marcshoe]

In addition to the nonfiction mentioned earlier (and the Washington book is exceptional, btw) "Defending Jacob" by William Landay or something like that, about a prosecutor in a small town who ends up defending his son on a charge of murdering another local boy. I'm reading a promotional copy; the book's set to be released at the end of January.

[BillDoran]

I've read the first section of Jeffrey Eugenides's "The Marriage Plot". Thus far, exceptionally disappointing, mundane plotting, trite characters, just plain boring.

It's early, I remain hopeful. "Middlesex" was an all-time favorite.

[pedro]

I've read the first section of Jeffrey Eugenides's "The Marriage Plot". Thus far, exceptionally disappointing, mundane plotting, trite characters, just plain boring.

It's early, I remain hopeful. "Middlesex" was an all-time favorite.

That's too bad. I loved Middlesex.

[BillDoran]

I've read the first section of Jeffrey Eugenides's "The Marriage Plot". Thus far, exceptionally disappointing, mundane plotting, trite characters, just plain boring.

It's early, I remain hopeful. "Middlesex" was an all-time favorite.

That's too bad. I loved Middlesex.

It gets better!

In my opinion, doesn't meet the brilliance of Middlesex, but an enjoyable read. Plot remains a bit narrow and predictable, but Eugenides is still an incredibly talented writer. I think he does a great job exploring manic depression as well.