What are you currently reading?

Thoughts on that ending?

I loved the ending! Overall I think the book would've worked better as a novella but the finale was a cynical, nasty blast. It was fun to see King go so overtly pessimistic for a change. Still on my crazy King binge; over the last month I read Misery, Desperation, The Long Walk, The Regulators, and The Shining. I've just started Doctor Sleep and am thoroughly enjoying it so far (I'm a huge fan of the Flanagan film). Speaking of endings, I must say The Regulators had one of the most wholly satisfying conclusions I've read in a long time. That entire book is immensely underrated and the final few pages elicited a tear or two from me. It's probably my second favorite King ending (after The Dark Tower).

Moving on to Dead Man’s Walk.

Read a new historical book written by a childhood friend of mine called Accused of Witchcraft in New York, which is about, well, exactly what the title suggests.


Now I'm reading Mythology by (or rather, collected by) Edith Hamilton.

Just finished A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. A novel of immense beauty and compassion, never flinching from any of the horrific things depicted but also never descending into misery-porn. The two protagonists, Mariam and Laila, are two of the most inspiring and fully-realised characters I've ever come across in literature - the things they both endure are unimaginable, and yet they find hope and strength in themselves and each other. I basically cried non-stop for the last 50 pages or so. This is best of the best stuff. 

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Cao Cao is one crazy son of a bitch. Also gotta love that one guy complaining that if everybody just let him murder Dong Zhuo before he turned totally evil, they could have avoided this whole mess

I'm not far into the book and it is VERY packed with action and has hardly anything resembling character development, but I'm cool with that when the narrative is actually pretty fun.

Thoughts?

I think the strongest aspect of it is the way Robin's character is developed, but I wasn't as into the mystery. When they discussed certain suspects, I kept forgetting who was who because those characters weren't as memorably drawn to me... I also wasn't a big fan of the chapters dealing with the killer's private thoughts. Great ending though, and I still prefer it over Cuckoo's Calling. I haven't read the two most recent books yet, but The Silkworm is probably my favorite overall so far.

I'll have to read Romance of the Three Kingdoms when I actually have time to devote to it. I like it okay, but it is very long and somewhat repetitive and everybody has Chinese names that I can't keep straight.

I just read the first chapter of Italo Calvino's If on a winter's night a traveler, and already I have a huge grin on my face. Invisible Cities was one of the best book discoveries in recent years, so I'm psyched to see how this one compares.

You all know how drawn I am to a tragic romance, and of course that I am obsessed with Japan... I can't distill this novel's fragile magic into words. I have no doubt it will become one of my all time favorites.

Came to this thread to say that I am reading this as well! About a third of the way through and it’s fantastic, Mishima is quickly becoming a personal favorite. I also just ordered a biography on him because I find his life to be endlessly fascinating. 

Oh honeys, I think I've read all the books on Monty, but this one is the most candid about his homosexuality and is quite explicit about naming his boyfriends.

I do think all the bat shit crazy behaviour was due to all the drugs combined with alcohol... I'd still like to read a good book about Hollywood drug addiction in the 1940s & 50s and how the studios / film culture enabled so many. Of course, Monty's problem was that his therapist refused to acknowledge that he had problems with alcoholism or substance abuse, despite all his close friends around him desperate that he get help. Recently Elizabeth Taylor's children revealed that she also had huge drug problems, but that it was kept reasonably well hidden.

I'll never tire of reading about the filming pf Stazione Termini and how an in love with Monty but terribly frustrated Jennifer Jones on the rampage tried cram and flush a mink coat down a toilet or slap her husband, David O. Selznick, a producer on the film, so hard that she broke his glasses! I'd love to write a screenplay on that and to play Jones!