Job Discussion Forums

johnslat · Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2009 12:55 am Post subject:

Dear kymerhit,

Try one (or all) of these:

1. Matthew Scudder Mysteries by Lawrence Block: there are about ten books, all top-notch

2. Dave Robicheaux novels by James Lee Burke: again about ten, again, top-notch

3. Travis McGee Mysteries by John D. MacDonald: the grandaddy of them all

4. The Spenser Novels by Robert B. Parker: great dialogue and plotting.

The Elvis Cole novels by Robert Crais - superb

Regarding C J Box, do you mean Open Season? Blue Heaven won an Edgar Award for Best Mystery Novel of 2008.

Regards,
John

natsume · Joined: 24 Apr 2006 Posts: 409 Location: Chongqing, China

Currently reading The Girl Who Played Go by Shan Sa

Recently read:

The Tale of Genji - Murasaki Shikibu (Royall Tyler trans.)
Teenage - John Savage
The Portable Emerson
Among the Thugs - Bill Buford
When You Are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris
The Life of Pi - Yves Martell

basiltherat · Joined: 04 Oct 2003 Posts: 952

'The Legacy of Jihad' by Andrew Bostom

It's a monster but, taken slowly, very informative.

best
basil

SueH · Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Posts: 1022 Location: Northern Italy

What I read is really dependent on what's in the charity shops on my visits to the UK. Not enough money to buy new.

I'm reading:

Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Snowblind by Robert Sabbag and

just as a nod of obeisance that although semi-retired I'm also a part-time teacher

The Lexical Approach by Michael Lewis

Very recently finished:
'Northern Lights' by Phillip Pullman, so will have to search the charity shops for the sequels in the trilogy on my next trip home.
A lightweight crime novel by Colin Dexter and Bill Bryson's 'Down Under'.

I've got a stack to read as well: bought a second-hand copy in Torino of "Casa Howard" by EMForster , and am going to push myself to read it as the nights draw in. I vaguely remember reading Howards End nearly 40 years ago, I can still remember the passage where they listen to the Beethoven symphony. In Italian it might be a slower process this time! Also have Norman Douglas 'Old Calabria' in an Italian translation, but that can wait until next year..

Global Hobo · Joined: 27 Sep 2009 Posts: 32

I'm currently reading Hunter S. Thompson's Hell's Angels. The guy's a personal hero of mine and this his first book. I'm also reading The Electric Kool-Aid Acid test. I'm reading a lot on the counter culture at the moment and feeling rather bitter at being born in the wrong era.

johnslat · Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 8:06 pm Post subject:

Dear Global Hobo,

"Duke" is one of my favorites, too. I never figured he'd go the way he did.

Having lived though the 60s (in 1960, I was 17), I'll admit that it was a great time to be around. However, heed these words:

"Miniver Cheevy
Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn,
Grew lean while he assailed the seasons
He wept that he was ever born,
And he had reasons.

Miniver loved the days of old
When swords were bright and steeds were prancing;
The vision of a warrior bold
Would send him dancing.

Miniver sighed for what was not,
And dreamed, and rested from his labors;
He dreamed of Thebes and Camelot,
And Priam's neighbors.

Miniver mourned the ripe renown
That made so many a name so fragrant;
He mourned Romance, now on the town,
And Art, a vagrant.

Miniver loved the Medici,
Albeit he had never seen one;
He would have sinned incessantly
Could he have been one.

Miniver cursed the commonplace
And eyed a khaki suit with loathing:
He missed the medieval grace
Of iron clothing.

Miniver scorned the gold he sought,
But sore annoyed was he without it;
Miniver thought, and thought, and thought,
And thought about it.

Miniver Cheevy, born too late,
Scratched his head and kept on thinking;
Miniver coughed, and called it fate,
And kept on drinking.

-- Edwin Arlington Robinson

Regards,
John

Mr Magoo · Joined: 13 Aug 2009 Posts: 16

Been going through the Wordsworth (publisher) classics at the local school:

Uncle Tom's Cabin, Les Miserables, Jekyll and Hyde.

For more light reading:

The Phoenix Solution (Alan Alford), Fingerprints of the Gods (Graham Hancock).

And education:

About Language (Scott Thornbury)

And, as always, keeping an open mind and not taking anything too seriously!

ntropy · Joined: 11 Oct 2003 Posts: 671 Location: ghurba

Slats has good reading taste.

James Lee Burke can't be beat. All the Lawrence Block crimes series are very good. Robert Crais is interesting.

Try Stuart Kaminsky and one his series (Rostnikov, Fonseca, Lieberman).

Walter Mosely is superb. Harlon Coben of course (I like the Myron Bolitar series best) and Michael Connelly.

Robin White has a set which rivals or surpasses Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko series.

Ian Rankin's Rebus series is very good.

Now, let me plug a couple of Canadians: Giles Blunt (the John Cardinal series -- sort of like Tony Hillerman but set in Northern Canada) and Linwood Barclay (similar to Harlan Coben).

ntropy · Joined: 11 Oct 2003 Posts: 671 Location: ghurba

Bonus points if anyone can identify the author depicted by my avatar.

johnslat · Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 2:11 pm Post subject:

Dear ntrophy,

Kind of looks like a younger JM Coetzee on a bad hair day. And thanks for the compliment.

Regards,
John

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

I am reading:

Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty

Varieties of Disturbance: Stories by Lydia Davis

khmerhit · Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 4:50 pm Post subject:

hey thanks for those reading tips John---but can it beyou learned those lowbrow tastes at the Latin Grammar Skool in Boston???

i read a history of the CIA called Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner, fascinitating if sensatilonally tendentious---the guy was their prefeerrred mouthpiece in the 90s and he rips the hell out of them but not in a v convincing way,m so my suspiciojns is --how do we know they didnt set it all up as a pr jawb??

also another canuck--Brad Smith who does what some call country noir

one eyed jacks----absolutely amazing

all hat

busted fluch

also i had a lketter in the tls this week about cambodia----this is a great thing to havde a letter in the tls but since it was one of main ambitions in life, what shall i do next??

C A M B O D I A
try it and see Cool

johnslat · Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 6:04 pm Post subject:

Dear kymerhit,

Not at Boston Latin - but at Boston College High School. I also highly recommend the Hieronymus Bosch series by Michael Connelly.

I checked out Brad Smith, and it looks like I'll be reading him next. But check out this on Amazon:

One-Eyed Jacks (Paperback)
by Brad Smith (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

1 new from $186.94 13 used from $4.94

Rather a steep price for a new one, isn't it?

Regards,
John

ithos · Joined: 12 Mar 2009 Posts: 40

Yevgeny Zamyatin - We

Vladimir Nabokov - Pnin

Robert Anton Wilson - Prometheus Rising

John Mitchell - Jail Journal

Molson · Joined: 01 May 2009 Posts: 137 Location: China

Currently reading:

Laika by Rick Abadzis. It is a graphic novel and won an award last year.
tuesdays with Morrie. I already read it years ago, reading again for a lit class I am teaching.
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. Another book for a class that I will teach.

I just finished reading The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. I found it to be an excellent book, yet simple in many ways. I was curious about it as she won a Nobel Prize in Literature for that book.

Unfortunately teaching literature I don't have as much time to read my own books as I did when I taught ESL.