Saturday, December 29, 2007

What are you reading?

Who got something good for Christmas or Hanukkah? Share what you're reading here.

I'll start:

As soon as I finish "My Heart Will Cross This Ocean," by Kadiatou Diallo (mother of Amadou Diallo, an innocent man shot to death by NYC cops investigating a rape case), which I started before Christmas, I'm going to pick up "The Teammates," by David Halberstam, about a couple of 1940s-era teammates of Ted Williams traveling to Florida in 2001 to see him for what they knew would be the last time. Williams, they knew, was dying.

Also -- the links above go to my page at goodreads.com, a sharing site where you can list what you're reading and hook up with friends and what they're reading, recommend stuff back and forth, and so on. It's pretty cool. (Thanks to Jen for bringing it to our attention).

Anyway ... what are you reading that's good?

7 comments:

  1. The amazing script for the upcoming Paul Thomas Anderson film "There Will Be Blood" can be found online here: http://www.vantageguilds.com/twbb/FinalScript_TWBB.pdf

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  2. I just started reading "Stiff" by Mary Roach... it's about "the curious lives of human cadavers" and although it sounds pretty morbid, it's written with a sense of humor and so far is pretty fascinating.

    You can see what else I've read recently or want to read on my goodreads page at www.goodreads.com/user/show/650139

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  3. I read "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert (after one Katy Carpenter reccommended it), it's about a woman going through various life crises who spends a year traveling to Italy, India and Indonesia trying to piece herself back together. It sounds kind of self-helpish and shmaltzy, but it's really good. Also, I finally read "The Secret Life of Bees" which is definitely worth reading if you haven't already.
    Jen, I almost bought "Stiff" the last time I was at Borders. Let me know how you like it when you're finished.

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  4. I read "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert (after one Katy Carpenter reccommended it), it's about a woman going through various life crises who spends a year traveling to Italy, India and Indonesia trying to piece herself back together. It sounds kind of self-helpish and shmaltzy, but it's really good. Also, I finally read "The Secret Life of Bees" which is definitely worth reading if you haven't already.
    Jen, I almost bought "Stiff" the last time I was at Borders. Let me know how you like it when you're finished.

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  5. I'm ready "Know it All" (borrowed from Gloria). It's about a writer who decides to read the encycopedia to up his smarts. Very funny!

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  6. That should say: I'm reading ...

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  7. I just started “The Stuff of Thought,” by Steven Pinker. The Harvard linguist explains what semantics tell us about our world, using current events.

    I just finished the intro. (Was 9-11 one event or two? It's a three and a half billion dollar answer.)

    Here are two lines that hooked me:

    "Semantics is about the relation of words to thoughts, but it also about the relation of words to other human concerns. Semantics is about the relation of words to reality — the way that speakers commit themselves to a shared understanding of the truth, and the way their thoughts are anchored to things and situations in the world."

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