[stylist] what I've been reading...

Mon Jan 2 06:55:51 UTC 2012

That is a great list. I don't spend much time reading these days, at least 
not as much as I used to, but I still have a hunger for information which 
translates into many things. I have started making more time for books 
lately and not always about the railroad. I've always been fascinated by 
people's stories as I've discovered so when I pick up a book lately I try to 
make it a biography. The latest one I'm reading is "Grisha" by Anne Bartley 
about Gregor Patigorsky the russian cellist. Her telling of the story is in 
Gregor's pov and is quite well written, evoking lots of images. Instead of 
just chronicling events she explains them as if we were witnessing them, 
quoting from his letters. I haven't read any novels lately, but I'm sure I 
will. Since I've inherited a scanner and some OCR software I scan Trains 
magazine and read that in fits and starts. But I do enjoy cuddling up with 
some kitties and a book.

Lately I've been taking my Braille copy of "Slate and Style" with me, 
reading bits an dpieces here. By the way Shawn, I love your story "Wild 
Velvet" I haven't finished it yet but it's a very nice story.

Happy New Year!
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "vejas" <brlsurfer at gmail.com>
To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 01, 2012 5:28 PM
Subject: Re: [stylist] what I've been reading...

> Wow, Chris, that's great that you can read so much in that time.
> I wanted to let you know, Chris, that I was downloading back issues of 
> Slate and Style for my reading pleasure, and yesterday I read your story 
> "The Braillist." It was one of my favorites, if not my favorite.  Keep up 
> the good work.  By the way, I also like spicy, and two Christmases ago 
> received Dave's Insanity Sauce.  But my parents said the warning label had 
> something about how people with back/heart problems it could hurt their 
> systems, which
> scared me and I think I threw it out right then.  I would not ever have 
> thought of that brownie idea, but Lenny, Dylan and Oscar really deserved 
> it, and their reaction was quite funny.
> Happy New Year,
> Vejas
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Chris Kuell" <ckuell at comcast.net
> To: <stylist at nfbnet.org
> Date sent: Sun, 1 Jan 2012 20:06:43 -0500
> Subject: [stylist] what I've been reading...
>
> A month or so ago it was suggested we write book reviews, but I didn't 
> notice much interest in the group.  However, I will share a little about 
> what I've read in the last 6 weeks.
>
>
>
> chris
>
>
>
> Books read since  November 15:
>
>
>
> The Reversal by Michael Connelly  (2010)
>
> The latest in the Harry Bosch series, I think the main purpose of this 
> novel was to make Harry's half-brother, Mickey Haller, a defense attorney, 
> more prominent.  It sets up the next Bosch novel, and perhaps a series for 
> the brother?
>
>
>
> Sixty-One Hours by Lee Child  (2010)
>
> Perhaps the best of the Jack Reacher novels.  It's an action packed 
> adventure about a Mexican drug lord, tons of methamphetamine and a small 
> town police force in South Dakota.
>
>
>
> The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris (2010)
>
> Ferris's writing is terse and takes a little getting used to, but once you 
> do, you'll be drawn into this gut-wrenching novel about a man's attempt to 
> deal with mental illness.  He loses his job, his wife and daughter, but 
> still does the best he can.
>
>
>
> Working in the Shadows: A Year Doing the Jobs Most American's Won't do by 
> Gabriel Thompson  (2010)
>
> An excellent non-fiction book, the writer goes 'undercover' working in a 
> lettuce field, in a chicken processing plant and at various crappy jobs in 
> NYC, and experiences how immigrants are treated and paid (or often, not).
>
>
>
> Scorpion in the Sea by P.T.Deutermann   (1992)
>
> A Naval based action-adventure novel, I'll give it a 3 out of 5.
>
>
>
> In Our Nature: Stories of Wildness edited by Donna Seaman  (2000)
>
> A series of short stories that loosely deal with nature-the great 
> outdoors, our sexual nature, our power struggles, etc.
>
>
>
> Rogue Warrior: Green Team by Richard Marshenko and John Weissman  (1995)
>
> Marshenko was a navy seal, and is narcissistic enough to write novels 
> based on himself as the baddest bad-ass of them all.  What's really 
> interesting about this particular book are his views on Islamic 
> fundamentalists and his predictions of the terrorist havoc they would 
> unleash across the globe.
>
>
>
> The Good Soldiers by David Finkle  (2009)
>
> This Pulitzer-prize winner spends 14 months with a group of soldiers 
> during the 2007 'surge' in Iraq.  Unlike the previous Marshenko novel, 
> where war is glorified, this is bone-chilling, horrible, and real.  He 
> describes real men (boys? The age of the average American soldier is 20) 
> being maimed and/or killed in what are essentially useless battles in 
> Iraq.  After a year of fighting, trying to rebuild a destroyed city's 
> sewer, power and water systems-Iraqi insurgents blow it all up so they are 
> back at point 0.
>
>
>
> Franny and Zooey by J.D.  Salinger (1961)
>
> A very interesting novella, this originally was published as 2 short 
> stories in the New Yorker in the late 50s.  Franny is a disillusioned 
> college girl, and Zooey is her older brother trying to set her straight 
> regarding the 'Jesus prayer'.
>
>
>
> The Best American Science Writing 2010, edited by Jerome Groopman
>
> These articles, which were primarily medical in nature, were quite 
> fascinating, if a touch dated.  I took notes on 2 of the pieces as 
> research information for future stories some day.
>
>
>
> Rizzo's War by Lou Manfredo  (2009)
>
> A former Brooklyn cop writing a story about.  Brooklyn cops.  And 
> corruption and walking the fine line of what's right, what's wrong, and 
> what just is.
>
>
>
> The Trial by Franz Kafka  (1925)
>
> Kafka asked that all of his work be burned after his death, and to be 
> honest, I think I can see why.  I know this is a critically acclaimed 
> novel, it's been made into a movie 3 times, but I found it strange, not 
> very interesting, and except for it being a bizarre statement about 
> Prague's judicial system in the early 20th century, I don't much get the 
> point.
>
>
>
> The Best American Short Stories 2010, edited by Richard Russo
>
> This is a fantastic series, and I thoroughly enjoyed each of the 20 or so 
> stories in this anthology.  For the Choice Magazine readers out there, 3 
> stories in this anthology will be familiar.
>
>
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