What are you reading?

[southernhybrid]

Here's a cat poem from the book, I could pee on that.

This is my chair
This is my couch
This is my bench
There is my chaise
There is my settee
Those are my footstools
Those are my rugs
Everywhere is my place to sleep
Perhaps you should just get a hotel room

 

[DBT]

Unlike humans, cats know how to live and to enjoy life.

 

[laughing dog]

I don’t know how this St Louis boy got to 70 without having read the classic Huckleberry Finnbut I did. I found it mesmerizing and deeply thought provoking. I followed it with James a very entertaining and thoughtful retelling of the story from another angle.

As an aside, I recommend Percival Everett(the author of James as an author. His The Trees, Erasure and I am not Sidney Poitier are fascinating satires of US society.

 

[Wiploc]

I try my hand at dog poetry:

-

Breakfast! Yes! Breakfast! Yes! Yes! Yes!
Hurry! Breakfast! Move faster!
Fill the bowl! Faster! Breakfast! Yes!
Don't saunter! Run! Hurry! Breakfast! Now!

Yum yum yum yum yum yum yum
yum yum yum yum. Yum yum yum.

When is lunch?

 

[southernhybrid]

I just bought another book to read to the residents where I volunteer. It's called: Animals Acting Ridiculously.

I also read one to them called, "The Wisdom of Dogs" a couple of weeks ago. It's true that dogs are far wiser than most humans.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Scoundrel (2022) by Sarah Weinman is a disturbing, twisted piece of reportage in the true crime category. The book has a detailed subtitle that clues you to its contents: How a Convicted Murderer Persuaded the Women Who Loved HIm, the Conservative Establishment, and the Courts to Set Him Free.
The events are so unusual that I'm amazed I never heard of them before I saw a notice about the book last month. A young lout named Edgar Smith murdered a teenage girl back in '57, bludgeoning her with a rock until her brains were scattered about her on the ground. He was soon apprehended, tried, and sentenced to death. Then followed delay after delay. A few years into his stay on death row, Smith began a correspondence with William F. Buckley, praising his magazine and gaining his confidence, until Buckley became his sponsor, paying some of his attorney fees and publicizing his claims of innocence. Smith educated himself enough to begin a career as a prison author, and eventually had four books published. His correspondents included a middle-aged female editor at Knopf, and he drew her into a fantasy romance in the letters that went back and forth between them.
I don't want to reveal more than this about the book, because I read it without knowing how deranged the events would become. Weinman picked an apt title, and Edgar Smith is someone you'll never forget -- and you'll be glad you never crossed paths with him.

 

[southernhybrid]

I have two new books to read to my senior friends at the Assisted Living Facility.

One is called: "Really Important Stuff My Dog Has Taught Me" by Cynthia L. Copeland.

The other ones is "You Need More Sleep Advice From Cats, by Francesco Marciuliano.

The second author is the same one who wrote The New York Times best selling book, "I Could Pee on That". That was so popular that the residents insisted that I read it twice. It's the poetry book written by cats.

As you can see, I only read very intellectual books with important advice.

An example from the first book: "Friends, food and a place to rest your head. That's all anyone needs".

 

[DBT]

I have two new books to read to my senior friends at the Assisted Living Facility.

One is called: "Really Important Stuff My Dog Has Taught Me" by Cynthia L. Copeland.

The other ones is "You Need More Sleep Advice From Cats, by Francesco Marciuliano.

The second author is the same one who wrote The New York Times best selling book, "I Could Pee on That". That was so popular that the residents insisted that I read it twice. It's the poetry book written by cats.

As you can see, I only read very intellectual books with important advice.

An example from the first book: "Friends, food and a place to rest your head. That's all anyone needs".

No need for clothes, lawyers, politicians, salesmen....

 

[southernhybrid]

I have two new books to read to my senior friends at the Assisted Living Facility.

One is called: "Really Important Stuff My Dog Has Taught Me" by Cynthia L. Copeland.

The other ones is "You Need More Sleep Advice From Cats, by Francesco Marciuliano.

The second author is the same one who wrote The New York Times best selling book, "I Could Pee on That". That was so popular that the residents insisted that I read it twice. It's the poetry book written by cats.

As you can see, I only read very intellectual books with important advice.

An example from the first book: "Friends, food and a place to rest your head. That's all anyone needs".

No need for clothes, lawyers, politicians, salesmen....

You'll have to discuss that with the dogs. They do after all have their own clothing or maybe we take their advice a bit too literally and they are just telling us the most essential things we need.

 

[ideologyhunter]

The second author is the same one who wrote The New York Times best selling book, "I Could Pee on That". That was so popular that the residents insisted that I read it twice. It's the poetry book written by cats.

Thanks. I checked this out of the library today and, although I don't have an ounce of cat fancy, I enjoyed the book. He also has a book of dog poems called I Could Chew on This, which I want to get ahold of. I shared I Could Pee on This with the lifeguard at the Y, and she burst into laughter and took a screen shot so she could order one.

 

[southernhybrid]

The second author is the same one who wrote The New York Times best selling book, "I Could Pee on That". That was so popular that the residents insisted that I read it twice. It's the poetry book written by cats.

Thanks. I checked this out of the library today and, although I don't have an ounce of cat fancy, I enjoyed the book. He also has a book of dog poems called I Could Chew on This, which I want to get ahold of. I shared I Could Pee on This with the lifeguard at the Y, and she burst into laughter and took a screen shot so she could order one.

The residents where I volunteer really liked the book about dogs. They insisted I complete it. They liked the other cat book too, but some of the words were a bit over their heads and nobody knew what Stockholm Syndrome was, so I had to explain it to them. I haven't had a cat in decades but I do love cats and pretty much all animals, so I had fun reading these books.

I have the book, "I Could Chew on This" and I've read it to the residents once. I might read it again. It's pretty funny too. Doing volunteer work with these folks is good for them and a joy for me. Now I need to see what other silly books I can find to read to them. Some are on my kindle but most of the ones I've mentioned are dead tree books, a phrase I learned from the late DMB, who was once a member of this forum. She loved reading on her kindle and was a speed reader.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Now I need to see what other silly books I can find to read to them.

Look into Dave Barry Slept Here, which is a daffy rewrite of U.S history through Reagan/Bush. I used to read portions of it in 5th grade social studies, and the students loved it. My favorite sentence concerns conditions aboard The Mayflower: "As giant waves washed over their tiny ship, tossing it about like a cork, the Puritans, realizing their fate was not in their own hands, got down on their knees and, drawing on some inner strength, threw up."

 

[southernhybrid]

The second author is the same one who wrote The New York Times best selling book, "I Could Pee on That". That was so popular that the residents insisted that I read it twice. It's the poetry book written by cats.

Thanks. I checked this out of the library today and, although I don't have an ounce of cat fancy, I enjoyed the book. He also has a book of dog poems called I Could Chew on This, which I want to get ahold of. I shared I Could Pee on This with the lifeguard at the Y, and she burst into laughter and took a screen shot so she could order one.

The residents where I volunteer really liked the book about dogs. They insisted I complete it. They liked the other cat book too, but some of the words were a bit over their heads and nobody knew what Stockholm Syndrome was, so I had to explain it to them. I haven't had a cat in decades but I do love cats and pretty much all animals, so I had fun reading these books.

I have the book, "I Could Chew on This" and I've read it to the residents once. I might read it again. It's pretty funny too. Doing volunteer work with these folks is good for them and a joy for me. Now I need to see what other silly books I can find to read to them. Some are on my kindle but most of the ones I've mentioned are dead tree books, a phrase I learned from the late DMB, who was once a member of this forum. She loved reading on her kindle and was a speed reader.

 

[spikepipsqueak]

Has anyone read Dark Matter by Blake Crouch?

You should.

 

[spikepipsqueak]

Also, The Book Thief.

There is nuance and complexity in the printed word that is hard to bring out in a film.

 

[ideologyhunter]

This week I read The Sewing Girl's Tale (2022) by John Wood Sweet. It's a study of a criminal case from 1793. A teenage seamstress, Lanah Sawyer, was dragged by a wealthy young man into the back room of a whorehouse and raped. The crime occurred in New York City. Sawyer did what very few women in her position would have done back then: with the support of her stepfather, she accused her attacker and had him arrested. The result was the earliest American rape trial for which a written trial record exists.
I will not say more about the events -- there were some decisions and consequences which I wouldn't have predicted. Two of them floored me. Sweet did an amazing amount of research to track down the details that still exist of the people and events in his history. I found it grimly fascinating. It is only fair to say that not all readers will appreciate the amount of 18th Century American history that Sweet weaves into the narrative. I did. There are a few questionable tangents, but overall, I found that his historical sidelines created a rich context for the often disturbing events. (I was so taken with this book that I emailed the author yesterday to ask about one detail I didn't think the book provided -- and he answered me.)

 

[spikepipsqueak]

That sounds good. Hope I can access it here.

I have just finished my second book by Blake Crouch. Upgrade.

I have been a classic SF person. Haven't avoided the modern stuff, but some of it lacks a "meatiness", a foundation in truth that the "old masters" had.

You can't say that about this writer.

 

[WAB]

That sounds good. Hope I can access it here.

I have just finished my second book by Blake Crouch. Upgrade.

I have been a classic SF person. Haven't avoided the modern stuff, but some of it lacks a "meatiness", a foundation in truth that the "old masters" had.

You can't say that about this writer.

Spikey, have you read Cecelia Holland's Floating Worlds? If you like classic sci-fi, I wager you would like it. Next to Greg Egan's Diaspora, it's my favorite sci-fi novel.

Floating Worlds

2000 years in the future, runaway pollution has made th…

www.goodreads.com

 

[thebeave]

Reading the "What are you reading?" thread on IIDB.

 

[ideologyhunter]

That's gold, Beave. Gold!! Can I use that?!