For the time being at least, WAYR will be posted on Wednesday mornings.
For those who are new ... we discuss books. I list what I'm reading, and people comment with what they're reading. Sometimes a post a special edition on a particular genre or topic.
Just the usual diary this week.
cfk has Bookflurries on Wednesday nights, with links to lots of other diaries about books and reading on daily Kos; but she is having computer problems and won't be around for a while.
sarahnity has Books by kossacks on Tuesdays.
If you like to trade books, try bookmooch
On Sunday mornings, I write "Let's read a book together" - we started Guns Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond, with the preface; this week, Chapter 1.
Just finished
The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove by Christopher Moore. In a little California town, a psychiatrist decides to give all her patients placebos, a prehistoric beast wakes up and terrorizes the town, while the town constable (who is always high) has to investigate. Very funny stuff.
The Way of the Traitor by Laura Joh Rowland. A mystery set in 17th century Japan. Inspector Sano is sent by his rival to Nagasaki; upon arrival, he's thrust into a web of intrigue, in which he must solve a murder and avoid being framed for murder or treason. This was a good book, giving a good flavor of being in a foreign place.
Now reading
Children of God by Mary Doria Russell. This is the sequel to The Sparrow which you should definitely read first. I've just started C of G, but The Sparrow was an astonishingly good first novel, about alien contact, but also about the meaning of faith, the nature of love, what morality is, and what it means to be civilized.
Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond. As noted above, we will be reading this in Let's Read a Book Together on Sunday. This is an attempt to answer the question: Why do the Eurasians and their descendants have all the stuff, while the people of the Americas, Africa, and Australia have very little?
Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention from Fire to Freud by Peter Watson. Astonishing in its depth and breadth. Watson integrates everything together, writes very well, and has a great eye for the telling detail. I am re-reading this - my first reading impressed me a lot.
Son of Fletch by Gregory McDonald. Fletch is back, with his inimitable humor and total mastery of every situation. This time, his son (who he didn't know he had) shows up at his doorstep, having escaped from prison with 3 other men. Then wild things happen.
The Year of Eating Dangerously by Tom Bowles. The author sets off around the world, searching for wild and crazy (but delicious) things to eat.