Randy, Calgary AB. Newly unemployed IT guy, but I'm fine about that, because my last job was a clusterf**k sh*t show. Currently reading "The Rogue" by Joe McGinniss, and will soon start to read "Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America", This will, I'm sure, provide an interesting juxtaposition.
Hi, I'm Nancy; I live in Chicago; I am currently reading River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh and The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly. Terry Pratchett's latest, Snuff, is sitting on my Kindle, too, but I haven't started it because I know I'll read it straight through--this weekend is probably the time.
I'm an academic advisor and mother of two little ones (almost one and 2.5) in West Lafayette, IN. I'm actually doing pretty well these days although I could always use some more sleep. Last two books I read were both Kindle pre-orders (I love how you get an email saying "You have a new book to read!" when you'd forgotten it was coming...like a surprise present). The latest Jack Reacher (pretty good) and the latest Percy Jackson (also good but not quite as great as The Lost Hero). Looking forward to "meeting" everyone again at my favorite website!
Joseph, Oak Park (a western suburb of Chicago), working in a private investigator office and reading Claire Tomalin's "Pepys: The Unequalled Self." Also have sitting on the endtable as an anniversary gift "Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadverdent Education of an Reluctant Chef."
Emily, Brooklyn, NY. I'm a PhD Candidate and currently training for the NYC marathon (3 weeks to go). I just finished Haruki Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. The remaining books in my queue are about medieval semi-religious women; so, um, back to the dissertation.
Kate, Upper West Side, Manhattan. I'm an attorney who runs a group of people who negotiate contracts at a large financial services company, I am also the mother to two very cute demon spawns who just turned two. I have been reading My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs, Chugga Chugga Choo Choo, and the Very Hungry Caterpiller A LOT. Personally, I have not read a grown-up book (fiction or non -- I don't count the what to expect stuff) since the boys were born which makes me sad. But I am reading preschool applications right now. weeeee.
I'm Kara, and I live in Ardmore, PA, by way of Hicksville, OH 43526. I'm fine, thanks; a little nervous about running the Hershey Half on Sunday but looking forward to all the chocolate I get to eat along the way. How are you? I work in fundraising at Swarthmore College and love to take advantage of the campus library (pronounced "liberry" by the locals). I'm in the middle of The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon, to be followed by Karen Russel's Swamplandia! Happy Friday!
Jeff, suburban Philadelphia, history professor. Ridiculously busy this semester with teaching, advising, committees, conferences, but generally enjoying the craziness. Reading a lot on the American Revolution recently, primarily for a month-long role-playing game on Patriots and Loyalists in NYC that I just finished teaching (from the fantastic Reacting to the Past program). Big thumbs-up for Gary Nash, The Unknown American Revolution, and Barnet Schecter, The Battle for New York. For fun, recently read Jonathan Tropper, This Is Where I Leave You, and Paul Murray, Skippy Dies -- both very funny and touching if a little overstuffed in spots.
Sasha, master's student in Chemistry, in Peterborough, ON (near-ish Toronto). I'm pretty good, although a little distraught since apparantly some of my second-year students don't know how to do calculations in Excel. I'm (still, I got it the day after it was released) reading A Dance with Dragons - the nicer cool weather at the end of the summer started my biking rather than taking the bus to work, so the loss of 40 minutes reading time, plus the addition of lab marking and question-answering for the bad-at-Excel second years means it's taking me forever. I did just blow through the whole Hunger Games trilogy on my mom's Kindle in a day and a half over Thanksgiving, though, and holy cow were they amazing!
I'm Caroline, and I work in DC and live just outside, in Arlington. I'm doing well, thanks, recent Metro implosions notwithstanding. Just started reading The Lemon Tree after finishing the third George R.R. Martin book (I'm trying to pace myself). Good luck on your half/marathons, Emily and Kara!
Jenn, tax appellate attorney for the government, in Washington, D.C. Recently got engaged and moved in with the fiance. Apparently, at just less than five months before the wedding, I'm woefully unprepared. (What? We have a venue and celebrant. Do I really need to have picked my dress by now?) Currently reading the first in a series of murder mysteries by Charles Finch, having recently enjoyed wandering my way through several books recommended in the last "what are you reading" threads.
Victoria, Jenn's sister. I work at a medical school as a project coordinator, helping out with medical education research. Hoping to go to grad school in the fall, if they let me in and whatnot. And I just read Riding the Trail of Tears by Blake Hausman (highly recommended!) and When Invisible Children Sing by Chi-Cheng Huang (also very good, but definitely heavy).
Thanks, Caroline! I finished the George R.R. Martin books this summer (which equals no dissertation writing). Also, I'm commuting to DC Wed-Fri every week this fall for a seminar, so let me know if there are places I should be sure to visit.
Emily, Brooklyn (but born and raised in Philly), high school teacher in Brooklyn, therefore at least a small percentage of me is looking foward to June, otherwise, I'm doing okay. Just finished reading Angelina's Bachelors (rather fluffy, but fun and set in South Philly), and recently started The Fortune Cookie Chronicles. Next on tap: Thinking about Leadership (by Nannerl Keohane) and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
Matt, Lower East Side, Manhattan, lawyer and general jack of all trades. Closing on finishing my long slog through Edmund Morris' Colonel Roosevelt. Not sure what will follow--have a decent pile from Amazon, including Ken Jennings' Maphead, Susan Orlean's Rin Tin Tin, volumes 2-4 of Song of Ice and Fire, the new Reacher book, and Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
Hi, all. I'm Sue, living in Sunnyside, Queens, working in Manhattan as a fundraiser for an Off Broadway theater, and we have an event this Monday, so I'm busy. (Not too busy to read here, of course.) I've been reading a string of bad and so-so books lately (finally read "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" like the rest of the world and found it just okay) so I'll be watching this thread for good book recommendations. Right now I've dug into my short-story shelves, where I have tons of collections, and I'm reading The O'Henry Awards 1999.
Matt in Munster, IN. I'm working in marketing research for one of Rupert's businesses and just finished a month of James and the Giant Peach/Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with my 5 year old twins. The were forced to stay up extra late last night because Daddy was too excited to put C&CF down with only 4 chapters to go. I also just finished my first Ironman Triathlon (not Kona) so reading has been replaced with sleep for the past 9 months but first on my "to-read" list is Emperor of All Maladies.
Robin, Pittsburgh, lawyer who doesn't practice law, writer who doesn't make any money. I'm reading Record Collecting for Girls by Courtney Smith and counting the days until Mindy Kaling's book comes out.
Wait - we have two Emilys in Brooklyn? Which one of you is @emilygwynne on Twitter, so I can fix in my head who's who. (I'm thinking that Emily is the marathoner.)
Heather K in Chicago. Since the last one of these I quit my miserable office assistant job and have replaced it with a job at a quilt shop and as an assistant manager at a home dec chain that sells quirky imported things and furniture. That switch made life much better. Also just started planning my wedding to my longtime fiancee. That feels like a job. As for reading, Chicago's summer started kind of late and I got in a very beach read mode and started 3 (yes 3) different series (serieses?) of books. Now I'm still finishing them. The Rizzoli & Isles crime novels are good page turners, The Pink Carnation romance/spy/regency series seem like I would love them but so far I only like them, and The Elm Creek Quilter series has interesting hints about quilting but the fiction seems like I'm reading way below my grade level. I also just put the Smart Bitches book about live and romance novels on my kindle and then I broke my kindle. And then two hours later I ordered a new kindle.
Watts (but my mom calls me Amy) in Athens, GA. Academic librarian. Have started but not yet finished: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing by Jasper Fforde, Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace, Love Is the Higher Law by David Levithan, An Arrow's Flight by Mark Merlis, Doors Open by Ian Rankin, and Strangers in Paradise Pocket Omnibus #1 by Terry Moore. Picked up Ready Player One (and a whole sackful of other books) from the public library last night. And will buy Record Collecting for Girls to read before I meet the author next weekend.
David, attorney in Walnut Creek, CA (East Bay Represent!). Busy, but could be busier. And at lunch today, I am going to head over to the library to pick up Live from New York and the latest Donna Andrews mystery The Real Macaw.
Benner, David. Living in Brooklyn, doing business and securities litigation in Manhattan. From Bucks County, Pa. originally. Not reading much these days but playing a lot of piano as i am in two chamber music groups for which i don't really have time, and i've also decided to re-learn how to play guitar using a slide, which means learning new sets of tunings. I think next is "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy, but it seems like a lot of work.
Sara, New York (but born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts), JD who is waiting on bar exam results, currently doing a fellowship in Fashion Law (really!) and singing in a choir for funsies. I'm currently reading "Consider the Lobster and Other Essays" by David Foster Wallace because I realized I'd never read any of his work and thought that was wrong. Next on the list is "Becoming Justice Blackmun" when my friend finishes it. What can I say, I'm a SCOTUS nerd.
Lauren here. Long time reader, occasional commenter from central PA by way of Philly. I'm a nanny for a 2 year old and an infant (both boys) and a prospective Mommy waiting for her baby via adoption. (I try not to make it a habit of pimping myself out on blogs, but this is such a diverse and welcoming group, that if anyone is interested, or may know someone looking for adoption information, my website is http://www.iheartadoption.org/users/broyles2adopt )
I love to read at naptime. Recently finished The Night Circus which I enjoyed, Unbearable Lightness because I adore Portia DiRossi, and am reading This is Where I Leave You now.
Christy, Queens, kids' book editor, from Maine originally.
Currently reading CHIME by Franny Billingsley as part of my quest to read all the National Book Award Young People's Literature nominees before the winner's announced.
Sarah Myers. I live in South Louisiana, near New Orleans. I am fine, tired. I work for a convention center and we are rolling into our busiest time of year. I am not really reading any book right now, but I'm hooked on Runners' World magazine, listening to podcasts, and reading blogs. Look how many of us are runners! I am training for the Louisiana Marathon next January.
Marsha, Chicago IL. Recovering lawyer now in law school administration, synagogue singer on the side. Married, two sons - 6.75 and 4. I'm fine, thanks for asking.
Have been reading through some of the YA books that I either somehow missed when I was a pre-teen or that came out long after I was - just read Half-Magic, Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, Pictures of Hollis Woods, and The Egypt Game. Am palate-cleansing with some Philip K. Dick short stories, and then I think I'm taking on Revolutionary Road, because I'm not nearly depressed enough. After that, two book club books - The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making and A Visit from the Goon Squad.
Hi, I am Mary from Cenral NJ. I work in financial reporting for a large insuranace company. I just finished the latest Jack Reacher (which I loved) and just downloaded Duff McKagen's (bass player for Gun's and Roses) autobiography. As a teen I was at the concert when they filmed the video for Paradise City so... since we were in a video together - I thought I should read his book!
The last couple of weeks I have also been running through Friday Night Lights on Netflix Streaming. It is stunningly good. Clear eyes, full hearts....
Lisa from Fairfax, just outside of Washington DC. I'm a proposal manager for a government contractor. It's dry and stressfull, but I've put in more than 10,000 hours, so I'm pretty good at it. I'm sad these days because our 15-year-old Lab is reaching the end of her days, and we have to make some hard decisions. I have a 10 year old and an 8 year old, both girls and bookworms, so I spend a lot of time switching between grown-up books and middle grade/YA lit. I don't mind at all.
I just finished Let the Great World Spin and A Visit From the Goon Squad, both fantastic, and The Knife of Never Letting Go, which I just tore through. The 10 year old is pushing the first books in the 39 Clues, Charlie Bone and Pseudonymous Bosch series, so I'll check them out. We're on our way to Ecuador next week for a family reunion, so I'm weighing my grown-up book options carefully. They include Swamplandia!, Street Gang (The History of Sesame Street), Unfamiliar Fishes, and The Goneaway World.
Hi I'm Maret from Los Angeles (Pasadena to be specific.) I book talent for events and am just gearing up for our annual awards season screening series which kicks off tonight. This is always fun because I get to try not to stutter when I meet filmmakers, actors, etc. I'm reading about five things, including Lee Child's Bad Luck & Trouble and a re-read of Ellen Emerson White's Long Live the Queen.
Totally agreed about the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". With all of America essentially freaking out about this book, I thought it was going to be spectacular. Sadly, just so-so in my opinion, and took way too long to be remotely interesting.
Erin, NJ, copywriter. Currently working in law firm marketing, of all things, and today I'm writing about med mal and securities litigation. The fun never ends!
Just read Jamie Ford's Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet for my book club. Really wasn't blown away by it but part of the fun of book club is reading stuff I probably would not have selected on my own. About to start In The Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and An American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson. Next up for book club is The Mill River Recluse by Darcy Chan (which reminds me, I really need to hit the library).
Also, am I the only one around here watching X-Factor? I'm loving having Simon back on my TV and I already have a few faves.
Good luck to the half/marathon runners! And, since there seem to be so many runners around these parts, I may as well ask... I'm interested in giving running a shot again after trying (and failing) with the Couch to 5k deal a few years ago. I'm generally more of a sitting around and relaxing kind of person, so I'm looking for any tips/suggestions for getting/staying motivated with the whole treadmill thing.
Andrea, High School Teacher, Central New Jersey I am in the middle of Cleopatra: A Life and planning on picking up The Swerve. I would love to sign up for goodreads.com, but I am afraid I will get depressed when I realize how little I am actually reading. I am also into the third season of Arrested Development on Netflix. I am glad that they discussed more episodes at the New Yorker Festival, but I am not sure a movie would work for this delightful show.
Preston, Bloomington, IN, graduate student in music (voice/opera), currently balancing school, part time jobs, and rehearsals for three operas this semester (A View From The Bridge opens in a week!). But I just tore through Lev Grossman's The Magicians, a sort of Harry Potter/Narnia mashup with quasi-hipster-nerds fresh out of magic college that I found simultaneously joyful, highly interesting, and slighty messy (if a little too borrowed/inspired). I've heard the sequel is better, so I'll check it out soon. I'm about to begin Adam Ross's Mr. Peanut, as soon as I find a free hour to relax and get acquainted with it.
I blazed through the full series in about three weeks this summer. Having played high school football through my senior year, I was drawn into the striking reality of the Dillon Panthers. But more than anything, it was the absolutely stellar writing and acting that kept me emotionally invested and begging for more (an opinion shared by most viewers, I'd imagine).
Lauri, Seattle, mom to an 8 yr-old boy and a 6 yr-old girl. In a former life, I worked at Amazon, so my favorite reading lately was this rant by Steve Yegge re: Platforms. Book-wise, I just finished Unbroken: A World War II Story and now I'm slogging through Room: A Novel. Also making my way through the Jack Reacher series (Tom Cruise? Are you kidding me?) and a massive pile of unread New Yorkers.
Join a running/training group. That's what keeps me going. If you have a local Fleet Feet store, check with them. I started with them with a run a mile group, then a 5k group, a half-marathon group, and I'm now in a marathon training group. If it wasn't for the accountability of having a group, I would never run/train.
My friends really do call me Squid. Twin Cities. Doing pretty well, having recently returned from a Black Hills/Badlands vacation. I do consulting for cities and counties, mostly fiscal impact studies, in an effort to prevent them from "pulling a Harrisburg."
Just finished Ready Player One, picking up a collection of Feynman's lectures and the most recent issue of Small Craft Advisor.
Renee, Columbia, SC, public defender. I'm fine, but exhausted from marathon training. Three weeks until Rock n Roll Savannah. I've been in a reading funk for a while, but right now I'm reading lots of running books and magazines to keep me motivated. (Also, for the other Carolinians, I still have your emails from the last roll call -- things have just been crazy to try and plan a meet up. I swear that I do want to meet y'all! Maybe in the new year?)
They have run a mile groups?! That seems way less intimidating than the running groups I've heard of which seem to consist of super-fit, super-competitive people (I am neither). I'm going to check if there's a Fleet Feet by me right now! Thanks!
I couldn't get through One of Our Thursdays despite loving the rest of that series, but I did really like Love Is The Higher Law a lot. It spent at least a year on my shelf before I got to it, but I loved how he dealt with the characters.
Becky, Dubuque, IA, professionally an Academic Librarian, unprofessionally a young adult novel advocate/enthusiast. Slightly overwhelmed by the number of books on my to read list, but I'm halfway through My Beating Teenage Heart by C. K. Kelly Martin and the next to start is Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor for one my 4 book clubs. I have a problem. Clearly.
The Patrick Ness books deserve much more attention than I feel like they got. Man oh man. For people who've read The Hunger Games trilogy and are looking for the next thing, try them. They're called the Chaos Walking series.
I also really liked The Goneaway World, just as a data point for your decision. It is not perfect; it has those debut novel rough edges. But it was fascinating to me.
Roger, in New York (upper west side) and Chicago (south loop), IP attorney on leave from my firm in Washington to do a fellowship at NYU Law. I've mostly been reading for work recently, primarily about privacy law, but I'm also in the middle of Justice Stevens' Five Chiefs. Doing well, though I'm a little sleepy today.
Chapel Hill, NC. Tired, harried, but well. Recovering lawyer; currently work in law school administration. Compulsively reading Clash of Kings, but should be reading my book club pick, Let the Great World Spin.
Elizabeth, Glenside, PA. I'm doing well, thanks, but it was touch and go yesterday when I was helping my 8 y.o. son with his homework. It wasn't pretty.
I just finished reading Faithful Place by Tana French and loved it so much that I lent my kindle to my sister so she can read it. I have Unbroken and the Happiness Project next in my pile to read but I'm not ready to let go of Faithful Place yet. It really got under my skin.
Andrew, Upper West Side of NYC. I am a frequent reader and infrequent commenter (although I have participated in a Fantasy Baseball league with you all). Currently getting my MBA in the evenings while working full time, so my reading is mainly Global Economic text books, and the 2 weeks of NY Magazines that are piling up next to my bed.
Aimee, San Diego. I have a day job in finance, but by night (and weekend, and every other spare minute) my husband and I are screenwriters with our first feature in pre-production, FINALLY. It's going to be low budget, and it's independent, but we have financing and everything. We had a short film produced last summer, and we hope that will soon be making the rounds at festivals. We're also shopping a comedy pilot that we wrote, and working on a new feature.
As far as what I'm reading? Well, I'm working my way through a ton of Kindle samples because I have some Amazon gift cards saved up from my birthday and I'm trying to decide what to read next. Likely candidates are: new Reacher, the Jasper Fforde someone mentioned above, maybe Rogue... not sure. Also, I am reading Carlos Ruiz Zafon's "El principe de la niebla" for my Spanish group!
That was what was so great! It was a four week program where we started off with intervals of 30 seconds running, 90 seconds walking. I've never been able to run until I started with that group b/c even the couch to 5K was too hard for me. There is another running store in my town that has the super-fit, super-competitive people, but my FF store is all the normal people and "misfits" (although we have some people who are super-competitive who I just stay away from.)
Congrats on your feature, Aimee! You must come to LA and have drinks with Maret, Becca, and me (and any other LA thing-throwers who've yet to reveal themselves).
I'm plowing my way through the Game of Thrones series - currently halfway through Feast For Crows - makes it VERY hard to do my work reading when I have those books sitting on my ipad calling my name...aaah!
Genevieve, federal attorney, working in DC and living just outside. With the 11-year-old, I'm reading Bluefish by Pat Schmatz, which my favorite Newberg blog touted as a possible for the Newbery. Liking it very much. On my own, am reading several other childrens/YA books (in my Sliding Doors life I'd work at a children's bookstore or library), including Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick (which I liked much better than Hugo Cabret), What Can't Wait by Ashley Hope Perez (really good), and The Scarecrow of Oz (book group Sunday is talking about The Wizard of Oz and other Oz books, and I was horrified to find that I owned all my childhood Oz books except for The Wizard - must rectify that on Saturday and read quickly). The two adult books I just finished and enjoyed were Wendy and the Lost Boys, a biography of Wendy Wasserstein (here and there a bit too gossipy, and sad at the end, but very good and illuminating overall), and The Little Women Letters, a pure pleasure read about the descendants of Jo, Meg, and Amy (Jo is given a late-life daughter she didn't have in the original, and the main characters are her great-greats).
I'm Andrew, I live in southeast Kansas. I work as an editor for the local newspaper (got the promotion in spring). Pretty stressed at work, but at home we're starting tries to get pregnant. Was this as frightening to other future fathers as it is to me? I mean, I want a kid and I feel we're mentally in the place to start having kids, but dear god, that's going to mess with our status quo. When my wife talks about babies, I get the Michelle Bachmann Newsweek look: Huge smile, but wide, scared eyes.
Oh, and I'm currently in the middle of A Storm of Swords, which I read in between mental exercises from Games Magazine.
I'm Russ. I live in Fairfax Virginia and work as a telecom-law wonk in DC. This year has been filled with ups and downs: My wife and I separated in February, which has been tough, but in the time since then I have developed a much stronger bond with my young daughter, made good new friends, and done things I could never have done before, like spending 2 weeks traveling in China this summer. I just started reading David Stewart's "<span>Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln's Legacy." (Did you know that, when he was sworn in as VP (just 5 weeks or so before becoming President), Johnson got totally blasted before making his speech?)</span>
Someone above mentioned Ready Player One. I read this in China. I suspect a LOT of people here would like it -- particularly those of you who could get into a book that manages to reference Oingo Boingo, War Games, the Atari 2600 game "Adventure," the TRS game "Aftermath," and the cover to the original Dungeon Master's Guide in the first few pages.
As my friends who prod me about my failure to plan enough for the wedding would tell you, I am plainly not busy enough, so we definitely could get together. And my December argument just got moved, so....
I did some work in Dubuque a couple of years ago. Fell in love with the place. I imagine the colors along the river have to be breathtaking right about now.
Jodi, I live in New York City (in an apartment, not camped out in a park on Wall Street!). I work in college publishing as an editor for Supplements and New Media. I just finished reading The Paris Wife and Fly Away Home (shout out to Jen!!), and now I'm reading Rob Lowe: Stories I Only Tell My Friends. Honestly, the Rob Lowe book is pretty good, for those of us who grew up on The Outsiders, St. Elmo's Fire, etc.
County. Mine is at Bonnie Brae. I live right by Fairfax Corner. I'm always up for meeting people in person for coffee, lunch, whatever, so please let me know if you'd like to! (No worries if not - I know some people like to keep a line between virtual friends and real-life friends.)
Dave. I'm a software engineer and a native Philadelphian currently living in Bryn Mawr. I have a three year old, so most recently I'm reading the Bob the Builder Storybook Treasury aloud over and over and over again. Also I've been getting a lot of cookbooks (not sure that skimming them actually counts as reading) because of an awakened interest in both fine and healthier eating (blame Top Chef for the former, rising weight since fatherhood for the latter) and a realization that someday Ian will be willing to eat something other than hot dogs and chicken nuggets that is going to need to be produced. Most recently started looking at Mark Bittman's Food Matters Cookbook.
Laura, Indianapolis, I'm drowning in a sea of loneliness and despair. j/k about the loneliness part. I'm an out of work librarian, lately fielding weird calls from telemarketers who think I would make a good fit in their co's, where they answer the phone like a fencing operation. I'm reading The Family Fang and so far I really like it.
Jordan. Philadelphia. I work in politics, because all you lawyer need to feel morally superior to someone. Without breaking the rule, I can say that in the last year I went into business for myself consulting, which is nice. And while I'm not reading anything now (save for 10-12 newspapers a day), I plan to pickup the Pawnee book.
I'm Andrew, live in Brooklyn and an ex-lawyer now working as an entertainment agent representing variety and musical acts in the cruise industry. I've been reading The Girl Who Played with Fire on and off for months and only 50% through. I recently started Boardwalk Empire, too, but I haven't been reading much at all.
Stacey, Seattle, law school administration (boy, there's a lot of us!). Just finished Packing for Mars - which I learned about here, but I can't remember who to thank for the recommendation (thank you!). With my 8 and 5 year old, am just wrapping up From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Loved it as a kid, and am loving it again with them.
Adam, former BigLaw lawyer, former smalllaw lawyer, now public interest environmental lawyer for a non-profit in Philly. I live in Wynnewood, PA, with my wife and two daughters, ages 10 and 7. Everyone else is my house is reading all of the time, but I'm something of a slacker on that front - just finishing Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation, which I took on our actual vacation in late August, and here we are in mid-October. You would think the unfortunate early end of the Phillies season would free up my time, but I find that I'm very busy watching SyFy Original Movies, thank you very much.
Hi, I'm Jonathan. I live in Philadelphia, PA working as a Technology Director for an advertising company. Things are going pretty well here, though more then a bit busy with social events, starting my MBA, and work. Thanks for asking.
Currently finishing, "Everything is Illuminated" and then moving on to...something. Maybe "Mockingjay"? Seeing the "Hunger Games" trailer got me a bit pumped up and curious to see how the series resolves now. There are more then a few books hanging around on the "to be read" pile, though.
Caught up on all four seasons of Breaking Bad this year and yup, it's about as good as everyone says it is. I can finally get started watching Season 2 of Boardwalk Empire now.
Looking forward to the David Sedaris show in Philly tommorrow night, too!
Mike, Philadelphia born, South Jersey raised, currently representing in and about Jersey City and Brooklyn. Former patent attorney, current IT cog. I've been on a John McPhee binge: Pine Barrens, Uncommon Carriers, Annals of the Former World. Also Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson's "Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites", which is one of the most well-written and best-looking comics I've ever read. See you tomorrow at New York Comic-Con?
Mike, Philadelphia born, South Jersey raised, currently representing in and about Jersey City and Brooklyn. Former patent attorney, current IT cog. I've been on a John McPhee binge: Pine Barrens, Uncommon Carriers, Annals of the Former World. Also Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson's "Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites", which is one of the most well-written and best-looking comics I've ever read. See you tomorrow at New York Comic-Con?
Mike, Philadelphia born, South Jersey raised, currently representing in and about Jersey City and Brooklyn. Former patent attorney, current IT cog. I've been on a John McPhee binge: Pine Barrens, Uncommon Carriers, Annals of the Former World. Also Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson's "Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites", which is one of the most well-written and best-looking comics I've ever read. See you tomorrow at New York Comic-Con?
I'm Tracy. We just started year 2 in Helsinki (Adam, I think you asked this question about the same time last year because I remember responding on the tram ride home from work at Big Blue). Overall, we are doing well. Had a wonderful baby boy in March who is more fun than I could ever imagine and I'm taking time off to be with him. On the downside, it looks like we won't return to Stamford, so we have just put our house on the market. And what an ideal time to do THAT! On the upside, we will possibly go to the Silicon Valley or Chicago, next. Time will tell.
Reading material ranges from 2-3 readings per day of "The Little Blue Truck" (which I do love!), to my stack of 5 People and 3 New York magazines that arrived yesterday (I have a short list of must have American things and these are on it!), and just started tonight "Inside Scientology" based on the review I read in the aforementioned People magazine. We will see how that one is.
Thanks for asking, and thanks for helping me stay pop culturally connected to home!
Austin, Home Base Baltimore, MD Unemployed for two years, currently consulting with a firm outside of Amsterdam, trying to decide if the ex-pat lifestyle is for me. I currently have a cold and miss my dog. Currently revisiting a favorite author via tehThe Library of America edition of Vonnegut Novels & Stories 1963 - 1973. May be becoming a Bokononist. I've identified my Wrang-Wrang and working on identifying my Karass. "Well done, Mr. Krebbs, well done."
"Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder, 'Why, why, why?' Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand."
Hi, I'm Jen, in Montclair NJ. I'm doing ok, thanks for asking. I'm a children's book editor for middle grade and YA, so I haven't really read anything not for work in months. Haven't read much adult fiction, actually, in years, sadly. Though I did recently read Blood, Bones and Butter (loved it) and Bossypants (adored it).
And like Kate, I have most recently read a number of picture books to the toddler, including but not limited to the entire Llama Llama oeuvre. And can, in fact, recite Llama Llama Red Pajama <span></span>from memory. Also, Ox Cart Man (which, can I just say, what almost 3 year old is obsessed with OX CART MAN, of all things? Mine, apparently).
Jamie, Columbus, OH - I am running the Columbus Half Marathon on Sunday. I am also taking candidacy exams for my PhD next Friday, so my reading is limited to org theory and the history of public administration. I plan to read David Grossman's To the End of the Land once exams are over.
I'm Dee and I live outside of Philly on the South Joisey side of the Delaware, but raised in the central part of the state. If anyone in the area is looking for an exec admin/office manager, please let me know.
The last book I read was "No Touch Monkey!" by Ayun Halliday (no relation to the Phils' pitcher as far as I can tell) and I picked up an almost complete collection of Time-Life's "The Good Cook" collection from the '70's a few weekends back. A good weight-loss book might be next on my list.
I'm also working my way through a bunch of back issues of "Piecework" which is a magazine specializing in needlework through a historical lens. Good stuff if you like to play with hooks, sticks and fiber.
Elaine, from the north suburbs of Chicago, but originally from amid the cornfields of central Illinois. Doing well, despite having a high schooler and middle schooler (girls!) in the house. I'm an old newspaper editor whose industry is in meltdown and thus am considering other options. Too busy to read right now, but while on vacation I zipped through I am the Messenger (loooooooved it), the Hunger Games Trilogy (the last book, alas, finishes up like most series: kind of lamely) and a bunch of David Sedaris collections. I read Game of Thrones years and years ago -- and am thinking I need to reread it and get back into George R.R. Martin's world. The TV show has only whetted my appetite. Like others here, I plowed through three seasons of Breaking Bad in two weeks before Season 4 premiered. So glad I did -- it's changed my life, as did Friday Night Lights before it. Take care, everyone!
I'm Karen, in Portland, OR, and I'm super-busy due to a recent promotion, but overall doing pretty good. I work in college athletics (Senior Associate Athletic Director at U of Portland - go Pilots), and my current read is Mike Leach's Swing Your Sword, which I'm enjoying a lot. It helps that we don't have football here at UP, since sports books often feel like homework. The new Ann Patchett is on the top of my to-read pile, and will probably come next (I like to alternate btw fiction and non). I'm also reading Wind in the Willows to my 8-yr-old son - he's graduated to chapter books and I'm having fun reading him some of my old favorites. My favorite book ever - The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler - is next, though he doesn't know it yet.
I'm Jay, from Winston-Salem, N.C. (go Deacs!), and I'm carrying the tattered flag for print media as a newspaper copy editor.
I'm headed up to DC for the Marine Corps Marathon on Oct. 30--my first marathon, and I'm nervous. I've run four halfs, but controlling the adrenaline and keeping the legs/breath for 26.2 miles of racing is just daunting.
I'm reading "Ready Player One," which is, as noted above, a fantastic hit of nostalgia for a 40-year-old geek like me. Next--maybe catching up on old Dennis Lehane, or rereading Eric Weiner's "Geography of Bliss," which always makes me smile.
<p><span>Shani, Philadelphia, PA. I spend my days trying to keep my A/E firm's 350 staffers employed (by writing proposals to government sector clients) and the rest of my time wrangling two young sons. I just finished Michael Lindsay-Hogg's autobiography (until I started seeing press for the book, I had no idea that he may well be the son of Orson Welles, which is Very Cool, Indeed), and have begun <span>Neal</span></span><span><span> Stephenson's new novel </span></span><span>Reamde. Which had damn well better earn that title. </span> </p>
Janet ~ Memphis ~ Ballet teacher / school director / choreographer. Also a fractal artist. I have a 5-month-old rescue lab mix named Finn who is growing like a weed and chewing everything in sight. I'm watching the entire West Wing series for the first time and listening to Mark Helprin's Freddy and Frederika on audio book.
I'll read everyone else's comments later - D'Arcy, in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. I teach seventh and eighth grade French and love it, which likely means I'm certifiably insane. I'm also mom to three girls, aged 9, 7 and 5. We just had a birthday party for the 5 year old, whose birthday was Tuesday, and I am now preparing for the party for the 9 year old, whose birthday was in July. Don't judge me. I'll read all the comments later on when there are four or five nine year olds not sleeping in my living room.
As for what I'm reading - about to start House Rules by Jodi Picoult. I'm expecting it to be as uplifting as her books usually are. After that, hoping to pick up Fever Dream and Cold Vengeance, both by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, at the library.
Katie, State College, PA. Currenty visiting DC and staying in Dupont Circle -- so I am just great, thanks! I just finished reading Igraine the Brave to my children, and I am looking forward to sharing Seach for Delicious with them. I am reading "The Emperor of All Maladies" on the Kindle, and I have "180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Everyday" on the nightstand when I have a minute before I fall asleep.
If you have a venue, an officiant, and a willing couple, most of the other details pretty much take care of themselves. Have you ever blown a deadline on a case? I somehow doubt it. Weddings are the same thing.
I second Renee's suggestion. I would never have made it through marathon training without a running group. I need a time to show up, people to be accountable to, and someone to give me homework. I can come up with too many excuses not to run, otherwise. I'm taking a class that is training for the NYC marathon; it's comforting to know that we're all going to be (suffering together) there on race day.
Renee, I recommend What I Talk About When I Talk About Running if you haven't read it, yet. It's a quick read and inspiring. Also, good luck! I, too, am exhausted. My last 20 miler is tomorrow and then taper (what a wonderful word).
I am the other Jenn with 2 ns. I live outside of DC on the VA side, and I work for a big PR agency downtown. I am on Twitter as @jxchu. The book I have been forcing everyone to read lately is The Passage.
Good luck to all the marathoning and half marathoning Thing Throwers! If anyone in DC is looking for a running group, I highly recommend the groups at Pacers.
KR, another lawyer (surprise!), living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn! I am the government lawyer living in the middle of hipsterville. It's weird - sometimes, I feel like I'm the chaperone, but it's fun. Would love to do a NYC get-together....in BK. We're not occupied yet.
As for reading, I'm finishing one of Anthony Bourdain's book. I got stuck in the middle of The Goon Squad and just gave up. I haven't found a fiction book that I've loved recently. I need to reassess what's on my bookshelf.
I also need to find a beginners running group in North Brooklyn.
I'm Dan. I'm on my couch. I'm TIRED. And I think I'm reading "Storm of Swords," but I may be confusing the titles of different George R.R. Martin novels.
I did the Jack Rabbit marathon class, but they also have beginning running classes starting from their 14th St store and another one in Prospect Park. Neither of the locations help with the North Brooklyn part, but the 14th Street class might be an easy commute. http://jackrabbitsports.com/training-programs/running/ There is also this group: http://northbrooklynrunners.org/
Craig. Chalfont, PA. Professional geek. I am, as my grandfather would say, "fine as frog fuzz." Currently (still) in the middle of both A Dance With Dragons and The Hunger Games and apparently the "entire Internet," at least according to my wife.
I'm Andrea, proud resident of Oakland, CA. Very recently went from lawyering to not-lawyering and instead staying home with the 8 and 5 year olds, which has been very exciting. Even more recently came back from Hawaii, so I'm feeling pretty great, thanks for asking, Adam! The book I want to plug is Left Neglected, which is by the same author as Still Alice (Lisa Genova), which I loved. Both are great. Looking forward to reading some of the recs here, but am probably going to nerd it up with Game of Thrones next. We also just finished reading and making a diorama of Stuart Little. The reading was more fun than the diorama-ing.
Jessica, north of Houston, TX, I'm RIDICULOUSLY busy getting together the holiday orders for the small business I work at while simultaneously trying to get everything ready for our new website launch (natural bath and body care products, handmade bath bombs, etc). I'm reading Game of Thrones. As much a i can, which sometimes means a chapter a night and other times I manage. I fall asleep with the light on and never use my college degree.
Hi, I'm Paul Tabachneck, living in Sunset Park, or South Park Slope to the real estate agents, in Brooklyn, NYC, NY, USA.
Still writing songs, still working a few days a week in IT, still busking my heart out. In addition, I've started scoring segments for marlothomas.com, and will be taking my first class at the Upright Citizen's Brigade training center on Monday. Also, I've started working on a book of essays on misophonia, a project for which I'm quickly gaining co-conspirators. Should be an emotional, but awesome, 2012!
I'm Carolyn. I am a huge Simon & Garfunkel fan (hence the pen name). I am a lawyer living in D.C., who is proud to count Throwing Things commenter and recent Jeopardy contestant Maggie as one of her best friends. I've also had the pleasure of seeing what some of you read as my friends on GoodReads.com (I'm cwelshhans there). I recently finished Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes (strongly recommend), am currently reading Life by Keith Richards (how is that guy alive?), and am about to start Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings by Alison Weir.
Hi there, I'm Meghan in suburban Philly (NJ side) nonprofit consultant, mommy to two boys under 26 months and happy to be healthy at the moment. Primarily reading to toddlers (Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site is the tops right now). I did manage to read Blood Bones and Butter this summer too, but am otherwise struggling to get through today's paper and the occasional NYer article.
I liked Consider the Lobster, but you should definitely read "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again." The essays on the cruise and the Illinois State Fair are excellent.
Also, a heads up that a ALOTT5MA NYC meetup is tenatively being scheduled for next Saturday afternoon/evening, likely in Manhattan--a post will follow with more details.
Another Jen (one N) checking in from the lovely Bungalow Belt of the Northwest Side of Chicago (by way of Minneapolis, by way of Sayville, NY). I'm a creative manager at a B2B company, currently working 11 hours a day getting the 2012 catalog out while managing a new production system implementation. When I'm not swearing at my Mac at work, I'm playing my viola in a volunteer symphony. When I'm not carving out time to practice, I'm reading my stacks of Entertainment Weeklys, just finished Tina Fey's memoir (hilarious) and trying to start The Distant Hours by Kate Morton.
Ooh, check out Shades of Grey by Fforde! I got a little tired of the Thursdays, but this is a different series with a beyond-weird premise. (does that go without saying with him?)
I'm ANNA. Until last month I was a proud Chicagoan but my feet got itchy and now I live in the South Bronx (it's kind of awesome. apparently some things have been changing in the Bronx and it only takes me TWENTY minutes to get to Grand Central).
I'm looking for a job. Until then, you'll find me temping at any number of fine establishments around this fair city.
I just finished Rules of Civility by Amor Towles, which I found utterly charming and The Disappearing Spoon, which is about the Periodic Table and is incredibly awesome (not that I'm a nerd or anything...).
How did you like Michael Lindsay-Hogg's book? I went back and forth on ordering and it's still there in my cart on Amazon, just waiting for me to make up my mind.
I'm Marnie, and apparently I'm late to the roll call. I'm in my last year of law (and public policy) school in DC and interning at a civil rights organization. I'm good although it'd be nice to be less busy. Recent reads: This Beautiful Life by Helen Shulman, Blueprints for Building Better Girls by Elissa Schappell, Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos, The Winters in Bloom by Lisa Tucker and Countdown (an amazing YA book) by Deborah Wiles. Next in the queue is Birds of Paradise by Diana Abu-Jaber and I Married You for Happiness by Lily Tuck. Some of my favorites from the summer: Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones and The Year We Left Home by Jean Thompson.
How is living in the South Loop? It is on our possibilities to move list because the streeterville bachelor apartment me and the guy and the cat and the grand piano are sharing needs to be rethought out and be bigger.
<span>I'm Tina, I live in Indanapolis. I used to teach Biology but now I get to spend all my time focused on being a mom to 4 boys (Yes, ALL BOYS! Yes, its crazy here!) ages 8, 5, almost 2 and 7 months. I'm kind of beteween books...Bossypants is now avaliable for me at the library, I'm going to pick it up tomorrow and I'm going to enjoy looking at this list to get some ideas! And thanks for a bit of adult 'interaction' during some long sick kid days in the past, nice to have stuff to help distract me and feel like I'm hanging out with grown-ups during long days. </span>
I'm doing great since quitting my officey job in the spring. Have replaced that with volunteering at the Lincoln Park Zoo (I'm here in Chicago), working at a quilt shop (sometimes blogging for them at quiltology.com, quilting like crazy, and working part time at another shop (this one a giant national chain). Into that mix I also just started planning my wedding which will happen in Chicago and in Pasco, WA (my hometown) over a week next September. Planning my wedding often makes me want to not bother with getting married, especially as my fiancee is getting a Masters in Product Development and is using me as a case study in his project management class. Reading a couple of beachy read types series at once--Elm Creek Quilters (which I do not like except some actual technical quilting details here and there so I stay), Rizzoli & Isles (which I am enjoying), and the Pink Carnation series (which I keep reading because I feel like they are so up my alley I don't know why I am not loving them more).
Hi, I'm Becca, and I'm in Los Angeles. After 2.5 years of delightful unemployment, I finally have a job, which is totally bumming me out. I work in TV production, so if you follow me on twitter, expect me to start pimping my current project in January, when they're talking about airing it. I just read the latest Becca Fitzpatrick YA novel, Silence, which was delightful, and just before that, read Faith: A Novel, by Jennifer Haigh, which was good, but kind of collapsed in on itself in the end. In general, I'm shopping for a new career path. If you have any ideas, let me know!
Oh wow! Of course, I'm swamped next weekend but may have a moment on Saturday afternoon. If there's any shot for it being rescheduled for the following weekend then I'm definitely in.
Helloo everyone! You all sound well and very busy. I am Lucy, in Melbourne (previously Perth, London and Simsbury CT). I am currently renovating my apartment and so tired and stressed. I work as a Product Manager for a software company and have decided to look for a new job. After devouring George RR Martin this year and as a way of coping with the stress I am re-reading Fiest's Magician. I recently finished Grossman's The Magicians which I liked but thought he needed more humour.
I anticipated all the current & former law folks, but am surprised there are so many fellow higher ed ThingThrowers.
I am yet another Jen-only one n. Boston ex-pat who just moved to DC (really suburban MD) to start the Ph.D. grind. I am doing amazing since I have relocated today from a gross sublet to a big girl apartment. This euphoria will wear off when I remember how much research did not happen today. Currently a full time doc student with two fellowships/assistantships, so I am not lacking for work or reading material. Good to keep busy or I will wonder why I am doing this to myself. Also, pretty impressed by Marnie and the other grad students with extensive pleasure reading lists. I'm currently flipping back and forth between Sarah Vowell's Unfamiliar Fishes and Michael Honey's history of the '68 Memphis garbage workers strike.
I'm in the Baltimore area. After getting out of the software industry (semi-voluntarily) ten years ago, I went back to school, got a PhD in math, and six months ago got a job... in software. I'm doing great, but the w is miserable at her job, so if you happen to know of anyone in suburban Baltimer who needs a biostatistician, we'd sure love the help. This week, I've read Coding Theory by Ling and Xing, Dive Into Python by Pilgrim, last week's Time magazine, and six articles about fake football. No, I'm not much of a reader. I have, however, watched over half of the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die," and just finished Ivan the Terrible (Part Two) last night.
Ted, rabble-rousing public-interest attorney in DC, live just outside in Arlington. Just finished "Nothing to Envy," an extraordinary book about life of ordinary citizens in North Korea, and "1493," which wasn't as revelatory as "1491," but still good. Doing great: winning cases, and am allegedly going to be profiled in Monday's Wall Street Journal.
We keep saying we're going to do a DC-area ALOTT5MA get-together, and never do. Now that Russ has finally made it to the Italian Store, we have no excuse.
Tina, in Pittsburgh (another one!). I teach theatre, which, like the other academics, means fall is a crazy busy time. The only running I do is to rehearsals.
I have had the chance to sneak in quite a bit of good reading this year, including Goon Squad, the HungerGames trilogy, and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which I then assigned to students for a class project (Several of them thanked me for that!). I have Ann Patchett's State of Wonder and hope to get to it this weekend as a reward for finishing grading production paperwork projects. And I'm teaching a course on magical realism in the second half of this semester, so I'm reading Karen Russell's wonderful stories and calling it work.
I'm Melissa, from Fall River, MA (about 50 miles south of Boston), and I never feel lazier than when I read about all you marathon-running, language-learning, instrument-playing, volunteering peeps. I work for early intervention, with infants and toddlers who have developmental disabilities, a job that's both challenging and increadibly rewarding. Just finished State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett (loved it - now plan to read my way through her entire collection) and currently reading the new Charles Frazier, Nightwoods: A Novel, which I'm enjoying so far. Also just started working through Friday Night Lights on Netflix at y'all's suggestion, and am loving it!
I couldn't finish First Among Sequels I disliked it so much. This one is starting out much more promising.
Love Is the Higher Law was very moving. I liked it much better than that pretentious sack of crap The Emperor's Children, the only other "9/11" novel I've read. I also liked Levithan's explanation for why he wrote the book, particularly why he wrote it in the YA genre (I mean that's his wheelhouse, but he's right to tackle this subject in that genre.)
I love Games Magazine. The difficult thing about a subscription, though, is the back issues you feel you can't throw out until you finish all the puzzles (well, except the kids' ones and the one-star challenges).
I've got a friend who's an American ex-pat, along with her Italian boyfriend, in Utrecht. She writes for an ex-pat blog and is always looking to meet other ex-pats in the area. Here's her blog: http://oranjeflamingo.wordpress.com/ Get in touch with her and tell her Watts sent you. P.S. Her dog is awesome and friendly.
Joe in Charlotte (as NPR recently said, you don't need to say the North Carolina part!). Doing fine and enjoying the start of Fall. At work I have the Martin book, but at home I'm reading Joyce's <span>Ulysses</span>.
I love Mixed Up Files! I need to reread it. It will be interesting to see how much I remember, but it will probably be a lot, b/c I read it a billion times when I was younger.
<p><span>Rachel in Boston. I'm a PhD Candidate in Earth Sciences. I'm currently feeling like I want to go Office Space on a misbehaving Mass Spectrometer, but am thankful for the misbehaving because now I can go take advantage of the beautiful weather. I just finished re-reading all five books in the "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" series and am currently reading a book of short stories called "An Hour in Paradise" by Joan Leegant. </span>
Loved Shades of Grey! Didn't expect to like it very much (after First Among Sequels), but it was one of my favorites by him. A little deeper than usual.
I have problems reading from my droid phone -- comments are there but are not in threads (within the topic), so I can't see which comments are responding to which earlier comments. Will look for the link Meghan mentioned.
Stevie in Chicago. I'm doing okay -- I have a demanding job doing communications (PR & marketing), content management, and publications for a larger nonprofit and a 5-month-old infant, who is a delight and who I love parenting with my husband, but whose sleeping patterns are making my demanding job a little tricky to navigate. I'm also wavering on returning to grad school in library science this spring, even though I've put in a full year and have a 4.0. So lots of changes.
I'm not reading anything, which is unusual, but I have The Art of Fielding, Beautiful Days, and The Future of Us all staring accusingly at me from my coffee table.
Julie - NYC by weekday, Northen Westchester resident. Children's book editor (I work with one of the many Jens, above, IRL) doing mostly YA. One of these days I'm going to read a book for pleasure again, but reading for work is a bit all-consuming at the moment . . . though I'm reading some pretty wonderful stuff, so I'm not too derprived.
Hi guys. I'm Kristin, Upper East Side, NYC. I've been a corporate litigator for longer than I ever planned. I'm currently reading The Good Soldiers, and have a stack of books to read that I bought in anticipation of seeing the Reporting from the Edge session at The New Yorker Festival by Dexter Filkins (The Forever War), Jon Lee Anderson (The Lion's Grave) and Wendell Steavenson (Stories I Stole and The Weight of a Mustard Seed).
Apparently I am late to the party...anyway, Leslie, Gladwyne, PA. I am an assistant teacher in a preschool. Currently I am reading People magazine. That's about the length of my attention span, wish I could be more literary savvy, but at the end of the day, I'm happy to watch my TV. :)
Jake, Bethesda, MD. Married 4 years with an 18-month old son. Former lawyer; quit nearly a decade ago to do a Ph.D. in history and am now working as a historian in a federal agency. Recent books read include David Foster Wallace, The Pale King (I almost never read fiction but make an exception for DFW); Erik Larson, In the Garden of Beasts; and Stephen Breyer, Making Our Democracy Work. Just started reading State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America. Next on my list, coming out later this month: John Bacon, Three and Out: Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines in the Crucible of College Football.
Cary, NC. Software account manager. Tired today after my 16-mile run, but still happy I can even run. My marathon is in December in Sacramento and then after the first of the year, I'll be training for Ironman Couer d'Alene. Reading a lot of magazines, because I fall asleep after fifteen minutes. Waiting a few more weeks to get an iPad or ereader and then will try for The Hunger Games. I love everyone's recommendations though, thank you!
I'm trying to maintain my cool, in prep for meeting him again in 2 weeks. Since there will be wine at that event I am pretending we have a date to get drinks.
Hi, I'm Linda. Actress living on the Upper West Side in NY. Doing well. Visiting family down in DC this weekend and planning to head to MLK dedication festivities tomorrow. Just finished Cutting for Stone which I really liked. Getting ready to start Philistines at the Hedgerow.
Randy, Calgary AB. Newly unemployed IT guy, but I'm fine about that, because my last job was a clusterf**k sh*t show. Currently reading "The Rogue" by Joe McGinniss, and will soon start to read "Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America", This will, I'm sure, provide an interesting juxtaposition.
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm Nancy; I live in Chicago; I am currently reading River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh and The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly. Terry Pratchett's latest, Snuff, is sitting on my Kindle, too, but I haven't started it because I know I'll read it straight through--this weekend is probably the time.
ReplyDeleteI'm an academic advisor and mother of two little ones (almost one and 2.5) in West Lafayette, IN. I'm actually doing pretty well these days although I could always use some more sleep. Last two books I read were both Kindle pre-orders (I love how you get an email saying "You have a new book to read!" when you'd forgotten it was coming...like a surprise present). The latest Jack Reacher (pretty good) and the latest Percy Jackson (also good but not quite as great as The Lost Hero). Looking forward to "meeting" everyone again at my favorite website!
ReplyDeleteJoseph, Oak Park (a western suburb of Chicago), working in a private investigator office and reading Claire Tomalin's "Pepys: The Unequalled Self." Also have sitting on the endtable as an anniversary gift "Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadverdent Education of an Reluctant Chef."
ReplyDeleteEmily, Brooklyn, NY. I'm a PhD Candidate and currently training for the NYC marathon (3 weeks to go). I just finished Haruki Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. The remaining books in my queue are about medieval semi-religious women; so, um, back to the dissertation.
ReplyDeleteKate, Upper West Side, Manhattan. I'm an attorney who runs a group of people who negotiate contracts at a large financial services company, I am also the mother to two very cute demon spawns who just turned two. I have been reading My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs, Chugga Chugga Choo Choo, and the Very Hungry Caterpiller A LOT. Personally, I have not read a grown-up book (fiction or non -- I don't count the what to expect stuff) since the boys were born which makes me sad. But I am reading preschool applications right now. weeeee.
ReplyDeleteI'm Kara, and I live in Ardmore, PA, by way of Hicksville, OH 43526. I'm fine, thanks; a little nervous about running the Hershey Half on Sunday but looking forward to all the chocolate I get to eat along the way. How are you? I work in fundraising at Swarthmore College and love to take advantage of the campus library (pronounced "liberry" by the locals). I'm in the middle of The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon, to be followed by Karen Russel's Swamplandia! Happy Friday!
ReplyDeleteJeff, suburban Philadelphia, history professor. Ridiculously busy this semester with teaching, advising, committees, conferences, but generally enjoying the craziness. Reading a lot on the American Revolution recently, primarily for a month-long role-playing game on Patriots and Loyalists in NYC that I just finished teaching (from the fantastic Reacting to the Past program). Big thumbs-up for Gary Nash, The Unknown American Revolution, and Barnet Schecter, The Battle for New York. For fun, recently read Jonathan Tropper, This Is Where I Leave You, and Paul Murray, Skippy Dies -- both very funny and touching if a little overstuffed in spots.
ReplyDeleteSasha, master's student in Chemistry, in Peterborough, ON (near-ish Toronto). I'm pretty good, although a little distraught since apparantly some of my second-year students don't know how to do calculations in Excel. I'm (still, I got it the day after it was released) reading A Dance with Dragons - the nicer cool weather at the end of the summer started my biking rather than taking the bus to work, so the loss of 40 minutes reading time, plus the addition of lab marking and question-answering for the bad-at-Excel second years means it's taking me forever. I did just blow through the whole Hunger Games trilogy on my mom's Kindle in a day and a half over Thanksgiving, though, and holy cow were they amazing!
ReplyDeleteI'm Caroline, and I work in DC and live just outside, in Arlington. I'm doing well, thanks, recent Metro implosions notwithstanding. Just started reading The Lemon Tree after finishing the third George R.R. Martin book (I'm trying to pace myself). Good luck on your half/marathons, Emily and Kara!
ReplyDeleteJenn, tax appellate attorney for the government, in Washington, D.C. Recently got engaged and moved in with the fiance. Apparently, at just less than five months before the wedding, I'm woefully unprepared. (What? We have a venue and celebrant. Do I really need to have picked my dress by now?) Currently reading the first in a series of murder mysteries by Charles Finch, having recently enjoyed wandering my way through several books recommended in the last "what are you reading" threads.
ReplyDeleteVictoria, Jenn's sister. I work at a medical school as a project coordinator, helping out with medical education research. Hoping to go to grad school in the fall, if they let me in and whatnot. And I just read Riding the Trail of Tears by Blake Hausman (highly recommended!) and When Invisible Children Sing by Chi-Cheng Huang (also very good, but definitely heavy).
ReplyDeleteThanks, Caroline! I finished the George R.R. Martin books this summer (which equals no dissertation writing). Also, I'm commuting to DC Wed-Fri every week this fall for a seminar, so let me know if there are places I should be sure to visit.
ReplyDeleteEmily, Brooklyn (but born and raised in Philly), high school teacher in Brooklyn, therefore at least a small percentage of me is looking foward to June, otherwise, I'm doing okay. Just finished reading Angelina's Bachelors (rather fluffy, but fun and set in South Philly), and recently started The Fortune Cookie Chronicles. Next on tap: Thinking about Leadership (by Nannerl Keohane) and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
ReplyDeleteMatt, Lower East Side, Manhattan, lawyer and general jack of all trades. Closing on finishing my long slog through Edmund Morris' Colonel Roosevelt. Not sure what will follow--have a decent pile from Amazon, including Ken Jennings' Maphead, Susan Orlean's Rin Tin Tin, volumes 2-4 of Song of Ice and Fire, the new Reacher book, and Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
ReplyDeleteHi, all. I'm Sue, living in Sunnyside, Queens, working in Manhattan as a fundraiser for an Off Broadway theater, and we have an event this Monday, so I'm busy. (Not too busy to read here, of course.) I've been reading a string of bad and so-so books lately (finally read "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" like the rest of the world and found it just okay) so I'll be watching this thread for good book recommendations. Right now I've dug into my short-story shelves, where I have tons of collections, and I'm reading The O'Henry Awards 1999.
ReplyDeleteMatt in Munster, IN. I'm working in marketing research for one of Rupert's businesses and just finished a month of James and the Giant Peach/Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with my 5 year old twins. The were forced to stay up extra late last night because Daddy was too excited to put C&CF down with only 4 chapters to go. I also just finished my first Ironman Triathlon (not Kona) so reading has been replaced with sleep for the past 9 months but first on my "to-read" list is Emperor of All Maladies.
ReplyDeleteRobin, Pittsburgh, lawyer who doesn't practice law, writer who doesn't make any money. I'm reading Record Collecting for Girls by Courtney Smith and counting the days until Mindy Kaling's book comes out.
ReplyDeleteWait - we have two Emilys in Brooklyn? Which one of you is @emilygwynne on Twitter, so I can fix in my head who's who. (I'm thinking that Emily is the marathoner.)
ReplyDeleteHeather K in Chicago. Since the last one of these I quit my miserable office assistant job and have replaced it with a job at a quilt shop and as an assistant manager at a home dec chain that sells quirky imported things and furniture. That switch made life much better. Also just started planning my wedding to my longtime fiancee. That feels like a job. As for reading, Chicago's summer started kind of late and I got in a very beach read mode and started 3 (yes 3) different series (serieses?) of books. Now I'm still finishing them. The Rizzoli & Isles crime novels are good page turners, The Pink Carnation romance/spy/regency series seem like I would love them but so far I only like them, and The Elm Creek Quilter series has interesting hints about quilting but the fiction seems like I'm reading way below my grade level. I also just put the Smart Bitches book about live and romance novels on my kindle and then I broke my kindle. And then two hours later I ordered a new kindle.
ReplyDeleteWatts (but my mom calls me Amy) in Athens, GA. Academic librarian. Have started but not yet finished: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing by Jasper Fforde, Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace, Love Is the Higher Law by David Levithan, An Arrow's Flight by Mark Merlis, Doors Open by Ian Rankin, and Strangers in Paradise Pocket Omnibus #1 by Terry Moore. Picked up Ready Player One (and a whole sackful of other books) from the public library last night. And will buy Record Collecting for Girls to read before I meet the author next weekend.
ReplyDeleteDavid, attorney in Walnut Creek, CA (East Bay Represent!). Busy, but could be busier. And at lunch today, I am going to head over to the library to pick up Live from New York and the latest Donna Andrews mystery The Real Macaw.
ReplyDeleteBenner, David. Living in Brooklyn, doing business and securities litigation in Manhattan. From Bucks County, Pa. originally. Not reading much these days but playing a lot of piano as i am in two chamber music groups for which i don't really have time, and i've also decided to re-learn how to play guitar using a slide, which means learning new sets of tunings. I think next is "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy, but it seems like a lot of work.
ReplyDeleteSara, New York (but born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts), JD who is waiting on bar exam results, currently doing a fellowship in Fashion Law (really!) and singing in a choir for funsies. I'm currently reading "Consider the Lobster and Other Essays" by David Foster Wallace because I realized I'd never read any of his work and thought that was wrong. Next on the list is "Becoming Justice Blackmun" when my friend finishes it. What can I say, I'm a SCOTUS nerd.
ReplyDeleteLauren here. Long time reader, occasional commenter from central PA by way of Philly. I'm a nanny for a 2 year old and an infant (both boys) and a prospective Mommy waiting for her baby via adoption.
ReplyDelete(I try not to make it a habit of pimping myself out on blogs, but this is such a diverse and welcoming group, that if anyone is interested, or may know someone looking for adoption information, my website is http://www.iheartadoption.org/users/broyles2adopt )
I love to read at naptime. Recently finished The Night Circus which I enjoyed, Unbearable Lightness because I adore Portia DiRossi, and am reading This is Where I Leave You now.
It's definitely not me. I don't Tweet. (Despite having formerly worked for the same institution as one of the founders of Twitter)
ReplyDeleteI'm fine, thanks!
ReplyDeleteChristy, Queens, kids' book editor, from Maine originally.
Currently reading CHIME by Franny Billingsley as part of my quest to read all the National Book Award Young People's Literature nominees before the winner's announced.
Sarah Myers. I live in South Louisiana, near New Orleans. I am fine, tired. I work for a convention center and we are rolling into our busiest time of year. I am not really reading any book right now, but I'm hooked on Runners' World magazine, listening to podcasts, and reading blogs. Look how many of us are runners! I am training for the Louisiana Marathon next January.
ReplyDelete3L in Cambridge, MA (but excited to return to California after this year).
ReplyDeleteCurrently only reading my Fed Courts textbook, but I've had the newest Thursday Next book optimistically placed on my bedside table for months.
Marsha, Chicago IL. Recovering lawyer now in law school administration, synagogue singer on the side. Married, two sons - 6.75 and 4. I'm fine, thanks for asking.
ReplyDeleteHave been reading through some of the YA books that I either somehow missed when I was a pre-teen or that came out long after I was - just read Half-Magic, Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, Pictures of Hollis Woods, and The Egypt Game. Am palate-cleansing with some Philip K. Dick short stories, and then I think I'm taking on Revolutionary Road, because I'm not nearly depressed enough. After that, two book club books - The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making and A Visit from the Goon Squad.
Hi, I am Mary from Cenral NJ. I work in financial reporting for a large insuranace company. I just finished the latest Jack Reacher (which I loved) and just downloaded Duff McKagen's (bass player for Gun's and Roses) autobiography. As a teen I was at the concert when they filmed the video for Paradise City so... since we were in a video together - I thought I should read his book!
ReplyDeleteThe last couple of weeks I have also been running through Friday Night Lights on Netflix Streaming. It is stunningly good. Clear eyes, full hearts....
I wonder if there are enough Pittsburghers for an ALOTT5MA meetup?
ReplyDeleteCan't lose!
ReplyDeleteI haven't even started watching the fifth season, because if I do, then there will be No More, Ever.
Lisa from Fairfax, just outside of Washington DC. I'm a proposal manager for a government contractor. It's dry and stressfull, but I've put in more than 10,000 hours, so I'm pretty good at it. I'm sad these days because our 15-year-old Lab is reaching the end of her days, and we have to make some hard decisions. I have a 10 year old and an 8 year old, both girls and bookworms, so I spend a lot of time switching between grown-up books and middle grade/YA lit. I don't mind at all.
ReplyDeleteI just finished Let the Great World Spin and A Visit From the Goon Squad, both fantastic, and The Knife of Never Letting Go, which I just tore through. The 10 year old is pushing the first books in the 39 Clues, Charlie Bone and Pseudonymous Bosch series, so I'll check them out. We're on our way to Ecuador next week for a family reunion, so I'm weighing my grown-up book options carefully. They include Swamplandia!, Street Gang (The History of Sesame Street), Unfamiliar Fishes, and The Goneaway World.
Me too. And I know how it ends too! I think I'm just savoring the last episodes.
ReplyDeleteHi I'm Maret from Los Angeles (Pasadena to be specific.) I book talent for events and am just gearing up for our annual awards season screening series which kicks off tonight. This is always fun because I get to try not to stutter when I meet filmmakers, actors, etc. I'm reading about five things, including Lee Child's Bad Luck & Trouble and a re-read of Ellen Emerson White's Long Live the Queen.
ReplyDeleteTotally agreed about the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". With all of America essentially freaking out about this book, I thought it was going to be spectacular. Sadly, just so-so in my opinion, and took way too long to be remotely interesting.
ReplyDeleteErin, NJ, copywriter. Currently working in law firm marketing, of all things, and today I'm writing about med mal and securities litigation. The fun never ends!
ReplyDeleteJust read Jamie Ford's Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet for my book club. Really wasn't blown away by it but part of the fun of book club is reading stuff I probably would not have selected on my own. About to start In The Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and An American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson. Next up for book club is The Mill River Recluse by Darcy Chan (which reminds me, I really need to hit the library).
Also, am I the only one around here watching X-Factor? I'm loving having Simon back on my TV and I already have a few faves.
Good luck to the half/marathon runners! And, since there seem to be so many runners around these parts, I may as well ask... I'm interested in giving running a shot again after trying (and failing) with the Couch to 5k deal a few years ago. I'm generally more of a sitting around and relaxing kind of person, so I'm looking for any tips/suggestions for getting/staying motivated with the whole treadmill thing.
Congratulations on the engagement!
ReplyDeleteAndrea, High School Teacher, Central New Jersey
ReplyDeleteI am in the middle of Cleopatra: A Life and planning on picking up The Swerve. I would love to sign up for goodreads.com, but I am afraid I will get depressed when I realize how little I am actually reading.
I am also into the third season of Arrested Development on Netflix. I am glad that they discussed more episodes at the New Yorker Festival, but I am not sure a movie would work for this delightful show.
Preston, Bloomington, IN, graduate student in music (voice/opera), currently balancing school, part time jobs, and rehearsals for three operas this semester (A View From The Bridge opens in a week!). But I just tore through Lev Grossman's The Magicians, a sort of Harry Potter/Narnia mashup with quasi-hipster-nerds fresh out of magic college that I found simultaneously joyful, highly interesting, and slighty messy (if a little too borrowed/inspired). I've heard the sequel is better, so I'll check it out soon. I'm about to begin Adam Ross's Mr. Peanut, as soon as I find a free hour to relax and get acquainted with it.
ReplyDeleteI blazed through the full series in about three weeks this summer. Having played high school football through my senior year, I was drawn into the striking reality of the Dillon Panthers. But more than anything, it was the absolutely stellar writing and acting that kept me emotionally invested and begging for more (an opinion shared by most viewers, I'd imagine).
ReplyDeleteLauri, Seattle, mom to an 8 yr-old boy and a 6 yr-old girl. In a former life, I worked at Amazon, so my favorite reading lately was this rant by Steve Yegge re: Platforms. Book-wise, I just finished Unbroken: A World War II Story and now I'm slogging through Room: A Novel. Also making my way through the Jack Reacher series (Tom Cruise? Are you kidding me?) and a massive pile of unread New Yorkers.
ReplyDeleteJoin a running/training group. That's what keeps me going. If you have a local Fleet Feet store, check with them. I started with them with a run a mile group, then a 5k group, a half-marathon group, and I'm now in a marathon training group. If it wasn't for the accountability of having a group, I would never run/train.
ReplyDeleteMy friends really do call me Squid. Twin Cities. Doing pretty well, having recently returned from a Black Hills/Badlands vacation. I do consulting for cities and counties, mostly fiscal impact studies, in an effort to prevent them from "pulling a Harrisburg."
ReplyDeleteJust finished Ready Player One, picking up a collection of Feynman's lectures and the most recent issue of Small Craft Advisor.
Renee, Columbia, SC, public defender. I'm fine, but exhausted from marathon training. Three weeks until Rock n Roll Savannah. I've been in a reading funk for a while, but right now I'm reading lots of running books and magazines to keep me motivated. (Also, for the other Carolinians, I still have your emails from the last roll call -- things have just been crazy to try and plan a meet up. I swear that I do want to meet y'all! Maybe in the new year?)
ReplyDeleteThey have run a mile groups?! That seems way less intimidating than the running groups I've heard of which seem to consist of super-fit, super-competitive people (I am neither). I'm going to check if there's a Fleet Feet by me right now! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't get through One of Our Thursdays despite loving the rest of that series, but I did really like Love Is The Higher Law a lot. It spent at least a year on my shelf before I got to it, but I loved how he dealt with the characters.
ReplyDeleteBecky, Dubuque, IA, professionally an Academic Librarian, unprofessionally a young adult novel advocate/enthusiast. Slightly overwhelmed by the number of books on my to read list, but I'm halfway through My Beating Teenage Heart by C. K. Kelly Martin and the next to start is Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor for one my 4 book clubs. I have a problem. Clearly.
ReplyDeleteThe Patrick Ness books deserve much more attention than I feel like they got. Man oh man. For people who've read The Hunger Games trilogy and are looking for the next thing, try them. They're called the Chaos Walking series.
ReplyDeleteI also really liked The Goneaway World, just as a data point for your decision. It is not perfect; it has those debut novel rough edges. But it was fascinating to me.
Roger, in New York (upper west side) and Chicago (south loop), IP attorney on leave from my firm in Washington to do a fellowship at NYU Law. I've mostly been reading for work recently, primarily about privacy law, but I'm also in the middle of Justice Stevens' Five Chiefs. Doing well, though I'm a little sleepy today.
ReplyDeleteChapel Hill, NC. Tired, harried, but well. Recovering lawyer; currently work in law school administration. Compulsively reading Clash of Kings, but should be reading my book club pick, Let the Great World Spin.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, Glenside, PA. I'm doing well, thanks, but it was touch and go yesterday when I was helping my 8 y.o. son with his homework. It wasn't pretty.
ReplyDeleteI just finished reading Faithful Place by Tana French and loved it so much that I lent my kindle to my sister so she can read it. I have Unbroken and the Happiness Project next in my pile to read but I'm not ready to let go of Faithful Place yet. It really got under my skin.
Andrew, Upper West Side of NYC. I am a frequent reader and infrequent commenter (although I have participated in a Fantasy Baseball league with you all). Currently getting my MBA in the evenings while working full time, so my reading is mainly Global Economic text books, and the 2 weeks of NY Magazines that are piling up next to my bed.
ReplyDeleteMazel tov, Jenn.!! (also, we really have to get together one of these days. though you may be a little busy right now.)
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about picking up the Stevens book this weekend; worth it?
ReplyDeleteOne Of Our Thursdays is in my latest library stack. Love Levithan (one of his other books is in my stack) but haven't read Love Is The Higher Law yet.
ReplyDeleteAimee, San Diego. I have a day job in finance, but by night (and weekend, and every other spare minute) my husband and I are screenwriters with our first feature in pre-production, FINALLY. It's going to be low budget, and it's independent, but we have financing and everything. We had a short film produced last summer, and we hope that will soon be making the rounds at festivals. We're also shopping a comedy pilot that we wrote, and working on a new feature.
ReplyDeleteAs far as what I'm reading? Well, I'm working my way through a ton of Kindle samples because I have some Amazon gift cards saved up from my birthday and I'm trying to decide what to read next. Likely candidates are: new Reacher, the Jasper Fforde someone mentioned above, maybe Rogue... not sure. Also, I am reading Carlos Ruiz Zafon's "El principe de la niebla" for my Spanish group!
I hope you report back on River of Smoke. I have Sea of Poppies on the shelf, but haven't read it.
ReplyDeleteI am completely uninterested in football, and I loved FNL with a passion.
ReplyDeleteI just grabbed lunch at The Italian Store, Caroline. Yummm.
ReplyDeleteThat was what was so great! It was a four week program where we started off with intervals of 30 seconds running, 90 seconds walking. I've never been able to run until I started with that group b/c even the couch to 5K was too hard for me. There is another running store in my town that has the super-fit, super-competitive people, but my FF store is all the normal people and "misfits" (although we have some people who are super-competitive who I just stay away from.)
ReplyDeleteUpper West Side! IP lawyer! Yay!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your feature, Aimee! You must come to LA and have drinks with Maret, Becca, and me (and any other LA thing-throwers who've yet to reveal themselves).
ReplyDeleteI'm plowing my way through the Game of Thrones series - currently halfway through Feast For Crows - makes it VERY hard to do my work reading when I have those books sitting on my ipad calling my name...aaah!
That's my next read. How was i not aware of this book's existence?
ReplyDeleteGenevieve, federal attorney, working in DC and living just outside. With the 11-year-old, I'm reading Bluefish by Pat Schmatz, which my favorite Newberg blog touted as a possible for the Newbery. Liking it very much. On my own, am reading several other childrens/YA books (in my Sliding Doors life I'd work at a children's bookstore or library), including Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick (which I liked much better than Hugo Cabret), What Can't Wait by Ashley Hope Perez (really good), and The Scarecrow of Oz (book group Sunday is talking about The Wizard of Oz and other Oz books, and I was horrified to find that I owned all my childhood Oz books except for The Wizard - must rectify that on Saturday and read quickly). The two adult books I just finished and enjoyed were Wendy and the Lost Boys, a biography of Wendy Wasserstein (here and there a bit too gossipy, and sad at the end, but very good and illuminating overall), and The Little Women Letters, a pure pleasure read about the descendants of Jo, Meg, and Amy (Jo is given a late-life daughter she didn't have in the original, and the main characters are her great-greats).
ReplyDeleteI'm Andrew, I live in southeast Kansas. I work as an editor for the local newspaper (got the promotion in spring). Pretty stressed at work, but at home we're starting tries to get pregnant. Was this as frightening to other future fathers as it is to me? I mean, I want a kid and I feel we're mentally in the place to start having kids, but dear god, that's going to mess with our status quo. When my wife talks about babies, I get the Michelle Bachmann Newsweek look: Huge smile, but wide, scared eyes.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I'm currently in the middle of A Storm of Swords, which I read in between mental exercises from Games Magazine.
Hmm. I thought I was the only person here from Fairfax... with an 8-year-old daughter... Our girls could be in school together!
ReplyDeleteI've also been on a privacy-law thing. Anything in particular you recommend?
ReplyDeleteI'm Russ. I live in Fairfax Virginia and work as a telecom-law wonk in DC. This year has been filled with ups and downs: My wife and I separated in February, which has been tough, but in the time since then I have developed a much stronger bond with my young daughter, made good new friends, and done things I could never have done before, like spending 2 weeks traveling in China this summer. I just started reading David Stewart's "<span>Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln's Legacy." (Did you know that, when he was sworn in as VP (just 5 weeks or so before becoming President), Johnson got totally blasted before making his speech?)</span>
ReplyDeleteSomeone above mentioned Ready Player One. I read this in China. I suspect a LOT of people here would like it -- particularly those of you who could get into a book that manages to reference Oingo Boingo, War Games, the Atari 2600 game "Adventure," the TRS game "Aftermath," and the cover to the original Dungeon Master's Guide in the first few pages.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little addicted to Games Magazine...glad I'm not the only one!
ReplyDeleteOne of Our Thursdays was, I thought, better than the previous Thursday Next novel. I was very concerned for the series after that one.
ReplyDeleteAs my friends who prod me about my failure to plan enough for the wedding would tell you, I am plainly not busy enough, so we definitely could get together. And my December argument just got moved, so....
ReplyDeleteIf it's not terrifying, you're doing it wrong. Don't worry.
ReplyDeleteI did some work in Dubuque a couple of years ago. Fell in love with the place. I imagine the colors along the river have to be breathtaking right about now.
ReplyDeleteThat would be great, Bella -- let's make it happen! And thanks for the congrats. It's been a long time coming. :)
ReplyDeleteJodi, I live in New York City (in an apartment, not camped out in a park on Wall Street!). I work in college publishing as an editor for Supplements and New Media.
ReplyDeleteI just finished reading The Paris Wife and Fly Away Home (shout out to Jen!!), and now I'm reading Rob Lowe: Stories I Only Tell My Friends. Honestly, the Rob Lowe book is pretty good, for those of us who grew up on The Outsiders, St. Elmo's Fire, etc.
Fairfax County or Fairfax City? They're at Providence ES.
ReplyDeleteCounty. Mine is at Bonnie Brae. I live right by Fairfax Corner. I'm always up for meeting people in person for coffee, lunch, whatever, so please let me know if you'd like to! (No worries if not - I know some people like to keep a line between virtual friends and real-life friends.)
ReplyDeleteDave. I'm a software engineer and a native Philadelphian currently living in Bryn Mawr. I have a three year old, so most recently I'm reading the Bob the Builder Storybook Treasury aloud over and over and over again. Also I've been getting a lot of cookbooks (not sure that skimming them actually counts as reading) because of an awakened interest in both fine and healthier eating (blame Top Chef for the former, rising weight since fatherhood for the latter) and a realization that someday Ian will be willing to eat something other than hot dogs and chicken nuggets that is going to need to be produced. Most recently started looking at Mark Bittman's Food Matters Cookbook.
ReplyDeleteAbington or Cheltenham part of Glenside? (I went to CHS)
ReplyDeleteIlissa, living in Los Angeles, recent law school graduate. I am therefore reading the legal job postings on Craigslist :p
ReplyDeleteLaura, Indianapolis, I'm drowning in a sea of loneliness and despair. j/k about the loneliness part. I'm an out of work librarian, lately fielding weird calls from telemarketers who think I would make a good fit in their co's, where they answer the phone like a fencing operation.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading The Family Fang and so far I really like it.
Jordan. Philadelphia. I work in politics, because all you lawyer need to feel morally superior to someone. Without breaking the rule, I can say that in the last year I went into business for myself consulting, which is nice. And while I'm not reading anything now (save for 10-12 newspapers a day), I plan to pickup the Pawnee book.
ReplyDeleteThe colors are gorgeous. Windy days this week have stripped some of the early color from the trees, but still fantastic looking.
ReplyDeleteWonderstruck was gorgeous!!
ReplyDeleteI'm Andrew, live in Brooklyn and an ex-lawyer now working as an entertainment agent representing variety and musical acts in the cruise industry. I've been reading The Girl Who Played with Fire on and off for months and only 50% through. I recently started Boardwalk Empire, too, but I haven't been reading much at all.
ReplyDeleteStacey, Seattle, law school administration (boy, there's a lot of us!). Just finished Packing for Mars - which I learned about here, but I can't remember who to thank for the recommendation (thank you!). With my 8 and 5 year old, am just wrapping up From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Loved it as a kid, and am loving it again with them.
ReplyDeleteAdam, former BigLaw lawyer, former smalllaw lawyer, now public interest environmental lawyer for a non-profit in Philly. I live in Wynnewood, PA, with my wife and two daughters, ages 10 and 7. Everyone else is my house is reading all of the time, but I'm something of a slacker on that front - just finishing Sarah Vowell's Assassination Vacation, which I took on our actual vacation in late August, and here we are in mid-October. You would think the unfortunate early end of the Phillies season would free up my time, but I find that I'm very busy watching SyFy Original Movies, thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm Jonathan. I live in Philadelphia, PA working as a Technology Director for an advertising company. Things are going pretty well here, though more then a bit busy with social events, starting my MBA, and work. Thanks for asking.
ReplyDeleteCurrently finishing, "Everything is Illuminated" and then moving on to...something. Maybe "Mockingjay"? Seeing the "Hunger Games" trailer got me a bit pumped up and curious to see how the series resolves now. There are more then a few books hanging around on the "to be read" pile, though.
Caught up on all four seasons of Breaking Bad this year and yup, it's about as good as everyone says it is. I can finally get started watching Season 2 of Boardwalk Empire now.
Looking forward to the David Sedaris show in Philly tommorrow night, too!
Mike, Philadelphia born, South Jersey raised, currently representing in and about Jersey City and Brooklyn. Former patent attorney, current IT cog. I've been on a John McPhee binge: Pine Barrens, Uncommon Carriers, Annals of the Former World. Also Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson's "Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites", which is one of the most well-written and best-looking comics I've ever read. See you tomorrow at New York Comic-Con?
ReplyDeleteMike, Philadelphia born, South Jersey raised, currently representing in and about Jersey City and Brooklyn. Former patent attorney, current IT cog. I've been on a John McPhee binge: Pine Barrens, Uncommon Carriers, Annals of the Former World. Also Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson's "Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites", which is one of the most well-written and best-looking comics I've ever read. See you tomorrow at New York Comic-Con?
ReplyDeleteMike, Philadelphia born, South Jersey raised, currently representing in and about Jersey City and Brooklyn. Former patent attorney, current IT cog. I've been on a John McPhee binge: Pine Barrens, Uncommon Carriers, Annals of the Former World. Also Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson's "Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites", which is one of the most well-written and best-looking comics I've ever read. See you tomorrow at New York Comic-Con?
ReplyDeleteI'm Tracy. We just started year 2 in Helsinki (Adam, I think you asked this question about the same time last year because I remember responding on the tram ride home from work at Big Blue). Overall, we are doing well. Had a wonderful baby boy in March who is more fun than I could ever imagine and I'm taking time off to be with him. On the downside, it looks like we won't return to Stamford, so we have just put our house on the market. And what an ideal time to do THAT! On the upside, we will possibly go to the Silicon Valley or Chicago, next. Time will tell.
ReplyDeleteReading material ranges from 2-3 readings per day of "The Little Blue Truck" (which I do love!), to my stack of 5 People and 3 New York magazines that arrived yesterday (I have a short list of must have American things and these are on it!), and just started tonight "Inside Scientology" based on the review I read in the aforementioned People magazine. We will see how that one is.
Thanks for asking, and thanks for helping me stay pop culturally connected to home!
Austin, Home Base Baltimore, MD
ReplyDeleteUnemployed for two years, currently consulting with a firm outside of Amsterdam, trying to decide if the ex-pat lifestyle is for me.
I currently have a cold and miss my dog.
Currently revisiting a favorite author via tehThe Library of America edition of Vonnegut Novels & Stories 1963 - 1973.
May be becoming a Bokononist. I've identified my Wrang-Wrang and working on identifying my Karass.
"Well done, Mr. Krebbs, well done."
"Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder, 'Why, why, why?' Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand."
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm Jen, in Montclair NJ. I'm doing ok, thanks for asking. I'm a children's book editor for middle grade and YA, so I haven't really read anything not for work in months. Haven't read much adult fiction, actually, in years, sadly. Though I did recently read Blood, Bones and Butter (loved it) and Bossypants (adored it).
ReplyDeleteAnd like Kate, I have most recently read a number of picture books to the toddler, including but not limited to the entire Llama Llama oeuvre. And can, in fact, recite Llama Llama Red Pajama <span></span>from memory. Also, Ox Cart Man (which, can I just say, what almost 3 year old is obsessed with OX CART MAN, of all things? Mine, apparently).
Oh, and Entertainment Weekly/google reader.
Jamie, Columbus, OH - I am running the Columbus Half Marathon on Sunday. I am also taking candidacy exams for my PhD next Friday, so my reading is limited to org theory and the history of public administration. I plan to read David Grossman's To the End of the Land once exams are over.
ReplyDeleteSeriously - let us know when you're coming north and we'll get together. Fun!
ReplyDeleteI should get your email from Russ and vice versa. I'm not so mobile at the moment, but getting more so.
ReplyDeleteI'm Dee and I live outside of Philly on the South Joisey side of the Delaware, but raised in the central part of the state. If anyone in the area is looking for an exec admin/office manager, please let me know.
ReplyDeleteThe last book I read was "No Touch Monkey!" by Ayun Halliday (no relation to the Phils' pitcher as far as I can tell) and I picked up an almost complete collection of Time-Life's "The Good Cook" collection from the '70's a few weekends back. A good weight-loss book might be next on my list.
I'm also working my way through a bunch of back issues of "Piecework" which is a magazine specializing in needlework through a historical lens. Good stuff if you like to play with hooks, sticks and fiber.
Elaine, from the north suburbs of Chicago, but originally from amid the cornfields of central Illinois. Doing well, despite having a high schooler and middle schooler (girls!) in the house. I'm an old newspaper editor whose industry is in meltdown and thus am considering other options. Too busy to read right now, but while on vacation I zipped through I am the Messenger (loooooooved it), the Hunger Games Trilogy (the last book, alas, finishes up like most series: kind of lamely) and a bunch of David Sedaris collections. I read Game of Thrones years and years ago -- and am thinking I need to reread it and get back into George R.R. Martin's world. The TV show has only whetted my appetite.
ReplyDeleteLike others here, I plowed through three seasons of Breaking Bad in two weeks before Season 4 premiered. So glad I did -- it's changed my life, as did Friday Night Lights before it.
Take care, everyone!
I was working out of that very library today.
ReplyDeleteI'm Karen, in Portland, OR, and I'm super-busy due to a recent promotion, but overall doing pretty good. I work in college athletics (Senior Associate Athletic Director at U of Portland - go Pilots), and my current read is Mike Leach's Swing Your Sword, which I'm enjoying a lot. It helps that we don't have football here at UP, since sports books often feel like homework. The new Ann Patchett is on the top of my to-read pile, and will probably come next (I like to alternate btw fiction and non). I'm also reading Wind in the Willows to my 8-yr-old son - he's graduated to chapter books and I'm having fun reading him some of my old favorites. My favorite book ever - The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler - is next, though he doesn't know it yet.
ReplyDeleteWow, lots of runners!
ReplyDeleteI'm Jay, from Winston-Salem, N.C. (go Deacs!), and I'm carrying the tattered flag for print media as a newspaper copy editor.
I'm headed up to DC for the Marine Corps Marathon on Oct. 30--my first marathon, and I'm nervous. I've run four halfs, but controlling the adrenaline and keeping the legs/breath for 26.2 miles of racing is just daunting.
I'm reading "Ready Player One," which is, as noted above, a fantastic hit of nostalgia for a 40-year-old geek like me. Next--maybe catching up on old Dennis Lehane, or rereading Eric Weiner's "Geography of Bliss," which always makes me smile.
<p><span>Shani, Philadelphia, PA. I spend my days trying to keep my A/E firm's 350 staffers employed (by writing proposals to government sector clients) and the rest of my time wrangling two young sons. I just finished Michael Lindsay-Hogg's autobiography (until I started seeing press for the book, I had no idea that he may well be the son of Orson Welles, which is Very Cool, Indeed), and have begun <span>Neal</span></span><span><span> Stephenson's new novel </span></span><span>Reamde. Which had damn well better earn that title. </span>
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Janet ~ Memphis ~ Ballet teacher / school director / choreographer. Also a fractal artist. I have a 5-month-old rescue lab mix named Finn who is growing like a weed and chewing everything in sight. I'm watching the entire West Wing series for the first time and listening to Mark Helprin's Freddy and Frederika on audio book.
ReplyDeleteI'll read everyone else's comments later - D'Arcy, in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. I teach seventh and eighth grade French and love it, which likely means I'm certifiably insane. I'm also mom to three girls, aged 9, 7 and 5. We just had a birthday party for the 5 year old, whose birthday was Tuesday, and I am now preparing for the party for the 9 year old, whose birthday was in July. Don't judge me. I'll read all the comments later on when there are four or five nine year olds not sleeping in my living room.
ReplyDeleteAs for what I'm reading - about to start House Rules by Jodi Picoult. I'm expecting it to be as uplifting as her books usually are. After that, hoping to pick up Fever Dream and Cold Vengeance, both by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, at the library.
Katie, State College, PA. Currenty visiting DC and staying in Dupont Circle -- so I am just great, thanks! I just finished reading Igraine the Brave to my children, and I am looking forward to sharing Seach for Delicious with them. I am reading "The Emperor of All Maladies" on the Kindle, and I have "180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Everyday" on the nightstand when I have a minute before I fall asleep.
ReplyDeleteIf you have a venue, an officiant, and a willing couple, most of the other details pretty much take care of themselves. Have you ever blown a deadline on a case? I somehow doubt it. Weddings are the same thing.
ReplyDeleteAmy, that's me. The soon-to-be-marathoner, the @emilygwynne.
ReplyDeleteI second Renee's suggestion. I would never have made it through marathon training without a running group. I need a time to show up, people to be accountable to, and someone to give me homework. I can come up with too many excuses not to run, otherwise. I'm taking a class that is training for the NYC marathon; it's comforting to know that we're all going to be (suffering together) there on race day.
ReplyDeleteRenee, I recommend What I Talk About When I Talk About Running if you haven't read it, yet. It's a quick read and inspiring. Also, good luck! I, too, am exhausted. My last 20 miler is tomorrow and then taper (what a wonderful word).
ReplyDeleteWait, have we talked about Bucks County before? I lived in Yardley and went to Pennsbury!
ReplyDeleteI was born in and spent every summer w/ my dad in Maine! Pine Tree State represent!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to hear that From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is alive and well and still being read to/by kids!
ReplyDeleteI am the other Jenn with 2 ns. I live outside of DC on the VA side, and I work for a big PR agency downtown. I am on Twitter as @jxchu. The book I have been forcing everyone to read lately is The Passage.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to all the marathoning and half marathoning Thing Throwers! If anyone in DC is looking for a running group, I highly recommend the groups at Pacers.
Ardmore! We're in Wynnewood, about 3 blocks from South Ardmore Park, so you're practically our next door neighbor.
ReplyDeleteAndrew- have you driven by/walked by the Boardwalk Empire set in Greenpoint?
ReplyDeleteKR, another lawyer (surprise!), living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn! I am the government lawyer living in the middle of hipsterville. It's weird - sometimes, I feel like I'm the chaperone, but it's fun. Would love to do a NYC get-together....in BK. We're not occupied yet.
ReplyDeleteAs for reading, I'm finishing one of Anthony Bourdain's book. I got stuck in the middle of The Goon Squad and just gave up. I haven't found a fiction book that I've loved recently. I need to reassess what's on my bookshelf.
I also need to find a beginners running group in North Brooklyn.
I'm Dan. I'm on my couch. I'm TIRED. And I think I'm reading "Storm of Swords," but I may be confusing the titles of different George R.R. Martin novels.
ReplyDeleteI did the Jack Rabbit marathon class, but they also have beginning running classes starting from their 14th St store and another one in Prospect Park. Neither of the locations help with the North Brooklyn part, but the 14th Street class might be an easy commute. http://jackrabbitsports.com/training-programs/running/
ReplyDeleteThere is also this group: http://northbrooklynrunners.org/
Long Live the Queen!! Friending Ellen Emerson White on FB was one of the 10 best things I've ever done in my life.
ReplyDeleteCraig. Chalfont, PA. Professional geek. I am, as my grandfather would say, "fine as frog fuzz." Currently (still) in the middle of both A Dance With Dragons and The Hunger Games and apparently the "entire Internet," at least according to my wife.
ReplyDeleteI'm Andrea, proud resident of Oakland, CA. Very recently went from lawyering to not-lawyering and instead staying home with the 8 and 5 year olds, which has been very exciting. Even more recently came back from Hawaii, so I'm feeling pretty great, thanks for asking, Adam! The book I want to plug is Left Neglected, which is by the same author as Still Alice (Lisa Genova), which I loved. Both are great. Looking forward to reading some of the recs here, but am probably going to nerd it up with Game of Thrones next. We also just finished reading and making a diorama of Stuart Little. The reading was more fun than the diorama-ing.
ReplyDeleteJessica, north of Houston, TX, I'm RIDICULOUSLY busy getting together the holiday orders for the small business I work at while simultaneously trying to get everything ready for our new website launch (natural bath and body care products, handmade bath bombs, etc). I'm reading Game of Thrones. As much a i can, which sometimes means a chapter a night and other times I manage. I fall asleep with the light on and never use my college degree.
ReplyDeleteWow, an Ironman! Congrats!
ReplyDeleteI've biked by there, but haven't really tried to peek in on it.
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm Paul Tabachneck, living in Sunset Park, or South Park Slope to the real estate agents, in Brooklyn, NYC, NY, USA.
ReplyDeleteStill writing songs, still working a few days a week in IT, still busking my heart out. In addition, I've started scoring segments for marlothomas.com, and will be taking my first class at the Upright Citizen's Brigade training center on Monday. Also, I've started working on a book of essays on misophonia, a project for which I'm quickly gaining co-conspirators. Should be an emotional, but awesome, 2012!
Oh, and I'm currently in the middle of "A Visit From the Goon Squad" and Samantha Bee's "I Know You Are, But What Am I?"
ReplyDeleteI'm Carolyn. I am a huge Simon & Garfunkel fan (hence the pen name). I am a lawyer living in D.C., who is proud to count Throwing Things commenter and recent Jeopardy contestant Maggie as one of her best friends. I've also had the pleasure of seeing what some of you read as my friends on GoodReads.com (I'm cwelshhans there). I recently finished Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes (strongly recommend), am currently reading Life by Keith Richards (how is that guy alive?), and am about to start Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings by Alison Weir.
ReplyDeleteHi there, I'm Meghan in suburban Philly (NJ side) nonprofit consultant, mommy to two boys under 26 months and happy to be healthy at the moment. Primarily reading to toddlers (Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site is the tops right now). I did manage to read Blood Bones and Butter this summer too, but am otherwise struggling to get through today's paper and the occasional NYer article.
ReplyDeleteI'm from Peterborough! I grew up there, and my parents and sister still live there! Are you from Peterborough, or did you just move there for school?
ReplyDeleteI liked Consider the Lobster, but you should definitely read "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again." The essays on the cruise and the Illinois State Fair are excellent.
ReplyDeleteWe're in Cheltenham but half our street is Springfield. Yay for CHS!
ReplyDeleteAlso, a heads up that a ALOTT5MA NYC meetup is tenatively being scheduled for next Saturday afternoon/evening, likely in Manhattan--a post will follow with more details.
ReplyDeleteAnother Jen (one N) checking in from the lovely Bungalow Belt of the Northwest Side of Chicago (by way of Minneapolis, by way of Sayville, NY). I'm a creative manager at a B2B company, currently working 11 hours a day getting the 2012 catalog out while managing a new production system implementation. When I'm not swearing at my Mac at work, I'm playing my viola in a volunteer symphony. When I'm not carving out time to practice, I'm reading my stacks of Entertainment Weeklys, just finished Tina Fey's memoir (hilarious) and trying to start The Distant Hours by Kate Morton.
ReplyDeleteHello stranger! You don't have time to read for pleasure? Slacker.
ReplyDeletep.s. I don't think I've read an actual bound book in almost six years.
I LOVE Kate Morton. I'm working on collecting the complete works of Sarah Pekkanen and Kate Morton. Also Charles deLint.
ReplyDeleteOoh, check out Shades of Grey by Fforde! I got a little tired of the Thursdays, but this is a different series with a beyond-weird premise. (does that go without saying with him?)
ReplyDeleteI'm ANNA. Until last month I was a proud Chicagoan but my feet got itchy and now I live in the South Bronx (it's kind of awesome. apparently some things have been changing in the Bronx and it only takes me TWENTY minutes to get to Grand Central).
ReplyDeleteI'm looking for a job. Until then, you'll find me temping at any number of fine establishments around this fair city.
I just finished Rules of Civility by Amor Towles, which I found utterly charming and The Disappearing Spoon, which is about the Periodic Table and is incredibly awesome (not that I'm a nerd or anything...).
Stace forgot to mention that she recently sewed up both a Master's degree and a promotion, so I will mention it for her!
ReplyDeleteHow did you like Michael Lindsay-Hogg's book? I went back and forth on ordering and it's still there in my cart on Amazon, just waiting for me to make up my mind.
ReplyDeleteI'm Marnie, and apparently I'm late to the roll call. I'm in my last year of law (and public policy) school in DC and interning at a civil rights organization. I'm good although it'd be nice to be less busy. Recent reads: This Beautiful Life by Helen Shulman, Blueprints for Building Better Girls by Elissa Schappell, Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos, The Winters in Bloom by Lisa Tucker and Countdown (an amazing YA book) by Deborah Wiles. Next in the queue is Birds of Paradise by Diana Abu-Jaber and I Married You for Happiness by Lily Tuck. Some of my favorites from the summer: Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones and The Year We Left Home by Jean Thompson.
ReplyDeleteI'm totally using Coach's definition of marriage in my wedding ceremony.
ReplyDeleteHow is living in the South Loop? It is on our possibilities to move list because the streeterville bachelor apartment me and the guy and the cat and the grand piano are sharing needs to be rethought out and be bigger.
ReplyDelete<span>I'm Tina, I live in Indanapolis. I used to teach Biology but now I get to spend all my time focused on being a mom to 4 boys (Yes, ALL BOYS! Yes, its crazy here!) ages 8, 5, almost 2 and 7 months. I'm kind of beteween books...Bossypants is now avaliable for me at the library, I'm going to pick it up tomorrow and I'm going to enjoy looking at this list to get some ideas! And thanks for a bit of adult 'interaction' during some long sick kid days in the past, nice to have stuff to help distract me and feel like I'm hanging out with grown-ups during long days. </span>
ReplyDeleteCan I just say that Paul is being too modest? His recent CD, Here Goes Nothing, is terrific, and you should check it out on iTunes or Amazon.
ReplyDeleteI too sometimes feel my iphone mobile stuff isn't really the whole site.
ReplyDeleteI'm doing great since quitting my officey job in the spring. Have replaced that with volunteering at the Lincoln Park Zoo (I'm here in Chicago), working at a quilt shop (sometimes blogging for them at quiltology.com, quilting like crazy, and working part time at another shop (this one a giant national chain). Into that mix I also just started planning my wedding which will happen in Chicago and in Pasco, WA (my hometown) over a week next September. Planning my wedding often makes me want to not bother with getting married, especially as my fiancee is getting a Masters in Product Development and is using me as a case study in his project management class. Reading a couple of beachy read types series at once--Elm Creek Quilters (which I do not like except some actual technical quilting details here and there so I stay), Rizzoli & Isles (which I am enjoying), and the Pink Carnation series (which I keep reading because I feel like they are so up my alley I don't know why I am not loving them more).
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm Becca, and I'm in Los Angeles. After 2.5 years of delightful unemployment, I finally have a job, which is totally bumming me out. I work in TV production, so if you follow me on twitter, expect me to start pimping my current project in January, when they're talking about airing it. I just read the latest Becca Fitzpatrick YA novel, Silence, which was delightful, and just before that, read Faith: A Novel, by Jennifer Haigh, which was good, but kind of collapsed in on itself in the end. In general, I'm shopping for a new career path. If you have any ideas, let me know!
ReplyDeleteThat would be great! I'm down the street from you, around the intersection of Rte. 50 and Jermantown Road. I'm at lisa.klisch at verizon.net.
ReplyDeleteIt's a staple in our house. Every time we visit a museum, the older daughter plans where she would sleep.
ReplyDeleteOh wow! Of course, I'm swamped next weekend but may have a moment on Saturday afternoon. If there's any shot for it being rescheduled for the following weekend then I'm definitely in.
ReplyDeleteYep---getting laid off stinks, even from a job you hate and even when you land in a great replacement job.
ReplyDeleteAlso: I pretty much only read ALOTT5MA from my iPhone, for the exact reasons you just mentioned.
I loved Sea of Poppies and have River of Smoke on my bedside table. Sea of Poppies was my book of the year in 2009
ReplyDeleteHelloo everyone! You all sound well and very busy. I am Lucy, in Melbourne (previously Perth, London and Simsbury CT). I am currently renovating my apartment and so tired and stressed. I work as a Product Manager for a software company and have decided to look for a new job.
ReplyDeleteAfter devouring George RR Martin this year and as a way of coping with the stress I am re-reading Fiest's Magician. I recently finished Grossman's The Magicians which I liked but thought he needed more humour.
I anticipated all the current & former law folks, but am surprised there are so many fellow higher ed ThingThrowers.
ReplyDeleteI am yet another Jen-only one n. Boston ex-pat who just moved to DC (really suburban MD) to start the Ph.D. grind. I am doing amazing since I have relocated today from a gross sublet to a big girl apartment. This euphoria will wear off when I remember how much research did not happen today. Currently a full time doc student with two fellowships/assistantships, so I am not lacking for work or reading material. Good to keep busy or I will wonder why I am doing this to myself. Also, pretty impressed by Marnie and the other grad students with extensive pleasure reading lists. I'm currently flipping back and forth between Sarah Vowell's Unfamiliar Fishes and Michael Honey's history of the '68 Memphis garbage workers strike.
I'm in the Baltimore area. After getting out of the software industry (semi-voluntarily) ten years ago, I went back to school, got a PhD in math, and six months ago got a job... in software. I'm doing great, but the w is miserable at her job, so if you happen to know of anyone in suburban Baltimer who needs a biostatistician, we'd sure love the help.
ReplyDeleteThis week, I've read Coding Theory by Ling and Xing, Dive Into Python by Pilgrim, last week's Time magazine, and six articles about fake football. No, I'm not much of a reader. I have, however, watched over half of the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die," and just finished Ivan the Terrible (Part Two) last night.
Oh, Russ. Get over here, ya big lug. :-)
ReplyDeleteTed, rabble-rousing public-interest attorney in DC, live just outside in Arlington. Just finished "Nothing to Envy," an extraordinary book about life of ordinary citizens in North Korea, and "1493," which wasn't as revelatory as "1491," but still good. Doing great: winning cases, and am allegedly going to be profiled in Monday's Wall Street Journal.
ReplyDeleteWe keep saying we're going to do a DC-area ALOTT5MA get-together, and never do. Now that Russ has finally made it to the Italian Store, we have no excuse.
Tina, in Pittsburgh (another one!). I teach theatre, which, like the other academics, means fall is a crazy busy time. The only running I do is to rehearsals.
ReplyDeleteI have had the chance to sneak in quite a bit of good reading this year, including Goon Squad, the Hunger Games trilogy, and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which I then assigned to students for a class project (Several of them thanked me for that!). I have Ann Patchett's State of Wonder and hope to get to it this weekend as a reward for finishing grading production paperwork projects. And I'm teaching a course on magical realism in the second half of this semester, so I'm reading Karen Russell's wonderful stories and calling it work.
I'm Melissa, from Fall River, MA (about 50 miles south of Boston), and I never feel lazier than when I read about all you marathon-running, language-learning, instrument-playing, volunteering peeps. I work for early intervention, with infants and toddlers who have developmental disabilities, a job that's both challenging and increadibly rewarding. Just finished State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett (loved it - now plan to read my way through her entire collection) and currently reading the new Charles Frazier, Nightwoods: A Novel, which I'm enjoying so far. Also just started working through Friday Night Lights on Netflix at y'all's suggestion, and am loving it!
ReplyDeleteOh, I've sadly been there many times.... But I am certainly up for ALOTTa-DC 2011!
ReplyDeleteWait, you live in the Giant?? Lucky! (Not as lucky as if you lived in Wegmans, which I kinda do....) I will email you.
ReplyDeleteWhere in Williamsburg are you? I teach in the building at N. 6th and Roebling!
ReplyDeleteDarn, I'll be in CA for a wedding next weekend. Let's plan for a Brooklyn one sometime soon after!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't finish First Among Sequels I disliked it so much. This one is starting out much more promising.
ReplyDeleteLove Is the Higher Law was very moving. I liked it much better than that pretentious sack of crap The Emperor's Children, the only other "9/11" novel I've read. I also liked Levithan's explanation for why he wrote the book, particularly why he wrote it in the YA genre (I mean that's his wheelhouse, but he's right to tackle this subject in that genre.)
I quite like the Nursery Crime series, as well.
ReplyDeleteI love Games Magazine. The difficult thing about a subscription, though, is the back issues you feel you can't throw out until you finish all the puzzles (well, except the kids' ones and the one-star challenges).
ReplyDeleteI've got a friend who's an American ex-pat, along with her Italian boyfriend, in Utrecht. She writes for an ex-pat blog and is always looking to meet other ex-pats in the area. Here's her blog: http://oranjeflamingo.wordpress.com/ Get in touch with her and tell her Watts sent you. P.S. Her dog is awesome and friendly.
ReplyDeleteJoe in Charlotte (as NPR recently said, you don't need to say the North Carolina part!). Doing fine and enjoying the start of Fall. At work I have the Martin book, but at home I'm reading Joyce's <span>Ulysses</span>.
ReplyDeleteI will check that out. Thank you! Good luck on your race.
ReplyDeleteI love Mixed Up Files! I need to reread it. It will be interesting to see how much I remember, but it will probably be a lot, b/c I read it a billion times when I was younger.
ReplyDeleteThx Watts
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ReplyDelete<p><span>Rachel in Boston. I'm a PhD Candidate in Earth Sciences. I'm currently feeling like I want to go Office Space on a misbehaving Mass Spectrometer, but am thankful for the misbehaving because now I can go take advantage of the beautiful weather. I just finished re-reading all five books in the "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" series and am currently reading a book of short stories called "An Hour in Paradise" by Joan Leegant. </span>
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I'll be more mobile in a few weeks, and would love to be at an ALOTT5MA-DC-area thing.
ReplyDeleteLoved Shades of Grey! Didn't expect to like it very much (after First Among Sequels), but it was one of my favorites by him. A little deeper than usual.
ReplyDeleteSecond (or, er, fourth) the ALOTT5MA-DC-up.
ReplyDeleteMake sure you read Wonderstruck, then! It's got some little Mixed-Up Files homages.
ReplyDeleteI have problems reading from my droid phone -- comments are there but are not in threads (within the topic), so I can't see which comments are responding to which earlier comments. Will look for the link Meghan mentioned.
ReplyDeleteMarisa de los Santos has a new book out? Yahoo! putting it in the queue.
ReplyDelete(also, three cheers for your civil rights internship)
I'm in.
ReplyDeleteI DEFINITELY live in the Wegmans. I should just pay them rent.
ReplyDeleteYou sound like the kind of teacher I would have loved.
ReplyDeleteStevie in Chicago. I'm doing okay -- I have a demanding job doing communications (PR & marketing), content management, and publications for a larger nonprofit and a 5-month-old infant, who is a delight and who I love parenting with my husband, but whose sleeping patterns are making my demanding job a little tricky to navigate. I'm also wavering on returning to grad school in library science this spring, even though I've put in a full year and have a 4.0. So lots of changes.
ReplyDeleteI'm not reading anything, which is unusual, but I have The Art of Fielding, Beautiful Days, and The Future of Us all staring accusingly at me from my coffee table.
Loved A Visit from the Goon Squad. I'm curious to hear what you think of the end.
ReplyDeleteWell, if you're ever there in the 11pm range, there's a decent chance the short dark-haired guy is me! :)
ReplyDeleteJulie - NYC by weekday, Northen Westchester resident. Children's book editor (I work with one of the many Jens, above, IRL) doing mostly YA. One of these days I'm going to read a book for pleasure again, but reading for work is a bit all-consuming at the moment . . . though I'm reading some pretty wonderful stuff, so I'm not too derprived.
ReplyDeleteI'm right by Brooklyn Bowl!!!
ReplyDeleteHi guys. I'm Kristin, Upper East Side, NYC. I've been a corporate litigator for longer than I ever planned. I'm currently reading The Good Soldiers, and have a stack of books to read that I bought in anticipation of seeing the Reporting from the Edge session at The New Yorker Festival by Dexter Filkins (The Forever War), Jon Lee Anderson (The Lion's Grave) and Wendell Steavenson (Stories I Stole and The Weight of a Mustard Seed).
ReplyDeleteMaret - I think your answer to "how are you" should be "I chatted with George Clooney, how do YOU think I am?"
ReplyDeleteApparently I am late to the party...anyway, Leslie, Gladwyne, PA. I am an assistant teacher in a preschool. Currently I am reading People magazine. That's about the length of my attention span, wish I could be more literary savvy, but at the end of the day, I'm happy to watch my TV. :)
ReplyDeleteJake, Bethesda, MD. Married 4 years with an 18-month old son. Former lawyer; quit nearly a decade ago to do a Ph.D. in history and am now working as a historian in a federal agency. Recent books read include David Foster Wallace, The Pale King (I almost never read fiction but make an exception for DFW); Erik Larson, In the Garden of Beasts; and Stephen Breyer, Making Our Democracy Work. Just started reading State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America. Next on my list, coming out later this month: John Bacon, Three and Out: Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines in the Crucible of College Football.
ReplyDeleteTed, I also read Nothing to Envy and thought it was very powerful.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to do a DC meetup.
Cary, NC. Software account manager. Tired today after my 16-mile run, but still happy I can even run. My marathon is in December in Sacramento and then after the first of the year, I'll be training for Ironman Couer d'Alene. Reading a lot of magazines, because I fall asleep after fifteen minutes. Waiting a few more weeks to get an iPad or ereader and then will try for The Hunger Games. I love everyone's recommendations though, thank you!
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to maintain my cool, in prep for meeting him again in 2 weeks. Since there will be wine at that event I am pretending we have a date to get drinks.
ReplyDeleteMeghan: I went to Abington, and my parents now live in Newtown!
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm Linda. Actress living on the Upper West Side in NY. Doing well. Visiting family down in DC this weekend and planning to head to MLK dedication festivities tomorrow. Just finished Cutting for Stone which I really liked. Getting ready to start Philistines at the Hedgerow.
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