What We've Been Reading
Last updated September 14 2002
- A Home at the End of the World
- by Michael Cunningham
- David says: Very very good
- Angle of Repose
- by Wallace Stegner
- David says: Excellent
- Basin and Range
- by John McPhee
- David says: McPhee's muses about geology in the West. If you like geology, read this.
- Black and Blue
- by Anna Quindlen
- Wendy says: A good fictional account of a woman going underground because of her husband's beatings
- Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
- by Helen Fielding
- Wendy says: Funny, light reading
- Cadillac Desert
- by Marc Reisner
- Nonfiction account of the history of water development in the west.
- David says: Excellent!
- Cider House Rules
- by John Irving
- David says: Better than usual Irving
- Wendy says: A good read (if a bit slow at times). Much better than the movie.
- Cloudsplitter
- by Russel Banks
- David says: Very good
- Continental Drift
- by Russel Banks
- Wendy says: Not my favorite Banks, but good
- Crossing to Safety
- by Wallace Stegner
- Wendy says: Excellent, but depressing
- Empire Falls
- by Richard Russo
- David says: I'm a huge Russo fan, and this one won the Pulitzer, but I thought it was the weakest of all his books
- Exploration of the Colorado River and its Canyons
- by John Wesley Powel
- Nonfiction account of the first Western explorers of the Grand Canyon.
- David says: Amazing at times, good overall
- Flesh and Blood
- by Michael Cunningham
- Wendy says: A bit disappointing after reading The Hours, but still good.
- David says: I liked it
- Flu
- by Gina Kolata
- David says: I have always been very interested in the 1918 Flu Epidemic, as it had a tragic impact on my father's father's family. Excellent book.
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- by J.K. Rowling
- Wendy says: Harry Potter is the bomb!
- David says: Enjoyable
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
- Here on Earth
- by Alice Hoffman
- Wendy says: Very good, compelling
- How to be Good
- by Nick Hornby
- David says: Enjoyable, but not my favorite Hornby book
- King Leopolds's Ghost
- by Adam Hochschild
- Nonfiction story of the Congo under the control of King Leopold II of Belgium.
- David says: Excellent!
- Map of the World
- by Jane Hamilton
- Wendy says: Excellent, but heartwrenching -- I tore through it in three days.
- David says: Very good
- Midnight's Children
- by Salmon Rushdie
- David says: Excellent
- Neal Stephenson
- by Cryptonomicon
- David says: Excellent!, a must read for any computer geek, and probably some other folks too
- Oldest Living Confederete Widow Tells All
- by Allan Gurganus
- David says: One of my all-time favorites
- Plays Well With Others
- by Allan Gurganus
- David says: Enjoyable
- Seabiscuit
- by Laura Hillenbrand
- David says: Excellent
- Storm Tide
- by Marge Piercy and Ira Wood
- Wendy says: Pretty horrible. Don't bother
- The Control of Nature
- by John McPhee
- David says: McPhee looks at three examples of attempts to beat nature into submission. Very good.
- The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing
- by Melissa Bank
- David says: I liked it
- The God of Small Things
- by Arundhati Roy
- David says: I really liked this one
- The Ground Beneath Her Feet
- by Salmon Rushdie
- David says: Excellent
- The Hours
- by Michael Cunningham
- Wendy says: An absolute "must read". I can't say enough good things about it.
- David says: Excellent!
- The Professor and the Madman
- by Simon Winchester
- David says: Strange and interesting, but not highly recommended
- The Talented Mr. Ripley
- by Patricia Highsmith
- Wendy says: Rent the movie -- it's more suspenseful than the book.
- True History of the Kelly Gang
- by Peter Cary
- David says: Enjoyable
- Vinegar Hill
- by A Manette Ansay
- Wendy says: A bit depressing, but good
- White Oleander
- by Janet Fitch
- Wendy says: Very good, compelling
- Word Freak
- by Stephan Fatsis
- David says: A must read for any Scrabble enthusiast