I'm getting plenty of inspiration for my reading from this mini quiz - a great idea from Stuck In A Book.
1. The book I'm currently reading:
by Steven Johnson.
I am completely enthralled by Johnson's exploration of how the terrifying cholera epidemic in Soho, London in 1854 was traced to the Broad Street Pump. This book is a really accessible introduction to the history of epidemiology. There's a great companion web site too here.
2. The last book I finished:
by Charlaine Harris.
Eek! A vampire book... I loved the first one in the series (Dead Until Dark - {REVIEW}) and am now completely hooked on the lively, witty and well-written adventures of Sookie Stackhouse, telepath and waitress.
3. The next book I want to read:
This is tricky as I already have far too many books on the go at once, but I think I will probably bury myself in the excellent Americans in Paris: Life and Death Under Nazi Occupation 1940-1944 by Charles Glass.
4. The last book I bought:
On my Kindle:
by Leif Davidsen.
I've wanted to read this for EVER but it has been out of print or too expensive. And then it popped up for the Kindle (and for Australia, which is the really tricky part) and finally it is mine.
5. The last book I was given:
This is a funny one: a good friend of mine from the UK was on sabbatical in the US and went on a trip to Tennessee. She knows that I love awful local cookbooks and sent me a wonderful addition to my collection: Recipes and Memories from Mama Cash's Kitchen (1989). Mama Cash is Johnny Cash's mum mom. My favourite recipe involves 3 cups of hash brown potato mix and a can of asparagus soup. Needless to say, I won't be making it anytime soon. {It's a lousy photo from Amazon, sorry}
Wow, I have heard of none of these books! That Mama Cash recipe book sounds wonderfully awful... there was a local recipe collection in Ludlow a few years ago that included a recipe with squirrel...
ReplyDeleteUrgh. Poor little tree rats. I'd not heard of heaps of other people's books: such a great opportunity to add to the TBR mountain... Oh dear!
ReplyDeleteDon't you love it when books become available on your e-reader? That often happens, and it's even better when they're less expensive or free. That just happened to me with The Virginian, which I could download for free since its publication law thingie (?!) expired. Sorry to be so illiterate there, I just can't come up with the right words. :)
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you have some fine books here. I'd love the cookbook and the Americans in Paris, too. I've never read anything by Charlaine Harris, though.
The cookbook is fantastic. In the introduction Mrs. Cash writes, "When I married Ray Cash on August 18, 1920, I had to learn to makes biscuits, cornbread, beans, potatoes and that good strong black coffee that my new husband liked so much." The book is very much along those lines: very very solid food.
ReplyDeleteGhost Map sounds amazing - looking at the picture I assumed it wasn't going to be my kind of thing, but I love this kind of popular science/history book. I'm going to loads of science talks at the Hay Literary Festival in a couple of weeks - might try to track this down to read in the sunshine in between...
ReplyDeleteI've finished Ghost Map now and thoroughly enjoyed it. At the end he tries to extrapolate the messages that the cholera epidemic holds for the modern city dweller - terrifying!
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