I just finished two professional reads and am rereading Harry Potter. Tomorrow on the plane I intend to start either Children of Blood and Bone or The Boat People.

So true about Canada, Dol. I was quoting from the NYTimes which omitted it.

A few days ago I started a book that has been on my list..Hard to put it down.

Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter

quote:

Originally posted by BeeLady:
A few days ago I started a book that has been on my list..Hard to put it down.

Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter

So tragic! Deleted comment in case it was a spoiler.

quote:

Originally posted by Amanda:

quote:

Originally posted by BeeLady:
A few days ago I started a book that has been on my list..Hard to put it down.

Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter

So tragic! Deleted comment in case it was a spoiler.

I watched an hour YouTube video of this author speaking about this book and showing slides.

Any reading I've done lately has been about zoning and land use. I've gone beyond, "What do I need to be effective on the citizen's planning committee", to "What's the philosophy behind zoning." My view of it all is now somewhat tempered. Why is zoning used as a tool when simple nuisance laws might work better? Some statements made at our meetings make me uncomfortable because they seem to want to erase poverty as a reality. "Well, OK, poverty exists, but we don't want it here because it doesn't bring in tax dollars." I hate all that. But I'm learning a lot.

Welcome to the world of urban (and suburban) planning.

Authors to look for are Jane Jacobs and Richard Florida.

Dol-- I was rereading this thread and realized I meant to reply to your comments earlier regarding YA lit, but forgot. I'm a huge fan. I got interested in it when my kids were in the target age, mainly to encourage reading and conversation. I'd read a book they had liked and then we could talk about it. Many are great.

I read "Speak" this summer--apparently a YA classic (about rape). It was very well written, from the perspective of the young woman who was raped. The nuance of how the author wrote about the event, depression, and high school was really fantastic, and rang true.

So yeah, big thumbs up to YA! I'm going to check out the ones you mentioned.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:

Authors to look for are Jane Jacobs and Richard Florida.

quote:

Originally posted by jon-nyc:
Now on to this:



I've never read but small bits from him. Seems like a hole I need to fill.

My gosh this was just an exceptional book. Part history, part sociology, part personal memoir. And the writing! Just amazing. I'm tempted to post samples. I'll be reading more of him.

This is a collection of essays. I'm interested in reading those by Washington, Du Bois, and Dunbar. So it should be a relatively quick read.

Finished off the Millennium Trilogy, and really enjoyed it. Has anyone read the new Lisbeth Salander novels by David Lagercrantz? (He's continuing with Steig Larsson's characters since he (Steig) passed away.) I'm wondering if they hold up against the original trilogy.

Also finished Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere. Really enjoyed that, and I've put her other book (Everything I Never Told You) on my library hold list. I'm hold number 214 on 30 copies, so it's gonna be awhile before I get that one.

Then I took a quick dip into David Baldacci to read "The Fallen". It's a good no-brain-power-required thriller for those of you who partake.

Just started the 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. Seems good so far although I'm only a few chapters into it.

The Ben Aaronovitch has still not come available, so I'm waiting on that one as well.

Oh yeah, I read W.E.B Du Bois' Souls of Black Folks many years ago, and remember enjoying it. Maybe I'll queue that up for a re-read as well.

I like this thread, let's keep it going!

Dan - I really liked both of Celeste Ng's books. I hope you do, too!