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  1. chartresJuly 12, 2009 at 12:39 AM

    I'm suffering from "chemo brain". I have trouble concentrating and so am not reading history but rather Dumas and literary thrillers. God knows I love history but I need the suspense of an unknown outcome if I am going to keep turning the pages of a book.

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  2. chartresJuly 12, 2009 at 12:44 AM

    I've just finished "The Club Dumas". Johnny Depp as Lucas Corso turned me on to this one.

    So what literary thrillers can y'all recommend? I've ordered a copy of "The Athenian Murders" but that is a thin book and won't keep me busy long.

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  3. avrdsJuly 12, 2009 at 1:48 AM

    Welcome back, Chartres.

    I can think of two that I've read that might be interest -- both page turners and both sort of disappoint by the end, but I guess that's the nature of the genre:

    Caleb Carr's The Alienist and Doctorow's The Waterworks. Both 19th century historic/atmospheric "mysteries."

    Others I've bought or have thought about reading: Liss' A Conspiracy of Paper, Mathew Pearl's The Dante Club (he also has one on Dickens and one on Poe that look interesting), and Iain Pears, An Instance of the Fingerpost.

    These are all ones that have tempted me from time to time but I've never gotten around to reading.

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  4. NYT PerduJuly 16, 2009 at 6:55 AM

    chartres: Ditto on "Fingerpost" and "The Alienist", have read both and would start with "Fingerpost" which should keep you occupied a while.

    If you want to listen to some stories instead of reading, I recommend the archived episodes of NPR's "This American Life" for some gripping tales--all true, too!

    "Switched at Birth" is a great place to start: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1253

    Also, "The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar" http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1234

    Then there's this one (esp. the last section) on "Babysitting": http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=905

    There's lot to explore...enjoy.

    Very best wishes as you take very good care.

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  5. NYT PerduJuly 17, 2009 at 4:53 AM

    So I was blithely celebrating my birthday, wondering whether "This Day In History" would be about the first atomic test bomb or the moon shot (tv networks all seem to be going for the latter) when I look in here to find the day went galactic in '94!

    Is it appropriate to have another glass o' bubbly? I mean, how do you celebrate or commemorate such an event?

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  6. James FergusonJuly 17, 2009 at 1:05 PM

    I pre-ordered Wilderness Warrior before the price shot up, as it often does at amazon. Look forward to its arrival.

    ReplyDelete

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