One of the best books I've read in the last 6 months is . .

I read Waiting for the Barbarians in college, Maxiumus. Interesting book.

[Bad</a> Money](<a href=“http://www.latimes.com/features/books/la-et-rutten16apr16,0,4337030.story]Bad”>'Bad Money' by Kevin Phillips): Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism, by [Kevin</a> Phillips](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/books/21gewen.html]Kevin”>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/books/21gewen.html)

A hard read, but also a very sobering explanation of the current world economic situation.
We are so screwed.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, great book!

I just finished Mary Wesley’s A Part of the Furniture - it’s a sweet story about a May-Dec romance set in WW2 England.

I can’t bear to read The Last Lecture, after seeing a glimpse of the phots of Pausch w/his young kids & wife. Sad! But, I’m sure it was very inspiring, too.

It’s an oldie, but still a goodie. I am deep into “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” by Dee Brown. I’ve always wanted to read it ever since I was much younger and my parents had in the house. Finally got it in a book swap via the internet. Very well written, yet very tragic. I am shocked at the real truth of what early Americans did to the Indians.

Lukester–I read that as a teenager–very eye-opening and, as you said, tragic.

In honor of the upcoming election, my book club chose: The Color of Water. Written by James McBride, it is a black man’s tribute to his white, Jewish mother who raised 12 children. I laughed, I cried, I loved it!

The latest collection of short stories by Tobias Wolff
fabulous.

The Raj Quartet by Paul Scott.

I just finished My Grandfather’s Son by Clarence Thomas
 wow.

I had no interest in reading it, but my dh left in the bathroom
 I picked it up, read a few pages and couldn’t put it down until it was done. It was a little painful reading about an entirely different side of the south than I ever saw growing up, but a good kind of painful - the kind that makes you grow. I can not believe how transparent he was in this book, I don’t know that I could have done it, but it is absolutely riveting and enlightening.

How Mathematicians Think by William Byers. It’s about the roles of creativity and ambiguity in mathematics. It’s quite illuminating and points towards how extraordinarily artful mathematics is/can be.

I’m reading Coming Home Crazy, essays about China. And Dreams from My Father by Obama.

linfort–I hadn’t heard of Middlesex.

I just read Middlemarch this summer. One of those famous books (I didn’t see the PBS series either) that I finally found the time to read. It’s long, but a great read.

I loved the Raj Quartet. The TV version is very good too.

engulfed in the flames
 or somethings like that by David Sedaris

Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison. One of the best books I’ve read in a long time.

I was also going to say “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch.

It is not sad and it is not depressing. It is a very simple, happy good that puts little things in perspective.

twokidsatvu–I really liked “The Color of Water” also. The title is so clever and resonant, too.

bbkitty–maybe I’ll read The Last Lecture, then.

I found a whole set of Sarah Dessen books that college D left on her shelf and have been reading them! Parents of teen girls, these are good! I was thinking to myself that every girl should read “Keeping the Moon,” which is about body-image issues and bullying. Also read Someone Like You (first boyfriends, teenage pregnancy, how far to go with BF, etc.), and now reading This Lullaby (very funny!) I guess I’m hooked!

Mommusic–Middlemarch is possibly my favorite novel-I read it every few years.

Middlesex is much more recent–quirky, but I really liked it a lot.