Back to profile

Stories by Sonia Eliot

< Newer | Older stories >

The pull of J.R.R. Tolkien

What are you reading? “I’ve been poring over military history books — those big coffee-table reference books you see in the bargain section of Barnes & Noble. I have a huge one on tanks, one ...

The Prince of Tides, by Pat Conroy

What are you reading? “The Prince of Tides, by Pat Conroy. It was made into a movie with Barbra Streisand. I’ve never seen the movie, but I’ve read great things about the book.” Tell me ...

Desmond Smith on Grisham's King of Torts and numerology

What are you reading? “Two books, actually. I’m finishing up The King of Torts, by John Grisham, and I’m reading a book on numerology.” Tell me about the Grisham. “It’s about a lawyer. He’s, like, ...

The Ultramind Solution

What are you reading? “The UltraMind Solution, by Dr. Mark Hyman. It’s about a doctor who had a very good diet when he was in college and medical school, but after he graduated and got ...

Keep the Aspidistra Flying, by George Orwell

What are you reading? “Keep the Aspidistra Flying, by George Orwell. It’s a novel set in 1930s London, and it follows mostly the interior life and misadventures of Gordon Comstock, a former copywriter turned poet/bookstore ...

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

Name: Allie Carrera Age: 22 Occupation: Teaching abroad (Guatemala) Where Interviewed: Barnes and Noble, Hazard Center What are you reading? “The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. I saw the movie, and I was really interested ...

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, by Haruki Murakami

Name: Daniel Earnhart Age: 20 Occupation: Pharmacist's Assistant Neighborhood: El Cajon Where Interviewed: Barnes & Noble, Grossmont Center What are you reading? “Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, by Haruki Murakami, the Japanese ...

Timequake

Name: MIMI ALAMEDDIN | Age: 20 | Occupation: COFFEE SHOP EMPLOYEE Neighborhood: CITY HEIGHTS | Where interviewed: BLUESTOCKING BOOKS What are you reading? “Timequake, by Kurt Vonnegut. I love him; I’ve been binging on his ...

Inheritance, by Christopher Paolini

What are you reading? “Inheritance, by Christopher Paolini. This is the last book in his Eragon series, and it just came out today. I started reading the series because my brother read the first one, ...

Sold, by Patricia McCormick

What are you reading? “I recently read a book called Sold, by Patricia McCormick. It’s about the trafficking of girls from Nepal to brothels in India. I spent a summer in Nepal doing research — ...

Annapurna, by Maurice Herzog

What are you reading? “I just finished Turning the Tide: How a Small Band of Allied Sailors Defeated the U-Boats and Won the Battle of the Atlantic, by Ed Offley. I thought it was fascinating. ...

Rereading The Joy Luck Club

What are you reading? “I’ve just been re-reading The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. It’s about four women from China who are immigrants to America trying to wrap their heads around their American-raised daughters ...

We Hold These Truths, by Matthew Spalding

What are you reading? “We Still Hold These Truths: Rediscovering Our Principles, Reclaiming Our Future, by Matthew Spalding. He’s a historian who works for the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation. It’s one of my ...

Graphic Novels — Marvel or DC?

What are you reading?“I’m just looking at different things from Marvel Comics. I’m a big graphic-novel fan. I like the Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men series. I like the Marvel characters more than the DC ...

Teen Readers Talk Crank and Go Ask Alice

What are you reading? Monica: “Crank, by Ellen Hopkins, and Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous. Crank is about a girl who went from living a normal life, being a straight-A student, to being an every-day ...

Black Elk Speaks, by John Neihardt

What are you reading? “Black Elk Speaks, by John Neihardt. I picked it up because I had taken some eco-theology courses at my university a while ago and had read some small excerpts from it ...

Stumbling on Happiness

What are you reading? “Stumbling on Happiness" by Daniel Gilbert. It’s a psychological perspective on how people conceive of happiness and why that conception is false. We try to predict what will make us happy, ...

Game Change

What are you reading? “Game Change, by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. It’s about the last presidential election. I normally avoid politics, but my fiancée bought it, and she said I had to read it. ...

My Life in France

What are you reading? “I just finished My Life in France, by Julia Child and her great nephew Alex Prud’homme. She told him all her stories, and he put it together.” What did you like ...

Linthead

What are you reading? “Linthead: Growing Up in a Carolina Cotton Mill Village" by Wilt Browning. I picked it up in a thrift store. I was a linthead at one time — when I was ...

Guns, Germs, and Steel

What are you reading? “Guns, Germs & Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond. My wife gave it to me. Basically, [the author] asks the question, ‘Why did the Spanish conquer the Aztecs ...

As a Man Thinketh

What are you reading? “I just got a book by James Allen called As a Man Thinketh. The main thing in it is that your thoughts pretty much determine the outcome of your life. If ...

War as They Knew It

What are you reading? “War As They Knew It: Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler, and America in a Time of Unrest, by Michael Rosenberg. It’s about the Ohio State–Michigan football rivalry during the era of those ...

The Fabric of Faithfulness

What are you reading? “The Fabric of Faithfulness, by Stephen Garber.” Tell me about it. “I’m trying to remember the subtitle — I think it’s Weaving Together Belief and Behavior.” [He left off During the ...

Chick Lit

What are you reading? Megan: “This summer, I’ve been reading a lot of chick-lit — books about girls and their adventures with their careers and with men. I’d been reading more serious stuff for school, ...

The Art of War

What are you reading? “The Art Of War, by Sun Tzu. I was joining the Marines, and I was in here for a book on the history of the Marines. I saw The Art Of ...

The Pretend Wife

What are you currently reading? “As usual, I’m reading too many books at once. I’m reading Lost by Jacqueline Davies — it’s a new YA [young adult] novel about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. I ...

Twilight Series

What are you reading? “I just started the first book of the The Twilight Series. My sister has been telling me to read them. I’m actually a Harry Potter fan — I just finished all ...

Because of Romek

What are you reading? “Because of Romek, by David Faber. It’s a Holocaust memoir. David Faber is a Holocaust survivor, and he lives in San Diego. Essentially, it’s about how his brother Romek saved him. ...

Exit Here

What are you reading? “Exit Here. by Jason Myers.” Tell me about it. “It’s kind of his life story. He was in Minnesota, and instead of following the dream that his dad has laid out ...

Ms. Hempel Chronicles

Sarah Shun-lien Bynum’s first novel, Madeleine Is Sleeping, was nominated for a National Book Award. Her second, Ms. Hempel Chronicles, was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award. Tell me about the writing of Ms. Hempel ...

Sister Carrie and The Magic Mountain

What are you reading? “Sister Carrie, by Theodore Dreiser.” Tell me about the plot. “It’s about a young girl who moves to Chicago around 1890. She’s from a small town, and she finds out how ...

Breaking Dawn

What are you reading? “Breaking Dawn [by Stephenie Meyer]. It’s the fourth installment in the Twilight series.” Tell me about it. “I’m only about 20 pages in, but it’s really good. It’s about a younger ...

The Ten Roads to Riches

What are you reading? “The Ten Roads to Riches, by Ken Fisher. Also, 50 Prosperity Classics, by Tom Butler-Bowdon. And Seinology, by Tim Delaney.” Tell me about them. “Ken Fisher is one of Forbes’ 400 ...

Black Hawk Down

What are you reading? “Black Hawk Down". I saw the movie a while ago and wasn’t that interested, but a friend of mine who’s big into war books — fiction and nonfiction — gave it ...

The Four Agreements

What are you reading? “It’s a book called The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, by Don Miguel Ruiz. At first, I didn’t really get it. The introduction is sort of crazy — ...

Breaking Dawn

What are you reading? “Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer.” What’s it about? “It’s a romance novel about a young woman, Bella, and a vampire, Edward. It’s part of the Twilight series. This one is different ...

Guitar: Music History Players

What are you reading? “Guitar: Music History Players by Richard Chapman. It’s a history of guitar players and of the guitar itself. It goes through every type of musical genre you might hear a guitar ...

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

What are you reading? “Right now, I’m reading Prehospital Emergency Care. It’s the textbook I need to study to become an EMT. It’s actually interesting. Responding to people in need is something I get off ...

The Writing Class

What have you written? “One collection of short stories: Jenny and the Jaws of Life, published by Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Press, in 1987; reissued in paper in 2002 with a foreword by David ...

Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction

What book are you currently reading? What page are you on? “Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction by Timothy Gowers. I’m on page 32.” What do you make of it? “It’s not purely mathematical writing, but ...

The Lion's Drum

What have you written? “‘The Lion's Drum - A Retelling of an African Folktale.’ It’s the retelling of an African folktale. It’s available at talesalive.com, and some major bookstores.” Tell me about it. “A young ...

Practicing the Presence

What book are you reading? “Practicing the Presence: The Inspirational Guide to Regaining Meaning and a Sense of Purpose in Your Life by Joel S. Goldsmith.” Tell me about it. “This is a book by ...

The Attack

What book are you currently reading? “I’m reading a lot of books. I generally read about three or four a week. One is called The Attack by Yasmina Khadra. It’s about a doctor, a Muslim ...

The Good Samaritan

What are you writing? “The book I’m currently writing is called The Good Samaritan.” Tell me about it. “His name is Sam Mollusk, and he’s a data entry/data processor-type of guy. Deliberately, he sees the ...

Presumption of Death

What book are you currently reading? “Presumption of Death, by Perri O’Shaughnessy.” Tell me about the book. “It is a legal thriller. It is about an arson in Carmel Valley. Two boys went into the ...

Odd Thomas

What book are you reading? “I just finished Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz.” Tell me about it. “It’s about this guy who has kind of a supernatural gift. He can see spirits, and he’s trying ...

Loving Frank

What are you currently reading? “The most recent book I read was Loving Frank — it’s a novel by Nancy Horan.” Tell me about it. “It’s basically a novel about the events in the life ...

Counterclockwise

What’s the name of your book? “Counterclockwise.” Tell me about it. “It’s a combination of alternate history and science fiction because there’s some time travel in it. The alternate history comes in because it’s a ...

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs

What are you currently reading? “I’m reading Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto, by Chuck Klosterman.” Tell me about it. “It’s not really based on anything — it’s, like, pop culture compared ...