I finished reading
David Baldacci's
Simple Genius this week, an enjoyable thriller but nothing to write home about. Moved on to
Barry Oshry's Seeing Systems: unlocking the secrets of organisational life, that I've had on the 'must read' heap for a year now.loved the ideas and some of the stories but found the long lists of phrases irritating rather than helpful. Then onto
The Generals by
Simon Scarrow a retelling of the parallel lives of Napoleon and Wellington. Starting in the middle of a trilogy may not be best practice but I'll certainly be reading the first volume and waiting for the third. Excellent.
I started reading
The Girls by Lori Lansens today. I'm only a few pages into it right now.
#2- I loved
The Girls! I hesitated in picking it up, because I was worried it would be too "lifetime movie" for me. I fell in love with it! The story was beautifully written.
Today I read Penelope, which was an adorable little fairy tale. Now I'm ready for the movie!
I also just started
Specials which is the third in the YA fantasy series.
>3 Kell -- interesting combination in your list there - #3 and #4.
I started
Good Omens by
Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett this afternoon. It's a reread, and I'm kind of surprised at how much I'm enjoying it. I found it mildly amusing the first time through and a bit tedious the second. Now I'm finding it clever, though still not laugh-out-loud hilarious.
>9
That second title reminded me of a few pictures I've seen (here's the
image search):
Message edited by its author, Feb 29, 2008, 11:22pm.
As I was telling a friend the other day, February was just a stellar reading month, nearly one great book after another, with only an occasional stinker to interrupt the flow. Of the 10 books I read, far-and-away the 3 best novels were Beautiful Children by
Charles Bock,
Life Class by Pat Barker, and Dan Simmons' extraordinarly entertaining
The Terror.
There were also 2 astoundingly good pieces of non-fiction, both with rather unwieldy titles, but each strikingly original, and almost embarrassingly fun to read:
Pope Brock's jaw-dropping Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, The Man Who Pursued Him, and The Age of Flimflam' and Mark Harris's
Pictures At A Revolution: Five Movies and The Birth of The New Hollywood, in which he tracks 5 movies from their 'bright idea' stage through their five-year journey to Oscar night in the spring of 1968.
All-in-all a terrific month for good books, with the only real disappointments being Russell Banks' The Reserve, and
Lauren Groff's The Monsters of Templeton, neither of which I truly hated, but only wished they'd been better books than they finally were. And at the moment I'm halfway through Somerset Maugham's
Cakes and Ale and can't believe how good it is.
It was a busy week for me at work, and since I normally read during breaks and lunchtime, I hardly had time even then. I'm still on
The Egoist by George Meredith. The writing style is a bit hard to follow, but I think I will enjoy it. In between chapters of
The Egoist I'm still reading
1,000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz. I'm almost half way through that one.
I'm in the weirdest type of reading funk. I'm reading plenty, but I can't decide on a book to settle on. I gave up on one book about a week ago. Then I started
Eating Stone by Ellen Meloy, which so far is fantastic in parts, but not so in other parts. Then I had jury duty - lots of reading time! So, what do I choose to read?
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire ... what the heck?! I'm not even enjoying it that much (although I loved to intro to my version, by Hugh Trevor-Roper), yet I can't stop and I will never finish. Argh! It's like an addiction. Then last night I, of course, had to start yet another book
How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish.
Message edited by its author, Mar 1, 2008, 11:21am.
Just finished Good Intentions by Joy Fielding. It was a quick read, but just ok.
Gravity's Rainbow by
Pynchon, already kind of a difficult book.
I think although that Pynchon is an intriguing writer, and it is a thoughouly diffrent read.
>10 I also found rereading
Good Omens a bit tedious, but it may be because I did too soon. Still a favourite of mine, though.
Coincidentally, I finished a double-header inspired by
Neil Gaiman:
Lud-in-the-mist by Hope Mirrlees and
The Secret Commonwealth by Robert Kirk. Lud was enjoyable, and did have a few resonant moments, but it wasn't quite the classic I was expecting.
I like curiosities, which The Secret Commonwealth certainly is, but its archaic writing began to wear around halfway through.
Message edited by its author, Mar 1, 2008, 3:32pm.
#27 - I think I also reread it too soon; I left about a year between my first reading and my second. It's now been about five years since that second reread, so I guess I've been away from it long enough to enjoy it again.
I'm reading
Duma Key by Stephen King and also a little
The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams. I'm really excited for the first, so I'm saving the second for bedtime reading in case King manages to scare me with this one.
I am reading The Circus Fire by Stewart O'Nan.
It really is interesting.
>28 - I'll leave the third read through for the movie...
...if they still get Johnny Depp, that is.
Anyway, I'm starting
The Castle in the Forest tomorrow. Don't really know what to expect, as I keep hearing completely contradictory opinions from people who I tend to agree with. That's
Mailer for you, I guess: still causing dissension.
I started
The Brotherhood of the Holy Shroud today, so far not bad. Its at least holding my interest. I also plan to start reading Cross Train Your Horse by
Jane Savoie, the weather is starting to get nice enough to plan to work the horses.
dara85, I read Stewart O'Nan's
The Circus Fire and thought it was one of the most horrific and emotionally wrenching things I've ever read, a very difficult book to enjoy, but still a good one too.
#14 > cmt, No I haven't reached the pig hunting section yet. I'm still grazing my way through the section on the Salatins' farm.
#18 > rebecca, yes, not only is it impossible to look at meat in the same way, I now keep wondering how much corn is worked into everything I eat. It's kind of disturbing to look at that guilty pleasure Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookie as a processed corn delivery system.
>13 I adore that series, and of the trilogy,
Redemption Ark is by far my favorite. I've actually got
Chasm City sitting on my TBR shelf (whoever entered in the series info for those, I'd say got it wrong - Revelation, Redemption, Absolution is a trilogy, and the other novels are stand-alones which happen to take place in the same space-world Reynolds created).
I just finished
Jacqueline Carey's
Kushiel's Chosen this afternoon, and am beginning
Kushiel's Avatar. They're decent, and I ordered this third one from Amazon so I could complete the trilogy, but I don't think they're good enough that I'll be pursuing the rest of Carey's Kushiel books.
I have begun the doorstopper that is
Fortune's Favorites by Colleen McCullough; the third book in her Masters of Rome series. I am enjoying them but they are collossal - each > 900 pgs.
started
Naked Lunch by
William S Burroughs yesterday, i'm finding it very weird and yet strangly wonderful. the guy in the book shop had described it to me as a "mindf**k", i think i know what he meant now. i'm thinking it will need a few reads.
#24 ireed110: The first two you listed are two of my favorites!
This week I'm working on
Reading Like A Writer by Francine Prose. It's a busy week, so I'm not guessing I'll get to anything else.
>40 I received Mudbound as and Early Reviewers book and loved it.
Touchstone not working
I just finished
When Christ and His Saints Slept, which wasn't bad, but wasn't as good as her other books I've read either, it just seemed like an endless amount of battles with no end in sight, it became a bit monotonous until the last 200 pages of the book. I am now about to begin
Kilgannon by
Kathleen Givens.
#24 - ireed110 - Pillars was a wonderful book - it was recommended to me by the General Manager of a mfg company I worked for. I think I started it to please him, but finished it to please myself.
Heart-Shaped Box is the reason I'm in LT. I got the book unintentionally from QPB - one of those forgot-to-tell-them-not-to-send-it books. I always keep these books, at least for a while, because sometimes there's something good. H-TB is fantastic. I found Joe Hill's website. He's a member of LT, I followed the link to LT, and here I am!
#17 - fyrefly98 - have you read
Middlesex? I liked it much better than
The Virgin Suicides.
I just finished This perfect day by
Ira Levin which I loved. A dystopia as they're supposed to be. The pre-ending was pretty surprising, definitely did not see that one coming!
Next up is
Breakfast at Tiffany's I think.
Still reading
Jane Eyre, which is going a bit faster since I discovered a lovely on-line version. Now I can read it before work and after lunch! I love the internet... ^^
This week's four:
Turkish book: I haven't gotten very far with A Cup of Turkish Coffee stories by
Buket Uzuner in a bilingual edition. Buket Uzuner isn't exactly linear in his writing, and when he says something surprising, he leaves me stranded. If it weren't for the English on the right-hand page I'd have given up long ago. As to the story itself (I'm still on the first one)...I tend to prefer stories that begin at the beginning and go on in a straight line to the end, but I'm sure that this is very good for my Turkish comprehension, so I keep on trying.
Spanish book: still poking along through Poesía completa – i.e. complete poetry – of
Jorge Manrique, who lived in the 15th century. Still not quite getting all of it, still loving it anyway.
English book at home: I finished
The Atlas of Medieval Man by Colin Platt and then read
Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 by Stephen Puleo. I wish Puleo had been more scientific about the failure of the molasses tank - and that's saying a lot, because technical stuff tends to put me to sleep. On to
A Brief History of the Spanish Language. So far we haven't talked much about the actual history; the book is a textbook sort of book, so it explains the basics of language history first. I'm champing at the bit to get to real Spanish stuff, but I've never taken a linguistics course, so I suppose the general introduction is useful.
Book for lunch break at work: I'm still reading Taliesin by Stephen R. Lawhead. I'm more than halfway through, so I should finish before the end of March. It holds my attention, and I'm even tempted to overstay my break, but I never get so enthralled that I forget the end of break altogether.
Hmm...I can't get touchstones this week for A Cup of Turkish Coffee and Poesía completa this week, though I had no trouble last week. Perhaps the touchstone machine is trying to tell me it's about time I finished them.
Further engrossing details can be found on my profile.
>49 karenmarie - Yeah, I've read both
Middlesex and
The Virgin Suicides, and liked them both.
Middlesex was longer ago, though, so I haven't retained as clear of an impression of why I liked it. I do remember being a little surprised (disappointed?), since I thought it was all going to be "autobiography" but then it wound up being 2/3 family history, but once I adjusted to that, it was quite good.
It's been a slow reading week for me. I am still at the beginning of
The Sister by
Poppy Adams - not the book's fault, just one of
those weeks. And could it possibly be March already?!?
I've been reading Eckhart Tolle's
The Power of Now for my 888 Challenge ... and up pops Oprah with Tolle's follow-up,
A New Earth. I have some reading to do before I check out their online "class" tomorrow.
Message edited by its author, Mar 2, 2008, 11:24am.
I finished
Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts (touchstone not working) and started
The Dark Tide by Andrew Gross a Feb. ER book (what's with the touchstone's. this one doesn't work either) and am currently reading
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde ( finally one that works.
This message has been deleted by its author.
#54 - that was exactly my problem with
Middlesex. I went into it expecting it to be the story of this guy's life, but instead it proved to be more of a family history. I really enjoyed it once I'd adjusted, but that initial misconception threw me off at first.
#52 - lisacharlotte18, I am jealous. One Hundred Years of Solitude is near the top of my list of "Books I Wish I Could Read For the First Time Again." (Hey, that might make a good thread, here.)
>55 Mrstreme
I have an arc of
The Sister. I will be curious to hear what you have to say once you finally get into it. If you like it, I will move it up my pile!
I finished Somerset Maugham's
Cakes and Ale yesterday and really enjoyed it. Right now I'm just getting started on Louis Auchincloss's 1964 novel
The Rector of Justin, which I originally read in '64, but only decided to re-read recently, as I'd just read a long article on Auchincloss's career in last week's
New Yorker which mentioned several times that TRoJ was his finest book.
#63 I am also reading
The Sister and so far not so interesting. I hope it gets better!
I'm working on finishing
The Echo Maker, which I'm enjoying. Not sure what I'll read next.
On the way to work, I'm listening to The Teaching Company's The History of Ancient Rome. Does that count?
I finished Falling Man by Don DeLillo with which I was very impressed. Now I am reading
Heart Shaped Box.
Started Diary of a Bad Year by J.M. Coetzee looks interesting. I like reading musings on the state, free speech and the like, it is new to me. Not too far in yet to comment on the split narrative. Good fun!
62 Shortride,
Good choice. That is my favorite Heinlein book. What better than a revolution
led by a computer that wanted to tell jokes.
Just finished
Bill the Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison
Started
A Prayer For a Ship by Douglas Reedman (naval Fiction WW2)
and bought
The Black Ship (nautical history) and
Ramage (nautical fiction) by Dudley Pope
Finished
Selected Stories of Richard Bausch. Highly recommend. Did anyone hear him read "Letter to the Lady of the House" on This American Life a few weeks back. Go listen!
Now back to Mudbound.
Still reading
Inkheart a couple pages at a time.
@73 - Jenson - are you not liking
Inkheart? its on my list to read this year.
I have two books going at the moment. I just started Malika Oufkir's memoir,
Stolen Lives, last night. I'm also reading
A People's History of the United States. I'm about 20% into that one, and it's quite interesting, but easier for me to read a chapter here and there than to read all in one go.
I finished my Early Reviewer book, Dreamers of the Day which I found enjoyable but not earth shattering. I do like Mary Doria Russell's writing style, therefore, I will pursue some of her other books. This was my first book by her. I am now starting for a book club
Snow by Orhan Pamuk. I have a feeling this one will not be an easy read.
We read
Stolen Lives in our book club and we were all quite moved by it. I am still reading The Black Book by Orhan Pamuk. I cannot move swiftly through his prose. It is too lovely, layered and the the plot is fascinating on many levels. A read to be savored!
I'm reading
Pride and Prejudice for the first time. It's an okay read. Not sure what the fuss is about.
Perhaps you'd like
Persuasion better. There's less fuss around it -- and its just as good as P&P, in my opinion.
Message edited by its author, Mar 3, 2008, 12:34pm.
>74
Inkheart is okay so far, it's just not fully holding my attention. It may just be me because I've been very easily distracted lately.
I've been out of work on medical leave (though I feel fine), so I've been reading a lot. Recently finished
Atonement by Ian McEwan (excellent-- I will avoid the movie!), and Exit Ghost by Philip Roth. Right now, I'm reading several books at once: Nearly finished with
Selected Stories by
Dubus (many of which I've already read, but oh so good), and halfway through
The Art Lover by
Carole Maso (for the second time because I didn't feel like I'd given it a fair reading the first time) and finding it great-- affecting and Artistic (with a capital "A") and just challenging enough (weird narrative things going on) to stay interesting.
Also two books of poetry,
Primitive Mentor by
Dean Young, which is the (excellent) newest book by my current favorite poet, and
My Noiseless Entourage by
Charles Simic, which is also an amazing book. I sense in Simic a rare quality in American poets-- his poetry is getting better as he ages! The last stanza of "Fabulous Species and Landscapes" goes:
*
The belly hobbles
In wooden clogs
Using a knife and fork
As crutches
While you sit
Like a rain puddle in hell
Knitting the socks
Of your life
The world dreams of you
Buttoned up to the chin
Turning on a spit
With an apple in your mouth.
(edited to try and fix touchstones. Are there too many authors named Roth?)
Message edited by its author, Mar 3, 2008, 5:00pm.
#83, tatleriv, I've read
Revolutionary Road and thought it was brilliant. I'm afraid that the movie that's coming out later this year will be terrible (based, I admit, on the casting of Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslett).
>84 Jenson - I felt exactly the same regarding
Inkheart - I should have loved it, but I just never got into it. Stick with it if you can... I'm listening to
Inkspell at the moment and it's MUCH better.
>85 abirdman - I also loved
Atonement the book, and I thought the movie did a great job translating the feel of the book as well as the story to the screen.
tatleriv, rebeccanyc, I've read
Revolutionary Road a couple of times and it still blows me away, a landmark novel.
In the last week I have been reading
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See for a book club elsewhere on LT,
Fun home by Alison Bechdel just because it was so well reviewed, and
The Nick Adams Stories by Ernest Hemingway for Book Club at my library. Am I alone in thinking that if these stories are representative, Hemingway is vastly overrated??
Currently reading
absurdistan by gary shteyngart,
aztec by gary jennings,
smillas sense of snow by Peter Hoeg, The Monsters of Templeton by Laura Groff and
In the Lake of the woods by tim o'brien.
I need to stop buying books and finish the ones i start first! gosh, freakin' books being all interesting and following me home. :)
Message edited by its author, Mar 3, 2008, 11:47pm.
>83 - I just finished
Travels with Charley and loved it. So different from what I've read of his fiction. I found
East of Eden quite disturbing.
>19 - cabegley, yep, I think I'm being optimistic about
London: a biography. It's good, but it's my before-bed-book and I'm crawling. I have 3 1/2 weeks left... it might help if I'd spent more than 3 weeks in London too!
>8 - rocketjk - I bought the new (over here anyway) Michael Pollan the day after I read your message. Am enjoying it, and happy that we have a vege garden. Have you finished the O D yet?
Right, got to stop typing and go read with a glass of wine...
rebeccanyc:
I'm skeptical about the
Revolutionary Road film adaptation, too, but more because it's helmed by Sam Mendes. I'm afraid he'll bring the same smug tongue-wagging to the proceedings that he brought to American Beauty. That said, I'll still go see the thing.
Nothing seems to hold my attention so I put my more serious reads aside and got a copy of
Plum Lovin' by
Janet Evanovich from the library. You turn the pages and look at the words. Every now and then it evokes a good giggle.
cmt (#99)--if you're like me, reading
London before bed will only get you through 3 or so pages per night!
#103 I've been reading the Tower series myself, and so far,
The Gunslinger was my least favorite of them all,
The Drawing of the Three is probably my favorite so far, I just finished
Wizards and Glass which was good too - but it's definitely livelier with Eddie and Odetta/Susannah.
Message edited by its author, Mar 4, 2008, 10:20am.
>72 alphaorder re: "Letter to the Lady of the House" on This American Life -- do you know the name or number of the show? I love that show and listen on podcast.
#97 Dancingstarfish--how do you manage that many books at the same time without getting confused on plot lines. I can only do one at a time. And unfortunately I am a slow reader.
I just started
The Translator: a Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur during lunch today and I can already tell it is going to be fantastic, but I may need to bring a different book to read at work at lunch, because I have a feeling this book will make me cry.
I started
The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley on my lunch break. It hasn't really captured me so far, but I'm willing to persevere. Robin Hood was one of my childhood heroes, and it's been far too long since I read anything about him.
As is Alessandra Rossetti, a 17th century fictionalized venetian courtesan who writes a letter warning of the spanish plot to overthrow the city. The story is told from her point of view and also from a contemporary PhD candidate who is studying Rossetti and the spanish plot.
I seem to have thrown over the other books I was reading - at least temporarily - to read Exit Music by Ian Rankin which has been staring at me from the TBR pile since last fall (after I spent way too much money getting it ASAP from the UK). I needed to lighten up a bit at least for a few days (touchstones apparently not working for me)
I finished reading
De Engelenmaker (Dutch) by Stefan Brijs yesterday. A remarkable book. I wonder if it's been translated. If so, you should all read it!
I started reading
Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland last night and am about halfway now. I should be able to finish that one this week, so there might be room for one more book this week. I don't know which yet. Either
A clockwork orange by Anthony Burgess (I'm ashamed to say I still haven't read that) or
My sister's keeper by Jodi Picoult.
101>
You turn the pages and look at the words. Every now and then it evokes a good giggle.Hee, I like that description of chick lit very much, CEP!
I'm slowly toddling through
War and Peace (it's annoying that I do most of my reading in the bath!) and am about to start
Reflections of Loko Miwa for the reading globally Haiti group read.
Finished
The Leopard by Tomasi di Lampedusa and I proclaim it one of my favourite books ever.
Now reading
Remainder by
Tom McCarthy which has me utterly gripped. It's not a thriller or a suspense novel but it's having that effect on me.
I love
The Leopard too, have a UK 1st ed of it somewhere around here.
122> a friend of mine highly recommends The Remainder. It is in my TBR mount, so I will be curious to hear what you say when you are done.
I put down Mudbound, not because I didn't love it, but because I am going to bring my car in this morning and didn't want to lug around a hardcover.
Bringing the small, beautiful NYRB classics
Sleepless Nights instead.
Hy :)
I have a question: How can we read books on this page??? Is it possible here ?pls
You can read them by making a list of the ones that seem interesting and then by making a visit to your local bookstore to buy them or your local library to rent them. ;-)
:)Thank you very much!:D
>87 fyrefly98 - Nice to know it is not just me!
Putting off Inkheart a bit longer and am now reading
Pagan's Crusade which I picked up at the library yesterday. I'm 3/4s of the way through already.
#125
There is a website called
www.dailylit.com where you can sign up to read books either online or in your email. The only books you can get though are the 'classiscs' that are no longer copyrighted.
I'm reading
Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry. I let this one sit on the shelf for a bit, because I was afraid it would be as emotional as
A Fine Balance was. But I'm loving it. I'll even put it out there: I think Rohinton Mistry is one of the finest living writers today. (discuss!)
#131- Love Murakami! He is one of my favorites!
I'm currently reading
Deadline, a YA novel by Chris Crutcher. It is pretty eh...Don't have a strong opinion either way. Will be glad to finish it and pick up something else. Maybe it's all the sports references.
Still reading
Life on the Mississippi by
Mark Twain. It's an amazing combination of history, gossip, description, and criticism. I've got about 150 pages to go.
My 40-minute-commute-each-way is being taken up with
The Yiddish Policemen's Union by
Michael Chabon. It's quite wonderful. The reader's accent is a bit hard to get used to and I'd love to read it later to "see" the names and words.
Next to "read" will be
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson for my bookclub.
>Now reading Remainder by Tom McCarthy
>which has me utterly gripped.
I'm going to have to play the contrarian. This book is centered around a very clever gimmick, but that's also its problem: it never really extends beyond very long descriptions of the gimmick itself. I didn't hate the book by any means, but given its short length, it felt very tedious...
Finished Louis Auchincloss's
The Rector of Justin the other day, thought it was wonderful and really enjoyed it. Right now I'm halfway through Wilkie Collins'
The Woman in White, which is nothing more than melodramatic rubbish, but it's still mildly entertaining so far.
I am rereading
The Road the Ruin by Donald E. Westlake. It is a library book so it is not listed in my library. His Dortmunder series is a favorite.
Have almost finished
Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively.
>140 I thought Moon Tiger was a wonderful book - how are you finding it?
#135 Mike Instead of "gimmick" could one say the novel has an unusual structure?
#142 - Interesting. Still, didn't you really want to know the 'why' behind the painstaking reconstructions, rather than just their explicit details? I know the character's lack of introspection is what enables the story in the first place, but to me, it just felt like reading a really long list of details without much meat on them.
#130 I'll bite
I have only read
A fine balance by Rohinton Mistry but I fell in love with this book and with the characters and by the story. And oh, how I could have killed the one female character in this story (I forget her name). I didn't like the story that much in terms of how the family changed due to the fathers imposition.
I have listed in my favourite author's list as I was really awed by his wiritng and bu his story telling.
I mean, you know a book is good when you want to crawl into it and give some of the characters a piece of my mind, and my stomach is still in a knot thinking about that one character.
Message edited by its author, Mar 6, 2008, 12:02pm.
#135 mikepatrick -- I don't think you get to disagree about how a book
affects someone. You can disagree with someone's opinion, but not their feelings.
Message edited by its author, Mar 6, 2008, 12:09pm.
#133 - he is, isn't he. This is my first short story collection of his and there's some incredibly bizarre but excellent stuff in here.
Welcome to the group, johnbol!
#147 - Hey, I'm glad someone enjoyed it. I didn't. If that makes someone get it from the library rather than drop $15 on it, I'll have done my job.
#143 Mike Different strokes, I guess. I desperately want to know the why but I'm enjoying reading the how.
#141 Stayed up way past my bedtime to finish
Moon Tiger last night and have to say I was amazed at how much I enjoyed the novel. The writing was exquisite, the characters so achingly real I felt almost as if I could call them on the phone to talk with them(though I'm afraid Claudia would have considered me hopelessly banal). I'm definitely going to be reading more of Lively.
I'm now reading The Children by
Charlotte Wood and listening to the wonderful Lenny Henry read Anansi Boys by
Neil Gaiman in the car and still have
Theft by Peter Carey on the mp3.
#148 - Hey johnbol - I'm reading
Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar... right now. Last night my husband was watching TV, my 14 year old was writing a book report, and I was reading (fairly normal evening). I kept laughing out loud, Bill kept wanting to know WHAT?!? so I found myself reading jokes out loud to him. We laughed and laughed. How is
Aristotle and an Aardvark?
Next is
Snow Crash for my bookclub's April meeting.
I haven't read
A clockwork orange either - I feel a bit scared, like when I read
disgrace and was unsettled for days.
The more I read of
the long goodbye the more it reminds me of
the great gatsby with some P.I. vitriol thrown in. Anyone else think so?
I don't know what to read next. I saw
the rossetti letter mentioned and it looks good. I have never read
of human bondage though which is supposed to be a 'modern classic.' I have waiting at home
the victorians but all I feel like doing is re-reading the discworld!
I've almost finished
my booky wook which is hilarious, but then I do love Russell Brand's work so perhaps that's why I find it so compelling.
@161 xicanti ~
The Sword in the Stone was one of my favorite books as a teenager. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Finished
The Time Traveler's Wife, which I loved! I also just started reading
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. This book is very diffrent from stuff I usally read, so it'll be inetersting to see how I feel about it once I really get into the story.
#99 > cmt, Well, I just finished The Omnivore's Dilemma last night. All in all, a tremendous read, I thought. Extremely enlightening in ways both disturbing and uplifting. I am going to spend some time with my "between books," books, normally anthologies of some sort, that I'm reading a chapter/story at a time, and then pick out something to read straight through.
My current stack of "between books" includes:
Visions of Jazz by Gary Giddins
The New Bill James Historical AbstractWalking Tractor and Other Tales of Old Anderson Valley by Bruce Patterson
Racing in the Streets: the Bruce Springsteen ReaderTop of the Heap: a Yankees CollectionVoices of the Valley, Volume III (an Oral History of Anderson Valley, California)Our Fair City, a collection of articles about the "current" political and cultural state of 14 American cities, with "current" meaning 1947, when the collection was published.
i finished
Naked Lunch. a very strange book, not like anything i'd ever encountered before. i started
Rain on the wind by
Walter MacKen which is an old favorite. i was hoping it would be an easy read but i dont seem to be in the mood for anything after
naked lunch, it really messed with my head
# 109 rebeccanyc: I loved
The Radetzky March. I look forward to hearing what you think of it.
I finished
The Echo Maker by
Richard Powers and have just started
The Stones of Florence by
Mary McCarthy.
The Echo Maker was a good book - I highly recommend it. It is an intriguing look at what neurology has learned about the brain as well as how we as humans create selves, despite what is going on in our brains. It reads better than I'm describing.
Started
Thunderstruck by Erik Larson but find it's not grabbing me like
Devil in the White City did. It's early days (i.e., chapters) yet, though, so I'll give it a couple more chapters before I decide whether to go on with it.
I'm halfway through
Starswarm by Jerry Pournelle. Very engaging so far.
Thanks for the welcomes.
Aristotle and an Aardvark is very similar to
Plato and a Platypus. For me the only difference is I'm listening to this one and since I listen in the car and the weather has bounced between ice storm (Wednesday) and blizzard (today and tomorrow) I haven't gotten a whole lot listened to. I stared Reality Show by Howard Kurtz, the media reporter for the Washington Post. I'm not too far into it (spent most of the afternoon cataloguing books) it is going to be very interesting. It's about the evening news and the changeover from Brokaw, Jennings, and Rather to Couric, Gibson and Williams. A behind the scenes look.
cabegley (#102) - I laughed when I read your post - I was managing exactly 3 pages per night! So I gave up some time in the first century AD and it went back to the library today. Life's too short!
rocketjk (#164) - yep, I had the same reactions to the
Omnivore's Dilemma. Such a great book. I finished In defense of food on Thursday and was somehow disappointed. I agreed with his main point (that we should eat **food** not nutrients), but somehow the story just didn't fill up a book as beautifully. It's made me dig out our seed catalogue - we have just finished our first summer of having a reasonable sized vege garden and it was great!
#148 Johnbol - I'm new here too. The cataloguing was addictive enough for the first few months, but this is even worse - I have a new list of books to read just from last week's posts...
Baby yelling...
#167 RcCarol, It took me a while to get into
The Radetzky March but now that I am nearing the end I am really enjoying it.
I printed out yesterday and finished last night an ebook called, Discoveries by
F.M. McPherson, which is a sequel to her published novel, Secrets. It was very good.
I'm also continuing on with
Inkheart and started
The Smoke Thief by
Shana Abe yesterday morning.
sean2euro
#166
Yeah,
Naked Lunch will kinda rape your soul. I don't envy anyone reading it. I read it once and never need to do it again.
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