The Last Five Books Your Read

What are the last five books you read, when did you get them, why did you get them, what are their relation to you and what is their relation to each other (if any)?

Let's see... the last five books I've read...

1) Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land, by David K. Shipler (almost done!)
2) The Cartoon History of the Universe II, by Larry Gonick
3) River of Blue Fire, the second volume of Otherland by Tad Williams
4) Vaginas: An Owner's Manual, by Carol Livoti and Elizabeth Topp
5) The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century, by James Howard Kunstler

(You can find my reviews at Experiments in Reading)

I've got quite an eclectic mix there, which is exactly why I joined this group! Technically, I only own two of them (1 and 3) although I can lay some claim on 2 because it's my partner's.

I can't find any obvious connections between them (I could probably come up with something convoluted if I wanted), but if someone else can spot any, congrats!

If I remember correctly:

1.) Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres (This book is absolute love)
2.) Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid (This book is the opposite of absolute love)
3.) Dubliners by James Joyce (Joyce is always love)
4.) The Robert Shaw Reader ed. Robert Blocker (collection of things written by Robert Shaw) James Jordan (signed! haha, woo - oh, and the cover art on this piece is so amazingly tranquil)

Let's see..

Currently reading: Journey Without Maps by Graham Greene. Before that it was Blue Clay People by William Powers. Both of those are about (very different times in) Liberian history- a country that I visited a few months ago and wanted to read more about. Before that was Sahara: A Natural History, which wasn't bad. The why of that is just a non-specific interest in desert ecology, geography, and anthropology. I read Dune at a very impressionable age and never got over it, I suppose. Prior to that was Lord Rochester's Monkey by Graham Greene, which was inspired a) by my recent Restoration England kick after reading Neal Stephenson's The Baroque Cycle (Quicksilver, etc), b) by the DVD release of the Libertine, and c) by my love of all things Graham Greene related. Prior to that was The Machine in Ward Eleven by Charles Willeford. I'm a big hardboiled fan and had yet to read any Willeford, so I figured I'd start with that. It was rather good, but didn't quite stack up to the big guns- Hammett, Chandler, Goodis, James. M. Cain, etc.

I have been digging around in the collection and reading some of the jewels that I re-discovered when I put my collection up on here. As well as a few books that I have gotten from Amazon recently. I buy them a LOT faster then I read them.....The last five books I read are:

-To the Tower Born by Robin Maxwell
-The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
-Fata Morgana by William Kotzwinkle
-Talking Rain by Linda French
-Letters From Atlantis by Robert Silverberg

I am currently reading Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett

I'm currently reading The Thin Man and Darkly Dreaming Dexter. The last five...

The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier
The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman
Gambit by Rex Stout
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
the Seville Communion by Arturo Perez-Reverte

What a wonderful idea for a thread. I like the idea of examining why we read what we do. My last five books are:

--Wilfred Owen: A Biography by Jon Stallworthy – every time I read Pat Barker’s Regeneration trilogy, I end up at the library researching something.
--Under the Volcano, by Malcolm Lowry – bought years ago and finally read because a discussion of The Power and the Glory had me wanting something set in Mexico.
--Timoleon Vieta Come Home by Dan Rhodes – a reread, because the first time left me out of sorts, despite thinking it was a wonderful book…still out of sorts, still a wonderful book.
--The Lambs of London by Peter Ackroyd – bought recently—at list price, no less—because of a glowing review. Alas, not as wonderful as the review but it really sparked my interest in Charles and Mary Lamb.
--Poems Retrieved by Frank O’Hara – because reading him makes me all kinds of happy.

Lots of Brits, two gay poets, and stories about a murderer, an alcoholic and a dog. If there's a common theme, maybe it's tragedy. "Tragic" certainly describes the novels and both poets met early deaths. I have no idea how these relate to me, except that I might consider choosing something lighter for my next read.

I'm only posting those books I've read recently that weren't required textbooks for classes.

--American Gods by Neil Gaiman
--Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
--The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie
--The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
--The Road to Ubar by Nicholas Clapp
--The Collected Traveler: Morocco by Barrie Kerper

The first three and the last are fairly recent purchases. The first two from recommendations, Lone Ranger because I'd seen the movie Smoke Signals, when it first came out, and wanted to read the stories. The last book I bought to for information purposes, since I was going on a trip to Morocco. I've had The Thin Man for years and was surprised, when I picked it up one day, that I'd never read it. The Road to Ubar was a recommendation from a co-worker and, even though he hadn't read it, it was as good as we thought it would be. I don't know what connections they may have, but they're all things I'm interested in or are on topics I want to know more about.

I've been on a sci-fi kick recently, so the line of reasoning is fairly easy to see.

Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin, which jumped right up to being one of my favorite works of science fiction the moment I finished it.

Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham, which is a psuedo-classic of sorts, though has become a little dated.

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot, which I read in one sitting when I had a spare half hour. The inspiration for the musical "Cats" apparently. There are some differences between the play and the book; primarily that the book doesn't totally suck.

Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut, which I actually started reading the morning before my wedding and was one of the few Vonnegut novels remaining that I haven't read.

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison, which is one of his out-of-print short story collections from the 1960s. Solid stuff, as usual.

The first three books were all purchased when I was living in Eugene, OR while the last two I picked up after I moved to Grand Forks, ND. The poetry is the odd fit here as it's the only non-genre book of the five, however upon reflection it does seem that all of the books other than Wyndham's are concerned in some way with identity and one's purpose. In fact even Triffids can be contrued as dealing with that subject.

Candide - Voltaire ----great fun
On Literature - Umberto Eco --- hit and miss
Never Let Me Go - Ishiguro --- recommended. but flawed imo
Iron Sunrise - Charles Stross - disappointing ending
The Sea - John Banville. - very good

In a moment of weakness I resolved to read less old sci fi and more new works so ...
The Communists Daughter by Dennis Bock
The Fearsome Particles by Trevor Cole
Empress: A Novel by Shan Sa -- lovely story but I was very distracted by the language which makes me wonder if it was easier to read in French
Were all enjoyable although not quite as good as the first ones that I read by each author.
Hot Springs by Steve Zio -- supposedly a web based novel although I never looked up the site and enjoyed the book nonetheless.
The Keep by Jennifer Egan -- great book as long as you don't mind not knowing exactly who is who or where you might be going.

Connections? all published this year, several Canadians influenced by Asia from the distant past to the present and all about relationships with others.

Perdido Street Station - China Mieville
Rising Stars Vol. 1 - Joe Straczynski
The Vile Village - Lemony Snicket
The Hide - Barry Unsworth
A Thousand Acres - Jane Smiley

I don't know how varied these are since they are all fiction. One is a graphic novel and one is a children's book.

Last Five Books I Finished:

1. Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini
2. Martian Time-Slip by Philip K. Dick
3. The Inheritors by William Golding
4. Go for Beginners by Kaoru Iwamoto
5. Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence

The first three are all used bookstore buys, each coming from a different store and a different part of the country. The fourth was a Christmas present and the fifth I pickedup almost 4 years ago at a Waldenbooks.

Each represents some current obsession. There is my interest in bestsellers from the 19th and early 20th century, my science fiction lust, my inexplicable urge to buy everything William Golding has written, and my recent passion for the game Go.

Actually, the Lawrence I read completly on a whim. I've had it sitting there for so long that I figured it was time to get it read. Not is best, but I enjoyed it.

It started off quite nice:
ee cummings collected poetry
Then got gruesome and sickening:
Cyclops by Euripides - ewww.
Helter Skelter - I have a new tag: 'yuck'. Horrible.

Then it was interesting and not too graphic, heavy on the history and historiography (or whatever: slightly soapbox-y, I felt):
Dick Turpin

But this; I haven't put it down since I bought it. Really, I can't read anything else.
The Greek Anthology. Wonderful and endlessly diverting. Can't praise it highly enough and small enough to fit in my stylish-yet-affordable handbag (which is very useful and not to be underestimated when choosing a book).