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I just started a Richard Brautigan collection having no idea who he was. I'm also waiting for my girlfriend to get back from vacation so I can read Queen of the South by Arturo Perez Reverte
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Aug 6, 2009 06:30
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I just bought Mumbo Jumbo. It's basically just a well founded rant about how "experts" are talking bullshit. So far it's a bit varying in terms of how easy it is to read. Over all it's entertaining.
markehed fucked around with this message at 12:55 on Aug 6, 2009 |
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Aug 6, 2009 11:34
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Three Olives' posting must be rubbing off on me, but I just picked up a copy of http://rainbow-reviews.com/?p=39. It looks pretty good.
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Aug 6, 2009 19:52
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A friend just lent me Welcome to the Desert of the Real by Slavoj Zizek and wowowow, I'm only 2 essays in and this guy knows how to make a great point. Definitely not a light read; I've had to consult wikipedia for explanations of Lacanian ideas and terms a number of times so far. But he has really crystallized a lot of my gripes about American politics and media. This is not to say, however, it is strictly about American sociology - he keeps his approach quite broad while using events in American history, particularly 9/11 to emphasize his arguments. Anyone with an interest in philosophy or psychoanalysis should definitely read this, as well as anyone who wants a fascinating take on global political and social issues.
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Aug 6, 2009 20:03
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Just ordered this: I really liked Brown Girl, Brownstones, and I like non-fiction about writing, so I'm looking forward to reading it.
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Aug 6, 2009 21:37
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Just started How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster. The title is pretty self explanatory; It's YA non-fiction which I'm hoping will be a pleasant, accessible introduction to reading with more purpose. I can be a better contributor to TBB and less fun at parties! Also queued up is Lankhmar Book 1: Swords And Deviltry by Fritz Leiber. My wife found it in an "If you like Michael Chabon, you may like..." article, so I'm curious to see how that works out. I read a fair deal of fantasy fiction when I was younger but have been having difficulty dropping back into the genre recently. This is supposed to be some hard core seminal poo poo, though, and I like the premise (sounds like the continued but not necessarily comedic adventures of Fezzik and Inigo). We'll see how it goes.
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Aug 10, 2009 15:02
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King Plum the Nth posted:Also queued up is Lankhmar Book 1: Swords And Deviltry by Fritz Leiber. My wife found it in an "If you like Michael Chabon, you may like..." article, so I'm curious to see how that works out. I read a fair deal of fantasy fiction when I was younger but have been having difficulty dropping back into the genre recently. This is supposed to be some hard core seminal poo poo, though, and I like the premise (sounds like the continued but not necessarily comedic adventures of Fezzik and Inigo). We'll see how it goes. Yeah, Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser is classic sword-and-sorcery stuff. Gentlemen of the Road by Chabon is probably the closest thing to that.
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Aug 10, 2009 16:33
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I'm roughly a chapter or so into Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. My girlfriend, who is more or less a typical sci-fi/fantasy nerd, recommended it to me as she thought I'd like it. So far so good, anyway.
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Aug 10, 2009 16:48
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I started City of Thieves by David Benioff. It's a dark, dark comedy set during the siege of Leningrad. A young looter and a charismatic Red Army deserter are sent into Leningrad by an NKVD officer to find a dozen eggs for his daughter's wedding cake. Hilarity, and horror, ensues. It's a fast, easy read, but the kind of violence, deprivation and horror he describes is like something you'd find in a Cormack McCarthy book.
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Aug 10, 2009 18:12
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Just started reading Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Even though the plot seems interesting, the book is not very well written, which makes it annoying, since I feel like I'm reading a forum thread or a LJ entry.
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Aug 10, 2009 18:35
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Just started A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny and Lunar Activity by Elizabeth Moon. These should be fairly quick reads, then I will likely hit up either Hammer's Slammers by David Drake or The Night's Dawn trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton, with the second two Janissaries books by Jerry Pournelle thrown in there somewhere.
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Aug 10, 2009 21:58
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Tohokai posted:Just started reading Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I almost bought this but decided against it. Thanks for reinforcing my choice! Instead I have just purchased: Boneshaker by Cherie Priest (well, preordered it at least. I love the Eden Moore series) The Likeness by Tana French (I devoured In the Woods in one day and I'm pleased to see Det. Maddox returning, as she really seemed more interesting than the main in that book anyhow) The Time-Traveler's Wife (ugh, I'm sure I'll regret this one, but my friend INSISTED it was awesome in spite of the mushiness. ugh we'll see) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo just on a whim. I'm really eager to get back into reading some GOOD YA fiction, and I'm tempted by Shiver and Leviathan--any opinions on these?
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Aug 11, 2009 03:54
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Just bought and about half way finished reading High Heels and Dirty Deals by Brett Tate. Holy poo poo it's funny. I was a little upset I couldn't find it in an eBook format but after getting the book I kind of understand why now.
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Aug 11, 2009 03:59
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Just started, among a few other books, Bad Samaritans by Ha-Joon Chang. It centers around a criticism of the type of free trade policies advocated by developed countries for adoption by developing economies. His thesis is that the benefits of free trade are not unalloyed and that such policies have not been followed in the period before full development by the very nations who promote them. The following excerpt from the Washington Post review gives a flavor of his point of view, and the criticisms of that perspective:WaPo posted:The dirty secret of capitalism, as Chang explains, is that much the same is true of the modern industrial economies of the West, including Britain and the United States. Although advocates of free trade typically extol the British as the pioneers of open markets, London lowered tariffs in the mid-19th century only after its industries had firmly established their lead over rivals. Likewise, U.S. tariffs remained high throughout America's industrialization. So why, Chang asks, should today's poor nations be required to develop differently?
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Aug 11, 2009 14:56
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Fifteen pages into Pynchon's Against the Day. It's my first Pynchon, and I'm enjoying the pulp whimsy style surrounding the Chums of Chance, though sometimes I need to reach for my dictionary. Only 1,000 pages to go!
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Aug 11, 2009 20:49
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http://www.amazon.com/Future-Freedom-Illiberal-Democracy-Revised/dp/0393331520/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250103285&sr=8-3 I just purchased The Future of Freedom by Fareed Zakaria last Tuesday. I'm about 40% through it, and it's been a very interesting read thus far. One of the few people on CNN with a brain... Edit: bolding title
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Aug 12, 2009 19:57
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just decided to give in to the hype and buy come cormac mccarthy books. just started reading The Road; No Country for Old Men and Blood Meridian are next in line.
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Aug 12, 2009 20:42
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Bohemienne posted:I almost bought this but decided against it. Thanks for reinforcing my choice! I loved The Likeness. It's not as good as In the Woods as a pure mystery, but overall I think it's a better novel. It also has some of the best writing of any mystery novel I've ever read. I just bought The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Swedish mystery novels never let me down, and this one is pretty well-reviewed, so hopefully it doesn't disappoint.
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Aug 13, 2009 06:51
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Along with some assorted non-fiction crap, just purchased The Easter Parade by Richard Yates. Really "enjoyed" his first short-story collection, his prose is so drat good despite being so straightforward.
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Aug 13, 2009 15:55
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Just started the His Dark Materials series recently at the prodding of my sister, and gently caress poo poo Pullman is the tellingest motherfucker.
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Aug 13, 2009 19:24
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Just bought A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by Joyce and I just started The Count of Monte Cristo and I'm loving it.
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Aug 14, 2009 02:22
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Just began The Black Company by Glen Cook. Some people compared it favorably to aSoIaF, so I'm giving it a shot. So far a group of cardboard characters are chasing some vampire panther around some castle in a generic medieval town or something... ...I hope it gets better.
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Aug 14, 2009 03:15
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I just started The Road yesterday, I'm about a quarter through. I don't think it's amazing, but it's pretty good. Reads alot like Ivan Denisovich.
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Aug 15, 2009 03:18
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Just bought Inherent Vice by Pynchon and 100 Years of Solitude by Marquez. Only have started Inherent Vice and it's great but I really enjoy Pynchon.
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Aug 15, 2009 04:32
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I found the first edition (1920 hardcover not 1919 serials) of H.G. Wells' The Outline of History for $2 at a used book store  But right now I'm about to start Murakami's After the Quake.
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Aug 15, 2009 05:24
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I bought Blood Meridian on Thursday, I just finished reading Candide for the book club so I'll probably start it tomorrow.
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Aug 16, 2009 03:34
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Just bought Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi, an Old Man's War novel, basically about Zoe Boutin-Perry and her role in the book The Lost Colony. I thought he was done with that universe, but I guess the publishers coaxed another one out of him. I swore I wouldn't start it until I finished school, but now I'm a hundred pages in 
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Aug 16, 2009 20:38
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Without Pants posted:I'd love to read something like this, let us know what you thought of it in the Finished thread. It's been awhile but I finally finished it, check out the Finished thread if you're still interested. Since Camus: A Romance sent me on a Camus kick, I picked up a bunch of his books for cheap and am plowing my way through them chronologically (and put all other books aside for the time being). I already got through The Stranger, with Myth of Sisyphus, Caligula and other plays, The Plague, The Rebel, and The Fall to go. I also ordered A Happy Death and The First Man, two unfinished novels that were published after his death. Luckily, most of his books are quick reads so this shouldn't set me back too much.
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Aug 17, 2009 08:06
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I'm reading A Description of New Netherland by Adriaan van der Donck, first published in 1655 but only recently translated into English. It describes the area around New Amsterdam a few decades after colonization began. It's crazy to imagine the area as it was just a few centuries ago, fully engulfed in nature, and it's even crazier to imagine the sort of society the Dutch colonists were building, and their seemingly friendly relations with the natives. Also, it was kind of written as propaganda to to encourage further colonization, so everything is described as being better than in Europe. ("The fruits from the trees are the best I've eaten and the firewood burns forever and there are so many trees here that we don't know what to do with them, and we burn down entire forests just to entertain ourselves, it's so cool, you should try it!") Generally, it's like reading about an alternate universe version of the city I live in and love.
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Aug 17, 2009 19:36
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A Canticle for Leibowitz. I'm 30 pages in and so far it's filling all of my post apocalyptic desires
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Aug 18, 2009 03:11
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Took a trip to the bookstore yesterday to pick up Netherland by Joseph O'Neill (been meaning to pick this up for a while) and the new Roberto Bolano release, The Skating Rink. However, I'm still working through Julio Cortazar's Hopscotch, so I'll get around to them eventually.
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Aug 18, 2009 14:30
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Plowing through Wastelands the third book in the Dark Tower series.
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Aug 18, 2009 14:53
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I just started Captain Corelli's Mandolin, having never seen the film and having no idea what it is actually about. It was the only book in my small town library I fancied at the time (it was that or 'The Wedding Planners Daughter'. Jesus!). I assumed it was a serious and dry affair, however I am laughing constantly, it's a bloody funny book. Granted I am not so far in, however every chapter so far I have enjoyed immensely. I have the feeling things may get darker, I hope not.
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Aug 18, 2009 20:03
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Just started reading Ada or Ardor by V. Nabokov; 19 or so chapters in and really adoring it. He's just so good at making you uncomfortable and engrossed at the same time. Also, what is with Nabokov and butterflies? This man has a better handle of the English language than I do. Trying to get my hands on Pale Fire and Carmilla via BookMooch, but instead settling for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll since my sister bought me a yummy fully illustrated hardcover copy from an Alice shop on her trip to England. 
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Aug 18, 2009 21:55
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Static Rook posted:
I am big Camus fan so I am tempted to get this. I am just afraid it will be too dry.
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Aug 19, 2009 02:52
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Ophelia Swims posted:Just started reading Ada or Ardor by V. Nabokov; 19 or so chapters in and really adoring it. He's just so good at making you uncomfortable and engrossed at the same time. Also, what is with Nabokov and butterflies? This man has a better handle of the English language than I do. If I remember correctly he was a pretty big collector of butterflies
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Aug 19, 2009 04:30
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Picked up Diamond Age and American gods at a bookshop, and ordered Infinite Jest and Lolita.
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Aug 19, 2009 06:25
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Just bought a 16-book Vonnegut lot off ebay. Pretty much all of the Dell Publishers versions with the big "V" on front. I was looking to get the ones I wanted from that publisher as it looks like they are all being replaced by new editions with Vonnegut drawings on the cover over garishly bright colored backgrounds. I don't really like the look of the new ones and I think the older versions are pretty classy. I've only read Slaughterhouse 5 and Breakfast of Champions but I'm looking forward to going through the rest.
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Aug 20, 2009 04:40
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Ophelia Swims posted:Just started reading Ada or Ardor by V. Nabokov; 19 or so chapters in and really adoring it. He's just so good at making you uncomfortable and engrossed at the same time. Also, what is with Nabokov and butterflies? This man has a better handle of the English language than I do. Nabokov was also an accomplished entomologist. He published several papers on butterflies.
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Aug 20, 2009 20:56
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Just finished East of Eden, about to start Ethan Frome, and yesterday I went to the bookstore and got Pynchon's Inherent Vice, Asimov's The Gods Themselves, and some Bujold Vorkosigan books since I've never read her before.
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Aug 21, 2009 15:05
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