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Just finished Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk. I've never thought of him as a particularly good writer, but I always find his stories interesting. Some of the poo poo he thinks up is pretty neat, in my opinion, and this story was no different. Not the best writing, but the plot was enough to keep me engaged. One of the better Palahniuk books that I've read.
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Jun 28, 2010 15:53
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Gay4BluRayz posted:Just finished Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk. I've never thought of him as a particularly good writer, but I always find his stories interesting. Some of the poo poo he thinks up is pretty neat, in my opinion, and this story was no different. Not the best writing, but the plot was enough to keep me engaged. One of the better Palahniuk books that I've read. That's why I own 9 of his books. They aren't always good but they are always interesting. Anyway today I got The diary of Anne Frank and an all in one book copy of the His Dark Materials trilogy.
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Jun 28, 2010 19:52
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As an assistant teacher, a lot of my job hours are spent sitting at a desk with my laptop but no internet access. Amazon's Kindle for Mac software has been quite a boon, since I'm working abroad - it lets me get a bunch of books and read them during work downtime, without having to worry about importing English books or eventually lugging them back home. Anyway, this week is semester exam week, which means I have even less to do than usual, which means it's the perfect time for me to crack open David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest. I'm only about ten percent through it yet, but so far I'm really digging it. It's the center point of a Venn diagram where one side is "The Royal Tenenbaums" and the other is "Thomas Pynchon."
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Jun 29, 2010 15:07
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"The Passage" by Justin Cronin My God, it's like The Stand and The Road had a baby, and it's the first of a planned trilogy! It's over 700 pages, if you like post apocalyptic fiction, you owe it to yourself to try this, and it's like 14 and change at Amazon. Do NOT let the word "vampires" throw you, it's not what you think!
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Jun 30, 2010 07:05
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I am reading Dune for the first time, ridicule me! Fake edit: I grew up reading fantasy and was never really exposed to much sci-fi; now I am living with my fiance who has a quite respectable basic sci-fi library and lots of movies so I've been getting a lot of exposure. But this is a really drat good book so far! Why does it get shoved into genre? It stands on its own quite well.
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Jun 30, 2010 19:49
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StealthStealth posted:Why does it get shoved into genre? It stands on its own quite well. Because it's about a life-extending substance found only on a distant planet overrun with giant worms. There's also a gross fat man that floats around and some telepathy thrown in for good measure. But really it boils down to which side of the genre-fiction-as-serious-literature argument you stand on.
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Jun 30, 2010 20:10
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Today I got this.
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Jul 1, 2010 02:13
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juliuspringle posted:Today I got this. All right! You're in for a much less interesting poorly-written Catcher ripoff!
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Jul 1, 2010 03:15
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I'm currently reading The World According To Garp by John Irving. I have to admit I'm actually just over half-way through it, but I just found this thread, so v v I quite enjoyed the first few chapters about his Mother, much more so than the current section I'm reading where I'm guessing Helen is about to cheat on him with a student of hers. The first few chapters focused more on Garp's mother, who lives a much more interesting life than Garp later does.Next book is Pimp by Iceberg Slim. I don't even recall how I got this book.
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Jul 1, 2010 11:01
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CaptainScraps posted:All right! You're in for a much less interesting poorly-written Catcher ripoff! I've actually already read it 3 times. But now I own my own copy.
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Jul 1, 2010 14:24
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I just started T.E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Slightly disappointed to discover some of the best scenes in the first hour of the film were completely invented.
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Jul 2, 2010 08:24
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I'm reading a sympathetic biography of Marie Antoinette By Antonia Fraser. I knew the very little about the woman save from the notorious 'let them eat briosh/cake' and her playing country milkmaid parts. I have an odd facination about the strange pantomimes and excess of Royalty.
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Jul 2, 2010 11:59
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juliuspringle posted:Today I got this. This was the first book I read by Banks. Loved it and I still keep a copy. CaptainScraps posted:All right! You're in for a much less interesting poorly-written Catcher ripoff! I liked it better than Catcher. Could be because I read Rule of the Bone first and I read Catcher many years later.
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Jul 2, 2010 19:44
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I just got a near perfect condition hardcover copy of Mysterious Skin by Scott Heim in the mail yesterday for 7$. I loved the movie, I am hoping the book is decent. I've heard generally positive reviews but don't know anyone who has read it.
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Jul 2, 2010 20:24
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I finished The World According to Garp and started Pimp by Iceberg Slim today. I read in the Wikipedia article on the book that the Library of Congress doesn't have a copy of this book, and from what I've read, that is appalling. As soon as I'm finished with this one, I'll call them and ask, and if that is indeed true, I'll mail them my copy. it's probably not true, huh? : ( EDIT: Holy poo poo, I think it's true. :o  Click here for the full 1681x552 image. Gorilla Salsa fucked around with this message at 04:18 on Jul 4, 2010 |
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Jul 4, 2010 04:14
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Gorilla Salsa posted:I finished The World According to Garp and started Pimp by Iceberg Slim today. I read in the Wikipedia article on the book that the Library of Congress doesn't have a copy of this book.... Sadly the LoC isn't a true national library and there are no requirements for publishers to send a copy of every book published each year. America really needs a true national library!
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Jul 4, 2010 04:50
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I just started The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera because I just love pretentious fiction. It's pretty enjoyable so far.
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Jul 4, 2010 23:16
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a sad model posted:I'm just starting The Road by Cormac McCarthy, and good god do I hate this writers style. So far the entire book is like one run-on sentence, barely ever using punctuation. I've spotted about 3 commas in 30 pages. I guess I'll just have to get used to it. Give it a chance. Once you get into Cormac McCarthy you really get in.
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Jul 5, 2010 21:35
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I picked up a used copy of Homer's Odyssey today. I've never read a poem anywhere near this long, but I've always wanted to read his works, so why not. I also grabbed Machiavelli's The Prince, another book I've been interested in reading for a while.
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Jul 5, 2010 23:59
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I just finished Pimp by Iceberg Slim (also known as Robert Beck) Started on Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson. Prolific use of the word "cedars".
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Jul 6, 2010 15:53
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I got Sunnyside by Glen David Gold, because I read a library copy of it and loved it. I also grabbed a copy of The Mysterious Benedictine Society while I was at it, because I have no self-control whatsoever.
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Jul 6, 2010 21:41
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I just picked up Storm Front by Jim Butcher, first book of the Dresden files - I read his Codex Alera series recently and really enjoyed it, so figured I'd give it a shot. I also have The Scar and Iron Council by China Mieville sitting there on my to read list, but I think I'm going to get in a couple more books with happy endings before risking another Perdido Street Station experience - great book but rough as hell at the end.
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Jul 6, 2010 21:57
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Heading out to get Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis tomorrow. I'm sort of stupidly excited, as I love Less Than Zero.
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Jul 6, 2010 22:27
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Bought: Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn (Everyman's Library) by Mark Twain A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain Bleak House by Charles Dickens Grimm's Fairtales Life by Richard Fortey Microcosm by Carl Zimmer Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach by John Alcock Paleontology: The Record of Life by Colin Stearn and Robert Carroll Life on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth by Andrew H. Knoll The Pattern of Evolution by Niles Eldredge All for about $60 total! Thalamus fucked around with this message at 06:56 on Jul 23, 2010 |
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Jul 7, 2010 02:29
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Admiral Goodenough posted:Heading out to get Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis tomorrow. I'm sort of stupidly excited, as I love Less Than Zero. I really enjoyed Imperial Bedrooms. Not my favorite by Ellis, but still a great read. I picked up in the last week and have started bits an pieces of each: Heart of Darkness and The Secret Agent - Joseph Conrad The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde A Storm of Swords - GRRM The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
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Jul 7, 2010 20:22
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I recently began reading the series A Song of Fire and Ice by George R. R. Martin.
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Jul 8, 2010 05:25
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I've been blindly picking up Stephen King books from Goodwill every so often for the past six months, but for some reason I've been holding off on reading them until I've read Carrie. Well, I finally found and bought Carrie, so I'll probably be reading King books (among other things, natch) pretty steadily for the next five years. Also found a hardcover copy of Atwood's The Blind Assassin. The only book of hers I've read is Oryx and Crake, which I loved, so I'm excited for this.
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Jul 8, 2010 14:58
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I got about 1/3 into Stiff by Mary Roach and found myself bored to tears. I really loved Bonk so I'm kinda disappointed. I think I've been loading up so much on science and biographies lately that I need a good guilty pleasure book to read, then come back to Stiff and try again. So I've just started Skin Trade. Yep, an Anita Blake book. Why would I do this to myself? Because I've read all the other ones and I feel the need to finish the series, dammit.  Plus, once I get through Skin Trade I've heard good things about the next two/latest ones out. Apparently she gets back to the *story*. (Hope hope hope...)
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Jul 8, 2010 18:29
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I recently started reading both Gonzo: the Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson and When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris. Both seem pretty good so far.
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Jul 8, 2010 18:52
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Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie and 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill both arrived today. I'll probably start with BSC.
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Jul 9, 2010 00:00
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PFCHudson posted:"The Passage" by Justin Cronin I remember hearing hype about this book a while ago but I bought it on this recommendation and somehow I read it in just a few days - the first third of the book especially has a really strong Stephen King vibe. I wouldn't call it my book of the year or anything but it definitely kept me entertained, and I can totally agree that there is nothing vampire like in this book, so don't let that turn you off.
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Jul 9, 2010 01:25
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Just bought a collection of Mark Twain's Short Stories from Signet Classics and Bulfinch's Mythology. Looking forward to reading these later on after I finish a few other books. That said I just started reading the Modern Library edition of Tales from 1001 Nights and so far it's amazing. The aphorisms, word-play, descriptive poems found so prevalently in eastern literature, and especially the vivid descriptions. I'm on The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad, and I love visualizing the scenery. Reddish-golden places, secret passages, the 40 rooms from the third kalandar's tale, just extremely imaginative environments all-around. After I finish with Nights, I was thinking of going through the Iliad, Odyssey, and Aenied. Can I expect a similar experience to Nights, that is with lots of literary action-adventure?
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Jul 9, 2010 03:32
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Don't forgot the second part also translated by Haddawy: http://www.amazon.com/Sindbad-Stories-Arabian-Nights-Deluxe/dp/0393332462 It's got more of the "famous" stories from the Arabian Nights in it, most of which were actually added later. Still really good though. e: Wait I misread that, do you have a Burton translation? If you like the stories you really should get the Haddawy version, the language isn't bowdlerized to hell. ShutteredIn fucked around with this message at 04:03 on Jul 9, 2010 |
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Jul 9, 2010 04:00
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Jive One posted:Can I expect a similar experience to Nights, that is with lots of literary action-adventure?
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Jul 9, 2010 06:49
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gently caress Snow Falling on Cedars, this book drags like hell. Took a trip to my local book store and bought The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer and Dr. Seuss & Mr. Geisel by Judith & Neil Morgan. I also ordered Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace because everyone on this forum seems to love it so much. I work 1-hour weekend shifts as a security guard and have basically nothing to do but read, and even at that, I should be set for the next two months.
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Jul 9, 2010 15:25
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The Machine posted:I've been blindly picking up Stephen King books from Goodwill every so often for the past six months, but for some reason I've been holding off on reading them until I've read Carrie. Well, I finally found and bought Carrie, so I'll probably be reading King books (among other things, natch) pretty steadily for the next five years. By story you mean sex, right?
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Jul 9, 2010 15:31
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hello clarice posted:By story you mean sex, right? I'm not sure what you're referring to.
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Jul 10, 2010 02:16
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PFCHudson posted:"The Passage" by Justin Cronin Reading this too, it's good. And yeah, he isn't just cashing in on the recent vampire craze. Government tries to create superserum, ends up with virus that turns people into Zombie/vampires. The book takes place over decades, the world before the virus, and the world after. Justin Cronin is a good author; the kind that hints at something, and then when you figure it out, "Oh, wait, he's a pedophile?", you feel connected to the story, apart of it. Just finished "Stories", a anthology of stories put together in-part by Neil Gaimen.
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Jul 10, 2010 02:54
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I started Tom Wolfe's The Purple Decades the other day. It's kind of a greatest hits of his, a mix of book excerpts and magazine features from the 60s and 70s. It's great so far - his piece on Nascar driver Junior Johnson is one of the best pieces of sportswriting I've ever read.
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Jul 10, 2010 03:51
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moist towelette posted:I remember hearing hype about this book a while ago but I bought it on this recommendation and somehow I read it in just a few days - the first third of the book especially has a really strong Stephen King vibe. I wouldn't call it my book of the year or anything but it definitely kept me entertained, and I can totally agree that there is nothing vampire like in this book, so don't let that turn you off. Really looking forward to the second book, apparently on tap for a release TWO YEARS from now 
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Jul 10, 2010 05:02
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