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Picked up The Gray Man by Mark Greaney yesterday to pass some time on a flight. I was hardly able to put the book down. Very good action thriller with some well detailed fights. It has a couple of weak points that I won't call out until I finish it but all in all I am very happy with my purchase  .
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Oct 16, 2009 15:03
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Just picked up Jack Kerouac's On The Road. It's been on my to-buy-list for quite some time and I've never gotten round to it. Looking forward to my first encounter with Beat literature. Also bought Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. I haven't read any of his other books so I don't really know what to expect but the teaser on the backcover sounded interesting.
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Oct 16, 2009 18:33
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Just started: So far I'm loving the book. Pynchon forcefully grabs the English language, bends it over a table, and has his way with it while the reader looks on wondering if this book experience may break their pathetic brain. I've heard good things about the book, but I'm going into it blind (have read no spoilers or hints). I'm curious to see what conclusions I come to afterward, and how they will stack up with my peers'.
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Oct 16, 2009 22:29
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Unfortunately I download audiobooks (and rent, and get free from the library) so I always have a surplus of "What should I read next?" I'm torn between Leonard Nimoy's biography, or maybe Jasper Fforde's The Big Over Easy, or some Ben Elton. I also just got a few Star Wars and Red Dwarf books too. On demand entertainment just means on demand angst.
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Oct 17, 2009 01:54
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Just picked up an interesting book today called The Skeptic's Guide to Conspiracies by Monte Cook. It covers a lot of the bigger conspiracies and gives a basic rundown of them (usually with a slightly mocking tone for the crazier stuff.) Monte Cook is a D&D sourcebook writer and helped create Dark Matter if that means anything to anyone. He also wrote one of the Dark Matter novels, Of Aged Angels.
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Oct 17, 2009 07:11
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That70sHeidi posted:Unfortunately I download audiobooks (and rent, and get free from the library) so I always have a surplus of "What should I read next?" I can't comment on the others, but The Big Over Easy is a good read. Personally, I've recently started In Cold Blood.
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Oct 17, 2009 09:17
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schoenfelder posted:Also bought Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. I haven't read any of his other books so I don't really know what to expect but the teaser on the backcover sounded interesting. That's a really great book. One of the best ones on mountain climbing I've read.
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Oct 17, 2009 21:31
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Well I just picked up The Road by Cormack McCarthy. The many positive (if somewhat depressing) reviews in the "What did you just finish?" thread have had me thinking about this for a while, and the more I've looked into it, the more excited I've become. It's not often that modern fiction combines elements of epic adventure, a futurist, post cataclysmic setting and deep literary value. (So much so that it seems odd to put these elements all into the same sentence.) This will be my first McCarthy work and I'm hoping that the actual read will if anything exceed the buildup and high expectations.
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Oct 18, 2009 06:02
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I just-ish got The Mermaid's Madness, sequel to The Stepsister Scheme. It is so far not quite as good as The Stepsister Scheme.
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Oct 18, 2009 15:59
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I've just started Barchester Towers for a Victorian Realism class. I've never read anything by Anthony Trollope before. I also took out about 15 books or so with critical essays on Felicia Hemans, because I'm conducting a seminar on Records of Woman. I think I'll be focusing on fame, death, and gender in "Properzia Rossi," "Joan of Arc, in Rheims," and "The Grave of a Poetess." What I really need to get, just as a break from school readings, is a good anthology of short stories. The Best American Short Stories 2007, edited by Stephen King, was quite good. I might look for 2008.
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Oct 18, 2009 20:08
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I just received The Recognitions by William Gaddis in the mail. I've been meaning to read something of his because I keep hearing him compared to Pynchon and I am an absolute Pynchon nut. It's pretty big, though, so I think I'll save it for the summer holidays, when I'll hopefully have the time to chew through 950 pages of postmodern prose.
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Oct 19, 2009 08:28
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 A collection of the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda. I was mainly looking for just the Völuspá but when I saw this I pretty much had to have the whole thing.   Didn't buy this one, it was a present for my birthday. Snorri Sturluson's Saga of Kings. I just found out my family is descended from Snorri's brother, which spawned a sudden urge to check out his writings. I'm looking forward to reading the saga of Harald Haarfagre, so named for his vow to let his hair grow until all of Norway was a christian nation. I grew up in this guy's home town, he's supposedly buried under a large monument not far from where I used to live.
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Oct 19, 2009 12:44
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 Just grabbed forum poster Obstacle's new book. Judging from his trailer he's got a great sense of humor and a unique outlook on life. I'm interested in seeing things from his perspective.
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Oct 20, 2009 13:11
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I got The Things They Carried, its a pretty interesting read, I actually got it for my English class, but once I read chapter one it really seemed like a good read, can't wait to get deeper into the book.
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Oct 21, 2009 00:50
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Just started The Algebraist by Iain M Banks this weekend, and I'm about 140 pages in. I'm quite enjoying it so far... I also picked up The Plague by Camus and Liberation by Slattery, and as soon as I finish those, I'm going to pick up Don Quixote (the Edith Grossman translation).
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Oct 21, 2009 02:53
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IonClash posted:Yeah, by the end of that you'll want to stock up on food storage, weapons/ammo, radio gear (properly stored in faraday cages), and all sorts of medical supplies. Scary as hell. IonClash, your comment on this book (and a 40% borders coupon) made me go out an get this book. I read it this past weekend and it was definitely a thriller. TY!
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Oct 21, 2009 11:42
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Just bought the first four books in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. Excited!
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Oct 21, 2009 16:41
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Just bought Poems: 1959-2009 by Frederick Seidel on something of a whim. I need to read more modern poetry, and considering the reviews it's been getting this book will be a good place to start. For some reason I find the austere cover design really appealing.
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Oct 26, 2009 12:13
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I just started Jonathan Littells the Kindly Ones after becomming intruiged by the concept. The opening few pages have me hooked. I'm interested in seeing how everything plays out.
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Oct 26, 2009 17:26
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I just started Small Gods after finishing and thoroughly enjoying The Color of Magic. After that I'm going to take a Pratchett break and start The Golden Compass that I've renewed twice already through the library because it keeps getting neglected. So far Small Gods has been every bit as enjoyable as I was led to believe.
Doug fucked around with this message at 17:50 on Oct 30, 2009 |
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Oct 28, 2009 16:39
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I picked up Sex, Lies, and Handwriting by Michelle Dresbold. I'm not much of a reader, but this book caught my attention.
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Oct 29, 2009 18:04
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Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer. I've always liked Krakauer and how thorough his stuff is researched. I know it will likely be sad but informative.
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Oct 30, 2009 23:56
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Just started Richard Ben Cramer's What It Takes: The Way to the White House. It's a huge book on the 1988 election on one level, but I've heard it's a detailed examination of the kind of personalities and lifestyles on the campaign trail. Plus, I really liked the other book I've read of Cramer's (his great biography of Joe DiMaggio).
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Nov 1, 2009 00:44
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I'm working on Glen Cook's Black Company series while at work. They're collected in these big volumes with nice cover art. The Books of the South is what I'm reading right now. Click here for the full 450x684 image.
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Nov 1, 2009 04:25
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Just started on Diary by Chuck Palahniuk. Not so interesting to be honest. I hope it gets better as it goes on. If not it would be the worst book by him so far.
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Nov 1, 2009 22:48
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Quicksilver, the first book in the Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson. Kind of picked it up on a lark. Also bought the other two books, the ones that have all the books combined. Also The Illuminatus Trilogy I had been curious about this one for a while. So far its pretty good.
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Nov 2, 2009 04:47
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Just bought Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan. Haunting, bizarre, deranged, brilliant. I can't pick just one! Reading that with Vonnegut's Bluebeard on the side. It's been a while, Kurt. I've forgotten your charms, but they've quickly pulled me back in to your wonderful little world.
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Nov 2, 2009 05:27
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 My mother sent me this book after she finished it - she loved it and wanted to share it with me. Figure I might as well read it even though I'm not optimistic about it. I'm being guilted or tricked into reading this, dang it. She knows I can't not read a book!
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Nov 3, 2009 06:12
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I just bought this yesterday. Hopefully it's as good as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
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Nov 3, 2009 16:56
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juliuspringle posted:I just bought this yesterday. Hopefully it's as good as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. but pride and prejudice and zombies was horrible.
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Nov 3, 2009 22:59
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Just started (and finished) Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore. I had no idea Practical Demonkeeping was his first book, and I am so impressed by the guy right now. I've just bought the sequel (You Suck) and rented all his other stuff I could find from the local library. It's a shame his old publisher/marketing agent insisted on the incredibad covers, as that probably stopped a lot of people from picking up a bunch of funny, warm, entertaining reads. Just need to find a decent copy of Coyote Blue.
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Nov 4, 2009 00:51
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Found some nice buys at a local charity shop. King's The Gunslinger has been read, I am storming the battlements of KS Robinson's The Years of Rice and Salt and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell stands ready. Thought The Gunslinger was interestingly written, in the way that some of the other 'early' Stephen King I've read has been. I'm not sure that epic fantasy is quite his metier. The Years of Rice and Salt has so far been easier to read than Robinson's Mars Trilogy. It's a bit less distant, more human.
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Nov 4, 2009 01:42
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Started Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter. Oh God it's gonna take a year to get through this paper brick.  The topics it supposedly discusses interest me, though, so it shouldn't be too bad.
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Nov 4, 2009 03:26
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Evfedu posted:Just started (and finished) Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore. I'm a big fan of Moore as well, Lamb and A Dirty Job are my favorites of his. Unfortunately his new book coming out is going to be another sequel to Bloodsucking Fiends/You Suck, probably just to capitalize of the current vampire trend.
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Nov 4, 2009 04:27
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Today I bought Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. Never read any of his stuff before but the blurb seemed interesting and I've read several other Man Booker prize winners, so I thought I'd give "The Best of the Booker" a try. Anyone else read this? Edit for content: I've just read the author's introduction, which he wrote 25 years after the book. Even based on that I love his writing style and I feel this book is going to enthrall me and teach me a lot about modern Indian history. I'm excited! Also, I very nearly bought the new Augusten Burroughs book but I decided to ask for it for Christmas (seeing as it's a Christmas-themed collection).
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Nov 4, 2009 13:36
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Started David Foster Wallace's A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again essay collection. My first full DFW book, though I've read several essays in magazines and online. If I continue to enjoy it as much as I have been, I'll probably take a shot at Infinite Jest before long.
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Nov 4, 2009 16:08
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Getting near halfway done with Rohinton Mistry's "A Fine Balance," which is so far a very, very good book. It's about the Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi and how it affects 4 people in one apartment - two tailors who are from the Untouchable caste, their employer, a widow in her 40s, and a student who is staying with her. So far it's mostly gone into each character's past and not much has happened in the present, but it's still very interesting and I find myself sitting around for hours on end reading it.
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Nov 4, 2009 18:12
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Just began Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings by Jorge Luis Borges yesterday. I am reading it completely because of a recommendation by a man who cuts my hair (not a hairstylist!). He knows a lot about philosophy, but he is into astrology so I don't know what to think. Also, he predicts that Obama will reveal that the US has found humanoid extraterrestrial life by the end of the year.
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Nov 5, 2009 00:10
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Wiggles Von Huggins posted:Just began Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings by Jorge Luis Borges yesterday. I am reading it completely because of a recommendation by a man who cuts my hair (not a hairstylist!). He knows a lot about philosophy, but he is into astrology so I don't know what to think. At least he has good taste in books.
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Nov 5, 2009 21:29
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Fodder Cannon posted:At least he has good taste in books. Thus far, after only reading the first two essays, I would have to agree.
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Nov 6, 2009 00:57
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