It's Time For Another Edition Of -- So, What Are You Reading?

Yep, I’m out of reading material. Ten days’ of pneumonia will do that to you. So here I am again to snaffle suggestions from the DoperReaders, who we all know have far more discerning tastes than Oprah.

Title, subject, and short opinion, if you please. Line forms to the left. Me go first? Well, okay.

The last three books I read were:

Cherry by Mary Karr, a follow-up to her first memoir, The Liar’s Club. I thought it was good but not nearly as good as TLC, which I loved.

The Bridegroom by Ha Jin, a collection of short stories set in modern China. Entertaining – he’s a great writer – but nothing that really struck me or held my attention.

The Prize Of All The Oceans by some guy whose name I forget. A non-fiction book about an 18th century circumnavigation of the globe by an English commodore who sacrificed ships and men for honor and glory. Very interesting study of what constitutes a ‘successful’ voyage, and at what point the price of glory becomes too high.

So – what are you reading?

The Koran, written by a chap named Allah in association with a bloke named Muhammed. Long, tedious, but interesting.

Marxism for Beginners, author unknown(it’s a photocopy). It’s sort of like a picture book towards everyone favorite political movement… Interesting.

About five romances. So sue me.

Just finished The Anubis Gates, thanks to The Teeming Millions for naming it for me. Cannot adequately discribe this book, but it is a fun read.

Still reading Hornblower and the Hotspur. A boy and his boat or Adventure on the High Seas.
For some non-fiction action, I’ve got All Souls: A Family Story from Southie. Kinda like Angela’s Ashes in Boston. It has the added attraction of the author’s mom not being a stupid cow.
I’m sorry, but Frank McCourt’s mom pissed me off on every second page.

Just finished The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein, and am now reading Mattimeo by Brian Jacques, trying to catch up to where the cartoon is on PBS.

Metamagical Themas, by Douglas Hofstadter

Cases, Materials, and Problems in Property, by Richard Chused

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

…What?

The Fourth Hand for the second time.

A graphic novel by Kyle Baker called You Are Here.

Lord of the Rings for the umpteenth time. Not much else at my job to read in the [euphemism] reading room [/euphemism].

[Edited by Ukulele Ike on 11-01-2001 at 07:56 PM]

preview is my friend…grrr

Dune by Frank Herbert

Mom read it years ago and got addicted to the series… I could never get into it, but finally decided to try it again. What a great book.

Next up: The Good Earth by Pearl Buck

The latest issue of Maxim.

Don’t look at me like that! Fine, I admit it, I need to hit the bookstore soon. :slight_smile:

The Man Who Loved Children by Christina Stead. A couple of years in the life of a very dysfunctional family, written in 1940. I thought it was great, so I bought some more Stead and a biography. Gotta see what makes a woman that angry.

Re-reading Davy by Edgar Pangborn, a post-apocalypse story with a (for want of a better word) definite “hippie” flavor.

Cinderella Skeleton was the Halloween book. It’s a kid’s book, and it was a hoot. She’s a bony little chick who loses her whole foot at the ball.

Also reading Anno Dracula by Kim Newman, the first of his alternate history/fantasy series. Queen Victoria is married to Count Dracula, someone is murdering vampires in a Ripper style, and trouble is brewing.

Waiting for From Hell by Alan Moore and Coldheart Canyon by Clive Barker.

Guess I’m a horror fan.

Red Lobster, White Trash and the Blue Laggon by (someone) Queenan - A professional critics submersion in the absolute worst that pop culture has to offer sand his take on it as it consumes his life… very very amusing.

On deck - Mists of Avalon

Just this moment finished When the Bough Breaks, by Jonathan Kellerman.

Next up is another of his Alex Delaware novels, Time Bomb.

I know these Alex Delaware books go in some chronological order but I rarely pay attention to order when I read several books in a series, usually because the first one I read is almost never the first of the series.

I’m on a “revisit the favourites” kick at the moment.

“LA Confidential” by James Ellroy
“The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings”, JRR Tolkein
“Snow Falling on Cedars” by David Guterson
“The Darkangel” by Meredith Ann Pierce

And a new one, “Night of the Wolf” by Alice Borchardt (new to me, anyway).

I’m in the middle of Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water, by Marc Reisner. It’s a fascinating history of American efforts to move water around and make it do what we want it to do. I never thought I’d find dams particularly interesting. Surprise!

I’m also reading Jim Crace’s The Devil’s Larder, his follow-up to Being Dead, which was maybe the best novel I’ve read in the last five years or so. TDL is a collection of 64 very short stories, all dealing in some manner with food; it’s a little like Hans Christian Andersen in the 21st century. So far, very good.

Beach Music - Pat Connely
Filth - Irvine Welsh
On The Road - Jack Kerouac
All are good.

Heh. I’ve just started Snow Falling on Cedars myself. I like it a lot, so far.

I’m also rereading Raymond Carver’s collected poetry, and I plan on reading the Qu’ran as soon as I can find a copy (not an easy feat here).

I’m reading Birth as an American Rite of Passage, by Robbie E. Davis-Floyd. It’s an interesting look at the medical model of birth from an anthropological point of view.

I’m currently re-re-re-reading The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub in anticipation of reading the sequel Black House

"The Happy Housewife" by Heleen van Royen. It’s more than a little bizarre (she tongues a corpse) but I’m sort of getting into it.

Real sorry about the illness…I hope you are feeling better.

The Politics of Latin Literature: Writing, Identity, and Empire in Ancient Rome – Thomas Habinek

Still working on The Manuscript Found in Saragossa, a terrific book by the 18th century aristocratic adventurer, Jan Potocki. Fighting, sex, the supernatural, marvelous tales of aristocratic intrigue…this book is one hell of a ride. Recommended to me by none other than Uke himself.

Rhetoric in the Middle Ages: A History of Rhetorical Theory from St. Augustine to the Renaissance, by James J. Murphy.

MR