I’ve got a stack of works of fiction:
The Endless Rose, by Roberto Bolaño
History of a Land called Uqbar, by Silas Haslam
The Egg Laid Twice, by Beatrice Quinn
Grammatical Garden or the Arbour of Accidence pleasantlie open’d to Tender Wits, by Pulverentus Siccus
If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, by Italo Calvino
I want to see how many of them I can finish today.
I read this a couple of months ago for my book club; I really enjoyed it, but everyone else disliked it thoroughly, mostly because of the plain and sparse language. I thought it added a lot of literary symbolism that was lost in the film, especially in the cave scene, though.
I just picked up Aimee Bender’s The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake from the library yesterday. I have been trying for months to check it out.
My genre book club’s pick this month is No One Belongs Here More Than You: Stories by Miranda July. I’ve only read one so far, but it is pretty funny. I thought her film was a little overly twee and worried that her stories might be too, but so far so good.
<Clap, Clap, Clap>
Good one.
It could have been because of the 'Dope, but I recently read about Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius and had an urge to read it. I have no idea (outside of my SD guess) where this thought came from…Which is kind of ironic considering the book…
Thanks. I was gonna mention that I’d just finished A Dance with Dragons, but someone beat me to the punch.
Seriously, I’m now reading Anthill, by EO Wilson (not liking it very much and not sure if I’m going to finish it), and Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke (my high readers chose it for their next reading group selection, so I’m trying to finish it before they get too far into it so I know how to teach it; I like it a lot better than Anthill, or for that matter better than Harry Potter).
Last week I really tried with Anthill since I have liked the little bit of non-fiction I’ve read by EO. Finally gave up after 117 pages. Boring. Characters aren’t his gift. It is said that the middle third is the good stuff but it wasn’t worth it to get there.
He’s got the fabled tin ear for dialog, in my opinion: although I’ve never been a boy growing up in Alabama, I am genetically incapable of believing they talk like that.
Currently re-reading Frederick Forsyth’s “Icon” for the severalth time…I’m funny that way, when I find one I really like I enjoy rereadings nearly as much as the first time, although I usually wait a decent amount of time in between.
Just yesterday I bought “True Grit” but haven’t started on it yet. Oddly enough, I have never seen either of the movies, so 'twill be a new experience.
SS
Tin ear for dialog? Not at all!
He’s an expert at dialog.
Only, dialog inside insect societies. 
He literally wrote the book on it - see The Superorganism
I’m about halfway through* Case Histories *by Kate Atkinson. So far it is turning out to be everything her *Behind the Scenes at the Museum *wasn’t.
The Wake of Forgiveness by Bruce Machart. I’m liking it so far, but it’s harsh. It opens in 1895 in Texas, when a woman dies giving birth to her fourth son. Fifteen years later, we see the four boys yoked to a plow, necks permanently bent to one side, and their father with a whip in his hand.
I’m thinking “Crap, this is depressing”, but I keep reading. I like the writing and the descriptions, and the unexpected bits of humor.
I added some Iain M Banks books to my Kindle when I found a book on the train so I’m putting off digging into Iain till I finish Do Not Pass Go by Tim Moore - “a travelogue of one man’s erratic journey around the 28 streets, stations and utilities, and an epic history of London’s wayward progress since the launch of the world’s most popular board game Monopoly.”
Finished Spirit Dances, by C.E. Murphy the latest in the Urban Shaman series.
Sometimes as I’m reading I think a little bit about what I’ll say here. I started the book and was thinking that the series just keeps improving. Then it seemed like she takes a few meaningless side roads and I lost a little interest. None-the-less, it was still an acceptable addition to the series.
I am currently reading Kosher Nation: Why More and More of America’s Food Answers to a Higher Authority by Sue Fishkoff. My very favorite anecdote so far is where the Chinese decide that kosher certification will lead to more sales in America. So the owner of a Chinese furniture company tries to get kosher certification for his tables and chairs.
I just finished Travia: The Ultimate Book of Travel Trivia by Nadine Godwin. Frankly the book was far more boring than I would have thought. She needed a narrative to tie it together.
I’m dumping The Wake of Forgiveness but might finish it later. Most of the book (so far) is over-written – the guy is using ALL the adjectives and adverbs, and I’ve never liked writers who put human characteristics on things like weather and rocks and trees. Is there a word for that? The story is intriguing but when I start noticing the writing, it just doesn’t work.
Last night I started So Much Pretty by Cara Hoffman – loving this one, but I haven’t gotten to the vile, gory stuff that some people complain about.
And since I just got a Kindle (free books!), I’m reading The Secret Garden.
Pathetic fallacy, personification, or anthropomorphism.
I just finished reading Crossroads Road. It’s the debut novel by the guy who publishes ThThe West Virginia Surf Report.http://thewvsr.com/. I can’t overstate how completely hilarious it is. It’s about the matriarch of a dysfunctional family who wins 234 million dollars in the lottery, and offers each of her relatves a deal : two million in cash and a new home, but they all have to live in a housing development created specifically for them. So they each have their own house, but they all live right next to or across from each other.
Print edition should be available in the next few days, but the Kindle version is available now, and only $3.99, as opposed to the paperback, which will be regular trade-paperback price.
It gets my highest recommendation.
Joe
Finished “Handling The Undead” by John Ajvide Lindqvist. I liked it as much, if not more than “Let The Right One In.” I really look forward to his next book. It’s hard not to compare him (favorably) to Stephen King, but Lindqvist does endings much better.
I’ve made it this far in my life without reading “The Count Of Monte Cristo.” That is about to change. I have heard it’s great and I hope not to be disappointed.
It’s going to take me a while to finish since it’s around 1400 pages. I post maybe once in these monthly threads already. That’s only twelve books a year. I feel inadequate compared to y’all, especially as I used to be a much faster reader. I don’t have a wife or kids to distract me. Currently, I don’t even have a job taking up my time.
I shouldn’t say inadequate. I should say jealous. I don’t have the attention span to read as much as I want.
Ooh, you’re in for a treat. It’s definitely not a fast read, but it’s an amazing read, possibly my all-time favorite novel. My mother had a great idea: she downloaded a cast of characters and kept it beside her book. You may want to do the same thing, as it can be difficult to remember who’s who.
I just finished The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith. This is a very good book and a great (and scary) example of a well-written “alternate world” piece of fiction.
Amazon link (great cover art, too!): http://www.amazon.com/Marbury-Lens-Andrew-Smith/dp/0312613423