I’m trying to finish Joseph J. Ellis’s Founding Brothers before my next batch of considerably more frivolous books arrive in the mail. I’m expecting a new Maryjanice Davidson book and Kelley Armstrong’s new novel Personal Demon.
I just finished another of Georgette Heyer’s Regency romances, Lady of Quality. I really enjoy her writing, but this story wasn’t as satisfying as *Frederica *or The Grand Sophy.
I would recommend both of these things. Piers Anthony is kind of a hack, but he’s a fun hack.
I actually finished** all** the books I was reading in March over the weekend, during a bout of flu and fever. I am a clean slate! I believe I will start Ian Fleming’s Moonraker this evening, though. I’m slowly making my way through the James Bond series.
A book of short stories called Twilight of the Superheros by Deborah Eisenberg. Haven’t gotten to far into it but it’s decent so far (it’s a book club selection, so I have to finish by 4/7, read faster!).
I’m about 100 pages into Don Quixote and it’s not grabbing my interest very much. Of course I’ll slog my way through it like the bibliomasochist I am.
So on the side I’m reading some ‘fluff’ fiction that was given to me. A whole box full of John Grisham and other such authors I’d never think to read if it weren’t free. They’ll get me some credits on paperbackswap I hope.
I also need to read a book manuscript written by a friend of mine. I’m saving that for the weekend.
In the early Xanth, yes. In the Phaze/Proton world, yes. In later Xanth, no…I’m still reading them as they come out, because they’re like Chef Boyardee to me…I know I used to like them a lot, so I try again whenever a new one comes out, and for about two chapters it’s nice, but by the time I finish the book I realize that it was mostly junk and now I feel all bloated and ill.
Wow…that was asking an awful lot out of that metaphor, wasn’t it?
Sorry, still slogging through Derrida, Freud, Foucault et al for the lit-crit class. And I’ve read The Handmaid’s Tale about six times this semester. But I’m looking forward to summer – gonna’ go back and revisit some old friends from my undergrad days.
Jules Verne’s The Invasion of the Sea (translated into English for the first time only in 2001; I just saw a copy this weekend)
Philip Jose Farmer’s The Gates of Creation, the seconf in his World of Tiers series. I read the first one 25 years ago this summer, and never read any of the others. I figured it’s about time to give them a shot.
“Lemony Snicket’s” The Miserable Mill. MilliCal insists that both Pepper and I read the entire Series of Unfortunate Events.
You’d probably enjoy them more if you could listen to Tim Curry do the audiobooks. I liked that, but I’m not sure how I’d have fared just reading them.
Just finishing two really funny books - “Stop dressing your six-year-old like a skank : and other words of delicate Southern wisdom” by Celia Rivenbark, and “Smile when you’re lying : confessions of a rogue travel writer” by Chuck Thompson.
Also reading some interesting YA fantasy stuff: “The Book of a Thousand Days” by Shannon Hale, “The Time Travellers” by Linda Buckley-Archer. and “Flight” by Sherman Alexie. I can recommend all. Newest by Clare Dunkle “Sky Inside” was a disappointment tho.
Hah, believe it or not, I’m reading War and Peace. Tried reading it about 20 yrs ago and couldn’t get through what I saw as banality; but strangely, now I’m actually enjoying it! So is it maturity, or being satisfied with banality?!
The Space Opera Renaissance, edited by David Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. A collection of short and not so short stories of epic science fiction.
Descartes’ Error, a book on the neurological underpinnings of rational thought. Pretty interesting, and driving a spike into the last tattered remnant of my dualistic beliefs.
Hurrah, I’m finally actually reading books for pleasure and not for researching Wikipedia articles! I just finished Hustler Days: Minnesota Fats, Wimpy Lassiter, Jersey Red, and America’s Great Age of Pool by R.A. Dyer. It’s a history of pool in the US told through biographical sketches of the three titular players. Good quick read, very interesting and informative. Although I ended up using it for Wikipedia anyway to beef up a couple of articles.
Next up I think is going to be Lost and Found by Carolyn Parkhurst. It’s about an “Amazing Race”-type race around the world.