Biggirl, if you like sci-fi, read anything by Octavia Butler and/or Philip K. Dick.
And my favorite book of the year: Empire Falls by Richard Russo.
Well, the thing about Watchmen is that it is not really a superhero story; the fact that the characters are superheros is almost incedental. I always enjoyed it for the fact that it is a bittersweet story, but it probably turns a lot of people away.
I am reading
Titus Groan By Meryvn Peake
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Imagica by Clive Barker
Just finished
Bones of the Moon by Jonathan Carroll
Just purchased
War of the Oaks by Emma Bull
Land of Laughs Jonathan Carroll
Just gave up on
Dhalgran by Samuel R Delany. Maybe I will come back to it, but I just felt like a waste of time.
No, Pakesnarrion does not get any more exciting. I slogged through the entire series on the recommandation of a friend, and I still want my time back.
Right now I am working my way through The World of the Troubadours by Linda Paterson, probably the best historical survey of high medieval Occitania.
Working on Christmas books - just finished re-reading When the Bough Breaks by Jonathan Kellerman.
Currently active reading is Better Off Dead by Katy Munger - I do own all of the Casey Jones mysteries, and I plan on re-reading them in order, when I started, I just read what was available.
Current background reading is Thinner, Blonder, Whiter by Elizabeth Maguire - will probably move to foreground reading, since it is a library book, due back Jan. 4. Just started it, so we’ll see how I like it.
Got the softcover HP & Goblet of Fire - haven’t read in over a year, so I’ll get back to that.
Susan
Biggirl, if you haven’t already, check out The Third Chimpanzee by Diamond. I liked it even better than G,G, & S.
I’m reading Holy War: The Crusades and Their Impact on Today’s World by Karen Armstrong. It’s very interesting, but I’m a little fuzzy on some of the connections she’s making between the Crusades and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I’m not even halfway though, though, so she’s got a lot of time to convince me still.
Thunderball by Ian Fleming.
Ivor Horton’s Beginning Visiual C++ 5.0
I highly recommend this book to treat insomnia, unfortunatly it has the side effect if causing brain splitting migranes.
“Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy”, by Jane Leavy, soon to be followed by “Master of the Senate”, by Robert Caro, both very cool Giftmas gifts.
Just finished Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich.
If you read it, you’ll never shop at Wal-Mart again.
The Education of Uncle Paul by Algernon Blackwood.
Out of print, alas, but I found a copy in ASU’s Hayden Library.
Just finished Graham Greene’s The Quiet American, and jumped into Collected Novellas by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, both of which I’d strongly recommend. Plus I’ve got Rendevous with Rama and I’m slowly inching my way through an anthology of Stephen Leacock’s works.
Does this imply that you are irritated, inundated, yea, even overwhelmed by its utter, meaningless complexity, a novel so dense that even Gomer Pyle would be put off by it’s sleep inducing ennuiistic nature? If so, then why the hell do you keep reading it? Chuck it into the circular file, I say! Alright, it took me at least 100 pages before I discarded “The Brothers Karamazov”, I’ll admit it, but at least I came to my senses before wasting another 3 weeks on it!
its, that is!
I always love these threads.
**The Holocaust Chronicle: A History In Words and Pictures **
Just the ‘light’ and ‘happy’ reading one needs as a pick me up over the holidays.
**Donbas ** by Jacques Sandalescue (?) is another one I just finished re-reading. Excellent WW2 boy taken by the Russians and sent to a Siberian work camp and his chilling tale of survival and escape.
These “what are you reading” threads usually take on a life of their own and don’t need further input from the OP. But since many of you addressed me personally, I don’t want to seem like an inattentive host.
Let me just say at the start that I appreciate everybody’s thoughts and if I don’t mention your post specifically it’s not because I didn’t read or appreciate your opinion.
The Black Death by Philip Ziegler sounds like it could be up my alley. Does it get too technical? 'Cause my brain can only take but so much
I’ve read The Bourne Identity and, as it seems almost always the case with sequels, The Bourne Supremacy was such a let down.
Founding Brothers, by Josep Ellis. Astounding? Amazing? Really? With descriptors like that the book sounds hard to resist. (Should I mention that I’m a little dense and easily bored? Is this good for the layman?)
Catch Me If You Can is a quick read and fascinating? Sounds as if it’s right up my alley. I have to say that when I found out the movie was about a real person, my curiosity was piqued.
Exiles Honor, by Mercedes Lackey. How can I pass up a book that’s Qadgop’s guilty pleasure?
Seabiscuit, An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand has already been recommended by Dopers in a face-to-face situation. A book about a race horse doesn’t seem to be my cup of tea, but with so many recommendations, it’s beginning to be hard for me to pass this one up.
Rats, Lice, and History just sounds like something I would enjoy.
I’ve been dissapointed by stand-up comedians before. Their books are worth a chuckle, but you can usually get a better feel by watching them perform. Is there anything more in I’m The One That I Want than there is in the act?
I am a BIG romance fan (as can be gleaned from my web page) and I have yet to read Outlander even though I’ve heard great things about this book from romance fans and those uninitiated in the guilty pleasure of love in book form. I’m definitely getting this one.
The Third Chimpanzee by Diamond. As good as GG&S? My to be read pile is growing.
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America is already in my to be read pile. Only I haven’t actually purchased it yet.
Have I mentioned how much I love this board?
Well, I just got Seabiscuit as a present and, from the little bit I’ve read so far, its five star rating at Amazon (almost unanimously from 267 reviews!) seems like it’s gonna be justified.
likes the Silmarillion
But that may not surprise you, after I post my current reading list.
Currently working on: The Vision of Piers Plowman, William Langland
Sitting on my desk at the moment, roughly in the order they’re stacked:
an anthology, Five Elizabethan History Plays – contains King John (John Bale), Edward III (anonymous, possibly Shakespeare, at least in part), Thomas of Woodstock (anonymous. I’ve read this one, btw. It’s a riot), Perkin Warbeck (John Ford), The Tragedy of King John and Matilda (can’t remember the author’s name)
John Dryden, Selected Poems
Ben Jonson, The Devil is an Ass and Other Plays (contains Poetaster, Sejanus, The Devil is an Ass, and The New Inn – which I’ve also read. It’s odd.)
Thomas More, Utopia
The Cambridge Companion to Ben Jonson
Jonson (again), The Alchemist and Every Man In His Humour
Stephen Mullaney, The Place of the Stage in Renaissance England
Marvin Rosenberg, The Masks of Othello
Harold Bloom, The Western Canon (a gift from my sister, knowing I’m no Bloom fan)
And I’m going on an Amazon.com binge with some of the money I got for Christmas. Mmmmmm…books…
It occurs to me that I’ll see you in New York next week. I’ll bring my copy for you to borrow, if you like.
Cool Kyla. How’m I gonna return it?