I received an online coupon from Borders this week and bought a dozen or so books there yesterday. I’m currently reading two; Corrupting Dr Nice by John Kessel, a sicence fiction comedy, and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Urban Legends by Brandon Toropov, which incidentally mentions this message board. I’m also reading Hyperion by Dan Simmons, which I’m finding somewhat disappointing in view of its reputation; The Wind from the Sun, a collection of short stories by Arthur C. Clarke; 26 Nights, about a man who’s trying to win a bet by consecutively seducing twenty six woman in alphabetical order; and Uncle John’s Tenth Bathroom Reader which I’m reading when appropriate.
Currently on page 378 of Stranger in an Strange Land, and no, I’ve never read it before.
Also near the start of A Canticle for Leibowitz.
And I started Hardy’s Jude the Obscure, but I haven’t read any of it for two weeks now.
Finally, there’s some reading for my anthropology class that I need to catch up on.
Sorry, slight aside here:
DynoSaur, I don’t think Tad Williams is capable of writing a short book. The third book of his fantasy trilogy, called To Green Angel Tower (the book I mean), was so long that it was published as two paperbacks. I’ve read City and the two after it, just waiting for the fourth. I really got into it after a bit.
Milossarian:
“You are being lied to” sounds interesting, but you neglected to say who wrote it.
Unless, of course, we are once again being lied to, and this is some sort of “Catch 22” farce.
The Constant Gardener by John LeCarre. His latest; not his best, maybe, but just about anything he writes is worthwhile. Povesti [Novellas] by Nikolai Gogol. The Nose, The Overcoat, Nevsky Prospect, etc. My Metro reading. Amazingly funny writer, worth reading again and again. Chapaev i Pustota by Viktor Pelevin. Translated into English as The Clay Machine Gun, I think. Pelevin’s a kind of Gogolesque/post-modern wannabe; this novel was all the rage in Russia five years ago, but is already sounding a bit dated. About a schizophrenic who thinks he’s a Russian Civil War hero. His Omon Ra is much better written, less self-consciously ‘experimental’, and funnier.
I’m reading the book in Swedish, and the translator probably translated corn to majs, which is the Swedish word for Indian corn or maize. So I should probably write an angry letter to the translator.
At the moment I’m reading Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Well, I’ve read the poem at the start. Most of my reading these days is done on the tram while going to/from work/uni, and it’s the weekend so I haven’t had much reading time since I started.
Before that I was reading Stone and Sea, by Graham Edwards, a seemingly little known author who is responsible for the Dragoncharm trilogy, from whence comes my screen name. And I was very proud to see that Cumber got his name mentioned in it!
As you’ll see below, I’m a HUGE science fiction fan
And, since I’m a nice guy, I’ll link to sample chapters, at least where available
A Civil Campaign by Lois McMasters Bujold - the latest in the Vorkosigan books (gotta love that 'twisty little mutant!)
Worlds of Honor #3: Changer of Worlds by David Weber. This is an anthology set in Weber’s “Honor Harrington” universe. If you liked Hornblower, you’ll love Honor Harrington. Imagine a female Hornblower, set in a ‘space opera’ universe. Entire first book “On Basilisk Station” online here.
Gust Front by John Ringo. Second book an an ‘alien invasion’ genre. Pretty good tactics and some VERY nice toys in these books. First book, A Hymn Before Battle, is here
And I’ve usually got several other paperbacks and the like floating around, mostly science fiction, but some other stuff as well. Enjoy!
Shadow Games by Glenn Cook, plus off & on I’m reading some mythology tales/information. It’s usually more, but I’m also reading my Open University coursework, which as per usual, I’m behind on…and spending a lot of time talking to someone in America - that has really made my reading time suffer (& it’s all worth it)
Lemme try this again…is there some stupid reason why you can’t do more than ONE link in a friggin post???
Gust Front by John Ringo. Second book of an ‘alien invasion’ genre. Pretty good tactics and some VERY nice ‘toys’ in these books. The first book, “A Hymn Before Battle”, is located here.
Human Error by James Reason. About the human propensity to error, and how we error in established patterns.
Schizophrenia and manic-depressive disorder : the biological roots of mental illness as revealed by the landmark study of identical twins by E. Fuller Torrey. It’s a study.
Synchronicity : science, myth, and the trickster by Allan Combs, & Mark Holland. A book exploring synchronicity, once I’m finished I’ll probably move on to Jung’s work on it.
Sick Puppy: a novel about Florida politics highly recommended by a “political consultant” who does business in Florida.
I just “amazon’ed” The Professor and The Madman about the writing of the Oxford English Dictionary.
I suffer from a common affliction of forgetting lyrics to songs which also extends to remembering titles and authors. I don’t remember the title and author of my third book which is about the fast food revolution and all those additives lurking in your McD pommes frites!
The Tim – Koontz’s overuse of similes in Corner drove me bananas – I guess I figured someone who’d written as many books as he has would have gotten over that by now. Does he always have happy endings? I hate happy endings. I’ll try the two you suggested. Thanks.
Zoggie, old girl, thanks. The Board was taking so long to load, I just gave up trying to visit and decided it was time to start reading some of the books that have been suggested in these wonderful threads. I love the book threads.
Just finished Jim Carroll’s autobiography of his adolescence, The Basketball Diaries–very rough stuff and well written considering his age at the time.
Now reading:
Stephen King’s Dreamcatcher and an edited collection of essays called The Slate Diaries.
Alright, have finished The Crocodile Bird- it was really something, and yes I would reccomend it if you’re asking.
Next i’m starting to re-reading My Cousin Rachel, for the second time. The last time I read it was almost two years ago. Well, maybe 23 months ago, as I started reading it around end of May. So far, it, too, looks promising.
Organic Chemistry, 5th ed., by John McMurry. Stupid finals.
Other than that, I’m in the middle of The World According to Garp by John Irving and The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene. I try to read one novel and one non-fiction book concurrently, but I haven’t touched either for weeks because the above monstrosity has priority for… two more days.
