That book holds the dubious honor of being the only one that prompted me to draw a flowchart so I could keep track of the characters. Wouldn’t have been so bad if any of them were actually interesting.
Since my last post, I’ve read a couple more:
Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabbleplayers – Meh. Not bad. Some interesting content. Unfortunately, he assumes that you already know how tournament Scrabble is played and scored before you start and never explains some of the rules that are different from home Scrabble.
Eric Clapton: The Autobiography – Good book. I don’t think I would have liked the man very much during his 20s & 30s (he was quite the self-centered, drugged-out ass) but I’d like to meet him now. I loaded my iPod with Clapton (including Cream and Yardbirds) and listened to it the whole time I was reading the book. It added a lot to the experience, especially during those serendipitous moments when he mentioned a song as I was listening to it. I actually would have enjoyed more about specific songs: how he came to write them and what they meant to him.
I just knew there’d be a book thread on this forum.
Recently: The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Fantastic book. I recommend it to everyone. In a similar vein: The 100 Mile Diet.
The Fabric of the Cosmos. Collapse: another incredible read by Jared Diamond, he of Guns, Germs and Steel.
As usual, a Trollope on the go, right now it’s Orley Farm again. I toiled through Henry James’ Portrait of a Lady and must say it’s won the vison prize for Boring and Pointless.
I’m reading The Tenderness of Wolves, by Stef Penney and it’s great! An atmospheric, 19th Century, chilly little murder mystery of the frozen North. Interesting characters, engrossing story – I’m still in the middle of the book, but if it doesn’t lose it’s head of steam, it might my book of the year.
[There. I’ve used almost every boilerplate book review cliché I know. Did I say it’s gripping and character driven? Cause it is. It’s stunning, too, perfectly imagined, intricately plotted and laugh out loud funny? Well, okay, so it’s not funny, but it is all that other stuff. 
]
…hey, vision, welcome to the SDMB .
I just passed that chapter. If you’d not told me that they dress up in the penis, I would probably have overread it. I have to say, I didn’t think that part as funny as the part where he argues for the whale being a fish, rather regardless of what the authorities say. But it certainly was okay :-). Eighty pages to go in my edition, maybe I’ll manage by the first week of January.
I’m finding the Canterbury Tales uneven, but sometimes interesting…ah well.
As for other reading I’m doing. I’ve finished reading The Bluest Eye, which I though was so-so. Beautifully written in parts, storywise I though it quite boring; but the jumps in time and perspective were well done. I’ve also finished reading The God Delusion, which was good, but not as good as Dawkins’s biology books. But he’s preaching to the choir (no pun intended) in my case, so maybe that took some of the impact.
For essays and papers, I’m reading The Meme Machine, by Susan Blackwell, Darwin’s Dangerous Idea by Daniel Dennett (a necessary re-read), and several collections of 1810s/1820s naval biographies.
My reading list for January I’ll post when that month’s “Whatcha Gonna Be Reading” rolls around…
phillip roth my life as a man
raymond carver where im comming from
william styron darkness visable
ernie pyle brave men
the atheists bible (full of nice quotes to think on.)
paul krasner how a satirical editor became a yippie conspirator in ten easy years
read a few more, cant recall the books. sometimes i take on to much, not that the subject matter is all consuming or anything. I recommend richard dawkins and christopher hitchins for those questioning religion or who may be interested in fact not faith.
I’ve read most of Albert Camus’ The Stranger in the last day or two–fascinating read! I love the simplistic and visually evocative style of Part I and the incredible “truism machine” chugging away at his mind in Part II. The protagonist’s philosophical musings really ring true with me in a way nothing I’ve ever read has. Truly a special work.
No progress on God is Not Great or The Language Instinct, since I’ve been focusing on The Stranger. I almost started reading George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia, but I remembered that I promised myself to finish one of my other non-fics first!
I’m glad to hear that–it’s on my list. Have you read his book The Botany of Desire?
I really couldn’t get through Guns, Germs and Steel. (It doesn’t help that it was assigned.) I thought he took the most interesting theories and data and made it dry and unreadable. I was shocked when I saw him in an interview on some documentary and he turned out to be the most fascinating conversationalist. I could listen to him talk about history for hours, but I can’t read him.
When I saw the special on…was it the History Channel?.. I thought to myself, this is way more interesting than that dry toast, thick ass book. I tried so hard to tussle throught that book, but I ended up just skipping around in it and not getting all that the book could have offered me.
Khadaji, are you going to start the January thread, or would you like someone else to do it?
Your wish is my command!
Thank you. You make me feel like a book dominatrix. Uh, now read something with a leather binding.
Finished “The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman” which was really good.
Also finished Ravensong: A Natural And Fabulous History Of Ravens And Crows by Catharine Feher-Elston which was so-so.
Artemis: Virgin Goddess of the Sun & Moon–A Comprehensive Guide to the Greek Goddess of the Hunt, Her Myths, Powers & Mysteries by Sorita D’este which was a nice surprise of a book and chock full of info.
And I’ll be wrapping up the third in the Night Watch trilogy with Twlight Watch in the next few hours.
I saw your comment on Goodreads which inspired me to add it to my Amazon & Paperbackswap wish lists.