What Book Are You Reading?

[Waus]

Off the top of my head some favorites include “Dharma Bums” or “On the Road” by Kerouac….or “Caramba: A Tale told in the Turn of the Cards” by Nina Marie Martinez or even “The Red Badge of Courage” by Steven Crane or “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich Maria Remarque and “A Farewell to Arms” by Hemingway......

Kerouac always seems to just sort of meander to me. I get frustrated. I read Farewell To Arms in highschool...

I might check out those other ones. "One of Ours" and "Wonder Boys" both sound good. In the meantime, I'm reading "Naked Lunch," strictly to check it off my list of books to read before I die.

[hardnox71]

Kerouac always seems to just sort of meander to me. I get frustrated.
HA!! I remember picking up The Subterraneans about four or five years ago and I swear by page 10 I had a fucking headache! Kerouac rambled on and on and on in these non-stop, run-on sentences that just had me fucking lost. I still want to read it, though. And On the Road and The Dharma Bums, too.

[Drederick Tatum]

Kerouac always seems to just sort of meander to me.

In the meantime, I'm reading "Naked Lunch," strictly to check it off my list of books to read before I die.

at least Kerouac meanders in a direction. Naked Lunch goes nowhere.

[Waus]

at least Kerouac meanders in a direction. Naked Lunch goes nowhere.

Don't say that! I haven't even started it yet.

Damn it.

[ggirlballa]

Ego Trip's book of rap lists


and Vibe; the history of hip hop

[Deep_Sea_Rain]

Ego Trip's book of rap lists


(y)

Excellent read.

[ggirlballa]

yup yup it is

[Deep_Sea_Rain]

They seemed to mention the Beasties far too much though.

[Bob]

i've been reading the catcher in the rye again

on the bus, during lunch, while waiting for water to boil, whenever i have a few minutes basically, i keep it on me most of the time...it's pretty good for that

i'm also reading watchmen again, but i don't like to bring it with me. the pages are kind of fancy and i don't want to risk it getting destroyed in my bag

i've been meaning to start the brothers karamazov, but i can't be bothered to start, it looks like a heavy read. i read the grand inquisitor chapter in college, that was pretty good

[Deep_Sea_Rain]

i've been reading the catcher in the rye again

I'm sure you don't need me to tell you what a fucking awesome book that is. (y)

[ggirlballa]

They seemed to mention the Beasties far too much though.


yea i think its eithier average or a bit much, but i have no complaints cuz i'm a hardcore bboy fan and ego trip is funny(y)

[Deep_Sea_Rain]

yea i think its eithier average or a bit much, but i have no complaints cuz i'm a hardcore bboy fan and ego trip is funny(y)

As am I...and I'm not downplaying the Beasties importance in Hip Hop...but cot dayum. They talked alot about them.

[brooklyndust]

jane's addiction - whores
citizen of the world - the life of pierre elliott trudeau volume one

[MC Moot]

citizen of the world - the life of pierre elliott trudeau volume one


How is it?.....dry?.....better than the mini-series?......Justin was by here last week,gonna fund raise at our gala this year......that kids a winner,gonna do big things,I can feel it.....(y)

[HEIRESS]

MR NICE (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mr-Nice-Howard-Marks/dp/0749395699)

EETSA NICE

[MC Moot]

MR NICE (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mr-Nice-Howard-Marks/dp/0749395699)

EETSA NICE


That sounds interesting....you might dig:

"Odd Man Out" Ronald Biggs

or

"My Life is My Sundance" Leonard Peltier

or

"The I Chong: Meditations from the Joint" Tommy Chong

or

"Live From Death Row" Mumia Abu Jamal

[brooklyndust]

How is it?.....dry?.....better than the mini-series?......Justin was by here last week,gonna fund raise at our gala this year......that kids a winner,gonna do big things,I can feel it.....(y)

it is really dry so far. I have been reading a lot of rock biographies that are full of sex and drugs and this one is just a little bit modest and not as entertaining.

but what cab I expect? it's a book about a former prime minister not anthony kiedis.

another thing that is not so great about this book only covers his life before he is prime minister, pt. 2 covers when he is prime minister and after

[Caribou]

J.P. McKay - 'A History of Western Society (since 1300)'.

This is the hugest book ever and I have 'til june to learn 350 pages by heart. :(

[emceefukit]

The Martian Chronicles.................It's fuckin' dope!

[Johnny Railroad]

The Martian Chronicles.................It's fuckin' dope!

i listen to them , I got it as Audio-Book ..... cool ! it sometimes makes me laughing about the mankind ....

[Jitters]

"Don't Make A Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings"

I feel stupid for saying that because everybody on here seems to be reading such serious and classic books.

I barely ever read books but I've been reading non-stop for the past 2 months, mostly funny stuff though.

[MC Moot]

it is really dry so far. I have been reading a lot of rock biographies that are full of sex and drugs and this one is just a little bit modest and not as entertaining.

but what cab I expect? it's a book about a former prime minister not anthony kiedis.

another thing that is not so great about this book only covers his life before he is prime minister, pt. 2 covers when he is prime minister and after

"Scar Tissue" was actually really disapointing......except for the naked pic of a young Ione...;)

Does the first book cover his "treking" years as a young man and his penchant for hashish?....if I edited I'd have juiced it up a bit....covered the aspect that he was a card carrying communist and all that....:)

[MC Moot]

The Martian Chronicles.................It's fuckin' dope!


It's Bradbury's best....love it,really,really love it......(y)

You'll even have to check the B movie out......have read "R is for Rocket"??....that's my other fave by him....:cool:

[MC Moot]

I read Chuck Klostermans "A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas" this weekend…..he’s a nice hack writer for Esquire,SPIN,etc……he’s highly entertaining.…it’s the 3rd of his I’ve read..…if you’ve ever thought you could get paid to write about pop culture, Chuck Klosterman’s stuff ensures that you can……all though sometimes I think he’s specifically trying to raise my ire with such comments as “the retarded Jon Spencer Blues Explosion….” Or gems like “one given member of Radiohead is smarter than all three of the Beastieboys combined….”…..still……it’s poppy junk food goodness and some sarcastic smarts….even if the guy’s fave band is KISS…..I’ll always have that on him……(y)

[icy manipulator]

i read the majority of The White Guard by Mikhail Bulgakov on every occasion that i was travelling in melbourne. quite an interesting story. not as good as The Master and Margarita but quite an enjoyable read. i'm surprised that it was the only book that was partially published while he was still alive, coz it's still pretty anti soviet

[jammytastic]

grotesque. by some japanese woman.

before that i read ross o'carroll kellys new book should have got off at sydney parade.

[Schmeltz]

A Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin.

[p-branez]

how to be alone - jonathan franzen
people think i'm wierd when i tell them the name of the book i'm reading

[Schmeltz]

Fuck fuck FUCK I just finished my book and I need to read the sequel NOW and somebody has it checked out of the library already god DAMMIT. :mad:

Seriously this book was awesome.

[Otis Driftwood]

Fuck fuck FUCK I just finished my book and I need to read the sequel NOW and somebody has it checked out of the library already god DAMMIT. :mad:

Seriously this book was awesome.
Good, cause I'm going to start that soon. That and the Lifeship/Assassin series are the last two fantasy epics I'm gonna try 'cause the last couple of series I read sucked (Amber and Wheel of Time to be specific). Shorter fantasy books seem to be better...

[Schmeltz]

I hadn't read any fantasy in years and years until a friend recommended this to me. I don't think you'll be disappointed. I couldn't wait long enough to get the library copy so yesterday I went out and bought the sequel, so now I'm reading A Clash of Kings, by the same author. It's just as good so far. (y)

[EN[i]GMA]

the master and margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. this is prolly my favourite book ever

You have good is taste in books.

That's also probably my favorite.

Anyway, I just finished The Anatomy of Fascism by Robert Paxton, which is a very good history of fascism. A bit dense, but that comes with the subject. Just before that I read The Courtier and the Heretic, which is seriously an amazing book. It's a very interesting book about the relationship between the philosophers Spinoza and Leibniz. Highly readable, but also illuminating.

I just started Catch-22 because I figured I'd lived long enough not having read it.

[MC Moot]

I just finished "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood it's shockingly good,can't believe I took this long to trip over this one....kind of like Ray Bradbury meets George Orwell sci fi/future but written from Gloria Steinem's perspective.....(y)

[GetYourWarOn]

a nirvana biography by everett true

[kleptomaniac]

the grapes of wrath

[abcdefz]

the grapes of wrath


What do you think?

There's a passage in there about commerce/banks as The Machine that's awfully good.





Me:

Plainsong (http://www.amazon.com/Plainsong-Kent-Haruf/dp/0375705856/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-9239997-0759944?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180628761&sr=8-2) by Kent Haruf. Literary but very very easy to read.

It's about a handful of people in a town and their stories: a teacher whose wife is having a breakdown and leaves him and their two boys; the story of the two boys, who are knit pretty tight; a local girl who's gotten pregnant while still in high school; the other teacher who takes her in for a time before putting her in the hands of two old farmer bachelor brothers, and how that uneasy household functions...

Anyway. I'm plowing through it, no pun intended. The sort of book where you can read a hundred pages at a gulp and not even notice. Very nice. (y)

Another one of those books I got for about fifteen cents at the library book sale.

FIVE BUCKS A BAG BOYYYYYY

[MC Moot]

I was looking for this thread....(y)

As of late....

“And the Ass Saw the Angel” by Nick Cave: Now I know why ”The Proposition” was so damned good….

“A Dirty Job” Christopher Moore: Hilarious, then sad, then hilarious and sad once again….

"McSweeneys #21" edited by Dave Eggers : My favourite new collection of short stories, excellent stuff….

“Bad Grass Never Dies” by Chuck Barris: I got a kick out of “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind” the book and the film but this sequel sucked a regular "Gong Show"..…..

[HEIRESS]

The 100 Mile Diet: A Year Of Local Eating (http://www.amazon.com/100-Mile-Diet-Year-Local-Eating/dp/0679314822)


Its about a couple who tries to only eat products grown/harvested within a 100 miles of their home

its pretty dope.

[icy manipulator]

GMA;1442440']You have good is taste in books.

That's also probably my favorite.

cheers, everyone that i know who's read it absolutely loves it. it either your favourite book or you've never heard of it. just watched the mini series the a couple of weeks ago. they did a really good job of it

[abcdefz]

The 100 Mile Diet: A Year Of Local Eating (http://www.amazon.com/100-Mile-Diet-Year-Local-Eating/dp/0679314822)


Its about a couple who tries to only eat products grown/harvested within a 100 miles of their home

its pretty dope.



How funny -- I just read about this a week or two ago.

There's a local chef ....contest?... or whatever that is doing this in our area, too.

Found it! (http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_5852459?nclick_check=1) No, not a contest, just a local restaurant having a special meal.

[Jim wont fix it]

'Apathy and other small victories' by Paul Neilan is immense. It'll probably appeal to any Chuck Palahniuk fans.

[MC Moot]

“Flight” by Sherman Alexie: Author of the screenplays for “Smoke Signals” and “The Business of Fancy Dancing” as well as a bunch of wicked poetry collections and novels….. this book is like Catcher in the Rye meets Slaughter House 5 meets One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest told from Crazy Horse’s perspective….I predict this little book will become required reading for High School curriculum throughout North America……MUST READ!........comes with points for discussion and related reading suggestions as well….Alexie is amazing!.....(y)

[icy manipulator]

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

[Schmeltz]

Bud Inc. by Ian Milgrew, purportedly an inside look at Canada's marijuana "industry." It makes a strong, well-documented, logical argument for the total legalization of marijuana, but the narrative is erratic and disjointed and everyone the guy interviews comes across as two-dimensional and boring in spite of their colourful personalities and histories. Good subject, wrong writer.

[roosta]

"The Third Policeman" by Flann O'Brien
"Teach Yourself Buddhism"

Reading two books at once is a stupid idea. :(

[jackrock]

"Altered States of Consciousness" By Various Authors. It was written in the 70's so it's interesting to see the opinion of some drugs are very similar to today, mainly Marihuana though.

[MC Moot]

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

I read that and then read "One Flew Over the Cukoos Nest" and then "Electric Koolaid Acid Test" then "Fear and Loathing..." all in a row....and realized that really,paranoia,is a logical raction to events unfolding all aroud us......:eek:

[MC Moot]

I got about 1/2 way through Dave Eggers "WHAT IS THE WHAT"this weekend...it's fucking magnificient,the man is amazing....everyone should have a shot at this book....the narrative grabs you by the throat,balls and heart all in 1 fell swoop.....amazing,really you think you KNOW good books,then take a shot,guaranteed satisfaction....so damn timely with the situation in Darfur as it stands...and lends fantastic insight to why that region of Africa is so fuck'd....we have a visible community of Ethipoian and Somali refugees in this town and I don't know that I'll ever think of them in the same light after this read......(y)(y)(y)

[abcdefz]

I'm picking through some of Erskine Caldwell's stories right now. The first one I read was really fine, and the others have been sub-Lardner kind of stuff. If that first story hadn't been so good, I would've chucked this one by now.:(

[skra75]

I Am Legend.
I'm stoked cause I just found out they are making a movie of it. (y)

[abcdefz]

I read an old screenplay for that, back from when it was going to be Ridley and Arnold, I think.

Script was good. Really solid. Haven't read the book.

Can't imagine what the Will Smith version will be.

[roosta]

the trailer for the Will Smith one looks good...but im a big fan of the Omega Man..so i dunno....

[abcdefz]

...finished reading Peter Sheridan's Every Inch of Her about this really really really overweight Irish Irish Irish woman who abandons her abusive husband (and, by default, their kids) and goes to hide out in a convent for a bit. Hilarity ensues.

Well, “amusement,” anyway.

I’ve made it sound like the Mama Cass version of Sister Act, and it’s (presumably) not that. Actually, a pretty decent read. Nothing groundbreaking. Nice, with a few genuine surprises.


B-.

[MileHighMan]

About to read:

RANT by Chuck Palahniuk

[HEIRESS]

The Golden Spruce by John Vaillant (http://http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Spruce-Story-Madness-Greed/dp/0393058875)

highly enjoyable thus far, with lots of british columbian history in it (y)

[HEIRESS]

oh and for gym reading its

Twelve by Nick Mcdonell (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Twelve-Nick-McDonell/dp/184354072X)

it has disgustingly good reviews but its hella "meh" thus far and is in what i consider a poorly done "flashback" style

[EN[i]GMA]

I'm reading Underworld by Don DeLillo now. I'm about 175 pages into an 800 page book, and it's ok so far.

I just finished Siddhartha. Shit's deep.

[kleptomaniac]

damn, i've only finished reading the stranger and i still have three more books to read for AP Lit this year....!!! :rolleyes:

[MC Moot]

GMA;1480022']I just finished Siddhartha. Shit's deep.

May I suggest "The Razors Edge" W. Somerset Maugham as a suitable follow up to Siddharta....(y)

[weez]

the bible. way too long, and retarted to read, but i said i'd finish it before reading another book.


after, i want to read the Qur'an, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books.

[MC Moot]

the bible. way too long, and retarted to read, but i said i'd finish it before reading another book..

The greatest piece of fiction ever created....(y)

[icy manipulator]

now started Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis. not too bad. liking it a lot more now that i've been watching lots of Entourage lately(y)

[de-nice]

Hi 'Yal,

I'm currently reading Ann Rand's "The Art of Nonficton". For some reason I can't read fiction. Sure I love the "classics" and "literature", for some reason in my spare time I read nonfiction.

Rand did some very good things for essayists. I don't think I've read a more precise manual.

Whatever,

d

[trailerprincess]

The Johnny Cash autobio Cash. Then I think I might read one of his other ones or maybe June's

[Yorkshire~Rose]

I've just bought 'The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle' by Haruki Murakami. I'm desperate to start reading it now but i did buy as my holiday read...but that's 50 sleeps away! Decisions, decisions. :D

[Drederick Tatum]

Contending Visions of the Middle East: The History and Politics of Orientalism - Zachary Lockman

[Schmeltz]

John Henry Days by Colson Whitehead, and before that The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon. Lot 49 was like The Big Lebowski in book form, kind of a lighthearted, surreal trip of a book, but John Henry Days is fantastic.

[abcdefz]

Mere Anarchy - Woody Allen

[paul jones]

I bought $50 + worth of comics the last 2 days.

among them was Angry Youth Comix, the latest isssue by Johnny Ryan and it's funny as fuck, definitley something to give someone as a present(y)

[hpdrifter]

Ha, I think the last time I posted in this thread I was reading Harry Potter 6. And this time is also Harry Potter (7).

I used to read a lot. Someone recommend me some books. I like books.

[hpdrifter]

cheers, everyone that i know who's read it absolutely loves it. it either your favourite book or you've never heard of it. just watched the mini series the a couple of weeks ago. they did a really good job of it

Woah, there's a miniseries. I also love this book. I have read it in English and Russian. Its probably my fav.

Its cliche but I do love the russian authors. Maybe cuz I majored in Russian in college and I had people tell me why they're brilliant.

[hpdrifter]

I'm about five stories into a collection by Rohinton Mistry called Swimming Lessons. So far -- good stuff. The stories all take place in one large apartment (housing?) complex, and they're just slice-of-life stories, which is a form I dig.

Supposedly, Mistry's book A Fine Balance is really the novel to read, but I was just rolling through the library looking for a book that grabbed me, and it was this one. (y)

I've read A Fine Balance. It was a great book, very difficult, emotionally though.

[abcdefz]

I've read A Fine Balance. It was a great book, very difficult, emotionally though.



I still need to snag that one.

I was lucky to grab a copy (to keep) of Swimming Lesson sin our library booksale for about ten cents. (y)

I'm making a note to follow up on A Fine Balance, thanks to you, drifter. God bless. (y)

[Jitters]

I just got "Cell" the other day.

Almost anything with zombies is an instant win for me.

[cookiepuss]

the General Securities Representative License Exam Manual.

[icy manipulator]

Woah, there's a miniseries. I also love this book. I have read it in English and Russian. Its probably my fav.

Its cliche but I do love the russian authors. Maybe cuz I majored in Russian in college and I had people tell me why they're brilliant.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0403783/ that's the mini series i watched. i reckon they did a really good job of it. the master looks so bloody old in it tho

did you find that anything was lost in translation after reading it in russian?

friend of mine is taking me to a russian film festival next month so i've got 1200 pages of War and Peace to read before then :(

[de-nice]

Is anyone interested in joining a 'book club' (ie. each of us agree on one book to read and discuss it in sections). My goal is non fiction, meaning ideas related to current issues ( could be nature, science, etc)

d

[Yorkshire~Rose]

I've just finished 'The Girl Next Door' By Jack Ketchum. Gut wrenching, heart breaking and disturbing.

[Tompz]

Just started "grapes of wrath". Like it so far.

[trailerprincess]

Just started "grapes of wrath". Like it so far.

That's probably my joint favorite book of all time.

I am currently reading the book by Ken Saro-Wiwa's son - he was the Nigerian activist who was executed for his activism, particularly about Shell's oil trading. It's very good

[MC Moot]

I got lot's of reading in this summer via la playa....(y)

"A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers

"The Raw Shark Texts" by Steven Hall

"The Plague" by Albert Camus

"The Elephant Vanishes" by Haruki Murakami

"God is not Great" by Chris Hitchins

"News of a Kidnapping" Gabriel Garcia Marquez

"Island of the Sequined Love Nun" by Christopher Moore

and I'm about 1/2 way into William Gibson's new one "Spook Country"

:cool:

[trailerprincess]

I got lot's of reading in this summer via la playa....(y)

"A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers

"The Raw Shark Texts" by Steven Hall

"The Plague" by Albert Camus

"The Elephant Vanishes" by Haruki Murakami

"God is not Great" by Chris Hitchins

"News of a Kidnapping" Gabriel Garcia Marquez

"Island of the Sequined Love Nun" by Christopher Moore

and I'm about 1/2 way into William Gibson's new one "Spook Country"

:cool:

I loved News of a Kidnapping. You should also read Memoires of My Melancholy Whores. It's wonderful

[MC Moot]

I loved News of a Kidnapping. You should also read Memoires of My Melancholy Whores. It's wonderful

Memories is a great read!...News of a Kidnapping....yes....Columbia is scary particularily during Pablo's reign...I love the South American setting in all his work and the way he re-visits character types over and over again,he's a genius...my fave is "Love in the Time of Cholera" the most shattering,moving "romance" novel of all time...me thinks anyways....and "100 Years of Solitude" is epic...(Bill Clintons fave book)....."Living to Tell the Tale" is his Auto-bio and it reveals so many of the character types he took from personal life experience.....(y):)

[icy manipulator]

i'm listening to an audio book version of The Brothers Karamazov. this will be the last audio book i'll listen to because it'll take twice as listen to as it would for me to read it, and the pommy git's voice is reallly pissing me off.

[abcdefz]

Just started "grapes of wrath". Like it so far.



(y)

[MC Moot]

The Johnny Cash autobio Cash. Then I think I might read one of his other ones or maybe June's

I like "Cash" quite a bit...i was hoping "Walk the Line" the film would cover it more closely as opposed to the plot it related....particularily the episode where he crawled into those caves to try and die,hopped up on the pills...harrowing stuff.....Vivian Liberto his first wife and Mama of his 3 kids has a book coming out this Sep called "I Walked the Line: My Life With Johnny" which interests me to read and hear her perspectice on that trampy June...;)....especially seeing how she was pretty much roundly ignored in the movie.....

[HEIRESS]

You Cant Win by Jack Black (http://www.amazon.com/You-Cant-Win-Jack-Black/dp/1902593022)

autobiography of a hobotheftdrifter type around the turn of the century
couldnt put it down all weekend

[BangkokB]

I've really gotten into this book Confessions of a Bangkok Private Eye tell all. I've had it for ages but just now started tearing into it.
Stories include
*A influential man hires him bc he thinks his wife is cheating. Come to find out she's only a crank addict with lesbian tendencies. Boy, was he relieved
*A man hires him to find out if his wife is slutting around while he's out of town and he BangBang ON THE DOOR BABY BangBang ON THE DOOR~ You're What? Tin Roof Rusted. She did/With him. But he didn't kiss and tell~He only wrote a book about it

I like reading stories about true crime: conartists that got away with it, bank robbers that got away with it, conartists that didn't, and Drug dealers(Mr. Nice)

Exodus new LP is titled "The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A"~From "The Atrocity Exhibition" With chapters like "Why I want to Fuck Ronald Reagan" This is the next up in my line of books. Anyone ever happen to read this?

[paul jones]

a shitload of comics I bought in Florida earlier this month

[MC Moot]

I just finished "When I was Cool: My Life at the Jack Kerouac School" by Sam Kashner who was actually the first student at the Kerouac School for Disembodied Poets....if you dig your beat writer's it essential,tons of personal insight and story's about Ginsberg,Corso,Burroughs (Sr and Jr), Ferlinghetti,Diane de Prima,Orslovsky...the whole lot.....some sad,some perverse,some pretty inspirational stuff......(y)

[Tompz]

I borrowed "East of eden". Epic stuff it seems, only read a few chapters over the last weeks.

[Gareth]

...and I'm about 1/2 way into William Gibson's new one "Spook Country"

:cool:

i'm about 1/3 through

[HEIRESS]

I just finished "When I was Cool: My Life at the Jack Kerouac School" by Sam Kashner who was actually the first student at the Kerouac School for Disembodied Poets....if you dig your beat writer's it essential,tons of personal insight and story's about Ginsberg,Corso,Burroughs (Sr and Jr), Ferlinghetti,Diane de Prima,Orslovsky...the whole lot.....some sad,some perverse,some pretty inspirational stuff......(y)


Ive suggested that book on this board a number of times
I highly enjoyed it as well

you should read a book I just finished awhile ago called "You cant win (http://www.amazon.com/You-Cant-Win-Jack-Black/dp/1902593022)" by Jack Black (not of the Tenacious D variety)

its written by guy who spent his life as a "hobo" hussling/stealing/burglaring (if burglaring is even a verb tense) his way through life about 100 years ago and they say its the book that most inspired burroughs to start his writing career.

(y)

I recently finished

"The Draft Dodger Dues: A Banquet of Crow (http://www.amazon.com/Draft-Dodger-Dues-Banquet-Autobiography/dp/1412095115)" by Robert Ziegler
Id recommend it even though some parts are so self indulgent (even for a memoir) that I skipped over them

and now im reading

"Shadow of the bear: Travels in the vanishing wilderness (http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Bear-Travels-Vanishing-Wilderness/dp/1596911980)" by Brian Payton

because I really like bears 'n' shit.

[MC Moot]

i'm about 1/3 through

Love his stuff,love that he's finally used Vancouver as a setting as well....the Bridge trilogy is my fave....if you ever come across "No Maps for these Territories" you may want to rent it it's trick....."Pattern Recognition" the movie is scheduled for a 2008 release.....(y)

[MC Moot]

Ive suggested that book on this board a number of times
I highly enjoyed it as well

you should read a book I just finished awhile ago called "You cant win (http://www.amazon.com/You-Cant-Win-Jack-Black/dp/1902593022)" by Jack Black (not of the Tenacious D variety)

its written by guy who spent his life as a "hobo" hussling/stealing/burglaring (if burglaring is even a verb tense) his way through life about 100 years ago and they say its the book that most inspired burroughs to start his writing career..

yeah,I remember your reference,my library does'nt have it but they do take suggestions.....(y)

[abcdefz]

You can always try interlibrary loan. (y)

[Waus]

Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas

[Lindsey_1535]

slapstick

[JohnnyChavello]

Postmodernism, Or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism by Frederic Jameson

[Jitters]

Finished "Dreamcatcher" a few weeks ago.

It started pretty cool but got kind of meh after half way through.

[Drederick Tatum]

Postmodernism, Or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism by Frederic Jameson

that's pretty good. used it a bit in my uni work.

[MC Moot]

Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas

great book,I loved "Sex,Drugs and Cocoa Puffs" as well as "Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a true story".....have yet to read "Fargo:Rock City"....(y)

[Gareth]

....."Pattern Recognition" the movie is scheduled for a 2008 release.....(y)

no shit..i'll have to look it up and see who is in it.
pattern recognition seemed to divide people [well, judging by reviews] but i really liked it, i dont mind his present/very-near-future stuff.

[MC Moot]

You can always try interlibrary loan. (y)

you mean like inter-city library loans?...cause our library's are all connected as one entity, so if you request a hold it's delivered to your branch for pick up from whatever location it resides at....bloody brilliant!.....(y)

[Caribou]

I'm now reading 'Muggepuut' by Herman Brusselmans. He's a Belgian author, he wrote about 40 novels and they're all rather bizarre. I've read 3 or 4 now and they arn't really about anything, It's just about a main character and his absurd hobbies going through a day of meeting bizarre people. Almost every sentence he writes is hilarious, if you have a liking for dry and bizarre humour.
Also, I read it in a Flemish accent, which makes it even better for me.

The last book I read of him was 'ex-drummer', about a band consisting of handicapped people. The writer gets asked to be in the band, but he isn't disabled in any way so his handicap is that he can't play the drums. They enter a competition and in between there's some fights ans lots of fucking.
They made it into a film which has been called the flemish trainspotting, because it's really dark and violent, but that's nothing like what the novel is.
Or maybe I just thought the violence in the novel was funny.

[b-grrrlie]

Stand & Deliver: The Autobiography
by Adam Ant

[Waus]

great book,I loved "Sex,Drugs and Cocoa Puffs" as well as "Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a true story".....have yet to read "Fargo:Rock City"....(y)

I'm not sure I want to read Fargo: Rock City, if only because he was so critical of it in his later work.

[MC Moot]

I'm not sure I want to read Fargo: Rock City, if only because he was so critical of it in his later work.

Do you buy into his "Advancement Theory"?....

[MC Moot]

I just finished "Assassination Vacation" by Sarah Vowell....she road trips to various historical sites revolving around the 1st 3 U.S presidential assassinations.....christ she's bright....it's the first I've read of her,feeling rather "late to the party" on this one....(y)

And I'm really liking "Invisible Cities" by Italo Calvinos,reminds of Pablo Neruda and Garcia Lorca,very beautiful prose.....(y)

[HEIRESS]

and now im reading

"Shadow of the bear: Travels in the vanishing wilderness (http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Bear-Travels-Vanishing-Wilderness/dp/1596911980)" by Brian Payton

because I really like bears 'n' shit.

I finished this and it was a really really good book.
made me tear up a couple times (which is rare for books) and I was even at the gym at the time and it still happened.
really excellent, informative (yet heartbreaking) read

[MC Moot]

I finished this and it was a really really good book.
made me tear up a couple times (which is rare for books) and I was even at the gym at the time and it still happened.
really excellent, informative (yet heartbreaking) read

excellent,finally a book you dig, that my library has.....(y)

[icy manipulator]

just started Dostoyesky's Notes from Underground

[Videodrome]

Hank The Cowdog: The Case of The Deadly Ha-Ha Game.

#37. yeah, i looked it up.

[MC Moot]

I often suspect that Cmute is actually Kinky Friedman.....everything lines up....coincidence?....me thinks not.....

[icy manipulator]

so, Dostoyevsky fans, mate of mine is going overseas for 6 months so yesterday i raided his library and now i've have The Idiot and The Possessed in my hands. what i want to know is, is it worth reading The Gambler before getting onto those 2?

[MC Moot]

I've only read 2 "The Idiot" and "The Brothers Karmazov"....I found them both noteworthy but "The Idiot" would be my choice.....(y)

[paul jones]

I nearly bought this yesterday but forgot.I'll get it soon though
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Agent-Zigzag-Wartime-Chapman-Traitor/dp/0747592837/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b/202-5040082-4231029

[icy manipulator]

I've only read 2 "The Idiot" and "The Brothers Karmazov"....I found them both noteworthy but "The Idiot" would be my choice.....(y)

wow, you read those before Crime and Punishment? interesting. i need to give The Brothers Karamazov another chance. downloaded the audio book (big mistake) and barely made it a third of the way thru. listening to a middle aged english male trying to do a russian elderly female voice is just pure torture (n)

[MC Moot]

wow, you read those before Crime and Punishment? interesting....

Yeah,it's an out of the ordinary evoloution in his bibliography, I suppose,but i hacked those titles from my Dad's library which has already been hacked by my siblings....so i suspect one of the copped before I could.....:D

[MC Moot]

Right at this moment: http://www.amazon.com/Dracula-Frankenstein-Friends-Katherine-Tegen/dp/006000116X

:rolleyes:

[AceFace]

i JUST finished reading that 33 1/3 book on Paul's Boutique. what a good book! the last paragraph made me kinda shiver it was so good. made me wanna listen to PB over and over (like i don't anyway).

[MC Moot]

^ Is it better than "The Skills to Pay the Bills"??....which I found to be a re-hash of articles and stuff I long ago knew/read....(n)

[AceFace]

oh it was amazing. it payed more attention to the making of the actual album with the dust bros and matt dike and how poorly they were first treated at capitol. it also touched on the fight with def jam. it did talk about the raucous the boys made during the making and it really tried hard to explain the stories behind every song. you could tell the writer was a big fan. he did interviews with several people including mike D who seemed very embarrassed by some of the things they did at that time like the eggings and stuff.

it's DEF worth the read and i ate it up in like 2 days.

it gives info like "Hello Brooklyn" was basically a set up for the use of the johnny cash sample at the end. they made the whole song around that . i thought that was hella neat.

it also goes into details about how they put the samples together and that each song may sound different b/c they were experimenting with another "substance" for inspiration. it said they used between 100 and 300 samples to make the record, but to this day they don't have a list of what all was used and they were all so fucked up all the time that they can't remember them all.

make sure to read the footnotes, they were especially interesting.

[paul jones]

oh it was amazing. it payed more attention to the making of the actual album with the dust bros and matt dike and how poorly they were first treated at capitol. it also touched on the fight with def jam. it did talk about the raucous the boys made during the making and it really tried hard to explain the stories behind every song. you could tell the writer was a big fan. he did interviews with several people including mike D who seemed very embarrassed by some of the things they did at that time like the eggings and stuff.

it's DEF worth the read and i ate it up in like 2 days.

it gives info like "Hello Brooklyn" was basically a set up for the use of the johnny cash sample at the end. they made the whole song around that . i thought that was hella neat.

it also goes into details about how they put the samples together and that each song may sound different b/c they were experimenting with another "substance" for inspiration. it said they used between 100 and 300 samples to make the record, but to this day they don't have a list of what all was used and they were all so fucked up all the time that they can't remember them all.

make sure to read the footnotes, they were especially interesting.


I want to read this someday

[MC Moot]

oh it was amazing. it payed more attention to the making of the actual album with the dust bros and matt dike and how poorly they were first treated at capitol. it also touched on the fight with def jam. it did talk about the raucous the boys made during the making and it really tried hard to explain the stories behind every song. you could tell the writer was a big fan. he did interviews with several people including mike D who seemed very embarrassed by some of the things they did at that time like the eggings and stuff.

it's DEF worth the read and i ate it up in like 2 days.

it gives info like "Hello Brooklyn" was basically a set up for the use of the johnny cash sample at the end. they made the whole song around that . i thought that was hella neat.

it also goes into details about how they put the samples together and that each song may sound different b/c they were experimenting with another "substance" for inspiration. it said they used between 100 and 300 samples to make the record, but to this day they don't have a list of what all was used and they were all so fucked up all the time that they can't remember them all.

make sure to read the footnotes, they were especially interesting.

Sold!....I'm gonna order it along with Ricky Powell's "Public Access".....(y)

[AceFace]

you'll be surprised at how itty bitty the book is! i wish i hadn't let my friend borrow it b/c i wanna read it again!

i think i'm gonna read the "MC5: Kick Out The Jams" 33 1/3 book next.

[p-branez]

guns, germs, and steel. among various textbooks.
seems pretty epic.
i finished less than zero which i was not a fan of. at least it was short.

[HEIRESS]

"And quiet flows the don" (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Quiet-Flows-Don-Vintage-International/dp/0679725210)

[Gareth]

shanahan's australian law of trade marks and passing off 3rd edition

[MC Moot]

I just finished “The People Look Like Flowers At Last” by Charles Bukowski,another post-mortem collection of fantastic stuff…some from his youth and a lot from his senior years,lot’s of clever inuendo’s about Gary Snyder,Ginsberg and other poets he read with/loathed….and I just started “Pirates of the Caribbean: Axis of Hope” by Tariq Ali all about the Bolivarian Revolution that is reshaping life and politics in South America and it’s impact on the states…..(y)

[Drederick Tatum]

Tim Parks - A Season With Verona.

British journalist/Verona resident decides to attend all the away games of Hellas Verona with their notoriously right wing fans, the Brigate Gialloblù. is lol.

[GetYourWarOn]

into the wild

[MC Moot]

into the wild

"Into to Thin Air" is interesting as well....(y)

[fucktopgirl]

Chomsky'' the New Military Humanism:Lessons from Kosovo

Good reading so far.

[MC Moot]

I'm about 2/3 through "Sailor Song" by Ken Kesey who I think is terribly overlooked...partially cause he "quit" writing to run about with the Merry Pranksters,did his jail time and then turned his back on society....this is a great book,I like it even better than Cukoo's Nest....(y)

I gotta find this: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=KKRBRozJPl4

[icy manipulator]

oscar wilde - the picture of dorian gray. i'm liking it so far

[HEIRESS]

I'm about 2/3 through "Sailor Song" by Ken Kesey who I think is terribly overlooked...partially cause he "quit" writing to run about with the Merry Pranksters,did his jail time and then turned his back on society....this is a great book,I like it even better than Cukoo's Nest....(y)

I gotta find this: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=KKRBRozJPl4


I read a book about 5 years ago. I know it was canadian and almost definately set in or around toronto with a canadian writer who went and lived in a shanty town by choice for a year. its a great read but I cant for the life remember the name
I swear it was simply "shanty town" but I googled that or variations of it and cant find the author or books name.

fuck.

[HEIRESS]

"And quiet flows the don" (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Quiet-Flows-Don-Vintage-International/dp/0679725210)

I havent finished it yet because life has been so fucked up but Im making my through it while at the gym. but for a book based on russian life in the early part of the last century it has made me chuckle quite a few times. and the story is just sucking me in, yay drama!
(y)(y) so far.

the story has been put to film, but Im scared to watch the adaptations. especially since the most recent one stars rupert everett as the main lead :/
the one from the 60's looks pretty decent though.

[MC Moot]

I read a book about 5 years ago. I know it was canadian and almost definately set in or around toronto with a canadian writer who went and lived in a shanty town by choice for a year. its a great read but I cant for the life remember the name
I swear it was simply "shanty town" but I googled that or variations of it and cant find the author or books name.

fuck.

http://www.amazon.ca/Down-This-Splendour-Big-City-Shantytown/dp/0679312277


??

[Jitters]

i JUST finished reading that 33 1/3 book on Paul's Boutique. what a good book!

Pretty good book to be so small isn't it? :)

Currently reading, I Am America (And So Can You.)If you're a fan of Colbert then it can't disappoint.

[HEIRESS]

http://www.amazon.ca/Down-This-Splendour-Big-City-Shantytown/dp/0679312277


??


thats it!
its fucking good!

[MC Moot]

thats it!
its fucking good!

I'm on it then....(y)

https://catalogue.calgarypubliclibrary.com/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1B952327V290Y.4814&menu=search&aspect=subtab99&npp=20&ipp=20&spp=20&profile=testa--1&ri=2&source=%7E%21cpl_production&index=.TW&term=down+to+this&aspect=subtab99&x=18&y=16#focus

[Randetica]

bbmb

[banzai]

wikipedia's big book of things that might not be true, by the internet

[GreenEarthAl]

Right now Heather and I are reading aloud: The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. That is one long ass book. But good though.

My friend, Leslie James Pickering, recently wrote a book called Mad Bomber Melville and that book totally kicks ass. A nice SHORT quick read.

And I recently read endgame vol. II by Derrick Jensen. Which I also liked very much.

[QueenAdrock]

Working on 3:

I Am America (And So Can You!)

Soulless: Ann Coulter and the Right-Wing Church of Hate

Quitting the Mob (story of the first and only person to successfully and publically quit the mafia)

I wish I had more time. :(

[kleptomaniac]

i started reading Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead today in 1st period, and i finished the play by the middle of 5th period. i love it! :)

[paul jones]

the guide to Tony Hawk's Proving Ground.I keep fucking up the land trick.It says I should release all controls but you have to do at the right time

[roosta]

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki

Its pretty good, but you kind of have to stop everyso often and work out for yourself whats being said, being that its zen and all. Some good insights.

After this im gonna read an oldschool "story" book, you know, one with a "plot". I like the sound of Douglas Coupland's "The Gum Thief" - anyone read it?

[petesboutique]

currently finishing the guardian by nicholas sparks. i love it its mysterious

[hardnox71]

I just finished reading 'Tis by Frank McCourt a couple of months ago. I liked it. Been meaning to get to his other book Angela's Ashes but I've got too much bullshit going on right now. Soon, though.

[ToucanSpam]

Has anyone read The Lovely Bones?

[MC Moot]

I’m reading “Just a Couple of Day’s” by Tony Vigorito,can’t remember if someone here had recommended it…but it’s fantastic…kinda like Tom Robbins,Christopher Moore and Douglas Adams meeting Isaac Assimov,Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking’s….tons o fun and big brains/ideas to boot…(y)

[abcdefz]

I was reading Selected Stories by Mary Lavin but about sixty pages (two and a half stories) into it just go meh.

So now I'm starting Dorothy Allison's Bastard Out of Carolina.

[abcdefz]

Has anyone read The Lovely Bones?


I have.

For the most part, I liked it quite a bit.

[cookiepuss]

I'm reading:

The Power of Coincidence: How Life Shows Us What We Need to Know

it's good stuff! (http://www.amazon.com/Power-Coincidence-Life-Shows-What/dp/1590304276/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198083951&sr=8-1)

[venusvenus123]

I'm reading How to turn your ballet skills into sexy pole-dancing skills in 10 days! ;)


i actually just returned Heart of Darkness to the library with only 10 pages to go. i just decided i was NOT enjoying it at all and really couldn't see the point of reading it any further, even though i'd just met kurtz.

am now reading How the Left lost its way by Nick Cohen who's a political journalist here.

[abcdefz]

I'm reading How to turn your ballet skills into sexy pole-dancing skills in 10 days! ;)



That's a great book. I'm expressing myself and earning a good living while doing it!

Took 12 days, though. Just sayin'.

[abcdefz]

i actually just returned Heart of Darkness to the library with only 10 pages to go. i just decided i was NOT enjoying it at all and really couldn't see the point of reading it any further, even though i'd just met kurtz.




You got further than I did. Plus it was an assigned book for us in school.

I keep trying, even in adulthood, and I just cannot get into that book.

[cookiepuss]

That's a great book. I'm expressing myself and earning a good living while doing it!

Took 12 days, though. Just sayin'.

now y'alls is just being silly. but ya know what ever floats your boat.(y)

[abcdefz]

I'll post some pictures soon!

[Otis Driftwood]

I'm currently reading Paper Fan- The hunt for triad gangster Steven Wong. Very interesting true crime non-fiction.

[icy manipulator]

Abramovich - the billionaire from nowhere

[Tompz]

I worked doing furniture removal today here in Sydney. I found some books in the dustbin and asked the guy who owned the house we cleared if I could have two books that was in there.

So I got Fear and loathing in Las Vegas and Darwin's Origin of the Species. Made my day.

I'm also reading Gone Baby Gone by Denis Lehane.

[trailerprincess]

The Godfather by Mario Puzo. Must have read it a dozen times but I like it. It's my dad's old copy - it cost 50p BRAND NEW. Weird.

I also just finished No One Takes My Children by Donya Al-Nahi which was good. She is the lady who used to help women when their husbands took their children, without permission to live with them in the Middlle East. And then her husband did the same.

I am waiting for Christmas book presents.

[abcdefz]

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.

This is one that most people flip over that I never really thought was all that great. I'm about three-fourths the way through it and
still don't think it's a big deal.

Oh well.

[HEIRESS]

I finished this last night
http://www.amazon.ca/Time-Was-Soft-There-Shakespeare/dp/0312347405
very good, quicky quick read.

started this today, and Im almost halfway through! yay steve!
http://www.amazon.com/Born-Standing-Up-Comics-Life/dp/1416553649

[GetYourWarOn]

i just finished the road and no country for old men. both were awesome.

right now i'm reading some book that steve martin wrote about his standup comedy career. it started off kind of boring, i hope it gets better

[MC Moot]

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.

This is one that most people flip over that I never really thought was all that great. I'm about three-fourths the way through it and
still don't think it's a big deal.

Oh well.

Actually,it was not really composed as a novel,it was written as a series of short story excerpts for pulp sci-fi magazines of the day...still a wise fabel/lament about a very interesting doomsday weapon,me thinks...(y)...I'm dying for some post-mortem collections to be published....

[MC Moot]

This was in my stocking from my Aunty whom loves cat's as much as I do...I really like it....:o

http://www.amazon.com/Cleveland-Amorys-Compleat-Cat-Amory/dp/1884822282

[MC Moot]

Started another x-mas book last night....“Long Way Around” by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman…after 100 pages it has me dying for a road trip at completely the wrong time of year…basically a companion reader to the fantastic documentary/series that chronicled their motorcycle ride from London to New York, via Western and Central Europe, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia and Canada…I can’t wait to check out “Long Way Down”….(y)

http://www.amazon.ca/Long-Round-Illustrated-Ewan-Mcgregor/dp/0316731706

[HEIRESS]

"Nasty Bits" by Anthony Bourdain (http://www.amazon.com/Nasty-Bits-Collected-Varietal-Usable/dp/1582344515)

its a collection of all his articles and such from the last couple of years.
I enjoy his writing style and its always entertaining. sure he gets preachy, but that's what he's writing the shit down, its what the people want.

[MC Moot]

"Nasty Bits" by Anthony Bourdain (http://www.amazon.com/Nasty-Bits-Collected-Varietal-Usable/dp/1582344515)

its a collection of all his articles and such from the last couple of years.
I enjoy his writing style and its always entertaining. sure he gets preachy, but that's what he's writing the shit down, its what the people want.

ohhhh...I want to read that...I hear he hacks Bobby Flay and Rachael Ray quite thouroughly....I heard him say recently if your past 30 and you have dreams or aspirations of being a chef,celebrity or otherwise to give it up as your "window" is past...but he's also fairly self critical about himself like how his smoking is destroying his palate,etc,etc...

[Yorkshire~Rose]

I've just started The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe (christmas gift) but i bought myself The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins today so i might have to dip into that too tonight.

[MC Moot]

I started Clive Barkers new one “Mister B Gone”….it’s off to a good start…but I read a bad review of it that I can’t shake completely….I love the way they’ve published to look like it’s on old yellowed,satined,time worn paper…in accordance with the premise of the opening narrative…like you pulled off a dusty dark shelf…I like those gimmicks….this one reminds me a lot of style he wrote in for the “Books of Blood”…Yettering and the jack,flashback…(y)

[HEIRESS]

Patti Boyd's autobiography (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wonderful-Today-Autobiography-Pattie-Boyd/dp/0755316428)

Im enjoying it as a guilty pleasure immensely.

[abcdefz]

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton.

Still great. (y)

[BangkokB]

Ben Mezrich - I've read all his nonfiction: Right Now I'm Working on Rigged


Ben Mezrich

[beastiegirrl101]

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

holy crap....my head is spinning, anyone else attempt to read this?

[BangkokB]

Come on Danielewski Let's Get It On

Cradles Will Rock

[BangkokB]

I have no idea what the hell I was saying in the previous post: Never heard of beastiegirrl101 or Danielewski

At any rate I finished reading The Dice Man earlier this week. Highlarious for the 1st 1/2 then the last 3/4 is more content rather than jokes.

This book could become your religion if you let it. Roll the Die~You set the Choices the Die decides the Fate

[Otis Driftwood]

This book could become your religion if you let it. Roll the Die~You set the Choices the Die decides the Fate
Sure, D&D has been my religion for years now and Gary Gygax, Cthulhu and Tharizdun are my deities and demigawds. :D

[fucktopgirl]

CHomsky''hegemony or survival, America quest for global dominance''


Awesome, so much info in this, the guy is a fucking genius.

[BangkokB]

Sure, D&D has been my religion for years now and Gary Gygax, Cthulhu and Tharizdun are my deities and demigawds. :D

Gotcha Man, I'm D&D Old School as well. I tended to be Elves focusing on Magic.

But Luke Rhineheart takes the 2 6 dice rolls to levels your mind could never fathom. He pushes envelope so far that Gygax, a break dancing Budha, nor Franklin puppet come to life would think are out of the ordinary

[Guy Incognito]

I have no idea what the hell I was saying in the previous post: Never heard of beastiegirrl101 or Danielewski

At any rate I finished reading The Dice Man earlier this week. Highlarious for the 1st 1/2 then the last 3/4 is more content rather than jokes.

This book could become your religion if you let it. Roll the Die~You set the Choices the Die decides the Fate

I stopped reading this after halfway because i couldnt get the idea out of my head that it was all bollocks - he initially just wanted to rape that woman and he would have brained up some other way of doing it. I know people are gonna say - you should finish the book etc but that idea made me hate both the bloke and the concept.

[BangkokB]

And that was just the 1st thing that the Die "Commanded Him to Do": She later became one of his disciples. Has a lovely little girl the die determined should be named Edgarina. Right around there it goes absurd. But it's a Fun Ride. He's crazy plus he's a psychiatrist. It takes the Milgram experiment volumes above implied. At least read to where he attempts to become Random Man

[Guy Incognito]

And that was just the 1st thing that the Die "Commanded Him to Do": She later became one of his disciples. Has a lovely little girl the die determined should be named Edgarina. Right around there it goes absurd. But it's a Fun Ride. He's crazy plus he's a psychiatrist. It takes the Milgram experiment volumes above implied. At least read to where he attempts to become Random Man

Ok - the other reason i didnt want to finish because i was a bit tempted by the whole thing and kinda saw it as a pandoras box type thing but i might give it another go just after i have finished " If you like school you'll love work" by Irvine Welsh - its a short stories collection, only read the first story so far - a typical healthy tale about a drug induced kidnapping and sexual torture after the burning man festival.

Attn: Football fans - you MUST read this (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miracle-Castel-Di-Sangro/dp/075152753X) It's "The miracle of Castel di Sangro" by Joe McGuiness. In fact doesnt matter if your not a football fan. This is easly the best book i have read for 20 years

[p-branez]

'no reservations' is one of my favorite shows.

and i'm reading a model world and other stories de Michael Chabon
which is very good

[MC Moot]

I just finished reading "Cause for Hope: Humanity at the Crossroads" by Bill Phipps..he's my best friends Dad and now I have to tell him his dads 1st book is dead on mediocre...powerful speaker/preacher but is lost on/in print...:(

Started "McSweeney's Issue 22" (Mcsweeney's Quarterly Concern) ...my fave publishing conglomerate in America,charitable notion motion...well tied with Black Sparrow Press...anyway'a as alway's wicked,wicked,wicked...can't go wrong with the quarterly concern,highly collectable...the magnet binding is such a neat trick...really clever stuff all the way round...(y)

"Issue 22 of McSweeney's is a three-part exercise in inspired restriction -- of author, of content, and of form. In section one, poets (yes -- poets!) including Mary Karr, Denis Johnson, Michael Ondaatje, and DC Berman initiate poet-chains, picking a poem of their own and one by another poet, who then, thus inducted, do the same, and then again, and again, and so on until an appropriate moment. In section two, Fitzgerald (yes -- F. Scott Fitzgerald!) provides a list of unused story premises first cataloged in "The Crack-Up"; his mission is completed by writers like Diane Williams, Nick Flynn, and Sam Lipsyte. In section three, the president of France's (yes -- France!) legendary Oulipians offers a rare glimpse into his group's current experiments with linguistic constraint. Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose. Three softcover books are bound together in one hardcover binding, held together by magnets..."

[abcdefz]

Just finished Ethan Frome. It was good right up until the climax, which had no credibility at all. I understand that what happens in the
book is something that happened in real life, but Wharton didn't pull it off.

B.

[MC Moot]

I’m about ½ way through Anthony Bourdain’s “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly”…I like it…but I no longer like him as a result of his posteur…obnoxious but highly realistic…classic dining tips:

Don’t order the fish on Monday’s...

Avoid Hollandaise at all cost...

Make mussels at home, after you pick them out for yourself...

Weekend brunch is regurgitated from weekly leftovers,avoid...

[hpdrifter]

I'm reading House of Sand and Fog right now. I'm also reading Water for Elephants but I left it at a friend's house so I started another book until I can get it back.

Ok, am I the only one who has no sympathy for Kathy Nicolo? Sure she lost her house through a bureaucratic mistake but hello if she had opened her mail she would not be in this mess. And then her cop boyfriend who claims to hate bullies so much goes and bullies someone! Intimidates them and plays on their fears because they are weaker. Wtf? And he doesn't even see it! He thinks he's helping the wronged party. It makes me so mad, I can't wait until I'm finished with this book. I hope stupid pathetic Kathy moves back east and leaves the Behranis alone.

[paul jones]

Two Towers


I really don't think I can watch the films in the same way ever again now although I should have read The Lord Of The Rings years ago all the same

[kll]

Atonement and it's really slow reading for some reason. I get like a chapter finished per night, but like I'm not totally interested in reading more than a night or two per week. I hope it picks up soon...

[na§tee]

Atonement and it's really slow reading for some reason. I get like a chapter finished per night, but like I'm not totally interested in reading more than a night or two per week. I hope it picks up soon...
holy shit, stick with it. it is quite extraordinary. plus ian mcewan is not britain's greatest living author for nothing.
i adore this book. i thought the same when i first started, but it's like that for a reason. it will become clear at the very, very last moment. allegory a go go. have you seen the film yet? i hope not, as it will spoil the shock. let me know when you finish, and i'll share the immediate reaction i had to completing it with you (i have my thoughts all in various emails to people). trust me, keep keepin' on. it is just very slowly crafted at first.

[kll]

holy shit, stick with it. it is quite extraordinary. plus ian mcewan is not britain's greatest living author for nothing.
i adore this book. i thought the same when i first started, but it's like that for a reason. it will become clear at the very, very last moment. allegory a go go. have you seen the film yet? i hope not, as it will spoil the shock. let me know when you finish, and i'll share the immediate reaction i had to completing it with you (i have my thoughts all in various emails to people). trust me, keep keepin' on. it is just very slowly crafted at first.

NO! i wanted to read before seeing the movie. Memoirs of a Geisha had been one of my favorite books and the movie, although beautifully shot, really screwed it for me, so I wanted to make sure Atonement was enjoyed the same way. Thanks and I'll let you know when I'm done.

[HEIRESS]

I’m about ½ way through Anthony Bourdain’s “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly”…I like it…but I no longer like him as a result of his posteur…obnoxious but highly realistic…classic dining tips:

Don’t order the fish on Monday’s...

Avoid Hollandaise at all cost...

Make mussels at home, after you pick them out for yourself...

Weekend brunch is regurgitated from weekly leftovers,avoid...

I enjoyed it. a quick, quick read.

I COULDNT BEAR ATONEMENT
NOT ONE CHAPTER

I do want to see the movie, im a sucker for period films that have moments which make me squeal like a young girl over its romantic sappiness.

Im reading

The Clown - Heinrich Boll (http://www.amazon.com/Clown-Penguin-Classics-Heinrich-Boll/dp/014018726X)

its depressing as fuck aka my favorite type of book.
the main character's thoughts and feeling are so real to me that I cant help but tear through the book. and his observations on others are sometimes so cutting and funny that I smirk to myself when Im reading it on the treadmill at the gym.

[checkyourprez]

wooden-by john wooden

[trailerprincess]

Just finished (for the 100000th time) Red China Blues, My Long March From Mao to Now by Jan Wong. It's brilliantly written, very funny and horribly sad in places.

[abcdefz]

Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy. Not as good as All the Pretty Horses, but it's good. I'm not completely sure where it's going, but
not in a bad way. I'm about 75 pages from the end.

[na§tee]

pornified: how pornography is damaging our lives, our relationships, and our families.

hrrrmm. it's okay thus far. i agree with some of what the author is saying but on the other hand her method of quoting men from a range of interviews she has conducted and using it as soft methological evidence that cannot possibly be representative of a population is frustrating. i also think she may be a slightly too conservative sanctity-of-marriage-and-the-family-home type woman, too, which will obviously lend her a more militant tone. nice to hear different views, though, i guess.

passages like this (quoting from another one of her mystery interviewees on how men are 'biologically programmed to reduce woman to something that exists only for their sexual pleasure') quoted so nonchalantly annoy me:
"according to jacob, if men weren't looking at the images of pornography to release those urges, they could very well "be out raping girl scouts.""

eek.

[MC Moot]

I started Steve Martins "Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life" last night...I usually don't follow a auto-bio with another so I was a little apathetic opening it up...but I ripped through 80 pages in a blink and I'm enjoying it...quite telling,honest,humble...lot's of name dropping on/about his influences,rich history...(y)

[abcdefz]

^

That is a quick read. I liked it.


Me: I'm reading Short Story Masterpieces (http://cgi.ebay.com/Short-Story-Masterpieces-DELL-LX102-Robert-Penn-Warren_W0QQitemZ280146306022QQcmdZViewItem), a collection from the '50's. I like to read old anthologies sometimes, because
you stumble across some forgotten authors, and even the writers who are still famous... sometimes their "best" stories hadn't earned their
reputation with time, etc., so you might find a story that has gotten sort of buried by things which are more regarded (and reprinted) now.
Etc.

[HEIRESS]

I found the same thing about the steve martin book.

[abcdefz]

I was really surprised to read about how long he really was working on the stand up act. It was nice to see him have his learning moments,
and really see how, over time, the act really got its shape. Learning how, since he wasn't a "natural" comedian, how that could actually
inform the act itself, etc.

[afronaut]

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy and the Sound and the Fury by Faulkner.

I can see why McCarthy gets compared to Faulkner so much.

[abcdefz]

I've heard Blood Meridian is supposed to be his best book...? Is it good?

[MC Moot]

I have yet to read any Cormac McCarthy but I have "The Road" waiting for me...probably start to hack at it this weekend...curious to see about a Faulkner analogy...

[jennyb]

I just finished "French Women Don't Get Fat" by Mireille Guiliano. I really enjoyed it. I think American's in general have no clue how to relate to food anymore and it's a refreshing and healthy take on the reality of eating/food/exercise. (y)

[paul jones]

' The Silmarillion' by J.R.R. Tolkien

all about elves and shit(y)

[MC Moot]

Finished Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"...simple stuff...resembled Steven King as Richard Bachman...read like a screen play or elongated short story...with visual concepts fit for the storyboard...fun junk food flyby read...nothing profound or particularily noteworthy....

[na§tee]

the pornography book is fucking depressing me, so i needed some sort of light fiction to read while at the gym, on the tube etc etc.

i got 'then we came to an end' (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Then-Came-End-Joshua-Ferris/dp/0141027630/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204233942&sr=8-1) by joshua ferris. funny observations of office drone life in an advertising agency where lots of people are getting laid off.
british people, yes you may recognise this because it is part of richard & judy's book club, but don't let that put you off, kids!

first couple of pages mentioned hating a colleague so much you want to eat their heart. excellent.

it is good.

[afronaut]

I've heard Blood Meridian is supposed to be his best book...? Is it good?
I enjoy it so far. A lot of people seem have a problem with the way its written, and supposedly have a hard time understanding it, but I like it and I think it's fairly easy to read. His words sort of jump out of the page at you, and certainly create an atmosphere. I approve. It's my first McCarthy book, so I don't know how it compares to his others. For now I've put it on the back burner until I finish the Sound and the Fury.

[MC Moot]

I started McSweeney's #23 last night...the 1st three stories were fantastic...particularily one by Roddy Doyle that was amazing....fantastic art as usual...(y)

http://store.mcsweeneys.net/index.cfm/fuseaction/catalog.detail/object_id/44a7b473-6105-421c-9eae-ace0637f035d/McSweeneysIssue23.cfm

[hpdrifter]

I finished House of Sand and Fog and the ending left me slightly satisfied. I wish the Behrani's hadn't died but I'm glad those two pieces of shit Kathy and her loser boyfriend got what was coming to them. Assholes.

I am now reading the Lovely Bones. I think the writing is pretty pedestrian which surprises me for all the love it gets.

Still haven't finished Water for Elephants. Gotta get it back from my friend.

[kll]

ATONEMENT


yo,
just finished the book. the last 1/3 of the book went very quickly and the last 2 pages sent me into bawling hysterics. thanks for the encouragement of sticking with it.

[MC Moot]

I started Timoth Fndley's "Not Wanted on the Voyage"...I'm liking it alot,very clever,very sharp,funny...biblical but bohemian...if you enjoyed Chris Moore's "Lamb" or like your Tom Robbins this is for you...(y)

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Modern-Classics-Not-Wanted-Voyage-Timothy-Findley-Paul-Quarrington/9780143055075-item.html?pticket=52myqi554i1nin55l1aodxieS5KUEMwQ 6fracyWinO9CDuhzRC0%3d

[Schmeltz]

I literally just finished (like ninety seconds ago) Red Earth and Pouring Rain by Vikram Chandra. Rather sort of a poor man's Salman Rushdie, but with a type of youthful vitality and flair along with the magic realism and idiosyncratic characterization. Very good read.

And speaking of Rushdie, Shalimar the Clown awaits upon the bedside table.

[abcdefz]

Alice Munro's The View from Castle Rock.

I'm about 50 pages in and can't figure out if there's going to be any story to this whole fucking thing or if it's just a bunch of family anecdotes.

[icy manipulator]

The Day Watch. it has sweet fuck all to do with the movie.

and im up to about page 650 of War and Peace

[trailerprincess]

I quite enjoyed The House of Sand and Fog so really don't want to see the film.

I'm reading Chinese Lessons by John Pomfret Book thing (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chinese-Lessons-Classmates-Story-China/dp/0805086641/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205767882&sr=8-1)
It's really really good but I keep getting distracted by the cover photo as the author looks like Christian Bale in Bateman mode.

[MC Moot]

“The Deportees” by Roddy Doyle,just in time for St Paddy’s…he can really nail the art of the short story…(y)

http://www.amazon.com/Deportees-Other-Stories-Roddy-Doyle/dp/0670018457

[checkyourprez]

the tipping point

and leadership by john wooden

[abcdefz]

Alice Munro's The View from Castle Rock.

I'm about 50 pages in and can't figure out if there's going to be any story to this whole fucking thing or if it's just a bunch of family anecdotes.



Well, I set this down and picked up Margaret Atwood's Bodily Harm. Hopefully it'll be better.






and im up to about page 650 of War and Peace



You're just about at the same spot as our sales rep.

Which translation are you reading? Supposedly, that new one from last year is terrific.

[hpdrifter]

I'm reading it in the original.

I am also reading "A New Earth" by Ekhart Tolle. I'm not usually a fan of the self-help/new spirituality stuff but my sis liked this one so I thought I'd give it a chance.

[abcdefz]

You read Russian? Impressive!

[hpdrifter]

Yeah, it was my major in college. I don't speak it that well anymore but I can still read it well enough. I just finished Anna Karenina in the original. I didn't think I'd like it but I did. I bought a bunch of Russian classics when I was in Russia so I'd have something to read to keep my skillz up. But I guess when I do speak I probably sound very 18th century.

[na§tee]

in communist russia, book reads you!

[abcdefz]

Yeah, it was my major in college. I don't speak it that well anymore but I can still read it well enough. I just finished Anna Karenina in the original. I didn't think I'd like it but I did. I bought a bunch of Russian classics when I was in Russia so I'd have something to read to keep my skillz up. But I guess when I do speak I probably sound very 18th century.



I like Anna Karenina a lot. And "The Death of Ivan Ilych," among other things. War and Peace is the one that I could just never get into.

[hpdrifter]

I agree. Anna Karenina seemed a lot more accessible to me when I first started reading it. That opening line is great, "Happy families all resemble one another, but unhappy families are unhappy in their own way" or something like that.

This one is, so far, pretty dry.

I have "Notes from the Underground" too but I've heard Dostoyevsky is harder to read than Tolstoi. I haven't attempted it yet.

I tried to read Solzhenitsin in Russian. I do not recommend it.

[abcdefz]

I've tried Bros. Karamozov and Crime and Punishment and never got into either.

[hpdrifter]

I read Bros Karamazov in English while I was in school. I remember liking it at the time but that could be because I was in the throes of my 2nd year college student, pseudo-intellectual, coffee shop philosopher phase. Those were good times. Except for anybody who had to listen to me.

To be honest, nowadays I probably couldn't even tell you what it was about.

[icy manipulator]

You're just about at the same spot as our sales rep.

Which translation are you reading? Supposedly, that new one from last year is terrific.

i bought it for christmas in 2006. oh and its in english coz i have the reading level of about a 4 year old in russian. so unless its something like A - Ya i wont be reading the original

i'm also about 100 pages into Dostoyevsky's The Idiot. i prefer Dostoyevsky over Tolstoy. Loved Crime and Punishment. made a big mistake of getting the audiobook of Bros Karamazov. it takes three times as long to listen to than reading it, and i learnt the most annoying thing in the world is hearing an old brittish man trying to do a Babushka's accent. fucking terrible.

either way i prefer Bulgakov over Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky :D

oh interesting fact for you abcdefz, the 1968 film of War and Peace was the most expensive film ever taking inflation into account. and by a long fucking way too. it is 8 hours long tho

[anahata]

Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson
By the way, I'm new here, but I'm not going to do one of those lame ass intro things. Ask if ya' need to know things about me, or if you even care.

[WhoMoi?]

Still haven't finished Water for Elephants. Gotta get it back from my friend.

I loved Water for Elephants. (y)

[trailerprincess]

Just started Mao's Last Revolution by Roderick MacFarquhar and Michael Schoenhals. It's pretty hefty which is slightly daunting but so far so good.

[paul jones]

'Ska'd for life' - Horace Panter

Horace Panter was the bass player in The Specials and this is his account of those times(y)

[p-branez]

i just finished 'the yiddish policeman's union' by michael chabon.
he's probably my favorite author. and i liked it, but not as good as kavalier and clay.

[BangkokB]

I saw Mr. Untouchable ~ The Rudy Barnes Story. And if you want to take out your moral compass~smash it and then read Nicolò Machiavelli's The Prince You'd be in Good Hands. I haven't got a copy of it yet but I took step A and am now feeling pretty righteous about stealing it

[beastieangel01]

I've gone through World War Z and Lucifer's Hammer recently.
Now I have Love in the Time of Cholera.

[na§tee]

i got 'then we came to an end' (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Then-Came-End-Joshua-Ferris/dp/0141027630/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204233942&sr=8-1) by joshua ferris.
just finished it the other day.
not as lol hilarious and people would lead you to believe with a bit of a sugary breast cancer story tacked on at the end to inspire sympathy, but a good read nonetheless. makes me feel less shit about the banalities of working life, wooh!

now i am reading bitchfest: ten years of cultural criticism from the pages of 'bitch' magazine. good stuff. i think i'll rotate between fiction/non-fiction now.

yo,
just finished the book. the last 1/3 of the book went very quickly and the last 2 pages sent me into bawling hysterics. thanks for the encouragement of sticking with it.
fantastic! i'm so glad you did.
i was so upset at the end, but at the same time i felt a bit.. cheated. perhaps cheated is too strong a word. hrm, don't want to give away anything to people who may not have read it, but i kinda thought it was a more sophisticated version of "but then i woke up and it was all a dream!", you know? seeing her initials at the end i was like fuuccckkk oh, god. christ. sad but.. ooh, that's smart. very smart indeed. the kid finally got to write her best seller. interesting comment about the power of authors, methinks.

[BangkokB]

Don't know if I mentioned this but I read The Wolf of Wallstreet~ Jordan Belford
An autobiography by an asshole. Great Read: But he's a Dick. I wished it ended with that trap door switch from a few threads earlier being pushed sending him falling to hungry crocodiles as Phil Collins music is being played so that's the last thing he'd hear.

Shitty Phil Collins music

[abcdefz]

A little over 100 pages into Bodily Harm by Margaret Atwood. Overall, it's pretty good, though I'm not nuts about the protagonist.

[cookiepuss]

I'm now reading the short stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald.(y) Jesus, that man can put together a sentence. brilliant.(y)

[MC Moot]

I read "I Am America (And So Can You!)" by Stephen Colbert over the break...it reads like an elongated manifesto of the show,faithfully,so by page 100 the schtick was tired and old...(n)...unlike the Daily Show's book which was much more fun...

[b-grrrlie]

Getting There - Punk Rock Tour Diaries: Volume One (http://www.amazon.com/Getting-There-Punk-Rock-Diaries/dp/1845491289) by TV Smith.
He played here two weeks ago at this really small place. The gig hadn't been announced anywhere but on the venue's door (approx),
I found out about it two hours before. We got the jungle drum about, but as it was Easter weekend loads of people were out of town.
We were about 25 in the audience, but rather enthusiastic, so he played for two hours!
I counted that it wouldn't even cover his airfare so I bought some records and the book from him, which he signed,
and then afterwards he followed us to the pub for a few pints. Very nice guy.

And he's met the real Santa Claus (in Finland), who knew who he was!

[MC Moot]

Started Richard Dawkins “The God Delusion”…it’s really savy,logical,undeniable in it’s wit…but a little disturbing…cause I’m a spiritual person…not denominational, just spiritual…and this makes me question my agnostic front…:confused:

[abcdefz]

A little over 100 pages into Bodily Harm by Margaret Atwood. Overall, it's pretty good, though I'm not nuts about the protagonist.


Yeah -- it's turning into a bit of a slog now. I'm almost 200 pages in -- two-thirds through the book -- and I'm thinking about binning it.

[abcdefz]

A little over 100 pages into Bodily Harm by Margaret Atwood. Overall, it's pretty good, though I'm not nuts about the protagonist.



Oh, man. I finally finished this book and didn't like it at all.

Hard to believe this is the author of A Handmaiden's Tale.


D+. (n)

[MC Moot]

^Try the "Blind Assassin" for redemption...(y)