What are you reading?

I'm reading The Sound and the Fury!

shit is fucked up; I had to keep flipping back and forth in the first chapter to understand what is going on. Highly recommended!

I also just got done with Steinbeck's Travels with Charley. He's writing about a roadtrip he took with Charley (his dog), as told in little anecdotes or short, discrete events. Not that there isn't a running thread in the narrative, but I really liked that, because I could read a chapter or two before going to bed and not feel like I'm reading the book wrong. I actually found myself reading more slowly near the end, drawing out the experience... kind of in love with Steinbeck's voice now.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Man, I love Steinbeck. Travels with Charley was a ton of fun, though he did get a little bit BACK IN MY DAY in some parts of the book (even though I've driven across the country three times I'd still love to do it on all back roads because of him).

My parents got me a Kindle Touch for Christmas and I've really been enjoying it a lot. I raided the Kindle store and got a bunch of free books. So far I've gone through a handful of books, and enjoyed all of them but one thoroughly. Trying to figure out what I want to read next, so I guess I'll give an update when I figure that out.

One of the things I read was Jonathan Swift's essay, "A Modest Proposal." Man, that is epic trolling from the early eighteenth century.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I tried reading things on my husband's kindle and I just didn't like it. I have a feeling I'll never feel comfortable reading things on it It's sort of the same thing with library books - for one I don't like going to the library and I enjoy having a copy of the book myself. Strange likes and dislikes.

Right now I'm re-reading Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle for the 50th time over. Favorite book ever, besides Catch 22. Always gets me laughing.

I think after this I'm going to delve into more JD Salinger stuff, since I still need to read Catcher and the Rye (sadly enough, for some reason I got through high school without HAVING to read it...and I regret not doing so). I fell in love with his writing style with Nine Stories and I really want to read more about the Glass family, so I think I may read Franny and Zooey before that. We'll see.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Lord of the Rings because I've never read it...

I know. I know.

Most amazing jew boots

As dorky as it sounds, I've been reading D&D Dungeon Master Handbook, the PLayer's Handbook and the monster manual. I know it doesn't count as real reading but I'm trying to run my first campaign as a DM.

As for real reading, I'm re-reading SlaughterHouse 5 for the 20th time.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I'm a few chapters into The Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins, and I also started rereading The Trial by Franz Kafka to test-drive the kindle for leisure reading since it's useless at converting research papers from pdf (not bad, though I imagine a more refined kindle touch model would feel more intuitive).

There are a few books I'd like to get started with. I was bought My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell last year, I've also got Wild by Jay Griffiths, I'd like to reread The Outsider by Albert Camus, I've been highly recommended The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby, not to mention I'd like to buy 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. It also occurs to me that I've not read any Vonnegut since I was 15. I just need to drag myself away from consoles and Minecraft for long enough to actually read them!

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Every now and then I glimpse at Epictetus' Enchiridion and Aurelius' Meditations. Should get started at Machiavelli's The Prince soon.

FELIPE NO

I finished the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo last year and got half way in The Girl who played with Fire.

Wut. You thought I don't read? LOL, trouble is with all of that gaming time though, I just barely get the interest in them. I barely keep up even with graphic novels and manga.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by ComradeTande

I think after this I'm going to delve into more JD Salinger stuff, since I still need to read Catcher and the Rye

Maybe the single most overrated fiction in history. (in before Paco says the bible) Certainly the most overrated protagonist ever. Just an insufferable read, start to finish.

I've got a couple books on the go right now. Reading More's Utopia, re-reading Lord of the Rings, currently halfway through two towers, the Hagakure and a collection of Foucault's essays on de Sade.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Filthy Hockey Beast

Maybe the single most overrated fiction in history. (in before Paco says the bible) Certainly the most overrated protagonist ever. Just an insufferable read, start to finish.

Then it sounds like I'll start with Franny and Zooey instead :S

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I thought Catcher in the Rye was still an enjoyable read, you just have to take it for what it is. Some dude bitching about how everything else sucks, and he's better than everyone else because he can swear a lot.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I recently finished Murder on the Orient Express and am currently reading through a compilation of Miss Marple novels, of which, I have completed The Mirror Crack'd.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I have Salinger's nine short stories, haven't read it though. The way they needed to remind us on the cover that this is from the author of Catcher in the Rye (also haven't read) kinda made me back off... Plus, I've never been too fond of short stories, either you get shit character development or you get great development that gets you itching for something larger. I'll get to it some day.

Last Steinbeck book I read was Grapes of Wrath, well worth it.

Currently I'm rereading The Story of Buddhism: A Concise Guide to its History and Teachings. Read it about a year before getting to Guatemala. I just need to read something that can make existence seem a bit more comforting... Also a way to not let the environment around me get to me so much. Plus it has some material that would make you think that the experiences/imaginary places being described come from someone's acid trip. I'll probably read it again in a few years.

The last wonderful book I read was Dostoyevsky's The Idiot. Would love to get my hands on Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov. Just about anything by him really.

An LOTR/Hobbit reread is in order!

How ya doing, buddy?

A friend of mine just recently let me borrow "Invisible Monsters" by Chuck Palahniuk. I haven't started yet but I've been told that I would enjoy the shit out of this book.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Having finally read Neuromancer, I'm on a Gibson tour right now. Currently going through the collection of his short stories, Burning Chrome.

After that I have Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive waiting.

I also finally got around to ordering Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun series, though I don't know when I'll be actually reading them.

FELIPE NO

I've been reading Steven Eriskon's Malazan: Book of the Fallen series. I like fantasy books and these are probably some of the best i've read. There is an incredible amount of history creation in this series. I'm currently on book five "Midnight Tides". It had a slow start but it's really rolling now, and this series continues to grow on me.

Before starting that one i took a break from M:BotF to read Neal Stephenson's Cyrptonomicon last month. It's a two part story. One half being a WWII fiction piece about allied code breakers and a conspiracy they unearth/become involved in, and the other half about the descendants of those involved WWII vets uncovering the story as it is presented to the readers. Fun read, but it's a tome, and will take you a while if you're not a fast reader.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Currently on a Knut Hamsun marathon. He's a late 19th / early 20th century Norwegian author, that is mostly known for his first book "Hunger", which apparently was a revolution back then.

I am personally most found of his later work, which portrays the death of the rural, traditional, down-to-earth Norwegian society and the rise of modernity and the many changes it brought. He is definitely super reactionary and anti-modernity, but still so full of nuances and unpredictable that it is impossible to simply label him as such.

His book Growth of the Soil played a very important role in my decision to leave the city for the countryside, and has become one of my all time favorite books.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Currently, a lot of children's books.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

PSYREN manga.

I'm more of a visual person .

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Does this count as a bump yet? Cause bump.

Inspired by some lists I'd seen online I made my own of 50 books I'd like to read this year. I've made great strides since uni finished and I don't feel harrowing guilt every time I look at something other than a textbook or a research paper. Here are the ones I have finished so far.

I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell by Tucker Max - I didn't intend to read this, but knowing some quite laddish guys I ended up with a borrowed copy. It's ridiculous, I laughed out of incredulity for the most part.

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami - It was enjoyable to read, the third book moreso than the others, but I felt it came together too quickly and too neat at the end, and it took a while to get where it needed to be.

On the Road by Jack Kerouac - I heard this book was supposed to define the beat generation so I came away a bit confused by what it was trying to say. After reading that Kerouac wasn't trying to glorify the lifestyle it came together a bit easier. Correct me if I'm wrong, I can't remember where I read that. It synced up nicely with my recent forays into jazz as well.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean Dominique Bauby - this was really lovely and poignant. Massive amounts of life perspective.

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov - not that I had much love for the film anyway but goddamn I understand the whole "pissing on Asimov's grave" comments now. I'd not read any of his work at all before this, it's great.

Currently on Heart of Darkness and I'm listening to an audio book of Moby Dick. Though to begin with I found it hard to take the latter seriously because the narrator (presumerably) unwittingly puts on an almost perfect Terrance and/or Philip voice when voicing Peter Coffin...

How ya doing, buddy?

If you liked I, Robot you should give the Foundation series a shot. Look up a list with the order he actually wrote the books since there's, like, two prequels and two sequels after the trilogy ends which weren't necessarily written in an order that makes a lot of sense.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Oh yeah man that's definitely on the cards, that's my boyfriend's favourite book series~ He's the one who insisted I drop everything and read some Asimov.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Bernard Black

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami - It was enjoyable to read, the third book moreso than the others, but I felt it came together too quickly and too neat at the end, and it took a while to get where it needed to be.

I hated 1Q84. Too long, too much attempts at exposure and character development that led to nothing and an unsatisfying and predictable ending (which is the worst thing you can expect from a Murakami book) are to me proof that he overstepped all the things that made his book unique. It was just too much, it could have done with a lot less pages, the second book is almost all filler, and it just felt too boring. I have his new book, but am hesitating to start it. I am grateful though that it is only one volume this time around, with the exception of Kafka on the Shore I find that his stories work best in shorter form.

FELIPE NO

There was certainly way too much dross, and I definitely agree that the ending was completely unsatisfying.

Spoiler:

Tengo suddenly remembers that he's been in love for 20 years, they live happily ever after yada yada. As soon as Aomame makes her bargain with Leader over Tengo's safety, it was just obvious they would find each other and survive, there was no tension to it. However I thought their search for each other (and Ushikawa for them) in the third book was reasonably well written. Also the Little People felt like a really vague and emasculated threat. Particularly in the last few chapters after Ushi's death, it felt like there was an intention for them to become a great obstacle, but it never went anywhere.

Kafka on the Shore has been my favourite novel so far; I've only read the Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman collection as far as shorts go but there's definitely something in a short story that is complementary to his style. Considering his dreamlike, non-sequitur style, less is more? I'd love to hear what you think of his new book when you get round to it, I'm feeling a bit tentative myself now (besides, if you have it now I assume you read Japanese!).

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

After the Quake is another good collection of short pieces. Nothing in it quite tops "New York Mining Disaster", but it works well as a whole.

Jam it back in, in the dark.