what are you reading?

Concertina said:
Loooooooooooooooove Hyperion??

I found that after reading the "Hyperion Cantos" series by Dan Simmons I have struggled to find other science fiction novels that are as literate and intelligent as this series. I enjoyed China Meiville's "Perdido Street Station" but it is not of the same standard as "Hyperion"
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eugene ukulele said:
Prior to that it was Cormac McCarthy's Child Of God and immediately before that, Iris Murdoch's Under The Net.
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I read Child of God a couple years ago, Jon. I liked it muchly! Lester Ballard, as I recall. What a crazy dude. And so well-written, and much more accessible than Cormac's westerns (e.g. Blood Meridian, All The Pretty horses, etc.)

Of course, especially as a father, The Road was amazing. So clear a story, yet vivid. Did you read that one (please tell me you didn't see the movie first...lol)? What did you think of Child of God?

I'm trying to read three books at once now (two fiction, one non-fiction) because that's how they came in to me (e.g. through the library)--it's not easy. :)
 
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I'm still slogging through Hawaii, it's not the story I was hoping for, and I agree with one of the other posters, I don't really care for the characters. However, I don't like to quit on books and am close to the end now, so I'll be able to say I read it.

Up next for me will be non-fiction, either The Path Between The Seas by David McCullough, The Mind of the Raven, or Genius a biography about Richard Feynman. I'll have to see what strikes my fancy.

Fred Ukestone said:
I found that after reading the "Hyperion Cantos" series by Dan Simmons that I have struggled to find other science fiction novels that are as literate and intelligent as this series. I enjoyed China Meiville's "Perdido Street Station" but it is not of the same standard as "Hyperion"
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The Red/Blue/Green Mars books by Kim Stanley Robinson were great loooong read on science and society. Interesting characters and incredibly well researched in many different areas. His book Antarctica is very similar but in a much scaled down story.

The Terror by Simmons is an enjoyable cross between historical fiction and horror. I liked it a lot, but it wasn't an easy read for me for some reason, and it took a long time for me to finish it.

coolkayaker1 said:
I read Child of God a couple years ago, Jon. I liked it muchly! Lester Ballard, as I recall. What a crazy dude. And so well-written, and much more accessible than Cormac's westerns (e.g. Blood Meridian, All The Pretty horses, etc.)

Of course, especially as a father, The Road was amazing. So clear a story, yet vivid. Did you read that one (please tell me you didn't see the movie first...lol)?
Click to expand...

Blood Meridian is one of my favorite books. I loved the imagery in it. Really liked The Road too but haven't seen the movie because I'm afraid it would spoil the book.
 
I'm reading various short stories now. I think I prefer them to novels. A book has to be very interesting to hold my attention. When I read a book that's pretty ho hum, I try to read half of it, but if it's a stinker I drop it after 1/3. :eek:ld:
 
Rereading one of my favorite books, "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand. Actually this novel taught me a lot about how office dynamics work as well as how to shift public opinion on any topic.
 
I just read "Streetlights Like Fireworks" by David Pandolfe and completely adored it. I read all five of George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series this year and loved them, but they sometimes got arduous because of the quantity of characters and then additionally he was time-shifting the characters in the last two books.

"Streetlights" was a juicy little poetic gem of a book I found by chance on Amazon for Kindle. I thought it was an out of the park home run, so did my mom. I liked it so much I read another of the author's book, "Jump When Ready", okay but not as perfect because it had beautiful imagery but lots of intensity that got a bit wearing, though it did fit within the storyline. Will grab a third shortly because he rocks.

I also spent about 4 days reading through maybe 3K posts on reddit about creepy things kids say and it was addictive as hell, and truly creepy and sometimes uplifting. I finally quit after losing my place three times, by then I had read thousands of posts and was not going to dig back down to where I was. Once you leave the page I don't know how to get back to where I was, probably if I just joined. From there I followed a link to reddit's /r/NoSleep and that was a creepfest of an adventure for another couple of days. Now I'm reading "Renovation".. another Kindle find. I'm also still reading "Inside of a Dog", which perversely reminds me of "To Build a Fire" by London, I've read that three times, also "The Call of the Wild" which I have also read three times. I also love "Stickeen" which is another great dog story by John Muir. And Kipling is my god of literature. For poetry I like a lot of Don Blandings, especially "Vagabond's House", and of course Rumi is awesome with a good translation.
 
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Fred Ukestone said:
Rereading one of my favorite books, "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand. Actually this novel taught me a lot about how office dynamics work as well as how to shift public opinion on any topic.
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That's a great book. Great movie too, with Gary Cooper.

"What must you think of me?" -Ellsworth Toohey

"But I don't think of you." -Howard Roark
 
Steedy said:
That's a great book. Great movie too, with Gary Cooper.

"What must you think of me?" -Ellsworth Toohey

"But I don't think of you." -Howard Roark
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I knew there would be other Fountainhead fans out there. Howard Roark could be any one of us who rely on public approval to make a living. Musicians, artists, writers, filmmakers, the list is endless.
 
coolkayaker1 said:
I read The Stranger by Albert Camus last year. Great book (much better than Murakami, to me). Camus writes so simply...protagonist seems detached, even from himself. Lol.
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Yes, I love it - he reports everything with the same amount of emphasis - the death of his mother, killing a man, his neighbour's scabby dog - it's all just stuff happening. I find it very amusing at times!

Apparently Camus was influenced by Hemingway's dry journalistic style which makes a lot of sense.

I enjoy Murakami too but he's such a very different writer :)
 
Well said about the protagonist's demeanor, AD. The only thing that got a rise out of him at all is his amour for that young woman with whom he goes swimming. Everything to him is so droll that it is funny, yes.

Many says it's existential, and I don't know what that means, exactly. But if it means being so detached that one looks at themselves from outside, as if it's all happening to someone else, then The Stranger is it. Lol. Great, great book. Camus does ape Hemingway for style, indeed.
 
I started reading Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, but it made me too angry and I had to stop. It probably wasn't a good idea to start it after Hawaii as I'm still struggling to get to the end of it and am bogged down by my anger for many of the characters in it. I think I need something light to clear my reading palate. Maybe some Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammet.
 
just finished Phantom of the Opera, Treasure Island, Dr Jekell and Mr Hyde, The Invisible Man, Dracula, Frankenstein, as many Tarzan and Sherlock Holmes titles I could find :) Currently reading the Rivals of Sherlock Holmes by ACD and other authors during the time Holmes was presumed dead!

Don't forget to 'uke' every now and again :)
 
Currently reading the 30 'Hamish Macbeth' murder mysteries
and the 25 'Agatha Raisin' murder mysteries (alternately!) by
the writer MC Beaton. Cracking little mysteries,short books as
each comes in at around 150 pages. Then I will return to the
full set of Marcel Proust that i have dabbled with in the past
but never got around to completing!
 
Will Japanese novelist and short fiction writer (and darling of this thread), Haruki Murakami, win the Nobel Prize for Literature tomorrow, Thursday, October 9?

Will it be American novelist Philip Roth (that's my guess--the only big award the man has never won)? Or the prolific Oates? Both ahead of H.M., if there is a God at all. :)

Here's the options and the odds. Did you favorite author make the list?
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...tes-for-dummies-according-to-the-bookies.html

The nail-biting begins. Not exactly the same nail-biting as Jennifer Lawrence for an Oscar, but still...it's something.
 
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