In an attempt to further my intellectual capacity, I am trying to read more! I was wondering what, if anything, everybody is reading right now and if you have any suggestions? (preferably this does not include Rolling Stone, People, etc.)
Bob Dylan chronicles vol. 1.
He's more normal than I thought he was,didn't realize Gorgeous George(old school wrestler)was such an influence on him.
chronicles was awesome. i really enjoyed it. the way he writes makes me feel like we are sitting on a porch talking.
if anyone is looking for a good read, i recommend "this wheel's on fire" by levon helm. story of the band = fabulous.
right now i'm reading this great book all about rock n roll legends and curses, such as the "club of 27" in which many famous stars die at the age of 27. it gives me freaky dreams, but it's good.
Faithfulby Stewart O'Nan and Stephan King--kinda weird cuz its like reading a diary
Right now I'm reading "Her Husband" which is a biography about Sylvia Plath (the poet) and Ted Hughes (also a poet, and the subject reference of "her husband", "her" being Sylvia. wow. that was convoluted.)
Anyhow, it's interesting. Very sexy beginning for those two. Biting cheeks until blood was drawn, and stuff like that. Quite passionate. I'm not too far in yet, but I think I'll like it. It's well written. I really liked The Bell Jar (a novel by Sylvia Plath), but can't really seem to get into her poems. I think I'd be more interested in Ted Hughes' poetry.
Before that I re-read all of Edward Gorey's little books. My christ, I love those books.
Before that I read The Way the Crow Flies by Anne-Marie Macdonald. meh.
I wish David Sedaris was having a new book coming out soon. I love reading him when I go to bed.
I also want to read Chronicles. I got it for my Dad, who went nuts for it, and he keeps forgetting to lend it to me.
Next up is A Confederacy of Dunces. Although, I might read the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy again - just for prep. And because it is rock.
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Before that I re-read all of Edward Gorey's little books. My christ, I love those books.
I wish David Sedaris was having a new book coming out soon. I love reading him when I go to bed.
Although, I might read the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy again - just for prep. And because it is rock.
Love Sedaris. Edward Gorey is the shit not ony because he is so damned creative in a classic Addams-family way but he is from my beloved Cape Cod 8).
GIRL YOU GOTTA READ HGTTG!!!!! That book is a hoot. I had a cool little book that Adams had a hand in: A Dictionary of Sniglets that was HIlarious. Can't wait for the movie!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v708/embercat/quentin.jpg)
He's from Cape Cod? I didn't know that. I love him.
And I DID read Hitchiker's Guide - I'm thinking of re-reading it for the mooooovie...
I read Confederacy of Dunces and have to say I was dissapointed. Got Sedaris's book Work of Genius, when its good its great but I think it drags alot. Best book I read lately was Blood Meridian, mentioned that on this thread before. Also re-read Three Musketeers, love that book. Victoria's Secret swimsuit catalog is next! ;D
QuoteI read Confederacy of Dunces and have to say I was dissapointed. Got Sedaris's book Work of Genius, when its good its great but I think it drags alot. Best book I read lately was Blood Meridian, mentioned that on this thread before. Also re-read Three Musketeers, love that book. Victoria's Secret swimsuit catalog is next! ;D
Did David Sedaris write a book called Work of Genius? Is it new? wha? That's really exciting!!
Oh wait...
(Do you mean A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggars?)
Yes I did got my authors mixed up,it was Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius that I was talking about. Guess my shortening up the title would have worked better with the right author's name attatched.I did get something by Sedaris too, the book Me Talk Pretty thought it was funny but spotty. Also just read KITE RUNNER, it was ok. Also the John Adams biography which was pretty good.Love that history! :D
Ah shoot. I got excited for a second. :-/
If you all ever get a chance to Sedaris perform--do it. He usually will read excerpts from his books, as well, new and untold stories. However, price of admission is the equivalent of the cost of two jacket shows.
Augusten Burroughs
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author=Augusten%20Burroughs/002-0701037-8311229
Running with Scissors and Dry are just amazing books. You can't believe anyone could have ever grown up in those circumstances.
The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings Series
And an awesome book called, "Battlegrounds", in intails all forms and different tactics used during famous battles from all over history...from the greeks and romans to the first gulf war...
Really good read...I liked reading about custards last stand...that ol' ignorant bastard... :-D
QuoteIf you all ever get a chance to Sedaris perform--do it. He usually will read excerpts from his books, as well, new and untold stories. However, price of admission is the equivalent of the cost of two jacket shows.
Apparently he's coming here soon, and I'm really hoping to go.
I just got "Sex, Drugs, and Coco Puffs" by Chuck Closterman. It's a book of essays about pop-culture related things. I read the one about Star Wars and Reality Bites. I've heard that his essay on "Saved by the Bell" is funny as shit. I also bought "Fargo Rock City" which are his memoirs about growing up as a metalhead in that area, but I haven't read them yet.
My wife bought one of A Burroughs books for me for Christmas. I scanned through part of it and it seems very interesting.
Yeah Klosterman's ...Cocoa Puffs book was pretty cool. The chapter on that Guns 'N Roses cover band was hilarious! Same with the rant about Coldplay, had me rolling. ;)
Currently reading some short stories by Ernest Hemmingway.
Some book by Otis Lee Crenshaw, on the back of buying a live dvd of his which was really, really funny.
wordawg
I am currently reading House of Leaves right now, but am taking a long break from it before finishing it up. It has worn me out like no other book ever has. Here a discription of the book:
Had The Blair Witch Project been a book instead of a film, and had it been written by, say, Nabokov at his most playful, revised by Stephen King at his most cerebral, and typeset by the futurist editors of Blast at their most avant-garde, the result might have been something like House of Leaves. Mark Z. Danielewski's first novel has a lot going on: notably the discovery of a pseudoacademic monograph called The Navidson Record, written by a blind man named Zampanò, about a nonexistent documentary film--which itself is about a photojournalist who finds a house that has supernatural, surreal qualities. (The inner dimensions, for example, are measurably larger than the outer ones.) In addition to this Russian-doll layering of narrators, Danielewski packs in poems, scientific lists, collages, Polaroids, appendices of fake correspondence and "various quotes," single lines of prose placed any which way on the page, crossed-out passages, and so on.
- Lifted from Amazon's website, the editorial review.
Anyway, is an amazing book. I'd like to read David Foster Wallace's Brief Interview With Hidieous Men again after this book. Then I'm gonna read my Everest. DFW's Infinite Jest. I just cant read this book, despite enjoying the parts I have read. We shall see how it goes.
Dave Edgars book that was mentioned earlier in this thread kicks butt. I love that book.
Anyway
PapaJoeBear
I liked Sex, Drugs & Cocoa Puffs, too. The GnR cover band! and I really want to play Monkees=Monkees.
Right now, I'm reading Introduction to Medical Informatics and Introduction to Public Librarianship. FASCINATING! :P
I've got _Sarah_ by JT Leroy on my coffee table, patiently waiting for me to find time for it. And _That Distant Land: the collected stories of Wendell Berry_ is just as patiently waiting on my bookshelf.
currently about to finish "the end of faith" by sam harris. good book; criticizes religious nuts and "moderates" alike; tends to rely a bit too much on reason (almost becoming a religious nut himself in the church of such reason); paints ugly picture of how "necessary" war and torture can be.
Half way through Rob Jovanovich's Big Star biog which I heartly recomend to anyone with an ear for 'rock's forgotten band' next up is Johnson's 'Jesus' Son' (again)
Forever, by Pete Hamill. Great book about a guy who is given eternal life as long as he never leaves the island of Manhattan. Set from the 1700's to the present.
Just finished Tim O'Reilly's "The Things They Carried." Do not read this book if you do not care about your fellow human beings. In all other cases, you will catch your breath at the beauty and the humanity.
QuoteJust finished Tim O'Reilly's "The Things They Carried." Do not read this book if you do not care about your fellow human beings. In all other cases, you will catch your breath at the beauty and the humanity.
Nice review! The THings they Carried is a really great book. I read In the Lake of the Woods as well, but it's not as good.
I'm between semesters now, and reading Tom Franklin's _Hell at the Breech_. Good, dark contemporary southern fiction.
I'm looking for a copy of Going After Cacciato. Heard it was great.
I've heard that too, but I've never read it.
Just finished Cat's Cradle.
I am going to yet again read Catcher in the Rye. It makes me so happy.
I'm currently reading "162 Games, 162 Stories- One Addiction, Cubs Nation" It's a new, poorly written, but nevertheless easy baseball read if that's your sort of thing.
I think Catcher in the Rye ranks as one of the most overrated books of all time.
QuoteI think Catcher in the Rye ranks as one of the most overrated books of all time.
Why?
'Orson Welles - The Road To Xanadu'
gotta love orson
Catcher in the Rye was a book that everyone blew their load over when they talked about it. I was aware of it's presense in Lennon's murder and Regan's attempted murder. I didn't get a chance to read it till college, and perhaps a lot my angst was gone, or perhaps my childhood up bringing was too pleasant... I don't know.... I just didn't think there was anything too brilliant about it.... I once wrote a kick ass paper comparing Holden Caufield to Travis Bickle of Taxi Driver. I'm a big Scorsese fan and I think Taxi Driver is one of the most overrated films of all time!
Quoteperhaps a lot my angst was gone
That's a good point - the older you get, as your angst decreases (well, it's supposed to anyhow. I still have a fucking lot of it) you may not relate to Holden as strongly. I think I relate more to the other Salinger characters, and have always found Holden really angry, and kind of difficult to connect with. However, I still think that the book itself is a very good, important work.
(I always think of The Bell Jar as Catcher in the Rye's sister.)
Quote'Orson Welles - The Road To Xanadu'
Wick-ed. Tell us how it is. I read a biography on him about a year or two ago, and I was so impressed by his life. I mean, yeah yeah the movie stuff, which is obvious, but the dude did a LOT.