the books we read

[dragonboy]

Just ordered Julian Cope's Japrocksampler:
http://www.japrocksampler.com/

[MMJ_fanatic]

Just started The Western Lands by William S Burroughs.  Hyperactive stream of consiousness, but I want to go through his trilogy backwards--next is The Place of Dead Roads followed by Cities of The Red Night.  It should be trippy...

[bowl of soup]

Just got sent Chuck Kosterman's IV by the coolest friend on Earth who sends me cool things randomly throughout the year - everyone should have a friend like this.  Anyway, it's fucking great.  Just read his story about Jeff Tweedy from Wilco - just perfect.  Anyone who enjoys literate takes on pop culture needs this book.

[Angry Ewok]

I've taken some time away from reading Acts (Bible)... It's very good, but there's a lapse between Acts and John, where the church is founded and the direction of the Bible changes somewhat. The quick break away from the scripture stuff will be good for me.

Meanwhile, I picked up The Missing Ring at Books-A-Million. Here's what the back of the book says,

The Missing Ring is the story of the one that got away, the one that haunts Alabama fans still, and native Alabamian Keith Dunnavant takes readers deep inside the Crimson Tide program during a more innocent time, before widespread telecasting, before scholarship limitations, before end-zone dances. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights movement, the still-escalating Vietnam War, and a world and a sport teetering on the brink of change in a variety of ways, Dunnavant tells an important story about the collision between football and culture. Ultimately, it is this clash that produces the Crimson Tide's most implacable foe, enabling the greatest injustice in college football history.

I've been looking forward to having the time to read this, as it really is as much a social commentary than a "sports book"... As I was paying for it, tonight, the girl at the counter said she had a signed copy in the back, and asked if I'd like it.

I was like, "Hell Yes!" Apparently, the author was in town last week, and signed a batch for the store. How lucky is that?

[ali]

been going a little nuts with reading lately... i read quite quickly which is sometimes annoying...

the perfect spy - john le carre
i predict a riot - bateman (colin bateman)
lean mean thirteen - janet evanovich

currently working through:
a history of britain vol 1 - simon schama
the master & margarita - mikhail bulgakov
a farewell to arms - ernest hemingway
neuromancer - william gibson

now, do we need more evidence i'm a nerd??   ;)

[dragonboy]

i read quite quickly...

show-off!  ::) ;)

[red]

a farewell to arms - ernest hemingway

Finished that a while ago, absolutely loved it.  I'm going to read all of Hemingway's work over the winter.  

Still plugging through Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder (not the easiest read, to me anyways, but very captivating) and have Shakey: Neil Young's Biography by Jimmy McDonough in que.

[ali]

show-off!    

hehe. no actually more that I don't have a life at the moment, and too much time on public transport each day (1.5 + hours)... plug in the ipod, crank up the tunes, and pick up a book is the best way to pass the time!!! plus i DO read a bit too quickly...

;)

[LizKing531]

having finished the stranger, i am rereading lolita. i love this novel. nabokov's style of writing is so hypnotic.

On the risk of sounding uncultured - is that the same Lolita of the Kubrick movie?

[MarkW]

This was a work of genius. Structurally virtuosic, but also funny AND touching. Any other fans?

Next up? Thinking about a big Murakami, or The Road by McCarthy? Or a little reading break? Some mind-numbing TV seems pretty attractive now  :)

Cloud Atlas is unbelievably good.  I recommend some McCarthy for light relief  ;)

Failing that, why not try another Mitchell book?  Ghostwritten is excellent; fragmented storylines drawing together.  Well worth a read...

[MarkW]

neuromancer - william gibson

now, do we need more evidence i'm a nerd??   ;)

I loves me some cyberpunk.  Currently re-reading some Iain Banks and Iain M Banks.  Got these lined up:

Espedair Street (Iain)
Player of Games (Iain M)

Banks might be one of my all-time favourite authors.

[Jacket Fanatic]

I don't really read much but right now I happen to be reading Bear's Boys. Great read for any Alabama football fan. Very in-depth life stories of some of Bama's best and how they were influenced by Coach Bryant.

[ali]

a star called henry - roddy doyle
the broken shore - peter temple
the unbearable lightness of being - milan kundera

[knotcameloose]

the master & margarita - mikhail bulgakov

Wonderful book.
Inspiration behind a good number of songs...Rolling Stone's Sympathy for the Devil...a good bulk of Pearl Jam's album Yield, among others.

[knotcameloose]

Anything by William Kennedy.

Great tales of old Albany.

[EC]

tonight i'm starting shakey, and i'm SUPE excited!!

[red]

This is the part of the thread where you all convince me to read The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera.  

Finished Slaughterhouse-Five earlier today, really enjoyed it.  Can anyone recommend some more Kurt Vonnegut that I should check out?

I'm just about to start No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy.  I swear I've checked this out of the library on four separate occasions, but I'm determined to (start and) finish it this week!  

[ManNamedTruth]

This is the part of the thread where you all convince me to read The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera.  

Finished Slaughterhouse-Five earlier today, really enjoyed it.  Can anyone recommend some more Kurt Vonnegut that I should check out?

 

Breakfast of Champions.

[Chills]

This was a work of genius. Structurally virtuosic, but also funny AND touching. Any other fans?

Next up? Thinking about a big Murakami, or The Road by McCarthy? Or a little reading break? Some mind-numbing TV seems pretty attractive now  :)

Cloud Atlas is unbelievably good.  I recommend some McCarthy for light relief  ;)

Failing that, why not try another Mitchell book?  Ghostwritten is excellent; fragmented storylines drawing together.  Well worth a read...

Oh, missed this post earlier on. Nice to see another Mitchell fan.  

I went with Murakami for now, but might pick up Ghostwritten later on. Although I'm afraid reading a second Mitchell book with fragmented storylines won't have the same impact as the first. Or is it "different" enough from Cloud Atlas?

As for McCarthy, No Country For Old Men was my first and I was actually let down just a little. Not that it was bad, not at all, but I expected more I guess. Gonna give him another chance someday for sure.

[EC]

This is the part of the thread where you all convince me to read The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera.  

it's worth reading, k.
but it can be a frustrating book.