the books we read

[getinthevan]

In the past 4 weeks I've read:
The Dark Tower (Dark Tower VII) by Stephen King
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
Watchmen by Alan Moore

The ending of The Dark Tower made me want to re-read the series even more, so I'm about 1/3 of the way through the first book again.  

[YouAre_GivenToFly]

[Angry Ewok]

NRA Publication? Nice!

[YouAre_GivenToFly]

NRA Publication? Nice!

Yea, its a bit predictable.

[j_rud]

Highly recommended...

[j_rud]

as is this...


Anything by Hamill, really. Both his fiction and non-fiction are excellent.

[getinthevan]

Has anyone ever read Requiem For A Dream?

[ManNamedTruth]

Cat's Cradle. After that, Slaughterhouse-Five or Kerouac's On The Road.

[pawpaw]

Next up...

Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
I Am Charlotte Simmons - Tom Wolfe

I foresee more time to read in my future  :)

[weeniebeenie]

Just finished Helter Skelter. I can't listen to the White Album without getting freaked out now.

Currently reading The Boy Who Cried Freebird. It's pretty good.

[purvis9876]

"Said the shotgun to the head" by saul williams

"The Wasteland" by T.S. Eliot

[bearass]

i was thinking about picking up a klosterman book never read any of his stuff any suggestions?

[Janet]

Finishing up the Twilight series (the literary equivalent of a popcorn movie) and getting ready to start Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

[October]

I'm not sure if I ever noticed this thread before and I don't have time to read through it all, but I'll share a couple recent reads, all of which come with my highest recommendation.

Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates: I urge you to read this before the movie comes out in December with DiCaprio and Winslet.  I'm sure the movie will be great, but this book is a masterpiece.  I hate the idea of listing favorites, but it's easily in my top five.  Read it years ago and finally came back to it recently.  Brilliant, brilliant stuff.  Also check out Yates's collected short fiction.

Netherland - Joseph O'Neill: Story about a Dutch banker living alone in NYC after Sept. 11.  It's not explicitly about Sept. 11, more about a lonely man struggling through a deteriorating marriage, but O'Neill uses the backdrop of 9/11 to evoke some very strong emotions.  If you are from NYC, this novel captures so many of NYC's neighborhoods almost perfectly.  Also, much of the book is about cricket, the sport.  

On the Yard - Malcolm Braly: Written by a guy from Portland who was in and out of jail most of his life.  If you consider yourself a fan of The Shawshank Redemption or other prison movies/fiction, check this out if you haven't already.  Braly creates so many distinct and hilarious characters making for a world I enjoyed living in for the duration of the book.  Takes place entirely in a prison.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz:  Put this one off for a while, I guess skeptical of all the hype, but hot damn, it was great.  Diaz's prose really surges and talks and yells and screams.  Panoramic in scope, it deals with the progression of an entire family of Dominicans from the DR to NJ and back to the DR.  I love the way this book unfolds chronologically.  

Tobias Wolff - Do yourself a favor and read any and all short stories by Wolff, a true master, and one of my favorite writers.  He just released a book of New and Selected Fiction called Our Story Begins, which serves as a kind of greatest hits and is worth checking out for the new stories, but don't deprive yourself.  Get all three of his earlier collections.  My favorite is The Night In Question, but they are all great.

Selected Poems 1945-2005 - Robert Creeley: This guy taught at my school and died before I got a chance to take a seminar with him or even just talk to him.  Didn't really know of him at the time, but once I got into his stuff I really regretted never having gone to his office for a chat or something. Sigh.  Anyway, he's now one of my favorite poets.

[pawpaw]

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz:  Put this one off for a while, I guess skeptical of all the hype, but hot damn, it was great.  Diaz's prose really surges and talks and yells and screams.  Panoramic in scope, it deals with the progression of an entire family of Dominicans from the DR to NJ and back to the DR.  I love the way this book unfolds chronologically.

I've got this one at home waiting to be read. It keeps getting pushed to the back of the line for some reason...I've been excited to get to it, it's just that other things keep grabbing my attention.

Thanks for all the recommendations though!

[October]

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz:  Put this one off for a while, I guess skeptical of all the hype, but hot damn, it was great.  Diaz's prose really surges and talks and yells and screams.  Panoramic in scope, it deals with the progression of an entire family of Dominicans from the DR to NJ and back to the DR.  I love the way this book unfolds chronologically.

I've got this one at home waiting to be read. It keeps getting pushed to the back of the line for some reason...I've been excited to get to it, it's just that other things keep grabbing my attention.

Thanks for all the recommendations though!

bbill,

same thing with me.  i had a copy and just kept putting it off for stuff i wanted to read just a little more.  i almost had to force myself to start it, but i'm really glad i did.  definitely give it a shot as soon as you have the time.

[getinthevan]

i was thinking about picking up a klosterman book never read any of his stuff any suggestions?

I would start with either Killing Yourself to Live, or Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs.  

[red]

Been reading tonnes lately.  Lots of Vonnegut.  Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates by Tom Robbins was very lengthy and very enjoyable.  I still think Jitterbug Perfume is the best thing I've read in a long time.  Read a great book about Gram Parsons - Twenty Thousand Roads.  Extremely thorough, but so sad.  

Just wrapping up James Joyce's Dubliners and am about to start Catch-22.  

Went to the used bookstore and came home with The Portrait of Dorian Gray and Heart of Darkness, so that was great.  

[Angry Ewok]

I've got another 300 pages left of Atlas Shrugged, then I'll move onto something else on my wait-list. I still want to read Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy, but I might be in the mood for something else by then.

[Angry Ewok]

Finished Atlas Shrugged on Friday. Great book, and the economics and politics felt appropriate for these times. 1,065 pages, though, yikes! Later that evening, I went out to Barnes & Noble to pick up For Whom The Bell Tolls. The paperback was an insane $15!

As I was roaming around, though, I found they had a hard-bound Hemingway Collection book in their bargain area with The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom The Bell Tolls, and The Old Man And The Sea... for only $12! The paperback was a rip off, but this hard bound collection is an awesome deal. If any of ya'll are interested, you can pick this up on their website. [link=http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Ernest-Hemingway/Ernest-Hemingway/e/9780760796627/?itm=1]Hemingway Collection[/link]...

So, now I'm reading The Sun Also Rises. It's a good book, but it's going to be rather short. I've only got another 20 pages before I'm through with it.