so I see you're reading huh?

[BigIdeas]

I thought it would be interesting if everyone posted what they're reading or just finished reading and whether or not they'd recommend the work to others.

Personally I just finished reading Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson. I'd gladly recommend it to anyone in this forum and even go as far as to call it a must read

I'm not telling what the book's about not to spoil it, but it's a collection of connected short stories about life in a small town and ... I'm not gonna say it.

P.S. post away ...

 

[u2popmofo]

Good thread idea.

I'm presently reading two different books, both humorous.


1. 'Real Ultimate Power' by Robert Hamburger

2. 'America' by The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

 

[financeguy]

Been reading "Heavy Water" a book of short stories by Martin Amis.

The books I keep coming back to though are "Sinister Street" by Compton Mackenzie and the "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" series by Douglas Adams.

 

[U2democrat]

crap this thread reminds me that i have a book report due in 2 weeks and i haven't even chosen a book.

 

[ribbons&bows]

Just finished Pride & Prejudice and Catcher in the Rye for my English class

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

Out of The Girls Room and Into The Night - Thisbe Nissen


My goal over the winter is to finish some books I started over the summer and fall. I've got Anna Karenna and Harry Potter next in line.

 

[U2democrat]

i do have "robert kennedy and his times" by arthur schlesinger which i have started. though the print is teeny tiny, on large pages, and is 1000 pages long. i just hope i finish it in 20 years!!!!!!

 

[dandy]

awesome thread.

i read everything that i can get my hands on, and always have at least two to three books on the go. what i've been delving into lately:

steven pinker's 'the blank slate: the modern denial of human nature'--pinker is my favourite science writer because he makes everything so understandable and fascinating. this book is about the basic universal characteristics that make us human, and it covers everything from politics to sex to music to culture... fascinating.

robert fuller's 'somebodies and nobodies: overcoming the abuse of rank'--fuller argues that every ground of discrimination (racism, sexism, classism, etc.) as a subsidiary of rankism--the abuse of power for one's own personal gain. it's all about treating each other with respect and dignity. seems simple, but it's such a pervasive problem in society.

i just finished reading carol ann lee's biography of otto frank--anne frank's father. i fell in love with anne when i was 8 years old, so i really enjoyed reading about the life of her father. phenomenal man.

i'm about to start 'reading lolita in tehran', and i can't wait!

 

[dandy]

Out of The Girls Room and Into The Night - Thisbe Nissen

what's this about? sounds intriguing.

My goal over the winter is to finish some books I started over the summer and fall. I've got Anna Karenna and Harry Potter next in line.

anna karenina is a long run, but i loved it. tolstoy

i recently made it through all of 'vanity fair'--i had to read it before i see the movie. i'd like to read 'war and peace', but that could take awhile.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

what's this about? sounds intriguing.

Here's the description from Amazon.com:

In Thisbe Nissen's award-winning debut story collection, characters teeter on the verge of love, of life, of oncoming cataclysms after which Things Will Never Be the Same. Against the varied backdrops of Grateful Dead shows, anniversary parties, sickrooms, and bright Manhattan vestibules, Nissen traces the joy, terror, and electric surprise that flash between people as they suddenly connect. A fifteen-year-old girl whose mother is slowly dying finds solace in the bed of her best friend's older brother. A wife remembers the early romance in her marriage as she watches her husband's hand, shaky with Parkinson's, lift a bite of food to his mouth. Longtime friends are jolted by their unforeseen attraction to each other; new lovers feel their way by instinct in vans, on futons, an during risky, late-night conversation. Knowing, often hilarious, and always pitch-perfect, Nissen's tales hang inside those moments when the heart is acting and the head is watching, hopeful that the heart is doing the right thing.

I'm only a couple of stories into it so far, but it's pretty good.

 

[dandy]

i might have to add that to my (lengthy) list of things to check out. love the title.

thanks!

 

[BigIdeas]

Oh, I've read Catcher in the Rye, ribbons&bows, and that's actually my second favorite literary work after Winesburg. As for Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, that's just hilariously brilliant on the part of Adams. If anyone here ever asks what's the meaning of it all - life,... - read this sci-fi exploration of the dangers of living life chasing such questions. And to encourage Winesburg, here's what WILLIAM, yes, FAULKNER had to say about it in The Dallas Morning News.

The simplicity of this title! ... his urgent need not to waste time or paper taught him one of the first attributes of genius ...

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

i'm still working on U2 at the end of the world. not heavy reading, i know. i have read actual books though, now i'm tending to read more political books. (clinton's memiors, al franken's new book, etc.)

 

[Techie2000]

I'm reading Moral Politics by George Lakoff. If you are interested in politics it is probably worth picking up as it explains quite a bit about the state of political debate in the country today (even though it was written back in 1994). However if that's not your thing, I wouldn't attempt to read it, you'll just end up wanting to gouge out your eyeballs or something as it is a bit on the dry side.

 

[maro_chik]

i'm still working on U2 at the end of the world.

I just started re-reading that too. At the rate I'm going, I should be done in a year or so.

 

[beegee]

i'm reading stiff : the curious lives of human cadavers.


but, again, i think everyone should read cruddy by lynda barry.

 

[AvsGirl41]

I'm halfway through "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman.

I finished "The Subtle Knife" in a day but this one is taking me a bit longer.

"Jennifer Government" is next on my list and I'm still working my way through "A Lifelong Passion" which is collected letters and diaries from the doomed Romanovs.

 

[U2_Muse]

I'm almost finished "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" by Milan Kundera.

It's been thought-provoking.

 

[lmjhitman]

I'm reading the 'Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy' series right now. I'm on 'The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.'

AvsGirl41, what do you think of the Phillip Pullman books? I absolutely adore them!

 

[LoveTown]

I am reading Sailing To Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay. I HIGHLY recommend anything he has written to anybody that enjoys fantasy. Even if you don't think you like fantasy check out his book Tigana. It was the first work of fantasy I ever read and I fell in love with it!

 

[UnforgettableLemon]

"Oral History" by Lee Smith

This is an amazing book. Basically a look at Appalachian life in the early 1900s, a bit of a (possibly) supernatural element, and very, very well-written. Often gets compared to Faulkner, but I found it much more enjoyable to read.

 

[bammo2]

'The Amulet of Samarkand' by Johnathan Stroud

I'm about a third of the way in, and if I was to describe it, it's kind of along the lines of a more grown up harry potter mixed with His Dark Materials with a wee touch of Terry Pratchett

I'm very interested to find out how it pans out

 

[AcrobatMan]

Inside COM by Dale Rogerson..

Does that count

 

[yertle-the-turtle]

I'm reading Kundera as well. 'Slowness'.

True to the title, I'm taking my time with it.

 

[pax]

I'm trying to read some classics and some "harder" books--I'd been reading lighter fare for a while up until Christmas.

I'm on Emma by Jane Austen at the moment. Next up is probably A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn.

 

[Aussie]

I've been reading Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series, I'm on book 5 at the moment. I re-read the first 3 and have got 2 more books after this one. If you liked Lord of the Rings you should love this series. Another great book I've just read is "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Seebold, the ending in that was a bit strange. The concept of the story was different though.

 

[AvsGirl41]

AvsGirl41, what do you think of the Phillip Pullman books? I absolutely adore them!

I *really* like them. I think its the best fantasy series written since Tolkein and C.S. Lewis. It's the first fantasy book I've read that's completely original and didn't derive from LOTR or Narnia in some way.

It's so complex and deep, I am amazed this was ever marketed as a kid/young adult book.

 

[dandy]

I'm on Emma by Jane Austen at the moment.

i re-read this over the summer. great book. love jane austen.

 

[lmjhitman]

It's so complex and deep, I am amazed this was ever marketed as a kid/young adult book.

I totally agree! These books were actually recommended to me by my Grade 6 students last year! I think that's why I like them so much - they tackle some pretty big issues, yet Pullman doesn't dumb it down for kids, even though the main characters are children. Now I'm the one telling everyone I know to read them!

 

[bsp77]

I'm halfway through "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman.

I finished "The Subtle Knife" in a day but this one is taking me a bit longer.

I am in about the same place in Amber Spyglass, probably about a hundred pages behind you. They are great books, find it hard to believe that they are supposed to be children's books. Seem pretty inappropriate.

And whoever mentioned The Dark Tower.