Reading? Still Sexy: Books Part IV

[martha]

Oh, and you guys are both nerds.

 

[corianderstem]

=

 

[martha]

Indeed.

 

[ultraviolet92]

just read catcher in the rye for the first time
quite a good read (i assume most of you have read of it/know it)

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

=

I don't have a spreadsheet, but I do have a loooooong list of books I want to read after hearing about them on various talk shows and such.

Angela

 

[Saracene]

I have a spreadsheet with tabs for "to read" (which is books I don't have), "books read," "books read in 2010" and "shelves," which is the one with all my unread books and the random number field.

That's impressive, I just keep all my unread books piled on top of my computer

I do try and maintain some kind of structure to our book shelves (keep the books by the same authors together and separate the genres), but at some point it will all inevitably turn chaotic.

 

[kramwest1]

just read catcher in the rye for the first time
quite a good read (i assume most of you have read of it/know it)

I didn't have to read it in school, so I read it several years ago in my late-20s and kind of hated it. My expectations were too high.

 

[corianderstem]

I've been through stages of buying way too many books (at least most of them were from used book stores), and I accumulated a LOT over the years. I have 4 full shelves of unread books.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Middlemarch by George Eliot

I have no idea what possessed me to decide to read an 800+ page Victorian novel during the school year, but boy what a payoff. It's a masterpiece; the characterizations are complete, the plot(s) are fascinating, and the writing is damn near flawless. I loved it. Now I'm starting to work my way through the BBC miniseries from 1994 on Netflix. So far it's just a pale, artificially-flavored imitation, but I'll still watch it.

My favorite of her novels is The Mill On The Floss. Great shit. Maggie, the main protagonist, is one of my favorite literary characters evar.

 

[IWasBored]

Any Star Wars stuff by Timothy Zahn is my candy. I have a hard time reading SW stuff by anyone else.

outside of short stories, namely stuff by people who weren't zahn who had stuff in tales from the mos eisley cantina, i'd be inclined to agree mostly with you on that. although this one is kinda good. so far. haven't really had much time to read, busy as hell at work, and that whole world of warcraft expansion thing...yeah. like i said. been busy.

 

[IWasBored]

just read catcher in the rye for the first time
quite a good read (i assume most of you have read of it/know it)

i've probably read that 5 or 6 times.





iz needz me a spreadsheetz...

 

[AnCatKatie]

I'm reading 'The Wake of the Lorelei Lee' by L.A. Meyer, since I really don't want to start on Great Expectations yet for school...ah, I procrastinate wonderfully...

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

I'm reading 'The Wake of the Lorelei Lee' by L.A. Meyer, since I really don't want to start on Great Expectations yet for school...ah, I procrastinate wonderfully...

Great Expectations is pretty awesome, though.

 

[AnCatKatie]

Eh, I don't know yet. Anyways, I never want to read things for school.

 

[IWasBored]

i wrote more papers on books for school that i didn't read and read more books that weren't for class than i should probably admit. didn't cheat with cliffnotes or anything, just paid attention in class enough to know where the important parts were, read those, and unless they were interesting i skipped the rest.

 

[kramwest1]

i wrote more papers on books for school that i didn't read and read more books that weren't for class than i should probably admit. didn't cheat with cliffnotes or anything, just paid attention in class enough to know where the important parts were, read those, and unless they were interesting i skipped the rest.

I did an oral report on Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment by using Cliff Notes and skimming a few chapters.

The teacher had assigned us books individually, and mine was the longest by far since he didn't like me.

He applauded my effort and told the class I was an example of how to step-up and do an assignment: A or A-, I can't remember.

I'm not proud that I cheated, but I'm proud that I f-ed him over. That was unfair of him to do to a HS senior with a full class load. And, it's not exactly a fair book to assign in an English Lit class.

 

[Carek1230]

I just finished The Great Santa Search by Jeff Guinn. It was interesting holiday reading.

 

[IWasBored]

I did an oral report on Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment by using Cliff Notes and skimming a few chapters.

The teacher had assigned us books individually, and mine was the longest by far since he didn't like me.

He applauded my effort and told the class I was an example of how to step-up and do an assignment: A or A-, I can't remember.

I'm not proud that I cheated, but I'm proud that I f-ed him over. That was unfair of him to do to a HS senior with a full class load. And, it's not exactly a fair book to assign in an English Lit class.

try reading it an 11th grade russian class. in russian.

 

[martha]

The Turn of the Screw by Henry Fucking James.

I read this only because I'm going to see the opera next March and wanted to know the story.

Whoever told Henry James that he had writing talent will surely rot in Hell. I haven't read anything by him since college, when I only did the minimum required, so I'd forgotten just how bad he is. The way that man constructs a sentence is impossible. The amount of clauses and commas makes his attempts at sentences unreadable. Plus, the story was lame, implausible (even for a ghost story), and melodramatic.

ugh.

 

[IWasBored]

henry james annoyed the crap out of me in high school. somehow i managed to avoid him completely after that.

 

[corianderstem]

Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra

Oof. 950 pages of gangsters, policeman and terrorist threats in Mumbai. It was very good, alternating between the "now" with the detective and "then" with the gangster telling his story, with some additional background chapters of other characters interspersed.

It was very good, but some parts felt tedious and I skimmed a bit.

 

[Pearl]

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.

Finally finished this book, after meaning to read it for years. I really liked it. I liked what it says about God, consciousness, letting go of the past, letting go of identifying with your mind and so on. I'll be turning to this book for answers for a long while.

One thing I disagree with the author on was that he says more people are becoming enlightened and embracing living in the present. I don't see that anywhere, and even if more people are trying to live spiritual lives, I don't see their practice manifesting much. But that's another topic.

Now, onto Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Cavalier - author of Girl With A Pearl Earring. I'm expecting to like this one as much as the other!

 

[powerhour24]

Henry James hating going on in this thread?

 

[martha]

Henry James hating going on in this thread?

Fuck yes.

 

[kramwest1]

try reading it an 11th grade russian class. in russian.

I had a quarter of Russian my Junior year (was booted out due to scheduling problems--the fuckers), so I peppered in some Russian in my oral report.

If you are a bullshitter, you have got to spread it on thick so no one can see through it.

 

[kramwest1]

The Turn of the Screw by Henry Fucking James.

I read this only because I'm going to see the opera next March and wanted to know the story.

Whoever told Henry James that he had writing talent will surely rot in Hell. I haven't read anything by him since college, when I only did the minimum required, so I'd forgotten just how bad he is. The way that man constructs a sentence is impossible. The amount of clauses and commas makes his attempts at sentences unreadable. Plus, the story was lame, implausible (even for a ghost story), and melodramatic.

ugh.

For me, please skip The Grapes Of Wrath opera if it comes your way. I was at the world premiere in St. Paul, and we bailed after 3 hours because it was so awful. (I think there was another 1 1/2 hours left.)

Fuck me, I still wish I had that time back.

 

[powerhour24]

Fuck yes.

 

[kramwest1]

Just picked this up at Borders:

I need something funny soon.

 

[martha]

For me, please skip The Grapes Of Wrath opera if it comes your way. I was at the world premiere in St. Paul, and we bailed after 3 hours because it was so awful. (I think there was another 1 1/2 hours left.)

Fuck me, I still wish I had that time back.

So noted. I will most likely thank you someday.

 

[martha]