Reading Is Sexy: Books Part III

[onebloodonelife]

Exactly! If I put that aside though, it really is brilliant writing, for the most part, and deserving of the praise it has received.

 

[Saracene]

I loved Middlesex, even though the last 100 pages or so weren't as good as the rest of the book and kinda felt like they belonged in a different book altogether.

I'm re-reading Doris Lessing at the moment, The Grass Is Singing and the collection of short stories.

 

[Total U2 Nut]

I picked up American Psycho (Bret Easton Ellis) recently and now that I'm home from uni I've found I actually have time to read, so I'm not sure what about it I like so much–possibly even its just the enjoyment of having the spare time to read But anyway, its well worth a gander, I'm enjoying it a great deal.

"A bleak, bitter black comedy about a world we all recognise but do not wish to face and it takes us on a head-on collision with America's greatest dream–and worst nightmare."

 

[onebloodonelife]

American Psycho is great, if not pretty uncomfortable to read at times. His first novel, Less Than Zero is decent as well.

Started up Huey Newton's Revolutionary Suicide the other day. It's less read than Cleaver's Soul on Ice, which I really don't understand, particularly because Newton is far more articulate and less problematic than Cleaver in some of his ideas (of course, Newton also has serious problems with misogyny, for one, among others). It's a really fantastic read so far and is probably going to be up there near the Autobiography of Malcolm X on my "favorite books of all time" list.

 

[martha]

I've gone back to Barsetshire for Framley Parsonage. I forget how much I like Anthony Trollope's writing until I get back into it.

 

[corianderstem]

Dog Years by Mark Doty

Poet writes beautiful memoir of dogs, life, death and love. Cori cries, loves it.

(Note to self: don't read books about dogs on the bus, because all books about dogs end with you in tears)

 

[powerhour24]

Just got Ian McEwan's new novel Solar from the library.

 

[No spoken words]

Wrapped up Straub's "A Dark Matter".

I loved certain elements of the book, was underwhelmed by others. Oddly, it was the more supernatural parts where I felt it fell flat.

 

[onebloodonelife]

I loved Middlesex, even though the last 100 pages or so weren't as good as the rest of the book and kinda felt like they belonged in a different book altogether.

I finally finished these last 100 pages of Middlesex yesterday, and yes, they fell flat and were pretty out of place. As much as I enjoyed the book, I still have some pretty big issues with it, but I digress.

Started up The Second Sex by Simone deBeauvoir this morning. 600 pages (and that's cut down significantly from the original French version, which was two volumes) of feminist theory, here I come!

 

[corianderstem]

Wild Boy: My Life In Duran Duran by Andy Taylor

I only read it for the dirt! I'm glad I was blissfully unaware of the sex and drugs when I was a teenaged Durannie.

Spoiler

Andy was always my least favorite one.

 

[beegee]

Spoiler

He was everyone's least favorite one!

 

[corianderstem]

Plus, he's not a great writer.

 

[Mr. Green Eyes]

Reading three books at the same time. One's for Abnormal Pysch, the other 2 for pleasure. Here they are:

Voluntary Madness: My Year Lost and Found in the Loony Bin by Norah Vincent (only about half way finished with this one...and I have a paper on it soon. I just don't really like it, even though it seems like an interesting idea.

I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America after Twenty Years Away by Bill Bryson (I loved A Walk in the Woods, and this book taught my eye after spending a hour at Borders last night trying to find a different book. So I picked it up, and my friends preceded to haul me out of Borders, stating that I had spent enough time there. So I started it last night, with already getting some laughs here and there with only being on Chapter 3. It looks like a good read.)

Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories Volume 1 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (The whole reason why I even got this book cause a friend asked if I was going to buy it since I had just bought the movie Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr in it. So I quickly went to the Literature section at a Borders Express at the mall and, long and behold, there was only 1 copy of this book left. I grabbed it and started reading it as soon as I got back to my dorm. I like it, it's a good read. Full of twist and turns, and I really like the attention to detail to the Victorian times in England.)

 

[No spoken words]

Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories Volume 1 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (The whole reason why I even got this book cause a friend asked if I was going to buy it since I had just bought the movie Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr in it. So I quickly went to the Literature section at a Borders Express at the mall and, long and behold, there was only 1 copy of this book left. I grabbed it and started reading it as soon as I got back to my dorm. I like it, it's a good read. Full of twist and turns, and I really like the attention to detail to the Victorian times in England.)

Well that's odd.....this is exactly what I'm reading right now.

 

[martha]

It's like you're Lincoln, and he's Kennedy or something!

 

[No spoken words]

It's like you're Lincoln, and he's Kennedy or something!

I used to have an secretary executive assistant named Monroe!

 

[martha]

See! I was right!

 

[onebloodonelife]

Went on yet another used bookstore raid today and picked up:

Anarchism and Other Essays by Emma Goldman
Urban Riots: Violence and Social Change ed. Robert Connery
Feminism: The Essential Historical Writings ed. Miriam Schneir
The Radical Liberal - The New Politics: Theory and Practice by Arnold S. Kaufman
The History of Sexuality Vol. 1 by Michel Foucault
Experience and Education - John Dewey
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

I also need more bookshelves now.



And, as of late, I've been bouncing around, reading essays and sections from:
Pedagogy and the Politics of Hope: Theory, Culture, and Schooling by Henry Giroux
The Antonio Gramsci Reader by Antonio Gramsci
Selections from the Prison Notebooks by Antonio Gramsci
The Marx-Engels Reader

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

The History of Sexuality Vol. 1 by Michel Foucault

Foucault is cool. I had to read a bunch of his theoretical writing in college, and most of it has stuck with me. It can be hard to crack at first, but once you get a sense of where he's going, it's rewarding. He's got some crazy/fascinating ideas.

 

[Bono's shades]

I started to read The Handmaid's Tale last night. I'm about 50 pages in and find it really absorbing so far. I actually read it about 20 years ago, but apparently I'd forgotten a lot of things about it or wasn't focusing too closely the first time. Maybe I was just too young to really get it when I was 22.

 

[onebloodonelife]

Foucault is cool. I had to read a bunch of his theoretical writing in college, and most of it has stuck with me. It can be hard to crack at first, but once you get a sense of where he's going, it's rewarding. He's got some crazy/fascinating ideas.

GAF, I can't decide if you're the most likely or the least likely person on this forum to have read Foucault in the past. Either way, it's awesome.

I've only read bits and pieces of his work before ("What is an Author?" and random parts of The Order of Things and his lectures on biopolitics), and yeah, his ideas are quite intriguing. There's certainly plenty to critique in there, but what he's contributed to the humanities as a scholar is unmatched in the past century, I'd be willing to say. I'm definitely looking forward to getting around to reading The History of Sexuality in its entirety; it's been on my list for awhile now.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

GAF, I can't decide if you're the most likely or the least likely person on this forum to have read Foucault in the past. Either way, it's awesome.

Ha, yeah, well I was an English major and you probably know how some English professors can be...very into their critical lit. theory and art philosophy and linguistics and all that jazz. I had one young professor in particular who was obsessed with Foucault. The work he referenced most often was Foucault's "Of Other Spaces," and we used it to discuss James Joyce and Brigid Brophy and all that crazy shit.

 

[Pearl]

A Mercy by Toni Morrison.

Deep, very deep. Almost tough to read. I did get a sense of what each character was going through, but sometimes I felt like I was drowning to understand them. This was my first venture into Toni Morrison's works, and I'll likely read another by her. But no rush, as I did with Paulo Coelho after reading "The Alchemist."

Now, onto LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring. I originally started to read this 5 years ago, but couldn't get into it because I don't get classics very well. But since the movies are my all-time favorite, I figured I should read the books and so, here I am giving them another chance. I remember leaving off right before the Council of Elrond, so that is where I am picking up.

 

[Pearl]

Also, anybody on Goodreads.com? It's like Facebook for readers.

Here's a link:
Share Book Recommendations With Your Friends, Join Book Clubs, Answer Trivia

 

[corianderstem]

I was on it for a while, but didn't get much use out of it, and could not for the life of me disable the email notifications, so I finally just ditched it.

 

[onebloodonelife]

Ha, yeah, well I was an English major and you probably know how some English professors can be...very into their critical lit. theory and art philosophy and linguistics and all that jazz. I had one young professor in particular who was obsessed with Foucault. The work he referenced most often was Foucault's "Of Other Spaces," and we used it to discuss James Joyce and Brigid Brophy and all that crazy shit.

Yep, that definitely explains it, though I had no idea you majored in English. "Of Other Spaces," that's the one where he develops the idea of heterotopias, right? And, I'm slightly ashamed to admit that I've never read any of Joyce's work.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Yup, that's the heterotopias one.

I like Joyce, particularly Dubliners, his short story collection. His stuff famously became more and more difficult over time. But doing some good drugs and then trying to read Finnegan's Wake is pretty fun.

 

[corianderstem]

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

What a silly book.

 

[martha]

I like Joyce, particularly Dubliners, his short story collection.

I thought this was an amazing piece of art.

 

[adamswildhoney]

Currently reading This Charming Man by Marian Keyes. Need some fun after reading Stones to Schools!