Which LIST book did you just start? Showing 51-100 of 6,816

[Chloe]

Pang, I'd love to hear your thoughts on The Power and the Glory when you're finished with it. I read it pretty recently and was pretty surprised by it. I was unprepared for the heavily religious moral content as all of the other Greene novels I had previously read had focused more on espionage and national identity.

[Bishop]

I just started Hemingway's, To Have and Have Not and so far, so good. I'm trying to knock out those pesky modern classics first (y'know the ones I probably should have already read in college?).

[M.D.]

My own Everest would be Ulysses. War and Peace is a piece of cake beside it.

[Russ]

I finished Molloy, which I enjoyed once I got into the style. I'm starting Evelyn Waugh's Decline and Fall.

There is a chronology at the beginning of the book which indicates a curious fact. Did you know that his first wife was also named Evelyn? Now that would be confusing.

[Judith]

Good observations, Marina. Many of the classics of the 18th and 19th centuries have all those same elements - history, rich characters, and interwoven essays on relevant subjects. I often find the ideas in essays stay with me after the characters fade from memory.

[Judith]

I just started "Never Let Me Go" yesterday, a sci-fi. I like it so far though sci-fi is not my favorite genre.

It's a necessary change of pace for me after "You Can't Go Home Again" (which I loved but took a long time to finish).

[M.D.]

Last night I started Anne Bronte's The Tenant at Wildfell Hall and I'm entranced. For some reason the old style is incredibly refreshing and though I'm only 50 pages in, I can understand why that book created a scandal. To demand that men and women be treated equally, both intellectually and physically? What a concept.

[M.D.]

I think it's more appropriate to call it SF, or Speculative Fiction. Sci-fi to me brings visions of Star Wars and Star Trek, mainly. SF, by the nature of its broader meaning, encompasses much more than space opera or robots. There are so many different and mixed genres, today (how about urban fantasy?) that to use the term science fiction isn't quite accurate.

[Yelena]

Charity and M.d., my Everest was The Magic Mountain. I started it at 13 and finished at 21. I would read War and Peace and Ulysses each 100 times again before I so much as open to the first page of The Magic Mountain - the mere thought of it fills me with terror :)

I started Petals of Blood this week and am really enjoying it so far despite the difficulties I'm having pronouncing people and place names (there are a lot of African names and I'm still uncertain how you pronounce things like Ndumi - is it ehn-doo-mee or ni-doo-mee?)

[Tim]

I just started Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks. Seems like a nice love story, but then there's war (WWI) scenarios to go through. Very entertaining.

[Kecia]

Yelena - FWIW, from the little bit of time I spent in Africa 10 years ago, I would guess it's ehn-doo-mee.

[Yelena]

Thanks, Ivy. That was my thought too, but some of the consecutive consonants are really tricky (ndy, ngy etc.)

[Dianna]

I loved War and Peace; it was my favorite book of all time. But I am a history fanatic. I have not read Ulysses yet. My Everest was Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I don't think it is on this list.

I find it very hard to put a book down and give up once I have started reading even if I don't like the book. I also have this silly idea that if the books I read are supposed to be "classic literature" I would be lax not to finish them. I did that with Faust too. (What is the second highest mountain in the world? It took me 3 years to finish that book and I just didn't get it.) I think I might have had a bad translation though.

[Yelena]

Dianna,
I know exactly how you feel, but I have a slightly different take. I don't like feeling "defeated" by a book - especially one I don't like. So if I've managed to get even a decent amount through it, I'll finish it to the end. This explains the 8 year journey through The Magic Mountain - the book was so horrible I was not going to allow it to beat me. Now it stands on my bookshelf, a battered reminder that I was stronger than it :)

[Charity]

Lol, Dianna. K2??

I know what you mean about sticking with a book...especially if it is considered a classic. Sometimes there are books that I just can't finish at the time, but I force myself to pick them up and knock them out at a later date. Sometimes time and perspective helps, but more often than not, a 'stinker is a stinker'.

Books that I'd like to conquer (especially because I have been so intimidated by them) are:

War and Peace by Tolstoy
Remembrance of Things Past/In Search of Lost Time (series) by Proust
Ulysses by Joyce
Les Miserables by Hugo
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Stone

I'm sure that some (if not all) will be very enjoyable reads, but they just seem so daunting. However, I'm tired of them mocking me, so I'd like to knock of few of them out in the next year or two.

[Kim]

I found Les Mis to be much easier to read than War and Peace. So you might want to start with that one =)

[Catamorandi]

I am about to start reading "Finnegans Wake" by James Joyce.

[Chloe]

Wow, Andi, you are my hero. That is no easy feat you have in front of you.

[Aaron]

Finnegans Wake is a book that I'll continue to put off for a while. I've read Ulysses (twice) and loved it, but I've never managed to make any inroads on Finnegan's Wake...Good luck!

[Deanne]

Just started to read David Copperfield it's a big book but I find Dickens easy to read. Since starting the list I've read 4 of his books, my favourite was Bleak house. Was told that my paternal ancestors were a rich family who also lost all their money in the 1800's in a legal battle over a will. Don't think the case went on as long though as it does in Bleak house.

[Dianna]

That is true, Yelena. There is a difference between not being able to get into a book from the very first few pages, which happened to me in Last of the Mohicans, for example, because it was too detailed or something for my liking, and thinking you might like a book for the first 100 pages or so (Atlas Shrugged) then finding that it is tedious, repetitive and preachy.

Books are kind of like relationships to me and Atlas Shrugged was, for me, like someone who you think is one way at first and then after you get to know them find out they are really something different. You realize you don't like them but you have invested too much time to just forget about them without giving a second, third and fourth chance even after they disappoint you.

[Dianna]

Charity, I may have to add Ulysses to the top of my to-read list since you put it with two of my favorite books of all time (War and Peace and Les Miserables). I hope you do read them and like them but the good thing is there are so many books for so many different kinds of people.

[Catamorandi]

"Finnegans Wake" is going to be a real doozy. I'm still trying to figure out the first three pages.

[Chloe]

It's exactly that reason why I've been reading the book for going on 6 years now and haven't made it more than 50 pages through it. My wife has an awesome annotated copy that I'm afraid to open because that's just far too much info for my mind to contain at once. I think Finnegan's Wake will probably take me another 15 years to finish. Then I'll probably start again just to see if I understand it better.

[KHoopMan]

I just finished some "off-list" reading, which was wonderful but it made me feel anxious about my huge stack of list-books that are piling up all around me. I'm thinking about reading variations on a theme- for example, The Bell Jar and Veronika Decides to Die, which both seem to say something about sanity. I also have Never Let me Go, or American Gods. I can't decide!

[Catamorandi]

I will be starting "Cat's Cradle" and "The Book Thief" in the next day or two.

[Katherine]

I just started The Heart of Redness by Zakes Mda and it's really interesting so far!

[Melanie]

Hey Eliza,

I read both the Bell Jar and Veronika, both good reads. I’m a big fan of Coelho, I guess that’s why I enjoyed it so much. However, I didn’t like the Bell Jar as everyone else did. The central theme of suicide makes the books very interesting and I found that I was engulfed in the both of them! Any other books you were thinking of reading?

[Judith]

I just started "Unless" by Carol Shields. I like the writing style so far, and the story appears promising...

[Pang]

The City of Chicago's One Book, One Chicago, a reading program that began in 2001 to promote Chicagoans to read the same book together and to discuss it with friends and neighbors, has picked The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler for its April's reading. I'm very excited because he's among my favorite authors. I love his writing style. I've read two books by him so far--Farewell My Lovely and The Big Sleep. This one is a bit thicker than the first two, but I'm sure the story will suck me in and I will finish it in no time :)

[Charity]

Garp! My fave. :-)

I recommend saving Cider House for the fall if you can wait that long.

[Charity]

No reason really, other than ambiance. Late summer, early fall. Apple picking. :-)

I can't wait to hear what you thing of The World According to Garp.

[Dordaneh]

I,VE JUST STARTED 11 MINUETS [BY PAUOLO COEHLO]

[Jim]

just started SUPERMAN V HOLLYWWOD

interesting quick read about how Hollywood worked by looking mainly at the making and money involved as well as the decisions that went into the Suoperman Triology

informative/quick read about how greedy Hollywood is and how movies get made

[Abeer]

I've just started reading "Love on the time of cholera" anyone is reading it or already read ??

[KHoopMan]

I just picked up Blood and Guts in High School by Kathy Acker. Ummm...well...errr...what the hell?!? I'll keep reading, but I'm curious if anyone has found any redeeming qualities about this book. I feel dirty.

[Kate]

Just starting on Atonement, for my book club. I've been waiting to get to this one for a while, and I refuse to see the movie before reading it. That's how I've picked up a lot of books, actually. So far it's quite good.

[Cathy]

I read two Ackers when I was in my early 20s and didn't know any better. I thought they were both just awful. Yeah, OK, it's experimental and she's trying to do all this metatextual hoo-ha -- but that doesn't help the reading experience.

I think I was stupid enough to read both HER "Story of the Eye" AND Bataille's "Story of the Eye." Ugh, yech, ptooie.

Now Love in the Time of Cholera, on the other hand, is one of my favorites and I'd love to discuss.

[Abeer]

to be honest, the Librarian recommended it to me, it was recognized and discussed in oprah book club as well and that what made me wanted to read it, as I started…am trying to complete reading the first chapter but couldn’t!!!! I feel it is boring !! but it wouldn’t be recognized unless it is a good one.

[Cathy]

No, I know other people who've been bored by it! I feel like it's one of those books you have to relax and immerse yourself in the atmosphere and the lushness of the prose, because it's not like the plot is going to clip right along. I've always wanted to read it in a hammock, with an umbrella drink and orchids and things like that around. ;-)

[Abeer]

Cathy, I think I should take a holiday to start reading it by the beach :), it is on my lap now but whenever I turn the page i close the book :-)

[Kecia]

Love in the Time of Cholera is one of my all time favorites. The first time I read it I found it difficult. Like Abeer I would turn a page and close the book. The second time I read it was over a weekend when I was home alone with no plans. I stayed in and read the entire thing in 2 sittings. I think it needs that intensity of focus to really get into it. It also requires one to suspend belief and just let it flow. I don't think he wrote it to be completely realistic.

The umbrella drink and orchids...would be a perfect compliment!!! :) I'll try that the next time I read it!

[Chloe]

I've been reading off-list for a good while now, but think that it's time to finally get back on track. To that end I've decided to give Margaret Atwood another chance and try Blind Assassin.

[KHoopMan]

I've also picked up a Margaret Atwood selection- The Handmaiden's Tale. I did not enjoy my last list-book, but I have high hopes for this one because it's one of my Mom's favorite books.

[Kara]

Just starting Bram Stoker's Dracula.

[Deanne]

Just started The French Lieutenant's Woman. I've never seen the film so I don't know how it will end. It's the first John Fowles book I've read, seems to be an easy read, especially after reading no67 The House Of Leaves.

[Dianna]

Though The Handmaiden's Tale has mixed reviews, I really liked it. I hope you enjoy it!

[Stacie]

I am new to the discussion group and even knowing about "the list." I have to say that I have now dedicated my life to reading these books. I just finished "The Golden Notebook" not even knowing it was on the list - glad I can check that one off! I am not going to start "The Purloined Letter" by Poe. I can't believe I have never read this one! And, I have to say, that I have missed Poe and look forward to reading him again. It has been too long.

[Rebecca]

Stacie,

Can I take it then that you didn't like Golden Notebook? I'm just starting it.

[Stacie]

hmmmmmmmm, I wouldn't say that I didn't like it, but I didn't love it either. There are moments when I am reading a book that is supposed to be AMAZING that I start to wonder if I am missing something. As I was talking with a friend about it the other day, I realized that there really are some wonderful moments in the book that engrossed me and made me want to continue reading on. However, because there are four notebooks, some of the things written were repetitive. It was great and definitely a "must read", but for me, a must read is a great Faulkner book. Hope that helps and didn't turn you or anyone else off.