Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion
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What Are You Reading Now?
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David
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Apr 22, 2021 05:00AM

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Darren wrote: "after finishing 37 books so far this year, I had my first DNF yesterday - Valley of the Dolls - it had a "so-bad-it's-funny" thing going on that kept me reading til half way, but that..."
I sneaked that book (The Valley of the Dolls) off my parents' bookshelf when I was a teenager and read it against their wishes. I think the book was probably not very good, and I was probably too young to be reading it. It was the forbidden nature of the book that I remember, not anything at all about the story. Seems like there was drugs, drunkenness and sex. The people seemed unhappy.
I sneaked that book (The Valley of the Dolls) off my parents' bookshelf when I was a teenager and read it against their wishes. I think the book was probably not very good, and I was probably too young to be reading it. It was the forbidden nature of the book that I remember, not anything at all about the story. Seems like there was drugs, drunkenness and sex. The people seemed unhappy.

The Line of Beauty - Alan Hollinghurst
Love Poems - Anne Sexton
Pomegranate Soup - Marsha Mehran



I've had no more reading slumps since I started reading multiple books at the same time and alternating them.

I've had no more reading slumps since I started reading multiple bo..."
That may be the trick, RJ, if you're getting bogged down in a slow book.




The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie - Christie's first novel, Hercule Poirot's first appearance...
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and I started reading:

Ripley Under Ground by Patricia Highsmith - book 2 of "The Ripliad" (or, the sequel to The Talented Mr. Ripley if you prefer)







An Untamed State - Roxane Gay
The Sea of Fertility - Yukio Mishima
Precious Bane - Mary Webb


Narrowly beating out this 60's cover for C.S. Lewis's That Hideous Strength







Wow, better than the first. For me the first was epic and the second good - definitely worth reading and better than expected.




Knight of Shadows by Roger Zelazny
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and I am going to read a story from

The Conquering Sword of Conan by Robert E. Howard
before I get started on the FINAL book in the Amber series:

Prince of Chaos by Roger Zelazny













Les Liaisons dangereuses - Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
The Vet's Daughter - Barbara Comyns
The Pickup - Nadine Gordimer

I don't know if i've ever read the unedited version of that, i know there are cut down editions.
The edition i have is from 1924. I should probably try a different one sometime but this one smells so good! :P Its so dry if i bent a page it would actually crack :lol .

I don't know if i've ever read the unedited version of that, i know there are cut ..."
I've read it edited and unedited. So, as a kid I used to read classics in the series Great Illustrated Classics. I figured out just recently that they were abridged. I have a few copies of 20000 Leagues. The one I'm reading right now is by Vintage Classics. I also have the B&N leatherbound Jules Verne collection and the Everyman's Library three novel collection. I kind of like his books.
I love hearing well loved book stories. I've had books that I've read so much that they've done that or had pages fall out. I had one or two where the cover even fell off.


Ripley Under Ground by Patricia Highsmith
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and I started reading the first book in another series (as part of a group read for the Mystery, Crime and Thriller group here on Goodreads):

The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri

I don't know if i've ever read the unedited version of that, i know there are cut ..."
That's a good one. I read it several years ago in French, I guess it was uncut. But I should really re-read it ...




started one from the 20's called The Doctor of Souls by W.Kobold Knight which seems like it might be similar to Dion Fortunes The Secrets of Dr. Taverner but we'll see.
Also still tripping my way through the second volume of the Illuminatus trilogy

Edit: Oh i unexpectedly hit the end of this volume The Golden Apple by Robert Shea, Robert Anton Wilson [4/5] review .





One of my favorite short stories!

One of my favorite short stories!..."
I can see how it would have influenced a lot of stories and themes in the years since, Heather.



I have GOT to re-read those at some point.



The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and I started reading:

Psycho by Robert Bloch
...which I heard they made a movie out of a few years back?

Geisha, a Life - Mineko Iwasaki
Scaramouche - Rafael Sabatini
The Giver - Lois Lowry




Books mentioned in this topic
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (other topics)The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (other topics)
The Mysterious Affair at Styles (other topics)
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (other topics)
The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Eça de Queirós (other topics)Eça de Queirós (other topics)
M.P. Shiel (other topics)
Anthony Trollope (other topics)
Frank Herbert (other topics)
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