What Have We Been Reading

[Jonny]

Just finished Haunted and now I'm reading The Sword of Shannara I have to read something light between Palahniuk's novels. Hah.

[whimsicalmeerkat]

Victoria wrote: "More than halfway through In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences. Absolutely fantastic, I can see why it's a classic and one of the prime examples of ..."

Are you interested in well-researched fiction about crime/criminals as well, or only non-fiction?

[Seth]

I'm 29% into 1Q84. Enjoying watching all the threads flirt with coming together.

[Fathermocker]

Currently reading The Private Lives of Trees. Pretty good so far, very Bolano-esque.

[Seth]

That actually looks pretty awesome.

[Fathermocker]

It is, and it's short (130 pages) but intense.

[[deleted user]]

I'm reading fluff.

Big, giant, fluff.





wtf

[whimsicalmeerkat]

Ala wrote: "I'm reading fluff.

Big, giant, fluff.





wtf"

There, there, you're not the only one...

[Steve]

Seth wrote: "I'm 29% into 1Q84. Enjoying watching all the threads flirt with coming together."

Same, 22%.. I'm enjoying this slow burner :)

[Jess]

Just started Game of Thrones- I've seen the first season of the show, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the book compares.

[Sammy]

I have strange and norrell too, but i'm trying to wade through the rest of "out of oz" then finish "catching fire" first

[[deleted user]]

been reading some quickie UF lately.

Trying to complete my reading goal for the year.

[whimsicalmeerkat]

Ala wrote: "been reading some quickie UF lately.

Trying to complete my reading goal for the year."

Me too!

[Laura]

I just finished my first A.C. Grayling book (based on the recommendation of someone from r/books) and absolutely hated it. Am I missing something? I really expected to like Grayling, but I found his tone completely insufferable - like he thinks he can do no wrong and, thus, doesn't need to justify all of his claims. I am genuinely interested in hearing a fan explain what they like about him.

[Seth]

I've got 75 pages left of 1Q84 and am loving it. It may displace Kafka as my third favourite Murakami novel so far (after Wind-Up Bird and South of the Border).

Also read Kate Beaton's gloriously funny Hark A Vagrant!, a collection of historical and literary strips. She talked more about Canadian history than I was able to keep up with, but everything else worked out ingeniously.

Also read Anders Nilsen's Big Questions, which was impressive and wholly worthwhile. I almost skipped on it since Nilsen also wrote what may be the worst book I've ever read, Monologues for the Coming Plague.

[Frexels]

Iron Council. China Mieville is currently my favorite.

[Steve]

Hello 2012!
It took me over a month but I finished IQ84. What a beast. I needed a break from Murakami so I dove into Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which was an extreme opposite, taking all of 2 days to read. Reading the 2nd in that trilogy now, unless someone has a good reason to stop while I'm ahead (I have a sequel and trilogy fear).

[[deleted user]]

Never read it, so I'm no help :P

Starting on Witch World today. A friend recced it, hopefully it'll be good.

[Amy *Waitforit*]

Steve wrote: "Hello 2012!
It took me over a month but I finished IQ84. What a beast. I needed a break from Murakami so I dove into Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which was an extreme opposite, taking all of 2 days..."

I loved 'The Girl with the dragon Tattoo' but found the second one a trudge as it is really quite different from the first. However I loved 'The Girl Who kicked the Hornet's nest' as it really rounded off the trilogy nicely. I know not really that helpful, I personally have to read all the books in the series/trilogy and to be honest I am pleased I persevered with the 2nd as the third was so worth it.

[Jay]

Naked by David Sedaris

[Steve]

Amy wrote: I loved 'The Girl with the dragon Tattoo' but found the second one a trudge as it is really quite different from the first. However I loved 'The Girl Who kicked the Hornet's nest' as it really rounded off the trilogy nicely. I know not really that helpful, I personally have to read all the books in the series/trilogy and to be honest I am pleased I persevered with the 2nd as the third was so worth it.

I'm just about finished Hornet's Nest and I agree with your opinion - the second book was much different, strikingly so. The third really makes an effort to round out the story, making the odd second book fit with the first as a whole. All very different books, yet all of them pretty good on their own.

[[deleted user]]

Currently reading The Magician King.

Meh.

[[deleted user]]

I just finished The Hunger Games series. It was amazingly good.

[Danielle]

I read pretty fast - I just finished my 10th book for this year. But my slow read right now is The Better Nature of our Angels: How Violence has Declined by Steven Pinker. It's been good so far.

[Amy *Waitforit*]

I am reading , and am listening to . I read pretty quick but am struggling to get into Blacklands and The Woman in Black (which I am reading because I want to see the film and cannot see a film adaptation without reading the book first) so i have fallen back on The Dresden Files which are my favourites =)

[Antriksh]

Anyone read Realms Unreel? I got it for Kindle when it was free a while ago. And wow, it's one of the best books I have ever read.

Everyone should check it out. It's a genre bending novel written with amazing perfection. It's way underpriced as well. I think it's Kindle-only right now.

[Steve]

Antriksh, that one looks good! Will keep an eye out for it.

Just finished Flowers for Algernon and The Sisters Brothers. I enjoyed Flowers, although less than I expected. Subsequently, I enjoyed Sisters, much more than I had expected when I began the book. Anyone read these?

[Scott]

Just finished Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Reading a piece from Lem's The Cyberiad each morning and working my way through Dickens's Bleak House, mostly in the evening. Just started The Trial and Death of Socrates: Four Dialogues by Plato.

[Steve]

Hooooooooooooooooly moley!!! Room. Speechless. Some of the best stuff I have read in years, even if it creeped me right out.

[[deleted user]]

I've been meaning to read Room. Maybe soon.

[Rowena]

i read Room a few months ago, and while it was exciting it had its flaws... e.g. the last half of the book. D:

[Kristin]

I really enjoyed Room. I understand not liking the last half of the book. It seemed realistic, if depressing, to me. I also enjoyed this video of Donoghue talking about the book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diRkm9... SPOILERS!

[Steve]

Rowena wrote: "i read Room a few months ago, and while it was exciting it had its flaws... e.g. the last half of the book. D:"

To be honest, the last half of the book is what made it a worthwhile read. The first half is easy to get into, but the message is certainly written into the last half.

[Rowena]

Steve wrote: "Rowena wrote: "i read Room a few months ago, and while it was exciting it had its flaws... e.g. the last half of the book. D:"

To be honest, the last half of the book is what made i..."

spoiler tag just in case: (view spoiler)[I think I mostly just didn't like how the mother's behavior seemed strange/became whiny (IMO). I don't really remember any details though. (hide spoiler)]

[Fathermocker]

I started reading House of Leaves recently. So far, it's very interesting.

[Steve]

Rowena wrote..."

I watched the Q&A that Kristin posted above and..
(view spoiler)[ she mentions that Ma needed to collapse like that, because in Room, she was able to be 100% a mother, but upon release, she became part mother, daughter, victim, patient, celebrity, etc. It was all too much for her to bear and it gave the book a bit of anxiety on part of the reader, not knowing if she would pull through. Having her out of the picture gave room for Jack to grow on his own and another important figure to enter his life, the step-grandfather. (hide spoiler)]

[Benjamin]

I started Just After Sunset, by Stephen King.

I definitely love his style when it comes to short stories. Completely different than his novel writing, which I find very often heavy, and clumsy at times.

So far, his short stories have never disappointed me and those I've been reading are quite terrific.

[Nam]

I'm not really a big fan of Stephen King but I have just recently finished The Gunslinger from his Dark Tower series and I have to say I loved every page of it. The character of Roland was very interesting and his mental thought process distinguished him from other standard protagonists. This book does F with your imagination though.

[Melissa]

I'm on spring break, so I just worked my way through a bunch of books that I'd been putting off - "As If I Am Not There" by Slavenka Drakulic, "The Great Divorce" by C.S. Lewis and "American Rust" by Philipp Meyer

[Steve]

Nam wrote: "I'm not really a big fan of Stephen King but I have just recently finished The Gunslinger from his Dark Tower series and I have to say I loved every page of it. The character of Roland was very int..."

One of my favourite stories, it's worth reading the second book 'drawing of the three', if you're hooked at that point continue on, otherwise I'd say that's all that is really necessary to read to get a feel for Roland..

[Shauna]

I finished Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close in the wee hours this morning and I'm trying to figure out what to read next. I think it just might be A Discovery of Witches.

[szymborskalyte]

Going through Kafka's the Trial right now as part of a march through the English literary canon.

[Jeannette]

Just finished Flowers for Algernon and The Sisters Brothers. I enjoyed Flowers, although less than I expected..."

Steve, I'll point out here that the Flowers for Algernon that everyone raves about is the short story, which really is exceptional, and not the expanded book, which is strikingly less so. Your feeling that you were somehow cheated out of the read you were expecting is accurate.

[Steve]

Jeannette, I did notice afterwards when reading about the book that a short version existed.. I should track this down just to compare. I felt there was a solid core to the book, so to speak.

In other news, I read Mile 81 which was terrible and The Cave which was astonishingly beautiful.. I need to look over it again to add some of the better quotes, which I did not find on goodreads.

[[deleted user]]

I've been reading Harry Potter.

I feel like I don't belong here now. :P

[Jeannette]

Ala wrote: "I've been reading Harry Potter.

I feel like I don't belong here now. :P"

My family read them all aloud so there were no fights over who got to read them first. They are full of puns, snide mythological references, and really biting satire of numerous social institutions. I'm pretty sure most kids miss half of what is in them. No need to feel bad about reading them as an adult. I do wish the actual writing and plot development was a little (lot) better in some places, though.

[[deleted user]]

Heh, I don't feel bad reading them. They're rather quick and enjoyable little reads.

Just seemed to not fit in with all the "literary" works being mentioned here. Thought it was a bit amusing is all :)

[Steve]

An Artist of the Floating World.. not sure on this one, but I am going to read Never Let Me Go as I've heard more hype on that book, perhaps there's a reason behind that.

[Steve]

and on that Japanese train, Sputnik Sweetheart. An OK Murakami, I wouldn't recommend it, but my review has a really lice passage in the spoiler tag.

[Jack]

I've been reading A Storm of Swords recently, I felt I've left enough time between this and the second, and season 2 starts on Monday. :D