Read any good books lately?????
 

I've been steadily working my way down the list of books I want to read and although it seemed so far off, the end is now VERY near, and I need some new ideas. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'll read pretty much anything if it's interesting, no specific genre. Your thoughts are very much appreciated!

Right now, I'm halfway through The Stand. For some reason I've never read it before, although I like Stephen King very much. I'd like to hear some your thoughts on that one, too- but remember that I'm not finished with it yet, so don't give away any info!

I read two really good books in March while I was in England and had the flu - no TV, so I was forced to read :). The books are:

The Jane Austen Book Club
Dress your Family in Denim and Courdoroy by David Sedaris

Both were really good. As usual, Sedaris had me on the floor in stitches! The other book - I will post the author later - can't remember it off hand and can't find the book - was really good. I've never read a jane austen novel, but I really enjoyed the characters and character development.

After the semester is over, i am going to read like crazy - and I can't wait for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince!!!

[quote=melidasaur]

Both were really good. As usual, Sedaris had me on the floor in stitches! [quote]


He is really one of my all-time favorites! It's not often that I laugh out loud while reading, but that is truly the case with his books. I've read 'Naked' and 'Barrel Fever' but my favorite for sure is 'Me Talk Pretty One Day.' (I love how he avoids saying the letter 's' in front of his speech therapist just to belittle her attempts!) I've been meaning to get to 'Dress Your Family...' but I kept forgetting to put it on my list. So thank you!!! :D

I laughed harder when I read Dress Your Family than I did when I read Me Talk Pretty One Day - and that book is hilarious!

I bought it on Amazon earlier- can't wait to read it!

My time to read varies a lot. Sometimes I'll read 10 or more books in a month, sometimes I'm lucky to finish one ...

Right now I'm reading The Koran.

yes, that Koran. I get tired of people telling me what a book says, without actually referencing the book. As of now I am better than halfway through and I still haven't found the thing about the 72 virgins.

Lots of cool, sweet water is promised, which makes a lot of sense given that the religion arose in the desert ...

After this, though, I'm going to have to read something totally light, fluffy, and non-stresful, which mean that "American Jihad" will just have to wait ...

I did recently find my copy of "House of God" by Samuel Shem. That might fill the bill.

Or I might go back to knitting.

I dunno yet.

As far as what you should read? Lamb.

Canterbury Tales is always a great, fun read. The Wife of Bath is my favorite literary character! Ann Lamott's latest, PLAN B--MORE THOUGHTS ON FAITH is good, and you don't have to be a Christian to relate to it. Another goodie is SHADOW OF THE WIND and anything by Augustin Burroughs (RUNNING WITH SCISSORS, DRY, MAGICAL THINKING) and I must say I do like Philip Roth (PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT is hilarious.)

I've finished "The Case for Christ" and "Refuting Evolution", now I'm working on "Refuting Compromise". But I've been playing alot of World of Warcraft, so my reading time is alot less than normal.

Erickson- Devil in the White City. Really interesting read I thought, historical narrative about the 1893 grand World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and a serial killer operating at the same time.

A tree grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith
I started in once before and lost interest, but can't seem to put it down this time.

HH Holmes is one of the creepier characters in American history. When I first heard of him, I was surprised that he hadn't become more of a figure of folklore.

I don't have time to read anything that's not work related (or cellar related) lately, but this looks like an interesting read given the times we be livin in.

You just reminded me that a lady from the book club I used to belong to still has my copy of 'Running with Scissors'. That was a good one... I think I just might read Canterbury Tales- it's been too long and is really a great read. ;)

If you like Stephen King, "Everything's Eventual", a collection of short stories, is a must read, just hooks you in and you can't stop reading.
I'm currently reading "Generation Kill" by Evan Wright. Great book, gives you some insight into the personal live of the soldiers on the ground right now in Iraq and what they are going through. Definitly not a bed-time story book for the kiddies however.

HH Holmes is one of the creepier characters

Sounds like a movie based on Devil in the White City might be on the horizon...at least the rights are spoken for.

"The Long Way Around" by Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor. Good read even if you watched the series on Bravo. The book includes a fair bit more in depth personal feelings/reactions about their bike trip around the world.

I just read Shutter Island and 3 other books by Dennis Lehane. He is the guy who wrote the book "Mystic River", which the acting of Tim Robbins and Sean Penn made one of the greatest movies of all time. His books are just as dark and suspenseful as the movie.

Pretty much anything by Andrew Vachss.

His Short Stories are really edgy, and his novel series (focusing on a character named "Burke" and his family of choice) are amazing. They are best read in order of publication, because there is stuff that goes on in later books that makes more sense if you already know the background.

There's a new one due out in a couple months.

Stephen King?

The Talisman
Black House

The Gunslinger
the rest of that series

Anne Rice - The Mayfair Witch trilogy (these may be out of order)
The Witching Hour
Lasher
Taltos

Under the Banner of Heaven - nonfiction, talks about violent past of the LDS church.

I can't get into Anne Rice, despite trying a number of times. It took me several tries to make it through Interview With a Vampire, and read through the series up to Tale of the Body Thief. I never really felt engaged by the characters or the stories. I'm still not sure why I kept reading her stuff ... but I have read The Witching Hour and also Exit to Eden (I liked it better than the movie, which is not saying much) and the Sleeping Beauty books.

It's not like I didn't try.

Anne Rice, Stephen King. I tried to get into both of them at some time, and neither could hold my attention for some reason. I'm reading "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" right now. It's... interesting.

I like the movie and the parlour game looks interesting, though I've never played it...

Neal Stepherson's System of the World trilogy is now in paperback and is a fantastic read, kept me busy for a while, thicker than lord of the rings. Last really good one would be I am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe. Anything by Terry Pratchett is good, same goes for John LeCarre.

That's interesting, I'm reading Neal Stephenson's "Baroque Cycle" trilogy right now. The first book (Quicksilver) has been good overall, but that's because the first half was really iffy and the second half has been GREAT.

My whoopsie on the name. The first is really setting the scene, like the first act of a play. I own all 3 in hardback, the wait between volumes was painful, I did a 3 hour round trip and bribed a shop assistant to get the third one. Overall they're probably my favorite books, Stepherson's ability to not only have great, engaging stories but also to use them as a vehicle for ideas is awesome. If you haven't you owe it to yourself to read Diamond Age.

I really enjoy Stephenson. I'm also reading the trilogy. But I'm stuck about halfway through the last of the three books. I hit a dull spot, and am having trouble getting started again. In my opinion, Stephenson spends far too much time on tracing the lineage of royal families, and he introduces far too many characters. After the first book, I started keeping notes with index cards on the different characters. I wrote small, and filled the front and back of two index cards for the second novel. There must have been 50 characters in the second book.

I think his novels could be just as good even if he limited the number of characters to oh, lets say, 15 per book.

I wasn't aware of the trilogy. I'll have to find time to fit it in ...

intersting though, amazon has a new way to clutter up their sales page ...

SIPS. WTF? This is useful somehow??

Correction on my entry: Devil in the White City is by Eric Larson. I just lent my copy to a friend and realized I had mutated the author's name.

Here is the putative "why".

This combines two of my favorite recreational internet pursuits (both safe for work). Googlewhack and StumbleUpon.

I absolutely love Neal Stephenson. I've read everything he's ever written.

I don't think The Baroque Cycle would be quite as rich and fulfilling if it where shorter or if there were fewer characters. The only thing that kind of gets tedious to me are the letters, in the 2nd book I think, from Eliza to Rossignol and Leibniz. They consist of a large amount of plain-text and a generally lesser amount of cipher-text which is what you want to read about...

At first I disdainfully rejected Harry Potter on the grounds that it sustained commercial appeal and was a TREND (I consciously avoid anything resembling a trend, I'm that trendy).

On a friends recommendation I picked up book number 4, and read it front to back in about a week (could have been a lot quicker, but I don't have much spare time as I spend it in the pub). Got completely lost in an absorbing fantasy world and became genuinely involved with the characters and plot. I proceeded to whizz through books 2, 5 and 1 (yes, in that order) and my thirst is still not quenched. I'm going to take my time with number 3 because the new one's not out until July, and I for one can't wait.

Yeah, that's one of the unusual cases where a fad book actually turned out to be decent.

The Upright man, by Michael Marshal. A good read. And Bloodline by Sidney Sheldon

Read Choke by Chuck Palahniuk (he wrote the book Fight Club on which the movie Fight Club was based). Murphonian Logic, LJ & Jinx read it too, and I think they agree that it was very cool... and twisted.

I just read Candide. It was annotated, but probably not enough. I am certain that for every piece of biting sarcasm I caught, there were a hundred I missed.

midway through 1984. it is still just as annoying as it was 15 years ago.

I really liked Choke. I'm on a Palahniuk kick lately ... read Lullaby, Diary, and Stranger than Fiction this past week.

I'm re-reading all the earlier Neal Stephenson novels, now that I've finished the first of the Baroque Cycle. I'm on Diamond Age, which has always been my absolute favorite of his.

Diamond Age is a really good book. There are so many great ideas in there.

I read Invisible Monsters yesterday. Very good.

I liked Diamond Age, but absolutely adored Snow Crash. I'm well on my way to having the thing memorized. (That and Neuromancer. Badger and I are currently building a MythTV box -- it's named Wintermute. :) )
I also have Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I'm daunted by the 800+ pages...
- Pie

I just finished Diary by Palahniuk, which was OK. Previous to that I read Paranoia by Joseph Finder, which was quite enjoyable. I need to try to find some gobs of spare time so I can fill them by reading my gobs of unread books.

Don't be. Think of it as a double portion of love. Verrrry entertaining. You can read at your regular pace and not be worried that it'll end too soon.

Although, if you have plans to have your wisdom teeth removed anytime soon, I would postpone the book until after.

*shivers*

Anyone read this book about them derned Hollywood liberals yet? I'm gonna buy a copy. Love this stuff.

Ah, the good old "McCarthy was great!" story.

I picked up "Freakonomics" last night, and I'm already 3/4ths of the way through. I mean, yes, part of that is because it's only a couple hundred pages, but the other part is the thing is FASCINATING and I was up super late with it.

I highly recommend it, I'll be giving copies to all my family members come Christmas.