Books you're currently reading??? - Page 3

wolf · 11-18-2003, 01:08 PM

Lullaby - Chuck Palahniuk

(This is a very strange and disturbed man. I'm only about 5 chapters into the book so far, and the plot has taken some really dramatic twists, even for one of his books. Oh, and if you haven't read it, you need to read Fight Club, even if you've already seen the movie, especially if you haven't.)

NICOTINEGUN · 09-02-2005, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolf

Lullaby - Chuck Palahniuk

(This is a very strange and disturbed man. I'm only about 5 chapters into the book so far, and the plot has taken some really dramatic twists, even for one of his books. Oh, and if you haven't read it, you need to read Fight Club, even if you've already seen the movie, especially if you haven't.)

Palahniuk is an amazing writer. He says he gets all his ideas from stories he's heard from other people's lives. I just read Haunted and Choke. They were both good, disturbing, but good. He is here to stay. He has a very interesting fan base. He sends people fake poop and rubber chickens as gifts when they write to him. He is gay and addicted to pills. He loves Vicadin (sp). Fight Club was amazing. I loved the philosophy behind it. It was actually very enlightening.

"The more shit you own, the more your shit owns you."

staceyv · 11-19-2003, 08:16 PM

i'm on the fourth Harry Potter book. I started reading them a couple of weeks ago, because I wanted to see what all the hype was. I don't really feel like finishing it.

richlevy · 06-07-2008, 01:58 PM

I just finished Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates. I've had the book for a while, so I assume it was one of a bulk of books I got at deep discount from Barnes & Nobles or possibly at a library book sale (I will NOT pay $12 for a paperback).

Sex, CIA, drugs, shaman ism & Catholicism, as well as the protagonists unrequited lust for his 15-year-old stepsister.

There are also stilts and a wheelchair involved.

Tom Robbins mentions James Joyce's Ulysses a lot in this novel, and, while Fierce remains readable, you can see the connection. A disgruntled CIA agent who knows how to refer to a woman's privates (I am unsure if it's the vagina or clitoris) in 75 languages has a series of mind expanding adventures.

I found it an interesting book. It was incredibly strange, but I may have made a mistake in reading this book while sober. Unfortunately, I don't drink or otherwise indulge, so there's no way for me to tell.

lumberjim · 11-19-2003, 08:35 PM

If you like King Arthur stories:

Bernard Cornwell, The Winter King.

this is an alternative viewpoint like the mists of Avalon, but written from the eyes of Derfel, one of his knights. The author bases his story on true events and battles, and it makes a lot more sense than the fairy tale type story we've seen on tv and in movies. Plus, it is written very well, and moves at a nice pace.

8.5/10

the sequels are just as good.

darclauz · 11-19-2003, 08:39 PM

Sword of truth series.

A little preachy, but good readin'.

Just finished Wolves of the Calla. I dearly love the gunslinger series and am so relieved that Stephen King has them all finished. Now I can stop praying for his health every night.

Just another thing off my list.

Happy Monkey · 11-19-2003, 10:53 PM

Sword of Truth is getting a lot preachy recently...

Anyway, I just finished reading "What Liberal Media?" by Eric Alterman. It was pretty good, but I think I'm overwhelmed by the number of recent political books, so I'm now reading "Wasp" by Eric Frank Russel and "Sandman: King of Dreams" by Alisa Kwitney.

"What Liberal Media?" was pretty depressing, especially the last chapter, on Richard Mellon Scaife. I was reading it just as the news broke about Soros donating to liberal causes, and I listened with disbelief as people like O'Reilly screamed about it. Just a bit of interesting timing there.

"Wasp" is a lighthearted science fiction book apparently about a terrorist in an interplanetary war. I'm not too far into it.

"Sandman: King of Dreams" is essentially a summary/retrospective on Neil Gaiman's Sandman comic book. It's a beautiful coffee-table style book with tons of art from the comic and other related work.

Next up: Another book by the author of "Wasp", and then a translation of "Arabian Nights".

SouthOfNoNorth · 11-20-2003, 09:44 AM

The Cryptonomicon lately, which is fantastic in my opinion. i'd have to say that i agree with the consensus about the wheel of time. i got a portion of the way through Path of Daggers and gave up. he's created a scope larger than he can deal with now, in my opinion. all of the female characters and a few of the males have kinda degenerated into cliches, from what i can remember.
A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin, is fantastic. i haven't read the third book in the series yet, but the first two were very good reads.
Also, Women, by Charles Bukowski. great stuff.

jinx · 11-23-2003, 08:28 PM

I just finished The Davinci Code, and am about to start Angels and Demons. Both by Dan Brown

I really liked davinci code, but I do have a few minor coimplaints. 1. I thought the charachters figured things out way to easily, they didn't ever really struggle and were almost always right. 2. Ending was lame.

wolf · 11-23-2003, 09:38 PM

Last Man Down - Battalion Commander Richard Picciotto, FDNY

tikat · 12-05-2003, 05:17 AM

I'm a little more than halfway through Quicksilver, and I like it even more than I liked Cryptonomicon. I've always had a thing for the period it's set in, though.

Now I have pirates on the brain, so I'm going to read some of Rafael Sabatini's books next. If I'm not sick of the 1700ishes by then, I'll go through the Three Muskateers books. It looks like Project Gutenburg has most of this.

I have also been meaning to read Richard Burton's translation of the Arabian Nights, partly for the stories themselves, but also because I'm curious about Burton and I hear the book has copious notes.

wolf · 12-05-2003, 12:47 PM

I was just starting on Dune: Butlerian Jihad (yes, I shamefacedly admit that I'm reading the "Dad's dead, so lets rape his literary legacy and make lots of money off it" series) but have switched over to Tony Hillerman's Talking God, mostly because the Hillerman book is a paperback, and the Dune-ish hardback is occupying too much space in the "bag of shit I take to work when it snows just in case there are no nuts".

A friend of mine gave me the Hillerman book, but I can't remember if I read it already or not. Might read the first chapter, have it all come back to me, and move onto something different.

Griff · 12-05-2003, 12:55 PM

Yah, I read Dune: House Atreides a while back. I read the old series as a yout and really got caught up in it... this series not so much. Why are we posting on the bad engrish thread, when we've had a couple of these book threads before? I'd hate to think we're dumbing down the cellar.

richlevy · 04-12-2008, 07:55 PM

I really enjoyed Hillerman. I must have read at least 6.

Terry Pratchett is my favorite. I think I'm caught up with all of Discworld except for the Wee Free Men series. Most of Pratchett's books are themed. Targets include cops, Australians, banks, the post office, space exploration, etc.

And of course you have Death, dwarves, the four horsemen, witches, vampires, etc.

Back to Hillerman. I classify his stories as 'cultural' detective. In his case it's Native American.

Harry Kemelman wrote an interesting series with a Rabbi as a detective. They turned it into a mini-series called "Lanigan's Rabbi". I think I read most of them.

My guilty pleasure has been Janet Evanovich's "Stephanie Plum" novels, where the protagonist is a working class Trenton girl who does bail bonds work and solves mysteries. It's sort of a "Sex and the City" meets "Nancy Drew" meets "Jersey Girl" book. I keep on telling myself it's a detective novel, but deep in my heart I know it's one step from Jackie Collins. BTW, if you read them, stick to the books with numbers in the title "Lean Mean Thirteen", etc. She writes these 'between the numbers' novels that move the character into the fantasy realm (working for Cupid, guys who think they're Leprechauns). Pratchett also write some juvenile fiction mixed in his Discworld series (A Hat Full of Sky). If you go in fully informed, some of its not bad. Isaac Asimov also wrote juvenile fiction (Lucky Starr).

Pratchett, Kemelman, and Evanovich are 'fast reads', books you can take to a pool. Hillerman is a little meatier.

Maybe it's generational, but back in the 60's and 70's, you would go to a pool and every other chair would have a 'summer book'. I remember the 'Rabbi' series, 'The Godfather', etc. I just don't seem to see the same number of books out anymore.

Sundae · 04-12-2008, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richlevy

Pratchett, Kellerman, and Evanovich are 'fast reads', books you can take to a pool.

Yes, but Evanovich and Pratchett have a way with words. Pratchett more than most. And to start with they broke the mould. Hillerman's Orthodox Jewish detective (and family) were wonderful for me - I love crime novels and my Mum grew up on the edge of a Jewish community, but I didn't and know nothing about them (you!). It was worth the read for the insight, but they're also fast paced and read-in-one-sitting enjoyable.

Pratchett's early books were mind blowing. There just wasn't anything like them. The original paperback of The Light Fantastic had a quote that said they were Jerome K Jerome meets Lord of the Rings. My Dad didn't know who this Jerome bloke was (neither did I for years) but figured I would like it. I wrote an exam paper on it ("compare 3 books the same genre")

Even now, lines from that and The Colour of Magic (first in book terms, second hitting paperback as far as I was concerned) swim up into my head sometimes.

11-18-2003, 01:08 PM	#1
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	Lullaby - Chuck Palahniuk (This is a very strange and disturbed man. I'm only about 5 chapters into the book so far, and the plot has taken some really dramatic twists, even for one of his books. Oh, and if you haven't read it, you need to read Fight Club, even if you've already seen the movie, especially if you haven't.) __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

06-07-2008, 01:58 PM	#4
richlevy King Of Wishful Thinking Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Philadelphia Suburbs Posts: 6,669	Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates by Tom Robbins I just finished Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates. I've had the book for a while, so I assume it was one of a bulk of books I got at deep discount from Barnes & Nobles or possibly at a library book sale (I will NOT pay $12 for a paperback). Sex, CIA, drugs, shaman ism & Catholicism, as well as the protagonists unrequited lust for his 15-year-old stepsister. There are also stilts and a wheelchair involved. Tom Robbins mentions James Joyce's Ulysses a lot in this novel, and, while Fierce remains readable, you can see the connection. A disgruntled CIA agent who knows how to refer to a woman's privates (I am unsure if it's the vagina or clitoris) in 75 languages has a series of mind expanding adventures. I found it an interesting book. It was incredibly strange, but I may have made a mistake in reading this book while sober. Unfortunately, I don't drink or otherwise indulge, so there's no way for me to tell. __________________ Exercise your rights and remember your obligations - VOTE! I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting. -- Barack Hussein Obama

11-19-2003, 08:35 PM	#5
lumberjim I can hear my ears Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 25,571	If you like King Arthur stories: Bernard Cornwell, The Winter King. this is an alternative viewpoint like the mists of Avalon, but written from the eyes of Derfel, one of his knights. The author bases his story on true events and battles, and it makes a lot more sense than the fairy tale type story we've seen on tv and in movies. Plus, it is written very well, and moves at a nice pace. 8.5/10 the sequels are just as good. __________________ This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality Embrace this moment, remember We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan

11-19-2003, 08:39 PM	#6
darclauz Breathing into a paper bag Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 334	Sword of truth series. A little preachy, but good readin'. Just finished Wolves of the Calla. I dearly love the gunslinger series and am so relieved that Stephen King has them all finished. Now I can stop praying for his health every night. Just another thing off my list. __________________ Taking up smoking to lose weight.

11-19-2003, 10:53 PM	#7
Happy Monkey I think this line's mostly filler. Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: DC Posts: 13,575	Sword of Truth is getting a lot preachy recently... Anyway, I just finished reading "What Liberal Media?" by Eric Alterman. It was pretty good, but I think I'm overwhelmed by the number of recent political books, so I'm now reading "Wasp" by Eric Frank Russel and "Sandman: King of Dreams" by Alisa Kwitney. "What Liberal Media?" was pretty depressing, especially the last chapter, on Richard Mellon Scaife. I was reading it just as the news broke about Soros donating to liberal causes, and I listened with disbelief as people like O'Reilly screamed about it. Just a bit of interesting timing there. "Wasp" is a lighthearted science fiction book apparently about a terrorist in an interplanetary war. I'm not too far into it. "Sandman: King of Dreams" is essentially a summary/retrospective on Neil Gaiman's Sandman comic book. It's a beautiful coffee-table style book with tons of art from the comic and other related work. Next up: Another book by the author of "Wasp", and then a translation of "Arabian Nights". __________________ _________________ \|...............\| We live in the nick of times. \| Len 17, Wid 3 \| \|_______________\| [pics]

11-19-2003, 08:16 PM	#3
staceyv Lecturer Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Ohio Posts: 927	i'm on the fourth Harry Potter book. I started reading them a couple of weeks ago, because I wanted to see what all the hype was. I don't really feel like finishing it.

11-20-2003, 09:44 AM	#8
SouthOfNoNorth Colloquialist Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Pittsburgh, Pa Posts: 77	The Cryptonomicon lately, which is fantastic in my opinion. i'd have to say that i agree with the consensus about the wheel of time. i got a portion of the way through Path of Daggers and gave up. he's created a scope larger than he can deal with now, in my opinion. all of the female characters and a few of the males have kinda degenerated into cliches, from what i can remember. A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin, is fantastic. i haven't read the third book in the series yet, but the first two were very good reads. Also, Women, by Charles Bukowski. great stuff. __________________ Don't you worry about the day-glo orange life preserver, it won't save you. Swim for the shores just as fast as you're able.....

11-23-2003, 08:28 PM	#9
jinx Come on, cat. Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: general vicinity of Philadelphia area Posts: 7,013	I just finished The Davinci Code, and am about to start Angels and Demons. Both by Dan Brown I really liked davinci code, but I do have a few minor coimplaints. 1. I thought the charachters figured things out way to easily, they didn't ever really struggle and were almost always right. 2. Ending was lame. __________________ Crying won't help you, praying won't do you no good.

11-23-2003, 09:38 PM	#10
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	Last Man Down - Battalion Commander Richard Picciotto, FDNY __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

12-05-2003, 05:17 AM	#11
tikat Paramour of Paradigm Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Conway, Arkansas Posts: 42	I'm a little more than halfway through Quicksilver, and I like it even more than I liked Cryptonomicon. I've always had a thing for the period it's set in, though. Now I have pirates on the brain, so I'm going to read some of Rafael Sabatini's books next. If I'm not sick of the 1700ishes by then, I'll go through the Three Muskateers books. It looks like Project Gutenburg has most of this. I have also been meaning to read Richard Burton's translation of the Arabian Nights, partly for the stories themselves, but also because I'm curious about Burton and I hear the book has copious notes. Last edited by tikat; 12-05-2003 at 05:19 AM.

12-05-2003, 12:47 PM	#12
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	I was just starting on Dune: Butlerian Jihad (yes, I shamefacedly admit that I'm reading the "Dad's dead, so lets rape his literary legacy and make lots of money off it" series) but have switched over to Tony Hillerman's Talking God, mostly because the Hillerman book is a paperback, and the Dune-ish hardback is occupying too much space in the "bag of shit I take to work when it snows just in case there are no nuts". A friend of mine gave me the Hillerman book, but I can't remember if I read it already or not. Might read the first chapter, have it all come back to me, and move onto something different. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

12-05-2003, 12:55 PM	#13
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	Yah, I read Dune: House Atreides a while back. I read the old series as a yout and really got caught up in it... this series not so much. Why are we posting on the bad engrish thread, when we've had a couple of these book threads before? I'd hate to think we're dumbing down the cellar. __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

04-12-2008, 07:55 PM	#14
richlevy King Of Wishful Thinking Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Philadelphia Suburbs Posts: 6,669	I really enjoyed Hillerman. I must have read at least 6. Terry Pratchett is my favorite. I think I'm caught up with all of Discworld except for the Wee Free Men series. Most of Pratchett's books are themed. Targets include cops, Australians, banks, the post office, space exploration, etc. And of course you have Death, dwarves, the four horsemen, witches, vampires, etc. Back to Hillerman. I classify his stories as 'cultural' detective. In his case it's Native American. Harry Kemelman wrote an interesting series with a Rabbi as a detective. They turned it into a mini-series called "Lanigan's Rabbi". I think I read most of them. My guilty pleasure has been Janet Evanovich's "Stephanie Plum" novels, where the protagonist is a working class Trenton girl who does bail bonds work and solves mysteries. It's sort of a "Sex and the City" meets "Nancy Drew" meets "Jersey Girl" book. I keep on telling myself it's a detective novel, but deep in my heart I know it's one step from Jackie Collins. BTW, if you read them, stick to the books with numbers in the title "Lean Mean Thirteen", etc. She writes these 'between the numbers' novels that move the character into the fantasy realm (working for Cupid, guys who think they're Leprechauns). Pratchett also write some juvenile fiction mixed in his Discworld series (A Hat Full of Sky). If you go in fully informed, some of its not bad. Isaac Asimov also wrote juvenile fiction (Lucky Starr). Pratchett, Kemelman, and Evanovich are 'fast reads', books you can take to a pool. Hillerman is a little meatier. Maybe it's generational, but back in the 60's and 70's, you would go to a pool and every other chair would have a 'summer book'. I remember the 'Rabbi' series, 'The Godfather', etc. I just don't seem to see the same number of books out anymore. __________________ Exercise your rights and remember your obligations - VOTE! I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting. -- Barack Hussein Obama

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