Whatcha readin now? (book, books, reading, read) (1 Viewer)

[facook]

Just finished The Hunted by Brian Haig, Al's son. Stand alone novel loosely based on the true story of a Russian tycoon who is kidnapped and extorted out of his fortune and, after seeking asylum in America, has the entire world turn against him. Would have been better if I realized going in that it's at least somewhat "real."

Now on to Horns by Joe Hill. Creepy, weird, and fantastic.

 

[Notorious T.R.E.]

Right now:

The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific by J. Maarten Troost

It's ok so far, not as funny as I had hoped. It's a short read, so I'm slogging through it.

Although accustomed to globe trotting, Troost and his wife, Sylvia, were truly innocents abroad when they moved to the island of Tarawa in the South Pacific, where Sylvia had accepted a government position. Tarawa is the capital of Kiribati--a republic of tiny atolls located just above the equator--and the place where Troost's dreams of paradise were shattered. Although Tarawa has much to offer, such as stultifying heat, dogged bureaucracy, toxic water, La Macarena, and the fantastic rituals of the I-Kiribati people, it lacks running water, television, restaurants, air-conditioning, and, the most crucial amenity, beer. Culture shock ensued for Maarten and Sylvia, and he chronicles their two years on Tarawa in a hilarious, sardonic travelogue. Among the more memorable episodes is the time a simple fishing trip turns into a hunt for a giant thresher shark and when Troost blasts a Miles Davis CD to combat the incessant repetition of La Macarena. Troost's mystified admiration for the I-Kiribati people shines through it all, and readers learn how humor itself can be a necessary tool for survival.

Recent:

To Wake the Dead by Richard Laymon

I'm a fan of Laymon's. He always good for macabre, strange, exceedingly odd horror. RIP Richard! This book that is mainly about a mummy weaves three or four stories and has a pretty cool conclusion

Infected by Scott Sigler.

In Sigler's riveting horror thriller, alien seeds from outer space infect a number of unlucky humans, who develop some unusual symptoms—itchy, blue triangular growths on their skin—that eventually result in the carriers becoming screaming, homicidal maniacs.

This was good enough for me to put the sequel, Contagious, on the list. Sigler does a lot of podcasting and blogging, although I haven't really followed any of it. Infected was optioned by Rogue Pictures and is development. The main character who is infected was a former Michigan linebacker that suffered a major knee injury and ended up with a career as an IT type. I thought it was a great character and it will be interesting to see who would be cast in the movie.

 

[Uncle Humuna]

Slogging through "A Brief History of Time" for the second time in a row.

Wave/particle duality is total mind-####.

 

[shuke]

Infected by Scott Sigler.

In Sigler's riveting horror thriller, alien seeds from outer space infect a number of unlucky humans, who develop some unusual symptoms—itchy, blue triangular growths on their skin—that eventually result in the carriers becoming screaming, homicidal maniacs.

This was good enough for me to put the sequel, Contagious, on the list. Sigler does a lot of podcasting and blogging, although I haven't really followed any of it. Infected was optioned by Rogue Pictures and is development. The main character who is infected was a former Michigan linebacker that suffered a major knee injury and ended up with a career as an IT type. I thought it was a great character and it will be interesting to see who would be cast in the movie.

 

[Notorious T.R.E.]

Infected by Scott Sigler.

In Sigler's riveting horror thriller, alien seeds from outer space infect a number of unlucky humans, who develop some unusual symptoms—itchy, blue triangular growths on their skin—that eventually result in the carriers becoming screaming, homicidal maniacs.

This was good enough for me to put the sequel, Contagious, on the list. Sigler does a lot of podcasting and blogging, although I haven't really followed any of it. Infected was optioned by Rogue Pictures and is development. The main character who is infected was a former Michigan linebacker that suffered a major knee injury and ended up with a career as an IT type. I thought it was a great character and it will be interesting to see who would be cast in the movie.

Send me your addy, I'll mail it over.

 

[Oliver Humanzee]

I'm really struggling through Blood Meridian, which is a shame as I'd been looking forward to reading it for a while. I think if you took 5 pages and studied the writing, it would be amazing. But I'm trying to read the whole book and is SO thick - 10 pages describing dirt and such.

I just saw this post.

I'm sorry that you are having trouble with the novel.

It is a dense book and chock full of description that, superficially, seems unnecessary. Like you, I generally abhor florid descriptions of scenery and once threw Jane Eyre across a room, forswearing Bronte forever, after slogging through the third 500-word description of an English drawing room in a span of 20 pages.

It is not as easy to dismiss McCarthy, however. The narrator's syntax is simultaneously grand and colloquial, archaic and wholly invented. And it has the effect of investing in the landscape an importance it is not usually afforded other novels. In Blood Meridian the land itself is a character--a character whose peculiar qualities move and shape the narrative as much as the wants and desires of the human characters.

It is also important to note that the novel's horrific and omnipresent violence is described in exactly the same way: both eloquently and offhandedly, and with a gruesomely poetic attention to detail. This allows the reader to infer one of the novel's greatest themes: that murder and war are as essential to the idea of America as the land itself.

Dirt/violence is to Blood Meridian what water/obsession is to Moby ****.

But in addition to all that: McCarthy's syntax--while perfectly functional as a descriptor of action and mise en scene--also provides much of the novel's narrative thrust. It is lyrical, propulsive, and downright poetic. Read the following paragraph out loud and see if you don't feel like Walt Whitman with a blue-steel erection:

From Blood Meridian:

That night they rode through a region electric and wild where strange shapes of soft blue fire ran over the metal of the horses' trappings and the wagonwheels rolled in hoops of fire and little shapes of pale blue light came to perch in the ears of the horses and in the beards of the men. All night sheetlighning quaked sourceless to the west beyond the midnight thunder-heads, making a bluish day of the distant desert, the mountains on the sudden skyline stark and black and livid like a land of some other order out there whose true geology was not stone but fear. The thunder moved up from the southwest and lightning lit the desert all about them, blue and barren, great clanging reaches ordered out of the absolute night like some demon kingdom summoned up or changeling land that come the day would leave them neither trace nor smoke nor ruin more than any troubling dream.

See what I mean? Descriptions of the landscape cannot be separated from the rest of the novel--they are the novel. I hope you learn to like the book. As you can probably tell, it is among my favorites.

 

[facook]

I'm really struggling through Blood Meridian, which is a shame as I'd been looking forward to reading it for a while. I think if you took 5 pages and studied the writing, it would be amazing. But I'm trying to read the whole book and is SO thick - 10 pages describing dirt and such.

I just saw this post.

I'm sorry that you are having trouble with the novel.

It is a dense book and chock full of description that, superficially, seems unnecessary. Like you, I generally abhor florid descriptions of scenery and once threw Jane Eyre across a room, forswearing Bronte forever, after slogging through the third 500-word description of an English drawing room in a span of 20 pages.

It is not as easy to dismiss McCarthy, however. The narrator's syntax is simultaneously grand and colloquial, archaic and wholly invented. And it has the effect of investing in the landscape an importance it is not usually afforded other novels. In Blood Meridian the land itself is a character--a character whose peculiar qualities move and shape the narrative as much as the wants and desires of the human characters.

It is also important to note that the novel's horrific and omnipresent violence is described in exactly the same way: both eloquently and offhandedly, and with a gruesomely poetic attention to detail. This allows the reader to infer one of the novel's greatest themes: that murder and war are as essential to the idea of America as the land itself.

Dirt/violence is to Blood Meridian what water/obsession is to Moby ****.

But in addition to all that: McCarthy's syntax--while perfectly functional as a descriptor of action and mise en scene--also provides much of the novel's narrative thrust. It is lyrical, propulsive, and downright poetic. Read the following paragraph out loud and see if you don't feel like Walt Whitman with a blue-steel erection:

From Blood Meridian:

That night they rode through a region electric and wild where strange shapes of soft blue fire ran over the metal of the horses' trappings and the wagonwheels rolled in hoops of fire and little shapes of pale blue light came to perch in the ears of the horses and in the beards of the men. All night sheetlighning quaked sourceless to the west beyond the midnight thunder-heads, making a bluish day of the distant desert, the mountains on the sudden skyline stark and black and livid like a land of some other order out there whose true geology was not stone but fear. The thunder moved up from the southwest and lightning lit the desert all about them, blue and barren, great clanging reaches ordered out of the absolute night like some demon kingdom summoned up or changeling land that come the day would leave them neither trace nor smoke nor ruin more than any troubling dream.

See what I mean? Descriptions of the landscape cannot be separated from the rest of the novel--they are the novel. I hope you learn to like the book. As you can probably tell, it is among my favorites.

Pretty sure you're three times smarter than me.

 

[ODoyleRules]

Heading on a 5 day poolside vacation tomorrow. I'm bringing:

Columbine - Dave Cullen

With the Old Breed - EB Sledge

Eating the Dinosaur - Klosterman

Might add I am Ozzy if the library has it. I will need something lighter after Columbine and WWII books.

Columbine is an excellent read..

It was. The description of the attacks was done after ~100 pages and yet the next 200 pages were just as riveting.

 

[Chaka]

No Country for Old Men (just finished The Road) both have been discussed at length in here and I doubt I could add much more. But I must say that no book I have read has so completely portrayed utter hopelessness asThe Road. My goodness that was a tough scenario.

It's amazing that a bunch of dead drug dealers and a character like Chigurh seem almost uplifting by comparison.

 

[Shockizzle]

Any suggestions for non-fiction books for the summer?

I plan on reading Columbine.

 

[Uncle Humuna]

Any suggestions for non-fiction books for the summer?I plan on reading Columbine.

If you live west of the Mississippi, I highly recommend Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner.

 

[Johnnymac]

Any suggestions for non-fiction books for the summer?I plan on reading Columbine.

Columbine is excellent!

 

[Arch Stanton]

Here is the reading list I've completed over the last 6 months or so:

Fool by Christopher Moore. I love everything he writes and they are all quick and funny reads.

Blackwater by Jeremy Scahill. Dense, and made me angry.

The First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival by Ken Wheaton

World War Z by Max Brooks

Bite Me by Christopher Moore

currently reading the Amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. I have tried a couple of times to read it and couldn't get into it. But now I'm a quarter of the way in and am loving it.

It's a phenomenal book and quite frankly I think Chabon is the greatest wordsmith I've ever read. I must've dog-eared every other page to go back re-read brilliant sentences. Sent me into a big Chabon kick.

 

[Maelstrom]

Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks - I haven't read many of the newer fantasy authors/series so I don't have much to compare it to, but I would place both Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy and Abercrombie's First Law trilogy well ahead of this. The main character is a street urchin turned assassin's apprentice. It's not exactly an orignial premise and I didn't find him to be very likable. In fact, most of the characters were pretty mediocre. Beyond that, however, there was a lot of well-written action and for the most part the story moved at a brisk pace. It turned out to be a much bigger, more complex story than I had anticipated.

I really enjoyed this series, more than I thought I would. I picked up the first book while waiting for a class I was taking to start, something to kill some time. Almost spent the rest of the night reading it and picked up the other 2 books in the series next time I was near the bookstore (but less than a week later.) I read the final 2 books in about a weeks time, if not a little faster.It's not great writing or particularly original, but I loved most of the action sequences and the overall story kept me reading. As you say, it got more complex as it went on, and I found all 3 hard to put down. That being said, I've looked at the books sitting on my shelf, and haven't been able to pick it up to reread...

I agree it isn't a good as Mistborn trilogy, but it was an very enjoyable read for me, if very quick.

 

[Horrorshow]

I read "The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea" by Yukio Mishima and "Rare Creature" by Kelley Seda last week.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Reading "Queen Of Bedlam" by Robert McCammon. It's the 2nd in a series of 3 so far (bookended by "Speaks The Nightbird" & "Mister Slaughter"). It's set around 1700 in Colonial America & follows a young magistrate's assistant named Matthew Corbett who has a bent for solving mysteries. McCammon's a good writer, his characters are interesting (if not all that original), his plotting's good, and he does his research. This one's set in 1702 Manhattan, where a suspected serial killer is on the loose. You don't have to have read "Speaks The Nightbird" to enjoy this novel, but I would start there anyway.

McCammon is sometimes referred to as a poor man's Stephen King, but I really don't see the similarity other than a couple of his books that stray into horror-land. "Boy's Life" and "Swan Song" are probably his two best before the Corbett series.

 

[E-Z Glider]

Just finished "The Lost City of Z". I think they're making a movie of it starring Brad Pitt.

Up next, Edward Abbey - The Monkey Wrench Gang

 

[beer 30]

I just finished the awesome "Ghost Wars" by Steve Coll. Does anyone know of a good book that picks up after 9/11 with such detail without interjecting too much political opinion either way.

I really wish he would publish a follow-up along the same lines but I can't imagine how much time & research that would take. I haven't found nearly as in-depth as that book. I imagine with the covertness of everything that has happened since it would be fairly difficult to put something. Maybe in 10-20 years.I keep meaning to read Jawbreaker by Gary Bernsten who was the CIA field agent that went after Bin-Laden after 9/11 but just haven't gotten around to it.

 

[Nick Vermeil]

Here is the reading list I've completed over the last 6 months or so:

Fool by Christopher Moore. I love everything he writes and they are all quick and funny reads.

Blackwater by Jeremy Scahill. Dense, and made me angry.

The First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival by Ken Wheaton

World War Z by Max Brooks

Bite Me by Christopher Moore

currently reading the Amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. I have tried a couple of times to read it and couldn't get into it. But now I'm a quarter of the way in and am loving it.

It's a phenomenal book and quite frankly I think Chabon is the greatest wordsmith I've ever read. I must've dog-eared every other page to go back re-read brilliant sentences. Sent me into a big Chabon kick.

Agreed. It was really well done. I just finished up this weekend. Have you read Chabon's "The Yiddish Policemen's Union?" I'm going to burn through something short and mindless then I may pick that one up.

 

[Horrorshow]

Just finished "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell.

 

[igbomb]

Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks - I haven't read many of the newer fantasy authors/series so I don't have much to compare it to, but I would place both Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy and Abercrombie's First Law trilogy well ahead of this. The main character is a street urchin turned assassin's apprentice. It's not exactly an orignial premise and I didn't find him to be very likable. In fact, most of the characters were pretty mediocre. Beyond that, however, there was a lot of well-written action and for the most part the story moved at a brisk pace. It turned out to be a much bigger, more complex story than I had anticipated.

I really enjoyed this series, more than I thought I would. I picked up the first book while waiting for a class I was taking to start, something to kill some time. Almost spent the rest of the night reading it and picked up the other 2 books in the series next time I was near the bookstore (but less than a week later.) I read the final 2 books in about a weeks time, if not a little faster.It's not great writing or particularly original, but I loved most of the action sequences and the overall story kept me reading. As you say, it got more complex as it went on, and I found all 3 hard to put down. That being said, I've looked at the books sitting on my shelf, and haven't been able to pick it up to reread...

I agree it isn't a good as Mistborn trilogy, but it was an very enjoyable read for me, if very quick.

Abercrombie's First Law is the trilogy I measure all others against and not one has come anywhere near his level. I'm sure I'll read Weeks' next series, but he's not an author that I'll set everything else aside for.

 

[beer 30]

Just finished The Shack, interesting book, nice quick read. You're either into it or not.

 

[JFT Ben]

Reading Under the Dome by King right now, about 1/3 through it. I was a huge King fan in my younger years but haven't read anything by him in awhile.

My feel so far:

Pros-pace of the book is fine, does a nice job of slowly introducing characters, easily understood, basic good vs evil premise, nice small town feel, I like how he both feeds key plot to the reader and not the characters as well as keeps other plot aspects from the reader while the characters know. A give and take that succeeds IMO.

Cons-dialogue is heavy handed and downright laughable at times, some content/plot aspects are as if a macabre 17 year old wrote them.

Both pros/cons are typical King if I remember right. I'm into the book so far, but feel sort of tense reading it.

 

[Chaka]

Just finishing No Country For Old Men.

Please explain something to me:

How did they find Moss and who is driving the Baracuda?

It all happened kind of suddenly.

*** SPOILER ALERT! Click this link to display the potential spoiler text in this box. ***");document.close();

 

[Abraham]

Picked up "Bright Shiney Morning" by James Frey at Garden Ridge Pottery last night for $4. I like his style a lot and it's good so far (about 20 pages). Also, Neil whatever's "Anthaman" or whatever is called was on sale too. Anyone read that? Is it worth the $5? Thing is kind of long.

 

[SofaKings]

Need a good spy novel for camping this weekend. Forsythe/ludlum/berenson type...

 

[kupcho1]

Also, Neil whatever's "Anthaman" or whatever is called was on sale too. Anyone read that? Is it worth the $5? Thing is kind of long.

Incredible bargain. Buy it.

 

[Notorious T.R.E.]

Reading "Queen Of Bedlam" by Robert McCammon. It's the 2nd in a series of 3 so far (bookended by "Speaks The Nightbird" & "Mister Slaughter"). It's set around 1700 in Colonial America & follows a young magistrate's assistant named Matthew Corbett who has a bent for solving mysteries. McCammon's a good writer, his characters are interesting (if not all that original), his plotting's good, and he does his research. This one's set in 1702 Manhattan, where a suspected serial killer is on the loose. You don't have to have read "Speaks The Nightbird" to enjoy this novel, but I would start there anyway.

McCammon is sometimes referred to as a poor man's Stephen King, but I really don't see the similarity other than a couple of his books that stray into horror-land. "Boy's Life" and "Swan Song" are probably his two best before the Corbett series.

Nice - this is on my library list. I loved Speaks the Nightbird.

 

[Notorious T.R.E.]

Reading Under the Dome by King right now, about 1/3 through it. I was a huge King fan in my younger years but haven't read anything by him in awhile. My feel so far: Pros-pace of the book is fine, does a nice job of slowly introducing characters, easily understood, basic good vs evil premise, nice small town feel, I like how he both feeds key plot to the reader and not the characters as well as keeps other plot aspects from the reader while the characters know. A give and take that succeeds IMO. Cons-dialogue is heavy handed and downright laughable at times, some content/plot aspects are as if a macabre 17 year old wrote them. Both pros/cons are typical King if I remember right. I'm into the book so far, but feel sort of tense reading it.

I thought "Dome" was pretty good. Agree with you on the characters and the small town feel. You basically learn about everyone in the town (it's a big book). Character background and development was the best part of the book for me. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts upon finishing the book.

 

[The_Man]

Need a good spy novel for camping this weekend. Forsythe/ludlum/berenson type...

Ever read any of Ken Follett's spy novels? I really liked one called "Triple" and "Eye of the Needle" was good as well.

 

[facook]

Need a good spy novel for camping this weekend. Forsythe/ludlum/berenson type...

Ever read any of Ken Follett's spy novels? I really liked one called "Triple" and "Eye of the Needle" was good as well.

Yeah, pre-1990 Follett is aces. I'd also suggest Daniel Silva, who has a super series starring Gabriel Allon.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Reading "Queen Of Bedlam" by Robert McCammon. It's the 2nd in a series of 3 so far (bookended by "Speaks The Nightbird" & "Mister Slaughter"). It's set around 1700 in Colonial America & follows a young magistrate's assistant named Matthew Corbett who has a bent for solving mysteries. McCammon's a good writer, his characters are interesting (if not all that original), his plotting's good, and he does his research. This one's set in 1702 Manhattan, where a suspected serial killer is on the loose. You don't have to have read "Speaks The Nightbird" to enjoy this novel, but I would start there anyway.

McCammon is sometimes referred to as a poor man's Stephen King, but I really don't see the similarity other than a couple of his books that stray into horror-land. "Boy's Life" and "Swan Song" are probably his two best before the Corbett series.

Nice - this is on my library list. I loved Speaks the Nightbird.

I'm about halfway through and am enjoying it. Some of the small twists are fairly easy to spot coming, but I think he's also throwing a bunch of red herrings out there. Much like an Agatha Christie mystery, just about every prominent character seems to have something to hide or has some mystery about them. I've changed my mind about a dozen times already on who the killer is. There's no map of 1702 Manhattan in the book but, if you're anal like me about where places/streets are in relation to each other, I found a 1725 map on wiki & I think McCammon may have one he made himself on his site, using educated guesses.

 

[SofaKings]

Need a good spy novel for camping this weekend. Forsythe/ludlum/berenson type...

Ever read any of Ken Follett's spy novels? I really liked one called "Triple" and "Eye of the Needle" was good as well.

Yeah, pre-1990 Follett is aces. I'd also suggest Daniel Silva, who has a super series starring Gabriel Allon.

Yeah, I've been through the Follett series.

 

[igbomb]

Need a good spy novel for camping this weekend. Forsythe/ludlum/berenson type...

Ever read any of Ken Follett's spy novels? I really liked one called "Triple" and "Eye of the Needle" was good as well.

Yeah, pre-1990 Follett is aces. I'd also suggest Daniel Silva, who has a super series starring Gabriel Allon.

Not such a big fan of Follett's spy stuff. WWI and WWII spy novels are so commonplace and overdone that I've lost any interest in reading them. And I haven't read Silva's Allon series, though the first book is sitting in my car right now.

 

[commisholio]

Prompted by the re-read going on at tor, I'm going back and re-reading the entire Wheel of Time, slowly. I tend to rip through books to get to find out what happens and sometime miss a lot of detail. I'm on Book 2 right now, and so far still having fun with it. We'll see if I can keep it up once the pace bogs down in books 7-9.

 

[St. Louis Bob]

Zion On The Mississippi

I started reading this because it is when my Great Great Grandfather came to America. Now I'm fascinated by how the issues of immigration then are almost exactly the same as they are today.

 

[Notorious T.R.E.]

A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

Based on suggestion from my gb's Tremendous Upside and Jethro Q. Walrustitty I picked this one up ut the library.

Released by Louisiana State University Press in 1980, A Confederacy of Dunces is nothing short of a publishing phenomenon. Rejected by countless publishers and submitted by the author's mother years after his suicide, the book won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Today, there are almost two million copies in print worldwide in eighteen languages. Now, for the first time, John Kennedy TooleÂ’s comic masterpiece is available in a large print edition.

Toole’s lunatic and sage novel introduces one of the most memorable characters in American literature, Ignatius Reilly, whom Walker Percy dubs "slob extraordinaire, a mad Oliver Hardy, a fat Don Quixote, a perverse Thomas Aquinas rolled into one." Set in New Orleans, A Confederacy of Dunces outswifts Swift, one of whose essays gives the book its title. As its characters burst into life, they leave the region and literature forever changed by their presence—Ignatius and his mother; Miss Trixie, the octogenarian assistant accountant at Levi Pants; inept, wan Patrolman Mancuso; Darlene, the Bourbon Street stripper with a penchant for poultry; Jones the jivecat in spaceage dark glasses.

So far I'm about a hundred pages in and I'm enjoying the book. I have a tendency to lean more towards action, horror or the bizarre, but this book has made me laugh out loud a couple of times already. I seem to be getting more into it as I proceed, which is a good sign.

 

[Chaka]

A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

Based on suggestion from my gb's Tremendous Upside and Jethro Q. Walrustitty I picked this one up ut the library.

Released by Louisiana State University Press in 1980, A Confederacy of Dunces is nothing short of a publishing phenomenon. Rejected by countless publishers and submitted by the author's mother years after his suicide, the book won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Today, there are almost two million copies in print worldwide in eighteen languages. Now, for the first time, John Kennedy TooleÂ's comic masterpiece is available in a large print edition.

Toole's lunatic and sage novel introduces one of the most memorable characters in American literature, Ignatius Reilly, whom Walker Percy dubs "slob extraordinaire, a mad Oliver Hardy, a fat Don Quixote, a perverse Thomas Aquinas rolled into one." Set in New Orleans, A Confederacy of Dunces outswifts Swift, one of whose essays gives the book its title. As its characters burst into life, they leave the region and literature forever changed by their presence—Ignatius and his mother; Miss Trixie, the octogenarian assistant accountant at Levi Pants; inept, wan Patrolman Mancuso; Darlene, the Bourbon Street stripper with a penchant for poultry; Jones the jivecat in spaceage dark glasses.

So far I'm about a hundred pages in and I'm enjoying the book. I have a tendency to lean more towards action, horror or the bizarre, but this book has made me laugh out loud a couple of times already. I seem to be getting more into it as I proceed, which is a good sign.

Oof, my valve.

 

[Notorious T.R.E.]

A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

Based on suggestion from my gb's Tremendous Upside and Jethro Q. Walrustitty I picked this one up ut the library.

Released by Louisiana State University Press in 1980, A Confederacy of Dunces is nothing short of a publishing phenomenon. Rejected by countless publishers and submitted by the author's mother years after his suicide, the book won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Today, there are almost two million copies in print worldwide in eighteen languages. Now, for the first time, John Kennedy TooleÂ's comic masterpiece is available in a large print edition.

Toole's lunatic and sage novel introduces one of the most memorable characters in American literature, Ignatius Reilly, whom Walker Percy dubs "slob extraordinaire, a mad Oliver Hardy, a fat Don Quixote, a perverse Thomas Aquinas rolled into one." Set in New Orleans, A Confederacy of Dunces outswifts Swift, one of whose essays gives the book its title. As its characters burst into life, they leave the region and literature forever changed by their presence—Ignatius and his mother; Miss Trixie, the octogenarian assistant accountant at Levi Pants; inept, wan Patrolman Mancuso; Darlene, the Bourbon Street stripper with a penchant for poultry; Jones the jivecat in spaceage dark glasses.

So far I'm about a hundred pages in and I'm enjoying the book. I have a tendency to lean more towards action, horror or the bizarre, but this book has made me laugh out loud a couple of times already. I seem to be getting more into it as I proceed, which is a good sign.

Oof, my valve.

"Everyone has a valve! Mine is just more developed."

 

[Horrorshow]

My favorite Ignatius LOL moment is the letter he writes to Abelman's Dry Goods on behalf of Gus Levy.

Anyone up for a Dr. Nut?

 

[Tremendous Upside]

A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

Based on suggestion from my gb's Tremendous Upside and Jethro Q. Walrustitty I picked this one up ut the library.

Released by Louisiana State University Press in 1980, A Confederacy of Dunces is nothing short of a publishing phenomenon. Rejected by countless publishers and submitted by the author's mother years after his suicide, the book won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Today, there are almost two million copies in print worldwide in eighteen languages. Now, for the first time, John Kennedy TooleÂ’s comic masterpiece is available in a large print edition.

Toole’s lunatic and sage novel introduces one of the most memorable characters in American literature, Ignatius Reilly, whom Walker Percy dubs "slob extraordinaire, a mad Oliver Hardy, a fat Don Quixote, a perverse Thomas Aquinas rolled into one." Set in New Orleans, A Confederacy of Dunces outswifts Swift, one of whose essays gives the book its title. As its characters burst into life, they leave the region and literature forever changed by their presence—Ignatius and his mother; Miss Trixie, the octogenarian assistant accountant at Levi Pants; inept, wan Patrolman Mancuso; Darlene, the Bourbon Street stripper with a penchant for poultry; Jones the jivecat in spaceage dark glasses.

So far I'm about a hundred pages in and I'm enjoying the book. I have a tendency to lean more towards action, horror or the bizarre, but this book has made me laugh out loud a couple of times already. I seem to be getting more into it as I proceed, which is a good sign.

 

[kupcho1]

My favorite Ignatius LOL moment is the letter he writes to Abelman's Dry Goods on behalf of Gus Levy.

Absolutely one of the funniest bits ever written.

 

[igbomb]

Fever Dream by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Meh. If you like Pendergast, you'll probably read this. But it doesn't hold a candle to earlier works like Cabinet of Curiosities. If you haven't read anything on Pendergast, don't start here. Go back and read Relic. The first three books in this series are the best in the genre I've ever read.

Also, Preston and Child are starting a new series with the first book slated for release early next year.

Next up I have to finish It and then it's on to the new Jack Reacher book.

 

[FUBAR]

Just finished Getting Away With Torture pretty good read although he beats you over the head repeatedly with his bias he makes many good points I agree with and some I don't. Makes you think.

Now reading Born to Run a much easier book to read and one I'll list among my favorites. Helps that I love to run distances and am in awe of those who do the ultras well.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Reading "Queen Of Bedlam" by Robert McCammon. It's the 2nd in a series of 3 so far (bookended by "Speaks The Nightbird" & "Mister Slaughter"). It's set around 1700 in Colonial America & follows a young magistrate's assistant named Matthew Corbett who has a bent for solving mysteries. McCammon's a good writer, his characters are interesting (if not all that original), his plotting's good, and he does his research. This one's set in 1702 Manhattan, where a suspected serial killer is on the loose. You don't have to have read "Speaks The Nightbird" to enjoy this novel, but I would start there anyway.

McCammon is sometimes referred to as a poor man's Stephen King, but I really don't see the similarity other than a couple of his books that stray into horror-land. "Boy's Life" and "Swan Song" are probably his two best before the Corbett series.

Nice - this is on my library list. I loved Speaks the Nightbird.

I'm about halfway through and am enjoying it. Some of the small twists are fairly easy to spot coming, but I think he's also throwing a bunch of red herrings out there. Much like an Agatha Christie mystery, just about every prominent character seems to have something to hide or has some mystery about them. I've changed my mind about a dozen times already on who the killer is. There's no map of 1702 Manhattan in the book but, if you're anal like me about where places/streets are in relation to each other, I found a 1725 map on wiki & I think McCammon may have one he made himself on his site, using educated guesses.

Finished this up last night. I liked it. There's nothing mind-blowingly original or deep about it and I think there are a few plot holes that McCammon had to stretch to cover, but I wasn't going in expecting high-lit. There are a lot of stock archetypes in the book - sassy tomboy, whore with a heart of gold (well, maybe bronze), incompetent police officers, evil mastermind, etc.....But as I said above, I like McCammon's writing and I like the setting. If you liked "Nightbird", you'll like this one.On to the next in the series - "Mister Slaughter" (who was briefly seen in "Queen" but wasn't an active part of the plot).

 

[Steel Dillo]

Fever Dream by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Meh. If you like Pendergast, you'll probably read this. But it doesn't hold a candle to earlier works like Cabinet of Curiosities. If you haven't read anything on Pendergast, don't start here. Go back and read Relic. The first three books in this series are the best in the genre I've ever read.

Also, Preston and Child are starting a new series with the first book slated for release early next year.

Next up I have to finish It and then it's on to the new Jack Reacher book.

I am half way through this now & your opinion is pretty much word for word the review I would have given it.Just doesn't have the oomph that the earlier books had.

I think its time agent Pendergrast met his demise.

 

[TylerRoseFan]

About 1.5 months ago I got me a library card for the first time in over a decade. Since, I've been reading a bunch of Sci-Fi. Included is Orson Scott Card-Ender Series, Shadow Series, Earth Series, and Empire Series; a few from David Brin; Asimov-I, Robot, Foundation series, etc., and some assorted others.

Any Sci Fi recommendations?

 

[pantagrapher]

For anyone looking for something off the beaten path to read, I stumbled upon this List of Good Books That Almost Nobody Has Read.

 

[Horrorshow]

Just finished The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. ****.

 

[commisholio]

About 1.5 months ago I got me a library card for the first time in over a decade. Since, I've been reading a bunch of Sci-Fi. Included is Orson Scott Card-Ender Series, Shadow Series, Earth Series, and Empire Series; a few from David Brin; Asimov-I, Robot, Foundation series, etc., and some assorted others. Any Sci Fi recommendations?

I would recommend anything by Vernor Vinge. Try "A Fire on the Deep" or "A Deepness in the Sky" if you can find them.