Whatcha readin now? (book, books, reading, read) (4 Viewers)

[Power Monster]

In the middle of the Bernard Cornwell Richard Sharpe series. Taking a break and I am now reading "Last Train to Memphis" by Peter Guralnick.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Taking a break and I am now reading "Last Train to Memphis" by Peter Guralnick.

Read this last summer & really enjoyed it. I started the "sequel" - Careless Love - but put it aside for a bit. I'll pick it back up this Spring.

 

[mad sweeney]

Just ordered Dan Simmons' new novel Drood from Amazon - comes out the 9th.

Here are some reviews:

From Simmons' Site

Also ordered Scott Lynch's Lies Of Locke Lamora & Red Seas Under Red Skies. Anyone done these? I've heard nothing but good stuff about them.

Yeah, they're good. Really interesting. Not high or epic fantasy, more like seriously violent caper stories in fantastical but realistically "dirty" worlds. I was pretty impressed and thoroughly entertained. I think part 3 comes out next month.

 

[Maelstrom]

george r r martin ever going to bring a new book to the table...

Not sure if this ever got answered, but his new book should be out this fall according to someone I asked at Borders recently. It's called a Dance with Dragons, and is basically the 2nd half of A Feast for Crows.

 

[Sand]

Once again failed to get through Cryptonomicon. Just not as good as his other offerings.

Just read The Last Juror from Grisham. Good light read - very entertaining.

Now on to Greg Bear's Vitals. Decent so far, but nowhere near his great stuff (Eon, The Forge of God, etc.).

Next up probably Ayn Rand or Jim Butcher - can't make up my mind.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Finished The Tipping Point, which was one of the two worst books I've read in recent years.

Interested in why you hated it so much, and what was the other horrible book that you read.

 

[pantagrapher]

Finished The Tipping Point, which was one of the two worst books I've read in recent years.

Interested in why you hated it so much, and what was the other horrible book that you read.

It read like a self-help book for marketers. He basically selected a bunch of disparate studies to try to prop up his nebulous theory of tipping points. I just didn't buy it. It was a bunch of pseudoscientific gobbledy####.The other horrible book was The End of the Road by John Barth. But to the credit of both books, I didn't hate them so much that I stopped reading before I was finished. The same can't be said for The Russian Debutante's Handbook, Microserfs and several others that I hated so much I could not continue.

 

[Power Monster]

Taking a break and I am now reading "Last Train to Memphis" by Peter Guralnick.

Read this last summer & really enjoyed it. I started the "sequel" - Careless Love - but put it aside for a bit. I'll pick it back up this Spring.

I read "Careless Love" three times prior to LTTM. That is a great book with one minor flaw or I should say- an incident that never happened. Outside of that- Guralnick really did his research well.

 

[D_House]

Stayed up too late tonight finishing Pet Semetary. It's the first thing I've read from King. Really grim stuff. I'm still spooked from the last few pages.

Any recommendations for further reading from King?

Not really a big King fan but I really enjoyed Salem's Lot, a great vampire tale.

Can't go wrong with the early stuff. I'd rank them off the top of my head:1. The Shining

2. The Dead Zone

3. The Stand

4. Pet Semetary

5. Misery

6. It

7. Carrie

8. Salem's Lot

Currently reading The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester, winner of the first Hugo Award in 1953. Good so far. I was a big fan of Bester's The Stars My Destination.

Thanks. I just downloaded a free ebook version of The Stand. Hopefully it's as good as Pet Semetary.

Hopefully you got the complete and uncut version. Either way, you're pretty much going right for the jugular when it comes to King IMO. The Stand is probably his best stand alone novel (It and The Shining are right up there too). But if you really enjoy King after a few books, nothing beats the Dark Tower series, especially the early books.

Yeah, it's the updated version, although there are clearly some mistakes due to the change in timeframe from the original to the new edition. For example, it's 1990 and people are driving cars from the 60s and watching black and white televisions. Also, the expressions people use are pretty dated. But that's just nitpicking really.Anyways, I'm about a quarter the way through (the ebook is in word format, 619 pages), and it's really engrossing, although at times I find the constant flipping between characters disorienting.

 

[piratemike]

Lolita

I actually just finished this yesterday. It was the second time I've attempted to read it--the first time I got about one-quarter through and just couldn't keep going. This time around it took me about 3 weeks to get all the way through. It's a very dense, challenging read IMO. Challenging in that it's verbose, layered, and the subject matter can be difficult at times to deal with. That said, it was an extremely enjoyable read. Nabokov is a master of language, and Humbert Humbert is a truly amazing character. The prose flows brilliantly. The book is equal turns hilarious, gripping, and grotesque. Lolita is probably the greatest piece of literature I've ever read, and I'm glad that I took the time to get through it.One of the hardest parts about reading this book is that I felt like a pervert wherever I took it. Work, on the bus, wherever. I actually got stuck sitting next to a 7 year-old girl and her father on a four-hour flight from San Diego to Minneapoils while reading the book, and I kept thinking the whole time he was going to reach over and punch me in the face. That's interesting to me though--the idea of literature as powerful or dangerous. I've never felt weirder carrying a book around than I did with this one. Maybe Mein Kampf is another that could create this feeling, either in the reader or in those observing the reader. Just a thought.

You should really read Pale Fire, if you haven't already. It's Nabokov at the top of his game, and I find it even more fulfilling than Lolita. Like Lolita, you'll be sitting around thinking about Pale Fire for months afterward, maybe years. And you'll definitely want to read it repeatedly.

I haven't been able to find this at the local used bookstores yet (which is how I buy all of my books) so I've had to go with Speak, Memory instead. I've wanted to read this ever since I scanned the first chapter a few months ago. It's actually the reason I decided to pick Lolita back up and get through it. His writing is just so brilliant. I'm really enjoying it so far. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for Pale Fire in the meantime.

 

[Sand]

Lolita

I actually just finished this yesterday. It was the second time I've attempted to read it--the first time I got about one-quarter through and just couldn't keep going. This time around it took me about 3 weeks to get all the way through. It's a very dense, challenging read IMO. Challenging in that it's verbose, layered, and the subject matter can be difficult at times to deal with. That said, it was an extremely enjoyable read. Nabokov is a master of language, and Humbert Humbert is a truly amazing character. The prose flows brilliantly. The book is equal turns hilarious, gripping, and grotesque. Lolita is probably the greatest piece of literature I've ever read, and I'm glad that I took the time to get through it.One of the hardest parts about reading this book is that I felt like a pervert wherever I took it. Work, on the bus, wherever. I actually got stuck sitting next to a 7 year-old girl and her father on a four-hour flight from San Diego to Minneapoils while reading the book, and I kept thinking the whole time he was going to reach over and punch me in the face. That's interesting to me though--the idea of literature as powerful or dangerous. I've never felt weirder carrying a book around than I did with this one. Maybe Mein Kampf is another that could create this feeling, either in the reader or in those observing the reader. Just a thought.

You should really read Pale Fire, if you haven't already. It's Nabokov at the top of his game, and I find it even more fulfilling than Lolita. Like Lolita, you'll be sitting around thinking about Pale Fire for months afterward, maybe years. And you'll definitely want to read it repeatedly.

I haven't been able to find this at the local used bookstores yet (which is how I buy all of my books) so I've had to go with Speak, Memory instead. I've wanted to read this ever since I scanned the first chapter a few months ago. It's actually the reason I decided to pick Lolita back up and get through it. His writing is just so brilliant. I'm really enjoying it so far. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for Pale Fire in the meantime.

Paperbackswap.comPretty much how I get all of my reading material these days.

 

[Nugget]

Finished The Tipping Point, which was one of the two worst books I've read in recent years. Started No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July. Enjoy it so far.

(Still meandering through Don Quixote, which I'm loving.)

I just reserved Gladwell's new book at the library, The Outliers.Reading Hot, Flat, and Crowded now. Friedman pisses me off, but I liked his last book.

 

[Tough As Nails]

Just finished The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell. If you liked "Life of Pi" or enjoy looking at religion in a new way or just like good sci-fi...try this one out. It's a story about a group that made first contact on a new planet in the not too distant future. The build-up is a little long and the "pay-off" is fairly obvious...but the questions it hits and the philosophy of "God's Will" is very interesting. Not an all-time great here, but I'd certainly recommend it to somebody who liked Pi or read "The Shack". It's an easy, quick read...and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

 

[Weapon of Mass Instruction]

Just finished The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy. It is the 2nd of the border trilogy.

I am partway through Extreme Measures, by Vince Flynn. This is the latest in the Mitch Rapp series. Primarily about interrogating and infiltrating Al Queda in Afghanistan. It is excellent so far.

If you like the Jack Reacher series, by Lee Child -- you'd love this.

 

[kupcho1]

2666 by Roberto Bolaño

Absolutely incredible. At least a 9 (and quite possibly a 10 - still digesting it)

2666 (2004) is the last novel by Chilean-born novelist Roberto Bolaño. After many years of illness while writing the novel, he died of hepatic failure shortly after presenting the first draft to his publisher. It was published about a year later in 2004 in Spain. Over 1100 pages long in its Spanish edition, and almost 900 in its English translation, it is divided in five parts, four and a half of which were finished by Bolaño before he died.[citation needed]

Depicting the unsolved and still ongoing serial murders of Ciudad Juárez (Santa Teresa in the novel), the Eastern Front in WWII, the breakdown of relationships and careers - the apocalyptic 2666 explores 20th century degeneration through a wide array of characters, locations, time periods and stories within stories.

In 2007 the novel was adapted into a stage play by Catalan director Àlex Rigola, which premiered in Bolaño's adopted hometown of Blanes and was the main attraction of Barcelona's Festival Grec that year.

An English-language translation by Natasha Wimmer was published in the US on November 11, 2008 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and in the UK on January 9, 2009 by Picador.

2666 has been named a finalist for the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, whose winner will be announced on March 12, 2009.

I read The Savage Detectives prior to this and also enjoyed it. You don't need to read it, but it was interesting to see thatEdited to add: Here's the review that initially made me aware of Bolaño.

 

[igbomb]

Just finished The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell. If you liked "Life of Pi" or enjoy looking at religion in a new way or just like good sci-fi...try this one out. It's a story about a group that made first contact on a new planet in the not too distant future. The build-up is a little long and the "pay-off" is fairly obvious...but the questions it hits and the philosophy of "God's Will" is very interesting. Not an all-time great here, but I'd certainly recommend it to somebody who liked Pi or read "The Shack". It's an easy, quick read...and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Really liked this book. The follow-up, Children of God, is just as good.

 

[piratemike]

Lolita

I actually just finished this yesterday. It was the second time I've attempted to read it--the first time I got about one-quarter through and just couldn't keep going. This time around it took me about 3 weeks to get all the way through. It's a very dense, challenging read IMO. Challenging in that it's verbose, layered, and the subject matter can be difficult at times to deal with. That said, it was an extremely enjoyable read. Nabokov is a master of language, and Humbert Humbert is a truly amazing character. The prose flows brilliantly. The book is equal turns hilarious, gripping, and grotesque. Lolita is probably the greatest piece of literature I've ever read, and I'm glad that I took the time to get through it.One of the hardest parts about reading this book is that I felt like a pervert wherever I took it. Work, on the bus, wherever. I actually got stuck sitting next to a 7 year-old girl and her father on a four-hour flight from San Diego to Minneapoils while reading the book, and I kept thinking the whole time he was going to reach over and punch me in the face. That's interesting to me though--the idea of literature as powerful or dangerous. I've never felt weirder carrying a book around than I did with this one. Maybe Mein Kampf is another that could create this feeling, either in the reader or in those observing the reader. Just a thought.

You should really read Pale Fire, if you haven't already. It's Nabokov at the top of his game, and I find it even more fulfilling than Lolita. Like Lolita, you'll be sitting around thinking about Pale Fire for months afterward, maybe years. And you'll definitely want to read it repeatedly.

I haven't been able to find this at the local used bookstores yet (which is how I buy all of my books) so I've had to go with Speak, Memory instead. I've wanted to read this ever since I scanned the first chapter a few months ago. It's actually the reason I decided to pick Lolita back up and get through it. His writing is just so brilliant. I'm really enjoying it so far. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for Pale Fire in the meantime.

Paperbackswap.comPretty much how I get all of my reading material these days.

It's not there either.

 

[The Football Freak]

I just finished Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk. It is a good read, and an interesting take on some of the foibles of modern society, but not nearly as good as Lullabye or Invisible Monsters. I am currently reading Diary, also by Palahniuk. I'm reserving judgement on this one because I haven't reached the hook yet, but the build up seems to be leading me somewhere interesting.

I don't usually tear through one author like this, but his writing is very fresh, and interesting to read. First person narratives never caught my fancy in the past, but I have thoroughly enjoy his works. He has a very dark view of the world, and instills a heavy dose of puckishness into many of his characters. If anyone is looking for clever and bizarre stories, I would highly recommend Palahniuk.

Oh, and he was also the author of Fight Club.

 

[piratemike]

Survivor was the first Chuck book I read. I've read them all except for Haunted, and I think Survivor is still my favorite.

 

[The Football Freak]

Survivor was the first Chuck book I read. I've read them all except for Haunted, and I think Survivor is still my favorite.

I liked it a lot, but I just loved the creativity of Lullaby. I will say though, that the scene in the bathroom when Tender was having a discussion with the two glory holes was one of my all time favorites. That is a tough one to top.

 

[mad sweeney]

I just finished Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk. It is a good read, and an interesting take on some of the foibles of modern society, but not nearly as good as Lullabye or Invisible Monsters. I am currently reading Diary, also by Palahniuk. I'm reserving judgement on this one because I haven't reached the hook yet, but the build up seems to be leading me somewhere interesting.

I don't usually tear through one author like this, but his writing is very fresh, and interesting to read. First person narratives never caught my fancy in the past, but I have thoroughly enjoy his works. He has a very dark view of the world, and instills a heavy dose of puckishness into many of his characters. If anyone is looking for clever and bizarre stories, I would highly recommend Palahniuk.

Oh, and he was also the author of Fight Club.

I burned through CP after I first read Fight Club. Lullaby and Diary are my favorites, Diary is such a gut punch to me it's hard to re-read. I remember reading them both sitting in Swearengen's bar on the Deadwood set. Kind of a surreal place to read surreal work.He started losing with me Choke and Haunted was just torturous. Started in a direction that was more gross than enthralling. None of my reading friends liked it. Rant wasn't good IMO either. Part of it might be the "oral history" style mixed with his further descent into just plain gross. I'll give him a last shot when his new one comes out, hoping he returns to form because I really liked his earlier work. And he's from a podunk, dinky little truck stop town in Washington where I partially grew up and my brother had the misfortune of being born in.

Anyone see Choke? Waiting for cable as I heard it was not very good and I didn't like the director after working with him right before the movie came out.

 

[shuke]

2666 by Roberto Bolaño

Absolutely incredible. At least a 9 (and quite possibly a 10 - still digesting it)

2666 (2004) is the last novel by Chilean-born novelist Roberto Bolaño. After many years of illness while writing the novel, he died of hepatic failure shortly after presenting the first draft to his publisher. It was published about a year later in 2004 in Spain. Over 1100 pages long in its Spanish edition, and almost 900 in its English translation, it is divided in five parts, four and a half of which were finished by Bolaño before he died.[citation needed]

Depicting the unsolved and still ongoing serial murders of Ciudad Juárez (Santa Teresa in the novel), the Eastern Front in WWII, the breakdown of relationships and careers - the apocalyptic 2666 explores 20th century degeneration through a wide array of characters, locations, time periods and stories within stories.

In 2007 the novel was adapted into a stage play by Catalan director Àlex Rigola, which premiered in Bolaño's adopted hometown of Blanes and was the main attraction of Barcelona's Festival Grec that year.

An English-language translation by Natasha Wimmer was published in the US on November 11, 2008 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and in the UK on January 9, 2009 by Picador.

2666 has been named a finalist for the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, whose winner will be announced on March 12, 2009.

I read The Savage Detectives prior to this and also enjoyed it. You don't need to read it, but it was interesting to see thatEdited to add: Here's the review that initially made me aware of Bolaño.

 

[Sand]

Lolita

I actually just finished this yesterday. It was the second time I've attempted to read it--the first time I got about one-quarter through and just couldn't keep going. This time around it took me about 3 weeks to get all the way through. It's a very dense, challenging read IMO. Challenging in that it's verbose, layered, and the subject matter can be difficult at times to deal with. That said, it was an extremely enjoyable read. Nabokov is a master of language, and Humbert Humbert is a truly amazing character. The prose flows brilliantly. The book is equal turns hilarious, gripping, and grotesque. Lolita is probably the greatest piece of literature I've ever read, and I'm glad that I took the time to get through it.One of the hardest parts about reading this book is that I felt like a pervert wherever I took it. Work, on the bus, wherever. I actually got stuck sitting next to a 7 year-old girl and her father on a four-hour flight from San Diego to Minneapoils while reading the book, and I kept thinking the whole time he was going to reach over and punch me in the face. That's interesting to me though--the idea of literature as powerful or dangerous. I've never felt weirder carrying a book around than I did with this one. Maybe Mein Kampf is another that could create this feeling, either in the reader or in those observing the reader. Just a thought.

You should really read Pale Fire, if you haven't already. It's Nabokov at the top of his game, and I find it even more fulfilling than Lolita. Like Lolita, you'll be sitting around thinking about Pale Fire for months afterward, maybe years. And you'll definitely want to read it repeatedly.

I haven't been able to find this at the local used bookstores yet (which is how I buy all of my books) so I've had to go with Speak, Memory instead. I've wanted to read this ever since I scanned the first chapter a few months ago. It's actually the reason I decided to pick Lolita back up and get through it. His writing is just so brilliant. I'm really enjoying it so far. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for Pale Fire in the meantime.

Paperbackswap.comPretty much how I get all of my reading material these days.

It's not there either.

Only 40+ paperback versions of it there...It is true that none are readily available, but something like that will come available pretty quick. The site is nice in that you don't have to ask for all 54 versions to find one when it comes available - it is smart enough to know you are just looking for a paperback version of the novel. Some books have a long wait time (new stuff). There is a good bit of turnover in the system, though, and I find that I can get most of what I want in a couple months. Not that I have time to read everything I want to, anyway.

 

[shuke]

I just finished Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk. It is a good read, and an interesting take on some of the foibles of modern society, but not nearly as good as Lullabye or Invisible Monsters. I am currently reading Diary, also by Palahniuk. I'm reserving judgement on this one because I haven't reached the hook yet, but the build up seems to be leading me somewhere interesting.

I don't usually tear through one author like this, but his writing is very fresh, and interesting to read. First person narratives never caught my fancy in the past, but I have thoroughly enjoy his works. He has a very dark view of the world, and instills a heavy dose of puckishness into many of his characters. If anyone is looking for clever and bizarre stories, I would highly recommend Palahniuk.

Oh, and he was also the author of Fight Club.

I burned through CP after I first read Fight Club. Lullaby and Diary are my favorites, Diary is such a gut punch to me it's hard to re-read. I remember reading them both sitting in Swearengen's bar on the Deadwood set. Kind of a surreal place to read surreal work.He started losing with me Choke and Haunted was just torturous. Started in a direction that was more gross than enthralling. None of my reading friends liked it. Rant wasn't good IMO either. Part of it might be the "oral history" style mixed with his further descent into just plain gross. I'll give him a last shot when his new one comes out, hoping he returns to form because I really liked his earlier work. And he's from a podunk, dinky little truck stop town in Washington where I partially grew up and my brother had the misfortune of being born in.

Anyone see Choke? Waiting for cable as I heard it was not very good and I didn't like the director after working with him right before the movie came out.

I may be the only one who liked Haunted. I'd rank them

Fight Club

Lullaby

Haunted

Invisible Monsters

Choke

Survivor

Honestly, I don't remember one thing about Survivor. Very forgettable to me for some reason.

 

[piratemike]

Lolita

I actually just finished this yesterday. It was the second time I've attempted to read it--the first time I got about one-quarter through and just couldn't keep going. This time around it took me about 3 weeks to get all the way through. It's a very dense, challenging read IMO. Challenging in that it's verbose, layered, and the subject matter can be difficult at times to deal with. That said, it was an extremely enjoyable read. Nabokov is a master of language, and Humbert Humbert is a truly amazing character. The prose flows brilliantly. The book is equal turns hilarious, gripping, and grotesque. Lolita is probably the greatest piece of literature I've ever read, and I'm glad that I took the time to get through it.One of the hardest parts about reading this book is that I felt like a pervert wherever I took it. Work, on the bus, wherever. I actually got stuck sitting next to a 7 year-old girl and her father on a four-hour flight from San Diego to Minneapoils while reading the book, and I kept thinking the whole time he was going to reach over and punch me in the face. That's interesting to me though--the idea of literature as powerful or dangerous. I've never felt weirder carrying a book around than I did with this one. Maybe Mein Kampf is another that could create this feeling, either in the reader or in those observing the reader. Just a thought.

You should really read Pale Fire, if you haven't already. It's Nabokov at the top of his game, and I find it even more fulfilling than Lolita. Like Lolita, you'll be sitting around thinking about Pale Fire for months afterward, maybe years. And you'll definitely want to read it repeatedly.

I haven't been able to find this at the local used bookstores yet (which is how I buy all of my books) so I've had to go with Speak, Memory instead. I've wanted to read this ever since I scanned the first chapter a few months ago. It's actually the reason I decided to pick Lolita back up and get through it. His writing is just so brilliant. I'm really enjoying it so far. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for Pale Fire in the meantime.

Paperbackswap.comPretty much how I get all of my reading material these days.

It's not there either.

Only]http://www.paperbackswap.com/book/b...amp;sby=&oby=ASC&ts=&saved_name="Only]http://www.paperbackswap.com/book/b...&sby=&oby=ASC&ts=&saved_name=http://www.paperbackswap.com/book/b...amp;sby=&oby=ASC&ts=&saved_name="http://www.paperbackswap.com/book/browser.php?s_type=b&k=pale+fire&ti=&a=&g1=&b%5b%5d=Paperback&pd_type=e&pd=&r=n&sby=&oby=ASC&ts=&saved_name=http://www.paperbackswap.com/book/b...amp;sby=&oby=ASC&ts=&saved_name=""]Only 40+ paperback versions of it there...It is true that none are readily available, but something like that will come available pretty quick. The site is nice in that you don't have to ask for all 54 versions to find one when it comes available - it is smart enough to know you are just looking for a paperback version of the novel. Some books have a long wait time (new stuff). There is a good bit of turnover in the system, though, and I find that I can get most of what I want in a couple months. Not that I have time to read everything I want to, anyway.

I searched "pale fire" and nothing came up. Honest.

 

[Sand]

I searched "pale fire" and nothing came up. Honest.

Ya - the default search is for "posted books", so it isn't readily available then it won't show. You have to ask for all books. I find it to be cheap and easy, as long as one isn't in a hurry.

 

[D_House]

http://www.truly-free.org/

Site for downloads of ebooks. They are in multiple formats (.doc, .txt, .rtf, .pdf).

Pale Fire is on there.

These are newer (copyrighted) books, and i'm not sure of the legality of the whole thing. I've been treating it like a library, reading books on my laptop, then deleting them after finishing.

Here's what the webmaster says:

The Burgomeister's Books

Of course, we're talking about ebooks... my ebooks. My personal backups.

But since you've dropped by, I'm happy to lend them to you.

Naturally you'll delete these books when you've finished - your way of returning them.

Download and enjoy five truly free e-books on loan from my library!

My only terms are these: you may borrow up to 5 books in any 2-week period.

N.B. These are not pirate copies - not ebookz. They are personal backups of books which I have bought in the past and which I am now glad to lend freely to my friends. It goes without saying that these texts are for reference only and that you may not store*, copy, print, or distribute them. For better or worse, they remain the property of their respective publishers.

Buy a book if you enjoy it: make an author happy.

All you need to know about me is that I'm a reader: a connoisseur and a lover of literature for whom paper is finally passé. I recognise no genres, no categories; the sole criteria are truth and excellence.

Project Gutenberg covers the classics to c. 1929. But we lacked a truly free online source of late-20th century literature: those masterpieces by the great writers from the 1930s on. People like Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Chandler, Greene, Fowles, Burgess, King, Coetzee, Ballard, and Le Carré.

So, this venue was established in early 2007 to encompass works published between 1930 and the present; to provide them freely, like Gutenberg, in universal textual form. The collection is a highly personal one: my own attempt to reconstitute a lost library; but any coincidence of your tastes with mine will be ample reward and justification for continuing the work.

 

[The Football Freak]

I just finished Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk. It is a good read, and an interesting take on some of the foibles of modern society, but not nearly as good as Lullabye or Invisible Monsters. I am currently reading Diary, also by Palahniuk. I'm reserving judgement on this one because I haven't reached the hook yet, but the build up seems to be leading me somewhere interesting.

I don't usually tear through one author like this, but his writing is very fresh, and interesting to read. First person narratives never caught my fancy in the past, but I have thoroughly enjoy his works. He has a very dark view of the world, and instills a heavy dose of puckishness into many of his characters. If anyone is looking for clever and bizarre stories, I would highly recommend Palahniuk.

Oh, and he was also the author of Fight Club.

I burned through CP after I first read Fight Club. Lullaby and Diary are my favorites, Diary is such a gut punch to me it's hard to re-read. I remember reading them both sitting in Swearengen's bar on the Deadwood set. Kind of a surreal place to read surreal work.He started losing with me Choke and Haunted was just torturous. Started in a direction that was more gross than enthralling. None of my reading friends liked it. Rant wasn't good IMO either. Part of it might be the "oral history" style mixed with his further descent into just plain gross. I'll give him a last shot when his new one comes out, hoping he returns to form because I really liked his earlier work. And he's from a podunk, dinky little truck stop town in Washington where I partially grew up and my brother had the misfortune of being born in.

Anyone see Choke? Waiting for cable as I heard it was not very good and I didn't like the director after working with him right before the movie came out.

I haven't read the books that you disliked. I'm with you on not really needed him to any further into his more disturbing tendencies, so maybe I'll just bask in the 5 I enjoyed and move on to another author. I can feel that gut-punch coming. The little details he works into the story are great, like the notes written in obscure places all over the island. I am kind of happy that he hasn't put as many of the random little "Martha Stewart" tips into Diary. I find it clever, but book after book of that can wear a little thin when you are reading them in a row.

ETA: I have wondered if he has a few fake tips in his books to screw with the readers. It feels like the kind of thing he would do.

 

[The Football Freak]

I just finished Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk. It is a good read, and an interesting take on some of the foibles of modern society, but not nearly as good as Lullabye or Invisible Monsters. I am currently reading Diary, also by Palahniuk. I'm reserving judgement on this one because I haven't reached the hook yet, but the build up seems to be leading me somewhere interesting.

I don't usually tear through one author like this, but his writing is very fresh, and interesting to read. First person narratives never caught my fancy in the past, but I have thoroughly enjoy his works. He has a very dark view of the world, and instills a heavy dose of puckishness into many of his characters. If anyone is looking for clever and bizarre stories, I would highly recommend Palahniuk.

Oh, and he was also the author of Fight Club.

I burned through CP after I first read Fight Club. Lullaby and Diary are my favorites, Diary is such a gut punch to me it's hard to re-read. I remember reading them both sitting in Swearengen's bar on the Deadwood set. Kind of a surreal place to read surreal work.He started losing with me Choke and Haunted was just torturous. Started in a direction that was more gross than enthralling. None of my reading friends liked it. Rant wasn't good IMO either. Part of it might be the "oral history" style mixed with his further descent into just plain gross. I'll give him a last shot when his new one comes out, hoping he returns to form because I really liked his earlier work. And he's from a podunk, dinky little truck stop town in Washington where I partially grew up and my brother had the misfortune of being born in.

Anyone see Choke? Waiting for cable as I heard it was not very good and I didn't like the director after working with him right before the movie came out.

I may be the only one who liked Haunted. I'd rank them

Fight Club

Lullaby

Haunted

Invisible Monsters

Choke

Survivor

Honestly, I don't remember one thing about Survivor. Very forgettable to me for some reason.

I did enjoy survivor, but it seemed that it took on a little too much of the blase attitude of the main character (Tender Branson). I liked the situations he was being put in, and the traveling cross country on mobile homes was brilliant, but Tender's attitude kind of deflated a lot of moments for me.As I mentioned earlier, the glory-hole scene really did jump off the page. Tender, inbetween bright red lips and a gun, having a deep conversation in the stall, was just solid writing.

 

[shuke]

Next up: Mockingbird by Walter Tevis

This was okay, but didn't seem very original and wasn't particularly enlightening. 6/10Next up: Misery by Stephen King

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Next up: Misery by Stephen King

Have you seen the movie? If not, I think the effect will be greater.

 

[flysack]

2666 by Roberto Bolaño

Absolutely incredible. At least a 9 (and quite possibly a 10 - still digesting it)

YES.I read all 900 pages in a one week, couch-ridden marathon during my winter break. 2666 is effing incredible on so many levels.

It's a masterpiece by a man who knew he was dying and felt truly pressed to leave a masterpiece...even if he makes fun of literature and posterity in the book itself.

9.5/10, if you consider a 10 something like "The Brothers Karamazov" or "Ulysses."

 

[shuke]

Next up: Misery by Stephen King

Have you seen the movie? If not, I think the effect will be greater.

Yes, but it's been years, so don't remember everything.

 

[Tough As Nails]

2666 by Roberto Bolaño

Absolutely incredible. At least a 9 (and quite possibly a 10 - still digesting it)

YES.I read all 900 pages in a one week, couch-ridden marathon during my winter break. 2666 is effing incredible on so many levels.

It's a masterpiece by a man who knew he was dying and felt truly pressed to leave a masterpiece...even if he makes fun of literature and posterity in the book itself.

9.5/10, if you consider a 10 something like "The Brothers Karamazov" or "Ulysses."

OK...you guys sold me. Sounds fantastic from all that I've heard. I just ordered a copy. Will start it as soon as I'm done with Foop (NOT recommended by the way...good story, but I can't stand the writing style).

 

[kupcho1]

2666 by Roberto Bolaño

Absolutely incredible. At least a 9 (and quite possibly a 10 - still digesting it)

YES.I read all 900 pages in a one week, couch-ridden marathon during my winter break. 2666 is effing incredible on so many levels.

It's a masterpiece by a man who knew he was dying and felt truly pressed to leave a masterpiece...even if he makes fun of literature and posterity in the book itself.

9.5/10, if you consider a 10 something like "The Brothers Karamazov" or "Ulysses."

Yeah, I like Ulysses I might need to update that list.

 

[oso diablo]

2666 by Roberto Bolaño

Absolutely incredible. At least a 9 (and quite possibly a 10 - still digesting it)

YES.I read all 900 pages in a one week, couch-ridden marathon during my winter break. 2666 is effing incredible on so many levels.

It's a masterpiece by a man who knew he was dying and felt truly pressed to leave a masterpiece...even if he makes fun of literature and posterity in the book itself.

9.5/10, if you consider a 10 something like "The Brothers Karamazov" or "Ulysses."

crap! you guys are killing me here. last thing i need to do right now is pick up a 900-page book.

 

[oso diablo]

Just bought Canaan's Tongue by John Wray

http://www.amazon.com/Canaans-Tongue-John-Wray/dp/1400040868

Conflicted on this one and not sure if I'll like it. Love Twain's stuff on this time. Hate the slave stuff. We'll see.

2/3 through this. I imagine the Redeemer character as a cross between Ben Linus on Lost and Billy Barty in Foul Play.

 

[oso diablo]

2666 by Roberto Bolaño

Absolutely incredible. At least a 9 (and quite possibly a 10 - still digesting it)

YES.I read all 900 pages in a one week, couch-ridden marathon during my winter break. 2666 is effing incredible on so many levels.

It's a masterpiece by a man who knew he was dying and felt truly pressed to leave a masterpiece...even if he makes fun of literature and posterity in the book itself.

9.5/10, if you consider a 10 something like "The Brothers Karamazov" or "Ulysses."

crap! you guys are killing me here. last thing i need to do right now is pick up a 900-page book.

just saw on Amazon that you can get this in a set of 3 paperbacks. perhaps better than lugging around the hardcover

 

[thatguy]

I've been reading Gravity's Rainbow for like three years now. Every time I get into it, I put it down and for one reason or another, don't pick it up for months at a time, and end up starting over again. If you've ever read it, you'll understand why you can't just pick up where you left off. Love Pynchon's writing style, but man can it be hard to follow.

 

[prosopis]

Guilty by Ann Coulter

So far, meh

 

[krista4]

2666 by Roberto Bolaño

Absolutely incredible. At least a 9 (and quite possibly a 10 - still digesting it)

YES.I read all 900 pages in a one week, couch-ridden marathon during my winter break. 2666 is effing incredible on so many levels.

It's a masterpiece by a man who knew he was dying and felt truly pressed to leave a masterpiece...even if he makes fun of literature and posterity in the book itself.

9.5/10, if you consider a 10 something like "The Brothers Karamazov" or "Ulysses."

OK, I bought this for my boyfriend a couple of months ago as a faux gift because I wanted to read it. I need to move it up in my queue. It will be the next thing I pick up (while bracing myself for the weight of it).

 

[facook]

Just bought Canaan's Tongue by John Wray

http://www.amazon.com/Canaans-Tongue-John-Wray/dp/1400040868

Conflicted on this one and not sure if I'll like it. Love Twain's stuff on this time. Hate the slave stuff. We'll see.

2/3 through this. I imagine the Redeemer character as a cross between Ben Linus on Lost and Billy Barty in Foul Play.

How you liking it? I've been curious about it since JB posted it. I love Ben Linus...

 

[facook]

Finished "The Gone-Away World" by Nick Harkaway. Really enjoyed it until the last 100 pages, then kind of wanted it to wrap up. I'd give it 3/5.

Right now half-way through "'Salem's Lot" for the 2nd time. Read it about 10 years ago. WAY better this time, for some reason. I was scared spitless last night.

Next up is "Speaks the Nightbird" by Robert McCammon.

 

[ODoyleRules]

I have some travel coming up and was looking for some book recommendations. I just finished Daemon by Daniel Suarez and thought it was pretty good. There was a similarity to Michael Crichton books in that it was techie - action fiction, but the story moved along quickly without getting bogged down in details (e.g. Clancy). Any other good books fit this category?

TIA

 

[facook]

I have some travel coming up and was looking for some book recommendations. I just finished Daemon by Daniel Suarez and thought it was pretty good. There was a similarity to Michael Crichton books in that it was techie - action fiction, but the story moved along quickly without getting bogged down in details (e.g. Clancy). Any other good books fit this category?TIA

A book that is kind of techie - action (but also fits in a bunch of other categories too) is Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. I don't like all of Stephenson's stuff, but that book is one of my all time favorites. It's a great read.Another book (not techie) that I just can not recommend highly enough is Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. The story is interesting from page 1 and never lets up. Just an outstanding novel.

 

[ODoyleRules]

I have some travel coming up and was looking for some book recommendations. I just finished Daemon by Daniel Suarez and thought it was pretty good. There was a similarity to Michael Crichton books in that it was techie - action fiction, but the story moved along quickly without getting bogged down in details (e.g. Clancy). Any other good books fit this category?TIA

A book that is kind of techie - action (but also fits in a bunch of other categories too) is Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. I don't like all of Stephenson's stuff, but that book is one of my all time favorites. It's a great read.Another book (not techie) that I just can not recommend highly enough is Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. The story is interesting from page 1 and never lets up. Just an outstanding novel.

Thanks - I haven't read either of those, but I'll check these out in the next few days.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Next up is "Speaks the Nightbird" by Robert McCammon.

Pretty good. I think the period details buttress the plot a bunch. Not that the plot is bad - it's fine for the most part - but part of the enjoyment I had in reading it was the historical context. McCammon writes in a sort of pseudo Early American style, but it's easy to get into.I believe he has (or soon will) a sequel coming out.

I've just started Dan Simmons' Drood. I'm only a few dozen pages in, but I'm sure it's gonna be a good one. Simmons is so damned solid. He does character, dialogue, plot, and setting equally well - he's the only of my automatic-buy authors that I'm never worried about being disappointed in. And it appears he may be using an unreliable-narrator in this one - a tricky proposition, but one I'm positive that Simmons has the chops to pull off.

 

[Sand]

Next up is "Speaks the Nightbird" by Robert McCammon.

Pretty good. I think the period details buttress the plot a bunch. Not that the plot is bad - it's fine for the most part - but part of the enjoyment I had in reading it was the historical context. McCammon writes in a sort of pseudo Early American style, but it's easy to get into.I believe he has (or soon will) a sequel coming out.

I've just started Dan Simmons' Drood. I'm only a few dozen pages in, but I'm sure it's gonna be a good one. Simmons is so damned solid. He does character, dialogue, plot, and setting equally well - he's the only of my automatic-buy authors that I'm never worried about being disappointed in. And it appears he may be using an unreliable-narrator in this one - a tricky proposition, but one I'm positive that Simmons has the chops to pull off.

Let us know how Drood is. I haven't ready any Simmons since Hyperion. How is Ilium? I ordered that one on a whim.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Next up is "Speaks the Nightbird" by Robert McCammon.

Pretty good. I think the period details buttress the plot a bunch. Not that the plot is bad - it's fine for the most part - but part of the enjoyment I had in reading it was the historical context. McCammon writes in a sort of pseudo Early American style, but it's easy to get into.I believe he has (or soon will) a sequel coming out.

I've just started Dan Simmons' Drood. I'm only a few dozen pages in, but I'm sure it's gonna be a good one. Simmons is so damned solid. He does character, dialogue, plot, and setting equally well - he's the only of my automatic-buy authors that I'm never worried about being disappointed in. And it appears he may be using an unreliable-narrator in this one - a tricky proposition, but one I'm positive that Simmons has the chops to pull off.

Let us know how Drood is. I haven't ready any Simmons since Hyperion. How is Ilium? I ordered that one on a whim.

Funny you ask about that one. Hyperion was my least favorite Simmons book so I read none of the related works. I don't think Ilium is though, right? The Hyperion/Endemion/Ilium books are the only Simmons books I haven't read (other than the first).I guess I should give Hyperion another chance since I like Simmons so much. Could've been my frame of mind when I read it, but I just couldn't get into the damned thing - too allegorical or something, I don't know.

Are all of them solid?

 

[facook]

Next up is "Speaks the Nightbird" by Robert McCammon.

Pretty good. I think the period details buttress the plot a bunch. Not that the plot is bad - it's fine for the most part - but part of the enjoyment I had in reading it was the historical context. McCammon writes in a sort of pseudo Early American style, but it's easy to get into.I believe he has (or soon will) a sequel coming out.

I've just started Dan Simmons' Drood. I'm only a few dozen pages in, but I'm sure it's gonna be a good one. Simmons is so damned solid. He does character, dialogue, plot, and setting equally well - he's the only of my automatic-buy authors that I'm never worried about being disappointed in. And it appears he may be using an unreliable-narrator in this one - a tricky proposition, but one I'm positive that Simmons has the chops to pull off.

Let us know how Drood is. I haven't ready any Simmons since Hyperion. How is Ilium? I ordered that one on a whim.

Funny you ask about that one. Hyperion was my least favorite Simmons book so I read none of the related works. I don't think Ilium is though, right? The Hyperion/Endemion/Ilium books are the only Simmons books I haven't read (other than the first).I guess I should give Hyperion another chance since I like Simmons so much. Could've been my frame of mind when I read it, but I just couldn't get into the damned thing - too allegorical or something, I don't know.

Are all of them solid?

Right there with you. I've read everything else by Simmons, but tried Hyperion and gave up 50 pages in. Maybe I'm just not into sci-fi/fantasy enough.Glad to hear you're enjoying Drood. I'm trying to have enough self-discipline to wait for it in paperback so it can be a vacation book. Tough to carry a 900-page hardcover to the pool each day!

McCammon does have a sequel to Nightbird out - it's called Queen of Bedlam. My wife is reading it right now, really likes it, and I've always like McCammon, so into that setting I go.