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What are you reading?

I am currently reading;
Blackwood Farm by Anne Rice
The demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan

Blackwood farm is fantastic....very scary...realistic...sensual....crossing all boundaries. Naturally, I don't believe in Vampires, or witches that can truly cast magic spells, or ghosts or spirits...but this book is chock full, and written in such a way to give me the willies...for a moment!! :D
 
I like to read several books at the same time, also. Right now I'm reading

"A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole. The main character, Ignatious, is so ridiculous with his misplaced "world view" and his bad "valve". It's set in New Orleans, a city that I don't really care for but have family ties to, so I can relate to the crazy characters. I've heard a rumor that this book will be made into a movie soon. I've read this one a couple of times already.(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...4208712/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/104-3688479-3517542)

and "Nickle and Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich in which the author takes a series of menial and very low paying jobs, and examines how very poor people 'get by'. I've worked 'those jobs' myself as a pup and some of my friends still work them. Life can be hard for poor people.

and I recently read "Sophies World" which I could not follow well, and "A Widow for One Year" by John Irving which was o.k. I'm also perusing two biology textbooks that I got at the used book store (where I get most of my books!).

and "The Medical Detectives" by Roueche, which is old, but fun.

and "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" which I'm reading at the bookstore cuz I'm too cheap/poor to buy it.

I don't care for sci-fi much and like science and medical books most.
 
Survivor - Chuck Palahniuk. Good stuff so far. A little like Vonegut, a little like Chris Moore. Very twisted.
 
El Greco said:


I've tried both your suggestions with disappointing results :(

What's "unique" with me is that I don't need to "escape" from any thoughts of mine, nor need I kill my time. I want to read something that when I finish it I can think it over without saying "so what ?" I'm also not very much impressed by stylistic mannerisms and talented writers (anymore). I want the novel to convey a meaning that can affect the way I think about something.
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Read:

Umberto Eco, Focault's Pendulum (especially if you're interested in semiotics)
Martin Amis, The Rachel Papers (especially if you are or were an adolescent male)
Proust's Remembrance of Things Past (especially if you think you're a rational person)
 
Kierkegaard's Fear and Tremblin

Foucault's Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason

Derrida's Limited Inc.

no dribble allowed. :)
 
I would love to hear about some good Science Fiction.

If you want something slightly off the beaten path...

For a good book with a horror theme, try "The Long Afternoon on Earth" by Brian Aldiss. I Read it as a young teenager. There is a description there of the gradual decline of the main character due to a parasitical infection (I won't say any more) that chilled my blood. I was literally afraid to turn the page, sometimes.

For a fantasy novel that examines the very interesting question--"what would REALLY happen if we had proof of life after death?"--try Sheckley's "Immortality, Inc." Extremely original, interesting, and well written.

I, for one, think that Asimov's novels are overrated. He was VERY good at creating interesting plots, but his characters, for the most part, are merely two dimensional.
 
I can't believe I missed this thread... Many of the books I have read over the last few months were chosen due to recommendations from this board. I get through about 5-8 books a month nowadays due to my 30 minute bus ride to and from work. Works out pretty well.

Right now it is:
Sleeping with the Devil by Robert Baer -- due to a recommendation on this board... can't remember who...
A Pocket Full of Stars, Damon Knight (editor) -- a collection of short stories by SF writers, all chosen for their involvement in the Milford Writers' Conference. This also due to someone on here mentioning a story by Harlan Ellison called "I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream". (PS If anyone has any clue what the story "Unclear Call for Lee" by Robert McKenna is about, give me a jingle wouldja?)

and a cookbook:
Simple to Spectacular by Jean-Gorges Vongerichten & Mark Bittman

Last month I read four good books:
The Man in the High Castle and The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick
White Noise by Don DeLillo
How to Read a Book by Mortimer J Adler and Charles Van Doren

Oh and I read one really good book back in October that I've been reccommending to everyone:
Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban -- this is one of the most inventive novels I've ever read. The whole thing is written in a pseudo-english that can sometimes be tough to understand, but it is worth the effort. Here's a typical passage --
Lorna said to me, 'You know Riddley theres some thing in us it dont have no name.'
I said, 'What thing is that?'
She said, 'Its some kind of thing it aint us but yet its in us. Its looking out thru our eye hoals. May be you dont take no noatis of it only some times. Say you get woak up suddn in the middl of the nite. 1 minim youre a sleap and the nex youre on your feet with a spear in your han. Wel it wernt you put that spear in your han it wer that other thing whats looking out thru your eye hoals. It aint you nor it don't even know your name. Its in us lorn and loan and sheltering how it can.'
I said, 'If its in every 1 of us theres moren 1 of it theres got to be a manying theres got to be a millying and mor.'
Lorna said, 'Wel there is a millying and mor.'
I said, 'Wel if theres such a manying of it whys it lorn then whys it loan?'
She said, 'Becaws the manying and the millying its all 1 thing it dont have nothing to gether with. You look at lykens on a stoan its all them tiny manyings of it and may be each part of it myt think its sepert only we can see its all 1 thing. Thats how it is with what we are its all 1 girt big thing and divvyt up amongst the many. Its all 1 girt thing bigger nor the worl and lorn and loan and oansome. Tremmering it is and feart. It puts us on like we put on our cloes. Some times we dont fit. Some times it cant fynd the arm hoals and it tears us a part.'
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Cool stuff, not for everyone, but I liked it.

whew!
 
For school (grade 12 english, world lit.) I'm reading Catcher in the Rye, I really like it so far, though our english teacher is "dumber than a sack of hammers" and she doesn't get some of Houlden's underlying cynicism.

Outside of school, i'm reading 4 books depending on my mood-

Apollo: The epic journey to the moon by David West Renyolds, so far an awesome description of the Apollo program with interesting tidbits that aren't in more mainstream books

Evolution: The origin of an idea A good book about Darwin's synthesis of the Origin of species, from his infuence as a child to the Beagle voyage. (based on the PBS series)

Fighter Aircraft by Francis Crosby, curator of the Imperial War Museum Duxford. An interesting and well-illustrated of aviation as a weapon of war...one of my aviation interests.

Radar, Hoola Hoops, and Playful Pigs: The Chemistry of Everyday life By Dr. Joe Schwarcz. Probably my personal favourite science writer, Schwarcz uses chemistry to expose the underlying...coolness....of normal everyday objects and foods.
 
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. Author Lynne Truss.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Lynne Truss takes the famously dry subject of punctuation, and transforms it with warmth, wit and infectious enthusiasm.

She has a seemingly endless supply of illustrations of what terrible things can happen through badly placed commas and apostrophes, and shares them, sometimes with a barely suppressed giggle. Then there are the less consequential, but more irritating grammatical howlers. She talks about these sometimes in a whisper of embarrassed conspiracy, at others with a blaze of indignant energy. However she doesn't just score points for humour. Far from it. She also manages to present a nice and clear road map of good punctuation that would serve any English student well. Not that she beats you round the head with it or anything, more that she kind of slips the rules in as an afterthought.

I sincerely hope that through word of mouth recommendation this book finds its way into the hands of as many people as possible. I have always enjoyed Lynne Truss's contributions to the radio, and this book will be a treasured possession.
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It is funny to read about those who are obsessive with correct punctuations.

Next I have to read another 2 recommended books;
Between You and I: A Little Book of Bad English
James Cochrane, John Humphrys and Mind the Gaffe" by R L Trask
 
Right now I am reading Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War by TJ Stiles. I have to read it for one of my classes, it's an interesting book, though, so I don't mind.
 
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. Author Lynne Truss.

Between You and I: A Little Book of Bad English

"James Cochrane, John Humphrys and Mind the Gaffe" by R L Trask

The grandaddy of all such books is Strunk and White's "A Manual of Style". Excellent book for those who want to improve their written English; worth reading for their humorous exposition of common mistakes alone.

Examples:

"nauseous. nauseated. 'Nauseous' means 'causing or contributing to nausea', as opposed to 'nauseated', which means 'suffering from nausea'. Therefore, don't write 'I feel nauseous', unless you're sure you have that effect on others."

"Sentences that violate this rule are often ludicrous: 'Sitting was sitting around and wondering what to do, the clock struck twelve'; 'Being in a dilapidated condition, I was able to buy the house very cheap'."
 
Kilted_Canuck said:
Fighter Aircraft by Francis Crosby, curator of the Imperial War Museum Duxford. An interesting and well-illustrated of aviation as a weapon of war...one of my aviation interests.

K_C, I live about 25 minutes from Duxford. If you get over here it's well worth a visit. About 2 miles from me is the Shuttleworth collection - see this - http://www.shuttleworth.org/default.htm
Also worth a visit, especially on the days they fly the aircraft!
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Life Of Pi by Yann Martel. A wonderful charming book, although a little God-heavy for us heathen types. Also contains foolproof survival tips and a step-by-step guide to Tiger taming.
 
tim said:

K_C, I live about 25 minutes from Duxford. If you get over here it's well worth a visit. About 2 miles from me is the Shuttleworth collection - see this - http://www.shuttleworth.org/default.htm
Also worth a visit, especially on the days they fly the aircraft!
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Yeah, I'm going over the pond this summer, so I'll try and convince my parents to make it south to Cambridgeshire and pop in (my dad's a much bigger war buff than I am, so convincing him won't be hard).


I just polished off a holocaust narritive called To Life by Ruth Minsky Sender. We read the prequel to this The Cage in Grade 10 english, and these two are some of my favourite novels. They tell the story of Ruth (Riva) as a child surviving the Lodz Ghetto, Auschwitz, and hard labour camps. 'To Life' tells her story immediately after she is liberated from the labour camp, and the years it takes to finally reach America.

These books are in the 'juvinile'* section in the library, but probably shouldn't be passed off as kids books. I read 'To life' in one sitting today as I couldn't put it down.


*this was the first time in my 12 years of using the library that I ventured into the juvenille section...an odd feeling for a 17 year old.
 
The Imperial War Museum at Duxford is well worth a visit, I concur.
The new US museum alone is an afternoon's worth. They have whole aircraft hanging from the ceiling the way I had Airfix models as a kid. There's a B52 in there for Pete's sake. And a Blackbird and...(staggers off, dribbling.)

Oh yeah..reading.. The Seven Daughters of Eve by Bryan Sykes and The Journey of Man by Spenser Wells- about what has been learned of human migration since we left Africa, from mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome studies.

Fascinating stuff.
 
Underemployed said:
Life Of Pi by Yann Martel. A wonderful charming book, although a little God-heavy for us heathen types. Also contains foolproof survival tips and a step-by-step guide to Tiger taming.
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...AND the new miracle diet that will slim you for life!
 
I am reading a pile of books that I got at TAM 2. So far, I am really into Michael Shermer's, In Darwin's Shadow. I do like it, but I also realize how stupid I have become over the last 10 years. How T.V. has damaged my brain.
 
okay, so i'll admit it...i sometimes have burnout. i write too much too often or edit...oh editing...bah! when i find myself in these situations, i tend to change my reading to something lighter and more distracting. nothing to learn...just interesting words on a page. now, granted, i'm always reading several things but my "main" book is currently "savage love". now if you don't know and you promise that you're an adult (and i don't mean of the proper age) go check it out. it's clever and sometimes mean but interesting and distracting regardless.

http://www.thestranger.com/current/savage.html
 
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