April 2011 and I am reading...

Thanks, Brandon, I'm sure at least one of those formats should work. I might still go ahead and order a physical copy, though, on the off chance I can pester you into signing it for me

In that case, do this: http://www.otherworldpublications.com/apps/webstore/products/show/181211...

Comes signed with bonus content and a couple pieces from the next book.

If that's too pricey, we'll work something else out.

Thanks,
-BT

Reading Lullaby by Jean-Marie-Gustave Le Clézio.

Stay God is excellent.

Just read Eragon by Chris Paoloni, now I'm reading Eldest by the same.

This series gets a lot of crap, but I really enjoy it. The final book is coming out later this year.

Why does it get crap? I had never heard of it, but a friend insisted I read it.

People say it's a rip off of Lord of the Rings, or some such. I never saw the parallel, but if we're gonna play that game, L.O.R pretty much laid the groundwork for all the fantasy literature to come.

Asimov's Mysteries

Apparently a bit of an experiment on his behalf to mesh the genres of sci-fi and mystery. Two stories in, to be honest the mystery elements so far seem a little underwhelming. If anything the first two were too short for any real sense of intrigue to develop.

Plenty of time for it to get better yet though.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Finding it difficult to read at home at the mo, seems like everything is a distraction.

Ohhh, like how the dwarves live under the mountains and the elves live in the woods? That's uncanny.

Couldn't agree more. Love Nik's style. Super tight.

The Robots of Dawn was a pretty good murder mystery. But the murder victim was a robot.

The Favourite Game by Leonard Cohen.

Honestly, probably not. It's a great book. And Nik has a beautiful way with words. Very Clevenger-tight with his choice of words. Pretty, dare I say, minimalist. Not that his work is minimalism, but he certainly doesn't use floral language, or go off on tangents. The story, although a first person perspective, is very grounded in actions. Not a lot inside the narrators head. Sure, it's there, Damon's (the MC) opinions and whatevers, but it doesn't drag on for long.

The story is a pop-culture referencing noir, set in Baltimore. The literary, film and comic nerds will love the little facts and inside-jokes sprinkled throughout the prose, and the noir lovers will adore the setting, the descriptions, and the drug world that Nik writes about.

Maybe you'd be into. But, probably not.

Thanks, I'll hold off on it for now, but I will probably get around to it.

Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy

I'm reading Uncle Tom's Cabin again. Got distracted and started reading something else, but now I'm really enjoying it again.

I'm at my mother's old house clearing some stuff up, and the only book I have with me is Tell-All. So I'm reading it, and it's a strange one. Far, far more polished than I'd anticipated. Before this, I hadn't read a book by Chuck since Diary. His prose seems different, his style seems more elaborate. I'm not bothered by the name-dropping at all — after American Psycho, this is lightweight stuff in that department. So far, so good.

The Book of Proper Names by Amelie Nothomb.

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. The main character is called Camille so it must be good!

I found Tell-All to be rather funny. In fact that is something that is becoming more and more prevalent in Chuck's stuff IMO.

Neither Snuff, Pygmy, or Tell-All are particularly gripping stories, but they all made me laugh a bunch of times.

The Last of the Savages by Jay McInerney

Finished Tell-All. Certainly one of the more satisfying Chuck novels I've read. The haters are wrong!

The Complete Novels of Dashiell Hammett.

Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

Gotta love some Hammett. I might have to read another of his soon. Think I might go The Maltese Falcon next. The Thin Man was badass.

I'm about to start A Game of Thrones. Or maybe Infinite Jest. I haven't decided yet.

Into The Wild by Jon Krakanauer (Or something like that)

During 3rd (and hopefully last) stay at the hospital :
Homicide : A Year On the Killing Streets (David Simon) : Compulsory reading for anyone interested in police work.

Our Man in Havana (Graham Greene) : Quirky novel written on the eve of the Cuban revolution, the first half is excellent, the second one drags a bit.

Cuba Libre (Elmore Leonard) : Competently written adventure novel taking place during the 1898 US-Spanish war in Cuba. Still not sold on Elmore Leonard.

The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoevsky. This man deserved the hype.

I finished Brisingr by Paolini earlier this evening and started The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein by Peter Ackroyd

Falling Out Of Cars by Jeff Noon.

I am really getting into his stuff, It's a crying shame it's taken me so long to dicover this guy. Hell, if it weren't for seeing him on the recommended authors tab on this site I might not have ever checked him out.

For a British author he really doesn't get much press or shop space over here.

I'm bitterly reading the Pulp-themed issue of an Aussie lit journal called Voiceworks. The bastards rejected two of my stories for this issue. Not happy. And my stories were definitely much better than most of the ones in there. They wanted Pulp, I gave them Pulp. They published literary, except for a couple of hardboiled stories.

Anyway, I'm not too bummed because the stories I sent have both found pretty sweet homes: "Multiple Choice" is with Crime Factory and "If You Love Me" is in the forthcoming Velvet anthology "Warmed and Bound". No hard feelings. But if they reject the two I have with them now there's gonna be trouble.

I'm currently reading Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol. I strongly recommend this author. Both "Dead Souls" and "The Overcoat" are truly terrific stories! Dostoevsky got a lot of inspiration from this man and I can see why.

Just started A Game of Thrones last night. I think it's gonna take me a while. I don't read very quickly since I started working almost full time.

Let me know what you think? I'm going to read a Fantasy bookmthis weekend but haven't decided what yet.

It's a damn good one.

I'm reading it now, Derek, since I've heard about it from places like here and Thunderdome and the telly. I think it's good, I've never read any fantasy before. I feel like the characters are really obvious and cliche in some ways but it's very readable. It's worth reading for sure.

I'm about halfway through The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein, but I picked up a heap of new books today. While I was downstairs waiting on dinner I picked one up to pass the time and I think I'm going to have to keep going with it. So now I'm reading

I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak (author of The Book Thief)

I saw this at the bookstore I'm working on. Any good?

I'd recommend the film first, which I happened to love, since it follows the journey of this guy who travels after throwing away all his material possessions. So, yeah, read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_McCandless and maybe see the film. If you already have I apologise.

It's a pretty easy read and it's interesting to see the lasting affect this guy had on other people. So yeah, if you can get it on a good price I'd recommend it.

I was completely underwhelmed by Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. Its a book I saw recommended here a lot.
My bad.

Try Dark Places. It's way better! Please, I loved that book Derek.

I'm starting The Final Testament of the Holy Bible by James Frey. I'm sooooooooooo looking forward to it.

How did you get a copy? And why is it $50 on amazon...

I got it in my local bookstore. It was released a week ago. I have no idea why it's $50 on amazon. Mine cost $20.