Ho Ho Ho, December 09 and I'm reading...

Going to finish Mysteries by Knut Hamsun and fiiiiinally get to start Better Not Cry by Augusten Burroughs, which I have been saving for December =D

The Great Gatsby at the moment, Then fight club, then The Road to Wigan Pier for me.

a stack of excellent stories fresh from the workshop.

Rant, and with this I finish all of Chuck's work. Then I plan on going through Zadie Smith to see what all the fuss is about.

I finished Sepulchre! Rereading Sorgenfri by Jo Nesbø now, 'cause my Norwegian has improved so much since I first read it. I'm guessing I'll be able to get through it much quicker now and understand more.

I am taking hiatus from my reading hiatus.

I looked and looked for SOMETHING in the classics,
something that I have been wanting to try.
There wasn't any Hemmingway except maybe Essays on Fishing (?)
There wasn't any Doestevsky.
Or Totlsloy <--- however you say the War and Peace guy.
or much for Twain either.

I am starved for a story that inspires me to write.
Starved for a timeless work that appeals to me.
and somehow I am just not getting it.

I went to my library snd decided if they had
any Chuck besides Fight Club
then I decided I would get a library card.
Haven't had one for 10 years!
I checked out Rant.

I liked Mary Karr but definitely not Augusten Burroughs or JD Salinger.

I think I will take another stab at Crime and Punishment
whenever I happen upon another inexpensive copy.

Honestly, I haven't seen an author other than Chuck
that has caught my attention for longer than the
time I took to read the book.

I loved Judy Blume when I was little and
when I need a little mental vacation I adore
Patricia Cornwell and John Grisham.

guh--sorry for the babble.
If you've read this and have any sort of
book suggestions, bless you.

Hygiene de l'assassin by Amelie Nothomb.

That's an amazing one! Check out Acide sulfurique as well.

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield

I really like it so far.

Here's the sypnosis:

"In the year 2000, in the closest election in American history, Alice Blackwell's husband becomes president of the United States. Their time in the White House proves to be heady, tumultuous, and controversial. But it is Alice's own story - that of a kind, bookish, only child born in the 1940s Midwest who comes to inhabit a life of dizzying wealth and power - that is itself remarkable. Alice candidly describes her small-town upbringing, and the tragedy that shaped her identity; she recalls her early adulthood as a librarian, and her surprising courtship with the man who swept her off her feet; she tells of the crisis that almost ended their marriage; and she confides the privileges and difficulties of being first lady, a role that is uniquely cloistered and public, secretive and exposed. In Alice Blackwell, Curtis Sittenfeld has created her most dynamic and complex heroine yet. American Wife is not a novel about politics. It is a gorgeously written novel that weaves race, class, fate and wealth into a brilliant tapestry. It is a novel in which the unexpected becomes inevitable, and the pleasures and pain of intimacy and love are laid bare."

Probably not to everyone's tastes.

I liked Prep by her!

Some Things That Meant the World to Me by Joshua Mohr. Another unreliable-narrator book, which I tend to go for. It's still early going, so no strong opinions yet. Every other chapter is a flashback against the regular timeline. Definitely has many symptoms of a first novel, but with a style of writing and storytelling I think most of us enjoy around here.

"Aurian" by Maggie Furey. It's kinda... It's poorly written. Ok story though. Will finish it today, then I'll read "On writing - Memoirs of the craft" by Stephen King. Then I'll perhaps start reading "The dragon reborn" by Robert Jordan again, since the last book is out. That should keep me occupied..-o

I've ditched The Brothers Karamazov due to boredom and moved on to Slaughter House Five by Vonnegut. I haven't read it before and went way over in the other direction in terms of length... take that dostoevski!

The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Michael Chabon

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

Finaly picked up Lullaby by Chuck. Love it!

The contortionists handbook, finally found a copy!

I'm reading "Genesis" by Bernard Beckett and plan on reading Stewart O'Nan's "Snow Angels" next. If I finish that before month end, I'll likely pick up a Philip K. Dick novel.

Out of Touch by Brandon Tietz.

Got it in the mail today, signed by Brandon and the cover artist, plus some extras. Pics to come... whenever I get MY computer back.

I hate this Goddamn PC.

nice to see everyone reading such great books. well...almost everyone.

I've been on a big Denis Johnson trip recently. I read Jesus' Son first, and it was so good I couldn't believe it. So, last week I read Angels and now I'm reading Tree of Smoke.

How is this? I saw it on Amazon and it sounded good

The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart

Just started it. Was loaned to me by someone at work who said they liked it when they were my age.

don't understand the trouble getting a copy thing. there's a ton of second hand ones all over webites: amazon.com/uk etc, abe, fishpond etc. i actually goot both that and dermaphoria from borders. are they really that rare? great read, though. i've been keen to re-read TCH of late.

I think they may be out of print at the moment. The publisher was going through some hard times, distributor too, but recently got a financial boost and will hopefully re-establish themselves soon. How that affected/affects TCH, I'm not sure.

Keep us posted, I'd like to know if you ended up hating it or loving it

Just finished "the greatest show on earth" by Richard Dawkins.

Now I think I'll start "I know this much is true" by Wally Lamb

I liked it quite a bit. Very short and easy to get into. The ending was unforgettable.

inferno, not the one by dante, but by niven, I do plan to read the real(dante)one though

also got the newer vonnegut and irvin welsh books,I forgot the titles, I think something birdy and unwashed something, IDK haha

i'm reading The Picture of Dorian Gray. It's good, but not as good as I had hoped. I want to read the Lovely Bones next. Before the movies comes out. What else should I read? I really really loved Her Fearful Symmetry. Done by the author of The Time Traveler's Wife.

I liked Time Traveller's Wife, but I was let down by the fact that there is a lot of foreshadowing without a big payoff. It sort of built me up and dropped me. The ending was still good, just not what I was expecting, so I'm hesitant to read her new book.

oh my god! the new book is brilliant. I should read TTW. I have only seen the movie, so i can't really relate her writting style to the first book. I must say, I thought the book would go in this completely expected way.....but it didn't. It surprised me. It sort of made me sad, but it was a good sad. Like, I was like, oh man, that's really sad! but I'm ok with it cuz there was a resolve, even if it wasn't what I wanted. DId that even make sense?

yup.... sorta

Commonwealth by Joey Goebel.

it gets better... the first half is annoyingly tedious but the second half delivers like dominoes!

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I'm about 20 pages shy of finishing it.

And Out by Natsuo Kirino.

How We Believe: Science, Skepticism. and the Search For God by Michael Shermer

Just Food  by James E. McWilliams, Subtitle: Where Locavores Get it Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly

Just read Foam of the Daze by Boris Vian. Fucking awesome. I tried to read it over a year ago, but dropped the book in a river and lost it.

Now about to read The Illuminatus! Trilogy.

During my move I had the opportunity to sort through all my books. I have 50 or so that I've never read, so I'm ploughing through them and kind of trying not to buy any new books until I've read them all.

At the moment I'm reading Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. The price on the back is £6.99 so it must've been about 8 years ago! Remember when paperbacks cost £6.99. The halcyon days!

Journey to the End of the Night by Louise-Ferdinand Celine

Although I am disgusted by Celine as a person and his biography I have to admit that I like the novel and some parts of it are just breathtaking.

Spook Country by William Gibson. I'm not big on sci-fi but Gibson is real interesting. I started The Sound and the Fury but I had to put it down, I can't deal with that crap over the x-mas holiday, it's too damn confusing and reading it felt too much like work.

Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks writing as Ian Fleming, good old fashioned Bond.

Candy by Luke Davies (brilliant by the way, in case anyone is looking for a great book by an australian author - wink wink)

I'm just finishing up Murakami's Kafka By The Shore. Wasn't particularly fond of this book by him compared to his other works that I've poured through.

Next two books on my hit list have me excited though.

first one i'm going through is

Nick Cave - The Death of Bunny Munro.

Love me some Nick Cave and I really liked his first book which I found to be a mind fuck to read at times but enjoyable.

Then I have this one to follow up.

Jonathan Letham - Chronic City

I've read Fortress of Solitude, and Motherless Brooklyn from this guy and I always enjoy the odd characters he writes. This one doesn't look any different from those and I amped about that.

I'm reading Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov.

I'm rereading The Trial by Franz Kafka, only in German this time.