It's May, right? So watcha reading?

I'm reading The Idiot for real this time. Not just the first 3 pages, almost a hundred in and loving it!

Then it's gonna be Dermaphoria, then Donna Tartt - The Secret History. If I can fit them all in of course.

Inspired by the Irvine Welsh talk in Brighton, I read [B]Porno[/B] a few days ago and loved it. Forgot what an incredibly vivid and energetic writer he is. Superb.

I'm now reading Christopher Vogler's [B]The Writer's Journey[/B], which so far is pretty damn fascinating.

I started reading [B]Flaubert's Parrot[/B] by Julian Barnes and put it down after the first few pages. I couldn't bear his pretentious style. I'll try it again when I feel less irritable.

Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs

The Bear Went Over The Mountain-William Kotzwinkle

[QUOTE=Hingdai]Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs[/QUOTE]

just finished/loved this book. Recommended to everyone, you'll finish it in two days.

paraphrase: "...it makes no sense to say 'you're comparing apples and oranges' i can't think of anything more similar to an apple than an orange. Now, if you'd said, you're comparing apples and hermaphroditic ground sloths, or apples and weapons grade uranium-that would make sense."

that was just a funny tangent. It's a collection of wittily analytical essays on pop culture, from the NBA to media to star wars and kids breakfast cereals.

Think I'll read Survivor next.

Finished Trainspotting. Rents is a dick.

Started God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater.

Then it's time for MAGIC

Our Band Could Be Your Life - Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991.
My old stompin' grounds on the musical timeline.

Finished Douglas Coupland's new one [B]JPod[/B] the other day. Was pretty good.

Reading [B]In the Miso Soup[/B] by Ryu Murakami right now. I have a few others waiting to be digested on my bookshelf so I don't know what I'll get to next.

[QUOTE=in_absentia]I just made a stop by the book store two days ago and picked up a few in celebration of being out of school.

I finished Less Than Zero by Bret Ellis. I wasn't too impressed with the first half or so, but the second half greatly made up for it.

I'm reading The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster... Right now I'm somewhere in the middle of Ghosts.

And the last one (which I haven't started) is Requiem for a Dream by Hubert Shelby Jr.

[SIZE=1]In other news, It's my first post:) [/SIZE][/QUOTE]

Hey, welcome! I'm a Bret Easton Ellis fan, but found Less than Zero to be really boring. I read the last third quickly just because I wanted to get it over with and start something else! I've been meaning to read Requiem for a Dream (I liked the movie) - let me know if it's worth bumping up on the 'to read' list!

[QUOTE=Vendetta]Wow. It [I]is[/I] May!
Apart from the Ghost Town thing I'm reading Passing by Nella Larsen, about two ladies of black heritage who have the kind of looks that mean they could pass for white. One of them has married a black man and lives a very respectable, middle class existence and the other one has married a racist white man who doesn't know about her racial origins. I think Nella Larsen was a remarkable writer as I'm sure I've mentioned before.[/QUOTE]
You're reading Mariah Carey's biography? Good for you.

-K

After putting it down for a few weeks because I got really busy, I've gone back to reading American Psycho. I'm on page 253. Someone please fucking tell me that it gets better.

[QUOTE=Ballerina]After putting it down for a few weeks because I got really busy, I've gone back to reading American Psycho. I'm on page 253. Someone please fucking tell me that it gets better.[/QUOTE]
If you don't like it by page 253, I'm afraid you probably won't like it. I liked it, but I think I liked The Rules of Attraction a little better.

Damn.

Edit: Guess that means that I [I]will[/I] buy Jpod and read it next. Because as far as I'm concerned, you can't go wrong with Coupland. Unless you're reading Girlfriend in a Coma. But anyway, it turns out that Jpod is already out.

I finished 'Apathy' and am in a rare spot: nothing I haven't read seems that promising.
Which I know is untrue, but I'm re-reading Contortionist's Handbook until I snap out of it.

i´m gonna start on [I]the lord of the flies[/I] today

I'm giving Stephen Graham Jones's [B]All the Beautiful Sinners[/B] a whirl. Good so far.

[QUOTE=Dj_iii]Our Band Could Be Your Life - Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991.
My old stompin' grounds on the musical timeline.[/QUOTE]

I was just looking at that book the other day. How is it?

I'm currently reading Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin. I found a really great old imprint of it for a quarter in a bin at a church I walk by every day.

[QUOTE=morey]Middlesex by the guy who wrote Virgin Suicides, my neighbor loaned me it. Sbout a hermaphrodite, a Greek one.[/QUOTE]

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides is one of my favorite novels of all time. Wonderfully written.

I'm currently reading Jpod by Douglas Coupland, and I picked up Amy Hempel's short story anthology.

recently finished [b]vernon god little[/b], which was fairly mediocre. pierre's obviously very clever and can dole out the quirky vernacular all day, but the majority of his takes on modern american life are fairly obvious to anyone who doesn’t live in a cave. (and probably obvious to people that do live in caves). it’s hardly new ground, not to mention extremely cliché.

next up is tim o’brien’s [b]going after cacciato[/b], which i’ve heard is brilliant. guess we’ll see.

[QUOTE=Balthazar]recently finished [b]vernon god little[/b], which was fairly mediocre. pierre's obviously very clever and call dole out the quirky vernacular all day, but the majority of his takes on modern american life are fairly obvious to anyone who doesn’t live in a cave. (and probably obvious to people that do live in caves). it’s hardly new ground, not to mention extremely cliché.
[/QUOTE]

"Normal times just ran howling out of town."

That book's all about the character and the language. And I can read about how fucked up the modern world is till the cows do whatever it is they're supposed to do.

Great stuff.

[QUOTE=Balthazar]next up is tim o’brien’s [b]going after cacciato[/b], which i’ve heard is brilliant. guess we’ll see.[/QUOTE]
I thought it was an awesome book. I don't know if it was brilliant. But it was a really good read.

'I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell'- Tucker Max

Gypsy Hearts - Robert M. Eversz

[I]Try[/I] - Dennis Cooper

Conversations With Professor Y by Louis-Ferdinand Celine
Robert Frank lent me a copy.

Ubik and A Scanner Darkly by PKD.

God Bless You Mr. Rosewater - Kurt Vonnegut and Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky
This is a stupid question but what do the stars mean in Crime and Punishment?

Just started 'Perfume'

I finished "Kiss Me, Judas" last week and have mixed feelings about it. I started "Generation X" right afterwards and I definitely love its opening. I also have "Syrup" by Maxx Barry on deck, I will likely take that to the NYC so that I'll have something to do when and if there's no culties around.

I started [U]Naked Lunch[/U] a few days ago, and I can't for the life of me get into it. Is it just me, or did anyone else have a problem with it?

I'm a little over halfway through [I]Dr. Sax[/I] by Kerouac, and while some parts are glorious, he just loses me in others. I'm still in love with old Ti Jean, though....

[QUOTE=jase]I finished "Kiss Me, Judas" last week and have mixed feelings about it. I started "Generation X" right afterwards and I definitely love its opening. I also have "Syrup" by Maxx Barry on deck, I will likely take that to the NYC so that I'll have something to do when and if there's no culties around.[/QUOTE]

generation x was good from what i remember.....a few of those little sidebar tidbits stuck w/ me....we'll get into it later so i don't ruin anything for you......we read that in the book club about a year ago, i don't think the discussion took off well.......but theres something there.

on a coupland note, just started JPOD, so far....AWESOME.

Amnesia Moon.

I'm reading Middlesex because it was lying around the house and I needed something to read. It's good, i suppose. I might even say brilliant, it just doesn't really stoke my fire. I usually like the quick edgy books, like Palahniuk, or really difficult challenging books, like Pynchon.

Im in the middle of The Subterraneans by Jack Kerouac... but I dont think Im digging it too much.

currently i'm reading one hundred years of solitude by gabriel garcia marquez and then i'm probably going to read still life with woodpecker by tom robbins or vonnegut's player piano.

murakami is one of my favorite authors as well, if you like kafka you should check out 'hard-boiled wonderland and the end of the world.' you should also check out 'out' by natsuo kirino.

After Amnesia Moon, I think I'm going to try Henry's List of Wrongs.

I try not to judge a book by the cover, but it's a Rugged Land colophon, so if it's anywhere near as good as 'All The Beautiful Sinners' I'm psyched.

The guy's local (to me), too, so worth a try. Plus, it was cheap: remaindered hb for $6.

[QUOTE=in_absentia]You've got a couple of great books there PoGA. I actually was able to write my research paper on PKD... Ahh.. good times

I've just started reading Requiem for a Dream, so far its interesting, though Selby Jr.'s writing style took about 15 pages before it actually started to sink in and make sense.

Next up on my list: One Flew Over the Coocoo's Nest[/QUOTE]

Yeah I'm really liking A Scanner Darkly, haven't started Ubik yet.

[QUOTE=Peon of Grand Ambitions]Yeah I'm really liking A Scanner Darkly, haven't started Ubik yet.[/QUOTE]

A Scanner Darkly is good, but Ubik is maybe PKD's best. Maybe, it's not like he didn't write a ton of awesome novels. I just think Ubik is the alpha and omega with him.

[QUOTE=McMuddle]Just started 'Perfume'[/QUOTE]
Fantabulous.

Started Magic by William Goldman and I had no idea what it was about. Then I went and looking in my book of movies to prove to my wife that The Princess Bride was directed by Rob Reiner and saw the plot of Magic right there. I was pissed.

[I]Wicked[/I] by Gregory Maguire

And I still haven't finished [I]Haunted[/I]

I'm way behind the rest of the world, as I just finished the Da Vinci Code.

However, now I'm finishing [u]Kill Me[/u] by Stephen White, and I'm awaiting the arrival of Dean Koontz's latest, [u]The Husband[/u] (I think that's what it's called).

Just put a cap in Haruki Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, now I'm digging into Infinite Jest. I'm only about 4 pages in, but it's bloody brilliant. A relief from the pace that English is flying at me at the moment (that is, a snail's pace).

Perfume:

[QUOTE=Michael]Fantabulous.[/QUOTE]

Yes it was, thanks for the tip.

Just started Chromosome 6 by Robin Cook

I think I might just grab myself a horror novel. Any suggestions?

On to Henry's List of Wrongs. About 80 pages in, actually.

Recently finished Prozac Nation, Hey Nostradamus!, and God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian.
All GREAT books. Read Memoirs of a Geisha too, but it wasn't as impressive.

Just got A.M. Homes' In a Country of Mothers, which I haven't read that much of yet. Also got all of Ian Fleming's James Bond books (yay for boxed sets at BJ's... $20 for 14 books,) and books 2 through 6 of Steven King's The Green Mile at Goodwill (20¢ each!) Just have to find #1...
Hurrah for bargain book hunting

60 pages into A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby. Fun read so far, pretty good comic timing. He does the multiple narration thing, and there is a distinct set of characteristics in the different narrators, which I would think is the hardest part about writing this kind of story.

[QUOTE=Chixulub]A Scanner Darkly is good, but Ubik is maybe PKD's best. Maybe, it's not like he didn't write a ton of awesome novels. I just think Ubik is the alpha and omega with him.[/QUOTE]

That's great to hear.

BUGS!

Totally like the intro. This guy was definately doing lotsa drugs and I think it's most excellent.

[QUOTE=Peon of Grand Ambitions]That's great to hear.

BUGS!

Totally like the intro. This guy was definately doing lotsa drugs and I think it's most excellent.[/QUOTE]

Drugs by themselves lost fascination for me back when Ronald Reagan was still President, but PKD cuts through that. He gets to the 'why' for taking dope.