Jazzmoose Posted August 21, 2011 Report Posted August 21, 2011 A book I picked up on a used book store bender; much better than it's title, thankfully. Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted August 22, 2011 Report Posted August 22, 2011 (edited) Finished this today. Very good general survey of the 1792-1815 period. Could have done with some proof-reading on the dates - just errors that get events out of sequence in places rather than historical inaccuracies. About to start: Edited August 23, 2011 by A Lark Ascending Quote
BruceH Posted August 22, 2011 Report Posted August 22, 2011 A book I picked up on a used book store bender; much better than it's title, thankfully. I've gotten a ton of Anderson's books at used bookstores; more than I'll ever get around to reading, probably. Quote
ejp626 Posted August 24, 2011 Report Posted August 24, 2011 So I have been making pretty good progress in going through some books on my read-one-time-only-then-discard. However, for better or worse, I've just started Shadow Lines by Amitav Ghosh, and it may be one I end up keeping, totally defeating the purpose of the stack. Oh well. The opening is pretty strong, and I'm enjoying it. I have read The Best of Crank and a few others than were not particularly memorable. Somewhat inspired by the discussion of Levine becoming the Poet Laureate, I did pick up W.S. Merwin's Migration, which is a major expansion of his previous Selected Poems (around 200 pages longer and covers 6 or so collections that came out since Selected Poems). I saw it at Borders when lit. fic. was 25% off, but thought it too expensive. I was very surprised when it was still there at 50%, so I picked it up. There are certainly some good poems from the 80s and 90s (and maybe I will post one in the poetry thread) but in general he is working in a much longer form (2-3 page poems) that just seem off somehow and certainly not as meaningful/impacting as his shorter earlier poems. Well, I guess that's just the way it goes. Quote
BillF Posted August 24, 2011 Report Posted August 24, 2011 A book I picked up on a used book store bender; much better than it's title, thankfully. I've gotten a ton of Anderson's books at used bookstores; more than I'll ever get around to reading, probably. Yes, I have a few from the same source - clearly a transatlantic phenomenon! Just finished reading: A recent edition of this 1953 novel with the present day London skyline on the cover, the "erotic gherkin" well in evidence on the right. Quote
ejp626 Posted August 24, 2011 Report Posted August 24, 2011 A recent edition of this 1953 novel with the present day London skyline on the cover, the "erotic gherkin" well in evidence on the right. Talk about a gift from the gods... Quote
Noj Posted August 24, 2011 Report Posted August 24, 2011 Having recently invested in a Kindle, I've been seeking recommendations. I read a few fantasy novels by Patrick Rothfuss which were actually quite enjoyable, the first two in his Name Of The Wind series. Fun magical medieval stuff. Fast reading, and some very memorable moments. Wanting something entirely different, I downloaded Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, what a friend described as "Japanese surrealism." I'm about 3/4 of the way through it, and enjoying it quite a bit even if I'm left a bit bewildered by the plot. I'll have to download a few of the suggestions in this thread. Quote
Jazzmoose Posted August 25, 2011 Report Posted August 25, 2011 Just finished reading: A recent edition of this 1953 novel with the present day London skyline on the cover, the "erotic gherkin" well in evidence on the right. Definitely one of the great ones! Speaking of which, I just started reading this one for the first time in decades: That's weird...the cover made absolutely no sense to me until I posted that. I couldn't see the baby's face on the actual cover until I saw it here! Quote
EKE BBB Posted August 25, 2011 Report Posted August 25, 2011 Almudena Grandes - El Corazón Helado & Ricky Riccardi's bio of Louis Armstrong's later years Quote
porcy62 Posted August 25, 2011 Report Posted August 25, 2011 Wanting something entirely different, I downloaded Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, what a friend described as "Japanese surrealism." I'm about 3/4 of the way through it, and enjoying it quite a bit even if I'm left a bit bewildered by the plot. I am familiar with Murakami' works lately, and the Bird isn't his best novel, IMHO. I loved Norwegian Wood, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Kafka on the Shore, Dance Dance Dance. Quote
BruceH Posted August 25, 2011 Report Posted August 25, 2011 Just finished reading: A recent edition of this 1953 novel with the present day London skyline on the cover, the "erotic gherkin" well in evidence on the right. Definitely one of the great ones! Speaking of which, I just started reading this one for the first time in decades: That's weird...the cover made absolutely no sense to me until I posted that. I couldn't see the baby's face on the actual cover until I saw it here! More Than Human is a classic, though I haven't re-read it since the first time, which was in the 70's. Perhaps I'm subconsciously afraid I'll be disappointed? Quote
Neal Pomea Posted August 25, 2011 Report Posted August 25, 2011 2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America, Albert Brooks Quote
T.D. Posted August 25, 2011 Report Posted August 25, 2011 Loren D. Estleman, Retro. Fairly recent in the Amos Walker series (#17?). I used to read lots of Estleman, but got out of touch in recent years. This is a good one, but it'd help to have read some in the series going in. Quote
Jazzmoose Posted August 26, 2011 Report Posted August 26, 2011 More Than Human is a classic, though I haven't re-read it since the first time, which was in the 70's. Perhaps I'm subconsciously afraid I'll be disappointed? That's what held me back for so long as well; I let you know... Quote
jazzbo Posted August 28, 2011 Report Posted August 28, 2011 They're very smartly collected all the Elric work into six volumes, and I started reading the first. I'm a fan of the series and it's fun re-reading. Quote
Jazzmoose Posted August 30, 2011 Report Posted August 30, 2011 More Than Human is a classic, though I haven't re-read it since the first time, which was in the 70's. Perhaps I'm subconsciously afraid I'll be disappointed? I'd say it holds up damned well. The only difference I found in my response is a strong desire to read Faulkner now; that didn't happen back then... Quote
jlhoots Posted August 30, 2011 Report Posted August 30, 2011 Verghese: Cutting For Stone Just as good the 2nd time through. Quote
BruceH Posted August 30, 2011 Report Posted August 30, 2011 More Than Human is a classic, though I haven't re-read it since the first time, which was in the 70's. Perhaps I'm subconsciously afraid I'll be disappointed? I'd say it holds up damned well. The only difference I found in my response is a strong desire to read Faulkner now; that didn't happen back then... Nice; glad to hear it. Thanks for the response. Quote
Leeway Posted August 30, 2011 Report Posted August 30, 2011 Continuing my Dickens journey, just finished GREAT EXPECTATIONS (if you have not read Dickens, start there), and now on to: Quote
Joe Posted August 31, 2011 Report Posted August 31, 2011 Thomas Ligotti's TEATRO GROTTESSCO Short stories; Ligotti's main inspirations appear to be Lovecraft, P. K. Dick, Borges, and his own Rust Belt surroundings. The writing is always as sharp as I'd like it to be, but he has a deft hand when it comes to atmospheric effects, and there are ideas aplenty herein. Quote
BillF Posted September 1, 2011 Report Posted September 1, 2011 Just read the book for the first time, as opposed to seeing the film. Very revealing: written at the same time as the film was made, this is what Wikipedia says about it: "The film contains little explanation for the events taking place. Clarke, on the other hand, wrote thorough explanations of "cause and effect" for the events in the novel." Quote
Serioza Posted September 1, 2011 Report Posted September 1, 2011 Mulliner Nights -P.G.Wodehouse Quote
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