books, books, books

This is for all non-EC or peripheral-EC topics. We all know how much we love talking about 'The Man' but sometimes we have other interests.
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mood swung
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books, books, books

Post by mood swung »

too lazy to drag up the old thread. what are YOU reading?

I just finished the first Harry Potter book, Fast Food Nation and No Sleep Til Canvey Island. I'm late getting to the the first two. My oldest kid had to read Fast Food for school last year so I borrowed it from him. I won't say it's going to keep me out of Mickey D's entirely, but it's certainly making me want to. They just make it so damn convenient....I've been looking for Canvey Island for forever and it was worth the wait. Neat little history of pub rock and lots of good anecdotes. I could have lived my whole life without knowing that Nick Lowe had once been infested with lice, however. Yeah, ok so that's yesterday's books to you guys--how about you?
Like me, the "g" is silent.
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pip_52
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Post by pip_52 »

Lately Ive been having the problem of starting new books before I finish the other ones Im reading, so Im in the middle of a few different books.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
The Phenomenology of Perception by Merleau-Ponty

The last book I actually finished was, I think, Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible, which was excellent . . .
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BlueChair
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Post by BlueChair »

I'm currently reading The Rotter's Club by Jonathan Coe. It's excellent.
This morning you've got time for a hot, home-cooked breakfast! Delicious and piping hot in only 3 microwave minutes.
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noiseradio
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Post by noiseradio »

I just finished:

Live From New York by Tom Shales

Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them by Al Franken

And I'm now reading Feel This Book by Ben Stiller and Janeane Garafolo
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
--William Shakespeare
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migdd
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Post by migdd »

Dubin's Lives - Bernard Malamud
A Moon and Sixpence - Sommerset Maugham
Kalki - Gore Vidal

That's about it in the last six months or so. . .it's difficult with a 5 and 7 year-old running around the house.
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miss buenos aires
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Post by miss buenos aires »

Just finished:

Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides (highly recommend it)
The End of the Affair - Graham Greene (love this, it starts out one place and then goes somewhere completely unexpected and ends up being much more than you think)
My New Fighting Technique is Unstoppable - David Rees (that's what happens when people make me the middlewoman for their gifts to each other)

Currently reading:

The Elephant Vanishes - Haruki Murakami (short stories from one of my favorites)
Bleak House - Charles Dickens (if you like Dickens, you'll like this, even though it's impossible to remember what relationship each character has with every other character)
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so lacklustre
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Post by so lacklustre »

Just finished the fifth Harry Potter, it was okay but a couple of hundred pages too long. Have just started another Carl Hiaasen book Native Tongue.
Before HP I read Alexei Sayle's debut novel Overtaken which is brilliant, full of irony, and very funny.

BC - I have that Jonathan Coe book on my 'to read' stack and so I'm glad that you think it is so good.
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martinfoyle
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Post by martinfoyle »

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... ce&s=books

I've just started reading The Other Life of Brian by Graham Parker. Shades of Bruce Thomas's memoir, though much better written. Worth checking out.
bobster
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Post by bobster »

I've been a very bad reader lately -- I've been stuck in "Sister Carrie" by Theodore Dreiser, for months now! In fact, I'm going to get of the #$@# computer and start reading it right now....just as soon as I look in The Tower of Song thread.
http://www.forwardtoyesterday.com -- Where "hopelessly dated" is a compliment!
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RedShoes
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Post by RedShoes »

I'm currently the reading Doug McAdam's <i>Freedom Summer</i> for a class - really really interesting.

And Pip - cool about reading <i>Catch 22</i> - one of my favorites!!!
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pip_52
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Post by pip_52 »

Really? Thats cool. I like it so far, but Im only about 6 chapters into it. I will finish it eventually . . .


And Bobster, Sister Carrie has been sitting on my shelf waiting for me to read it for years. I havent attempted it yet, though its only half as long as An American Tragedy and I read that one.
Goody2Shoes
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Post by Goody2Shoes »

A Short History Of A Small Place by T.R. Pearson (again).

Also, David McCullough's book about the Johnstown flood, can't remember what it's called. The Johnstown Flood maybe?

Pip--The Poisonwood Bible is so excellent, and one of my favorites.
It's a radiation vibe I'm groovin' on
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Jackson Doofster
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Post by Jackson Doofster »

Two going on at the moment...

Comfort of Strangers - Ian MacEwan
The Little Friend - Donna Tartt

I read a great book called 'After You'd Gone' by Maggie O'Farrell over the hols.

Really recommend it...even if it is a chick book.
"But they can't hold a candle to the reciprical war crimes which have plagued our policy of foriegn affairs."
Misha
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Post by Misha »

Currently reading Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars to Tell Them, everyone should pick up a copy of this, enlightening, entertaining, downright funny and terrifying all at once.

Just finished Bridget Jones's Diary and Good in Bed, both good chick reads...but, the boys might be bored....

Next up? Fast Food Nation or Dude, Where's My Country? .
Where are the strong?

Who are the trusted?
laughingcrow
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Post by laughingcrow »

Impressionism: Origins, Practice and Reception by B.Thompson and I'm gonna pick up Steve Martin's novel this week I think.

:D
Last edited by laughingcrow on Thu Nov 06, 2003 7:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Elfslut
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Post by Elfslut »

Blood Canticle - Anne Rice

After all..tis the season for a few vampires....
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Boy With A Problem
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Post by Boy With A Problem »

bobster wrote:
Sister Carrie" by Theodore Dreiser

One of my favorites
ice nine
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Post by ice nine »

I caught the movie Iris, about the author Iris Murdoch, on IFC. I enjoyed the movie and I would like to read her writings. Any suggestions?
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sulkygirl
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Post by sulkygirl »

Re-reading Tom Robbins' Still Life With Woodpecker; Gawd, I swear the guy does acid when he writes, but it's always hilarious (if sometimes confusing)...

:lol:
"Love can be stranger than fiction..."
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pip_52
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Post by pip_52 »

Is Still Life a good one, Sulky? Im reading my first Tom Robbins with Jitterbug Perfume, but Im already interested to read his others . . .
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tokyo vogue
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Post by tokyo vogue »

The Painted Bird is sitting on my desk, glaring at me. That book makes me want to claw my eyes out. Gah.


I have no attention span, and so have been reading mindless fanfic and Tristan Tzara's manifestos. And the cereal box.
if we can rock together, why can't we walk together?
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El Vez
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Post by El Vez »

noiseradio wrote:I just finished:

Live From New York by Tom Shales

Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them by Al Franken

And I'm now reading Feel This Book by Ben Stiller and Janeane Garafolo
The Garafolo/Stiller book was a colossal disappointment for me.

I'm three-quarters of the way through Howard Zinn's You Can't Be Neutral On A Moving Train and I think it's absolutely amazing. Bobster, you really should give it a read.
bobster
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Post by bobster »

El Vez wrote:
noiseradio wrote:I'm three-quarters of the way through Howard Zinn's You Can't Be Neutral On A Moving Train and I think it's absolutely amazing. Bobster, you really should give it a read.
I still haven't read his history book!

I guess I'm a bit Zinn-resistant these days since I disagreed with him pretty deeply about some of the post 9/11 stuff (he also seriously missed the point in a piece he wrote about "Saving Private Ryan" a while back), as I written about here before. On the other hand, I sense he's more a less a total pacifist, so at least he's consistent.
http://www.forwardtoyesterday.com -- Where "hopelessly dated" is a compliment!
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noiseradio
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Post by noiseradio »

Halfway through the Garafolo/Stiller book, I have to agree with you. It's mildly amusing every now and then. Meh.

I picked up Al Franken's Oh, The Things I Know last night. It shows much more promise.
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
--William Shakespeare
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Elfslut
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Post by Elfslut »

I'm now reading Victor Hugo's Les Miserables..One of the abridged versions...

It was a promise that I made myself shortly after high school graduation..and after seeing the musical a few times.

I promised to give the book another try...I think there are some stories that you just don't get at 15 or 16...this was one of them
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