What are you reading?

I know at any given time a high percentage of the people here are reading a book. What are you reading now? I'm reading 5 Novels by Daniel Pinkwater. The Novel I'm up to is The Snarkout Boys and the Avacado of Death.

I do very little reading in general because I've gotten so lazy.� But my power was dead Monday night so I read Red by Ted Dekker. It's the second in an interesting trilogy.

I usually read more than 1 book at a time.� I don't know why, but I just do.� Right now, there's Gaiman's American Gods, Velikovsky's Worlds in Collision & Machiavelli's The Prince.� After those I'll work on Danielewski's House of Leaves, as that's 3 books in itself.

ooooh american gods. *heart* it's the best omg.

i totally agree.� it's a re-read, of course.� i'm trying to catch up so i have something to talk to Neil about when i see him Monday.

I'm bitter because it's one of my favorite books ever and I somehow lost my copy. Hardcover. *pout*. I lent it to someone and he retuend it so I know he doesn't have it, but...I don't know what became of it then. I really want Paul to read it so I'm probably going to end up rebuying it. Foofy.

I especially have a soft spot for this book because of the time spent at the House on the Rock...a favorite attraction of my childhood. Michael and I bond about that place a lot. :)

the dangerous lives of altar boys and odd girl out.

Just finished Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem and am currently reading The Red Tent by Anita Diamanti.� I like both of them a lot...time is short here, so feel free to email me if you wanna know more about them!

The Red Tent is such a fabulous book.� Such awesome imagery and a great story.

The Tale of Genji right now...and when I finish that in 2006, the copy of Love in the Time of Cholera (stop laughing) that my sister just sent me.

Nino Ricci, Testament
(Novel about Jesus)

Tom Holt, Divine Comedies
(Kind of an Adamsian/Pratchettian vein)

Phillipa Gregory, The Queen's Fool
(I'm a sucker for historical novels, plus her books have softcore porn in them)


I have always read multiple books at the same time. Used to drive my mom nuts because I left them everywhere.

Maria Baritromo, Use the News
(Book on finance and the market)

David Brin, Startide Rising
(2nd book of his Uplift Novels)

Ayn Rand, Return of the Primitive

Harold McGee, On Food and Cooking

Brick Lane-Monica Ali.

code. lines and lines of code. day in, and day out.

C# code. ASP.NET code. TSQL code.

shoot me.

*need vacation*

Warning Spoiler
***************************
The Butler did it

I thought Col. mustard did it in the Bathroom with the Plunger.

But I could be wrong.

I decided that SQL means squirrel, so I draw SQL squirrels.

Also, whenever D talks about Python, I hiss. I learned Python! I'm helping him with his work!

God, I'm lame.

there's another language called TCL/TK and i always read it as "tickle-me k" :P because we had to learn it around the time those damned elmo dolls came out :P

but unfortunately, Structured Query Language has nothing to do with squirrels. it would be a lot cuter if it did.

Nickel and Dimed-Barbara Ehrenreicht

"The Best American Non-Required Reading 2004"

Life on the Outside: The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett by Jennifer Gonnerman

"Wakefield" - Andrei Codrescu

Always loved his commentaries on npr... so I picked this up.

Since I've had spare time to do some actual reading for pleasure, I'm rereading slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut.

MmmmmmmmmmVonnegut. He's my favorite.

Bad Haircut: Stories of the Seventies by Tom Perrotta

then onto my next book:

The Magdalen by Marita Conlon-McKenna

�Ooh� Bad Haircut... that was a good book.

Have you ever read The Wishbones?

Have you ever read The Wishbones?

I have to now! It's going on my wish list. :)

the wishbones is excellent.

shadow prey right now... i like that he doesn't coddle the reader. just finished james patterson's first to die, and it was *terrible.* dear god, with all the repetition, i felt like i was listening to the davinci code again. *tears hair out*

The rest of that "First to Die" series is equally annoying :(.

HA!� thanks for the warning.� i only finished the book 'cause, like, i was invested in the storyline... hard to believe that people make movies of this guy's books.

then again, maybe that's not so hard to believe.� :P

A biography of George Washington. I read the McCullough biography of John Adams last year and it got me so jazzed on history I vowed to read a biography of one President each year. So this year I started with Washington. He is not nearly as interesting as I'd hoped.

A novel: "Portrait in Sepia" by Isabel Allende. My book group's selection for this month. I'm going to have to chew someone out that it's the third in a trilogy, and there was no advice to read the first two... but so far it hasn't mattered. I just hate not starting at the beginning (see Washington, above).

Does the LL Bean catalog count?

I just bought "How To Draw Blood From a Stone" by Priscilla Uppal, who used to be my teacher. It's not her latest, and she's really only about 3 or 4 years older than me. It's really interesting to see the things she did then that seemed kind of weak and young and indulgent. After this I think I'll buy her newest one and compare.

Time and study constraints haven't allowed me to read much fiction lately... have occasionally been working on Tom Clancy's The Sum Of All Fears. Once I'm finished with those, I'll be moving on to the Hitchhikers collection, as -- feel free to beat me now -- I have never read them in the past yet.

-- Pauley

Circle of Stars by Anna Lee Waldo

then either Vietnam Now by an author whose name escapes me at the moment or Broken Music by Sting.

i just finished a book and haven't decided what my next one will be. possibilities:
The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
The Caves Of Steel - Isaac Asimov
Homeland - R.A. Salvatore
or maybe something else.

Two of my favorites there, The Hobbit and Caves of Steel.

If you read either of them you should then read the sequels, The Lord of the Rings and The Naked Sun, respectively.

Hehe
I read that as "Calves of Steel".

new workout tape. calves of steel. pretty localized tho :P

Good preparation for the Naked Son

I read it as "Calvin and Hobbes"

and of course you meant John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes.

you read what as calvin and hobbes?
and btw, i Love calvin and hobbes and have every collection, ive read every strip.

ive read the hobbit once before... a long time ago. and i read the lord of the rings just after that, but i may reread them. i already own the naked sun so i'll for sure read that one once im done the first. im reading those novels because i love the foundation novels, and i am likely going to order all the out of print novels that are part of the 'foundation universe' - a couple more robot novels, and the empire series.

actually i dont think any of those will be my next choice. im looking at the da vinci code as likely being the next book i will read. right now im reading the stone angel by margaret laurence, which i find incredibly boring as of yet b ut its for school.

you NEED to read the hobbit. enough said, i think. :D

besides reading books on turn-of-the-last-century illustrators for a project (& they're mostly pictures anyhow), the book i'm reading most seriously is coraline by neil gaiman. i'm getting through it very stop-&-start because of schoolwork & the fact that i bought the hebrew version, so i don't forget the language.

i forgot the language so easily. of course, i didnt know it or use to the extent that you did/do, but i found an old Torah test of mine from 6th grade that was completely in hebrew, that i aced (like 105% aced) and answered completely in hebrew, and i could barely read my own cursive much less understand any words other than "G-d," "world," "land," and "Moses." :P

wish i'd held on to that.

I found the perfect books for me Hebrew comprehension-wise. Harry Potter.

I only have the second one (Harry Potter v'Cheder HaSodot), and I'd read it in English already, and it's geared to kids, and a lot of the school related vocabulary is familiar, and a lot of the magical stuff is made up anyway...

It's a fantastic translation too. Really preserves the cadence of the original.

when i was in japan mariko would read me bits of the japanese harry potter books (book 3 in particular) and i would pick up on context and tell her what part she was reading me :P it is terrific practice, esp. when you've practically memorized the english versions.

good idea! although, most of my hebrew vocabulary is religious in nature and i wouldnt really be able to pick up on too much of it :D

Understanding phonology Gussenhoven and Jacobs
Optimality Theory Kager
Historical Linguistics: an Introduction Campbell
Syntax: A Generative Introduction Carnie

that's on the list for tonight.

areni't you jealous?

totally ;-)

I'm reading "Tis" by Frank McCourt.. it's the sequel to Angela's Ashes...

it's almost as funny as the first book..

and theres nearly 2 pages where a guy recounts being accused of being a sheepfucker.

Shmeh. I thought the first one was way better.

philip pullman's northern lights, and michael moore's dude, where's my country? :) i should really have read stupid white men first, but everyone's been talking about the other one. so there.

Am reading Silverlock by John Myers Myers (no, that's not a typo)

Andy picked it up for me at Worldcon.

It's got an interesting premise-- this morose, self centered, highly practical, no time for anything imaginative
guy ends up in a world of fictional characters and has adventures with Beowulf and Robin Hood and, apparently, Anna Karenina. It has literature allusions by the dozens.

Reminds me a bit of Jasper Fforde, only this was written in the late 1950s.

Unfortunately, like many fantasy novels, while it has an intriguing premise and it is pretty much a good story, there's just something....lacking about it.

I mean, it seems like it's well written for fantasy. But that's about it.

*is book snob sometimes*

The Ordination of Women as Rabbis: Studies and Responsa edited by Simon Greenberg.

So there.

Napalm and Silly Putty, or i will be as soon as my dad finishes it. Anybody here read it?

�I have.� It's very funny.

Now I've Moved on to Brain Droppings

I just started Captain Horatio Hornblower III: Flying Colours today. Anyone else read any Hornblower books or anything by C.S. Forester books?

I'm also reading Young Adult Novel by Daniel Pinkwater. Who wants to join me in forming the FHDC chapter of the Wild Dada Ducks?

I started reading "Les Royaumes du Nord," aka The Golden Compass, by Phillip Pullman, but I haven't been very diligent about it.

I just finished Blankets by Craig Thompson. GO READ IT RIGHT NOW.

I just finished Billy Budd, Foretopman. Can anyone think of another novel that's considered a classic that is less than 100 pages?

how long is franny & zooey?

202 pages.

ok. it felt astoundingly short when i read it.

it feels short to me, too. more like an extended short story than a novel, but i have one of the standard white cover copies and looked it up. i would have guessed it was under.

Is Ayn Rand's Anthem a classic?

I've just started on Wil Wheaton's Just A Geek

marry me?

Leah and Paul sitting in a tree...

...d-o-u-g beats the crap outta me

I have fun :>

Please let us know how it reads...I've been thinking of snapping that up.

Got it yestarday

Half way through it

Love it!

ANd i've just finished it.

He really is a good writer. Granted, it's a lot of the things that have already been on his weblog, but he expands on them...

Though it does seem to end rather abruptly. The WWdN FAQ is good too. :-)

did y'all see Wil Wheaton's guest appearance in Goats!!!!� Major cool points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (there's a link to it from wilwheaton.net)

umm..oh yeah....now i'm reading Inkheart by Corneala Funke

Beyond Gay or Straight: Understanding Sexual Orientation.

by Jan Clausen

I'm reading "Wicked : The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" by Gregory Maguire. I picked it up after listening to songs from the musical.

Still reading "Tis" by Frank McCourt. I wanna meet this guy. He seems mucho interesante.

Also reading "The Last Unicorn" by Peter S. Beagle... cause I'm a sap for stories about love and unicorns^_^;;

Better watch out, Leah is going to want to marry you too for reading Wicked.

frankly, it's not my favourite of his books. it's a bit too smug, self-satisfied, and "look, ma! I'm writing a novel!"

he was one of mrs. mock's students, though :)

try Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister.

Nightmare At 20,000 Feet : Horror Stories
by Richard Matheson

you're only reading that cuz his last name is matheson.

:)

I never even thought about that. :)

I got it for $4.99 from bookcloseouts.com :)

Richard Matheson rocks. That story was made into one of the best Twilight Zones. William Shatner starred in it. It was then recyled in the film with John Lithgow in the part.

In that book a few of those stories were made into Twilight Zone eps.

I believe one story was the woman who was receiving phone calls from her fiance from beyond the grave.

I'm reading The Gods Arrive by Edith Wharton. Rich New York expatriates living in sin and trying to write a great novel.
To a certain extent, it's a reflection on the writing process and on Wharton's rather bleak view of the stream of consciousness stylings of the modernists.

I love Edith Wharton, though Ethan Frome was so depressing it could have been Russian. I really enjoyed Summer.

Ethan Frome is one of the few by Wharton I haven't read-- mainly because I have yet to hear anything good about it!

I remember liking Summer but I can't say that I remember anything about it.

I think my favorite is probably The Reef--- if only for the beauty of the language.

I read Ethan Frome in high school. That was another book added to the list of "required reading in HS I hated." :(

"Are Universes Thicker Than Blackberries?"
*Finally* in soft cover......

i'm currently reading 'olivia joules and the overactive imagination' by helen fielding {of 'bridget jones' diary' fame for those who don't know} it's pretty good, though i have had to renew it once from the liberry coz...well....i have been watching baseball, 'the west wing' and crocheting, but i always make a vow with myself to never keep the 14-day books out more than -one- renewal. so we'll see. it's due back nov. 9th. =)

then i wanna pick up the latest in the shopaholic series by sophie kinsella.

no, i don't think she's any relation to W. B.�� :)

I *adore* the Shopaholic series.

i realized my w.b/w.p screwup after i posted.� ahwell.

but i finished 'olivia joules and the overactive imagination' and am now on to 'an egg on three sticks' by jackie moyer fischer

next up are 'the big love' by��sarah dunn� and 'the devil wears prada' by laura weisberger.

chick book season� abounds. ;)

Currently reading Industrial Magic by Kelly Armstrong. It's the 4th (most recent - just came out on Wednesday) in her "Women of the Otherworld" series. Very good series. Very fun, "don't want to put it down" reads. (I ripped through her online prequel novellas last weekend.)

After this, I've got Lost by the guy who wrote Wicked (can't remember his name just now, and am feeling far too lazy to look - in spite of the fact that I'm sure it was mentioned in this forum already.)

I should be finally getting around to reading Insomnia in prep to read the last Dark Tower book. But I'm dragging my feet. My theory is that I don't really want to see that series finished. *shrugs*

Faust (in German, because my professor thinks I can handle it - yeah, right), Hamlet and The Tempest, Kafka's "Metamorphosis" (again)

Last week, I finished Great Expectations, which has gotten infinitely better since high school.

Next week I'll probably be working on some Moliere and some Spanish Golden Age drama, as well as Kokoro by Natsume Soseki.

if you dig kafka, The Trial is undoubtedly the best. I wish he'd finished it.

Well, that's on my reading list for comps, so...
:)

Good stuff. I've only read Faust in English. I prefer Marlowe's version but Goethe rocks too.

I love Kafka. Random fact. Kafka and Einstein had a mutual friend before either one of them was famous. He insisted the two of them meet and they did in Prague. I think that's great material for a play by Tom Stoppard.

Great Kafka Songs:
I Killed Kafka - Eric Schwartz
When Kafka was the Rage Dave's True Story

I had great expectations for great expectations and it met them. The novel is a Pip :-) The David Lean film is a classic.

I've read Marlowe's version already, and I did enjoy it, though I actually generally prefer Renaissance comedies...

I certainly have high hopes for Goethe.

And I think just about anything is great material for a play by Tom Stoppard. :)

Any other Tom Stoppard fans out there?

if you do have any questions, i studied Faust I and part of II while i was in germany.

there's some REALLY good stuff in there, and there's some really wacky shit too.

A Seahorse Year-Stacy D'Erasmo.

...is a new copy of Comedy Writing Secrets, suggested by another book for tips on being more spontaneously funny in a flirting situation.

I've also got The Tao Of Poker and two of my old political science books from college, State And Local Politics and Is This Any Way To Run A Democratic Election, plus the aforementioned The Sum Of All Fears

-- Pauley

you're funniest when you don't try to be.

people in general, or me specifically?

-- Pauley

people in general.

I mean, if you try for a joke, where can you go once you hit the punchline?

just don't worry about it. funny happens on its own.

there. I just saved you hundreds of dollars in improv classes :)

hahahahaha :-D

Don't worry, they were far beyond my price range anyway. :-P

-- Pauley

I'm reading a long-form metaphor written to entice women to read my friend's okcupid profile.

My linear algebra text and my absolutely riveting pchem text. I mean, pchem... it's so... dramatic... and if I had room on my butt, I'd tattoo "I heart Physical Chemistry" there, but alas, for the space is taken by "I heart�Organic Chemistry." Perhaps I shall gain weight to generate more space.

Hi, everyone. I'm Mim. I'm new. I like leaving messages with inverted subject matter.

mmmmlinearalgebra. Yay for math texts.
Pchem is so much better than Ochem, it is practically physics. You work with PDEs, the stuff that dreams are made of.

I'm taking pchem next semester, thought at my school we call it "quantum chemistry" now. organic sucked hard core because I took both semester in 10 weeks one summer. I don't remember any of it.

welcome fellow chem major (or are you just sadistic?)

Nope, I'm a chem major.� Altho somemay argue that is sadism, as it is.� :)

I didn't mean to start reading a book, I have the November Scientific American, and a SA special topic to read but I forgot them at home. So I started reading the copy of Cabell's The Cream of the Jest that  getting green featherbaby gave me.

Just finished reading Boccaccio's Decameron. About to start reading Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. yay lit class!

I'm all about the Marlowe. Chaucer is definitely way pre-renaissance, but still good stuff :)

best way to read chaucer evah.

this only works if you've got a middle english version, not a translation...

put on a swedish chef accent, you know the one.

now read it.

it makes so much more sense at the first go.

this was the hint given me by my drama teacher who lent me her red hardcover canterbury tales.

The End Of Gay: And The Death Of Heterosexuality By Bert Archer

currently in the middle of a riveting old spy novel called "Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy"

It's absolutely delicious. Stupid homework and obligations... I just want to read this book straight through!

John LeCarre, is great. After you read it see if you can find a DVD of the PBS series with Alec Guiness as Smiley

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America

I usually don't read several books at one time, but for the past fortnight or so I've been making an exception and have vacillated among:

Always Coming Home -- Ursula K. LeGuin

America: the Book -- Jon Stewart and associates

Wise Women: 2000 Years of Spiritual Writing by Women -- ed. Susan Cahill

The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions -- Paula Gunn Allen

master and commander by patrick o'brian.

also just finished two classic ya books i'd never read before: the egypt game by zilpha keatley snyder, and walk two moons by sharon creech.

I am in the process of reading Digital Fortress by Dan Brown. It is just as fabulous as his other 2 books that I have read.