Thread: What are you reading?

The World According to Garp, because I saw the movie. heh.

Got on train, read John Fante's Ask the Dust.

Then ebook reader ran out of battery power.

So I had nothing.

Thanks, technology.

"The Dragon Reborn," of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series.

I just finished reading most of Haruki Murakamis works, very amazing. I've just stated on a collection by Franz Kafka, and just ordered the Air Conditioned Nightmare by Henry Miller because it's amazing and I want to read it again.

finished Shadow of the Hegemon, no idea what I'm gonna read after this.

Last night I picked up "Miles From Nowhere" by Nami Mun for some reason.

It's roughly two-thirds in and I'm starting to wish I hadn't gone through it so fast.

I just finished reading The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson and I really enjoyed it I plan on getting the next book/s.

Now though, I'm reading The High Lord by Trudi Canavan. Not as good, but an easy read.

I've been reading Godel Escher Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstader. It's phenominal, surprisingly funny and easy to understand. But it is a pretty long read so I started reading Sidhartha by Herman Hesse too.

I've been reading a ton during my break, most from H.P Lovecraft, who, given my lack of real reading diversity, would have to be my favourite author. I've read from Douglas Clegg, J.F. Gonzalez, and John Farris just to name a few, but I've found Lovecraft to be the best deliverer. I have, however, heard that Thomas Ligotti almost surpasses him; another author on my to-read list. I've got to read The King in Yellow, too, which is apparently where many of Ligottis and Lovecraft's ideas sparked from.

I picked up Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King, too: a collection of short stories spanning across about 900 pages. I've never read King before, and so far I don't find his narration particularly scary, but one that does have character; the same way Brent Easton Ellis' works do, although Ellis relies more on the craft of narrative, rather than story; his works are just a fun journey to nowhere.

Also, not to draw away from the topic discussion, or sound like a winger, but does anybody else hate it when a book's cover just does not relate to the story inside? This Stephen King book has a fluro lime green spine and a white front and back with a cartoon shadow of a frog on the cover. How is that scary? It's not even relative in the slightest. There is absolutely nothing artistic or intruiging about it. I know a book shouldn't be judged by its cover, but the ability to make the work itself that much more compelling is available, and should thus be taken. This looks like a fucking kid's book, no joke.

Just finished reading I Am Legend by Richard Matheson for the second time now. Although it is a great book and page turner, I still hate the dam ending! It pissed me off for the second time!

I be reading Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. Easily one of the best books ever. Douglas Adams FTW.

I'm currently reading Hector and the Search for Happiness by Francois LeLord. It's a cute little novel, very easy to read and very inspiring.

I just finished reading The Dead Tossed Waves (I think it's for a younger audience, but I still liked it). I like anything post-apocolyptic (probably influnced by a childhood book, my 4th grade teacher read to us, called Z for Zachariah). I read The Road this past year, as well.

Originally Posted by darknightedlady

I just finished reading The Dead Tossed Waves (I think it's for a younger audience, but I still liked it). I like anything post-apocolyptic (probably influnced by a childhood book, my 4th grade teacher read to us, called Z for Zachariah). I read The Road this past year, as well.

I love the Post Apocalyptic Genre. I want to read Earth Abides, I will go to the library when ever I get the chance.

Originally Posted by bradysdreaming

I love the Post Apocalyptic Genre. I want to read Earth Abides, I will go to the library when ever I get the chance.

Glad to know others do! My co-workers think it's funny...it's always the end-of-the-world books for you ...but it is also a beginning. Let me know what you think of Earth Abides when you read it-I haven't read it yet!

The Great Gatsby. At least I'm trying to... '20s English is almost like a foreign language.

Originally Posted by DeeryTheDeer

The Great Gatsby. At least I'm trying to... '20s English is almost like a foreign language.

I read that in 11th grade, get to re-read it for one of my history classes this semester. I didn't care for it the first time I read it but I've heard it's better the second time around, so I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Right now, my inner academic is obsessed with the US education system, so I'm reading The Death and Life of the Great American School System by Diane Ravitch. The part I'm reading right now isn't of particular interest to me, so it's taking me awhile to get through it, but it's good background and I'd prefer to read it straight through instead of jumping around. I'm also toilet-reading When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? by George Carlin.

Originally Posted by DeeryTheDeer

'20s English is almost like a foreign language.

It makes more sense to me than '10s English.

The last thing I read with my eyeballs was the first story in Stephen King's last clutch of novellas, Full Dark, No Stars. It was one of the more dark and disturbing things I've seen from him.

I've been on the computer a ton, so I'm giving my eyes a rest with some audio books. Mostly I've been on a nostalgia trip, catching up on Terry Brooks' Shannara series. I thought The Sword of Shannara was awesome in 5th grade, and that's about the reading level of the series, but something about the stories makes me keep going back to fill in the gaps.

I also listened to Haruki Murakami's Dance, Dance, Dance around New Years, and that was quite good, better than Kafka on the Shore, his only other book I've read.

Finished The Color of Magic the other day and moved onto the next, The Light Fantastic. The first book took a while to get into, probably because Pratchett was introducing the world for the first time or because he had to get into his groove for this particular series. The second kicks off with a bang, and so far I'm finding it hard to put down. Looking forward to the other 40+ books.

The Hacker Crackdown, by Bruce Sterling. Published in 1992. It's an interesting look at early internet history and the perspectives of people back then.

Fire

The Sacred Balance by David Suzuki.
I am around three fourths of the way into the book and it is astounding. It represents a complete world view, a world view that every human being on this planet needs to adopt in order for our survival. It is poetic, it is factual, scientific, deep and moving. Here is a comment I made to my friend on Facebook that was largely inspired by the philosophies and ideas expressed in Suzuki's book:

"Life is in the wildebeest when, in dying of thirst in the desert, it feeds the starving vulture. Life is in the salmon, whose seemingly wasteful death after spawning is what gives the trees the nitrogen they need to grow tall and strong and cleanse the water so as to let the salmons' fry forge a new generation. Life is a dance, whose purpose is not in the ending, but in each and every precious moment. A dance made of many dancers. Life is more than suffering, boredom, happiness or unhappiness. Life is Love. And the more one looks at life, or at any form of matter, the more one comes to understand this."