*What book are you reading ?

[Dubversion]

halfway through the absolutely fantastic Virgin Suicides. a brilliant brilliant book, Eugenides strikes a wonderful tone throughout.

 

[Pickman's model]

R F Hoddinott, Early Byzantine Churches in Macedonia and Southern Serbia (London: Macmillan, 1963)

 

[Hollis]

Piers Morgan "The Insider"

God am I enjoying it..

 

[Orang Utan]

Piers Morgan "The Insider"

God am I enjoying it..

Haha, so I'm not the only one to indulge in such a guilty pleasure

 

[spartacus mills]

Jimmy McDonough - "The Ghastly One: The Sex-Gore Netherworld of filmmaker Andy Milligan"

 

[districtline]

hunter s thompson - fear and loathing in las vegas

 

[mrkikiet]

ray loriga - Tokyo doesn't love us any more

 

[Philbc03]

Alice Seabold - The Lovely Bones (2002)

and

Rosemary Hennessy and Chrys Ingraham - Materialist Feminism (1997)

 

[pianistenvy]

Love is Colder Than Death - a Fassbinder biography. Tis quite a good read (coming from someone who only really reads tabloids)

 

[chooch]

John Lanchester- the debt to pleasure
and James Holstun- ehud's dagger; a biggish tome on class struggle in the English Revolution.

 

[Dirty Martini]

Shakespeare -- 'Venus and Adonis' and the sonnets

Just started and loving 'Albert Angelo' by BS Johnson. Salty and strange.

Still picking up and occasionally cursing 'Tristram Shandy'.

 

[Pieface]

Joan Didion - the Year of Magical Thinking

I've been getting more contemplative about my and others' mortality recently (facile thing to say but there you go) so I really wanted to read this book. Joan's husband died in dec 2004 weeks after their daughter went into an induced coma due to a brain condition. The book's about that period, her grieving process and also a memoir of sorts to her relationship with John.

It strikes me as brave obviously, but I'm also glad it's the first book of it's type that I've read, as it doesn't have any truck with the spiritual approach (so far).

Her approach is thorough and literary - whenever there's a problem, read up on it, knowledge is control is her approach to strife. While there are moments of clarity, that angle is revealed as mostly futile but her frankness is astonishing.

Haven't finished it yet but I couldn't recommend it highly enough and although it sounds brittle and highbrow it's very emotive read, bits of it have torn me apart.

 

[citydreams]

John Lanchester- the debt to pleasure

hehee.. are you enjoying it? my copy came with a hospital menu as a book mark.

 

[Tooter]

"They were four young photographers who covered the township war in South Africa in the early 90's. They worked together, risked their lives together, partied together. Ken Oosterbroek died, shot by a stray bullet while working. Kevin Carter committed suicide a matter of weeks after he won a Pulitzer prize for a photograph of a starving child in the Sudan. In this remarkable book, Greg Marinovich and Joao Silva, the two surviving members of the group, tell their extraordinary and harrowing story."

I picked this up at Heathrow this morning, I have only read a few pages but it looks like an excellent read.

That is a great book...really made me aware of the issues in South Africa...quite grim in places tho...

 

[Boogie Boy]

the trial - kafka

I've just started that - not quite sure what to make of it so far. I'm a tad underwhelmed by the writing.


BB

 

[Mrs Magpie]

A very good biography of Mary Shelley by Muriel Spark....thanks IntoStella...it's great.

 

[colbhoy]

I have just started The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving. Still in the first chapter (for those that know Irving, they are long chapters!). It's shaping up pretty well so far.

 

[jeff_leigh]

Battle Royale - Koushun Takami , well enjoying it so far should have read this before watching the movie though

 

[cyberfairy]

'Lost Pubs Of Bath'- got it today in Waterstones.Was going to get 'Saturday' by Ian Mcewen but have waited so long to find it at charity shop and know the minute i buy it new, will see it for 50p and be cross.
'Lost Pubs Of Bath' by Andrew Swift and Kirsten Elliot is fantastic so far and of interest to people not even living in Bath...a big fat book with lots of amazing before and after photos, detailing real history down my road in glorious impassioned detail-murders,eccentric landlords and characters, tragic stories, hysterical ones, contains many prints of how Bath used to look and pretty much a wonderful depictation of a world being lost to developers and chains

 

[trashpony]

I am reading my mate's new novel

It's ace

 

[chooch]

Just started and loving 'Albert Angelo' by BS Johnson. Salty and strange.

Fucking great too. I prefer house mother normal though, by a whisker.

I'm a tad underwhelmed by the writing.

Or the translation?

hehee.. are you enjoying it?

Yep. Fun so far. Had me scrabbling for the dictionary once or twice, which is very rare.

 

[maya]

!!?

i've just re-read Middlesex, and feel i have to (albeit still somewhat reluctantly) admit i was clearly very wrong about my earlier slating of the book-
it is a fine piece of writing, and i shan't be as quick with my judgements in the future...it's not the best ever, but it's a great book in every sense.

touché

 

[Flavour]

london fields.

i hope it gets better than the first 3 chapters. this is supposed to be amis's best book.

 

[Orangesanlemons]

It is. Certainly up there with Money anyway.

 

[mrkikiet]

That is a great book...really made me aware of the issues in South Africa...quite grim in places tho...

another vote for this book, it's excellent. they were all slightly deranged.

currently reading/attempting - el hombre que invento manhattan by Ray Loriga.

 

[Boogie Boy]

Fucking great too. I prefer house mother normal though, by a whisker.
Or the translation?
Yep. Fun so far. Had me scrabbling for the dictionary once or twice, which is very rare.

Fair point - I'm reading the Penguin classics edition, but even allowing for the fact it could have just been translated in a particularly 'dry' way I am finding it uninspired, but I shall read through until the end and perhaps it will seem worth it. Reminds me of the reaction I felt whilst reading 'Heart Of Darkness' and 'Moby Dick'.

BB

 

[MysteryGuest]

I am about to start reading Misadventures by Sylvia Smith. I certainly like the look of this book, and I am sure I will find it a very interesting way to pass the time.

 

[Valve]

jean baudrillard- the system of objects

 

[rennie]

I just finished reading The girls of Riyadh (banat al riyadh in Arabic)... it's a series of emails a young Saudi girl sent to her fellow countrymen and women in 2004 detailing the love lives, hopes and bitter reality of 20 something Saudi women.

very good if not groundbreaking. Not sure it will get translated into English as it's written in an informal style and contains much Saudi dialect.

if you can read Arabic, give it a shot!!!

 

[jiggajagga]

" A Planet for the President"

A parody of the present day ultra-rightwing Pres and a poodle PM. He gets given the ultimate idea of how to solve the worlds terrorism problems!
Just change the names of those you know are in power now and it still reads good! Very up to date, its even got a hurricane that causes the Pres problems in it!!
Darkly funny in places but frightening as well. You get a feeling some of these discussions might JUST have happened already!!!