*What book are you reading ?

[Vintage Paw]

Indifferent. Though to be fair I only read the first 50 pages, perhaps I should give it another go.

Hmmm *strokes imaginary beard*

I find if I don't read a book first time around I will never end up reading it, no matter how many times I start again.

This has most notably happened to me with Underworld - Don Delillo (although I'm determined I will read this eventually), and Microserfs - Douglas Coupland.

 

[shijima]

just finished a great book called As Used On Nelson Mandela by a comedian called mark thomas its all about the arms trade good mix of comedy and some serious issues tackled.

 

[chooch]

Indifferent. Though to be fair I only read the first 50 pages, perhaps I should give it another go.

Didn´t rate it much meself. Think he can write though, when he puts his mind to it and stops raising a literary eyebrow.

 

[Philbc03]

I've just finished Ray Hammond's 'The Cloud'. It's a SETI related sci-fi thriller disaster thing very much in the Dan Brown mould of flimsy characters, unnecessary sub-plots, repetitious devices, etc etc. It was alright actually if you fancy something shamelessly trashy.

Edmund White's 'A Boys Own Story' now awaits ...

 

[foamy]

A Boys Own story is good - very much enjoyed it.

I gave up on 'small island' and have now started 'The Sea' by john Banville.

 

[chooch]

Edmund White's 'A Boys Own Story' now awaits ...

I liked it a lot, though I think Caracole is a touch more stylish, in a good way.

 

[Abjekt]

Just started book 5 of the Tales Of The City series by Armistead Maupin. I love themmmm.

 

[chooch]

Just started The Inner Circle by TC Boyle, liking it

Just bought that.

 

[Dirty Martini]

Just bought that.

I dunno, it annoyed me a bit in the end. Got his Drop City lined up though.

 

[Philbc03]

I liked it a lot, though I think Caracole is a touch more stylish, in a good way.

I only own 'A Boys Own' and Edmund White's autobiography at the mo'. Will give Caracole a go at some point - it just seems almost everything I'm reading at the moment has a gay thing going on

 

[dynamicbaddog]

I'm reading an 87th Precinct detective novel by Ed Mcbain called Till Death
I *heart* Ed Mcbain's books, I've bought a load of them from e-bay recently which I'm working through

 

[chooch]

Just starting James Wilcox- Modern Baptists. It seems oddly familiar.

 

[Giles]

Just read "Urban Grimshaw and the Shed Crew".

Giles..

 

[kerb]

Excellent book. My holy trinity of African American female writers is Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, and Maya Angelou. They can do no wrong in my eyes

You don't get much more heavyweight than that trio do you? Amazing writers. I saw Maya Angelou on BBC2 late one night. She was talking about her work etc and said that it took her about 7 months to work on one chapter in one of her books.

Richard Wright is one of my favourite African American Male writers. Black Boy was such a great read.

 

[sojourner]

Just now finished The Jokes Over by Ralph Steadman. What a moving, funny, savage book, one that captures the times they lived through brilliantly. Who said Ralph couldn't write, eh Hunter? It's a must-read for all Hunter/Steadman fans, thanks to Savage Henry for the heads up. I now want to return to The Proud Highway, which I have browsed through but never read all of, and perhaps The Curse of Lono, now that I know the tortuous background to it.

And am now desperate to lay my paws on any one of the silk screen prints that were produced

 

[Dirty Martini]

The High Window.

Chandler is brilliant. I could read him forever.

 

[k_s]

The invasion of compulsory sex-morality by Wilhelm Reich. Its making me feel slightly guilty about being in love with my girlfriend tbh.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Don't worry about it. Reich was seriously odd.

 

[Dirty Martini]

The invasion of compulsory sex-morality by Wilhelm Reich. Its making me feel slightly guilty about being in love with my girlfriend tbh.

---

The Postman Always Rings Twice, James M Cain

 

[maya]

fuck highbrow, i'm going for the overflowing pile of yellowed paperback crime novels my former certain someone chucked out of his brother's garage (only to be saved by me, the rubbish tip woman)

...'tis actually a lot of good stuff in there: detective monsieur Maigret, Poe: "The Murders In Rue Morgue" (the first crime novel!), Blood From A Child" by Louis Malét, Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse books (right now I'm reading "The Quiet World Of Nicholas Quinn", to be followed by "Murder In The Chapel", or something like that...oh, it's intriguing), Sjöwall & Wahlöö's social-realist inspector Beck series from the 70's (masterpiece: "The Closed Room") , some laughably 1950's pulp stuff (including one verging on exploitation: dry martinis, women in bikinis and sophisticated gentleman retreats in stock "exotic" places)

...all in all, good (if not that wholesome) entertainment fun.

 

[DUMBO.66]

reading "fierce dancing" by CJ Stone and just finished the best book ever; Spiders, set in Kent, when killer spiders swamp britain, too cool

 

[Dubversion]

I've put the Boyle to one side because I'm overexcited about having Innocent When You Dream, the collected Tom Waits interview / article book.

Which I dropped in the bath last night

 

[May Kasahara]

After completely failing to read the Putnam book due to extreme family stress, I have now reluctantly started 'The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets' by Eva Rice, which was next month's choice out of the bookclub hat.

It's appalling. Even the edges of the pages are pink, ffs.

Also been rereading some Stephen King short stories ('Night Shift') after rereading his excellent 'Danse Macabre' on holiday...glad that I have not found them as scary as when I were a teen, and thus am not a complete and total wet end.

Also once again making some headway with Simon Schama's 'History of Britain Vol. 1', and reading a fuckload of further/financial education paperwork for my new job.

 

[May Kasahara]

Here's a picture of the Eva Rice book:

 

[Philbc03]

Now reading 'How I Paid for College' by Marc Acito, yet another novel with gay overtones, lol.

 

[Vintage Paw]

Now reading 'How I Paid for College' by Marc Acito, yet another novel with gay overtones, lol.

Fabbo book. Totally giggletastic.

I'm reading Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. not far in yet.

 

[chooch]

Just starting James Wilcox- Modern Baptists. It seems oddly familiar.

And now finished. Liked it; bit contrived in parts but some lovely sentence combinations that get through your guard and leave you fumbling for your gumshield.
Now started Vikram Seth-Two Lives.

 

[lego]

The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins

 

[muser]

won't I ever learn

Iain M. Banks - Excession. space opera meets 2001, I started so I'll finish, though I think I've outgrown the sci fi genre.

 

[Vintage Paw]

Iain M. Banks - Excession. space opera meets 2001, I started so I'll finish, though I think I've outgrown the sci fi genre.

I never got to the end of that one, I enjoyed Consider Phlebus though. I might give it a go again at some point, but I haven't read sci-fi for maybe 4 or 5 years now, or longer