What are you reading now? vers. "So I don't end up being a fucking waffle waitress"

[DoctorShop]

The Road to Paradise by Paullina Simons.

Not the most "intelligent" of books but she is one of my favorites and her books are always easy to read and entertaining.

Who cares if it's not intelligent. I still read Richard Laymon ffs

I'll probably get ass raped for this, but has anyone read any Jodi Picoult?

 

[psycosynthesis]

Read a bit of Andrew Vachss lately. Really gritty crime fiction set in 80's New York. Some pretty heavy topics but he's a witty writer. Very funny in parts.

Halfway through both The Possibility of an Island by Michel Houellebecq and Self by Yann Martel (Author of Life of Pi)...both very good reads. The Houellebecq novel is very dense but is worth perservering with, and the Martel one is at times hilarious, at times touching and is generally great!

Also re-reading The Mist after seeing the movie.

 

[Swerlz]

 

[college_dropout]

Currently reading Infidel - Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

 

[katmeow]

I'll probably get ass raped for this, but has anyone read any Jodi Picoult?

I've read a few. The first I read was My Sister's Keeper, which blew me away, but nothing else has been as good so far.

 

[miasma]

I'm half way into the houellebeqc 'possibility of an island' too...somehow or other i just couldn't go on with it. probably pick it up again later when i'm feeling more resillient (sp?)- he's pretty intense for sure.
So i picked up something else from the library- patricia highsmith's life of ripley- haven't seen the film which is probably a good thing-anyway liked this a lot..great character study, well written and extrememly readable.

 

[up all night]

I'm reading The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron. Aside from the fact Styron is all types of awesome, this book is really interesting. It's written from the point of view of a negro who organised and led the only recorded slave revolt in the US that ended in the deaths of over 30 white landowners. There is apparently very little recorded about the event, but Styron has kept true to the available facts.

This is an amazing book. The prose is at times stunning and intricate but, more than that, his ability to get into the mind of an educated, black slave circa 1830 (or at least convince us of it) is truly awe inspiring.

I haven't finished it yet, and I know how it ends, but I can't wait to see how it unravels. I'm so glad I've FINALLY read another book I can immediately add to my favourites.

 

[vurtomatic]

Crooked Little Vein - Warren Ellis

this sums it up the best

So how is it? Am quite a fan of Ellis' comics.

Finally finished Spook Country and Forest Mage. Spook Country ended on a whimper for me. Something is lacking. Maybe a tighter pace is needed. Enjoyed Pattern Recognition a lot more, or I'm turning brain dead in old age and can't assimilate Gibson anymore. Forest Mage was unfortunately predictable. The premise has long been set up in book 1, and having all 700+ pages devoted to the protagonist's wallowing and fighting against his fate only to succumb in the end, is a bit draggy, anti-climatic, if not indulgent. Will have to write it off as character development.

Reading Charles Stross' Accelerando. No idea what it's about except it's a far-spanning sci-fi taking place over generations, and includes the elevation of humanity into different states of existence. Stross writing is tight and doesn't hold back. He weaves the use of technology, geopolitical landscapes, into the prose and readers have to catch up. Also fun to catch some descriptions which are very niche to cyberculture, such as dismissively describing a Russian AI as an Eliza-bot.

 

[vanth]

Do other people skip boring parts in books or force themselves to read all the way through? I used to think it was sacrilege to skip even half a page but now I find myself skipping a couple of pages here and there in longer books.

 

[vurtomatic]

Never skip, at most speed read to get over the boring bits. But I am forming a bad habit of speed-reading even when I don't want to. I blame it on the internet. Will have to start reading haikus instead of novels.

 

[Mary Poppins]

^ heh!

Yeah I skim read over boring bits frequently. Time is money and I have little of either. Or just a really bad concentration span

I am reading Perfume by Patrick Suskind (thanks Katmeow ) - am really enjoying it so far. Is a very easy style of writing to read and get absorbed in, and I really like his portrayal of characters mannerisms and all the 'fragrant' imagery.

 

[vurtomatic]

I'm reading Freakanomics by Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner and I'm finding it very, very interesting, which is extremely unusual for a book about the science of statistics. That is basically the point of the book though, that statistics can be applied to things that are actually interesting.

I think almost anyone would find it interesting.

BTW, not sure if this is up your alley but you can try Chris Anderson's The Long Tail too.

^ heh!

Yeah I skim read over boring bits frequently. Time is money and I have little of either. Or just a really bad concentration span

I am reading Perfume by Patrick Suskind (thanks Katmeow ) - am really enjoying it so far. Is a very easy style of writing to read and get absorbed in, and I really like his portrayal of characters mannerisms and all the 'fragrant' imagery.

Think I have to get around to that at some point, been told it's very evocative, friend described the book as 'pungent.'

 

[UnSquare]

Booookz

Finally 'round to readin'
'Guns, Germs & Steel'
by Mr. Diamond.

He comes off pretty quick,
like he's prov'd his point
to him'delf,
an' now 'v'r'yonelse
is gonna agree... auto...

But it's good.

'Predictions: 30 Great Minds On The Future'
(publish'd '99)

Includes Arthur "Elevator To Spa.C.e" Clarke,
Dawkins,
U. Eco.,
Chompsky,
Singer,
Pinker,
& a host...

Great
&
Int'restin',
'specially wif a lil' time
between then
&
now..

Oh,
an' makin' an effort to read
'Night-Time Is My Time',
by Mary Higgens Clark -
force-lent
by my 14yrold God-Daughter...

2 weeks.
2 chapters.

But I gotta read it.

God-daughter's are neat.
She's especially cool.
An' with her father,
I think,
in which
driection
where she could head,
I might be of some help.

That's the idea isn't it?

PEACE
UnS

N.B.:
vurtomatic,
you only head up fo' this thread.
I'd say you must be well......​

PEACE PEEPS
UnSquare

 

[vurtomatic]

Awesome

Am well indeed, thank you. Nothing much to contribute in Social these days, too out of it, at home in this thread %)

 

[gher]

Recently I finished reading Hannibal by Thomas Harris. Very interesting read, much easier to read than Silence of the Lambs (which I gave up about half way through and watched the movie instead). The chapters are a lot shorter so the pace is more brisk. It's very gory of course, and very messed up. The ending is pretty crazy as well.

I suppose I should go watch it now.

 

[vanth]

BTW, not sure if this is up your alley but you can try Chris Anderson's The Long Tail too.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'm looking into it I'm also keen to read Perfume, especially seeing as I'm a fragrance aficionado myself.

 

[BREAKaBEAT]

Best book ever. If you cant find a copy or are too poor to buy it, call me and you can loan mine. Please see the movie after you read the book, it does it justice.

 

[vanth]

Cool, thanks I think I may be able to get it through book mooch, but if I can't I'll get onto you

 

[Benefit]

You can get books for free at the library.

 

[vurtomatic]

Yeah I get the bulk of my reading from the library over here because I have to be very sparing with the shelf space. Still prefer browsing in bookstores though, libraries are more hit-and-run.