Wed, 06/08/2011 - 13:43
Time for the "reading" thread again. ;)
I recently finished the brilliant "When the Killing's Done" by T.C. Boyle. Here's a good review.
http://www.slate.com/id/2285245/
Rivetting storytelling. Heaps of great material that could be the basis of a protest song.
Have also recently finished Christopher Moore's very funny and - title notwithstanding - quite charming "Bloodsucking Fiends". His "Dirty Job" was also a good read, as was "Coyote Blue". The most hilarious though was "The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove".
I read a few of John Connolly's dark crime thrillers a month or two ago. I thought I'd have a break from "dark", but lo and behold, found myself downloading (on my Kindle) "The Killing Kind" two nights ago. There's no doubt about it, the man can write.
I still need to knuckle down and read more Neil Gaiman.
What have the rest of you been up to book-wise?
Wed, 06/08/2011 - 17:04
#2
Music for Torching by A.M Homes - an insight into a dysfunctional family in the US. A clear and disturbing picture of what some people do when they just aren't happy.
Wed, 06/08/2011 - 17:41
#3
Right at the moment I'm reading "Mixing: The Ultimate Guide" (from the makers of Computer Music magazine).
Wed, 06/08/2011 - 20:41
#4
Read? Read?!! Who's got time? oh well...just finished "Moby Dick" which I hadn't read in a long long while, the inevitable permanent cycle of Terry Pratchett "I Shall Wear Midnight", and re-reading "Strata" cos I read it too fast and missed nuances, Philip C Bolger "Boats with an Open Mind", and two I've forgotten which means I can't count them I spose...
Wed, 06/08/2011 - 21:09
#5
This thread.
...and "Interview with the Vampire," and Lorrie Moore short stories. She's my new favorite and she might live in my town.
Wed, 06/08/2011 - 21:14
#6
I've just finished reading Dean Karnzes' book "Ultramarathon Man" and it was brilliant. I absolutely adored it!
Now I'm reading "In Mozart's Shadow" by Carolyn Meyer. It's pretty good, so far. Very interesting to learn about Wolfgang Mozart's childhood from his sister's perspective.
Wed, 06/08/2011 - 23:05
#7
Woohoo, the reading thread is back!
I read "Interview with the Vampire," this time last year, John. I found the descriptions delicious and juicy and had thought about lending some to a song or two. Loved it.
Right now I'm reading "Three Cups of Tea" (Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin) which is a memoir of Greg's experiences in Pakistan building schools. It seems to have gotten a lot of press around here and while I like it, it's not living up to the hype for me.
Out of what I've finished recently, I'd recommend "The Solitude of Prime Numbers" by Paolo Giordano. It's a lonely, aching, beautiful human-story book.
(Obligatory "friend me on Goodreads if you're there" link: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1098143-debs)
Wed, 06/08/2011 - 23:12
#8
"The Music Hour: Two Book Course -- Upper Grades." An old music book for children. I found Book One on E-bay so it's on the way to add to my collection of old ratty hardback music books with songs that are long forgotten. It's fun to see the way music used to be taught.
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 03:59
#9
"Chords for Ukulele" (kinda boring really) and "Boomsday," which is funny.
Also been reading up on bears, bear sex and incest, for research for stories I'm working on. Every time i Google, i have to do a viral scan afterwards.
If i hit on anything better than The Black Bull of Norroway, i'll post it.
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 06:35
#10
"The Hounds of Avalon" by Mark Chadbourn. The writing is not brilliant, but the story is addictive.
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 07:05
#11
I've nearly finished reading "Time and Again" by Jack Finney. It's about time traveling to 19th century New York.
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 09:44
#12
For any and all fans of baseball who have not yet read Michael Lewis's "Moneyball," I just finished it a few days ago and absolutely loved it.
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 10:55
#13
Fantastic! As always, so many excellent reading suggestions. 
@heavyhedonist A couple of years ago I edited someone's thesis on the eating habits of Kodiak bears. Learned more about bear poop than I thought was possible. I'm sure it was nowhere near as interesting as your recent research on bear incest, though. 
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 11:04
#14
I may beg you for info on bear poop. That's bears, aND INCEST, not bear incest. Though, that could become a factor-- i let my characters go where they need to...
And a second plug for Moneyball. it's quite a ride.
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 12:26
#15
@heavy headonist Actually, I thought it might have been run-of-the-mill human incest you were referring to. 
But then in conjunction with the mention of bears, it raised in my mind the notion of animal incest, and I got to wondering whether there are any species that consciously avoid mating with a sibling or parent. Looks like I'll need to do some research.
Re bear poop: I'll dig around in my old computer and see whether I still have the file. Was quite an interesting thesis in fact. I didn't know, for instance, that the pads on a bear's paws fall off during the period that they're hibernating.
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 13:11
#16
Funnily enough, I'm reading a music book which isn't really about the music. Appetite For Self-Destruction, by Steve Knopper. It's a great book which looks at how the record labels essentially dug the hole they find themselves in right now. Good reading.
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 21:12
#17
Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent, The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction by James Alexander Thom, and the collected short stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Also Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Thu, 06/09/2011 - 22:38
#18
Just finished Terminal World, by Alistair Reynolds, and started How to Live, or a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer, by Sarah Bakewell.
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 03:05
#19
@Heavy Hedonist - have you read "The Grizzlies of Mount McKinley" yet?
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 05:55
#20
@heavyhedonist Do you want the handbook on cuticle analysis? (how to digest herbivore or omnivore dung to get plant cuticle wax imprints out so's you can identify them and see what the critter was eating?) Inevitably, it was once one of my specialist trades in the long long ago. Yes, I can imagine your lack of surprise...
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 15:10
#21
I'm reading Franz Kafka's The Castle.
Sat, 06/11/2011 - 13:52
#22
Bear incest? Who could get close enough to know?
My friend just told me about some homosexual cats, and she had to give them away because it went against her Christian values. I kid you not. Now, there probably is a song in there!
Sat, 06/11/2011 - 14:57
#23
im tearing through "power, dissent & equality".... last minute cramming for my exams next week; but then I'll have all summer free for music creation...
Sat, 06/11/2011 - 15:25
#24
Time's Arrow by Martin Amis and Body by Harry Crews.
Sat, 06/11/2011 - 15:53
#25
Neal Stephenson - The System Of The World
I think I like Cryptonomicon better, but the Baroque Cycle has me wanting to read more.. which is a good thing as there are 8 books divided into three volumes.
Sat, 06/11/2011 - 20:06
#26
wow. everybody here knows more about bears than me. i guess that's what i get for skipping high school.
Paul, I did not read that, but now it's on the list.
now i have to google homo cats and see what lurid videos come up. i suppose it did occur to Sherrycanary's friend that since cats are not ensouled, they can't sin, per se.
funny funny thread.
Sat, 06/11/2011 - 21:18
#27
good to see ya all here....
right now in the middle of james joyce's 'portrait of the artist as a young man' which i had started a million years ago and decided to re-read.. what a great use of language!
before that, recently read "Super sad true love story" by gary shteyngart -- highly recommended!
@debs - yeah i was interested but a little dissapointed by 'three cups of tea' -and now theres some controversy about whether his book is accurate or whether he kind of stretched the truth more then a little bit-- read it last year, before the controversy hit, but still, worth reading..
next up, when i finish joyce's 'portrait of the artist', will probably be the new albert brooks novel "2030"
Sun, 06/12/2011 - 05:51
#28
Picked up "Life" by Keith Richards at the Minneapolis airport on my way to Germany and I've been paging through bits and pieces at night while I'm here.
Sun, 06/12/2011 - 21:03
#29
Right now I'm reading Destroy All Movies: The Complete Guide to Punks on Film. It has entries on all the punk rock movies, of course, but it also catalogs all the appearances of punk rockers and New Wavers in film, and a few hip-hoppers and heavy metallers as well. Very interesting book. Now I'll have to track down a copy each of Liquid Sky and Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains and watch them, since I know they'll be influencing my novel and certain of its characters heavily.
Other than that, instead of reading, I'm mainly watching, primarily Max Headroom, hopefully before it comes due (I checked it out at the library). And when I'm not watching, I'm writing.
Mon, 06/13/2011 - 08:39
#30
@Robyn Mackenzie: I had to read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald this year for English. I really enjoyed it. Maybe I'll look into reading his short stories.
I will have to do that after I finish my summer reading for English 12 though. I have to read The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand and 1984 by George Orwell. Both are fairly long books but they sound interesting.
At the moment I am reading Ivanhoe and will be moving on to Jane Eyre after I finish it. I am really into the classics now fore some reason.
Mon, 06/13/2011 - 23:35
#31
"I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It"... Actually working through the exercises gave me the motivation to join 50/90 again! Plus gave me a topic!
Mon, 06/13/2011 - 23:37
#32
Lucky cats...
Tue, 06/14/2011 - 10:32
#33
@Dennis Jernberg - many years ago, a buddy and I went to see Liquid Sky with a couple girls. The girls freaked and made us leave. We finally did get around to seeing the whole thing. I sort of remember Fabulous Stains, too. Always loved Repo Man and Sid and Nancy as well.
But back to reading - this morning, chose Curious George over Tao Te-Ching for my breakfast reading. Never get tired of that monkey. And today I'm going to the library to pick up some thrillers. It's summer, after all.
Tue, 06/14/2011 - 12:49
#34
As of yesterday, "Songwriting for Dummies". Hoping to brush up a bit before this gets started. Already taking lots of really great insightful advice that is going to be a major help come July 4th.
Tue, 06/14/2011 - 17:26
#35
@T.C. Elliott: Neal Stephenson is genius! (I agree Cryptonomicon was better than the Baroque Cycle. So was Anathem, in my opinion, but everything Stephenson writes is gold)
I just finished The Caliph's House by Tahir Shah and The Motel Life by Wlly Vlautin. The Caliph's House is about trying to get the remodeling done in Casablanca when the Jinns don't like you. The Motel Life is like a Tom Waits song set in Reno, Nevada and thereabouts. Having spent 2003-2010 in Reno, I had an insider's perspective that made the read extra interesting.
Also reading Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Jules Verne) aloud every night to my five-year-old. Puts him right to sleep.
Wed, 06/15/2011 - 11:17
#36
Oh goodie! More suggestions!
@Nick "Songwriting for Dummies" has become one of my most valuable resources.
I'm having a break from dark crime thrillers. Am currently reading Mary Roach's fascinating "Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void". Full of wry humour and intriguing tidbits (e.g. in Japan, training for astronauts involves them folding 1000 origami cranes in one sitting - something to do with perseverance and close attention to detail; cadavers are used by NASA for test launchings and landings [which I suppose isn't surprising]).
Wed, 06/15/2011 - 16:09
#37
@Chip Withrow-- i freaked when i first saw Liquid Sky, too-- think i was 18, maybe 19, couldn't stand to watch it... that early rape on the stairs is pretty brutal--- but then i started having dreams filled with images from the movie, for weeks afterwards...
so i went to see it again, and it's a favorite ever since. beautiful and strange.
anybody here read Tideland? i saw Gilliam's movie version last night, and was thinking of picking it up, if it's half as good.
Wed, 06/15/2011 - 17:20
#38
Well Im reading a teen mag so does that count :V(...LOL Just kiding! I last read "The Host" by the writter of the Twilight series and I really enjoyed it. I likde the descriptiveness..it made me feel like I was really there, it gave really detailed descriptions of the character emotions, wounds, and thinking process. To tell the truth I couldn't put the book down. Sry I love reading.
Thu, 06/16/2011 - 04:59
#39
I'm up to chapter four of Escape Routes For Beginners by Kira Cochrane. It seems to be a comedy of sorts about a second generation Mexican immigrant to the US, in her early teens, in the 1950s, living on a small high security prison island with a highly ambitious (and casually racist) mother and a fairly lacklustre dad (who is employed there as a guard). I'm sure it will unfold into something more multilayered, we've already had sections about her grandmother as a girl and young woman in LA.
Thu, 06/16/2011 - 08:44
#40
Okay the last thing I've read as of now is my Bible. LOL seems ackward that I would mention stuff like that huh. LOL!
Thu, 06/16/2011 - 22:08
#41
Just finished reading a whole stack of Kathy Reichs books (I was on a mystery kick).
My summer reading project is a mountain of Philip Dick books that I've been wanting to start on for years.
Sat, 06/18/2011 - 23:15
#42
@Groundhog: I've read many, many criticisms of "The Great Gatsby," and when I finally read it, I found that I disagreed with every single one of them. It's a great book. But I can see how some people would be turned off by it if they weren't familiar with the era or Fitzgerald's style in general.
Sun, 06/19/2011 - 15:02
#43
Just finished "The Playbook" by Barney Stinson. lolz.
Sun, 06/19/2011 - 23:56
#44
I'm halfway through "Never Knew Another," a kinda gritty fantasy. I'm not much of a fantasy reader, but this is different from what little other fantasy I've read (Piers Anthony).
Mon, 06/20/2011 - 17:43
#45
My all time favorite book is "The Thirteenth Tale" by Diane Setterfield. It's gritty, it's dark, it keeps you guessing, and (probably my favorite part about it), it's written like a love letter to the english language. Check it out. You won't regret it!
Mon, 06/20/2011 - 22:41
#46
I'm reading the "Bourne Identity" I recommend reading it. Espionage thrillers have always been a favorite of mine. Robert Ludlum was a genius at them too. I love his writing style. The story is engaging. The main character, through the first 4 chapters of the book, doesn't know his identity. The human psyche doesn't like this variable so it tries to correct it by psychologically hyper-imposing your identity onto the character. It's a writing technique, that if embraced, allows the reader to greatly enjoy the story, and to almost feel like he/she is in the book itself.
Tue, 06/21/2011 - 16:56
#47
@asheybhays - I just read "The Thirteenth Tale" a few months ago because a friend recommended it. Really sucked me in.
Now I'm on "How I Became a Famous Novelist." Really funny at times and good at poking fun at readers and writers. Hey wait a second, that's me...
Tue, 06/21/2011 - 14:12
#48
I just finished reading a book called "Star Wars Red Harvest", and it was full of....awmazingness! Its about zombies, horror, and half eatin undead sith students and sith masters. It was breath taking I loved it! Younger Children shouldn't read this book or they'll wet their pants, and have nightmares for a long long long long time! But young adults should be okay, just make sure you sleep with a night light.
Tue, 06/21/2011 - 18:00
#49
I just finished reading Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce. It was fantastic! Really emotional and beautiful. Highly reccomended.
Tue, 06/21/2011 - 18:27
#50
@John Crossman "How I Became a Famous Novelist" is great! I also really liked "The Thieves of Manhattan" I think if you liked those two, you'll love that one...
those crime thrillers sound great Donna, i dont read enough novels maybe i'll give one of those a try.
im finishing Emma Goldman's autobiography 'living my life', what an amazing woman, i think i love her
next i have two chomsky and two charles dickens, i think im going to go for dickens for the pure storytelling... hard times or bleak house??