What are you reading???

[Maine-iac]

About a 1/4 through "Martin Chuzzlewit". I'm enjoying it, though there are fewer characters to like than in a typical Dickens work. I have hopes for young Martin to undergo character improvement as the book proceeds, however.

Tossed off "The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society" as well. Fairly formulaic "women's fiction". OK, but not better than that.

[campbell]

There's going to be a rough patch in Martin Chuzzlewit, in terms of readability -- at least, I found it so. I read all the way through the first time on MC, but since then, there's an entire section I skip on re-reads.

I started Cryptonomicon yesterday. So far, I'm finding it more enjoyable than the Baroque Cycle (not overly festooned with real historical figures, which I found distracting). I skip the technical bits, mainly because I'm familiar with the topics already, and am not overly enamored of mixing popular explanations of math and computer science into my fiction.

Also, loved Randy Waterhouse's takedown of the postmodernists. (and, contra Charlene, I like beards).

[QMO]

Originally Posted by vtek

just because women never like your raping...

Well, there is that.

But I was thinking more along the lines of that being an odd habit for someone that generally seems fairly feminist to me. Though, I could be imagining McCafferey's feminism. I don't really know much about her other than her fiction.

[QMO]

Last week I kept things simple with a couple of L'amour and a couple of Heyer. I started Austen's Persuasion* but vacation got over before I had to leave it at my parents' house. I'll check it out of the library to finish it, I guess.

I also read some Retief stores by Keith Laumer, through the Baen Free Library.

My wife took back all of the books to the library on Monday, including my stack of unread, so I had to go and re-check-out my stack, and I forgot Persuasion because it wasn't part of the stack she took back.

*It was interesting that, at least as far as I'd read when I had to quit, that every scene of the book was pretty much based on people trying to persuade and the reaction of the persuadee. I think it's different than (say) Pride and Prejudice or Mansfield Park.

[Hagbard Celine]

Conversation In the Cathedral

After reading Death in the Andes, I was anxious to read another Vargas Llosa novel. I chose this one because it has 10 amazon reviews and they are all five stars (plus the library has it!).

It's an amazing book even though it's probably the most frustrating book I've ever read. 600 pages full of shifting narrators, shifting structure, shifting timelines, etc... If you aren't paying attention to what you're reading, you're lost after half a page.

I don't even really know what to say about this book...I'm honestly at a loss for words. I'm not sure I would ever reccomend it to anyone, yet I'm very glad I read it. Certain passages were so beautiful they brought tears to my eyes. Other passages were so cryptic I was left thinking "what the hell is he talking about" or "who is that?" He hand feeds you nothing.

It has great things to say about both the search for an individual identity vs living in your father's shadow and also how power is formed and corrupts.

[Hagbard Celine]

And next up, Stephen King's new short story collection Just After Sunset that my wife picked up for me at BJs.

[LoneGirl]

Originally Posted by LoneGirl

"The Lost Continent:Travels In Small Town America" by Bill Bryson. I picked this book up since I love to travel and I'm from small town America. So far, the book is pretty humorous. The author just basically chronicles a road trip he took across the country, in which he tried to avoid interstates and instead drive two-lane highways and stop in small towns. I didn't realize until I started reading that this book was actually written in the late 80's - that only adds to the humor (and nostalgia!) because some of the things mentioned are way outdated today. For example, in the first chapter the author complains about the stupid national 55 mph speed limit law on all interstates.

Wow, I finally finished this. I didn't realize it had been 6 months! As I've mentioned before, I don't get through books all that fast sometimes. Anyway, I started another book by this author last night - "A Walk in the Woods" which chronicles his hiking the Appalachian Trail. Hopefully I finish this one in less than 6 months.....

[Hagbard Celine]

In the past few months I've also read:

Pig Island Terrible
The Perks of Being a Wallflower Very good
The Mist Good
Snuff Chuck Pahlaniuk on auto-pilot
Books of Blood Awesome. Can't believe I waited this long to read this classic.

[MarsLasar]

Originally Posted by LoneGirl

Wow, I finally finished this. I didn't realize it had been 6 months! As I've mentioned before, I don't get through books all that fast sometimes. Anyway, I started another book by this author last night - "A Walk in the Woods" which chronicles his hiking the Appalachian Trail. Hopefully I finish this one in less than 6 months.....

I loved "A Walk in the Woods" - though it caused me to go for a week long hike on the Pacific Crest Trail shortly afterwards.

[MarsLasar]

Currently reading:

Society of Actuaries - the first 50 years (mildly interesting)
Amusing Ourselves to Death (about the trappings of TV and internet)
Parenting Teens with Love and Logic (great book)
Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe (so far it's been all math and no physics - not quite what I was expecting. I might not make it through this book)