Strangetalk

by **LucasPukus** » Oct 22 2008 11:46:14 am

The duchess of Devonshire. Interesting--definitely shows you that gambling and other addictions were always part of society. I was hoping for sex but evidently it's not a harlequin romance.

by **jen** » Oct 23 2008 05:16:45 pm

I can let you borrow a book full of sexin if you need one. It is written by Tracy Chevalier, the same lady that wrote Girl With a Pearl Earring

by **MarkK** » Oct 23 2008 05:23:05 pm

A Lion Among Men

by **Little Bobby Tables** » Oct 30 2008 11:41:18 am

Finished Proust was a Neuroscientist, Eat Here, and The Mafia and the Machine: The Story of the Kansas City Mob. Now reading Norwegian Wood (more Murakami), and Everything is Illuminated

by **DunMiff/sys** » Nov 09 2008 09:55:43 pm

i just re-read norwegian wood last week. still a neat book.

reading dance dance dance by murakami at the moment.

by **Tom the Cat** » Nov 09 2008 11:31:33 pm

Finished Soon I Will Be Invincible. Good characters and start, but the end is completely disappointing and predictable. Too bad, it had a lot of potential.

Starting The Shack.

by **LucasPukus** » Nov 16 2008 05:48:02 pm

A Long Way Gone: memoirs of a boy soldier.
So far, besides the obvious horror that one would expect when reading this book, his life was pretty normal. Best part: "We decided to walk the 16 miles in order to save money...."

by **Dr. Faustus** » Nov 17 2008 08:47:27 pm

Practically done with American Tabloid. Read Raymond Geuss' Philosophy and Real Politics in between. I'm also on the cusp of finishing Celine's Conversations with Professor Y. It wasn't great, but it did give decent insight into his style. Pathos was his primary concern, he compares writing a novel to putting the read in a train on a rail he's laying. He claims to give them "a hell of a twist" and I'd tend to agree.

There are many books I have that I want to read next. I think Shannon Burke's Black Flies might get next run. I bought several pulp noir novels the other day as well.

by **Little Bobby Tables** » Nov 26 2008 09:18:43 am

Finished norwegian wood, everything is illuminated, and south of the border, west of the sun. on to a heartbreaking work of staggering genius.

by **Dr. Faustus** » Nov 28 2008 10:16:11 am

Finished Black Flies in a few days. It was really good and well written. Incredibly gruesome at times, but good just the same. It spares none of the ugly details in showing Harlem in the 1990s, and raises a lot of good ethical questions in the process.

I'm reading Celine's Journey to the End of the Night now. This Celine thing is bordering on obsession now.

by **bith** » Nov 28 2008 06:17:38 pm

as part of a class i am reading or have read the following:

supercapitalism by robert reich
caught in the middle by richard longworth
the post-american world by fareed zakaria
the world is flat by thomas friedman

the US has adapted in the past, and i sure as hell hope it can again. we've had it easy for a while, but that is coming to an end...or is already over.

by **Talenos** » Nov 29 2008 02:37:31 am

I just finished the Ron Paul Manifesto, and have started "His Excellency George Washington" by Joseph Ellis. I never really knew much about George Washington before so its' really interesting to hear what kind of person he probably was.

by **DunMiff/sys** » Dec 01 2008 08:24:23 am

currently reading Into Thin Air.

whoa.

by **Fuzzy** » Dec 01 2008 08:41:27 am

i want to read that some time

by **daoist** » Dec 27 2008 12:10:50 am

"How to Talk to Girls" by Alec Greven

by **daoist** » Dec 27 2008 12:16:50 am

Okay I'm done. That was a good book.

by **bith** » Dec 27 2008 12:20:16 am

the joy of home brewing

gotta love nerdy hobbyist books

by **nippletwister** » Dec 27 2008 02:05:50 am

I'm 2/3 through "Haunted" by Chuck Palahniuk.

It's the only fiction book by him that I've been holding out on. I was worried that he wouldn't be able to escape the voice he always uses enough to make me believe that there are many writers and many points of view. I was right about that, but now that I'm reading it, it doesn't seem to matter so much. Great book, much better than Snuff, and I'd even say it's better than Rant and Diary and Lullaby.

I'm now looking forward to Pygmy.

by **Little Bobby Tables** » Dec 27 2008 09:14:53 am

Currently at the top of the reading pile:

The World Without Us
Dave Eggers - How We Are Hungry
Neil Gaiman - Stardust
Born to Kvetch

by **Tom the Cat** » Dec 27 2008 09:44:14 pm

A New Earth and The Shack are starting to collect dust on my nightstand. Recent additions include The Glass Castle, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and some book about delaying the real world for twenty-somethings.

by **themadninja** » Dec 29 2008 12:34:04 am

Currently reading My Uncle Oswald by Roald Dahl. It's a bawdy tale, mostly revolving around a man's effort just after WW 1to collect frozen semen from european royalty, artists, and intellectuals with the help of an improvised condom, a loose woman, and an irresistible aphrodisiac. Good stuff so far.

by **daoist** » Dec 29 2008 09:53:02 am

did I mention i'm finally reading the god delusion?

so far it's a pretty good read but the smarminess is a little off-putting at times.

by **Talenos** » Dec 30 2008 03:08:17 pm

All of his books are very similar, you read two and realize he has nothing more to really add to the discussion, since you already agree with him on pretty much everything.

by **Fuzzy** » Jan 02 2009 07:36:39 am

the road

by **lolcat** » Jan 04 2009 01:30:55 pm

Transnational Shia Politics: Religious and Political Networks in the Gulf
by Laurence Louër

by **Talenos** » Jan 09 2009 05:06:32 pm

Just finished Canticle for Liebowitz. It was a great sci-fi book.

by **Zodiac** » Jan 09 2009 05:14:39 pm

Gang Leader for a Day.

by **nippletwister** » Jan 10 2009 09:01:34 pm

Talenos wrote:Just finished Canticle for Liebowitz. It was a great sci-fi book.

It's a pretty-good Sci Fi book. I wouldn't go so far as to say great, but pretty good.

I'm back to Kafka. This time I'm starting with Metamorphasis and going from there.

by **Little Bobby Tables** » Jan 10 2009 11:16:03 pm

Finished The World Without Us. Now alternating between Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman and Lizard by Banana Yoshimoto.

by **Fuzzy** » Jan 25 2009 08:19:37 am

The Fighting Irish by Roger Anderson

The Fighting Irish tells the remarkable story of how the Irish and their descendants took the boxing world by storm. Irishmen have enjoyed a unique place in the sport, punching way above their weight and exerting a truly global influence. From the brutal bare-knuckle era to the present day, they've played their part in many of the most famous—and infamous—moments in ring history, and have included such names as Jim Corbett, Jeck Dempsey, and James J. Braddock.

by **nippletwister** » Jan 25 2009 12:10:24 pm

Re-re-reading God Bless You Mister Rosewater

by **Gretyl** » Jan 26 2009 01:22:49 am

Talenos wrote:Just finished Canticle for Liebowitz. It was a great sci-fi book.

Hell yes it is!

by **LucasPukus** » Jan 28 2009 10:31:35 am

Anyone want to discuss Updike here?

by **Gretyl** » Jan 28 2009 12:47:34 pm

Only by proxy: http://www.badgerinternet.com/~bobkat/observer1.html

by **LucasPukus** » Jan 28 2009 01:03:29 pm

Yeah, too bad Wallace offed himself before Updike, right?
Today's WSJ had a cool elgy.
My favorite part of their article was about the trashiness of Middle America. It's depressing and beautiful that all of us are destined for it.

by **GPCR** » Jan 29 2009 05:52:47 pm

lolcat wrote:

Transnational Shia Politics: Religious and Political Networks in the Gulf
by Laurence Louër

If this book doesn't spend a chapter on Chamran and his cultivation of contacts between south Lebanon and Iran, it's not worth reading.

by **GPCR** » Jan 29 2009 05:54:53 pm

My girlfriend's mom gave me a Borders gift card for Christmas. Spent close to two hours there last night and didn't come away with a book. Going to try again.

by **nippletwister** » Jan 30 2009 07:26:52 pm

LucasPukus wrote:Anyone want to discuss Updike here?

Which Updike?

by **nippletwister** » Jan 30 2009 07:28:37 pm

I got a B&N gift card - Went in and came out with The Iliad, The Odyssey, and Also Sprach Zarathustra.

by **LucasPukus** » Jan 31 2009 09:01:03 am

nippletwister wrote:
LucasPukus wrote:Anyone want to discuss Updike here?

Which Updike?

Sorry, I meant Up-Dyke.

John Updike, the DED one.

by **nippletwister** » Jan 31 2009 12:07:46 pm

LucasPukus wrote:
nippletwister wrote:
LucasPukus wrote:Anyone want to discuss Updike here?

Which Updike?

Sorry, I meant Up-Dyke.

John Updike, the DED one.

You jackass.

I meant which works by Updike.

I read Terrorist recently, and have read other stuff in the past.

by **LucasPukus** » Feb 02 2009 03:34:59 pm

I quit Terrorist but might try again now. I didn't quit for lack of interest, I think something else just came up. Did you like any of the Rabbit books?

by **nippletwister** » Feb 02 2009 07:06:57 pm

Meant to read but didn't. Are they worth it?

by **themadninja** » Feb 02 2009 07:22:48 pm

Iron Angel, by Alan Campbell. He's one of the more interesting new sci-fi/fantasy authors I've found recently. Pretty heavy steam-punk, as his first 2 books are set mainly in a city built on a mesh-work of giant chains suspended over a bottomless pit. Plus there's bad-ass psychotic angels and assassins and shit.

by **Tom the Cat** » Feb 03 2009 05:09:03 pm

Finished Coraline in a sitting, which was pretty enjoyable. Started World War Z, which is just absolutely fantastic so far.

by **LucasPukus** » Feb 04 2009 12:59:38 pm

nippletwister wrote:Meant to read but didn't. Are they worth it?

Some people say yes, I haven't read them, trying to determine if I should. I think I might be turned off by the character too much to actually enjoy it, which is kinda how I felt when reading "Apathy."

by **LucasPukus** » Apr 24 2009 02:32:01 pm

Just finished "The Gardner Heist" and "Happens Every Day." Gardner heist is better. I'm not sure what to read now. I started the "Sound and the Fury," but I'm afraid that when I get done, I'll want to kill myself.

by **TeleportThis** » Apr 24 2009 06:56:03 pm

Got the first installment of 100 bullets. It's a good start.

by **nippletwister** » Apr 24 2009 09:41:22 pm

Mother Night by Vonnegut

by **Little Bobby Tables** » Apr 25 2009 11:25:09 pm

The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art.

It's a pretty interesting read. It's nice to get a glance at the purely-business side of art

by **bith** » Apr 26 2009 02:20:31 am

i've been lazily reading kafka's the metamorphosis. kinda weird, not in the dude turning into a bud kinda way, but just that some things are written weird.

by **nippletwister** » Apr 26 2009 10:39:55 am

That's how I read it, too - lazily. I think it's something you're supposed to power read in like three hours, not stretch out over time. Is there a particular translation you're reading?

by **bith** » Apr 26 2009 11:01:43 am

it says it's the dover edition, translated by stanley appelbaum. one weirdness example i can think of is that the book sometimes says "the mother" when normally the rest of the family is referred to as "his father" or "his sister".

by **Tom the Cat** » Apr 27 2009 03:32:57 pm

Finished World War Z, which was awesome. Reading Fool, about half or two-thirds of the way through. Pretty fun take on King Lear, especially for established fans of Christopher Moore.

by **bith** » Apr 27 2009 03:41:29 pm

started choke last night. never read a palahniuk before.

by **Fuzzy** » Apr 27 2009 05:17:21 pm

Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munro

by **nippletwister** » Apr 27 2009 07:17:15 pm

bith wrote:started choke last night. never read a palahniuk before.

That one's pretty good. Sorry to be cliche, but be sure to read Fight Club.

by **Tom the Cat** » Apr 27 2009 07:28:05 pm

nippletwister wrote:
bith wrote:started choke last night. never read a palahniuk before.

That one's pretty good. Sorry to be cliche, but be sure to read Fight Club.

Further: you can probably skip the film version of Choke. It's not bad, but definitely not as good as the book.

by **nippletwister** » Apr 27 2009 07:33:12 pm

True. It's not bad, it's not great.

by **themadninja** » Apr 27 2009 08:14:38 pm

Maybe it's just me, but I have a total man-crush on Sam Rockwell. I thought he was really good in that.

by **bith** » Apr 27 2009 08:33:50 pm

themadninja wrote:Maybe it's just me, but I have a total man-crush on Sam Rockwell.

agreed.

by **Tom the Cat** » Apr 27 2009 09:24:13 pm

themadninja wrote:Maybe it's just me, but I have a total man-crush on Sam Rockwell. I thought he was really good in that.

He was good. In fact, I thought most of the pieces of the film were pretty good. But the sum of the parts was pretty mediocre.

by **nippletwister** » Apr 27 2009 09:29:13 pm

I agree. Should have been a half hour longer and much, much darker.

by **Little Bobby Tables** » Apr 28 2009 08:28:35 am

nippletwister wrote:
bith wrote:started choke last night. never read a palahniuk before.

That one's pretty good. Sorry to be cliche, but be sure to read Fight Club.

and Survivor

by **nippletwister** » Apr 28 2009 09:26:32 pm

Yes, and Survivor.

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