What are you Reading?

[LyRiTa OffSpriNg]

Just finished The Count Of Montecristo by Alexander Duma yesterday...great book!!

[Alison]

Finished At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien the other day. Amazing book! A bit confusing at times (it really is bizarre), but definitely worth it. Few books have ever made me laugh out loud, but this did!

And now I have started on The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. Supposed to be really good, and so far is pretty interesting.

Also reading The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer. The Middle English is quite hard going, but after a while it's not too bad. And he uses the word 'queynte' (cunt) which always brightens up my day

[T-6005]

Two weeks of vacation makes for great reading time!

Embassytown - China Mieville. Mildly thought-provoking with a really good foundation based on attempting to communicate other than through language and signifiers, though the author does love his some convoluted sentence structures. 6.5/10

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot. A surprisingly good read, though very touchy-feely about the author's own involvement and her encounters with the family. Brings up some interesting points on whether it is ethical to harvest cells from patients and briefly sketches out some of the arguments which raged in cell culture and genetic debates from the 50s to the 90s. 7.5/10

The Dispossessed - Ursula K. LeGuin - I'm pretty sure I've read A Wizard of Earthsea, but for whatever reason I can't remember it at all so this feels like my first immersion into the author's work. The first half was hard for me to get through and I almost stopped, but there is a certain undeniable charm to LeGuin's logical point and counterpoint and the ways she builds them into several fish-out-of-water characters. 7.5/10.

A Dance With Dragons - George R.R. Martin - Good, but not enough of my favorite character. 8/10.

Carrion Comfort - Dan Simmons - It's no secret that I like Dan Simmons, but every time I read a new book of his (that I like, not like Drood) I finish it with an enormous sense of satisfaction. I think it's partly the fact that he has a definite interest in science fiction and the paranormal and weaves it really well into his stories, and then also has a touch of the mystery-writing style in some of his novels that panders to the shameless pleb in all of us. 9/10

[jacknife737]

I'm surprised it took me so long to get around to reading this, but i'm about to start The Post American World by Fareed Zakaria.

I love Fareed's work, so i've got high expectations for this.

[yellow]

I just started Beverly Hills Dead, by Stuart Woods

[samseby]

Gerald's Game Stephen King

Synopsis:
Gerald and Jessie Burlingame have gone to their summer home on a warm weekday in October for a romantic interlude. After being handcuffed to her bedposts, Jessie tires of her husband's games, but when Gerald refuses to stop she lashes out at him with deadly consequences. Still handcuffed, she is trapped and alone. Painful memories from her childhood bedevil her. Her only company is a hungry stray dog and the sundry voices that populate her mind. As night comes, she is unsure whether it is her imagination or if she has another companion: someone watching her from the corner of her dark bedroom. (stephenking.com)


I love his writing though this is pretty far from his "usual" storytelling (maybe one of the reasons why not many like this novel) ... handcuffing doesn't always seem to be such a good idea though .
King really has the ability to grab his readers and drag them into a story ...

[Alison]

Finished The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. Very good book. Although I wish the latin parts had been translated (it really is a pain typing long sentences into google translate from an ipod). Otherwise, yes, recommended.

I've started Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut this morning and almost half way through. I love Vonnegut.

[Alison]

Finished Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut. Was pretty good, but I still prefer Slaughterhouse Five.

Have now started The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. Hope it to be as good as everyone says!

[T-6005]

Rupert Thomson - Divided Kingdom.

[parklexie]

I don't ever get time to read because there's so much reading for my course. It sucks cause at school when I had the time I didn't care for reading now I don't and I want to read other things. Oh well.

My problem is different when I try to read books like Harry Potter I feel asleep but ... Why reading makes me lazy now? So I bought a complete set of DVD to watch .. and it just made me sleep.