Scootray Posted August 7, 2009 Report Share Posted August 7, 2009 I've been trying to read a new book every week this summer and I'm doing alright so far. I've been cheating a little bit by reading a few novellas/shorter books due to time constraints, but I think I've still managed to work through a decent pile of stuff. So far I've covered:-"Child of God" - Cormac McCarthy (**** - not as good as "The Road", but still deeply unsettling. I think McCarthy could write a 1,000 page beast about someone going to the shop to buy a packet of fags and it'd still be incredible)"Old Man and the Sea" (again) - Ernest Hemingway (***** - my favourite piece of literature ever)"A Moveable Feast" - Ernest Hemingway (**** - don't read this if you like stories. A bit of a slow-mover (despite it's length) but some of his descriptions of Paris are amazing)"To Have and Have Not" - Ernest Hemingway (*** - not his best and there are definitely some major structural issues, but the ending was ace)"The Sound of My Voice" - Ron Butlin (***** - a truly astonishing book from a great Scottish writer. It's about the demise of an alcoholic and it's written from a second-person perspective, which makes it pretty scary)"Sawbones" - Stuart MacBride (* - 100 pages of shite)"Frankenstein, Book 1: Prodigal Son" - Dean Koontz (** - a decent popcorn book, not sure if I can be bothered reading the next one)"Notes From the Underground/The Double" - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (*** - it didn't really resonate with me as it maybe should've. Perhaps I should read it again.)"The Spy Who Came in From the Cold" - John le Carre (***** - great spy thriller, and a very elegant writer)I'm about to get cracking on Ayn Rand's "Anthem" (because it's short as hell and it'll help me decide if I ever want to tackle "Atlas Shrugged" or "The Fountainhead"), and then I'm gonna go for another Hemingway book ("Fiesta") or Steinbeck's "Cannery Row".Also been reading an ebook of "The Count of Monte Cristo" at work. About 400 pages in. It's ace.Just bought this off Amazon for 4p (plus postage). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarmaTsunami Posted August 9, 2009 Report Share Posted August 9, 2009 Good call. It's a great wee book. Reading 'Hella Nation' by Evan Wright and greatly enjoying it. A collection of re-worked articles from his time at Hustler/Rolling Stone/Vanity Fair about the outcasts and underbelly dwellers of the US. Previously read the first two books by Stieg Larsson and am impatiently waiting for the last in the trilogy which comes out in October!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perfect Stranger Posted August 9, 2009 Report Share Posted August 9, 2009 Twilight. Love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nev Posted August 9, 2009 Report Share Posted August 9, 2009 I'm reading One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night by Christopher Brookmyre. It's OK but I think having read a few of his I'm tiring of him a bit.Yeah, I've found myself tiring of Brookmyre as well, although I'm still persevering with him for some reason. One Fine Day... was the first of his I'd read, and I literally couldn't put it down, read it in one night (back in the days before working got in the way) and spent much of the time pissing myself with laughter. Some of the later books got a bit too political for my liking.I've been working my way through Shakey, a biography of Neil Young, by Jimmy McDonough for quite a while now. It's tough going so I find myself dipping in and out of it.I've got a Dylan book to follow that, then a couple of Danny Wallace ones before I fire into the new Brookmyre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geo1903 Posted August 10, 2009 Report Share Posted August 10, 2009 Currently reading KISS - Behind the Mask.I'm no fan, but its an excellent read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Za. Posted August 11, 2009 Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 Perdido Street Station by China MivilleIts incredibly hard to put down once you start! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calzone Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 Feersum Enjinn By Iain M Banks... Interesting read.Finally discovered the Aberdeen Library after 4 years living here, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murrr Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 I finished The Great Gatsby the other night and it was pretty much perfect. Fitzgerald's prose is incredibly poetic and hypnotic, and it wasn't anywhere near as stuffy as I thought it would be. A very accessible and easy-to-read classic. Just started Saul Bellow's Seize the Day. Looks good so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaki Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 I finished The Great Gatsby the other night and it was pretty much perfect. Fitzgerald's prose is incredibly poetic and hypnotic, and it wasn't anywhere near as stuffy as I thought it would be. A very accessible and easy-to-read classic. Spoiled for me by being made to read it at school when the only thing I was interested in was Metallica and tits. Might give it a shot as an adult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarmaTsunami Posted August 26, 2009 Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 Currently reading Paul Auster's New York Trilogy. Finished the first story which blew my mind and will probably read the second on the train back to Aberdeen this evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted August 26, 2009 Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 I read that quite recently, it's awesome. The other stories are as good as the first so you have some good reading to look forward to .The past couple of weeks I've been re-reading a few of my favourite novels, just finished One Hundred Years of Solitude and The Great Gatsby. Reading A confederacy of Dunces just now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemonade Posted August 27, 2009 Report Share Posted August 27, 2009 Wirelessly posted (SonyEricssonK770i/R8BC Browser/NetFront/3.3 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1)I'm reading Reheated Cabbage by Irvine Welsh. It's a collection of short stories and stuff he had published before he was well known. It's not all up to the standard of his novels but there are some gems in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diesel Posted August 27, 2009 Report Share Posted August 27, 2009 Wirelessly posted (SonyEricssonK770i/R8BC Browser/NetFront/3.3 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1)I'm reading Reheated Cabbage by Irvine Welsh. It's a collection of short stories and stuff he had published before he was well known. It's not all up to the standard of his novels but there are some gems in there.Likesay I'm currently reading Angels of Death about the international crime networks of the Hell's Angels and the Bandidos. it's a very good read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murrr Posted August 27, 2009 Report Share Posted August 27, 2009 Seize the Day was pretty cool and not as ridiculous as some of the existential stuff I've read over the past year or so. I'll probably go back to it soon.I've just started GB84 by David Peace which is a semi-fictionalised account of the miner's strike. It's been a pretty interesting and informative read about an important part of British social history thus far, and I like the way he writes. Short, snappy, and to-the-point. That must be where the Ellroy comparisons come from.I fancy checking out another Kurt Vonnegut book after this. Anyone have any suggestions? I read Slaughterhouse-5 last year and thought it was fantastic but I've not tried any of his other books yet. Had my eye on Breakfast of Champions and Timequake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Von Mondragon Posted August 27, 2009 Report Share Posted August 27, 2009 I'm listening to the audio version of Illuminatus! Trilogy, which I've read twice. Still one of the greatest satirical works of the counterculture and a panacea to the effects of absurd conspiracy theorists. Bug Jack Barron by Norman Spinrad was excellent, if very of its time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted August 27, 2009 Report Share Posted August 27, 2009 I fancy checking out another Kurt Vonnegut book after this. Anyone have any suggestions? I read Slaughterhouse-5 last year and thought it was fantastic but I've not tried any of his other books yet. Had my eye on Breakfast of Champions and Timequake.I'd suggest 'Cat's Cradle', it's possibly my favourite of his. Out of the two you have your eye on, go for 'Breakfast of Champions' it's great while 'Timequake' is probably his weakest novel imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarmaTsunami Posted August 27, 2009 Report Share Posted August 27, 2009 Finished 'Ghosts' which was fucking brilliant. There's no other way to describe it. Absorbing the last story at the moment then I'm either going to read Sarah Water's new book or McCarthy's 'The Road'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waltz Posted August 27, 2009 Report Share Posted August 27, 2009 Animal Farm. It's criminal that I'd never read it until now. I love how it makes really obvious points about Communism, about equality and even the dismissal of religious ideas, without being in yr face and preachy. Orwell was a bit good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monster Zero Posted August 28, 2009 Report Share Posted August 28, 2009 McCarthy's 'The Road'.Great book. I'm actually looking forward to the film since I found out John Hillcoat is directing and Viggo Mortenson starring. I have high hopes. I don't know if you've read other books by him but I recommend 'Blood Meridian'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarmaTsunami Posted September 2, 2009 Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 Great book. I'm actually looking forward to the film since I found out John Hillcoat is directing and Viggo Mortenson starring. I have high hopes. I don't know if you've read other books by him but I recommend 'Blood Meridian'.Cheers! Also, for your information, that Nick Cave book, 'The Death of Bunny Munro', is now out.I've decided that I need to read a few more classics before I start tutoring/subbing classes, so I've started 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte. After which I'll be reading Dickens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monster Zero Posted September 9, 2009 Report Share Posted September 9, 2009 Cheers! Also, for your information, that Nick Cave book, 'The Death of Bunny Munro', is now out.Yup, bought and now being read... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemonade Posted September 9, 2009 Report Share Posted September 9, 2009 Cheers! Also, for your information, that Nick Cave book, 'The Death of Bunny Munro', is now out.I've decided that I need to read a few more classics before I start tutoring/subbing classes, so I've started 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte. After which I'll be reading Dickens.I started Wuthering Heights a while ago but I struggled to get into it and it's been sitting with a bookmark in the same place for a few months now.I'm revisiting some of the old Stephen King books I read when I was a teenager. I'm currently getting stuck in to "Different Seasons", which is four novellas and includes Shawshank Redemption and The Body (which was later made into the film Stand By Me). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 Finally got round to Huxley's Brave New World after a diet of almost entirely Orwell for the past few months - good stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Von Mondragon Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 Dystopias are great, I mean shit, but great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaki Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 I'm reading Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe. I'm never yearning to pick it up but I do struggle to put it down once I've started reading it.....although that could be because it has got no chapters so I don't know where to stop..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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