I just finished A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and enjoyed it. I think this may have been mentioned here previously, but has anyone read Eggers' newer book You Shall Know Our Velocity? I may pick it up if I can find it at the local specifically designated independent bookstore. I need to get to the library and pick up a couple of light reading type books before I take on my next project - trying to finally make my way all the way through Ulysses.
I believe I mentioned Staggering Genius here. The worst part was finishing it. I was wondering if Velocity was in paperback. If it is, it will be my next project once I'm done with Franzen's The Twenty-Seventh City.
i know about amazon & ebay of course, but are there any other good places to sell used books where i can cut out the middle man and make more $$ off the deal?
You may want to check out http://www.abebooks.com/ It's the home page of the Advance Book Exchange. While the selling part of the website is directed at commercial booksellers, you can find the names and contact info for literally hundreds of independant book shops, nearly all of whom buy books as well as sell them. I know from personal experience these places are much more likely to be interested in collections (probably 100 or more) than individual books, unless they're particlarly valuable of course. The only problem with the sight is that it has just about anything available for sale, so temptation could be a problem.
Just restarted "Midnight's Children," which I last read probably 5 or 6 years ago. God the first few pages have reminded what a stud Rushdie is. Anyway, I thought I'd better reread it in prep for the March 10--14 week when he's going to be in town talking about MC for 3 public appearances! I'll finish that nice week off by going to see the brand new RSC production of the stage adaptation.
I read Fury when it first came out. I was a bit disappointed with it. A lot of it parallels what has been going on his life since the fatwa was lifted (the move to NY and dating the younger woman). I was not as drawn to the main character as I was with his other books. I finally finished Franny and Zooey. I was impressed with the ending. I am going to read Auntie Mame as a fun read before I dive into something a bit more serious.
I started listening to "Fury" on tape during my commute back when it first came out, and my impression was pretty similar to DaniD's. I only got 2-3 tapes in, I believe, before moving on to something else. I do own the book, however, so I'll probably give it another try soon.
Lordy, but this is a great book. I love The Moor's Last Sigh as well, and Satanic Verses is good as well although perhaps a bit overhyped due to fatwas etc. Midnight's Children is really a once-in-a-generation kind of book.
Read Nick Hornby's Songbook last night, a collection of essays he wrote on some of his favourite songs. A lovely, well-designed book that includes a cd with some of the songs he writes about on it. Really enjoyed it, particularly the essay on Badly Drawn Boy's A Minor Incident. Plus the proceeds go to two excellent charities. You can order it from www.mcsweeneys.net
I'm thinking about getting this. I like that it talks about some of my favorite songs like BFF's "Smoke" and the Avalanches' "Frontier Psychiatrist".
I have that book. Lemme know how it is. I started it a few years ago but never got around to finishing it. I actually checked out a book today called The Making of the Basque Nation by Marianne Heiberg.
Don't you hate it when you come across some super huge error in a book? I'm about 20 pages from being finished with the Fela book and what do I read but, "The Nigerian government was riding a wave of public euphoria after the Golden Eagles won the World Cup in 1996." This book was written by a professor at Yale, don't you think they'd have a fact checker comb over that book? It's just about ruined the book for me. I got to thinking, well what about all the crap in here that I don't know whether it's true or not. That type of thing just really makes a book so suspect to me. Two factual errors in the same sentence!
"Tamas" by Bisham Sahni Novel about the trauma surrounding the Partition of India/Pakistan. Was made into a major miniseries on Indian TV in the 80s, which I've been wanting to see for a while, and I've just found that there will be screening in my area next month, so I'm tackling the rather short novel this week. Translated from Urdu, btw.
I should read that book. I did all of my major work on the partition of India/Pakistan. I did a huge paper on Jinnah. Thanks for the recommendation. I wish I could read/speak Urdu. It is a beautiful language.
Great Book. I'll Admit I am biased. However, Mark is an excellent Author. I've read most of his books, and have even met him a couple of times, I suggest "Salt" or "Cod" next. If you don't mind, after you finish reading, tell me what you thought of it?