tad williams is a great writer, tho sometimes he gets a little long winded currently reading you cannot be serious by john mcenroe
Just finished Sum of All Fears last night. I think Brilliant Orange will be my next book - I've been wanting to read it for a while.
Tishomingo Blues by Elmore Leonard. Kind of disappointing so far I'm about 150 pages in and having to force myself to read it.
I'm one of those people that can't just read one book at a time, so the plethora I'm working on at present are: Monkey Bridge by Lan Cao Can't You Hear Me Callin': The Life of Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass by Richard D. Smith Conversations with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I by Olivier Clement The Romanovs: The Final Chapter by Robert Massie John Tavener: Glimpes of Paradise by Geoffrey Haydon As Long As Sarajevo Exists by Kemal Kurspahic The Oxford History of Islam editor, John Espisito I've been a little disappointed in the Lan Cao and the Kurspahic books, but all the others are great so far.
I just finished reading this a couple of weeks ago. It took me a little bit of time to get used to the book because a lot of it isn't about the football but Dutch society. Once I got used to that it turns into a great read. Right now I'm reading The Song of Roland and I'm about to start Conrad's The Secret Agent.
pleasure. I like it a lot so far. I'm about 140 into it out of around 550. If you think thats tough going, Atlas Shrugged is next on my list... ay yie yie!
I'm on the last few pages of 'The Kingdom and the Power' by Gay Talese, and on the first few pages of 'The Count of Monte Cristo'.... Brilliant Orange is very high on my to-read list.
They gave HER a stamp. Unreal. That stuff really is crap. Some of the smuggest writing out there without a doubt.
the latest book i have read is called 'house of leaves' by mark z. kanielewski. it is kwirky and i thought extremely interesting and sometimes frightening. there are hidden messages in the book so if you like looking for codes and stuff in tons of footnotes this is for you. definitely a good read even if you just follow the stories going on throughout the book.
I just finished Weird Like Us: My Bohemian America by Ann Powers (she's a rock journalist who edited a pretty decent book called Rock She Wrote, a collection of writings by women rock journalists). WLU is pretty good. It chronicles varous boho scenes from the last 20 years or so, focusing on San Francisco, Seattle, and New York (not because she thinks those are the hippest, but because that's where she's lived). Each chapter is focused on a particular theme: drugs, sex, music, (crappy) jobs, fashion/furniture, family relations, and of course, selling out.
Actually I'm not, I don't really have too much aqaintance with her writing. I was primarily speaking to the fact that she appears to have been fairly controversial and the postal service is quite conservative with who they put on stamps, although that has changed in recent years. I was just surprised that they immortalized someone on postage who wasn't a "safe bet" like Louis Armstrong or Bear Bryant or someone similar.
So just about an hour ago I finished the Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. I must have gone through half a pack of ciggerrettes and three cups of coffee on my porch since then. This book is terrific. Maybe someone else that has read it can give a better sypnosis of what it is, there is a love story, war stories, mystery, some talk of politics. The number of characters that walk in and out of this book is remarkable too. With over 600 pages though I guess that is to be expected. Like many good novelists, he doesn't tie everything up at the end. There are a few loose questions that make you wanna start the whole thing over, or go back 100 pages and reread from there. This is the second book I read by Murakami, the first was sputnik sweetheart. This is far superior, and that isn't to say Sputnik Sweetheart was bad at all, it just speaks to how good this actually is. I definately reccomend this to anyone. Don't let the size fool you. I read it in a little under two weeks. The writing is very engaging and before you know it you have the first 50 pages done. Next up for me... Season with Verona - I am about 220 pages into it, i just read it periodically in breaks when I just want a 10 page soccer break. Spring Snow - Yukio Mishima - I have seen this reccomended numerous times here and am quite excited to read it. And now after reading Murakami I have a real interest in Japaneese novelists. Hopefully this treats me well.
Just remember that you are getting yourself into a big one with this...its the first part of a four part series. Another recommended read by Japanese writers would be The Samurai by Shusaku Endo. You could also read The Tale of Genji, which is the world's oldest novel.
Gail Tsukiyama :Night of Many Dreams and Women of the Silk. One is the story of two Chinese sisters and their families in Hong Kong starting at the second world war. The other is the story of a girl given to the silk world (making silk) b/c her family is very poor and would lose the farm if they kept her and her sister. Both very good books
Just found a box of old college books- Down and Out in Paris and London Animal Farm -- Goerge Orwell Crime and Punishment -- Dosteyevski(???) All Quiet on the Western Front -- Erich Maria Remarque
I just started Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks because I was desparate for a new (to me) sci-fi/fantasy author. I've read just about everything from Herbert, Tolkien, Clarke, Weis/Hickman, Le Guin and a good deal of McCaffery. (I passed on buying Brilliant Orange because of the nearly 30$ price tag. I'm a little broke right now.) Not very far in, but I'm fairly disappointed. The Tolkien influences are so obvious they practically clobber one over the head. Not only that, but the place names are rediculous ("Skull Kingdom"... evil, perhaps?). Maybe it's a bit much to expect more originality in fantasy works - even one written in the mid 70's - but... please? I'll finish the book and see if it's enjoyable enough despite the poor nobody burdened by fate with long difficult journey against unsurmountable odds to save the world when they really don't want the responsibility story. I mean, it's well-written, but IMO just too darn derivative. Anyone got any suggestions in the sci-fi and fantasy genres?
Well, my first suggestion would be to ditch Terry Brooks immediately. He was one of those guys who, back in the 70s, jump started a career by doing 3rd rate Tolkien knock-offs for a publisher with lots of money to spend on promotion. The realm of science fiction and fantasy is pretty thorougly splintered these days, so I just try and find good writing. Two that I am fond of are Sherry Tepper and Guy Gavriel Kay. Also, if you have read enough fantasy to enjoy outstanding parody, run don't walk to your nearest book store and buy some of Terry Pratchett's disk world novels. He does for Tolkien and co what Douglas Adams did for science fiction, only for my money Pratchett is far funnier.
I never would've guessed. That's a big problem with both sci-fi and fantasy, IMO. Lots of volume, but too many cheap knock-offs. It's hard to find the gems. I seem to remember reading something from this fella before. It was decent, IIRC. Quite a bold assertion. Adams is funny as hell, IMO. Will do. Bailey... I stopped reading X-Men comics when I was roughly 14.
Ugh. George R. R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire series. You'll never go back to reading crap like Brooks again. Be forewarned, though, that the series is now awaiting book four of probably six or seven, each book is 700+ pages (hardcover), and Martin uses magic for flavor, it's not the focal point of the story. If you want to get an idea about several authors, look for the Legends compilation. It's a collection of short stories by big-name authors within the worlds of their major series-- a Martin "Ice and Fire" story, a Tad Williams "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" story, a Robert Jordan "Wheel of Time" story, etc.