What'cha Reading?

[King sns]

What book should a person who reads hardly at all (me), read?

Don't even start. It's gotten to be an expensive addicting and time consuming habit for me.

 

[prplchknz]

I just finished middlesex, and the ending has to be in my top 5 favorite endings of all time. Next I'm going to read Breakfast of Champions

 

[Lark]

Don't even start. It's gotten to be an expensive addicting and time consuming habit for me.

I love it!

This is exactly what happened to me too.

 

[Turtledove]

Max Lucado's Facing Your Giants and Charles Dickens Oliver Twist. I'm kind of disappointed in Dickens' work. I really don't like his writing style. Lucado I enjoy his fun witty-ness on how he brings a Bible story to life in a kind of over-exaggerated way to where you can relate to a character.

 

[AphroditeGoneAwry]

^

...don't like Dicken's writing style. that's ballsy.

 

[Dali]

I think I felt similarly about Tehanu at first, and it's still not my favourite but I've come round to it quite a lot. People change, their outlook changes and it recognises that. Perhaps she went a little too far in some respects but I can see what she wanted to do.

You might (or not...) want to read Tales from Earthsea and The Other Wind, which follow Tehanu. It didn't turn out to be the last book. To me, they sort of balanced out between the first trilogy and Tehanu. They reflect the views put forth in Tehanu but relate more to the earlier books, I think. Then again, if you're not into iconoclasm you might have a hard time with some of the stuff in those two books as well. I thought they were beautiful, although I still return with most pleasure to the first three books.

I'm generally not into rewriting of the worldview of my treasured childhood memories. But Le Guin does what she does so well that I at least have to pay attention.

Yes, I did hear relatively recently about the two books you mentioned. I look forward to reading them. Le Guin broke my heart with Tehanu (dramatic much?). Perhaps she could piece it back together. *spoilers ahead* It was heartbreaking seeing Ged reduced as he was, amongst other things. Not to mention the 'draco ex machina' at the end.

Now to look for Tales of Earthsea. I shall rave (or rant) on here soon.

 

[King sns]

Max Lucado's Facing Your Giants and Charles Dickens Oliver Twist. I'm kind of disappointed in Dickens' work. I really don't like his writing style. Lucado I enjoy his fun witty-ness on how he brings a Bible story to life in a kind of over-exaggerated way to where you can relate to a character.

Oh God I can't stand Dickens.

 

[Dali]

I think I might reread Pride & Prejudice or Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys. The former (which fueled my Austen obsession. I only 'discovered' her last year) has the most elegantly penned prose I've ever encountered in literature and the latter had me doubled up with laughter too many times to count. Choices choices...

 

[SilkRoad]

Yes, I did hear relatively recently about the two books you mentioned. I look forward to reading them. Le Guin broke my heart with Tehanu (dramatic much?). Perhaps she could piece it back together. *spoilers ahead* It was heartbreaking seeing Ged reduced as he was, amongst other things. Not to mention the 'draco ex machina' at the end.

Now to look for Tales of Earthsea. I shall rave (or rant) on here soon.

I think it's possible you might feel a bit differently about Tehanu by the time you read all the books. My initial reaction to Tehanu was "bo-ring" but it was a long time ago and I don't think I was more than 10 or 12.

I have an INFJ friend who read all the books in recent years, in relatively quick succession and though she likes all of them a lot she said she liked Tehanu best because it offered a compassionate viewpoint toward the weak... Different strokes I guess. I'd be interested to hear what you think of the others anyway.

I'd have a hard time choosing my favourite book of all. It would almost certainly be one of the first three. In the past it's definitely been The Tombs of Atuan. Still a strong contender.

 

[prplchknz]

the xenophobe's guide to the swiss

 

[Jaguar]

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

 

[SingSmileShine]

I am reading the seventh Harry Potter book (call me a tool all you want - HP is my life) and a compilation of Enlightenment essays. Which is strange to say the least, because I heartily disagree with most Enlightenment values.

 

[crayons]

Life on the Mississippi by Twain

 

[Tiger Owl]

Foxfire: Book 6

Chronicles of traditional mountain living in the Southern Appalachian region.

 

[SilkRoad]

The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard. It's about Scott's Antarctic expedition - he was one of the men who survived.

Also a lot of poetry, including: David Harsent, Louis MacNeice, Paul Celan, Keith Douglas, Lynda Hull, etc.

 

[FDG]

This month I read two of the classics by Jules Verne: Le tour du monde en quatre-vignt jours e voyage au centre de la terre, i had never read them and I wanted to brush up my french. I must say they both have been a thoroughly enjoyable read, I love Verne's subdued sense of humor.

Right now I'm reading "Dark Fire" by C.J. Sansom, part of the Shardlake series - Sansom is such a good writer, sooo british.

 

[Qlip]

"The Ultimate History of Video Games", Steven L. Kent

It's about the Video Game industry, the players, the technology and the lanscapes of the markets at the time. I must be in a suggestible state, as I walk down the isles of major retailers a hallucinatory 'voice' of the author tries to describe to me how those particular items got onto the shelf and how they were marketed.

Also listening to "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" as read by the late Douglas Adams. This one's effect on my mind is even more insidious.

 

[Salomé]

Ingenious Pain ~ Andrew Miller
Pretty decent story. Gorgeous, fruity prose.

 

[bluestripes]

just started a two-part sci-fi series, "the color of distance" and "through alien eyes" by amy thomson.

the prose is somewhat minimalist, but the writer raises some interesting issues re: what does it mean to "be oneself" or, on a broader scale, to "be human". or what should one do if the familiar boundaries between "self" and "other" start to melt and one becomes a walking, breathing third space (in this specific case, in a very direct physical sense, but it could also be read as a metaphor for a less extreme self/other clash).

 

[INTP]

For school:
http://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Integrated-Approach-Michael-Eysenck/dp/0582298849
+
Finnish book about psychiatry.

And for fun:
finnish translation of jungs 'man and his symbols'.
+
http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Eastern-Relating-Testament-Supplement/dp/0691035032