What's on your bookshelf?

Discuss your favorite books, stories and other literary matters here. Recommend reading material to other forum users. What's on your bookshelf?
User avatar
kidbro77
Three Rivers Resident
Posts: 52
Joined: Oct 30th 2002, 7:21 pm
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Contact:

"A Room without books, is like a body without soul.&quo

Post by kidbro77 » Dec 13th 2002, 4:45 pm

Hey I want in on this too! I love books! And it's so nice to see that in this age of technology, there are others out there who are still as enthusiastic about books as the next bookworm!

My bookshelf favourites that haven't already been mentioned include:

- A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (really thick book from this Indo-Canadian author, about India in the 1970s and the stories of these four people whose lives get intertwined. I totally relished this book, not wanting it to end!)

- Barrel Fever by David Sedaris (hillarious and saucy short stories that literally made me laugh out loud on the bus one day, causing everyone to turn their heads and stare at me)

- Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (if you haven't heard of this one, where have you been hiding? This is like an amazing modern Japanese fairy tale!)

- The Beach by Alex Garland (if you haven't seen the movie, read the book first, it's worth it! The movie is nice to look at, but the book is definitely a page turner!)

- Miss Spider's Tea Party by David Kirk (got kids? check out this book. It helps teach kids to count and at the same time provides us with the moral that it's not nice to judge someone without knowing them)
-------------------------------
Blog: http://www.livejournal.com/users/oyvavoy

User avatar
TomSpeed
Marshall Wannabe
Posts: 1226
Joined: Jan 13th 2003, 3:37 pm
Location: Owings Mills, MD
Contact:

Post by TomSpeed » Jan 25th 2003, 4:52 pm

I am constantly reading. Right now I have three books in progress. I'm reading Ambrose's biography of Claire (pretty much stuff I already know, but still interesting), Chabon's Mysteries of Pittsburg, and King's Everything's Eventual. I am a sucker for Stephen King.

I love the fact that Diary of Anne Frank plays a promient role in MSCL. Children and teenagers today simply seem to have lost interest in reading. I find their lack of almost any books, excpet for Harry Potter, somewhat disturbing. Don't get me wrong, I don't think everybody needs to know classic books by heart. However, I think reading books leads the mind to thinking so much better than most of the stuff on TV these days.

I have many books by Walker Percy (Moviegoer, Last Gentleman, etc.), Anne Rice (Vampire Chronicles, Mayfair Witches), John Grisham, Pat Conroy (Beach Music, Lords of Discipline, Great Santini), and Carson McCullers (Collected Stories, Member of the Wedding, Heart is a Lonely Hunter), and many books by John Irving amongst my tales of horror from Stephen King on my bookshelves.

I'd have to say that The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is probably my favorite novel. I first read this book during my senior year in high school. It made such an impact on me that I wanted to read all of the books Carson McCullers had written. My teacher really taught the book. For doing that, I've always been grateful.
TomSpeed

Patty: If Rayanne's not seeing you, and we're not seeing you, who is seeing you?
Graham: And how much of you?
Angela: Dad!
Graham: Oh, I'm sorry! I asked a question about your life, didn't I? Woah, what came over me?
http://www.last.fm/user/TomSpeed/

User avatar
lance
Ed Zwick Wannabe
Posts: 1983
Joined: Jul 6th 2002, 4:47 pm
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
Contact:

books

Post by lance » Jan 25th 2003, 9:03 pm

Hey all,

Right now I am taking a class called Library Services to Young Adults. This means I get to read all kinds of books for class, including graphic novels, Simpsons anyone?

When I am not in pursuit of higher degrees I lean toward science fiction and fantasy books. Anyone been reading the Dune books with Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert? Definately worth your time if you liked the first Dune book.

Best,

Lance Man

User avatar
TomSpeed
Marshall Wannabe
Posts: 1226
Joined: Jan 13th 2003, 3:37 pm
Location: Owings Mills, MD
Contact:

Post by TomSpeed » Jan 25th 2003, 9:39 pm

I really liked Frank Herbert and Bill Ransom's trilogy: The Jesus Incident (I've read that one 5-6 times), The Lasarus Effect, and The Ascension Factor. I've yet to read Herbert's Dune series. I've been meaning to read them though. Maybe I'll tackle them during the Summer.
TomSpeed

Patty: If Rayanne's not seeing you, and we're not seeing you, who is seeing you?
Graham: And how much of you?
Angela: Dad!
Graham: Oh, I'm sorry! I asked a question about your life, didn't I? Woah, what came over me?
http://www.last.fm/user/TomSpeed/

User avatar
fnordboy
Ed Zwick Wannabe
Posts: 1954
Joined: Sep 25th 2002, 10:29 am
Location: Exit 16E, NJ
Contact:

Post by fnordboy » Jan 26th 2003, 2:57 am

I might have already answered this thread a while back..but what the hell.

Right now I have been reading or am heavily into:

Philip K. Dick (and no not because on Minority Report..actually one of the few things of his I havent read). Highlights include Valis, Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, Confessions of a Crap Artist, Man in the High Castle

Herman Hesse currently rereading Narcissus and Goldmund. Highlights include SteppenWolf, Narcissus and Goldmund, and Siddhartha.

James Joyce. The standards :)

Dennis Cooper. Highlights include everything basically, but essentially Frisk, Guide and Closer

Jeff Noon. Highlights include Vurt, Nymphomation, Needle in the Groove, and am currently reading his latest Falling Out of Cars, which I am thoroughly enjoying.

Marquis de Sade. Can't go by every year or so without rereading Dialogue Between a Priest and a Dying Man. Beautiful stuff.

Neil Gaiman. Highlights: Good Omens and American Gods.

Robert Anton Wilson. Essential reading: Illuminatus! Trilogy (my bible). Other highlights: Schrodinger's Cat, Cosmic Trigger series, Right Where You Are Sitting Now, and Reality is What You Can Get Away With.

Malaclypse the Younger. Never leave home without it: Principia Discordia, or How I Found the Goddess and What I Did To Her When I Found Her.

Georges Bataille. Can never go wrong with surrealism on your shelf. Highlights: Story of an Eye, My Mother, Madame Edwarda and the Dead Man.

A bunch of non-fiction bookms on Quantum Physics and biographies and a bunch of occult books (Phil Hine, Peter J. Carroll, Aleister Crowley, Regardie, Frater U.'.D.'., Austin Osmond Spare, and more).

Thats a SMALL selection of books I have, i have a very, very large collection of books. I love to read. At any one time I am reading atleast 3 or 4 books. Never take a break.

Remember kids: Knowledge is sexy

RyeBlume
Three Rivers Resident
Posts: 60
Joined: Jan 13th 2002, 5:16 pm
Contact:

Post by RyeBlume » Jan 26th 2003, 5:48 pm

For those of you that like crime stories and mysteries but get sick of the standard cliches involved with that genre... I highly reccomend Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem. It has really caught me by surprise this weekend. It has great character development and an intriguing plot line. The main character has Tourette's syndrome so it is very amusing as well :D
"Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach that person to use the internet and they won't bother you for weeks."

User avatar
starbug
Lifehead
Posts: 1082
Joined: Jun 25th 2002, 4:51 am
Location: UK

Post by starbug » Jan 27th 2003, 6:05 am

Just finished 'The Handmaid's Tale' by Margaret Attwood. I'd recommend it to anyone. It's a novel set in an alternative future where women are totally supressed and exist only to provide children.

It's good, but shocking.

---------------------------------------------
http://www.urban-hills.blogspot.com
---------------------------------------------

User avatar
fnordboy
Ed Zwick Wannabe
Posts: 1954
Joined: Sep 25th 2002, 10:29 am
Location: Exit 16E, NJ
Contact:

Post by fnordboy » Jan 27th 2003, 11:49 am

starbug wrote:Just finished 'The Handmaid's Tale' by Margaret Attwood. I'd recommend it to anyone. It's a novel set in an alternative future where women are totally supressed and exist only to provide children.
It's an alternative future how? ;)

Actually I did see the movie of this quite a few years back and enjoyed it. Always planned to read the book, never got around to it. Now maybe I will have to.

User avatar
starbug
Lifehead
Posts: 1082
Joined: Jun 25th 2002, 4:51 am
Location: UK

Post by starbug » Jan 27th 2003, 11:58 am

fnordboy wrote:It's an alternative future how? ;)
:D I see your point...

And I read on the cover that it had been made into a movie - I'd quite like to see it now I've read the book. Does it go by the same name? I sense my local blockbuster won't stock it... but it's worth a shot.

---------------------------------------------
http://www.urban-hills.blogspot.com
---------------------------------------------

User avatar
fnordboy
Ed Zwick Wannabe
Posts: 1954
Joined: Sep 25th 2002, 10:29 am
Location: Exit 16E, NJ
Contact:

Post by fnordboy » Jan 27th 2003, 12:30 pm

starbug wrote: And I read on the cover that it had been made into a movie - I'd quite like to see it now I've read the book. Does it go by the same name? I sense my local blockbuster won't stock it... but it's worth a shot.
Yep goes by the same name. Blockbuster might have it. I think one of the ones by me had it. But I really havent been in a Blockbuster in years, so I don't know.

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0099731

User avatar
lance
Ed Zwick Wannabe
Posts: 1983
Joined: Jul 6th 2002, 4:47 pm
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
Contact:

Great book

Post by lance » Jan 29th 2003, 9:41 am

Hey all,

I just wanted to bring an amazing book that I would recommend to anyone who wants a spectacular read. This is the best book I have read in the past ten years.

The book is Friends and Family: True Stories of Gay America's Straight Allies by Dan Woog. This book contains 35 stories of 35 heterosexual people who have made a difference in the lives of everyday people, gay and straight. Several stories focus on parents who lost their gay children to suicide and AIDS and about how they tried to make this world easier for other parents with Gay children. This book also makes you think about types of situations and families that are becoming more common.

Another story deals with a straight man raised by a Gay father and lesbian mother and how he has formed a support group for those straight children of gay parents. People from across the spectrum of American geographic, political, religious and racial life share their stories.

No matter what your feelings are on this subject this book will give you something to think about. Many websites are listed if you want to read up more and from your own opinion on the subject. Take a look and see what you think.

Best,

Lance Man

User avatar
Megs
Lifehead
Posts: 1185
Joined: Jun 30th 2002, 11:35 am
Location: NOVA
Contact:

Post by Megs » Jan 29th 2003, 12:59 pm

Not a scholarly book, but I just finished Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood, and I found it extremely entertaining and enjoyable.

Also, when Mr. Megs and I were at Target the other week, I was casually walking by the book section and saw Forever by Judy Blume. I had to buy it. When I was in 7th grade, my friends and I passed that book around the lunch table. It both shocked and amused us at the same time. See, I never had the sex talk with my parents. So at 11, I had NO IDEA what sex even WAS. Like, what actually happened during sex. :wink: Judy Blume taught me all that. I bought the book and read it in one sitting on a Friday night while Mr. Megs watched Barbershop. :lol:

I don't know why I wrote all of that, but I figured some of you might relate or appreciate it. :oops:
"I have all these dreams where I know exactly what to say. And you tell me, you know, that you forgive me."

User avatar
mglenn
MSCL.com Team
MSCL.com Team
Posts: 552
Joined: May 25th 1999, 4:46 pm
Location: Butler, PA ( AKA: Three Rivers, PA )
Contact:

Post by mglenn » Jan 29th 2003, 1:14 pm

My recent reads include:

Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand

Childhood's End - A. C. Clark An interesting read that leaves you feeling like the character of the book.

Red Rabbit - Tom Clancy Didn't care for it much, but I believe its a setup for the next several books...

Prey - Michael Chichton Fun even if the the science was a bit off

The Cell - John Miller and Michael Stone Findout how much we really did know about 9/11 and how the FBI screwed up in not following leads.

Currently reading: 1632 - Eric Flint
"When I disagree with a rational man, I let reality be our final arbiter; if I am right, he will learn; if I am wrong, I will; one of us will win, but both will profit." - Ayn Rand

User avatar
Natasha (candygirl)
MSCL.com Team
MSCL.com Team
Posts: 5374
Joined: Dec 7th 2001, 3:05 am
Location: California

Post by Natasha (candygirl) » Jan 29th 2003, 4:10 pm

:shock:

Megs, I remember reading Forever when I was in middle school. Thankfully my mom did educate me about sex ed, but the book was an eye opener about what sex was REALLY like.

I enjoyed the Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood - have you seen the movie yet? I read the book a few years ago so I was anticipating the movie, especially with Ashley Judd. As usual, the book was better but the movie was decent. Have you read Little Altars Everywhere? It was kind of a let-down after reading Ya-Ya. The downside of the Ya-Ya movie: women randomly yelling "YA YA!"

:evil:
Natasha aka candygirl :: MSCL.com

Look, if this is weird for you, being tutored? I don't mind helping you a little longer.
You could have sex with me if you really want to help...I guess that's a "no"?

User avatar
Megs
Lifehead
Posts: 1185
Joined: Jun 30th 2002, 11:35 am
Location: NOVA
Contact:

Post by Megs » Jan 29th 2003, 5:14 pm

candygirl - I do that all the time to drive my husband nuts. I will randomly yell, "YA YA!" at the top of my lungs and raise my arms. He is not amused. :wink:

I loved Divine Secrets. I was reading the part about Jack, and then Vivi's 16th b-day party (I won't go into more detail, b/c I don't want to spoil it for anyone), and I was bailing... in the middle of the gym! I couldn't help it.

Best quote from the movie, "There ain't a goddamn breeze in the entire state of Louisiana" said in that great Sounthern accent. That made me laugh.

I haven't read Little Altars yet. I was thinking about it.

The book was so much better than the movie. I could see how it was difficult for the screenwriter to put everything in the movie, but the book was still so much better. Same goes for A Walk to Remember. Cried like a baby when I read the book. Cried a little at the end of the movie.

Yeah, I'm a sap. So what?

:D
"I have all these dreams where I know exactly what to say. And you tell me, you know, that you forgive me."

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests