What's on your bookshelf?

[starbug]

Owing to recent 10 and 11 hour flights, and multiple days of 5* relaxation, I have been reading quite prodigiously recently.

I finished 'Alias Grace' by Margaret Atwood, which I thought was good; the sort of book you can't stop thinking about for weeks after you finished reading it, which I like.

I'm also about to finish 'The Power of One' by Bryce Courtenay, which a friend bought me as a gift... initially I thought it was going to be some dreadful departure lounge novel but as I started reading I was gripped pretty quickly. I can't wait to see what happens at the end.

I re-read Great Expectations as a sort of nod towards my life-long ambition to actually get through a Dickens novel by only reading it on the underground. It took months and wasn't worth it.

I'll now be moving on to 'Middlesex' by Eugenides, and 'Roots' by Alex Haley... anybody read these and have comments?

Robert Jordan... I used to go out with someone who was heavily into Robert Jordan, and read the Wheel of Time series as it was released. I never bothered, but he was certainly enthusiastic. Unfortunately he turned out to be a freak in SO many ways so we parted company.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

My friend sent me a copy of Middlesex but I haven't read it yet. We'll have to have a mini book club discussion about it!

[starbug]

My friend sent me a copy of Middlesex but I haven't read it yet. We'll have to have a mini book club discussion about it!

Excellent - I started it this morning so let me know when you've had time to read it and we can have a discussion.

[Nostradamus]

Now digging into Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco (translated from the Italian by William Weaver). I've only scratched the surface of the plot, but already I love the author's style and self-deprecating sense of humor.

Well, Diotallevi and I are planning a reform in higher education. A School of Comparative Irrelevance, where useless or impossible courses are given. The school's aim is to turn out scholars capable of endlessly increasing the number of unnecessary subjects.

The book is fiction, but I'm pretty sure I attended that school. Had I known then what its true purpose was I surely would have graduated with the highest honors.

[Nostradamus]

In the realm of non-fiction, I'm working on Carl Sagan's The Demon Haunted World. It's funny, when he was alive I didn't much care for Sagan's work, but now that he's gone I feel the need to give him another try.

[lance]

Thanks to Candygirl,

I have recently gotten hooked on the Dresden File series by Jim Butcher. Currently I am reading Grave Peril. A mystery series set in contemporary times where the hero is a modern day wizard battling the forces of evil. Plenty of action and humor to keep one engaged.

As it turns out James Marsters (Spike of Buffy fame) reads for the audiobooks for the first two volumes in the series: Storm Front & Fool Moon. He does a really good job, got me through southern Utah on my way out here.

-LanceMan

[Natasha (candygirl)]

Glad you liked them! I am especially glad that they entertained you during your long drive

FYI - JM is set to record Grave Peril in September. It should be available in time for the holidays. In the mean time, Blood Rites (book 6 in the Dresden series) just hit shelves a few weeks ago.

[lance]

Glad you liked them! I am especially glad that they entertained you during your long drive

FYI - JM is set to record Grave Peril in September. It should be available in time for the holidays. In the mean time, Blood Rites (book 6 in the Dresden series) just hit shelves a few weeks ago.

That is so beyond cool! I never, never buy books on tape or cd but I might just have to add this to the Christmas list.

Long live Candygirl, font of knowledge.

-LanceMan

[Natasha (candygirl)]

I was never a book on tape/CD kind of person because I love to read, but listening to James Marsters talk to me, er, read a story to me, is very pleasant. He does a decent job giving each of the characters a different voice too. I have heard the Harry Potter books on tape/CD are great too. I keep meaning to borrow that from my boyfriend's cousin, but I haven't been able to commit to 23 discs.

[Nostradamus]

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by Doctor Oliver Sacks

I've always been fascinated by the workings of the mind and, having recently seen the movie version of Awakenings, this book was a logical next step. This also ties into my artistic education, which has already touched on the functions of the various brain regions and their influence on creative sensory endeavors.

[Jody Barsch*]

It's not on my bookshelf, and probably won't be, but I just read a review in the LA Times on SE Hinton's first book in over 25 years. It is an adult novel entitled Hawkes Harbor. Apparently, there are vampires in this one. What happened to the Curtis boys, the Shepards, M&M and Motorcycle Boy? I guess that was then, and this is now.


On the topic of SE Hinton -- Obvioulsy The Outsiders is the forever loved classic, but I think I enjoy Tex the best.

[Nostradamus]

I've been spending a lot of time gaming online, so my latest read is smallish with lots of pictures.



War Stories -- Reporting in the Time of Conflict From the Crimea to Iraq by Harold Evans.

It's fairly up-to-date, published just last year. A lot of interesting stories-behind-the-stories that don't ordinarily make it to the front page.

[Jody Barsch*]

Although I am currently in the middle of Random Family and NO LOGO, I took the past two days to read Alex Gardner's The Beach. I liked it. (I'm already scheming ways to tie excerpts into my Lord of the Flies unit.) I remember when the movie came out several years ago, that the books' fans complained that it was so different. Wow, I agree. Of course there are the story changes that just make for more dramatic and/or more efficient story telling in the movies (Richard going on the Rice Run with Sal, his affairs with Francoise and Sal, the combining of characters, etc.), but after finishing the book, I was surprised at how significantly the movie version had changed the ending. Hollywood basically changed the nature of man. The Bell Jar is next on my list.

[Jody Barsch*]

Finished Random Family last night. Wow.

Still about 150 pages or so to go in No Logo. Pretty soon it will be Jane Eyre time again.

[SanDeE*]

Over my winter break I've read Snow Falling on Cedars and He's Just Not That Into You. I was just curious about HJNTIY - I have a boyfriend and have never gotten obsessive about men. It was interesting, I disagree with some of it but I also agree with some of it. It is basically just telling women to stop making excuses for jerks they date, and stop hoping they'll come around and change. It tells women to be confident, and that they deserve a good man who loves them, yada yada yada. Pretty good. I also got Me Talk Pretty One Day and The Little Prince for Christmas.