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The last book I read (that wasn't about software development or project management) was a collection of Flannery O'Connor's writings. Although O'Connor was, undoubtedly, a great writer, I do not enjoy the disdain she has for life and her characters. She suffers, in my opinion, from an overabundance of religion. Some writers are religious but don't let it affect their plots and characters so obviously and thoroughly (Walker Percy comes to mind.)
So's, anyways, that's the frequency, Kenneth.
Hello, Collective.
Scott, I just bought a Flannery O'Connor collection. I haven't read it yet, and I don't remember what it's called, because sometimes when I go into a bookstore I enter this fugue state and when I get home I wonder where all the stacks of books came from. True story.
Currently I am rereading the Harry Potter series. Only this time I am reading them aloud to Bug (my unborn child) and to my husband, Charles. I am currently on The Prisoner of Azkaban but I need to speed things up since I only have about 4 weeks until Bug is born and four whole books to go. Reading aloud take a lot longer. If you want a review, ask Heather Anne since I trust her reviews of Harry Potter more than I would trust my own.
Into The Wild by John Krakauer is the most recent, although I've sort of simultaneously been reading 4 others. Which book I'll pick up kinda depends on the mood I'm in when I have a moment to read.
I just finished a book that my 11 year old asked me to read. It is called Rules and is about a girl who has a younger brother with Autism. The book was GREAT. But what was more intersting is my daughter has Autism and she read a book about a "normal" girls perspective on the disorder.
And I just finished Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs. True Story. Very good. Very scary. And it is a TRUE STORY!
Scott, what's interesting to me about Flannery O'Connor's short stories is this theme of really liberal outsiders trying to cope with the fundamentalism of the south. I get that, I really do, because even though I'm a southern insider (so to speak) I spend lots of time trying to cope with the almost innate religious fundamentalism of people around me. O'Connor processes it in a sardonic way, and I'm not sure it's comforting exactly, but I identify with it. Also, any time someone writes a story wherein a Bible salesman steals a woman's wooden leg, well, that's worth talking about.
Jenn, Bug thanks you! I know he does!
Shari, why do lawyers read so many books at the same time? Is it a carryover from law school?
Melissa, what's the name of the book?
The name of the Book is Rules and you are welcome to borrow it from me
I just finished _The Echo Maker_ by Richard Powers. I think he is one of the most underrated living writers, and the book was about a man suffering from a strange form of dementia called "Capgras Syndrome." I also just finished _Saturday_ by Ian McEwan (not as good as I had hoped) and I am almost done with a reread of _The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay_. I highly recommend it too.
My next books is called _How To Put Book Titles In Italics While Leaving Blog Comments_. It looks fascinating.
Dude, you guys all sound like The Finer Things Club. I am not worthy.
Shari, in college one of my professors made me read Into the Wild in addition to what the rest of the class was reading and at first I was all, "this is BS! why do I have to read extra books?" but then I read it and it turned out to be really good.
Oh my god, Jennie, shut up.
Melissa, I would love to read it.
Grad School Reject, I loved The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay! I recently read The Final Solution: A Story of Detection by Michael Chabon, and it was also very good. I read that he is writing a young adult fiction novel with some fantastical content. That? Makes me crazy happy.
Oh, and Melissa? I just started the hard level on Guitar Hero last night. Because I. Am. Awesome.
Heather! Anne! - Go find/read _Summerland_. It is a young adult book written by Chabon around 2001/2002 and it centers around two pre-teens (boy and a girl) and a game of baseball that will decide the fate of the universe. It draws on Norse Mythology and Native American lore for it's fantastical elements and it is great for people who like baseball and young adult lit.
h! a! - i am completely incapable of reading more than one book at a time. i'm am so not smart enough to keep track of everything.
gsr - it's called HTML tags. love them. (also, i'm still working on details for tomorrow night. it's hard to get people to focus on my end.)
Thanks, GSR! I love baseball AND young adult lit. This is my lucky day.
If this works, first round is on me Kat!
The hard level. I know you are talking about level 3, but I think level 2 is hard.
Want to pick up the book at Moes next week. We could eat lunch while we are there!
w00t! free booze for me!
WELCOME TO MOOOOOOOOOOOEEEESSSSSSSSSS!
(i am not drunk, i promise.)
(not yet, anyway.)
(shut up, kat!)
Oh man, Moe's sounds so good right now.
I'm not saying this to be an asshole (because that was last week!), but the last book I read, honestly, was Crime and Punishment.
It's six sections long, and while I thought it started to drag near the end of section two, then it switches perspective and is really great through to the end (except the very end, which bugged me). I think it's really smart and entertaining, and it's a thought-provoking look at why people do the things they do, and whether there are people who are extraordinary or "above the law," so to speak.
The next book I hope to read is Gossip Girl.
'Carpe Diem: Put a Little Latin in Your Life' by Harry Mount. I'm not a language snob or anything, but Latin, being the grand-daddy of all western language, is certainly worth one's attention. Mr. Mount serves up a short-course in the basics with perfect tongue-in-cheek British humor. It was the prospect of that flavor of humor that led me to the book and made it such an enjoyable and enlightening read.
Also, his name's Harry Mount.
Tee.
Hee.
Mystery Girl, I am going to read that this year because it's on the BBC Big Read's list and I keep putting it off. I may have to cut the book up into sections, because (and I know this is sacreligious) that's what I had to do with Anna Karenina. Long books scare me. (Unless they have the name Rowling on the binding.) Gossip Girl will be a nice respite from Dostoevsky. And by "respite" I mean "smut."
Sir, you're just trying to be sexy with your Latin and your talk of British-ness. Well, guess what, it worked.
Um, I am not worthy of all these smart books. I'm currently reading The Lord of the Rings. I just finished the Harry Potter series a few weeks ago. Hello, Post-Potter Depression. Before that, it was anything by Patricia Cornwell. Her older books are better.
One smart book I love - Catcher in the Rye!
Jennie! -- it IS good, isn't it? And please, never shut up.
Also Kat! -- never shut up. Please.
Heather! Anne! -- I think because we all have mild, untreated ADHD. That's my story... oh look, something shiny!!
The last book I read was A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini...you know, the guy that wrote The Kite Runner. It's about 2 women living in Afghanistan and I was seriously hooked from the moment I started it.
Now I'm reading Atonement (Ian McEwan) because I want to read it before I see the movie although now watching the movie will probably annoy the hell out of me depending on what they change. I'm sort of scared to see The Kite Runner because of this too. I hate that.
Courtney! Yay for Harry Potter. The Collective loves us some Harry Potter. I love Hogwarts more than anything in the actual world.
Shari! Jennie has a joke for you about lightbulbs.
Tobi! My sister made me read A Thousand Splendid Suns and I was glad. (Also reminds me that I need to give that book back to her.) I haven't seen Atonement because it's not in a theater near me yet, but lots of the reviews say it is one of the best book-to-screen adaptations ever. So, here's hoping!
Heather Anne - I got this thing called a Slanket for Christmas. It's red. When you put it on, you totally look like a wizard! All I need is a wand and I swear it will take me to Hogwarts! Or Hogsmeade at least.
Shari! How many ADD kids does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Courtney, A Slanket! Where can I get one?!
Courtney - Heather Anne sent me the first three Harry Potter books last June and by mid-September, I'd finished all seven. They were so amazing and the last one ended so well that when I finished it, I threw myself on the bed and wept openly in the most dramatic 19th-century Jane Austen-esque way possible because I knew there would never be another. So, there's certainly no need to sell the Potter-reading short.
Oh, I didn't mean to sell it short!! It rocked my world! Still does, actually.
www.theslanket.com
It is PERFECT for book readers. A blanket with sleeves! AND you look like your favorite HP character!
I feel compelled to comment because:
1. There is a flannery discussion happening and Amanda Mae isn't a part of it (Maybe she is dead?)
2. The last book I read was Into the Wild and I was excited that it was someone else's last book too, AND
3. The next book I am going to read is Crime and Punishment because I was just talking about it with a guy yesterday who said it was the most insightful book he'd ever read.
4. My name is inexplicably saved on this website as CJM, even though I never sign my name that way anywhere ever and I've never commented here before that I can recall. The end.
Cate
Cate - weird. You can change that you know. Just erase the CJM and replace it with Cate!
Sir, Austen-esque? Really? Well, now you're just openly flirting with me.
Courtney, the slanket may be the Most Important Covering of our Time. Just... wow.
Cate, have you commented on any HaloScan comments as CJM? That's why it remembers you. Like, this one time I commented as Hot Pants Hogan and then that name was all over the Internet. (Not really.) I'll read C&P with you.
CJM, I think you meant to say that you want to read Bunny Tales.
Heather Anne:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P...h?
v=Pvro57vihrY
Books? I get my fill:
http://www.booksarefun.com
Customer Code: Gravj1
Jeff, I love you!
Jennie! -- Lightbulbs?! Where??? Oh that reminds me, I need to get a new battery for the garage door opener. Were you saying something?
Batteries for... the garage door opener? Yeah, okay.
Man . . . I just . . . I can't even finish the joke now.
Heh.
HA!
OK, OK... I'm sorry. Jennie!, please finish the joke, I promise I'll pay attention.
(Because I don't have the new battery yet, Heather Anne.)
Sorry.
Heather I think I should tell you that my brother is married and you just told him that you loved him. I don't want you to be misled or anything.....and he lives in Florida, which is not Gerogia and I am pretty sure he is not voting for Hillary (but I could be wrong)
Oh, I know. I love Jeff like I love you: You're both kind, you both make me laugh, and I can kick both your asses at video games.
Whoa, whoa, whoa...."Don't pull your love out on me baby".
We can handle it here. She hears me laughing and says to the kids "He's reading Heather again"
And...next time I'm up there...it's will be time for a Guitar Hero ass kickin' (unless Court's in the room..then we will both be "schooled")
You need to back off the smack talking just a little here. You have never played Jeff in video games and I seem to remember one evening where you left my house sulking because I kicked your ass! (I don't want to talk about the last time you came over.)
We need to make this Graves/Coleman/Hogan game night happen. And I need to practice not swearing at the television. Last time I was over, Courtney had to rebuke me. "No swearing in this house, young lady," she said. Oops. Heh.
Interesting about the lawyerly propensity for multiple books. The answer is kind of chicken-and-eggy, I suspect.
Currently reading: Coyote v. Acme by Ian Frazier; Aphrodite by Isabelle Allende, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, The Four Pillars of Investing by William J. Bernstein and School Days by Robert B. Parker.
Most recently finished, The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers. (If you haven't read anything by him, start with The 13-1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear
(Psst, not to throw off the lawyer-multiple books thing, but I read multiple books at a time I'm not a lawyer . . . I was barely smart enough for 4 years of college, let alone law school)
I am all for the Coleman/Graves/Hogan game night. WHEN?
Emma - and it was awful. I had it figured out from the giddygo. I would like to speak in complete sentences as they do. Also, far too much gossiping.
'Mouse, you had me until Pillars of Investing.
Melissa, we should discuss that over lunch. Email me.
Sally, the thing is... I just... whew... okay... you just said Jane Austen's best novel was... um...I can't repeat it. You know what you said. Everyone has a right to be wrong. Also people have the right to dance provocatively if it resembles art or something. I don't know; it's all first amendment-y. Ask one of these lawyers. Yep, see, good, I forgot that you slammed Jane Austen.
(No, I didn't.)
I didn't slam Jane. I do appreciate her other works, I really do. It was EMMA. And, Emma was far superior to, let's say, Scarface (which I threw off the bow of a sailboat, into the Atlantic Ocean), but, gee whiz, Emma was tedious. How is it better than Pride and Prejudice?
Now, give me some Bronte or Tolstoy, Virgina Woolf or Dickens....
First--Tobi, don't worry about Atonement. They did a fantastic job with the adaptation.
Second: here's mine!!!
http://narfna.livejournal.com/12...com/
125987.html
Wow, I just looked back at what I read in the last year, and I'm not so delighted. Except for two: A Girl Names Zippy, recommended by Heather Anne! and a mouthful of laughs (both Zippy AND Heather Anne). The other is The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai, which is the finest and most accurate tast of India I've had since I was in India a few years ago.
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