Books, books, books
 

What are you reading lately? What have you read this year? :)

I just finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy and it was terrifying, however, tender. Highly recommend that one, loved it to pieces. It's the kind of book you finish and keep thinking about days later. I'm about to start the fourth volume in The Diary of Virginia Woolf and The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

Oh goody, another book nerd! I got a Kindle for my birthday and it's been the bst thing for me cause I read a lot. Anyways, I do sort of miss holding a book, but I can turn the page with the press of a button and the screen even looks like a page.

Anyways, I'm reading on it right now Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin (yeah, I enjoy chick-lit, but she seems to write ones that get you thinkinga bit too). I think I'm abou 78% through it and i's very good so far, but what happens in the end is really gonna bug me till I finish it.

Now, since you're a reader too, I'm thinking of reading a classic next, but should I go with War of the Worlds or Frankenstein?

It's been a few years since I've actually sat down & read a book, but here's the last three I read:

The Source by James Michener

On The Road by Jack Kerouac

which inspired me to read: Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac

OOOPS! I lied, I momentarily forgot that I read both Eric Clapton's & Patti Boyd's autobiographies since I've read those three. Ok, so those previous three were the last FICTION books I read.

Definitely a book nerd myself ;) I've heard of Emily Giffin but haven't read her yet. I vote for Frankenstein! Mary Shelly was extraordinary. Not that War of the Worlds wasn't great too. Barnes and Noble often have classics at the front of the store dirt cheap (and in lovely hardcover!) However, I can totally see the excitement of the text on a Kindle.

Frankenstein! That's one of my all-time favorite novels.

I'm currently rereading Anita Diamant's The Red Tent but after that, I'm going to start The Fountainhead. My favorite books of all time:The Great Gatsby [/U][/U](and anything else Fitzgerald ever touched), White Oleander by Janet Fitch and, best of all, The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje. I love his novel Anil's Ghost as well.

I loved On The Road. How was Dharma Bums? I've never read that!

Speaking of biographies, if anybody is a fan of Julie Andrews, read her memoir A Home. She talks about WWII and her childhood in the theater and all that loveliness, so good.

Too creepy. I am also in love with The English Patient, White Oleander, and The Great Gatsby. Those are some of my favorite books ever. Janet Fitch is so poetic. Have you read her other novel, Paint it Black? It's great if you get the chance! I just read The English Patient this year and basically fell in love with every word. Haven't read Anil's Ghost yet but it's on my list.

The Red Tent, I've heard good things. Loved The Fountainhead but it's quite a heavy read. Admittedly, I love Ayn Rand but I enjoy her 'thinner' fiction, lol.

I'm being my usual and flaky self, so I have a couple on the go at the moment.

* The Idiot -Fyodor Dostoevsky
* My Life And Adventures In Fleetwood Mac - Mick Fleetwood
* The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime (rereading for the hundredth time)
* Ariel - Sylvia Plath

Forgot to put in Dani's comment, but Frankenstein it is! I used to read the B&N brand classics all the time (had Dracula, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Pride and Prejudice, etc.) and they were dirt cheap too.

Yeah, the Kindle's text, aside from reading like a page, can also be zoomed in too. Y'see, I'm very nearsighted and, while glasses and contacts correct it fine, I still have trouble reading small print (no mass market paperbacks or small-faced watches for me lol). So, the Kindle allows me to zoom (I only do it a bit) so i could read the print more easily, and on top of it all, it's the reason why I got my grandma wanting one.

It's similar to On The Road...not quite as easy of a read...the "flow of consciousness" is a little more disjointed than in On The Road

Of his works, I've also read The Subterranians & Desolation Angels both of which were very good...but very tough to get through...had to read each page a couple of times to get the gist of what he was describing. The only book of his I couldn't finish (or even get past chapter 2) was Visions Of Cody.

I read The Help recently. I found it enjoyable; a few parts were a little too saccharine, but there were also some genuinely moving passages. The Road was fantastic....beautifully hopeful and hopeless.

I'm currently reading The English Teacher by Lily King. It's okay so far.

As far as all-time favorites go, I like many of the ones mentioned here already. (Such good taste we have!) The Great Gatsby is easily in my top five. I really, really like Tender is the Night too.

I LOVE TENDER IS THE NIGHT.


And Kayli, I've been meaning to check out Paint It Black. I actually have a tattoo on my ribcage of a quote from The English Patient in my own handwriting :)

I just reread Mick's book for the second time. Love it. And anything Sylvia Plath, especially all of Ariel, is perfect. You have good taste! ;)

So cool you've read so much of his work! I need more Kerouk in my life.

Yeah, I fell in love with the dialogue in The Road, that hopelessness mixed with that kind of emotion was brilliant. Ohhh I love Tender is the Night! I also recommend Fitzgerald's The Beautiful and Damned, similar to Gatsby in context but great on its own. At least once.

Are you serious? That is so awesome! I'm jealous and I haven't seen it. If it's not too much trouble, I'd love to see a picture! What passage? What quote? Love this, lol.

Interesting about the Kindle. I didn't know you could zoom in and zoom out and so forth (I mean, that makes sense but I didn't know it, lol). I'm far-sighted, so I know the struggle, however, at a distance :laugh: And by distance I mean six feet away!