Book thread

[TrixieFaux]

I really should read more rather than spending all my extra time on the computer! The last book I finished was Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen...it was really good. I also loved The Corrections by him. My next book I want to read is Just Kids, by Patti Smith. We have it, I just need to read it. I know I'm going to love it. Anyone here read it? Sorry if it has already been mentioned, I have not gone back to read this whole thread!

PS. Some other all-time favorites that spring to mind are: Geek Love, by Katherine Dunn, Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon.

[Graeme]

I really should read more rather than spending all my extra time on the computer! The last book I finished was Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen...it was really good. I also loved The Corrections by him. My next book I want to read is Just Kids, by Patti Smith. We have it, I just need to read it. I know I'm going to love it. Anyone here read it? Sorry if it has already been mentioned, I have not gone back to read this whole thread!

Just Kids is goddamned amazing. I can't really say enough good things about that book...if you're into Patti Smith you're going to love it as a given, but her whole depiction of being a poor artist in New York in the 60s, her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe, it's just incredible.

[TrixieFaux]

Just Kids is goddamned amazing. I can't really say enough good things about that book...if you're into Patti Smith you're going to love it as a given, but her whole depiction of being a poor artist in New York in the 60s, her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe, it's just incredible.

Great, that's what I thought. Which reminds me, I also love the book Please Kill Me, by Legs McNeil about the beginnings of punk rock.

[taaarro]

Yes! Just Kids is great and makes the old New York sound sooo good. I'm currently reading Justin Spring's Secret Historian: The Life and Times of Samuel Steward, Professor, Tattoo Artist, and Sexual Renegade. Steward's tattooist name was Phil Sparrow and his life is completely astonishing. A great read for anyone interested in Phil Sparrow, Gertrude Stein, Alfred Kinsey, or gay culture in the 1950s among other things.

[Pugilist]

Just Kids is one of my favourite books I've read in a long time. It gave me amazing dreams.

[HaydenRose]

Scratch that. I'm halfway through A Storm of Swords. Can't keep these titles straight...

[Graeme]

Yes! Just Kids is great and makes the old New York sound sooo good. I'm currently reading Justin Spring's Secret Historian: The Life and Times of Samuel Steward, Professor, Tattoo Artist, and Sexual Renegade. Steward's tattooist name was Phil Sparrow and his life is completely astonishing. A great read for anyone interested in Phil Sparrow, Gertrude Stein, Alfred Kinsey, or gay culture in the 1950s among other things.

Secret Historian is great too. I read Sam Steward's book Bad Boys and Tough Tattoos after reading it and I think it helped me to understand that book a little bit better...it's a little bit odd as a tattoo book without that knowledge.

[iowagirl]

I like horror, sci fi, fantasy, and detective novels. Stephen King, Robert R McCammon, Sue Grafton, Piers Anthony, John Sanford, Robert B Parker, Lee Child, old Dragonlance are some that I enjoy.

[Pleadco]

I will agree with with the Neil Gaiman fans (Neverwhere is my fave). I've been feeling a little too a.d.d. lately to trudge through the game of thrones' bazillion plot lines, and Rothfuss is pretty good. It was cool to see King finish out the Dark Tower finally (grew up on that stuff).

Favorite stuff on my shelf:

David Eddings- the belgariad series. The distinct personalities and how they interact will make you smile.

Christopher Moore- anything by him :). Specifically though, "Lamb." Jesus learns Kung fu and meets a yeti.

A. Lee Martinez is a close runner up for the laugh-factor.

Julian May's Pliocene Exile saga is my favorite scifi.

For the kindle owners I highly recommend "Legion" by Brandon Sanderson. It's a short story about a genius who creates dozens of personalities to compartmentalize his knowledge so he doesn't go crazy.

Aside from that my shelves are a hodge podge of comics, manga, martial arts books, and Taoist studies.

[Ablion]

I am reading a very famous love story book "Twilight".... I also watch all its movie parts so when i read this movie all the characters came into my mind and i it feel me more interesting.

[Delicious]

Kindred by Octavia Butler is a great book. Really anything I've read from her is amazing

[kylegrey]

Just finished The Devil all the Time by Donald Ray Pollock which is kind of Flannery O ' Connor meets Natural born Killers . William Gay described it as " Hits you like a telegram from Hell " which is pretty apt as it reads like the World Series of depravity . It's very dark but for all that flows with a beautiful cadence and the intertwining characters blend together in a book that's well written and highly memorable .

[Abellve]

Fiction: Wise Blood and The Violent Bear it Away by Flannery O'Connor, Geek Love by Katherine Dunne

Nonfiction: The Necessity of Madness and Unproductivity by John Breeding and Young Lords: A Reader edited by Darrel Enck-Wanzer

I don't read nearly as much as I'd like to though.

[Mark Bee]

Kindred by Octavia Butler is a great book. Really anything I've read from her is amazing

Great book! Have you read "Parabel of the Sower?" Its my favourite by Butler.

Well, I've finally started into Game of Thrones after thoroughly enjoying the tv show. So far I am quite enjoying it.

[Pleadco]

Neil Gaiman has a new one out: "the ocean at the end of the lane." For the several gaiman fans out there.

[injek]

I just started reading Joyland by Stephen King. I have to say, I think it's his best book in a while. If you've any interest in his work, I'd highly recommend giving it a go.

[Badtaste]

I'm on book 3 of the Malazan book of the fallen, by Steven Erickson. It's amazing, highly recommend to anyone looking for a series after they're done with a song of fire and ice. The first book is a bit of a struggle haha, but if you can get through it it's so worth it!

[hogg]

For father's day, my wife gave me a copy of The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt. As it says on the front cover, "If Cormac McCarthy had a sense of humor, he might have concocted a story like Patrick deWitt's bloody, darkly funny western." I love it, and i think that @dcostello and @Jake might, too.

[iowagirl]

I just started reading Joyland by Stephen King. I have to say, I think it's his best book in a while. If you've any interest in his work, I'd highly recommend giving it a go.

I love him, can't wait to read it.

[Tight-Lines]

For father's day, my wife gave me a copy of The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt. As it says on the front cover, "If Cormac McCarthy had a sense of humor, he might have concocted a story like Patrick deWitt's bloody, darkly funny western." I love it, and i think that @dcostello and @Jake might, too.

I just ordered it. Thank for the recommendation.

[exume]

Still slowly pushing through a Dance with Dragons, not that its a bad book, I love the series, but I haven't been compelled to pick it up in a while. I made more progress when I was splitting time between these and whatever Christopher Moore I had lying around.

[Delicious]

Still slowly pushing through a Dance with Dragons, not that its a bad book, I love the series, but I haven't been compelled to pick it up in a while. I made more progress when I was splitting time between these and whatever Christopher Moore I had lying around.

a dance with dragons is so good. I wasn't big on a feast for crows, I thought it dragged in places, still a 7/10 in my book.

[HaydenRose]

Still slowly pushing through a Dance with Dragons, not that its a bad book, I love the series, but I haven't been compelled to pick it up in a while. I made more progress when I was splitting time between these and whatever Christopher Moore I had lying around.

Same here, I'm about 1/4 of the way through it. Such a monster of a book.

[Graeme]

I'm on book 3 of the Malazan book of the fallen, by Steven Erickson. It's amazing, highly recommend to anyone looking for a series after they're done with a song of fire and ice. The first book is a bit of a struggle haha, but if you can get through it it's so worth it!

I just bought the first book of this series because of this, thanks for the recommendation.

[Mark Bee]

I've got to stop reading this thread for a little while. I've got a ridiculous stack of e-reads piling up on my kindle.