What are you reading?

Phil DeBlanque

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3rd'ed about On Writing. Very good, down-to-earth ideas, tips and tales.

I'm reading Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson; so far, so good
 

childeroland

What happened to my LIFE?!
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John Goldthwaite's Natural History of Make-believe.
 

LaceWing

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Umberto Eco, The Island of the Day Before (English translation) -- only just started; I'm getting a metafictional feeling the author is simultaneously doing a character exploration while writing the character's story. But Eco is like that. (see Strange Walks in the Fictional Woods)
 

Ageless Stranger

Dave Brubeck kicks your ass.
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Children of Hurin, The Long Goodbye and No Country for Old Men.

One of those is allowing the other two to not suck my brain out.

Also I believe I have a defective copy of NCOM. There's no punctuation in it. At all.
 

cyates

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A Million Little Pieces, and, when it bothers me, Robertson Davies' Fifth Business.
 

TerzaRima

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Antony Beevor's new book about the fall of Berlin. Rape rape pillage starve torture starve, rape, lather, rinse, repeat. Oh, and the Americans ensure that the Russians get Berlin.

It's depressing as hell but fascinating.
 

freezer burned

Bananas, good sir. Bananas.
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I just got done reading Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. I had trouble getting into it for a good portion of the book, but the farther in I got, the more I liked it. I abhorred Anse Bundren, though. Hated, hated, hated him.

I'm starting on Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms. My library is pretty limited, but hopefully I'll be able to get James Joyce's Ulysses or William S. Burroughs's Naked Lunch through inter-library loan. My hopes aren't set high, though -- the libraries of rural southern Missouri really aren't good at all.
 

childeroland

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Probably not defective. McCarthy is not a fan of quotation marks, commas, and semi-colons.

If you like that, you should try his Suttree.

Also I believe I have a defective copy of NCOM. There's no punctuation in it. At all.
 

WriterInChains

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Re-reading Anita Shreve's Body Surfing for a group discussion on Wed. I thought it was okay the first time through but this time I'm blown away by the layers. Uncle Jim says to have someone eating a crab sandwich in the beginning if someone dies of cancer by the end, and that's exactly what she's doing. Great book.
 

Ol' 61

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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Again.

Can't wait for the movie!

Cecilia
 

Myasandar

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I am re-reading Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn. She has such a beautiful way of words and writing I'm completely blown away with jealousy!

I love this series.
 

Cranky

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The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
 

TerzaRima

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For my birthday, I received a gift certificate to my favorite local independent bookstore. I bought:

The Slaves' War, by Andrew Ward. Yes, I'm the kind of predictable sheep that buys a book after seeing the author interviewed by Jon Stewart, so kill me. I've got this one going just as I'm finishing the Beevor--it's fascinating and so far, I would recommend it.

The Collected Short Stories of J.F. Powers. Many years ago, when I met Mary Gordon, she said that JF Powers was one of her favorites. Until now I've only been able to track down a few of his stories. They are miniature portraits of what is now a lost world--the pre-Vatican II Church and the airless lives of its priests. I'm looking forward to breaking these open one by one.

Moral Disorder and Other Stories, by Margaret Atwood. Because, well, Margaret Atwood! Nuff said.

Cooking Light magazine.