I'm rereading Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange for the first time in about three decades. I finally bought an edition that has that 21st chapter - the one that was left out of the American edition when the book was first published. I have to see how this changes the book's feel.
Not ready, but listening to Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy. Yes, a bit dated (there's still East and West Germany) but I enjoyed reading it many years ago, and am enjoying it again.
My friend let me borrow some old copies of Asimov's Science Fiction, and I've been reading those for the past week. If I'm lucky, one day they'll decide to publish me.
I'm now reading a fantasy novel by one of our dear members here? It's Flank Hawk: A First Civilization's Legacy Novel by Terry W. Ervin II. Pretty damned good thus far, I'm at the beginning of Chapter Two. ...Now would be a good time to admit that outside this fantasy series, the only other fantasy series I've read were Harry Potter and The Inheritance Cycle. I'm behind the times, I know.
That's one of my favorite Palahniuk books! Really grabs you in the beginning with "Guts", doesn't it? He used to read that part out loud at book readings and some people would pass out. I wrote a book report on A Clockwork Orange in high school, and my English teacher told us that the main characters in novels all changed somehow by the end of the novels and we had to mention how in our book reports. I tried to explain to him that my novel was missing the last chapter, and at the time I had no way of reading the last chapter, therefore my character did not change. He just looked at me like I was an idiot. He didn't believe me. He insisted my character changed and I would have to explain how. I still remember that to this day. He was such a bad teacher. Anyway, the last chapter makes a big difference in Alex's overall character arc. Enjoy! I am currently reading Light Before Day by Christopher Rice. Meh. I liked his first book, but the ones I've read since haven't grabbed me. Why does he constantly have to tell me exactly where in California different scenes are set? I don't care. I don't know my way around California. I don't care what town or road the characters are in or on. It's meaningless to me.
The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by Jose Saramago. This is my second book by Saramago (the first was Blindness), and all I have to say is that this guy sure can write! The passage depicting the crucifixion of Christ is absolutely stunning and one of the best passages I've come across in recent memory.
Everyone, I'm being serious, read Earth Abides by George R. Stewart. It's been one of the most pleasant reading surprises in recent memory for me!
Fatal Enquiry by Will Thomas, it's a murder mystery set in Victorian London. Glorious by Jeff Guinn. It's a Western about a formerly rich guy used to the high life now on the run from seedy sorts. Snowblind by Christopher Golden. It's a supernatural horror story set in Massachusetts involving ghosts and blizzards. Stephen King even has a recommendation for it on the front cover. American Crucifixion by Alex Beam. It's about the 1844 murder of Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism in America. Ancient Egypt: Everyday Life in the Land of the Nile by Bob Brier and Hobbs. Just as it says on the title. It's about everyday life in Ancient Egypt.
John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids. The 1951 novel was written six years before the first artificial satellite was launched into orbit, but it predicts orbital weapons of mass destruction and weaponized biotechnology. If you've only seen the classic movie, or never have, then read the novel.
Gregory Maguire's "Wicked." The musical made me check it out. I'm almost finished with it and am enjoying it, especially the humor and frankness about sexuality.
That's a fun novel! Not sure if it was the Russianness of it, but it felt refreshing after all the American urban fantasy titles I had read before that. I also read it in English 'cause, sadly, I don't know Russian. Currently I'm reading Väinö Linna's Tuntematon sotilas (the English title is The Unknown Soldier) and Stieg Larsson's Män som hatar kvinnor (the English title is Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). Though, it's pretty unusual for me to have two non-English books underway at the same.
Robert Frost's collection New Hampshire. I have Frost's complete works in a Library of America edition, and since this is a big, comprehensive collection of books I'll name them individually for my own sanity's sake as I go through this book. So far, I must be honest, I'm not sure what to think. I didn't really care much for the first poem in the collection, there were some good lines, but on the whole the poem lost me. Still, Frost is one of my favourites, so I'm going to persevere.
Terry Pratchett's Monstrous Regiment. Sooo funny. I love me some cross dressing. This book makes me want to read Twelfth Night again. Lol.
Ooh I loved this book! Peter Benchley can sure write a page turner. I actually loved his The Island better but the movie version of that stank ( even though I love Michael Caine ) I'm reading Art & Fear. It's quite eye opening.
I'm only 62 pages in, but there are multiple instances where it gets bogged down in unnecessary detail. I understand the need to develop Amity as a community, but this could have been handled with a bit more brevity. Another example is all the info we get on Ellen Brody, who (if it's anything like the movie) is a total non-factor in the fight against the shark. So then, why all this time spent with a secondary character? And this was before the main protagonist - Chief Brody - was even introduced. Very odd. Makes me appreciate the film adaptation even more (if that's even possible). Both otherwise, yes, very solid book that moves easily when important things are happening. I'm enjoying it.
Just finished Ovid's Metamorphosis. I really don't know what I think of this book. It's changed me, but I'm not sure how, and I'm not sure I liked all of it I must be honest, other parts I loved. The more famous stories definitely overshadowed the lesser stories, and the whole meaning of the poem is forever changing I think - which means certain things are elusive to the point of meaninglessness. I don't know what else to say about it, and that I find rather worrying. This book has beat me, I have no idea what journey I have just finished or what my response was to it. I just ... I don't know. I think that now I've read this I'm going to set the entire field of Classics aside for a while and read much more contemporary stuff. I've already bookmarked the first page of Dreamcatcher by Stephen King, and I guess I'll start that one pretty soon.
I'm reading Stranger Than Fiction by Chuck Palahniuk. It's interesting because I just finished reading Palahniuk's first 36 craft essays, and while reading this book, I see he occasionally goes against his own suggestions. Just furthers the idea that nothing is set in stone.
Just finished Stephen King's Mr. Mercedes. Awful. King should leave the run-of-the-mill psycho killer suspense stuff to the two dozen or so authors who know how to write it, any one of whom could have done a much better job with this story. (Full disclosure - I'm a huge King fan generally.)
On @Wreybies' suggestion (to another member), I'm reading Samuel R. Delany's Nova. I read it when I was about twelve or thirteen, but I have no recollection of it at all other than the Mouse's strange instrument, the sensory syrynx. I certainly wasn't in any position to evaluate Delany's prose or imagery, which are both excellent. I'm plodding through it in order to savor every word.
