Just got through 10 books by Andrea Camilleri over the last couple of weeks (since my birthday, in fact). Right now, reading The Wings of the Sphinx by the same author. I'm on a bit of a roll, let's say.
I'm reading the poetry of Juan Gelman. I bought a collection of his poems yesterday and spent a good chunk of today reading it. He's quickly becoming one of my favorite poets.
I am reading the The Third Kingdom by Terry Goodkind. Probably my favorite author despite how I could tear up his recent work with a nice red pen if I dared to write in a book. I'm surprised at how much exposition there is and how bad the dialogue is. Doesn't help there's three easy grammar issues in the first two chapters. I don't remember him being so... preachy or amateurish. I mean, I always knew, but perhaps nostalgia is sugar coating my memories.
I'm reading: Mistborn: Well of Ascension, by Brandon Sanderson, Incandescence, by Greg Egan, and Seal of God, by Chad Williams I like to diversify when I read
I just did a bit of stocking up in London. Once I'm done with my current run of Italian crime novels, I'm going to start/finish - The Beautiful and the Damned - F. Scott Fitzgerald A Room with a View - E.M. Forster The Golden Bowl - Henry James
Has anyone read anything by Will Self? - a very well known British author - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Self His book Umbrella was short-listed for the booker prize. I'm curious to hear what people on WF think
Working on finishing up Allegiant (third book in the Divergent series for anybody unfamiliar with it) and I'm really liking it. The first one was amazing, the second one was good but not as good, the third one is just odd, but for some reason I love it.
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini I think I might just be the last person on earth who until last week hadn't read that book...
Last night I finished How Fiction Works, by James Wood. I'd tried to read this thing twice before and wound up throwing it across the room both times. The reason is that he numbers his sections, even if they're only one paragraph, and it came across as though he thought he was writing a Bible, with chapters and verses. It was precious and egotistical, and very, very annoying. This time, I read the book all the way through, and it's actually excellent. It is not a how-to-write book; Wood is not a novelist or a professor teaching you the craft. He is a professional critic, and he's explaining how some of the great writers did it. He's often very insightful, and almost always generous in spirit. He's not prescriptive; he's descriptive, and values everything that's good. He gives solid reasons for choosing the examples he uses - they're good and he tells you why. I have to say I recommend this book highly to all of you who want to write fiction (which means just about all of you). It might take you three tries to get through it, but give it a chance.
Reading the third (?) novel by Justine Levy, Don't know the title in english, because the original is in french. I've read her other two books as well, they are connected.
I just finished The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt -- I highly recommend it. Very nicely written. I've just started a book called Ike and Dick (as in Eisenhower and Nixon.)
I've just dipped my toes into Graham Greene's "The Quiet American." Not bad so far. I'm enjoying it more than the last two books I read which were disappointing.
I'm rereading snatches of Martin Amis' The War Against Cliche. It's a great book of reviews and criticism. Some victims he flays delicately with surgical instruments, and some he destroys with cruise missiles. There are even some writers he likes a whole lot, and they get off easy. I'm still deciding which novel to read next. Part of me wants to take on a huge task like Gravity's Rainbow, and part of me wants something small and easy, like Julian Barnes' Flaubert's Parrot or John Banville's Doctor Copernicus.
I'm getting The Contortionist's Handbook by Craig Clevenger tomorrow which I'm looking forward to reading. Plot seems intriguing - have a look if anyone's interested: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0007194153/?tag=postedlinks-21
Apparently the collection of Simon Armitage did not take me very long at all, so along with Mason and Dixon I'm also reading Hitch-22.
I am currently reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman, roughly halfway finished. It's the first novel I've read by Mr. Gaiman, whom seems to be quite popular. Thus far I have found it a fascinating concept (in relation to my admittedly amateur fantasy bookshelf) which is justification enough for my concentration to stay the course when I find a character to be hollow. The theme Gaiman seems to be building thus far is satisfying for my interests, if not profound.
I'm listening to the audio version of "The Fall of Hyperion", by Dan Simmons in the car and reading "Wrapped in the Flag" by Claire Conner, recommended to me by @chicagoliz. It draws you right in with the account of a life with extreme extremist parents (she's the daughter of one of the John Birch Society founders). It's also amazingly timely as history repeats itself.
I'm 50 pages into this at the moment... I honestly think I'm starting to tire of writers pre-occupied with death, deformity, broken relationships, psychiatry, mental illness, overdoses, and so on. I'm thinking along the lines of Chuck Palahniuk and Bret Easton Ellis-type writers. If you've seen one, you've seen them all. After a while it just comes across as desperately trying to be edgy. Anyone else agree?
I do. This reminds me of something else, though. A few years ago, it seemed like every short story magazine was publishing stories about immigrants living in the US. Now, I have nothing against that of course, but when you read the same type of story over and over again, it gets boring. Back when I first started reading seriously, I read a lot of YA fiction, and these books all dealt with the things you mention (death, drugs, broken relationships). So perhaps I would use the word "trendy" rather than "edgy" to describe this phenomenon.
I think this Craig Clevenger guy is a Palahniuk imitator of sorts, stylistically anyway. There's an endorsement from Palahniuk on the front of the book which says "I swear to God this is the best book I have read in years" ...lol That endorsement says more about Palahniuk than it does the other guy
