What Book Did You Read Last Night??? (12 Viewers)

[Jim Daniels]

Something about that book quite annoyed me, but I can't be sure whether I wasn't just being subconsciously anti-semitic or something... quote]

ive tried to read this book a gazillion times and can only get half way through..now that im sick maybe its the time to try it again..

Have you read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - his second book?
Its lovely and amazing....

 

[david jatt]

"The Nasty Bits" by Anthony Bourdain, very entertaining, he's a great writer and is a genuinely interesting "celebrity chef".

 

[muffin]

ive been on a big reading buzz this week what with it being mid term an all...

so this week ive read:

gary barlow-my take: yiz know by now i love cheesy autobiographies..and i had big love for take that when i was wee...he comes across as a total douche..

david sedaris-dress your family in corduroy and denim: love love loved it..i hadnt read anything by him before but had always wanted to..so glad i did..entertaining but not boring or contrived..

kevin smith-my boring ass life: i'd read a fair bit of thsi on the internet but liked it all the same though obviously if yr not a fan of his, you would probably wanna steer clear..

now im starting on no-one belongs here more than you by miranda july..it better be better than her stupid film..

 

[david jatt]

"Strong Motion" by Jonathan Franzen. Im still undecided about this author.

 

[MDR]

The hand of Ethelbertha by Thomas Hardy. Surprisingly not about edwardian hand jobs.

 

[magicbastarder]

so many ways to begin by jon macgregor. superb.

 

[nEiLo]

collapse (how societies choose to fail or survive) - jared diamond. very interesting.

 

[Jim Daniels]

ive been on a big reading buzz this week what with it being mid term an all...


now im starting on no-one belongs here more than you by miranda july..it better be better than her stupid film..

I've just started this myself. She's a strange one, but some funny/ sad moments so far.

Me, You and Everyone We Know wasn't that bad. It had a nice Spiritualized moment

 

[Bladez]

Cathedral by Raymond Carver. Easily my favorite of his books of short stories.

 

[Moods For Mallards]

On my just-finished holidays I read The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad. My favourite Conrad book so far (I read Nostromo and Heart of Darkness a good few years ago and wasn't too grabbed by either).
Then I read Soldiers of Salamis by Javier Cercas, which I finished yesterday morning. Excellent stuff.
Then I started Ghosts of Spain by Giles Tremlett last night.

 

[Super Dexta]

it's edge of the seat stuff.

 

[MDR]

I'm reading japanese short stories - a collection called Rashomon by Akutagawa Ryunosuke. Told in a deceptively simple style, with a little hint of fantasy thrown in.

 

[cephalopod]

Inventing Ireland by Declan Kiberd.

Nice enough, a little heavy by times.

 

[Unicron]

Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. It's only the second book of his that I've read (the other being Slaughterhouse 5) but I think he's catapulted himself into the position of being my favourite writer, I thought it was great.

Where next Vonnegut fans?

 

[george mcfly]

just finished 'The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch' and starting 'Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said'
both Philip K. Dick

just got into reading his stuff recently and i love it

also, read The Signalman' by Charles Dickens..
i love the interaction and dialogue between the two characters
"goodnight then, and here is my hand"
"goodnight sir, and here's mine"

i don't know why, but i think that's one of my favourite lines in any book ever

 

[Bladez]

Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. It's only the second book of his that I've read (the other being Slaughterhouse 5) but I think he's catapulted himself into the position of being my favourite writer, I thought it was great.

Where next Vonnegut fans?

Breakfast of Champions!

 

[cephalopod]

Breakfast of Champions!

Ready Brek?

 

[Unicron]

Breakfast of Champions!

Cheers.

According to his wiki entry this is how he rated his books ...

• Player Piano: B
• The Sirens of Titan: A
• Mother Night: A
• Cat's Cradle: A-plus
• God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater: A
• Slaughterhouse-Five: A-plus
• Welcome to the Monkey House: B-minus
• Happy Birthday, Wanda June: D
• Breakfast of Champions: C
• Slapstick: D
• Jailbird: A
• Palm Sunday: C

He wasn't saying the Slaughterhouse-Five was an A+ in the entire canon of literature but in comparison to his other work it was. Strange that Breakfast Of Champions seems to be a popular one but not one he though a lot of.

 

[Mitchum]

Ready Brek?

Buckfast!

I've not read all Vonnegut's fiction but I'd recommend 'Cat's Cradle' and now having seen the list above, I'd be more confident in doing so!

 

[Bladez]

Cheers.

According to his wiki entry this is how he rated his books ...

• Player Piano: B
• The Sirens of Titan: A
• Mother Night: A
• Cat's Cradle: A-plus
• God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater: A
• Slaughterhouse-Five: A-plus
• Welcome to the Monkey House: B-minus
• Happy Birthday, Wanda June: D
• Breakfast of Champions: C
• Slapstick: D
• Jailbird: A
• Palm Sunday: C

He wasn't saying the Slaughterhouse-Five was an A+ in the entire canon of literature but in comparison to his other work it was. Strange that Breakfast Of Champions seems to be a popular one but not one he though a lot of.

I preferred Breakfast of Champions. Its completely crazy, with the mad tangents in the story and the different perspectives and all the illustrations.

Cat's Cradle is great too, but it didn't have the impact for me that Breakfast of Champions did. Maybe its because I read Breakfast of Champion's first and was a bit more used to his style by the time I read Cat's Cradle. With Breakfast of Champions he's just letting his imagination improvise - he doesn't really know where he's taking it, but with Cat's Cradle its more structured and considered. At least, this is how I saw it.

Bluebeard doesn't appear on that list. This is also one of my favorite of his.