Whatcha readin?

[Miriel]

I strongly recommend Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Foer. I read it for my 9/11 lit class, and it was just incredibly moving and worked with the novel form in a really innovative way.

I'm almost done with Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and I think it's well written. There are parts that I find incredibly moving, but other parts that I find to be... I dunno trying too hard? Gimmicky?

I think the book is trying to strike a very specific cord, and I'm not 100% feeling it. I haven't reached the conclusion yet, but I think it's safe to say at this point that while I was mildly entertained, I probably won't ever read this book again.

I'm moving on next to The Great Gatsby. I've decided to revisit some of the books I was forced to read in High School, and by being forced, hated it automatically.

[Mittopotahis]

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. I'm finding it incredibly engrossing, very difficult to put it down sometimes. It's about a girl living in Nazi Germany in the early 1940s who steals books. Excellent narration style, the narrator is Death.

Currently waiting on The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green. He's my favourite author. I pre-ordered the book on Amazon the moment it was announced and now that it's been released, Amazon have shipped it to me and it's still over a month away. I might end up with two copies, I think.

EDIT: My goodreads account, for people who like me.

[I Took the Red Pill]

Just finished The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe, am now moving on to The Claw of the Conciliator. I'm really digging the series so far.

And of course David Copperfield seems to remain perpetually about 1/3 finished, waiting for me :/

[chionos]

Steinbeck's East of Eden

[Hollycat]

Steinbeck's East of Eden

I prefer Eden of the East, but how is East of Eden, I have to admit I know very little about it.

[chionos]

Eden of the East was ok

East of Eden is exquisitely written. It's always clear, never verbose, yet it has a vocabulary that some people might find overwhelming; it's charming yet grotesque; it's painful but uplifting. It's a real novel. It's not fluff.

[Kossage]

I'm currently reading Mika Waltari's The Egyptian. So far it's been interesting enough with memorable characters and bittersweet plots, and I like the deliberate links between the time of Ancient Egypt to WW2 Europe.

[Mittopotahis]

Finished The Book Thief, was an excellent read. Now onto Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. I read Slaughterhouse Five last year and loved it, so I am very eager to get into this and his other work. Does anyone have any Vonnegut recommendations?

[chionos]

Cat's Cradle is great, I know that much. Deadeye Dick's really good and if you haven't read his short stories/essays, do so as they're definitely worth reading.

[Miriel]

Cat's Cradle is probably my least favorite Vonnegut book.

I finished Great Gatsby and found that I didn't mind it so much this time around.

No idea what to read next...

[escobert]

Just finished A Cat among Pigeons by Agatha Christie

I got a kindle for christmas so I downloaded a bunch of books and the first one I started reading was The Sword by Bryan M Liftin. It's okay, nothing great but not bad either. Decent fantasy/post apocalyptic setting where no one knows about God and the bible and a soldier finds a ruined bible in a ancient church and starts to spread Christianity to the masses against the wishes of the High Priestess who says the god of the cross is evil and hated by their gods. I guess there's a second book and a third on the way. I may pick up the second and see how that is.

[Parker]

I'm reading The Dog of the Marriage by Amy Hempel.

I saw it in waterstone's and recognised her name from Chuck Palahniuk gushing about her a lot, so I checked her out.

I can definitely see how she inspired old chuck and I love her minimalist approach. My last two books ahve been infinite jest and gravitys rainbow so its refreshing not to have to consult a dictionary/encyclopedia every few sentences

[escobert]

Started reading A Game of Thrones yesterday. Just a few chapters in. It'll be interesting to see how it matches up with the series.

[Boney King]

Just finished re-reading Machiavelli's The Prince for a class. Mixed feelings about it. On the one hand I'm sure it was a very practical guide to political leadership in his own time (if such was his intention and he wasn't just trying to ass-kiss his way into a government job with the Medici). On the other hand, his ideas don't really leave much room for the well-being of citizens, and the West is no longer dominated by this kind of autocratic government, so a lot of it couldn't really be applied today. Then again, one could make the argument that our modern equivalent of a "prince" isn't to be found in politics, but rather in the world of business (which doesn't make it any less reprehensible).

I also read Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound and enjoyed it thoroughly. A shame that the rest of the trilogy has been lost.

About to start Stuart B. Schwartz's Victors and Vanquished: Spanish and Nahua Views of the Conquest of Mexico. Sounds good based on the description.

[Del Murder]

Started reading A Game of Thrones yesterday. Just a few chapters in. It'll be interesting to see how it matches up with the series.

Same here!