Rolling "Books Recently Read" Thread

[pale blue eyes]

I've been sort of lazy in posting in here this summer:

An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kay Redfield Jamison - B+
For being a memoir of a psychologist who is bipolar, it is a surprisingly easy read. More about her personal struggles with that in terms of her personal life and career as opposed to her talking on and on about the purely psychological or physiological stuff that she knew from her training. Not that much of a downer, more interesting than anything else.

A Good Look at Evil by Abigail L. Rosenthal - C
Most of the time this book was a chore to read. I've read a good amount of books on this same topic (what makes seemingly good people do evil things) and she just sucks all the fun out of it by over explaining shit and bombarding you with way too many stats.

Dry by Augusten Burroughs - B
I've liked his other books and this one was pretty funny, too. This book also made me feel really good about not having this fucked up of a past. There were a few things that hit home and reminded me of certain things and that just made me like it more. Reading memoirs about somebody who seems very human and sort of fucked up is a lot more entertaining than reading about some overachieving smartypants.

In the Woods by Tana French - B-
One of the better murder mysteries I have read but seemed to loose steam halfway through. She has a nice way with words and I think her next book will be much better. Still a good read and most of the time despite the latter half of the book I couldn't put it down.

Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach - B
Not as good as Stiff, but still a great read nonetheless. Looks at the other side of this life from every angle you can think of and I like how she still manages to keep things pretty light despite the material.

Manhunt: The Twelve Day Hunt For Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson - A
A riveting, fast-paced and really well-researched account of Lincoln's assasination and the aftermath of trying to find his killer. This is not usually my type of book but it was really, really good. It was like historical voyeurism.

[MrPantyFAce]

Originally Posted by pale blue eyes

I've been sort of lazy in posting in here this summer:

An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kay Redfield Jamison - B+
For being a memoir of a psychologist who is bipolar, it is a surprisingly easy read. More about her personal struggles with that in terms of her personal life and career as opposed to her talking on and on about the purely psychological or physiological stuff that she knew from her training. Not that much of a downer, more interesting than anything else.

i liked this too.

Ive been skimming through the principia of discordia online. the last thing i read was some book of shorts written by 'rebels' the psychology of liberation or something.


i watched a light german 'romantic comedy' today called eden. i thought the title character seemed like a good wholesome person. interested in seeing what else the actress was in i looked her up on wikipedia to find that she must have written a modern classic as its sold half a million in germany. heres is the themes synopis

Helen has an unusual relationship to her body. She abhors personal hygiene and enjoys many of the bodily fluids which are secreted or excreted from it, be it mucus, pus, earwax, smegma, blood (including menstrual blood), sweat, or tears, but also men's sperm, all of which she "recycles" by putting them into her mouth and swallowing them. She loves to attract potential sexual partners by parading, underneath her dress, her unwashed vagina and the smells emanating from it. In a series of interviews Roche explained that cleanliness and above all pedantic care for their own bodies, including the use of artificial scents such as perfume, have been inculcated upon women for ages; that this obstructs their—not just sexual—self-realisation; and that the fear of harmful "bacteria" has been vastly exaggerated.

cant wait for this translation

[D.]

so i went back to Urban Outfitters and got the Catcher In the Rye shirt.

I know, I know, but it's kinda like those mass-produced Led Zeppelin shirts. I mean, LZ is good so why not own a shirt?

they also had Catch-22, Invisible Man, and Death of a Salesman, but I haven't read those.

[House of Bread]

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - A-

[Kahlo]

Originally Posted by D.

Urban Outfitters

I fucking hate that store. They have one in Glasgow and it has the most overpriced shite you can imagine.

I just read a book for work on Joachim Peiper ( a panzer commander) as we are working on a new publication about him.

Currently reading Christopher Brookmyre - The Sacred Art of Stealing

[talk show host]

Originally Posted by D.

so i went back to Urban Outfitters and got the Catcher In the Rye shirt.

I know, I know, but it's kinda like those mass-produced Led Zeppelin shirts. I mean, LZ is good so why not own a shirt?

they also had Catch-22, Invisible Man, and Death of a Salesman, but I haven't read those.

Catch 22 is awesome, read that soon

I'm about to finish Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck. Before that it was A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, and prior to that I was bogged down in another Nietzsche book.

[Kahlo]

which Niezsche? I don't find him that rewarding tbh. Maybe when I was 16, but not now

[D.]

Originally Posted by Kahlo

I fucking hate that store. They have one in Glasgow and it has the most overpriced shite you can imagine.

i know. that is why i am ashamed to really like going there.

Originally Posted by talk show host

Catch 22 is awesome, read that soon.

twill probably be my next read.

[talk show host]

Originally Posted by Kahlo

which Niezsche? I don't find him that rewarding tbh. Maybe when I was 16, but not now

Human, all too Human

I enjoy his work a lot, he's probablly the philosopher I've focused the most on while I've been studying. I end up reading him and getting bogged down though, which means other reading goes by the way side. I've had to restrict myself by not reading any more till the end of the year at earliest.


And D. let me know how you enjoy Catch 22. When I started it I found it really hard going but about partway through i got really into it and ended up loving it.

[ravenguy2000]

Right now I'm reading Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser for a class. I am not too big on it yet.

[neopryn]

Catch-22 is the best book ever written

[redbull]

Originally Posted by neopryn

Catch-22 is the best book ever written

i had a few beers, but i'm cool to drive

[Shapan]

death of a salesman is also a cool quick read. grapes of wrath was like the opposite, id rather read of mice and men 10 times.

i think im gonna read an elliott smith biography when i have a couple weeks between classes but i wouldnt know which book is best. or maybe ill read choke before the film comes out.

[TuralyonW3]

Grant Morrison: Seven Soldiers of Victory - A+

Brilliant

[D.]

Originally Posted by neopryn

Catch-22 is the best book ever written

omg, seriously, i'm reading A Farwell to Arms and I love it so much. so like, i will listen to your consideration 100%. catch 22 it is because i am really, really enjoying farewell to arms.

[Travis Meeks]

I loved Farewell to Arms but for whatever reason I could not get into Catch-22. I read about a quarter of the book and then lost interest. Before I die I shall make it through the whole book and find out what the admiration is all about.

[barden]

amaZulu.
A Time for Machettes.
The Washing of the Spears.

Those are my last 3 purchased books. I enjoyed the first two quite a bit.
working through washing of the spears now. I'm enjoying it so far.

[D.]

Finished A Farewell to Arms and I loved it a lot. Very engrossing and I finished it pretty fast.

01. The Stranger by Albert Camus
02. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
03. All Quiet On the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
04. A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway
05. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
06. 1984 by George Orwell
07. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
08. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
09. Animal Farm by George Orwell
10. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
11. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway
12. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
13. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
14. The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy

Next up, I'm going to read Anthem by Ayn Rand because it looks like a quick read, then it's Catch-22!

[D.]

Finished Anthem a lot sooner than I thought. I actually really enjoyed it. Its like the first novella I've read this year that I actually liked.

[Sepiae]

Are you taking suggestions, D.? I know you mentioned you were going through a lot of classics you didn't read when you were younger. I think you'd like All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren if you haven't already read it.

[redbull]

Originally Posted by Sepiae

Are you taking suggestions, D.? I know you mentioned you were going through a lot of classics you didn't read when you were younger. I think you'd like All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren if you haven't already read it.

YES

[D.]

Originally Posted by Sepiae

Are you taking suggestions, D.? I know you mentioned you were going through a lot of classics you didn't read when you were younger. I think you'd like All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren if you haven't already read it.

I am always taking suggestion! I will look up the book you recommended and, if it seems like something I'd enjoy, I'll add it to my list and look for it on my next trip to the bookstore (next monday).

[barden]

Read rushdie.
he's probably my favourite.

[mxzombie]

right now i'm reading Rites of Spring, about world war I for a class. it started off pretty boring but i'm finding it more interesting now

[El Scorcho]

love in the time of cholera

GGM rules
magical realism rules

[D.]

Finished Catch-22 and it was more than awesome - just remarkable and, oh, i loved it.

Novels
01. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
02. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
03. The Stranger by Albert Camus
04. All Quiet On the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
05. A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway
06. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
07. 1984 by George Orwell
08. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
09. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
10. Animal Farm by George Orwell
11. Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Novellas
01. Anthem by Ayn Rand
02. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway
03. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
04. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
05. The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy

Next I'm hurrying through a few short ones, Dr Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde by R.L. Stevenson and also "The Little Regiment" and Other Civil War Stories (76 pages) by Stephen Crane.

After those, the next novel I'm going to read Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.

[redbull]

three chapters into A Wild Sheep Chase by Murakami. Fucking amazing.

[Ugly]

Just finished This Is Not Civilization by Robert Rosenberg, but the only reason I really had it was because I scored it for free from a workplace. It's about three people: one is the daughter of a shiftless bum who works for former Soviet cheese factory that doesn't produce cheese, an American Peace Corp guy who aimlessly bounces around countries, and a native reservation runaway. Strangely, the American character starts the book as the main character and is shuffled off into the background by the end. The back cover and earlier chapters promised a much funnier read than it turned out to be, and I kept putting it down for weeks at a time to pick up other things to read in between, but, even if does get sidetracked with way too many descriptive passages of scenery rolling by, it's not without it's charm, even if does turn into an unabashed weepy by the end - but, oddly, one of the characters actually was somewhat emotionally affecting by the end. Mostly alot of characters ambling into each other and just being kind of lonely and isolated and not understanding the world, really.

Next free book I got sitting around is, oddly, Towelhead, which just came out as a movie adaptation, like, this week.

[ravenguy2000]

Originally Posted by ravenguy2000

Right now I'm reading Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser for a class. I am not too big on it yet.

This actually ended up a lot better than I thought.

I'm writing a paper on Dreiser's use of public vs. private spaces and how class and status affects perception and use of public space. Yeah.

[D.]

I got done with a book with all of Stephen Crane's short stories about Civil War. It was excellent. I liked 5 out of 7 of the stories. so it was still a B. But he's becoming my favorite author. Such beautiful language!

I also liked Dr Jecklyy and Mr hyde. Pretty quick read, but it was good.

Next Up: Invisible Man!