Just finished Curtis Sittenfeld's The Man of My Dreams. I found a lot to relate to in this book, and I like Sittenfeld's take on a "happy ending."

The End of America by Naomi Wolf.

I normally love her writing, but this time around it was like reading stuff that I wrote myself on TFP. It's not bad at all, but it's like Jack Bauer reading a book on how to torture Arabs. He already knows!

Zelazny - Dilvish the Damned

The Tamuli. Yeah, They're solid for Eddings. He does tend to write the same book over and over again, though. Still, entertaining brain candy, and one can say that to one degree or another about a whole lot of authors. Unfortunately, I have the first two in remaindered hardback, but never got the third one.

Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle.

I read this in 2 days. I must say I preferred it to any of the movies, which never set well with me.

N.P.
by Banana Yoshimoto

Since the last entry:
Eddings - The Domes of Fire and The Shining Ones
Bachman (King) - The Running Man
Zelazney - Dilvish the Damned, and currently reading The Changing Land
Starting this evening, I hope to get the new Feist.

Read "the outsider" by Albert Camus today.

I dont know if I should be creeped out that I identified with it a lot.

So, since the last time:
Herbert - The Jesus Incident
Feist - Wrath of a Mad God
Chabon - The Yiddish Policeman's Union (Such a book!)
Eddings - The Hidden City and The Seeress of Kell

Undoubtedly several others I have forgotten

Currently Reading: Robinson - Blue Mars and Purser - TBearded Dragons: A Complete Guide to Pogona Vitticeps

On Deck: Herbert - The Lazarus Effect, Harris - Hannibal Rising, and July TFH (Magazine)

You should not be creeped out by identifying with Camus' works ever. He may not have been pleasant about it (being French and all) but he really got how people work.

The Sun Also Rises. Clearly Hemingway's best.

In the last week or so I read a few of the Easy Rawlins books by Walter Mosley. Some were better than others. I would have read something by a different author, but I was too lazy to accustom myself to another writer's voice.

A Red Death
White Butterfly
Black Betty
A Little Yellow Dog
Bad Boy Brawly Brown

I've been on a Detective fiction kick lately. Before the Mosley books, I read a couple Philip Marlowe books by Raymond Chandler:The Big Sleep & The Long Goodbye.

Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, By Tad Williams. 3 Books, The Dragonbone Chair, The Stone of Farewell, and To Green Angel Tower (The Hardback - Parts I & II).

That's a week of solid reading right there.

To engineer is human; Henry Petroski.

Long story short: Successful design is primarily the result of learning from design failures and design failures are primarily the result of little learned from and overconfidence due to successful designs.

I mean I identified with Meursault. I dont know if thats a good thing really.

Anyway, since my last post this is all the books Ive read. As you can see I mostly stick to comic books and Enid Blyton... but its a start, from 21 to 28 I dont think I read a book at all, I only started again about 18 months ago...

A Knight Alone (Bat Girl) - Kelley Puckett
32 Stories - Adrian Tomine
Dixie City Jam - James Lee Burke
Ripper Suspect: The Secret Lives of Montague Druitt - DJ Leighton
Brief Lives (Sandman 7) - Neil Gaiman
Watchmen - Alan Moore
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
Five go off in a Caravan - Enid Blyton
Five go off to camp - Enid Blyton
Worlds End (Sandman 8) - Neil Gaiman
Five go Adventuring Again - Enid Blyton
Five go to Mystery Moor - Enid Blyton
Five are Together Again - Enid Blyton
Constatine: Origianl Sins - Vertigo
Constatine: The Gift - Vertigo
The Jack The Ripper Whitechapel Murders - Kevin O'Donnell
Lucky - Gabrielle Bell
Constantine: Red Sepulchre - Vertigo
Constantine: Staring at the Wall - Vertigo
Constantine: All His Engines - Vertigo
Five go to Billycock Hill - Enid Blyton
Five Get into Trouble - Enid Blyton
Tamara Drewe - Posy Simmonds
Five Go Down to the Sea - Enid Blyton
300 - Frank Miller
Frank Kafka's Trial: A Graphic Novel - David Mairowitz
The Mystery of the Missing Necklace - Enid Blyton
Constantine: Lady Constantine - Vertigo
Constantine: The Devil You Know - Vertigo
Five Fall into Adventure - Enid Blyton
Five Have Plenty of Fun - Enid Blyton
Caricature - Daniel Clowes
Constantine: Good Intentions - Vertigo
Constantine: Black Flowers - Vertigo
Constantine: Haunted - Vertigo
Constantine: Reasons to be Cheerful - Vertigo
Superman: No Limits - DC
Constantine: The Red Right Hand - Vertigo
Superman: Till Death do us Part - DC
Lobo: Portrait of a Bastich - DC
The Outsider - Albert Camus
Superman / Batman: Supergirl - DC
The Kindly Ones (Sandman IX) - Neil Gaiman
Fantastic Four - Civil War - Marvel

in the past couple of weeks, i've finished:

"Angels & Demons"
"The Kite Runner"
"A Thousand Splendid Suns"
"Tuesdays with Morrie"

I'm now about 1/2 way through "Rant" by Chuck Pahluniak

Finished a week or so ago:
Michael Chabon - Wonder Boys
A fun, intelligent read; the first half is very similar to the film, the second half almost totally dissimilar. Naturally, I prefer the book.

Reading now:
Cavedweller - Dorothy Allison
This woman's writing never fails to enchant me

Currently reading Isaac Asimov's anthology on unatural diplomacy. I found this in the basement and got interested in it, as it provided relief from reading a very difficult book that was given to me as a gift (The Historian)

* edit: has anybody discovered Michael Moorcock?

Recently: Niven - The Integral Trees
Just Finished: Robinson - Blue Mars
Now Reading: Herbet & Ransom - The Lazarus Effect

Integral Trees - that was an enjoyable read. I like the detail as in the use of sticks to prevent tooth decay.


Blue Mars - that was also a good read. I'd forgotten about that series. Maybe it's time for a re-read.

The Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

liked it a lot.

About 25 years ago! Loved all the Corum and Elric stuff way back when.

I read this in school and loved it but its one of those books I scared to go back to just in case it doesn't live up to my expectations.

Currently reading:
The Design of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman
Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor - this guys humor is subtle and dry. His short story The Last Smoker (or something) on the interweb is a very amusing read.

Harris - Hannibal Rising (4 hour read - entertaining, but not really challenging)
Currently: Brooks - Scions of Shannara (Brain Candy)

Just finished: Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Up next: Dearly Devoted Dexter

The other three Heritage of Shannara books (Druid, Elf Queen, and Talismans - crap, but entertaining crap)
Currently reading:
Gaiman - Fragile Things
Buchanan & Peskowitz - The Daring Book for Girls (I have young daughters)

I just finished Vernon God Little by D.B.C. Pierre. It was an interesting novel - a first person narrative of a teenager who is accused of being responsible for a Columbine-like tragedy at his high school.

Last week I read The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon. Alternate history + detective story = entertaining.

The week before that I read Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. It's a work of historical fiction about the founding of the Royal Society of London. I enjoyed it. (Which was strange because it didn't have much of a plot and it was 500 pages long).

You realize that there are another 2,200 pages or so of that story?

Yes, I do. I bought the whole Baroque Cycle.

SM Stirling - the Domination (Omnibus of first 3 Draka books - Alternate history where Tories and Confederates are granted South Africa by Britain and processd to take over the world.)

Re-reading Otto Rank-Art and Artist
(creative urge and personality developement)

I found some beautiful pressed flowers in it also, that I had forgotten about.

Me too. The Eternal Champion. In all his guises.

Currently reading Poel Anderson. The Gods Laughed. (did anybody know that his daughter is married to Greg Bear?)

Grant Naylor - Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers
Roger Zelazney - Creatures of Light & Darkness (In progress)

Except for Jerry Cornelius. That stuff was totally insufferable.

Finished "Rant" and just read "The Sirens of Titan" by Kurt Vonnegut.

Now I'm reading "Rose Madder" by Stephen King, and will follow that with "Children of Man" by Cormac MacCarthy

Just finished Cerulean Sins by Laurell K. Hamilton. Next up will be The Dance of Time by Eric Flint & David Drake.

Missed three before the Domination:
Van Lustbader - The Sunset Warrior, The Shallows of Night, and Dai-San.

Hazily remembering... was that the "In Alien Heat" set or "Dancers at the End of Time"? If so, yes I think those were drug induced. But then there was Jherik Carnelian. Which I thought was the same Champion.


I read a bunch of Van Lustbader years ago (about 20) the first of which was a really juicy thriller called The Ninja.

After a few of these series, it got predictable though. But it does remind me of another rather juicy novel in the genre by Trevanian: Shibumi. I recommend this as a thrill read.

Jherek Carnelian was a differnet guy in the same mold. The series he was in was "Dancers at the end of Time", the first or last (been a couple decades) book was "An Alient Heat". Jerry Cornelius was the no doubt drug induced protagonist of the Cornelius Chrinicles 1 through 3. Not quite as bad as Finnegan's Wake, but getting there.

Favorite Bathroom reading of mine in Jr. High.

I have that one, but I've never read it. This is good. I am in the market for something good to read just now.

Pompeii:
Pretty good. Short version: A roman engineer is in charge of figuring out why the water in an aqueduct has stopped flowing. The catch is, the aqueduct serves pompeii and the surrounding cities, and the book starts three days before the erruption. Very well written, and lots of fun.

I finished Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle about a month ago. So, that was:

Quicksilver
The Confusion
System of the World

I preferred the first two over the last book.

Earlier this week, I finished
Winter in Madrid by C J Sansom. It followed the story of a British interpreter in Madrid during WWII. It was ok.

Let's pick this back up....
I'll note that I did read Shibumi quite a while ago, since it was mentioned.
Not long ago I started in on Brian Herbert & Keving Anderson's Dune Books, and have plowed through, Dune: House Atreides, Harkonnen, Corrino, The Butlerian Jihad, The Machine Crusade, and the Battle of Corrin. Finished Hunters of Dune yesterday, and am currently in Sandworms of Dune.

In there somewhere, I have also read Buckley - No Way to Treat a First Lady, Clavell - Nobel House, and Asimov - The Naked Sun. Also in progress Calagione - Extreme Brewing and Asimov - I Robot.

That ought to catch me up for now....

Finished MFK Fisher's Serve It Forth yesterday. I liked The Gastronomical Me better; Fisher's strength lies in her ability to capture personal moments and reflect upon them.

Also finished Christine Schutt's All Souls this morning. What a beautiful book. Her prose verges on poetry. I really enjoyed it, and highly recommend it to anyone who likes a novel that isn't run-of-the-mill in its use of language.

Finished Sandworms of Dune. On to Pratchett - Sourcery

I just completed The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. While it didn't show spectacular writing ability it wasn't predictable as I thought it would have been. It certainly made me think on how people bury their emotions in the grieving process.

Lovely Bones. I remember thinking it interesting but can't remember a thing about it. I'll have to pull that out again.

This week I read:

Twilight. (Shut. Up. Friend said I just HAD to read it and OMG it's the BEST book EVER. No, it wasn't.)

Ghost Plane (Stephen Grey's expose of the secret "extraordinary rendition" program of the CIA in which they swoop in, kidnap someone who is vaguely suspected of knowing someone who once saw a terrorist, tie him up, throw him on a plane, and fly him to Syria, or Iran, or some other country that tortures people for information. Then they sit there and watch while this guy is tortured, questioning him during the process, all so they can claim the United States doesn't torture suspects.)

Light This Candle (bio of Alan Shepard)

and am currently reading Edgar Sawtelle, which is another book everyone said is awesome, but so far. . . .Meh. Well written but the story is somewhat disjointed.

Finished Pratchett - Sourcery. Had me cracking up on smoke breaks at work. Brilliant.

Started Clarke - Breakpoint. Thought it was going to be terrorism threat analysis and counterterrorism policy and technique. Turns out he's writing novels now. Pretty neat stuff so far. May have to find the first one.

Mrs. Hat just ploughed through the whole series in 2 weeks. I got the blow by blow. I figure I could go my whole life without reading that and not be dimished thereby, just so long as I remember that one needs extra towels at a vampire/werewolf hybrid birth.

Yeah, pretty much. Kind of a hybrid of a romance novel and a vampire book. . .with the heavy emphasis being on the romance novel. The author sets up invulnerable and all-powerful vampires, and then has them all hiding from the humans.

Uh. . . Why? Bite everyone. . .

I'm finishing out my unread Chuck Palahniuk books; I read Lullaby in 2 days, Stranger than Fiction in one day, and am working on Invisible Monsters right now. I think that's the only one I haven't read yet.

I'm also reading "On Writing" by Stephen King. Then it's on to Harry Potter Year 4

I recently finished Sebastian and followed it by the second book Belladonna both by Anne Bishop. I found the first book somewhat intriguing and felt I wanted to continue, I must say that I was disappointed in the second book.

Working on two more as we speak, Moment of Truth in Iraq by Michael Yon and 1984 by George Orwell.

My thought on 1984 having now read it is that it has been much over-hyped. It was alright but I didn't feel it lived up to all the talk.

I am still reading Moment of Truth in Iraq. I think it is best read in small parts, not the type of book I would just devour in an afternoon.

A Game of Thrones, George Martin. Cernunnos recommended this to me and I was happy with the book. Not a typical choice for myself but it had a lot to offer me as a reader. I have ordered the second book of the series.

I also finished The Story of O, Pauline Reage, that was quite hot to say the least. The ending was.. well something else, eye-opening. I realized I was right in my early impressions of the relationship.

OK, Cook - A Fortress in Shadow, Powers - The Stress of her Regard. Couple others in there too, but I've lost track.

Just finished Pillars of the Earth-Ken Follett. Now I'm reading the newest book in the Eragon series to my wife as a bedtime story.

Witness: Writings of Bartolome De Las Casas by Bartolome De Las Casas , edited by George Sanderlin

The book sat on my shelf for quite a long time. I finally got around to reading it. De Las Casas fought for the rights of indigenous peoples during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. It was an interesting read.

Harry Potter: The Order of the Phoenix

I'm about 150 pages in

Looked at my stack of finished books last night and can fill the space between Breakpoint and Fortress in Shadow:

Herbet & Anderson - Hunters of Dune, Sandworms of Dune, and Paul of Dune
Gaiman & Pratchett - Good Omens

I read the first three books of the Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. Some good, some bad. I liked the first book the best.

Just finished the second Dark Tower graphic novel - The Long Road Home.
Currrently working on Pratchett - Mort

So it's a week later and I'm only at page 400. Need to step it up...it's due back at the library soon

The slowest of the 7 (though parts of the last drag a bit.)

Cold Moon Over Babylon by Michael McDowell.

I'm sorry that McDowell is no longer with us. His stories are all very involving and able to invoke a dense setting and mood within the first few pages. 'Babylon' is one of my favorites. Very creepy stuff.

The prologue, which is only two pages long, manages to create a small town atmosphere with absolute clarity that resonates throughout the entire story. It also includes a shocking series of events that are somehow presented in a way that does not interrupt the languid pacing of the story.

I loved this guy. Also by McDowell: The Elementals, Guilded Needles, The Amulet and The Blackwater Trilogy.

He also wrote the screenplay for the movie "Beetlejuice."

Just finished rereading Watchmen since the movie is coming up soon.
Now reading Hogfather by Terry Pratchet.

Finished Pratchett - Mort
Finished Silverberg (ed.) - Legends
Working on Cook - A Cruel Wind (again)
Gaiman - The Graveyard Book on deck.

Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: a space odyssey, 2010: odyssey two, and 2061: odyssey three.
Stephen King's The Mist.
Chris Paolini's Brisingr.
Alan Moore's Watchmen.
There were at least three more that I've read but I don't see them on/in/under/near my mess--desk. :confused:

Just finished In the Name of Identity by Amin Maalouf. Fascinating little non-fiction book (written in the late 90's, pre-9/11) about why people are incited to violence when their identity--whether religious, linguistic, or otherwise--is threatened.

Just finished "Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs" by Chuck Klosterman. Its a collection of essays that draw parallels between things that you never thought of before, like how The Empire Strikes Back is the movie that defined Generation X. These essays will get you to stop thinking about the obvious and start thinking about the underlying similarities that many things share.

I am now reading Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.

Read Bound by Sally Gunning last week, then The Painter from Shanghai by Jennifer Cody Epstein.

Finished The Graveyard Book. Taking some time off of constant reading to get some things accomplished. Cook - An Empire Unacquainted With Defeat is due in on 11/5, so we'll pick it up there in 8 days.

Damn! Pushed back another 10 days. I may even get some real projects done.

Finished A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords by George Martin.

Finished reading "The Shack" by William P. Young. This book started out strong but just became too preachy to me.

Currently reading a book called "Hawke" can't remember the author at the moment kind of a clive cussler read...

I am quickly falling behind in my reading... I have a stack of about 15 books to read on my dresser... third shift is killing my reading pattern

DB

Well, junkie gotta get his fix...
Finished Herbert - The Dosadi experiment. Understood it this time.
Working on Silverberg - Lord Valentine's Castle

Iron Angel by Alan Campbell

Although I'm intially angry about the ending, I'm really looking forward to the third in the series. A good read if you're into Sci-Fi/Religious books, and it has nothing to do with any religions on earth.

The first 2 books in the Millenium series by Stieg Larsson, the translation in French. The author is a swedish dude, cool stories.

Finished "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova, and I'm currently reading "Good Omens" by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

You lucky duck! Good stuff.

Just finished "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle. Currently reading "The Ethical Slut" :D

i'm about 250 pages into the final Harry Potter book

Maus by Art Spiegelman
Epileptic by David B.
Blankets by Craig Thompson

I enjoyed all three. Spiegelman has evidently set the standard when it comes to graphic novel memoirs. I see so much of him in Epileptic and Blankets (and in Persepolis if you have read it).

I finished Anathem by Neal Stephenson yesterday. It was an interesting scifi book. The first 400 pages were better than the last 400 pages (it dragged).

Last night I read The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. It was a nice short read.

um, these are the books Ive read in 2009 so far:

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher - Kate Summerscale
On Beulah Heights - Reginald Hill
The Fifth Woman - Henning Mankell
Ghost Ship: The Mysterious True Story of the Mary Celeste - Brian Hicks
How the Dead Live - Derek Raymond
Arctic Chill - Arnaldur Indridason
-----Added 30/1/2009 at 06 : 38 : 12-----
Maus is a superb book - really heartbreaking. Ive read Blankets, but not Epileptic.

just finished "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy. I think I liked it, but I'm too confused to tell...

I liked Epileptic about as much as I liked Blankets. It's about a boy growing up with an epileptic brother and his family's struggle with the condition.

I recently finished The Forever War by Dexter Filkins. It's a war correspondent's account of his experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq. Initially, it felt too much like a travelogue, but by the end, I enjoyed it. It was a depressing read.

Today I read "Voices" by Arnaldur Indridason

working on "High Fidelity" by Nick Hornby

'Lighthousekeeping' by Jeanette Winterson

Last night I read Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. It was OK. A quick read.

A few nights ago I read The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. I read it aloud to my daughter. Some that are enjoyable to read are unpleasant to read aloud. The Hundred Dresses was an enjoyable read and easy to read aloud.

Last week I read From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg aloud to my daughter. The story was OK. It was difficult to read aloud.

Re-re-re-re-reading The Stand by Stephen King. I found it when unpacking some books and started reading it again. I think I'm going to need a new copy soon though because it's kinda falling apart.

Last night I finished Warlock by Oakley Hall. I haven't read very many westerns. I enjoyed the first half. The second half dragged a bit.

This evening I finished Coraline by Neil Gaiman. It was ok. I wouldn't recommend it.

I just finished reading a delightful series of books featuring a lady detective in Botswana. The author is Alexander McCall Smith.
-The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
-Tears of the Giraffe
- Morality for Beautiful Girls
-The Kalahari Typing School for Men
- The Full Cupboard of Life
- In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
- Blue Shoes and Happiness
- The Good Husband of Zebra Drive
- The Miracle at Speedy Motors

I just finished Middlesex. It is good.

Last night I read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. I started it around 11:30p and finished around 2:30a. I'm feeling a little rugged right now, but I enjoyed the book. I've read his collection, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. I liked the diary better. It's a first person story of a teenager who decides to attend high school off of the reservation.

Recently read about half of the Fafhrd/Grey Mouser series. I think Swords against Wizardry, Swords against Death, and Swords in the Mist. Mind candy.

Finished Zelazney & Thomas - The Masks of Loki last night. Good book up to the last fifth or so. The ending doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Sounds like something Zelazney wasn't sure what he was doing with and it got splatchcobbled together.

Wicked

Not as good as I'd hoped

Factotum by Charles Bukowski,
Archangel by Robert Harris,
Life a User's Guide by Georges Perec,
half way through The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall

digital fortress
 

just finished digital fortress by dan brown. liked it better than the da vinci code

right now i am in the middle of 'Inkheart' when I finish that ima start 'Illusions: Tales of a Reluctant Messiah'

Finished A Voyage Long and Strange by Tony Horwitz
Horwitz tracks the paths of modern Europe's encounters with the Americas before the Mayflower. It's part travelogue and part history book. I thought that it failed at both. (Though it has received many positive reviews).

re-reading 1984. A co-worker was reading it and I realized I hadn't read it in years.

Anathem, by Neal Stephenson.

Possibly the best Sci-Fi book I've read in the last 15 years. Incredibly good.

Mr. Muo's Traveling Couch by Dai Sijie
I enjoyed the book. Quirky, adult subjects matter, and comical. I liked it better than Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by the same author - but that one was also excellent.

It makes me a little sad that another co-worker had never heard of 1984.