Now Reading in the New New Year

[PopTodd]

Bought it for a buck at Half-Price Books.

It's been a long time since I've read it and while I didn't exactly forget about how startling "A Perfect Day For Bananafish" is, reading it again still had a visceral impact. Still makes me say "DAMN."

[embiggen]

the title of this thread is a bit confounding. shouldn't it be "old year?" just sayin.

[sgtpepper64]

 

I don't remember who it was who first recommended this book on here, but on the off chance my local library had it, I checked and lo and behold! they did. I checked it out on Thursday and literally just finished it three seconds ago, and I just have to report how much I enjoyed it. It was absolutely gorgeously written and held my attention like few other books have. This will be a book I recommend with high praise. If any of you haven't read it, or are considering reading it, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. It's just perfect.

 

I'm considering reading

 

Anyone have any thoughts on those, and/or other suggestions?

[Moss]

 

Saw David Sedaris the other night and he raved about this (and had it for sale with his other books) so I picked it up. Only read one of the stories so far but the writing is really good.

[tugmoose]

 

Loved "A Short History of Nearly Everything", just read "A Walk in the Woods" which was rather lighter fare but perfect for reading on the DC Metro. Guessing this falls somewhere between the two.

[Preferred B]

 

Saw David Sedaris the other night and he raved about this (and had it for sale with his other books) so I picked it up. Only read one of the stories so far but the writing is really good.

 

Same here, except I got it from the library. I'm almost done. The writing is definitely good, and I'm enjoying it, but it's depressing.

[Good Old Neon]

 

One thousand-plus pages of awesomey goodness. Levin's first novel is getting a lot of positive praise as of late, and it is entirely deserved.

[kidsmoke]

 

One thousand-plus pages of awesomey goodness. Levin's first novel is getting a lot of positive praise as of late, and it is entirely deserved.

 

Wow, massive! What's it about, roughly?

[fif1435]

Just finished:

 

 

Just started:

 

[Oil Can Boyd]

 

I really liked this. It's a novel but it's written as the journals of a British man whose life spanned the 20th century.

[anthony]

I recently finished Underworld by Don DeLillo. It was ... ok. I realize it is post-modern novel, but it was spread a little too thin for me. It was like a Jackson Pollack painting: yeah, I see what you are doing, it just doesn't connect for me. I needed just a little more. It was close, tho.

 

Now reading:

 

I usually don't read a non-fiction, but I read the preface while standing in B&N and I got hooked.

[kidsmoke]

I've heard that's very good, Anthony. Let us know how you like it.

 

I'm reading another Walter Mosley, "Big Bad Brawley Brown". Man can he weave a story! This one's an Easy Rawlins story. Great stuff, fast paced with no wasted words.

[Moss]

 

Now reading:

 

I usually don't read a non-fiction, but I read the preface while standing in B&N and I got hooked.

 

Read that one awhile back and really liked it although it was a case of preaching to the choir.

[smells like flowers]

Just read two by Elizabeth Strout. "Olive Kitteridge" and "Amy & Isabelle." Both superbly written, kind of bleak contemporary tales about New England women. In the vein of Alice Munro... a bit desolate, but so beautifully woven. Reminds me of Thoreau's quote about ordinary men (and women, obviously) leading lives of quiet desparation.

 

"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them."

-- Henry David Thoreau

[Moss]

 

Staying on the religion theme, just started this one.

[Spawn's dad]

Kotler's West of Jesus is one of my favorite books. I'm just a few pages into this but so far so good...

 

[Reni]

I love Under the Banner of Heaven! It got me hooked on reading books about the FLDS an other fundamentalist religious groups.

 

I am currently reading:

 

 

What a treat! I haven't read it since I was 11 years old. Re-discovering it, and being able to read it on levels not accessible to me at such a young age, has been one of my bookish highlights this year.

[Moss]

I have never read the same book twice. Seems like most the people I talk to think that's weird but I have just never had a desire, too many other books to read. But having said that, I have often thought about trying the Hobbit again. I was 13 when I read it and really don't remember it at all for some reason, I remember the Lord of the rings Trilogy quite well even though I read it around the same time.

[M. (hristine]

[Reni]

I have never read the same book twice. Seems like most the people I talk to think that's weird but I have just never had a desire, too many other books to read. But having said that, I have often thought about trying the Hobbit again. I was 13 when I read it and really don't remember it at all for some reason, I remember the Lord of the rings Trilogy quite well even though I read it around the same time.

 

My dad read LOTR to me when I was even younger, and I have almost no recollection of the details. So, I am reading it next. I had almost no memory of The Hobbit either, so in a way it's like reading it anew and I am loving every minute of it. There are only a few books I have re-read, both read when I was much much younger - To Kill a Mockingbird and The Color Purple

 

Books I would re-read again? A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Frankenstein

[anthony]

I have never read the same book twice. Seems like most the people I talk to think that's weird but I have just never had a desire, too many other books to read. But having said that, I have often thought about trying the Hobbit again. I was 13 when I read it and really don't remember it at all for some reason, I remember the Lord of the rings Trilogy quite well even though I read it around the same time.

I, also, do not like to re-read books for much the same reason: too much good stuff to repeat!

 

However, I do plan on re-reading Hobbit and LOTR one day. I read them in the mid 1990s and will be ready for them again soon.

 

Currently, i have only read one book (or books) twice: Douglass Adams Hitchhikers Guide series. Too good.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

Good book about an alternate history where Germany won the Second World War and evidence of the holocoust comes to light 20 years later...

 

[smells like flowers]

Bought it for a buck at Half-Price Books.

It's been a long time since I've read it and while I didn't exactly forget about how startling "A Perfect Day For Bananafish" is, reading it again still had a visceral impact. Still makes me say "DAMN."

I love Salinger too -- I re-read "Catcher in the Rye" every few years and it never gets old.

[lost highway]

This was an interesting ride for me. I read it in two days and found I couldn't put it down. After I finished it, I was sure that it was devastating, but not sure if it completely blew my mind of if it was kind of horrible. I suppose anything that makes you think so much about it afterward has some inherit merits.

 

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

This was an interesting ride for me. I read it in two days and found I couldn't put it down. After I finished it, I was sure that it was devastating, but not sure if it completely blew my mind of if it was kind of horrible. I suppose anything that makes you think so much about it afterward has some inherit merits.

 

 

After Reading Ron Charles' review in the WASHINGTON POST, I don't think I would touch this.