Lammycat Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 James Joyce The Dubliners and Portrait.Oh man good luck. As much as I respect Joyce as a writer, he ain't easy to read. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gogo Posted March 11, 2014 Author Share Posted March 11, 2014 Dubliners and Portrait are both fairly readable (Dubliners is one of my all time favorites). Ulysses much less so, and Finnegans Wake, forget it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lammycat Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Read Portrait in high school and was ok with it but even Ulysses in college I struggled with. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Smith Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 I've had him on my radar for years. I figure it's as good a time as any to get going. I made an aborted stab at Ulysses a few years ago and was told that the Dubliners was an easier entry point. So here I go... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PopTodd Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Right now: I really want to read this one and have wanted to for a while. Thanks for the reminder! Gonna head to the library today. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NoJ Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 "The Big Year-A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession" Its delightful! Maybe it helps that I'm a bit of a birder but still, its a great read so far. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kidsmoke Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 That sounds outrageous....spending an entire year chasing around the globe trying to sight the most species of birds! I'm a bit of a birder too, and each of my 3 kids had an extensive birding project for high school biology, in which they had to sight at least 50 different species and otherwise identify and describe where & when sighted. It was HARD! After about the first 30 or 35, every bird was a species you'd already seen. The birds had to be sighted in the wild. We got our quota, with each child, but we had to drive up into the local mountains and down to the beach to find more species. I think Alissa did best...we found a great wildlife area with marshes, and saw a lot of new birds there. She wound up with around 70 birds. (The idea of that winner sighting over 700 blows my mind.) Let me know how that book is. Sounds like something I'd like. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NoJ Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Its good and has my interest enough to order Kaufman's book on his Big Year. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nalafej Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 I'm reading "The Son" by Philipp Meyer. I have about 100 pages to go (450 done) and it is a great read. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bleedorange Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Read both of these over the last couple of days (the Shailene Woodley book club). I really enjoyed The Fault in Our Stars. Divergent was pretty bad. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mr. Heartbreak Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Finally putting aside my JFK assassination obsession for a while and jumping back into the classics. Just started Sarrasine by Honoré de Balzac. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 I rarely have books to recommend, but the book "Redeployment", which is a series of short stories based on the experiences of vets in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is excellent and very compelling. I thought it was non-fiction at first. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NoJ Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 I rarely have books to recommend, but the book "Redeployment", which is a series of short stories based on the experiences of vets in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is excellent and very compelling. I thought it was non-fiction at first. LouieB Thanks for that, its now on my list. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Oil Can Boyd Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 I went to New Orleans for the first time a couple of weeks ago so I thought I should read this. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
anthony Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 I am still plowing through this set. On Book #2 now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sunshine Posted April 4, 2014 Share Posted April 4, 2014 I've been into Phillip K Dick. About to start Ubik. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NoJ Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 I rarely have books to recommend, but the book "Redeployment", which is a series of short stories based on the experiences of vets in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is excellent and very compelling. I thought it was non-fiction at first. LouieB Oh man, just started this today. If the book continues to be anything like the first short story, its gonna be a great read. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fritz Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 From the outset I need to say that I am a big Willy Vlautin fan. I've read his previous novels and I love Richmond Fontaine. That being said....this is such a beautiful book. I'm under a hundred pages now from finishing it and I'm in that zone where I know I'm going to be missing this book terribly once I'm finished with it. I'll mope around the house for a day or so trying to figure my way out of that strange purgatorial zone I sometimes get into when I'm between books. Willy's writing just keeps getting better. I have been so drawn into this story with the simple and delicate prose he weaves around characters who you can tell the author really cares about. I've had a wonderful few days with this book. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NoJ Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 I went to New Orleans for the first time a couple of weeks ago so I thought I should read this. I just finished this, great read. Amazing how inept the state and feds were. Made me ponder how quickly some humans will revert to anti social behaviour when a few basic luxuries are removed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smells like flowers Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 From the outset I need to say that I am a big Willy Vlautin fan. I've read his previous novels and I love Richmond Fontaine. That being said....this is such a beautiful book. I'm under a hundred pages now from finishing it and I'm in that zone where I know I'm going to be missing this book terribly once I'm finished with it. I'll mope around the house for a day or so trying to figure my way out of that strange purgatorial zone I sometimes get into when I'm between books. Willy's writing just keeps getting better. I have been so drawn into this story with the simple and delicate prose he weaves around characters who you can tell the author really cares about. I've had a wonderful few days with this book.Sold! I've been kind of in that between books place the past week, looking for something to follow "Enon," by Paul Harding. Your glowing review of this author has me running to the library post-haste! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kidsmoke Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 I'm intrigued with it too! Also want to read The Great Deluge. My reading list keeps getting longer & longer! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Oil Can Boyd Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 I just finished this, great read. Amazing how inept the state and feds were. Made me ponder how quickly some humans will revert to anti social behaviour when a few basic luxuries are removed.Yes - pretty horrendous behavior from the top all the way down to the bottom. But also some remarkable stories of people pitching in and helping each other. And weird stories like former NFL football player JaMarcus Russell letting Fats Domino stay at his apartment in Baton Rouge. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NoJ Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 "The bikeriders" by Danny Lyon. New Journalism, photography division. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fritz Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 I love it when I get on a roll with great books. This was wonderful. I'm a sucker for a great coming of age story. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smells like flowers Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Read Northline by Willy Vlautin after Fritz' glowing reviews. It was a terrific read -- very starkly written, and very compelling. The soundtrack that comes with the book is gorgeous and sad -- guitar, harmonica, pedal steel and piano. A perfect companion piece. ** edit: Actually, the soundtrack isn't just sad, it is heartbreaking. I don't know what it is about pedal steel, but it just reaches inside your chest and grips tight and doesn't let go. It's both a physical and emotional feeling. Very powerful. Looking forward to reading The Motel Life, his debut novel, next. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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