kisscamille said:

cool. yeah, his books put a new spin on stories we all grew up hearing a million times as kids. he really has a great idea to run with where the subjects of his books are concerned - very clever. the one about cinderella is good, as it focuses mainly on the evil stepsisters.

Anxiety said:

I will definitely keep this in mind. I love to read. It's a real passion with me. The next book on my list is Empress Orchid my Anchee Min. I always have 5-6 books waiting to be read.

kisscamille said:

i just finished reading 'possession' by a.s. byatt, which has been the best thing i've read so far this year, even though it's an older book. it's an awesome book about a couple of scholars trying to trace a relationship between two 19th century poets, and it's got all kinds of nasty stuff like seances and gravedigging and searching around for secret letters hidden all over the place...the writing is just incredible, and finishing the book has me totally addicted to reading good, long, in-depth novels these days.

interesting in a "what's it like to be a prostitute" kinda way, but gets boring & repetitive pretty quickly.

Anxiety said:

I've seen this book a hundred times, but I have never picked it up. Sounds interesting. I'll check it out.

The Art of War, again.

Ok. Has anyone read a book called 'Journey To The West'?

It's about a monkey king.

I really want to read this book!

A.M. Homes
Things You Should Know


From amazon;
Homess first collection since 1990s much-praised The Safety of Objects offers 11 sharply original portraits of domestic life: the distance between family members, the minor wars between friends and lovers. Written over the last decade, with several stories previously published in glossies and literary magazines, this volume confirms Homess reputation as an expert stylist and unique chronicler of suburban drama. Conception takes a strange turn in Georgica, as a woman recovering from an accident fixates on the golden boys of the beach and plots to make one of them the father of her child. The narrator of The Chinese Lesson finds his sympathy for his confused, homesick mother-in-law, Mrs. Ha, has alienated him from his wife, who has spent her life trying not to be Chinese. In the title piece, a fourth-grade teachers list of things you already should know but maybe are a little dumb, so you dont becomes an obsession for the narrator, who missed school the day it was supposedly handed out. A shape-shifting woman who visits the insouciant, anorexic girl of Raft in Water, Floating finds her own story in The Weather Outside Is Sunny and Bright. Not much happens in it, she goes to her job (architectural forensics), visits her mother in a nursing home, takes a bath and casually exercises her powers, but the story feels full anyway, replete with a strange magic. It's precisely this sort of thing that makes Homes so good.

TeaAndTe said:

my little kid can read it [flame bait snip - luv4u]

klhk said:

I had to laugh at that again....

Fauxie said:

Yer not learning, are ya?

IstenSzek said:

sometimes, we all need a rest

IstenSzek said:

Ah, ok. I don't think I "got" the entire premise then. Then hopefully it was just the first chapter that was shittily written. Written for its time? I can dig.

It's a long read, and my copy belongs to my university library, so unfortunately I won't be able to start it until I get hold of another copy in my hometown when I move back. But I'll try again. Thanks, Isten (not 9s, though )

Natsume said:

2the9s said:

But seriously, it is very well written. The Johnny Truant parts (which are the first 30 pages or so) are written in the style of someone who is not a professional writer and is trying to make sense of this incredibly perplexing manuscript he has found. He is also very often drug-addled.

It wasn't that part that turned me off the book at first, but rather the tired postmodernism of the look of the book (footnotes and weird page-layouts etc) I'm not such a fan of that stuff.

But there is this incredibly moving and beautiful story/stories of love and loss and memory mixed in there: the Navidson's marriage, the story of Delial, Johnny's own descent into madness, his relationship with his mother, the story of two brothers (Navidson and Tom -- I just finished the section where he does this bravaura spin on the Jacob and Esau story from the bible); then there is the chapter on echoes, the section on SOS, the whole concept of the minotaur.

Pick it up again, ass!






Shit!
[Edited 6/1/05 11:48am]

I'm currently reading



And I'm really enjoying it. Very interesting and informative.

Tuesdays with Morrie
and
The Honk and Holler Opening Soon

I'm actively reading FRANKENSTEIN(still)by KOONTZ and ABOVE THE THUNDER by RENEE MANFRDI. Both are very interesting but I'll let you know when I'm done.


M

2the9s said:

postmodernism, pssssht

I know what you mean, though. My boyfriend described it to me as "Blair Witchy." So again with the hand.

I don't know what happened to my earlier response, by the way. I thought I posted it but it's not here.

I'm sort of in the middle of "Kitchen" by Banana but I've kind of deserted it because it... well... bit.

Natsume said:

You're still an ass.

2the9s said:

hey, at least I'm not pretentious, red font!

Finishing the DaVinci Code...and have just started on "The Souls of Black Folks" by W.E.B. Dubois

Anxiety said:

RUN, go get it! Yes, I liked it a lot. It's more anecdotal, but still runs a good thread throughout, and continues to reveal his crazy life.

althom said:

I started reading that last year, but my ADD got the best of me. I really liked what I did read. After Da Vinci Code I picked up a slew of related books. Good stuff, there.

2the9s said:

Yes! I read that last night

I alo love the Poems at the

end of the book.

my poems, lol. im rereading george clooney's bio by jeff hudson, realllly goood book.

2the9s said:

Buying it today. I'm very interested after what the 3 of you have written here.

madartista said:

You'll love it!

althom said:

I want to read this book. It was featured on NBC Dateline Da Vinci Code Special. I am reading the Da Vinci Code Now.