i just finished jose saramago's "seeing", which turned out the be
a bit of a follow up to "blindness". altho "blindness" is a much,
much better book.

it's funny how saramago can be so hit or mis. some of his books,
such as "the gospel according to jesus christ", "the stone raft"
and even "death at intervals" are absolutely brilliant, yet some
of his others are merely ok.

i'm considering what to read next and i've whiteled it down to
this shortlist:

the minotaur takes a cigarett break :: steven sherrill
the night it rained dead crows :: marcel beyer
snow :: orhan pamuk
the encyclopaedia of snow :: sarah emily miano

I JUST finished Bangkok 8 (my 3rd attempt to read the book in 2 years ) by John Burdett, and have started Bangkok Tattoo (the followup). I've fallen in love with the characters, and find the man protagonist delicious. Just delicious.


I've started two books which are short story anthologies:






and




A collection of literature (short stories) from around the world, outside of the typical Western authors in the US and UK (or Germany, France, etc.).

The book is divided into African, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, and Latin American writers/stories. I've only started on the first two stories (currently in the African authors sections), and I can already say this book is going to be superb. The stories were griping, heart wrenching, and just expertly well done. The bios provided for each author before the story are in themselves engaging.

Really magnificent stuff.



I've been breezing through books this last 2 months--I think I've read more in the last two months then I have in the last 2 years.









Let yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed.--The Buddha

I'm going to pick up "Shit My Dad Says" soon. The Twitter account is hilarious!

TheVoid said:

oh, good tip, i'm gonna check this out

RodeoSchro said:

do you have a direct link to the twitter account?

IstenSzek said:

Yeah, here you go. I hope you find it as funny as I do!

http://twitter.com/shitmydadsays

Believe it or not, they're making a TV series of this. Starring William Shatner! LOL.

I just picked up this one

Haven't started reading it yet, though.

MacDaddy said:

You have to read some of the chapters twice, they're so intricately detailed.
Dawkins doesn't just criticize--he dissects and skewers. His writing style is more humorous than angry, but his intent is not disguised. He's on a mission with that book.

Christopher Hitchen's book, which is often compared to this one, "God Is Not Great" is actually funnier in places, but I would say the Dawkins book is a better read---it's been a while since I've read the Dawkins book though, and I honestly didn't get through Hitchen's book. The beauty of Hitchens book is that he turns away from Abrahamic religion bashing from time to time, and goes at my own religion (Buddhism) with as much ferocity. I found that refreshing since Buddhism is often given sort of a high brow 'pass' by many anti-religious authors.









Let yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed.--The Buddha

MacDaddy said:

it's a good one, i read it last year. most of dawkins' books are
worth reading.

Lars, you're hot.

Triumph
Life After the Cult-A Survivor's Lessons

TheVoid said:

actually, i'm cold right now, i just turned up the heating
and am warming my hands on a cup of warm coffee, sifting
through my harddrive of live prince performances, looking
for something i haven't listened to yet.

RodeoSchro said:

that stuff is indeed hilarious. what a foulmouth dad has

To Kill the Devil. About assassination plots to kill Hitler.

IstenSzek said:

Let yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed.--The Buddha

TheVoid said:

all that extra shit in your post is making me queezy

IstenSzek said:

Let yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed.--The Buddha

TheVoid said:

it's a bitch replying to your message and getting rid of your Buhhda sig first. Thanks for the insight, looking forward to reading it and will also pick up Hitchen's book.

MacDaddy said:

np


You'll love it!









Let yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed.--The Buddha

The Megillah.

TheVoid said:

Arse

Aelis said:

UGH!!!!
What is that thing!
Kill it!


Kill it!


Kill it!!!!!













Let yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed.--The Buddha

TheVoid said:

That thing is rather cute!

IstenSzek said:

I have him on facebook...its HILARIOUS!

I'm reading crap.

Well it's not crap just mindless stuff.


I'm getting through the Sookie Stackhouse books. I'm on 7 or 8. I forget.

it's my third time reading it. it's my all-time fave, and one of my characters (kevin) references it a few times in "gaging noel" and reads small portions of it to another character (ben), so i decided it was time to read it again to pick the most applicable lines to have kevin read aloud.

maybe it's because i grew up in foster care, but i have never identified with a character as much as i do homer wells, who is probably the only artistic representation of an orphan (aside from the saccharine crap that is "annie") i know of. as kevin is loosely based on me, and an orphan, it felt fitting to translate my own love of the book, and to use some of the more defining lines like




[Edited 5/6/10 14:02pm]

HamsterHuey said:

my other favorite irving... i love him and his writing so much.

- I'm still reading "Under The Dome" by Stephen King (damn, what a tedious book! )

- I just bought "Six Easy Pieces" and "Red Wind" by Walter Mosley, and started the first one.

- I'm waiting for the new installment of the "30 Days of Night" novel series to come in the mail at the end of the month.