What Are You Reading??

I have several books going but just finished reading 1984. Great book.

ongoing:
ac/dc a serious biography and outline of a great band.

anne rice: Vampire chronicle #5
FDI in china

basically i read in spurts when i get my ass on the subway and usually when there is nothing else to do.

I've been reading Mao's Last Dancer.  Really good, even if you care nothing for ballet.
 

tried john grisham but too anticipating.

LIFE of PI is a good read ^o^

I've been reading Mao's Last Dancer.  Really good, even if you care nothing for ballet.
 

Saw the film on the flight back to the UK a few months back. Can recommend the film too! 

Presently reading The Land of Painted Caves by Jean Auel.  It's the conclusion to her Clan of the Cave Bear series.  Not as good as the others, but bear-able.

Also have 1637 on the go.  An alternate universe idea, wherein a smallish town in present day West Virginia gets shifted into Europe in the midst of the 100 Years War.  This is the latest book in the series.  I'm enjoying it/them.

I got a Nook just before coming to China and recently found a few good torrents of Epub collections. I'm currently reading Cities of the Plain, which is the final novel of Cormac McCarthy's "Border Trilogy". I noticed some people in this thread have mentioned The Road and Blood Meridian, which I've also enjoyed. Blood Meridian is still my favorite McCarthy novel. The border trilogy is generally slower paced than The Road, and far less grim/violent than Blood Meridian. As a whole, the trilogy encompasses the last days and gradual disappearance of the cowboy. I found them to be so sad that I almost couldn't take it anymore, but enjoyed that they were able to play on my emotions the way they did.  

Of the McCarthy novels I've read, these ones have characters that feel more fleshed out, with a past and a distinct voice. Whereas some of McCarthy's other protagonists (The Kid, The Man) seem intentionally non-desrcript to allow the reader to put themselves into the story. In short, if you're a McCarthy fan, these are worth your time.  

Quote from: Con ate dog on April 08, 2011, 05:13:22 AM

hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the Earth

That is a fun, fun book. Enjoy!

I've heard so much! I loved The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, Norwegian Wood and A Wild Sheep Chase- and Kafka on the Shore was good in parts too.

Is that the next one I should read then?

I just finished 2 new good ones.

Steven Pressfield's Do the Work. It's new and a follow up to his fantastic War of Art (and Do the Work is available for your Kindle free on Amazon right now.) As a writer, i really appreciate his ideas and short, no nonsense writing style.

Turn Left at the Trojan Horse by Brad Herzog. This is a travel book about a guys "epic" journey around America. He is inspired by Joseph Campbell, Greek Mythology, and especially Homer's Odyssey. So his "average' travels take n a cool, mythic quality.

Anyway, I liked them both. Also, I'm keeping track of the books I read this year on my blog, and after reading those 2 I'm up to 28 since Jan 1st! Jeesh! Even I didn't realize i read that much!

Only 28...in 4 months..just kidding. I just finished “McTeague”, “Sister Carrie”, Jack London’s “The Iron Heel” and Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle”...tackling F.Scott Fitzgerald and Sherwood Anderson next...and I get to call it work...aint life grand:-)

read 'the quiet american' recently. epic book. reading 'ordinary people' by judith guest which is quite interesting, i've got this library of 'modern classics' and they are good but you do get bored of reading about middle class WASP americans with kind of interesting problems

Just finished "The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit",quite nice but by no means great literature. Just embarked on "Ines of my Soul" by Isabel Allende,as mandated by my book club.Got a feeling it's not going to be up to the standard of her previous one.

Mother Tongue - Bill Bryson - me trying to pronounce words he's written phonetically in different accents must frighten people on the train...

I just finished reading Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins...  It was entertaining but too simple and not violent enough.  It's teen fiction though so I probably should have expected that.  I'm not sure if I'll bother with the third in the series yet.

Just got done with Edith Wharton's 1913 seriously funny classic "The Custom of the Country"...Urbine Bragg is a funny and yes despicable social climber...highly recommend reading it

Now that finals are over, I have time to read again! Finally got around to Dream of Ding Village--absolutely amazing. I really don't see why it was banned though.

Since my parents went to the library book sale a couple weeks ago, they gave me every piece of Chinese literature they could get their hands on. So, I decided to start Ha Jin's The Crazed. It's alright so far. Not all that impressive yet.