I'm polyamorous (in a bookish kind of way)

[yui]

Mcfbridge asked in his thread if we're still reading Lit stories on a regular basis. I'm not (I'm guilty of primarily reading AHers). Dr. M suggested on the same thread that perhaps we all need to read RL fiction and I wondered if the assumption is that if you're not reading on Lit, then you're not reading. Personally, that couldn't be further from the truth. I love to read. Books, words, are very important to me and I guess I just assumed that most people/writers felt this way.

I would like to know, if you would like to share, what book(s) you are currently reading (or just finished or whatever). You can provide a link or not, it's up to you. I made a list of all the books that I'm currently in various stages of reading. Some books I read from start to finish, but usually my book subject varies with my mood. Hence the bookish polyamory.

I should note that Amy Tan is a perpetual re-read, a comfort read, for me. Anybody else have a book they use like a security blanket?

Or not. <---- Obligatory fluff.


Monkey King by Patricia Chao

About a Boy by Nick Hornby

The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of The Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester

Blood Trail by Tanya Huff

BLUEBACK : A CONTEMPORARY FABLE

Slayer by Karen Koehler

Watermelon by Marian Keyes

Last Chance Saloon by Marian Keyes

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by HARUKI MURAKAMI

Such Times by Christopher Coe

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

Stolen by Kelley Armstrong

 

[NoJo]

I'm not showing anyone my literary teddies. They'll just laugh at them.

 

[yui]

I'm not showing anyone my literary teddies. They'll just laugh at them.

Wimp.

 

[Belegon]

I am actually very into heroic fantsy and somewhat less-so into science fiction. I am currently reading Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear, one of my favorite authors.

I've kinda enjoyed the alt history thing that has been going on the last five years or so...

comfort books? probably not everyone's idea of it, but Shakespeare and Marlowe. I also have a tendency to "act" them when alone, or at least read them aloud. Tolkien would also qualify for me here.

 

[Alex De Kok]

Just finished C J Cherryh's 'The Paladin'. Just started C J Cherryh's 'Faded Sun' trilogy. (I've read the first story, Kesrith, before, but not the other two).

I'm also having random reads in various poetry books, just for odd moments. I recently finished the BBC book, 'The Nation's Favourite Love Poems'. This one tickled me -

Celia, Celia by Adrian Mitchell

When I am sad and weary,
When I think all hope has gone,
When I walk along High Holborn
I think of you with nothing on

Well, it makes me smile.

Alex

 

[impressive]

Right now ...

Mindless entertainment: Grisham, Saunders, King, Patterson, Rice

Semi-mindless entertainment: Heinlein, Asimov, Straub, McCaffrey, Eddings

Non-fiction: Kohn

I'm having trouble concentrating on reading for long stretches of time (hence so many books in progress).

 

[Softouch911]

Since I quit "working" for a living, my "research" has included all of my old favorites (authors) + some new ones that I've discovered.

I've finished some more of Joyce Carol Oates, finished all of the Richard Condon novels, lots of poetry by Wm. Stafford and re-read Sylvia Plath out of a discussion with someone here on Lit.

I've been enjoying mysteries by Lawrence Block (new to me -- in the middle of "Even the Wicked."), a re-read of the techno thrillers of Tom Clancy ("Sum of All Fears"!) and found Larry Bond (nothing special, imo), now looking at Dan Brown. Next on my list is to go back to 'Beowulf' (again off of a thread here on Lit.) -- I haven't read it for many years!

I find that erotica leads me back into mainstream stuff and in directions I wouldn't have taken. I'm also noticing how so much mainstream lit would be improved by putting some of the impllied sex back in!


Thanks for provoking me, Yui!



Softouch

 

[English Lady]

Celia, Celia by Adrian Mitchell

When I am sad and weary,
When I think all hope has gone,
When I walk along High Holborn
I think of you with nothing on

Well, it makes me smile.

Alex

I love that little ditty to Alex


Well I think I will start "Earth,Air, Fire and Custard." By Tom Holt tonight. I've been meaning to read it gor ages, hubby read it as soon as it arrived (it's the third in a series...anyone who likes Fantasy and a bit of zany humour just has to read his JW wells and co series starting with The Portable Door)

I've not read much of late and I'm missing it. now my earth day story is out I think I'll get back to it

A good comfort read is anything Pratchett or David Gemmell. I love Fantasy

 

[NoJo]

Wimp.

Okay... one of the less embarrasing ones: "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynmann?" -- the autobiography of Richard Feynmann.

Most of my other stuff is comic books. Yeah, I know: Forty six, and still reads comic books...

 

[Kassiana]

Current read at work: Robert Ludlum, Bourne Supremacy. Lots of silly references to "the Oriental mind" in it.

Regular reads at home: X-men collections, Dilbert comics, Laurell K. Hamilton and Mercedes Lackey.

 

[R. Richard]

As a result of a discussion in another thread, I am reading, "More Guns, Less Crime" by John R. Lott Jr. My read will be the basis of another thread. I would suggest that others read the book. It is full of statistics and deadly dull, but it will change your world if you read it.

Also as the result of another discussion in a different Web site, I am rereading Miyamoto Mushashi's "The Book Of Five Rings." It is an interesting book, but really useful only if you know how to fight with two swords, Niten style.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

It's funny, but most of my reading aside from short stories now is non-fiction.
A sixth of the way into "The Girl With The Pearl Earring" and I just can't get into it. I'm waiting for someone to sleep with their daughter. That's what Lit does to you.

Comfort books? I've got all 20 of Patrick O'Brian's Aubry/Maturin series and never stop reading them. I've probably read every one at least 4 times and I just don't get tired of them. He's taught me so much about making even the shadows in your stories come alive. He's just an amazing, amazing author, to me, anyhow. (There's nothing like recommending an author to a friend and having them come back and say they couldn't get into it.)

And I still love Raymond Chandler mysteries. They never make any sense, but the atmosphere and writing is just so delicious.

 

[NoJo]

It's funny, but most of my reading aside from short stories now is non-fiction.
A sixth of the way into "The Girl With The Pearl Earring" and I just can't get into it. I'm waiting for someone to sleep with their daughter. That's what Lit does to you.

You probably saw the painting before reading the book, which spoilt it for you.

 

[yui]

I am actually very into heroic fantsy and somewhat less-so into science fiction. I am currently reading Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear, one of my favorite authors.

I've kinda enjoyed the alt history thing that has been going on the last five years or so...

comfort books? probably not everyone's idea of it, but Shakespeare and Marlowe. I also have a tendency to "act" them when alone, or at least read them aloud. Tolkien would also qualify for me here.

Hi Bel,

I haven't read Bear, but I will check him out. I enjoy the alt reality angle, too. I like Charlaine Harris and Laurell K. Hamilton's alt-versions of the world.

I wouldn't have picked Shakespeare, Marlowe, or Tolkien as comfort reads, but that just means you're much, much deeper than I am. However, I do read favorite passages aloud.

Just finished C J Cherryh's 'The Paladin'. Just started C J Cherryh's 'Faded Sun' trilogy. (I've read the first story, Kesrith, before, but not the other two).

I'm also having random reads in various poetry books, just for odd moments. I recently finished the BBC book, 'The Nation's Favourite Love Poems'. This one tickled me -

Celia, Celia by Adrian Mitchell

When I am sad and weary,
When I think all hope has gone,
When I walk along High Holborn
I think of you with nothing on

Well, it makes me smile.

Alex

Hi Alex,

I haven't read Cherryh since I read "Rimrunners" years ago. I had forgotten how much I liked the author. Thanks for jarring my memory.

I also never realize how much I miss poetry until I start reading it. Oh, and the poem made me smile, too!

I'm having trouble concentrating on reading for long stretches of time (hence so many books in progress).

I understand completely. I have a dozen books going at any given moment. I like to think of it as a subset of multitasking, but it's probably ADD or something.

Since I quit "working" for a living, my "research" has included all of my old favorites (authors) + some new ones that I've discovered.

I find that erotica leads me back into mainstream stuff and in directions I wouldn't have taken. I'm also noticing how so much mainstream lit would be improved by putting some of the impllied sex back in!


Thanks for provoking me, Yui!



Softouch

Hi Softouch,

Thanks for replying! Don’t you love rediscovering authors and finding new ones? Have you tried Robert Crais for mysteries? He's very, very good.

Beowulf is fascinating to me because of the history surrounding the manuscript. The story itself…I think I missed something.

I think you are right in that there is a very natural progression through erotica and into mainstream, and mainstream into erotica. I don't think they are mutually exclusive by any means.

I love that little ditty to Alex


Well I think I will start "Earth,Air, Fire and Custard." By Tom Holt tonight. I've been meaning to read it gor ages, hubby read it as soon as it arrived (it's the third in a series...anyone who likes Fantasy and a bit of zany humour just has to read his JW wells and co series starting with The Portable Door)

I've not read much of late and I'm missing it. now my earth day story is out I think I'll get back to it

A good comfort read is anything Pratchett or David Gemmell. I love Fantasy

Hi El,

Tom Holt has been recommended to me recently! Okay, it has nothing to do with anything, but it makes me feel like we're connected or something.

I like fantasy, too, but I think I gravitate more toward scifi-ish end fantasy.

Okay... one of the less embarrasing ones: "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynmann?" -- the autobiography of Richard Feynmann.

Most of my other stuff is comic books. Yeah, I know: Forty six, and still reads comic books...

I love that book! When he breaks into the other guys office and messes with his stuff… Comic books are fine. I have lots of manga and I'm twenty-eight. A good story is a good story, no matter the venue, eh?

 

[Virtual_Burlesque]

In times of trouble or stress I return to Robert Heinlein (his Juvenile titles), Georgette Heyer (her Regency & Georgian novels) and anything by Jane Austen. In another mood, Ellis Peter’s Brother Cadfael, is an old friend, as are many of Charles Dicken’s inventions.

With a taste for Science Fiction, I also reread any of Norman Spinrad’s works, except “The Iron Dream,” which I have never managed to get into very deeply.

When I am truly in a blue funk I should love to reread Walter R. Brooks stories of Freddy, the Pig, but I have neither the nerve, nor an excuse to go spelunking in the Children’s section of the Library to see if they are still available.

 

[English Lady]

Yui, Tom Holt is generally an aquired taste, some of his early stuff gives me a headache trying to follow it. However the series I mentioned is all the good Tom Holt stuff with the headache inducing bits taken out. It's like he's grown up in my opinion and is definitely worth a read.

 

[yui]

Current read at work: Robert Ludlum, Bourne Supremacy. Lots of silly references to "the Oriental mind" in it.

Regular reads at home: X-men collections, Dilbert comics, Laurell K. Hamilton and Mercedes Lackey.

"Oriental mind", eh? Does he think we are cold and calculating and likely to consume our own young for "honor"? I'm never sure what people mean when they say stuff like that.

I love, love, love LKH! Are you reading the Merry Gentry series, too? New one came out yesterday! I haven't gotten it yet, but I intend to.

Also as the result of another discussion in a different Web site, I am rereading Miyamoto Mushashi's "The Book Of Five Rings." It is an interesting book, but really useful only if you know how to fight with two swords, Niten style.

Go Rin No Sho. Personally, I don't think it's as much about the fight with swords as the fight for awareness. The book is very Zen in its teachings. To me, even the specific techniques, have a much deeper meaning when examined and re-examined. Have you read Sun Tzu's "The Art of War"? It's sort of a Chinese version of " Go Rin No Sho".

Comfort books? I've got all 20 of Patrick O'Brian's Aubry/Maturin series and never stop reading them. I've probably read every one at least 4 times and I just don't get tired of them. He's taught me so much about making even the shadows in your stories come alive. He's just an amazing, amazing author, to me, anyhow. (There's nothing like recommending an author to a friend and having them come back and say they couldn't get into it.)

And I still love Raymond Chandler mysteries. They never make any sense, but the atmosphere and writing is just so delicious.

I go through periods where I read lots of non-fiction. Most recently I've read The Naked Ape and Intimate Behavior both by Desmond Morris. Very interesting and very useful reads from a writer's perspective.

Patrick O'Brian? I'll look for him and if I can't get into the books, I won't tell you, okay?

 

[mismused]

Newest present reading: The Cannibal's Wife by Yvonne Maes, a Canadian former nun of 30 plus years who was seduced by a priest after many years. Fascinating so far.

In progress readings: Zen and the Art of Insight by Thomas Cleary. Mesmerizing.

Introduction to the Middle Way, translated by Padmakara Translation Group, fascinating, mesmerizing, difficult, informative way of looking at life.

Comfort books: Atom by Lawrence M. Krauss, most informative of all the physics books I've read.

Woman An Intimate Geography by Natalie Angier, indispensible, knowing, beautifully written.

Arousal The Secret Logic of Sexual Fantasies by Dr. Michael J. Bader, the most informative, clearest, non-psycho-babble book written by a psychiatrist that holds my interest rabidly. Beautiful. Lays bare our secrets, and more, why we have them, fantasies, and how it's okay to keep them.
(Note to Imp: Sorry, unconscious in not bad, nor is subconscious. Hope you don't miss what is there to be had.)

Most overall informative book of Personality: Beneath the Mask by Christopher F. Monte. Scans all the theories, and theorists of psychology/psychiatry. Short, concise vignettes of knowledge that is indispensible to any who wish to learn about this screwed up life.

Autobiographical: Strange Beauty by George Johnson, about nobel prize winning particle physicist Murray Gell-Mann. Stranger even is how a genius is shown to also be so indecisive, and fearful of being wrong. Amazing book.

A rare gem of a book: The Quantum and the Lotus by Mattieu Ricard (and aide to the Dali Lama) and Trinh Xuan Thuan (a physicist) discussing commonality between Buddhism and new discoveries in particle physics, and mutual philosophies. Love this book, well notated, and ear marked.

I could go on forever, but know that I've already bored many.



(edited to add spacing for eye comfort)

 

[Samandiriel]

I'm going between several different books at this time, grabbing a few paragraphs here and there when I can.

I love Amy Tan also, just re-read the Joy Luck Club again.

 

[rgraham666]

Currently have three on the go.

On Equilibrium by John Ralston Saul. A treatise on what the authour regards as the basic human virtues, how they interact with each other and how when any single one rises to become the only important trait it destroys the others and the society that bought it forth.

Most people hate Mr. Saul. Understandable. He's the most complete heretic I've read. And we're a nation of Believers, in one thing or another

The Great Unravelling by Paul Krugman. A collection of columns by the New York Times writer and Princeton economist. Like Saul, he manages to piss off just about everybody, so I like him.

And Vortex by Larry Bond. Dated now as it's set in Apartheid South Africa, but a nice way to kill a few hours.

Comfort reads? I tend to fall back on Mr. Saul's Voltaire's Bastards - The Dictatorship of Reason in The West and Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers. Both have had a huge influence on my thinking.

The Art of War is a favoured read as well. I'm not sure most Westerners can understand it though. We're a too direct people and that book is set mostly in metaphor.

And I still love H. P. Lovecraft.

 

[LadyJeanne]

I like reading fiction, always have. Recent reads or faves:

DaVinci Code - Yup, I finally couldn't resist and brought it with me on the trip to Oz. I know Dan Brown has his critics in the AH, but, honestly, the story was engaging and that's really important on a 14 hour flight. I got a kick out of the whole 'sacred feminine' ideas, and started to get really pissed off at the idea that 'civilization' and religious leaders downgraded the status of women from equals to whatever it is we are now.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal (Christopher Moore) - This book is hilarious, full of sarcasm and satire. Tells the story of Jesus during his formative years, before he became all famous and stuff. Where else could I learn the proper method for choosing a harlot or read the rough draft of the Sermon on the Mount?

A Hearbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (Dave Eggers) - Eggers got a lot of shit in San Francisco after this novel became big and he became famous, but there were a lot of things in the book that made me think and I enjoyed the writing style. All the parentheticals and asides and run-on thoughts mimics the way my head thinks, although I wouldn't be able to write that way. And it's funny, too.

America (The Book) (Jon Stewart and The Daily Show) - I read this in bits and pieces when I want a laugh. It sometimes gets my blood-pressure up, so I take it in small doses.

My Life (Bill Clinton) - Well, I've had this one for almost a year and am having trouble getting through it. But, it does make me sleepy, so it serves a purpose.

 

[elsol]

At present, my life has been reduced to a choice

write for entertainment or read for entertainment...

My necessary reading list is:

Learning Perl
Programming in Perl
SQL and *SQL Plus

After that I need to go attack the Cisco SIP path, which is about 3 very boring books

But before all that I have to read about a 1000 pages of documentation written by the developers of my company's billing system. If you've never what developers THINK is documentation, then you couldn't possibly understand why right now I want to shoot all of them. (I find it rather fascinating that I never want to shoot myself...)

There are only two things that can derail my attempts here...

The New Harry Potter Book (I've already taken the day it is released off from work.)

The New Wheel of Time Book (I'm trying that I can TOO finish things even if they've become bloated over time).

And any sci-fi, fantasy book that catches my eyes that's less than 500 pages long so I can finish it in one sitting.

Sincerely,
ElSol

 

[rgraham666]

Damn! I forgot.

My favourite book for quickie reads is Mr. Saul's The Doubter's Companion - A Dictionary of Aggressive Common Sense. It's along the lines of The Devil's Dictionary, a humourous and thought provoking look at our language.

For example:

MARXIST The last functioning Marxists in the West are the management of large, usually transnational corporations. The last functioning Marxist philosophers are neo-conservative.

A very funny book. A lot of fun to read.

 

[neonlyte]

Comfort reads are anything by Iain M Banks - Science Fiction, The Algebraist is my current favourite.

I'm working through Peter Ackroyd fictional accounts of London in the 17C - currently reading The House of Doctor Dee.

Research reading is Viking mythology, I've half a dozen books on my desk.

And essential reading is Colloquial Portuguese - the Complete Course for Beginners. I recognise all the words - I just can't remember what order you are supposed to put them in.

Oh - I just gave up on Cloud Angel by .... can't remember. An interesting series of connected stories spanning three millenia, quite why the author decided to scatter each story across the book, for example, the first story runs for thirty or so pages, stops at the foot of a page - then continues at the back end of the book, is beyond me and finally my patience ran thin.

 

[Joe Wordsworth]

90% of my reading is textbooks and journals. I like reading philosophy text books (condensing the primary sources down into a digestable format), I like Psych journals and Philo/Rel journals. My library is four big ole shelving units full of philosophy books and journals.

10% of my reading is comic books. That's the recreational read of choice, that and John Grisham novels. I have every trade ever printed by Marvel and DC, and am quite proud of it. Though that's the bookshelf that gets covered when I invite women home.