Let's talk about books, baby!

[JazzManJim]

I'm reading the "Story of O" by Pauline Reage right now, as one of about three books I'm working on. I'm finding it pretty fascinating as a look at BDSM from a long time back, and as a story that had been aching to be told for a long time, but had to find the right outlet. I'm astonished at the level of elegant language in this book and wonder if we will ever see this type of writing again. And it makes a great book for bedtime reading. I'll also admit to getting more than a couple strange looks for having it on my desk.

Along with that, I'm reading the first of a two-book series called "Look Away" by Harold Coyle. Best known for military thrillers, this is a Civil War historical fiction novel centering around two brothers. It's cliched in many places, but the characters are strong and I love the Civil War era. It's also a re-read for me.

Lastly, I'm reading "Godel, Escher, Bach. An Eternal Golden Braid" by Douglas Hofstadter. Hofstadter heads the Cognitive Science Department at the University of Indiana. The book won several awards when it was written, including, as I believe, the Nobel for Literature. It's an amazing journey though the study of how humans thins, using music, art, math, and computer programming in one of the deepest and most thought-provoking books I've ever read. This is also a re-read - for the fourth time.

I'm trying to whittle down my reading stack right now. I swear I'll die before I get every book read I want to read.

So what are y'all reading right now?

 

[nasty]

Right now, "The Witching Hour" by Anne Rice.

 

[Willing and Unsure]

i've got several text books i'm supposed to be reading

 

[Valdimer]

I currently have no book to read......have read the only 2 books that I have down here with me.

As soon as I get some cash though, I do have a list......Ender's Game for one....and a whole shitload of D&D books.

 

[Moridin187]

The Stone of Tears by Ted Williams

 

[BlondeBeauty]

This has absolutely nothing to do with the thread title. Sorry to digress, but this is hilarious.

For the past five minutes, I haven't been able to get this outta my head...

Let's talk about books, baby.
Let's talk about you and me.
Let's talk about all the good things and the bad things...

I blame you.
You are evil.

So there.

 

[cymbidia]

I've just begun Narcissus In Chains by Laurell K. Hamilton, another in her Anita Blake series.

Next in line is Evolution's Darling by Scott Westerfield.

On Risia's advice, i've just ordered something called The Bonds of Love by Jessica Benjamin. Here's Amazon's writeup of it (i can't wait for it to get here!): What is the appeal of domination and submission, and why are they so prevalent in erotic life? Why is it so difficult for men and women to meet as equals? Why, indeed, do they continue to recapitulate the positions of master and slave?

In The Bonds of Love, noted feminist theorist and psychoanalyst Jessica Benjamin explains why we accept and perpetuate relationships of domination and submission. She reveals that domination is a complex psychological process which ensnares both parties in bonds of complicity, and shows how it underlies our family life, our social institutions, and especially our sexual relations, in spite of our conscious commitment to equality and freedom. (Sounds like good reading to me. Something light for the holidays. You know.)

 

[JazzManJim]

This has absolutely nothing to do with the thread title. Sorry to digress, but this is hilarious.

For the past five minutes, I haven't been able to get this outta my head...

Let's talk about books, baby.
Let's talk about you and me.
Let's talk about all the good things and the bad things...

I blame you.
You are evil.

So there.

Actually, that's exactly why I picked the thread title.

Yeah..I'm evil. Muahahahaha!!!

 

[JazzManJim]

I've just begun Narcissus In Chains by Laurell K. Hamilton, another in her Anita Blake series.

On Risia's advice, i've just ordered something called The Bonds of Love by Jessica Benjamin.

The Hamilton book is on order from the Sci-Fi book club as we speak. The book club is a great palce to find a lot of stuff. I love the Anita Blake books. I find myself ocming back to them from time to time.

You can find the Enders Game in a two-book deal, by the way, for those who might be looking for it.

I'm also going to put the Benjamin book on my list. I've read "Screw the Roses, Give me the Thorns" a while back. Maybe it's time for a re-read there, too.

 

[Calamity Jane]

Different Book, Same Title?

The Stone of Tears by Ted Williams

Who's Ted Williams? I'm familiar with Stone of Tears by Terry Goodkind...

 

[horny_giraffe]

It's good to get excited about reading, I think, even if you end up sounding like you are bragging.

Personally, it seems to take me forever--a month, two months--to finish a book, nowdays. It's so tempting to watch a movie or go talk to some acquaintances or play on the internet instead.

I do have a few good books to read. I've started "Will to Meaning," what I consider a fairly profound book by Victor Frankl, a concentration camp survivor. He talks about the theories behind his logotherapy--an existential-based psychotherapy focusing on life's meaning. I'm hoping to gain some insights for my own life. I've also got a few good philosophy books and I've partly read through Sir Walter Scott's "The Lady of the Lake," which is a rather good read except for the interruptions to consult the dictionary. Not particularly philosophical, but he articulates things well. I was actually looking for "The lay of the last minstral." but I couldn't find the full version and got frustrated.

I've always thought that Godel, Escher, Bach one was one of the books I "should" read--that's probably why I never read it! I'll probably feel too guilty to enjoy it when I finally get to it.

 

[JazzManJim]

Ack!

It's good to get excited about reading, I think, even if you end up sounding like you are bragging.

I've always thought that Godel, Escher, Bach one was one of the books I "should" read--that's probably why I never read it! I'll probably feel too guilty to enjoy it when I finally get to it.

Ouch. I'm sorry if it look bragadicious of me. I do love to read veyr much and get pretty excited about some of the stuff I read. It actually shows I have a brain, which isn't always obvious

I really encourage you to read GEB. They've even printed a 25th anniversary edition with new commetns by Hofstadter. I promise you'll like it.

 

[Moridin187]

Re: Different Book, Same Title?

Who's Ted Williams? I'm familiar with Stone of Tears by Terry Goodkind...

Scuse me for a sec...

*walks over to a wall and beats his head against it repeatedly, calling himself twenty kinds of moron, then returns* Than you pagancowgirl.. I felt like it was wrong when I was typing it.. but I'm tired, and it's been a long day, gimme a break.. and I think Ted Williams is/was a baseball player

 

[horny_giraffe]

Ouch. I'm sorry if it look bragadicious of me.

No worries, JazzManJim. I figure I toot my own horn enough by mentioning my "profound" selections, so I can hardly point a finger.

Maybe I'll take a look at Godel Escher Bach. I don't have to understand all of it.

 

[JazzManJim]

Hey..It's why I read it four times!

I'm not sure anyone could understand it from the first read. I know I see new things every time I read it, and understand more of what he's talking about each time.

The thoroughly neat thing about the book is how he gets across such complicated subjects with such ease by being a bit playful, novel, and by just being patient enough to break things down. There's a lot in the book, but it's all accessible - just not the first time through.

This read, I'm actually going through and looking for some of the little hidden jokes, word games, and stuff like that he's put in the book.

 

[Laurel]

Right now I'm reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon. The plot centers around two teens: a German-born Jewish boy (Josef) with an avid interest in Houdini, & his escape (along with that of a precious Jewish artifact) from Nazi Germany with the help of his magician mentor, a famous German Jew escape artist; and his Brooklyn-residing cousin (Sam) with polio-ridden legs, a huge imagination, and a will to be Great. Josef is everything that Sam wishes he was - confident, talented, worldly - and I'm at the part of the novel where Sam is beginning to incorporate Josef into his Big Plan. Chabon is an excellent writer. I'm raring to read more of it tonight.

 

[sch00lteacher]

I do have a list......Ender's Game for one....

Ender's Game is on my gotta read at least twice a year list. One of the very few on that list. Then I have my once a year list, everything by Clancy, The Hobbit and Ring Trilogy, etc...

 

[SunnyGirl]

I just started the first book of The Lord of the Rings trilogy at the ripe old age of 27 Also reading Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen, and have a stack of about seven books that I haven't even started yet. Maybe I should spend less time online and more time in my reading chair

 

[SweetCherry]

I'm not into any books right now. I need to make a quick trip to my local library to get a few more on audio. It's such a pain having to do that. Damn, I miss text.

 

[lovetoread]

I am reading a book by Lynn Kurland.

My Heart Stood Still

 

[cactiphile]

I just started the first book of The Lord of the Rings trilogy at the ripe old age of 27 Also reading Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen, and have a stack of about seven books that I haven't even started yet. Maybe I should spend less time online and more time in my reading chair

I just finished rereading Lord of the rings after 15 years since my
last read of it. Its still good.

I also read Sick puppy a couple of months ago, which was quite good but I don't think I'll read any more of his, the three I have read are the same story with different characters...

I'm now on Reginad Hill, Exit lines. Although my favourite by
him is Pictures of Perfection.

Other things I've read in the last week apart from lord of the rings:
Contest By Mathew Reilly- Good but light (no brains)action thiller.

K-PAX2 BY Gene Brewer- I read KPAX about 3 years ago, thought
I'd read no 2 as the films just come out. The oringinal books good the follow up isnt as good.
c.

 

[JazzManJim]

I just started the first book of The Lord of the Rings trilogy at the ripe old age of 27

That's the next set of books on my stack, just in time for the release of the first LoTR movie in December (sometime around Christmas, I think). I've yet to see the trailer, though. Now I guess I have another reason to go see the Harry Potter movie (Oh! Good books there, too!).

 

[Scabbers]

Right now I'm reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon . . . I'm raring to read more of it tonight.

Great, great, great,

D'yer get to the part about where Clayman (and ain't that the description of the gollem? ha) does the comic about the librarian who turns into the moth queen? She's named 'Lo,' which was one of Humbert Humbert's names for Lolita, and Nabokov was an amateur lepidopterist. Coincidence? I think not.

 

[loki]

The Towers of the Sunset - by L.E. modesitt, Jr.

I'm almost finished with it. After that I have a stack of unread books waiting for me...

Guenevere - by Rosalind Miles
Siberian Light - by Robin White
Stolen Lives - by Malika Oufkir and Michele Fitoussi
The Bakers Boy - by J.V. Jones

 

[tigerjen]

Here's another spot where you can talk about books.....

at my poll on the General Board.

"What is your favorite erotic book and why?"
http://www.literotica.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=50080

Come vote on the poll, and feel free to post your replies
there if you desire! Thanks!

TJ