who do you read? (other than poetrifications)

[butters]

who/whom? meh

ok, we're poeticky types here, but some of you also write stories. well this isn't about your writing, it's about some of your favourite authors.

got some favourites from back in your twenties, perhaps, that you've never revisited but enjoy fond memories of? are you one of those who re-read favourites on and off during the years? is it hard to find the hours to immerse yourself in another world? is there one particular book you really plan on sitting down with again?

tell us about them - from your Little Women to Stranger in a Strange Land, Silmarillion to 20,000 Leagues under the Sea.

why? well because, silly

 

[Remec]

who/whom? meh

ok, we're poeticky types here, but some of you also write stories. well this isn't about your writing, it's about some of your favourite authors.

got some favourites from back in your twenties, perhaps, that you've never revisited but enjoy fond memories of? are you one of those who re-read favourites on and off during the years? is it hard to find the hours to immerse yourself in another world? is there one particular book you really plan on sitting down with again?

tell us about them - from your Little Women to Stranger in a Strange Land, Silmarillion to 20,000 Leagues under the Sea.

why? well because, silly

I tend to be overly involved with SciFi/Fantasy and various permutations of the same. My list of people I would consider favorites (as in, I own whole series and have reread them repeatedly) would hold (but not be confined to) the following:

• Harlan Ellison
• Robert Heinlein
• Anne McCaffrey
• Stephen R. Donaldson (only the Thomas Covenant material)
• Larry Niven
• Barbara Hambly

Currently, I am in the middle of reading a Mercedes Lackey trilogy and am liking it enough that I will prolly read others. Then I need to get back to reading more in the Dresden Files (I stopped at book 4) and Kathy Reichs' books that were the inspiration for the show Bones

 

[Angeline]

I read all the time. I love reading as much as I do writing. Right now I'm reading a book about the history of the Great Plains in the US, mainly about that horrible ecological disaster The Dust Bowl during the Great Depression in the 1930s.

I'm also rereading World's End by TC Boyle. He writes fiction and historical fiction but is just an incredible writer: profound and darkly funny and the way he uses language astounds me. He has a way of finding just the right words.

He is one of my favorite authors along with John Irving, Rohinton Mistry, Chaim Potok and Marge Piercy. And I love Charles Dickens and reread one of his novels every few years. If I love a book I will read it over and over because you find nuances you missed with every reread. There are some books, like Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove and Potok's My Name is Asher Lev that I have read so many times I can quote lines from them.

I love historical fiction in general and recently reread Herman Wouk's novels about WW2: The Winds of War and War and Remembrance.

I read a lot of short stories, too, because I'm fascinated by how writers structure them.

I read poetry every day, usually new stuff being published in journals and magazines online. And I'm reading a book about writing poetry that Denis Hale mentioned in his interview: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry by Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux. It's really good, as is Making Your Own Days by Kenneth Koch, which Tzara recommended to me.

Yeah I like to read!

 

[zukethecuke]

In my daily rounds of stalking the intelligent women of Lit, I see butters has started another interesting thread....

OK, I read slowly, so I don't read much. And I spend much of my reading time with newspapers and magazines, keeping up with the new and politics of the world in general and my profession in particular. But I do read some good books every now and then.

Ursula K. LeGuin is a fine novelist whose novels happen to mostly be fantasy.

Patricia McKillip is a fine novelist, too, but she's such an endlessly creative fantasist that I read her in part to see what she'll come up with next.

Tolkien goes without saying.

Neil Gaiman is a great and convincing story teller.

Terry Pratchett is a hoot.

In the non-fantasy side, the genre called 'creative non-fiction' is where I spend most of my time, and John McPhee is the best. Just the best.

I recently read Mollie Panter-Downes collection 'Letters from London' and thought it gave a great account of WWII as seen by a civilian.

I haven't read much A. S. Byatt, but The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye was brilliant. I should read more.

Probably a lot more, but that's what I've got off the top of my head.

 

[todski28]

the realms of fantasy seem to be my favourite types of books.

David Gemmell have read all his books,
Terry Goodkind the sword of truth series (which I enjoyed, others think it's garbage)
Stephen King has had a lot of reads from me, his dark tower series magnificent.
read the Thomas covenant series,
Raymond E Feist,
Bryce Courtenay (the power of one and Tandia were fav's)

david and leigh eddings, the Belgariad and legend of Althalus

Anne Rice in my angsty Teenage days (shudder)

 

[butters]

I tend to be overly involved with SciFi/Fantasy and various permutations of the same. My list of people I would consider favorites (as in, I own whole series and have reread them repeatedly) would hold (but not be confined to) the following:

• Harlan Ellison
• Robert Heinlein
• Anne McCaffrey
• Stephen R. Donaldson (only the Thomas Covenant material)
• Larry Niven
• Barbara Hambly

Currently, I am in the middle of reading a Mercedes Lackey trilogy and am liking it enough that I will prolly read others. Then I need to get back to reading more in the Dresden Files (I stopped at book 4) and Kathy Reichs' books that were the inspiration for the show Bones

seems a lot of us here enjoy the sci-fi/fantasy genre, remec

i've come across a few larry nivens in my time, but want to get hold of the ringworld series. it looks interesting.

heinlein, mccaffrey and donaldson are all on my own list; no-one did dragons and their riders more enjoyably (for me) than Anne. thomas covenant is one of my favourite characters from a novel.

 

[butters]

I read all the time. I love reading as much as I do writing. Right now I'm reading a book about the history of the Great Plains in the US, mainly about that horrible ecological disaster The Dust Bowl during the Great Depression in the 1930s.

I'm also rereading World's End by TC Boyle. He writes fiction and historical fiction but is just an incredible writer: profound and darkly funny and the way he uses language astounds me. He has a way of finding just the right words.

He is one of my favorite authors along with John Irving, Rohinton Mistry, Chaim Potok and Marge Piercy. And I love Charles Dickens and reread one of his novels every few years. If I love a book I will read it over and over because you find nuances you missed with every reread. There are some books, like Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove and Potok's My Name is Asher Lev that I have read so many times I can quote lines from them.

I love historical fiction in general and recently reread Herman Wouk's novels about WW2: The Winds of War and War and Remembrance.

I read a lot of short stories, too, because I'm fascinated by how writers structure them.

I read poetry every day, usually new stuff being published in journals and magazines online. And I'm reading a book about writing poetry that Denis Hale mentioned in his interview: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry by Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux. It's really good, as is Making Your Own Days by Kenneth Koch, which Tzara recommended to me.

Yeah I like to read!

*smiles*

yup.

you seem to enjoy a pretty broad spread of subject matter, Angelinadreamer; if you ever choose to read it, War Junkie by Jon Steele is a true story by the war journalist, and it's heartbreaking. amazing book, and one i'm richer for having read, but not one i'd re-read. once was enough.

my own reading time (from page as opposed to screen) has been reduced considerably, but i'm still reading masses of stuff. some i shouldn't be bothering with, probably, like dumb Gen Board posts.

 

[butters]

In my daily rounds of stalking the intelligent women of Lit, I see butters has started another interesting thread....

OK, I read slowly, so I don't read much. And I spend much of my reading time with newspapers and magazines, keeping up with the new and politics of the world in general and my profession in particular. But I do read some good books every now and then.

Ursula K. LeGuin is a fine novelist whose novels happen to mostly be fantasy.

Patricia McKillip is a fine novelist, too, but she's such an endlessly creative fantasist that I read her in part to see what she'll come up with next.

Tolkien goes without saying.

Neil Gaiman is a great and convincing story teller.

Terry Pratchett is a hoot.

In the non-fantasy side, the genre called 'creative non-fiction' is where I spend most of my time, and John McPhee is the best. Just the best.

I recently read Mollie Panter-Downes collection 'Letters from London' and thought it gave a great account of WWII as seen by a civilian.

I haven't read much A. S. Byatt, but The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye was brilliant. I should read more.

Probably a lot more, but that's what I've got off the top of my head.

a flattering stalker? awesome hi, zuke - do you come here often? i usually only spot you over in the UK thread in the playground. welcome!

i'm not familiar with the name Patricia McKillip - will have to take a snoop around. tolkien, gaiman and pratchett are givens, and i'm sure i've read some UL'G's in the past. i don't know about anyone else, but i've read so many books it's hard to remember all the names and titles unless one's re-reading or has them sitting there on their bookshelves.

have you read Stanislaw Lem's Solaris? so much better than any film. solaris used to be my 'net' name before coming to Lit.

 

[butters]

the realms of fantasy seem to be my favourite types of books.

David Gemmell have read all his books,
Terry Goodkind the sword of truth series (which I enjoyed, others think it's garbage)
Stephen King has had a lot of reads from me, his dark tower series magnificent.
read the Thomas covenant series,
Raymond E Feist,
Bryce Courtenay (the power of one and Tandia were fav's)

david and leigh eddings, the Belgariad and legend of Althalus

Anne Rice in my angsty Teenage days (shudder)

hello, tods

over the years i've pretty much read all those with the exception of Feist and Courtenay, though the power of one's ringing a bell in some dim recess of this mind. not read the legend of Althalus but have read the Belgariad. King has a place for all time on my bookshelves, though most his stories pale in comparison to the gunslinger/dark tower series. so many people knock king's writing: i can't speak for the technicalities, but he manages to spin a tale that captivates and keeps me interested enough to want to turn the next page, and the next, and not want to stop till i reach the end with a sigh that i have. to me, that makes him a pretty good writer.

have you read any terry pratchett's? they tickle my funny bone. i can also recommend Hugh Howey, a new novelist (2011) with his Wool trilogy - wool, dust, sand. i e-mailed him having read wool, and dust - seem's a nice guy. he first self-published and now is a top-seller with film rights sold. not bad, eh?

oh, and you know the series Game of Thrones that's been televised? the books are by George R.R. Martin and are preferable to me. that sort of stuff almost always looks better in my head than through a director's eyes.

 

[zukethecuke]

a flattering stalker? awesome hi, zuke - do you come here often? i usually only spot you over in the UK thread in the playground. welcome!

i'm not familiar with the name Patricia McKillip - will have to take a snoop around. tolkien, gaiman and pratchett are givens, and i'm sure i've read some UL'G's in the past. i don't know about anyone else, but i've read so many books it's hard to remember all the names and titles unless one's re-reading or has them sitting there on their bookshelves.

have you read Stanislaw Lem's Solaris? so much better than any film. solaris used to be my 'net' name before coming to Lit.

stalk stalk stalk stalk stalk POUNCE!

Haven't read any Lem, but I've seen the name.

Among McKillip's earliest work, The RiddleMaster of Hed trilogy is aimed at young adults. About the same time (mid '70s) was The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. Both were very good, and she's gotten better since. The Book of Atrix Wolf and Song for the Basilisk are probably my favorites, but I don't think she's ever written a clunker. What they all have in common is that you really get to know and like a character at a personal level, as well as see the part they play in the 'great events' of the book's world. And the key characters in a book often have minor, work-a-day roles in their society, though there are some who are noble/magical/mystical nabobs -- but you get inside their very believable heads, too. Mrs. Z. loves them as much as I do.

 

[butters]

stalk stalk stalk stalk stalk POUNCE!

Haven't read any Lem, but I've seen the name.

Among McKillip's earliest work, The RiddleMaster of Hed trilogy is aimed at young adults. About the same time (mid '70s) was The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. Both were very good, and she's gotten better since. The Book of Atrix Wolf and Song for the Basilisk are probably my favorites, but I don't think she's ever written a clunker. What they all have in common is that you really get to know and like a character at a personal level, as well as see the part they play in the 'great events' of the book's world. And the key characters in a book often have minor, work-a-day roles in their society, though there are some who are noble/magical/mystical nabobs -- but you get inside their very believable heads, too. Mrs. Z. loves them as much as I do.

oh, be still my beating heart

hello again, zuke. they sound well worth a read so i'll be sure to look out for them.
this having some time off work means i get to do a lot more reading/posting on here. it's kinda cool. uh huh.

 

[zukethecuke]

oh, be still my beating heart

hello again, zuke. they sound well worth a read so i'll be sure to look out for them.
this having some time off work means i get to do a lot more reading/posting on here. it's kinda cool. uh huh.

Quite cool!

Unfortunately, I should get back to work.....

 

[butters]

cats and work wait for no man. get back to it

ok, like Angelinadreamer, i enjoy a fairly broad spectrum - from historical (fictional/ non-fiction), autobiographies, sci-fi/fantasy, all sorts. if it's well-written i am lost in its world.

the book Solaris blew me away, i have all the harry potters and most of stephen king's, ben elton, and terry pratchett's. what i don't have i've mostly read but not kept due to space restrictions.

ken follet, anything by stephen hawking, robert ludlum, martin cruz-smith (gorky park and others), all have their place on my shelves along with literature/poetry books that span centuries . . . BUT i have to say that, apart from the poetry stuff, my go to re-reads are always stephen king and tolkein. not sure what that says about me if anything, but it is what it is.

2 books i've been reading lately that i absolutely recommend for their depth, breadth, and original styling of narrative are Hillary Mantel's Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies. written largely from the perspective of Thomas Cromwell and set during the years of Henry's estrangement from Katherine of Aragon, his taking of Anne Boleyn as second wife and the breakdown of that union. Cromwell's rise from absolutely nothing (a battered son of an abusive, drunken blacksmith) to Henry's closest advisor, written sympathetically, intelligently, and damned bloody well. honestly the most fascinating historical fiction (fact-based) books i've ever read.

 

[Neonurotic]

I have a Kindle and it's my favorite possession. I do have a private library, go to bookstores and public library (lost pastime for many of us), but ya, can't beat a Kindle for its convenience. It's awesome. Of that, I've read nothing what I normally read. It's been a whole mess of YA novels for research purposes since I've been playing with writing a fantasy book for young adults. Hopefully, the plot I have will turn into a series of books since that is how YA is trending.

As for my normal, it's some mystery suspense and thrillers with an occasional true crime. I like Grisham, King, Sandford, Lee, Patterson, and DeMille. I have an account at GoodReads.com and make great use of the website.

 

[Angeline]

I have a Kindle and it's my favorite possession. I do have a private library, go to bookstores and public library (lost pastime for many of us), but ya, can't beat a Kindle for its convenience. It's awesome. Of that, I've read nothing what I normally read. It's been a whole mess of YA novels for research purposes since I've been playing with writing a fantasy book for young adults. Hopefully, the plot I have will turn into a series of books since that is how YA is trending.

As for my normal, it's some mystery suspense and thrillers with an occasional true crime. I like Grisham, King, Sandford, Lee, Patterson, and DeMille. I have an account at GoodReads.com and make great use of the website.

That is a great website! I often use the recommendations and lists there to find stuff I might want to read and see reviews on it.

 

[darkerdreamer]

I have read at least a book a week for the last two decades so it is hard to nail down favorites, but my current lists reads as such:

Richard Feynman - The only physicist who I have ever laughed at while reading, and I know jack shit about physics.

Hugh Howey - The Wool Omnibus was one of the most powerful pieces of modern fiction I have read recently, his other works are pretty good but that was an honest masterpiece.

Cory Doctorow - An absolute genius who can write about anything and make you love it as much as he does. Makers and Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom are my favorites, he can compel you to be interested in a merrymaker group of 3d printer specialists, or a future where reputation is currency, both taking place in theme park varieties... marvelous work.

Chuck Palahniuk - Another master of making a story out of anything, most only know him for Fight Club but he has so much more, every book is a new writing style and experience. Some don't land well, some are magnificent, it depends purely on your preference for a story.


Jim Butcher - Really loving the Dresden Files books currently, satisfies my need for noir and fantasy all at once.

 

[Ashesh9]

David Baldacci , Chetan Bhagat , Artemis Fowl , PGWodehouse , Pulp Fiction , Pulp Fiction in Tamil Literature , all sorts of Spiritual literature ---- Gita , Koran , Granth Sahib , Old'n New Testament , Mein Kamph , Das Kapital -----as a kid i was passionately devoted to Enid Blyton , Edgar Rice Burroughs , Pride'n Prejudice , Wutherin' Heights , Jane Eyre , Sir Arthur Conan Doyle , Agatha Christie & Alistair Maclean . If i find an interestin' book by PF James i devour it ! Also i liked Steve Jobs' Biography & Devdutt Patnaik's retellin' of ancient Hindu Legends in a modern format , the Ramayana by Ashok Banker , Kathamrita on Sri Ramakrishna's life & the Life of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda & the biography of Sri Gajanan Maharaj ( the last 4 Books may not be available outside India ) . Hope my litany did not bore you , sweet viewers !?!

 

[Ashesh9]

I forgottomention Shakespeare'n CharlesDickens whom iloved readin' in my childhood & also The Rise & Fall Of the Third Reich & one sentimental tear jerker by Denise Robbins called Could I Forget ? & Regency Romances by Georgette Heyer

 

[zukethecuke]

I forgottomention Shakespeare'n CharlesDickens whom iloved readin' in my childhood & also The Rise & Fall Of the Third Reich & one sentimental tear jerker by Denise Robbins called Could I Forget ? & Regency Romances by Georgette Heyer

Shakespeare is great on the stage but much less so on the page. Even the sonnets are better if taken in through the ear rather than through the eye.

I suppose I should read more Dickens, but as I say, I'm such a slow reader.

A. C. Doyle, of course! I re-read the complete Holmes last year while waiting for the library's DVD of Sherlock to come in.

Kipling is another classic. Maybe a little lightweight, and you have to make allowances for his time and place, but a good read all the same.

 

[twelveoone]

Richard Feynman - The only physicist who I have ever laughed at while reading, and I know jack shit about physics.

Surely you're joking...

by the way, that is with not at

and WOW
the living epitomy (or e) of you can't take shit too seriously

 

[butters]

now you're here, 12, tell me who's on your shelves that you turn to for pleasure, re-reading every now and again or year-in, year-out

 

[butters]

I have read at least a book a week for the last two decades so it is hard to nail down favorites, but my current lists reads as such:

Richard Feynman - The only physicist who I have ever laughed at while reading, and I know jack shit about physics.

Hugh Howey - The Wool Omnibus was one of the most powerful pieces of modern fiction I have read recently, his other works are pretty good but that was an honest masterpiece.

Cory Doctorow - An absolute genius who can write about anything and make you love it as much as he does. Makers and Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom are my favorites, he can compel you to be interested in a merrymaker group of 3d printer specialists, or a future where reputation is currency, both taking place in theme park varieties... marvelous work.

Chuck Palahniuk - Another master of making a story out of anything, most only know him for Fight Club but he has so much more, every book is a new writing style and experience. Some don't land well, some are magnificent, it depends purely on your preference for a story.


Jim Butcher - Really loving the Dresden Files books currently, satisfies my need for noir and fantasy all at once.

i'm so glad someone else here has read them! you seem to find them as interesting as i do, darkerdreamer

David Baldacci , Chetan Bhagat , Artemis Fowl , PGWodehouse , Pulp Fiction , Pulp Fiction in Tamil Literature , all sorts of Spiritual literature ---- Gita , Koran , Granth Sahib , Old'n New Testament , Mein Kamph , Das Kapital -----as a kid i was passionately devoted to Enid Blyton , Edgar Rice Burroughs , Pride'n Prejudice , Wutherin' Heights , Jane Eyre , Sir Arthur Conan Doyle , Agatha Christie & Alistair Maclean . If i find an interestin' book by PF James i devour it ! Also i liked Steve Jobs' Biography & Devdutt Patnaik's retellin' of ancient Hindu Legends in a modern format , the Ramayana by Ashok Banker , Kathamrita on Sri Ramakrishna's life & the Life of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda & the biography of Sri Gajanan Maharaj ( the last 4 Books may not be available outside India ) . Hope my litany did not bore you , sweet viewers !?!

no, you didn't bore. lots there i've never read, and it's always interesting to see the sort of things that make people tick.

 

[twelveoone]

now you're here, 12, tell me who's on your shelves that you turn to for pleasure, re-reading every now and again or year-in, year-out

I read mostly poetry crap, technical bullshit, almost never read for the 'pleasure' as one would get from 'recreational' reading, hence my non answer.
Sometime in the distant past I did read Feynman for the pleasure of it, only I'm not sure it was Surely you're Joking..., however I've known plenty of Feynman fans, may have even met someone that knew him, so even there I'm not sure I've read or heard the stories. The guy was brilliant and a riot. One story, I don't know how embellished it is, is he was being 'briefed' by the top security officer on the atom bomb project and Dick was standing there with his back to the safe, as he is listening with his hands behind his back, he is rolling the tumblers picking the lock, end of lecture, as Dick walks away the safe door springs open.
Plus he was a bongo player, and bongos are associated with what type of people?
I think I like this darkerdreamer guy. Generally speaking anyone that knows of and enjoys Feynman has to be OK in my book.
Feynman was the bomb.
The last two books I enjoyed; one was the cases of a probably the first practitioner of forensic linguistics and the other one of Oliver Sacks' books. Neither qualifies as literature.
As literature maybe two books (non poetry) I've read twice in my life (not counting the KJV) Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Herman Hesse's Siddhartha, but the second time around was a test of something someone had said.
Reading too much literature is like watching too many movies.
Like what Batman movie had Queequeg in it, or was it a character on Family Guy?
And what rap songs did Ice-nine do?
Stuff gets smeery.
Now aren't you sorry you asked?

 

[butters]

I read mostly poetry crap, technical bullshit, almost never read for the 'pleasure' as one would get from 'recreational' reading, hence my non answer.
Sometime in the distant past I did read Feynman for the pleasure of it, only I'm not sure it was Surely you're Joking..., however I've known plenty of Feynman fans, may have even met someone that knew him, so even there I'm not sure I've read or heard the stories. The guy was brilliant and a riot. One story, I don't know how embellished it is, is he was being 'briefed' by the top security officer on the atom bomb project and Dick was standing there with his back to the safe, as he is listening with his hands behind his back, he is rolling the tumblers picking the lock, end of lecture, as Dick walks away the safe door springs open.
Plus he was a bongo player, and bongos are associated with what type of people?
I think I like this darkerdreamer guy. Generally speaking anyone that knows of and enjoys Feynman has to be OK in my book.
Feynman was the bomb.
The last two books I enjoyed; one was the cases of a probably the first practitioner of forensic linguistics and the other one of Oliver Sacks' books. Neither qualifies as literature.
As literature maybe two books (non poetry) I've read twice in my life (not counting the KJV) Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Herman Hesse's Siddhartha, but the second time around was a test of something someone had said.
Reading too much literature is like watching too many movies.
Like what Batman movie had Queequeg in it, or was it a character on Family Guy?
And what rap songs did Ice-nine do?
Stuff gets smeery.
Now aren't you sorry you asked?

no, not at all.

though i kind of wish you had that comfort-zone of re-reading and enjoying familiar works: i know the world is filled with books we'll never get to read, but does the pursuit of finding those that will entertain you (or at least not derail you with boredom by knowing how it'll end by chapter three if not sooner) stay fresh before the onslaught of those that disappoint?

 

[twelveoone]

no, not at all.

though i kind of wish you had that comfort-zone of re-reading and enjoying familiar works: i know the world is filled with books we'll never get to read, but does the pursuit of finding those that will entertain you (or at least not derail you with boredom by knowing how it'll end by chapter three if not sooner) stay fresh before the onslaught of those that disappoint?

no, they blur, the brain is like a filing cabinet, that the secretaries have spilled coffee in, hid their panties in, god knows what I get when I go to retrieve something. It is a finite system. And mislabeled. However this works great for me, I'm a comedian. There is nothing like a quote or two from the KJV when you pick up a six pack of beer, the bar maids think it is intriguing, and the tough guys give you space. Plenty of it. Trick I learned from Pulp Fiction.