Nexa, et al (book discussion, enter AYOR)Follow

I'm finally reading some moar AS Byatt. I recently read the novella, Morpho Eugenia. Damn, I love the social commentary in that story. I read it before. I think I want to finally go read Possession.

I bought it at the book mill in Montague. Seriously, Nexa, seriously, you need to go out there during the spring and summer for a day trip. It's only an hour and a half or so from Boston.

Looks interesting.

I left my daughters house with a book called The Thirteenth Tale. I started it this morning but only managed about 4 pages as I was running late for work. It's supposedly a quick-read ghost story, but, according to her a bit 'different' and entertaining.

It seems the scifi/fantasy aisles at the bookstores are being filled with more and more horror-type stuff - vampires, ghosts, werewolves and the like.

Other genres; I listened to an interview with John Wray, the author of Lowboy, the other day. His approach to writing about a schizophrenic sounds intriguing. Think I might have to read it.

You'd probably be better off with the Icewind Dale trilogy which was where Drizzt debuted (Salvator wrote the prequels later). They're not literary gold either but they were better than the others in my opinion. Don't go into them expecting anything new in the world of fantasy though; it's all pretty stock stuff. Conflicted elf dude, annoying little person, tough dwarf who understands the elf and little person, feisty human warrior-maiden, brawny human warrior who spends three books clumbsily flirting with said warrior-maiden. Throw in a gold skinned wizard and you have yourself the cast to Dragonlance.

I'm currently reading The Barn House, a humorous account of one man's adventures rehabbing a historical home in Chicago. I also have a collection of historical "What If?" essays by various historians that I'm working through.

I liked Dostoevsky. Of course I read him when I was a teenager and could connect with all the angst and despair.

Lowboy looks good, I'll pick that up.

On a related note, I'm getting my Kindle sometime this week. I've been perusing the Kindle store on Amazon, and so far have had mixed emotions. LOTR and Harry Potter aren't Kindled yet. Hitchhiker's Guide series, and some other Douglas Adams stuff is available, but no Dirk Gently novels. The Golden Compass appears to be available, so that's cool.

Oh, I'm one of those types that reads favorites over and over.

I'm currently reading The Third Reich, A New History by Burleigh (and Stronginthearm), but that might not qualify as fun. I'm also making my way through The Scar again at a glacial pace.

I almost always like the middle book of a trilogy the most. The Subtle Knife, Slaves of the Mastery, The Two Towers and so on.

Every time someone mentions Dirk Gently I remember Douglas Adams is dead.

The local library's used book sale was this past weekend so we went and I picked up Irving Stone's The Agony and The Ecstasy. I've really enjoyed it so far and am kicking myself for not having remembered to bring it with me to work to read during my lunch hour.

I got this for Christmas and finally got around to reading it. It's pretty interesting stuff. I love how close all of the stories come to reality, but exaggerate one element just enough that it becomes something seemingly impossible -- though it still leaves that voice in the back of your mind going "Well, what if..." I liked it.

I'm also starting to re-read A Song of Ice and Fire in the tentative hope that the next book actually comes out this year. I'll probably be let down, but eh, they're worth re-reading.

Also re-reading House of Leaves after letting it sit in my mind for awhile. Trying to take it slow this time, see what I catch. If you haven't read it, you should. It's experimental in a way I really haven't seen in a book before. The narrator is a guy who finds an extensive film review in his dead neighbor's apartment. The catch is, the film doesn't really exist. The novel switches between the reproduction of the film review and the narrator, who is describing how reading the review is slowly driving him insane. If you're interested, I highly recommend picking up the full color book, it really adds a lot.

Samira, that sounds like a book I would enjoy. I will have to look for it next time I am in the city. i am reading Tanya Huff's 'The Quarters Novels' at the moment.

I am currently reading WHILE IN THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY: Military Prisons of the Civil War by Charles Sanders, though it came out a few years ago, I started it as a counter to ANDERSONVILLE By Macauly Kantor which I finished earlier in February.
I am also reading ARMING THE FLEET: U.S. Navy Ordnance in the muzzle loading era to add to my shipboard knowledge in giving talks about the guns on board the Constellation
I am also reading Neil Gaiman's NEVERWHERE and Tony Hillerman's THE SHAPE SHIFTER. Both books are quick reads and entertaining. I finished Linda Barnes's
HEART OF THE WORLD last week. If you haven't read her and like mysteries her series heroine Carlotta Carlyle is a great story line.

Dune gets the better the more you read it. You should read the rest of the original series.



Yeah, good luck with that one. The last update on his website is dated Jan. 1, 2008. In it he claims he'd have the book ready by last summer.

Edited, Mar 10th 2009 1:38am by TurinAlexander

Oh no, sorry to hear that. Stupid economy.

I was about make a post expressing the importance of carrying through on the series due to the further elaboration, explanation and illumination of the storyline within the later books.

I was also going to stress that although Dune Messiah drags quite a bit, it is worth it to get to the rest of the books.

I was going to further stress that stopping at the end of Heretics of Dune is acceptable, because it gets more than a little (conflated? confabulated? just plain confusing?) after that one.

I was even going to say that Brian Herbert is no Frank Herbert, so skip those books altogether.

But, Turin beat me to it, so

20 GOTO 10

Edited, Mar 10th 2009 1:37am by Bijou