Jay.SJ's picture
Jay.SJ from London is reading Warmed and Bound July 9, 2012 - 6:45am

I am Going to Clone Myself Then Kill The Clone and Eat it by Sam Pink

manda lynn's picture
manda lynn from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again) July 9, 2012 - 7:04am

i read 'Serpent Box' and 'Growing Up Dead in Texas' recently, so i need a solid brain break to digest so i can write, and also not cheat the next books from being full of the last books. been reading random sections of 'Wampeters,Foma & Granfalloons'. clears the voices of the other books and gives me some solid Vonnegut without devouring me.

Nick Wilczynski's picture
Nick Wilczynski from Greensboro, NC is reading A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin July 9, 2012 - 10:53am

I just finished 'One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest' and I loved it.

I'm starting 'On the Road' next.

Utah's picture
Moderator
Utah from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry July 9, 2012 - 11:56am

Nick!  Where've you been?

Nick Wilczynski's picture
Nick Wilczynski from Greensboro, NC is reading A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin July 10, 2012 - 12:54am

Workin'

How you been Utah? Defending the Reactor?

Utah's picture
Moderator
Utah from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry July 10, 2012 - 8:57am

I don't know about "defending" it.  It seems pretty well fortified.  Which is good, because most of my time is going toward this consistent string of emergency repairs to the house we just bought.  My sap and heater are rusting.

Jay.SJ's picture
Jay.SJ from London is reading Warmed and Bound July 10, 2012 - 5:44pm

Nova Parade

Steven Barritz's picture
Steven Barritz from Long Island is reading Etgar Keret and Robert Sheckley July 14, 2012 - 11:01am

Reading People Who Eat Darkness by Richard Lloyd Parry.  I bought it because Alina Simone said it was unputdownable, and though I'm only a little ways into it (also reading Wild by Cheryl Strayed for a book club I belong to) I find her to be very correct.  

Gordon Highland's picture
Gordon Highland from Kansas City is reading Secondhand Souls by Christopher Moore July 14, 2012 - 1:26pm

Fylh's Praise of Motherhood, then Unaccustomed Mercy by D.B. Cox.

misskokamon's picture
misskokamon from San Francisco is reading The Moonlit Mind July 16, 2012 - 1:00pm

I'm reading Jackson Galaxy's autobiography, "Cat Daddy." Because I love learning about behavior, be it human or feline or monkey or whatever. And because if I wasn't an animator, an artist, or a writer... I'd probably want to be a cat behaviorist. That job sounds awesome.
I don't know what I'll read next. Probably some submissions that need reviewing, or something.

Pete's picture
Pete from Detroit is reading Red Dragon July 16, 2012 - 1:56pm

Finished off Strangeness in the Proportion. It was great.

Started Please Do Not Shoot Me In The Face by Bradley Sands. Cool shit.

Jack Campbell Jr.'s picture
Jack Campbell Jr. from Lawrence, KS is reading American Rust by Phillipp Meyer July 16, 2012 - 2:40pm

Read The Girl Next Door over the weekend. Disturbing, but great horror novel.

Starting on Shutter Island.

Pete's picture
Pete from Detroit is reading Red Dragon July 18, 2012 - 8:14am

Please Do Not Shoot Me In The Face did not fail to entertain me. Hilarious!

Now on to A Town Called Suckhole by David W. Barbee.

Michael J. Riser's picture
Michael J. Riser from CA, TX, Japan, back to CA is reading The Tyrant - Michael Cisco, The Devil Takes You Home - Gabino Iglesias July 18, 2012 - 9:55am

I'm still working on Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat and Nova Parade. I don't know why, but it takes me fucking forever to get through anything on my ereader. I like having it there for free ebooks and things like that, though I don't buy books that way, but no matter what I do I just seem to move at a snail's pace. I'm about halfway through each book and not making the progress I want to be. Anyone else have that problem?

I just don't enjoy ereaders, I guess. Give me a book any day.

EDIT - In an attempt to solve the problem, I decided to finally just buy a copy of the damned book (TSMG). Which would have been great had I not also bought a hardcover copy of Nik Korpon's Stay God.

Damn it.

Pete's picture
Pete from Detroit is reading Red Dragon July 18, 2012 - 10:38am

I am the opposite. I read so much faster on my nook than I do with phsyical copies of books.

Fylh's picture
Fylh from from from is reading is from is reading is reading is reading reading is reading July 21, 2012 - 3:50am

Look at this cunt. This smug, pretentious, bearded fucking cunt reading some fucking German cunt.

Andrez Bergen's picture
Andrez Bergen from Melbourne, Australia + Tokyo, Japan is reading 'The Spirit' by Will Eisner July 22, 2012 - 5:54am

Michael, Utah... I stuck it out with Dragon Tattoo, and liked it - but it didn't grip me as much as I expected. Still, it was far superior to my next read, a recent novel that has a brilliant cover yet bored and irritated me senseless; I'd prefer not to say the name of it (I hate bagging out books!).

Mike Mckay, you rock. Ta!!

 

 

Andrez Bergen's picture
Andrez Bergen from Melbourne, Australia + Tokyo, Japan is reading 'The Spirit' by Will Eisner July 22, 2012 - 5:56am

Not forgetting you too, Michael, for sticking it out with TSMG. And as for Phil/Fylh... he is God - with a tricky dicky German tome.

Michael J. Riser's picture
Michael J. Riser from CA, TX, Japan, back to CA is reading The Tyrant - Michael Cisco, The Devil Takes You Home - Gabino Iglesias July 22, 2012 - 8:25am

Hey, that makes it sound like it's been tough to hang in with, which it hasn't. It's a great yarn and I'm looking forward to having it in my preferred format!

Jack Campbell Jr.'s picture
Jack Campbell Jr. from Lawrence, KS is reading American Rust by Phillipp Meyer July 22, 2012 - 8:57am

Read volumes 1 and 2 of Locke and Key. Working on A Very Minor Prophet and just started A Kiss Before Dying.

MattF's picture
MattF from Tokyo is reading Borges' Collected Fictions July 22, 2012 - 7:22pm

Halfway through Pynchon's Inherent Vice, but some recent Tower Records Summer Sale purchases include: McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories (Steve Erickson, David Mitchell, Mieville, Lethem, King, JCO, Atwood, et al.--brilliant so far), Electric Literature No. 3 (Patrick deWitt's becoming a favorite), Chemistry and Other Stories by Ron Rash, and Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi by Geoff Dyer--all for less than 20 Japanese bucks.

I'll be reading People Who Eat Darkness before long--years ago Richard Lloyd Parry published a story in Granta Magazine about the ethnic/tribal violence, including cannibalism, that was flaring up in Borneo.  It was an amazing bit of reporting and he's been on my radar since.

Michael J. Riser's picture
Michael J. Riser from CA, TX, Japan, back to CA is reading The Tyrant - Michael Cisco, The Devil Takes You Home - Gabino Iglesias July 23, 2012 - 8:25am

Huh. I thought Tower went out of business. And I didn't know they ever sold books.

Kymberly Peters's picture
Kymberly Peters from The 'Burbs is reading The Mortal Instruments July 23, 2012 - 11:50am

Just started Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Michael J. Riser's picture
Michael J. Riser from CA, TX, Japan, back to CA is reading The Tyrant - Michael Cisco, The Devil Takes You Home - Gabino Iglesias July 23, 2012 - 1:25pm

Started No Country for Old Men today. I'm hooked, though the whole "I like commas but I never want to use them ever and let's just make everything seem like a giant run-on sentence and that won't bother anyone" thing threw me at first. I feel like I'm in a rhythm with it now, and the dialogue so far has been fan-fucking-tastic.

This is my first McCarthy. Does he write everything like this? I sort of imagine not.

jyh's picture
jyh from VA is reading whatever he feels like July 23, 2012 - 1:30pm

Does he write everything like this?

His later stuff (NCFOM, The Road) is more sparse than the early and mid, but the multitudinous "and"s and run-on sentences are pretty constant from what I recall.

Andrez Bergen's picture
Andrez Bergen from Melbourne, Australia + Tokyo, Japan is reading 'The Spirit' by Will Eisner July 23, 2012 - 2:33pm

Yep, I read The Road, and agree with J. Y. Hopkins.

Re: Tower Records, nah, they still exist here in Japan, and the one in Shibuya is huge. A great place to pick up foreign books and graphic novels...

(BTW, thanks, Michael... glad your enjoying TSMG!).

Michael J. Riser's picture
Michael J. Riser from CA, TX, Japan, back to CA is reading The Tyrant - Michael Cisco, The Devil Takes You Home - Gabino Iglesias July 24, 2012 - 10:30am

Just got TSMG in the mail, and I have to say, it's a nice big paperback, clean and nicely printed. Was pleasantly surprised with the accompanying back-cover art too, I think it's worth owning just for that. Lady-goat is at least three kinds of awesome.

Pete's picture
Pete from Detroit is reading Red Dragon July 24, 2012 - 7:41pm

I'll be starting A Very Minor Prophet by James Bernard Frost for the Book Club.

Stacy Kear's picture
Stacy Kear from Bucyrus, Ohio lives in New Jersey is reading The Art of War July 24, 2012 - 8:07pm

Reading Remainder by Tom McCarthy, really loving it 

Nighty Nite's picture
Nighty Nite from NJ is reading Grimscribe: His Lives and Works July 24, 2012 - 8:31pm

Night Shift by Stephen King. Quite possibly his best short story collection.

Courtney's picture
Courtney from the Midwest is reading Monkey: A Journey to the West and a thousand college textbooks July 24, 2012 - 9:12pm

I just finished We Have To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver and it was fantastic. I'm in the middle of rereading Naked by David Sedaris (not my favorite, but I have a shortage of books at the moment) and I'm also rereading Blackbox by Nick Walker. My mom found it at a yardsale and I devoured it in one night, so I'm going back to see if I missed anything.

Andrez Bergen's picture
Andrez Bergen from Melbourne, Australia + Tokyo, Japan is reading 'The Spirit' by Will Eisner July 25, 2012 - 4:46am

Michael, how cool is Scott C's femme fatale goat? She knocked my socks off when I first saw her. Yep, Another Sky Press do great quality printing, which I really dig - nice paper/format.

manda lynn's picture
manda lynn from Ohio is reading Of Love and Other Demons (again) July 25, 2012 - 7:40am

reading Swamplandia! by Karen Russell, then starting Unaccustomed to Mercy by DB Cox.

Arturo Bandini's picture
Arturo Bandini from Denver, CO is reading Beautiful Ruins July 25, 2012 - 10:34am

Michael J. Riser -

Cormac McCarthy's masterpiece is Blood Meridian.  If you are digging NCFOM, you will more than likely really like Blood Meridian.  It was one of the few books I've read where I had a hard time getting out of that dark world while I read it. Top ten book for me.

ReneeAPickup's picture
Class Facilitator
ReneeAPickup from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig July 25, 2012 - 10:41am

This has been a busy month for me, reading wise. I just finished Praise of Motherhood and Out of Touch, working on Dope by Sara Gran and about to start I Didn't Mean To Be Kevin by Caleb J Ross.

ReneeAPickup's picture
Class Facilitator
ReneeAPickup from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig July 25, 2012 - 10:45am

As for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, I found it a slow start, too. I ended up getting into it and plowed through the second book, but the last book has been sitting half finished on my nightstand for some time. I'm not sure why I put it down, but I'm reading a lot of good stuff, so I'm in no particular hurry to pick it up again.

Michael J. Riser's picture
Michael J. Riser from CA, TX, Japan, back to CA is reading The Tyrant - Michael Cisco, The Devil Takes You Home - Gabino Iglesias July 26, 2012 - 12:32am

@Arturo - Thanks, I'll bear that in mind. Of the McCarthy stuff I looked at, some of it appealed to me and some of it didn't as much, just based on description. But I defnitely plan to try more, so I'll bump that one to top of the list.

Charles's picture
Charles from Portland is reading Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones July 26, 2012 - 12:44am

Finishing - Train Dreams by Denis Johnson

Some where in the process of - At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom by Amy Hempel

Finally going to get to read and discuss - A Very Minor Prophet by James Frost

avery of the dead's picture
avery of the dead from Kentucky is reading Cipher Sisters July 26, 2012 - 4:56am

I'm reading I Didn't Mean to be Kevin by Caleb J. Ross. 

Spoiler alert - I haven't actually started it yet.

Pete's picture
Pete from Detroit is reading Red Dragon July 26, 2012 - 5:40am

Charles - What did you think of Train Dreams? Matt Bell said something about loving that book and rereading it. I love Johnson's stuff. I bought it recently, but haven't gotten around to it.

jyh's picture
jyh from VA is reading whatever he feels like July 26, 2012 - 3:22pm

Today, I actually saw somebody buy a copy of 50Shds.  She was at the back of the line and turned the book face-down as I approached her in line.

I'm not reading 50Shds.

Bradley Sands's picture
Bradley Sands from Boston is reading Greil Marcus's The History of Rock 'N' Roll in Ten Songs July 26, 2012 - 4:11pm

Seems like it would be difficult to go to a book store and not see a person buying it.

Pete's picture
Pete from Detroit is reading Red Dragon July 26, 2012 - 4:27pm

Pretty much.

David Buglass's picture
David Buglass from Saskatoon SK is reading The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry July 26, 2012 - 7:23pm

I have been in a classic Sci-Fi mood this month. I finished 2001: A Space Oddysey and am now into Foundation. You can really tell Foundation was writen in the 50's. Everyone smokes and it's atomic this and atomic that. 

jyh's picture
jyh from VA is reading whatever he feels like July 26, 2012 - 7:47pm

Seems like it would be difficult to go to a book store and not see a person buying it.

Pretty much.

I guess I haven't been getting out much.  Been a while since I went to a (new) book store.  It was one of those moments when trendy hype stuff becomes something other than media buzz.  It was like bumping into the Kardashians or something.

 

justin's picture
justin from Magratheia is reading lots of Christopher Moore, John Irving, Tom Robbins and Neil Gaimen July 26, 2012 - 9:28pm

Just finished A Payer for Owen Meany by John Irving and Villa Incognito by Tom Robbins.. Thinking about rereading all of the stories in Fragile Things by Neil Gaimen next..

cosmo's picture
cosmo July 20, 2014 - 12:37pm

.

ReneeAPickup's picture
Class Facilitator
ReneeAPickup from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig July 26, 2012 - 9:48pm

Ha! I really didn't like The Scarlet Letter. Like...at all. I do love the stage adaptation though.

avery of the dead's picture
avery of the dead from Kentucky is reading Cipher Sisters July 27, 2012 - 4:46am

@JY - one of my co-workers is reading it.  WhenI go in the break room and see her with it I struggle to keep the disgusted look off my face. 

 

jyh's picture
jyh from VA is reading whatever he feels like July 27, 2012 - 6:16am

@AD - aren't you part of a podcast crew whose shows feature "obscene" jokes?