Pete's picture
Pete from Detroit is reading Red Dragon February 10, 2012 - 3:47pm

Vacation was not what I was expecting at all.  That book was really good.  I hated the cover though.

Now starting Seven Spanish Angels by Stephen Graham Jones.

wickedvoodoo's picture
wickedvoodoo from Mansfield, England is reading stuff. February 16, 2012 - 9:43pm

Oh yeah, A Farewell To Arms was a pretty good read. I wasn't blown away or anything but I did enjoy it. The ending was very sad.

I will read more of his stuff at some point.

The last couple of days I have been reading Last Exit To Brooklyn by Selby Jnr. I read The Room a while back and have been meaning to read more of him ever since.

 

Pete's picture
Pete from Detroit is reading Red Dragon February 16, 2012 - 12:21pm

A Farewell to Arms is one of the first books I added to MY collection (as opposed to books that stayed at my Mom's house or books I grabbed off their shelves or the libraries).  And I still haven't read it yet...

Jay.SJ's picture
Jay.SJ from London is reading Warmed and Bound February 16, 2012 - 5:01pm

Peter, yeah the cover for Vacation gets me too, that grin, it's just too irritating. I don't think I paid for it because of it. Might have too though, to conquer my fear.

TA10's picture
TA10 February 16, 2012 - 10:47pm

Currently reading two books.

Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell

and

A Devil on One Shoulder and an Angel on the Other by Greg Prato

Pete's picture
Pete from Detroit is reading Red Dragon February 17, 2012 - 6:48am

Jay: Vacation was a solid debut novel.  Like a lot of debut novels, it tries to tackle a lot of huge world issues.  But I thought it was a really entertaining read.  I recommend it.

wickedvoodoo's picture
wickedvoodoo from Mansfield, England is reading stuff. February 20, 2012 - 3:11am

Did anyone who has read Last Exit To Brooklyn find it hard going? 80 pages in or so and I'm thinking I might have to mix it up with something else for a break.

Nothing wrong with the story really. It's the five page paragraphs that do my head in. I will endeavour to read more though. I remember The Room was in a similar style, but less extremely so.

I have read a bit about Selby, so I know some of the reasons why his writing style is so crude and strange. Still, I wish he'd been a little more fond of the return key on his typewriter,

Flaminia Ferina's picture
Flaminia Ferina from Umbria is reading stuff February 20, 2012 - 3:45am

yes, I started Last Exit in the summer and I had to stop halfway too, but I really, really love that book. It might be placed in my Top 5 but, yeah, it's hard to read so I put it on stand by and, like a long distance lover, think about it pretty often, waiting for destiny to finally match us again. That, plus I found Ballard's Crash difficult. I love difficult. It just takes me a while.

wickedvoodoo's picture
wickedvoodoo from Mansfield, England is reading stuff. February 23, 2012 - 10:11pm

I read a bit more of Last Exit, and will continue to chip away at it. I'm curious as to how it pans out now, even if reading it is like swimming in porridge.

I have also started My Father's House by Ben Tanzer, and Eyeballs Growing All Over Me ...Again by Tony Rauch, which is a bizarro short story collection. Both of these seem pretty good so far.

Pete's picture
Pete from Detroit is reading Red Dragon February 28, 2012 - 3:20pm

Finally finished Seven Spanish Angels by Stephen Graham Jones.  It was great.  Highly recommended.  Especially if you liked the style of All The Beautiful Sinners.  Though Angels is much easier to read.  (Either that or I'm a better reader now... ha)

Starting My Father's House by Ben Tanzer for LitReactor's Book Club.