Lerxt In Wonderland
from Iowa is reading Brave New World + The TempestFebruary 1, 2012 - 11:26pm
I just picked up the Library of America's 3 volume collection of Philip K. Dick and a compilation of Ambrose Bierce.
Too bad I won't have time to really dig in until after this semester =(
Moonraker_127
from Michigan is reading GlamoramaFebruary 1, 2012 - 11:47pm
I just got Most likely you'll go your way and I'll go mine by Ben Tanzer (heard about him through this web site (new memba) ) and I got Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis, also a recommendation from this site.
I like a book that's a mindfuck. Any other suggestions? Preferably in the noir or phscho thriller genres.
Pete
from Detroit is reading Red DragonFebruary 2, 2012 - 6:44am
Mike - nice selection!
Moonraker - you should have picked up My Father's House by Ben Tanzer too. That's the one we're discussing next month! Ben will be stopping by to discuss it with us too. It'll be a good time. He's great.
Richard
from St. Louis is reading various anthologiesFebruary 2, 2012 - 7:19am
well i could tell from here that two were some CRJ love. also, Vonnegut and JDO? quite an excellent stash, mike.
JRAllison
February 13, 2012 - 9:24pm
I bought 2 books together, they have the longest names. What a coincidence.
Rampaging Fuckers of Everything on the Crazy Shitting Planet of the Vomit Atmosphere
by Mykle Hansen
Horror Stories of Classic Chinese Literature from Po Chung-Ling's Tales of the Liu Tzai Pavilion
interpreted by Julie Lipson
Both easy fun reads. I devoured them one after another.
Jose F. Diaz
from Boston is reading Wolf Hall by Hilary MantelFebruary 14, 2012 - 3:06am
Blink and Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.
A Short History of Freethought: Ancient and Modern by John M. Robertson
Pete
from Detroit is reading Red DragonFebruary 14, 2012 - 9:27am
Both of those Malcolm Gladwell book are really good. I've read all of his books. Outliers is also worth checking out if you like those. I would say What the Dog Saw is for you if you're really a fan.
bryanhowie
from FW, ID is reading East of Eden. Steinbeck is FUCKING AMAZING.February 14, 2012 - 11:02am
I just bought The Devil All the Time on audible so I could listen to it while I go hiking in the snow. So, now I just have to buy the e-book version and I'll have the hat-trick!
By the way, the narrator is fantistic and does some outstanding voices, but I'm not sure how true to the accent/region they are. Anyone know?
Boone Spaulding
from Coldwater, Michigan, U.S.A. is reading Solarcide Presents: Nova ParadeFebruary 14, 2012 - 11:09am
I have not yet today bought Osborn's By The Time We Leave Here We'll Be Friends. I am going to have to travel to buy a copy. Local bookstores are jokes and libraries haven't stocked it.
Nearest real bookstores are 25 to 35 miles away. Whatever the cost of the book, factor in 3 to 4 gallons of gasoline for $10 to $13 extra cost...
Boo-hoo.
Boone Spaulding
from Coldwater, Michigan, U.S.A. is reading Solarcide Presents: Nova ParadeFebruary 14, 2012 - 11:10am
BTW: I killed my Kindle's battery. I miss my Kindle. I'll have to buy another or pay Amazon $60 to replace the battery....
Jay.SJ
from London is reading Warmed and BoundFebruary 14, 2012 - 11:14am
Could you just not use the internet to get the book?
Boone Spaulding
from Coldwater, Michigan, U.S.A. is reading Solarcide Presents: Nova ParadeFebruary 14, 2012 - 11:17am
Yeah but I'm impatient.
When I have the money I don't have the time and when I have the time I don't have the money...
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryFebruary 14, 2012 - 12:04pm
Dude, I'd have Amazon send it. I got it from Amazon. Doesn't take them very long to send stuff. I will definitely vouch the book is well worth it.
Bradley Sands
from Boston is reading Greil Marcus's The History of Rock 'N' Roll in Ten SongsFebruary 14, 2012 - 12:25pm
The bookstore probably won't have it, but you can special order it from them.
Dwayne
from Cincinnati, Ohio (suburbs) is reading books that rotate to often to keep this updatedFebruary 14, 2012 - 1:16pm
You could get one from ebay for 15 to 30 bucks depending on which kindle you have.
Jose F. Diaz
from Boston is reading Wolf Hall by Hilary MantelFebruary 14, 2012 - 3:01pm
@ Pete, I already read outliers and that is why I bought his other two. They give me some wierd feeling of hope.
Pete
from Detroit is reading Red DragonFebruary 14, 2012 - 3:05pm
That their is no luck and coincidences?
Jose F. Diaz
from Boston is reading Wolf Hall by Hilary MantelFebruary 14, 2012 - 3:06pm
I'm working on my 10K hours now. I still have quite a few left.
Pete
from Detroit is reading Red DragonFebruary 14, 2012 - 4:50pm
haha I see. Basically to be an Outlier, you have to dedicate every waking moment + sacrifice some sleep to get to that point.
Good luck with that.
aliensoul77
from a cold distant star is reading the writing on the wall.February 14, 2012 - 5:30pm
Just get a kindle fire, its more purty.
Boone Spaulding
from Coldwater, Michigan, U.S.A. is reading Solarcide Presents: Nova ParadeFebruary 14, 2012 - 6:07pm
Considering that - just getting a new Kindle. The Kindle is one of the only technologies of which I was an "early adaptor." I paid $360 for mine, the first offering of the second generation Kindle. This was 4 or 5 years ago. Four months after I paid my $360, the cost was slashed in half...
Doh!
(still, I felt it was worth every bit of what I paid for it at the time)
Matt Attack
from Richmond, Va. is reading As I Lay Dying, William FaulknerFebruary 14, 2012 - 6:14pm
My last books (over about a month or two)
"The Game" by Neil Strauss
"The Hunger Games" (not even close to the same thing)
"Atlas Shrugged"
"Fahrenheit 451"
"Cold Mountain"
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersFebruary 14, 2012 - 7:25pm
I read all three Hunger Games books last weekend. I honestly really liked the first book for what it was.It was predictable, but a fun story. But the other two were just..meh. And the ending was sort of like, "OMG! I have to go finish dinner! I better wrap this up!" All telling. And in the dullest possible way.
Q Clemente
from Virginia is reading "The Year of Our War," by Steph SwainstonFebruary 14, 2012 - 9:30pm
"Kraken," by China Mieville
Matt Attack
from Richmond, Va. is reading As I Lay Dying, William FaulknerFebruary 15, 2012 - 1:55am
@Avery, yeah for a dystopian novel it doesn't seem that mindblowing but it does seem fun. Maybe I won't bother with the other two.
Nighty Nite
from NJ is reading Grimscribe: His Lives and WorksFebruary 15, 2012 - 3:29am
Just picked up...
Off Season and Hide and Seek by Jack Ketchum
I'm sad to admit this will be my first foray into Mr. Ketchum's work. I'm excited though.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersFebruary 15, 2012 - 7:16am
@ Matt - I would read them just because I hate to not finish something, but the first one is by far the best.
Matt Attack
from Richmond, Va. is reading As I Lay Dying, William FaulknerFebruary 15, 2012 - 7:23am
@Avery- Yeah, what is that!? I can't stand to start anything and not finish it. Even shitty books and movies. Ill finish them.
Also, two new ones on the list
Enders Game by Orson Scott Card
Eclogues by Publius Vergilius Maro
Just finished the Christ Clone trilogy again by James Beauseigneur. Love em.
Moderator
Utah
from Fort Worth, TX is reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtryFebruary 15, 2012 - 7:34am
@Matt: Ender's Game is the shit. It's a book I revisit about ever 5 years just to brush up on how it was done. I recommend it to...not everybody, because I forget...but when I remember, to everybody.
Everybody read Ender's Game.
Matt Attack
from Richmond, Va. is reading As I Lay Dying, William FaulknerFebruary 15, 2012 - 7:37am
Yeah seems to be interesting. Eugenics mixed with child-super soldiers mixed with mysticism? Good shit.
Matt Attack
from Richmond, Va. is reading As I Lay Dying, William FaulknerFebruary 15, 2012 - 10:37am
Oh and forgot about 1984.....again....still creepy as shit, and somehow despite being written 60+ years ago explains our entire socio/economic political system and why it doesn’t work.
Richard
from St. Louis is reading various anthologiesFebruary 15, 2012 - 2:21pm
enders game and ketchum, oh yeah, great stuff.
wickedvoodoo
from Mansfield, England is reading stuff.February 25, 2012 - 9:52pm
Just ordered a few.
Got My Sister's Continent by Gina Frangello and Real To Reel by Lidia Yuknavitch as I've been wanting to check out more of their stuff.
And I got We Live In Side You by Jeremy R Johnson and the three Bizarro Starter Kit books.
R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestFebruary 25, 2012 - 9:56pm
Went to Half Price today. Picked up:
1. Gun Monkeys - Victor Gilscher
2. Vampire A Go-Go - Victor Gilscher
3. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
4. Knockemstiff - Donald Ray Pollock
5. New Moon - Stephanie Meyer... Yeah, I bought it. It was a buck and I've already read it. What the hell, I want the collection.
aliensoul77
from a cold distant star is reading the writing on the wall.February 25, 2012 - 10:50pm
Bows head in shame for Moon.
R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestFebruary 25, 2012 - 11:31pm
Bows head in shame for Moon.
- Haha... Hey, if I've read the book, I want it...
Renfield
from Hell is reading 20th Century GhostsFebruary 25, 2012 - 11:31pm
Chester, that there Sliver, that's the only book over at my ladyfriend's domicile, I've read through it quite a few times. Isn't Ira Levin kind of amazing? His limited third-person narration, there's something about it that no other writer really compares to. Or something. (Red Dragon might come close to being that good, come to think.)
well, me:
David J Schow - Gun Work
Elmore Leonard - Raylan Givens 3-Book Collection (Pronto, Riding The Rap, Fire in the Hole)
Daniel Woodrell - The Bayou Trilogy (Under the Bright Lights, Muscle for the Wing, The Ones You Do)
R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestFebruary 25, 2012 - 11:34pm
Elmore Leonard - Raylan Givens 3-Book Collection (Pronto, Riding The Rap, Fire in the Hole)
- Nice...
Chris Davis
from Indiana is reading A Feast of Snakes by Harry CrewsFebruary 25, 2012 - 11:42pm
Part of me wants to check out the Hunger Games, and the other part loves Battle Royale to much to read what sounds like a watered down version of the same thing.
Has anyone read both, and can you tell me if my concerns are justified or do I need to get over it and give it a shot.
and the last books I picked up are Abraham Lincoln:Vampire Hunter and Heart-Shaped Box
aliensoul77
from a cold distant star is reading the writing on the wall.February 25, 2012 - 11:57pm
I liked the Hunger Games, other people say it sucked, Whatever. It's not going to be all hardcore. If you want to read it for the fun of it, do it. It's more character based than anything, the first book at least is worth reading. Then again a lot of writer types talk shit about it but it's better than Twilight in my opinion. Plus it gives kids perspective on issues like starvation, hunger, suffering and war, in other words it teaches them about life that real kids lead every day in 3rd world countries which is more educational than say Harry Potter.
Renfield
from Hell is reading 20th Century GhostsFebruary 26, 2012 - 12:01am
They're good. Don't bother comparing it to Battle Royale.
Admin
Kirk
from Pingree Grove, IL is reading The Book Of The New SunFebruary 26, 2012 - 12:32am
Kindle version of 'I, Robot'
Covewriter
from Nashville, Tennessee is reading & SonsFebruary 26, 2012 - 1:07am
If you like short stories pick up WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE ALK ABOUT ANNE FRANK. Those stores will stay with you! They are so good. I work for a publisher so I'm always reading things not yet out. ( In sales and marketing, not editorial blah...) But still. I hear people on this link saying Max Barry who i love, and also books by Eugenides, who is awesome. Lately I'm reading the short story journals as much as i can. Love to hear what you guys are reading.
bryanhowie
from FW, ID is reading East of Eden. Steinbeck is FUCKING AMAZING.February 26, 2012 - 11:06am
Let me flip open my kindle and see...
The Best Non-Required reading 2011
Dig, by Michael Siemsen
I Moved Your Cheese, by Deepak Malhotra
Transubstantiate, by Richard Thomas
Ice Age, by Brian Freemantle
Kindle's .99 or 1.99 deal of the day gets me at least once a week.
Wild Things by Josh Bazell (audible.com)
But all of these are on hold until I finish Lone Wolf and Cub.
Alex Kane
from west-central Illinois is reading Dark OrbitFebruary 26, 2012 - 12:52pm
Went to Chicago Friday night, and based on chatter here at LitReactor I picked up Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis and Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson, at an indie bookstore called After-Words just off State Street. Read half of Less Than Zero on the car ride home, and it's just incredible. Feels sort of like Hunter S. Thompson-meets-Kerouac. Will definitely be checking out more from him soon; sorry I waited so long in the first place. Recently finished The Rum Diary, and between the two I'm feeling inspired to write a semiautobiographical mainstream novel like never before. May cannot come soon enough...
Richard
from St. Louis is reading various anthologiesFebruary 26, 2012 - 10:39pm
i love after-words, cool bookstore.
Alex Kane
from west-central Illinois is reading Dark OrbitFebruary 27, 2012 - 9:22am
Yeah, I make a point to go there every time I'm in Chicago. Bought Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and a bunch of other really great books there over the past few years. 1st Edition Hardcover of King's On Writing, too.
Richard
from St. Louis is reading various anthologiesFebruary 27, 2012 - 1:01pm
^nice, @alex. also, be sure to hit up Myopic Books (used) and Quimby's (new) over in Wicker Park. Two more excellent bookstores.
Alex Kane
from west-central Illinois is reading Dark OrbitFebruary 27, 2012 - 5:31pm
I don't think I've ever been to Wicker Park before. (Enjoyed the movie, heh.) Will have to find my way there next time I'm in the city. (I'm about three and a half hours south.) Do those bookstores carry your novel, since you're local?
I just picked up the Library of America's 3 volume collection of Philip K. Dick and a compilation of Ambrose Bierce.
Too bad I won't have time to really dig in until after this semester =(
I just got Most likely you'll go your way and I'll go mine by Ben Tanzer (heard about him through this web site (new memba) ) and I got Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis, also a recommendation from this site.
I like a book that's a mindfuck. Any other suggestions? Preferably in the noir or phscho thriller genres.
Mike - nice selection!
Moonraker - you should have picked up My Father's House by Ben Tanzer too. That's the one we're discussing next month! Ben will be stopping by to discuss it with us too. It'll be a good time. He's great.
well i could tell from here that two were some CRJ love. also, Vonnegut and JDO? quite an excellent stash, mike.
I bought 2 books together, they have the longest names. What a coincidence.
Rampaging Fuckers of Everything on the Crazy Shitting Planet of the Vomit Atmosphere
by Mykle Hansen
Horror Stories of Classic Chinese Literature from Po Chung-Ling's Tales of the Liu Tzai Pavilion
interpreted by Julie Lipson
Both easy fun reads. I devoured them one after another.
Blink and Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.
A Short History of Freethought: Ancient and Modern by John M. Robertson
Both of those Malcolm Gladwell book are really good. I've read all of his books. Outliers is also worth checking out if you like those. I would say What the Dog Saw is for you if you're really a fan.
I just bought The Devil All the Time on audible so I could listen to it while I go hiking in the snow. So, now I just have to buy the e-book version and I'll have the hat-trick!
By the way, the narrator is fantistic and does some outstanding voices, but I'm not sure how true to the accent/region they are. Anyone know?
I have not yet today bought Osborn's By The Time We Leave Here We'll Be Friends. I am going to have to travel to buy a copy. Local bookstores are jokes and libraries haven't stocked it.
Nearest real bookstores are 25 to 35 miles away. Whatever the cost of the book, factor in 3 to 4 gallons of gasoline for $10 to $13 extra cost...
Boo-hoo.
BTW: I killed my Kindle's battery. I miss my Kindle. I'll have to buy another or pay Amazon $60 to replace the battery....
Could you just not use the internet to get the book?
Yeah but I'm impatient.
When I have the money I don't have the time and when I have the time I don't have the money...
Dude, I'd have Amazon send it. I got it from Amazon. Doesn't take them very long to send stuff. I will definitely vouch the book is well worth it.
The bookstore probably won't have it, but you can special order it from them.
You could get one from ebay for 15 to 30 bucks depending on which kindle you have.
@ Pete, I already read outliers and that is why I bought his other two. They give me some wierd feeling of hope.
That their is no luck and coincidences?
I'm working on my 10K hours now. I still have quite a few left.
haha I see. Basically to be an Outlier, you have to dedicate every waking moment + sacrifice some sleep to get to that point.
Good luck with that.
Just get a kindle fire, its more purty.
Considering that - just getting a new Kindle. The Kindle is one of the only technologies of which I was an "early adaptor." I paid $360 for mine, the first offering of the second generation Kindle. This was 4 or 5 years ago. Four months after I paid my $360, the cost was slashed in half...
Doh!
(still, I felt it was worth every bit of what I paid for it at the time)
My last books (over about a month or two)
"The Game" by Neil Strauss
"The Hunger Games" (not even close to the same thing)
"Atlas Shrugged"
"Fahrenheit 451"
"Cold Mountain"
I read all three Hunger Games books last weekend. I honestly really liked the first book for what it was.It was predictable, but a fun story. But the other two were just..meh. And the ending was sort of like, "OMG! I have to go finish dinner! I better wrap this up!" All telling. And in the dullest possible way.
"Kraken," by China Mieville
@Avery, yeah for a dystopian novel it doesn't seem that mindblowing but it does seem fun. Maybe I won't bother with the other two.
Just picked up...
Off Season and Hide and Seek by Jack Ketchum
I'm sad to admit this will be my first foray into Mr. Ketchum's work. I'm excited though.
@ Matt - I would read them just because I hate to not finish something, but the first one is by far the best.
@Avery- Yeah, what is that!? I can't stand to start anything and not finish it. Even shitty books and movies. Ill finish them.
Also, two new ones on the list
Enders Game by Orson Scott Card
Eclogues by Publius Vergilius Maro
Just finished the Christ Clone trilogy again by James Beauseigneur. Love em.
@Matt: Ender's Game is the shit. It's a book I revisit about ever 5 years just to brush up on how it was done. I recommend it to...not everybody, because I forget...but when I remember, to everybody.
Everybody read Ender's Game.
Yeah seems to be interesting. Eugenics mixed with child-super soldiers mixed with mysticism? Good shit.
Oh and forgot about 1984.....again....still creepy as shit, and somehow despite being written 60+ years ago explains our entire socio/economic political system and why it doesn’t work.
enders game and ketchum, oh yeah, great stuff.
Just ordered a few.
Got My Sister's Continent by Gina Frangello and Real To Reel by Lidia Yuknavitch as I've been wanting to check out more of their stuff.
And I got We Live In Side You by Jeremy R Johnson and the three Bizarro Starter Kit books.
Went to Half Price today. Picked up:
1. Gun Monkeys - Victor Gilscher
2. Vampire A Go-Go - Victor Gilscher
3. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
4. Knockemstiff - Donald Ray Pollock
5. New Moon - Stephanie Meyer... Yeah, I bought it. It was a buck and I've already read it. What the hell, I want the collection.
Bows head in shame for Moon.
Part of me wants to check out the Hunger Games, and the other part loves Battle Royale to much to read what sounds like a watered down version of the same thing.
Has anyone read both, and can you tell me if my concerns are justified or do I need to get over it and give it a shot.
and the last books I picked up are Abraham Lincoln:Vampire Hunter and Heart-Shaped Box
I liked the Hunger Games, other people say it sucked, Whatever. It's not going to be all hardcore. If you want to read it for the fun of it, do it. It's more character based than anything, the first book at least is worth reading. Then again a lot of writer types talk shit about it but it's better than Twilight in my opinion. Plus it gives kids perspective on issues like starvation, hunger, suffering and war, in other words it teaches them about life that real kids lead every day in 3rd world countries which is more educational than say Harry Potter.
They're good. Don't bother comparing it to Battle Royale.
Kindle version of 'I, Robot'
If you like short stories pick up WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE ALK ABOUT ANNE FRANK. Those stores will stay with you! They are so good. I work for a publisher so I'm always reading things not yet out. ( In sales and marketing, not editorial blah...) But still. I hear people on this link saying Max Barry who i love, and also books by Eugenides, who is awesome. Lately I'm reading the short story journals as much as i can. Love to hear what you guys are reading.
Let me flip open my kindle and see...
The Best Non-Required reading 2011
Dig, by Michael Siemsen
I Moved Your Cheese, by Deepak Malhotra
Transubstantiate, by Richard Thomas
Ice Age, by Brian Freemantle
Kindle's .99 or 1.99 deal of the day gets me at least once a week.
Wild Things by Josh Bazell (audible.com)
But all of these are on hold until I finish Lone Wolf and Cub.
Went to Chicago Friday night, and based on chatter here at LitReactor I picked up Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis and Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson, at an indie bookstore called After-Words just off State Street. Read half of Less Than Zero on the car ride home, and it's just incredible. Feels sort of like Hunter S. Thompson-meets-Kerouac. Will definitely be checking out more from him soon; sorry I waited so long in the first place. Recently finished The Rum Diary, and between the two I'm feeling inspired to write a semiautobiographical mainstream novel like never before. May cannot come soon enough...
i love after-words, cool bookstore.
Yeah, I make a point to go there every time I'm in Chicago. Bought Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and a bunch of other really great books there over the past few years. 1st Edition Hardcover of King's On Writing, too.
^nice, @alex. also, be sure to hit up Myopic Books (used) and Quimby's (new) over in Wicker Park. Two more excellent bookstores.
I don't think I've ever been to Wicker Park before. (Enjoyed the movie, heh.) Will have to find my way there next time I'm in the city. (I'm about three and a half hours south.) Do those bookstores carry your novel, since you're local?
Penny Dreadful. Baer's writing is infectious.