What are you reading?

[hiroki 5521]

Reading a really fascinating book called Urban Memory: History and Amnesia in the Modern City.

 

It's a collection of essays centered on the "city" functioning as a repository of memory (both personal and collective). An example: some monuments, for instance bronze statues of famous politicians, can serve as a residue of the power and glory of the past; whereas others, such as those erected in postwar Berlin in the aftermath of the war, are erected to "mask" the sense of loss that's otherwise invoked when city dwellers are confronted with the haunting absence in the middle of the city.

 

If you find yourself intrigued by the seemingly impossible link between the "private" sphere of memory and architecture, history, etc. you might find this interesting...

 

 

Next on my reading list...

Louis Menand: The Metaphysical Club (this has been on my shelf for the last 7 years )

Gunter Grass: Crabwalk

P. K. Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (really like some of his other stuff so hopefully this will be good too ^^)

 

Too many books to read

[Jigsaw9 6783]

So I finally finished John Dies at the End a week or two ago (all in all not bad but quite unremarkable), and caught up with other material I still had lying around half-read. So in my endeavour I managed to finish both Philip K. Dick's Valis (quite interesting and philosophical) and Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything (great collection of neat facts and scientific stuff presented in an excellently readable and often funny way).

 

So now I've started two books. One is William S. Burroughs' Junky, which is pretty okay so far, a loooot more coherent and normal than his usual fare (tho I understand this was his first proper novel anyway). The other one is the rock'n'roll autobiography co-written by Mötley Crüe and Neil Strauss, The Dirt -- immensely funny and obscene stuff, provides a good look into the often depraved world of the famous rock stars.

[Gaz 1097]

HOLY SHIT THE KARAMAZOV BROTHERS IS SO FUCKING GOOD! O__O it's nearly impossible to stop reading now! (i'm here just because my kindle's battery had died so i'm waiting until it's charged T___T) though there were few boring chapters in the first half of the book, especially those discussions about religion and god :v but it's still awesome despite of that! definitely a must-read!

 

also in meanwhile read some other shite:

Haruki Murakami's Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973 (ahhh his early works, so unexperienced and tasty <3)

Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (i'm not a big fan of utopias book, but this was a great one. loved the ending, though it was so predictable :/)

Lyubko Deresh's Lizard Worship (Kurt Vonnegut's ukrainian wannabe xD loved his stuff when i was at school so wanted to re-read this one because of nostalgic feelings ;///;)

[hyura 465]

I've been reading a lot recently, because I have freetime.

1493 by Charles C. Mann. This is actually nonfiction but reads much like a novel. A book discussing all kinds of global effects Columbus landing in America had and lots of connections are actually really surprising. so. Entertaining and fascinating to read but rather heavy. (the book, not the content although that takes some dedication, too, at points) so I took quite a few breaks in which I read the following:

In the Miso soup by Ryu Murakami, which I had started reading but quitted some time ago because I thought it was a bit stupid and cliché. I still thought that at points, but enjoyed the sick unsettling atmosphere. It's a psychopath serial killer type of story and it doesn't get as thrilling as it could because the book is so short.

Franz Kafkas Tagebücher 1910-1923 (diaries). Well. actually that's nonfiction, too. I really enjoyed those although a lot of stuff is just plain weird.

First Love, Last Rites by Ian McEwan. A collection of short stories. I read quite a few works of him some years ago and when I stumbled over the name again I thought I should try some of his early stuff (since I liked the Cement Garden) Still like the language. Actually I remember him to write much more gross than this. So maybe I grew up a little since the last time.

So now I started The End of Alice by A.M.Homes (and I'm already half through) and.. while McEwan isn't actually gross this book is. I'm not very sensitive but it made me say eww at some points. sorry.

But on the other hand it's really hard to put down, so I'm not sure, maybe it's a kind of love-hate relationship between me and that book.

 

Not sure what I'll start next but I went to the library only recently (don't have an ebook reader .//.) and got lots of stuff. Maybe I'll finally dare to try Tolstoi. Why is it that russian classics are always so damn long?

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Since my last post here I finished both the Mötley Crüe autobiography and Junky by Burroughs. Both were okay, maybe the Mötley book was a bit more enjoyable, tho became a bit repetitive by the end. Didn't find anything especially interesting in Burroughs' novel but it was not bad for one reading (I suspect The Naked Lunch will be more to my tastes).

 

Currently reading:

 

 - The Hundrer-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson: this is an interesting one because during the very beginning I felt it's not really compelling to read and even a bit too mundane but gradually it got better. For me it seems to be one of those mildly entertaining books you'll read once, maybe twice, enjoy it but won't have the drive to seek it out again in the future. Not bad so far (almost halfway now).

 

 - Teatro Grottesco by Thomas Ligotti: dunno how to properly categorize this really... what's certain is that it's a collection of short stories, haha. Ligotti is often likened to Lovecraft and I can vaguely sense that's an accurate parallel to make, even if his subject matter doesn't involve slimey monsters that make people go insane. The stories are much more subtle and have an overarching feel of absurdity, hopelesness and are often very fragmentary or contain just descriptions and theorizing on unsettling subjects. A nice break from the more "typical" type of horror I'm used to.

[Tokage 5930]

That Ligotti book is pretty damn great. Sadly its so fucking difficult to find physical copies of most of his other books for reasonable prices...

 

Currently reading Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 in physical form and Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files 4: Summer Knight on my eReader.

 

Although I'm getting sort of bored of the usual Murakami novel tropes and several other aspects of the book (why does he have to describe the female characters' breasts at every opportunity...?) Murakami has still managed to make me read at least 500 out of the 900-something pages of the novel. I just feel like the novel could've been much, much shorter.

 

As for the other novel, this is my first attempt to read anything related to The Dresden Files. I'm... not quite sure how I feel about it. I prefer my fantasy to be more 'New Weird'-style, I guess. Still, it's entertaining in some way, but it also strays into eyerollingly corny territory occasionally. Nothing of substance in this one, just a simple adventurous romp.

[Nisimaldar 153]

 - The Hundrer-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson: this is an interesting one because during the very beginning I felt it's not really compelling to read and even a bit too mundane but gradually it got better. For me it seems to be one of those mildly entertaining books you'll read once, maybe twice, enjoy it but won't have the drive to seek it out again in the future. Not bad so far (almost halfway now)

My mum loved that book. I haven’t gotten around to reading it –or watching the movie-, yet.

 

I’m currently working my way through this new translation of Dante Alighieri’s La Commedia (I’m at part one: Inferno) which has a lot more explanations than other translations… The Divine Comedy is basically an epic poem written in the early 14th century. It's kind of about Dante's travel through hell, purgatory, and heaven to god, but it draws a lot on philosophy and medieval Christian theology.

I also plan on finishing the collected works of Nietzsche soon :<

[hitsuji-hime 211]

Some gross j-rock fics~

[Gaz 1097]

i've been in murakami's mood lately so after reading A Wild Sheep Chase and Dance Dance Dance i finally decided to start 1Q84. hmmmm, in first volume i actually had mixed feelings about it. damn even for murakami it was way too long and i've almost fell asleep reading some chapters. aslo started to hate his usual advertisements of classical music. yeah he likes that stuff but there's no need to mention it in every of his book. volume two was much better imo, i got really hooked in its second half. haruki murakami knows how to keep suspense. and now i just started reading vol. 3 and it seems to be even better. though, i'm already prepared myself for typical murakami-ish ending.

[Vitne Eveille 65]

The brand new Billy Idol autobiography Dancing With Myself.  Its good 

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Currently reading The Place of Dead Roads by William S. Burroughs. Pretty standard Burroughsian stuff with all the usual, ehm, features but it's pretty good. Of course it has a bunch of references and character names from his other novels as expected. xD Seems to be a twisted kind of western so far, curious where it'll branch out to later.

 

Also reading (on and off) a thick anthology of old ghost/horror stories compiled by some Hungarian dude. Poe, Byron, Dickens, Kipling etc. Going terribly slow with it + so far it's kinda fluctuating in terms of quality and enjoyability. Not bad, all in all, I guess.

[Ito 2438]

On the second book of the Mistborn Trilogy. So far I am enjoying it but there are some bits that drive me nuts

[Nightmares4ever 34]

I'm currently reading Official Truth,101 Proof:The Inside Story Of Pantera by  Rex Brown With Mark Eglinton so far i'm enjoying it

[Gaz 1097]

been really busy lately but finally managed to finish 1Q84. was really surprised by its ending. way too normal. anyway i enjoyed it.

also read Lyubko Deresh's A little bit of Darkness. it was about a group of people who were going to commit a suicide together. pretty cool, though i wasn't expecting much from it but my friend gave me a physical copy of this book so i read it on my bus trips. 

now i'm reading 1984 by George Orwell. not my cup of tea at all. most likely gonna drop it after few dozens of pages if it wont gets better.

and planning to read Keigo Higashino's The Devotion of Suspect X. my friend recommended me to read anything by this author so i decided to give him a try. hopefully won't be dissapointed.

[hyura 465]

I started reading 'venus in furs' today. Most vk book ever.

[PsychoΔelica 648]

Just finished reading Haruki Murakami's After Dark (I've read it in three days lol). This is the first book by him that I finished (tried Dance Dance before but got bored rather quickly). Now I want to read the rest of his books I found in the library.

[beni 2149]

More of a comic book reader since it's easier to follow, imo. But I'm rereading the only actual full length, proper thick (in my terms, thick) book which is called Girl, Missing. First heard it in my primary school class and is the only book I've reread. Only ever actually read another book, a smaller novel length one, only recently actually, which was written by a Japanese author (because, these days, I'm biased and things have to be Asian based for me to be interested enough to try xD) and I got through it in one sitting. I doubt that'd happen ever again!

[hiroki 5521]

Reading a couple of books:

- Penelope Fitzgerald's The Blue Flower - it's a historical fiction based on the life of German Romantic poet Novalis.
- Kazuo Ishiguro's Nocturnes. About 1/3 of the way through and it's nowhere as moving as Never Let me Go or as subtle as The Remains of the Day. Probably gonna ditch it if it doesn't improve soon.

Also the letters of Arthur Rimbaud. i wish i could read them in the original French :<

[Tokage 5930]

Recently finished Bulgakov's Master & Margarita. Currently reading Nick Harkaway's Angelmaker and Douglas Coupland's Microserfs. 

[Scarlet Obsidian 383]

I'm reading the first book of "A Song of Ice and Fire"(Game of Thrones) *__*

[Mr. Suzuki 3]

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

[x_dak_x 5]

anyone read in the name of the wind & wise mans fear? ......didn't realize the third book hadn't been released yet...the patience is killing me lol

[Ito 2438]

anyone read in the name of the wind & wise mans fear? ......didn't realize the third book hadn't been released yet...the patience is killing me lol

 

Probably my favorite book series in a Loooooooong time for me. I am so ready for book 3.

 

Pat lives like an hour or so away from me, I should find his address and go complain lol.

[Gaz 1097]

 

and planning to read Keigo Higashino's The Devotion of Suspect X. 

lolol finally started to read this. i'm half through this book and it turned out to be pretty decent actually. 2bad there are only few of Keigo's books available in english :/

[x_dak_x 5]

reading a book. I lost track how many times I put it down.. this is the most boring book I have ever tried to read.. I'm thinking of giving it up