what are you reading?

[IFF]

currently:

atonement - ian mcewen (not seen the movie. i am a fan of mcewen's work though. this would be the 4th of his books i've read)
paul auster - book of illusions (this is the 5th book of auster's that i will have read and the 3rd this year)

by the way burnt out town of miracles as mentioned above this post, was very good and i would reccomend it

[spare change]

mystic river, gone baby gone and shutter island are all movies based on dennis lehane novels. he's a great writer. not so much mystery, but great fiction.

i really like raymond chandler and elmore leonard. you ever read jim thompson? he's more of a pulp fiction writer than anything it reads a little dated, but still a good read.

im currently reading david ignatius. he's alright. the plot is pretty good but his attempts at the side love story are a bit thin. i dont know if he felt forced to include it, but i think i would have enjoyed body of lies more without the side story; the main plot was interesting enough to keep me reading.

agreement on jim thompson

[IFF]

i finished "book of illusion" 10 days ago. This just further cements in my opinion, Paul Auster as one of the finest author's there is. He takes a plot that doesn't seem enthralling (a college professor who uses silent films as a coping device after the deaths of his wife and two kids) and makes one brilliant book out of it.

i also finished this weekend "bossypants" by tina fey. very funny.

and also i finished "atonement" by ian mcewan last night. good read overall.

currently

the map and the territory - michel houellebecq. In this an art photographer comes out of a 10 year hiatus. houellebecq is an author i really enjoy.

the alchemist - paolo coelho. first book of coelho's i'm reading.

[mona88]

I'm reading the English Chinese bilingual version of "Gone with the Wind". Gosh! I've still got a long way to go. I've been reading it since three months ago. I love the movie, so I decide to read the book. I'm thinking of improving my English Chinese translation skills at the same time.

[rozersmeth]

At this time i am reading my favorite book Harry Potter, it is written by the J. K. Rowling. This is good story book to read, in this book we can read lots of adventures. I read this book many time and i never feel bore to read this book.

[IFF]

i found the alchemist by paolo coelho uncderwhelming.
i have a review of the map & the territory by michel houellebecq here

currently:
2666 - Roberto Bolano.,This is the 3rd book of Bolano's that i'll have read after "savage detectives" and "the skating rink" . It's actually was on my bookshelf for 51 weeks before I started it yesterday. This is mostly to do with the size of the book at nearly 900 pages.

living to tell the tale - gabriel garcia marquez - this is his audiobiography. i bought it second hand last time i was in dublin

[Judy]

Unbroken

[jhuliawhil]

After I’ve read a Joshua Harris book I don’t anything mind for now T_T care to suggest a good one? I want inspirational books thanks.

[talkingman]

I wish I still had the time and passion to read novels. It's been 10+ years since I last read a good book. I usually read books by Jeffrey Archer. I think it was "The Fourth Estate".

[IFF]

i finished 2666 by Roberto Bolano. This was an excellent book. Just skillfully composed and good reading. Being separated to 5 parts which could be taken separately or better as a complete work, it works. The main overwhelming feature of the 5 parts is the continous murder of women in a city in the Sonora Desert. The first part is about 4 literary scholars going in search for the author they are obsessed with, Benno Von Archimboldi. The second part is a philsophy lecturer and his daughter. the third is a journalist who is on his first boxing assignment just after the death of his mother. the fourth is the part about the crimes and the fifth is about Benno Von Archimboldi.

i also finished living to tell the tale by gabriel garcia marquez. his autobiography focusing on his early life. a fascinating read.

tonight i will finish Nemsis by Philip Roth. This is the book Roth released last year. Set in 1944, the main character is Bucky Cantor who is the playground supervisor in Weequahic, Newark during the summer. Cantor had been declined for army service as a 4-F due to his poor eyesight. In it, he has to cope with a polio epidemic affecting the kids he is in charge of at the playground. This is a good read. Some of Roth's novels in the last decade have not been good ("everyman", "exit ghost" and i've not been enticed to read "the humbling" but where the protagonist is a younger individual (i.e. plot against america and indignation), it's been very good.

[queenlillian1962]

Cry at Dusk by Mignon Ballard

[IFF]

currently reading

love in the time of cholera by gabriel garcia marquez. This is a reread. florentino ariza is besotted with fermina daza and now 50 years after his first sight of her, he gets the chance to make her love him as her husband has just died

oracle night by paul auster. a novelist becomes mesmerised by a blue notebook.

[queenlillian1962]

Nights Of Ice-Spike Walker

[IFF]

i finishedOracle Night by Paul Auster at the weekend. It's just superbly written. He's a superb author.

have started in it's place lean on pete by willy vlautin. charley and his dad move from spokane to portland due to his father getting a new job there. when out running, charley finds the portland meadows race track as he's training for the football try outs in August, from there, charley one day helps a trainer to change a tyre and lands a job as his stable boy. Charley and his father are looking at surviving the tough reality of their life. a common phrase by charley is "i'm always hungry". there's a feel of john steinbeck in vlautin's writing.
this book has been one of the 147 that made the long list for the Impac Dublin Book Prize (that's how i heard of it ) (you will see this quite a few times between now and June)

i'm listening on youtube to some of vlautin's band Richmond Fontaine, at the minute



not a bad song either.

[Lulu]

Alright IFF, you seem to be the most well-read person here, so I've taken a few of your suggestions. I read the Monster of Florence and Water for Elephants over Christmas... and I decided I need to read more, especially since both TV and the internet suck these days. So, I just bought Tiger's Wife, Book of Illusion and 2666 (that sounds like it's about the serial killer in Ciudad Juarez and I used to travel to El Paso for work during that time so I have a morbid curiosity.).

[IFF]

thanks Lulu. tell us what you think of them when you read them

[IFF]

i finished lean on pete by willy vlautin on Monday night. Overall i found it to be a very good read, a bit sad at times (at one time i had to stop reading for a minute) but overall it's a well crafted story about search for acceptance, love and belonging.

the next book i have started is "Fame" by Daniel Kehlmann. the book as per the back cover is a famous person gets landed in a country where he doesn't understand the launguage and is unknown. he then finds out decisions are being mae for him and someone is talking to your agent, girlfriends and other associates on your behalf but you don't know the guy.
in the first chapter, an engineer, Ebbling buys a phone as he has "a wife, two children, several acquaintances and someone is also complaining that he's unreachable". the sales clerk activates the phone for Ebbling but he starts recieving phone calls directed to a Ralf.
after the first chapter, this is a promising book

and as obligatory: this book has been one of the 147 that made the long list for the Impac Dublin Book Prize (that's how i heard of it )

[medlar]

A few days ago, started into reading Book four: A Dance with Dragons as I impatiently wait for the second season to start.

[Guido]

Finishing The Possessed by Dostoyevski;
A Burnt-Out Case by Graham Greene (just finished The Human Factor; currently re-reading all of Greene's novels);
Beyond Chutzpah by Norman Finkelstein
"A Plea for Excuses" by J.L. Austin
Next: Train Dreams by Denis Johnson

[butterflylover]

Im currently reading clockwork prince by cassandra clare.