Fave Books / Currently Reading

[amiright??]

I'm reading Dennis Perrin's Mr. Mike book. Has anyone else read it?

OOh.  Want to read that one.  How is/was it?  Dude had a unique vibe.  Sinister undertones.  Danger.  Unusual in comedy, with the possible exception of the grim terrain worked by Gabriel Iglesias.

I am really not enjoying it.

[Andrew F]

Started John Darnielle's new book Wolf in White Van this month. An interesting book essentially about RPGs. The timeline jumps around a lot, so it takes a while to connect the dots in the beginning story-wise, but it's really good.

[fonpr]

Started John Darnielle's new book Wolf in White Van this month. An interesting book essentially about RPGs. The timeline jumps around a lot, so it takes a while to connect the dots in the beginning story-wise, but it's really good.

Rocket Propelled Grenades?

[Amplituden]

Hi there.

Whomever posted " You Can't Win " By Jack Black, thank you.
I always check this thread out when I can't think of anything to read and I am loving this book.

I am also reading " The Unpersuadables" by Will Storr and for some fiction " The Road " by Cormack McCarthy which I never got around to reading.

Cheers.

[JesseG.]

Oh man, The Road was super depressing. Still haven't gotten around to seeing that movie.

[Biscuit Gravy]

the biggest difficulty for me in moving to another country was giving up my large collection of books; they were simply too expensive to ship.  because the cost of everything here is so high (especially heavy books), I've been haunting thrift stores in order to attempt to replace what I have lost.  sometimes, I get lucky.

this week, scored me a (previously unowned) book from the early 80's, The Best of the Newest Science Fiction, that features the short story "Skinner's Room" by William Gibson, which was later used as the nucleus for The Bridge Trilogy (perhaps my favorite series of books, ever).

short-story gold aside, the cover proves, with no uncertainty, that seagulls are perhaps the most fearless creature of all; able to soar boundlessly around DARKWIZARDS without so much as a care, except for whether they might conjure up some food from within their voluminous wizard sleaves.

[Steve of Bloomington]

I just finished Jeff Vandermeer's 'The Southern Reach Trilogy', which is about an apparent environmental disaster leading to an area surrounded by an impenetrable (except for one passageway) border. Area X resists any attempts to understand it (and is full of beautiful plants and animals, plus strange horrors like an underground tower with what appears to be (but aren't) grim Biblical quotations winding down the hall made of some living tissue that transforms people who breathe the spores in bizarre ways).

It is also partly about the intransigence and sluggishness of large organizations and the limits of language. I plowed through the first book on the plane and the other two in short order. Sorry Netflix.

[buffcoat]

I read Inferno, the new Dan Brown book. Like all of his books, it's a page-turning read that is often interrupted by his jarring condescension and pedantry.

It is my firm belief that the last thing he does before sending a book to his publisher is replace "Dan Brown" with "Robert Langdon." I would not be surprised if there was a "Dna Brwon" somewhere in an earlier book. Especially when he talks about Robert Langdon's thick brown hair and how all the ladies love him.

One thing, though: at the end of the book the world has changed in a fundamental way. That's unusual for a mystery/puzzle series. It will be interesting to see if he addresses it or just ignores it in the next go-round.

[Mike Desert]

Just got The Girl: a life in the shadow of roman polanski,
looking forwrd to it.

[Andrew F]

Just started reading "Poking A Dead Frog" after receiving it for Christmas. Lots of interviews with some comedy writers I enjoy (including Tom) and many that I've never heard of. Really enjoying it so far.

[JeffertonFromTX]

I'm currently trying to slog my way back through A Feast for Crows and A Dance With Dragons because even though I read them both last year, I couldn't tell you a thing about them.

[Dip Apesworth]

I work graveyard and tend to burn through some audiobooks on the road and at work. I've been on a big Stephen King bend for the last year or so. Just got through Revival, a strange, off-center book that's still pretty good. I really enjoyed IT and the Dark Tower books.

[kouzie]

Just finished the Kim Gordon and Martin Short autobiographies. Both are excellent. Who knew that one of Kim Gordon's first big loves was Danny Elfman? My only gripe about the Short bio was I thought it was a bit light on the SCTV years. Wish there was another chapter devoted to those years.

[Biscuit Gravy]

I'm going through the Dark Tower series for maybe the 5th time (on The Wastelands currently).  I consitently run into people who've read the series that are (as predicted by Stephen King) massively disappointed with the ending; however, with as many read-throughs as I've given these books, there really could be no better way to close-out the final issue.

Having given all of these books away in the states, and the exorbitant cost of just about everything in Oz, I'm forced to constantly revisit second-hand stores, like some literary Flying Dutchman, doomed to hope that some poor nerd has passed away, bearing his family with the grim task of donating his dogeared and yellowing Stephen King collection.  that said, I've yet to see The Wolves of the Calla, and reckon that I'll be forced to buy a "new" copy soon, shortly after The Wind Through the Keyhole.

[JeffertonFromTX]

I friggin' love the ending of Dark Tower. I've only read them all the way through twice but I loved it both times. I really need to read Wind Through the Keyhole.