Comments | dw876: What's On Your List?

dw876

What's On Your List?

Dec 29, 2009 20:22

I know I promised a Thanksgiving / Christmas / Florida post, and I will get to that perhaps tomorrow, but today i wanted to touch base with those of you out there who read. I've been trying to plan out some reading for the beginning of the new year. Maybe it's just the clean slate a new year gives us, but I like to start the year with a new book ( Read more... )

Comments 19

senza December 30 2009, 07:08:21 UTC

My tastes in reading are very pathetic, so I really shouldn't even be admitting to this stuff in public, but oh well. =P I love talking about books, in the tl;dr way. I don't usually plan out books to read -- I have a running list of stuff I'd like to check out at some point, some in a Word document, when I remember to add it there, with the rest of the titles kept only in my head. (The Word document also is a running tally of books I've read -- 27 in 2009.)

I started the Outlander and Lymond Chronicles series over break, so those will keep me busy for the next while, since the former has seven book and the latter has six books, and I've only read the first in each. I also read the first book in the Dresden Files series, which was sort of boring but passable if I'm looking for a quick, two-hour read. It's not a series I'm fanatic about, not like the first two I mentioned, but it'll be on the list of stuff I'll pick up and read if I can't find anything else ( ... )

xtradry December 30 2009, 20:23:56 UTC

"My tastes in reading are very pathetic, so I really shouldn't even be admitting to this stuff in public, but oh well. =P"

I prefer to think of it as having widely-varied tastes and a willingness to stretch my wings intellectually. That's the best excuse I could come up with for my 2009 reading having included the latest from Dan Brown and Patricia Cornwell (both mere shadows of their predecessors) and all four books in the Twilight series. LOL.

dw876 December 30 2009, 23:03:33 UTC

Lol @ wanting books that read like fanfic! I have You Remind Me of Me on my shelf, but don't know when I'll get around to it. Let me know if you read it. Interesting that you keep a Word doc on your books. I've got little scraps of paper with titles written down -- I do this when I'm out in bookstores and then find the scraps later and am usually either amazed at the book (when I google it) or horrified that I thought enough of it to write down.

obfusc8er December 30 2009, 09:16:45 UTC

Still working on Don Quixote. Just a little over halfway done. Don't really have any reading plans after that, although I'm kinda interested in The Lovely Bones.

dw876 December 30 2009, 23:04:38 UTC

Keep going on Don Quixote! Any more pirate books on your horizon?

obfusc8er December 31 2009, 16:12:45 UTC

I'm sure I'll keep reading the Aubrey/Maturin series, which does include pirates eventually, I think. And I might read The Pirate Latitudes.

dw876 December 31 2009, 16:36:43 UTC

I know I will want to read Pirate Latitudes eventually. Crichton's endings usually leave me somewhat unsatisfied, but the story itself usually is fairly good.

diadem2 December 30 2009, 10:44:52 UTC

well... apart from finally working my way through that pile of magazines and journals, you mean? :op ( ... )

dw876 December 30 2009, 23:07:05 UTC

I think a mix of fun and serious books make life more interesting! I want to read more of Dickens and hopefully will get to at least one or two this year. I'm so not a 19th century person, but I like Dickens nonetheless. I've read all the Shopaholic books -- I think there are five -- and they are all a quick, fun read. I've seen Kafka on the Shore numerous times at bookstores and picked it up and looked at it. Let me know how it is. I've read Angels and Demons, but never did DaVinci Code, though I have it.

diadem2 December 30 2009, 23:13:48 UTC

if you've never read any haruki murakami, i'd suggest you start with "hardboiled wonderland and the end of the world" - it's very odd, but nothing short of brilliant, in my humble opinion! "da vinci code" was the first dan brown i read - i picked it up fr £2.88 at tesco, and i loved it, but it's probably not going to win any of those coveted literary genius awards of mine ;o)

xtradry December 30 2009, 20:13:35 UTC

I am on a sentimental trip lately. I've decided to read "books my father read." I remember him always having stacks and stacks of hardbacks around at all times. I was too young to notice the titles, but I sort of have an idea. He was fond of Ludlum, Forsythe, Follett, and the like. I'm also looking up the NYT bestseller lists for those years. (See, e.g., the lists linked here: http://www.hawes.com/no1_f_d.htm.) I think he would have read a lot of those, as he was always looking for something new and interesting.

From the current century (HAHA!), I'm reading Malcolm Gladwell's "What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures." It's brilliant, of course. But I read quite a few of the pieces when they were first published. The book was a gift. :)

dw876 December 30 2009, 23:09:28 UTC

I used to be on a big Ludlum, Forsythe, Follett and LeCarre kick way back when. I started by reading The Chancellor Manuscript and just went from there. I think it's great to take a sentimental trip by reading books your father would have read. Enjoy!

obfusc8er December 31 2009, 16:18:19 UTC

I have picked up What the Dog Saw and almost bought it. Remember that it looked interesting. Would you recommend it to me?

/thread takeover

xtradry December 31 2009, 17:27:02 UTC

I would, indeed, if you like his writing style. Gladwell can be hit-and-miss, but this is a collection of what he considers his best works from The New Yorker. Almost all of these are on his website (www.gladwell.com), so you could just read them there, if you wish ( ... )

Thread 5

pghfoxfan December 31 2009, 03:36:38 UTC

I'm taking notes. I got a Kindle for Christmas and am looking for suggestions as to what to buy. I have The Lost Symbol in hard back. I gave up on Three Cups of Tea (could not get into it at all). I have Robin Cooks Intervention on the shelf too. As for classics, I have Of Mice and Men, Catcher in the Rye and Paradise Lost. (Paradise Lost is a bit too big)

dw876 January 2 2010, 03:31:49 UTC

You could always try War and Peace! LOL

diadem2 January 2 2010, 10:22:43 UTC

i think you're very brave - if i had a kindle it would simply be a way for me to throw all my books in the bath at once ;o)

pghfoxfan January 2 2010, 14:02:29 UTC

All your books are kept in your Kindle account. So if it gets stolen, broken (or dropped into the tub), your library is archived in a safe place. You can even access your account from any computer, and your place in the book is remembered and marked for you. O gave me 3 suggestions last night. I'll let you know how I like it:)