What Are You Reading?

[bogartnoir 0]

All-time favourites: I cannot pick one. Here is a short-list:

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Who didn't read this in high-school? Holden Caulfield remains as one of my favourite literary protagonists.

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Compelling story woven through the history of a family to uncover the cause of narrator's hermaphroditic affliction.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Classic tale of love between mortal and devil.

The Stranger by Albert Camus

Existential philosophy in prose-form - A funeral, a murder, and death row.

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

What happens when a class of 42 ninth-graders are forced to kill each other or be killed by a totalitarian government program? This is.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

Sweeping work involving a seemingly mundane man, who in the process of looking for his lost cat comes across a myriad of curious characters including a sixteen year-old neighbour girl, a war veteran, an insane politician, and a psychic prostitute.

i LOVE all the books you've put here, too!!! i second every single one of these!

[lgg 2]

Oddly... me too save for the Wind-Up Bird Chronicle which I have never read but now I think I should.

All-time favourites: I cannot pick one. Here is a short-list:

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Who didn't read this in high-school? Holden Caulfield remains as one of my favourite literary protagonists.

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Compelling story woven through the history of a family to uncover the cause of narrator's hermaphroditic affliction.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Classic tale of love between mortal and devil.

The Stranger by Albert Camus

Existential philosophy in prose-form - A funeral, a murder, and death row.

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

What happens when a class of 42 ninth-graders are forced to kill each other or be killed by a totalitarian government program? This is.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

Sweeping work involving a seemingly mundane man, who in the process of looking for his lost cat comes across a myriad of curious characters including a sixteen year-old neighbour girl, a war veteran, an insane politician, and a psychic prostitute.

i LOVE all the books you've put here, too!!! i second every single one of these!

[Rhiannercakes 14]

Catcher in the Rye is one of my favourite books from High school.

I loved Lord of the Flies and Animal Farm too.

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

I don't read much for pleasure these days, and when I do it is usually something of the Non-Fiction variety. The last few books that I can recall reading are: The Devil in the White City, Black Livingstone and King Leopold's Ghost. I never was a big fan of Catcher in the Rye, but I liked Salinger's Nine Stories. It is, after all, A Perfect Day For Bananafish, unless you are husband of Miss Spiritual Tramp of 1948.

[bogartnoir 0]

ooh just thought of another great book that has a good design!

"another bullshit night in suck city" by nick flynn

it's a memoir (but i don't believe ANY memoir/autobiography is really entirely non-fiction- but i don't mind). very well written, sort of experimental.

Flynn's wayward father, a self-styled writer and ex-con, describes his life on Boston's streets as "another bullshit night in Suck City": he hangs out in ATM lobbies, stuffs his coat with newspaper and is often "still drunk from the night before." This biting memoir describes the years poet Flynn (Some Ether; Blind Huber) spent, in his late 20s, working at one of the city's homeless shelters, where his path crisscrossed with his down-and-out father's.

Edited October 14, 2009 by bogartnoir

[Marilyn. 340]

I am currently listening to the Order of the Phoenix.. it is the most boring book of the Harry Potter books so far

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

I am currently listening to the Order of the Phoenix.. it is the most boring book of the Harry Potter books so far

Who wants to listen to the story of an old Pontiac anyways. .

[Carlawarla 1]

I'm reading Astraea by Jane Stevenson. So far, it's hard to get into... it takes place in the Netherlands in 1640.

When I was in Canada, I picked up five books that I'm salivating to read!

The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews.

The Birth House by Ami McKay

Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden

Moral Disorder by Margaret Atwood

The Outlander by Gil Adamson

I LOVE Canadian authors. There are never any books in the stores here, but you can order them. It's not the same though, unless you know what you want to get. It's not like browsing in the store, reading bits and pieces, and actually physically touching them, which I love to do.

Edited October 15, 2009 by Carlawarla

[Colleens 40]

I'm reading Astraea by Jane Stevenson. So far, it's hard to get into... it takes place in the Netherlands in 1640.

When I was in Canada, I picked up five books that I'm salivating to read!

The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews.

The Birth House by Ami McKay

Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden

Moral Disorder by Margaret Atwood

The Outlander by Gil Adamson

I LOVE Canadian authors. There are never any books in the stores here, but you can order them. It's not the same though, unless you know what you want to get. It's not like browsing in the store, reading bits and pieces, and actually physically touching them, which I love to do.

I recently read the flying Troutmans and really enjoyed it.

[Krikit 1,163]

I am almost finished reading Someone Knows My Name (aka The Book of Negroes). OMG, I keep forcing myself to put it down because I don't want to finish it.

Guess I'm going to have to take down some of your suggestions and hit the library tomorrow. I'm pretty sure it's closed on Sunday.

Jeepers. I just checked their website and they are only open 10-2 tomorrow. Sheesh.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

I'm reading Astraea by Jane Stevenson. So far, it's hard to get into... it takes place in the Netherlands in 1640.

When I was in Canada, I picked up five books that I'm salivating to read!

The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews.

The Birth House by Ami McKay

Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden

Moral Disorder by Margaret Atwood

The Outlander by Gil Adamson

I LOVE Canadian authors. There are never any books in the stores here, but you can order them. It's not the same though, unless you know what you want to get. It's not like browsing in the store, reading bits and pieces, and actually physically touching them, which I love to do.

Is that the newest Margaret Atwood? There was an article on her in Chatelaine I think last month...she sounded more interesting then I remember her.

Has anyone ever read any Mennonite authors like Rudy Wiebe for example? Lot of really great books.....I took a course at Conrad Greble at the Uof Waterloo once that focussed on mennonite authors and artists. A book called My Harp is turned to Mourning was excellent.

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

Can't believe I haven't read this thread until now...I'm such a voracious reader!

My favorite book is Atlas Shrugged, though I have to make the caveat that I am NOT an objectivist or even a right wing nutjob! I can't deny its impact on me when I first read it at the age of sixteen though...and it remains my fave to this day.

I'm currently reading The Voyage of Argo by Apollonius of Rhodes, translated by E. V. Rieu, who did a wonderful translation of Homer's Odyssey. Most of what I read these days is of a literary bent, though I've read my fair share of science fiction in my time as well. My favorite living authors would be Salman Rushdie and Neal Stephenson.

[Carlawarla 1]

I'm reading Astraea by Jane Stevenson. So far, it's hard to get into... it takes place in the Netherlands in 1640.

When I was in Canada, I picked up five books that I'm salivating to read!

The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews.

The Birth House by Ami McKay

Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden

Moral Disorder by Margaret Atwood

The Outlander by Gil Adamson

I LOVE Canadian authors. There are never any books in the stores here, but you can order them. It's not the same though, unless you know what you want to get. It's not like browsing in the store, reading bits and pieces, and actually physically touching them, which I love to do.

Is that the newest Margaret Atwood? There was an article on her in Chatelaine I think last month...she sounded more interesting then I remember her.

Has anyone ever read any Mennonite authors like Rudy Wiebe for example? Lot of really great books.....I took a course at Conrad Greble at the Uof Waterloo once that focussed on mennonite authors and artists. A book called My Harp is turned to Mourning was excellent.

No...Margaret Atwoods latest book is Year of the Flood. It was there in Hardcover, but I had already over $100.00 in books, so I passed. Moral Disorder is from 2007 I think. It's a collection of short stories.

I picked up a Rudy Wiebe from the Y book fair. I think it was River Stone? I haven't got to it yet! I have read a few Mennonite authors in the past, wonderful authors! Coming from Saskatchewan, there are lots of "colonies" of Mennonites. Actually Rudy is from Saskatchewan. I love prairie authors. They're different in a way I can't explain here, right now...

I've written down your suggestion though, and will look for it. It's by Al Reimer.

The other books that I got when in Canada, I've read The Flying Troutman's...good, but not the best...The Birth House...wonderful book! Three Day Road...INCREDIBLELY good!!! It's about a journey of two First Nations boys that go to war (WWI). Very timely with Rembrance Day coming up.

[Krikit 1,163]

I've just looked for the Three Day Road book at my library website and they have it! I tried to reserve it online but it won't let me because I don't have an account and it won't let me create one. So I filled out the "Contact us" form to request an account but it won't send it because I don't have an account. Okay. I'll just call them. Bzzzzz. Wrong answer. They don't open until 10:00am. Sheesh. I'll just go down there. Crazy library. I love how American systems cater to the employer and not the user.

[Carlawarla 1]

I've just looked for the Three Day Road book at my library website and they have it! I tried to reserve it online but it won't let me because I don't have an account and it won't let me create one. So I filled out the "Contact us" form to request an account but it won't send it because I don't have an account. Okay. I'll just call them. Bzzzzz. Wrong answer. They don't open until 10:00am. Sheesh. I'll just go down there. Crazy library. I love how American systems cater to the employer and not the user.

I hope you can get it! If not, let me know, and I'll send you my copy.