The 2nd "What are you reading now" thread

Remove this Banner Ad

Just finished:

Island by Aldous Huxley. Really enjoyed it; can see why plenty of people love it and it's certainly inspired me to pick up a few more Huxley titles. Poignant, interesting and although unintentional, shows the downside of traditional Eastern religious thought in a contemporary world.

What To Say When You Talk To Yourself - Shad Helmstetter. Very bland, overly self-helpy (despite the constant reiteration this wasn't a regular self-help title; whatever that is) and incredibly quixotic (basically if you have an issue, you don't have an issue). Unrealistic and so repetitive. I liked the initial setup but after the first 50 pages, as with plenty of PD stuff, it just lapsed into vapid nothingness.

Just about to begin How Proust Can Change Your Life - Alain de Botton. I'm a big fan of Alain's and I'm re-reading Status Anxiety as well as this one. I actually saw him live last year and he's a genuinely funny, clever and authentic guy. I have a good feeling I'll enjoy this one too.
 

Log in to remove this ad.

Just finished How Proust Can Change Your Life - Alain de Botton. Liked it, a few good sections but not one of his stronger books. Quite short, a little vague and a lot more conjecture than most of his other stuff.

Just about to re-read Wherever You Go There You Are by Job Kabat-Zinn. I read this a few years ago when I was still pretty new to meditation, so I'm interested to see how I respond this time.

Also started Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Really strong first chapter, I can't wait to see how it opens up.
 
Finished I, Claudius the other day, which was fantastic.

Now reading The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, which is interesting in a sort of quirky way. I find the writing style a bit conspicuous (heavy on the metaphors and they aren't all winners) but the story is good.
 
Claude Balls said:
Finished I, Claudius the other day, which was fantastic.

Now reading The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, which is interesting in a sort of quirky way. I find the writing style a bit conspicuous (heavy on the metaphors and they aren't all winners) but the story is good.
Click to expand...

I, Claudius is a terrific book; the sequel is OK, but not quite as good.

Funny what you say about Chandler. I recently got around to reading all his Marlowe novels, and it reminded me of Wodehouse ("The Master"), in that the writing and the use of language were more important and enjoyable than the stories; I mean, the stories were OK, but nothing out of the ordinary as detective fiction, I didn't think.
 
FredLeDeux said:
I, Claudius is a terrific book; the sequel is OK, but not quite as good.

Funny what you say about Chandler. I recently got around to reading all his Marlowe novels, and it reminded me of Wodehouse ("The Master"), in that the writing and the use of language were more important and enjoyable than the stories; I mean, the stories were OK, but nothing out of the ordinary as detective fiction, I didn't think.
Click to expand...

I think the fact that I am enjoying the story and think the writing is not its equal is a sign of my inexperience with the genre. I suppose the average detective novel is the other way around!
 
FredLeDeux said:
Maybe, but it's probably more likely that we just see things differently, and like different things.:D
Click to expand...

Ahem, of course, happy to chalk it up to that! In any case, story Vs style is of great interest to me. Most of my favourite books are more renowned for the latter. And of course, they are not strictly separate from one another. The style undoubtedly imbues the story with a certain quality and vice versa.
 
Finally finished The Centauri Device by M. John Harrison, I've started it before and put it down half read. Some interesting ideas but for every chapter I enjoyed there was another that I struggled through and in the end the core storyline just wasn't strong enough.

I found another old science fiction story in Robert Silverberg's Those Who Watch but not sure if I'll stick with it, again an interesting set up and this time its a very easy read. Its just seeming a bit pulpy, and already feeling a bit like a scifi/romance novel.

Its been fun dipping back into the classic science fiction stories over the last few months but definitely feel like its time to read a few stories from another genre.
 
bradrowe#32 said:
The journey to 52 books...

1. "Dirt Music" by Tim Winton
2. "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy
3. "The Sellout" by Paul Beatty
4. "Vernon God Little" by D.B.C. Pierre
5. "Main Street" by Lewis Sinclair
6. "Thursbitch" by Alan Garner
7. "number9dream" by David Mitchell
Click to expand...

Well done, I actually tried to do this last year. I was doing well until work got back into the groove of things from Australia Day and I fell well behind, gave up by the end of February.
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Just finished The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. Some of it was good and there was some helpful human relations stuff, but I found it to be pretty myopic. Some of the lessons were pretty unethical too.
 
Gigantic said:
I'm juggling between three books at the moment

Crime & Punishment by Dostoyevsky
Promise Me by Harlan Coben
How We Die by Sherwin Nuland
Click to expand...

Well you've got my approval.
 
Have read an embarrassingly small amount in my adult life (child / teenage me has adult me comfortably covered). Thought I'd find a safe page-turner to help get me back into it, and settled on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Been loving it, takes a little while to get going but plenty of intrigue to keep you in and then the second half is extremely hard to put down, terrific yarn.

Undecided whether to next continue with the trilogy, find another unread classic or perhaps delve into some more Haruki Murakami who I enjoyed in the past.
 
I am going to shame myself at some point and post a picture of the books I have started but not finished. :(

I find the Kindle to be a bit of an antidote to this, ironically.

A device with access to every book in the world actually makes me finish a book before starting another.
 
Last edited:
Chief said:
I a man going to shame myself at some point and post a picture of the books I have started but not finished. :(

I find the Kindle to be a bit of an antidote to this, ironically.

A device with access to every book in the world actually makes me finish a book before starting another.
Click to expand...

And, if you do discontinue a book, you can come back and continue exactly where you left off, even without a bookmark or a folded page, or leaving around a pile of opened books.;)
 
Just read:

Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn for the second time. OK in sections, quite boring in others. The first sections reminded me why I enjoyed it the first time, but it was a bit self-indulgent at times. Also far too esoteric.

Personality Types by Riso & Hudson. Incredibly comprehensive and dense, and certainly very different from the Myers Briggs explanations (this one is on the enneagram). It's quite eye-opening reading through the section on your own personality profile and seeing all the similarities - some of which are so specific it's a little scary. Maybe a bit too much veneration for the enneagram itself, but super interesting, even if some of it sounds a little inaccurate.
 
La Dispute said:
Just finished Junky by William S. Burroughs. Really interesting, short book. It's semi-autobiographical, and while I suspect a lot of it is fiction, there are some great scenes. Like a good heroin hit, leaves you wanting more.

Really pumped through it.
Click to expand...
I remember reading that one a lot at work or on public transport and laughing in embarrassing hysterics at points. Great read.

I'm currently several chapters into Conrad's Nostromo, and it is currently on pace to ultimately be one of my most select favourites. Love those feels. Barely had any sleep last night, which means I'll have to hold off on reading more today, a true tragedy.

Before that I read Stendhal's The Red and the Black. Engaging, excellent, and don't mind a good classic French novel from those times, but I don't think it will stick in the memory all that endearingly in the long term. Many of the observations littered throughout are priceless, but the typical machinations of love between Julian and his two love interests begins to threaten the tasteful form of the overall work at times. But I guess that is largely down to the nature of the author's style and intent. Still, filled that occasional craving for Parisian society hijinks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
Wht the West Rules---FOR NOW.
Replies
0
Views
340
JoondalupJ
J
darth_timon
The Awakening
Replies
0
Views
397
darth_timon
darth_timon

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top