The Song Fight Bulletin Board

The 'currently listening' thread gets a lot of response, and the Books forum could use some life. So lets hear about what you've been reading lately.

the brothers karamazov. it's pretty hefty, so this will be my umbrella answer for probably the next two months.

I accidentally threw out the slip of paper that had all my book recs on it...so I'll definitely be using this thread for fuel!

Right now I'm reading _My Home is Far Away_ by Dawn Powell. I've liked her other books better, but this one is interesting as it is autobiographical.

Her other books are great. Sort of Dorothy Parker-esque, I suppose... but with a little softer (Midwestern?) approach.

Her books tend to be set in NYC in the 30s and 40s... and focus on young hedonistic writer/artist types. Good fun!

I just finished A Simple Plan by Scott Smith. It was pretty enjoyable. (I haven't seen the movie.)

ah. summer reading has started for me.

i just finished extremely loud & incredibly close by jonathan safran foer. it's pretty good, though not as good as his first book. the 8-year-old narrator is pretty entertaining, but foer likes to split the books into multiple completely different narratives (in this case, 3) and tie them all together in the end. one is always really good while the others can drag a bit. still, it was a good read.

next up: the people of paper by salvador plascencias.

Just recently finished Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut, so now I'm on to The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. Then probably Getting Things Done, because I'm a lazy, lazy person.

Oh! You'll have to tell me how you like _Diamond Age_! I loved _Snowcrash_, and liked _Cryptonomicon_.

Anyone read / liked the baroque cycle?

--Em

I liked Snow Crash and LOVED Cryptonomicon.

Pig City - a history of Brisbane music - great book.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Books/Pig-Ci ... 33560.html

Many of you may not know, in the 60's and 70's the state of Queensland had become a bit of a laughing stock in Australia, having descended into a virtual police state under Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen - and generous cash payments between government, the police and property developers meant the whole show was run by a small group of redneck hillbillies for their own profit.

Joh was an interesting chap. Extreme right wing religous nutbag, for whom legal and palimentary processes mattered little, with a tight little group of henchmen who looked after business. Compare and contrast with a current US President

In this oppressive atmosphere emerged a wonderful music scene - led by The Saints who in 1976 recorded "(I'm) Stranded" - the world's first "punk rock" single (pre-dating The Ramones, The Damned, Sex Pistols etc. by several months)

jute gyte wrote:I liked Snow Crash and LOVED Cryptonomicon.

Yeah, me too. Anyone that can make a chapter on somone eating a bowl of cerial be so entertaining deserves more attention.

I haven't really read anything for months now. I got about 2/3rds of the way through Banks's The Algebraist and just stalled. It's like someone flipped a switch and my interest in reading disappeared.

jimtyrrell wrote:I just finished A Simple Plan by Scott Smith. It was pretty enjoyable. (I haven't seen the movie.)

Haven't read the book - but it's a great movie

Caravan Ray wrote:

jimtyrrell wrote:I just finished A Simple Plan by Scott Smith. It was pretty enjoyable. (I haven't seen the movie.)

Haven't read the book - but it's a great movie

not to mention an awesome band.

I hadn't read for about a year, and then my sister got this book called 'House' by Frank Peretti and Tedd Dekker. Crazy book with a lot of murderous hicks. If you don't mind it having an extremely Christian ending (it's written by Christian authors) it's awesome. It's the only book I've made it through being interested for years.

at amazon we get to take home the various advance copies of books that we get from publishers so i've gotten a lot of awesome books that way. <a href="http://iamnotmyselfthesedays.com/">I Am Not Myself These Days</a> is one of them.

I also enjoy George Singleton's "Gruel" books though "Novel: A Novel" is a bit too Chuck Palahniuk-esque for my tastes. I haven't started "Drowning in Gruel" yet though (that'll be my next read from my big free book pile).

"Strange Sounds" by Mark Brend. I just finished a book on fanzines called 'Lo-Fi Culture', but it was shit.

I'm going to really sit down and finish some books that have been on my plate for a while. Travels With Charley is one, also Trout Fishing in America by Richard Brautigan and I want to re-read The Once and Future King. And my girlfriend's been telling me to read Snowcrash and Neuromancer since I've met her so I might try those out.

fodroy wrote:

jimtyrrell wrote:A Simple Plan by Scott Smith. It was pretty enjoyable.

[...] an awesome band.

i think i just threw up a little bit in my mouth.

tviyh wrote:

fodroy wrote:

jimtyrrell wrote:A Simple Plan by Scott Smith. It was pretty enjoyable.

[...] an awesome band.

i think i just threw up a little bit in my mouth.

haha. i forgot to add this ---> [/sarcasm]

Benjamin Franklin : An American Life by Walter Isaacson. Rad dude. Great read.

tviyh wrote:the brothers karamazov. it's pretty hefty, so this will be my umbrella answer for probably the next two months.

I read this a couple of years ago. Great book.

Steve

WeaselSlayer wrote:I'm going to really sit down and finish some books that have been on my plate for a while. Travels With Charley is one, also Trout Fishing in America by Richard Brautigan and I want to re-read The Once and Future King. And my girlfriend's been telling me to read Snowcrash and Neuromancer since I've met her so I might try those out.

These are great choices. I read Neuromancer about 20 years ago I think. I was pretty groundbreaking at the time and was at the front end of the"Cyberpunk" style of stuff.

Steve

Tonamel wrote:Just recently finished Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut,

"Where's the cat? Where's the cradle?" ... loved that book. I think I read The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov after that. Somehow it sequenced nicely, though now I'm not sure why.