Track Your Books 2009

Sorry, I couldn’t find the old thread anywhere in the books section that wasn’t from 2007… Please move this if the other thread still exists!



Books I bought and read while I was sick so far:



The Road (Cormac McCarthy) FANTASTIC book!! Would recommend to anyone that can appreciate amazing writing.



In Cold Blood (Truman Capote) - There’s something about the way Capote describes people, especially women that I love. For being known as a snobby socialite he certainly has a knack for seeing the beauty inside many “everyday” women.



Slaughterhouse Five (Kurt Vonnegut)- So good. So good I’m about to read it a second time.



No Country for Old Men (McCarthy) - I love this man so much.



Choke (Chuck Palahniuk) - However, I’m really falling OUT of love with this man.



Watchmen (Alan Moore) - Really good and definitely entertaining.



Persepolis 1 & 2 (Marjane Satrapi) - Really fantastic. Very emotional highs and lows, and I loved the simple drawings.



Maus 1 & 2 (Art Spiegelman) - Really liked these as well. As much as I know (and most people know) about the holocaust it still managed to surprise me and remind me how much suffering took place for such a ridiculous reason.



Lullaby (Palahniuk) - Again, I’m not feeling the love for Palahniuk anymore. Everything is so “shocking” that it doesn’t feel honest to the story.



Letters from the Earth (Mark Twain) - Brilliant satire. Plain spoken so everyone can understand.



The Pearl (John Steinbeck) - I thought it was good, I’d probably appreciate it more if I were younger.



Embroideries (Satrapi) - It was really interesting to watch a conversation about sex by Iranian women.



Chicken with Plums (Satrapi)- I think this is my favourite book by Satrapi. I’m a sucker for sentimental things, especially involving father daughter relationships.



An Ordinary Man (Paul Rusesabagina) - The book by the real man portrayed in the movie Hotel Rwanada. It was interesting to read the unglamorized version of what happened.



Skin and Other Stories and The Umbrella Man and other stories (Roald Dahl) - I never read much Dahl growing up so a friend basically forced me too. I thought they were neat little stories, and I know I would have loved them if I had read them growing up.



The League of Extrodinary Gentlemen Vol. 1& 2 (Moore) - Entertaining comics but not much else. Predictable enough, although Moore isn’t afraid to shock and surprise every now and then.



Swamp Thing Vol 1 (Moore) - The illustrations were a bit sketchy. Sometimes they looked beautiful and sometimes just way to cheesy, but that’s also a part of the charm I guess. I thought it was alright, I’ll definitely pick up the rest in the series.



A Farewell to Arms (Hemmingway) - This book reminds me so much of the friend that lent it to me. I love how simple it was. I want to read it again soon.



Fall Out (Jim Ottaviani) - Not as good as I thought it would be

.

A Jew in Communist Prague Vol 1. and 2. (Vittorio Giardino) - Pretty good. I can’t wait to get my hands on Vol. 3!



Currently reading: Child of God (Cormac McCarthy) - So far I feel McCarthy achieves what Palahniuk wants to achieve. Some of the things he writes about, which it Palahniuks books would feel like they existed for mere shock value, exist well to produce a disturbing atmosphere. Nothing leaps off the page as a planned piece of shocking material, it just hums along in an incredibly creepy way. Also the fact that this type of vulgar writing is not found in all McCarthy books adds to my ability to enjoy it. Palahniuk seems to recycle a lot of stuff and write very similar stories.

Have you read Ask the Dust by John Fante ? I read it last summer and I was blown away by the amazing style. I rarely had such feelings, except when I do read Salinger, which I love above all.

I started to read Twilight but never finished.This book is such a crap.





Children of the Arbat Street - 10/10

Less Than Zero - 8/10

The Rules of Attraction - 7/10

American Psycho - 9/10

The Informers - 7/10



And currently reading Glamorama.



I’m on a Bret Easton Ellis roll baby!

Sweet topic! I never thought to look for something like it. Okay, I’m not sure exactly how to rate a book so I’ll just say recommended reading or not. I’ve been on an Elmore Leonard binge lately with the release of Road Dogs.



Recommended for sure, all damn good:



Road Dogs - So great to see Elmore return to the present since his most recent works took place in an old west/depression era type, The Hot Kid and Up In Honey’s Room. Both great books too.



Valdez Is Coming - Among his best westerns right up there with Forty Lashes Less One.



Maximum Bob - Awesome



Get Shorty/Be Cool - Both great reads, Chili is so cool.



When The Women Come Out To Dance - one of my favorite compilation of short stories.



And different but equally good:



Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice - Since watching Double Indemnity on Bio’s recommendation I managed to sneak these two into my reading. They havn’t aged particularly well but the story and characters are interesting enough to keep me interested.

I finally finished Gravity’s Rainbow.



Thomas Pynchon is the greatest living writer in any form, genre, style, type, whathaveyou of literature.





What a goofy looking cat ;D

Never heard of him though. Looks interesting.

He’s not exactly public. He’s never done a press interview, hasn’t had his picture taken since those Navy days and lives somewhere in New York.



He’s a really interesting guy. He once jumped out of a window at his hotel in Mexico to escape a reporter in the 60s.

not a book, but ive been reading the Fables comic book series by Bill Willingham…sooo good





oh and plunderbunnie…if you like Cormac McCarthy, read his book Blood Meridian…good lord that book is awesome, one of my favorites of all time

[quote=“Movie_Villain”]
not a book, but ive been reading the Fables comic book series by Bill Willingham…sooo good



oh and plunderbunnie…if you like Cormac McCarthy, read his book Blood Meridian…good lord that book is awesome, one of my favorites of all time
[/quote]

I don’t know about ya’ll but I’ve always found comics to be a form of books. Sucks how there discredited alot of the time.



I do like McCarthy! I just finished The Road. Great book (All The Pretty Horses still ranks as his best for me, shame Throton turned it into such a lame movie), the movie trailer doesn’t look so promising.



Just started rocking the Steven Soderbergh book Getting Away With It. It’s as much a book about Richard Lester as it is Soderbergh but it’s a really interesting read.

Comics are the only form of books I read these days. The last novel I read was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I re-read bits and pieces of my Michael Crichton collection every now and then but for the most part it’s all about the funny books for me. My pull list is at least four books every week. I just don’t have the time or patience for novels these days.



Fables is one of those comics I keep hearing about and everyone who mentions it suggests I should read it but for some reason or another I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. Same with Y: The Last Man. I have every issue downloaded and burnt onto a disc but I haven’t actually read one yet.



Anybody looking to get into comics without paying 4 bucks an issue (or more if you don’t have a comic shop nearby and have to internet order) here’s a few links to sites where you can download them.



mycomicpost.com

thelongbox.net

Oh come on, books man! I couldn’t live without 'em and certainly couldn’t replace them with comics just like that.

I used to love novels as a form of escapism but these days I’ve got more satisfying sources of that. If I started reading novels again I wouldn’t have time to write.



If it’s any consolation I’ve also given up video games.

[quote=“Dex”]
I used to love novels as a form of escapism but these days I’ve got more satisfying sources of that. If I started reading novels again I wouldn’t have time to write.



If it’s any consolation I’ve also given up video games.
[/quote]

That is a consolation.



Books have been such a big part of my life. I was one of those cats that cried in Truffaut’s Fahrenheit adaption whenever they set fire to books :’(

[quote=“Ordell Rodriguez”]
I do like McCarthy! I just finished The Road. Great book (All The Pretty Horses still ranks as his best for me, shame Throton turned it into such a lame movie), the movie trailer doesn’t look so promising.
[/quote]

The Road was amazing, but the preview didn’t reflect the tone of the book at all. There’s an early review that mentions how the trailer and the movie are very different, which was wonderful to hear. You can read it here: <LINK_TEXT text=“Movie News - Latest on Upcoming Film Releases, Movies to Stream, and Reviews … eview-0609”>The Road Movie Review - Inside Movie of the Road</LINK_TEXT> if you haven’t already. It’s a really well written review.

[quote]Have you read Ask the Dust by John Fante ? I read it last summer and I was blown away by the amazing style. I rarely had such feelings, except when I do read Salinger, which I love above all.[/quote]

No, I haven’t read it, but I’m always looking for suggestions!!





I haven’t been reading nearly enough lately, but I’m back on track. I finished Child of God by McCarthy and I was deeply disturbed. I don’t want to say that it was a great book, because it wasn’t enjoyable in the usual sense, but it was very well done.



Dogs and Water (comic) - I thought had an ok premise but ended just as it was actually beginning to get interesting.



Galapagos (Vonnegut) - I really liked it. It’s not at the same level as Slaughter-House 5, but it was really good.



The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway) - I never got a chance to read this as a kid, so I figured I’d read it now. I enjoy Hemingway’s simple style, and his knowledge of what he’s writing about. You feel like he’s lived these lives and he’s putting a huge piece of himself into each book.



I’m currently reading The Wisdom of Whores (http://www.wisdomofwhores.com/)

[quote=“plunderbunnie”]
The Road was amazing, but the preview didn’t reflect the tone of the book at all. There’s an early review that mentions how the trailer and the movie are very different, which was wonderful to hear. You can read it here: <LINK_TEXT text=“Movie News - Latest on Upcoming Film Releases, Movies to Stream, and Reviews … eview-0609”>The Road Movie Review - Inside Movie of the Road</LINK_TEXT> if you haven’t already. It’s a really well written review.
[/quote]

Cool man, thanks.

I forgot this topic was even on here, I was looking for something else and came across it again.



Just finished Final Cut a minute ago, the book Steven Bach wrote on his experiences working for UA, many of these experiences circling around the production of Heaven’s Gate (among the most sadly underrated films of all time). Hell of a read if you havn’t yet.

[quote=“Ordell Rodriguez”]
I don’t know about ya’ll but I’ve always found comics to be a form of books. Sucks how there discredited alot of the time.
[/quote]

I agree. Especially comics like Osamu Tezuka’s “Apollo’s Song” and “Ode to Kirihito”. Clocking in at 540 pages and 830 pages respectively, they are epic journeys worthy of notice.



Just started reading “A Confederacy of Dunces” by John Kennedy Toole. He was a very talented writer. It is a great shame he died so young and left us with so little.

Has anyone on here read any of Roberto Bolano’s books? I love me some latin american literature and I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on the guy before I go drop some cash on his books.

[quote=“Dex”]Comics are the only form of books I read these days. The last novel I read was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I re-read bits and pieces of my Michael Crichton collection every now and then but for the most part it’s all about the funny books for me. My pull list is at least four books every week. I just don’t have the time or patience for novels these days.



Fables is one of those comics I keep hearing about and everyone who mentions it suggests I should read it but for some reason or another I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. Same with Y: The Last Man. I have every issue downloaded and burnt onto a disc but I haven’t actually read one yet.



Anybody looking to get into comics without paying 4 bucks an issue (or more if you don’t have a comic shop nearby and have to internet order) here’s a few links to sites where you can download them.



mycomicpost.com

thelongbox.net [/quote]

I am also huge fan of Harry Potter books and Deathly Hallows is the most favorite chapter of all its series…!!

I love this!!