BS: What do you read ?

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: celticblues5
Date: 12 Jun 01 - 11:47 AM

Glad to see others have the (bad?) habit of reading several books at once! ;-)

SF, magical realism, literary fiction, mysteries, world folk&fairy tales, and non-fiction in general. SOME (but necessarily not all) specific faves - GGMarquez, Isabel Allende, Theodore Sturgeon, Sharyn McCrumb, Toni Morrison, Robert Silverberg, Kenneth Rexroth's Chinese poetry translations, Dave Barry, Merrill Markoe, Doug Adams, Shakespeare, Ngaio Marsh - too many to name!

[Glad to see John Dickson Carr mentioned. Several years ago, I organized a radio production of nine of his radio plays by our local community theatre group. It was a great experience - and his writing stands up so well over the years. So many of the radio plays from the same era are hopelessly dated (too nationalistic/overly-patriotic or too smarmily sentimental), but his are plot and character based, with few references to the time period, and with great twists at the end. They'll still be good in 500 years.]

A couple of the NF books currently on the towering stack by my bed - The Thyroid Solution by Ridha Arem (I'd recommend this to all the MC women - thyroid problems are way more prevalent among women, & many of them go undiagnosed), Shaman, Healer, Sage by Alberto Villoldo (an anthropologist studies with a South American shaman), and Ida Was a Tramp (NOT what you're thinking! ;-) It's the adventures of a guy on a tramp steamer).

Patricia Keneally, mentioned above, has a really funny website (apparently unintentionally) - she rants on and on about how she was the one true wife of Jim Morrison & rags on Pam a lot. LOL

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: kendall
Date: 12 Jun 01 - 11:55 AM

My mention of "On The Road" with Charles Kuralt was somewhat tongue in cheek. I have an autographed copy, because I'm in it. Also appeared in the TV series of the same name. Why do I always end up sitting on those jagged ledges at Portland Head for TV films?

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 12 Jun 01 - 03:23 PM

Right now I'm reading, and greatly enjoying "Inventing Mark Twain : The Lives of Samuel Langhorne Clemens," by Andrew Hoffman - a biography of one of my great heroes.

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: death by whisky
Date: 12 Jun 01 - 03:33 PM

Just finished Edward Dalys "Hey Mister ar you a priest?" Started Kieth Floyds "Far flung Floyd"

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: chip a
Date: 12 Jun 01 - 04:44 PM

Mark Twain

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: kendall
Date: 12 Jun 01 - 04:52 PM

Have you read TUESDAYS WITH MAURY? I have a friend who is fighting A.L.S. and I dread to think of him in the last stages.

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: gnu
Date: 12 Jun 01 - 05:50 PM

Read the best book I've read in years not too long ago. By a fellah name 'a Kendall Morse called "Stories Told in the Kitchen". ISBN 0-89621-064-2 (pbk.).

Thanks again wdyat12. You too, Kendall.

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: kendall
Date: 12 Jun 01 - 09:10 PM

WOW! Thanks gnu, that's quite a plug! It's been in print for 20 years, and, it's still available. (Cheap too!)

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: Chicken Charlie
Date: 12 Jun 01 - 09:48 PM

Ray Bradbury, Stanislaw Lem, Roger Zelazny, Harry Turtledove....

e.e. cummings, Carl Sandburg, Wallace Stevens ...

H.G. Wells (the non-fiction), Edward Gibbon, Livy, and other chroniclers of Old Dead White Men....

Andre Sakharov, Vladimir Pozner...

Anything on the Tunguskaya Event (cosmic anomaly in Siberia, 1908); anything on the Titanic; anything (good) on Pearl Harbor ....

Anything on dog psychology, to understand my "children" better; No, you can't have the car keys to chase the cat; sit!

Charles H. Fort; Martin Gardner....

Any translation of Gilgamesh or the Tao Te Ching ....

Battles and Leaders of the Civil War; Official Records of the War of the Rebellion ....

Mudcat threads--my main source of illumination since Gandhi crossed over.

CC

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: Amergin
Date: 12 Jun 01 - 11:45 PM

hey Chicken Charlie....I have been reading a bit of Harry Turtledove lately....especially that one series he is writing about the world war in the fatasy world....i absolutely love it...

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: Peg
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 12:14 AM

Bagpuss, that link for the Gaiman reading tour did not work!

Peg

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: Bagpuss
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 09:42 AM

Peg - sorry. Should work this time.

Gaiman tour dates

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: Caitrin
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 01:53 PM

*grins* Yeah, celticblues, Patricia Kennealy gets really kinda nuts about the Jim Morrison thing. I read her biography of him. It was interesting, to say the least. And Sharyn McCrumb's one I like a lot, too. I've only read her Spencer Arrowood/Nora Bonesteel novels, though.
And I'm now going to go out and get Good Omens, the Pratchett/Gaiman book. I've heard it recommended too many times not to now.

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: mousethief
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 01:59 PM

Right now i've got bookmarks in:
A Lifelong Passion (eds.); letters and diaries of Nicholas and Alexandra and certain others;
The Fall of the Russian Monarchy by Sir Bernard Pares
Mary Through the Centuries by Jaroslav Pelikan
Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton

Alex

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: Chicken Charlie
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 02:15 PM

Amergin--Did you catch "Guns of the South"?? (Cover shows Lee with an AK-47 assault rifle.) The South wins in that one, but of course there are complications. I think that was the origin to the "alternative universe WW I" thing you're into. I've got my eye on that but haven't started it yet. Best alternative hist. short I ever read was called "He Walked Around the Horses." Napoleonic Wars never happened. Well done, I thought.

CC

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: mousethief
Date: 13 Jun 01 - 02:16 PM

Recently finished the Immortals series by Tamora Pierce. Great stuff.

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: Bagpuss
Date: 14 Jun 01 - 10:29 AM

Caitrin, yes, I would definitely recommend Good Omens. It has just the right blend of Gaiman's great storytelling and Pratchett's sense of humour. Did you know it's being made into a film with Terry Gilliam directing. I can't wait!

Bagpuss

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: GUEST,Willa
Date: 14 Jun 01 - 02:45 PM

Like mousethief; words, words, words. Past/present favourites:
poetry,Pratchett,Wells,Asimov,SFshort story collections,Shute, Shakespeare, Austen, Kipling, Bradbury, Chesterton, Delderfield, Mitchener, Auel

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: GUEST,Dancing Mom
Date: 15 Jun 01 - 11:13 AM

I eagerly anticipate the glorious day when I can pick up a book that is NOT a nursing textbook!!!! UUUUUGGHH!!!I'M SICK OF THIS STUFF!!! Okay, just needed to unload a moment, thanks. So I hear from hubby and kids that Harry Potter is very good. In my other life I enjoyed Ray Bradbury and Sharon Salzburg. But I think I'll start with something hot and trashy...yeah...any suggestions? Sharon

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: Gervase
Date: 15 Jun 01 - 11:34 AM

Kendall,
I read Tuesdays with Maurie a couple of months back and I was bowled over by it - a lovely, life-affirming, tear-jerker of a book. Good recommendation.
Tomorrow, though, everyone should make an effort to read either the first chapter or the last sentence of the greatest most life-affirming book ever written (IMHO).

Yes.

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Jun 01 - 12:11 PM

Anything by Richard Brautigan, Trout Fishing In America being a perennial favorite...romanticism, whimsy, absurdness, and innocence all rolled into one neat little book.

Currently reading An Unfortunate Woman, published posthumously.

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: bbc
Date: 15 Jun 01 - 04:32 PM

JudeL,

I think we're compatible. Here's some others (fantasy/scifi) to try--T.A. Barrons, Mary Brown, Jennifer Roberson, Joel Rosenberg, Raymond Feist. I like Jane Austen, too. Wonder if that means something?

bbc

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: bbc
Date: 15 Jun 01 - 05:50 PM

Apropos to nothing--an interesting book on sex is by Paul Joannides. It is a $20 paperback of 700 pages. It is written by a man, but seems to have a pretty well-balanced viewpoint. Informative & funny, too. The family's reading it at the dinner table. I like the John Gray Mars/Venus books, too.

bbc

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: mousethief
Date: 15 Jun 01 - 05:53 PM

bbc, what's the name of the book on sex by Paul Joannides?

Alex

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: mousethief
Date: 15 Jun 01 - 05:53 PM

I'm curious, bbc: would you expect a book on sex by a woman to be more well-balanced than a book on sex by a man?

Alex

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: Bearheart
Date: 15 Jun 01 - 07:17 PM

Wonderful to see so many favorites listed.

Used to be when my life was more laid back I read lots of serious,classic,or educational stuff.

These days relaxation is hard to come by. I mostly read Terry Pratchett (ok, really my husband Crow reads to me while I do beadwork or other crafty stuff-- a habit we formed when we were courting 20 odd years ago); Pratchett makes you think while you are laughing your ass off. We teach a small group, 2-week advanced shamanic healing course and Crow reads to the assembled throng in the evenings when we have some down time. We find that they learn a lot, especially from such gems as Reaper Man and Witches Abroad.

I also like Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series (by far the most interesting stuff she's done) and Tony Hillerman, really good fantasy (raised on the Narnia tales and the like, old habits die hard),Zane Grey (the only westerns I could ever abide-- but be selective-- you really can't beat his descriptions of nature), Shakespeare, Austin, Dylan Thomas, really good stuff on healing/metaphysics/astrology (including Mt Astrologer and anything by Liz Greene). My tastes are eclectic-- I'll read anything if the writing's good.

I'd read lots more if I had the time!!! Certainly the most interesting and useful of addictions!

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: bbc
Date: 15 Jun 01 - 07:40 PM

Sorry, mousethief, I could have *sworn* I wrote out the title--very unlibrarian-like of me! It is called . In answer to your question, when I saw that it was written by a man & by one person, I was skeptical whether it would represent the female perspective. I doubt if I'd be happier for it to be by one woman. At any rate, we've read several chapters & it does seem interesting & well-balanced. The blurb on the cover says, "Paul Joannides is a research psychoanalyst. This means he went to college for way too long. In addition to teaching, Paul writes a weekly colum for the Colorado Daily." If anybody reads it, I'd be curious to hear what you think of it. It's available on Amazon & Barnes & Noble. Looks cheaper on Amazon, unless there's hidden cost.

bbc

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: Gareth
Date: 15 Jun 01 - 07:40 PM

Interesting - sorry I'm a compulsive reader, culling on a quick flick through the lists, Pratchett, O'Brien, Azimov, Shute etc. A quick count through the pile by my bed on fiction reveals 2 x Pratchet, 1 x Shute 2 x O'Brien, 1 x Larry Niven and 1 x C.S.Forester.

Could I recomend C.S.Forester, his book "The General" (published originally in the 1930's) is, I would warrant, the finest novel writen in the 1930's. Find it, read it, and understand it. You may understand where the songs like "Hanging on the Old Barbed Wire", or "Leap Frog" originated.

Gareth

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: bbc
Date: 15 Jun 01 - 08:58 PM

Said this in another thread, but by Austin Tappan Wright is an all-time favorite of mine--a really neat utopian novel (Sandy Paton likes it, too.)!

bbc

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: GUEST,Janet Ryan
Date: 16 Jun 01 - 11:10 AM

I adore book list threads!

I'm a voracious reader, a writer, and a library maven. Like Julia & Bat Goddess, I have many piles, lists, etc. so here's how my "reading" currently works:

Brought home from the library last day of school for my "summer reading" pile:

"The Farming of Bones" by Haitian author Edwidge Danticat - about Haitian laborers in the Dominican Republic.

"Texaco" by Patrick Chamoiseau (trans by Rose-Myriam Rejouis and Val Vinokurov) - a novel about the "mythic history of the Creole nation of Martinique"

"Cloudsplitter" by Russell Banks - "recreation of the political and social landscape of our history (U.S.) before the the Civil War, when slavery was tearing the country apart"

"Blindness" by Jose Saramago (Portuguese winner of the Nobel for literature) - "A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" which spares no one..."

"Solar Storms" by Linda Hogan - story of five generations of Native American women living in the Boundary Waters between Minnesota & Canada who are struggling to prevent a hydro damn from being built on the Canadian side

"Dreaming in Cuban" by ? My daughter is currently reading it. She stole it the minute I walked in the house with it--we're sort of Caribbean writer obsessed at the moment...

Currently reading:

In my office:

"Medieval Irish Lyrics with the Irish Bardic Poet" by James Carney

"Between Languages: the Uncooperative Text in Early Welsh and Old English Nature Poetry" by Sarah Lynn Higley

"Articulation: the Body & Illness in Poetry" edited by Jon Mukand

"The Long Pale Corridor: Contemporary Poems of Bereavement" ed. by Judi Benson & Agneta Falk

In the living room & dining room (often while eating)...

"Goddess of the Americas: Writings on the Virgin of Guadalupe" ed by Ana Castillo

On the front porch since the weather warmed up & the rain wouldn't quit...

"Seven Life Lessons Chaos: Spiritual Wisdom from the Science of Change" by John Briggs & F. David Peat

"The Best Spiritual Writing of 1999" (I'm a few years behind!) ed by Philip Zaleski

Magazines, read here, there & everywhere--the bus, the drs office, waiting in line, etc...

Bon Apetit Utne Reader Booklist School Library Journal Poets & Writers Yoga Journal (and then don't do any!)

Cookbooks too numerous to mention

Ditto gardening books

Print & on-line newspapers/news organizations websites (I vary the sites and read a couple of them weekly, only read my local papers nearly-daily):

Mpls StarTribune Boston Globe Irish Times Irish News BBC RTE Indymedia - many sites around the world - excellent for following anti-globilation trotters! Derry People & Donegal News Minnesota Women's Press (feminist local) La Prensa (Latino local) The Circle (Native American local) Native American News (regional) Insight (African American local) Asian American News (local) Asian Pages (name?) (local)

The dictionary (many versions)

My horoscope (from a number of eclectic on-line sites)

AllRecipes.com (for dinner menu ideas for what's on hand in the frig)

And on the "to read" pile of authors: Sheri Tepper's novels overflowing from my daughter's & her dad's bookshelves -- another summer project is to read just one!

I won't go down the list of books I'm currently reading to the young 'uns, but I'm going to the bookstore today to buy "Richard Scary's Big Word Book" for my nephew's christening tomorrow.

It's a social disease, really...

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: celticblues5
Date: 17 Jun 01 - 02:44 AM

Oops! Forgot Nabokov, LeGuin, & Tanith Lee!

Subject: RE: BS: What do you read ?
From: Haruo
Date: 17 Jun 01 - 03:44 AM

A bit of everything, and I usually have a dozen or more books going at once. At the moment Mourning Dove: A Salishan Autobiography by Christine Quintasket, Omens of Millenium: The Gnosis of Angels, Dreams and Resurrection by Harold Bloom, and Golem in the Gears by Piers Anthony (a Xanth novel) are my most active reads.

Liland