Its what are you reading Thursday MKF 19/9/2002

[girlofp]

I just finished reading "Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas" it was good, a cute romantic book.. and before I came back to school I had just finished two other Oprah books.. (i have a hard time picking books so I just pick the ones up on the front table when I walk into the bookstore) "Fall On Your Knees" was excellent, the ending was wonderful.. kind of surprising, if you are dense like me! lol.. and "We Were the Mulvaneys" was good too.
and I just have to mention this because I thought it was hilarious... my History Prof today was talking about urban civilizations and he said something about the bronze age... and then he says something like.. "Not The Bronze as in where Buffy and her gang like to hang-out" and then he went on to say that his favorite show on TV was BtVS.. and I just thought it was funny..

Edited because I cant spell and because after rereading about my history prof I dont think it is all that funny anyway.. I guess it just caught me off guard..

[Tulipp]

Oh, [b:e85fb0955f] Mollyig[/b:e85fb0955f], I love Laurie King's stuff. I understand that her next book is going to be a Kate Martinelli!

As for me, I have not been reading that much lately other than fan fiction, which is enough.

But on my bedside table, waiting to be read, is a little stack, with Neil Gaiman's [i:e85fb0955f] Death: The High Cost of Living[/i:e85fb0955f] and Charles DeLint's [i:e85fb0955f] The Onion Girl[/i:e85fb0955f].

I recently read Emma Donoghue's [i:e85fb0955f] Slammerkin[/i:e85fb0955f], and honestly, I thought it was riveting.

As for Willow and Tara, going out on a limb here, but I think that Tara would be trying to convince Willow to get over her fear and read the [i:e85fb0955f] Frog and Toad[/i:e85fb0955f] children's books. They would be perfect for both of them.

[Kieli]

Hmm...excellent topic. I just got finished reading Terry Brooks' [i:f0209a43f8] The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara: Antrax[/i:f0209a43f8] and I'm now on his book [i:f0209a43f8] The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara: The Morgawr[/i:f0209a43f8]...aside from the underground hacker magazine [i:f0209a43f8] 2600[/i:f0209a43f8], Wired Magazine, Scientific American, Science, the American Scientist and Discover magazines, I've also read a book of lesbian fiction called [i:f0209a43f8] Salt Water[/i:f0209a43f8] which was surprisingly excellent. There is a new graphic novel out by Neil Gaiman that is just incredible that is based on a short story he did for a book called Angels and Visitations. Needless to say, I am a really huge Neil Gaiman fan; his Books of Magic graphic novel really resembles Harry Potter to a startling degree.

I've got at least a thousand books of varying genres (except for Romance *shudder* just can NOT deal with romance novels), I'd be hard pressed to figure out which book was my favourite.

I too can see Willow being a huge Douglas Adams fan and Tara being a Marion Zimmer Bradley (sp?) fan of the Avalon series. I even think they both might be Ben Bova, Anne McCaffrey fans or Neil Gaiman fans too (although Gaiman's work with the Sandman series and his other books that focus on magic can be quite disturbing at times).

Done babbling now

T.

[relativegirl]

My book of the moment is [u:bc92715fe1]Native Speaker[/u:bc92715fe1] by Chang-Rae Lee. I picked it up b/c I had heard so much about Lee being compared to Hemingway in terms of talent. Suffice to say I'm now a fan. [u:bc92715fe1]Native Speaker[/u:bc92715fe1] is about a man close to my age who is trying to make sense of his life. Hey, I can relate. Lee's writing is like a Billie Holliday song -- really beautiful, sad and quiet. It stays with you a long time.

My magazine of the moment is "Stop the STDs Comix". It's about Sam Sheath, P.I. who tries to teach young adults with hot pants how to protect themselves from "George & Georgina Gonorrhea", "Sexy Sadie Syphilis" and the rest of the STD gang. It's another fine example of Los Angeles' response to the rise in HIV/AIDs. It's also a hoot.

As for Willow and Tara, something tells me they're fans of Jeanette Winterson's [u:bc92715fe1]Written on the Body[/u:bc92715fe1].

On an OT note: yesterday I was eavesdropping on 2 little girls (5 or 6 years old) who were coloring and didn't know i was listening. They were discussing what they were going to be as adults when one of them says "when I grow up and I get married, to a lady or a man, I'm gonna blah blah blah." It was so cool because she had figured out that some families have a mom and a dad and some have two moms, but she made no value judgments between the two. She picked up on the distinction without picking up the prejudice.

[Gatito Grande]

If I can find the time to read fiction at all, I read something off of one of several lists of "Classics" I have.

Right now, I'm reading Chaucer's [u:acb93af410]Canterbury Tales[/u:acb93af410] (Penguin edition). I purchased it in Canterbury many years ago (this Yankee was 18 and [i:acb93af410] awestruck[/i:acb93af410]), and am just now getting to it. It's charming, but it's gonna be [i:acb93af410] long[/i:acb93af410] . . .

Before that I read [u:acb93af410]Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man[/u:acb93af410] by James Joyce. I understand a lot of adolescents read it. Well, that makes me feel dumb, because I could barely get through it! [i:acb93af410] Loved[/i:acb93af410] the priest talking about hell part, but I found the beginning and the end (the more stream-of-consciousness parts) aggravating. (Damn, how am I ever gonna get through [u:acb93af410]Ulysses[/u:acb93af410]?)

I've also been trying to (cheat! and) see films of various classic novels. Most are lame, but two I would recommend are 1)"The Brothers Karamazov" (1958) w/ Yul Brynner and (an unrecognizable!) William Shatner, [i:acb93af410] I kid you not . . .[/i:acb93af410] and 2)"Sons and Lovers" (1960) starring Dean Stockwell (who knew he could act?!), Wendy Hiller and Trevor Howard. Good stuff. I have to confess, though, that I haven't read either of these books (yet!), so I can't tell you how faithful the films are, only that they stand on their own.

I still have a weakness for [i:acb93af410] Xena[/i:acb93af410]-based "alt-fic" including frequent re-readings of my all-time fave "The Ghost in the Forest" by enjay. Printed out, and kept by my bedside [i:acb93af410] where it so richly belongs![/i:acb93af410]

GG [i:acb93af410] Public ("State" for you Brits) school ed left a few literary holes I'm trying to fill . . . [/i:acb93af410] Out

[sikarja]

Yesterday i finished reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods which was very good and now i'm reading Grunts, A Fantasy with Attitude by Mary Gentle.

n/p The Project Hate - With Desperate Hands

[ProducerEthan]

All those boks are fine and dandy, but I'll tell you what everyone should be reading. I'm in the middle of 'Adam and the Ants' a biography of Adam Ant. It's a paperback written in 1981 right after AntMania hit. The worst part is though, when I said everyone needs to be reading it, I couldn't tell if I was being sarcastic or not.

Why isn't there an emoticon with face paint?

[sweetmisery21]

Currently, I'm reading two books both by Patricia Cornwell, 'Cause of Death' and 'Hornet's Nest.' When I head back to college though, I'll be reading the books required for the classes.

[Arwen]

Crap....I think I just deleted my post. If not, sorry for the double postage.

I like to think that Tara and Willow don't have time for reading, what with all of the smoochie time they need every day.

Myself, I'm reading a bunch of stuff right now.

Black Notice by Patricia Cornwell
The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey
The Blind Assassin by Margret Atwood
P is for Peril by Sue Grafton (an awesome, awesome, awesome series, Kinsey rocks!)
Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (again)

[dazed and confused]

Currently reading my Russian textbook as I have a test this evening. Schoolwork and RL have been keeping me away from reading the past few weeks but I did recently finish a fabulous book, [i:6063851c15] Good in Bed[/i:6063851c15] by Jennifer Weiner. Just before that I read [i:6063851c15] Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood[/i:6063851c15] and [i:6063851c15] Little Altars Everywhere[/i:6063851c15] by Rebecca Wells...just some light summer reading. I thoroughly enjoyed all three books.

I'm off to Vegas in 2 weeks and will need some reading material for the flight so I will probably pick up my all time favorite, [i:6063851c15] Ragtime[/i:6063851c15] by E.L. Doctorow. Sometime in late October or early November I will read [i:6063851c15] The Two Towers[/i:6063851c15] by J.R.R. Tolkein in anticipation of the movie.

I look forward to checking out some of the other books listed in the thread, such a diverse literary wellspring!

[Zippy]

What it's thursday already? This week has really flown by. That means its my friends last day of work tomorrow, she's off to do a MSc, I'm gonna really miss her.

I've just started reading [b:45085ef1e2] The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse[/b:45085ef1e2] by Robert Rankin. I've never read any of his books before, but he did a book signing in my local bookshop last weekend & I got dragged along.

I'm really enjoying it, it's weird but funny it's set in toy city and a serial killer is going round bumping off nursery rhyme characters, Humpty Dumpty got boiled alive in his swimming pool, I said it was weird.

Other than that I usually read interesting things like New Scientist, Food Technology Today & when I'm really bored or there's nothing else left in the tea room I read laboratory news.

[ruby]

I totally feel like I'm getting away with something when I read a long, juicy book, because I do so much reading for work. Like I just reread Titus Andronicus so I could teach it. Next week it's that old chestnut Frankenstein.

Recently I read "Our Band Could Be Your Life" by Michael Azerrad, which is about the rise of American independent punk music in the late 70s and early 80s. It has chapters on Sonic Youth, Black Flag, Husker Du, etc. And that got me into more reading about British punk and early new wave, and now I'm driving the gf crazy playing the Clash and the Jam at high volume while dancing around the house.

The last truly stunning book I read was The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. Run, don't walk, to get it!

And I just got Lynda Barry's first full-color comics volume, One! Hundred! Demons!--but "comics" doesn't even come close to describing this work of art. Also, she signed my copy a couple of weeks ago and is the nicest person ever.

Willow and Tara are voracious readers. I can see Tara enjoying books on art history and food writing (or maybe that's just my fantasy *g*). Willow probably likes technothrillers but won't cop to it.

(Edited because I am a spaz.)

[NoveltyAct]

So cool to see what everyone's reading...kittens are a diverse and well-read bunch!

of the pile of books on my nightstand that i keep wanting to read but keep not having time to , the one that i'm actually making progress on is [b:e0df507719] "mort" by terry pratchett[/b:e0df507719], which was recommended to me by a cute girl and makes me laugh out loud every 2 pages or so. it's in the douglas adams, "hitchiker's guide" vein; highly enjoyable.

for mystery/detective novel-loving kittens, i must stump for two series of novels: anything by [b:e0df507719] elizabeth george[/b:e0df507719], who writes british police procedurals like a literary dream, despite her californian heritage (ah, a lady to admire and emulate ); and [b:e0df507719] kathy reichs[/b:e0df507719], who is a bit like patricia cornwell transplanted to quebec.

chatting with aforementioned cute girl recently also made me dig up one of the first pieces of fanfic i ever read, an x-files/homicide crossover casefile called [b:e0df507719] april is the cruelest month, by lonegunguy[/b:e0df507719]. it can still be found online at hometown.aol.com/lonegunguy/april.html and is thoroughly intriguing and well-written.

ah, x-files back in the day, when it was thrilling, intelligent, and intense. *wipes nostalgic tear from eye, flicks it bitterly at joss* is it just me, or do these series always seem to have that natural shelf-life to them; after about 4 or 5 years, if they're not put in deep freeze, they just kinda spoil in the package?

hope everyone is having a great day, altho--egad! how'd it get to be thursday alluvasudden?

~Novelty

[BBOvenGuy]

I'm reading too many different things to count at the moment.

Meanwhile, here's the latest news on Indy Racing League driver Sarah Fisher. She's going to drive a McLaren Formula One car on September 27th, in a demonstration before the U.S. Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway!

[img:4f6e3672ca]http://www.sarahfisher.com/Press%20Releases/lrSarahFisher.jpg[/img:4f6e3672ca]

I should have known something like this was up when watchmaker TAG Heuer, the official timekeeper of Formula One, signed up to be one of her sponsors. I highly doubt we'll see Sarah in a Formula One car for real any time soon, but it's still pretty exciting news. You can read more about it here.

Have a great day, everybody!

[Thanatopsis]

I just finished reading [u:4f71b72339]Middlemarch[/u:4f71b72339] by George Elliot for class which was much better than I thought it'd be and just bought [u:4f71b72339]The Bell [/u:4f71b72339]by Iris Murdoch which I'm suppose to read next. I also just started [u:4f71b72339]The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter[/u:4f71b72339] by CarCarson McCullers because I love her other stuff so much.

[mollyig]

Oh I adored [b:c77eec7725]The heart is a lonely hunter[/b:c77eec7725]. Have you read [b:c77eec7725]clock without hands[/b:c77eec7725]? Another favourite of mine!

[darkmagicwillow]

I also read [i:268d6c645a]1633[/i:268d6c645a] recently which is a bit frustrating as it gets you to the beginning of the conflict. I really like how they're bringing in historical figures like Richelieu and Cromwell and how learning about the future is changing the present so drastically.

[i:268d6c645a]The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay[/i:268d6c645a] by Michael Chabon was great. I second ruby's recommendation of that book.

I see a lot of Neil Gaiman fans out there. Tulipp, what's that Death book doing on the beside table not already read? (-; I'll confess that I'm behind on my recommendations too. I found a Laurie King book, [i:268d6c645a]The Beekeeper's Apprentice[/i:268d6c645a] at the library last weekend but I'm not going to have a chance to read it before I leave.

I'm reading [i:268d6c645a]Under the Tuscan Sun[/i:268d6c645a] as a bit of preparation for my trip to Italy. I'm also reading a bunch of more informative travel books. I highly recommend the Rick Steves books for anyone going to Europe.

I just finished Tulipp's [i:268d6c645a]Terra Firma[/i:268d6c645a] on Pens. It's wonderfully compassionate and loving, healing all the wounds of season 6 in a way I hadn't thought possible. If you haven't read it yet, stop reading this and go to Pens now.

[Nix42]

Love this thread.. it reminds me that I used to read for fun, unfortunately I'm now plowing my way through a pensions legislation textbook in preparation for an exam that I'm going to fail again

The last couple of novels that I did read were Dead Famous, by Ben Elton, which was a great no brainer, and White Teeth by Zandie Smith, which was Ok, but I'm not sure it deserved all the fuss.

I have visions of Willow as a kid with her head stuck in lots of Enid Blyton books (but I'm not sure if that's a UK thing)

[Guinevere]

Right now I am reading The Twelve Wild Swans by Starhawk, and Stardust by Neil Gaiman. And of course Different Colored Pens Fics!
Gwen

[Lindy]

Wow, this is so cool Bob, me loves Formula One, and I terribly miss female drivers in that sport. But, oh well, as long as the wifes can stand by and wave and be excited everything is allright

[TheWhiz]

This is interesting seeing what everyone is reading.
Well I'm 'meant' to be reading books for my Uni research project, but all I have done is flicked through them can't seem to focus!

I used to read a book a day when I was younger, but those days have long past I never seem to find time
I've been working my way through Anne Rice's 'Vampire Chronicles' but I'm stuck on 'Memnoch the Devil'- its really tough going, but I aim to finish it someday!

[bowieinberlin]

I'm reading [b:a2f8aec069] [i:a2f8aec069] Naked[/i:a2f8aec069][/b:a2f8aec069] by David Sedaris again. It's one of the funniest books ever. I love the way he writes ... it reminds me of myself in every clause.

On another note, I'm leaving for Brimingham in about an hour. And I haven't even packed yet. Why am I sitting here typing anyway?

[Rally]

Post up until the last minute of a trip, definetly a bad habit, one that I will praciticing all day tomorrow.

[Puff]

Ok I haven't read the daily thread but that's because I can't. In fact I can't even look at what I am typing now so I hope i haven't made many mistakes. Anyway just thought I'd check in and say I won't be online much for abit. I got a head injury on Tuesday that required x-rays and a cat scan and managed to smoosh my brain...at least I got medical proof that I have a brain. Anyway hopefully I'll be able to be back online soon but at the moment it makes me woozy and I can't concentrate. Have fun everyone going too see Chance. Talk to you all soon Kitties.

[Kalita]

Well, I'm reading a lot of stuff.

At work it's the usual journals, manuals and assorted minutiae of the IT industry. Gotta keep sharp on them technical issues...

For fun, I'm in the middle of many things. This includes, of course, numerous fics on the Pens board, and some others scattered around cyberspace.

I've been re-reading some Tolkien lately; the usual nonlinear way that I do ( I follow a set of characters, ie Aragorn et al, through the later books, and ignore chapters about other people). 'cause I know it ALL almost by heart, so I can just focus on the ONE aspect I want to.

I actually just finished the main body of [i:c9d86b92fe] LOTR[/i:c9d86b92fe], and am cross-referencing various parts of Appendix A with [i:c9d86b92fe] The Silmarillion[/i:c9d86b92fe] and [i:c9d86b92fe] Unfinished Tales[/i:c9d86b92fe].

I've also just got in Anne McCaffrey's latest, [i:c9d86b92fe] Freedom's Ransom[/i:c9d86b92fe], from my reservation at the library; predictably, my leaving it at home today means my Mom is reading it first.

The big news today was that I finally tracked down where I'd hid my birth certificate; I need it for some annoying government ID renewal, and I could not use ANY other ID. But, hey, I found it!

Have a good Thursday, Kitties!

[Jennifer]

I can never read just one book at one time. So, currently I'm reading "Suzanne's Diary For Nicholas" by James Patterson (for the about the millionth time) and since I've been on an Alice Hoffman kick, last week I re-read "Practical Magic" (so much better than the movie, sorry) and right now it's "Seventh Heaven". "Suzanne's Diary" is so good. It's a nice change from his previous psychological-murder-suspense novels. I like those, too, of course. But when reading something so unlike what he normally wrote, it was refreshing. I've read books before where the male author tries to protray the female mind. Noone's been able to pull it off to my liking, until now. I'm talking too much, I think you all get the point. Happy Thursday kitties.

[caged heart]

I just finished a book called "Wasted" by Marya Hornbacher. Its a memoir about her struggle with anorexia & bulimia. A good read, very informative, well-written, and kind of frightening. I'm also reading the BtVS novel "These Our Actors". Its good for reading at work, doesn't require much concentration. And when I decide to actually do my reading for school, I read boring books with brown covers & titles like "Mass Communication Research: A Practical Guide". I think they could at least make the cover pretty.

As for what Willow & Tara read, aside from magick books of course... I can definitely picture them as Jeanette Winterson fans. Tara seems like she'd be more into the classics & art, and Willow would be more into sci-fi. I can picture Willow reading the Ramona Quimby books when she was a kid. I can also see them reading Harry Potter together. My girlfriend & I used to do that. We'd snuggle in bed & I'd read Harry Potter to her. She'd always fall asleep. I think Tara would be the reader & Willow would be the one to fall asleep. So cute.

[Elianna]

I can't guess what Willow and Tara are reading right now. My guess is not too much, because they probably have better, funner things to do at night.

I, however, don't. I'm also absent-minded, so I leave whatever book I'm reading anywhere, and start reading whatever I find near me. So right now I'm reading:

George R.R. Martin's series "A Song of Ice and Fire" for probably the third time. I can't wait for the fourth book, but I guess that I have to.

Robert Grave's "I, Claudius" which is what comes to school with me in my backpack.

Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone. This is very slow-going, as I'm attempting reading it in Hebrew, and I keep having to sound out the words: "Hera...Herry..Oh, Harry!" But it is easier than when I tried reading some other book that I hadn't read in English before.

"The Kiss" a collection of Hungarian short stories that I keep in my mom's office.

And I know that I have several other books around the house that I'm reading, but I forgot which. I usually remember when I go into whatever room I left the book and I find it.

And also four school books.

-Elianna

edited because re-reading my post, and seeing my signature, I totally forgot that I'm reading "Psmith, Journalist" online!

[darkmagicwillow]

Elianna, good recommendations. I loved George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. If only he would write faster. And Robert Graves is always good. It's been ages since I read the Claudius books, but I have his Belisarius one on my bookshelf waiting to be read soon.

[jeepchick scully]

I'm reading a book called "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath. I was told that it's a lot like "Girl, Interrupted." As for Willow and Tara related I have just been going back and forth between this site and Wiccan Ways reading fanfic. Interesting question, hopefully I will be able to find more interesting books to read.

Best Wishes,
Shanna