Books You Have Read Recently

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

...and were they any good?

I've recently read these:

Too Fat To Fish by Artie Lange
How to Talk Dirty and Influence People by Lenny Bruce
Private Parts by Howard Stern

I would recommend them all with Lenny Bruce's book being the best then Artie Lange's book, then Howard Stern's book. Stern's book is great, but some of the lesbian stuff and now outdated celebrity bashing drags on. Bruce's book by comparison is timeless in a lot of respects though there are certainly some references that will make anyone not alive in the 1950s or earlier scratch their heads.

Now I'm taking a break from autobiographies and read The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice. I loved Interview with the Vampire and am sure I will like this one as well, though I'm currently just a few pages in.

[ICBM]

Rice books are awsome. You will love Queen of the damned. My fave was Blood and Gold.

I just finished Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal and started Red dragon (I am reading them in reverse)

[H-Fist]

The first two books I've finished *this year* are Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates and Controversy Creates Cash by Eric Bischoff.

Bischoff's book is pretty good, though it was poorly edited. The writing fits his personality: loud, brash, cocky. He admits to some small mistakes with WCW, mainly errors of omission. But he's dependent on the notion that WCW was doomed to fail because of the merger, and thus all the big mistakes were either totally defensible or wholly the fault of the execs above him.

Zombie was messed up. Really messed up. A first-person, almost-diary novel of a serial killer who wants to make a "zombie," basically his own personal sex slave. I'd describe its mood and disturbing-ness as similar to Chuck Palahniuk, except Oates is a far better writer. I found myself reading it in the cadence of my perception of the character.

The Wind's Twelve Quarters by Ursula LeGuin is a really good short story collection. LeGuin writes scifi/fantasy, but not in the traditional line of the genre. The stories "April in Paris" and "The Masters" especially stand out, while "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" is among the more powerful short stories I've read. I can't recommend this collection strongly enough.

I blasted through Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut recently, too. It's not my favorite of his, but it was very good. The characters are interesting and the author's conceit is fun.

I reread Fahrenheit 451, read Something Wicked This Way Comes and The Martian Chronicles for the first time, and reread for the first time Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury over a 6-week stretch in the fall. I love Bradbury, but something about the fall season matches his writing so well (much as J.R.R. Tolkien is winter reading and Hunter S. Thompson belongs strongly to the summer). Dandelion Wine was one of the books I read in 7th or 8th grade for school but didn't fully grasp then. I wish I'd reread it long before. All four of those books are classics.

I've got a handful going right now, but I guess they'll have to wait for the next "whatcha readin'" thread.

[Mr PONYMANIA Mr Jenzie]

nearly finished THE LOST WORLD, read JURASSIC PARK before (obviously)

[Alexander The So-so]

I've been on a reading marathon through all the original James Bond novels by Ian Fleming. I've liked just about every one of them; different from the movies, by far, but always very good reads. My favorite is probably "You Only Live Twice," which I just finished last night. It was the last one to be published before Fleming's death, and it shows. It's more haunting, atmospheric, and introspective than any of the other books in the series. The perfect way to cap off the James Bond novel mythos.

I also just ordered another Bond novel, "Colonel Sun" by Fleming's friend Kingsley Amis. I've heard that it's just about the only non-Fleming Bond novel that really nails the character like the original author, so I look forward to reading it.

[Shy Guy]

true bloggywood stories by perez hilton

[theryno665]

I'm in the process of reading "In The Pit With Piper" right now.

[Mr PONYMANIA Mr Jenzie]

Jan 6, 2010 21:42:12 GMT -5 Alexander The So-so said:

I've been on a reading marathon through all the original James Bond novels by Ian Fleming. I've liked just about every one of them; different from the movies, by far, but always very good reads. My favorite is probably "You Only Live Twice," which I just finished last night. It was the last one to be published before Fleming's death, and it shows. It's more haunting, atmospheric, and introspective than any of the other books in the series. The perfect way to cap off the James Bond novel mythos.

I also just ordered another Bond novel, "Colonel Sun" by Fleming's friend Kingsley Amis. I've heard that it's just about the only non-Fleming Bond novel that really nails the character like the original author, so I look forward to reading it.

i work in a charity shop in scotland ..... and you know what they have?

the BOXSET of all the centinery bond novels!!!!!!!!
STILL WRAPPED in the cellophane!!!!!!!!!!!
almost £100 to buy!!!!!!!!!

£25

SOOOOOOO TEMPTED to get it

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Jan 6, 2010 21:36:13 GMT -5 Mr PONYMANIA Mr Jenzie said:

nearly finished THE LOST WORLD, read JURASSIC PARK before (obviously)

Not familiar with those books though the title does remind me of something I'm currently working on.

Mine is about a futuristic amusement park where dinosaurs are brought to life through advanced cloning techniques. I call it "Billy and the Cloneasaurus."

[aka Cthulhu]

Currently reading through every Discworld novel. The first three books are pretty slow-ish, kinda, and it starts picking up by Guards! Guards! Not really that interested in the books revolving around the Witches.

["Hollywood" Cactus Matt]

Uncle John's Endlessly Engrossing Bathroom Reader, which, coincidentally, can be read in any room.


I love the "Uncle John" books.

[G✇JI☈A]

Reading 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy at the moment.

Trying to finish it before the movie comes out in Australia.

[Sir Woodrow]

Simpsons confidential all about the making of The Simpsons and the backstabbing and egos that go along with it.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Jan 7, 2010 5:04:05 GMT -5 Sir Woodrow said:

Simpsons confidential all about the making of The Simpsons and the backstabbing and egos that go along with it.

I read an Unauthorized History of the Simpsons.

Basically everyone on the planet has more to do with the success of the show than Matt Groening, seemed to be the premise of the book.

Most recently I read Gretzky's Tears: Hockey, Canada and the Day Everything Changed.

Not bad. The author got waaaaaaaaaaay too wordy and everyone's a criminal.

Currently reading We'll Be Here for the Rest of Our Lives by Paul Shaffer.

[thesam07]

Midnight Express & Jim Cornette 25th Anniversary Scrapbook - Great read for any wrestling fan. Featuring bio's, results, stories and exclusive photos.

Currently reading "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding.

[El Kabongs Revenge]

Just finished A Lions Tale by Chris Jericho.

Im now starting on Under The Dome by Stephen King. King is goin on a killing spree in the first hundred pages.

[Deleted]

Jan 7, 2010 10:23:48 GMT -5 El Kabongs Revenge said:

Just finished A Lions Tale by Chris Jericho.

Im now starting on Under The Dome by Stephen King. King is goin on a killing spree in the first hundred pages.

Im currently about 800 pages into "Under The Dome" and I absolutely love it. As a "constant reader" of Sai King's work I have to say this is some of his best yet.

[The Goob, phd (is Jobbing)]

Adrian Mole

[mattperiolat]

Just finished True Compass by Ted Kennedy. Loved it to bits and pieces, but won't say more due to the politics rule. Will say the stories he tells about his family are amazing.

Also re-read Street Gang about the early days of Sesame Street. Fascinating stuff if you love early TV like I do.

[biafra]

Under The Dome by Stephen King and Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan.