OT: What are you reading?

Winger98

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Feb 27, 2002
22,753
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Cleveland
Right now, I'm reading Antkind by Charlie Kaufman. Just finished Memoirs and Misinformation by Jim Carry and Dana Vachon. Earlier I finally settled into and read the first collected stories of TC Boyle and finished the The Collected Stories of JG Ballard. The Collected Stories of Paul Bowles was on my list, but then the libraries opened back up, hence Carrey and Kaufman.
 

HisNoodliness

The Karate Kid and ASP Kai
Jun 29, 2014
3,652
2,022
Toronto
Presently reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. Not the most uplifting but I'm enjoying it. The philosophy that life is inherently meaningless but we should impose our own meaning upon it and then embrace the consequences of that meaning is one I subscribe to and Kundera captures well IMO. Besides that I mostly read physics, biophysics, and biology papers but that's for work.
 

namttebih

Registered User
Dec 11, 2010
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East York
Wow. This is news to me. Hardcore History is a damn good podcast. I have listened to Prophets of Doom twice. My local library had a copy of The Tailor-King: The Rise and Fall of the Anabaptist Kingdom of Muenster by Anthony Arthur which was the primary source for the podcast. Great podcast, great book.
I haven't listened to that one yet. I've just finished all of the free content and am about to start from the beginning with a subscription. The King of Kings series was incredible. I've listened to the first episode twice.

On another note, Jeff Marek of Sportsnet is a big fan. He actually has a discussion with him on the Addendum series.
 

namttebih

Registered User
Dec 11, 2010
4,778
912
East York
Any Dave Eggers fans here? I've burned through most of his books over the last year or so.

Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever?

What is the what?

The Circle

The Parade
 
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Run the Jewels

Make Detroit Great Again
Jun 22, 2006
13,817
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In the Garage
Currently re-reading One Hundred Years of Solitude by Garcia-Marquez.
A classic and an enjoyable read by the master of magical realism.

The stories of H.P. Lovecraft, Gogol or Maupassant are often on hand when I want a short read and the poetry of Heine, Yeats, Rilke or Pound I keep at the ready when I have a few quiet minutes to kill.

I take my old first edition Kindle with me practically everywhere.
Great topic, hope this discussion takes off!
I read a bunch of Gabriel Garcia Marquez back in college, Love in the Time of Cholera was great as was One Hundred Years of Solitude.
 
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Run the Jewels

Make Detroit Great Again
Jun 22, 2006
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In the Garage
I enjoyed Ready Player One. If you like fiction, the 80s and 80s video games in particular you may enjoy reading this book.
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman was an interesting read.
Bad Blood on Theranos was an excellent read.
 

jkutswings

hot piss hockey
Jul 10, 2014
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The episode captions for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Roadster Racers, Super Why, Dinosaur Train, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, The Cat in the Hat, and PJ Masks as I change channels for my kids. :D
 

odin1981

There can be only 1!
Mar 8, 2013
5,031
881
Canton Mi
I've done a reread the Brandon SandersonThe Stormlight Archive series during Covid to keep the mind busy. It's afantasy series. Also to the poster who was reading the wheel of time series he is the author Robert Jordan picked to finish it after his death. He did the last three books of it. I also wanted to re-read of it because the fourth book of the series is due out in the middle of November so I wanted to refamilarize my memories of the series.
 

SirloinUB

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Aug 20, 2010
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I never read much Stephen King but currently enjoying his book Needful Things.
 
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Bench

3 is a good start
Aug 14, 2011
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I never read much Steven King but currently enjoying his book Needful Things.

King is a weird bird. He churns out so much material, that obviously there's going to be some duds. But the guy is such a competent writer and storyteller at the base level.

And despite him being considered a popular product to be enjoyed by the masses, but not studied by those in the finer arts of literature, he's also one of the incredibly rare authors to actually pen a book about the damn process of writing. Like really solid, concrete and helpful advice for writers.

One of my lit professors turned me to that book, "On Writing" and I can say it was an invaluable tool many instances.
 

SirloinUB

Registered User
Aug 20, 2010
4,642
2,120
Canada
King is a weird bird. He churns out so much material, that obviously there's going to be some duds. But the guy is such a competent writer and storyteller at the base level.

And despite him being considered a popular product to be enjoyed by the masses, but not studied by those in the finer arts of literature, he's also one of the incredibly rare authors to actually pen a book about the damn process of writing. Like really solid, concrete and helpful advice for writers.

One of my lit professors turned me to that book, "On Writing" and I can say it was an invaluable tool many instances.

Haven’t previously heard of “on writing” and I don’t necessarily have any interest in writing myself but that definitely sounds like an in interesting read/perspective.


Any of his other books you’re particularly fond of?
 

Bench

3 is a good start
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Haven’t previously heard of “on writing” and I don’t necessarily have any interest in writing myself but that definitely sounds like an in interesting read/perspective.


Any of his other books you’re particularly fond of?

On Writing is decent even if you're not into that hobby, although it's certainly a love letter for those that aspire to write. He details a lot his personal growth as a writer, weaving in stories from his life, and even shows an working copy and his edits of one of his stories (1408). Again, it's super rare for a writer to let you into their space and show you their unfinished work and how they arrived at the final product. Most are terribly secretive or obtuse with their process.

I'm really only familiar with the classics of his like Misery and The Shining. And just typing that reminded me of how many incredible movies were based on his books. Add The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption. It. Carrie. Many more I can't think of right now.

It's been years, but I remember really enjoying the novella Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. Back when I first discovered it, I was like, "Wait, this was a Stephen King story? Huh."
 
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DatsDeking

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Jun 25, 2013
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And despite him being considered a popular product to be enjoyed by the masses, but not studied by those in the finer arts of literature, he's also one of the incredibly rare authors to actually pen a book about the damn process of writing. Like really solid, concrete and helpful advice for writers.

One of my lit professors turned me to that book, "On Writing" and I can say it was an invaluable tool many instances.

English Writing major here. Can confirm.
 
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Winger98

Moderator
Feb 27, 2002
22,753
4,569
Cleveland
King is a weird bird. He churns out so much material, that obviously there's going to be some duds. But the guy is such a competent writer and storyteller at the base level.

And despite him being considered a popular product to be enjoyed by the masses, but not studied by those in the finer arts of literature, he's also one of the incredibly rare authors to actually pen a book about the damn process of writing. Like really solid, concrete and helpful advice for writers.

One of my lit professors turned me to that book, "On Writing" and I can say it was an invaluable tool many instances.

Chuck Palahniuk recently brought out a book about writing and it's a good one, too. In a similar vein is a book by Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.
 
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Vector Cereal

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Jan 30, 2020
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King is a weird bird. He churns out so much material, that obviously there's going to be some duds. But the guy is such a competent writer and storyteller at the base level.

And despite him being considered a popular product to be enjoyed by the masses, but not studied by those in the finer arts of literature, he's also one of the incredibly rare authors to actually pen a book about the damn process of writing. Like really solid, concrete and helpful advice for writers.

One of my lit professors turned me to that book, "On Writing" and I can say it was an invaluable tool many instances.

Although much less personal than "On Writing", "The Elements of Style" always makes an appearance when I have to do more serious writing. I've found a few of Orwell's essays very insightful too. The "All Art is Propaganda" collection, particularly "Politics and the English Language" and "Writers and Leviathan", was a great reflection on the parts of ourselves we put in our writing.
 
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Bondurant

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Jul 4, 2012
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Picked up a supply of books that should hold me over for awhile. Visited one of my favorite used bookshops since COVID stunk my world up. Found 3 of 4 books I was looking for and knew one of them was unlikely. Walked away with:

Jake's Thing by Kingsley Amis
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
Danse Macabre and On Writing by Stephen King

On E-Bay I found The Wrong Stuff by Bill Lee. Used to have a copy from a used shop in East Lansing that I donated years ago. Wanted to replace for a long time but could never find the specific mass paperback edition I wanted.

Another online purchase, from Crowbar Press, is Bruiser: The World's Most Dangerous Wrestler by Richard Vicek. Doubt many here will know who Dick the Bruiser was. He was a famous wrestler best known for his tag matches with The Crusher for the AWA. He was huge in Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Chicago and Indianapolis. Also had a number of runs in Detroit and he was involved in a notorious incident involving Alex Karras and the Lindell AC (which is the specific reason I bought the book).
 

Bench

3 is a good start
Aug 14, 2011
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Any Dave Eggers fans here? I've burned through most of his books over the last year or so.

Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever?

What is the what?

The Circle

The Parade

Can't believe I missed this post the first time.

I'm a huge Eggers fan and if I'm pressed, he's my favorite modern author. I've been following him since he was editor for McSweeney's, so it's been awhile now that I think about it.

The first work of his I read is his memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. After that I was hooked. Instantly bought everything he published from there forward.

I still love going back to the short story collection How We Are Hungry. I used to select stories from that to teach in my lit classes to change up the usual routine from Poe, Hemingway, Hawthorne and such.
 

turkleton85

Registered User
Dec 12, 2017
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520
Great Thread Idea!

I read a lot of books until the birth of our son. Since then (1 1/2 years) i've read zero books, unfortunatly.... i read almost every book by Stephen King, and about 2/3 of his books are either good or great, in my opinion.

Another Author i really love to read is Roger Smith, who writes very dark criminal Stuff that plays in south africa. The last book i read was "Kill you friends" by John Niven, which i didn't finish yet. But i don't like it, i am around 50% through the book. Its about a manager in the music industry and the dark side of the business. But it's a little bit to over-the-top
 

Mister Ed

Registered User
Dec 21, 2008
5,254
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A Curious History of Sex by Kate Lister.

As a historian, this is a great read / audio book!
 

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