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ketoneus's avatar

What are you reading right now?

Asked by ketoneus (1179points) September 6th, 2007

I just started “To Kill a Mocking Bird” by Harper Lee. Never had to read it in high school, but knew it was a classic. I was hooked in the first paragraph.

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39 Answers

desberg's avatar

“Quiet Strength” by Tony Dungy
Excellent book.

ava's avatar

“Bo One Belongs Here More Than You” by Miranda July. It is a wonderful little book of short stories that really rouse you into strange thoughts.

GD_Kimble's avatar

“No Country For Old Men” by Cormack McCarthy. Genius.

TruMobius's avatar

Just started the last Harry Potter. Which will be a hard transition to that from reading The third book of the, Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever series.

LesPierreCustom's avatar

not currently reading anything from him right now, but if you’re interested in a suggestion, check out dave eggers’ works. “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius,” “You Shall Know our Velocity,” and “What is the What” are all excellent. I haven’t read his collection of short stories yet, but I will since he’s brilliant.

gailcalled's avatar

THE ELECTRIC MICHAELANGO by Sarah Hall; the unlikely hero is a tattoo artist, first in a British seaside resort and then in Coney Island. Period is between WWI and II. Also, THE NAMESAKE, by Jumpha Lahiri – expats from Calcutta settle in Cambridge; the husand thrives w. his academic career, the wife suffers away from her family and Bengali roots. Also rereading many Agatha Christie’s. Would second all of Cormack McCarthy’s novels.

gailcalled's avatar

Why dupes? and see siblings at right.

syz's avatar

The Omnivores Dilemma by Pollen

gailcalled's avatar

All of MIchael Pollan’s books; particularly if you want to give up eating.

syz's avatar

Yup. Gonna have to eat only raw, home grown veggies (although The Botany of Desire didn’t put me off food, just enjoyed the book).

mirza's avatar

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

samkusnetz's avatar

i’m reading fluther.com right now… :)

the amber spyglass by philip pullman

omfgTALIjustIMDu's avatar

Kirinyaga (forgot the author’s name). I just started it last night but I was pulled in immediately.

Fallstand's avatar

Choke by Chuck Palahniuk

susanhaarman's avatar

just finished IV by Chuck Klosterman, highly recommend it

kevbo's avatar

@Fallstand, I’m a rabid Palaniuk fan. I’ll probably read them all again someday.

Now reading The Magus thanks to extolsmith. (@andrew, the bookstore was out of the The Beach, but that’s next.)

Two cheeseys that I just put down are Company by Max Barry, which is an office politics romp with a really great plot twist, and Skin Tight by Carl Hiasson, which is a South Floridian, private eye, action story and also a fun ride.

GothGirl1313's avatar

The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz, The Portable Dorothy Parker and a collection of Noam Chomsky essays.

Jonsonite's avatar

“The Scar” By China Mieville. It’s amazing! Nautical fantasy that feels like cyberpunk.

sdeutsch's avatar

Just finished Magic Street by Orson Scott Card – great story with a totally unexpected twist in the middle – I highly recommend it!

syz's avatar

Hmmm. I had just about given up on Orson Scott Card…..

gilgamesh's avatar

Gulag Archepilago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
just finished Joy Luck Club by amy tan

kevbo's avatar

God, the Gulag Archipelago was a fave of mine (read 1 and 2 and think there’s a 3 out there somewhere). What a crazy existence that must have been. It boggles my mind that a nation of people could perpetuate that kind of system. I mean, I know it happens, but on that kind of scale and for so long, it’s just so hard to fathom. The whole episode (not sure if this was in 1 or 2) where everyone is applauding Stalin or Lenin or whomever for 10 minutes or more, and no one wants to be the first one to sit down. Sure enough the first guy at the head table to stop applauding and sit down is sent to the gulag. Nutty.

sdeutsch's avatar

@syz, yeah, I wasn’t thrilled with OSC’s last few books either, but Magic Street made me remember why I loved him so much. It’s no Ender’s Game, but it’s definitely worth a read…

rowenaz's avatar

The Golden Compass – but I don’t get it…..

mirza's avatar

Manifesto: Three Classic Essays on how to Change the World by Ernesto Che Guevara, Karl Marx and Rosa Luxembourg

rickyseven's avatar

Lisey’s Story By Stephen King, Steal This Computer Book 4.0 by Wallace Wang, The Extreme Searcher’s Internet Handbook by Randolph Hock and The Bible.

christybird's avatar

I can already tell this site is going to be a great place to find book recommendations..!

I am reading Mrs. Dalloway right now (Virginia Woolf). It’s challenging but rather lovely. This summer I read “Ender’s Shadow” by Orson Scott Card which was GREAT! And I love Phillip Pullman’s Dark Materials trilogy, I hope the movie that’s coming out is cool and not lame. I always wanted a familiar…

gilgamesh's avatar

well i’m reading another two stories
one for school and the other for my own enjoyment
There are no children by Alex Kolowitz i think
Some short stories by Tolstoy, right now it’s The Cossacks
I just finished Death of Ivan Illyich and Happiy After both of which i loved

gailcalled's avatar

Anthony Trollope: BARCHESTER TOWERS, THE WARDEN,
Elizabeth Gilbert: THE LAST AMERICAN MAN
Will: THE TEMPEST
R Mistry: A FINE BALANCE (Txs to Rovdog)
BUTTERFLIES OF NORTH AMERICA
Barbara Kingsolver: PRODIGAL SUMMER
Thomas Hardy: TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES

gailcalled's avatar

Sorry, sorry, sorry. I have no idea what is causing the echo.

mirza's avatar

re-reading On The Road by Jack Kerouac

christybird's avatar

Vanity Fair by Thackeray… I know I’m not supposed to (Thackeray himself tells me so) but I’m kind of rooting for snotty, clever Becky Sharp to triumph in the end.

gailcalled's avatar

@christygrosbeak: Well, make sure to skip TESS OF THE D’VILLES 8-d

omfgTALIjustIMDu's avatar

October Sky (would not recommend it).

gailcalled's avatar

THE LAST AMERICAN MAN; Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Love, Pray). Bio of Eustace Conway, who didn’t use a match for 4 years, never goes to the Doc’s, and makes me want to barbeque the next road kill I see..

Publisher Comments:
....Gilbert explores the fascinating true story of Eustace Conway. In 1977, at the age of seventeen, Conway left his family’s comfortable suburban home to move to the Appalachian Mountains. For more than two decades he has lived there, making fire with sticks, wearing skins from animals he has trapped, and trying to convince Americans to give up their materialistic lifestyles and return with him back to nature. To Gilbert, Conway’s mythical character challenges all our assumption

christybird's avatar

I’m reading a series of teen novels about a human girl in love with a vampire by Stephenie Meyer (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse). Even though I am slightly embarrassed to be seen reading them in public, they are ridiculously addicting. I needed something trashy and fun before next semester starts and I have no more time for pleasure reading – these are perfect!

FujiokaHaruhi192's avatar

Uglies by Scott Westerfield
It’s a good read. It’s a freaky thought that we could be looked at that way by the people of the future…

AshlynM's avatar

The Square Root of Murder.

omfgTALIjustIMDu's avatar

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan. READ IT!

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