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rabid redux......grins
rabid redux......grins i've been doing a lot of re-reading lately. partly because i can't seem to get off my ass and go stock up on some new books. but it seems to be something i do each spring - revisit the books that spoke to me in the depths of winter. when i was young, i could get so lost in a book that i wouldn't hear mama call me to dinner until she stood over me and slipped the book out of my hands. wonderful isn't it when a writer can grab you that tight? a good book can be read endlessly and you'll find something new each time...a turn of phrase...an idea to nibble on...a character that catches hold this time and shows you something true about yourself. i read dreck too folks...what i call bus books... and i have my favorite bbook writers like kellerman, hoag, koontz. and i read anything that stephen king writes...i know a lot of folks think he's a lightweight but i have to say, he's a gotcha writer. he'll grab hold of your imagination and drag you along, sometimes unwillingly, but you still have to know what happens. and i also like to find the bits of poetry and allusion he drops in his stories... some of my favorite writers are dead. that pisses me off. i'll never get to make the trip to the bookstore, filled with anticipation to pick up their newest work. so........read anything lately that touched you? made you sigh or cry or laugh? wanna share? You cannot conceive the many without the one. |
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I just read Paolo Coelho's The Alchemist this morning, and can't believe I hadn't read it until now. Sometimes you find things when you'll most appreciate them. Favorite re-reads: Mark Twain, Charles Bukowski, Kurt Vonnegut, Tom Wolfe's older stuff, Kerouac, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The English Patient, Godel Escher Bach, Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Guilty pleasures: Elmore Leonard, Stephen King, James Ellroy, Carl Hiaasen, George Pelecanos. Old faves that are the best bet to make me laugh: Re/Search #11: Pranks, edited by V. Vale; and Bob Ross' Joy of Painting.
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5/13/2007 12:31 pm |
In our area we have a "Dirty Book" store. An older couple that uses a former service station as an used book store. You can still smell the grease and gasoline. Full of treasures that cost only a few dollars. Not much for fiction, but I love to read tech manuals and the like from the early 20th century. Wow have things changed in just 50 years. First Visit, not the last.. Lost
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I agree that Stephen King is underrated. I haven't read anything of his for quite a while, but 'Misery' - oh my god that was a scary book. My two latest reads were: The Painted Drum, by Louise Erdrich; which I would recommend highly. And Wicked, the fleshed out story of the 'wicked' witch character in the Wizard of Oz (I have not seen the Broadway musical, but thought the book was wonderful). It's not easy being green
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5/13/2007 4:09 pm |
*sigh* I haven't had anything that gripping to read since The Time Traveler's Wife. I'm not a big Stephen King fan, I'm not much into horror books. I do think that King is a genius though, my copy of his book "On Writing" is dog-eared. Not all who wander are lost.
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5/13/2007 7:44 pm |
i mostly read non-fiction...LOOOOOOVE history books...but... *looks to see if anyone is listening* my most recent "favorite reads" have been two works of fiction by the comedian, Steve Martin: "Shopgirl" and "The Pleasure of My Company" what a multi-talented man! ~all my love~ lily
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5/13/2007 9:38 pm |
I am a Stephen King fan, too...though his more recent books have not been appealing, so I have not read them. I did, however, complete the Dark Tower series...that was my favorite of his...I think the first and second books are still the best. Recently read Angela's Ashes, and really enjoyed that. I have had so little time for reading, I almost don't have the patience to sit still long enough to get through the book! There is so much demanding my attention... I am a reader of fiction...I do not usually choose much else, unless it comes highly recommended. I read to escape...to take a mini vacation...kind of like going to a movie. My "secret" pleasure is the Harry Potter books...I enjoy them immensely. When she has a new book, I re-read all the prior books so I am "caught" up!! LOL! I don't think I will have time for that this time...maybe I will just re-read book 6... "All you'll get from strangers is surface pleasantry or indifference. Only someone who loves you will criticize you." - Judith Crist, crack film critic
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5/14/2007 10:58 am |
Hi Oui....my bedroom is lttered with short story anthologies. Currently going through one i picked up for a pitance in a great shop stuffed with books "Oxfor Book of Short Stories" featuring writers from Sir Walter Scott to John Updike. THey say that DH Lawrence was a better short story writer than a novelist and his story "The Rocking Horse Winner" suports that theory. Interesting different view of Ireland Liam O'Flarerty etc. New book I recommend to all readers and writers especially: "101 Best Scenes Ever Written - A romp Through OLiterature for Writers & Readers" by Barnaby Conrad. Pulls greats scens from the best writers stories, movie scripts etc and goes through them with wit and insight. Miss ya...
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5/14/2007 12:56 pm |
OK WE....I just finished Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian. The entire time I was reading it I kept thinking of you...In fact, I was going to send you an email telling you about it today....serendipitous, no... Also, anything by Mark Helprin is great, but Winters Tale is just the best..... Robert Stephenson also is a great writer....Cryptonomicon and the Baroque Trilogy are truly awesome.... Then of course, there's Tom Robbins....anything he's written has been wonderful... Finally, there is Tom Wolf with his newest novel I am Charlotte Simmons....a great read and truly accurate...at least from what my daughter says.... Is this enough for a week or two....but, please read the Bohjalian book...I'm fascinated in hearing your opinion....Haunting and one I'll think about for years....
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>>she wrote the beet queen, right? i loved that - will add this one to my list Yup, that's her! She also wrote Love Medicine. I had not read anything by her since those two books (well except for the semi-disastrous book she wrote with her late husband - think it was called the Crown of Columbus, or something like that?). I thought this one was a winner.
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