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Contemporary Reading: Doin' The Ruins
Posted: Oct 28, 2007 in Things to do, Culture
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With fall asserting itself in earnest, and the weather beginning to whisper hints of winter, the cooling temperatures have already begun to dictate what activities are comfortable outdoors. Not necessarily a bad thing.
While I do enjoy preening my tiny yard, playing in the dirt, and flinging Frisbees, fall---and particularly winter---affords me the opportunity to add an extra book to my reading list of the moment. As far as choice is concerned, my predominate urge (as with my choice in music) changes with the seasons; but in the colder months (and in addition to my already varied reading choices) I find myself inclined to play catch up with more contemporary novels, resulting in a heavier a messenger bag and a taller stack of essays and fiction on my nightstand as I drift toward sleep.
Right now I'm about a year late, as I'm reading Scott Smith's claustrophobic 2006 novel, The Ruins (which makes my safe return from Mexico in the summer of 2000 all the more gratifying). After this, I've got my eye on Stephen King's, Cell, from back in 2006.
So, as far as contemporary reading goes: with what books are you trying to play catch up?
Contemporary: Cormack McCarthy's "The Road," which I've been wanting to read for a year at least. That's added to my growing stack of classic lit, poetry, non-fiction, and academic related reading.
I've been reading The Murder Room by P.D. James and I have a couple of Nick Hornby books on my shelves that I want to read after that.
Am a late-comer to the cult that is Christopher Moore fans and have recently finished Lamb, which now tops my must-loan-to-everyone-i've-ever-met list. So far as non-contemp. goes, I actually picked up a copy of Lolita again but haven't cracked it yet (fall felt like a good time to revisit that horribly attractive unease which comes from reading Nabokov)
Am a late-comer to the cult that is Christopher Moore fans and have recently finished ...
Okay..put me down on the waiting list...I wanna borrow Lamb.
You can have it as soon as my dad is done with Dave's copy :)
You can have it as soon as my dad is done with Dave's copy :)
Oh my God! My copy still exists!!!
While you are waiting, check out Christopher Moores "Dirty Job" or "Fluke"
s.h.
I'm cycling back through some Robert Ludlum (the Bourne series at the moment ... totally different from the movies and good fun to get my mind off work).
Recently, though, I also finally finished Jeffery Eugendies' Middlesex and went on a bit of Michael Chabon bender.
As a bit of an aside, and I don't know if anybody else reads him as much as I do, but does it seem like Chuck Palahniuk's novels get less and less compelling the more he writes? I mean seriously, my enjoyment of them is in direct correlation to their release date.
Am a late-comer to the cult that is Christopher Moore fans and have recently finished ...
I just finished "Dirty Job" and apparently I've been missing out on the Christopher Moore goodness. Freaking hilarious and absurd, yet touching and realistic and wonderful. I've already lent it out and am in need of more to feed the ridiculous hunger he's created. But, for now, I'm catching up on some old David Sedaris.
Dirty Job? excellent...kitty!
(also - in jeopardy of diluting the thread - you ought to check out the audiobook-versions of Sedaris, it's great to hear him read some of his own stuff)
I've had a copy of Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal,Vegetable, Miracle" next to the sofa for weeks now, and I just haven't gotten to it. Maybe at this point I should save it for reading in the spring as inspiration to expand my modest vegetable garden and make a more concentrated effort to seek out farmers markets!