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Summer Reading Thread 2008

Inspired by the conversation I'm having with jenniepie about Atlas Shrugged (one of her suggestions in last year's Summer Reading thread).

What do you plan on reading this spring/summer?

Istanbul - Orhan Pamuk
The Age of Turbulence - Alan Greenspan
This is Your Brain on Music - Daniel J. Levtin (finally have to finish this!)
Yellow Dog - Martin Amis
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

A Thousand Splendid Suns is amazing. I devoured on a plane ride home from England. You will love.

I haven't read a non-school book in a while and am hoping to change over the summer but haven't put too much thought into it. Open to lots of suggestions though!

edit: Only 3 books I currently have on my shelf that I haven't got to yet are Blindness and Seeing by Jose Saramago, so will probably tackle them first, followed by Douglas Coupland's The Gum Thief.

Synopsis of each book plz

Finished Sword Song by Bernard Cornwell.
Most famous for the Sharpe series, the Sword Song is book 4 of series about England during King Alfred's era which is hardly covered in historical fiction.
Decent plot, lots of action and overall enjoyable read. (The entire series pretty much is fun)

I have 22 books on my "to-read" list on Goodreads atm, but there's no way I'll get through them all this summer.

5 I'd like to read though are:

Beasts of No Nation - Iweala Uzodinma
Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth - James Lovelock
The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology - Ray Kurzweil
The World Without Us - Alan Weisman
Solaris - Kurt Kelm Stanislaw Lem

Anna Karenina - Tolstoy

Crime and Punishment - Dostoyevsky
(unfortunately can not read russian and must read mediocre translations)

A collection of short stories and plays by Oscar Wilde

P�re Goriot - Honor� de Balzac (original version FTW)

Runaway - Alice Munro

I'm also going to attempt Bram Stoker's Dracula again (got scared shitless last time and couldn't sleep... there is something SO F*CKING CREEPY about that book and the way the author transposes the plot and characters into your head)

Does anyone else on this forum love Jane Austen???

I think Bram Stoker's Dracula is one of the best romances ever. I love that book.

quote:

Originally posted by Ania_xox Does anyone else on this forum love Jane Austen???

Sense and Sensibility is in my top 5 favourite novels ever.

As far as Oscar Wilde - The Importance of Being Earnest is still one of the funniest pieces of literature out there.

Haha shit, forgot about that one...read it in high school, and yes it's hilarious!

quote:

Originally posted by jennypie I think Bram Stoker's Dracula is one of the best romances ever. I love that book.

So I have f*cking heard! So key to the understanding of the Victorian period of English Lit - I got through Shelley's Frankenstein just fine... and I kinda like the creepy feeling of reading alone in bed with these insane characters coming alive in your head... but when I was reading Dracula, at one point I actually started trembling. LOL
I stopped right around the part where the narrator (Jonathon?) hears the women's voices cackling or shrieking or something

quote:

Originally posted by Irishaddict Sense and Sensibility is in my top 5 favourite novels ever. As far as Oscar Wilde - The Importance of Being Earnest is still one of the funniest pieces of literature out there.

Really??? Have you read/enjoyed Pride and Prejudice? My fave book of all time. Sense and Sensibility comes third after Persuasion for me. I loved Hugh Grant in the movie though.

and OMG The Importance of Being Earnest is genius. The film adaptation isn't half bad either - Rupert Everett!!! <3

P&P doesn't touch S&S for me. I fucking hated Elizabeth lol.

I like books about military stuff with experimental weapons, like really awesome jets.

Therefore, I like every single book by Dale Brown.

And here you all are talking about classic literature. Thread ruined.

quote:

Originally posted by Irishaddict P&P doesn't touch S&S for me. I fucking hated Elizabeth lol.

I'm honestly shocked... for me she's one of the most wonderful heroines in all of british literature and no actress in any of the adaptations has been able to encompass her character fully (the day she played opposite Mr. Darcy was the day I began to hate Kiera Knightley)

PS. Ellenore... fine. But Marriane is a f*cking retard!!!! Totally doesn't deserve Colonel Brandon! She's a delusional monkey... plus she was played by Kate Winslet which ruined everything.

Re: Summer Reading Thread 2008

quote:

Originally posted by The Highroller Inspired by the conversation I'm having with jenniepie about Atlas Shrugged (one of her suggestions in last year's Summer Reading thread).

How did you like it?? (I'm pretty sure that was my suggestion though!! )

"This Is Your Brain On Music" is good too.

quote:

Originally posted by jennypie The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology - Ray Kurzweil The World Without Us - Alan Weisman Solaris - Kurt Kelm Stanislaw Lem

Next time you're in T.O I'll lend you The World Without Us

These are the books on my list:
-Ghost Wars by Steve Coll
-Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky
Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov

Re: Re: Summer Reading Thread 2008

quote:

Originally posted by infinity HiGH I also wanna read... Lolita.[/i]

I will bring my copy to the cevapi dinner
amazing book
twisted but amazing
GAH! such FANTASTIC stylistic use of the english language. Nabakov is a linguistic genius.

quote:

Originally posted by VERTiG0 I like books about military stuff with experimental weapons, like really awesome jets. Therefore, I like every single book by Dale Brown. And here you all are talking about classic literature. Thread ruined.

The books I mentioned aren't classic lit (except for Lolita of course)

quote:

Originally posted by Ania_xox I will bring my copy to the cevapi dinner amazing book twisted but amazing GAH! such FANTASTIC stylistic use of the english language. Nabakov is a linguistic genius.

Didn't he write it in English first, and then translate it into Russian?

The Letter Opener - Kyo Maclear
This one is written by a Japanese Canadian Author
Beautifuly written, breathtaking novel


Bel Canto - Ann Patchett
About a Hostage Taking....still in the processing of reading this one.


Divisadero - Michael Ondaatje
Looks amazing...I absolutely love this author


Late Nights on Air - Elizabeth Hay
in the process of reading

Re: Re: Summer Reading Thread 2008

quote:

Originally posted by infinity HiGH How did you like it?? (I'm pretty sure that was my suggestion though!! )

Pffft, and whose copy did YOU read?

quote:

Originally posted by infinity HiGH Next time you're in T.O I'll lend you The World Without Us

You have Solaris, too, don't you? I'd like to borrow that as well please!

quote:

Originally posted by infinity HiGH Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov

Almost bought this today...but 21 dollars is a rip off. Gonna get it from the library instead!

the book that touched me deeply recently - The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

quote:

It is an unconventional love story that centers on a man with a strange genetic disorder that causes him to unpredictably time-travel and his wife, an artist, who has to cope with his frequent absences and dangerous experiences. In this book, unlike many other time travel stories, it is not possible to change the past or future.

and omg, it's coming out as a movie in Dec'08, with Rachel McAdams as the wife!

Re: Re: Re: Summer Reading Thread 2008

quote:

Originally posted by jennypie Almost bought this today...but 21 dollars is a rip off. Gonna get it from the library instead!

was this perhaps my influence in the previous reading thread??? If so, I will feel all warm and wonderful.

quote:

Originally posted by Ania_xox Does anyone else on this forum love Jane Austen???

I was forced to read Emma and P&P for highschool english... rough!

Re: Re: Re: Re: Summer Reading Thread 2008

quote:

Originally posted by Ania_xox was this perhaps my influence in the previous reading thread??? If so, I will feel all warm and wonderful.

It's been one of those books that I've always meant to read...but I'm sure seeing it there is what made me actively pursue it!

My summer reading list is massive. This is going to be the summer of reading for me.

quote:

Originally posted by Ania_xox and OMG The Importance of Being Earnest is genius. The film adaptation isn't half bad either - Rupert Everett!!! <3

The Importance of Being Earnest is one of my most favourite pieces of literature. So witty. And the film is very clever as well, it was amazing to see it come alive.

I've had Lady of Windermere's Fan, Salome, A Woman of No Importance, and An Ideal Husband sitting here for awhile... I really hope to read them this summer.

I also want to read more John Irving books, I read The World According to Garp, a while back and LOVED it.

Im currently rereading Blindness by Jose Saramago... very good book.

Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making
http://us.macmillan.com/superclass

Picked this up on my way home from Boston today.

The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch

I don't know why but I'm always a sucker for books like this

http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/

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