Books - What are you reading?

It's really good. I particularly enjoyed the part where he fights a dinosaur.

Cannot wait then!

I like the Ballard one about the funny singing plants. The one about the City of Time is pretty good too. He was pretty out there

Have you tried "High Rise"....My fav Ballard...

Just finished The Four Fingers of Death by Rick Moody. It's the best 700 page novel about a Mars mission, talking chimpanzee and murderous disembodied hand that I've ever read.

Anna Karenina is amazing, dooks. You lucky bastard.

Anna Karenina is amazing, dooks. You lucky bastard.

Recommended by your bad self a few pages back dude. Loving it so far (4 hours on a train on Tuesday and lazy afternoon off work on Wednesday).

Will report in on completion.

Recommended by your bad self a few pages back dude. Loving it so far (4 hours on a train on Tuesday and lazy afternoon off work on Wednesday).

Will report in on completion.

Good stuff, so I did. I'm reading lots of Burroughs at the moment and its fvcking with my head. Interspersed with John Donne.

Just finishing part 2 of the Michael Palin diaries and starting Anna Karenina

I thought the first volume was surprisingly dull; and he was really pre-occupied with money.
I've just read Unspeak by Steven Poole which, paradoxically, demonstrated that there was really no need for him to coin the word 'unspeak' but has lots of decent stuff in it if nothing really original.
And I'm reading some more Simenon; eventually someone on this thread will come along to say they like Simenon too. But then maybe he doesn't fvck (sic) with your head enough.

Anna Karenina is amazing, dooks. You lucky bastard.

Really? Amazing?

Working through Understanding Comics but Scott McCloud (I always want to add of the clan McCloud whenever I say this).

Thinking about being patient and working on creating my own comics at some point.

Beginners' guides to:
The Brain
Philosophy of Science
History of Science
The Middle East- written by a v. close friend's dad.

oh and
clinical medicine by kumar and clark

recently...
Robinson- Chris Petit
Cosi Fan Tutti - Michael Dibdin
Gone Tomorrow - Lee Child
and a dip into Beckett's letters (which are laugh-out-loud funny in places)

Got through two Bs last week, a Bukowski and a Burroughs: Ham on Rye and Junky. Thought both were tremendous, both seemed extremely honest, Burroughs in his efforts at explaining what his life was like when he was hooked on heroin and Bukowski at describing his depressing (and often hilarious) adolescence.

Bukowski impressed me so much that im starting on another of his right now, Factotum.

lonely planet or rough guide?

in general which one do you prefer?

Lonely Plant shoestring guides are good. I found my only Rough Guide experience (India) to be totally shit. Reviews totally contradicted by Travelpod and other blogs. And a totally shitty index system and incomprehensible system of keys and stuff.

totally

I just started reading The Griffters by Jim Thompson. so far so good...

Lonely Plant

Made me chuckle. :)

Just finished The Devils Double, By Latif Lahia. The real story of the man who was forced to become the double of Saddam Hussein's sadistic son. Really good book, but really fucking shocking too.

Just finished 'The Music of the Primes' by Marcus du Sautoy, maths professor and fellow of All Souls' college. It's about the Riemann hypothesis, its implications, and the people that have worked on it. Unlike many 'popular' scientists, du Sautoy writes like a dream, and he knows how to tell a gripping story. I'm no maths geek but I found myself getting up early to read this. Highly recommended.

slowly getting through will self 's discography, onto book 3:
My idea of fun

Over the last month I've read:
And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks by Kerouac and Burroughs, nice read although it's all been said before.
A Little History of the World by Gombrich, very much worth it, beautifully written.
and The Winner Stands Alone by Paulo Coelho, don't bother, the only reason why I finished it is because I started it. Awful book and nothing like some of his other books.

M. John Harrison's "Signs of Life". I read "Light", before. It seems I really do not like his style and won't come back after this one.

Gravity's Rainbow, by Thomas Pynchon. I had to wrestle my Dad's old copy out of his cold, dead hands and I can see why. Although the stupid names put me off a bit to begin with, 100 pages in and it's settled into being one of the best books I've ever read. One of those books that you put off reading until you know you'll have time for it, because you want to get the most out of each sentence.

Magnus Mills, Explorers of the New Century. Love Magnus.. Without him I'd just read Beckett over and over and over again .

bumping this thread, it's great to get some inspiration on what to read next.
So what are YOUR favourite books ?