Books - What are you reading?

started 'the strange death of dr kelly' last night. fascinating stuff so far, see how it pans out

Not wishing to spoil it but I think the clue's in the title... :P

i went to buy Mailer's harlots ghost the other day but i couldn't get over the £15 price tag for a very bendy cheap looking copy that looked like it would fall apart before finishing it's 1000+ pages, so ended up with bloods a river by James Elroy. i'm working away for 10 days so hopefully it's a good read or i'll be stuck with european hotel tv

heres a new one for you book people
[ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Its-All-About-Bike-Happiness/dp/1846142628"]It's All About the Bike: The Pursuit of Happiness On Two Wheels: Amazon.co.uk: Robert Penn: Books[/ame]

The Yiddish Policemen's Union - finished this a while ago. Heartily recommended: a noir detective story set in an alternate history world where Israel never happened, and a Jewish state was created in Alaska instead. Dark, deep, and at times very, very funny.

Currently reading the new David Mitchell, have high hopes for it as I've loved all his previous novels.

Sticking to the Jewish theme I have recently read "The Book Thief" by Marcus Zusak. A very clever and original writing Style - great story.

animal farm, then planning to read some from this list

Shit.
I've only read thirteen on that list.

Ha, only 10 for me.

8 for me.

Worst part is I own a lot more than 10 of them.

8 for me too. Thought it was 9, but I only ever picked up and read a couple of chapters of The Naked Lunch

oooh is it a whose most well read comp, let me have look,
15 here, interesting they have the Graphic novels on there, doubt that would have been the case when I was geeking out to Dark Knight Returns in, (checks reciept in first printing) 1986
15 is still poor, Wigan Will Will come and berate us soon..

I've read 17, but a "Dance to the Music of Time" is a series of about 12 books, so that should count more.

I've just re-read "The Mint", by T E Lawrence. It's wonderfully written, especially the chapter about the motorbike. Amazing how someone so famous could just decide to start again with a different name, and nobody caught him out for ages. It could never happen now, with the tabloids and the interweb.

I was getting all bent out of shape over that list and some major exclusions until I clued in it was the top 100 English language books. Reading about reading fail.

This list is an interesting comparison:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/may/08/books.booksnews

10 on that list as well. Awful.

edit: make that 12, I didn't see Othello or King Lear for Shakespeare.

meh 15, but one can waste a life getting bent out of shape about lists. There are hundreds of great books not on that list.

Plus I read 2 Powell's but a 12 book series will have to wait for retirement. do even worse on the high brow grauniad list...and I don't think a list like that should have multiple works by one author. surely one wants breadth on a reading list of top 100 whatevers...?

Just Started on Three Men in a boat
Inspired after a Lee Valley Ride
;-)

meh 15, but one can waste a life getting bent out of shape about lists. There are hundreds of great books not on that list.

Plus I read 2 Powell's but a 12 book series will have to wait for retirement. do even worse on the high brow grauniad list...and I don't think a list like that should have multiple works by one author. surely one wants breadth on a reading list of top 100 whatevers...?

That list is populated by opinions submitted by selected authors from around the world. Different authors will feel differently about different books by the same author.

And I don't think it's a more high brow list at all. The other one has its share of stuff that would be considered pretentious.

They choose Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys but it is far from her best book even if it is the best known so I think it casts doubt on the rest of the list. I wouldn't have picked Brideshead as one of my Waugh choices for instance. And Atonment is a better book than Gentlemen Prefer Blondes or Diary Of A Nobody? And nothing by Salinger?
But that is the point of these top 100 lists; to annoy people so they write in and the paper/website gets free copy.

10 on that list as well. Awful.

edit: make that 12, I didn't see Othello or King Lear for Shakespeare.

well, they are not really among his best novels are they?

This list is an interesting comparison:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/may/08/books.booksnews

that list is of all-time, the other is since 1923; which explains why Ulysses is not on it.

15 is still poor, Wigan Will Will come and berate us soon..

consider yourself berated

I am not joking when I say I have read none of the books on that list (in vélo libre's post), I know I am going to get a good sound beating for saying that, but that's just how it is, I find reading fiction very very difficult, it really gives me zero pleasure.

But . . I did enjoy reading the list itself, it had numbers down the side.