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[sikora]

I'm going to toss out titles of the books I've read this month,  give them a numeric rating (1-5) of the pleasure I experienced reading the them.  Feel free to add your own, or comment on my comments, etc.

F. Scott Fitzgerald:  This Side of Paradise.  Rating 3. Very internal

Truman Capote:  Other Voices, Other Rooms.  Rating 5.  Loved the photo on the jacket.

Carol Shields:  The Stone Diaries. Rating 5.  I especially loved the opening chapter, the birth.

J. K. Rowlings. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  Rating 2.  I like the earlier books better.

Michael Shaara.  Killer Angels. Rating 3.  I heard so many good things about this novel that I am surprised that I didn't like it more.

Frank Chin.  Donald Duk. Rating 4.  I enjoyed the way Chin challenges the stereotypes of the Chinese in America.

[erictho]

Just finished Planet of the Apes, and plan to now read a scholarly study of the Planet of the Apes movies (can't think of the title, but it was mentioned lo these many moons ago by larryc and is sitting on the to-be-read stack at home).

I loved Stone Diaries and yeah, Rowling started off strong (Prisoner of Azkhaban is my favourite) but got weaker and more bloated as she went on.

[sikora]

Just finished Planet of the Apes, and plan to now read a scholarly study of the Planet of the Apes movies (can't think of the title, but it was mentioned lo these many moons ago by larryc and is sitting on the to-be-read stack at home).

I loved Stone Diaries and yeah, Rowling started off strong (Prisoner of Azkhaban is my favourite) but got weaker and more bloated as she went on.

Let me know what the title of the Apes book is.

I am 2/3 the way through Brooks World War Z. I'm enjoying the read, and it's fun to catch some of Brooks' embedded social commentary (like the former Presidential Chief of Staff currently shovelling cow poop).  I am not going to see the movie, however. 

I went to the book's webpage. According to the test on the site, I only have a 34% chance of surviving a zombie infestation.

[inthelab]

Just finished Planet of the Apes, and plan to now read a scholarly study of the Planet of the Apes movies (can't think of the title, but it was mentioned lo these many moons ago by larryc and is sitting on the to-be-read stack at home).

.... Rowling started off strong (Prisoner of Azkhaban is my favourite) but got weaker and more bloated as she went on.

Yes, that's my fave too.  Hated HP 7.  Yuck.

Back to topic, been reading a lot of scholarly works on Tolkien; just finished Shippey's "Tolkien: Author of the Century", and another book on Tolkien by Noel on the myths Tolkien used.  Almost done with "A Tolkien Companion."  Read Carpenter's biography of him, think I have his letters, which I ought to read too.  Can't really score these books on a 1 to 5 scale though. 

On edit: totally forgot the Trollope kick we've started at our house!  We had ploughed through Elizabeth Gaskell over the summer, then moved on to Anthony Trollope.

1) The Way We Live Now-- wow, just wow.
2) The Warden -- slow, but I really like Mr. Harding a lot; maybe one of the most decent characters in English language literature
3) Barchester Towers -- slower than "The Warden;" guess I'll have to get the rest of the series to round it out.

Next up-- "He Knew He Was Right."

[erictho]

Let me know what the title of the Apes book is.

Will do!

I am 2/3 the way through Brooks World War Z. I'm enjoying the read, and it's fun to catch some of Brooks' embedded social commentary (like the former Presidential Chief of Staff currently shovelling cow poop).  I am not going to see the movie, however. 

I went to the book's webpage. According to the test on the site, I only have a 34% chance of surviving a zombie infestation.

Loved World War Z! And I had no idea they are making it into a movie! I love zombie movies! I'm off to take the test! (Even thinking about such a test makes me want to stockpile water, canned goods, ammo, and construction materials).

[erictho]

sikora, the book is Eric Greene Planet of the Apes as American Myth: Race, Politics, and Popular Culture, (Wesleyan 1996).

[sikora]

sikora, the book is Eric Greene Planet of the Apes as American Myth: Race, Politics, and Popular Culture, (Wesleyan 1996).

It's in my database of books-for-sikora1

[hmaria1609]

I'm almost done with Margaret Campbell Barnes's novel My Lady of Cleves which has been reissued.  It's the story of Anne of Cleves.  So far I've been enjoying it. I've read Philippa Gregory's The Boleyn Inheritance too.

[aandsdean]

Just finished Planet of the Apes, and plan to now read a scholarly study of the Planet of the Apes movies (can't think of the title, but it was mentioned lo these many moons ago by larryc and is sitting on the to-be-read stack at home).

.... Rowling started off strong (Prisoner of Azkhaban is my favourite) but got weaker and more bloated as she went on.

Yes, that's my fave too.  Hated HP 7.  Yuck.

Back to topic, been reading a lot of scholarly works on Tolkien; just finished Shippey's "Tolkien: Author of the Century", and another book on Tolkien by Noel on the myths Tolkien used.  Almost done with "A Tolkien Companion."  Read Carpenter's biography of him, think I have his letters, which I ought to read too.  Can't really score these books on a 1 to 5 scale though. 

On edit: totally forgot the Trollope kick we've started at our house!  We had ploughed through Elizabeth Gaskell over the summer, then moved on to Anthony Trollope.

1) The Way We Live Now-- wow, just wow.
2) The Warden -- slow, but I really like Mr. Harding a lot; maybe one of the most decent characters in English language literature
3) Barchester Towers -- slower than "The Warden;" guess I'll have to get the rest of the series to round it out.

Next up-- "He Knew He Was Right."

Lab, I think you'll like the latter Barsetshire novels a lot.  I read the whole bunch on several international trips back in 01-02 and found them immensely pleasurable.  You might wait on He Knew He Was Right and stay in sequence with Barset.

I read Phineas Finn earlier this summer after Can You Forgive Her?, which I loved once I got into it (it takes about half the book).  Phineas Finn is sensational.  I've got The Eustace Diamonds and Phineas Redux sitting on the shelf for the winter when it gets cold and I need cozy reading.

I've been reading vast amounts of semi-trash mysteries but that's s.o.p.  I must read 50 a year.

[erictho]

Can You Forgive Her is sitting on my to-be-read pile, but I hated He Knew He Was Right so much that I can't bring myself to start it.

And I love semi-trashy mysteries.

[jitpring]

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Showbusiness

&

Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology

Both by Neil Postman. Both most excellent.

[duckie]

In the middle of The Journal of Dora Damage (good book, terrible title), which I picked up on a lark in an airport bookstore during a long stopover.  Sad to discover that it was published posthumously.

[octoprof]

In the evening, I'm working my way (again) through Trollope's Barchester novels, probably much more slowly than aandsdean.  Currently reading The Small House at Allington.  This is my least favorite of the six, actually, so a 4.

Daytime reading is Silence at Boalt Hall. This is at least a 4, but I have a lot left to read.

[verbena]

I've just started Aris Fioretos, The Truth About Sascha Knisch. Verdict still out.

[llanfair]

I'm almost done with Margaret Campbell Barnes's novel My Lady of Cleves which has been reissued.  It's the story of Anne of Cleves.  So far I've been enjoying it. I've read Philippa Gregory's The Boleyn Inheritance too.

Loved both these books.  Philippa has a new book out, The Other Queen, about Mary Queen of Scots.  I'm waiting till it's in paperback.

I've just finished Laurie Graham's The Importance of Being Kennedy.  Brilliant fictionalised account of the family from the POV of a nanny.