Job Discussion Forums

[Glenski]

I really don't have time to read, but I'm trying to get to stuff that I should have ages ago.

Finished unabridged (and sometimes annotated) versions of The Three Musketeers, Treasure Island, Catcher in the Rye, and Robinson Crusoe. Wading through the 900 page of Don Quixote now. Am a committed SF fan of the Golden Age stuff but can't get any over here in Japan.

[garbotara]

[mjed9]

I'm reading Edger Allen Poe at the moment and I must admit it is pretty hard going (old English with a smattering of French for good measure).

The last great book I read was "Crime and Punishment". Apart from the character names, I was shocked at how easy to read it was, considering its daunting (to some) size.

I have also recently finished reading the Sherlock Holmes shorts. Great! Every single one of them!

P.S. J.K.Rowling is NOT a great author! I have read her stuff (all of it - twice) and enjoyed them BUT she is NOT a great author. Tolkien (for the genre) far surpasses her.

[nomadder]

Mostly non fiction these days. Like The Nature of Personal Reality. Have another about germs-looks better than it sounds.

I tried to read 100 Years of Solitude twice. I'd like to maybe make it thru one of his other books-any recommendations? I'm going to read more Latin American non fiction and fiction since I'm here.

Have the 4th JK Rowling book just because it was free at a book exchange but agree she's not that great. Just read it for light reading.

Should try some mentioned above like Rushdie.

[JosephP]

My tastes maybe could probably be considered a tad strange, but here goes; Louis L'amour, Bill Bryson, Marshall Grover (an obscure writer of the Larry and Stretch series), Michael Swan (so as I know what I should be explaing in the classroom), Paul Bergala, James Lee Burke, John Kennedy Toole, front, back, and sides of cereal cartons...

[Truman]

[culfy]

Have just read Jasper Fforde's totally bizarre and entrancing 'Lost in A Good Book' which I would heartily recommend to anyone interested in English Literature (if only for the many literary in-jokes). Other than that, I tend to read more non-fiction these days; am over half-way through Mark Steels Vive La Revolution.

[lozwich]

Nomadder,

For more readable Marquez, try Chronicle of a Death Foretold or the non-fiction News of a Kidnapping. Both are infinitely less painful than 100 Years of Torture.

I like Margaret Atwood, The Dark Tower stuff by Stephen King, Douglas Coupland, am learning to enjoy Kurt Vonnegut. I don't remember the contents of my ex-bookcase, but I think there were smatterings of classics and modern fiction in there. I also owned the fantastic (and very very heavy) Human Anatomy and Physiology and lots of health and spirituality books. All gone now, to the great secondhand bookstore in the sky...

Have a great day,
Lozwich.

[jpvanderwerf2001]

"Everything is Illuminated" by Jonathan Foer is a really great read, especially if you are interested in Ukraine/Russia.
I personally liked "Love in the Time of Cholera" by Marquez, though all of his stuff is wonderful. Wish I could read it in the original language.
"The Master and Marguirita(sp?)" by Bolgakov is an amazing work of fiction.

[AsiaTraveller]

Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides, is an amazing novel. In the U.S., it was the Pulitzer Prize winner in fiction and a National Book Critics Circle finalist.

Happily, many other Yanks have agreed with me by keeping it near the top of most best-seller listings. From the Harvard University Book Store recommendation:

"Spanning eight decades, Eugenides's long-awaited second novel is a grand, utterly original fable of crossed bloodlines, the intricacies of gender, and the deep, untidy promptings of desire. Eugenides was named one of America's best young novelists by both Granta and The New Yorker."

Eugenides also wrote The Virgin Suicides (1993), which was made into a nice little film.

[waxwing]

to jpv: 'Margarita' by Bulgakov
I agree, it's great. I loved it, just read it last month.
My all time favourites are Martin Amis (the Rachel Papers esp.) and Nabokov (currently reading 'Ada or Ardor'), but I hope you speak French, Russian and German .. and even if you think you speak English, you'll soon be strengthening your dictionary-reaching arm on a pagely basis .. err that's if you have a good dictionary lying around, which I don't

[Alitas]

I like to read books in Spanish. My favorite author right now is Rosario Ferre. For poetry, there's no beating Pablo Neruda.

Been on a bit of a history bent and I am reading James Michener books that were left in my house by the previous owners (too heavy to move, I suppose).

Hemingway, Thomas Mann are two of my favorite authors. I also love Toni Morrison. Joan Didion, as well!

[Will.]

currently re-reading Wilhelm Reich 'The invasion of compulsory sexual morality'

[Joachim]

AsiaTraveller,

"Middlesex" was total pants!, and the thing is, it could have been so good!

And "The Virgin Suicides" was an awful little film!

[kev7161]

Stephen King. I am loving the Dark Tower series and a friend is holding the penultimate issue for me at home right now. The final one comes out this fall. I have every book he has written - most 1st editions including his premiere novel, "Carrie". Don't judge his novels by the (mostly) dreadful movie adaptations. If you want to be scared to death, read "'Salem's Lot" and/or "It".

John Grisham. Easy, popcorn reader, but the most memorable book I have ever read was his "A Painted House". Not, the most memorable book of his, but of any book I have ever read. Just loved it.

Dean Koontz. Loved "The Watchers" - - - everything else has been up and down, some things quite enjoyable, some tepid and uninspired.

I also read comic books and Entertainment Weekly, but I've dipped my toes into more serious things as well.