The 'Currently Reading' Thread.

[SpursRiot2012]

I only finished Book One and I really liked it I just can't afford to buy any books at the moment.

[Clumsy Dad]

I recently read Born Standing Up by Steve Martin, as the title suggests it

Edited January 23, 2010 by smp

[Famous Mortimer]

I've been catching up with the AV Club's book club suggestions, and after finishing "The Brothers Karamazov" the other day I'm now racing through "Master and Commander" by Patrick O'Brian. As fine a seafaring tale as you'll ever read (and I still haven't seen the film).

 

Next up is Stephen Dobyns' The Wrestler's Cruel Study, which promises to be a fascinating read...and the bookclub discussion for this one doesn't start for another few weeks, so I've got time to finish it. Then more of the Master and Commander series - there's 21 books in there, and they always seem to be floating about car boot sales, charity shops and the like.

[WildSybianRider]

my gf got me an amazing (and unusually thoughtful) gift - first ed. of Last Exit to Brooklyn. Not usually into that type of thing, but still amazing and v unexpected.

 

I don't want to touch it because it's in great nick - but I might find my other copy and read that in celebration.

 

 

oh, and I'm reading Heidegger's Being and Time for uni. Challenging, interesting and rewarding, but like wading through treacle. Fucking Germans!

[Mr. Seven]

I just finished The Girl Who Played With Fire, having read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo just before it. They're decent reads, but I don't quite understand the hype surrounding them. Critics have fallen over themselves to proclaim the eponymous Lisbeth Salander as the most original heroine to happen along in years, but not only is she an archetype, she's an utterly unbelievable contradiction. She really has no place in these books. Then again, they are pure fantasy. In trying to mix in gritty realism with the fantastical, I find that the late Stieg Larsson misses the mark more than he hits. Also, the books are irritatingly overwritten. I've just started the last one, and while so far they've all been perfectly enjoyable, I've not been blown away.

 

If people want a good crime series with a touch of oddness, pick up John Connolly's Charlie Parker series, starting with Every Dead Thing. He's great.

[ReturnOfTheMack]

Im re-re-re-reading 'Are You Dave Gorman?'. Pure brilliance.

 

The show originated following a drunken bet between Dave Gorman and his friend Danny Wallace. The bet was thus: Gorman claimed that he shared the name "Dave Gorman" with the assistant manager of East Fife F.C. and that there must be "loads" of others around. Wallace disagreed with him. So the two travelled to East Fife (from London

[Clumsy Dad]

I just finished The Girl Who Played With Fire, having read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo just before it. They're decent reads, but I don't quite understand the hype surrounding them.

 

I read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and haven

[Astro Hollywood]

This.

 

 

It's fucking fantastic. Chris Morris has been my #1 influence/hero since 1994, and I'm pretty sure that without him, I wouldn't have wanted to write at all. He's a bit of a media ogre in terms of what's known about him offscreen, apart from those famous old legends about letting helium into the studio during a news report and the like, and he's always very carefully managed which information about him as an actual person or his methods has gotten out. I don't even want to spoil it for Morris fans, because there's just so much depth in there, and so many stories and titbits that are revealed for the first time. The research is amazing, and while Chris didn't do an interview himself, he okayed it for all of his friends and collegues to talk about him. As you'd suspect, a lot of the weirder tales about him aren't exactly as repeated, or true at all, but there's a ton of stuff in there that's crazier than the lies, and it's amazing to learn about the obsessive care and perfectionism he puts into his work.

 

One thing that stands out is how incredible it was that Brasseye ever went out. There's a clause in television that was introduced post-BE, literally titled "The Brasseye Clause" that allows for the interviewing of people for reasons other than the ones they've been told. Brasseye got away with it purely because of Chris's balls and under the guise of doing a public service, but without that clause, there'd have been no Ali G, and consequently, no Borat or Bruno, or whatever else came in the wake. It's also great when your heroes don't have feet of clay. I'd have been crushed if he'd been a monsterous cunt.

 

I was rocking with laughter a bunch of times, but as a taster, there's a bit about a scene that got cut from the Brasseye Special, where Morris, dressed in a top hat and riding gear and inhaling helium, went door to door warning people of a paedophile moving into the neighbourhood, who dressed strangely and spoke in a high voice. If you like Chris Morris, or are even mildly interested, you have to get this book.

Edited April 3, 2010 by Woyzeck

[Egg Shen]

currently 3 quarters of the way through The Lovely Bones...i had to read it, because i seemed to be one of the few who actually liked the movie, and it seems that everyone who read the book prior to watching the movie went on to absolutely loathe the film.

 

it's weird for me because i'm reading the book from the perspective of having seen the film first, like when i read it the characters from the film are in my head, same with the settings etc. I'm enjoying it very much, just feels like a nice expansion of the movie. There are some major plot things in the book that were skimmed over in the film or completely swerved, but other than that i feel Peter Jackson did a good job of adapting the book.

 

i don't really see where the hatred comes from?

 

also started on Evander Holyfield - Becoming Holyfield, i love boxing books so it's just another one to add to the list a true legend.

[spotlightmagnet1]

Not to everyone's taste but I like the history of comedy and music hall tradition so i'm loving reading Fart In A Colander by Roy Hudd (The Undertaker in Corrie). He's had so much experience and a bit of tragedy in the mix (his mum committed suicide during the blitz) I find the book as likable as the man himself. Effortlessly charming.

[Steveo2007]

Recently read The Good Man Jesus and The Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman and found it to be a really good read. Found the whole premise and the end of the story quite interesting the way it was wrapped up. I'd recommend it.

[jimufctna24]

Reading Kurt Cobain by Christopher Sandford

 

Utterly Fasinating

[SteelEdge]

Last night I started Charlie Brooker's Screen Burn book. Which is basically a collection of his articles from the Guardian talking about tv between 2000-2005. Big fan of Brooker so I expect I'll enjoy it. Got his 2nd book to read after that as well!

[organizedkaos]

It's fucking fantastic. Chris Morris has been my #1 influence/hero since 1994, and I'm pretty sure that without him, I wouldn't have wanted to write at all. He's a bit of a media ogre in terms of what's known about him offscreen, apart from those famous old legends about letting helium into the studio during a news report and the like, and he's always very carefully managed which information about him as an actual person or his methods has gotten out. I don't even want to spoil it for Morris fans, because there's just so much depth in there, and so many stories and titbits that are revealed for the first time. The research is amazing, and while Chris didn't do an interview himself, he okayed it for all of his friends and collegues to talk about him. As you'd suspect, a lot of the weirder tales about him aren't exactly as repeated, or true at all, but there's a ton of stuff in there that's crazier than the lies, and it's amazing to learn about the obsessive care and perfectionism he puts into his work.

 

One thing that stands out is how incredible it was that Brasseye ever went out. There's a clause in television that was introduced post-BE, literally titled "The Brasseye Clause" that allows for the interviewing of people for reasons other than the ones they've been told. Brasseye got away with it purely because of Chris's balls and under the guise of doing a public service, but without that clause, there'd have been no Ali G, and consequently, no Borat or Bruno, or whatever else came in the wake. It's also great when your heroes don't have feet of clay. I'd have been crushed if he'd been a monsterous cunt.

 

I was rocking with laughter a bunch of times, but as a taster, there's a bit about a scene that got cut from the Brasseye Special, where Morris, dressed in a top hat and riding gear and inhaling helium, went door to door warning people of a paedophile moving into the neighbourhood, who dressed strangely and spoke in a high voice. If you like Chris Morris, or are even mildly interested, you have to get this book.

 

I just bought this purely based on the recommendation - well sold sir. It also reminded me to finally get round to grabbing FranticP so we'll see how that goes..

Edited May 13, 2010 by organizedkaos

[Kawaii Guy]

Ive been going a little mental on Amazon recently, Im currently reading Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist. For me the best horror writer since Stephen King,

 

The book is about a strange event in Stockholm that leads to the dead rising up, the story follows several people who have recently suffered loss, realising that this event allows them to see their loved ones again, Im about a third of the way through and Im really enjoying it, its much the same as Let the right one in, where he combines the beautiful with the violent.

 

after Ive finished that, my to-read pile has The Blair Years:Excerpts from the Alastair Campbell Diaries, Getting the Joke: The inner workings of Stand up Comedy by Oliver Double, The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid, The Naked Jape: Uncovering the Hidden World of Jokes by Jimmy Carr and Lucy Greeves, Flat Earth News: An Award-winning Reporter Exposes Falsehood, Distortion and Propaganda in the Global Media by Nick Davis and Mr Galloway Goes to Washington by George Galloway. Ive got a busy summer planned obviously.