And what are we reading now?

seitanicverses · **Joined:** Wed Oct 20, 2010 1:57 pm **Posts:** 3857

I think I should try some KSR, too!

linanil · **Posted:** Fri Jan 25, 2013 12:33 pm

and I tried searching my libraries ebook collection and doesn't look like they have any there, not that it is the most search friendly and waitlists are long, long long but was worth a try.

interrobang?! · **Posted:** Tue Jan 29, 2013 6:57 pm

The chapters from 'Miscarriages of Justice', by Bob Woffinden that cover the Guildford Four, the Maguire Family, and the Birmingham Six. This was published just before the acquittals, so if anyone has better up to date recommendations that cover issues in a similar way (ie pick the fork apart the court cases for the awfulness they were) i'd really appreciate it.

j-dub · **Posted:** Tue Jan 29, 2013 9:53 pm

Shy Mox wrote:

I'm taking a course now that talks about the feminist blogosphere and non-academic books (we're going to be reading Gaga Feminism later) so I'm a bit curious about that one, since from what I heard its a mix of what's good about mainstream feminist books and whats bad. We were talking a bit yesterday about continuing problems with intersectionality and she was the first one I thought of as an example.

Okay, I actually finished awhile ago but haven't thought to update this until now.

This is not a book without problems. However, I really liked it. And I honestly think that criticisms re: intersectionality would be out of place. This is a memoir interwoven with non-academic feminist theory. It tells the story of how this particular working class white Irish girl growing up in in England became a ballsy, hilarious feminist woman. She locates herself early on and I think that continual nods to intersectionality beyond her own experience would have been inappropriate for the style of writing.

It won't speak to everyone, and that's okay! I think she does an amazing job of taking really common events (bra shopping, weddings, abortions) and uses them to illustrate how desperately we still need feminism.

And, again, it's hilarious! And how often do you laugh out loud while reading a feminist text?

I'm now reading Valenti's Why Have Kids?

Phoenix · **Posted:** Wed Jan 30, 2013 4:52 am

Just finished Warren Ellis' Gun Machine. His super fun writing style made for very entertaining reading, creating the perfect balance between the rising tension & quite gory murder scenes on the one hand and some really crazy similes and silly dialogues on the other. And it even managed to satisfy that little voice at the back of my mind that kept insisting the story would be so much more fun if there was at least a teeny tiny supernatural element in it. Really liked the ending, even though at some point I feared I somehow wouldn't. Big recommendation for people who want a detective story with quirky characters and a bit of splatter on the side.

Quarantined · **Posted:** Wed Jan 30, 2013 9:05 am

Footface- you liked Guy Delisle’s Pyongyang, right? I know you are interested in North Korea. Looks like it might be made into a movie:

http://comicsbeat.com/guy-delisles-pyon ... -attached/

rachell37 · **Posted:** Wed Jan 30, 2013 9:31 am

I finished The Devil and Sherlock Holmes. It wasn't what I was expecting. I thought it would be a book full of cold case investigations, but it turned out to be a little of that, a little bit of writing on "mysterious" things (giant squid, for example), and a little bit about crime (organised crime and criminals with CIA ties). It was alright, though I skipped a few bits (the squid thing and a story about a baseball player who referred to himself in the 3rd person). I dunno, I can't really say I'd recommend it.

Now I'm reading Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, which I think was a recommendation from this thread (but possibly this thread on the old boards - I've had it on my list for a while).

Quarantined · **Posted:** Wed Jan 30, 2013 9:42 am

rachell37 wrote:

I finished The Devil and Sherlock Holmes. It wasn't what I was expecting. I thought it would be a book full of cold case investigations, but it turned out to be a little of that, a little bit of writing on "mysterious" things (giant squid, for example), and a little bit about crime (organised crime and criminals with CIA ties). It was alright, though I skipped a few bits (the squid thing and a story about a baseball player who referred to himself in the 3rd person). I dunno, I can't really say I'd recommend it.

I really liked that book- I thought all the stories were interesting. Haha, and that baseball player is Rickey Henderson, he's hilarious.

seitanicverses · **Joined:** Wed Oct 20, 2010 1:57 pm **Posts:** 3857

So I finished one of my books of FSF criticism and one essay was particularly brilliant and illuminating to me - by W.J. Harvey entitled Theme and Texture in 'The Great Gatsby'. It was a discussion of the ship/sea imagery in the novel and "restless" "drifting" type language throughout. I always saw the novel's last line: "And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past," as mostly a nod to Gatsby's romantic longing being "already behind him" and an apt takeaway image that succinctly sums up a major theme of the book, but this essay illuminates how perfect that last line is to sum up everything that came before and how the restless, drifting sea stuff is embedded and builds throughout the novel. Just another artistic dimension of this book that I never really pondered on my own and ratchets up my admiration for how truly accomplished and masterful it is.

missmuffcake · **Posted:** Thu Jan 31, 2013 5:27 pm

I am reading Warm Bodies because I have been pumped up for the movie for months!

FootFace · **Posted:** Thu Jan 31, 2013 7:26 pm

Quarantined wrote:

Footface- you liked Guy Delisle’s Pyongyang, right? I know you are interested in North Korea. Looks like it might be made into a movie:

http://comicsbeat.com/guy-delisles-pyon ... -attached/

I did!

I am!

Goody!

ilovemydogs · **Joined:** Thu Jan 17, 2013 6:05 pm **Posts:** 32

Just finished The Pines. I liked the first half or so but then it got a little too thrillerish and sci-fi for my taste.

inceptisol · **Posted:** Fri Feb 01, 2013 4:22 am

ndpittman wrote:

allularpunk wrote:

Finished The Evening Hour last night. It must have at least been absorbing, because it only took me two days to read it, and it's not short. It's weird...I'm from and currently reside in West Virginia, so I know a lot about its people and heritage, but I didn't grow up in the way that is typically depicted in books about this place. I'm just outside of coal country, and I know people who live there and grew up there and I've visited and know what's up, so I feel a definite sympathy for the characters in these books that I read, even though I'm not technically a part of it. Anyway, a lot of it was about mountaintop removal which is JUST HORRIBLE and also it was about the growing prescription pill and meth problem here, which is sad and awful. So basically, the book made me feel sad and awful, but I'm glad I read it. I worry that someone who isn't from WV and doesn't understand that there are more parts to it other than coal country would think that we're all uneducated and a little backwards, even if we are kind and generally good people. Same old shiitake stereotype that is always perpetuated. Can you tell that I can't really decide if I liked it or not?.

I will definitely add The Evening Hour to my list, even though I'm the same way, and it'll make me sad. Still there's just something special about WV; I just hope it's not completely lost with all of the 'development.'

Yep, adding to my list too.

Son of Seitan · **Posted:** Fri Feb 01, 2013 6:08 pm

Satan is Real: The Ballad of the Louvin Brothers

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/listing/2 ... 7689484208

Phoenix · **Posted:** Sat Feb 02, 2013 4:05 am

I'm reading The Voices of Time by J.G. Ballard. A collection of short stories. Wonderfully bleak and dystopian.

kara kara · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2013 3:27 pm

I finished A Feast for Crows yesterday morning, and I'm going to try to get a good start on A Dance with Dragons today. Each book in this series is going faster than the last, and since Dragons focuses more on some of my favorite characters in the series, I suspect it will be a fairly quick read.

allularpunk · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2013 6:00 pm

Phoenix wrote:

I'm reading The Voices of Time by J.G. Ballard. A collection of short stories. Wonderfully bleak and dystopian.

This sounds right up my alley! Added to my list.

fruitbat · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2013 6:04 pm

Continuing with reading books that I've been meaning to read forever. I just finished The Children of Men and am now halfway through I Am Legend. A Wrinkle in Time is up next. It helps that they are actually good books and fairly short.

Shy Mox · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2013 6:08 pm

I LOVE I Am Legend. One of the best vampire books for sure.

A Wrinkle in Time was good, but I read it when I was like 13 so I don't think I totally got everything that was going on.

fruitbat · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2013 6:21 pm

I may actually have read I Am Legend before, but it was so long ago I'm not entirely sure. I'm going to have to read A Wrinkle in Time in translation which is something I usually hate, but I didn't feel like buying the book and translation is all my libraries are offering. I chose the newer translation hoping it won't drive my crazy. Not holding my breath, though.

allularpunk · **Posted:** Sun Feb 03, 2013 10:37 pm

fruitbat wrote:

I may actually have read I Am Legend before, but it was so long ago I'm not entirely sure. I'm going to have to read A Wrinkle in Time in translation which is something I usually hate, but I didn't feel like buying the book and translation is all my libraries are offering. I chose the newer translation hoping it won't drive my crazy. Not holding my breath, though.

A Wrinkle in Time is one of my childhood favorites! I hope you like it.

kara kara · **Posted:** Mon Feb 04, 2013 12:48 am

allularpunk wrote:

fruitbat wrote:

I may actually have read I Am Legend before, but it was so long ago I'm not entirely sure. I'm going to have to read A Wrinkle in Time in translation which is something I usually hate, but I didn't feel like buying the book and translation is all my libraries are offering. I chose the newer translation hoping it won't drive my crazy. Not holding my breath, though.

A Wrinkle in Time is one of my childhood favorites! I hope you like it.

Ditto! I've read it countless times and was mildly obsessed with anything Madeleine L'Engle wrote for many years. I'm pretty sure her books started my unconditional love for YA literature and fascination for science I don't quite understand. I still have most of them!

Shy Mox · **Posted:** Mon Feb 04, 2013 7:23 pm

I got the go ahead from a professor, I can write my religion and pop culture paper on religious female empowerment in unicorn narratives. So I'm reading The Natural History Of Unicorns by Chris Lavers before I consume unicorn children's books. :3 best project evaaaar

ilovemydogs · **Joined:** Thu Jan 17, 2013 6:05 pm **Posts:** 32

Back to lighter mysteries: The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by McCall Smith.

FootFace · **Posted:** Tue Feb 05, 2013 1:30 am

I think I might have forgotten how to read.

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