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[Ceebs]

My novel reading list of shame is growing by leaps and bounds this year. Just read through the first 4 books of The Mortal Instruments series. It's pretty fucking awful, but I could not stop reading.

Starting up Cloud Atlas to was the shame away.

 

[Witchfinder General]

Panic - David Marr

Cronulla.  Henson.  Hanson.  Wik.  Haneef.  The boats . . .
Panic shows all of David Marr's characteristic insight, quick wit and brilliant prose as he cuts through the froth and fury that have kept Australia simmering over the last fifteen years.
'Turning fear into panic is a great political art: knowing how to stack the bonfire, where to find the kindling, when to slosh on a bucket of kero to set the whole thing off with a satisfying roar . . . These are dispatches from the republic of panic, stories of fear and fear-mongering under three prime ministers.  Some chart panic on the rise and others pick through the wreckage left behind, but all grew out of my wish to honour the victims of these ugly episodes: the people damaged and a damaged country.' – DAVID MARR

The content of the book is hardly surprising to anyone with a passing interest in media and politics (or is a regular Media Watch viewer) but Marr so beautifully elucidates the issues with liquid, hypnotic prose that it gives much urgency and poignancy to the current state of shock 'n' awe in Australia.

 

[twisteddeeds]

Currently rereading through the malazan series and novellas.. read the first 7 then stopped due to moving house.. also reading them one after the other... roughly 5000 pages and ongoing now lol

just finished

now onto

 

[Maklershed]

Finished Great Expectations and staying on a classic literature kick with The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson / Those Extraordinary Twins


Pudd'nhead Wilson/Those Extraordinary Twins by Mark Twain

 

[Neffarias_Bredd]

I just finished Mistborn Trilogy, and while I enjoyed the characters, world/setting, and overarching plot, I was not a huge fan of the writing style. In particular the dialogue and the repetitive nature of the internal monologues. Therefore, I am worried that the Way of Kings will have similar issues without the awesome setting. Could someone give a 2 sentence spoiler-free description of the world?

On a related note, is Alloy of Law worth reading immediately, or should I wait for paperback/lower Kindle price?

You should just wait. It was an entertaining book but nothing so great that you have to read it immediately

 

[Ashes]

Oh yeah, I don't mean that Girl is high literature or anything, but at least it was entertaining to read. This was like Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with an even more lame narrator, and not that entertaining to read.

Yeah, fair enough.

 

[nakedsushi]

I just finished Mistborn Trilogy, and while I enjoyed the characters, world/setting, and overarching plot, I was not a huge fan of the writing style. In particular the dialogue and the repetitive nature of the internal monologues. Therefore, I am worried that the Way of Kings will have similar issues without the awesome setting. Could someone give a 2 sentence spoiler-free description of the world?

On a related note, is Alloy of Law worth reading immediately, or should I wait for paperback/lower Kindle price?

I felt the same way after the trilogy, especially about the third book. It was so long and repetitive that I wanted it to end halfway through. I'm putting off reading Alloy of Law till I forget the pain of slogging through the third book.

 

[Shiv47]

Finished:

Started:

The Power of Habit was very interesting, as I have habits of my own I'd like to change, and the book lays out pretty well how scientists have determined that habits work, and how we can try to go about changing them. Engines of Change I picked up on a whim at Costco, and it's very readable and interesting, coming from someone who's never been overly interested in cars.

 

[Dresden]

Man, I had no idea this was out. Picked it up immediately. Can't wait.

That said I wish it had the crazy-cool and elegant setting of his Long Price quartet.

 

[aidan]

Man, I had no idea this was out. Picked it up immediately. Can't wait.

That said I wish it had the crazy-cool and elegant setting of his Long Price quartet.

Sooooo goooooood. Plus, there's a nice little surprise in the review quotes section at the beginning of the novel.

 

[thomaser]

Just started Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Doesn't seem like my kind of book judging by the blurb on the back (just a love story?), but I have read his One Hundred Years of Solitude, and that was so good that I trust him to write something much more interesting than just another love story. 20 pages in, and it's already seems as if I'm in for a treat. I'm in the middle of exams, though, so I won't get to really delve into it for another week or two.

 

[dr3upmushroom]

Finished Great Expectations and staying on a classic literature kick with The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson / Those Extraordinary Twins


Pudd'nhead Wilson/Those Extraordinary Twins by Mark Twain

I'm really liking Connecticut Yankee in Arthur's Court, I'm planning on reading Pudd'nhead Wilson next.

 

[awm8604]

Finally reading the Song of Fire and Ice books after having been enthralled by Game of Thrones on HBO since last Summer. I love the writing style so far.

 

[Dresden]

Sooooo goooooood. Plus, there's a nice little surprise in the review quotes section at the beginning of the novel.

Aw yeah. Dropping everything to dive into this once it arrives.

 

[sparky2112]

Lots of Abraham love on this page, and with that, I'm currently nearing the middle of The Dragon's Path. I'm liking it okay (I certainly can't fault Abraham for his style, pacing, etc.), but I dunno...I think my fantasy days may be limited. I know it's early for this series (what, it's supposed to be around 5 books?), but via these relatively small stories being told, I'm not seeing anything more than your vanilla fantasy. Maybe at some point it all explodes into something much bigger and/or different. Right now, it feels like comfort food (which is what 90-ish % of fantasy is...)

Keep in mind, this is coming from the guy that did a re-read of Game of Thrones recently trying to come back up to speed with Martin (I didn't read past Thrones back in the day when I first tried the series) and while it felt good if a bit frivolous on my first read, the re-read struck me as soap-operaish to the point of not wanting to continue.

 

[Quote]

Finished it, Loved it.

I'm about 40% done. I love Time Dilation concepts though I haven't gotten to that part yet. I'm enjoying it very much so far.

 

[Pepboy]

You should just wait. It was an entertaining book but nothing so great that you have to read it immediately

Thanks! I was worried I'd forget too much of the setting, but I'll hold off for now.

Sanderson's style doesn't change, no. But the setting is pretty sweet--a world wracked by constant storms and endless war, featuring dudes with badass magic swords called shardblades. Try reading the first bit, with an assassin chasing down a king, and see what you think.

Good idea, I forgot about sample chapters since I so rarely use them. I'll give it a shot when I'm ready for more Sanderson.

I felt the same way after the trilogy, especially about the third book. It was so long and repetitive that I wanted it to end halfway through. I'm putting off reading Alloy of Law till I forget the pain of slogging through the third book.

Yeah, I think I might be a little burnt out on his style for now. Was thinking of checking out the City & the City after finishing up Stranger in a Strangeland. These threads have yet to disappoint!

 

[lightus]

What I want to read next:

Dune's been on the back of my mind since high school. However I read the first few pages and all the weird names are off-putting. Though it didn't help I tried to read it at 4 in the morning near the tail-end of my night shift. Does it get better as I read more of the book?

I didn't see anyone else respond, so I figured I might. Yes, it does get better. I remember being a little put off with the odd names and such myself. Fair warning though: this is the best book in the series.

I've read three other Dune books and while they are readable, none capture the original magic of the first.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I just finished reading The Hunger Games trilogy. I thought it was pretty good for what it is. It kept me entertained, nothing more nothing less.

Now I'm on the Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men. I absolutely loved The Road, so I was looking forward to this one. It started a bit slow, but it's getting pretty good now. If only I could break myself away from games and school work to finish it!

 

[Mumei]

Feminism is For Everybody by Bell Hooks
I was always interested in the topic. Influenced by a gaffer's post here(Mumei), I bought the book.
I'm almost done with it now. Very interesting read, yet as Mumei said, it assumes that you're already a feminist. Other than that I've been enjoying it a lot.

I was reading this thread at the library for book ideas when I saw this post for the first time. I don't know how I missed it, but I am happy to hear that someone else picked it up!

And I can send you a PM with some reading suggestions on the topic another gaffer sent me if you're interested.

I'm 12% into 3K and I can see why people have problems with it. There are a lot of people and names and places and events to remember, and there's always something happening, someone scheming and it all takes place machine gun style. You really have to keep your wits about you and re-read if you have to. Actually I'm having less problems with the names of people since I played the Dynasty Warrior series, but does the author really have to name everyone including the cook?

Deer and the Cauldron looks cool, thanks for sharing!

I'm 23% of the way in, and I have pretty much taken to not caring about somebody's name or who the hell they are until they A) survive at least five pages and B) appear to be characters who actually matter.

I actually feel like as I get further, it is becoming much more interesting (since I now feel like I have the major characters and where they are - particularly spatially and in terms of alliances - in relation to one another).

 

[Piecake]

Lots of Abraham love on this page, and with that, I'm currently nearing the middle of The Dragon's Path. I'm liking it okay (I certainly can't fault Abraham for his style, pacing, etc.), but I dunno...I think my fantasy days may be limited. I know it's early for this series (what, it's supposed to be around 5 books?), but via these relatively small stories being told, I'm not seeing anything more than your vanilla fantasy. Maybe at some point it all explodes into something much bigger and/or different. Right now, it feels like comfort food (which is what 90-ish % of fantasy is...)

Keep in mind, this is coming from the guy that did a re-read of Game of Thrones recently trying to come back up to speed with Martin (I didn't read past Thrones back in the day when I first tried the series) and while it felt good if a bit frivolous on my first read, the re-read struck me as soap-operaish to the point of not wanting to continue.

I enjoyed the Dragon's Path quite a bit because while it seems like a very traditional fantasy novel with a traditional setting, seemingly traditional conflict and traditional character roles, the actual characters are actually quite fascinating

What i mean by that, is that when you think of main characters who are nobleman in fantasy, you really do not think of characters like Gender and Dawson. Cithrin and Wester are a bit more typical (Wester a lot more so), but their situation is really quite interesting and different from any fantasy that ive read. Plus, those characters just feel so believable that I simply find it fascinating.

Reading the second book right now, and I am quite liking it so far

The Long Price Quartet definitely is a lot more unique from the get go. I would also consider The dagger and the Coin different from traditional fantasy fare, but it a more subtle way

 

[nakedsushi]

Reading (as much as anyone can read a cookbook) through this:


Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking by Fuchsia Dunlop

So far, it's a great introduction to home-styled Chinese dishes. I think the hardest thing about this book is getting the right ingredients, but if you have a Chinese or Asian market nearby, it should be my problem. I recommend it to anyone who's interested in cooking more at home and likes Chinese food.

Also making my way through:


Wool Omnibus Edition by Hugh Howey

The first story blew me away. It wasn't anything new but (story about the end of the first story)

Spoiler

when he got outside and everything was green and the sky was blue, I really really was happy for him and wanted to believe that's how it was. Then when his display died, aaaah, that was soul-crushing.

 

[RedSwirl]

Finally got down to reading through Escape From Camp 14. Most harrowing nonfiction thing I've read since Night.

 

[Randolph Freelander]

 

[SaltyDoughnut]

Hey GAF,

For my school's summer reading I have to choose one play to read and then either two short books or one longer book. I've laid out all the options below and was wondering if you all had any suggestions. (I can also choose books that are off-list, but they have to be classics of some form) - edit: and as a side note we will also be reading Great Expectations and Oedipus Rex

One Play
Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller
A Streetcar Named Desire - Tennessee Williams
The Doll House - Henrik Ibsen
An Enemy of the People - Henrik Ibsen
Antigone - Sophocles
The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams
Our Town - Thornton Wilder
A Raisin in the Sun - Lorraine Hansberry
Fences - August Wilson
Pygmalion - George Bernard Shaw

+

Two Short Books
The Awakening - Kate Choplin
Billy Budd - Herman Melville
Persuasion - Jane Austen
The Turn of the Screw - Henrik Ibsen
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Cry, The Beloved Country - Alan Paton
Ethan Frome - Edith Wharton
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce
The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Stranger - Albert Camus
Sula - Toni Morrison

OR

One Longer Book
All the King's Men - Robert Penn Warren
All the Pretty Horses - Cormac McCarthy
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner
Emma - Jane Austen
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
The Mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy
Native Son - Richard Wright

 

[Haly]

Good premise ruined by awful execution. That ending was everything that's wrong about sci-fi.

 

[Mumei]

Hey GAF,

For my school's summer reading I have to choose one play to read and then either two short books or one longer book. I've laid out all the options below and was wondering if you all had any suggestions. (I can also choose books that are off-list, but they have to be classics of some form)

I haven't read enough of those myself to give you informed suggestions (though I will say that I bought the Lydia Davis translation of Madame Bovary and am looking forward to whenever I get around to reading it because just opening to random pages and reading a sentence is an experience all in itself), but I will say that I really, really wish my school had done summer reading lists like that.

 

[Ceebs]

Hey GAF,

For my school's summer reading I have to choose one play to read and then either two short books or one longer book. I've laid out all the options below and was wondering if you all had any suggestions. (I can also choose books that are off-list, but they have to be classics of some form) - edit: and as a side note we will also be reading Great Expectations and Oedipus Rex

I would go with Ethan Frome and The Stranger (it's super short, and there is TONS to write about if you have to do a paper on it).

I am probably odd, but Ethan Frome was one of my favorite required readings from High School.

 

[ultron87]

One Play
Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller
A Streetcar Named Desire - Tennessee Williams
The Doll House - Henrik Ibsen
An Enemy of the People - Henrik Ibsen
Antigone - Sophocles
The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams
Our Town - Thornton Wilder
A Raisin in the Sun - Lorraine Hansberry
Fences - August Wilson
Pygmalion - George Bernard Shaw

Death of a Salesman is always a great read. Antigone is also pretty good if you like the style of Ancient Greek plays.

 

[njean777]

Pretty good so far, even though it is considered the worst in the series. I am enjoying it.

 

[Dresden]

Hey GAF,

For my school's summer reading I have to choose one play to read and then either two short books or one longer book. I've laid out all the options below and was wondering if you all had any suggestions. (I can also choose books that are off-list, but they have to be classics of some form) - edit: and as a side note we will also be reading Great Expectations and Oedipus Rex

One Play
Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller
A Streetcar Named Desire - Tennessee Williams
The Doll House - Henrik Ibsen
An Enemy of the People - Henrik Ibsen
Antigone - Sophocles
The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams
Our Town - Thornton Wilder
A Raisin in the Sun - Lorraine Hansberry
Fences - August Wilson
Pygmalion - George Bernard Shaw

+

Two Short Books
The Awakening - Kate Choplin
Billy Budd - Herman Melville
Persuasion - Jane Austen
The Turn of the Screw - Henrik Ibsen
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Cry, The Beloved Country - Alan Paton
Ethan Frome - Edith Wharton
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce
The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Stranger - Albert Camus
Sula - Toni Morrison

OR

One Longer Book
All the King's Men - Robert Penn Warren
All the Pretty Horses - Cormac McCarthy
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner
Emma - Jane Austen
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
The Mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy
Native Son - Richard Wright

All the Pretty Horses (my pick; engaging, romantic, and quite bloody), or Moby Dick (although it is long and a hefty read), imo

As for the play, if you haven't read/watched it, A Streetcar Named Desire would by my choice as there's a Simpsons skit associated with imagery from the Brando movie and you really can't lose out on that.

 

[TestMonkey]

Currently rereading through the malazan series and novellas.. read the first 7 then stopped due to moving house.. also reading them one after the other... roughly 5000 pages and ongoing now lol

just finished

now onto

I finished the main series earlier in the year but without the Esslemont books. I plan on rereading the whole thing once Esslemont finishes up which will hopefully be in a year or two. But yeah I have no idea how it's possible to keep the series straight in your head if you take breaks between books.

 

[Neffarias_Bredd]

Hey GAF,

For my school's summer reading I have to choose one play to read and then either two short books or one longer book. I've laid out all the options below and was wondering if you all had any suggestions. (I can also choose books that are off-list, but they have to be classics of some form) - edit: and as a side note we will also be reading Great Expectations and Oedipus Rex

One Play
Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller
A Streetcar Named Desire - Tennessee Williams
The Doll House - Henrik Ibsen
An Enemy of the People - Henrik Ibsen
Antigone - Sophocles
The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams
Our Town - Thornton Wilder
A Raisin in the Sun - Lorraine Hansberry
Fences - August Wilson
Pygmalion - George Bernard Shaw

+

Two Short Books
The Awakening - Kate Choplin
Billy Budd - Herman Melville
Persuasion - Jane Austen
The Turn of the Screw - Henrik Ibsen
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Cry, The Beloved Country - Alan Paton
Ethan Frome - Edith Wharton
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce
The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Stranger - Albert Camus
Sula - Toni Morrison

OR

One Longer Book
All the King's Men - Robert Penn Warren
All the Pretty Horses - Cormac McCarthy
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner
Emma - Jane Austen
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
The Mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy
Native Son - Richard Wright

I actually enjoyed Jane Eyre, it was an interesting, easy, and quick read. I'd pick that and Death of a Salesmen

 

[Ceebs]

Hated it in high school. Too much misery, like everything else you're forced to read back then.

I often wonder how many kids get a potential love of reading snuffed out thanks to school.

I think the worst offender for me was The Scarlet Letter. Fuck not only that awful book, but all the assignments and the way it was taught made me loathe it even more.

Up until that point my school reading list had been pretty good. We did Great Expectations, Of Mice and Men, Ethan Frome, Alas Babylon, and A Tale of Two Cities (with King Lear and The Crucible thrown in for the plays)

 

[vareon]

Kinda disappointing. The book pretty much only namedrops 80s reference, and the riddles are very shallow even compared to today's ARG.

 

[Ceebs]

Kinda disappointing. The book pretty much only namedrops 80s reference, and the riddles are very shallow even compared to today's ARG.

My exact thoughts on it. Vastly overrated.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Hey GAF,


One Play

A Streetcar Named Desire - Tennessee Williams

+

The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne


OR

One Longer Book

Moby Dick - Herman Melville

These ones.

 

[Raika]

Just finished The Hunger Games trilogy. The first two books were amazing and I was hooked throughout, but the final book was rather disappointing. Overall an excellent series to read though.

 

[Mumei]

Gotta love how everyone gave totally different advice.

Heh

I liked your advice about Pride and Prejudice since I have an annotated edition out of the library on a friend's recommendation.

 

[Maklershed]

Hey GAF,

For my school's summer reading I have to choose one play to read and then either two short books or one longer book. I've laid out all the options below and was wondering if you all had any suggestions. (I can also choose books that are off-list, but they have to be classics of some form) - edit: and as a side note we will also be reading Great Expectations and Oedipus Rex

One Play
Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller
A Streetcar Named Desire - Tennessee Williams
The Doll House - Henrik Ibsen
An Enemy of the People - Henrik Ibsen
Antigone - Sophocles
The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams
Our Town - Thornton Wilder
A Raisin in the Sun - Lorraine Hansberry
Fences - August Wilson
Pygmalion - George Bernard Shaw

+

Two Short Books
The Awakening - Kate Choplin
Billy Budd - Herman Melville
Persuasion - Jane Austen
The Turn of the Screw - Henrik Ibsen
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Cry, The Beloved Country - Alan Paton
Ethan Frome - Edith Wharton
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce
The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Stranger - Albert Camus
Sula - Toni Morrison

OR

One Longer Book
All the King's Men - Robert Penn Warren
All the Pretty Horses - Cormac McCarthy
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner
Emma - Jane Austen
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
The Mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy
Native Son - Richard Wright

I like your teachers style. Great Expectations and Oedipus were fantastic. And of your choices - for play I say Antigone or Our Town. And the books - The Color Purple and Their Eyes Were Watching God are among my favorites so I say choose them.

 

[sgossard]

Hey GAF,

For my school's summer reading I have to choose one play to read and then either two short books or one longer book. I've laid out all the options below and was wondering if you all had any suggestions. (I can also choose books that are off-list, but they have to be classics of some form) - edit: and as a side note we will also be reading Great Expectations and Oedipus Rex

One Play
Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller
A Streetcar Named Desire - Tennessee Williams
The Doll House - Henrik Ibsen
An Enemy of the People - Henrik Ibsen
Antigone - Sophocles
The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams
Our Town - Thornton Wilder
A Raisin in the Sun - Lorraine Hansberry
Fences - August Wilson
Pygmalion - George Bernard Shaw

+

Two Short Books
The Awakening - Kate Choplin
Billy Budd - Herman Melville
Persuasion - Jane Austen
The Turn of the Screw - Henrik Ibsen
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Cry, The Beloved Country - Alan Paton
Ethan Frome - Edith Wharton
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce
The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Stranger - Albert Camus
Sula - Toni Morrison

OR

One Longer Book
All the King's Men - Robert Penn Warren
All the Pretty Horses - Cormac McCarthy
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner
Emma - Jane Austen
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
The Mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy
Native Son - Richard Wright

Read the 2 Hemingway and Camus short books. Both are awesome.

 

[bengraven]

Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller
A Streetcar Named Desire - Tennessee Williams
The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams
Pygmalion - George Bernard Shaw

+

Two Short Books

Billy Budd - Herman Melville
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce
The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne

OR

One Longer Book

All the Pretty Horses - Cormac McCarthy
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner
Moby Dick - Herman Melville

You can't go wrong with any of these. I bolded my suggestions, but I also choose any from this shorter list as well.

Also, Great Expectations is one of my favorite books of all time, if not my favorite, so good that you're reading it!

 

[Neffarias_Bredd]

I like your teachers style. Great Expectations and Oedipus were fantastic. And of your choices - for play I say Antigone or Our Town. And the books - The Color Purple and Their Eyes Were Watching God are among my favorites so I say choose them.

I could not STAND Their Eyes Were Watching God

 

[rocksteady1983]

Finally finished the last Hunger Games book. Just started Stephen King's "Full Dark, No Stars".

 

[Quote]

Kinda disappointing. The book pretty much only namedrops 80s reference, and the riddles are very shallow even compared to today's ARG.

I agree. I couldn't even finish it because every name drop made me grind my teeth.

 

[Ceebs]

Just finished Cloud Atlas. I fucking loved it. Sad I did not read this sooner.

Now to go find something super trashy to read.

 

[SaltyDoughnut]

Wow, thanks everyone for all of the suggestions!

I ended up going with:

- Drama - Pygmalion

- Short Fiction - The Color Purple

- Short Fiction - Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

 

[dr3upmushroom]

Just finished Cloud Atlas. I fucking loved it. Sad I did not read this sooner.

Now to go find something super trashy to read.

Not to sound too elitist here, but I have many friends who say the exact same thing and I've never understood this mindset. "Wow, this work of literature was amazing! Now for some genre fiction I've read a hundred times before!" If you appreciated Cloud Atlas, don't you want to read more books like it? I realize you probably go back and forth between silly stuff and serious stuff, I've just never really got what people who enjoy more serious literature still get out of the twentieth retelling of the same bland fantasy/ science fiction/ mystery story.

Had a friend a couple years ago read War and Peace, gush on and on at every opportunity about how brilliant it was for the entire month or two it took him to read it, and after finishing it went straight into some super-generic looking fantasy book. Probably the best example of where I was like "You wouldn't rather look into some of the other Russian authors after this seemingly rekindled your love of reading?"

Anyway, SaltyDoughnut, I'd definitely pick A Farewell to Arms as one of your books, it's a quick read and really good.
Edit: just noticed you've already chosen, A Farewell to Arms is a good one to get back to though.

I'm closing into the end of A Connecticut Yankee in King Author's Court and it's turned out pretty good. Like I said earlier it's a little preachy, especially in comparison to Huckleberry Finn where all the social commentary is more subtle in its "as seen through the eyes of a child" way. ACYiKAC is at times Twain going on for pages at a time about the virtues of free markets, patents, newspapers, and other things that make America great. The part with the king going out dressed as a peasant was sort of interesting, I assumed it was going to be a cliche thing where he realized the consequences of his ruling style and would rewrite the laws to make everything more equal, but instead even witnessing the deaths of a family taken advantage of by their local lord really had no impact on his views of royal blood.

After I finish that I'm excited to get started on The Long Ships, although I think I might read I Am Legend and reread Cat's Cradle before, I got them on sale on Amazon a few months back and haven't gotten around to them.

 

[Mumei]

Not to sound too elitist here, but I have many friends who say the exact same thing and I've never understood this mindset. "Wow, this work of literature was amazing! Now for some genre fiction I've read a hundred times before!" If you appreciated Cloud Atlas, don't you want to read more books like it? I realize you probably go back and forth between silly stuff and serious stuff, I've just never really got what people who enjoy more serious literature still get out of the twentieth retelling of the same bland fantasy/ science fiction/ mystery story.

Had a friend a couple years ago read War and Peace, gush on and on at every opportunity about how brilliant it was for the entire month or two it took him to read it, and after finishing it went straight into some super-generic looking fantasy book. Probably the best example of where I was like "You wouldn't rather look into some of the other Russian authors after this seemingly rekindled your love of reading?"

I do what your friend does sometimes (though it isn't getting back into reading for me; just going back and forth), just because occasionally I want to read something I don't need to think too much about and can just enjoy on a base, surface level.

Edit: What Cyan said!

 

[dr3upmushroom]

Serious literature is serious work. After one of those, you want a break.

Yeah, I can see that. Now that you say that, most of my friends who do that read way more than I do, so I guess I palette cleanse by switching to games or music for awhile instead of reading an "easy" book.

For some reason I can listen to just about any music and enjoy some pretty mindless games, but reading genre fiction has always felt like a waste of time with few exceptions.

 

[Ceebs]

Yeah, I can see that. Now that you say that, most of my friends who do that read way more than I do, so I guess I palette cleanse by switching to games or music for awhile instead of reading an "easy" book.

For some reason I can listen to just about any music and enjoy some pretty mindless games, but reading genre fiction has always felt like a waste of time with few exceptions.

It helps that I really enjoy the trashiest of trashy novels just as much as serious books.

Finally broke down and ordered the Sally Lockheart books from Amazon since it seems they will never get a Kindle release and I have been wanting to read them for some time.

In the meantime I am reading this Graceling book someone posted earlier in the thread.

Also is someone going to make the June thread?