Consistently amazed at Nabokov's luxurious prose. I have a minor fetish for novels about universities and academia and Pnin there satisfied, being leagues funnier than any Nabokov I've read previously and stirring in its borderline postcolonial character sketch. The quip about teaching via class discussion as a professor posing questions to which even he or she does not know the answer to a class of twenty dumb kids and "two cocky neurotics" hurt but in a good way.

The Complete Poems 1927-1979 by Elizabeth Bishop
+ Show Spoiler +

When she's on, particularly in North & South, she's so on, building dense, winding, intricate poems collected in their internal, masculine, feminine, etc. rhymes or addressing personal issues with an elegance, an almost anti-confessional distance. Her proclivity for structure also means that her takes on traditional verse forms (the sestina, the villanelle) are sublime. When she's off, it shows and comes out tacky, antiquated, or affected in the worst way (e.g. "Roosters," some of her travel poems).

Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror by John Ashbery
+ Show Spoiler +

Goddamn. I'm not sure whether I would have liked this more if I hadn't already read The Mooring of Starting Out, his first five books, which Self-Portrait negotiates between, recapitulates, and synthesizes into as close a unified aesthetic for Ashbery's poetry I've seen yet. Nothing here rivals the experimental intensity of The Tennis Court Oath, for example, but I'm really navel-gazing here. It was amazing.

2) Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, trans. Francis Steegmuller
+ Show Spoiler +

Last 50 pages. Translation's been sleek without modern revisionism, poetic without fuss, serviceable and mature. Steegmuller's foreword is really good, too, and it convinces you that if nothing else he cares about getting it right. I have no idea what the recent translation by Lydia Davis (who's not a Flaubert scholar but whose French translator credentials are intact) was meant to repair or whether it will now become the de facto translation for anglophones, but in my ignorance Steegmuller does a fine job.

And you know the book's pretty good, too.

Meditations in an Emergency by Frank O'Hara
+ Show Spoiler +

G.O.A.T. (one of them).

3) Probably Crash by J.G. Ballard? I wanted to read Homer's Iliad and Odyssey before the summer is up, so maybe that.

Raidern

Brazil3811 Posts

July 18 2011 18:09 GMT

#682

Just started The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow

I'm also reading the 2nd book of The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy

Next should be Game of Thrones series and after that The Elegant Universe

DoXa

Switzerland1448 Posts

July 18 2011 18:32 GMT

#683

Physical chemistry by Atkins. Most difficult book I've ever started to read -.-

YouGotNothin

United States907 Posts

July 18 2011 18:34 GMT

#684

Just Finished:

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Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk. Pretty good, not the best I've read by him. About the survivor of a death cult becoming a media icon. The premise was good but I was a little disappointed in the ending and the plot seemed to move a bit too fast.

Now Reading:

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Empire, by Orson Scott Card. Like this author a lot, seems like an interesting start about a future U.S. Civil War. Hope it stays good.

Next to Read:

Maybe Game of Thrones, I have no idea really.

HentaiPrime

Canada85 Posts

July 18 2011 18:38 GMT

#685

1) Stock Investing For Dummies
-this book is written for retards, 10% useful, 90% garbage

2) Technical Analysis For Dummies
-so far much harder read then stock investing for dummies

3) Trading Options For Dummies
New Market Wizards

Mereel

Germany895 Posts

July 18 2011 18:45 GMT

#686

what else^^

sail

United States127 Posts

July 18 2011 18:48 GMT

#687

Cool thread! I got so excited seeing Dance Dance Dance in the OP ^______^. I read A Wild Sheep Chase earlier this year (probably my favorite book at the moment) and finished Dance Dance Dance earlier this summer!

This summer I have also read Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

I plan on reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins, and Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas also by Tom Robbins. After that I'm not sure but I have been recommended Blindness by Jose Saramago. Hopefully this thread can give me some more ideas :D.

wristuzi

United Kingdom1168 Posts

July 18 2011 18:52 GMT

#688

1) A book you have recently finished
The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond - Amazing, eye-opening read. Jared Diamond is one of the most important anthropologists of the last few decades, his books are so important and are also a pleasure to read.

2) A book you are currently reading
King Lear by William Shakespeare - I've yearned to read some shakespeare for quite a while now, and this was my sister's favourite play. Beautiful language and plot, even though it is at times hard to follow.

3) The next book you plan on reading
Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion by David Hume

AxiR

Germany944 Posts

July 18 2011 18:55 GMT

#689

Just finished reading:

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Currently reading:

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Planning to read after that:

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craaaaack

479 Posts

July 18 2011 18:57 GMT

#690

jodogohoo

Canada2533 Posts

July 19 2011 05:34 GMT

#691

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield is amazing ^_^

Argoth.

Germany1961 Posts

July 19 2011 05:59 GMT

#692

On July 19 2011 03:32 DoXa wrote:
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Physical chemistry by Atkins. Most difficult book I've ever started to read -.-

Believe me this is one of the easiest physical chemistry books you will ever read.
On topic:
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NotSorry

United States6722 Posts

July 19 2011 06:02 GMT

#693

Killing time til the next season

Dude.

United States94 Posts

July 19 2011 07:02 GMT

#694

Currently reading:

Amaaaazing book so far. It's about the neuroscience behind music. Written by a very knowledgeable mind. If you're into music, I absolutely recommend it.

TemplarCo.

Mexico2870 Posts

July 19 2011 07:15 GMT

#695

Finished:

A good book, similar to the movie liked this better though, if you have time go ahead and read it.

Reading:
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Great continiue to Eldest and Eragon so far, let's say sh*t just got real, I recomend the full series to anybody, great read!

Planing to read:
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Last part of the book series hope is as great as the others, too bad it will come out untill November, will have to find something...

Expurgate

United States208 Posts

July 19 2011 10:06 GMT

#696

Just Read:
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Reading:

Planning to read:
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FallDownMarigold

United States3710 Posts

July 19 2011 11:12 GMT

#697

I need to read more. Gotta get on it asap! I have a lot of book interests right now sorhats at least good... Currently I'm reading Ahmed Rashid's ever so timely Descent Into Chaos. I encourage everyone to read it as it has REALLY taught me so many things about the current international intervention in Afghanistan, its implications and shortcomings, etc. I almost feel compelled to demand that this book be required for all people growing up in today's tumultuous climate as school reading.

In my other side of life I've been reading lots of juicy scientific writing about stem cells and developmental biology. A solid book for any interested and already studying biology is StemBook, Sommers, 2010.

rabitslayer

Canada24 Posts

July 20 2011 03:49 GMT

#698

Try reading Ender's game it was very surprising.

Stipulation

United States587 Posts

July 20 2011 04:02 GMT

#699

Son of Hamas
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BestZergOnEast

Canada358 Posts

July 20 2011 06:56 GMT

#700

If you liked Ender's game you will love Ender's Shadow and Shadow of the Hegemon, also by Orson Scott Card. Also, omg, new book by O.S.C.? Hope it doesn't suck like SPeaker for the Dead!