Lara Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 (edited) Glad you enjoyed Slaughterhouse Five. It's not one of my favourite books, but I love its refrain, 'so it goes', so much that I have it tattooed on my foot. That's awesome! That refrain reminds me of something one of my old teachers used to say - sometimes understatement is the most powerful form of delivery. Edited January 5, 2016 by Lara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 That's awesome! That refrain reminds me of something my old teachers used to say - sometimes understatement is the most powerful form of delivery. Yes! That's so very true. Will have to remember that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lara Posted January 10, 2016 Author Share Posted January 10, 2016 Today I went to a non-profit book "shop" and picked up so new books! Since everything was free, I used a little less discretion than normal, considering that if I don't like something I can just donate it back. I got some non-fiction: The Long March by Roger Kimball The French Revolution by Owen Connelly and Fred Hembree The Illusion of Peace by Sally Marks Environmental Overkill by Dixy Lee Ray Henry VIII by M.D. Palmer An interesting looking novel about children growing up in Syria, In the Name of God by Paula Jolin And some plays, including one on my reading list, Antony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare, as well as The Crucible by Arthur Miller and The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance. I am quite excited to read The Crucible, I loved Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller so I hope it is just as good! I also was able to clean out my shelves a little by donating some books, which was nice. Right now, I'm making my way through Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, which is hilarious, but going a little slowly because I'm so busy with work. There's so much I want to read but so little time. Oh well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lara Posted January 10, 2016 Author Share Posted January 10, 2016 I totally forgot about Zen and the Motorcycle Man! We have a lot of books in common, I hope you have a good reading year and welcome BTW- Just noticed you were from the US- hello from California! Hi from the opposite coast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 I hope you enjoy all your new books . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Right now, I'm making my way through Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, which is hilarious, but going a little slowly because I'm so busy with work. There's so much I want to read but so little time. Oh well! I enjoyed this one, although I liked the second half more than the first. It's good that it's a collection of essays so you can put it down and pick it up again easily, which will help if you're busy with work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lara Posted January 13, 2016 Author Share Posted January 13, 2016 I enjoyed this one, although I liked the second half more than the first. It's good that it's a collection of essays so you can put it down and pick it up again easily, which will help if you're busy with work. That's definitely true! I finished it today, and I enjoyed it quite a lot. I do think Sedaris' best work is Naked, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lara Posted January 13, 2016 Author Share Posted January 13, 2016 (edited) Finally finished Me Talk Pretty One Day today! I think today I'll get started on Antony And Cleopatra. I adore Shakespeare, but later I might begin reading some else as well, depending on how long it takes me to get though it, just to have some lighter reading. Currently, I'm reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence with my boyfriend. I'm not sure how I feel about it so far. There are some nice, poetic moments, and John. M. Pirsig definitely has a gift for description, but it's quite ramble-y which bothers me. I'm less than a third of the way into though, so it still has plenty of time to redeem itself. Edited January 13, 2016 by Lara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lara Posted January 15, 2016 Author Share Posted January 15, 2016 Finally finished Me Talk Pretty One Day today! I think today I'll get started on Antony And Cleopatra. I adore Shakespeare, but later I might begin reading some else as well, depending on how long it takes me to get though it, just to have some light reading. Ah well I decided to read The Crucible, which I finished today, instead, since I couldn't find my copy of Antony and Cleopatra. It was a good decision. I read the play version, since I love Arthur Miller and wanted to read something else by him. Definitely didn't disappoint - it's such a great, gruesome story. If you've never read the book or play, it's a story based on the Salem witch trials. I've always wanted to visit Salem, Massachusettes, just for the history, and now I'm newly inspired to. I'll have to go on a road trip there this summer! It's crazy to think that happened just a few hundred years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lara Posted February 6, 2016 Author Share Posted February 6, 2016 (edited) Haven't been on here in a while, so I figure I'll give a little update! I finished reading six books in January, three less than my goal of approximately 9/month. Not too bad overall, though. The last book I finished reading was Freakonomics by Steven J. Dubner and Stephen D. Levitt. I had high expectations of this book, because I love their podcast, but I was a bit disappointed. While it was well written, I thought the content was not great. I was expecting to learn at least something about economics from the book, but it turned out to be much more fluffy non-fiction than I was expecting. I'm still glad I read it, though. At the end of the book, there is quite a bit of additional content - articles written by the authors that expand on what was in the books, but I think I'll save that to read another time. Recently, I went to Barnes & Noble to use a gift card I received for Christmas, and picked up a couple books: I am so excited to read Notorious RBG. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is awesome. I also picked up Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, which I am currently reading for my English class: Frankenstein has been great so far. I've been enjoying it much more than I expected. Mary Shelley's voice as an author is so frank yet quite poetic, and much less archaic than I thought it would be, given the age of the book. The book is very compelling, I've read much farther ahead than what I've been assigned for class. It's definitely one of those books you just can't put down! It's superficial, but I also quite like the cover of my copy of the book. It's *so* cheesy. I just love it. Barnes & Noble has a great series of classics with lovely bindings. I have a copy of Pride & Prejudice from that collection that is just lovey. Must less cheesy than this Frankenstein cover, haha. In addition to Frankenstein, I'm still making my way through Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, though that has been going slow because I'm reading it with my boyfriend and we've both been quite busy. I'm also reading a non-fiction book about the French Revolution, which has turned out be quite interesting. It's part of a series of books on European history, I can't remember the name of it without getting up to look at the book, but I'll have to see if I can get my hands on more of them when I am done this one. Yesterday, I checked out Elizabeth Warren's biography, A Fighting Chance, from the library and began reading it, so I have a ton to read right now! I just get in the mood sometimes where I need to have a million different things to read. I know some people here share that sentiment . I hope everybody's reading has been going well, and happy February to everyone! Edited February 6, 2016 by Lara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 You are reading a lot of different things! Several people on here do that. I couldn't heh. I really need to focus on one book myself. I can read two books at once, but it generally really slows me down and is harder for me. I tend to then just focus on one of the two and finish that first. But it's good it works for you . I'm not good at doing multiple things at once in general, when I'm reading I prefer silence, for example, rather than music or TV sound around me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 The last book I finished reading was Freakonomics by Steven J. Dubner and Stephen D. Levitt. I had high expectations of this book, because I love their podcast, but I was a bit disappointed. While it was well written, I thought the content was not great. I was expecting to learn at least something about economics from the book, but it turned out to be much more fluffy non-fiction than I was expecting. I'm still glad I read it, though. At the end of the book, there is quite a bit of additional content - articles written by the authors that expand on what was in the books, but I think I'll save that to read another time. I finished Freakonomics last week. I had been wanting to read it for years, but like you I was left a bit disappointed. It wasn't nearly as interesting as I thought it would be, and there seemed to be a bit too much worshipping of Stephen D Levitt, as the next best thing. I found that a bit offputting, as if someone is really that great, you don't need to be told it at the start of every chapter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lara Posted February 7, 2016 Author Share Posted February 7, 2016 I finished Freakonomics last week. I had been wanting to read it for years, but like you I was left a bit disappointed. It wasn't nearly as interesting as I thought it would be, and there seemed to be a bit too much worshipping of Stephen D Levitt, as the next best thing. I found that a bit offputting, as if someone is really that great, you don't need to be told it at the start of every chapter. I felt the exact same way. It was strange. My copy also had eleven pages of "praise for Freakonomics" at the beginning of the book before the introduction which I found rather...excessive . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Aw, I really loved Freakonomics. I resisted reading it for a while because I thought it wouldn't be interesting (I used to work with many economists in a bank, and they wrote about dull stuff, which I then had to read), so I guess my low expectations helped in that regard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lara Posted February 8, 2016 Author Share Posted February 8, 2016 Aw, I really loved Freakonomics. I resisted reading it for a while because I thought it wouldn't be interesting (I used to work with many economists in a bank, and they wrote about dull stuff, which I then had to read), so I guess my low expectations helped in that regard. Just goes to show it's all subjective Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Happy reading in 2016, Lara. Frankenstein is on my 'to read' list (on Kindle) - on a purely shallow note, I love your cover! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 Happy Reading in 2016 ! I hope the Zen Motorbike book improves for you; I remember reading it and thinking Wow! at one point... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lara Posted March 14, 2016 Author Share Posted March 14, 2016 Happy reading in 2016, Lara. Frankenstein is on my 'to read' list (on Kindle) - on a purely shallow note, I love your cover! Happy Reading in 2016 ! I hope the Zen Motorbike book improves for you; I remember reading it and thinking Wow! at one point... Thank you both! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lara Posted March 14, 2016 Author Share Posted March 14, 2016 Hi everyone who happens to be reading my thread! Just thought I'd check back in here. February has been a horribly slow reading month for me, unfortunately. School and work have been keeping me quite busy, so I haven't had as much time to read as I would like. If I counted textbooks in my list here I'd definitely appear much more productive! I have been able to finish Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, which I read for my English class. I enjoyed it much more than I'd expected to, though I found the narrator to be infuriatingly egotistical. I think that was intentional, though, so I guess it's a mark of good writing! I do admire Shelley's character development in that novel. I also finished A Fighting Chance by Elizabeth Warren. I adore Elizabeth Warren, and that's why I started reading it (it's her autobiography), but I was pleasantly surprised to find it quite informative about recent economic reform in the United States. It was interesting to hear about the workings of Washington from a behind the scenes, personal sort of view. If you are interested in U.S. politics and lean towards the left, I'd definitely recommend it. Just today, I finished World War Z by Max Brooks. This was another book I read for my English class. While it is absolutely not something I'd ever read of my own volition, it was enjoyable. The format was interesting - it is presented as nonfiction, a collection of interviews about the "Zombie War" the world has recently undergone. Brooks does a fantastic job maintaining realism. There was a couple bits which I thought were inconsistent with each other, but it could be argued that those inconsistencies made sense considering that the entire book is recollections from a bunch of different people - memory and perception can be faulty. I found the book to be quite terrifying, to be totally honest; the first night after I began reading it I dreamed that I had to hide from zombies. Horrifying. I hope that I'll be able to get some more reading done this month than I did the last, having the time to read for pleasure is so nice. Hope you all are having a great reading year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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