I've been pretty bogged down in school readings, which include:

Ulysses-James Joyce
two studies on Ulysses by two different writers
The Frederick Douglass Reader
various poems by Robert Frost (bleh)

Next week we start on Booker T. Washington in my Black Authors seminar class, but Ulysses will take the rest of my semester in James Joyce.

When I have time to read, I am working on this book called A Guide to the Teachings and Practices of the Catholic Church so I can understand James Joyce a little better, C.S. Lewis's Miracles, and a book by John M. Ellis titled Literature Lost: Social Agendas and the Corruption of the Humanities. It's basically about the wrong turn literary studies have taken and the detriment of cultural studies.

Maybe one day I'll have time for a life, eh?

Finished reading Dune: House Harkonnen....Working on Earth by David Brin. Only problem with the book is its not too subtle message. Interesting format and I like the illustrations (I like pictures.)

Most likely, I try to get my hands on Dune: House Corrino or Patricia Highsmith's Ripley Series. Or I'll try to finish Lord of the Ring Series. Man, the first book took me forever to finish which is odd since the Hobbit only took me three days.

Just picked up Enzo Ferrari: a Life - Richard Williams to read on the plane next week.

Just read Kitchen Confidential by anthony bouirdain based on the recommendations on the last thread, I throughly enjoyed it.However reading about prep work and the stuff that goes on behind the scenes does not instill confidence in eating out at clean locations,.

I was given a book for Christmas by a cousin that I just finished. And it was amazingly good ...

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon (author of the book Wonder Boys).

It just won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. I think it was deserved.

Oh, and if you happen to be into comic books at all, then this is a book you must not miss!

Hope some of you will check it out. This is the kind of book you wanna share with others :-)

Aaron

James Morrow's The Eternal Footman.

absinthe, I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed Kavalier and Clay. If you haven't found it yet, check out Chabon's personal home page, which he updates frequently:

http://home.earthlink.net/~mchabon/

It looks like the Pulitzer and the success of Wonder Boys has finally brought him some much-deserved attention. I tried his site a minute ago and discovered that he had surpassed his monthly allotment of web traffic.

Penny Lane, good luck with Ulysses. If you make it all the way through, then you're a more dedicated student than I. Also, I'd be very interested to hear your opinion of the Ellis book.

Scarecrow, who did you order it from and how much was it? I noticed from Amazon.com you can get the 1st 2 books for $37.

Finished Robin Hobb's Fool's Errand. Excellent book. Best book I've read in quite a while. For those of you that are Hobb fans (I know there have been a few here from previous posts), I know you'll enjoy this book. I'll probably Feist's Tear of the Gods next.

Currently engrossed in Jonathan Carroll's The Land of Laughs . I'm a big fan of Carroll's Sleeping in Flame .

Am getting ready to start Gish Jen's Who's Irish? . Also a fan of her other work.

I ordered the trade paperback version from a private seller through Amazon for $20. Providing I like it, which from the sound of things I will, I think I'll order the other two from Amazon UK since their prices for them seem pretty good.

John Adams by David McCullough is in my office. Book is blowing me away!

The Human Factor by Graham Greene is in my bedroom. I am almost always re-reading a Greene novel.

Ice by Ed McBain (Evan Hunter) is on tape in my car. Love the 87th Precinct novels!

On deck:
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
Candyland by Ed McBain & Evan Hunter

On deck for the car:
Bag of Bones by Stephen King

Just finished BROWN HARVEST (by Jay Russell), a wonderfully fast read about the boy detective's trip back home. Laced with dark humor and sarcasm.

Now I've picked up PRAYERS FOR RAIN by Lehane. Only about 5 chapters into it, but I already know it's going to be a winner.

Just finishing up Ghost Story by Peter Straub. I'm going to re-watch the DVD -- I have some thoughts on the book vs. the movie that I might post on shortly.

On the shelf: Slaughtermatic by Steven Aylett, Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, Shadow & Claw by Gene Wolfe, and Cornelius Chronicles by Michael Moorcock.

Getting to be too busy.

About half way through Pride and Prejudice. The BBC miniseries is pretty faithful so far. And the book is pretty compelling reading.

I also just finished Dr. Laura Schlessinger's 10 Things Couples Do to Mess Up Their Relationships. Her writing style has improved since her first book and this one, while not as spot on as the first, is a good read for people who are having trouble with a relationship (married or just dating). Some good advice, but written from a a Conservative world-view. A lot of it is made up of letters and calls from her listeners and the variety means that quite a few items are likely to hit very close to home. A fairly fast read too.

-David

The Great War: Walk In Hell
the second(I think) of Harry Turtledove's WW I books with the USA fighting against the CSA, Britain, France, Canada, and Japan
it's kind of a continuation of his alternate Civil War books

Harry Turtledove does excellent alternate history books

the Summons - Grishams latest
the Bible

The Second Generation
Wheel of Time:Book 2

Terry Pratchett's Lord's and Ladies (Discworld, of course).

Next is Gene Wolfe's On Blue's Waters. First volume of The Book of the Short Sun. If you haven't read any of his stuff I suggest you pick them up, especially if you're into Fantasy and Sci-Fi. His work is brilliant, especially the earlier Book of the New Sun series, Shadow of the Torturer, etc.

"The Shadow-Line" -- Joseph Conrad

"Dune: House Corrino" -- Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

Tuan Jim

Finished Pride & Prejudice! I thought the book was better than the miniseries, but only by a little. I think, however, that I prefer to read the book before seeing the movie. You spend too much time trying to match one up with the other, but to rewatch a movie is only two hours, while rereading a book takes quite a bit longer.

Now on to Martin's A Clash of Kings!

-David

At the moment I am reading 5 books. ( I switch between them depending on mood.) Oak Baby by G.W. Reynolds III. Third book in a series about growing up southern in the little town of Mayport Florida. (Great series by the way...anyone else read these?) A Painted House by John Grisham. Driver #8 by Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Stood in line for over 4 hours to get a signed copy when he was here in Daytona Beach for the Daytona 500) A World History of Film by Robert Sklar. And part 2 of The Dark Knight Strikes Again by Frank Miller...ok it's a comic book but we all have our guilty pleasures. And I just picked up A Winter Haunting by Dan Simmons tonight.

Im reading LOTR for my 3rd time. Im also reading The Hobbit and Unfinished Tales.

Good luck! As I said before, from your previous comments, I'm not sure you're going to like the story until either the end of book 2, or book 3, if you make it that far.

I just started Raymond Feist's Honoured Enemy. For Feist fans, it's a new book revisiting the Riftwar, but not available in the US. Reviews say it's as good as his early work. I got it from Amazon.uk.co, along with Steven Erikson's Malazon series (not shipped yet) and some other stuff.

UNDER A WING: A MEMOIR by Reeve Lindbergh

Just finished "The Cider House Rules" and started "The Satanic Verses" - pretty drastic difference between the two

Actually, I'm finding this book much better reading than the first one. And the promise of has really piqued my interest in this series.

Thanks again for your previous comments.

-David