What are you reading?

[shadesong]

My lunch-at-work book: The Red Tape War, by Jack Chalker, George Alec Effinger, and Mike Resnick.

My home book: Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates, by Tom Robbins.

Comments

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

I didn't know Jack Chalker ever collaborated.

Does the book have his trademark extreme-mind-controlled-sex-changed-character-sex-scenes?

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

*blink* *blink* I... do not know yet.

yendi? Does it?

[yendi]

Yes. The whole shtick is that all three authors spent much time making fun of themselves. No mind control, iirc, but plenty of changing bodies, of course.

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

Is it an anthology, or a novel?

Do they make fun of themselves, or each other?

[yendi]

A novel. They rotated chapters (although they don't let you know who wrote what chapter until nearly the end, and I was suprised a few times).

Do they make fun of themselves, or each other?

Yes. :-)

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

My lunch-at-work book: rereading The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler. THE premier example of crime noir fiction.

My at-home book: currently rereading three at one whack. I. Asimov: A Memoir (Asimov's autobiography), Powers: Who Killed Retro Girl? (graphic novel by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Avon Oeming), and The Prophet of Akhran by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (book three of the "Rose of the Prophet" trilogy).

cheers,
Phil

[yendi]

I really liked Retro-Girl -- was an eye-opening experience, and Powers is now one of my favorite comics.

[phantom_wolfboy]

Lend it to Mousie when she gets back down there. She needs to read Bendis at his best, and she won't be interested in USM.

[gothwalk.livejournal.com]

In the bag: American Gods, Neil Gaiman (reread) [And I got a mention on Neil's weblog the other day too!]
On the bedside table: The Times Historical Atlas / The Measly Middle Ages (can't remember editor/author)
Just read: Chosen of the Sun, Richard Dansky
Research: The City in History, Lewis Mumford

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

At home: the last thirty pages of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, which I've been stalled out at for a couple of months.

At work: Today, I have comics (yesterday being Wednesday): Hunter: The Age of Magic #12, Love and Rockets (new series) #4 and Fables #2.

Also, the latest MacWarehouse catalog, which I'm perusing.

[gothwalk.livejournal.com]

You folks get your comics on Wednesdays? Freaky.

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

Wednesday is New Comics Day for every shop in every place I've ever lived.

Why, when do you get yours?

[gothwalk.livejournal.com]

Everywhere I've ever been in Europe (I live in Dublin, Ireland) gets them on Thursday. Which, conveniently, is late opening day in Dublin.

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

Damn. And here I was thinking Ireland might be a nice place to live.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

See! See! Another person who can't drag past the awfulness for The Two Towers...

We've been new-comic-less for almost two months now. Our guy needs to get off his ass and mail them to us!

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

"Awfulness?" he said in a dangerous tone.

Do not malign my Tolkien, BEEYAATCH!! :)

Kidding. I know a lot of people have trouble starting The Fellowship of the Ring, but this is the first time I've heard of someone getting bogged down once they've gotten into the story and the pace picks up midway through Fellowship.

cheers,
Phil

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

In all fairness, Book 4 (the second half of The Two Towers is kind of slow and dreary, as Frodo, Sam and Gollum make their doomed march into Mordor.

It's actually better than my memory, though! I'd forgotten all about the trio meeting Faramir. I'd been thinking they wouldn't see a friendly face from the Falls of Rauros all the way to the Cracks of Doom. So that was nice.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

We discussed this a few weeks ago - almost everyone I know has just had to put the book down and walk away, it was so deadly dull.

And I really, really hate Tolkein.

Tolkien

[alphafem.livejournal.com]

I don't honestly know if it's possible for anyone to hate Tolkien as much as I do. *ducks anticipated onslaught* So, I'm right with ya, 'song. Probably ducking and weaving between the mud being slung at us right now...

Re: Tolkien

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

I betcha I do. :)

And no ducking and weaving! Stand proud! And then we can mud-wrestle. Or something.

Re: Tolkien (heh, mudwrestling...)

[alphafem.livejournal.com]

Right... we'll mudwrestle, and then we'll watch darkmattr 's head explode. Fun for all!

Re: Tolkien (heh, mudwrestling...)

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

It's always fun to taunt Happy Fun Howard....

Re: Tolkien

[yendi]

Ha! I told shadesong that darkmattr had to have at least one cool friend! No onslaught from this household!

Re: Tolkien

[alphafem.livejournal.com]

Yay I'm cool! Does this mean I finally get to sit at the cool kids' lunch table?

Re: Tolkien

[yendi]

Well, you would, but there aren't any chairs left. They moved 'em all away, 'cuz they didn't want any former not-so-cool moving up the ladder. :-)

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

Two months without comics? You must be very brave.

And you've drawn entirely the wrong lesson about The Two Towers. I love Lord of the Rings and have read it four times before. I'm having trouble with the second volume for extrinsic reasons, and not because it's not a great read.

"Awfulness?" Shut yo' mouf!

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

I'm in comics withdrawal. It sucks ass.

And okay, different reason - but Tolkein does suck, sotherenyah. :)

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

Maybe we should just say "Your mileage may vary" and let it go at that. :)

You're right about one thing, though. Comics withdrawal does suck ass. I will have two weeks' worth of stuff awaiting me when I hit the store this Sunday.

cheers,
Phil

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

Actually, it seems to be the case that you suck.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Been talking to yendi, have you? ;)

[technomom]

Odd. I don't remember getting bogged down there, though it's been a couple of years since the last re-read. But Katie didn't seem to get bogged down, either. She'd read The Hobbit and Fellowship of the Ring before going to see the movie right after it came out. She just got around to picking up The Two Towers last week, I think. She finished Return of the King in the car on the way to camp (appendices and all). She wants to find our copy of The Silmarillion when she gets home and read it - I never got through that one.

She did have two books she hadn't started yet to read this week if she gets a chance. One was The Book of Night With Moon by Diane Duane. I'm not sure what the other was.

[edie22.livejournal.com]

You know, I tried to read The Store, but I can't seem to get into it. It seems okay, I dunno, maybe I'm jaded from all the porn I read. I also started the Ya Ya books, but I'm waiting to read those on the plane tomorrow.

I haven't read something that's not fanfic in a while, it's different. My brain hurts.

[chrisv.livejournal.com]

Ooo, how is Fierce Invalids? I think I heard about that one on NPR last year but I never picked it up.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

I'm only about 40 pages into it - but it's good so far!

[chrisv.livejournal.com]

What are his books like? I'm looking at them on Amazon now and trying to decide what to get.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

His books are... indescribable. Really. He's an odd, odd man.

His most popular book is "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues"; you may want to start with that one...

[terracinque.livejournal.com]

Jitterbug Perfume is easily one of my five favorite novels of all time. It was the first Tom Robbins book I read.

Then I read Still Life With Woodpecker and was deeply disappointed. It was a mess.

I hear from most people that Jitterbug Perfume is his best book, so I don't have a lot of incentive to read the rest. I shouldn't have read JP first.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Jitterbug Perfume and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues are my favorites; Still Life with Woodpecker and Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas didn't work for me as much.

[rubrchick]

Online: your journal

Offline: Margaret Atwood's Lady Oracle