Latest Gene Wolfe book you read (1-10 scale)

[caldwell.the.great]

i remember the third being much, much, much better

[MANTIS]

Hot Pink - 8/10

Adam Levin's writing style seems almost... twee? precocious? The type stuff I might hate, but for some reason I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Wanted to try his short stories out before I committed to the 1000+ page The Instructions. But after I finish Dark Tower, I will definitely check The Instructions out.

[featherboa]

tHE Things They Carried
Bryan Cranston
It's a buy
or at least a, have featherboa send me the file

[featherboa]

The Circle - Dave Eggers
10
kafka 2013
kinda clunky sometimes. who cares
skimming reviews online now; that this is hated is a good sign i guess

[DanBehavingBadly]

Joyland - Stephen King. 9/10. I'm about 15 years behind on my SK novels, but this was in the new-ish rack at the library so I gave it a shot. Haunted amusement park + murder mystery = not too shabby.

[featherboa]

thank you for suggesting my next audio adventrue

[elephants gerald]

halfway through mindsploitation, vernon chatman's new book. definitely the hardest I've ever laughed reading a book. like an idiot, on rush hour trains.

it's series of communications with internet essay-writing companies, which all seem to be run by non-native english speakers- and he supplies these companies with essay topics that are fucking insane and idiotic. I think the highlight so far has been a paper he claimed he needed for bioengineering class, for which he had to create a new limb on the lower half of the human body. the essayist wrote two really bizarre pieces about a gigantic peanutclaw...

[Necrometer]

what in the hell am I supposed to do with these dust jackets

[EEEOOOEEEOOOEEEOOO]

Oh, Teju Cole - Open City 9/10
It's good.

[Honky Kong 64]

what in the hell am I supposed to do with these dust jackets

I throw all of mine directly into the trash.

[EEEOOOEEEOOOEEEOOO]

A Storm of Swords - 8.5/10

[Gay for Cock]

Ascending Peculiarity: Edward Gorey on Edward Gorey 10/10

[Raw Ting]

Slaughterhouse Five- 8.1/10

[Whee of the Dead]

The Invisible Man - 6/10

[Iron Goldie]

The Disaster Artist by Greg Sestero - 9.5/10

The guy who played Mark in The Room wrote a book about the filming of the movie, as well as his friendship with Tommy Wiseau. There have been snippets of the book online for a while now, and it is worth buying. One of the most enjoyable books I've read in a while. Not only do you get to see what it's like for a young actor to try and make it in Hollywood, but you get to see how his friendship with Tommy started. It also goes into great detail about the actual filming of the movie, which involved lots of wasted money on equipment, yet little money for the actors, and many, many, many retakes. Apparently the "I did naht hit her. I did naht. Oh hai Mark" scene took took a whopping 32 takes, and Tommy only finally got it when Greg proposed the idea of him throwing the water bottle.

A really funny book, and an easy read. You'll breeze through it in no time. Highly recommended.

[Honky Kong 64]

The Witches - 5.5

[EEEOOOEEEOOOEEEOOO]

Vinh-Kim Nguyen - The Republic of Triage 6/10

[kelly]

DECEMBER READS:

Escape from Camp 14 - 8/10 This kind of thing is especially hard to rate because it's someone's suffering and life. The story is devastating and a little stressful in some parts. I really wish the author was better and was able to really dig deeper and expand on more but I understand that's probably really hard to do. I picked it up pretty randomly before it was being loaded onto front shelves and must reads. Now when I go into bookstores I see it everywhere and I'm glad, because It IS a must read. I think it's important to have as many personal accounts from inside the borders of North Korea as possible. And not the kind that comes from basketball players being sent and being put up nicely and comfortably for the personal amusement of a pig.

Mr Manchester and the Factory Girl 5/10 I'm a fan of the emergence of punk in the UK, and a huge fan of Joy Division, New Order, and the creation/fall of Factory Records. I knew nothing of this book and happened to see the bold titled spine lodged haphazardly in a shelf of a used bookstore. It's written by the first wife of Tony Wilson (key player, Factory). She seems rather annoying and a little psychotic. She often reflects that oh looking back how right Tony always was and how she was wrong and crazy etc - nicely done after the guy is fucking dead. The only reason why I gave points at all is because there is still some treasure of facts and another perspective regarding the music scene, JD, Factory, the beginning of New Order and The Hacienda. She had nothing (or a tiny amount) to do with Factory other than being Tony's wife and working there for an incredibly brief time during the end of their marriage so I'm not sure what's up with that title except that she really WANTED to be more involved but never was? Who knows. I think she's crazy.

Followed by

Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division - 10/10 The latest (early 2013) and by Peter Hook (bassist, Joy Division; later New Order). Absolutely excellent. Nice that it's by a person fully part of and involved in the whole history and not some numbskull cashing in on the name. I can't recommend this enough to any of you who may be fans (BUNGVOX?) as Hooky really has a way to tell it! Read immediately.

This is a Call - The Life and Times of Dave Grohl - 10/10 A little weird to read a bio regarding someone who is still very involved in music and projects, etc, but okay let's go. I love this man. A lot of cool stuff about the emerging DC HC scene. Definitely tons of Nirvana era stuff. It was fun to read answers to pretty specific rumors I remember hearing people going on about back when Cobain died and regarding Courtney as well. There's definitely still an uncertainty about if Courtney is going to haunt those guys forever. There was a lot of stuff he just wouldn't talk about. But there was a lot he did say too! A lot about the changing line up of FF over the years (mostly members from other known groups), his involvement with Queens of the Stone Age (Songs for the Deaf) and his on-going music relationship with Josh Homme. Good read. Solid dude.

[Krieg]

The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared: 8,5/10. Forest Gump-esque story of a funny Swedish guy and its adventures through the 20th's century history.

[Whee of the Dead]

The Hound of the Baskervilles - 8/10

[kelly]

Furious Cool- 9/10

Two brothers write a biography about Richard Pryor, but instead of doing his life soup to nuts, just focus on some parts of his life they think influenced his comedy the most. Tons of awesome behind the scenes stories including a teenage Pryor trying to be-- literally-- a pimp, like his old man. His dad becomes disgusted when Pryor doesn't know how to beat a woman properly-- i.e., he fucks up her face.

Anyway, it's well worth the read if you like Richard Pryor.

I just got this for sis-in-law for Christmas. Guess I'll be picking it up for myself soon as well! I was also interested in the Tyson read because of your previous post about it. I saw it last time I was book buying and it was a toss up btwn that and Malcolm X/Reinvention. Have you read that one? I just finished reading another book I got sis, which was the life and times of Charles Manson (Jeff Guinn). Excellent and cringeworthy throughout. I'll leave it at that because I'm saving up my rating list for January to post at the end of the month but definitely recommended if you haven't read it yet.

[featherboa]

further away
jonathan franzen
9

old dork but writes so well
a handful of little sections about david foster wallace and his death in essays about other topics
a lot of these were book reviews and they all make me want to read the book
i'm going to read some alice munro short stories
hate's techno-industrial consumerism
could earn himself a ten if he would be more radical about it

any of these good?
The Laughing Policeman
The man who loved children
The hundred brothers
the man in the gray flannel suit
The Gambler (Dostoevsky)

[EEEOOOEEEOOOEEEOOO]

The Hound of the Baskervilles - 8/10

The last two points aren't loading.

[kelly]

JANUARY READS

The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Neil Gaiman) - 9/10 I think? My heart definitely says 10/10 because he's my new favorite. A little slow to start but once it hit, it was a constant uphill read that I couldn't put down. It was my first NG, so I went and bought a bunch more of his books and I can't wait.

The Life and Times of Charles Manson (Jeff Guinn) - 9/10 I bought a copy for sis-in-law for Christmas and then couldn't stop thinking about it so I got another and read it. Very well constructed and fascinating/creepy beyond all the stuff we already knew. It was like going on a walk through SF, LA, and Topanga Canyon with a tour guide and a shadow of the Family. Ugh,,

Ask the Dust (John Fante) ?/10 I don't think I'm ready to rate this yet?! I also had no idea that it was made into a movie. It was a gift from someone and after I read it I realized it was the second book of a 4 book series. So I feel like I need to read the rest of them before rating because it definitely feels like there was something before it and something after it and I just got this small chunk and don't know what to do with it.

Manic (Terri Cheney) 3/10 - Terrible. Some bipolar woman's memoir. I couldn't remember the spelling of her name so I looked it up on amazon and noticed she has another book called The Dark Side of Innocence: Growing Up Bipolar. Weird because I swear I read in Manic that she didn't start having episodes until her mid-late 20s. One point for text on pages, second point for reading/finishing, and last point because she definitely has a story to tell she just can't tell it for shit. I know the purpose of this book isn't for entertainment purposes but if you're writing about yourself thinking other people would WANT to read it, shouldn't the story be told in a a way that would make me give a shit in the end? Or make some kind of impression?

The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman) 10/10 - Told you I bought more! Awesome and fun. It's like all his stuff is all the things you remember of childhood dreams/nightmares and overactive imaginations and wonderment. So enjoyable that I read it in one sitting. Will be reading Good Omens in Feb.

The Master and Margarita (Mikhail Bulgakov) 8/10 - SO MUCH IN ONE BOOK! This was fantastic and I'm not sure how it all fit into the pages. After reading it I can't help but imagine the book as if the text inside is carefully spring loaded and one false move will send all the words busting out and landing in heaps on the floor. I have a feeling if I knew more (any?!) Russian history I would "get it" for all it's worth and bump the rating to a full 10/10.

The Gunslinger (Stephen King) 9/10? Loved it. This is the first of my SK adventures with the Dark Tower series and I can't wait to start the next book. Scratching my head a little bit and have some questions but I hope I find out later? Either way, I will wait until the end of the series before I wonder out loud.

Running with Scissors 8/10 I have a feeling I shouldn't have read all the newspapers', magazines', publishers', other authors' blurbs in the front first. This book is best going into blind. A stark contrast to the Manic memoir above. So all I will say is this dude has a story to tell and delivers it in a way that's like the moment between hitting your funny bone just right and saying "it's not funny"

[Necrometer]

great post!!!!

BUT

I came here to get your take on Hyperion, and