What do you read?

shadows · July 11, 2005

Alright, as a last ditch effort at avoiding my pre-calc homework and summer reading list, I've decided to make my first post on the "real" forum. I'm kind of curious, what do the rest of you read? I'll read pretty much everything as I come across a lot of different material for my job (worker at a library) but I tend to focuse mainly on

- Newspapers: (Where would I be without my morning comics?) I tend to focus on the opinion section a lot because I enjoy spotting fallacies and having 1 sided arguments with unknown people of different political or idealogical persuasions. I'll occasionally reading the actual front page if there's something interesting, but I've probably already read about it thanks to...

-The Internet: I go through my daily list of websites, including Slashdot (technology news, and important mainstream news) which generally has fascinating and occasionally groan-inducing user comments. FARK.com posts unusual stories and such on a regular basis which always serves as an excellent distraction. It's an excellent place to find out about up to the minute/breaking news. Finally, I tend to read certain online stories like Dom's and Dk's if nobody's watching me.

- Science Fiction: I used to be a major science fiction junky, less so now a days. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is one of my all time favorites. Dune wasn't bad but the rest of the series kind of killed it. Anything by Neal Stephenson is excellent though Snow Crash has got to be very close to if not my fall time favorite book. Cyberpunk with humor mixed with ancient Sumerian with a nice heaping of strong characters makes for a really fun read.

-Fantasy: A HUGE fan of Robin McKinley, one of the best authors I think I've ever read. She's amazing...

Mystery: Who hasn't read the marvelous Agatha Christie? I seem to be the only fan of her "Young Adventurers" series though. Probably my favorite of hers is "Murder on the Orient Express."

Yeah... I could continue but I do need to do that pre-calc homework. So, what do the rest of you read? I imagine quite a few of you are voracious readers and have some reccomendations so I can continue avoiding the 13 book long reading list I have for this summer.

//shadows

gobears20022002 · July 11, 2005

I like to read opinion pages in newspapers as well, for the same reasons. I like the comics as well

I like ebaumsworld.com for the humor.

I like Steven King, "The Stand" is my all time favorite

I like reading autobiographies, I highly recomend Jesse Ventura's "Do I Stand Alone?"

I also enjoy calculus and reading anything about math, science, or engineering. I know, boring huh?

lagomorph · July 11, 2005

I think I've probably got you beat on the boring, gobears. I read three different newspapers each morning, and I like to see who picked up something that the others missed. Probably 90% of the books I've read in the past few years have been political or historical nonfiction, but that's mostly because of college. But I am also a Stephen King fan, and I own an absurd number of his books. I have to agree that The Stand is the best, although I've always liked IT as well. I can get into some other horror stuff too. Lovecraft is good if you can get past the long, rambling descriptions. Apart from that, my tastes are all over the place. Right now I'm reading Kurt Vonnegut, but trying not to explode before the next Harry Potter book is available. I'm not terribly into science fiction, although my boyfriend keeps trying to get me hooked on William Gibson. I sort of like detective stories, and I've always loved Sherlock Holmes.

Well, I could go on all day recommending books, but as far as websites, there's a Harry Potter site I look at every day (I'm obsessed, I tell you), the forums here, some other story sites, and a couple message boards I belong to. Also, more news. I'll look at NPR online, TomPaine.com, and of course sweetjesusihatebilloreilly.com, just for a good laugh.

Shadows, I'm curious, what's on your reading list that you're avoiding?

Val

Masked Monkey · July 11, 2005

I tend to read cereal boxes, potato chip (salt & vinegar) labels, and the TV guide. Everything else just seems so repetative.

:king: Snow Dog

sat8997 · July 11, 2005

Shadows, I'm curious, what's on your reading list that you're avoiding?

I'm a little curious about this also.

Oh - and I read anything and everything. Not a big fan of sci-fi, but I'm up for anything else.

Sharon

sat8997 · July 11, 2005

I tend to read cereal boxes, potato chip (salt & vinegar) labels, and the TV guide. Everything else just seems so repetative.

:king: Snow Dog

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Personally I think cereal boxes are very informative. BBQ chips are better.

Sharon

Masked Monkey · July 11, 2005

I tend to read cereal boxes, potato chip (salt & vinegar) labels, and the TV guide. Everything else just seems so repetative.

:king: Snow Dog

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Personally I think cereal boxes are very informative. BBQ chips are better.

Sharon

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Only if you can find them without MSG (which results in a trip to the ER after the Epi-pen for my S/O), not to mention that my Canadian heratige makes salt & vinegar chips a genetic thing.

:king: Snow Dog

Edited July 11, 2005 by Snow Dog

lagomorph · July 11, 2005

The backs of household cleaners can be fun as well. And I did discover that my dollar-store toothpaste is approved by the South African Dental Association.

Val

sat8997 · July 11, 2005

The backs of household cleaners can be fun as well. And I did discover that my dollar-store toothpaste is approved by the South African Dental Association.

Val

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Whew - What a load off my mind.

Sharon

sumbloke · July 11, 2005

- Newspapers: Daily: The Guardian and then at lunch The Independant. Weekly The Jewish Chronicle (so I can say something sensible to my grandparents...oh look - the Chief Rabbi has a new yamulka!). Sundays: The Observer.

-The Internet: Accesstoinsight - constant reference for Buddhist stuff. Google usenet groups: logic, philosophy, soc.support.youth.lesbigay, uk.gay, alt.religion.buddhism, alt.activism and a few rec. writing groups. deweywriter, gayauthors, awesomedude and stormnation - always check the forums and look out for new stories.

- Science Fiction: Iain M Banks, Ken McLeod I track for anything new. Have given up reading random scifi I just wait for recommendations.

- General Print Fiction: gay stuff - Blair Mastbaum, Mark Roeder, David Levithan have all featured this year. Decent historical fiction (reading Q which is about the reformation at the moment). Obligatory French and English classic lit just so I feel adequately literate: Camus, Amis, Forster, Zola etc.

- Non Fiction - I try to keep up with popular physics and life sciences coz I don't study them anymore. Really enjoy Dawkins and other demystifying stuff about science. History - I force myself to be informed about all the depressing stuff: the middle east, burma, I just finished Avi Schlaim's book on the history of Israeli policy and John Pilger's essays New Agendas.

-Fantasy: I can't. As soon as an elf appears on the scene I see red.

And I read comics/strips especially graphic novels. Seb and I are reading the Sandman series together to improve his English ;-).

Sugarmag · July 11, 2005

I'm not even sure where to start.......

OK I love fiction in general. However, I tend not read modern fiction to much. I love Truman Capote, Thomas Mann, Reinaldo Arenas, and Jack Kerouac. The list of Authors is so long I can't even begin.

As for gay stories I recently read a book called Finding Faith by Andrew Barriger and I loved it. I am now waiting for Amazon to ship the follow up book called Finding Peace. Sara Bell has just had her first novel The Magic in Your Touch published and I can't wait to get it. I also obviously read gay stories online. Besides Dom I like all the authors who post in his group, Matt, Meg, and Appolo. Christopher Patrick Lydon, Michael Phillips, and some of Mickey S. (Particularly his story Billy and Danny)

Now my boring side....I enjoy reading philosophy. Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvior are my favorites, but I also enjoy Plato, Descartes and Kant. Most people find this strange, but I love to question the world and that's what philosophy does.

There are so many authors I enjoy I'm sure I have forgotten some, but I didn't want to make this post too long.

Mag

Ender · July 11, 2005

Periodicals:

Local Newspapers, Maximum PC

Books:

Orson Scott Card:

Ender's Game

Ender's Shadow

Speaker for the Dead

Xenocide

Children of the Mind

Shadow of the Hegemon

Shadow Puppets

Shadow of the Giant

Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus

Treason

Robert Jordan:

Wheel of Time series (10 books, 11th out in October)

David Eddings:

The Belgariad (5 books)

The Mallorean (5 books)

Belgarath the Sorcerer

Polgara the Sorceress

J.K. Rowling:

Harry Potter series (everyone knows about this one)

Others:

Misc Star Wars and Star Trek books

Programming books

Assorted works by H.G. Wells, C.S. Lewis, Shakespeare, and many other authors that escape me at the moment.

BTW, what's on your reading list? Some of the ones I had to read in High School were actually interesting, such as "A Prayer for Owen Meaney"

Davey · July 11, 2005

I tend to read....

the local newspaper from back home to catch up on the gossip.

the national newspapers to again catch the gossip!

Reports reports and more reports at work

lots and lots of fiction in books and on the net.

Horoscopes Mine and chris's

and the cereal packet at breakfast

shadows · July 11, 2005

Yeah, I used to read the backs of cereal boxes, now I read the back of frozen dinner boxes. I can't cook. *sigh*

Hmm, Ender, you do know that Card is notoriously homophobic, right? Just thought I'd mention it. That said, I have read the Ender Series and its companions but I got them through the library so I didn't have to pay.

Hmm, there's a few new authors which is a good thing so I guess I have other things to help me avoid my reading list.

For Summer Camp (Yes, I'm going to a reading summer camp...)

Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis

Most of Genesis - Either God or a bunch of old men

Plato - Can't remember off the top of my head what I'm supposed to read

The Oedipus Cycle - Socrates

I think there's more, but that's all I remember.

For School

Heart of Darkness - Conrad

The Metamorphisis - Kafka

Crime and Punishment - Dostoyevsky

The Stranger - Camus

Madame Bovary - Maupassant

Waiting for Godot - Beckett

Long Days Journey into Night - O'Neill

No Exit - Satre

Hamlet - Shakespeare

Beloved - Toni Morrison

Things Fall Apart - Achebe

Out of this entire list I've read 4... Meh. I think I'm going to bull my way through Madame Bovary tonight and tomorrow. I tried to read Beloved and it's just too weird. I shudder at having to read it again. Ah well...

Any comments, things I should look out for? Comparisons to former reading lists?

//shadows

Masked Monkey · July 11, 2005

For School
Heart of Darkness - Conrad

The Metamorphisis - Kafka

Crime and Punishment - Dostoyevsky

The Stranger - Camus

Madame Bovary - Maupassant

Waiting for Godot - Beckett

Long Days Journey into Night - O'Neill

No Exit - Satre

Hamlet - Shakespeare

Beloved - Toni Morrison

Things Fall Apart - Achebe

Out of this entire list I've read 4... Meh. I think I'm going to bull my way through Madame Bovary tonight and tomorrow. I tried to read Beloved and it's just too weird. I shudder at having to read it again. Ah well...

Any comments, things I should look out for? Comparisons to former reading lists?

//shadows

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

egads, thats enough existentialism to make even the 'Rainbow' types want to slice their wrists and use Raid as a first aid spray. Did they supply a the number for a suicide prevention hotline on the handout?

:king: Snow Dog

lagomorph · July 11, 2005

For School
Heart of Darkness - Conrad

The Metamorphisis - Kafka

Crime and Punishment - Dostoyevsky

The Stranger - Camus

Madame Bovary - Maupassant

Waiting for Godot - Beckett

Long Days Journey into Night - O'Neill

No Exit - Satre

Hamlet - Shakespeare

Beloved - Toni Morrison

Things Fall Apart - Achebe

Out of this entire list I've read 4... Meh. I think I'm going to bull my way through Madame Bovary tonight and tomorrow. I tried to read Beloved and it's just too weird. I shudder at having to read it again. Ah well...

Any comments, things I should look out for? Comparisons to former reading lists?

//shadows

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Crime and Punishment? Are you kidding?

Well, of what I've read, Conrad, Kafka, and Camus are good, and I guess I can appreciate Shakespeare, although I wouldn't sit around reading it for fun. And I agree Snow Dog, that does sound like a depressing summer.

Val

Edited July 11, 2005 by lagomorph

shadows · July 11, 2005

*grin* Yep, it is a depressing list. So far, my favorite's been Long Days' Journey into Night but even that was depressing. Good, but depressing. And, I go to a Catholic School, so one kind of becomes numbed to the whole "life is bleak, we are all sinners" outlook.

That said, I should probably check up on a few of my classmates, this list might be enough to send a few of them over the edge into suicidal rampages. Oh, and the depressing summer doesn't stop with the books, I'm also taking and failing pre-calc.

//shadows

lagomorph · July 11, 2005

Oh, and the depressing summer doesn't stop with the books, I'm also taking and failing pre-calc.

//shadows

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I got an A in pre-calc and then ran as far away as I could. The only math I've taken since is a required class in college where, honest to god, we spent two weeks learning to add.

Val

Sugarmag · July 11, 2005

For School
Heart of Darkness - Conrad

The Metamorphisis - Kafka

Crime and Punishment - Dostoyevsky

The Stranger - Camus

Madame Bovary - Maupassant

Waiting for Godot - Beckett

Long Days Journey into Night - O'Neill

No Exit - Satre

Hamlet - Shakespeare

Beloved - Toni Morrison

Things Fall Apart - Achebe

Out of this entire list I've read 4... Meh. I think I'm going to bull my way through Madame Bovary tonight and tomorrow. I tried to read Beloved and it's just too weird. I shudder at having to read it again. Ah well...

Any comments, things I should look out for? Comparisons to former reading lists?

//shadows

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

egads, thats enough existentialism to make even the 'Rainbow' types want to slice their wrists and use Raid as a first aid spray. Did they supply a the number for a suicide prevention hotline on the handout?

:king: Snow Dog

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I enjoy existentialism. Sartre is one of my favorites. I loved No Exit...Shadows it is very intersting I would love to hear what you think of it.

Mag

Masked Monkey · July 11, 2005

Oh, and the depressing summer doesn't stop with the books, I'm also taking and failing pre-calc.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

pre-calc should not be allowed to be taught as a summer school course. There is only one way to learn math and that is to do problem, problems, and more problems; you just can't do that with a compressed schedule. Maybe a trig class, but not pre-calculus , it just short-changes the student.

:king: Snow Dog

Sugarmag · July 11, 2005

As for gay stories I recently read a book called Finding Faith by Andrew Barriger and I loved it. I am now waiting for Amazon to ship the follow up book called Finding Peace. Sara Bell has just had her first novel The Magic in Your Touch published and I can't wait to get it. I also obviously read gay stories online. Besides Dom I like all the authors who post in his group, Matt, Meg, and Appolo. Christopher Patrick Lydon, Michael Phillips, and some of Mickey S. (Particularly his story Billy and Danny)

Mag, there's now a third book in the Andrew Barriger series, entitled Finding Hope. I took it with me to read on my trip out of town last month. I agree, this is a lovely series, and I'm hoping there'll be more.

I'll be back later with my reading list, when I have more time to post.

Kitty

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Amazon does not carry it, but I can get it from another ditributor. I do plan on reading it after Finding Peace.

Mag

JamesSavik · July 11, 2005

I'm reading Conrad, Salinger and Rand this summer.

Non-fiction, I'm fairly geeky. Reading Forgotten Calculus to brush up on my skills. Understanding the Linux Kernel by Bovet and Stars and Their Spectra by Kaler are on my pile.

sumbloke · July 11, 2005

Plato - Can't remember off the top of my head what I'm supposed to read
The Oedipus Cycle - Socrates

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Er...Sophocles?

shadows · July 12, 2005

Plato - Can't remember off the top of my head what I'm supposed to read

The Oedipus Cycle - Socrates

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Er...Sophocles?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Lol, thanks sumbloke. It's what happens when you're posting on a public terminal and you're rushed. I should know who wrote it, it's not like I haven't read it before... *sigh* Greek Tragedy can be rather amusing if you're in the right mind set. Perhaps that will be my light comedy for the summer

//shadows

JamesSavik · July 12, 2005

Plato - Can't remember off the top of my head what I'm supposed to read

The Oedipus Cycle - Socrates

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Er...Sophocles?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Probably Plato's Republic. Could have been worse. The Rhetoric of Aristotle will make your eyes bleed.

I've got a kick-azz study guide for Plato's Republic. If you want, I'll scan it and email it too you. Just PM me if you want it.

What do you read?

Recommended Posts

Create an account or sign in to comment

Create an account

Sign in

Similar Content