I'm the sort who tends to have several volumes of fiction on the go at once. Currently reading:
Charles Bukowski-Ham on Rye
Angela Carter-Burning Your Boats (collected short stories)
Cara Hoffman-The Wedding and Other Stories
James Joyce-Dubliners
Thomas Pynchon-V
One thing that's struck me since I started reading a lot is that a fair number of people are intimidated by it.

I think the way it was written encouraged me to read it faster than I would normally. Usually I read very slowly, because I like to go back and revisit certain passages that stood out to me. And I like to get a feel for how each particular author writes, and what distinctive marks in their writing I can find. I don't do that on purpose, really, it's just something that happens when I get distracted from the story. That's why I get uncomfortable when people watch me read, because it looks like I'm staring at the same sentence for a longer time than it usually takes a person to finish one page. I just enjoy picking apart sentences and their construction. I also get a kick out of reading aloud to anyone who will listen, which probably dates back to elementary school and being ahead of the other kids in that area. When one of my brothers, who is 14, plays games on this computer, he lets me read to him out of this Film Encyclopedia that I have. It works out perfectly, because he hates being left alone, even when doing an activity meant for solitary enjoyment. Like, uh, Solitaire. And things.

I'm kind of slow. I reread sentences a lot because I have trouble focusing. I have to understand every word I read before I move on, and my thoughts tend to wander when I read. And whenever someone is watching me I can't concentrate at all and it looks like I read slow. I'll keep reading, but not consciously. Then I have to start over.

I hate reading out loud, though. I sound like I'm illiterate.

That's me, too. I'll be your shoulder to cry on, and then I'll cry all over you, and so on and so forth, because that's how I roll.

I'm like you two, I'm a slow reader. Sometimes it'll take me months to get halfway through a book, and then I get so bored with the pace in which I read, that I move on to another book. I put it down to having a short attention span. I often re-read sentences or paragraphs so that I know how every word fits, otherwise I sub-consciously believe I'm missing out. I also like to indentify with how the writer... well... writes.

Currently reading Kingdom of fear by Hunter S. Thompson. This guy RULES.
Thank you.

Yes, more Thompson love. This guy does rule.
I haven't read Kingdom of Fear, though. Is it part of the Gonzo papers collection?
I really like reading his letters. I have both the collections. It's great because you can always look for a pick-me-up in his letters; whether it's him bitching at the NRA, or just writing hate mail to some magazine, or writing to his family.

Yeah it is. They make it out to be an auto biog when really it's just a collection of memoirs from him. I'm up to a bit where he was trying to run for Sheriff. He reads like one hell of a pissed off guy.

It's kinda shit that he killed himself sure he was pissed of with Bush but he could of done something. I read an interview with his wife(?) in the observer paper after Hunter had died wish I'd kept it cos I remember being a good interview.

Ever read Wise Children? One of my favorite books of all time. Died before her time. She's not too popular in the US, but I hope that there's some sort of revival that ensures her place on the bookshelves for a while.

Wise Children. When I read it I hated but the secind time I loved it. The humour in it is so English.

Thanks for the tips. I've finished Beautiful Losers now (I've been reading it at work, and it's pretty short!) and I have to say it's been very enjoyable indeed.

I'm just starting Political Characters of Shakepeare, by John Palmer. He begins by making the excellent point that Shakespeare, although he was required by subject matter to make use of many political characters, was not neccessarily an admirer of politicians:

Get thee glass eyes,
And, like a scurvy politician, seem
To see the things thou dost not

the hiss of the city.

:]

A Clockwork Orange

Beginning Scarlet Letter today as part of the required school reading, which is a list comprised of :The Scarlet Letter, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Giver, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and The Red Badge of Courage; choose three. It makes me wonder how those books could be required reading (mainly TLTWATW and the Giver, one of which I read in 4th grade, the other I had read to me in 5th).
I'm not one for reading Mark Twain. Tom Sawyer was a pain. Not yet sure of the other two I'll read..

rereading - the minotaur takes a cigarette break - stephen sherrill

Has anyone read hustler lately? It no longer has relevant and timely news articles, focussing mainly on racist humour and loads of misogyny! Can You believe it?!?!?

omfg!

Noooooooooooo not the Scarlet Letter;). Huck Finn rules though.


"All right, then, I'll GO to hell!"

Yeah, Huck Finn is nothing like Tom Sawyer.

I might read Huck Finn then, thanks.
I've read two chapters in Scarlet Letter and already I'm bored. Nothing really happens. Hawthorne is being descriptive, but it's like he's not describing anything....can't really explain it. Hope it gets better, though.

now I'm reading paul auster's mr. vertigo... but hmm... don't like it that much honestly...

The Skills to Pay the Bills: The Story of the Beastie Boys

& Locas (the graphic novel)

Huck Finn is excellent. Better than Tom Sawyer.

Kusheisi - The Buddha Of Suburbia
J. Joyce - Dubliners
S. Bellow - Herzog
and a biography of Iggy Pop (Gimme Danger) which is no fun.

good book. i'm reading breakfast of champions

Paul Has a Summer Job by Michel Rabagliati

Finally finished Scarlet Letter. It took much longer than it should have.
Tomorrow I'll begin Fathers and Sons by Turgenev, which I'm looking forward to and hope it's a good read.
I'm also on and off with Waldan and Leaves of Grass - Whitman is becoming my favorite poet.

I don't understand why everyone hates the Scarlet Letter. I didn't think it was that bad. I thought it was pretty engaging compared to other high school reading. On the other hand, I thought To Kill a Mockingbird was boring as hell. Whatever. I don't generally like Americana at all. Scarlet Letter seemed to have a relatively "exotic" feel to it that kept me from classifying it as such, I guess.

I just don't like Hawthorne because everything is a fucking metaphor.

Next up: David Boring & Lost Girl

^^daniel clowes??

I loved Scarlet Letter, it's just so DARK. I think it makes a difference if you are forced to study a book at school, I read Scarlet letter through choice.

i remeber getting all excited to read austers new york trilogy, but it was quite the let down as well.

For David Boring, yes.

Lost Girls is by an English artist by the name of Nabiel Kanan.

I'm reading Selected Writings of Gertrude Stein.

I agree. And in whole pages nothing seemed to happen. I would find myself skipping a whole page and Hawthorne would still be describing the same scene or person - not just that, but hte same feeling the person was having. I found that pretty irritating. It wasn't complete shit, though.
To Kill a Mockingbird was my least favorite book school's required so far. I might have been, though, that at the time the book was assigned, I was reading the Brother's Karamazov, and I just found TKAMB dull in comparisn.

"There is no there there."

Stein's a fun read.

Carlos Castaneda "The Second Ring of Power"

Edward Abbey, "The Monkeywrench Gang." Very cool so far...