What's on your reading list?

[amormundi]

I've completed The Black Atlantic by Paul Gilroy this morning. I'm also reading The Plague by Camus.

I'm working on reading one theoretical text per week. I've a list of texts which include Archaeology of Knowledge by Foucault, Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord, Against the Romance of Community by Miranda Joseph, and In The Break: The Aesthetics of the Black Radical Tradition by Fred Moten.

In terms of fiction, I have a ton of potential books to read - I purchase books in bundles - like Distant Star and By Night in Chile by Roberto Bolano, Waiting by Goretti Kyomuhendo, and An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter by Cesar Aira.

I love having lists of books to read. The difficult part is letting down all of the other books that you've put in second place.

@Durkin65: Sweet list!! Moten's been on my wish list for a while but is unsurprisingly hard to get a hold of outside of the states. I'll be back for school in the fall though and figure I can get my hands on him then. I've never heard of Miranda Joseph, but the book sounds really interesting and I'm putting that one on my list as well. Moreover, I also have Foucault (Vol. 1 of History of Sexuality - I've read embarassingly little by him!), Debord, and Lispector (Family Ties) on deck and am currently reading Savage Detectives by Bolaño (best novel I've read in a very long time!).

Other books I'm currently reading (I usually have several going at once):

Sixty Stories by Donald Barthelme

Romanticism: A German Affair by Rüdiger Safranski

Other books on my shelf I hope to read soon:

Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis

The correspondence of Paul Celan and Ingeborg Bachmann

Martin Heidegger's Path of Thinking by Otto Pöggeler

Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig

Seven Gothic Tales by Isak Dinesen

The complete works of Nella Larsen

Changó, el gran putas by Manuel Zapata Olivella

Despair by José Donoso

Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima

I'll Be Here in Sunshine and in Shadow by Christian Kracht

Problems in General Linguistics, Vol. I by Émile Benveniste

And then of course poetry! I feel like it's misleading to say that I'm ever "reading" books of poetry, because I only tend to pick them up haphazardly and read them desultorily, but some poets I'm excited about right now are:

Nicolás Guillén

Rosa Ausländer

Baudelaire (!!!)

Vinícius de Morães

Kurt Tucholsky

César Vallejo

Paul Celan's translations (unbeatable! Celan is the only person in the world who could improve on Shakespeare)

[Branwen daughter of Llyr]

wahoo reading lists!!

Recent reads:

PopCo, Scarlett Thomas

The Medieval World, Friedrich Heer

Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond

Summerland, Michael Chabon

The Yiddish Detective's Union, Michael Chabon

Prydian Chronicles Lloyd Alexander (for the 700th time)

The Farie Wars, Herbie Brennan

Lord of the Rings (also for the 700th time)

LionBoy, Lionboy The Chase, Zizou Corder

Baroque Cycle, Neal Stephenson

Current:

Norton Anthologies (English & American)

Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms

(can you tell I'm studying for the subject test??)

On List:

Inkdeath, Cornelia Funke

Diamond Age, Neal Stephenson

The Purple Emperor, Ruler of the Realm, Herbie Brennan

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Michael Chabon

All Terry Pratchett's (re-read and read ones I haven't yet)

All Tom Robbins (re-read and read ones I haven't yet)

The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories, Susanna Clarke

Empire of Magic, Geraldine Heng

Gawain and the Green Knight

Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend

A Handbook to Literature

Sacred Narrative: Readings in the Theory of Myth

(in red - for revising writing sample)

I could go on FOR DAYS on the list - my amazon wish list is HUGE.

[Branwen daughter of Llyr]

My fluff is probably even fluffier lol. I'm currently working on Julie & Julia and after that will continue working my way through all the recommended authors on Sophie Kinsella's Amazon page (probably Jennifer Weiner next). I read chick lit to keep myself sane among all the dense material I read for class.

As for (slightly) more serious works, I would like to re-read American Gods and Good Omens and maybe some more Irish legends.

If you liked American Gods, read Anansi Boys - super super super good (Neil Gaiman is my personal god hahahha)

[Nighthob]

As for (slightly) more serious works, I would like to re-read American Gods and Good Omens and maybe some more Irish legends.

Gotta love Neil Gaiman!

[divinemg]

Gotta love Neil Gaiman!

No joke! He spoke at the Sigma conference in Minneapolis last year and signed books for literally 3.5-4 hours so that everyone in line (including myself at the very end) would get a chance to meet him. It was amazing!

If you haven't checked them out, the Sandman graphic novels are stunning.

[Medievalmaniac]

No joke! He spoke at the Sigma conference in Minneapolis last year and signed books for literally 3.5-4 hours so that everyone in line (including myself at the very end) would get a chance to meet him. It was amazing!

If you haven't checked them out, the Sandman graphic novels are stunning.

Gaiman is definitely amazing...and the medievalists agree, so he MUST be great! lol I don't much care for modern/late 20th century. Occasionally a chick lit book, like Julie and Julia, and I absolutely ADORE Donna Tartt, but mostly - meh. If it isn't 700 years old (or based on 700 years old) , it isn't interesting, lolol

Branwyn, your reading list and my reading list are frighteningly similar. And I bet we have a lot of the same titles on our Amazon wishlists, too! lol

[Kam]

I just read The Secret History a couple months back and absolutely loved it. I haven't read Tartt's second novel, but I'll definite have to soon.

And (confession) I've never read any Neil Gaiman, despite the fact that I have many friends who all but have altars devoted to him. But now with this medievalist agreement, I wonder if I should check him out...

[Branwen daughter of Llyr]

I just read The Secret History a couple months back and absolutely loved it. I haven't read Tartt's second novel, but I'll definite have to soon.

And (confession) I've never read any Neil Gaiman, despite the fact that I have many friends who all but have altars devoted to him. But now with this medievalist agreement, I wonder if I should check him out...

YES. You should. And his children's books are SPECTACULAR. The Graveyard Book is an absolutely brilliant creation. I wish I had his inventive mind.

@Medieval - heh, haven't we already decided that we were separated at birth or something? (although I do read modern fiction, but it's often modern fiction with a twist) Also loved The Secret History and for Shakespeare fans I recommend The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber, and I'm also a HUGE fan of Iain M. Banks (his Culture books are amazing). Currently I'm on a huge Michael Chabon kick - another brilliant writer, highly recommended!

[Butitwaslaundryday]

My focus is on Russian, so obviously a lot of my to-read list is Russian literature!

The Garnet Bracelet--Kuprin.

Dostoyevsky--Notes from Underground, The Double.

Who Will Run The Frog Hospital?--Lorrie Moore

First Love and A Fire at Sea--Ivan Turgenev.

Prismatic Thought--Adorno

Dead Souls--Gogol

Dubliners--James Joyce

Sons and Lovers--D.H. Lawrence

[diehtc0ke]

So I'm almost embarassed to admit this but I've never read Kurt Vonnegut before. I'm in the middle of Cat's Cradle right now and loving every moment of it. The black comedic tint of his prose is almost too satisfying and I'm finding myself laughing out loud almost too much.

Until I can get my hands on more Vonnegut, I'll be reading some short stories by Haruki Murakami and then probably Paradise by Toni Morrison. If any of you know New York City, I'll have you know that strand bookstore will be the death of me (and my credit card).

[Kursty]

My focus is on Russian, so obviously a lot of my to-read list is Russian literature!

The Garnet Bracelet--Kuprin.

Dostoyevsky--Notes from Underground, The Double.

Who Will Run The Frog Hospital?--Lorrie Moore

First Love and A Fire at Sea--Ivan Turgenev.

Prismatic Thought--Adorno

Dead Souls--Gogol

Dubliners--James Joyce

Sons and Lovers--D.H. Lawrence

Hey i'm into Russian Lit too.

"First Love" by Turg is amazing. You'll enjoy it, especially if you're a boy (Oedipus themes!).

Re Dos: Have you read his short story "White Nights"? What a gorgeous, breathless work. Frankly, makes everything else he wrote seem like 'pulp.' You should also see Viscontti's cinematic adaptation of the story, by the same title, with Marcello Mastroianni as the hopeless romantic hero! Indescribable.

Speaking of Dos and his legacy,have you read Summer in Baden-Baden by Tsypkin? A must.

Do you read the Russians in the original or translations?

I'm reading Sebald's Emigrants, Zizek's Looking Awry, The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross, and some russian detective that makes no sense(maybe my russian needs improving.)

[Aquinaplatostotlestine]

To jump into this great discussion, here's what I'm reading and what's on deck:

currently, I'm polishing off Foucault's unabridged History of Madness (the Routledge edition) and Roberto Bolano's Los detectives salvajes, which I'm not liking as much as that other, much more massive novel of his, 2666. I'm also pushing though Francis Bacon's Novum Organum and rereading some of Shakespeare's history plays.

On deck, I've got an anthology of Kierkegaard's writing I'm excited about, several books by Borges and Alfonso Reyes that need (re)reading, and Montaigne's Essays (Although I've read many of them, I'm going to make a concerted effort to read the complete collection, cover to cover ).

Seeing everyone else's lists makes me jealous, I wish I had all your books too!

Cheers!

Edited February 28, 2010 by Aquinaplatostotlestine

[Shepherd]

I've been reading Internet by Anonymous. I like it, but it's kind of all over the place. I've been reading it for about 15 years now, and I still don't know what it's about.

R

[bluellie]

Until I can get my hands on more Vonnegut, I'll be reading some short stories by Haruki Murakami and then probably Paradise by Toni Morrison. If any of you know New York City, I'll have you know that strand bookstore will be the death of me (and my credit card).

Are you reading After the Quake? Or The Elephant Vanishes? Both are really good, but I prefer the former to the latter. If you have a yen for Japanese literature, might I suggest A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe?

As for me, I feel woefully inadequate when I see what everyone else has been reading. No Faulkner, no Joyce, no Vonnegut.

I just finished up The Things they Carried by Tim O'Brien along with Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein. I am currently working through The Family by Jeff Sharlet and The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood.

[Butitwaslaundryday]

Hey i'm into Russian Lit too.

"First Love" by Turg is amazing. You'll enjoy it, especially if you're a boy (Oedipus themes!).

Re Dos: Have you read his short story "White Nights"? What a gorgeous, breathless work. Frankly, makes everything else he wrote seem like 'pulp.' You should also see Viscontti's cinematic adaptation of the story, by the same title, with Marcello Mastroianni as the hopeless romantic hero! Indescribable.

Speaking of Dos and his legacy,have you read Summer in Baden-Baden by Tsypkin? A must.

Do you read the Russians in the original or translations?

I'm reading Sebald's Emigrants, Zizek's Looking Awry, The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross, and some russian detective that makes no sense(maybe my russian needs improving.)

Hello! Cool to find someone into Russian lit. Actually, I am not a boy, but I love to read anything about love--especially first love--so I'm really excited to read it. Also no, I have not read his short story "White Nights"--but you know what? I'll just read it right now! Also thanks for the film suggestions! I'm always looking for good things to read and see. I have read Summer in Baden-Baden and loved it, but it could definitely use a re-read. I read sometimes in the original, and sometimes in the translation--and sometimes both. It really depends--certain texts are easier than others. Chekhov, for instance, is very easy to read in Russian. How about you?

[Branwen daughter of Llyr]

So I'm almost embarassed to admit this but I've never read Kurt Vonnegut before. I'm in the middle of Cat's Cradle right now and loving every moment of it. The black comedic tint of his prose is almost too satisfying and I'm finding myself laughing out loud almost too much.

Until I can get my hands on more Vonnegut, I'll be reading some short stories by Haruki Murakami and then probably Paradise by Toni Morrison. If any of you know New York City, I'll have you know that strand bookstore will be the death of me (and my credit card).

If you like Haruki Murakami, definitely read Kafka on the Shore (it involves a talking cat - most excellent), The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World - wonderful books, very strange and otherworldly. He translates so well into English that I keep forgetting he's Japanese...

Vonnegut is WONDERFUL. Sirens of Titan is also very very good, and I highly recommend it after you're done with Cat's Cradle.

[amormundi]

Not a reading list, but a list that's nice to read (in French):

100 aphorismes pour le centenaire de René Char

Edited March 2, 2010 by amormundi

[Kursty]

Hello! Cool to find someone into Russian lit. Actually, I am not a boy, but I love to read anything about love--especially first love--so I'm really excited to read it. Also no, I have not read his short story "White Nights"--but you know what? I'll just read it right now! Also thanks for the film suggestions! I'm always looking for good things to read and see. I have read Summer in Baden-Baden and loved it, but it could definitely use a re-read. I read sometimes in the original, and sometimes in the translation--and sometimes both. It really depends--certain texts are easier than others. Chekhov, for instance, is very easy to read in Russian. How about you?

I am a native Russki, but I emigrated when I was 6, so my Russian is not very good. For a long time, I actually tried to erase most of my Russianess; I was embarrassed to be a 'primative' Russki, an immigrant. So though I can speak Russian fluently, I can hardly read or write it. In fact, I have yet to read any of the 'classics' in the original. Pretty pathetic, considering I've been flaunting my Russian as my foreign language, and plan to work on Russian lit! I have finally started to really learn the language, and have been making great improvements over the past year.To improve my reading I've been trying to read one of those pulp, post-Soviet detective novels that is all the rage in Russia. It's something about a woman named "Lampa," a conservatory-trained musician that used to work in a detective agency and play the "YMAHA" (NOT to be confused with YAMAHA!) in a rock band, who is trying to solve murder of a prominent and very wealthy academic behest of the deceased's daughter for 10,000 USD, while also taking care of two of her friends' children and their pets in a elegant "datcha" just outside of Moscow, and being courted by various "bizznessmen." She also seems to be having a fledgling movie career! The dusk jacket calls it an "ironic detective novel" It's by a woman who in her author photo is holding three identical bulldogs in her arms (in her earlier books she only held 2 bulldogs). And they say Russia isn't postmodern!

What in Russian lit are you planning to focus on? And did you read "White Nights"?

[EsMussSein17]

Just read Pride and Prejudice (first time, I know, I know).

Now reading A Room with a View.

I was reading Freud in the meantime, but found him exhausting.

Oh, and also, I just read Bird by Bird. BEST read for any creative writer.

[Nighthob]

Currently, the only thing on my reading list is the gradcafe.

However, I just heard from a friend who wanted to start a writing group, so instead of reading, I'll get out my anxiety through writing. My first short story will be about a woman going crazy waiting for graduate adcoms to make up their minds. Oh, wait, that's just my own life. Never mind!

[EcceQuamBonum]

Right now I'm reading Sense and Sensibility for my independent study of Jane Austen. (Which is so much fun it doesn't exactly qualify as a class.)

Also, I'm reading and re-reading and re-reading the Dunciad and attendant criticism for my honors thesis.

There's also Hard Times for another class.

Other than that, I've been on a Walker Percy jag lately. I'm on The Moviegoer right now.

I usually pick up and read a Flannery O'Connor story whenever I'm just sitting around without any motivation to do anything else. At least it gets me laughing. But not working!

[Strong Flat White]

If you like Haruki Murakami, definitely read Kafka on the Shore (it involves a talking cat - most excellent), The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World - wonderful books, very strange and otherworldly. He translates so well into English that I keep forgetting he's Japanese...

Vonnegut is WONDERFUL. Sirens of Titan is also very very good, and I highly recommend it after you're done with Cat's Cradle.

As another Vonnegut lover I have to weigh in and mention Galapagos and Breakfast of Champions.  Llyr will love the Shakespearean undertones of Galapagos (quite possibly my favorite novel) and creative writing/MFA types gotta love Champions.

[Strong Flat White]

How do people feel about E.L. Doctorow?  I read The March and it pretty much rocked my face off.  More of that guy is definitely high on my list!  I see he's got something new this year even...

[johnnyleston]

my mood has led me to post world war 2 literature of guilt and complicity. i just finished arthur koestler's _darkness at noon_ and wolfgang borchert's _the man outside_. i will probably re-read _slaughterhouse 5_ to stay within this genre. then i am open to suggestions. anybody else have a taste for dark as night midcentury political prose?

[johnnyleston]

I've been reading Internet by Anonymous. I like it, but it's kind of all over the place. I've been reading it for about 15 years now, and I still don't know what it's about.

R

shepherd, i thought _internet_ was by Weltgeist...