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Benny Profane
05-06-2009, 02:47 PM
Summer is my favorite season because it enables me to do the most READING. 6 hours on a beach with a book, ipod, and women walking around in their underwear is my idea of a good time.

This summer I plan on tackling:

JR
Against the Day
Inherent Vice
The NY Trilogy


And maybe The Bonfire of the Vanities, as I feel ashamed that I've never read any Tom Wolfe.

It's only a few books but JR and Against the Day is about 2000 pages combined. TBotV is also pretty long.

Kurosawa Fan
05-06-2009, 03:10 PM
I don't really plan ahead when it comes to summer reading, but I'm taking a vacation with my family in June (going on a road trip to The Outer Banks and then up to Pittsburgh to visit my sister), and I plan on reading The Executioner's Song by Mailer while I'm gone, as well as a couple other books. Might have bought a Kindle by then, depending on available cash, so that might change things a bit, but it shouldn't change my reading Mailer's novel. I've been wanting to tackle it for a while, and riding around the country when it's not my turn to drive is the perfect time for that.

kuehnepips
05-06-2009, 03:25 PM
I've been waiting for RitterRed's review of Against the Day far too long meanwhile. I'll read it this summer too. And have a gin-tonic or so while watching men in underwear.

My fav. nephew is trying to talk me into RR Martin's Song of Fire&Ice. What say the fine folks here?

Benny Profane
05-06-2009, 03:28 PM
I don't really plan ahead when it comes to summer reading, but I'm taking a vacation with my family in June (going on a road trip to The Outer Banks and then up to Pittsburgh to visit my sister), and I plan on reading The Executioner's Song by Mailer while I'm gone, as well as a couple other books. Might have bought a Kindle by then, depending on available cash, so that might change things a bit, but it shouldn't change my reading Mailer's novel. I've been wanting to tackle it for a while, and riding around the country when it's not my turn to drive is the perfect time for that.

How often are Pittsburgh and vacation mentioned in the same sentence?

Excellent choice with the book. It's over 1000 pages but I finished it in about 8 days, also while traveling.

Kurosawa Fan
05-06-2009, 03:35 PM
How often are Pittsburgh and vacation mentioned in the same sentence?

Excellent choice with the book. It's over 1000 pages but I finished it in about 8 days, also while traveling.

I can assure you, it wouldn't be if we weren't visiting my sister. She moved there a couple years ago and we haven't been down to see her yet. Figured this is a good time since we have to drive by there on our way home anyway.

D_Davis
05-06-2009, 03:37 PM
My fav. nephew is trying to talk me into RR Martin's Song of Fire&Ice. What say the fine folks here?

I've heard great things, but I am waiting for it to be finished before it starts.

If you are looking for something in the fantasy genre to read, I highly recommend JM McDermott's book called The Last Dragon (rest assured, there are no dragons, no elves, no dwarves...). It elevates the genre to a whole new literary level - it is an extraordinary experience of the likes I have never before, or since experienced. It makes every other fantasy novel I've read seem like mere child's play. The prose is exquisite, the narrative interesting, and the characters are incredible.

It's also not part of a series, something of an anomaly in this age of bloated genre offerings.

MacGuffin
05-21-2009, 08:07 PM
Everything is Cinema: The Working Life of Jean-Luc Godard by Richard Brody
Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
Rimbaud Complete by Shel Silverstein

megladon8
05-22-2009, 06:38 AM
I have so many books I need to read, I couldn't possibly write a list of what I would hope to get through.

I've been in a real reading dry spell as of late. I haven't read a book in nearly a year. I read two or three in a row that were huge disappointments - so much so that I didn't even finish them, which is something I try never to do. It just left a bad taste in my mouth and I haven't returned.

But, like Benny said, summer is a great time to catch up on reading. And we're re-doing our back-yard to basically be a giant patio with hammocks, so this would be a great place to read.

I want to read more Pynchon. "The Crying of Lot 49" was a brilliant read, and hearing that this is the least of his works certainly has me drooling for more.

I'd also like to read a few more Stephen King books. I have some large gaps there.

And I have several "classics" on my shelf to be read - "Tess of the D'Urbervilles", "The Scarlet Letter" and "Lolita" to name a few.

Stay Puft
05-22-2009, 09:15 AM
The Scarlet Letter

I just got a copy of that, so I'll probably read it this summer. Along with recently acquired copies of Absalom! Absalom! and Norwegian Wood. Other than that, no definite plans.

I did just finish I, Robot, which I enjoyed (actually the first book I've read this year - don't ask, don't ask), so I'll probably look into more of Asimov's Robot series as well.