The Monkey's Paw and Other Stories - W.W. Jacobs
The Polysyllabic Spree - Nick Hornby
War Crimes - Peter Carey
True History of the Kelly Gang - Peter Carey
Slam - Nick Hornby
Rant - Chuck Palahniuk
Haunted - Chuck Palahniuk
Diary - Chuck Palahniuk
Invisible Monster - Chuck Palahniuk
Jack Maggs - Peter Carey
Oscar and Lucinda - Peter Carey
Glamorama - Brett Easton Ellis
Music I have bought:
A Man Called E - E
Useless Trinkets: B-sides, Soundtracks, Rarities and Unreleased - Eels
Chameleon Circuit - Chameleon Circuit
DFTBA Records Compilation Album
June 3, 2009
I finished reading Haunted the other day, very quickly. One reason was because I spent a lot of time lying in bed being sick, or sitting around the hostel/airport being sick... So I had a lot of time to read. The other reason I got through it so quick was just that it was so good to read. There were times when I almost felt I needed to look away from the words on the pages, like in the famous short story 'Guts' that has had numerous people faint during Palahniuk's readings of it. But the whole story was just really interesting and really well written and I just couldn't put it down.
I'm on to The Polysyllabic Spree which isn't fiction unlike most of the books I read. It's basically a book made of a column that Nick Hornby wrote and it's basically all about the books that he read over the course of about 3 years. I like reading his opinions on both reading and writing, and it really makes me want to not only buy and re-read all of his other fiction books, but also to buy 31 songs: his non fiction book about music.
I don't know what to move on to next once I'm finished it, I suppose I should probably get around to finishing Stephen Chbosky's Perks of Being a Wallflower or Rick Moody's The Ice Storm. I can't really think of a good reason for not finishing these books, they aren't bad... I just haven't got around to it.
June 11, 2009
I decided instead of starting new books I should probably finish Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Ice Storm. I was actually surprisingly pleased with the Perks which I finished the other day. I think initially I was just a little put off that the narrator of the story was in high school not college as I'd initially though. Reading about a 15 year old felt a bit like it did watching season 3 of skins, teenagers are just becoming a little too young for me. I really enjoyed it in the end though, and found myself reminiscing about the things that made my early teenage years memorable.
June 19, 2009
I went on a bit of a book buying spree yesterday. I found myself walking along Jetty Road Glenelg waiting for my friend Roxy to come meet me for brunch and so to occupy my time I went to Angus and Robertson and bought two Chuck Palahniuk books. They were ones that I hadn't seen in the Borders in the city, so I figured I may as well buy them while I was there. Then when I caught up with Roxy the little place where we were having brunch was right next to a second hand bookstore. I knew it was fate that I had to buy something from here when there was a Peter Carey book in the front window! Second hand bookstores make me so happy as opposed to Borders that makes me so frustrated. The books I bought at the second hand bookstore cost me about $30 all together, when one of the books would have cost me $30 new from Borders. I had to start reading Diary by Palahniuk while I was waiting for Roxy so later that night it spurred me to finish The Ice Storm. I didn't get much from reading it because since I'd already studied it, it was like the experience of finishing it was taken away from me. It was a good book, I just think analysing it and watching the movie while I was only part way through the book ruined it a little. Diary is proving very fun to read. I'm already half way through, I just find myself captivated by the way that Palahniuk writes. My only problem is that I keep transferring the story to Australia... even though I know it's in America...
