Last Book You Read

I love observing other people's reading habits so I've been keeping an eye on threads that have to do with reading for some while, but often I'd get frustrated when I saw somebody was reading a book I had already read or one that I intended to read because I couldn't find out their opinion on it. That's what this thread is for. Just post your thoughts on your most recent reads (try to avoid spoilers or at least warn people of them).
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I've just finished Doris Lessing's The Grass is Singing (published in 1950). I'm usually pretty icky about books set in/about Africa. They somehow tend to be over-emotional. Oh the evil white man. That kind of stuff. I was astonished to see how different Doris Lessing's prose is from that stereotype. For her Africa is a land of brutal alienating beauty and none of its inhabitants feel at home in it. The story is spun around the mental decay of Mary Turner - a city girl, daughter of British colonists who still calls England her Home and who after being pressured by her friends into marrying a poor farmer moves out into the country. Here she lives a solitary life alongside her quiet husband who buries himself in work, never daring to complain of loneliness, but always longing for something to do. However, as the reader follows the book's heroine from unhappy infancy to tragic death, they feel that the cause of her disquiet has little to do with her father, her husband, education or even poverty, but with the African heat itself.

I loved this book because it's so deeply human. Yesterday I finished The Painted Veil which also allured to the Orient's malign mystery and now, looking back on both books, I think they're meant to show us that we're not used to seeing colonists as human beings, they're more like Hitler, abstract entitles, abnormalities, the complete opposite of humanity. We don't like to think ourselves capable of evil. Though The Grass is Singing is not about evil, it's about human nature, humans and nature and the many secret chambers in our hearts.

The last book I finished was Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding (though I'm in the middle of about three more now). It was interesting to read because I've already seen the movie and I was able to appreciate Hugh Grant and Colin Firth's appearances in both movies.

None of the characters were particularly likeable, but I think I liked that in a way. They had to grow on me.

I recently just finished The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen. There were a couple of times were I was like "I know how that is." I like how she can make a character feel real and so relateable.

Most recently I finished The Stand by Stephen King. Pretty much any character that wasn't Nick, Stu, Larry or Flagg fucked me off But I loved the whole plot and I just didn't like how slow it kept getting. But despite my complaints I adored it.

I started and finished today (it was really short) Mercy, Unbound by Kim Antieau. I enjoyed it, I've never really read a book like it. Although I was kind of disappointed that she wasn't really an angel. (spoiler in white text.)

I'm not done it yet but Dracula by Bram Stoker. I'm sort of forced to read it for English class, but it's not half bad.

Last book I read was Karen Chance's 'Death's Mistress', and am going to turn around and read it again as soon as i finish re-rereading the first book in this series 'Midnight's Daughter' ...... I feckin love this series!!!!!!!

Majnice in Majhnice by Tone Pavček (yes, it's Slovene). First I HAD to read it, for a competition (it's a poetry book, by the way), but it kinda grown on me and now I like it :)

Just finished Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh not too long ago. My friend Billy recommended it, and I thought it was fantastic.
It's written in phonetic Scottish so it's a little tricky to read at first (or maybe it's just me, since I'm American) but once you get the hang of it, you're glad it's written that way. It gives you an insight into how the characters actually talk and live. It's written from a bunch of different character perspectives so you get to know quite a lot of people more (not like in the movie, where it was Rents narrating the whole time) and I really liked that.
It's got a lot of drug use (because it's about heroin users) and mentions of the '80s AIDS epidemic because that's when it took place, and there's some parts (and characters) that both piss you off and that you end up loving to death. There's also a few disturbing bits that concern withdrawal hallucinations, animal abuse, and death, but that's what makes the book powerful.
I recommend it if you want to read about the Edinburgh drug scene or just quirky novels, and the movie is good too, Ewan McGregor stars in it. The movie is slightly different, though. It really does make you think though...after reading it, I'll never do heroin, that's for sure.

There's a sequel called Porno that I really want to read, but I can't find it anywhere. There's also a prequel coming out this year called Skagboys, which I also can't wait for.

I'm reading The Heroin Diaries by Nikki Sixx right now. It's pretty good.

IT by Stephen King

I adored the young Bill, Richie, Eddie and Ben. I also really like Henry, but again when he was young. I found the majority of the characters fucked me off when they were adults, though maybe that reflects my view towards adults or something. But anywho I loved Pennywise but found him more cute than creepy. And I thought the ending was kind of disapointing, but then again its not like anything else could have been expected.

Interview With the Vampire by Anne Rice.

The book is so much better than the movie. They leave out so much in the re-adaptation, and it's a crying shame. Anne Rice builds bonds between Louis and Lestat, Armand and Claudia that the movie never builds on. They're all such dynamic characters.

I just finished Woman In White by Wilkie Collins. I liked the buildup, but the end disappointed me.

mindflower.:

Just finished Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh not too long ago. My friend Billy recommended it, and I thought it was fantastic.
It's written in phonetic Scottish so it's a little tricky to read at first (or maybe it's just me, since I'm American) but once you get the hang of it, you're glad it's written that way. It gives you an insight into how the characters actually talk and live. It's written from a bunch of different character perspectives so you get to know quite a lot of people more (not like in the movie, where it was Rents narrating the whole time) and I really liked that.
It's got a lot of drug use (because it's about heroin users) and mentions of the '80s AIDS epidemic because that's when it took place, and there's some parts (and characters) that both piss you off and that you end up loving to death. There's also a few disturbing bits that concern withdrawal hallucinations, animal abuse, and death, but that's what makes the book powerful.
I recommend it if you want to read about the Edinburgh drug scene or just quirky novels, and the movie is good too, Ewan McGregor stars in it. The movie is slightly different, though. It really does make you think though...after reading it, I'll never do heroin, that's for sure.

There's a sequel called Porno that I really want to read, but I can't find it anywhere. There's also a prequel coming out this year called Skagboys, which I also can't wait for.

All right! I've been wanting to read this, and your depiction makes it sound 10 times better than the Wikipedia version. :D

I just finished Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy, which is about an incestuous relationship between a brother and sister who end up having a child that the brother buries in the woods. I'm not really a fan of Southern dialect, because it's annoying after a while, but it suits the "uneducated" speak in Appalachia. WIth Cormac McCarthy sometimes, I have to read over parts to make sure I understood it, but that may be because I'm a little slow. For the most part, the brother's adventure is more interesting than the sister's adventure in looking for the child. I'm also not really a fan of the way McCarthy portrays women.

Overall, it was pretty good.

mindflower.:

Just finished Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh not too long ago. My friend Billy recommended it, and I thought it was fantastic.
It's written in phonetic Scottish so it's a little tricky to read at first (or maybe it's just me, since I'm American) but once you get the hang of it, you're glad it's written that way. It gives you an insight into how the characters actually talk and live. It's written from a bunch of different character perspectives so you get to know quite a lot of people more (not like in the movie, where it was Rents narrating the whole time) and I really liked that.
It's got a lot of drug use (because it's about heroin users) and mentions of the '80s AIDS epidemic because that's when it took place, and there's some parts (and characters) that both piss you off and that you end up loving to death. There's also a few disturbing bits that concern withdrawal hallucinations, animal abuse, and death, but that's what makes the book powerful.
I recommend it if you want to read about the Edinburgh drug scene or just quirky novels, and the movie is good too, Ewan McGregor stars in it. The movie is slightly different, though. It really does make you think though...after reading it, I'll never do heroin, that's for sure.

There's a sequel called Porno that I really want to read, but I can't find it anywhere. There's also a prequel coming out this year called Skagboys, which I also can't wait for.

Argh, I love that book .
I also highly recommend Porno - doesn't quite outdo Trainspotting but definitely makes a good go of it. I think I got my copy from Waterstone's but I don't know if there are any in America Amazon may have it too. Anyway, best of luck finding a copy.

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Soul Music and Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett. I'm steadily working my way through Discworld in no particular order. I love his style and sense of humour

The Color Purple by Alice Walker. I liked it.

Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens. I loved it.

Trainspotting was the last book I read too! Well reread, I chose to write an assignment about it for Uni as it is one of my favourite books if not my favourite.

Also I have nearly finished The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as well for Uni. And I have a massive stack of books I'm dying to get through but I just have so much Uni reading I will have to wait till summer.

I've tried Trainspotting some years ago, but didn't really like it. It was at the end of this books about drugs phase and I was fed up with the subject and writing style. But hey, give the abundance of favorable reviews, maybe I'll try it again sometime soon.

I've finished The Razor's Edge this morning. Somerset Maugham is one of the most under-rated under-read 20th century writers. His books are just so cool. He's so cool. The plot itself was not boring, but what keeps you reading are the minute observations and interventions of author/narrator (I know they're different, but here the narrator pretends they're the same person), the way he looks at his characters with a kind of malicious cleverness. He's like Proust only mean and bisexual. Apart from that, the parallel between Europe and the US which is kept throughout the book was also interesting as well as the whole self discovery/enlightenment theme. I need to get my hands on his biography now. hmm.

^Sounds good.

I just finished Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. I bought it this morning.