What did you read in April?

[SFG75]

April 2007
God And The State; Mikhail Bakunin
-Sometimes what you need to read is a wild-haired anarchist and Bakunin more than fits the bill. His writing is all over the place, lacks direction, and rambles from time to time, but that's what makes it so interesting. 2/5

The Talisman; Stephen King
-A great read, especially when you get to the part about Wolf taking down the boys reform school. 2/5

Cujo; Stephen King
-A pure classic, the best book that I've read all month. 3/5

The Road to Madness; H.P. Lovecraft
-This was a series of Lovecraft short stories. There were a handful that were more than worth the time and effort to read. Count me in as a big fan. 4/5

 

[unKeMPt]

It's crackdown time here at school, but I felt I had to fit in one for Mr. Vonnegut at least:

Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut

 

[Deleted member 6550]

Cujo; Stephen King
-A pure classic, the best book that I've read all month. 3/5

The Road to Madness; H.P. Lovecraft
-This was a series of Lovecraft short stories. There were a handful that were more than worth the time and effort to read. Count me in as a big fan. 4/5

Did you make a mistake? If Cujo was the best book you've read all month, why does The Road To Madness have a higher rating (which it should, in my opinion)?

April has been a pretty skimpy month for reading for my standards. I read one full novel:

The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time by John Kelly. The hands down greatest book regarding the subject I have ever read. It was long but worth it - and went into full detail of the cause and aftermath. It didn't teach me much as I've read into this subject endlessly, however it was an enjoyable read, and I highly recommend it. Much better than The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time by Norman F. Cantor, which was a rather sloppily structured piece of literature. 4/5.

 

[Spin2]

Aron Ralston - Between A Rock And A Hard Place
- Not fiction, but it is an amazing autobiographical story of the mountain climber who cut of his own arm to survive. A truly remarkable story written in a strange but captivating way. The ending doesn't drag on as I feared it would; he place the 'action' in exactly the right place.

Gaston Leroux - The Phantom Of The Opera
- I was skeptical at risk having not really read anything like this before but as I mentioned elsewhere; I was really surprised. It is an exciting tale with some good characters. I found it easy to read so was a tiny bit disappointed when it ended. I think it could have gone on for a little longer afterwards.

Allan Sillitoe - The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner
- I was even more skeptical with this one. It is a collection of 9 (?) short stories, mainly set in post war Britain. Again, I was pleasantly surprised out how much I enjoyed it. The stories are perhaps a little repetitive, but it adds to the overall impact. Times were certainly harder and lonelier to many people. It makes me appreciate my family and friends more...

Various - The Sun's (UK Newspaper) Book Of Short Stories
I picked this up for £1.99 in WH Smith (a British book shop) on my lunch break as a complete impulse buy (I already had a book with me!) and thought I'd made a mistake when I looked at how large the print was and just how short the stories were. But the back of the book is right; "They may make you smile, laugh or cry - but all of them are sure to entertain you". If you have £2 spare and half an hour, do buy it!

 

[beer good]

Another good month, reading-wise. One huge disappointment (Lethem) one big surprise (Meek) and one great re-read (Vonnegut). And a couple that pretty much lived up to expectations.

Montecore - Hassen Khemiri, Jonas 5/5
The Road - McCarthy, Cormac 4/5
Haunted - Palahniuk, Chuck 3/5
Cat's Cradle - Vonnegut, Kurt 5/5
Natives of Hemsö - Strindberg, August 4/5
You Don't Love Me Yet - Lethem, Jonathan 3/5
This Wheel's On Fire - Helm, Levon & Davis, Stephen 4/5
The People's Act of Love - Meek, James 5/5

 

[SFG75]

mc-I should've specified that The Road to Madness is a collection of short stories, in that regard, it was the best. As for the best novel of the month-Cujo. 3/5 is picky, but hey, so is Simon.

The Road - McCarthy, Cormac 4/5

A great read, I will not forget that one.

Haunted - Palahniuk, Chuck 3/5

You know, I came this close(puts index and thumb of right hand close together) to buying this one. I'll have to make may my Palahniuk month.

Cat's Cradle - Vonnegut, Kurt 5/5

I have this one and can't wait to start-5/5 you say?, hmmmmmm.

 

[angerball]

In April I read:

Grotesque - Natsuo Kirino (4/5)
The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom (3/5)
Next - Michael Crichton - (3/5)

 

[Anamnesis]

Conversations With Anne Rice by Michael Riley-5/5

Silent Bob Speaks: The Collected Writings of Kevin Smith-4/5

Stephen King: America's Best-Loved Boogeyman by George Beahm-4/5

Summer Knight by Jim Butcher-4/5

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison-3/5

Outbound Flight (Star Wars) by Timothy Zahn-2.5/5

 

[beer good]

I have this one and can't wait to start-5/5 you say?, hmmmmmm.

I thought I'd posted my thoughts on it in the Vonnegut thread, but apparently I forgot. it's there now. The 5/5 may partly be a nostalgia thing, but I do think the book holds up incredibly well.

It's been a weird month too, for me - one of those where books seem to be sequels to each other. Between Palahniuk, Vonnegut, Meek and McCarthy, my quota on cannibalism and apocalypse is filled for a little while.

 

[tartan_skirt]

I was able to pick up the pace reading-wise this month, which is surprising because of all the studying/work I've had to do over the last few weeks.

Full books started and finished:

The Binding Chair - Kathryn Harrison 7/10
Good Bones - Margaret Atwood 5/10
Shanghai Baby - Zhou Wei Hui 4/10
Suffragettes and Vots for Women - L.E. Snellgrove 4/10
Accomodating Brocolli in the Cemetary: Or why can't anybody spell? - Vivian Cook 6/10
Mort - Terry Pratchett 8/10
The Dresden Dolls Companion - The Dresden Dolls 9/10

Finshed at the start of the month/started at the end:

Franco and the Spanish Civil War - L.E. Snellgrove 7/10
Waiting - Ha Jin (reading now)

I also started reading a new manga (Negima by Ken Akamatsu), but I have only bought one volume so far since it's expensive. It's been quite a good reading month.

 

[Heteronym]

I started and finished:

Günter Grass' The Tin Drum: a huge disappointment.

José Saramago's The History of the Siege of Lisbon: after 10 novels, Saramago seems so predictable and boring I felt nausea reading this one.

Philip Roth's Operation Shylock: best novel of the month, and of the year so far.

Philip Roth's The Anatomy Lesson: I can only say I'll never forget the 'kike-pornographer' bits in this novel.

Paul Auster's Moon Palace: I thought it was a beautiful novel.

Paul Auster's The Book of Illusions: then I read this one and compared the two to Oracle Night, my first Auster, and realised this guy is just writing the same book over and over again.

Hans Richter's Dada: Art and Anti-Art: a history of the Dada movement as told by one of its original members. Full of great anecdotes and a genuine passion for the topic its discussing.

Richard Dawkins' The Blind Watchmaker: highly informative, if somewhat dull book on evolution; dispelled a lot of doubts I had about this matter.

 

[jaynebosco]

Got a few done for the month of April:

• When we were orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro
• Sill Missing by Beth Gutcheon
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling

 

[Fantasy Moon]

The Warrior by Judith E. French
The Nancy Drew Files: Hit and Run Holiday by Carolyn Keene
The Nancy Drew Files: A Model Crime by Carolyn Keene
The Nancy Drew Files: Hot Tracks by Carolyn Keene
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
BloodAngel by Justine Musk
Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs
The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

 

[MonkeyCatcher]

if on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino 4.5/5
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay 4/5
253 by Geoff Ryman 4/5

Once again, a slow month for me (stupid Uni...)

 

[Fantasy Moon]

Once again, a slow month for me (stupid Uni...)

I have a feeling that May will be a slow month for me. It's taking me forever to read a 675 page book that I'm really into! Maybe if I skip school for a couple of days...

 

[Robert]

The Watchman by Robert Crais
Beat to Quarters by C. S. Forester
Bad News Travels Fast by Gar Anthony Haywood
Skeleton Man by Tony Hillerman
The Dark Wind by Tony Hillerman
The Texas Rifles by Elmer Kelton
With All Dispatch by Alexander Kent
Chancy by Louis L'Amour
The Californios by Louis L'Amour
Rider of Lost Creek by Louis L'Amour
Streets of Laredo by Larry McMurtry
The Sea-Hawk by Rafael Sabatini
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Wormwood by G.P. Taylor

 

[Moonhowler]

The Grapes of Wrath- John Steinbeck
Never Let Me Go- Kazuo Ishiguro
For One More Day- Mitch Albom

 

[SFG75]

The Watchman by Robert Crais
Beat to Quarters by C. S. Forester
Bad News Travels Fast by Gar Anthony Haywood
Skeleton Man by Tony Hillerman
The Dark Wind by Tony Hillerman
The Texas Rifles by Elmer Kelton
With All Dispatch by Alexander Kent
Chancy by Louis L'Amour
The Californios by Louis L'Amour
Rider of Lost Creek by Louis L'Amour
Streets of Laredo by Larry McMurtry
The Sea-Hawk by Rafael Sabatini
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Wormwood by G.P. Taylor

You read much?

 

[mehastings]

What was the website that was being used to compile this information? Anyone remember? I don't think we've done that in a few months and I enjoyed it.

You read much?

No kidding! Wow!

 

[MonkeyCatcher]

I have a feeling that May will be a slow month for me. It's taking me forever to read a 675 page book that I'm really into! Maybe if I skip school for a couple of days...

Hehe yup, definitely worth it