29 June 2005

What are you reading right now?

I just finished The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, and it was fantastic (maybe a little too fantastic, since I had to stay up very late to finish it...but I guess that's a good thing).

What are you reading now? Any suggestions?

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10 comments:

P. J. said...

I *love* Jhumpa Lahiri! I used Interpreter of Maladies in my lit class last year, and I thought about getting The Namesake but right now I'm dealing with my boy Umberto Eco's The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana (so far decent but it's not knocking my socks off), and next up is Carson McCullers' The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter because it was there, and the first paragraph was scrumptious. Then I noticed the sticker claiming it was Oprah's Book of the Month and I nearly killed myself. On the way out of the mall, I blindly reached into the bag, peeled the sticker, wadded it, and tossed in the trash, putting the entire sad incident behind me. Thanks for the Lahiri rec...I'm heading to the mall today so I'll definitely pick it up.

marybid said...

No way...we have the same taste in books? I don't believe it. What's next? Music?

The Namesake made me so hungry! Yeah, I really like Jhumpa Lahiri. You deserve some good readin' Paddy, and many excellent oral vibes coming your way for Thursday (*sigh* I just can't make that sound innocuous, can I?).

Suzanne said...

I'm reading an old favorite Wicked, The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by Gregory Maguire.

Also the collected Ammons, and recently a few blogger's books, (which btw have become fast favorites) too-- Gina Franco's, (Camino del Sol) A Keepsake Storm, and Cynthia Huntington's, Radiant (Four Way Books).

PJ, I read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, last year and fell madly in love w/ McCullers--I came across it in a similiar way, too.

P. J. said...

Thanks for the tip, Suzanne...I've had Wicked on my shelf since '98 and still haven't read it, so maybe I'll dust that off too.

You know what's also a good summer read? The Grass Is Singing by Doris Lessing--if you're idea of a good summer read is the deconstruction of the female mental breakdown.

MB, you've got the most literary and literate blog I've ever read. I don't know about music though...you've probably never heard of Skinny Puppy, Mephisto Waltz, 1000 Homo DJs, or Sheep on Drugs, have you? Hehehehe...you'll probably ask for the jacket back for that wisecrack. Ack ack ack.

marybid said...

That JACKET! Oh my goodness gracious golly! I haven't thought of that in years, though I do remember you cut quite a figure in it on Halloween when you were party hoppin' and I was studying for the GRE like the lame ass that I was/still am... Perhaps a prop for the forthcoming photo shoot? ;)

Radish King said...

Gut Symmetries, Jeannette Winterson.
Yum.
2nd read.

marybid said...

Thanks R.L.! I really enjoyed Oranges are Not the Only Fruit, so I will check that one out.

I am loving these recommendations. Keep 'em coming!

Suzanne said...

Thanks, P.J., I loved Lessing's The Fifth Child, I'll have to check out The Grass is Singing, and all these other authors I haven't read that have been mentioned here. (The last Eco I read was The Name of the Rose.)

Good thread, Mary!

kristy bowen said...

I've just started a Barnes and Noble bargain bin find called "Our Sometimes Sister" by Norah Labiner and its great so far in...very layered narrative sort of thing and a novel within a novel....

marybid said...

Www Hitman, he meant that poets are boring losers who don't care a straw for plot, and who try to ignite aesthetic sensibility in banal subjects such as the industrial revolution and the puzzling debate over whether art is superior to nature, or part of nature, and what would happen if a comet hit the earth and destroyed all texts. Oh wait. Maybe that wasn't Pound. Sorry. I guess I can't help you.

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