What's the current book you are reading? What's the last book you read?

"the killer next door" it's about the guy who killed grannies in sydney in the 80s

the last book i read was judith lucy's autobiography

I'm reading My Life In France by Julia Child. Before that was The House at Sugar Beach. That one was really good.

I just finished 'Midshipman Hornblower' and I think I'll re-read 'Lieutenant Hornblower' since I read them out of order.

I'm afraid I've been sucked into this whole Napoleonic Wars naval series thing. I read all of the Master and Commander books last year, and I'm hooked.

reading "nagash the sorcerer"

just read "starman"

Huge Hemingway fan. I'm well on my way to reading all of his novels/novellas and short stories. Though I'm not doing it all at once.

The Paine book is a bio. I'm on an Enlightenment kick lately, half trying to feel out a PhD topic.

Currently Trainspotting. Before that, High Fidelity.

joe: Diderot bio, gah. Not enough time to read serious stuff outside my field right now, unfortunately.

hey i was at the bar from high fidelity tonight.

I haven't seen High Fidelity (P.S. Skanko: AWESOME!), so I can't really judge, but yeah Trainspotting is worth a read if you liked the movie. There's a lot of things that got left out, obviously, as well as the general more in depth look you get from a book.

There we go. Paul, be less drunk.

The movie's pretty accurate, yeah. I probably can't judge though because I saw the movie first. Oh well.

-j. Those sound like light reading. Did you pick 'The Interrogation' because of his Nobel Prize?

The Hage makes me think that there must be a lot of Canadian immigrant literature. Is that true?

Muppy: World War Z, you should talk to CM about that. We actually had a sci-fi consumating reading club meeting about that one. That was fun.

What did you think of Outliers? It's an intriguing thesis, a sort of antidote to the great man theory of history.

@AArtaud: actually, it was a present! I am two chapters into it, and having some difficulty. The language is amazing...stunning, even...but it's a bit of a challenge because there is NO PLOT. AT ALL. I will forge on, but there had better be some narrative drive presently.

And yes, much of Canadian literature is written by immigrants. This one was quite good, although it gives itself away by drawing parallels to L'Étranger much too overtly.

@Mrs. Cakes: is the McCarthy one good? I loved All the Pretty Horses and was only "meh" about The Crossing.

Dracula was the last thing I read.

I'm currently reading Shaft and Fortress of Solitude--with Th Science of Fear and The Design of Everyday Things up next.

Loved "A Moveable Feast:" there's not a wasted word in that book.

Last book I read? Either Plato's "Lysis," or, if you don't count dialogues, "The Diamond Age" by Neal Stephenson.

Current book: Rousseau, "Reveries of a Solitary Walker," although I got to walk three and haven't looked at it for a few days.

Currently: Why Things Bite Back by Edward Tenner and Le Théâtre et son double by Antonin Artaud. Which I haven't read since first year of theatre school and have never read in French.

Recently: Collapse by Jared Diamond

oh and before that was a re-read of Pelevin's Homo Zapiens.

@AA - Outliers was decent, although I have to say I enjoyed Blink and The Tipping Point more. He has a lot of stuff that shows that what we consider "genius" is not just inherent talent, but largely a product of social circumstance. Worth a read. Took me like two days in between class and homework.

libi: I have a copy of The Mismeasure of Man beside my bed. I need to get on that.

Ah, Lolita.

Chrome Raven: How's the Ancient Peoples of the American Southwest? I know nothing about those folks, and my trip to Mesa Verde gives me a bit of desire to know more.

fuz: I hear ya. I've got a pile.

Superion: I went to get my copy of Shaft but I owed the library books. Tomorrow!

Brad: Is all the lit. in the issues of Gulf Coast and New Orleans Review Southern?

@aart, no. neither has that sort of theme. the arkansas review is that way, and it's really good.

Brad: bse says the same. I'll do it since I'm in his home state now, right down the road from his hometown.

@AArtaud: It's fairly accessible and I find the area/peoples of the Southwest fascinating. This particular book is out of date on a few items. This doesn't really take away from most of the information; one just has to apply the information to a different time line to account for more recent discoveries and the like.