Rufus Wainwright

i have just finished reading'The Perfect Storm' by Sebastian Junger.I'ts very technical in the explanation of how storms are created and the effects of shipping,and also quite harrowing with the loss of so many lives.But if anyone fancies being a fisherman,it will either put you off for life,or sounds a very exciting life,albeit a dangerous one.

a good read tho'

I just finished yesterday (June 18th) 'The Lovely Bones' by Alice Sebold. Bought on sale while we were in Montreal for the train ride back home - a really good read. Go out and read it people! ;-)

Mostly in my area, but this got my attention:

Al Gore's new book, "The Assault on Reason."

A little wordy, but otherwise right to the point.

There is an ogre in the Oval Office, and he is still replicating his memes. We are in danger.

... Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graeme. I can't believe it's a children's book. I found the sentiments of the animals and the issues that arise really touching, particularly Mole's sensitivity to his old home calling him back and the notion of guilt he felt - that he had betrayed his past by finding new pastures. Put a lump in my throat. Very well written and I'm not ashamed to be reading it (finally) at the age of 46 *smile* Art

{q a=[[cindyloohoo]]}I just finished yesterday (June 18th) 'The Lovely Bones' by Alice Sebold. Bought on sale while we were in Montreal for the train ride back home - a really good read. Go out and read it people! ;-){/q}

i read that when it first came out,and then my daughter read it,and yes it's very good.

I discovered this book in Atlanta at a GOOD WILL, and it turned out to be the strangest book I ever read, THE HEARING TRUMPET, by Leonora Carrington.

It's a trip and a half, if you can find it, check it out. It's about an old lady and the end of the world and sinister doctors at an asylum where all the buildings are shaped like shoes and birthday cakes and...

It is cool as hell.

I have just read "Michael Tolliver Lives", the latest from Armistead Maupin, and maybe its because I am 20 yrs older than when I read the rest, but I thought it was full of sadness and death. What does anyone else think, I dont remember the others being as sad, I will have to read them again.

I am mostly into graphic novels, otherwise I'm a lazy reader.

Alan Moore: Watchmen/ V for Vendetta
Neil Gaiman: Sandman
Garth Ennis: Preacher
Ennis/Delano/Ellis et al.: Hellblazer (my current favourite)

{q a=[[ArtBristow]]}... Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graeme. I can't believe it's a children's book. I found the sentiments of the animals and the issues that arise really touching, particularly Mole's sensitivity to his old home calling him back and the notion of guilt he felt - that he had betrayed his past by finding new pastures. Put a lump in my throat. Very well written and I'm not ashamed to be reading it (finally) at the age of 46 *smile* Art

{/q}

I never read the book. But, I was in the children's play for the Wind in the Willows a few years ago. Some of the subjects and jokes were a little hard for our young audience to understand. However, the masks we had too wear were awesome.

Pies & Prejudice by Stuart Maconie - top read well enjoyable, especially if you are from the North of England living in London!

I am currently reading The Book of Dave by Wil Self... It is set in the present day and recent past AND the distant future where a modern day cabbie writes a book for his son only for it to treated like a bible when it is discovered hundreds of years later... i'm not that far into it yet but it is fantastic.....

also just read some classics recently namely Pride and Prejudice which if you only read one book in your life it should be this one - The Picture of Dorian Grey which in some respects is a complete mess of a book but it is so beguiling and Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons which is a hoot!!

Also I recommend you all to read Vernon God Little by DBC Peare and the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman

Bad books i've read recently.. (is anyone still reading this post do you care?) are The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana by Umberto Eco and Indecision by some American I forget who

Which reminds me another book everyone should read is An American Boy by Andrew Tayor.. a murder mystery set in Regency London... fantastic

You may have guessed but i love to read

'Kafka on the Shore' or 'Dance Dance Dance' by Haruki Murakami. Books that inevitably capture your mind.

I'm reading Mary Shelleys Frankenstein now. Again. It's always enjoyable.

I just finished "Lost" by Gregory Maguire and am currently working on "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister" also by Maguire. I read his book Wicked and have been hooked ever since.

A biography of the Wright Brothers.

I'm reading, and have been for over a year now (!), 'The Tibetan Book Of Living & Dying' by Sogyal Rinpoche.

Over a year because I read it then put it down for a few weeks, a month, then pick it up and start where I left off. It's an amazing book. Actually life-changing.

Corelli's Mandolin !

Hi

I've just brought Peter Kay's autobiography, but I haven't read a word yet. I start it tonight I think

Soo

"the good soldier svejk" by jaroslav hasek.
and for quite a while now i've been reading kundera's "life is elsewhere". (loved his "laughable loves").

Catcher in the Rye- never fails to please
And 1984. The best book ever.

Catcher in the Rye- never fails to please
And 1984. The best book ever.

tomorrow it's going to be Harry Potter!! if i can manage to avoid all those evil people who've read the leaked versions online and might want to ruin it!!! this morning i was reading the geneva paper online and they said that some french newspaper apparently PUBLISHED A SUMMARY OF THE LAST CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!! i almost fell out of my seat in shock!!! luckily the swiss didn't put it in their own article, but seriously WHO does that? they put a warning on the front of the paper supposedly saying if you want to know the end... flip the newspaper. gah i'm so angry! i'm so excited for harry potter!! all this leaking is depressing me. :(

{q a=[[crazystairs]]}tomorrow it's going to be Harry Potter!! if i can manage to avoid all those evil people who've read the leaked versions online and might want to ruin it!!! this morning i was reading the geneva paper online and they said that some french newspaper apparently PUBLISHED A SUMMARY OF THE LAST CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!! i almost fell out of my seat in shock!!! luckily the swiss didn't put it in their own article, but seriously WHO does that? they put a warning on the front of the paper supposedly saying if you want to know the end... flip the newspaper. gah i'm so angry! i'm so excited for harry potter!! all this leaking is depressing me. :({/q}

i've just started it too.... never did finish the book of dave

I'm reading the god delusion at the moment (yes, I have succumbed to it at last after all my friends have read it). I share the same ideology but dawkins is so smug when making his points that I think I'll give it up now!

I'm trying to read Dance Dance Dance by Murakami. I've enjoyed the other works of his, so i thought i would give this one a try. I also have Love is a mixed tape by Rob Sheffield on deck.

I havent been able to get past the first few chapters on the last few books i've picked up.

a book called The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory. I've read like 3 of her other books as well. i'm just a little nerdy and obsessed with elizabethans... haha and well just slightly before them as well since the princess in question in the book is catherine of aragon. yea and i plan to try reading Nana by emile zola soon. it only cost me 3 euros at the airport in paris! and i read the first few pages already... very dense.

I recommend the Master and Commander series by Patrick O'Brian, it's really good! Right now I'm reading the fourth book in the series (there's like 20 of them) The Mauritius Command. Only one chapter left! Very exciting.
If you want to, you can start off with watching the movie before you read them, to get in the right mood.

The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton. It's about the influence architecture has on us. May sound boring, but he is such an insightful, talented writer (this is the third book of his I've read) that he could make any topic a beautiful subject.

I have just started Margrave of the Marshes, which is John Peel´s autobiography which was completed by his family after his untimely death in 2004.

For those of you who don´t know, John Peel was a famous radio DJ in the UK who pioneered new band, such as David Bowie and T-Rex, amoung others.

I was never a devoted follower of Mr Peel but someone gave the book two years ago for Christmas. I just thought it was about time to start reading it and it is amazing... i´m only on Chapter four.

I have recently read 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lees. I had been meaning to read it for ages and I absolutely loved it! It is a brilliant, colourful insight into 1930s America and it's done so through the eyes of a child and that makes it thoroughly enjoyable and fascinating. I would recommend it to anyone. I was also astonished to find out that Harper Lees only ever wrote that one book! With such talent they should have written much more!

I also recently read the final Harry Potter. I had such high hopes for it because I loved the other books but it was a real let down for me. Really spoiled the series :( Ah well.

My two favourite books of all time are 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte because it is such a brilliant story and I'm totally in love with Mr Rochester and 'The Fire Bringer' by David Clement-Davies that I first read when I was about ten and didn't understand but I recently read it again and it was fantastic. Well worth a read!

I thought Mr. Rochester was the most interesting character in Jane Eyre- I wish I could have seen the story more from his point of view.

Last read The 5 People You Meet in Heaven, Death in Venice, and now A Thousand Splendid Suns.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin was my favorite this summer though.