It's a shame no one's even posted in this forum yet.

I recently read Chuck Klosterman's "Killing Yourself to Live" and John Leland's "Hip: the History." I fucking LOVE "Hip: the History." There's plenty of intellectual epiphanies in every chapter.

I have yet to check out Zadie Smith's newest, however, and I have a passing interest in Palahniuk's newest project "Haunted."

Anyone else?

Neptune, looks like its just you and me here.

I haven't been able to read any books released this year except for the political bombshell - The Latham diaries.

Our opposition leader quite at the start of the year, and he has recently released a book attacking almost every body both in his own party and the government, not to mention every journalist who has bothered to put pen to paper in this country.

It is the biggest thing to happen in our politics in a long time - it would be interesting to see if it has a lasting impact.

Otherwise, I have been catching up on some older books.

By chance, has anybody here read Go Ask Ogre by Bonnie McLaughlin? It came out in August 2005.

"Magical Thinking" by Joan Didion is just heartbreaking. For a woman who's done such incisive, objective reporting with most of her career, she's written a gripping, personal account of her greif over losing her husband and daughter. If you've ever lost someone very close to you, read this book. I defy you not to be moved to tears.

quote:

Originally posted by Yay!:
"Magical Thinking" by Joan Didion is just heartbreaking. For a woman who's done such incisive, objective reporting with most of her career, she's written a gripping, personal account of her greif over losing her husband and daughter. If you've ever lost someone very close to you, read this book. I defy you not to be moved to tears.

I have heard many interviews with her about this book. I believe it is a nonfiction finalist for the National Book Award.

ELDEST, ELDEST, ELDEST, ELDEST, ELDEST, ELDEST, ELDEST, ELDEST, ELDEST, ...

I read "No Country for Old Men" by Cormac McCarthy, "Teacher Man" by Frank McCourt, and I'm working on "A Thin Place" by Kathryn Davis and "American Theocracy" by Kevin Phillips. They range from "alright, I guess" to "pretty good."

Of the books I read in 2005, two stand out for different reasons. "The Plot Against America," by Phillip Roth, was brilliant. The writing was crisp and believable, the plot was tense, and the pacing was near perfect. And -- most significantly -- it was an ideal book for the times. What I found most intriguing is that it shows how two totally different and plausible narratives can be created out of the same set of facts, i.e., a group of Lindbergh detractors who fear his Presidency is the beginning of widespread U.S. anti-Semitism and a group of Lindbergh supporters who see his Presidency as preserving the nation's peace and economic well-being, and dismissing other's fears as wild-eyed and paranoid. The Bush Presidency can also be seen in two plausible narrative threads.

The other noteworthy book was "The Year of Magical Thinking." I liked it, sort of. Almost anyone can empathize with Joan Didion’s situation, which is heartbreaking. But her writing was way too even-tempered, bloodless, analytical and matter-of-fact for me.

I read a bunch of other books, too, but these stood out the most. I'm way behind for 2006, though.

I didn't think 2005 was the greatest year for books, but John Banville's The Sea was, by far, my favorite. I love his prose, and I love the sadness in the book, the melancholy. I think I have everything Banville has written, but I have yet to read it all.