It’s supposed to be one of the best books of this Century. I started it but never finished it I can’t even remember it.
I’ve hear so much scholarly acclaim for that book!
In seriousness though, Blind Watchmaker is one of my favorites.
Understand, cos I started to read it twice. But now I don’t notice how time passes when I read this book. I think you should try to read it one more time, this novel is worth it 
I’d normally sign up for Bret Easton Ellis if he wrote a diner review, but not sure about this one
The book thief - almost done.
This morning - on the way to hospital reading One + One by Jojo Mojes
On the way to work - Sepulchre by kate mosse
Damn this post is from 2006. I really miss Page One.
I’m reading Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life. It’s ok. Sometimes pretentious, sometimes boring, but overall a good read. It gets a lot better after he leaves Hawaii.
I also picked up a copy of Jack Reacher: Something because it was the only book in the Eslite I was even vaguely interested in.
Easton Ellis is really off and on for me. American Psycho is a brilliant book, but he’s written some less than awesome stuff.
A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness. Not your usual piece of fantasy/ magic realism/ whatever it is. Screenplay of the film by the same author and also very, very good.
Read it about a dozen times in the past year. Nearly every time it left me in tears.
Language is about a Gr 6 level for native speakers, but taught it in Gr 12 English. Phenomenally well written.
Strong recommendation for people dealing with grief.
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Does anyone else on here actually read books? No, your collection of Harry Potter audiobooks doesn’t count. I mostly ask because I’m wondering if anyone in south or east Taiwan is interested in exchanging books. If not, I suppose a general discussion of books would be fine.
I’m presently about 1/4 of the way through Neal Stephenson’s “Seveneves.” Before that I read Cixin Liu’s “The Wandering Earth.” I read a lot of science fiction, science, capital-L-Literature, and history. If anyone’s wants to trade off books at some point give me a shout. I’ve pretty much exhausted the local options.
OR we could get into a very obscure, very pedantic argument about whether Infinite Jest is worth reading or not. I could do that too… if I was bored enough.
I think there’s actually an established thread for this already. Maybe the mods can move it.
As much as I like them, physical books are for people who have settled down in a (sizable) home for good, which I have not and probably won’t for a few more years yet. You should get an e-reader. I can download and read just about anything I want on my e-reader; I think they’re even making graphic novels into epub files, now.
David Foster Wallace blows ass.
Yeah I felt like there was already a thread for that, but for whatever reason I couldn’t find it.
Can’t stand e-readers. I spend enough time at work staring at a screen. When I go home I like to hold an actual book.
I wasn’t that into Infinite Jest, but then again it wasn’t as bad as I was led to believe. I had a friend who absolutely DESPISED that book and anyone who liked it, and it prejudiced me against it. It’s definitely not as deep as people say it is, but I managed to get through it without too much trouble. This said, I once read a collection of Wallace’s essays that I really enjoyed.
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what’s the english book section at Taitung City library like?
sometimes in a Taipei library, I found an autobiography or biography of someone I wouldn’t normally read about, but borrowed it, and subsequently kind of enjoyed reading old American culture again.
It’s not like computer screens, though. They look very much like paper. As you become absorbed in the text it’s pretty easy to forget that it’s actually an electronic device.
Honestly I just don’t even notice or much care about that anymore. I have simply accepted our screeny future.
I think of DFW as a phase that every adolescent boy who likes to read goes through and hopefully grows out of.
Nothing beats the smell and feel of a physical book. 
Just finished ‘Pachinko’, a multi-generational saga about Korean expatriates having to live in Japan (I say “having to live” because they live in the Korean ghetto and they’re subject to horrible prejudice). Highly recommend it.
I used to read like 30 books a year, but since I had a kid and work got more demanding (and yes, since I got lazy and watch more Netflix now) I now read about 3 or 4. 
(While we’re on the topic, I have to say I don’t get the appeal of DFW. It was terribly sad about his suicide though)
my adolescent phase was Louis L’Amour.
read nearly all his novels.
My adolescent phase was Chuck Palahniuk. Fight Club, Survivor, Choke… looking back it’s all a bit, well, “extreme” for the sake of extreme. Loved it at the time though.
About 80% of it is books I gave them. 
There must be some high-achieving adolescents out there. When I was that age I was all about Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard.
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Choke is a great book. Didn’t think Fight Club was as good as the movie. I’d agree that he’s a bit overrated.
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