The Dusty Bookshelf discussion

Listening to audio in the car
Say Her Name: A Novel

Listening to audio on a portable "Playaway" device
Ape House

Reading in traditional text
The Talented Mr. Ripley

Diana wrote: "I don't think this is a redundant list. I'm currently reading "Thou,Dear God" Prayers That Open Hearts and Spirits from The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King,Jr.(edited and introduced by Lewis V. Bal..."

The one by MLK Jr. sounds good!

@Nicole,
The prayer book is terrific. What a gift Rev.King had. The editor prefaces prayers with info about when the prayers were written and spoken.
I've been uplifted and comforted many times by these prayers. Thanks.

i am putting it on my TBR list.

I am currently reading and liking it so far.

Above by Leah Bobet.

I really like it so far! It's like...poetry in a narrative. It's the language one would use for writing poetry, except it makes a narrative. It's so beautiful!

Now listening to audio ...
Peony in Love by Lisa See

Currently reading in traditional text format ...
Small Island by Andrea Levy

Have out from the library ..
Grave Secrets by Kathy Reichs (audio)
On the Beach by Nevil Shute (text)

Thalia wrote: "
Above by Leah Bobet.

I really like it so far! It's like...poetry in a narrative. It's the language one would use for writing poetry, except it makes a narrative. It's so beautiful!"

Thalia, I'm glad you're finally reading one that you like! It seems like you've had a lot of disappointing reads so far.

I'm actually checking out that book, Above. :)

Denise, seriously! It's like EVERYTHING this year has been terrible! I've given a lot of two and one stars this year. But at the ones that have been good are really good! (:

I have a good method... I pick stuff that has good recommendation on sites I consider serious sources... for example ASOIAF had a wide praise, so I decided to give it a chance... Malazan book of the fallen, based on reviews and descriptions, sounded like it might be my cup of tea and whoa it is...

I make a little bit of research before I buy stuff, so I usually go hunting for precisely something... this ensures that the stuff wont be complete shite... and in most cases indeed it leads to satisfactory, even awesome reads

or as I would say, I dont have so much time as to waste my time with books that I dont like :P

Currently reading A Game of Thrones but rather tempted to go off the 'dusty' thing for the next book or two - If I can build up my willpower I may be good but it's all so tempting :S

Razmatus wrote: "I have a good method... I pick stuff that has good recommendation on sites I consider serious sources... for example ASOIAF had a wide praise, so I decided to give it a chance... Malazan book of th..."

this might be a dumb question but what is ASOIAF?

this might be a dumb question but what is ASOIAF?

A Song Of Ice And Fire. George R.R. Martin's series of books that begins with A Game of Thrones.

oh yeah...i have heard of that series. thanks

I've started reading Middlemarch by George Eliot. I've been meaning to read this for a long time, but have been put off by the length. I know a few others have mentioned this book, so I wanted to repeat that we are just starting a buddy read over on the Victorians! group, in case anybody else is interested in getting it off of their dusty shelf and being able to participate in a discussion at the same time.

@Denise: I have Middlemarch on my dusty shelf and it's definitely one I've heard some good and some bad things about - would love to know how you find it when you're finished :)

This Game of Thrones book is great but has me on the edge of my seat and dreading every chapter in case of what may happen! I will definitely take a break from this series once I've finished and read different books before going on to the second one!

Yes, I am also interested in how Middlemarch is.

I'm FINALLY reading Anne of Green Gables, and loving it!

Lillian wrote: "FINALLY got to Jane Eyreand The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales. I've been meaning to read them for the past few months( I procrastinate with books b/c more come along) I can't help it. A bit."

I enjoyed Jane Eyre

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare.

Getting myself pumped for City of Lost Souls!

Just finished the ARC of Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone my supervisor at the library provided me with. Not impressed with how uncomfortable some passages made me. :/

Now I'm reading:

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher.

An ACTUAL DUSTY BOOK, HUZZAH.

Fated by Alyson Noel.

Adrianne wrote: "Yesterday I finished "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children"...today I'm reading "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest"
(I don't know how to get the books' picture on here!"

How was Miss Pererine's HOme for Peculiar Children ? It's on my bookshelf to read

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare.

AND

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (for English)!

Loving both. (:

I've just finished American Psycho and Mickey Mouse race to death valley.

I might/might not write a review of American Psycho on my blog.

As for Mickey Mouse, those old school Mickey comics are amazing. Some overprotective parents might be shocked, that's all I'm gonna say.

How to Get Fans In Other Countries: http://reddkaiman.blogspot.com/2012/0...

Lillian,
The author herself has said the books(3)are intended for adults only.

If as an adult you chose to read any subject matter, you'd be doing so with life experiences and some maturity to accompany your knowledge of the subject.

You aren't missing anything necessary until then. I hope I helped you decide.

Lillian, I'm really not sure if that's the right sort of age to be reading those books. I understand it's all about the reader's own mental maturity but for these books I'm with Diana - I'm sure you can wait until you're an adult for those 3 :)

Oooh, forgot to put my own thing - finished The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America last night (yep, so good I spent one day reading it all) and am now uinsure what to read to pass time between now and June when I'll get onto North and South.

Think it may end up being The First Men in the Moon.

Lillian wrote: "What would you guys say about Fifty Shades of Grey? I've heard so much but I'm afraid it may have content unsuitable for my age- Im in high school. I'm not sure if i should or shouldn't. Help!!"

Lillian - I agree with other posters that FSoG is not suitable for someone your age. More importantly, from what I've heard from a number of people I known and trust - the writing is terrible!

For a good love story, read Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind Rhett Butler is the quintessential "bad boy" that every woman loves/hates.

I'm not sure what age 'high-school age' is but I read Gone With The Wind when I was 15-ish and enjoyed it - very good read and Rhett Butler is definitely the lovable bad boy ;D

Good book suggestion! TBH, from what I've heard, there are so many other books out there at the moment that should come ahead of FSoG... I doubt I'll ever read the series anyway, read ane xtract and some of the words and paragraphs just seemed there to shock for the heck of it. Then again, maybe it's just me.

I totally agree with Hayley, Diana, and Book Concierge. And yes, Gone With the Wind is a delight...I read it around 26-ish I think.

Lillian, Fifty Shades is hard core erotica fiction. From what my friends have told me, bondange erotica at that. I mean, it depends on who you are, but I'm steering clear of it entirely, and I don't think it's suitable for high school ages.

I'm reading a truckload!

The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkein
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
The Crucible by Arthur Miller.

I've had to put LotR on hold for the other two, which are for school. Ugh, this is why I can't stand reading more than one book at a time! I keep confusing what's happening in Miller with what's happening in Kesey! Hopefully I don't forget everything in Fellowship by the time I'm able to get back to it!

Updating here again! (:

I just finished:

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks.

It was a dusty book, so yay!

Now I'm starting:

A World Away by Nancy Grossman.

I'm reading it for an ACR tour, and this is my first tour, and I'm really excited to start reading. (:

It's been quite a while since I posted on here but then it's been quite a while since I read one of my dusty book choices. Bad me. Anyway I rectified that this morning by finally picking up Miss Garnet's Angel. So far it's just lovely. Sort of a modern day A Room with a View.

I'm hoping it stays as enchanting.

Currently reading The Player of Games - not a genre that normally drags me in but this one is quite good. After this short break back to Les Mis then picking up The Descendants - good times :D

I finished a dusty book!

The Giver by Lois Lowry.

Woot woot! (:
So now I'm moving on--I'm participating in a readathon this week, so hopefully I'll move quickly!

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

And still trudging my way through Poe, slowly but surely.

I finished Les Misérables (finally!) Lovely read if occasionally a bit long winded ;D Also finished
The Player of Games .

Moving on to The Descendants now, should be a good, short(er) read to deal with ;)

I am currently reading The First Gardener

I just finished Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery , which wasn't from my dusty shelf but was lovely all the same. I've got a couple of short stories I want to read today, then I'll dive into The Left Hand Of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin, which is very, very dusty indeed. I've been meaning to read it for a good 20 years!

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

I'm working my way towards The Short, Secret Life of Bree Tanner for my dusty shelf. Yay!

I am working my way through All Creatures Great and Small . It was recommended by my brother-in-law so I thought it would be a good book. Not impressed so far. Of course I am only a few chapters in. Hoping it gets better.

Sorry you don't like it, Jessika. I read it back in high school, much more than 9 year ago. It does have really extreme violence, but what happens to the main character raises some fascinating ethical issues. I love the movie - have you seen it? Of course, it is also extremely violent, so not for the squeamish.

for some reason, I cant stand most of Kubrick's movies... too weird for me I guess... well, most of postmodern stuff like totally evades me - some authors I read excerpts from just sound like they wanted to be different for the sake of it, or used some stuff to induce states I dont want to know about to write what they wrote

I dont mind if it occasionally slips into fantasy, I mean, some postmodern elements like fragmentation of experience, psychedellic stuff (like when a character takes some concoction and that takes them into some god's embrace or realm or what), or absurd drama elements (which I believe still counts as postmodern; for example absurd drama elements in Malazan book of the fallen in form of Tehol, Bugg and their dialogues)

jessika. haha I was going to tell you it gets better after awhile ... I loved that book but the lingo took a bit for me to get used to.

Jessika wrote: "Currently reading which I added to my "to read" list freshman year in high school. I don't remember when I actually bought the book, but freshman year was 9 years ago..."

Same! I tried to read this earlier this year. Read about 20 pages and gave it to goodwill. crap.

Jessika, I had the same issue with the book! I put it down and didn't pick it up again! But damn, the movie is something. It's brilliant

Tryna get around to reading this, but I borrowed it from my math sir, who has it covered in intricate notes. I'm afraid that's scared me off. I'm currently reading short stories by Roald Dahl. Have finished off , and now on to !

I have two books on my dusty shelf that I started and couldn't finish one is 'For Whom The Bell Tolls' by Hemingway, which I just couldn't bring myself to like, despite the interesting subject. The other is 'Lord Jim' by Joseph Conrad, again a book I'd really, really like to like, but just can't. I think it might be the edition (small print and dense wordology) but anyway, that's it. I have 'American Gods' by Neil Gaiman and 'East of Eden' by Steinbeck as my next two Dusty bookshelf challenges. Currently, I'm reading 'The Years of Rice and Salt' by Kim Stanley Robinson, which I found referenced online somewhere a few years ago, but only recently managed to pick up a copy. So Far it's quite good.
That's my say.
Dermo

I need to catch up with my dusty books! I only have three months to read seven more AND finish Poe. I need to stop accepting review requests. D:

Anyway, I'm reading:

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green.

It's for my school's book club! After this, I'll probably move on to Unwind by Neil Shusterman, which is my church's book club book. Oh my!