Its cute, and funny sometimes, although I stopped after the third or fourth one

Finished The Virgin Suicides. Great book if you can handle the depressing subject matter. Keep your klonopin bottle close by.

Currently finishing Waveland by Barthelme, and Atkinson's Pultizer winner An Army at Dawn about the war in NoAfrica 1942-3. First part of a trilogy he just finished, iirc.

Late to the GoT party. I tried reading book one several times but couldn't make it through the cold open. Maybe my reading experience now owes something to the TV show, but this time around I skipped the cold open and am loving the rest.

East of Eden for the first time. Currently about 23% into it and think it's amazing. I think it's simply dumbfounding how good a writer Steinbeck was. I read the first page and thought, "Wow, is he really describing a valley for a whole page?" Then, three pages later, "Wow, is he still describing the same damn valley?" And, then, shortly after, "This valley is so damn cool!"

Anyways, I still have a long way to go, but I would currently rank the three novels of his I have read:
East of Eden > Grapes of Wrath > Of Mice and Men

but, I reserve the right to revise this list as East of Eden develops, because Grapes of Wrath has one of the greatest endings I have ever read.

Steinbeck was a beast. East of Eden >>>>>>>>>> Grapes of Wrath IMO

I finished reading The Things They Carried. I thought it started a little slow, but maybe that was just the mood I was in. I ended up loving it and might see if I can work it into my teaching curriculum somewhere. It amazes me how little we include Vietnam in our high school curriculum. Most US History classes seem to stop at World War II.

I am about 1/3 of the way through Tenth of December. It is amazing. Victory Lap and Puppy deserve the acclaim I've seen in this thread and elsewhere on the internet. Saunders's stories remind me a little of Salinger's shorts in Nine Stories, there seems to be a whole lot of depth to them that I end up feeling like I need to immediately discuss the stories or research on the net (though I think Saunders's stories are a little easier to deal with).

I like.

Reading the new Rod Serling biography by his daughter. Fantastic

I'm sure I've posted something about this before, but O'Brien's Vietnam novel, Going after Cacciato, is a real tour de force--and a book that deserves more than one reading.

Interesting discussion about L.A. novels here

http://www.salon.com/2013/06/02/bret...ead/singleton/

Steinbeck - GOAT American novelist?

No. Not even close. I'm a little surprised that you even posted that Dom. What will be next - You were mistaken and actually love The Doors?

The Oxford Book of Villains, compiled by John Mortimer.

Picked this up in a used book this weekend by distracting the clerk by hitting her over the head with said book and getting out Scott free.

Covers Villains from literary fiction to real ones.

"The difficulty of preparing a book of villains is the field stretches towards infinity", writes John Mortimer.

So far an excellent read. Chapter headings still stretching toward infinity: Murderers, then Seducers and Cads, then Con Men, then Hypocrites, then Traitors and Spies, and finally, Tyrants. What's there not to love?

Salinger >>> Steinbeck, imo.

Mark Twain

A. A. Milne

American? Pooh!

Saligner "rolleyes"

Mellville, son

Nabokov!

Or maybe Shirley Jackson

I wasn't aware anyone read anything by Shirley Jackson other than The Lottery.

Or Why

Cormac McCarthy
Raymond Chandler
Hemingway

Reading Steinbeck is like reading Dickens on a fistful of valium (which is like reading a Vogon primer of Rhetoric).

Fitzgerald mentioned? Because cmon son.

Kerouac should be flagrated upon a pyre of his own literary vomit. Through Pynchon's indulgent refuse on that one too.

no one's gonna mention Faulkner huh

I haven't read Faulker.

I have changed my thoughts on this frequently. I have come to the conclusion that I have no idea.

I haven't read enough from any of these authors, but I definitely need more Twain to make a decision. I still have only read Huck and a couple shorts.

odd thomas is a fun read

im starting


slow starter but it is getting interesting