...I hate you.

And technically at the waterfall the rock I was holding on to broke. So you had nothing to do with it. But came damn close to making my prediction come true. And somehow my bruise looks worse now than it did the entire time I was in Maine. Wtf.

But back on topic, it seems from facebook that we are close to reaching a consensus on American Psycho, which makes me want to know what page I'm supposed to be reading to, and by what date I'm supposed to have read to said page number. Anyone got a proposal?

Another one!

What about the whole almost falling in the waterfall thing?! *evil snicker*

Back from the Moon...

...or Maine. But for all the time spent traveling, it might as well be the same distance away. Which means that I have returned to having regular internet access. Thus my finally getting around to responding to this blog.

I actually picked up American Psycho today, against my mother's rather strong wishes. Apparently she read it and was not impressed. I think that is the first time my mother has ever so much as suggested I not read a book, and it was more than a suggestion. However, that didn't stop me from getting her to buy it for me thanks to my dear brother's wonderful employee discount and Barnes & Noble. (Apparently I need to go away more - my mom likes me more when I come back.)

So, whenever there is a group consensus, I'm happy to start reading. In the interim, I'm still working on Dostoyevsky, which, while slow at first, picked up with 10 hours of travel time yesterday. I also took a break to read Harry Potter 7 again while in Maine, so I'm probably going to continue to re-read those books as well, albeit probably not quite at the same pace as when I was in Maine with you, Kailey.

And as for Arielle agreeing with me, I just checked, and I'm pretty sure that was the sound of hell freezing over. Though you really just can't be having as much sadistic fun without such an easy target. But I promise Kailey did her part for you while I was in Maine. (Still not over the whole jumping me at the end of the movie thing - not cool.)

Yay Sadism!!!

Okay, so American Psycho it is. I'll get it this week. And Anne's right-I know, I know, so rare that I agree. Coming by sadistic humor without you guys is very difficult. Although I doubt the book is very humorous, hopefully it will fill that void ;)

American Psycho

Hey I got this book! Soooo now you should all get it so I can start reading it! in the meantime I'm going to fill my brain with silly things hehe.

Internet is very hard to come by in Maine! The wireless network I usually steal has mysteriously disappeared so I’ve been forced to find another one! But while between thieving activities I have been internetless! Sooo sad!

Anyway, I think we should read American Psycho and we should all tell each other when we get it and before we start reading it so we all start at the same time. Should be a good time! I’m going to try to get it this week; might get it tomorrow actually. I ordered Everything is Illuminated about 3 weeks ago and I still don’t have it so that one’s been put on hold…perhaps permanently.

And Arielle, OF COURSE I read Harry Potter before I saw it! You crazy?! Aaaand Anne and I have now seen it 3 times as of last night hehe

So, My Bad Again...

Apologies once again. I'm on vacation sans computer, and so my internet access is limited at best. I'm open to either book, and since Arielle is jumping at the opportunity for some sadism since I'm not around to satisfy her fix, we can do American Psycho first. I have not read The Tipping Point, so that could very well be the next book if we do indeed do Psycho first.

I have not even so much as read a page from Harry Potter in preparation for this movie, but seeing as I'm seeing it with Kailey tomorrow, I'm sure she'll remind me of all the details because I know she at least was attempting to read it again.

so?

So, which one are we reading?

Also, is anyone re-reading Harry Potter before it comes out tomorrow? I kind of forgot it was coming out, so I don't have time to read it...

the book

Well, Grace is right...something sadistic sounds good to me, but if everyone else would prefer the second one, I'll read it and then we can do American Psycho after that.

Book!

Bibliophiles:

Ok, so in weighing this decision I tried to keep everyone's interests and tastes in mind. So! Given Emily and my affinity for the movie, Arielle's enjoyment of sadistic violence and dislike of anything too old, Kailey and Anne's ability to be game for most anything, I think we could all read American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis? I promise it'll be easier to read than the Satanic Verses, but it will make you squeamish (unless you're Arielle).

ALSO, I think (if Anne hasn't read this already), we could all get a lot of enjoyment out of The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. It's very, very readible even though it's non-fiction (I read one of the more famous sections and it was pretty funny). Arielle's my hold-out on this one, she'll either think it's interesting or...not. It's a good conversation starter, so it might help us get through quickly so that we can actually get the ball rolling.

Let me know what you ladies think.

Book?

So Grace, what's our next book?

"I did not bow down to you, I bowed down to all the suffering of humanity."

The title is just so you know that I'm not posting here because Kailey said to. I'm doing it for the good of humanity. Or maybe that was Raskolnikov. Oops. Sorry, re-reading a bit of Crime and Punishment to go along with my Dostoevsky theme. Finally started reading The Idiot too, so I am actually on a break from our group reading list.

That being said, I'm not opposed to doing a common book. I'm happy to yield the choice to Grace, but I'm not sure why I'm not allowed to read ahead. Reading ahead is the only way I ever actually finish the book. Like I'd ever have gotten through Madame Bovary if I wasn't competing with someone to finish it first. (That and being stuck in a hospital waiting room, but not the point.)

All told though, I'm not sure I'm going to have a heck of a lot of time to read much of anything for a little while. I've got a full time gig landscaping for my family, and it really has made it so that I can't get through more than a few pages before I crash and fall asleep. Though maybe I'll get some more reading done once I get to vacationing on the coast of Massachusetts in the coming weeks. Maybe grab a book, and read on the beach? We shall see.

Grace - I totally should have known your top two without asking. The number of books by each of them that we had in the common room in the last month or so of the semester was a bit of a hint. I've nailed down 3 so far, in Dostoevsky, Hemingway, and Saul Bellow (in order), but I really don't have strong enough feelings for other authors to include them in my top ten. Suppose that just means I need to read more books. Alas.

Common Book

I agree. I know Satanic Verses was supposed to be the common book, but it doesn't look like it's going to be. I like Kailey's idea of having to read X pages by X date and then discussing them. I'm also okay if Grace picks a book she thinks everyone will like. It seems like Emily has completely forgotten the blog, so we'll have to remind her.

Common Book!

YES! We should definitely pick a common book! And I think we should do little assignments like "we will read to page 30 by this day then discuss it on the blog." We should all agree to not to start reading until we all have the book and to not read ahead of anyone! Will be great! Will be like a mini class! Not feeling very articulate this morning so I'm just gonna stop now, but let's DO IT!!!

Second Try

Bibliophiles:

Kailey very correctly pointed out to me that we are sucking at book blogging, so I will try much harder.  

I am reading three books right now, because I am an idiot.  They are Infinite Jest (David Foster Wallace--which is my summer Moby Dick, damn 1104 pages), The Selected Plays of James Purdy (my publishing company published it), and The Portrait of a Lady by Henry "Michelle Graham Doesn't Like Me That Much" James.   I'm assuming none of you lovely ladies have read these yet?  I'll let you know how it works out.  I read all of the Chronicles of Narnia series straight through a few years back, and that was probably not the right way to do it, because now I can't distinguish between them.  I do remember, though, that Dawn Treader had a slightly different tone than the others.  What were the Biblical illusions?

So should we all maybe pick a book that we can all read and then discuss it?  I can come up with a recommendation that would appeal to everyone.  Or are we totally off that?  I promise I'll actually read it this time because I do have reading time in my life and also I don't have a television that works.