Chaos Reading discussion

This thread is for new members to introduce themselves. Tell us a little about yourself, like:

1) Your name and where you live
2) What are some of your favourite books?
3) Besides reading, name 5 things you really love to do..

Hi, I'm Ken from Ireland. I love Terry Pratchett novels but my favorite book is McCarthy's Bar: A Journey of Discovery In Ireland. Here are a few of the things I love, well 5 to be precise... dogs, badminton, campaigning, bonsai and writing.

I've just followed the post guidelines... is chaos the right group for me?

Thanks for the invite, Ruby. I'll certainly try to follow the chaos rules.

1) I'm Melki. I live in the US, in the state of Pennsylvania. It's a pretty place right now - let's hope the damned fracking companies don't ruin it in their never-ending search for gas & oil.
We have 4 distinct seasons here, and what I love is that just when I'm starting to get sick of one, it changes. It's super beautiful in fall and spring.
I'm a stay-at-home mom, so my life is filled with bland boring tasks like laundry and making lunches. I seem to have NOTHING in common with anyone I know in real life, so is it any wonder I live mostly inside my head?

2) Some favs. include - The Loved One, The Epicure's Lament, Ella Minnow Pea, Birds in Fall: A Novel, and Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague.

3) Besides reading, I like to make stuff - all sorts of stuff, spend time with my kids (yeah, I know...but I honestly do like them!), walk the dog, watch birds, complain about the neighbors.
Gawd, my life is boring!

Hi Guys! Thanks for joining.

Ken - Dogs + Badminton? Yep, Chaos seems absolutely right for you! Have you read Round Ireland with a Fridge? That too is a journey of discovery.... mostly of how heavy a fridge actually is. It's actually a fun read. What sort of campaigning do you do?

Melki - I'm off work at the moment (long story, but I've got a health condition to manage). It really is boring being stuck in the house. I feel your pain! What sort of stuff do you make? Do you have an Etsy store?

Greetings and felicitations. my name is Eric and I live on the Maine coast in a two hundred and seventeen year old farmhouse that is need of constant repair(my wife and I have decided to find this charming.
I have written two novels , which has sold tens of copies.
I dig martini's (lemon peel no onion pls.) limited anarchy, spirited conversation , free and happy people, and gelato.

My five favorite books.

1. The sprawl trilogy by William Gibson (neuromancer, count zero, Mona Lisa overdrive . I count it as one book)

2. Catch 22 Joseph Heller (a must..)

3 Slaughter house five (Kurt Vonnegut)

4.To kill a mockingbird (Harper Lee)

5. Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess (the alpha and the omega

cheers!

Hi Eric! The farmhouse does sound.....charming! Actually I'd love to have an old place of my own to do up. My brother has a very old farmhouse in an English village, and I'm acutely jealous!

I just bought Slaughterhouse-Five tonight, since it's on special at Amazon for 99c. I recently read Neuromancer and loved it, although I found the ending a bit too contrived. To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favourites too.

I've never had a martini with onion, but I'd love to try that. I will put onion in just about anything. It's by far my favourite vegetable.

Hello Ruby, thanks for the invite.
While my "read" list is reasonably short, there are many books I've read over the years I must get around to adding which may entitle me to membership of a group of eclectic readers.
For now, two books to recommend The Book Thief and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

Hey everyone,

I'm Scott. I live in Pennsylvania.

Favorte books include King's PET SEMATARY, Poppy Z. Brite's DRAWING BLOOD, Jack Ketchum's OFF SEASON, Straub's Blue Rose series, & Edward Lee's THE BIGHEAD. (Yep, I like 'em dark & weird.)

I'm a published writer of fiction & poetry, and I also run local literary events as part of a non-profit group. I enjoy listening to music (my tastes are fairly eclectic, but I lean toward punk & metal), watching obscure and offbeat films and drinking beer.

I also wish I could make myself sound interesting.

Oh that's plenty interesting! I'll enjoy having a fellow "obscure & offbeat film" fan in the group! I just watched Turkey Shoot again this afternoon. It's the best thing about living in Australia - access to Ozploitation cinema!

Those are really interesting book picks too. I might just put the links in here so that people can browse them:
Pet Sematary
Drawing Blood
Off Season
Blue Rose Trilogy
The Bighead

I'm gonna have to read The Bighead now, just so I can have an opinion on it. Why do I do this to myself? You would think I'd have learned my lesson after Ass Goblins of Auschwitz but noooo...

If you didn't care for ASS GOBLINS, Ruby, tread cautiously with THE BIGHEAD. It really is disgusting for the sake of being disgusting, but it's very, very good at it, and at least strives to be creative.

Never managed to see TURKEY SHOOT, but I did recently see NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD, a very entertaining doc on Ozploitation history.

Wow! Lots of good books mentioned.

So far, everybody in this group has GREAT taste!

Melki wrote: "Wow! Lots of good books mentioned.

So far, everybody in this group has GREAT taste!"

You're not wrong. I'm very impressed!

Scott - I actually was impressed that Ass Goblins of Auschwitz managed to make me squirm, it's a rare feat and the one star I gave it was purely for that factor. It was just the drivelly sentences and poor continuity that annoyed me. The actual sentence that lost me was: "Today seems worse, probably because nobody's condition ever improves in Auschwitz." If every day is the same, then how is TODAY any worse? I just get annoyed by strings of words that don't say anything.

I've seen NQH, and it gave me a bunch of new films for my buy-list. I think my fave is "Stunt Rock" - stunts & 70s wizard rock. How can it be anything but awesome?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXNBS4...

Sorry. Just realized you asked about my "stuff". I make all sorts of things. I'm really fond of making felt monsters and critters. I don't sell on Etsy, but I'm working to put together a Flickr page.
I'll also paint anything that will hold still - walls, ceilings, floors, furniture...

I'm Riona, from Brooklyn, New York. I probably know a few of you from other groups. I read mostly science fiction, but I also like humor, urban fantasy, and nonfiction (memoirs, microhistory, and women's studies primarily). I'll generally read anything that's a bit offbeat. Favorite authors include Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Philip K. Dick, David Mitchell, William Gibson, and Margaret Atwood.

When I'm not reading, I like exploring the city (I've lived here my whole life, but it's always changing and there's so much to see), traveling to other places, drinking at my local bar (Long Island Iced Teas in summer, Manhattans in winter - I apparently like regionally-named drinks), designing & sewing garments, baking, and being a huge cat lady.

Hi I'm Fiona, from Surrey in the UK.

Ruby this group is so right for me - a few fave books are :
Perfect
Defy the Eagle
Morningstar
The Stand
The Descent
Three Wishes
The Last Day

I adore where I live - it is such a beautiful place and I am half an hour away from London and Brighton... We have the Olympic Cycle race coming through the town this summer and the bit that they cycle round nunerous times is what I look at whilst sitting in my lounge!!! LOL how cool is that.

Any looking forward to some great book recommendations as you can see I am eclectic in my reading..

Hello all! My name is Jen Williams, and I'm a writer from South East London.

Picking five favourites is *hard* but at a pinch here's a handful of books I've adored in the past: Good Omens, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, American Gods, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrelland The Killing Kind

I spend much of my free time in coffee shops or the sort of pubs that open early for breakfast, usually scribbling in notebooks or staring vacantly into space. I write fantasy books and sometimes short horror stories, and when I'm not doing that I read a lot and get obsessed with certain video games. And I drink a lot of red wine.

thanks for invite Ruby

I'm Tom, live in Pittsburgh pa.

favorite books, that changes I really like the Ex-heros and patriot.

I mostly read non-fiction because I am a huge nerd.

I climb icebergs, study brain circuitry and working on my first novel. Actually working on about a half dozen, but one is coming close.

Jen wrote: "Hello all! My name is Jen Williams, and I'm a writer from South East London.

Picking five favourites is *hard* but at a pinch here's a handful of books I've adored in the past: Good Omens, We Hav..."

haha much of that kind of sounds familar.

Hello. My actual name is Jeff. I'm 44 years old. I've been married to mife for 21 years and we've been together for the past 24 years. We have two kids and a mortgage. We live in Idaho. I'm a career police officer (12 years October 10th) and I collect firearms. I won't bite.

I enjoy history, science-fiction, horror, pulp fiction, crime novels, spy thrillers, post apocalyptic novels and books about firearms.

I tend to be a littel cynical and I like stories that tend to be a little dark and cynical. However I don't always like the bad guys to "win".

I'm going to start working my way through all those booklinks. My TBR is rapidly expanding again...

Tom - I never thought I would hear the phrase, "I climb icebergs and study brain circuitry", but I'm glad I have! I love penguins and am fascinated with brains. :)

Melki - I'd love to see your critters sometime! You'll have to post the Flickr link for us.

I probably should've answered the questions too... oops.

1-I'm Ruby Tombstone, and I live in Canberra, Australia. I can't stand Canberra - it is far too cold. I'm originally from South Australia, but do a lot of work with remote Indigenous communities, mostly in the Top End of Australia... where it's nice and warm and tropical!

2-I like a wide variety of books, but tend to be attracted by the weirder, darker subjects. Faves include: Pontypool Changes Everything (Tom- you should check it out if you haven't already), Blindness,For The Win, The Grapes of Wrath and The Illuminatus! Trilogy: The Eye in the Pyramid/The Golden Apple/Leviathan is essentially my bible.

3-I love spoiling my cat rotten, making jewellery/accessories, learning about Australian Indigenous cultures & languages, music (mostly metal/punk/alt) and roller derby.

Hi Ruby, Thanks for the welcome. When I mentioned badminton and dogs... they are two separate interests! And I should have mentioned music in my list... favourite band Guns & Roses (best rock band ever).

Well, that is a shame Ken. I had great visions of dogs leaping over nets with shuttlecocks between their teeth. :)

GnR were great, back in the day. What a shame about Chinese Democracy. Imagine if it had been good....

Lee wrote: "Hi all,
Thanks for the invite, Ruby.
I'm Lee (obviously)....."

LOL. I realised after I'd posted that the first part of the question was redundant! It does pay to have a technical writer around! :)

So where in Australia are you living, and where are you from?

And is Quicksilver any good? I really do need to read some of Neal Stephenson's books. I haven't even read Snow Crash yet.
*embarrassed*

What about Reamde? I have that on my shelf too, but I keep balking at the size of it.

Ruby wrote: "I'm going to start working my way through all those booklinks. My TBR is rapidly expanding again...

Tom - I never thought I would hear the phrase, "I climb icebergs and study brain circuitry", but..."

I wonder what Penguins taste like? I don't like Seal.

Here's a video if you are interested in the iceberg climbing.

http://vimeo.com/35118137

Ruby wrote: "What about Reamde? I have that on my shelf too, but I keep balking at the size of it."

That's the problem with Stephenson. I think Zodiac was the only one of a reasonable length. You can't read Quicksilver alone - you have to read the rest of the Baroque Cycle, too.

otoh, ReaMdE was worth the length - like most of his books (otoh, I should point out that my review trashes it for how he handles the "Mystery" component).

Not liking Snow Crash but liking Quicksilver is hard for me to understand, but not everybody can have my taste :-) (I did love Quicksilver, but it was only 4-stars, not 5 like Snow Crash, and I could easily see how people might see it as overlong)

And to introductions...

I'm Derek and I live on the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada.

I'm into Hard SF (the harder the better) (e.g. Greg Egan), Sword & Sorcery fantasy (almost anything, but of course I started with The Lord of the Rings and I reread it regularly), Crime/Mystery (Lee Child, and John Sandford is my guilty pleasure). Currently reading Cast in Courtlight which is not the finest writing I've ever encountered, but she manages to very neatly combine those latter two categories.

I'm into Beer (making & tasting), Wine, Dogs (I usually have two or three, but we're in a one dog phase at the moment), Bridge & Cycling. We can usually manage to combine 3 or 4 of those: going to Spain this fall, for a Wine & Cycling trip. I'm sure we'll find a bridge club or two, and find out whether the Spanish have any decent beer.

See, I loved Stephenson's earlier work (Snow Crash and The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer), but lost interest in Cryptonomicon a couple hundred pages in. I just got that and The Baroque Cycle on ebook though, so maybe I will try again sometime soon.

Riona wrote: "See, I loved Stephenson's earlier work (Snow Crash and The Diamond Age: Or a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer), but lost interest in Cryptonomicon a couple hundred pages in. I just got that and The..."

Yeah, almost the same for me. I worked right through the Baroque Cycle and enjoyed it, but it was work. Same for Cryptonomicon. I mostly felt they could have used some tighter editing. otoh, I was fine with his two latest ReaMdE (for size & pace: I found the actual plot difficult to swallow) and Anathem.

I joined this group so I guess I should introduce myself.

The name is Danger_Slater. I'm a writer of books, a getter of looks, an abetter or crooks, a shedder with hooks, I wear a sweater in the chinooks, and I like to sometimes rhyme for both humor and fun.

I'm also a future infrequent poster, as my attention span is slightly shorter than this sentan......

Some of my favorite books are:

Cat’s Cradle
Rampaging Fuckers of Everything on the Crazy Shitting Planet of the Vomit Atmosphere
Awesome
The Greatest Fucking Moment in Sports
Candide
and
Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates

And of course, I love the book that I wrote because I'm smart and funny and sexy and an all around exemplary human being who is also very interesting and inspiring. But out of all the wonderful qualities I possess, I'd say my best one is that I'm also quite humble.

I'm probably the most humble person to ever live.

Anyway, thanks Ruby for the invite into your community and I look forward to meeting some good people and discovering some good reads.

Hey Danger - welcome! I've added a couple of those to my TBR. Luckily I have this thing that whenever I see the word "puerile" used in a book review, I have to TBR the book just to spite the reviewer. In my experience that word is too often used as code for, "there's swearing and weird stuff, and I don't get it."

And why is everyone reading Candide all of a sudden? I recently stumbled upon a cheap copy with the beautiful Chris Ware dust jacket and started reading it. Ever since, I seem to see it popping up all over the place. Weird.

Re - Neal Stephenson. I think I'm just gonna start with Snow Crash based purely on the shorter length!

Well Candide has been out for 250 years, so I figured it was about time.

I've actually used the word "puerile" in the book review I wrote for Screw the Universe, but I meant it as a compliment.

Hi Danger, How could anyone possibly use the word puerile as a compliment? Not possible - so I went and read the review and I now see that it is possible!

I 'liked' your review and would have 'loved' it if there had been an appropriate button.

Ruby wrote: "Luckily I have this thing that whenever I see the word "puerile" used in a book review, I have to TBR the book just to spite the review..."

Well, "puerile" isn't nearly as bad as most people think :-)

Just looking at those titles, I'd suspect that whatever review said "puerile" was a little redundant. As it would likely be for a book titled Screw the Universe.

I haven't read Candide, but it's a classic. And if my knowledge of other works by Voltaire means anything, way more accessible than, say, War and Peace. Possibly even puerile in places.

Ken wrote: "Hi Danger, How could anyone possibly use the word puerile as a compliment? Not possible - so I went and read the review and I now see that it is possible!

I 'liked' your review and would have 'lov..."

He! The cover itself is puerile - in the very best way!

Danger: I believe the word you were looking for is "mortify".

Thanks for the invite.

I'm John from Alabama. I'm a teacher and a writer.

Favorite books (at least at the moment):

Poachers
One Foot in Eden
Provinces of Night
Different Seasons
Marcelo in the Real World

Five things: eat, drink, watch basketball, be with my kiddos, and write.

Hi Ruby, thanks for the invite - I could use some more choas in my life so this group might be perfect.

I live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the USA where we have 4 seasons: 2 months each of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and 6 months of Winter. I'm a Mechanical Engineer by Trade and a Carpenter by accident. My Favorite books are:

The Lord of the Rings
The Forever War
Lord of Light
Altered Carbon
Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America
and
Mortality Bridge

Besides reading I like spending time with my kids, cycling, practicing martial arts, archery, making wine, and building my own furniture.

Since 3 of the first four are already high on my list (I just read Altered Carbon this week); Roger Zelazny certainly is one of my favourite authors (I've always had a soft spot for Amber, though); and I doubt I'd disagree with much in the fifth, I'm clearly going to have to add Mortality Bridge to my TBR.

Hey. I am Ceridwen, and I'm from Minnesota. I don't post in groups much, but there are a couple books on my to-read in the folders, so you never know. Seems a groovy group.

Because I'm contrary by nature, I'm not going to post my favorite books, but my favorite YA books from the last year or so. (I'm responding to the group definition that swears off YA readers. I mean, maybe this is just gesturing to that mythic reader who only sticks to one genre, whatever that genre may be, but I've found such an animal to be as rare as unicorns. And like unicorns, probably wouldn't be interested in this group anyway.) Young adult a big genre, and arguably not a genre so much as a marketing distinction - these are books aimed at a younger audience, and often mirror their concerns in a way that may not be interesting for adults - and many of them don't interest me for that reason. But the process of growing into adulthood is a messy, ugly business, and there are a ton of YA novels that capture and comment on those feelings with beautiful, well constructed writing.

A Wizard of Earthsea: Actually, this is one of my favorite novels, full stop.
Un Lun Dun: China Mieville writes for the young adult set? Yes, please.
Lips Touch: Three Times: I admit the cover is hideous, but the stories themselves are both literary and expertly constructed.
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making: This isn't even technically young adult, but aimed even younger at the 9-12 range. It is an intertext with another Valente novel, Palimpsest, in a very stunning way. (Palimpsest is about a sexually transmitted city, so writing a children's book that works with so sexually explicit a novel is fascinating.)
Sunshine: This was written originally for adults, but was repackaged for teens once certain sparkly vampires became the smash hit. A profoundly alternate history, ghoulish vampires, and what I felt was a very accurate depiction of psychological trauma. FTW.
Oh and The Piper's Son because it tore out my insides.

Lessee, hobbies? Drinking, smoking and...cross-stitch. Plus, pie and television.

Oh, hey, wait, are you in Minneapolis too? Or the dreaded St Paul??

Thanks. I feel like I have to stand up for TEH CHILDREN. Or at least stand up for literature aimed at them, because those suckers can get off my lawn. Sure, lots of it is dross, and even a good chunk of the good stuff doesn't interest me because of personal preference, but that can be said about just about any genre going.

Ceridwen wrote: "Oh, hey, wait, are you in Minneapolis too? Or the dreaded St Paul?? "

LOL. We have a similar situation where I live. Halifax is on one side of the harbour, Dartmouth on the other. Tens of thousands of people born and raised on the Halifax side have never been to what they call "The Dark Side".

Aww, Nordeast represent. There's an old saw about the Twin Cities that Minneapolis is a west coast town, and St Paul an east coast one, but Northeast kinda puts the lie to that. Reminds me of rust belt towns like Pittsburgh with its churches and bars. (I'm over in Uptown myself - born and raised.)

The Dark Side! Funny. I think anywhere you have two towns in close proximity you're going to get tribalism. Actually, probably with any neighbors of any kind. Go humans!

You are mixing up your facts about Bob and Neil. Neil lives in Wisconsin - I know, right? - and Bob is from Hibbing, though he did a stint on the West Bank in his youth.

Hi everyone, I'm Melissa but everyone calls me lemon. I hail from Ontario, Canada, but I'm currently finishing up a year abroad in Scotland.

I have so many favourite books, but I'll try to shrink the list to just three: The Butterfly Box, Flowers in the Attic, and Not Wanted On The Voyage.

Besides reading I like palmistry and astrology, daydreaming (I find myself doing this far more often than I should), tattoos, travelling (I've only been to about 10 countries but I'm aiming for many many more), and, of course, bacon! I'm a bacon fiend.

That's me for ya. And if you're interested, I just started a new review blog and would love some followers :)
http://tubchairtimes.blogspot.co.uk/

Nice to meet you all!

Hi Melissa, Nice to meet you. The blog looks great so I joined up... I look forward to your new reviews. Ken.

Hi Ken, thanks for following :) Your book sounds really interesting, if you'd like I could probably do a review for it

Hello all. My name is Pam. I live in Pennsylvania, and I teach English at a local college in my free time. Most of my time is devoted to reading, fixing up my ancient house (not quite a 217 year-old farmhouse, but "charming" nonetheless), and more reading. I'm currently working my way through Love in the Time of Cholera for another book club, but it's not the kind of book I'd prefer to be reading right now.

My favorites:
The Stand
The Forever War
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
Absalom, Absalom!
A Song of Ice and Fire (It's a series, but I'm counting it as one.)

My hobbies:
Homebrewing beer, drinking beer (or bourbon), turning pens (but not after drinking), caring for my pets (3 cats and a dog), writing, and developing a database on beer.

Actually I was lemon before 30 Rock had even come along.

It's got a bit of a silly story attached to it though....

A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (aka the beach in the summer of 2004), my best friend was bugging me so I was ignoring her. Then she started shouting random things at me. It started as different variations of my name "Mel!" "Miss!" that sort of thing. Then she just started shouting out objects. And it just so happened that she was looking down at her Sprite bottle, causing her to yell "Lemon!", and for whatever reason that is what finally got my attention.

After that it just stuck. I've always like sour things, and bright colours like yellow, so it fit. Later we learned that "Melissa" is latin for "lemon grass", how perfect!

So that's my little tale. Silly and pointless, yet 8 years later I'm still lemon.
:)

Hi, I'm Anne. I live in south US. My three favorite books are The Books of Bayern, Anne of Green Gables, and A Mango Shaped Space. (I know, so much young adult. Sorry) I don't know how to use book title links.... I really like to sing opera, I've been studying it for a while now. I like cats and painting as well.
Nice to meet every one. :)
The Books of Bayern Box Set, Books 1-3
Anne of Green Gables
A Mango-Shaped Space

Matthew wrote: "in defense of St. Paul: Garrison Keillor..."

A town doesn't need a much bigger claim to fame than that.

I thought everybody knew Dylan was from Hibbing - but only you guys probably know where Hibbing is!