What Book Are You Currently Reading?

[Guest meirryohnn]

I'm reading Richard III for a class right now. I'm almost done with it~

A Study in Scarlet, in the midst of a Sherlock induced madness.

I'm reading Sherlock Holmes toooo. I read some of his other short stories but I bought and then, finally started on "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" this summer. I started reading "The Five Orange Pips" this morning. So far, so good.

[Guest ovovoovo]

As You Like It - William Shakespeare

I hope this is the last Shakespeare book I'll ever touch in my entire life.

[Guest pooch1e]

I'm currently reading the third book in the Septimus Heap series: Physik, taking a break from Sherlock Holmes adventures....

I love reading him but so far after reading 2 cases, there is always a story behind why those people committed the murders.... which kinda makes me feel as if I'm reading some other book.

[Guest tratout.me]

• The Road 
• Some Great Thing (content not friendly for those under 17)

[Aziraphale]

reading this at the moment. it is my second murakami book. so far im not enjoying it as much as the first one. but with the introduction of midori, my interest is slowly peaking.

I love Midori too, she really livens up the novel and is one of my favourite Murakami characters. I just didn't really take to Naoko, which is a bit unfortunate. I also think sometimes that it's a matter of when you read Norwegian Wood - it was my introduction to Murakami and I adore the novel, but I can see how someone who read Murakami's other quirkier novels first (for example Dance Dance Dance) might not quite take to the melancholic mood in Norwegian Wood, which is very different from the feel of his other works.

[zantac_2]

im assuming the book will delve into naokos character more later on. at the moment my impression of her is about the same as the small travel agent girl who randomly slept with watanabe.

a wild sheep chase was my first one, and from that my lack of interest towards norwegian wood so far is because of its blandness. i probably would be enjoying it more if i read something else in between the two.

sputnik sweetheart was going to be my third murakami, but now i might consider dance dance dance instead.

[i/boss/top]

that christmas feeling by brenda novak, kathleen o'brien and karina bliss

[Guest shinhbang]

I'm reading "Dance with the Devil" by Sherrilyn Kenyon.

[Guest ovovoovo]

im assuming the book will delve into naokos character more later on. at the moment my impression of her is about the same as the small travel agent girl who randomly slept with watanabe.

a wild sheep chase was my first one, and from that my lack of interest towards norwegian wood so far is because of its blandness. i probably would be enjoying it more if i read something else in between the two.

sputnik sweetheart was going to be my third murakami, but now i might consider dance dance dance instead.

You might want to consider The Wind-up Bird Chronicles and Kafka on the Shore too. I found both of them much enjoyable than Norwegian Wood.

[Guest lala-396]

i'm currently reading the fallen by Thomas E. Sniegoski

[Aziraphale]

im assuming the book will delve into naokos character more later on. at the moment my impression of her is about the same as the small travel agent girl who randomly slept with watanabe.

a wild sheep chase was my first one, and from that my lack of interest towards norwegian wood so far is because of its blandness. i probably would be enjoying it more if i read something else in between the two.

sputnik sweetheart was going to be my third murakami, but now i might consider dance dance dance instead.

Yeah, I can see how you'd be lukewarm to Norwegian Wood after coming from A Wild Sheep Chase. I personally think it would be better for readers to approach Norwegian Wood without any previous knowledge of Murakami, ie on a clean slate, because it can be kind of difficult to adjust to the mood shifts if they've read something else of his first and enjoyed it. Dance Dance Dance is a bit of a loose sequel to A Wild Sheep Chase, though it can be read as a standalone, so if you're considering that for your next Murakami, I think it is a good choice.

A Wild Sheep Chase is the third novel that forms the trilogy of Hear The Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973, so if you're interested, you can read those two as well.

But yes, there is a bit more of Naoko in the second half of Norwegian Wood, though it is Reiko that is more interesting, and Midori of course is just lovely.

Sputnik Sweetheart is a bit of a "in between" among Murakami's novels, a bit on the offbeat side but has enough of that reflective quality that makes you think. I also recommend Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, another of those "in between" books, and one of my favourite Murakami works.

You might want to consider The Wind-up Bird Chronicles and Kafka on the Shore too. I found both of them much enjoyable than Norwegian Wood.

I thought The Wind-up Bird Chronicles was good but a tad on the heavy side. Personally, I hated Kafka on the Shore when reading it and will not touch it again with a ten-foot pole, but I'm probably one of the very few who think that way.

[Guest graceyoon]

^ I did not enjoy Kafka at all either. Found it disturbing and creepy.

Currently reading The Great Gatsby since I hear it may be turned into a movie starring Leonardo Dicaprio and Tobey Maguire, my 2 favourite actors! It's also my sister's favourite book so giving it a shot!

[zantac_2]

yikes! so much to choose from. bird chronicles and kafka were under my radar and honestly i had no interest whatsoever to read kafka due to the less than stellar feedback from fans.

ill probably take a long murakami break after i finish with norwegian wood. i want to go back to classics and with that ive got bukowski in sight at the moment.

edit: just read graceyoons post. ill most likely enjoy kafka if its disturbing and creepy.

[Guest ovovoovo]

^ I did not enjoy Kafka at all either. Found it disturbing and creepy.

Currently reading The Great Gatsby since I hear it may be turned into a movie starring Leonardo Dicaprio and Tobey Maguire, my 2 favourite actors! It's also my sister's favourite book so giving it a shot!

i do kind of agree with this, the part where johnny walker murder cats is disgusting/gruesome.

[Guest meirryohnn]

I'll be honest... I was bored/uninterested reading Johnny Walker and Nakata's part of the story. Hm.. I've always thought that people didn't like Kafka on the Shore because of its Oedipal theme. I didn't mind reading about it because I read Oedipus a couple of times before. But I do recommend Kafka on the Shore ^^ I like Oshima the best, hehe.

I started on Jane Eyre today!! I'm also re-reading Frankenstein for a research paper..

[Aziraphale]

i do kind of agree with this, the part where johnny walker murder cats is disgusting/gruesome.

That's one of my biggest beef with the story, being that I'm a cat lover and can't take this sort of thing even in fiction. The other aspect was that I felt the story was going nowhere, it was meandering and gave me the feeling that Murakami didn't know what he wanted to do with it, or if he did, it was lost in the murky depths of the pages. I struggled to finish it and was really glad to have seen the back of it. I've never disliked a Murakami story so much, to the point where I wish he hadn't written it.

[Guest graceyoon]

lol @ zantac_2

but i agree with meirryohnn to why i found it disturbing. i knew beforehand that it carried an oedipal theme, just didn't think it'd be that twisted and graphic. i prefer Shakespeare's version with hamlet. and i had trouble finishing it like arizaphale, i found it to be sort of aimless near the end as well.

[nailbunny]

Sounds like I wouldn't want to read this Kafka book either.

I'm currently reading A World Lit Only by Fire. I got it last year for Christmas from my cousin and just now picked it up. Apparently it's a lot of nonsense but a good read (and so far, it has been interesting) so I'm going to stick with it.

[Guest del32]

Big Boned by Meg Cabot

[Guest starlightt*]

I just finished reading Solar by Ian McEwan.

I've put Kafka on the Shore + Norwegian Wood on hold since I keep hearing such great reviews