The Readers discussion

I thought Kurt Vonnegut was pretty cool. I wanted to buy every KV paperback I could find after a coworker told me he read him.ger

Very much enjoyed the podcast (and fun to hear Kim's voice having read her blog for a while now). Kim mentions George Johnston's 'My Brother Jack' which nobody outside Australia has heard of - I actually got hold of a copy of that a couple of weeks ago, and her enthusiasm for it has pushed it right up my tbr pile.

Tingle-y discoveries? Ooh, last year for me it was Alex Miller - I read 'Journey to the Stone Country' and just thought it was extraordinarily good. He writes about the landscape and places so vividly that it becomes almost hallucinatory - I've never been to Australia but, flippin' heck, I felt I was there and as though I could leave Miller and wander off into that landscape by myself and see what was around the next bend in the river. That kind of writing seems close to alchemy to me and is very rare. On the strength of that I bought everything of his that I could get hold of in this country and a couple of months ago ordered the remaining five books from Australia (which wasn't cheap!). I've now read six of his ten novels and I'm worried that I may only have one really good one left as the other three don't get such good reviews.
Another one for me would be Joyce Carol Oates - I read 'Broke Heart Blues' maybe ten or eleven years ago and just thought 'wow, why have I never read her before?' And then I read 'We Were the Mulvaneys' which is one of my all-time favourites, and knew I wanted to read everything of hers. The problem is of course that she has written so many it would be impossible to get them all but I always buy her new ones (which equates to about three a year because she's so prolific!). But as Kim mentions about Anita Shreve and Anne Tyler, Oates is a bit hit-and-miss.

I haven’t listened to the episode yet, but will soon. I loved it when Kim was your guest...what, in the second or third episode?

In my 20’s I rushed off and tried to read every John Irving I could. My enthusiasm has cooled in the intervening years, however; it’s not you John, it’s me. I also went through a similar phase with Kurt Vonnegut. I would love to take the time to go back and re-read KV’s works and catch up on those I have missed…when I win the lotto and can give up working maybe!

Kate Atkinson, Sarah Waters, Jane Harris (Simon’s beloved) and William Boyd are more recent examples of authors whose every book has been good if not great IMHO.

There are, of course, authors who did not live up to my expectations. I am currently reading the Witching Hour by Anne Rice; while I loved Interview with a Vampire, I consider The Mummy to be one of the worst books I have ever read. Another example: I loved The Alienist by Caleb Carr but I found Killing Time to be terrible.

The first author I can remember being totally taken with and determined to read all of his novels was John Steinbeck. Twenty some odd years later, I still haven't read them all. But I love his writing.

Another author I was quite taken with upon reading her first novel is Ahab's Wife, or The Star-Gazer and I wanted to read every other book written by her.

The book that comes to mind for a recent read is Tell the Wolves I'm Home. I love the writing, the story and the characters and I am eager to read Brunt's next offering.

My "read everything" author is VS Naipaul, he's so grumpy, I love it.

Oh, on a previous episode you were talking about "council estates". . . I think the American equivalent would be "housing projects" w here mostly african americans live. Trailer parks are usually in rural or suburban areas and also house the poor. The main difference is trailer parks tend to be white since white poor tend to be rural and housing projects tend to be black b/c black poor usually are more urban.

loved the podcast, put Haruf's Plainsong on my TBR. . . and it's available on audio from my library!

I recently discovered the Hungarian author Antal Szerb because I read Journey by Moonlight for a challenge. I love his language, so I just bought The Pendragon Legend, and put the rest of his books on my Amazon wishlist.

A very enjoyable episode, I loved hearing about Kim's reading and have rushed straight to her blog. It seems such a long time since I discovered a new favourite author, perhaps I need to broaden my horizons. I agree, it's so exciting when you find that huge back list you had no idea existed. I heartily agree with all you said about book groups, my pet hate is when I'm not that keen on a chosen book but slog on through it regardless, then realise I can't actually make it to the discussion for one reason or another. We also email out thoughts if we can't make it but it is not the same as being part of the debate.
Keep up the good work chaps!

After reading "Some Kind of Fairy Tale", I am definitely more interested in Graham Joyce. I think it's exciting to discover new authors! I usually avoid binging on all of an authors's books at once though because I lose an appreciation for their writing style. Recently I read a review on Flannery O'Connor and the writer of the article confessed that she had read her short stories all in one go one after another, and she wished she hadn't. Can't say that I blame her though since Flannery O'Connor is pretty depressing most of the time it seems.

Simon - and the rest of you :-)
Have any of you read anything by Stacy Aumonier ?

I came across some of his short stories in a collection, and have now bought a few of his books :-) Am very excited.