Book Lair discussion

What does May have in store for you?

I am planning on reading a mixture of r4r and netgalley, with perhaps an audiobook or two in from giveaways I won.

I would love to do one or more buddy reads. If you check the above mentioned 2 shelves as well as the scanned one (my physical books) and see something you would like, please post in the Set up your buddy reads topic!

For my library book club we are doing The Reader so I'll read that (again).

I always re-read at least one King a month and I'm thinking of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.

Tonight a rep from Fox Searchlight came to my book group and gave us all kinds of swag from the movie Far from the Madding Crowd so I may re-read that before we go as a group with our FREE tickets. ;)

I'll look at your shelves Ana and see if there is anything I own or want to buy that you have so maybe we can do a buddy read.

Sure, Kandice. I went through my netgalley books yesterday and found a couple I had not listed, as well as one I cannot access, guess it was a ACSM file that timed out (The Wicked + Divine or somtehing like that). Hopefully it will be the only one. Fingers crossed..

Those sound like very nice choices!

I need to add The Phantom of the Opera to my list for another group.

So, I have had a dismal month of April reading-wise, I hope it's going to get better in May, but let's keep it simple.

This month, I'd love to finish:

For this last book, I will need to wait until I get my new copy, so I might need to report it to next month actually.

Then I would like to read:


The first book is for the The World's Literature group.
The two greek tragedies are because I am going to see them at the Antique Drama Festival in Syracuse ;-)
And the last one is, as you should have guessed by now, because I am going to Sicily this month, and it looked like an appropriate read to take along with me!

Well, since the month began I have listened to and finished reading .

Right now I am reading and listening to .

I plan on continuing with Netgalley books, just not quite sure which. I try to switch genres to avoid reading slumps, so might go for a mystery/thriller next. Or fantasy. We'll see.

As always feel free to check my shelves and see if there is anything that strikes your fancy for a buddy read (particularly netgalley, r4r and scanned), even if not in the near future; I'll save it for later to read along with you.

Melaslithos wrote: "So, I have had a dismal month of April reading-wise, I hope it's going to get better in May, but let's keep it simple.

This month, I'd love to finish:
[bookc..."

Your month sounds lovely! I love traveling and seeing any sort of performance. :-)

Andrew wrote: "Next I'll be reading , ,,"

Did you choose any of those for a particular reason? I've read The Help and The Trap and both are very good for very different reasons!

Alrighty so May...
So far I have:

Listened to ; Blog post: https://anaslair.wordpress.com/2015/0...

Read ; Blog post: https://anaslair.wordpress.com/2015/0...

Listened to: ; Blog post: https://anaslair.wordpress.com/2015/0...

and read ; Blog post: https://anaslair.wordpress.com/2015/0...

I am thinking of reading next, a book I got from Netgalley a while ago, to keep going with the Dystopian theme for the group's quarterly challenge and I might listen to .

I would like to read and listen to the sequel, .

I may also pick something up from my Netgalley shelf of a different genre, other than fantasy/sci-fi.

May has been the month were I started reading again, and even completed my 2015 reading challenge!

This month, I have read:


A lot of these were short reads, but it's good to be back on track, and to have the pleasure of slowly discovering other worlds, other places.

I have also started on Dusk, but have read only 44% of it yet.

As for The Sound of One Hand Clapping, I should only receive it tomorrow according to the email I received from Amazon, so it will be for next month!

All in all, May was a rather productive month, were I read (almost all of) what I planned, and even more!

In May I read:

and

My favorite new read would have to be The Girl on the Train. I was afraid because of all the hype, but with the exception of the final few pages I thought it was amazing!

Eheh Melas, I knew you would complete that challenge well before the year ended but I had not expected you to do it in the first half of the year, well done!

I read everything I had planned up to Libertines.
Instead of Halfskin and Clay, I went with the Chimera trilogy:

Melaslithos wrote: "May has been the month were I started reading again, and even completed my 2015 reading challenge!

This month, I have read:
[bookcover:Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleur..."

Hi, Melaslithos, what did you think of the Venus in Furs!? I'm thinking of reading it, but not sure if I buy it or not...

Well, I found the play by David Ives much better than the original Venus in Fur.

As mentionned in my review, it is sometimes a bit long and repetitive, and I felt it was a bit too much and to exaggerated at times.

But it is still the founding book of masochism, and I find it interesting to go back to the source. Everyone is talking so much of all this, especially because of books such as "50 Shades of Grey".

But you don't need to buy it, it's in the public domain and you can get the ebook for free a bit everywhere. For example, here, on GR, you just have to click on the green "Read book" button to download it.

Yes, that's also the reason I was interested on it: going back to the source. I like to do it with most themes so I can make my own personal conclusions. I know the hit it is nowadays with 50 shades and so on, but that's not the reason why I'm interested on it. I want to have a deeper understanding what it stands for. I didn't know I could read it online, that's a great help. Thank you. As for the influence in the 50 shades I think in this book they inverted roles a little bit, I'm I right!? Anyway, thanks for your advice!

Well, to be honest, I haven't read 50 Shades, and do not intend to.
Same here, I like to go back to the source and make my own opinion on things. Venus in Fur is a good way to try to understand the subject, but it is also why I was a bit disappointed by the ending too. I won't say more in order not to spoil anything, but if you ever come to read it, why don't you open a thread in the discussion topic, and we can discuss the book there.

On the same theme, I loved Story of O.

Well, I intend to read both of them (Venus and Story of O) but I'm also not interested on 50 shades... I read too many bad comments about that one I guess... Anyway I'm not very versed in this theme anyway. I hope not to be very disapointed...

Story of O was amazing! Have you read Nine and a Half Weeks: A Memoir of a Love Affair? Also very, very good.

No, I didn't I saw the movie, never realized there was a book! thanks for letting me know. In the erotic realm I read Justine by Sade (which I liked and which people say it's one of his worse books), I also read Les 100 mil verges by Appolinair (which made me laugh, but I didn't like per se).

I've never heard about Nine and a Half Weeks, but sounds interesting. To stay in the theme of literary erotica, I heard Emmanuelle was quite good too, but I haven't read it yet.

I did read a couple of Sade though, but not Justine. I read Philosophy in the Bedroom which made me laugh, and The 120 Days of Sodom which made me sick.

But story of O is really great.

For smutty versions of this stuff you can read Anne Rice writing as Anne Rampling.

BTW, the book 9 1/2 Weeks was infinitely better than movie. It was NOT a romance. O_o

It is interesting how sometime supposedly written to make you excited can make you laugh, or make you sick. As for Sade I think he had a disturbed mind but he could make some social critic also, I think the book where you can see it better is precisly Justine, and maybe that's why it's not so famous! lol Oh! Irony! When you want to make a social critic you get a erotic story and some people laugh about it, others feel sick about it. I belive a few disturbed minds like the authors feel excited by it! What a wonderful multicultural world it is!

I say the movie for Emmanuelle (same title), I head about the other two books by Sade (his most famous I guess).
Why do you say Story of O is really great!? I belive I saw the movie also!

Melaslithos wrote: "I've never heard about Nine and a Half Weeks, but sounds interesting. To stay in the theme of literary erotica, I heard Emmanuelle was quite good too, but I haven't read it yet.

I di..."

Well, I've heard about her before, but never read nothing from her.
I think those kind of books start to feel all the same in the end, and that's disappointing.
Some are too graphical (like 120 Days of Sodom) some are too mild and no story... Others are date in time like Lady Chatterley's Lover...
What I look in those books!? I don't know but I have been more and more fascinated by them. It is not sexual gratification for sure, so what!? I belive it as something to do with the capacity to be surprised. And by it I mean pleased surprised or shocked, but I hate the ones that leave me indifferent!

I think the reason O is so good is that despite all the S&M the real story is how O feels about herself as a result of what is happening to her. She begins as a successful independent woman and becomes...something else. Same thing with Elizabeth in 9 1/2 Weeks. It's a bit titillating to look into that lifestyle, but the real story is inside the woman,not what's happening to their bodies, but what's happening to their self worth.

I'm moving this discussion to the discussion folder, since it's quite interesting and I don't feel it really has it's place over here (maybe not everyone wants to hear about these books).

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I understand what you mean Kandice. But I feel that even when they say that the woman is willing to try it, it still feels like she's compelled to it. And there are so many stories like that that make me sick to ear it again, not to talk about the old topic of the degradation of women. I like the way you put things out, but as you say "what is happening to her"! Supposedly what's happenning to her is of her own volition, but until what degree it is a free choice, that's what I wonder.