Random books from Medellia12's library

The Crying of Lot 49 (Perennial Fiction Library) by Thomas Pynchon

Perelandra (Space Trilogy, Book 2) by C.S. Lewis

Towing Jehovah (Harvest Book) by James Morrow

Woman of the Aeroplanes by Kojo Laing

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

The Uses of Enchantment: A Novel by Heidi Julavits

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Friends: beckylynn, BookCulture, jdthloue, JoK, shigekuni, TheDalaiHanna, TonyH, wickedlovely, wonder-reader

Interesting libraries: angrystarlyt, avaland, blissfulwitch, Booksloth, bookworm12, clamairy, differentbeat, ekpyrotic, emaestra, EnriqueFreeque, kjellika, ladygata, lilithcat, metamariposa, rebeccanyc, Severn

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Member: Medellia12

Library479 books — see library

Reviews8 reviews — see reviews

Cloudstag cloud, author cloud

Tagsfiction (341), TBR (172), non-fiction (111), 1001 books (107), American literature (69), science fiction (55), humor (43), African literature (34), religion (31) — see all tags

Groups1001 Books to read before you die, 20-Something LibraryThingers, 50 Book Challenge, BookMooching, Graduate Students, Happy Heathens, Reading Globally, Science Fiction Fans, Someone explain it to me..., The Green Dragon — show all groups

Favorite authorsDouglas Adams, Jane Austen, Charles Baxter, Jorge Luis Borges, Italo Calvino, Angela Carter, Michael Cunningham, Robertson Davies, Charles Dickens, John Fowles, Peter Høeg, Kazuo Ishiguro, Gabriel García Márquez, David Mitchell, James Morrow, Haruki Murakami, Ben Okri, Orhan Pamuk, Dorothy Parker, Richard Powers, Richard Russo, Saki, J. D. Salinger, Neal Stephenson, Amos Tutuola, David Foster Wallace, Connie Willis, Jeanette Winterson, P.G. Wodehouse (Shared favorites)

Favorite bookstoresArgosy Book Store, Book Culture, Commonwealth Books, Housing Works Used Book Cafe, Shakespeare and Co. Broadway, St. Mark's Bookshop, Strand Bookstore

Favorite librariesNew York Public Library - Humanities and Social Sciences Library

About me Composer, graduate student, blissfully married. I was born and raised in Texas, but after spending 2 years in Minneapolis, I fancy myself a Minneapolitan. Now living in Manhattan. I live inside of my head altogether too much, and LT is one of my tools for getting out of it. Book recommendations are always welcome.

I am chronicling my yearly reading here: http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.ph...

I read mostly literary fiction, with some science fiction thrown in. I'm a sucker for magic realism, Jungian psychology, and themes of identity, consciousness, and memory. I also like novels that address my non-fiction interests, which include mythology, folklore, fairy tales, popular science (particularly physics) and, of course, music. I also adore a good literary love story.

Some books that I love: Haruki Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Kafka on the Shore, and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle; Charles Baxter's The Feast of Love and Shadow Play; Richard Powers' Plowing the Dark; David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas; Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day; Richard Russo's Straight Man; John Fowles' The French Lieutenant's Woman; David Foster Wallace's The Broom of the System; Michael Cunningham's The Hours; Markus Zusak's The Book Thief; Italo Calvino's If On a Winter's Night a Traveler; Marisha Pessl's Special Topics in Calamity Physics; Orhan Pamuk's Snow; Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities; anything by Douglas Adams; anything by Jane Austen; anything by Salinger; Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash and The Diamond Age; Connie Willis' To Say Nothing of the Dog; and Stella Gibbons' Cold Comfort Farm.

"Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one sings."

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About my library Last 5 books read:

Some short story collections that I am perpetually reading:

Also onBookMooch

LocationNYC

Account typepublic, paid

Connection NewsConnection News

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/Medellia12 (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Medellia12 (library)

Member sinceNov 15, 2007

Most recent activity

Medellia12 added:
When We Were Orphans by Kazuo IshiguroNEW!

Medellia12 added:
Candide: Or, Optimism (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) by Francois VoltaireNEW!

Medellia12 added:
Other Lives by Andre BrinkNEW!

Medellia12 added:
Nobody's Fool by Richard RussoNEW!

Medellia12 added:
Sense and Sensibility (Oxford World's Classics) by Jane AustenNEW!

Medellia12 added:
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (BBC Books) by Anne BronteNEW!

Thank you Medellia,

I usually try not to brag about how profilic & profound a reader I am (unlike so many others here in lalaLTland) but sometimes I can't help myself. That I was able to read the 7 volumes comprising Remembrance... in one day (well over 2M pages) just goes to show how much you can read when you're 'roided up. Thanks for noticing!

Warmly, "Lola"

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 6:25 pm (EST) on Aug 29, 2008

I see you've listed DFWs Broom of the System as a fave but not Infinite Jest. Was curious to know if you like the Broom better than IJ?

"Lola"

posted by EnriqueFreeque at 12:12 am (EST) on Aug 29, 2008

What have you been reading lately?

posted by wickedlovely at 3:58 pm (EST) on Aug 9, 2008

I left you a note on your thread re: sending you some Assia Djebar when I get back. You should also be on the lookout for Abdulrazak Gurnah's "By the Sea" ("Desertion" was very good but the other is better. I have not read his "Paradise" yet).

Best, Lois

posted by avaland at 3:38 pm (EST) on Jul 25, 2008

Thanks, we have some very similar tastes.

posted by TonyH at 2:53 pm (EST) on Jul 17, 2008

Hopefully I will read The Mermaid Chair. That's a pretty odd name for a book. I'm not really sure if it's a really interesting book. I seem to doze off if I'm reading a book I have no interest in whatsoever.

posted by wickedlovely at 7:02 pm (EST) on Jul 3, 2008

Thanks for recommending The Castle. I recommend the short stories of Saadat Hasan Manto.

posted by shubho at 5:03 am (EST) on Jun 29, 2008

I have a feeling we have a bit in common re reading tastes (the lit.fic. part of it anyway...)

:)

posted by Severn at 6:35 pm (EST) on Jun 19, 2008

GOSPEL is magnificent--you'll love it.

posted by CliffBurns at 10:27 am (EST) on Jun 9, 2008

I just posted a "reading list" along with my latest blog entry. A roster of some of my fave books. Have a look, if you're so inclined:

http://cliffjburns.wordpress.com/

Have a great summer, kiddo.

posted by CliffBurns at 12:33 pm (EST) on Jun 8, 2008

Have you ever been to Readercon? It is a literary SF & Fantasy convention in Burlington, MA (west of Boston) in mid-July. www.readercon.org I think you would love it. James Morrow is usually always there, as are many other authors you would like (John Crowley, Jonathan Lethem, Elizabeth Hand, Jeffrey Ford, Judith Berman, Kelly Link...). Live, up close and in person. Think about it, we'll be there.

I run the 'bookshop' - 30 book dealers and/or publishers crammed into one ballroom:-)

Best, Lois

posted by avaland at 3:41 pm (EST) on May 26, 2008

Glad you liked TOWING JEHOVAH. Amazing book. Blasphemous to beat the band but an original and startling concept, carried off to near perfection. I see from your library you are a discerning and literate reader and I have no doubt we'll be crossing paths again. Have you read GOSPEL by Wilton Barnhardt or anything by George Saunders? Those folks are big faves at Casa Burns. Have a great week, kiddo...

posted by CliffBurns at 11:34 pm (EST) on May 25, 2008

There is a movie of The Yacoubian Building also with English subtitles. It's pretty good. Netflix might have it, though not sure. I'll be watching to see what you have to say on any of these you read:-) Lois

posted by avaland at 4:02 pm (EST) on May 22, 2008

So glad you liked Shadow Speaker! The other African-based fantasy novel I have in the TBR pile is David Anthony Durham's "Acacia". I'm not much for epic fantasy, but the African setting intrigued me (and the fact that Durham is more of an historical fiction writer). As for other African authors, the list is endless, but you might like "The River Between" by James Ngugi, "Woman at Point Zero" by Nawal el Saadawi, "The Yacoubian Building" by ....Alaa al Aswani or books by Mia Couto (magical realism in his "Sleepwalking Land") or Buchi Emecheta. See what I mean by endless? But if you can find a copy of "Tropical Fish: Tales from Entebbe" by Doreen Baingana, I'd start with that one:-) And thanks for the honoring in noting my library as one of your 'interesting' ones.

Best, Lois

PS: As for themes of identity combined with science fiction: "The Secret" by Eva Hoffman is quite good (the premise is science fictional, but it would be shelved in the literary fiction section).

posted by avaland at 10:21 am (EST) on May 22, 2008

It's true - I have a bit of an identity problem sometimes. When I made up my profile page I didn't know how to import photos so the tapir was the nearest I could come. Since then, I have to admit, I've grown rather fond of him. I'm going to start telling people, (like the LTers who post photos of their dogs on their profile), it's not a photo of me, it's a photo of my friend the tapir.

Thanks for earmarking my library. You're welcome there any time - you'll find coffee-making equipment in the far corner and feel free to meddle with the heating if you want to. I'm about to do the same to yours; we do have a lot of stuff in common. Must admit, I've found all kinds of new stuff too, since joining LT, that I would never have discovered otherwise. It means my TBR pile has now grown from a fairly respectable 30-ish when I joined to 80-ish now but I keep thinking, What if war broke out and I couldn't leave the house for 6 months? Food I can manage - I can always start eating the wallpaper as a last resort, but I need a good stock of books or I'll go crazy!

posted by Booksloth at 7:30 am (EST) on May 15, 2008

Yes, We was very good! If you liked 1984, you will definitely like this. You can really tell that Orwell pretty much ripped it off from Zamyatin (no disrespect to Orwell, though.) We can get kind of "distanced" at times, but it makes for a good read!

-AR

posted by AlbinoRhino at 12:00 am (EST) on May 15, 2008

Hi,
And yes: I'm reading 'Galapagos' just now. I've got an English paperback edition, and I think I understand most of it (My number one language is Norwegian, though). How did you like this novel? I've only read 6 chapters of it for the time being, and it seems a little curious to me. It is the first novel by Vonnegut I am reading, and if I enjoy it I'll surely read more of his books. I've heard about 'Slaughterhouse 5', of course. It is his most famous novel, isn't it? Have you read it, and IF you have: Do you recommend it?

kik :-)

posted by kjellika at 4:34 pm (EST) on May 10, 2008

Actually my profile pic was in Sympathy for the Kettle in St. Marks Place - not really an Anglophile destination but certainly a nice place to relax over a well-made cup of tea if you're in the area. Tea & Sympathy is THE quintessential British tea room in NY, of course, right in the heart of "Little Britain". If you can't be in London, what better place to be!

posted by ladygata at 11:33 am (EST) on Apr 29, 2008

Thanks for adding me to your interesting library list! And I hope you love "The Straight and Narrow Path" as much as I do. I've been rereading it every few years, and I always get many laughs out of it -- I find it especially good if I'm stressed out or sad. Rebecca

posted by rebeccanyc at 5:25 pm (EST) on Apr 3, 2008

Hi! Saramago is a favorite...All the Names is a god place to start. His sentence structure is addicting...

""There are people like Senhor Jose everywhere, who fill their time, or what they believe to be their spare time, by collecting stamps, coins, medals, vases, postcards, matchboxes, books, clocks, sports shirts, autographs, stones, clay figurines, empty beverage cans, little angels, cacti, opera programmes, lighters, pens, owls, music boxes, bottles, bonsai trees, paintings, mugs, pipes, glass obelisks, ceramic ducks, old toys, carnival masks, and they probably do so out of something that we call metaphysical angst, perhaps because they cannot bear the idea of chaos being the one ruler of the universe, which is why, using their limited powers and with no divine help, they attempt to impose some order on the world, and for a short while they manage it, but only as long as they are there to defend their collection, because when the day comes when it must be dispersed, and that day always comes, either with their death or when the collector grows weary, everything goes back to its beginnings, everything returns to chaos." - Jose Saramago All The Names

I contacted you because the 'books we share' are a good cross section of things I like, but I haven't read any of your 'books I love' in your profile. I'll have to give one a try...

posted by JoK at 8:10 pm (EST) on Mar 28, 2008

Medellia12, I see you have Snow listed as a book you loved. I am currently reading it for a book club and having a hard time getting into it. Is it one of those books I just need to stick with and it will get better? It's also not so easy a read.

posted by momom248 at 1:36 pm (EST) on Mar 26, 2008

Oh, Nobody's Fool is awesome. So is Mohawk. I just love his sense of humor. Have you read The Risk Pool? I have two of his latest sitting here unread, Bridge of Sorrows and The Whore's Child, and I really need to get to them sooner rather than later.

Good luck with your studies!

posted by clamairy at 7:53 pm (EST) on Mar 24, 2008

Love it! Another BSC fan! I had a huge collection and when my parents moved, that box was lost. A great tragedy in my life! ;) I've been picking up copies here and there. It's hard to find a nice copy without crayon drawings and stickers!

Funny because my favorite was also Claudia! I wanted to be her with her funky clothes and artistic ability. I think my friends and I were so dorky we tried to start a babysitters club ourselves. At the time, we were still being babysat ourselves, but that didn't stop us!

Annie

posted by blissfulwitch at 9:44 am (EST) on Mar 5, 2008

Ahhh, but the journey, the search is the whole point of the exercise. Stay true to you!Like your books; some of them I love; some I've never heard of (didn't mean to make that rhyme). Oh, well. Enjoy reading your posts.

posted by medievalmama at 9:18 pm (EST) on Feb 29, 2008

Hi, yes, I am angrystarlyt's friend who recommended Richard Powers. He and I "met" via Galatea 2.2 in a dingy library basement one bored winter evening, and I've been an enthusiastic reader ever since. I also love Kazuo Ishiguro, whom I see you've listed among your favorite authors. You have a lovely library. I am also always glad for recommendations.

What did you think of The Echo Maker, by the way?

posted by metamariposa at 7:31 pm (EST) on Feb 21, 2008

I also am not usually a fan of short stories, so I put those off for last.

I also read The Abstinence Teacher last year (I got it from the library, so it isn't in my catalog) and was underwhelmed. I've never read Election, but I loved the movie. Of the three books I've read by him, one was really good (Little Children), one was okay (Bad Haircut), and one was not so great (Abstinence Teacher). So take that for what you will. I doubt I'll pick up another of his anytime soon.

posted by blissfulwitch at 12:28 pm (EST) on Feb 20, 2008

Thanks! Yeah for super shifty! I probably should just steer clear of that whole debate. I think my comments are becoming less and less even headed! When I get upset, I have a tendency to get stupid, which isn't good for anyone, including me! I also love a lot of your loved books and plan on checking out some of the rest. Have you read Charles Baxter's latest? It's The Soul Thief. IMO, not nearly as good as most of his other works.

posted by blissfulwitch at 9:09 am (EST) on Feb 20, 2008

I really enjoyed Galatea 2.2. That's actually the first book by him I've read, but my friend gave me the highest of recommendations about him, so I picked up a couple others at a used bookstore. I am really pretty shocked by how little his readership is, too--he's been nominated for so many awards, and he writes in a way that readers of other literary fiction should like, so how he's under the radar is beyond me.
Lovey our books that you love list, though. The only ones that I wouldn't put on that list I just haven't read yet (if that makes sense).

posted by angrystarlyt at 10:07 pm (EST) on Feb 3, 2008

I love your library! I think we've got similar taste in books so if you ever have a recommendation send it my way!
-cheers!-

posted by bookworm12 at 12:35 pm (EST) on Dec 26, 2007

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