Oh, wow, this seems like fun! It'll help me get through my reading list for quals next winter, to have this kind of encouragement. Obviously crossed out books are what I've finished; green are ones I'm reading right now; grey is for ones I've started but simply can't get through. Lots of those. :sweat: I hope it's okay to post my reading list and cross them off as I get through them? It'll probably be added to, too, as my professors assign me new books.

Books anime_scholar should read by the end of 2009:

Bakhtin, M.M. The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays, tr Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist, ed Michael Holquist (U of Texas Press, 1981). Orig pub ????
Baudrillard, Jean. Simulacra and Simulation, tr Sheila Faria Glaser (U of Michigan, 1994). Orig pub Éditions Galilée, 1981.
Blacker, Carmen. The Catalpa Bow: a Study of Shamanistic Practices in Japan. Allen and Unwin, 1975. [LOVE LOVE LOVE this book!]
Bourdieu, Pierre. The Logic of Practice, tr Richard Nice (Stanford U Press, 1990). Orig pub Les Éditions de Minuit, 1980.
Cavallero, Dani. Anime Intersections: Tradition and Innovation in Theme and Technique. McFarland & Co., 2007.
Donovan, Barna William. The Asian Influence on Hollywood Action Films. McFarland & Co, 2008.
Durkheim, Émile. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, tr Carol Cosman (Oxford U Press, 2001). Orig pub ????
Film Music: Critical Approaches. ed. K.J. Donnelly. Continuum, 2001.
Fingeroth, Danny. Superman on the Couch: What Superheroes Really Tell Us about Ourselves and Our Society. Continuum, 2004.
Gadamer, Hans-Georg. Truth and Method. Continuum, 1975.
Geertz, Clifford. The Interpretation of Cultures. Basic Books, 1973.
Holsinger, Bruce. The Premodern Condition: Medievalism and the Making of Theory. U of Chicago, 2005.
Jansen, Marius B. The Making of Modern Japan. Harvard Univ Press, 2000.
Japan at the Millenium: Joining Past and Future. ed David W. Edgington. UBC Press, 2003.
Jenkins, Henry. [i]Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. NYU Press, 2006. 2nd ed, 2008.
Kassabian, Anahid. Hearing Film: Tracking Identifications in Contemporary Hollywood Film Music. Routledge, 2001.
Levi, Antonia. Samurai from Outer Space: Understanding Japanese Animation. Carus Publishing, 1996.
Malpas, Simon. The Postmodern. Routledge, 2005.
Mathews, Gordon. What Makes Life Worth Living? How Japanese and Americans Make Sense of Their Worlds. UC Press, 1996.
Nakane, Chie. Japanese Society. UC Press, 1970.
Nattiez, Jacques. Music and Discourse: Toward a Semiology of Music, tr Carolyn Abbate. Princeton U Press, 1990.
The Popular Music Studies Reader. ed. Andy Bennett, Barry Shank, and Jason Toynbee. Routledge, 2006.
Scheurer, Timothy E. Music and Mythmaking in Film: Genre and the Role of the Composer. McFarland & Co, 2008.
Strauss, William and Neil Howe. Generations: The History of America’s Future: 1584 to 2069. Quill, 1991.
Tatsumi, Takayuki. Full Metal Apache: Transactions Between Cyberpunk Japan and Avant-Pop America. Duke U Press, 2006.
van Wolferen, Karel. The Enigma of Japanese Power. Vintage Books, 1990.
Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, tr Talcott Parsons (Routledge, 2001). Orig pub Allen and Unwin, 1930.
Warnke, Georgia. After Identity. Cambridge, 2007.
Key Words in Religion, Media, and Culture. ed David Morgan. Routledge, 2008.
Yao, Xinzhong. An Introduction to Confucianism. Cambridge U Press, 2000.
Zipes, Jack. Why Fairy Tales Stick: The Evolution and Relevance of a Genre. Routledge, 2006.
Žižek, Slavoj. The Universal Exception, ed Rex Butler and Scott Stevens. Continuum, 2006.
_____. Enjoy Your Symptom! Routledge, 1992.

Also as important is the anime that I have to watch, which is all over at MyAnimeList. I'd love recommendations; send them along as PMs to keep the thread uncluttered!

Wow anime_scholar, that's quite an interesting book list! :D Nice variety. You into nonfiction?

Originally Posted by Sizzla

Wow anime_scholar, that's quite an interesting book list! :D Nice variety. You into nonfiction?

"Into" is a way of putting it, I suppose. It's for my Ph.D. This winter I plan to take my special fields, during which I have a week to answer three essay questions, 10-20 page answers each. Before the exam, I work with my advisors to come up with a reading list and my "special" fields. So far I've got narrative theory and film music, but I'm not sure what else I can do that will help me when I write my dissertation on anime music. Probably having a dissertation topic will help the most! :sweat:

Oh wow, your Ph.D.? What is the subject you'll be getting your PhD in? *can't really imagine, as a dissertation on anime music could fall into several subject matters*

It's awesome you'll be working on something you're really interested in though. :D

Originally Posted by Stormy1

Great Expectations is a great book! I read it back in 9th grade for my Adv. Enlgish class and fell in love with it.

Are you enjoying it?

I'm enjoying it a lot actually. It's a pretty good book. But I haven't had much time to read so I still haven't gotten very far.

I know I promised to get these up last week but I started work again and I'm going back to school soon so I've been a little crazed. xD
Any way, here are my bookcases.

Cases one, two, and three Books on the shelves go in alphabetical order, the ones on top of the white shelf aren't mine.
Cases four, five, and six Really though, four and five I have only DVD's on, but they did clear out two shelves one six, better view here
Case seven (and part of eight). Top shelf are comics (since they're tall). Middle two shelves are all unread books, and bottom shelf has art and poetry books.
Cases eight and nine. I love how high they are. xD The regular manga start on the top of the left case and go alphabetically down and onto the right case, then 'Tall' manga start on the third shelf down on the right (and yes I know that my only anime poster is framed by my manga cases XD).
Also there;s a gap because I'm reading the last four of Loveless. ^_^

Originally Posted by Sizzla

Oh wow, your Ph.D.? What is the subject you'll be getting your PhD in? *can't really imagine, as a dissertation on anime music could fall into several subject matters*

It's awesome you'll be working on something you're really interested in though. :D

Oh, my department is Musicology. I agree, it's really great that I'm able to do what I love! Watching anime is research, teehee.

@Dream_and_Die: That's an impressive set of shelves!

@anime_scholar: Thank you! ^_^ I am very proud of the amount of books I have. xD

Originally Posted by Knerd

Oops, sorry I missed this before.

I enjoyed it a lot - I actually brought the book with me while I studied abroad in Poland this summer. I needed a book that was long enough to last me about 6 weeks and something that would hold my attention for that entire time, and it was just perfect. I'd usually read a chapter each night and was always excited to find out what happened next.

The way she develops her characters is just amazing. It's one of the best relationship-driven novels I've read (and I don't mean that in a romantic way). You can watch as these two magicians grow into friends and then are driven apart by their different world views.

It's pretty great - pick it up if you enjoy that period of the Napoleonic wars.

I can't wait to read it, then! Characters are my absolute favorite part of a book, even more than the plot. Novels driven my characters and their relationships are my favorite kind!

You know, I've some other fantasy series about the Napoleanic wars... Temeraire, I think? Haven't read it yet, though I picked up the first three books some time ago. I guess it's a popular time period to write about. :XD

Originally Posted by Sizzla

I LOVED Watership Down. XD My boyfriend made me read it, and it was a great story. I was never terribly interested in anthromorphosized (sp?) animals, but I think the writer did a great job in WD. :D

I've never read Hemmingway, and I have NO desire to either. XD Yeah, I totally wrote him off, but I've skimmed chapters of several of his books, and I don't think I could get through them.

Anyways, I started the Memory Keeper's Daughter and am on page 258 already. It's been a good, quick read. :D After this I have the Witch of Portobello by Paulo Coelho. I loved the Alchemist, so I thought this might be a good book to try.

I've got about eighty pages left- I like it a lot! I didn't know if I would, but the characters have become really dear to my heart, and I find myself holding my breath for them when they're in a squeeze, which is often. I wish I had more time to read it! I've no doubt I'll retire to bed soon and try to finish it before I pass out.

My mom is desperate for me to read The Memory Keeper's Daughter. XD I really ought to get on it, but there's just SO many books to read!

To those who like Watership Down, another good book is Tailchaser's Song by Tad Williams. It is about cats rather than rabbits. Also about cats, The Wild Road and it's sequel The Golden Cat are really good.

I think I'll look for those, Shadow. I really like The Sight, which is about wolves, and Firebringer, which is about deer, as well. I quite enjoy those types of books.

Hey guys, I need to borrow your awesome opinions for a minute:

So, I'm packing for college right now, and I've got a pile of unread books that have sat in my bedroom all summer. I can't bring them all with me, yet I'm having some trouble choosing (it's like Sophie's choice, I swear. I'm no good at this stuff. :sweat:).

If you had to pick two or three of the following, which would you pick?

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Are Men Necessary? by Maureen Dowd
Dune by Frank Herbert
Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz
The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov
Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel

Personally, I'd pick the Invisible Man, Dune, and The Naked Sun. But that's probably because those are the only three I know anything about. Heh.

I've only read The Invisible Man, but that was pretty good.

i've read the dune series and enjoyed them so why not pack dune and the other two that nolori and bishie picked?

Dune, Palace Walk, and The Naked Sun would be my picks. :) Good luck deciding, Knerd!

I'm so excited! Went to a thrift store yesterday just to browse but ended up getting some books for my mom (didn't have anything I was interested in), bought 'fake books' cause I thought it was awesome that I could hide stuff in them. XD and thenn I found a red Victorian chair for 35 bucks. It was in great condition too! Got it into my van just as it started to rain. XD

Now I have to rearrange my room to make it fit :/ But I'm excited.

@Knerd: I'd bring Dune and The Naked Sun, but that's only because I'm a sci-fi/fantasy fan. Are you headed to a big college, or a small one? What's your major going to be? *misses college v much*

Thanks guys - I'm here now and ended up bringing The Invisible Man and Dune with me. Those will be some nice leisure readings until I have time to hit the library.

@anime_scholar
I'm a History Education major. It's my Senior year, so I think I'm going to miss college a lot after this too. My student teaching comes up in the spring, so I've really only got one more semester on campus. How will I live?!

My school is fairly average - It's one of the larger state colleges. We're not huge when compared to places like PennState, but we've got enough students to hold our own.

Stormy- That's a great buy! I want a Victorian chair and fake book, too. XD
Glad you found some nice stuff!

Oh wow, this seems like fun since I love reading. The only problem is October occupies most of my time with NaNoWriMo and September I'm usually brainstorming/outlining. :(

Gah, you can't buy the Ikea bookcase I would like for my uni room online. ¬_¬
I'm just going to throw unread books in a box and weep for the ones I have to leave behind.

Hallo Inknote.

@KatMagenta: Buying IKEA stuff online is *so* expensive! Isn't there one near you at all? Like, within a hundred kilometers? I'm lucky where I am: there are three within an easy drive! It's a bit of an overload, in fact. :sweat:

@Inknote: Isn't NaNoWriMo in November? I'm going to be doing it, but slightly modified: it might be more of a NaNoReMo: national nonfiction reading month!

Scholar: I would have to ask my dad to drive me and I get the impression he doesn't think it's that important for me to be buying a bookcase right now. ^^;

There's an Ikea in Glasgow, but I'll look to see if any other furniture shops sell mini bookcases.

Edit: I accidentally typed 'book shalf' into the Argos search and it found three results. O_o

@anime_Scholar You know, you might be right. Last year was my first year, but we met up I think for the preliminary meeting at the END of October. So probably... even so, I'm anxious for that. But maybe I can get into this anyways.