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I couldn't agree with you more. I have his reading of the collected fiction of Jorge Luis Borges and it is fantastic. He doesn't just read the words - he almost acts the book. I say almost because I think readers so inclined would tend, rather easily, to fall into hamming it up.

I can't imagine reading in the bath tub. For one thing, nothing is less pleasant than a tubful of luke warm water. But, beyond that, there is the ever present danger of getting one's book wet. I would no more read in the tub than I would blow dry my hair. If I drop the drier in the tub, I'm...

An interesting question: It almost seems like the idea of a counter-culture canon is oxymoronic. If for no other reason than that which you propose, Novella (i.e. the minute anything looks to be popular or successful, it is promoted, imitated, spun, etc. until it no longer has any meaning)...

There are so many: Nell from Stephenson's The Diamond Age. Lena from Conrad's Victory. Lyra from the His Dark Materials trilogy. I'm sure there are more, but I just went blank.

I haven't read them, but Iain Pears has written a series of Art History related mysteries. You might also like a couple of books by John Dunning dealing with the rare book world The Bookman's Wake and Booked to Die.

In the final analysis, I think, the degree to which any book is "good" is the degree to which that book captures and communicates the "truth" or "essence" of some situation. For instance, a book like 100 Years of Solitude does a wonderful job of communicating the "truth" about growing up in a...

I guess I do pretty much the same thing - that is, I tend to skim over a scene if I find it too disturbing. But then, I also tend to just stay away from the types of books that would be most likely to cantain such scenes (primarily, violence against women). This is particularly true now that...

I don't know of any over-view books that would get you started, but you might want to check out Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations. It was very accessable, but does touch on some very complex concepts. You might also want to start at the beginning, so to speak, with Plato's...

I read the trilogy a while back, and continue to be amazed at how high the stakes were for Pullman. I mean, he broached some very, very heavy themes. Not just the nature of "Original Sin", but also the nature of adolescent sexuality, the dangers of scientific advancement (a la Mary Shelley)...

At the top of that particular list for me is The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon. Oh, and Cryptonomicon. That is, for right now.

I usually have two books going at once, but one is strictly bedtime reading. That means that I've either read it before, at least once. Then I have a day-time book, which I pay more attention to.

It is very rare for me to put down a book once I've started reading it. However, the few that I have given up on are ones I'll never go back to. There's too much other stuff to read.

Little, Big by Jonathan Crowley It's got a little bit of the same "problem" as Snow Crash, but there's really something about the book that hangs on to you. Also, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami was pretty good.

Jenn, I wish I could help you with the name of the book. It sounds quite interesting. It reminds me of the work of some of the South American Magic-Realists (Borges and Marquez). If you can't find out anything, you might want to check them out.

Halcyon, While I wish you much success in your efforts, I would caution you not to assume too causal a link between reading some particular set or number of books and improving your comprehension skills. Do not lose sight of the forest for the trees. My advice would be to concentrate on...

Wooden Ships - Crosby, Stills & Nash

You might also be interested in Tom Standage's The Turk. It is an account of the chess-playing automaton that was a sensation in Victorian times. I haven't read it yet, but it looks pretty good. Plus, it would be nicely tangential to technical books on chess.

Also, don't be afraid to follow your nose, so to speak. If you happen to read a book by a particular author, or dealing with a particular subject, or whatever, that appeals to you, by all means follow that inclination. If you mean to incorporate the habit of reading into your life, then it...

It seems to me that the level of "commercialism" (the bad kind) in a book is usually directly related to the cynicism of the author and/or publisher. The extent to which an author sets out to write a best-seller, is usually the extent to which the book is poorly written. But, as has been said...

I also just remembered Harry Crews' The Knockout Artist, which is set, primarily, in New Orleans. As I remember, the book was quite good, as is The Moviegoer.