Search forums

Forums

Export thread

What book are you currently reading?

Aug 29, 2009#1

HoboNinja

Ok so pretty simple. What book are you currently reading? If more than one then post them all, if you know what book your reading next post that too.

I bought the first 7 books of the Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Mysteries/True Blood books today and Michio Kaku's Hyperspace today... so I am trying to decide between Dead Until Dark or Hyspace to read first. You guys tell me what to read. Once I finish those 8 books I am going to go pick up Asimov's Foundation series.

Aug 29, 2009#2

Denbrought

Gotrek&Felix: First Omnibus (read them all when I was younger in spanish, rereading them in english now :3) / Complete Poetry: Antonio Machado (squee) / Technical Writer's Companion

Aug 30, 2009#3

Terrik

After Tamerlane: The Rise and Fall of Global Empires

Aug 30, 2009#4

figmentPez

I'm re-reading "Brightness Reef", the first book in David Brin's second Uplift trilogy. Absolutely fantastic series, and I'm especially fond of the blend of ancient galactic level tech and pseudo-steampunk level stuff. I'll finish off the trilogy when I'm done, "Infinity's Shore" and "Heaven's Reach". I'm kind of surprised that I have very little recollection of what happens. Oh well, I'm having a great time being alternately surprised an suddenly reminded.

Next after that I think I'll re-read "Changer" by Jane Lindskold, if I still have it. If not I might re-read "The Practice Effect" by David Brin.

Aug 30, 2009#5

Mr. Lawface

Medieval history books for school. I got no time to read for pleasure nowadays.

Aug 30, 2009#6

phil

Recently I've been re-reading Superfolk. Before that I skimmed through parts of the zombie survival guide again, and before that I read The Road.

Now that School has started I'll mostly be reading texts for that, but I'm taking some interesting classes this semester so it won't be bad at all.

Aug 30, 2009#7

ZenMonkey

Just finished Terry Pratchett's Guards, Guards! and next up is Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene.

Aug 30, 2009#8

Yoink

God Emperor of Dune once again, my favorite book of the series

Aug 30, 2009#9

Lally

I haven't started yet but I was recommended the Amber series and got it from my boyfriend's cousin, so I'm supposed to start reading it.

Aug 30, 2009#10

JCM

Inkspell. And yes, I read Inkheart because of the movie.

Aug 30, 2009#11

ThatNickGuy

Been thinking about reading several books thanks to the movie, myself. City of Ember, Golden Compass, Inkheart, etc. One of the days, I will. Maybe once school is done.

Recently, I just finished reading Ecotopia, which is fantastic. It's a sci-fi book written in the style of a travel diary. Basically a portion of California has secceeded away from the US and trying to live an ecologically sound life. It's really interesting, some of the things that they do, such as create mini-cities, less residential areas and more people living in apartment buildlings, removing all cars from the city and making way for trains or just bicycles, etc. The book was written in the mid-70s, but a lot of the technologies and ideas are ones that are cropping up more and more in sustainability discussions.

Great read for anyone that's interested in this stuff, like I am.

Aug 30, 2009#12

HowDroll

Lolita.

Aug 30, 2009#13

AshburnerX

Just got done with The Graveyard Book (It won this year's Newberry) and before that it was Boomsday. I'm not sure what to get next.

Aug 30, 2009#14

Tiq

Friends like these by Danny Wallace

Aug 30, 2009#15

Vytamindi

Good Omens and on The Wake of the Sandman series. Just got Anansi Boys in the mail.

Thanks, amazon!

Aug 30, 2009#16

Tiq

Good omens is excellent. Nice choice.

Aug 30, 2009#17

Vytamindi

Almost done, too! Been taking me months to read because I don't want it to end....

Aug 30, 2009#18

Tiq

I've actually been struggling to find something new to read, lately. Managed to solve the problem, by getting myself wrapped up in a crapload of comic books, but I keep visiting the book shop nearby, every chance I get, just to see if something catches my eye.

Aug 30, 2009#19

Shegokigo

Wouldn't call it a "book" but I'm off and on just perusing my "V for Vendetta" novel.

Aug 30, 2009#20

Catafish

Just finished reading Frankenstein, and trying to decide if I should read the Sherlock Holmes collection or The Three Musketeers next.

Aug 30, 2009#21

Philosopher B.

I just got done reading several: Winter in Eden by Harry Harrison, which is the second book in a trilogy and which rawked on account of its awesome inventiveness, so I'm-a pursue the next book there, and Mike and Psmith by the inimitable P.G. Wodehouse, which also rawked and makes me want to read the next Psmith book.

Aug 30, 2009#22

Frankie Williamson

Not gonna lie, I'm nerding out to the Harry Potter series. I'm on the 4th book now and you know what? People say the books get more mature and darker and such as they go on. All I see is instead of the books having a brisk pace and keeping the story going, I get 200 extra pages of what exactly the Hogwarts students are eating for their meals or exactly how they are doing with their schoolwork.

Aug 30, 2009#23

Kovac

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

I have seen Blade Runner before but this is my first time reading the book. It's different but also very good.

Aug 30, 2009#24

Catafish

Kovac said:
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

I have seen Blade Runner before but this is my first time reading the book. It's different but also very good.

I love that book so much! Not a huge fan of the movie though, I watched it after reading the book and just thought it was boring

Aug 30, 2009#25

Philosopher B.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. I also just finished The Dragon and the George by Gordon R. Dickson, on account of I'm trying to bone up on fantasy. It was pretty good, I suppose. Not bad for a fish-out-of-water story of a dude trapped in a dragon's body.

Aug 30, 2009#26

HCGLNS

Reading; Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table to my baby, Anne of Green Gables to my daughter and Doctor Zhivago to myself.

Aug 30, 2009#27

North_Ranger

Pleasures of Exile by George Lamming
The Tempest by William Shakespeare
Indigo by Marina Warner

Yeah... got no time for entertaining books, only my Thesis books. I couldn't get it done in time

Aug 30, 2009#28

Hailey Knight

If graphic novels count, I'm making my way through the Lucifer series.

After that, I'll be reading Cell, by Stephen King.

Aug 30, 2009#29

Andromache

Lord of the Rings.

Aug 30, 2009#30

Dusty668

The Serrano Succession by Elizabeth Moon

and

World War Z by Max Brooks.

Aug 30, 2009#31

Shannow

Going back through all of the Wheel of Time before the new novel comes out to refresh

Aug 30, 2009#32

Necronic

Dune

Aug 30, 2009#33

Wasabi Poptart

Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry

Aug 30, 2009#34

callistarya

Nightwalker by Heather Graham

Aug 30, 2009#35

Rob King

Either/Or by Soren Kierkegaard. It's slow going. I tried and gave up two years ago. I've since read other things, trying to ramp up to the inevitable difficulty that Either/Or will bring me. I'm already farther than I was when I tried last time, but it's very dry, and oftentimes hard to follow.

Alongside that is a book of poetry by Emily Dickinson. I have been told that it's a rite of passage for every young intellectual to fall in love with Emily Dickinson, so I've been carrying around the volume I pilfered from my grandmother's library when she died, reading it here and there.

And in between all that, I intend to start reading The Food of the Gods by H.G. Wells sometime this week. I didn't like The War of the Worlds when I first read it, but I loved The First Men in the Moon, so I have high hopes that my dislike of The War of the Worlds was born more of a mood than anything else.

Aug 30, 2009#36

figmentPez

Tiq said:
Good omens is excellent. Nice choice.

I agree.

On another note, I finished the Halforum podcast #5 a couple days ago (yeah, I'm behind), and I'm thinking of reading something by Neal Stephenson to spite the ignorance displayed in said pocast. Good grief, how can you consider yourself a geek if you haven't even heard of "Snow Crash"? It's one of the novels that helped define the Cyberpunk genre. That said, I personally think "Interface" is even better, though less well-known, and I find it to be more thought-provoking. "Zodiac: An Eco-Thriller" is probably my second favorite Neal Stephenson novel, and it's a shame it got such a blah mention on the podcast.

Aug 30, 2009#37

Andromache

I am about to throw the Fellowship of the Ring out the window. Page 62 and they still haven't left the Shire. Long fantasy story I get, but dammit man don't have the pacing of geological strata!

Aug 30, 2009#38

Denbrought

Crone said:
I am about to throw the Fellowship of the Ring out the window. Page 62 and they still haven't left the Shire. Long fantasy story I get, but dammit man don't have the pacing of geological strata!

For me the LOTR books are possibly the worst that Tolkien published. The story is interesting 'n all, but the delivery was midly annoying and tiring. I'd rather read the Silmarillion any day ~_~

Aug 30, 2009#39

fade

Chekhov, The Essential Plays ( as seen in my son's hands in the recent video I posted ).

Aug 30, 2009#40

Cajungal

A LOT of textbooks about how to teach Social Studies and English.

Aug 30, 2009#41

Hailey Knight

Crone said:
I am about to throw the Fellowship of the Ring out the window. Page 62 and they still haven't left the Shire. Long fantasy story I get, but dammit man don't have the pacing of geological strata!

It doesn't get any better, by the way. The dialogue-heavy Council scene is nice, but if you think it's plodding now, wait until you get to The Two Towers, as Sam and Frodo trudge through the swamp... and that's it.

In the introduction, Tolken says the books are too short...

Aug 30, 2009#42

Espy

A Survey of the Old Testament
Encountering the Old Testament
An Introduction to the Old Testament
From Paradise to the Promised Land: An Introduction to the Pentateuch
The Pentateuch and You: How to date the Moses way!

Okay, one of those isn't real...

Aug 30, 2009#43

Shannow

An introduction to the old testament?

Aug 30, 2009#44

Gill Kaiser

Foundation & Empire by Isaac Asimov.

Aug 30, 2009#45

Espy

Shannow said:
An introduction to the old testament?

Is that a question?

Aug 30, 2009#46

Silvanesti

Denbrought said:
For me the LOTR books are possibly the worst that Tolkien published. The story is interesting 'n all, but the delivery was midly annoying and tiring. I'd rather read the Silmarillion any day ~_~

Ah... you're one of those people.

just finishing up bearing an hourglass ~ piers anthony. incredibly easy, but i've always liked piers stuff because its just quick and fun.

next up is snow crash, been meaning to read it for a while and finally got it off the stacks.

Aug 30, 2009#47

Rob King

Espy said:
A Survey of the Old Testament
Encountering the Old Testament
An Introduction to the Old Testament
From Paradise to the Promised Land: An Introduction to the Pentateuch
The Pentateuch and You: How to date the Moses way!

Okay, one of those isn't real...

I'm afraid the one that sounds least real is probably real. Call me a snob, but I am so over pop 'theology.'

Aug 30, 2009#48

Bubble181

The Long Dar Tea-Time of the Soul, by Douglas Adams. Excellent.

Aug 30, 2009#49

Espy

Rob King said:
I'm afraid the one that sounds least real is probably real. Call me a snob, but I am so over pop 'theology.'

Thankfully no, it's not real... but it could be just waiting for the right guy to write it! ^

Aug 30, 2009#50

AshburnerX

Looks like my next book will be World War Z. 10th in line for the reserve though.

Aug 30, 2009#51

Rob King

Espy said:
Thankfully no, it's not real... but it could be just waiting for the right guy to write it! ^

Quick! Get the Harris Brothers™ on the phone!

Aug 30, 2009#52

HoboNinja

I decided on Dead Until Dark first, then I will read Hyperspace.

It is good so far, I am looking forward to seeing how it differs from the TV show.

Aug 30, 2009#53

Bellygrub

I just finished up The Satan Factory (Lobster Johnson) and will be moving on tooooooooo...let's see *grabs a books at random from the pile*

Hood by Stephen Lawhead

Aug 30, 2009#54

Garbledina

I am reading The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Then, probably peruse this Newsweek magazine...

Then either Surrogates because I'm curious now that I've heard about the movie, or Crime & Punishment.

Aug 30, 2009#55

netsirk

I just finished rereading Ender's Game and have started Five Patients (an older nonfiction book by Michael Crichton).

Aug 30, 2009#56

Silvanesti

AshburnerX said:
Looks like my next book will be World War Z. 10th in line for the reserve though.

READ IT! Its by far one of my favorite books.

Aug 30, 2009#57

ThatNickGuy

Currently reading Darwyn Cooke's graphic novel adaptaion of Parker: The Hunter (original novel by Richard Stark).

It's total crime noir and I'm loving it. The art style shares a LOT with Will Eisner.

Aug 30, 2009#58

Sparhawk

The Phoenix Endangered by Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory

next on the list is

Variable Star by Robert A. Heinlein/Spider Robinson

Aug 30, 2009#59

ElJuski

Plum Bun

Aug 31, 2009#60

Oddbot

Just finished Old Man's War by John Scalzi. A quick and entertaining read, but damn does that guy just write ATROCIOUS dialogue.

But I liked it enough to start reading the second book in the series The Ghost Brigades which thankfully is better than the previous book in about every way. About halfway done so far and really digging it.

Aug 31, 2009#61

Olorin

The Return of the King (for the 6th or 7th time)
I'm on the last few chapters, but I'm not yet sure what I'll read next. Maybe the Silmarillion again, or the Chronicles of Narnia, or a Recluce book...

Aug 31, 2009#62

Kovac

I enjoyed the Recluce saga but I think that it went for a few too many books. I'm not sure how many have been released since I stopped reading the series, but i'm pretty sure that there are one or two that I haven't touched.

I don't know how someone can complain about the delivery in LOTR and then go on to say that the Silmarillion is better. I like the Silmarillion for the content and how expands on the world, but it reads like the freaking bible.

Aug 31, 2009#63

redapples

The Sirens of Titan, I read this when I was about 15 but find I remember almost none of it. I've just finished The Border Trilogy (All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing and Cities of the Plains) so find I need something a bit more uplifting.

Probably move onto Flags of Our Fathers next then Pandaemonium - the new Christopher Brookmyre to get reuplifted.

Aug 31, 2009#64

@Li3n

Dracula... i have like 10 pages left but can't get myself to read then while comfortable at home... stupid PC addiction.

Aug 31, 2009#65

Bellygrub

ThatNickGuy said:
Currently reading Darwyn Cooke's graphic novel adaptaion of Parker: The Hunter (original novel by Richard Stark).

It's total crime noir and I'm loving it. The art style shares a LOT with Will Eisner.

If you like that you should grab Cooke's on the Spirit. It was fantastic!

Aug 31, 2009#66

Math242

The long walk for the 50th time
Solomon Kane
Babylon babies but i hate it and may not finish it

Aug 31, 2009#67

Wyrminarrd

Just started reading "The Witling" by Vernor Vinge.

Next book will probably be either "In the realm of the wolf" by David Gemmel or "Fate of the Fallen" by Ian Irvine.

Aug 31, 2009#68

ThatNickGuy

Bellygrub said:
If you like that you should grab Cooke's on the Spirit. It was fantastic!

Own the first softcover volume. Been waiting ages for the second volume to come out in softcover. Love it. And Selina's Big Score. Trust me, I'm a big Cooke fan. Gotta support my fellow Canuck.

Aug 31, 2009#69

Andromache

netsirk said:
I just finished rereading Ender's Game and have started Five Patients (an older nonfiction book by Michael Crichton).

Man, I used to love Orson Scott Card too.

Aug 31, 2009#70

@Li3n

yeah, finding out he's a mormon really put a damper on things...

Aug 31, 2009#71

Silvanesti

it becomes very apparent in the enders shadow series

Aug 31, 2009#72

Adammon

Just finished A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. Really quite enjoyed it actually, especially the nadsat.

Aug 31, 2009#73

Andromache

@Li3n said:
yeah, finding out he's a mormon really put a damper on things...

it isn't the Mormonism. It's the involvement in the National Organization for Marriage.

Aug 31, 2009#74

Jake

Iron Council by China Mieville (3rd in a series). Awesome dark steampunk/fantasy weirdness.

Aug 31, 2009#75

HowDroll

HoboNinja said:
I decided on Dead Until Dark first, then I will read Hyperspace.

It is good so far, I am looking forward to seeing how it differs from the TV show.

It's quite different. The TV show adds a whole bunch that isn't even mentioned in the books (such as pretty much this whole Maryann storyline...) and changes some of the stuff that is. It's really best to think of them as separate entities, or you'll end up looking like Chaz's avatar.

Aug 31, 2009#76

Occasional Poster

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes arrived in the mail today, so I know what I'll be reading.

I need to hunt down a copy of Dostoyevky's The Brothers Karamazov at the library so I can finish it. I began reading it while visiting my parents this summer but had to return it before I went home again.

I read quite a few novels this summer and it feels good to read literature again. I've been so bogged down by course material the last years that I haven't read as much as I would have liked to. I will make an effort to read more this year.

Aug 31, 2009#77

lafftaff

I just finished Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison & man, was it depressing.

I've been slowing making my way through 1776 by by David McCullough.

Aug 31, 2009#78

@Li3n

Crone said:
it isn't the Mormonism. It's the involvement in the National Organization for Marriage.

Ahem... joke...

Aug 31, 2009#79

Rob King

Crone said:
it isn't the Mormonism. It's the involvement in the National Organization for Marriage.

Aug 31, 2009#80

sixpackshaker

Mr. Lawface said:
Medieval history books for school. I got no time to read for pleasure nowadays.

^That, is the reason I started to read comics in college.

I just did not have time to read a serious novel outside of class.

Sep 1, 2009#81

@Li3n

Rob King;244666][quote=Crone said:
it isn't the Mormonism. It's the involvement in the National Organization for Marriage.

The man has a very traditional view of marriage, so what? I'm not sure I understand why disagreement on societal issues is grounds for disliking the man. I like both Richard Dawkins and Phillip Pullman (well, as much as one can without actually knowing them) and I would put money on them calling me a weak-minded fool because of my Christianity.[/QUOTE]

He thinks homosexuality is a mental condition based on childhood trauma...

Of course i read some stuff on Dawkings site where he made light of a priest fondling him as a youth, so i guess your comparison does work...

Sep 1, 2009#82

Gurpel

13 things that don't make sense. its a book about science.

yes, folks, this is what i do with my spare time. i am a social dynamo :-|

Sep 1, 2009#83

Hailey Knight

And a pickle monster.

Sep 1, 2009#84

Cajungal

I'm thinking of reading _Til We Have Faces_ again.

Sep 1, 2009#85

Rob King

@Li3n said:
He thinks homosexuality is a mental condition based on childhood trauma...

Of course i read some stuff on Dawkings site where he made light of a priest fondling him as a youth, so i guess your comparison does work...

Galileo argued that the Moon could not possibly be responsible for the tides of the ocean.

I'm leaving this line of conversation there. I just don't have the energy for it right now, and besides, after being trolled my appetite for this conversation is quite diminished.

Sep 1, 2009#86

Andromache

Rob King;245857][quote=@Li3n said:
He thinks homosexuality is a mental condition based on childhood trauma...

Of course i read some stuff on Dawkings site where he made light of a priest fondling him as a youth, so i guess your comparison does work...

Galileo argued that the Moon could not possibly be responsible for the tides of the ocean.

I'm leaving this line of conversation there. I just don't have the energy for it right now, and besides, after being trolled my appetite for this conversation is quite diminished.[/QUOTE]

"I'm just going to leave this here. I'm not going to actually assert anything, because I'm tired, and have recently been the victim of trolls. I won't actually go beyond making this this connection, because some people might view me as a bigot."

Of course, I'm sure that's a baseless strawman attack.

Sep 1, 2009#87

checkeredhat

I've only got like 50 pages to go in "The Living Dead". Its an anthology of short zombie stories.

Its pretty hit or miss. Some of them aren't even about brain eating zombies!

Sep 2, 2009#88

Dusty668

Empire from the Ashes - by David Weber

This is the entire Mutineers Moon series in one book.

World War Z was a great read, gave me a lot to think about, zombie wise. Also one day at work I came up with a great zombie filter plan.

Sep 2, 2009#89

twitchmoss

i'm currently reading Iron Council, by China Mieville, and its rather fun. i loved the previous two books in the series he wrote (perdido street station, and the scar). I really like the thoroughly messed up (and awesome) creations he's come up with, like the 'construct council', a steam-powered AI that propagates itself through a virus distributed by doctored punch cards, and the entire underclass of victims of mad science experiments, called 'remade'.

also

eight foot high predatory moths that eat dreams/sentience, leaving you alive, but completely braindead.

Sep 2, 2009#90

coolbeans

Altered carbon, by richard morgan.

Cyberpunky detective novel goodness

Sep 2, 2009#91

@Li3n

Crone;245864][quote=Rob King;245857][quote=@Li3n said:
He thinks homosexuality is a mental condition based on childhood trauma...

Of course i read some stuff on Dawkings site where he made light of a priest fondling him as a youth, so i guess your comparison does work...

Galileo argued that the Moon could not possibly be responsible for the tides of the ocean.

I'm leaving this line of conversation there. I just don't have the energy for it right now, and besides, after being trolled my appetite for this conversation is quite diminished.[/quote]

"I'm just going to leave this here. I'm not going to actually assert anything, because I'm tired, and have recently been the victim of trolls. I won't actually go beyond making this this connection, because some people might view me as a bigot."

Of course, I'm sure that's a baseless strawman attack.[/QUOTE]

What's a straw man attack?! Are you the alt JCM was boasting of having a while back or something?

@Rob

Someone's opinion is a valid reason for not liking that person...

Sep 2, 2009#92

Alex B.

I just read Iron Council! It was fantastic. Now I'm reading Perdido Street Station. Backwards, I know, but I don't think it makes a difference.

Also reading the first Proof trade. Good stuff.

Sep 2, 2009#93

Vytamindi

What's next for me? Howl's Moving Castle or Anansi Boys?

Sep 2, 2009#94

Andromache

Anansi boys was goooood

Sep 2, 2009#95

AshburnerX

Anansi Boys. Gaiman is always full of win.

Sep 2, 2009#96

Rob King

@Li3n said:
@Rob

Someone's opinion is a valid reason for not liking that person...

I see. I guess it's just not that obvious to me.

Sep 2, 2009#97

Shannow

For shits and giggles, and since its a slow day here in the office, I downloaded and am going through all of Battle Pope

Sep 2, 2009#98

Bowielee

Intro to Psychology
Essentials of Economics
and
College Writing.

Really gripping stuff, I know.

Sep 2, 2009#99

figmentPez

@Li3n said:
What's a straw man attack?

Sep 4, 2009#100

redapples

Finished Sirens of Titan and couldn't find my copy of Flag of Our Fathers so grabbed East of Eden on the way out the house. Its been cluttering my bookshelf for several years now. So far so good.

Sep 4, 2009#101

Just Me

I'm early in my 6th or 7th re-reading of the Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Currently I'm right in the middle of The Vor Game, which along with Memory is one of my absolute favourites.

Sep 4, 2009#102

Vytamindi

Putting off Anansi Boys because I picked up my Howl's Moving Castle book and it's proving to be a quick read, being a young adult's book and all.

Boyfriend has almost read through the whole Dresden File series and is reading Butcher's other fantasy books. They don't look too interesting, but I will give them a try if I plow through my next two books.

Sep 4, 2009#103

fade

figmentPez;246772][quote=@Li3n said:
What's a straw man attack?

A strawman argument is when you falsely represent alternate viewpoints in able make them seem easy to defeat. To provide a fictional caricature of the concept: There is a proposition up for vote to provide legal aid for indigent dachshunds. The Whig party opposes the bill because it has some unusual clauses that would provide for declaring gingerbread men an endangered species. The Federalist party supports the bill entirely, so they set up this strawman "The Whig party opposes the PLAID bill because they're anti-dog! The don't want poor little doggies to get the legal representation that is their right!" It's easy to critize people for taking something away from cute little wiener dogs, so they attack the false opponent they've created, it goes down, and they look heroic, while the real issue goes unaddressed.

Naturally real-life strawmen are usually, but not always, at least a little more subtle.[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately, though, since that link detailing debate fallacies went around the web circuit, people think they're experts in the fallacies. To wit, I see people throwing the "straw man" term at just about any analogy, which is a ...um... fallacious fallacy? Analogies are perfectly valid tactics. When I see people use the term "straw man" to "refute" a particularly biting analogy, all I can think of is Jim Carrey in Liar, Liar:

"Objection!"
"On what grounds?"
"Because it's extremely damaging to my case!"

Sep 4, 2009#104

Jake

Should be finishing Iron Council this weekend, then I'm starting House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds.

Sep 4, 2009#105

Philosopher B.

Having read the awesome-tastic Welcome to the Jungle, I decided I needed me more of this Jim Butcher fellow, so I picked up Storm Front. Can't wait to get inside it.

Sep 4, 2009#106

Twitch

History's Timeline. It's absolutely riveting, allow me to quote from it...

1192-Richard I captures Jaffa, makes peace with Saladin; on the way home he is captured by his enemy, Duke Leopold of Austria. Minamoto Yorotomo, Shogun of Japan.

Sep 5, 2009#107

Dusty668

Just Me said:
I'm early in my 6th or 7th re-reading of the Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Currently I'm right in the middle of The Vor Game, which along with Memory is one of my absolute favourites.

She is a Frabjous writer! I've worn out like 2-3 copies of all of her books. Shards of Honor, maybe 4 copies with loaning out and all.

And the copies the ex didn't read or return. I wouldn't mind if she read them... well as much.

Sep 7, 2009#108

Mr_Chaz

Currently it's Pride & Prejudice. Never read it before, kinda felt like I should, quite enjoying it.

Next it's going to be The Complete Yes Minister. The novelisation of one of the greatest comedy series ever made.

Sep 7, 2009#109

SpecialKO

Just finished the 3rd A Song of Fire and Ice book, A Storm of Swords.

Absolutely loved it. Can't wait for the HBO series.

Sep 7, 2009#110

Sparhawk

TeKeo said:
Just finished the 3rd A Song of Fire and Ice book, A Storm of Swords.

Absolutely loved it. Can't wait for the HBO series.

It's been a good series, but the newest book, A Dance with Dragon has been put on indefinite hold by the publisher, it's finished, in their hands, but on hold.

Sep 7, 2009#111

Kitty Sinatra

I started Steinbeck's East of Eden today. It's looking like it's gonna be one of the rare works of American Lit that I enjoy. It probably helps that it's latter 20th century. I don't know what it is, but I've read nothing from before WW2 by American authors that I like. Not Hemmingway, not Melville. Not a single book.

Sep 8, 2009#112

Bubble181

Sparhawk;249900][quote=TeKeo said:
Just finished the 3rd A Song of Fire and Ice book, A Storm of Swords.

Absolutely loved it. Can't wait for the HBO series.

It's been a good series, but the newest book, A Dance with Dragon has been put on indefinite hold by the publisher, it's finished, in their hands, but on hold.[/QUOTE]

Ummm....no.
He's still trying to undo the Meereenese knot, restructuring and reordering chapters. He hasn't finished the book completely, as he still has several chapters to write; though his manuscript is now about as large as that of several of the predecessors.

Don't give people false hope :angry:

Sep 8, 2009#113

Vytamindi

Picked up American Gods on Sunday. Also the newest issue of Cosmo.

I am sure the cashier was confused. But Megan Fox was on the cover!!!!

Sep 8, 2009#114

Kitty Sinatra

Vytamindi said:
Picked up American Gods on Sunday. Also the newest issue of Cosmo.

I am sure the cashier was confused. But Megan Fox was on the cover!!!!

Sweet. Now I have a reason to pick up American Gods.

Sep 8, 2009#115

Vytamindi

Gruebeard;250255][quote=Vytamindi said:
Picked up American Gods on Sunday. Also the newest issue of Cosmo.

I am sure the cashier was confused. But Megan Fox was on the cover!!!!

Sweet. Now I have a reason to pick up American Gods.[/QUOTE]
Or cosmo? Wait... wut?

Sep 8, 2009#116

Kitty Sinatra

Oh, I've always had a reason to buy Cosmo. Their cover girls are always hot.

It was a smart move putting Megan Fox on the cover of American Gods . . . y'know, I think I just had one of those light-bulb ideas. I'm going into book publishing. I'm gonna republish all of shakespeare's works with chicks on every other page, and hawt cover girls. The spines will be all classy looking, though, so they'll look good on the living room book shelf. And since it looks like shakespeare, no one will ever pick it up and accidentally discover the porn.

I'll make a mint.

Sep 8, 2009#117

Vytamindi

Gruebeard said:
Oh, I've always had a reason to buy Cosmo. Their cover girls are always hot.

It was a smart move putting Megan Fox on the cover of American Gods . . . y'know, I think I just had one of those light-bulb ideas. I'm going into book publishing. I'm gonna republish all of shakespeare's works with chicks on every other page, and hawt cover girls. The spines will be all classy looking, though, so they'll look good on the living room book shelf. And since it looks like shakespeare, no one will ever pick it up and accidentally discover the porn.

I'll make a mint.

Sep 17, 2009#118

redapples

redapples;247977]Finished Sirens of Titan and couldn't find my copy of Flag of Our Fathers so grabbed East of Eden on the way out the house. Its been cluttering my bookshelf for several years now. So far so good.[/quote][quote=Gruebeard said:
I started Steinbeck's East of Eden today. It's looking like it's gonna be one of the rare works of American Lit that I enjoy. It probably helps that it's latter 20th century. I don't know what it is, but I've read nothing from before WW2 by American authors that I like. Not Hemmingway, not Melville. Not a single book.

How you liking it? I'm completely hooked. I was intimidated by it which is why its sat there so long. The characters are really engaging even the evil ones. Its so easy to read too. I can see where you're coming from in respect of Melville but I suspect he'd surprise you. Moby Dick is a monster but if you can persevere through the descriptions of whaling then there is a really good story there. Billy Budd is a good jumping point for him, much shorter for starters but also it sticks to the story more. My previous experience of Stienbeck was from school (Of Mice and Men/The Pearl) but I don't remember being all that taken with them. I've a copy of Cannery Row knocking about somewhere too so maybe that soon.

Sep 17, 2009#119

Cajungal

Finished another Sedaris book last night. I put down LOTR. I was having trouble getting into it now that the semester's begun. Now I'm looking for something else.

Sep 17, 2009#120

JCM

Just bought it yesterday, but with Luiza being a huge Dan Brown fan (and the portuguese version only coming in December) I doubt I´ll get to touch it this month.

Sep 17, 2009#121

ThatNickGuy

Finished the first chapter of Simon R Green's Unnatural Inquirer; the sixth or seventh book in his Nightside series. I was sad to read that there's less than half a dozen left, because it's helped me realize what my favourite novels to read are:

Genre detective. Not straight detective stories, but something steeped in fantasy (like the Nightside series) or sci-fi (like The Plutonium Blonde!).

I think I have Greg Rucka to blame, with his Atticus Kodiak books (Finder, Keeper, Smoker, etc) about an independent bodyguard. It reads somewhat similar to the Nightside books, only without the fantastical parts.

Also, due to school, I'm going to be reading Edgar Allan Poe for the first time, along with James Joyce. Really scared to really Ulysses next term.

Sep 17, 2009#122

Covar

I've started reading Les Miserables, using Stanza on my iPhone. Really enjoying the book although the translation I have (it was from Project Gutenberg) seems a little sketchy at times ("Bishop of D--").

Really impressed with how simple and easy it is to read on the iPhone. Also convenient. Read it some this weekend while I was at my Drill, bringing and then reading the actual book would have been neigh impossible.

Sep 17, 2009#123

drawn_inward

I am splitting time between a few books.

Mornings on Horseback - David McCollough
Long Halloween - Sale/Loeb
Lone Survivor - Marcus Luttrell

David McCollough is an amazing writer. If you're into history, you'll dig his stuff. TNG recommended Long Halloween, and so far it's great. Luttrell is an amazing guy. True heroes.

Sep 17, 2009#124

Fun Size

Amphigorey: Fifteen books by Edward Gorey. Always an odd read. I have the first three compilations, but have yet to pick up the fourth.

Sep 17, 2009#125

General Specific

Trying to read Pygmy by Chuck Palahiuniukiaukihoweverhislastnameisspelled

It's really slow going since it is in an odd style and I generally only read at work during down time later on in the evenings and there hasn't been a lot of that recently.

Sep 17, 2009#126

Jake

House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds. Amazing that after decades upon decades of people writing space opera that a good author can still produce something original and compelling.

Sep 17, 2009#127

Olorin

I'm now reading Tolkien's Letters and it's a lot more fascinating than I thought it would be. Especially the letters about publishing the Lord of the Rings are pretty interesting so far.

Sep 17, 2009#128

Puntabul

I just got done with Harry Potter and the order of the phoenix. I have to wait till my birthday to get the next 2 books. But for now I am reading To kill a mockingbird.

Sep 17, 2009#129

JCM

ThatNickGuy said:
Also, due to school, I'm going to be reading Edgar Allan Poe for the first time, along with James Joyce. Really scared to really Ulysses next term.

Heh, be glad its not Finnegan´s Wake.

Sep 17, 2009#130

Wyrminarrd

Currently reading "Fate of the Fallen" by Ian Irvine. Good book but not as captivating as some of his earlier series.

Sep 17, 2009#131

Sparhawk

Just picked up and started the Magic Kingdom of Landover vol 1 omnibus, been a long time since I read these and I'm enjoying Magic Kingdom for Sale... Sold! again.

Sep 17, 2009#132

AshburnerX

Just Finished World War Z... need to figure out what I want to read next.

Sep 17, 2009#133

Hailey Knight

I'm partway through Cell by Stephen King. Despite some of the shit he's produced in recent years, it's clear he can write a gripping, interesting book when he wants to. So far I'm enjoying it a lot. I'm glad Eli Roth will no longer be making the movie adaptation, but it's disappointing it will be a TV-movie, cutting down on what can be shown.

Sep 17, 2009#134

Kitty Sinatra

redapples;257103][quote=Gruebeard said:
I started Steinbeck's East of Eden today.

How you liking it? I'm completely hooked . . . I can see where you're coming from in respect of Melville but I suspect he'd surprise you . . .[/quote]

Loving it. It's got me hooked, too, from the characters to the pacing and the descriptive passages. I will finish this book.

It's not just Melville that I seem to have an issue with. It's just American Lit in general. Perhaps its the themes that get tackled that don't interest me, or maybe even the cultural point of view of classical American authors grates on me in some manner. I've tried, and tried and am really rather okay with not trying again, even though I know it's kinda silly to "boycott" a whole culture's literature. Although "boycott" is way too harsh, as I just mean I'm not gonna go out of my way to pick up these works, especially since there's plenty of classical lit out there beyond the US.

Sep 17, 2009#135

ZenMonkey

I would be continuing to read Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene if Scribblenauts hadn't recently come into my life.

Sep 17, 2009#136

Silvanesti

escushion said:
I'm partway through Cell by Stephen King. Despite some of the shit he's produced in recent years, it's clear he can write a gripping, interesting book when he wants to. So far I'm enjoying it a lot. I'm glad Eli Roth will no longer be making the movie adaptation, but it's disappointing it will be a TV-movie, cutting down on what can be shown.

Its... intresting, I think it wraps up in a typical king way. But i did enjoy that book.

Im starting into the handmaid's tale, its really good so far.

Sep 17, 2009#137

Dusty668

After reading The Serrano Succession read Endgame Enigma, finished it up pretty quick, now on The Tuloriad.

Sep 17, 2009#138

drawn_inward

ZenMonkey said:
I would be continuing to read Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene if Scribblenauts hadn't recently come into my life.

I missed a chance to hear him lecture. I found out after it happened. I was bummed for sure.

Sep 17, 2009#139

Iaculus

ThatNickGuy said:
Finished the first chapter of Simon R Green's Unnatural Inquirer; the sixth or seventh book in his Nightside series. I was sad to read that there's less than half a dozen left, because it's helped me realize what my favourite novels to read are:

Genre detective. Not straight detective stories, but something steeped in fantasy (like the Nightside series) or sci-fi (like The Plutonium Blonde!).

I think I have Greg Rucka to blame, with his Atticus Kodiak books (Finder, Keeper, Smoker, etc) about an independent bodyguard. It reads somewhat similar to the Nightside books, only without the fantastical parts.

If you have not already given Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series a go, do so. Now. I suspect it'd be right up your street.

Currently reading Captain's Fury, the fourth book of his Codex Alera series. A fun, fast-paced read as ever, and they really do improve exponentially as the series goes on.

Sep 18, 2009#140

Bowielee

Silvanesti;257768][quote=escushion said:
I'm partway through Cell by Stephen King. Despite some of the shit he's produced in recent years, it's clear he can write a gripping, interesting book when he wants to. So far I'm enjoying it a lot. I'm glad Eli Roth will no longer be making the movie adaptation, but it's disappointing it will be a TV-movie, cutting down on what can be shown.

Its... intresting, I think it wraps up in a typical king way. But i did enjoy that book.

Im starting into the handmaid's tale, its really good so far.[/QUOTE]

What the hell is it with Stephen King and anti-climactic endings?

The man can make some seriously engaging characters and develop the hell out of them, but it seems like in the end he never knows what to do with them.

Sep 18, 2009#141

Vytamindi

Iaculus said:
If you have not already given Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series a go, do so. Now. I suspect it'd be right up your street.

Currently reading Captain's Fury, the fourth book of his Codex Alera series. A fun, fast-paced read as ever, and they really do improve exponentially as the series goes on.

Apparently Butcher's books are really good. The boyfriend has almost read the whole available Dresden series and he's on Acdems (sic?) Fury right now.

So good, in fact, he is non-seduceable when he is reading them. :eek:

rly:

Sep 19, 2009#142

Dusty668

Vytamindi;258329][quote=Iaculus said:
If you have not already given Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series a go, do so. Now. I suspect it'd be right up your street.

Currently reading Captain's Fury, the fourth book of his Codex Alera series. A fun, fast-paced read as ever, and they really do improve exponentially as the series goes on.

rly:[/QUOTE]

Hmmmm may I suggest more Ice and toplessness? If this don't work, we may need to add bacon applications.

Sep 19, 2009#143

Bubble181

Dusty668;259370][quote=Vytamindi;258329][quote=Iaculus said:
If you have not already given Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series a go, do so. Now. I suspect it'd be right up your street.

Currently reading Captain's Fury, the fourth book of his Codex Alera series. A fun, fast-paced read as ever, and they really do improve exponentially as the series goes on.

rly:[/QUOTE]

Hmmmm may I suggest more Ice and toplessness? If this don't work, we may need to add bacon applications.[/QUOTE]

Or you could give up and go in search of a man who's read them and wasn't captivated :-P

Sep 19, 2009#144

TwoBit

I'm about halfway through His Majesty's Dragon. It combines dragons and the Napoleonic wars in a way that almost seems plausible. Sorta.

Apparently Peter Jackson has considered making it into a miniseries. That could be cool. If it ever happens.

Sep 19, 2009#145

Bubble181

I'm halfway through Conn Iggulden's "Conqueror" series about Genghis Khan. Worth a read.

Oct 1, 2009#146

redapples

Pandaemonium - Christopher Brookmyre

For those unfamiliar with Brookmyre he is described at Tartan Noir. His books are generally crime fiction based on some evil bastard getting his comeuppance by someone usually smug and cool. His triumph is setting mundane West of Scotland characters a world of crime and violence (Middle Aged Gran becomes a skilled assassin to rescue her grand kids and son / 30 something class reunion takes on terrorist attack).

For his latest turn a group of 16 year olds go on a school trip to the remote part of Scotland where a military instillation has opened a portal to hell. I'll let you know.

Edit: Brookmyre recommendations.
Quite Ugly one Morning - how the murder of a doctor uncovers some macabre goings on in Scottish Hospitals. With quite the most hapless hitman ever is literature.
One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night - aforementioned terrorist attack and school reunion.
A Big Boy did it and Ran Away - More terrorists with flash backs to days in Univeristy joining a band. Oh and how video games can save your life.
All Fun and Games until Somebody Loses an Eye -a 46-year-old housewife and grandmother, lives a quiet life in suburban East Kilbride. All that changes when her son, Ross, who works in the arms industry, is forced into hiding when his latest research attracts unwanted attention. Aided by the mysterious Bett, Jane must confront drug dealers, assassins and ruthless arms dealers in order to save her son.
End Edit

Bit of a change from East of Eden which rocked.

Oct 1, 2009#147

Cajungal

I'd actually like a recommendation if anyone has one. School has been so busy that I can't really devote my attention to the heavier/more challenging stuff I've been wanting to read. Does anyone know of a compelling or moving story that isn't too hard to get through when you're busy?

I'm not a big fantasy/sci fi person, but I make exceptions.

Oct 1, 2009#148

ElJuski

finished Down These Mean Streets, getting to work on The Bluest Eye. I have such a love/hate relationship with Toni Morrison...she comes off so pompous, yet it's alwaysso good.

---------- Post added at 02:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:20 PM ----------

CajunGal, as always, KURT VONNEGUT. Try Slaughterhouse Five. Easy to read, but so challenging! It's hella depressing though!

Oct 1, 2009#149

Covar

Cajungal said:
I'd actually like a recommendation if anyone has one. School has been so busy that I can't really devote my attention to the heavier/more challenging stuff I've been wanting to read. Does anyone know of a compelling or moving story that isn't too hard to get through when you're busy?

I'm not a big fantasy/sci fi person, but I make exceptions.

To Kill A Mockingbird.

Oct 1, 2009#150

Cajungal

Read that. I'm looking for something new. Beautiful book, though. Maybe I will check out Mr. Vonnegut. My cousin recently bought a lot of his stuff.

Oct 1, 2009#151

Shegokigo

Finished V for Vendetta and moved on to:

Oct 1, 2009#152

Vytamindi

FINALLY started American Gods. Can't put it down!!!!!

I left it at home today and I am so very sad!:Cry:

---------- Post added at 04:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:00 PM ----------

Oh yea, and for CG, when I like to do mindless reading, I pick up a young adult book. My absolute favorite is Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. A good read!!!

My great aunt gave it to me YEARS ago and I have read it many times!!!

PLEASE don't ever watch the movie that was based on it... EVER!

Oct 1, 2009#153

Cajungal

Don't worry about that.

Oct 1, 2009#154

Dusty668

Reading Strip Mauled - Edited by Esther Friesner

Great collection of stories of the most put down part of the mythical trinity, Were's. In your face, glittering Draculas!

On Deck:
The Complete Hammer's Slammers-Volume 1 - by David Drake I've always heard this was a great series, and I got a few of the books but always lost track of the story, or thread of the people, so this will get me lined up for it I hope.

Oct 1, 2009#155

ElJuski

Cajungal said:
Read that. I'm looking for something new. Beautiful book, though. Maybe I will check out Mr. Vonnegut. My cousin recently bought a lot of his stuff.

I don't know how many times I gotta tell you folks, Slaughterhouse Five is probably the most important book to come out of American Literature in the past 60 years. And you said you want something breezy, but challenging! That's Kurt Vonnegut in a nutshell. Straightforward language, biting satire on the absurdities, horrors and vanities of the human condition.

---------- Post added at 12:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:51 AM ----------

I didn't mean for that to come off as snarky, by the way. I just love spreading the Vonnegut word

Oct 1, 2009#156

Cajungal

Dude...............breathe.

Nah I understand being passionate about an author.

Oct 1, 2009#157

General Specific

I suggest Neil Gaiman's short story collections, Fragile Things and Smoke & Mirrors

Oct 1, 2009#158

Cajungal

He's another one on my list!

Oct 1, 2009#159

Hailey Knight

General Specific said:
I suggest Neil Gaiman's short story collections, Fragile Things and Smoke & Mirrors

There are some losers in those collections, but most of the stories are awesome.

Oct 1, 2009#160

Espy

TwoBit said:
I'm about halfway through His Majesty's Dragon. It combines dragons and the Napoleonic wars in a way that almost seems plausible. Sorta.

Apparently Peter Jackson has considered making it into a miniseries. That could be cool. If it ever happens.

I LOVE those books.

Oddly enough so does my mother.

Oct 1, 2009#161

Enresshou

"The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark" by Carl Sagan.

I'll be starting in on "A Pale Blue Dot" as soon as I get it in the mail.

Oct 1, 2009#162

Sparhawk

Just starting "Wizard at Large" by Terry Brooks. Picked up the trade compendium of the first three Landover novels and enjoying re-reading them.

Oct 2, 2009#163

fade

Vytamindi said:
FINALLY started American Gods. Can't put it down!!!!!

I left it at home today and I am so very sad!:Cry:

---------- Post added at 04:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:00 PM ----------

Oh yea, and for CG, when I like to do mindless reading, I pick up a young adult book. My absolute favorite is Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. A good read!!!

My great aunt gave it to me YEARS ago and I have read it many times!!!

PLEASE don't ever watch the movie that was based on it... EVER!

Yeah, sometimes juvenile fiction gets even better when you read it as an adult. I loved Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon (adult fiction), so I checked out his juvenile fiction book Summerland, which combines Native American mythology and baseball. That's right. Baseball. It works really well.

Oct 2, 2009#164

Wyrminarrd

Currently reading "The prefect" by Alastair Reynolds.

This book is set in the same universe as "Revelation space" and is just as good. I highly recommend reading this authors books as he's yet to write a bad one or even a mediocre one.

Oct 2, 2009#165

Kitty Sinatra

An update for the dude who asked me how I was liking Steinbeck's East of Eden. I'm reading it slowly, an hour or two every few days, but it's becoming one of my favorite books.

I'm imagining Shego in the role of Cathy.

Oct 4, 2009#166

JONJONAUG

"The Cholera Years", which details how the United States dealt with cholera epidemics in 1832, 1849, and 1866.

Oct 4, 2009#167

North_Ranger

Deeper by Jeff Long.

While the title and the writer might sound like a penetration guide from a retired porn star, this book is awesome. It's a sequel to Long's The Descent, dealing with the discovery of a subterranean network of caves, tunnels and caverns criss-crossing the planet's crust... and humanity's encounter with the Hadals, an ancient and savage culture of subterranean humans who have haunted surface humanity as devils and demons since time immemorial.

It's not OOGA BOOGA horror, but more like Alien, working with subtlety, claustrophobia and a hidden enemy lurking in the shadows... and among us.

Oct 5, 2009#168

redapples

Gruebeard said:
An update for the dude who asked me how I was liking Steinbeck's East of Eden. I'm reading it slowly, an hour or two every few days, but it's becoming one of my favorite books.

I'm imagining Shego in the role of Cathy.

Are you sure you wanted to write that!

Finished it last week and can agree this is an excellent read. Given how well it reads and how touching and engaging the story I'm at a bit of a loss as to why this is not more highly recommended. Maybe its that it is one of those towering works that people assume its 'on the list'. I have never had it recommended to me. Not ever. I intend to rectify this. So my answer when asked for book suggestions will from now always include East of Eden.

Oct 6, 2009#169

ElJuski

Never overestimate how much people read. It's probably because they don't know what the fuck that book is.

If you're talking to generally well-read people of canonical literature, then yes, it might be assumed. But I myself haven't had a chance to get cracking on it. There's so much good lit out there!

Oct 6, 2009#170

Wahad

A while ago I finished Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy and American Gods. Pretty sweet.

Right now I'm half reading Dante's Divine Comedy whenever I have time. Which is not alot.

Oct 6, 2009#171

ElJuski

Pay attention as you're reading Dante. He makes a lot of weird, hokey jokes that kind of get lost if you're not paying attention.

Oct 7, 2009#172

redapples

ElJuski said:
Never overestimate how much people read. It's probably because they don't know what the fuck that book is.

If you're talking to generally well-read people of canonical literature, then yes, it might be assumed. But I myself haven't had a chance to get cracking on it. There's so much good lit out there!

Oct 7, 2009#173

ElJuski

redapples;270684][quote=ElJuski said:
Never overestimate how much people read. It's probably because they don't know what the fuck that book is.

If you're talking to generally well-read people of canonical literature, then yes, it might be assumed. But I myself haven't had a chance to get cracking on it. There's so much good lit out there!

My Dad was a Professor, my Mum a head teacher, my brother is a lecturer in Literature at a University as is his wife (she even specialises in American writing). Many of my friends growing up came from similar backgrounds and many of my friends now are teachers or academics so I start from a pretty high base. But you're right that a lot of the people I kicked about with in my wilder days may have had a different reference point. Many I'm sure would have not got much past the phone book or Jazz mag.[/QUOTE]

I wasn't calling out your reading background; sounds like you're quite well-rooted. I'm saying that if you took a poll with the sort of books like East of Eden most people would scratch their head and got wuh-buh?

List the name of a couple World of Warcraft books, however, or fucking Twilight...

It's good that people are still reading. But it's depressing that it's nothing challenging, and probably far from the amazing, beautiful authorship mankind's managed to squeeze out over the years.

Oct 7, 2009#174

HowDroll

TwoBit said:
I'm about halfway through His Majesty's Dragon. It combines dragons and the Napoleonic wars in a way that almost seems plausible. Sorta.

Apparently Peter Jackson has considered making it into a miniseries. That could be cool. If it ever happens.

I have it on my Kindle but haven't read it yet. How do you like it so far?

Oct 7, 2009#175

Jake

Wyrminarrd said:
Currently reading "The prefect" by Alastair Reynolds.

This book is set in the same universe as "Revelation space" and is just as good. I highly recommend reading this authors books as he's yet to write a bad one or even a mediocre one.

Just finished House of Suns and of course it was awesome. I think The Prefect is the only book of his I have left to read.

Oct 7, 2009#176

Philosopher B.

I should get around to reading more Vonnegut I suppose ... a man who writes something like The Big Space Fuck is a fine man indeed. The only other works of his I've read would be Slaughterhouse-Five and The Sirens of Titan, both of which were fucking spiffy.

I'm currently in the middle of the first Harry Dresden book, and I also just bought Stephen King's The Stand and Dark Tower II from a lovely little used book store, so I'm-a get to them when I'm finished with Mr. Butcher's debut effort.

Oct 8, 2009#177

redapples

ElJuski said:
I wasn't calling out your reading background; sounds like you're quite well-rooted. I'm saying that if you took a poll with the sort of books like East of Eden most people would scratch their head and got wuh-buh?

List the name of a couple World of Warcraft books, however, or fucking Twilight...

It's good that people are still reading. But it's depressing that it's nothing challenging, and probably far from the amazing, beautiful authorship mankind's managed to squeeze out over the years.

I agree. It wasn't an attempt to big myself up more an incredulity that given the types of people giving me recommendations none of them mentioned this. To be fair my mum recommends by buying me books for my birthday or christmas. Recently, The March (E.L. Doctrow), The Border Trilogy (Cormac McCarthy) and in the past Germinal (Emile Zola) and The Ambassadors (Henry James), which if you don't mind sentences that last for pages might be a good read - cant say because I do mind.

My brother's recent recomendation have included Harry Potter (which I include in the list with WOW and Twilight and this from a guy with 3 more degrees to his name than me

) and Cloud Atlas (David Mitchel). As for Cloud Atlas we were discussing books for a Globalization module he was teaching, my recommendation was Snow Crash (Neil Stephenson) which ended up in the module I'm pleased to say. Cloud Atlas was a bit disappointing in its conclusion for me but overall a well written and envisioned book.

Oct 8, 2009#178

ElJuski

Pretty hefty list! I gotta say that, besides Cormac McCarthy and Snow Crash, I haven't heard of anything from that list. I've been itching to read more again lately, but I'm stuck with books I have to finish for school. Right now it's The Woman Warrior. We'll see how that goes--I'm sure there's plenty of multicultural adversity she overcomes. Enlightening! Perhaps more if I don't have a full semester reading, basically, the same damn thing.

About the long sentences--I end up loving and hating authors that do that. Once again, referring back to my current class, we had to read Toni Morrison, who can go onnn and onnnnnn and onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn. It's brilliant, but it's also pompous at the same time. I get it, you guys can write long, awesome paragraphs of beautiful prose. Assholes.

As for Harry Potter, I think you can have those books on a slightly separate level than Twilight: one's an obvious children's series, which doesn't really kick the genre off to too many places except for being a pop-culture phenomenon, but is decently written and pleasantly executed nonetheless.

Twilight, on the other hand--from as much time as I've encountered with it--is aggressively aiming (and achieving) pop culture status. That series takes vampire fettishism and sells it to tweens and Great Clips stylists, regardless of its damage to literature at large.

But I dunno *shrug*

Oct 8, 2009#179

Jake

It may have been wine on the brain, but last night I decided Philip K. Dick is the sci-fi Kurt Vonnegut (not that the latter didn't mix it up a little in the sci-fi realm).

Oct 19, 2009#180

redapples

Jake said:
It may have been wine on the brain, but last night I decided Philip K. Dick is the sci-fi Kurt Vonnegut (not that the latter didn't mix it up a little in the sci-fi realm).

Wha????

Kurt Vonnegut is a Sci-fi writer. Everything I've read of his has been sci-fi. I think that wine was a little on the strong side. In respect of their comparison I would argue that their writing style is very far apart. Dick was perhaps more experimental in his writing than Vonnegut but they both excel at ideas. I personally find Dick near unreadable but (as illustrated by the many films from his books) has the skill at taking a good idea and running with it. Vonnegut is much more penetrable than Dick but what he does really well imho is to make the world he describes very believable, so in Hocus Pocus when he describes Bud as being called 'Wop' ever since the Italian's bought it I actually thought it was true until I reminded myself it was fiction I was reading. I have never found Dick to be this immersive. Vonnegut is also more adept at being comidic than I have found Dick to be. Time Quake, Sirens of Titan and elements of Welcome to the Monkey House are funny. Hocus Pocus and Slaughter House 5 are more serious in tone but still have those dark comdic touches in places.

The Dick I've wrestled with (Do Androids Dream... and A Scanner Darkly, one after the film the other before) have none of the comdey of Vonneguts books.

Better to compare Joseph Heller, so we might say Kurt Vonnegut is the Sci-fi Joseph Heller perhaps?

---------- Post added at 01:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:45 PM ----------

redapples said:
The Dick I've wrestled with (Do Androids Dream... and A Scanner Darkly, one after the film the other before) have none of the comdey of Vonneguts books.

QUOTE]

Ummm some one want to fix that for me?

Oct 19, 2009#181

HoboNinja

I just felt like posting this, I love this song

Oct 20, 2009#182

Fun Size

Just finished The Graveyard Book. Very nice for a young adult book. Moving right into Young Boy, Young Girl in an effort to get another ghost story in before Halloween.

Oct 20, 2009#183

quandofloo

Oct 20, 2009#184

Vytamindi

quandofloo said:

BAAAAAAAAAH!!!! :smash:

Oct 20, 2009#185

General Specific

Finished Pygmy and now reading When you are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

Oct 20, 2009#186

Alex B.

Just finished Perdido Street Station. So so good. Mieville is my new favorite author.

Taking a break from him though, to read the Illuminatus! trilogy. At the rate I read I'll be done sometime in 2013.

Oct 20, 2009#187

fade

Perdido Street Station was okay. It kept feeling like it was going somewhere, but never got up the steam to move. I kind of think that was the point, but it makes it a frustrating read nonetheless. A good friend loves the book. He loves that it

doesn't have a happy ending, and that things sort of end in the middle of everything

. It's been the source of many a literary argument, because to me, that rather defeats the purpose of telling a narrative. That and Mieville goes a little Rowling on us, and overexplains things to the point that they lose their mystery.

The big reveal on the narrator is a letdown. Woopdedoo. A guy we cared little about did something we care less about. Everything and everybody is dirty and decrepit. Even those who fly above.

Like I say, I get that that's the whole point, but it makes for a blurry muddy read.

Funny thing is, I liked the book. I just don't think it quite deserves all the praise that's been heaped on it.

Oct 20, 2009#188

checkeredhat

John Hodgeman's "The Areas of My Expertise Which Include: Matters Historical, Matters Literary, Matters Cryptozoological, Hobo Matters, Food, Drink, & Cheese (a Kind of Food), Swuirrles & Lobsters & Eels, Haircuts, Utopia, What Will Happen in the Future, and Most Other Subjects."

just finished Watchmen and before that "The Living Dead", a 500 page collection of zombie short stories.

Oct 20, 2009#189

Nile

Prelude to Foundation.

I love this series.

Oct 20, 2009#190

Philosopher B.

What! I looked for this thread a day or so ago. Can't believe I couldn't find it. Gonna post something in a bit.

Oct 20, 2009#191

Allen, who is Quiet

rereading Cryptonomicon and then probably going to go back through Fragile Things.

Oct 20, 2009#192

Philosopher B.

Twilight

Well, my baby sister was reading it, on account of she wanted to find out what all the other girls are squealing about, and when she was done with it, I made the mistake of deciding that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to observe firsthand what exactly a certain publishing phenomenon was all about. Plus, I thought, how bad could it really be?

I think you can probably guess the answer to that last question easily enough.

To be fair, though, I didn’t start out hating it right away. My hatred sort of came together gradually, the specific ingredients of my dislike forming a kind of repugnance stew, which simmered for several hundred pages until I had a raging boner of detestation, after which I climaxed with a spurt of severe disapproval.

Now … where to begin? I guess a good place would be with Ms. Meyer’s actual writing ability. Well, I mean, she can string a sentence together. The problem lies in the kind of sentence she likes. She has a thing, it would seem, for detailing the current state of her heroine’s lover’s eyes. She is also fond of seeing how many times a page she can tell us that the good vampire Edward has partaken to laugh. Seriously, if anyone laughed that much in real life, their jaw would hurt after a while. Trust me, I know, because I have had this happen to my jaw. And I am only an intermittent laugher, as it were.

One major problem with the book is extremes. No one is merely beautiful, or merely clumsy; instead, they are so motha-fokkin’ beautiful and sniffable that the very scent of them sends the sniffer into a drunken stupor. As for the clumsy part, stars above. Speaking as an insanely clumsy person myself, I was somewhat disturbed at the extent of Bella’s clumsiness. It is so bad that the vampires spend half the book carrying her around like a wishy-washy, bottom-lip biting doll. Jesus McTitty-Christ, can the damned girl not get around herself? I guess it goes along with the whole prince-sweeping-you-off-your feet thing, but I thought that was supposed to be figurative.

The being dragged around business invariably leads us to the competence of the main character. She has none, basically. She is a completely brainless, senseless moron, who can’t get around by herself half the time, is always being saved by her cold-nippled lover boy, and who is never, ever, disturbed by any revelation whatsoever, including the one concerning the aforementioned cold-nippled lover boy spying on her in her sleep and listening to her calling his name. The weird thing is that her lack of sense (and self-preservation) is a major bone of contention between herself and the good Edwardo; it is as though the novel champions the fact that its main character is a weak, senseless twit.

Speaking of bones of contention between Bella and Edward, their conversations almost always include some weirdly halting and odd argument. Edward’s mood swings are, like every other aspect of his character, bizarrely cartoonish in their intensity. I’m not sure how many bleeding times, by the end of the novel, we had to be treated to a bit in which he says something, she says something, he goes off the handle, she says something else, and he comes back to having whatever color eyes he has when he’s thinking of bees, trees, and blue birds doing each other up the drainpipe. He’s not some moody brooding vampire figure; he’s abso-bally-lutely mad off his tits.

Unfortunately that brings us to the subject of the kind of vampires that populate Ms. Meyer’s gooey fantasyland. First I am going to give a disclaimer: I am not one of these purists who has to see certain aspects of a completely fictional creature included in order for a story to satisfy me. When I read this book, even having heard of the infamous sparkling, I did so anyway with an open mind, prepared to give the good Ms. Meyers the benefit of the doubt.

She skunked me again.

The sparkling is just the tip of the iceberg, the thing most easily made fun of. I have read in an interview that Meyer was not into vampires and in fact has not even read Dracula. It shows, and in more than the sparkling. Aside from the desire for blood (and even this is treated a tad weirdly), these ‘vampires’ come across more like super-human beauty-pageant winners. They’ve got super-speed, super-sperm, super bear-eating, super car-lifting, super good smexy-ass looks, and (get this) are frequently referred to as moving in a feline-like manner.

Feline.

What are they, fucking cat people? What happened to bats?

I really do think Meyers wanted to be writing Spiderman. Not only did she have Bella jokingly speculate that the reason Edward is so goddamn weird might be on account of he was bitten by a radioactive spider, but there was a near-rape scene in which I half-expected Edward to leap out of the car when saving her, beat the baddies up, and conclude the proceedings by kissing her upside down in the rain.

Also, on the subject of kissing and passion and whatnot. This whole book is one big fucking tease. Whereas I probably would have had them fuck each other’s tits off by page 205, we are treated to more scenes than I’d care for of the protagonists sitting about on beds like big sissies sniffing each other’s sparkly, pearly white skin while ruffling, stroking, and generally touching each other’s mop tops in an entirely inappropriate manner.

Won’t somebody think of the hair strands?!

Though to be fair, the subject of sex isn’t completely sidestepped. It is revealed that, as the conversation about Superman in Mallrats implied, having sex with a magical superbeing is probably not a good idea. Not only might he blast your back out with his sparkly man-juice, he might also forget himself and have you for lunch, your blood being the beverage of choice.

Now, look. I know I’ve yapped on for quite a bit by this point, but to be honest I could almost (emphasis on ALMOST) live with all the aforementioned aspects of the book (and some I haven’t even gone into on account of I haven’t got all bloody week). I would merely pass it off as a haltingly written piece of wish-fulfillment romance for insecure young girls. Offensive, yes, but not the end of the literary world. But the thing that offends me the most deeply manifests itself somewhere nearly four-hundred pages in.

That’s about when she decides she wants a plot. You know, with conflict (that is, conflict other than Edward getting pissed that his girlfriend is such a suicidal, clumsy moron, and the fact that poor Bella is admired by every young boy whose balls ever dropped).

I am of course referring to the scene in which the ‘vampires’ are playing ball, which culminates in a maniac tracker vampire wanting Bella resting sloshily in his guts. This comes so late in the game, that it’s as though an entirely new story is beginning. One is left to wonder where this book’s beginning, middle and end are. As far as story-structure goes, this book is skunked in no uncertain manner. Not only that, but the Cullen family realize exactly what kind of ruffian they are dealing with, and how much he will be after Bella … so why don’t they just hand his ass to him RIGHT THEN AND THERE, with the full strength of the family present? It was, what, five or six well-fed, well-disciplined vamps against three vagabonds? It could have saved the next hundred pages. Unless they didn’t want to fight with Bella around, in which case, they failed horribly, because not only is she in the inevitable fight (which we don’t get to see, by the way!) but she is slapped about like the useless doll-person she is. The whole thing is so ham-fistedly handled that it boggles my mind and makes me worry that this will make the average unwashed wannabe novelist snap his fingers and say ‘Ha! Yes! I have a chance’. To be frank, it almost makes me curious enough to see the movie verison, if only to observe how they handle this badly a structured narrative.

Now, I won’t say I didn’t get a LITTLE enjoyment out of the deal somewhere. I thought the fact that Emmet ate motha-fokkin’ GRIZZLIES was hilariously awesome, if absurd to the extreme, and there was occasionally great fun to be had in unintentionally funny passages of over-wrought descriptions (though mostly, they made me moan). I also got a kick out of the bit in which Edward said ‘I love you’ to which Bella replied ‘I know’, which of course I automatically read in Han Solo and Princess Leia’s voices. Plus, it DID have an ending. Took a little effort to get there, but it existed.

TLDR version: It’s not just that I am clearly not the demographic for this book; the main character is weak and senseless, and the book is offensive in the badness of its story structure. What I’m saying is, I personally thought it sucked a boney.

I should also note my baby sister appeared to like it even less than I.

Oct 21, 2009#193

Denbrought

I think my IQ dropped from reading your review, my brain feels really numb.

Oct 21, 2009#194

Dusty668

Couldn't finish "The Complete Hammer's Slammers: Volume 1" The stories were not arranged in any coherent timewise order, and that just put me off, also it was kind of following the same folks but not really, like in one story a certain tank crew is told about, in the next story they mention one of the crew going by for basic training, the story after that one of the crew is an old officer seen across the room, etc. Dunno why but it just put me off.
So I skipped to
"Future Weapons of War" Finished it up, pretty nice book and about to read the just released "The Compleat Bolo". It's a rerelease compilation of Bolo and Rogue Bolo, but I like both stories, and it's been a while since I read them.

Oct 22, 2009#195

Jake

fade said:
Like I say, I get that that's the whole point, but it makes for a blurry muddy read.

That's one of the things I liked best about it, actually. The writing is somewhat blunt and brutal, much like the world the story takes place in. The setting and style blend together so well that I sometimes have to stop reading and admire it.

Oct 22, 2009#196

fade

Jake;281258][quote=fade said:
Like I say, I get that that's the whole point, but it makes for a blurry muddy read.

Nov 9, 2009#197

redapples

After having enjoyed East of Eden so much and being bummed out by Flag of our Fathers (though I must say reading this and watching Generation Kill simultaneously is very eye opening) I thought I'd try Cannery Row by Steinbeck. I have had this kicking around my shelves for a long time and am not even sure where I got it. Its short 160 pages in big (ish) type. Its also really light and funny not at all what I expected from a book about homeless alcoholics. John Steinbeck is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. Very much recommended.

Nov 9, 2009#198

Math242

i'm reading babylon babies but i can't seem to finish it because i always get bored or do other things (looking at you Dragon age).

Nov 10, 2009#199

Fun Size

I'm picking up Who Censored Roger Rabbit? over lunch from the library today on the suggestion of Steve Napierski. I loved Who Framed Roger Rabbit? as a kid, so I'm curious to see what the book is like.

Nov 10, 2009#200

Espy

The new Stephen King book is on the way. I hope it's more "Cell" than "Duma Key".

Nov 10, 2009#201

chakz

figmentPez said:
I'm re-reading "Brightness Reef", the first book in David Brin's second Uplift trilogy. Absolutely fantastic series, and I'm especially fond of the blend of ancient galactic level tech and pseudo-steampunk level stuff. I'll finish off the trilogy when I'm done, "Infinity's Shore" and "Heaven's Reach". I'm kind of surprised that I have very little recollection of what happens. Oh well, I'm having a great time being alternately surprised an suddenly reminded.

Next after that I think I'll re-read "Changer" by Jane Lindskold, if I still have it. If not I might re-read "The Practice Effect" by David Brin.

Soon as I get to a library, what he's reading.

Edit: I was also thinking of picking up the last book of the dark tower series.

Nov 10, 2009#202

ElJuski

Fun Size said:
I'm picking up Who Censored Roger Rabbit? over lunch from the library today on the suggestion of Steve Napierski. I loved Who Framed Roger Rabbit? as a kid, so I'm curious to see what the book is like.

Is that the sequel? Because apparently it's really, really, really bad. Although the movie is worse.

I just finished Fun Home for class; ditto with A Boy's Own Story, but apparently really important in the realm of gay fiction. After that I have to read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian to round out my multi-lit class. Then...maybe some other awesome stuff!

Nov 10, 2009#203

Fun Size

No - this us the original that the movie was loosely based on.

Nov 10, 2009#204

ElJuski

Fun Size said:
No - this us the original that the movie was loosely based on.

Oh. DOI. I really should have known that

JuiceReadFail

Nov 10, 2009#205

Wasabi Poptart

The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

Nov 10, 2009#206

chakz

Nile said:
Prelude to Foundation.

I love this series.

If I were you I'd avoid foundation and chaos- should you encounter it. It was written by other author's after asimov's death and its pretty bad.

Nov 10, 2009#207

Timmus

I'm reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. It explores the reasons why people do exceptionally well in life. He explains why Bill Gate's success had as much to do with luck as it did with his own ability among other things.

Nov 11, 2009#208

Fun Size

ElJuski;296140][quote=Fun Size said:
I'm picking up Who Censored Roger Rabbit? over lunch from the library today on the suggestion of Steve Napierski. I loved Who Framed Roger Rabbit? as a kid, so I'm curious to see what the book is like.

Is that the sequel? Because apparently it's really, really, really bad. Although the movie is worse.[/QUOTE]

Wait, are you referring to Who Framed Roger Rabbit? as a bad movie in this statement? Is that what you're doing? Retract. RETRACT!

Nov 11, 2009#209

David

Dragon Tears by Dean Koontz and Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card. After which I plan on buying Xenocide.

Nov 11, 2009#210

Hailey Knight

Espy said:
The new Stephen King book is on the way. I hope it's more "Cell" than "Duma Key".

Yes please. The man is a good writer in all standing, but his stories can suck at times.

Cell was the first book in a long time to actually give me a nightmare.

Nov 11, 2009#211

The Lovely Boehner

Timmus said:
I'm reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. It explores the reasons why people do exceptionally well in life. He explains why Bill Gate's success had as much to do with luck as it did with his own ability among other things.

This is what I'm likely going to read after what I'm reading now: "The Book of Basketball" by Bill Simmons. It's singlehandedly making me an NBA fan, I think

Also the foreword is by Gladwell.

Nov 11, 2009#212

Wyrminarrd

I´m currently reading "The Hero of Ages" which is the third book of the "Mistborn" trilogy by Brandon Sanderson.

Nov 11, 2009#213

Espy

Wildsoul said:
The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

How is that???

Nov 11, 2009#214

Kitty Sinatra

redapples said:
After having enjoyed East of Eden so much . . . I thought I'd try Cannery Row by Steinbeck . . . Its short 160 pages in big (ish) type. Its also really light and funny not at all what I expected from a book about homeless alcoholics. John Steinbeck is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. Very much recommended.

Well, I know what I'm gonna be reading soon. I might just give Of Mice and Men another try, too (Stupid school reading assignments ruining good literature).

Although I hafta say I kinda felt that East of Eden ended kinda poorly. It's not what occurred, it's that it all occurred so quickly after the rest of the book was a slow, lingering delight. I kinda felt like the final events were rushed; perhaps because the page count was getting way up there, I don't know.

I said elsewhere that I have a preference for short novels. I find that 200-350 pages is ideal. They tend to be better focused on the character or plot, and the writing tends to be more finely crafted and precise than longer works.

Nov 11, 2009#215

drawn_inward

David said:
Dragon Tears by Dean Koontz

Tick tock, David.

Nov 11, 2009#216

Philosopher B.

Espy;296569][quote=Wildsoul said:
The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

How is that???[/QUOTE]

What he asked.

Anyhoo, I'm not currently reading anything, but I'm about to get all up in more of Stephen King's work any minute.

Nov 11, 2009#217

Cajungal

I'm reading a book for school that's very interesting. I don't have it now, and I forget the title. But it's about Old South Baton Rouge, and how it went from a bustling and prosperous community to basically a slum just outside of the university. It's sad to read about, knowing I live so close to a neighborhood that's pretty much known for nothing more than poverty and drugs now.

Nov 11, 2009#218

Null

The Gun Seller, by Hugh Laurie.

Nov 11, 2009#219

TwoBit

A biography on Charles Darwin.

Nov 11, 2009#220

Wasabi Poptart

Philosopher B.;297105][quote=Espy;296569][quote=Wildsoul said:
The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

Nov 11, 2009#221

FnordBear

Currently: When All Seems Lost by William C. Dietz

Next: When Duty Calls by William C. Dietz

After That: Confessor by Terry Goodkind

Nov 12, 2009#222

redapples

Still Life With Woodpecker - Tom Robbins, I read Jitterbug Perfume about 15 years ago and meant at the time to find other works by him which is why this has been cluttering my shelves. I'm getting to feel that a theme is forming here: things hanging around my bookshelf for years I mean. I tried a (short) while ago to read All Tomorrow Parties - I have it in hard back, bought when first released 10 years ago - but could remember little of Virtual Light and Idoru so had to shelve it now to dig the first 2 out...

Maybe next.

Nov 12, 2009#223

Olorin

Wellspring of Chaos, from the Recluce Saga by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
Started pretty slow, but fairly interesting so far. The only other Recluce books that I've read were book 1-4, so I'm missing 7 books inbetween, but luckily that is't a huge problem.

After that: The Children of Hurin by J.R.R. Tolkien (and Christopher Tolkien) I've probably alreay read most of it in the Silmarillion and HoME, but it was cheap, so I couldn't resist buying it anyway.

Nov 12, 2009#224

HCGLNS

Reading Dr. Zhivago to the baby.
Reading Anne of Green Gables to the 3 yr old.
Reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels to myself.

Nov 17, 2009#225

Cajungal

As a kid, I never read The Giver. It was always suggested reading in my classes but never required at my elementary school... it really should have been. Anyway, after meaning to read it for a looooong time, I finally borrowed it from the school library. Quick read, of course, but beautifully told and very engaging. Lois Lowry's great.

Nov 17, 2009#226

Null

Almost finished reading "A Darkness Forged In Fire" by Chris Evans.

Nov 17, 2009#227

strawman

Finished "Oliver Twist" a week or two ago. The story is much deeper and more engaging than the musical, and as much as I love the musical, the book is better...

Nov 17, 2009#228

Dusty668

Carnifex by Tom Kratman, just finished A Desert Called Peace the first book of the story.

Nov 24, 2009#229

redapples

redapples said:
Still Life With Woodpecker - Tom Robbins

Why did nobody stop me? Seriously people.

My god what a waste of effort. A more smug and self satisfied a piece of writing it is hard to find. I can't remember the last time I chose not to finish a book but really life is too damn short.

Anyway to patch me up I turned to the dependable. I'm rereading The Cobweb by Stephen Bury (A.K.A Neil Stephenson - in fact I think current printings use his actual name rather than the nom de plume). Iraq WMD factories in the Midwest Universities, yeah baby.

Nov 24, 2009#230

Wyrminarrd

I´m about 1/3 of the way through "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Ruthfoss. This is the authors first book and it is a really strong beginning to what promises to be a great series.

Nov 24, 2009#231

V.Bond

American Gods - Neil Gaiman

Really engaging read so far, the first hundred or so pages flew by in no time at all.

Kind of ashamed to say this is the first book I've read in a while that was not assigned. It's even worse because I love to read, but never make the time to read anything other then the newspaper and occasional comic book.

Nov 24, 2009#232

Fun Size

American Gods - good book.

I just borrowed Famous Fantastic Mysteries. It's a collection of short stories from an old pulp magazine.

Nov 24, 2009#233

Soliloquy

I'm pretty much reading whatever old classics I can buy on the cheap or rent from the Library.

I was reading Dracula for a while until I reached the part where Mina and Lucy were exchanging letters, where my interest waned a little bit. Then, I got really busy, ran out of time, and had to return it to the Library.

Soon afterwards, I watched a rather poorly-written adaptation of the book that my old high school put on, which seemed more like cliff notes of the tale than anything actually literary. I'm considering picking the book up again and finishing it soon, though.

The last book I read was HG Wells' The Time Machine. It's a really interesting story, and I think it's aged much better that Wells' War of the Worlds, which has essentially become the pattern from which all cliched alien invasion stories are drawn.

Nov 24, 2009#234

redapples

Vagabond said:
Kind of ashamed to say this is the first book I've read in a while that was not assigned. It's even worse because I love to read, but never make the time to read anything other then the newspaper and occasional comic book.

Don't be. School comes first. I spent my 'revsion time' reading Catch 22. All good except this was not on any exam I took. I never studied much after that.

Nov 24, 2009#235

Cajungal

I haven't read anything lately. Busy with school, and when I'm done with that, I come here, play my uke, or write in my journal. Sadness.

Well, it's almost over, and after that, I'm borrowing some new stuff from my cousin. ^_^

Nov 24, 2009#236

Null

The Nick Adams Stories, by Ernest Hemingway

Feb 7, 2010#237

Philosopher B.

So, yo, yo, yo. I bought Under the Dome for nineteen buckaroozies all up in BJs, don't you know. I read Cell recently, which was fucking fantastic. The pace, the characters, the engrossing story ... I haven't read a book that awesome in a while. I recall back when King slagged on S. Meyers that there were some titters on the Internets to the effects of 'He should talk'. But I gotta say; after reading Cell, I don't care if every other book the man ever wrote consisted entirely of the word 'poop' repeated over and over; Meyers couldn't write a book as good as Cell in a bajillion years.

Anyhoo, I'm like 150 pages into UtD, and it's been interesting so far I guess. A lot of town gossip is danced around, though I'm assuming it'll all be clear eventually, considering this book is over a thousand pages. Two thoughts I had while reading so far:

1) King isn't afraid of letting his political leanings show.

2) Do people really shit when they die? Is that like ... a thing?

At any rate, I'm enjoying it, even if it isn't exactly buzzing along with the same gripping intensity as Cell. King sure does like his 'evils of small towns' stories.

- Philo-B., who's read a couple King novels now.

Feb 7, 2010#238

Kovac

Dragon Wing - The death gate cycle

Feb 8, 2010#239

Wasabi Poptart

Wildsoul;297187][quote=Philosopher B.;297105][quote=Espy;296569][quote=Wildsoul said:
The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

How is that???[/QUOTE]

What he asked.

Anyhoo, I'm not currently reading anything, but I'm about to get all up in more of Stephen King's work any minute.[/QUOTE]

I'm only on the second chapter, but so far it's setting up nicely.[/QUOTE]

I haven't had much time to read, but I did get further into this book. HOLY CRAP! It got so creepy I had to put it down for a while. I was looking out of my bedroom window every night before bed to make sure nothing was out there. I picked it up again about a week ago, but I've had a lot going on and haven't had much time to read.

Feb 8, 2010#240

Denbrought

Ada or Ardor, by Nabokov. It's probably going to take me around the time it took me to read 3 or 4 books of equal length last month, being the hardest piece of english literature I've ever started to read.

Feb 8, 2010#241

Hailey Knight

Philosopher B. said:
2) Do people really shit when they die? Is that like ... a thing?

At any rate, I'm enjoying it, even if it isn't exactly buzzing along with the same gripping intensity as Cell. King sure does like his 'evils of small towns' stories.

Your bowel control releases, so it depends. I only knew it happened from hanging.

It's because small towns ARE evil

.

I'm in the middle of The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. On the surface it's about two guys who survive a mid-air plane explosion, one transformed into an angel and the other into a devil. Under all that and in many other characters it's about Islam, faith, and atheism confronted by miracles. It had an interesting beginning, dragged between the beginning and middle, but it's picked up again, though as with most Rushdie books, I have no clue where it's going.

Feb 8, 2010#242

Rob King

Reading Master of the Crossroads, the second book of Madison Smart Bell's Haitian Trilogy, set during the Haitian Revolution. These books are freaking dense. Not the longest things I've ever read, but every time I sit down to read, I feel intimidated.

All Souls Rising was the first book in the trilogy, and I finished that nearly a year ago. It was great, and gave me an appreciation for what exactly went on during the Haitian revolution. I know that the story is heavily fictionalized, but the backdrop is (as far as I can tell) accurate in the larger goings on. I particularly appreciated the character of Riau, who's chapters are told first person and gave me my first real look at what the Voodoo religion actually entails.

Considering the current interest in Haiti, I will not hesitate to recommend these books to anyone. Be wary if you're uncomfortable at descriptions of extreme brutality, including the dissection of a pregnant slave woman while she is still alive. There is some sex in the book as well, but it is generally tasteful.

Feb 8, 2010#243

General Specific

Just finished the Icewind Dale Trilogy and the Dark Elf Trilogy, both by R. A. Salvatore, of course. Have not yet gotten around to finding something new to read.

Feb 8, 2010#244

Kitty Sinatra

I'm reading Wolf Hall, a historical novel about Henry VIII, the Boleyns, Luther, Thomas More and all that jazz, with Thomas Cromwell as the central protagonist. It's quite engaging and well written . . . which is probably why it won the most prestigious award for Commonwealth literature.

Feb 8, 2010#245

Chazwozel

I generally get bored reading one book at a time so at any given moment I juggle about three. Currently:

Next: Michael Crichton
Under the Dome: Stephen King
The Secret King: The myth and reality of Nazi Occultism: Stephan Flowers and a second author that I can't think of right now.

Oh and in between, I usually read journal articles and other boring shit.

Feb 8, 2010#246

filmfanatic

Right now, I'm reading "Charmed Life" by Diana Wynne Jones.

Feb 10, 2010#247

Bowielee

I've gone back to writing my novel/novella, does that count?

Feb 10, 2010#248

Sparhawk

Arms-Commander by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

Feb 10, 2010#249

ElJuski

It being another wonderful semester, right now I'm going through Speak, Love Diary, Candideand Little House on the Priarie.

WHICH ONE OF THESE IS NOT LIKE THE OTHER

WHICH ONE OF THESE JUST DOESNT BELONG

Feb 10, 2010#250

Shaw Coyote

Trying to finish A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin. I really liked A Game of Thrones but I've been having trouble getting through the last third of this one.

Feb 11, 2010#251

Philosopher B.

Almost finished UtD. As I near the end, it occurs to me that an awful lot of characters have either pissed or hurled.

Feb 11, 2010#252

redapples

Success with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0: Implementing Customer Relationship Management and Working with Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM 4.0 oh its going to be a fun month. :eek:

hwell:

Forums