Read any good books lately?

[Gabez]

I read around the world in 80 days recently, and that was very good. Started out a little dull but really got going half-way through and had some great moments. Good light book to read especially if you're travelling. 4/5

 

Also read the ninth life of Louis Drax which is a brilliant brilliant book. Very hard to sum up though, without giving away spoilers so I'll just say that it's a thought provoking psychological thriller exploring the darkest sides of the human mind. Very different and very cool. 5/5

[counting_pine]

I bought Three Musketeers not so long ago, inspired by my sister getting the old Dogtanian series on DVD. It took me a while to read through it all, but it was a good read, if a tad disillusioning in places, but I guess it wasn't really written for the same age group. 4/5

(The Dogtanian series, by the way, was entertaining, but made quite a few 'adjustments' to the story, and completely lost the plot in the middle for a while)

 

I'm also a big fan of Discworld, and have read all the books. Some of Terry Pratchett's other stuff is quite good too. I liked the Bromeliad Trilogy, and Strata was 'different but good', while I thought Dark Side of the Sun (cool title) was just 'different'. Maybe I'll get round to trying it again sometime.

 

Discworld-wise, I'd say my favourite either has to be Small Gods or Interesting Times.

Recently, Terry seems to be taking the series in a slightly different direction, focussing less on the old sets of characters and writing about completely new ones. I really liked Monstrous Regiment and Going Postal, and will be interested to see how things go from here.

 

ADDENDUM:

Just checked Amazon, seems a new one is on the way: "THUD!" - interesting title. I have to say, though, I'm slightly nonplussed to hear it's another Vimes book. I do like the Watch books, but I feel Vimes is getting more than his fair share of book time.

[Alien426]

I've read Lord Of The Flies by William Golding. It's about a group of kids crashing on an island. They develop a set of rules to live by and over time this goes way south. The book is quite obviously a study of social (and political) life.

 

I liked it a lot since it does a good job at describing the feeling of helplessness when you see something take a wrong turn and can't help it. You may try to convince others to do what is right, but in the end they may close their eyes and ears, and just do something that is fun or easier instead.

 

If you want to read another "deserted island" book, I can recommend Island Of The Blue Dolphins which has a different setup in sofar as the protagonist (a girl) is already accustomed to life in the wilderness. It's also more of an adventure story and thus closer to Robinson Crusoe.

[SpiffyTheDog]

i finished the beach (alex garland) a while ago. really enjoyed it. the ending's great. yeah that's another deserted-island kind of book, so if you enjoyed lord of the flies (which i enjoyed immensely) i'd recommend it.

 

make your own damn movie (lloyd kaufman) is a surprisingly detailed, funny, and motivating book on the filmmaking process, written by an admittedly terrible filmmaker.

 

slaughterhouse five (kurt vonnegut) is probably one of my favorite books of all time.

 

currently i'm halfway through a scanner darkly (philip k dick) and i'm liking it so far.

[Huz]

I've read Lord Of The Flies by William Golding. It's about a group of kids crashing on an island. They develop a set of rules to live by and over time this goes way south. The book is quite obviously a study of social (and political) life.

Spooky book twins. I didn't find Lord of the Flies as awesome as I thought I might, but it was very haunting, and perfectly evoked the helplessness as order slipped away. You can imagine that life would take the exact course depicted if kids were left to their own devices in reality. Scary. ¬

 

I also read Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth recently. ACE. If you're not familiar with it, it follows an assassin (the Jackal) as he meticulously plans to assassinate President Charles de Gaulle of France, and the investigation that begins with only his codename and slowly closes in. I knew a lot of the story already thanks to the movie, which was a shame - although even contemporary readers would have known the ending for obvious reasons - but it's one of those books where it's not the destination that's important, but the journey. The Jackal is a fantastic character, his plans are intruiging, and the detail the book provides about the French security apparatus is fascinating.

 

Oh, and the Jackal goes into a Parisian, 1960s gay bar towards the end. The description given by Forsyth (he has a column in the Daily Mail, kids) is a particular highlight.

 

Heart of Darkness next, then Forsyth's "other" book, The Odessa File. Hooray!

[Gabez]

Haha, I've just read Lord of the Flies too... and totally loved it. I was familiar with the play but the book is so much better. Such a great book.

 

I also read Animal Farm which is equally brilliant... I love the documentary style narrative and the way that complex political ideas are presented through such a simple and accessible allegory.

 

And at the moment I'm reading The Excorcist (yep, the book of the film) which is surpisingly enjoyable. Recomended to anyone interested in the paranormal.

[Remi]

The movie is based on the book, actually. ;

 

Edit: Though that might have been what you said in a less than elegant matter. ;-*

[Gabez]

Yeah, the book of the film... like the book is *of* the film. Like, I was just saying the book was of the film. Jesus, I know what I mean! Stop confusing me Remi. :~

[Alien426]

Say it with a link.

[Joshi]

Just finished reading Terry Pratchett's newest book "Thud" (with accompanying title "Where's my Cow?") so I thought I'd come along and tell you all about it. First of all, being the aforementioned fanboy that I am, I simply had to buy the £30 signed slipcase edition, something a lot of fans would enjoy, but if you’re not a fan, don’t bother, all it really is, is the book with Pratchett’s signature in it inside of a slipcase (albeit a rather professionally one, so, for me, well worth the money).

 

Now, onto the story. Short summary (which will probably turn into a long summary because I’ve never really been very good at this). It centre’s around and event called ‘Koom Valley’. This has been mentioned in many earlier books to describe the hatred and prejudice between Dwarfs and Trolls, it happened many thousands of years ago in a place called Koom Valley in which either the Dwarfs ambushed the Trolls, or the Troll’s ambushed the Dwarfs. No one is quite clear on who actually ambushed who, but either side is convinced the entire thing was started by the other side, thus why each species hate each other so much. Now, thousands of years later, on the anniversary on Koom Valley, it’s all looking to happen again, a Dwarf has been killed, blame has fallen on a Troll, and it’s up to Commander Sam Vimes of the City watch to figure out exactly what’s happening.

 

Well, those are the building blocks of the book anyway; it gets a lot more intriguing and complicated as it goes on, but never leaves the reader in the dark.

 

As for the story telling, well it’s done in the traditional Terry Pratchett way, although there is the new element of slight time jumping when it comes to the story telling, but it’s not done in any kind of awkward way and it all runs smooth in the end. There is the usual jokes, mixed in with socialistic views and a general Monty Python feel, although that has been toned down in recent books. The ending is just the tiniest bit anti-climactic, but still works pretty well, overall I’d give it a 4 our of 5. A decent enough book, and to be honest, better than his last book (although I’m sure a re-read with probably leave me feeling differently as they always do).

 

The accompanying book, “Where’s my Cow?” is worth a look, but considering you can read it in about 5 minutes, some may feel like just reading the whole thing in the book shop and then leaving it. That said, I am a fanboy, and therefore, I bought the signed edition of that too…

[drunkymonkey]

Haha, I've just read Lord of the Flies too... and totally loved it. I was familiar with the play but the book is so much better. Such a great book.

 

I also read Animal Farm which is equally brilliant... I love the documentary style narrative and the way that complex political ideas are presented through such a simple and accessible allegory.

 

And at the moment I'm reading The Excorcist (yep, the book of the film) which is surpisingly enjoyable. Recomended to anyone interested in the paranormal.

Animal Farm owned.

You can't go wrong with Communist piggies.

[90SK]

I just finished the book "Double Helix". It’s a terrific science fiction novel by Nancy Werlin. She narrates the story through the thoughts of the main character, and this gives us interesting insight on the story from his perspective. The dialogue is quite deep, and the plot is well fleshed with various twists and side steps, leading to a very intriguing climax. I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the genre.

[Isak]

I finsihed "The technicolor time machine" by Harry Harrison last week. A great book about a guy who travels back in time to make a moive, so he can save a film company. A great, twisted and original book, I really recommend it. 4/5

[Gabez]

I've been reading so many books for my course it hurts. From that list I can recomend Huck Finn and of course anything written by Poe.

 

But I also had time to read 1984 which is an utterly brilliant book that everyone should read.

[scabb]

And then after you've read that, you can listen to "Ninteen Hundred & Eighty Five" by Paul McCartney & Wings, from the album Band on the Run.

[Gabez]

Let's see...

 

Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wyn Jones is a really really great author. This isn't her best book, but it's still very good, and a must read for anyone who enjoyed the film.

 

The first two "Series of Unfortunate Events" books - since these were a Remster Recomended read I had to get them! They are, of course, excellent, and I will be getting the next eleven at some point in the future.

 

The Silent Gondiliers - good and fun. If you're hungry for more Morgenstern after The Princess Bride, then get this.

 

The Republic - it's actually really good!

 

The Man Who Was Thursday (GK Chesterton) - I first came across this in extracts from Deus Ex. The whole thing is online here. Read the first chapter and, if you don't like it, then you clearly have no taste and shouldn't buy the book.

 

At the moment I'm reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods because I heard it was good.

[Joshi]

Just finished the Supernaturalists by Eoin Colfer. Very good book, very much like his other work. It plays with the emotions on the characters a lot, which in turn plays a lot on your own emotions as questions of whether what they're doing has been wrong all along are brought up. It has a very good ending which isn't as sugar coated as it could have been, which is nice and it has a very good and unique story as well.

[Alien426]

The Man Who Was Thursday (GK Chesterton) - I first came across this in extracts from Deus Ex.

i've read that and liked it. i became aware of it through Deus Ex, too. but let me warn you about Last And First Men. that one is mentioned in the game as well (in hong kong i think), but when i started reading it last week i abandoned it after page 42. it wasn't the first time i started it either.

 

i also read Halo: The Flood. its predecessor (The Fall Of Reach) was a lot better, since it told the beginning of the spartans and the events that lead up to the game while this book re-tells the game's story. so there are a lot of firefights described and while Dietz does a pretty good job at keeping those interesting and varied it does get boring by the end. if you'd like to read a book directly based on a game franchise and have been disappointed by Doom and the likes, i do recommend the series so far. there's a third part (First Strike) and you can get them all in a bundle.

[Commander Obi-Wan]

I recently finished reading "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" for the third time. Fantastic book.

[drunkymonkey]

I've been ploughing for Discworld. I think I'm more than half way through the series now.

[Joshi]

I've just finished Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. Very good book andd well worth a read. I haven't read much of his other works and I've heard a lot of mixed feelings about American Gods, but most people are in agreement that Anansi Boys is a much better book. Basic premise, Fat Charlie Nancy (who isn't actually fat, but got the nickname from his father when he was a boy and has never been able to shake it) spent most of his life away from his father after his parents split up at a young age. Now, years later, he was a semi-steady job, a fiancé and a slight nevous disposition. When his father dies, Fat Charlie learns that his father was actually the God of spiders and that he has a brother, aptly named Spider. When Spider comes round for a visit, he manages to completely take over Fat Charlie's life, job and fiancé and to add insult to injury, he does it a lot better than Charlie ever could.

 

It's a wonderuflly humerous book with a good story and characters you can actually get behind. Overall, i give it a 5/5.

[spoon_man]

If you liked Anansi Boys that much you should definitely check out American Gods. It's a great novel, one I could really sink my teeth into...

 

I recently finished Earth Abides by George R. Stewart and that blew me away.

[Joshi]

Actually, between the time of me writing that review and now, I have in fact read American Gods, and Neverwhere. I prefered Neverwhere, but American Gods was definately good.

[spoon_man]

Oh hey...that was posted over a year ago. I guess the forum isn't as bustling with activity as it used to be.

[Thrik]

Indeed.