Read any good books lately?

[Gabez]

Other books I have read recently include Pride and Prejudice - I know that's considered a girl's book, but I love the way Jane Austen paints her characters. Another book I recently read and greatly enjoyed, is The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Holmes and Watson are a perfect duo, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a master of suspense. I'm definitely going to read the other Sherlock Holmes collections some time in the future.

 

And all for free, too.

One of the things I'm most ashamed about is how I didn't read Austen until I was 18 because I thought she was a "womanly" writer (presumably because she's a woman). But Austen is great. She captures characters, like you said, very well. You get a real picture of society -- and it's all still so relevant. Austen doesn't date at all. Though I think I prefer George Eliot.

 

Haven't read Doyle, but I want to. I think he'd be a good one for me to listen to on audio book.

 

Do you print off the texts, Haggis, or do you read them off a screen? Or a PDA? I don't think I'd be able to do any of these -- but I make good use of my university library.

[Samnmax221]

So suddenly discussion of books is back on or something. Well yah, if we're talking recently say last eight months I've done several.

 

His Dark Materials - Phillip Pullman

Read Golden Compass way back in 1996 when I got it for Christmas, I'm sure I had Subtle Knife out of the library at some point but my pattern back then was to check out around fifteen books at a time and boohoo if I forget to get to one of them. When I realized the film would be coming out (Lets say start of 2007), I got the other two books in hardcover read the entire series through in about four days, during which nobody thankfully came around to distract me as I'd just had my wisdom teeth yanked out. I didn't actually get out to see the film though and I heard they'd ****ed it up slightly which is quite disheartening.

 

Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie

Actually started back at the start of 2007 but wasn't finished until sometime in August due to several hiatus's. Excellent story of India's independence and the aftermath told through magic realism.

 

Step across this Line - Salman Rushdie

Collected Nonfiction 1992-2002. Good stuff was bought for a trip to Florida and finished during breaks at work.

 

Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon

Attempted to read but had a hard time concentrating with all my ****ing coworkers jabbering around me. I'll probably make another attempt to read some time this year.

 

Sex and Repression in Savage Society - Bronislaw Malinowski

I had more success reading a nonfiction anthropological piece despite coworkers depositing queries every five minutes in regards to if dix had come up yet. Good stuff.

 

Old Man's War - John Scalzi

Good Sci-fi, I don't really feel like giving a synopsis.

 

The Ghost Brigades - John Scalzi

Sequel to the above, also good. There is a third book thats been out since sometime last year but the paper back hasn't come out yet and my bookshelf would look silly if I had a great big hardcover next to the other two which I have in paperback.

 

Grimus - Salman Rushdie

Attempted reading but was bored out of my mind. Note this is Rushdie's first novel and he hadn't quite developed his style yet. I'll probably go back and finish it for ****s and giggles, even though it put me in one hell of a rut.

 

Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson

The book to snap my out of the rut that Grimus put me into. It didn't take long for me to decide that Stephenson is a genius and that I must read everything he ever wrote.

 

The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson

Hinted at as the sequel to Snow Crash, also excellent.

 

The Dogs of War - Frederick Forsyth

At some point or another I acquired an interest in nation theft, I can't say why. It was great and I've got a few more Forsyth books sitting around that I'll have to get to.

 

Zodiac - Neal Stephenson

Stephenson's second Novel, a thriller with ecology central to the plot. I'm not sure what happened with this one but I got snapped into overdrive somehow and finished it in about four days (While at work). Really excellent and funny.

 

IN PROGRESS:

Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson

More thriller than Sci-fi with elements of historical fiction/alternative history (All how you look at it really), focussed on the subjects of information warfare and cryptology.

 

Newton's Cannon: Book one of the age of Unreason Steampunk, alternative history set in the early 1700's in a world where the alchemy that many in the time believed in turns out to be real.

 

Looking forward to this year:

The Enchantress of Florence - Salman Rushdie

Scheduled for a June release in the US, but I'm such a bastard that I'll probably have it imported in April.

 

Once Upon a Time in the North - Phillip Pullman

Second small companion novella to His Dark Materials.

 

Anathem - Neal Stephenson

After doing historical fiction/alternative history stuff for several years Stephenson is supposedly going back to sci-fi.

[Haggis]

Do you print off the texts, Haggis, or do you read them off a screen? Or a PDA? I don't think I'd be able to do any of these -- but I make good use of my university library.

I read them on a PDA, in bed, almost every night before I go to sleep. I find that that way, I'm able to read a lot more than I would if I just read print books, because during the day I do a lot of other stuff, and I just ignore my books most of the time.

[Gabez]

A PDA in bed sounds like quite a good way, actually. Though I love the feel and smell of real books far too much.

 

Samnmax: I love Philip Pullman -- and I'm looking forward to Once Upon a Time in the North as well. I'd recommend all of Pullman's books (especially clockwork which is small & overlooked & perfect). The film was good -- they didn't mess it up -- though it wasn't perfect. But they might not make the sequels because it didn't do well in America. It's a shame because I really want to see the sequels as films (the Lyra is perfect). I've heard "I didn't see it because I heard that they were rubbish" from other people as well, which is a shame. If you liked the books go see the film and make up your own mind! The film is definitely worth seeing. And it's better than most other films.

[Samnmax221]

I kept a really close eye the movie all of last year but December turned into such a busy month (****ing retail, at ****ing night, glad thats over with) that I didn't have time to get out and see it after all that anticipation.

[Kroms]

fight club is probably my favorite book of all time with anything by william s. burroughs a close second

 

I've yet to read him. Which to start with?

 

Haven't read Doyle, but I want to

 

Just go get The Complete Sherlock Holmes, they're fantastic.

[Jvstice]

Doyle's The Lost World was pretty cool too.

[DeadYorick]

Ive been reading Stephen King mostly now. I am rereading The Running Man and I must say it is getting better everytime I read it

[urluckyday]

"Options" by Fake Steve Jobs is actually pretty good...

 

"Gates: How Microsoft's Mogul Reinvented an Industry-and Made Himself the Richest Man in America"

Is an excellent in-depth view on the rise of Bill Gates. Both good books that any tech-lover should enjoy.

[CHOP-E]

I've yet to read him. Which to start with?

 

 

 

Just go get The Complete Sherlock Holmes, they're fantastic.

 

You should probably start with Junky, because it gives a lot of his background and that'll make the rest of his work make more sense.

[DeadYorick]

I am reading Robinson Cruiseo by Daniel Defoe and it is getting pretty interesting. Many of the books from the 1600s were good classics that revolutionized fiction.

[Kroms]

You should probably start with Junky, because it gives a lot of his background and that'll make the rest of his work make more sense.

 

Will do.

 

I am reading Robinson Cruiseo by Daniel Defoe and it is getting pretty interesting.

 

I wonder if you'll spot the hilarious continuity error.

[CHOP-E]

I just finished re-reading "choke" by chuck palahniuk and i forgot how awesome that book is.

It's about a med. school drop out who pretends to choke on food in hopes that the people who save him will feel responcible for his life and send him money. No matter how improbable it may seem it actually works. Anyways he uses this and other small cons to suport his lunatic mother. All n' all pretty friggin' awesome book.

[Kroms]

I read Fight Club and loved it, but I'm worried that all of his books will follow that same formula. I hate it when someone resorts to repeating themselves. It gets boring, unless it's clever, like how The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings share characters, have the same world, have the same idea for a story, and yet are completely, utterly, and brilliantly different.

[elTee]

Kroms, nice to meet you - always good when a new person joins the staff!

 

I know what you mean about Palahniuk. I read 'Fight Club' and 'Survivor' and thought they were great, but he seems to be playing that transgressive banjo a bit too much. But I guess I should read his other books before moaning about his single trick.

[Remi]

Try his latest, "Rant," it's pretty ****ing great.

[Kroms]

Kroms, nice to meet you - always good when a new person joins the staff!

 

Hi! The pleasure is all mine!

 

I know what you mean about Palahniuk. I read 'Fight Club' and 'Survivor' and thought they were great, but he seems to be playing that transgressive banjo a bit too much. But I guess I should read his other books before moaning about his single trick.

 

Yeah, it's what bothered me the most, the same cow being milked, if you will. Which is odd, because the smartest person I know is a huge fan of all his works. I'm talking someone who'd have Einstein scribbling notes. I don't get it: doesn't it become boring after a while?

 

Try his latest, "Rant," it's pretty ****ing great

 

Soon. Right now I'm in the middle of this 700-pager I won't name because of how bad it is. Actually, wait, I will: No-one ever read The Lives of John Lennon: so, so bad.

[CHOP-E]

I know what you mean about Palahniuk. I read 'Fight Club' and 'Survivor' and thought they were great, but he seems to be playing that transgressive banjo a bit too much. But I guess I should read his other books before moaning about his single trick.

 

I've read alot of his stuff and it is all that same jumpy, overly graphic style that Fight Club is in. However, it's still entertaing for me to read no matter how repetative. but if his next book comes out with a character named Dyler Turdon, and I don't think it's far off, I'm giving up.

[urluckyday]

Just started reading "Bussiness @ the speed of light" by Bill Gates. It's actually pretty in-depth, and I enjoy it. Not everyone's cup of tea, but for any Bill Gates fan.

[CHOP-E]

I got assigned to read that book "The Kite Runner" for my english class, and to my surprise it's not bad. Which is a first, considering my school is well, we'll call it 'behinde the times'.

[Samnmax221]

Finished

Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson

Reacquired immediately after I graduated from Basic training and hastily finished. I crammed through the last 300 pages in about a week and missed out on a lot of badly needed sleep, but it was worth it.

 

Newton's Cannon: Book one of the age of Unreason - Gregory Keyes

Mailed down to me a week and a half ago, I finished it over 2 days, during which I should have been studying (Still did excellently on that block test but nearly died of stress the night before.

[Sven_Q45]

On Thuesday I bought Star Wars Republic Commando 3 and a new book about the 4th Indy movie.

And two dictionaries: spanish and japanese

[Kroms]

Books I read this summer:

 

- Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind, translated by

 

Every year I read one book that manages to make me lower my expectations and then sucker-punch me a few on the nose. This was that book. Seductive, passionate, delicious, glorious, magnificent, a triumph, and it will cause you to lean against the wall and smell and try to catch your breath as it drowns you. Truly, truly wonderful. 10/10. (PS: it might offend the religious, but I'm in that group and I was OK.)

 

- The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie.

 

I promised myself I'd read all of Agatha Christie's work by the time I was thirty. This is her first, and is pretty good, with the exception of one silly red herring. I read it in a day. Nothing like a good mystery novel. Oh, yeah, bet you a dollar you won't guess the murderer. 8/10.

 

- The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

 

Fun, if a little silly. The only part that really works is the actual rape and murder at the book's beginning, and a little bit of that murder's consequences. The rest is just a slightly more literate version of a trashy romance novel. It's easy to see why it got so much acclaim - that our beloved dead are in a (controversially) better place. Didn't really click for me, though, even if that IS what I believe in. 6/10.

 

- The Giver by Lois Lowry

 

Thanks to my sister for giving me this. What can I say? Lowry uses a book's limitations (no sight, no sound) to her advantage and does it well. The story itself concerns a boy who gets ready to be assigned his "role" in a dystopia unlike someone like Philip Dick would write. I liked it, even if it is for children. It lacks depth, but for some reason that's OK. 8/10.

 

- The Holcroft Covenant by Robert Ludlum

 

Typical Ludlum: great plot, good story but 2D characters (or, more specifically, characters-that-never-change-or-fall-in-love-in-3-days). The action is amazing though, and it's definitely an interesting, but also entertaining, read. 8/10.

[Da_man]

I recently read Term Limits by Vince Flynn. It's a really intriguing novel. The one I'm reading is Called Nuclear Family Vacation which is a history of nuclear facilities around the world, which is pretty interesting.

[s-island]

Good, now go read "And Then There Were None" and try to guess the solution.