what book is in your hands right this second?
Wed, 04/30/2008 - 9:03pm — TheGrayCrayon
ITT i want to hear what your reading. Why your reading it. Would you recomend it to others. (ok in all honesty i'm just using this as an excuse to find out new authors i'm a book whore) I'll start.
Book: ISLAND
Author: Richard Laymon
Genre: Splatterpunk (wiki it if you don't know what that means)
Favorite line so far(optional): Today the yacht exploded. *its the first line in the book and if thats not a hook i don't know what is.
Would you recomend it?: Several people on an pleasure cruise become stranded when their yacht explodes. then as they start to try to figure out whats going on someone starts killing the men. Laymon is who Stephen King and Dean Koontz read when they want to be scared. warning this is splatterpunk meaning anyone can get killed....HORRIBLY......and there are quite a few parts which will upset you to no end (ie bad things happening to good people.) but thats how Laymon writes. He writes to provoke a reaction. Sometimes that reaction is supposed to be recoiling in horror going "NO ONE CAN BE THAT HEARTLESS AND INHUMAN" also the book has a lot of humor in it.
So would i recomend it? Yes... if your looking for an author that will scare you and don't mind stuff thats (NSFW).
__________________
- Outside of a dog, a book is mans best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. ~Groucho Marx
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Right this second
there is no book in my hands, cuz I'm typing.
Done with my smart-ass moment.
Book: A Feast for Crows
Author: George R.R. Martin
Genre: Fantasy
Would you recommend it?: Yes. This is the fourth book in the series 'A song of Ice and Fire.' I'm not entirely sure what pulled me into the series; the intrigue at court? The Others? The multiple, complex storylines? I'm not sure, I just know I'm hooked.
Dislike: A lot of people that you become attached to--you know, those that you think are the heroes of the story, that can't possibly die? Some of 'em bite the dust.
Other webnovels I'm reading:
No Man an Island
Tales of MU (along with everything else AE writes.)
Superstition
The Mutants
Rats!
You got to it first! A Song of Ice and Fire is one of my favorite series of all time, right up there with Harry Potter. I have A Storm of Swords and A Feast For Crows here with me, and I'll be bringing the first two back with me after summer's over.
Is A Dance of Dragons due out any time soon, or shall we continue shaking our fists in Martin's general direction?
- BCT
I would NOT recommend A Song
I would NOT recommend A Song of Fire and Ice to anyone! There's already too many people with whom I am competing for the chance to viciously slay Martin for torturing us all with how long it takes him to produce more books. And even worse, my favourite character made no appearance at all in Feast for Crows because of how he split the book into two!
Do not start reading this story, it's incredibly awesome, but once you finish it, you'll just be left in a homicidal rage, wanting to lock Martin up in your cellar and refuse to feed him unless he produces 50 pages a day!
and here I thought
you absolutely hated it.
The above is why I refuse to read the Wheel of Time series. I started Song when there were 4 books out, and haven't finished a Feast for Crows yet, so I'm not yet ready to lock Martin away.
I do agree with the lack of favorite characters in a Feast for Crows, though.
AHH
I love ASOIAF, except for the fact that GRRM leads you into loving his story, his plot, and his characters, and then dawdles between books for about two to three years. Ah, well. I can't hope to understand the Ways of Author, so I won't complain (too much).
ASOIAF is great if you don't mind waiting a really long time to see what happens to your favorite character, and then find out they die, and then get a veryslight hint they MIGHT be alive, and then... have to wait till the book AFTER this one to find out if they're alive. DX
And I just typed this comment nine times, because this computer is craptastic.
| industrial art as applied to peace. |
apart from this one?
I'm on a Georgette Heyer binge courtesy of A, and contemplating the stack of Gaiman that the Crayon lobbed at me through the mail slot. I spose I'm favoring the Heyer because I find it fits so nicely with what I'm doing here, and Gaiman is so good I find it depressing sometimes ("I'll never write a hundredth as well! Oh anguish! Oh sorrow! Gimme that Cadbury fruit an' nut bar!"). Plus also I can pick up and put down the Heyers easily and Gaiman not so much. When I have a few chapters in reserve then I'll sit down with a box of apples and a pot of tea and do a proper read of the Gaiman.
Currently I'm working on "The Black Moth," a Heyer set in the mid-late 18th century, not sure of the actual date. Cracking and silly and fun all at once, with wonderful description and word play.
MeiLin Miranda • Professional Daydreamer
yea..buh..wah...
but..but...but...its GIAMAN.........but dammit i see your point. You really have to have time dedicated to sit down and work through one of his books (cuz what a joy that is
) and just so you know i'm not stopping till your collection is as complete as mine. its just wrong that you don't have these books. but as to the doubt don't kid yourself. i look at myself all the time and say if only i had HALF his talent.....no scratch that why would i want only half....that would be like saying Mr.Gaiman I'm content producing work half as good as your genius. I wish i had all of your writing ability Mr. Gaiman. (This conversation goes on for a few hours more in my head in which i devour Mr. Gaimans magical writing brain and feel very remorseful about it untill i start producing works of genius that aren't full of gramatical errors and run on sentences. in the end i give him his brain back after getting all the ideas that clutter my head out onto paper and make oodles of money and fans. if your going to dream. i say dream big.) So your not the only one with that feeling.
I swear I'm not a homicidal maniac.
- Outside of a dog, a book is mans best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. ~Groucho Marx
you're starting
to make me wonder about that homicidal maniac thing, with all the evil laughter and now this??
Scary, man.
Though at least you give his brain back in the end, I guess.
Mmm, fiction....
Speaking of semi-morbid Gaimony-goodness, who is already ravenous for the Graveyard Book, coming out this fall? I know I am. I'm still wondering how to speed up the calendar so it's release will come sooner.
It's a re-read for me...
Book: Winter's Heart
Author: Robert Jordan
Genre: Fantasy
Would I recommend it? Hell yes.
It's book 9 in Jordan's "Wheel of Time" saga. I've read and re-read these books many times, and they never lose their magic. I'm hopeful that Book 12 (when it arrives) will finish things the way Jordan would have wanted!
I also just started "Sushi for Beginners" by Marion Keyes - I tend to always have some kind of "chick book" on the go
. Even if it's not particularly light-hearted in terms of subject matter, a break from pure fantasy can be nice!
It was a good series Which
It was a good series
Which one's your favorite?
Nachos... XD
Just finished
Book: American Gods
Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: Ummm... Delicious Gaimany twistyness (dark fantasy for lack of better term)
Would I recommend it? Definitely
I just found this line on Amazon when I was trying to figure out what genre this book was...
"American Gods is Neil Gaiman's best and most ambitious novel yet, a scary, strange, and hallucinogenic road-trip story wrapped around a deep examination of the American spirit."
Anyone who's read some of Gaiman's work knows the twists and turns he can take you down. For me, one of the most enjoyable parts was reading the portrayal of the different avatars, and trying to figure out who some of them were on my own before it was revealed.
Well, I'm mainly reading
Well, I'm mainly reading casebooks and hornbooks, but for my fun stuff:
Book: In Defense of Food
Author: Michael Pollan
Genre: non-fiction
So far, I like it. Taking it all with a grain of salt, but he makes good points, and hte advice would be helpful to most people here in the US
Book: Gulliver's Travels
Fun, light, easy to read on the commute to school. And its a classic, which is always a plus.
I've got a few other things started, but those two are the main ones my fun time will get... though even they are on hold a bit till finals are done.
Law school is a pain in the
Law school is a pain in the ass.
I'm with you...until noon, Eastern, tomorrow.
It's supposed to be a challenge, that's why they call it a shortcut. If it was easy it would just be the way.
--Road Trip
I lied. Finished early.
I lied. Finished early.
It's supposed to be a challenge, that's why they call it a shortcut. If it was easy it would just be the way.
--Road Trip
Ugh, lucky. My first exam
Ugh, lucky. My first exam isn't even til Monday... But today is all about reading Glannon's e&e and Chemerinsky and outlining until I cry.
1L?
1L?
It's supposed to be a challenge, that's why they call it a shortcut. If it was easy it would just be the way.
--Road Trip
Yup. And... I think I still
Yup. And... I think I still like it. It hasn't killed me, at least.
I just wrapped up 2L. If your
I just wrapped up 2L.
If your school's like mine...next year will be worse...*ulp*
It's supposed to be a challenge, that's why they call it a shortcut. If it was easy it would just be the way.
--Road Trip
Well that's... encouraging.
Well that's... encouraging. :-/ I'm just hoping that I can make it through interview season alive.
What are you doing this summer? Firm? Government? PI?
prosecution. It's my dream
prosecution.
It's my dream job.
Great hours, government benefits (I mean, after I pass the bar), no psycho clients, the ultimate responsibility is to justice, not to some individual . . . .
Plus, it's litigation-more, and research/writing-less.
It's supposed to be a challenge, that's why they call it a shortcut. If it was easy it would just be the way.
--Road Trip
by the by--what are you doing
by the by--what are you doing for the summer?
It's supposed to be a challenge, that's why they call it a shortcut. If it was easy it would just be the way.
--Road Trip
Ha... I'm doing public
Ha... I'm doing public defense work. So it looks like we're on opposite sides of the system
It's a worthy job--I couldn't
It's a worthy job--I couldn't do it, but I respect you for it...
as long as you're not THAT attorney.
It's supposed to be a challenge, that's why they call it a shortcut. If it was easy it would just be the way.
--Road Trip
New book...well new time reading it anyway.
Book: Interworld
Author: Neil Gaiman and Micheal Reaves.
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy/AWESOME
Best line in the book: "This is a work of fiction. But given an infinite number of possible universes it must be true in one of them. And given it must be true in one of them it follows it must be true in all of them. So maybe its not as fictional as we thought." the intro before the book. hehehehehe
Would i recomend this book: YES! YES! a thousand times yes. just re-bought it in paperback so i don't wear out my nice hardback edition. Its about a boy named Joey Harker. Or maybe its about a lot of boys and girls almost named Joey Harker. Or maybe its about the fate of all possible existences struggling between forces of Magic and forces of Science. Target audience is probably teen to young adult but anyone who's a Gaiman fan will love this book. The pacing is crisp and every chapter leaves you on the edge of your seat. I swear one chapter in the book has me in tears (yes good writing has that effect on me....I cry at sad movies too, I'm such a wuss.) every time i read it. The only thing i didn't like about the book was that it ended. God i hope he continues it as a series of some sort.
- Outside of a dog, a book is mans best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. ~Groucho Marx
I'm not reading it (them)
I'm not reading it (them) right now, but I just got a copy back from a friend.
The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay is a trilogy--trite, I know. Kay takes many of the familiar elements of fantasy and weaves a spectacular tale of his own. He borrows liberally from Tolkien (and elsewhere), and his borrowing is aided by his own work helping Christopher Tolkien with the preparation of the Silmarillion for publication.
It is the tale of the war between good and evil, and of individuals caught in the way. I hesitate to spoil the plot by sharing overmuch, but the tapestry is intricate, the characters (I find) believable, if occasionally over-the-top.
They're the only books I have cried over in years upon years--since childhood. They are artfully written, carefully crafted, and delightful to read. They get my fullest endorsement.
It's supposed to be a challenge, that's why they call it a shortcut. If it was easy it would just be the way.
--Road Trip
Have read Tigana, by Kay, and
Have read Tigana, by Kay, and enjoyed muchly. I have a tendency not to enjoy endings, but that managed to not be true for Tigana. Have heard the Fionavar Tapestry unfavorably compared, but I may try it anyway.
Fionavar is more
Fionavar is more derivative.
However, that "derivative" nature is intentional.
I really liked Fionavar--not that I didn't also enjoy Tigana...
It's supposed to be a challenge, that's why they call it a shortcut. If it was easy it would just be the way.
--Road Trip
I rarely have just one
Book: Winter Solstice
Author: Rosamunde Pilcher
Genre: Romance
Best line in the book: Not done yet, and her writing doesn't lend itself to one liners, really. Here's a bit I really appreciated though (warning, spoiler): "And I cannot believe in a God who would take Francesa away from me. I sent the vicar home. He departed, I think, in some umbrage."
Would I recomend this book: Absofrigginlutely. I love authors like Pilcher and M.C. Eaton who create crusty characters with flaws and make you love them. This is gradually introducing a fascinating array of characters that will eventually meet up in the north of Scotland and some wackiness is sure to ensue, along with healing and love, themes that are personal favorites of mine, having been healed by love myself.
Book: Three Cups of Tea
Author: Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
Genre: biography, sort of
Best line in the book: "When Mortenson, with his rapidly improving Urdu, interrupted the speculation to tell them he was American, the crowd looked at his sweat-soaked and dirt-grimed shalwar, at his smudged and oily skin, and several men told him they didn't think so."
Would I recomend this book: Yes, yes, yes. I find Mortenson is a fascinating character, and he is that, a character. The singlemindedness and dogged perserverace that made him a mountain climber is a good personality trait when trying to build a school in one of the most remote areas of the world. I'm not quite halfway done and I'm caught up.
Heterosexuality is not normal, it's just common. --Dorothy Parker
Depressing, Depressing, Depressing
Book: The Art of Electronics, 2nd Ed.
Author: Horowitz and Hill (nobody I know even bothers with their first names, and they are almost always mentioned as a pair... I would love to be eponymous some day, but being dragged into a linguistic marriage with somebody else seems a bit confining)
Genre: Bible of Electrical Engineering
Favorite line so far(optional): "We can dispense with the mathematics here..."
Would you recomend it?: Yes, but only if you have some time to spend trying to learn how things work.
Okay, that was a little facetious. I haven't allowed myself to sit down with a novel in months (although I indulge my need for story and fiction here) but I do have books to recommend, I suppose.
Book: A Canticle for Leibowitz
Author: Walter M. Miller
Genre: Post-apocalyptic
Recommended?: Very much so. I won't say much to recommend it, because I think recommendations are only useful to the extent that you know the tastes of the recommender, and nobody here will know me all that much better for hearing me gush about this book.
But really. GUSHING. I would. You would get tired of reading me rave. And you'd be just as likely to try this book as you were before I typed all that.
Also, forgive the quality of this posts. I am in some form of mental akjfdbasecdf at the moment.
Wow, that takes me back
I think I read that first one, or something very much like it, while taking a class in high school. It wasn't the text book I was supposed to be reading, but hey, that class had nothing to teach me, so why not learn where I could?
Aww, you don't know a good book when it hits you in the head }:)
There's a copy of Horowitz and Hill on my bookshelf, too. It's the only EE book I own, but it's also the only one I need
It's a brand new me, I got no remorse, now the water's rising but I know the course. I'm gonna shock the world, gonna show Bad Horse, it's a brand new day.
Hrmphmrmphrm?
I must admit to confusion as to the title of your post.
Horowitz and Hill is an excellent book, I'd never deny it.
But it is depressing to think I've read so little else recently.
And the recommendation was bit facetious.
Of course
Of course it was facetious...I just chose to pick it up and run with it
One reason you might not recognize Horowitz and Hill if it hit you in the head is because if it hit with any velocity you might not be conscious 
But in my book, good books are not depressing. At least...not unless the author intends them to be.
**disclaimer: Not everything I write should be taken seriously**
It's a brand new me, I got no remorse, now the water's rising but I know the course. I'm gonna shock the world, gonna show Bad Horse, it's a brand new day.
OK, Just finished up
OK, Just finished up rereading one series, and while waiting for some new books I'm ravenous for, I am about to pick up another series I've had and read before. I'll use what I'll be reading in the very near future.
Book(s): The DeathGate Cycle, 7 books starting with Dragon Wing
Author: Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Genre: Fantasy
Recomendation: Oh hell heah. Great creative pair, writing their own worlds. technicaly post-apoctalyptic, world split into 5 or 6 different peices, depending on how you see it, and gone back to a magical feudal life. And our protagonist, well whats not to love about a heartless bastard who can, unashamed, cause mayhem and madness in the areas he travels to pave the way for his conquering race. Anti-Heros are almost always excelent characters, especialy when you can see why they think that way. And I am not kidding about that heartless remark, read it for yourself. Find these books and read them when you have the chance.
I'm all out of books to read
I'm all out of books to read at the moment, and no idea what to start on, since the authors I've been reading who are still alive don't write fast enough. If anyone wants to recommend anything, the following are some example authors who, as of Spring Break, haven't written a book I haven't read:
Douglas Adams
David Eddings
Neil Gaiman
Robert A. Heinlein <- took me forever to track down some of his works
Brian Herbert
Frank Herbert
Anne McCaffrey
Terry Pratchett
John Varley
Timothy Zahn
Similar tastes
Given that many of my favoriate authors are on that list, I figure suggesting a few that arent but are in similar taste might be the thing. Orson Scott Carde and Mercedes Lackey both fit in that mould of the authors you have been listing. And if you can find them, I'd recomend Micheal Stackpoole's original works (though those written in the star wars and battletech universes are good too, an author always seems to shine more in their own realities.) Tamora Peirce writes good works, though targeted at a younger audience. As my mind is not yet fully awake, that is as much as I can think of clearly.
Mmhmm
I very much agree that authors do seem to really show off their abilities far better when writing purely original material. Much as I feel that Zahn's Star Wars novels are on a level far above most everything else written for the galaxy far, far away, his best work is pieces like his Conqueror's Trilogy. I'll try looking into Lackey and Stackpoole's original works, I tried Card's Ender saga about a decade ago and just didn't get into it.
Zahn
I'm actually reading the Conqueror trilogy right now.
Annd we seem to have similar tastes in books (I've read almost all of the authors mentioned above!) and I would recommend...
John Scalzi
Elizabeth Moon
Michael Williamson's 'Freehold'
David Weber
Lois McMaster Bujold
aand...
Chris D'Lacey
I'm sure I will think of more as I go through my bookcases.
Egad, most of the above are Baen books....
Ooh... Weber is the only name
Ooh... Weber is the only name there I even recognize! I suspect I'm going to be spending a very long time at Powell's when I get back to Portland after this term ends. Hopefully I'll be able to really get into at least one of those authors, because I'm anticipating the possibility of a lot of travel this summer, and will need lots of books for on the plane if so. (Note: No recommending books with any metal or liquid in them.
)
Sidenote: Out of a weird cosmic coincidence, Zahn, who is probably my favourite author, has the same birthday as me.
airplane rides, hmmm
I'd start you on Freehold (by Williamson) since that's an almost 700 page book and might by accident last you through the ride.
After that I'd go with Armageddon Reef, by Weber.
And then anything by Bujold.
I read too much. ><
We're rather Baen-heavy here too
In fact, Sir went into mourning when Jim Baen died.
MeiLin Miranda • Professional Daydreamer
-sadness-
I take solace in the fact that his company lives on. I only hope it doesn't go downhill.
I've started on "Neverwhere"
One of TGC's gifties, sweet boy that he is. Speaking of whom, has anyone heard from him/seen him around? I know he's swamped with work, but he usually pops in to say "Gah, I'm swamped with work!"
MeiLin Miranda • Professional Daydreamer
Ooh, that was a really good
Ooh, that was a really good one! First book I read after discovering Gaiman via Good Omens!
GAH!
I'm swamped with life! in all its facets. caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place.
*edit* dammit this was supposed to be a reply to meilins post............i've said it once before and i'll say it again...i r bad at the interwubs.
- Outside of a dog, a book is mans best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. ~Groucho Marx
no, you did it right
It's just that someone else replied first. I'm glad you're more or less here, in any event, even if scattered to the winds!
MeiLin Miranda • Professional Daydreamer
Ahhhh....I see said the blind man.
i thought i had failed to post correctly but now i see i was mistaken. I failed at failing. Yeah i don't want to drop completely off the radar sorry if i made you worry.
- Outside of a dog, a book is mans best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. ~Groucho Marx
WB
Glad to see your back.
"Only the weak blame parents, their race, their times, their lack of good fortunes or the quirks of fate. Everyone has within them the power to say, "This I am today, that I shall become tomorrow." The wish, however, must be implemented by deeds."
............
ignore this....it double posted for some reason.
- Outside of a dog, a book is mans best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. ~Groucho Marx
What room?
Um I'm pretty bad about reading just one book. I normally have two or three I'm reading depending on what room I'm in.
Book1: Up Country
By: Nelson DeMille
Genre: Mystery/Military (not really sure was given to me from a co-worker)
Room: Computer room
Favorite part: "I'm not. I'm just concerned that he might try to kill me again."
"He never tried to kill you, Paul."
"I must have misinterpreted his reason for pointing a loaded pistol at me."
Would you recomend it?: I'd have to say yes though I'm only about a third into the book. It takes a little time to lay groundwork but the overall story is quite enjoyable.
Book2:Without Remorse
By: Tom Clancy
Genre: Fiction
Room: Bedroom (I've read it enough that I can go to sleep without wondering whats going to happen next.)
No favorite line cause I love the whole book.
Would You recomend it? Yes yes yes! I have to admit that Tom Clancy is one of my favorite authors if you like military novels you should try a Clancy book. That being said I've read Without Remorse many times. It focuses on one person who wages his own personal war of vengance on a local drug ring and along the way winds up with the CIA.
Book3: The Ferguson Rifle
By: Louis L'Amour
Genre: Western fiction
Room: Err....."The Office"
Whenever I need a quick read I grab a L'Amour book. While I enjoy reading his works I've also found them to be short reads because they very rarely are over 200 pages. Classic to L'Amour The Ferguson Rifle covers the adventures of one man/group through the wilderness of the new world.
Sadly only the Nelson DeMille book is new to me and even its a few years old.
"Only the weak blame parents, their race, their times, their lack of good fortunes or the quirks of fate. Everyone has within them the power to say, "This I am today, that I shall become tomorrow." The wish, however, must be implemented by deeds."
I do the same thing
But I think of it as "tables." In the TV room, I've got "Good Omens" going. Here at da big chair I've got "Neverwhere." Upstairs in the bedroom it's the Lord Darcy collection from Baen. And somewhere floating around is a Heyer called "Regency Buck."
MeiLin Miranda • Professional Daydreamer
heh, me too
In the bedroom I've got Zahn with conqueror's pride
Guest room (which has hubby's computer) is Philippa Gregory with 'The Constant Princess.' In the car I've got Tree Shepherd's Daughter (dunno who that one's by.)
I read too much
The books I read never seem to last long enough for something like that. But I'm a very fast reader. I managed to read one entire 400 page novel on the trip down here after Spring Break and get started on a second, and it was only about a 270 mile trip. The closest I have to this is nonfiction, which I tend to read at a much slower pace, rather than cover-to-cover. So I'll have one book that I keep in my car to read when waiting on someone I'm picking up, one at my workstation to read while waiting for paint to dry, etc. But I only do that at my parents', down here I only ever do it with a single book at a time, and it's my, 'I showed up 20 minutes early for class... guess I should read or something' book. But I've worked my way through those even now.
Last week of finals
...and I'm frantically trying to finish papers. On the current list of books that I'm reading, and for the most part writing papers about...
The Klingon Dictionary. This is for my intro phonology class (yay linguistics minor!); I'm writing a paper about the stress pattens of tlhIngan (the Klingon language, spelled in such). Yes, I'm a Trekkie. I look very cute as Major Kira, as well.
Diesel Fuel by Pat Califia; Loose End by Ivan E. Coyote. Queer lit, poetry and vignettes respectively. Writing a paper on the use of poetic language in these for my Linguistics & Literature class.
The Wake Forest Book of Irish Women's Poetry. Writing a paper on Medbh McGuckian's poetry for my Irish Female Imagination class. It's subliminally sexy! I've got to do a second essay on another section of this book, but I need to talk with my professor first.
The Codex Borbonicus; Codex Espangliensis. For my Native American Pictorial Literature class. Writing a paper mostly on the latter, with references to the former. It's a single-sheet artwork that incorporates the barely-post-Columbian CB and other codices as well as more modern art (Superman and Mickey Mouse, for example) to comment on social conditions in present-day Mexico at both local and global levels.
"Loneliness is not a problem. Loneliness is nothing to be solved." -Pema Chödrön
Not reading a book at the
Not reading a book at the moment. I finished off all the books I own already and haven't been to the store in a while. That or wait till I can't remember the books I own, but that takes a while.
I would recomment Mercedes Lackey as she writes some nice fantasy books. Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality is another good set I would recommend as well.
Heehee, I was just thinking
Heehee, I was just thinking that I want to reread Incarnations of Immortality.
"Loneliness is not a problem. Loneliness is nothing to be solved." -Pema Chödrön
Anthony
I preferred the Adept series. Had a hard time getting into incarnation of immortality. Then again, I was 14.
The Mode series was pretty good, too.
Books
Just finished: A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again from David Foster Wallace. It's a collection of essays, the titular one being about a 7-day cruise he took and reviewed for a magazine.
Just started: The God Delusion from Richard Dawkins. It's a whimsical tale of self discovery set against the backdrop of a dwarf piano tuner working in a Turkish lesbian sex cult.
In queue on my bookshelf: A Team of Rivals from Doris Kearns Goodwin, Homo Politicus from Dana Milbank, and Armageddon In Retrospect from Vonnegut. I am anxiously awaiting Sarah Vowell's The Wordy Shipmates. If there is a non-fiction writer that makes me squee, it's her. I luuurve potty-mouthed nerd girls. It's my kink, I guess.
Team of Rivals
I got through the first quarter before I had to give it back to the person I borrowed it from. You'll like it.
MeiLin Miranda • Professional Daydreamer
A quarter?
You only had another 500 or so pages to go...
Is it wrong to be intimidated by a book that's notes and index section is 155 pages? I figure The God Delusion should help train my attention span before I tackle it.
Vowell
Edited, b/c that sounded a bit creepy, although violet appears to be of age in that pic.
Reading now--just started
I just cracked a borrowed copy of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. So far, I'm hooked pretty good.
It's phenomenally well-reviewed.
Gaiman loved it, among others.
It's supposed to be a challenge, that's why they call it a shortcut. If it was easy it would just be the way.
--Road Trip
Finished Winter Solstice
Didn't get wacky like I thought it would (if you read too many Heyer books with wacky endings you get so you're expecting them everywhere). But it had several surprises (for me) and was a lovely read. And it reinforced my utter and complete longing to live in Scotland.
I've started:
Book: All I Did Was Ask
Author: Terry Gross
Genre: Non-Fiction Anthology of Radio Interviews--what genre is that, exactly?
Favorite line so far: In her interview, Mary Karr says, "I've often said a dysfunctional family is a family with more than one person in it."
Do I recomend it?: If you're a fan of NPR's Fresh Air you'll love it. If your a fan of any of the artists she interviews, you'll probably like it. If you could care less about Carol Shields, John Updike, Ann Bannon, Conan O'Brien, et all (there's about fourty different artists, actors, musicians, and writers interviewed) then take a pass.
Still reading Three Cups of Tea. It's still very good. It took Greg three years to build one school in the mountains of Afghanistan. It took three months to build the next three. It's picking up steam!
Mt. Toberead, as Meilin calls it, is pretty tall.
Heterosexuality is not normal, it's just common. --Dorothy Parker
War for the Oaks
Book: War for the Oaks (for the 2384936251 time).
Author: Emma Bull
Genre: Urban Fantasy/AMAZINGNESS
Would I Recommend This Book? YES YES AND YES SOME MORE. War for the Oaks is... epic. I can't really find another word for it; maybe it's because I'm young and new in the ways of the world that I find it so delightfully new, but I do. I read it once a year (or more, usually more), every year, and every year it just grows on me more. I won't even go into the plot because I'm so indoctrinated that I'll spoil some part, somewhere. But take my word on it--- War for the Oaks is AWESOME.
| industrial art as applied to peace. |
New Book......
Book: Odd Hours
Author: Dean Koontz
Genre: Sci-fi/Horror? i dunno
Favorite Line: "You don't take sweets from men who threaten to kill you?"
"Thats right."
"Well....more for me."
recomendation: I love the Odd one. I was in the hospital gift shop and found out there's a new instalment in his series and picked it up right then and there. The book kept me happy and laughing and fearful and sitting on the edge of my seat biting my nails and my mind completely off of the bad things happening in my life. I finished it in 2 visitor room sitting sessions and am happy that it leaves things open for another instalment. For those who don't know there are three previous books in the series......Odd Thomas, Forever Odd, and Brother Odd (in that order).....all of which i've read at least 4 times. I tend to read and reread books i like. Meilin your book which is on its way to me in paperback will probably be worn out within a month and a half .......then i'll have to buy another copy.
- Outside of a dog, a book is mans best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. ~Groucho Marx
Not very literary I know, but
Not very literary I know, but I have just finished rereading all the Flashman Chronicles by George MacDonald Fraser (RIP)
Yes, all 12 of them
Spent the last 4 weekend out in the dusty Cambodian provinces playing chaffer for my wife and the rest of the cast of our new movie. After arriving on location there is nothing for me to actually do other than lay in a hammock in the shade and read.
Not a bad way to spend a weekend, apart from the damn heat.
Lord Playboy
www.khmer440.com
Cambodia: Move away from the prahok
I saw a "Jonathan Strange &
I saw a "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell" up there? I read it a couple years ago because my Humanities teacher (who was so epic that he hand-picked a book from his personal library for each of his students and lent it to them for spring break) gave me that one. I greatly enjoyed it and it certainly makes a good airplane book, because of its length.
(Anyone else notice this? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468500/)
Terry Pratchett books also make good travel books, though they tend to be much more lighthearted (think Douglas Adams) and read much faster. Discworld in particular- those can be read in the order they're supposed to be read, but I started on book 29 by accident and it worked out fine.
Resuurecting the dead!!!
I saw this and decided that I'd try and restart it.
Book: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Author: J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fantasy (but still in a class all its own)
Favorite Line: "Uncle Vernon made a sound that sounded like a mouse being trodden on."
I know that its a little young, but I decided that I'd read before the next semester began so that I won't be tempted to read through it when I get there. That way I can focus on the important stuff to read... like borrowed manga.
“In food, as in death, we feel the essential brotherhood of man.”
-Vietnamese Proverb
In addition to all kinds of web serials...
... I'm reading Richard Herley's Penal Colony, which, among several other novels of his, was freely available from his web site before that one vanished off the net without a trace.
Or I would if my ebook-reader hadn't broken down on me.
If a short term repair can't be effected, I may have to switch to a novel from the increasingly small to-read pile of paper books, probably Joe Haldeman's Forever War omnibus.
I was/will be reading the two
I was/will be reading the two that I started earlier on in the summer, but I got distracted by schooling and the internet.
Author: Anne Rice
Book: The Witching Hour
Favorite Line: n/a... can't think of any
Recommendations: I didn't really get hooked into it like I do other books, mainly because of the way Rice's style of writing is, but this really stuck out as something special compared to the Vampire Chronicles. I haven't read them in a bit, so maybe it's the same thing, lol. Yes, I would recommend it.
Genre: Fantasy...?
Author: Frank Herbert
Book: Children of Dune. I'm currently re-reading the series, going through the order they were distributed to the public... I think. Or I might just go through the whole original series then the prequels (shrug) It will be figured out when I get that far.
Favorite Line: can't think of any off hand
Genre: Sci-fi
Recommendations: Of course!
Nachos... XD
currently reading
6 books at once O.o Mainly just bits and chunks here and there. My absolute FAVOURITE novel ever is the one I have quoted in my signature. The Truth About Unicorns by Bonnie Jones Reynolds. It's Romantic fantasy, although definitely not a bodice ripper or anything of that nature. I've only ever met one other person who's read it, and that's my mom. She stole it from a library sometime back in the 70's and eventually I stumbled onto it in her bookshelves between the pirate novels and the true crime stuff. It's unfortunately out of print these days, but generally you can find a decent used copy off of Barnes & Noble for incredibly cheap. I try to force it upon anyone I can, although I refuse to lend out my personal copy because if it got lost I'd have to throw myself off a bridge!
"Surely," he said softly, "nothing will begrudge a creature one kiss for all of eternity." Toynbee Upjohn, from The Truth About Unicorns by Bonnie Jones Reynolds
Interesting title
At the moment I'm reading Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison. I've read it so many times that the cover is starting to wear a bit lol. But yeah it's a great book, great series in fact.
Kushiel
Kushiel's Dart, though I've actually finished the first three (Kushiel's Dart, Kushiel's Chosen and Kushiel's Avatar). They are AMAZING. I highly recommend them, particularly to those who like this site; it's another I would add to the list of Reasons the Publishing Industry Clearly Has No Prejudice Against Smut
And this is BDSM smut, at that. Well done, adds to the plot, yada yada yada- I mostly read it for the politics, as it's set in alternate Europe- but still. Read, love, etc.
Other than this . . .
I have no fun reading right now. I am reading "The Winner's Way" by Pamela Brill.
Ok, I've only read a few pages so far. The HR manager at work got everyone in HR books, based on what she thinks would be good for them. So far, the writing is fairly engaging considering it is a business oriented self help book. I wouldn't want the book she got for my direct supervisor, basically an HR textbook complete with chapter quizzes and reviews that looks incredibly boring, but she is thrilled to have it. To each their own I guess. When I am less exhausted, I will re-read this thread to find something more interesting to read than The Winner's Way.
Right now I'm...
reading Congo by Michael Crichton. Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to full immerse myself in it yet as I'm trying to divide my time between writing my own novel and working like a slave. I've had it a week so far and I've barely made a dent in it so to speak. Normally I'd be reading several novels at once, but I've been out of touch for so long I have no idea where to pick up. I used to spend hours in the library, and I'm sad to say that I just found the library here...(I've been here since June)
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.-Douglas Adams
I am working on The Phoenix
I am working on The Phoenix Unchained by Mercedes Lackey and Foundation also by Mercedes Lackey. I love most of her books. It took me several months to finish the current books by George R.R. Martin. I really enjoyed those. Codex Alera Seris by Jim Butcher was astonishingly good.
Reading Foundation myself
Reading Foundation myself when I'm at home, currently using David Eddings' The Diamon Throne as my travel-novel (I commute). The former is a new one, the latter an old and well loved friend.
All of Spider Robinson's "Callahan" books...
Some of the finest 'realisitic' Fantasy available. The characters just sort of reach out and grab you by the lapels to keep your face in the book... Now if only I could afford a trip to Key West to hunt for the Place...
Currently reading
Xenocide by Orson Scott Card
but hope to be done into time return the book to my friend who lent it to me. Then break from heavy sci-fi. [where to next? Fantasy? I could always revisit Anne Rice with The Vampire Chronicles. . . .or just check out a book. One can only take so much science fiction at a time]
Genera: Sci-Fi
Can't say I have a favorite line but I'm enjoying the book (Wait- I think the whole conversation when Valentine goes to Visit Grego in his cell when he and his brother Olhado are working on faster-than-light-travel. WHile some of it goes over my head- kinda- I love the opening line . . . if only I can find it. SOmething about reconceptualizing teh universe adn "wishing makes it so" (the only bit i can remember off the top of my head)) The one thing that stinks though is that I haven't been able to just sit down and read the book. Being an art student with a near full time job [12-24 hours a week (at Kent State if your a student 30 hrs is full time)] I didn't have too much extra time so its taken me a while to get through. Still working on the last 100 pages or so
Would I recommend the book? Already have. Recommended the whole stinkin' series as far as I've gotten into it.
Now- to finish reading it. . .
Did you see there's a new
Did you see there's a new one? Ender in Exile is out, which is between Ender's Game and the rest of the Ender's Game series, and then there's SUPPOSED to be a new one called "Shadows in Flight" or something like that that ends both the Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow serieses. Soooooo hoping my information is not wrong
I heard about Shadows in
I heard about Shadows in Flight too, but that was before Ender in Exile was announced, so I'm not sure Card is still working on it.
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