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[SD-Ness]

 

[Littleberu]

I think it's so much better than HGTTG.

 

[Interlude]

Bravo to the Kundera book too. I read that a long while ago, but I loved it.

I loved it as well.

I had been to Prague this June on holiday. A very nice Eastern European city and cheap as well . Finding the places I had been to mentioned in the book makes it more interesting.

I seem to remember there is a movie based on this book. Never watched it though.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Props to Jonathan Strange. It's the smart man's Harry Potter.

I suppose you could make the case that a lot of Harry Potter readers could manage Jonathan Strange, but if you're just talking in terms of which is the better book, I'd have to give the nod to HP everytime. It has a story which grips you, characters you care about and...you know...excitement, things which Jonathan Strange...well, it doesn't necessarily lack these things, it just does them worse.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

what's jonathan strange about? I see it advertised heavily and I'm thinking of picking it up, but I just finished wolves of the calla (dark tower #5) and kind of want to see how the 6th goes.

 

[Mama Smurf]

It's about (not heavy spoilers, just setting up the basic plot, but for those who don't want to know)

Spoiler

two magicians bringing magic back to England, plus troublesome faeries. There's a lot more to it than that, but that's the basic premise. It's extremely detail heavy (which I generally like in books, though a lot of the details in this book I found boring as hell) and written in an alternative past around the start of the 19 century.

 

[Chipopo]

A really intriguing perspective on plants and how they've manipulated our perceptions for their own benefit. I knew I would fall in love with the essay devoted to cannabis, but the tulip ends up stealing the spotlight under the Wicked Weeds nose. The writing is entirely too good for the subject matter, I'm convinced. This guy is just awesome.

The supposedly true story of a native american "sorcerer" in Mexico who takes on Carlos as his apprentice and teaches him the spiritual value behind a set of halluconigenic drugs. Carlos takes the drugs of course, and then relates his experience to the reader. Not far in to it yet.

It's just that time of the year again.

 

[Traumahound]

I've recently read all of Palahniuk's books that I hadn't yet gotten to (Choke, Invisible Monsters, Diary, Lullaby, and Stranger than Fiction), America the Book, and Pillars of the Earth (2nd time).

I also just finished:

Highly recommended for all forum posters.

 

[Plankton]

Just finished reading this

Then moving onto this

 

[Star Power]

 

[Mejilan]

Total classic mode right now.

Picked up and finished reading all 6 Earthsea books. (Never read 'em before.)

Moving on to all 7 Chronicles of Narnia books. (Read 'em all once when I was about 10.)

 

[SickBoy]

I've recently read all of Palahniuk's books that I hadn't yet gotten to (Choke, Invisible Monsters, Diary, Lullaby, and Stranger than Fiction), America the Book, and Pillars of the Earth (2nd time).

I also just finished:

Highly recommended for all forum posters.

That's a book I've been interested for quite a while, but a little hesitant to pick up since I read a quasi-review on it (not that I've had the time and energy to start on a book in the last few months) . According to that "review," it's an amusing premise, but it's really a one-note book that wears itself thin... I guess I should go get myself a library card.

 

[Fresh Prince]

SHITTY WRITING. NOTE TO DAN BROWN: LEARN TO WRITE DIALOGUE.

It's like reading the script of a shitty action movie.

 

[Memles]

I'll go with my list...which is technicallly my English course reading list for university. But, hey, I read them!

Oedipus
The Odyssey
Beowulf
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Dr. Faustus

And have plans to attempt to read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory while on Christmas break.

 

[Blackie]

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

I love the book, but it reads really thick to me. I've been chipping at it for a couple weeks and I'm only a quarter through it.

 

[nitewulf]

ok, come on. da vinci code was pretty good, easy fun to read. its not meant to be foucault's pendulum. its a quick, cheap thrills book...its like john le carre vs robert ludlum. one you sit down with a cup of coffee to read, another you read in an airplane or train ride.

 

[Fresh Prince]

ok, come on. da vinci code was pretty good, easy fun to read. its not meant to be foucault's pendulum. its a quick, cheap thrills book...its like john le carre vs robert ludlum. one you sit down with a cup of coffee to read, another you read in an airplane or train ride.

Meh. I picked it up on a whim...the way people were raving about it I was expecting something brilliant to me it seemed to be a very by the numbers book.

 

[Patrick Klepek]

i've been on the verge - and nearly pushed over - of tears several times during this book. fantastic, and so far, such a fitting end to my favorite book series of all time.

 

[Gorey]

I'm about 1/5th through

...and loving it. Great stuff. Very, very detailed, has that 'creepy magical world' thing going on.

Thanks to this thread, I'm now aware I have another S. Pressfield novel to read. I loved Gates of Fire...time to hit up Amazon.

 

[Chipopo]

Man, what is up with this Dark Tower series? Everyone seems all over it, but the art makes it look so damned silly....

 

[Patrick Klepek]

if you try to explain the last book and it setup, it sounds silly as hell. but it's so fucking good, and the artwork in the last book is absolutely fantastic. makes your connection to the characters so much stronger and harder to deal with when tragedy occurs.

 

[Triumph]

I've been on the verge of taking the plunge into the Dark Tower for a couple months now, but I keep purposefully putting it off. I guess I don't want it to be over, you know? I've made it into like three chapters, and that's it.

Meanwhile, I've been reading:

Also, been reading The Sun Also Rises by Hemmingway and Naked by David Sedaris. I want to be the straight David Sedaris, I have decided.

 

[DrM]

150 pages to go....

 

[Blimblim]

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/000647988X.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

150 pages to go....

I'm also reading that book (again). Great read.

 

[Traumahound]

That's a book I've been interested for quite a while, but a little hesitant to pick up since I read a quasi-review on it (not that I've had the time and energy to start on a book in the last few months) . According to that "review," it's an amusing premise, but it's really a one-note book that wears itself thin... I guess I should go get myself a library card.

I really loved the book. Be aware, it is a book about punctuation; I can see why people would be turned off by it. But, Truss has a great dry British wit that turns a boring topic into an interesting and fun read. Not only that, but I learned a few things I didn't know about proper punctuation usage.

A word of warning: if you are already somewhat of a grammar stickler, this book will push you over the edge. It's also made me second guess my own writing. "Oh, I could use a colon there. Perhaps that comma should be a semi-colon." Not that that's a bad thing.

 

[Gorey]

I'll get back to the Hyperion series by Dan Simmons after I finish this. I generally stick to sci-fi.

How far have you gotten in the Hyperion series? That collection is one of the few multi-volume works wherein I felt like the quality held up through all four novels. You made me want to read it again just mentioning it.

Have you read Ilium? Only got about 1/2 way before I got sucked into Jonathan Strange, but it was good stuff to that point. Not very accessible at times, somewhat like Hyperion in that respect- plot craziness, etc.

 

[Sinnick]

I'm finishing up Parable of the Sower & Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler. Over the weekend I'm starting The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.

 

[Manics]

How far have you gotten in the Hyperion series? That collection is one of the few multi-volume works wherein I felt like the quality held up through all four novels. You made me want to read it again just mentioning it.

Have you read Ilium? Only got about 1/2 way before I got sucked into Jonathan Strange, but it was good stuff to that point. Not very accessible at times, somewhat like Hyperion in that respect- plot craziness, etc.

Heh, I've only actually read Hyperion, so far, have a ways to go. I've been putting it off because in the past I've rushed through books, then after reading everything, was disappointed that there wasn't MORE. I never want to get to the end of a series for some reason. Sounds weird right? lol.

I'll get to Fall of Hyperion after I finish my current read.

 

[Prince of Space]

Both are highly recommended.

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

i've been on the verge - and nearly pushed over - of tears several times during this book.

Shit, I've been wallowing

 

[Manics]

Both are highly recommended.

Good call on Snow Crash, I loved that book.

 

[DrForester]

Bout halflway through, alredy on small list of good Trek books out there. Gotta give credit to somoene doing a DS9 book set after the seriese ended.

Saw the movie, was entertained, watchin anime, am enterteined, figured its time to read the source. Took a while to find an unabridged version.

 

[karasu]

 

[RedDwarf]

 

[Stele]

This book doesn't solidly corroborate the hypothesis, but there's lots of neat evidence (Asiatic chickens in South America, Maize in Asia, the Piri Reis chart of South America mapped before Columbus and Magellan et al) that contradict Europeans were the first to navigate the Strait of Magellan, Cape of Good Hope, etc.

 

[J2 Cool]

 

[paul777]