# What are you reading now? (1 Viewer)



## Jon M

You know the deal.

At the moment, I'm reading _The Red Pony_ by Steinbeck. It's about a pony. A red pony named Gabilan.


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## Kevin

_Outliers_ by Malcom Gladwell. 10,000 hours, genetic predisposition vs. environment. The Canadian hockey system and why players born in certain months never make it. Darwinian economics and timing...lots of concepts that blow things out of the water. What did someone once say? Something like "...and then there are the thoughts that others came up with, which you simply accept as your own." This book challenges those thoughts.


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## Jon M

Two other books finally arrived today -- _The Night In Question_ by Tobias Wolff, and _Shiloh & Other Stories_ by Bobbie Ann Mason. Only got a few pages into each, but I can tell they're good. Can't wait to dig in over the next couple of days.


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## Terry D

_11/22/63_ by Stephen King.  A very different book from most of his past work, highly detailed, well written and thought provoking.  It's also a good work-out for the hands and forearms at 800+ pages.


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## ppsage

Couple of oldies from the library ...

_Always Going Home_ by Ursula LeGuin. A massive pseudo-ethnography of the Kesh, a tribe of earth-humans in the distant future. I may purchase this for reference. LeGuin at her insidiously neferious best.

Listening to _Inherent Vice_ (=Original Sin?) by Thomas Pynchon. Massively hilarious, a bit hard to follow without seeing the character names. Not sure how I skipped Pynchon in my unruly youth.


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## Kyle R

*Mockingjay*, by Suzanne Collins. (Book three in The Hunger Games trilogy).

I find her writing for the first two books to be a bit slow and tedius in the First Act, (a bit too much focus on tasty foods and pretty clothes) but she always makes up for it with intensity and action in the Third Act.

The third book seems to be starting off at a more respectable pace, as (finally) the irrelevant stuff has been wiped away. Her world-building is very unique, and the plot is impressing me more and more as it develops. There are several layers of conflict occuring at once, from the personal (the protagonist's struggle to stay alive) to the interpersonal (her conflicting, budding romance with two male protagonists), to the societal (her blossoming role in a larger war between two factions of humanity).

The writing prose itself doesn't impress me, but the story itself is quite engaging. I can see why it's so popular.

I'm also reading *Kafka on the Shore*, by Haruki Murakami, which reads quite simply (though I'm wondering if things have been lost in the Japanese to English translation), with a hint of the supernatural. From reading Murakami's short stories, I'm sure there will be some unexpected twists. There are currently two plot lines happening simultaneously, and I'm sure somehow the two protagonists will end up converging in the end. Looking forward to seeing how it develops.

And lastly, I'm reading: *A Visit from the Goon Squad*, by Jennifer Egan. I don't think any modern writer today can compete with Egan in terms of intellectual flair. Her prose smacks of so much erudition that it actually makes me feel like a simpleton at times. She's juggling a plethora of characters in this book, and each chapter jumps to different heads, different time periods, and different forms of writing style. It's all superb, but also a bit challenging to keep track of where the storyline lies. I'm sure when it's over it'll all make sense, though. Hopefully it's not too far over my head.


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## philistine

I've got a couple of things in play at the moment, namely, a selection of poems by Arthur Rimbaud, also, a very large compendium of Spenser's works. This very moment, I'm re-reading _The Great Gatsby_, as it's been several years.


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## misswriter

Currently I am one last goodbye by Kay Guilderdale, the Lynn Guilderdale story x


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## Raptor980

*Run* by James A. Moore. It's similar to *Maximum Ride* by James Patterson but with a different twist.


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## Katie D

Somewhere behind the morning - Frances McNiel.
A paper back I picked up from my local thrift shop. 
It's the first grown up book I've read that's written in diary form. Young Julia, the daughter of a working class German immigrant struggles to hold her family together in pre war england 1914. 
I am enjoying the rough yet clever style of writing. It is anything but over written and pompous without being simple. The author captures Julia's witty stubbornness and determination which has me rooting for her to succeed and therefore established an emotional connection between character and reader.


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## Sunny

_Delirium_ by Lauren Oliver. I've read it before, but the second book is coming out in a few weeks, and I've been dying to sink my teeth into it for a year now. I like to get reacquainted with the first book, so when I dive into the next one, I'll be... right where I was before, forgetting nothing.


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## felix

Requiem for a Wren, by Neville Shute. 

I'm also struggling through IT by King, although at 1400 pages I'm not making much headway.


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## dale

for lack of anything better....the tommyknockers, by king. just got my tax refund a couple days ago, though.
so i'll be hitting 1/2 price books this weekend. haven't a clue what all i'll pick out.


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## FrameOfDust

I just finished reading 'Till We Have Faces' by C.S.Lewis. It's a retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche, and it explores different forms of love and how they can be both beautiful and viscious. I would definitely suggest it.


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## Jeko

Syrn by Agnie Sage, fifth book in the Septimus Heap series. Brilliant, enjoyable fantasy.


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## Bilston Blue

I've just read _The Sense of an Ending_ by Julian Barnes. I bought it on the strength of its winning last years Booker Prize and it didn't disappoint. In short its a first person novella with themes of time, memory, regret, and guilt wrapped up in the life story of the narrator. 

I'll be reading more of Barnes' stuff. I've wanted to read his _England, England_ for a while now.


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## ginny

Holy Fools by Joanne Harris......25% of the way through the book and loving every word!!! Really feeding my my ravenous imagination, a veritable bounty of "bounce off the page" characters and images. A delight, truley magical.


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## felix

Bilston Blue said:


> I've just read _The Sense of an Ending_ by Julian Barnes. I bought it on the strength of its winning last years Booker Prize and it didn't disappoint. In short its a first person novella with themes of time, memory, regret, and guilt wrapped up in the life story of the narrator.
> 
> I'll be reading more of Barnes' stuff. I've wanted to read his _England, England_ for a while now.




I read that last week, I enjoyed it as well. I was surprised to see the mixed reviews on Amazon.


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## Archetype

Just finished Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan. 11th book in the Wheel of Time. I've heard criticisms about the series. Some were legitimate. He does tend to go off on tangents and it can get a little dry. But I wouldn't be on to book 12 if I didn't care about the characters he's so painstakingly developed.  And there are a lot of them.

Also reading Necroscope by Brian Lumley. It takes place during the cold war and has to do with supernatural agencies on both sides of the iron curtain. Without spoiling anything, he has interesting takes on vampires and necromancy I've never read before.


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## Chaeronia

Light by M John Harrison. 

I really must stop reading authors who are just that little bit too dauntingly good.

Also half-way through Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. An antithesis to Harrison, but in a nice, hamburger-with-fries-after-a-week-of-fine-dining kind of way.

EDIT: Actually, having finished Ready Player One, I'm left disappointed.  The second half kills the story: a plot that the writer doesn't know how to structure with any nuance (as linear as the retro gaming it espouses) and that suffers horribly from invincible protagonist syndrome; any whiff of peril is handily dealth with via a handy deus ex machina or ten.  

There's little or no attempt at foreshadowing, so when an obstacle needs to be overcome, a preceding paragraph or two describing how the main character knows _everything_ there is to know about <insert uber-geek reference> is clunkily exposited.  Need to play a perfect game of Pac-Man (only ever been done a handful of times in seventy-odd years)?  No problem!  Give our hero a few hours - y'know, so he can _get in the zone_ - and it's job done.  

Need to re-enact every scene - with dialogue - from Monty Python and the Holy Grail to progress to the next level?  Easy!  Our guy here, we learn just before he has to perform this feat of savantry, has fortunately seen the film one-hundred and fifty-seven times.  Honestly.  

It's so brazen I have to almost give the writer credit for chutzpah.

The nostalgia, then, is revealed as distraction; a gimmick to hide an inability to formulate plot.  Not good for a plot-driven narrative.  

What makes it worse is the sheer amount of retro boutique he throws at you: the nostalgia becomes cloying rather than decorative, derivative rather than honorific.  As a thematic tool, the hearkening back to an earlier era is entirely superficial, which, given the dystopian near-future setting in which half the world is addicted to virtual reality, is definitely an exploratory opportunity missed.  

Still, never mind all that, wasn't War Games just neato!?


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## Jon M

_Requiem for a Dream_, by Selby. An intensely interesting look at four characters as they go through the stages of addiction. The writing style is, at times, stream of consciousness, often poetic, and has been a huge influence on my own style of writing. 

The movie is also pretty great.


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## Gumby

I've just started reading 'A Widow for One Year' by John Irving. Pretty good so far.


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## Bloggsworth

_How to Fall_ by the poet _Karen Annesen_ - She grew up on Cape Cod, moved to England, and now lives and works in Oxford.


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## Jon M

About 100 pages in to the _Hunger Games_. So far, I don't know. I approached the book with an open mind. Liked the first couple of pages, the thing about the cat, and then once I figured out it's all very much like the Roman gladiator games, kind of lost interest. 

Writing style is nothing special.


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## Kyle R

johnM said:


> About 100 pages in to the _Hunger Games_. So far, I don't know. I approached the book with an open mind. Liked the first couple of pages, the thing about the cat, and then once I figured out it's all very much like the Roman gladiator games, kind of lost interest.
> 
> Writing style is nothing special.



I felt the same way! I thought the writing was actually very amateurish for the whole beginning hundred pages or so of the book. And I got quite bored with all the clothes and food talk. But once the games actually begin, it gets quite engaging (or at least it did for me).


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## Chaeronia

johnM said:


> About 100 pages in to the _Hunger Games_. So far, I don't know. I approached the book with an open mind. Liked the first couple of pages, the thing about the cat, and then once I figured out it's all very much like the Roman gladiator games, kind of lost interest.
> 
> Writing style is nothing special.



For a book concerned with children murdering one another, it's a jarringly light read.  A diluted, ersatz Battle Royale.  Left me with no desire to follow the series through.

I'm most of the way through The Knife of Never Letting Go - a much more successful YA story.


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## Kyle R

Chaeronia said:


> For a book concerned with children murdering one another, it's a jarringly light read.  A diluted, ersatz Battle Royale.  Left me with no desire to follow the series through.
> 
> I'm most of the way through The Knife of Never Letting Go - a much more successful YA story.



In response to Battle Royale (I have that book, too ), while the premises are quite similar, the Hunger Games series takes the characters in a different direction. In BR the characters fight to escape. In THG the characters turn the other direction and wage war to begin a revolution.

Think:

Neo --> The Matrix --> The Machines ::: Katniss --> The Games --> Panem

The first book deals with The Games, the first level of control, just as the first Matrix dealt with the matrix itself, the first level of control. But the machines (Panem) is where the real battle takes place, further along in the series.

I'm aware not everyone likes The Hunger Games, and I'm not trying to convince you otherwise.. but I've seen the Battle Royale mention a lot and I think it's a reasonable, though slightly inaccurate comparison.


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## Chaeronia

KyleColorado said:


> I'm aware not everyone likes The Hunger Games, and I'm not trying to convince you otherwise.. but I've seen the Battle Royale mention a lot and I think it's a reasonable, though slightly inaccurate comparison.



I'm not saying The Hunger Games is inferior to Battle Royale because it shares a similar storyline; I don't hold this against Collins (it's not as if Battle Royale doesn't owe a debt to various predecessors, though perhaps not as brazen).  I just don't think The Hunger Games is as good. 

EDIT: That said, your comment about the story spreading to a wider, political rebellion is intriguing, so I might pick up the second in the series at some point.


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## Kyle R

Yeah, I hear you. It's well within your right to like whatever you like!

Though, this is incorrect:



			
				Chaeronia said:
			
		

> I'm not saying The Hunger Games is inferior to Battle Royale because it shares a similar storyline; I don't hold this against Collins (it's not as if Battle Royale doesn't owe a debt to various predecessors, though perhaps not as brazen).



The assumption that Collins drew her inspiration from Battle Royale is a logical one, but it's incorrect. She stated in an interview she had never heard of Battle Royale until she was already well into writing her second book of the series. 



			
				Suzanne Collins said:
			
		

> _I had never heard of that book or that author until my book was turned in. At that point, it was mentioned to me, and I asked my editor if I should read it. He said: ‘No, I don’t want that world in your head. Just continue with what you’re doing.’_



She came up with The Hunger Games concept while watching reality television, and news coverage of the war in Iraq. For the Games she was inspired by the Greek Mythos of the Minotaur Labyrinth (where children were sent to their deaths).

The similarities between Battle Royale and The Hunger Games are striking, but coincidental. 

I think the parallel nature of the two novels represents something deeper than two writers with harmonious creations. It speaks to a collective awareness about violence and subjugation in modern society, but that's going into a more thematic discussion 

EDIT: Oh, and I looked up the summary of _The Knife of Never Letting Go_, and it sounds very good. Won lots of awards, too! I'm going to add it to my reading list. Are you liking it so far?


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## Chaeronia

KyleColorado said:


> Yeah, I hear you. It's well within your right to like whatever you like!
> 
> Though, this is incorrect:
> 
> The assumption that Collins drew her inspiration from Battle Royale is a logical one, but it's incorrect. She stated in an interview she had never heard of Battle Royale until she was already well into writing her second book of the series.
> 
> She came up with The Hunger Games concept while watching reality television, and news coverage of the war in Iraq. For the Games she was inspired by the Greek Mythos of the Minotaur Labyrinth (where children were sent to their deaths).
> 
> The similarities between Battle Royale and The Hunger Games are striking, but coincidental.
> 
> I think the parallel nature of the two novels represents something deeper than two writers with harmonious creations. It speaks to a collective awareness about violence and subjugation in modern society, but that's going into a more thematic discussion



Sorry, bad word choice on my part.  I mean startling rather than brazen.  I'd read she had no prior knowledge of Battle Royale before finishing The Hunger Games.

I'll come back to you about TKONLG - I'm currently disturbing my other half's enjoyment of her film with all this tapping!  (We Need To Talk About Kevin... light-hearted Friday night fun!)


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## Kyle R

Oh, no problem. I wasn't attacking you, I just wanted to clear up a misconception.

To be fair, I liked Battle Royale more than the first Hunger Games book, too. But I also like The Hunger Games as a series.

Cheers


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## Chaeronia

(Well, We Need to Talk About Kevin was a joyful exercise in happy-go-lucky, upbeat entertainment.)



KyleColorado said:


> Oh, no problem. I wasn't attacking you



Oh no, I didn't get that impression at all.



KyleColorado said:


> EDIT: Oh, and I looked up the summary of _The Knife of Never Letting Go_, and it sounds very good. Won lots of awards, too! I'm going to add it to my reading list. Are you liking it so far?



I'm enjoying it, yep.  The first-person present-tense narrative is really engaging.  The writing's great, authentic and prosaic but spotted with poeticism.  The plot is quite linear, nothing clever, but it doesn't matter because the central character - inspired by an interesting conceit - carries you along.  Certainly recommended.


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## Jon M

Chaeronia said:


> I'm most of the way through The Knife of Never Letting Go - a much more successful YA story.


Thanks for this. I was intrigued after reading the first few pages online and checked it out at the library. About fifty pages in and really enjoying it. Love Todd's relationship with Manchee. Reminds me of this guy:


[video=youtube;xrAIGLkSMls]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrAIGLkSMls[/video]

​


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## Sol2062

I just finished _Middlesex_ by Jeffrey Eugenides. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Has anyone read _The Virgin Suicides _or _The Marriage Plot_? I've heard good things about both but I could only buy one book, and _Middlesex _sounded too strange to pass up.


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## Chaeronia

Jon M said:


> Thanks for this. I was intrigued after reading the first few pages online and checked it out at the library. About fifty pages in and really enjoying it. Love Todd's relationship with Manchee. Reminds me of this guy:



Did you finish it, Jon?  What did you think?

Perhaps 20 or 30 pages too long for me; just stretching itself a little thin in the closing stages.  But still a most enjoyable read, with a strong lead voice and some surprisingly poignant, affecting moments.  

Most of the way through William Gibson's Zero History.  I love Gibson - he's a labyrinthine bugger at times, but his prose is razor sharp and his characters are just so damned cool.


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## Jon M

Chaeronia said:


> Did you finish it, Jon?  What did you think?


Oh hell no. Haha. Not yet. I have something like 250 pages left. But I really like it. I'd love love _love_ to see it made into an animated movie.


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## Olly Buckle

A David Crystal book on English, I notice he is number 10 on the guardian bookshop best seller list with his new book at £16. The blurb on my second hand bookshop book tels me he has written over ninety books, he is a prof. of English at Cambridge and a leading authority on the language. Don't waste £16, there are loads of his down the second hand shop for about £1-£1.50p, not the same title , but the same subject. He is readable and sensible though.


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## Chaeronia

Jon M said:


> Oh hell no. Haha. Not yet. I have something like 250 pages left. But I really like it. I'd love love _love_ to see it made into an animated movie.



Ah, you're probably spending your time doing some of that there writin' business instead of procrastinating and distracting yourselves with other people's words like I am.  

I can definitely see it being picked up by a film house.  An animation would be interesting - I say let Bakshi run with it.


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## Jon M

Chaeronia said:


> Ah, you're probably spending your time doing some of that there writin' business instead of procrastinating and distracting yourselves with other people's words like I am.


 ... and still reading _The Hunger Games_.


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## philistine

_The Brotherhood_, by Stephen Knight.

Date published: 1984

Date of author's death: 1985

Duuuuuuuun, du-dun-dun! Masons!

In all seriousness, it's an enthralling read. It's managed (so far at least- I'm halfway through) to avoid any of the absurd holes which books normally dealing in this issue tend to fall into. 

I'm also well into Emile Zola's _L'assommoir_ and Benvenuto Cellini's autobiography.


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## elfwriter

I am reading reading Daniel Gilbert's Stumbling on happiness. Really nice and worth a reading.


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## Olly Buckle

"Battles of the English Civil War" by Austin Woolrych. recently started, only as far as Marston Moor. he seems to give a mention to every minor skirmish, but lacks the indepth military analysis of John Buchan, (Lord Tweedsmuir) in his excellent biog. of Cromwell.


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## felix

I've been reading King's IT for about a month now. Brilliant, but unending. It just goes on, and on...


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## Terry D

Just finished King's _11/22/63_ (recommended), and started a collection of Algernon Blackwood's John Silence short stories.


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## philistine

Just finished Yasunari Kawabata's _The Sound of The Mountain_, and have just started Conrad's _Nostromo_.


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## felix

philistine said:


> Just finished Yasunari Kawabata's _The Sound of The Mountain_, and have just started Conrad's _Nostromo_.



Do let me know how Nostromo goes for you. I've been saving it for over a year, it sits right above my head on the shelf.


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## philistine

felix said:


> Do let me know how Nostromo goes for you. I've been saving it for over a year, it sits right above my head on the shelf.



I'm about a third of the way through, though I'll reserve judgement and get back to you once I've finished it.


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## felix

Lovely, thanks. 

I'm still on IT, but I bought William Golding's _The Inheritors_ last week from a charity shop, a book which I've wanted to read for a long time. It's calling me...


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## elliott2112

We Don't Live Here Anymore by Andre Dubus


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## Olly Buckle

"The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England" by Ian Mortimer


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## Jon M

One third of the way through Richard Matheson's _I Am Legend_. Pretty decent. The only thing it has in common with the movie seems to be the title. 

Started reading _Watership Down_ also.


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## philistine

I've took a brief hiatus from Nostromo and begun reading Italo Svevo's _Zeno's Conscience_. Fascinating read thus far.

I also started thumbing through Cleland's _Fanny Hill_.


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## felix

My local bookshop is closing down next week and so its stock is currently on sale for pennies. I bought a stack today. 

- *The Beautiful and Damned*, F. Scott Fitzgerald
- *The Mayor of Casterbridge*, Thomas Hardy
- *The Plague*, Albert Camus
- *Oscar Wile, Selected Poems*
- *The Great Gatsby*, F. Scott Fitzgerald
- *The Rest of the Robots*, Isaac Asimov
- *King Solomon's Mines*, H. Rider Haggard
- *The Fountains of Paradise*, Arthur C. Clarke
- *Dracula*, Bram Stoker
- *Typee*, Herman Melville
-* Death in the Afternoon,* Ernest Hemingway

All for £20. Should keep me busy. I think that I'll start with Fountains of Paradise or Dracula after I've finished IT. I shall report back.


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## Michaelj

Game of thrones


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## michaelschaap

I am reading Twilight, Breaking Dawn by *Stephenie Meyer.  It is the second time I have read it!  Love the book!*

Michael Schaap


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## Chaeronia

Finished Catching Fire, the second of the Hunger Games books.  Like the first installment, it left me with an empty feeling: too lightly handled for a subject matter of this nature.  The horror doesn't resonate and the repetitious nature of the book's second half left me bored and anxious to get through it.  The ending was disappointing: I didn't buy into the reasoning behind the reveal, which I thought was a hamfisted contrivance.  I'll swerve the third and Wiki it instead.

Just started Home Fires by Gene Wolfe, which I hear isn't his best.  Hardly a criticism, though, considering he wrote the Book of the New Sun.


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## Elvenswordsman

The Investment Zoo - Stephen A. Jarislowsky

It's about a guy, who made a lot of money.


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## Jon M

_Revolutionary Road_ by Richard Yates.

Masterclass on how to write good prose. I suspect I'll be reading it many times.


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## TheFuhrer02

Just finished Coelho's Eleven Minutes and The Fifth Mountain. Now moving on to Ludlum's The Matarese Circle


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## Neath Lankly

game of thrones book 4


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## Bloggsworth

Among the many things I hadn't done in my 67 years, was to read a book by Virginia Woolf, so yesterday, to the library I returned, and found *Mrs Dalloway* nestling in amongst the chick-lit and bodice rippers at the very end of the shelves. After less than a page, I realised what all the fuss was about...


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## philistine

Faust!


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## Yes

I, Robot and Children of men, two classics. I'm disappointed in I, Robot though. I may not finish it. Children of Men is very interesting though.


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## Tiamat

Margaret Atwood's "Oryx and Crake."  I can't seem to get enough dystopian fiction lately.


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## grimreaper

Rereading the Lord Of The Rings and Anne Frank's Diary. Just finished the House of Night series (P.C + Kristin Cast). Really good series , so far as it has gone.


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## Kyle R

I just started reading "Call Me Joe" by Poul Anderson.

It's about a man who uses technology to telekinetically control a Centaur-like creature on a distant planet. Considered by many to be an inspiration for James Cameron's "Avatar". Curiosity got the best of me


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## Persephonemuse

I am reading "At the End of Eternity" By Mary Cole.
It was only published a few months ago and I found it while browsing under horror genres. It is really good actually. The author is new and this is the third book of a series of 3 but you can completely understand it on its own. I found mine at Amazon.com. It is about a couple of vampires who are greeted by "The vampire's gaurdian angel" who has been sent from heaven to offer salvaltion to the damned but in order for them to receive it you have to give up immortality. It is really cool. One character is completely for it, while her husband (the narrator) is the one who is too in love with being a vampire to want to let it go so easily. I am nearly finished but it has been a very addictive read. I have been trying to find more on the author but have no such luck yet. Its At the End of Eternity by MAry Cole. I would very reccomend it for my gothic readers.


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## Persephonemuse

House of Night was interesting in its new take on vampires and such, but I do not like the way the authors play with words. Maybe i am old fashion but the language was too modern to interest me that much. I go more for the old style romantic way of speaking. Reading House of NIght with that modern language merely reminded me of reading an everyday facebook wall about teens and their drama. 
Love the portrayal of Nyx though


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## grimreaper

Yeah actually I think the authors to make it look like, well, vampires are normal , part of everyday life . That kind of portrayal meant vampyre teens will also be like normal teenagers.


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## Chaeronia

Persephonemuse said:


> I am reading "At the End of Eternity" By Mary Cole.
> It was only published a few months ago and I found it while browsing under horror genres. It is really good actually. The author is new and this is the third book of a series of 3 but you can completely understand it on its own. I found mine at Amazon.com. It is about a couple of vampires who are greeted by "The vampire's gaurdian angel" who has been sent from heaven to offer salvaltion to the damned but in order for them to receive it you have to give up immortality. It is really cool. One character is completely for it, while her husband (the narrator) is the one who is too in love with being a vampire to want to let it go so easily. I am nearly finished but it has been a very addictive read. I have been trying to find more on the author but have no such luck yet. Its At the End of Eternity by MAry Cole. I would very reccomend it for my gothic readers.



Hi, Mary.


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## Euripides

The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander. 

You know....the Black Cauldron, the second book in the series, the one that Disney butchered in the 1980's as an animated movie?


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## Rustgold

Chaeronia said:


> Hi, Mary.



Such a skeptic.

Btw : I'm currently reading my own work too   Well actually this instant it's this page, which technically does have my work in it, this line for instance; but after that, and before that is my work.  Hope someone's got a headache


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## Jon M

_Basketball Diaries_ by Jim Carroll. At the library right now, probably check out something by Chekhov or finally get around to reading that lottery short story, I forget the author.


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## Lilly Davidson

I am reading 'The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying' by Sogyal Rinpoche. I am so drawn to Tibetan Buddhism and wanting to make sense of life. It is fantastic beyond words. 

I usually have at least 6 books on the go at once though, according to mood. I cannot believe it when someone ever tells me they never read a book. I wonder how they can possibly survive!


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## saintenitouche

I was thinking about getting the brief and wondrous life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, because of the style of writing apparently coincides with my tendency to speak spanglish in everyday conversation (<-- hence the flag). Has anyone read it? It's apparently good.


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## Lilly Davidson

grimreaper said:


> Rereading the Lord Of The Rings and Anne Frank's Diary. Just finished the House of Night series (P.C + Kristin Cast). Really good series , so far as it has gone.



Hi 
I* love* Lord of the Rings, you have reminded me that soon I too must re-read it.


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## michaelschaap

Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward.  It must be the fourth time I have read it!

Michael


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## Jon M

Read a terrifically good short story earlier today -- _Everyday Use_ by Alice Walker. Fiction that good always makes me want to write.

And I think I might be Joyce Carol Oates newest fanboy.


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## Camden

The Stone and the Flute - Hans Bemmann
Fiction - kind of YA, fell in love with it when I was young and try to read it once a year.


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## Skodt

The sword of truth by Terry Goodkind: The stone of tears. 

Found out about these books after netflix kept reccommending I watch Legends of the Seeker. Although the show was decent on a first hand watch, I now think that I know the reason it was cancelled so quickly. Though the books are great and very fun reading.


----------



## Camden

Skodt said:


> The sword of truth by Terry Goodkind: The stone of tears.
> 
> Found out about these books after netflix kept reccommending I watch Legends of the Seeker. Although the show was decent on a first hand watch, I now think that I know the reason it was cancelled so quickly. Though the books are great and very fun reading.



This is actually what I'm reading also.  (I have a habit of reading several books at once)  I used to love these books when I was in high school and am just finishing The Wizards First Rule for the....3rd or 4th time.  But, reading it now, it seems a little amateur - Goodkind has some fairly over exaggerated emotional reactions from his characters.  But, outside of their ridiculous similarities to Jordans Wheel of Time series, they are a fun ride up until Pillars of Creation.  Stop at Faith of the Fallen and you'll be better for it.


----------



## booknyrd

I just finished reading the first two books in the Trylle series by Amanda Hocking. The first one is called Switched, and the second one is called Torn. The newest one, Ascend, just came out, but I have not read it yet. Trylle are trolls, but not like we usually imagine them. They are beautiful, powerful, and in tune with the earth. Some have the ability to manipulate the elements or use their minds to move things. This series is geared toward young adults and teens, so it's not as intense as it could be, but I couldn't put the books down!


----------



## Skodt

Just finished the stone of tears. Good book I think. Not really sure I liked the ending as much as I try to, but it wont deter me from continuing on in the series. 

For now though I just started the Second book in the Hunger Games series: Catching Fire.


----------



## Kyle R

Just finished reading: "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman.

Currently reading: "Make a Scene" - by Jordan Rosenfeld. (A book on the craft of fiction writing).

:encouragement:


----------



## Neath Lankly

currently reading the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes (Artur Conan Doyle is a genius) and also reading the girl who played with fire (second book of the girl who played with the dragon tattoo). To be honest the latter is fun to read, but i don't really enjoy the way it is written. i.e she did this, she did that, she went here, she then went there. I'm thinking the book was translated- i think i read somewhere that it was originally written in Swedish, but i'm not sure. I'm also trying to get in a few chapters ever day of George RR Martins most recent book- A Dance with Dragons, which i'm a bit disappointed in compared to his last books in the series.
-Neath


----------



## Offeiriad

Currently reading: King Arthur's Bones by The Medieval Murderers


----------



## words

I always have a couple on the go, flip between as the mood takes me.
One generally insipirational, the other marketing or tech non fiction

rereading "left to tell" by Imaculee Ilibagiza - A powerful tale of finding god in the rwandan genocide. A new york best seller at the time.

Also "accidental genius" john levy - A study of free writing, just "letting go" and writing (a cure for writers block!) - a must read for all writers in my view.


----------



## TheFuhrer02

Currently reading Ludlum's The Matarese Circle.


----------



## Kevin

Life- Keith Richards


----------



## Sunny

michaelschaap said:


> Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward. It must be the fourth time I have read it!
> 
> Michael




I'm in LOVE with that book, too. It's my favourite out of the entire series!!! I love all of them though, except for Lover Enshrined. It was harder to get through for some reason. I'm not a huge fan of Phury I guess, or Butch.... ;0)


----------



## Lifeshroom

currently reading The original of Laura by vladimir nabokov. It's quite a dark book!


----------



## Sunny

I am at the moment LOVING Norwegian Wood, by Haruki Murakami.


----------



## lebrbria

I'm about 32% of the way through Insurgent by Veronica Roth.


----------



## Jon M

All over the place. Occasionally reading from the Norton anthology of short fiction 7th edition, and another cool book called _Dream Me Home Safely: Writers On Growing Up in America_, and also Joyce Carol Oates' _A Widow Story_ (which I am really really _really_ enjoying) online at Google books.


----------



## Blue Blazer

Just finished The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King and was, as usual, unquestionably impressed.


----------



## Blue Blazer

KyleColorado said:


> Just finished reading: "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman.



That has to have been the most faithful book-to-film adaptation I've ever encountered.


----------



## JimJanuary

Albert Camus 'The Outsider' - I haven't read it in a while so I picked it up again this morning


----------



## Pirisinian

Right now, I'm reading _Necropolis,_ the third book in the Gaunt's Ghosts series by Dan Abnett, and I am enjoying the hell out of it.


----------



## Frosty2011

I'm reading 11/22/63 by Stephen King.


----------



## Blue Blazer

Good choice, Frosty! I thoroughly enjoyed it.


----------



## Frosty2011

Blue Blazer said:


> Good choice, Frosty! I thoroughly enjoyed it.



It's cool and I'm enjoying it. I got it in February for my birthday but because of school I never really got a chance to sit down and put a good dent in it. Now I'm about halfway through and it's getting good.

I'm also working on a graphic novel I got today called _Kill Shakespeare_ _Vol 1: The Sea of Troubles_ which my Shakespeare professor found out at a conference and recommended it to us. The art is really cool and I like the idea that heroes like Hamlet, Juliet, Romeo, Othello and Falstaff are going up against Richard III, Lady Macbeth and Iago who are after Shakespeare's magic quill to rewrite the present and take over.


----------



## Walt1093

"Three" by Ted Dekker. Surprisingly well-written


----------



## Fin

Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston.

It's so depressing. Not the story, but my reading experience of it. This is a school assignment, and it's the first time I've ever considered heading over to a cliff note website. I can't get into it, and the writing is kind of annoying. For me, it's one of those stories you dislike so much that you don't even have a clue what's going on.


----------



## Kyle R

I hated school reading assignments. Good luck with yours! At least you can comfort yourself in knowing that if you hate it, it's likely your classmates hate it, too. 

I'm currently reading a variety of film scripts, to study story structure. I must say, though, the narrative style of movie scripts (_"INT DAY LABORATORY - KEVIN grabs a RED THERMOS and drinks. A beat. Cut to SARAH. Looks annoyed. The window is CRACKING!"_) is simply terrible. Awful, awful prose. At least to me, I have been wincing and grimacing the whole way. But, I do it in the name of science!

If I want my book to be a movie, I might as well learn how the pros do it. *slaps forehead* Just you watch, my next story will be written like:

Exterior, night, a park. Michael is WALKING. 

Voice Over of random thug, "Nice coat."

Close up of Michael's face. He looks annoyed.

Thug steps into view. "I said, nice coat."

A beat.

Michael clenches his fists.

They fight. Intense action sequence. Thug gets the upper hand.

Close up of Michael's eyes. They look wild. Thug produces a knife. It's close to Michael's eyes!

Cut to dormitory.

:grief:


----------



## Fin

I hate the majority of them too! Just never as bad as this one. My previous assignment was The Great Gatsby. It wasn't nearly as bad, but I still resented it because it involved doing work. I spent a lot of time reading it secretly wishing that some of the characters would die. Whereas in this book, I'm not wishing _some_ of the characters dead, I'm hoping _all_ of them die. Maybe in the form of an explosion or some horrifying scene.

Good luck to you as well! It used to be my goal to write a movie script. Until I actually read the way one was formatted. Then I just pretended the goal never existed. 

"How's the script coming along?"

"What are you talking about?"

 Hope your dedication to something horrible is a lot better than mine!


----------



## Kyle R

Fin said:


> in this book, I'm not wishing _some_ of the characters dead, I'm hoping _all_ of them die. Maybe in the form of an explosion or some horrifying scene.



Lol!

It's the makings of a brilliant Fan-Fiction piece. The "Everybody dies in a horrifying explosion" scene. And the audience cheers!


----------



## Jon M

KyleColorado said:


> If I want my book to be a movie, I might as well learn how the pros do it. *slaps forehead* Just you watch, my next story will be written like:


Spec scripts aren't supposed to include directorial instructions, i.e., 'close-up on so-and-so'. Spec scripts are just the story in scripted form, and some of them are really good. Look online for the Se7en script, or Children of Men.


----------



## philistine

I've just dived (or would the Americans say 'dove'?) into Natsume Soseki's _I am a Cat_. I enjoyed _Kokoro _immensely, so figured this would be a good punt. It's the three-in-one volume edition.


----------



## Kevin

i think it's 'had diven'


----------



## JimJanuary

Checking out 'Brief History of time' Steven Hawking. And now I cant sleep because I'm thinking too much again.. but that's a good thing


----------



## Kyle R

Jon M said:


> Spec scripts aren't supposed to include directorial instructions, i.e., 'close-up on so-and-so'. Spec scripts are just the story in scripted form, and some of them are really good. Look online for the Se7en script, or Children of Men.



I think it's just James Cameron's script writing style. I assumed that since his movies have been so successful, his scripts must be great, too. Instead I find them quite cheesy.

I have since come across some better script writers. I also glanced at Se7en and it has a more competent narration style, thanks for that.

Cheers!


----------



## Jon M

_Tree of Smoke_ by Denis Johnson. I don't know why exactly, but this dude's writing always pulls me in.


----------



## N3aR

The House Of Scorpion is the last book I've read, but as of now, I'm really-reading The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore.


----------



## Kyra

I am currently reading 'Everything's Eventual' by Stephen King. Great book so far, but not as scary as my friends kept warning me about. Maybe I should get 'It' by him and read that. I heard it kept my English teacher up for two days straight.


----------



## BlueJay

I've just finished reading _*The Flock* _by James Robert Smith
Naturally, pretty _Jurassic Park-esque_. Fairly interesting premise; exciting and nicely paced. I liked it!


----------



## QueenAnkh

At the moment I'm reading 'A Dance With Dragons' by George RR Martin. I've been watching the TV adaptation but it will never be better than the amazing world he has created. I've recently finished the Millennium Trilogy and found it so well written and such a shame there will never be more from him. They are heavy going but so worth finishing because of the depth of the characters. People who can create characters like Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist are so rare!


----------



## Fin

Are those the books that the Game of Thrones TV series is based on? I should go pick up one and see how it is. Unfortunately, I'm lazy and have so many books lined up already. Oh well, for now I'll stick with the TV series.

Disregard this if I'm incorrect and it has nothing to do with the Game of Thrones.


----------



## badboi scene

Craig Russell 'Eternal', third book in his Jan Fabel series: Germany's Polizei Chief Commissar Fabel is investigating a case of a vengeful murderer, scalping his victims, and dying their scalps hair red - linking back to a terrorist plot.

Both Russell's Fabel and Lennox series are beautifully written, impressively researched and well worth a read in my eyes.


----------



## JimJanuary

Philip K. Dick - Ubik. Like most of his stuff it's got that crazy 'am I dead/is this real?' theme about it. Pretty cool


----------



## playingthepianodrunk

I've been reading a lot of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy the great Russians. I also recently read two books that Andrei Tarkovsky made movies from. Solaris by Steinslaw Lem, movie by the same name and Roadside Picnic. Both books and movies influenced me greatly. I've also been reading a lot of Hunter S Thompsons journalism.


----------



## Skodt

The count of Monte Cristo 4.5/5
It's long and somtimes overly wordy, but it's also detailed and cunning. Monte Cristo is a dynamic character, that is unlike any other I have ever read. The book rounding out at around 1400 hundred pages shows a great transformation. Not just of the count, but of several other characters around him. Paris comes to life, th Romain badditti captures your attention, and the characters pummel you into submission. The execution of the ending and the cummulation of the revenge is enough to read the book. If you have the time and enjoy a good literary telling, then The Count is for you. 

Now I have started on the second book by Lev Grossmen:The Magician King. It is a follow up to his first novel called Magicians. It's about a boy who went to a magic college called Brakebills. He then enters a land all thought was a made up tale inside a childrens book. The land is almost Narnia like, and the telling follows a free for all of magic. The language sometimes is a little obscure so not a childrens book like Narnia. Though his writing never really takes off into a for certain adult tale.


----------



## Jon M

_Life_, Keith Richards


----------



## Jon M

_Permanent Midnight_, Jerry Stahl

Got this today. So so so looking forward to diving in.


----------



## TheFuhrer02

Palahniuk. Fight Club. :thumbl:


----------



## philistine

A few poems by Basho, including his _Narrow Road to the Deep North_.

As strange as it sounds, and I've never, ever experienced this in western poetry, you can actually smell the objects described, such is the vivid quality and realness of his words. It sounds absurd, though I recommend it wholeheartedly to any poetry lover. 

I've been breaking out the notepad periodically.


----------



## Kevin

_In the garden of the beasts_- Larson    A historical picture of a country's descent into a fanatical police state. It's realism makes it more frightening. I am really enjoying the characters and I guess they're all real.


----------



## Kevin

_Sartoris- Faulkner_


----------



## philistine

The poetry of Rumi. Beautiful.


----------



## IndigoCypher

I'm reading _Maximum Ride _by James Patterson and I just finished the most epic book of all time ever, _The Way of Kings_​ by Brandon Sheradon.


----------



## Jon M

Jon M said:


> _Permanent Midnight_, Jerry Stahl


I cannot express how fun this book is to read. 

Sharp, sharp writing.


----------



## Kyle R

I'm currently finishing "Norweigan Wood" by Haruki Murakami. I'm learning a lot about my own writing by analyzing his slow, thoughtful pacing. Oh, and the story is interesting, too. Subdued and ponderous. Kind of a modern-day "Catcher in the Rye" but without the teenage angst, and focusing more on love and love lost.

Up next: "Swamplandia!" by Karen Russell.


----------



## Extinct_Stimulus

KyleColorado said:


> I'm currently finishing "Norweigan Wood" by Haruki Murakami. I'm learning a lot about my own writing by analyzing his slow, thoughtful pacing. Oh, and the story is interesting, too. Subdued and ponderous. Kind of a modern-day "Catcher in the Rye" but without the teenage angst, and focusing more on love and love lost.



This sounds _very_ interesting.

I'm currently re-reading DeLillo's _White Noise_, which is one of the most intelligent novels I've ever read.


----------



## JimJanuary

About half way through _Game of Thrones_ and am also going through Becker's _Denial of Death_


----------



## Terry D

_Flashback_ by Dan Simmons


----------



## Alabastrine

*braces for hateful onslaught* 

I am reading the Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy. :redface2:


----------



## JimJanuary

Alabastrine said:


> I am reading the Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy. :redface2:


50 Shades of Grey - THE MUSICAL - YouTube
[video=youtube;leT-4Y1l7NY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leT-4Y1l7NY[/video]


----------



## Alabastrine

yes, I have seen and laughed at that and the SNL Parody. It's a horribly written book. Filled with spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors. The sex is ok, not as crazy to me as I thought it was going to be. Maybe I am desensitized? I am not proud of my reading choice, but I wanted to see what all of the hoopla is about. I will say, however, I wouldn't mind me some Christian Grey


----------



## Sunny

Alabastrine said:


> *braces for hateful onslaught*
> 
> I am reading the Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy. :redface2:


Me too! 

I'm only on the first paragraph however. ;0)


----------



## Alabastrine

crappy writing aside... I love the characters. I have never felt so badly about enjoying a book as much as I have.


----------



## Sunny

I can't wait to fall in love with these characters I keep hearing about. ;0)


----------



## Kyle R

^ I've read the book. They all get eaten. By DINOSAURS. It's all very awful and bloody.


----------



## Sunny

^ yah, I'm sure a T-Rex storms into the bedroom and tears them apart while the two MC's do their thing! lol 

I'll let you know how the book is, so you can read it next! ;0)


----------



## Kyle R

I told you, I read it!

Here's a scene from the middle of the book. 

_“I still want more," I whisper. 

"I know," he says. "I'll try." 

I blink up at him, and he reliquishes my hand and pulls at my chin, releasing my trapped lip. 

"For you, Anastasia, I will try.”

But we don't get the chance. Just as Christian is leaning down into me, a ravenous dinosaur crashes into the room, obliterating the doorway. Holy crap!

"What the heck is this?" Christian shouts.

The dinosaur snarls and looks at us with hungry, primal eyes. They remind me of Christian's, and suddenly I feel like I'm in the room with two beasts, and both of them want me.

_Lol


----------



## Sunny

^LOL ... that sounds really good actually! You should write that up, and sell millions of copies!


----------



## Kyle R

It turned into a weird human/dinosaur erotica threesome at that point and I stopped reading.


----------



## Nemesis

Alabastrine said:


> yes, I have seen and laughed at that and the SNL Parody. It's a horribly written book. Filled with spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors. The sex is ok, not as crazy to me as I thought it was going to be. Maybe I am desensitized? I am not proud of my reading choice, but I wanted to see what all of the hoopla is about. I will say, however, I wouldn't mind me some Christian Grey



Feeling a little submissive lol? I like Kyles version better though.


----------



## Kyle R

Everyone knows girls are horny for velociraptors. Lol. *slaps forehead*







Okay, I'll stop de-railing this thread.


----------



## Alabastrine

My sister and I spent two hours sending our "picks" for who should play Christian Grey in the movie. UGH..I need to read them again.


----------



## Alabastrine

KyleColorado said:


> I told you, I read it!
> 
> Here's a scene from the middle of the book.
> 
> _“I still want more," I whisper.
> 
> "I know," he says. "I'll try."
> 
> I blink up at him, and he reliquishes my hand and pulls at my chin, releasing my trapped lip.
> 
> "For you, Anastasia, I will try.”
> 
> But we don't get the chance. Just as Christian is leaning down into me, a ravenous dinosaur crashes into the room, obliterating the doorway. Holy crap!
> 
> "What the heck is this?" Christian shouts.
> 
> The dinosaur snarls and looks at us with hungry, primal eyes. They remind me of Christian's, and suddenly I feel like I'm in the room with two beasts, and both of them want me.
> 
> _Lol




This is priceless and I will admit, I wouldn't mind reading this story


----------



## Alabastrine

Noxicity said:


> Feeling a little submissive lol? I like Kyles version better though.



Yes...yes I am! I had the sudden urge to stock up on silk grey ties and whips. Is that weird?


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Ha, I read part of those books (the part that's free on Google books) for the same reason, to see what all the fuss was. So many problems, so many daddy issues, but obviously people must love it, so more power to E. L. James. 

However, if I ever wrote a sex scene in which one of the characters says "Argh" in pleasure, I hope I'd have the good sense not to let the world know about it.


----------



## Nemesis

lasm said:


> Ha, I read part of those books (the part that's free on Google books) for the same reason, to see what all the fuss was. So many problems, so many daddy issues, but obviously people must love it, so more power to E. L. James.
> 
> However, if I ever wrote a sex scene in which one of the characters says "Argh" in pleasure, I hope I'd have the good sense not to let the world know about it.



You hit the nail on the head. I couldn't write a romance novel, it comes out too dark and people keep dying in between the sex scenes No one would read it because it depresses them lmao


----------



## Deleted member 49710

I'm trying to write a SF novel and my characters are making googly eyes at each other! Poor dears. I'd like to let them get it on, but no, if my MC cheats on her boyfriend she'll be too unlikable, and if her boss tries to sleep with her he'll be too creepy. I'm ratcheting up the violence and angst instead.


----------



## Nemesis

lasm said:


> I'm trying to write a SF novel and my characters are making googly eyes at each other! Poor dears. I'd like to let them get it on, but no, if my MC cheats on her boyfriend she'll be too unlikable, and if her boss tries to sleep with her he'll be too creepy. I'm ratcheting up the violence and angst instead.



I say go for it I love awkward sex scenes ^^


----------



## Elements

Lucifer's hammer by Larry Niven 
A really interesting read, specially if you're into world-end scenarios~


----------



## Fin

Sati, by Christopher Pike.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Just got Chuck Palahniuk_'s_ _Survivor_ in the mail, so I'm gonna read that for an hour before putting my academic hat back on and reading my Virilio.


----------



## Kyle R

_Survivor _by Palahniuk was a fun one. I remember enjoying it greatly.

Chuck's writing may not seem very high-brow, but he's actually a very intelligent writer. He's very cerebral with his craft; knows his way around dramatic writing techniques like nobody's business. His skill comes in the way he disguises himself in his eccentric characters and plot-driven stories. He hides his process well.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Glad to know it's recommended! I'm enjoying it so far - just kind of tearing through without thinking too hard.


----------



## ross

Harry Hole... yes I know - guilty pleasure


----------



## misusscarlet

Today I went to the only book store in my town and even though I did not get the complete series I got Dave Duncan's seventh sword trilogy. I was unable to find book two . I gave up on reading the fifty shades trilogy. I got to the middle of the third one but, it just got boring, I guess that my maturity is above  reading about two young adults that struggle to unload the baggage they carry with them, but who does not love a good drama book? I am currently waiting for my favorite authors to release their newest books like Christine Feehan, Christine Warren and Kresley Cole. Unfortunately that is months away..


----------



## MichaelSTMears

Don't know if this has already been mentioned, but currently reading Game of Thrones, from the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. Only a short way in but have been watching the TV series, which is how I found out about it. Takes a lot of fantasy elements and mixes them together in a believable way. To me, everything is subtle, which works really well so it doesn't seem like you're being flooded with impossible magic or myths. It makes a nice change from a lot of writer's going O.T.T. to have something so subtly constructed. Would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys something gritty they can sink into. 

Mike


----------



## Max22

I've started to reading Columbine by Dave Cullen. I assume everyone knows what's it about. It's so tragic


----------



## Jeko

Barry Trotter and the Shameless Parody. Because I never read comedy fiction, and I thought now's a good time to start.

I'd happily have a philosopher's scone any day, but I'd never be able to take on Lord Valumart. And he's got Serious Blech working for him too...


----------



## apple

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving


----------



## Winston

I just finished Robert A. Heinlein's first novel, "For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs".

I'll probably post a review soon, as time permits.


----------



## Alabastrine

Tick Tock by Dean Koontz


----------



## Lilly Davidson

_'The Diary of a Nobody'_ by George & Weedon Grossmith. First published in 1892, it is such a hilarious little book. The hero, Mr Charles Pooter is unintentionally comic and it really cheers me up to read. 

Also dipping into a volume of short stories by Somerset Maugham, what a treat, I feel I am safely in the good hands of a master writer with these.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Love Somerset Maugham! _Of Human Bondage_ is a favorite of mine. 

I'm reading a history of the role of vision in 20th century thought called _Downcast Eyes_ by Martin Jay. Interesting to me for a variety of reasons, but in large part because I've been trying to get away from visual paradigms in my writing. Film does visual better than literature can, so why not focus on the other senses?


----------



## Lilly Davidson

Hi Lasm 
sounds like a damned good idea to me! That book sounds interesting. All our senses are so important to depict and use in writing. 

I read Maugham years ago, he is exceptional.


----------



## Artanyis

Of Human Bondage is a classic, and I would always recommend most classics.  I am currently reading _The Weavers of Saramyr_ By Chris Wooding.  It's the first of three called _The Braided Path_  Very good, interesting fantasy novel, but kind of dark, it has a sense of foreboding hanging over every word.  I just finished the third _Ketty Jay _book,_ The Iron Jackal._  Same author, that series is pure genius, check them out if you haven't read them, they are quick and fun and flow like water.  the first one is _Retribution Falls_.  Really I cant stop praising these books.


----------



## Jon M

The memoir binge continues. _Leaving Dirty Jersey_, James Salant.


----------



## philistine

The second volume of Proust's _In Search of Lost time_. I found his style initially quite awkward, though have since come to love it. I'm almost certain that during his convalescence (where a lot of the work was written, or rewritten altogether), he completely forgot that the full stop existed. Some paragraphs span almost two pages!

I'm also itching to hit my volume of Hemingway.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

I would need some Hemingway as an antidote to the Proust, too!


----------



## Euripides

I'm going to admit, I just read the manga 'Nana'...angsty rock n roll.

Had to take a mental breather from all the sci journals on 'Stray Gas' I've been reading/studying.

Will be going through these pages for ideas on my next read.


----------



## Primrose

I finished _Twilight_ and couldn't find the strength to go on with the others. If I didn't hate the book _before_ I read it, I certainly do now. On the other hand, it was instructive and it certainly boosted my confidence. Yes, I'm fairly certain I'll never write anything worse than that for as long as I live...

Still working on _A Storm of Swords_ by Martin. I'm thinking about picking up _The Woman in White_ next, or revisiting the Brontes. That or _The Great Gatsby_, _Great Expectations_ and _Les Miserables_... The movies will be out soon and I've always liked to compare.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

All right, I have (finally) just completed Palahniuk's _Survivor_. Liked it. Not quite as much as _Fight __Club, _maybe, but liked it.

I'm thinking I need to read some Jennifer Egan. I keep seeing the name floating around, and she had a good short in a recent New Yorker.


----------



## Jon M

Totally forgot about this book I had called _Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs_. So, digging this as well as that memoir I'm still reading.


----------



## Lilly Davidson

Hi Artanyis

Indeed 'Of Human Bondage' was excellent by Somerset Maugham, but I read it many many years ago. You have put me in mind of reading it again, what a master storyteller he was. Steeping ourselves in great literature is truly the best thing we can do if we want to write well ourselves. It is a joy to do that anyway of course, nothing beats reading.


----------



## Artanyis

Primrose, I have something for you to read; a friend of mine writes a blog about twilight, it is a dissection of what went wrong with it.  It is interesting and hilarious, it is worth checking out if you have or have not read the books.
I think this should get you to the beginning if your interested at a good laugh.
What Went Wrong: A Dissection of Twilight: For my first trick: Chapter 1: Enter the Whinging


----------



## Kyle R

Currently reading _20 under 40, Stories from The New Yorker_


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Last night I started reading Jennifer Egan's _A Visit from the Goon Squad._ Got four chapters in. So far: good, well written, interesting. But I think the problem with switching POV each chapter is that I'm really not yet certain where things are going or what the point is, and having had so little sustained interaction with any one character, I don't care much about any of them. The one I liked best, three pages into the next chapter she tells me he dies young. Great. Anyway, I'm sure it all comes together beautifully at some point and then I'll cry and declare it the best book ever or something.

Today I'm reading Gustave Le Rouge, _Prisonnier de la Planète Mars._ This is for work. One of the reasons my work is awesome.


----------



## bigjantailor

The Dyslexic Advantage, a must read for all teacher and dyslexics. However, for the latter I suggest the audio book version - the one I _read_. It truly shead light on the abilities dyslexic's have going beyond the traditional beleif that it is disablity. The only dishartening finding in it is like every example of a successful dyslexic has written a book or two... and I wanted that to my gimmic. It has great discription from research using Functional MRIs to show how the dyslexic brain is organized differently.

Great book, wish my school teacher had read it.

Have fun, Jan


----------



## Euripides

In the Garden of Beasts is my read for the flight home tomorrow


----------



## Jon M

_What's Left Of Us_, Richard Farrell


----------



## TinyDancer

Neil Gaimnan 'Neverwhere', and 'Smokes and Mirrors' (short stories) because I keep misplacing them then refinding.. so far though I'm enjoying Neverwhere more, some of the stories/poems in the 'smokes and mirrors' aren't my cup of tea... that said.. I really enjoyed the 'wedding story' that was included in the introduction.


----------



## JimJanuary

The United States of McSweeney's


----------



## Kyle R

lasm said:


> Last night I started reading Jennifer Egan's _A Visit from the Goon Squad._ Got four chapters in. So far: good, well written, interesting. But I think the problem with switching POV each chapter is that I'm really not yet certain where things are going or what the point is, and having had so little sustained interaction with any one character, I don't care much about any of them. The one I liked best, three pages into the next chapter she tells me he dies young. Great. Anyway, I'm sure it all comes together beautifully at some point and then I'll cry and declare it the best book ever or something.



Goon Squad is definately a challenging read. But it does work together in the end, like you said. Though, it depends on the reader somewhat. If you like Egan, she also has some traditionally-structured novels (one main character POV the whole way through) that you might enjoy more, for that reason. (I'm a big fan of Egan's writing )


----------



## Deleted member 49710

KyleColorado said:


> Goon Squad is definately a challenging read. But it does work together in the end, like you said. Though, it depends on the reader somewhat. If you like Egan, she also has some traditionally-structured novels (one main character POV the whole way through) that you might enjoy more, for that reason. (I'm a big fan of Egan's writing )



I think I like her - previously I've only read a short story that was in the _New Yorker_ a month or so ago called "Black Box" that really impressed me. Stylistically very cool and beautifully written. So that's why I thought I should check out her books. And I'm actually interested in experimentation with POV, some switching never bothers me, but I think I do see some drawbacks to doing it _too_ much. In any case, I'll wait for the grand finale before I judge.


----------



## Serah-Kitty

Oh, cowpies....  I was supposed to post here, wasn't I?  Oh well!!  Newbie here.  I'm currently reading Vampire hunter D, volume 13: Twin Shadowed Knight


----------



## tojo33e

I am reading the Tomb by F Paul Wilson i just recently discovered his books last week and have read the Keep and now on the 2nd book of the series.


----------



## Jamie Cook

_On Writing_ by King. Not all of it is great, but it has some interesting advice.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Got as close to the end of _Goon Squad_ as I think I'm going to bother with (that is to say, skimmed to halfway through the last chapter). She tugs a lot of heartstrings throughout, there are good moments. Yes, we're none of us as young as we used to be. Is that the point? Overall - loveless, centerless, boring.

I picked up Flaubert's _Salammb__ô_ as an antidote.


----------



## OC-138

Reading The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss for the 3rd time, easily the best book I have ever read. Love it.


----------



## jakeocallaghan

A Farewell to Arms. It's by Hemingway, so of course it's brilliant.


----------



## chall

I'm a fantasy junkie haha.... Reading the last book by Christopher Paolini,  Inheritance!! Started 3 days ago and almost 300 pages in... should finish by middle of next week. Pretty long. 849 pages. SOOOOOOO worth it.


----------



## TinyDancer

Pandemonium (Delirium Trilogy 2). Neverwhere. Daughter of Smoke and Bone.


----------



## toonleon

The Picture of Dorian Gray  Indeterminably enlightened.


----------



## Arcopitcairn

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Ghost Hunter by Hans Holzer

They Walk By Night by Michael Hervey


----------



## Dave Watson

Chasm by Stephen Laws. Very decent apocalyptic type horror story.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

_The Severed Hand_ by Blaise Cendrars. Semi-humorous semi-horrific WWI memoir.


----------



## newkidintown

A compilation of the 2012 Pen/O. Henry Prize Winners. 

In specific, I just finished "The Deep". To write a story that good... that's pretty much become a new long-term goal of mine.


----------



## DW Keech

Great Expectations and Just So Stories by Kipling.


----------



## JimJanuary

Jack Kerouac - Satori in Paris


----------



## fwc577

I just finished the first book in the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead.  I honestly enjoyed it.  I am someone who hates Twilight and Hunger Games by the way.  I started book two.  Unfortunatly, while re-working the begining of my novel today I decided to go read how some popular novels start in their first chapters.  I read the first 2-4 paragraphs of subsequent novels in Vampire Academy series and I may have ruined it for myself :\


----------



## cazann34

If your struggling with reading it, stop reading it. You're obviously not enjoying it why waste your time. If a book doesn't grab me in the first chapter or so I leave it and start something new. I find anything by Dean Koontz always grabs my attentions. Recently I finished "Seize the day" just couldn't put it down. I highly recommend it for you.


----------



## JimJanuary

Leviathan Wakes - James S. A. Corey


----------



## MKEWriter

About halfway through _Swamplandia!_ by Karen Russell and really enjoying it. Reminds me of one of my faves, George Saunders.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

Ratha's Creature by Clare Bell!


----------



## Jeko

> The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman



Hussah!

The Thin Executioner by Darren Shan

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel by Michael Gerber


----------



## TinyDancer

coraline was nice  Neil Gaiman I like. ..

Neverwhere (still. lol) Neil gaiman
Sidhartha ( I think it might be helpful)

..soon I want to reread the Gaiman's sandman comics, they were the first thing of his I read and the first comics I read (and the last I enjoyed) looking forward to that. 
Also if anyone likes his books then I would recommend that and 'Good Omens'... I literally laughed out loud in that book, it was nice  very funny.


----------



## Artanyis

Sandman is amazing and one of my all time favorite.
That said, read Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett... I think I'll dig out my copy and give it a read again, it's so good.


----------



## Jon M

_Beautiful Boy_, David Sheff


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Fredric Jameson: _Archaeologies of the Future: The Desire Called Utopia and Other Science Fictions._ Woo-hoo.


----------



## Jessi

_Sense of Evil _ by Kay Hooper.


----------



## Jeko

Haven't read Good Omens or the Sandman comics. Want to desperately.


----------



## Kyella

_Good Omens_ is definately one to read when you get the chance. Excellent read and very funny. I'm currently reading _Man from Mundania_ by Piers Anthony.


----------



## Aesmind

I am reading Clash of Kings by George R.R Martin, enthralled. Daenerys is my favourite, as well as Tyrion


----------



## Primrose

YAAAAY! Another Throne-y! You'll get a lot of Tyrion in that one. I'm on A Storm of Swords.


----------



## MisterTribute

_The Demigod Files_ by Rick Riordan; Extra stories from the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series.


----------



## Jon M

Library finally got their copy of _Goon Squad_ back, so I'm reading that plus _Norwegian Wood_ kind of at the same time. 

Good prose overload in 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... :emmersed:


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Jon M said:


> Library finally got their copy of _Goon Squad_ back, so I'm reading that plus _Norwegian Wood_ kind of at the same time.
> 
> Good prose overload in 5 ... 4 ... 3 ... :emmersed:



_Goon Squad_ is fabulously well written in parts. I think I liked the Powerpoint chapter best. Her experimentations with form are really cool at times.

I have been fighting with Friedrich Kittler's _Gramophone, Film, Typewriter_ all day. Interesting stuff about reading as trained hallucination/production of mental images.


----------



## Artanyis

There are so many people reading classics and philosophical works.  I feel a little out done 
Aside from the few dozen physics papers on general and special relativity I read in a two night period, I just Picked up Low Town, a brand new fantasy novel by a brand new author, Daniel Polansky.  And by brand new I mean it came out last august, so a year ago, but my book store just got it in and it just showed up on the new release shelves about two weeks ago...  I hate small towns.
That aside, this is so far an excellent book, much darker than most fantasy style books, grimy and wonderful.  I'm only about a third of the way through but I cant wait till I have more time to read


----------



## HKayG

What's _good omens_ about then?

Currently reading _The Final Empire - Mistborn Book I_ by Brandon Sanderson.  Finding it quite slow to get into though!


----------



## Aesmind

Artanyis said:


> There are so many people reading classics and philosophical works.  I feel a little out done
> Aside from the few dozen physics papers on general and special relativity I read in a two night period, I just Picked up Low Town, a brand new fantasy novel by a brand new author, Daniel Polansky.  And by brand new I mean it came out last august, so a year ago, but my book store just got it in and it just showed up on the new release shelves about two weeks ago...  I hate small towns.
> That aside, this is so far an excellent book, much darker than most fantasy style books, grimy and wonderful.  I'm only about a third of the way through but I cant wait till I have more time to read



Ooooo, I have just checked it out on Amazon and it sounds a good read! It will be in my hands soon, I think - thank you for mentioning it!

Myself, I am reading A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin, I'm sure many people are onto the series now, so it's not much of a reccommendation, but I like them very much!



Primrose said:


> YAAAAY! Another Throne-y! You'll get a lot of Tyrion in that one. I'm on A Storm of Swords.



I can't wait to finish this book, as I have seen the tv series so I know what happens in this one I'm reading - I want to be ahead of the tv series and find out ha!


----------



## Deleted member 49710

I am spending the day with Albert Robida's _The Twentieth Century. _Fun and satirical story about Paris in the 1950s, written in the 1880s. They're watching theater performances via the equivalent of Skype, it's hilarious.


----------



## Dave Watson

Just started part one of Dean Koontz's Odd Interlude.


----------



## Jon M

lasm said:


> _Goon Squad_ is fabulously well written in parts. I think I liked the Powerpoint chapter best. Her experimentations with form are really cool at times.


Haven't gotten there yet, but yeah, it definitely looks interesting. I just finished the second chapter, about the record guy who sprinkles gold flakes in his coffee. Good stuff. I really like her writing, plus her photo on the jacket makes her look smart and sexy and crafty and kind of like she's secretly devising a plan to steal all my limbs or something.

/boy crush


----------



## Kevin

_Hyperion- _by Dan Simmons


----------



## Lilly Davidson

Hey Artanyis, 
You must not feel outdone by anyone. We all have different tastes and time in which to read. I try to steer myself to more quality reading if I can but I have a very wide taste indeed. Whatever makes you happy is what you should read. The novel you are reading now sounds great. 

If I could have servants and just read and write every waking hour I would! That's my plan if I ever win the lottery...stay where i am and just read, write and go walking. That would do me very well instead of chasing worldly things and materialistic things - if you get what I mean.


----------



## Artanyis

Lol, you have a similar plan to me if I ever get rich, except I will have a boat and spend most of my time on the ocean, reading, writing, and sailing with my wife.


----------



## TWErvin2

Just started reading _*Prime Suspects*: A Clone Detective Mystery _by Jim Bernheimer, enjoying it so far, but not quite as good as his _*Confessions of a D-List Supervillain*_.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, _Claire Lenoir._ Philosophy, retinal afterimages, and jealous revenge from beyond the grave. Crazy stuff.


----------



## Sardonis

I'm reading _The Alchemist_ by Paulo Coelho very, very slowly. I do not understand what all the hype is about. This book is horrid. Dryly written, conflicts are solved within pages of each other and the characters are completely hollow... ugh. However, there must be SOMETHING good about it, since it's such a "big" book, so I'll reserve from completely hating it until I'm finished.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

I am reading Theodore Boone: The Abduction by John Grisham. This is the second in the Theodore Boone series. (The first was Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer.)


----------



## Winston

_Warp Speed _by Travis Taylor.  I like hard sci-fi, but this is a bit thick in places (the author is a physicist).  The characters are too perfect (martial art expert, mountain biking good 'ole boys that love BBQ, beer and particle theory).  

Oh well, I started the durn thing.  Let's see where it goes.


----------



## TheWonderingNovice

One Flew Over The Cukoo's Nest. Trying to get back to the good stuff. I read 1984 just before that. Gotta love 'em.


----------



## Lilly Davidson

Now that would be a nice lifestyle.


----------



## Lilly Davidson

Artanyis said:


> Lol, you have a similar plan to me if I ever get rich, except I will have a boat and spend most of my time on the ocean, reading, writing, and sailing with my wife.



Now that would be a nice lifestyle.


----------



## authorkid94

I'm Reading some of the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz.


----------



## Gyarachu

_Romance of the Three Kingdoms_ by Luo Guanzhong.

It's a romanticized account of the fall of the Han Dynasty and consequent Three Kingdoms era of China (about 184-262 A.D.). I would highly recommend it for any history buffs like me out there.

I'm also thinking about reading through_ The Hobbit_ again...


----------



## Lilly Davidson

Hi Gyarachu
Sounds like a good book. 
You remind me, I really must read _The Lord of the Rings _again!


----------



## jacqueline

I am going to start reading The Hunger Games tonight. I have it on loan to my Kindle Touch (with my Amazon Prime membership)


----------



## Jeko

I'm rereading Artemis Fowl, for inspiration for a WIP and to get me thinking of something else other than The Hunger Games. *sniff*


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

I am reading Pendragon Book One: The Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale and A Clash of Kings By George R.R. Martin.


----------



## Dave Watson

Now halfway through "Ash" by James Herbert. A return to form from the UK'S numero uno chillmeister.


----------



## Dunluchyn

I almost blush to admit this...
A Friend introduced me to Tom Clancy....over the last few months I've read almost all of the Jack Ryan series.
I've been haunting 2nd hand bookshops trying to find Rainbow Six...late nights and diddly sleep whilst I turn the pages


----------



## Dave Watson

Dunluchyn said:


> I almost blush to admit this...
> A Friend introduced me to Tom Clancy....over the last few months I've read almost all of the Jack Ryan series.
> I've been haunting 2nd hand bookshops trying to find Rainbow Six...late nights and diddly sleep whilst I turn the pages



No shame there, dude. Rainbox Six is the only Clancy book I've ever read. And it is awesome. So many gunfights! If you're looking for high tech weaponry and gratituous explosions, you could do worse than a dash of Tom Clancy. Always meaning to get my hands on some more of his work.


----------



## JimJanuary

Going through 'A View From the Bridge/All My Sons' by Arthur Miller


----------



## MisterTribute

_The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe_ by Clive Staples Lewis. :lemo:


----------



## Kyle R

MisterTribute said:


> _The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe_ by Clive Staples Lewis. :lemo:



One of the first books I ever read. As a child, I was blown away by the wonder of it all. :encouragement:


----------



## TinyDancer

Wolf Hall- Hilary Mantel


----------



## RichardScribe

Firebird by Jack McDevitt


----------



## Jon M

_The Year of the Flood_, Margaret Atwood. 

Love what I've read so far (20ish pages).


----------



## JimJanuary

Caliban's War - James S.A. Corey


----------



## Ender27

_Ender's Game - _​Orson Scott Card


----------



## JimJanuary

_The Shifting Realities of Philip K. Dick _- It's mainly essays and autobiographical pieces he wrote. It's pretty good, a lot of philosophical stuff


----------



## Comrade Yuri

I've been reading The Changes trilogy by Peter Dickinson. It's a post apocalyptic, young adult series. It takes place in England, and I'm enjoying it as a departure from heavier reading. In fact, I'm enjoying young adult fiction quite a bit! I don't know if that's because it's generally a simpler and easier read, or what. One thing's for certain: they're generally shorter, and get to the point without lots of lollygagging around. 

These days, I'm all about "getting to the point."

Comrade Yuri.


----------



## Dave Watson

Assassin's quest by Robin Hobb. All sorts of awesome.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

Bel-Air Dead by Stewart Woods and Sleeping Dogs by Thomas Perry!


----------



## Whisper

The History of God: The 4,000 years quest of Judiasm, Christianity and Islam, by Karen Armstrong.

and

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by William L. Shirer

Just ordered two books about Early Rome so will start to read those when they arrive.


Basically, I'm just killing time while waiting for "The Twelve" to come out on the 16th, then I'll be putting those aside until I finish it.


----------



## Namba

I'm just getting started on The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.


----------



## Jon M

A few new ones. Not sure if I'll get through all of them before I have to send them back to the library, but they are

_Oryx and Crake
Alice in Wonderland / Through the Looking Glass
Are Your Prescriptions Killing You?_


----------



## JonSnow

The books I'm currently reading are: "The Call of Cthulhu and Other Dark Tales" by H.P. Lovecraft (Barnes & Noble edition); "Foundation" by Isaac Asimov; and "Dracula" by Bram Stoker.


----------



## MisterTribute

I'm currently reading _Camp Half-Blood, Series Two: The Heroes of Olympus, Book Three: __The Mark of Athena_ by Rick Riordan. Waited for it for a year. Now I have it!


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Right now I am re-reading _Dr. Lerne: Demi-God_ by Maurice Renard. And Michel de Certeau's essay "Walking in the City."

I am fantasizing about reading _1Q84_ by Haruki Murakami, or maybe something by China Miéville or Daniel Wilson (recommendations?). Something from this century.


----------



## Jon M

lasm said:


> or maybe something by China Miéville


What I read of _The City & The City_ (admittedly little) was excellent. Also, _Perdido Street Station_ was great.


----------



## tepelus

_Fevre Dream_ by George R R Martin. I started to read it last year in July but I just couldn't get into it and I put it aside. I picked it up again this week and I'm enjoying it this time around. I'm about halfway through. I guess I just wasn't in the mindset to read a vampire novel set in the mid 1800's on steamboats back then.


----------



## Rilto

I haven't had a chance to read through everyone else's replies yet, but I look forward to it. Got curious about Jennifer Egan after reading Kyle's post! 

I'm working my way through Fanny Burney's novels - she was Jane Austen's inspiration, from what I have read. They are wordy and long-winded, but there are some female characters I can relate to, like Mrs Arlbury in 'Camilla'. 

Also reading a biography about Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. 

For work, I've recently read John Grisham (one of my personal favorites), Eugenides 'The Marriage Plot', and Julian Barnes' 'The Sense of an Ending', which is probably the best book I have read in a long, long time. Just finished a thriller called 'The Expats', which didn't thrill me at all. The main character, who carries the entire story, seems depressed... for good reasons, but it makes it hard to not feel the same way about the book.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

Clan Ground by Clare Bell


----------



## JLAu

Krzyzacy by Henryk Sienkiewicz and The Walking Drum by Louis L'Amour
*wish I could read polish I think there is something lost in the translation by Binion


----------



## TheFuhrer02

SuperFreakonomics by Dubner and Levitt and Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Riordan. Finishing up on the latter, though, and moving on to the third installment: The Titan's Curse


----------



## Jon M

_Glengarry Glen Ross_, David Mamet.

It is impossible for me not to hear Pacino's voice while reading Roma's part now. So great.


----------



## Jeko

Lord Loss, Darren Shan. Such a great storyteller, Shan.


----------



## Lilly Davidson

Hi 

I am reading '_Portrait of a Lady_' by Henry James. It is excellent. Every sentence, every word is a treat. I love the dialogue in it, so skilful. Truly enjoying it as my bedtime reading.


----------



## wmpthree

Clarence, by Catharine Maria Sedgwick

However always dabbling with Hawthorne's short stories :indecisiveness:


----------



## Jon M

_Death of a Salesman_, Arthur Miller. Before that was _Dutchman_, by Amiri Baraka. Was decent, I guess. Ending was ... abrupt, and I'm not sure I liked it.


----------



## Scarlett_156

The "Wheel of Time" series by Robert Jordan. Thanks for asking.


----------



## Lilly Davidson

Hi 
I am reading 'Cranford' by Elizabeth Gaskell. It is utterly delightful. I shall re-watch the series on DVD soon too. It is ideal comfort reading as the nights draw in!


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

The Racketeer by John Grisham!


----------



## dolphinlee

"All I really needed to know I learned in Kindergarten" Robert Fulghum

How is that for a title. 

In one chapter he writes:

These are the things I learned:

Share everything.
Play fair.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt someone.
Wash you hands before you eat.
Flush.
Take a nap every afternoon.


I like that.


----------



## funkwolf

I'm reading a few books at the moment since I'm taking English in college (The woman in white and The lady in the lake)

However out of my own personal interest, rather than that of a teacher, i'm reading Clannad a visual novel by Key


----------



## Jon M

_The Lottery_, Shirley Jackson

The short story and then the play version. Kind of liked the play version better, actually. One of the characters (forget who) best summed up my thoughts about the story, and what I think Jackson must have been getting at: "If it's tradition then it must be good." That kind of erroneous thinking. In some ways the Lottery reminded me of Hate Week, in _1984_ -- how the bizarre is presented as part of the everyday, so much so it really feels quite surreal.


----------



## AgentZero

Steps to better writing, How to build a better vocabulary, and some stuff for homework.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Picked up _Perdido Street Station_ and have begun it. Very different from _The City & the City _​so far. Much more lush and descriptive. Seems good as of page 32.


----------



## MJ Preston

Catch 22


----------



## Dave Watson

Just started Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz. Suitably creepy and funny so far.


----------



## Caragula

A History of the English East India Company


----------



## LifeAmongTheDead

I'm currently between two books at the moment. The first is J.K. Rowling's "The Casual Vacancy", but I made the mistake of picking up "Ash" by James Herbet.


----------



## Jon M

_Slouching Towards Bethlehem_, Joan Didion


----------



## cheezyb10

_The Scorch Trials_ (Maze Runner Series #2) by James Dashner.


----------



## bioclasm

_By Schism Rent Asunder _by David Webber. The second book in his Safehold series, it's about humanity almost being wiped out by an alien race. A small group of survivors manage to set up shop on a distant planet they terraformed, where the original crew programs the memories of the colonists into a Catholic, anti-technology society to suppress technological advancement. This is supposed to prevent the aliens from finding this last bastion of man. However, a PICA (personality-integrated cybernetic avatar [human looking robot] ) has been preserved with a nice stock pile of tech to try and fix the brainwashing of the original crew members. He must overthrow the established church, while promoting innovation by integrating small suggestions here and there.


----------



## BlueWhizard

The Killer - Tom Hinshelwood. Its a thriller/spy novel about an assassin on the run.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

Don't Blink by James Patterson


----------



## Leyline

A wild and wacky hodgepodge, especially since I inherited a Kindle packed with books of my favored genres.

Robert McCammon's "Matthew Corbett" series --_ Speaks The Nightbird_, _The Queen Of Bedlam_, _Mister Slaughter_ and _The Providence Rider_. It could best be described as historical-detective-fiction, set in early 18th century New York and McCammon takes the 'historical' part seriously -- the art and architecture and costumed frippery of the era are well described. I've enjoyed the series greatly: it's funny and sprawling and fast paced despite the descriptive style and the characters are terrific. Be warned that the series gets a bit more action oriented (and gruesome) as it goes.

_The Year's Best SF & Fantasy_, 2011 ed.and_ The Year's Best SF & Fantasy_, 2012 ed. (Both vols. edited by Rich Horton, both containing pretty much high quality stuff across the board.)

Jim Butcher's _Grave Peril_ and _Summer Knight _from the Dresden Files that I've been slowly reading for six years or so.

_The Big Time_ Fritz Lieber. Absolute classic.

_Over The River And Through The Woods_ Clifford Simak. Essential story collection.

_American Gods_ Neil Gaiman, about my fourth trip through.

And right now reading Louis L'Amour's _The Sackett Brand_. Hmmm. Need to read some new books. Lot of re-reading lately.


----------



## Burns the Fire

Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich. This is the revised version that she turned from a short story into a novel. Loving it so far. It's dark and aches with love.


----------



## Jon M

lasm said:


> Picked up _Perdido Street Station_ and have begun it. Very different from _The City & the City _​so far. Much more lush and descriptive. Seems good as of page 32.


It is. Kind of why I like _City_ so much. Plus the setting is all kinds of awesome. I may have to give _Perdido_ another try, though.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Yeah, I think overall I prefer the spareness of _City_ -- how it starts spare and then expands with the narrator's ability to see. Nearer to page 450 in _Perdido_ I'm remembering why I don't read much fantasy. Just too much stuff sometimes.


----------



## Jon M

lasm said:


> Nearer to page 450 ...


Damn, you read fast.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Oh yes that's because I'm so very smart and edumacated and also, um, sometimes I skim the boring parts. :disillusionment:


----------



## AgentZero

"Prose and Poetry the sixth edition."

Some beautiful pieces in here.


----------



## Jon M

lasm said:


> Oh yes that's because I'm so very smart and edumacated and also, um, sometimes I skim the boring parts.


[-X


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Yeah, I think I am just not a fantasy/action person. Towards the end of _Perdido_ I was just kinda, hm, a big battle scene. Okay, who's dead, let's move on. Hm, a highly complicated magicky technological device to catch the bad things. Skimskimskim. Oh well.

Will now have another run at Emile Zola's _The Human Beast._ Because I have to, but also to figure out what exactly it is in his writing that makes me think he was a pompous ass and cornered people at parties.


----------



## Foxee

'White' by Ted Dekker. I'm reading it with the same kind of mild interest as the rest of the color series. It doesn't rise above 'okay' in my book but I'm still chugging along to see what happens. I've read other books of his that I liked much better (Like 'Saint', that was a good one).


----------



## Fin

Currently re-reading the _Harry Potter_ series. I'm on book one now and I must say that I never _really_ realized how much is foreshadowed here that happens way later in the series. Very impressive, I must say.


----------



## John_O

Encyclopedia of Western Lawmen & Outlaws" By Jay Robert Nash. 
It's about western lawmen & outlaws  :clown:


----------



## Jon M

Finished _Slouching Towards Bethlehem_. Some very terrific essays in there. The title piece, in particular, is wonderful -- very Gonzo.

Next up is _The Things They Carried_, Tim O'Brien. I'm giddy.


----------



## Kyle R

Jon M said:


> Next up is _The Things They Carried_, Tim O'Brien. I'm giddy.



Great book. :encouragement:


----------



## Jon M

KyleColorado said:


> Great book. :encouragement:


Yeah, read about ten pages last night before bed and was really impressed. Terrific writer. I also recently bought _If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home_. Looking forward to reading that as well.


----------



## Pluralized

I hope it's okay that I'm posting here, being a new member and all. Glad to have found this resource and look forward to learning and improving my writing.

I am currently trying to wend my way through several books at once, which is always the case with me it seems. Reading:

Foucault's Pendulum - Eco (might be too high-brow for me. Rambling, complicated, unnecessarily and intentionally convoluted)
The Acid House - Irvine Welsh (very easy book to read in small chunks, so I grab it when I have just a few minutes)
The Other - Guterson (might finish this tonight if I can get out of this forum site at a decent hour!)

I have started thousands, but probably finished less than that. :adoration:


----------



## J Anfinson

Just finished the newest in The Dresden Files #14 - Cold Days. Awesomeness. (Is that a word? It is now. I just made it one.)


----------



## AAnt

Currently reading "The Sign of Four" by Charles Dickens. The second novel in which the detective Sherlock Holmes is featured. I don't think there's a need for me to say anything, seeing is how the detective has made his mark, and is now a character that almost all people know of.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Just got _Gravity's Rainbow _by Thomas Pynchon. 

Pages 1-2 are amazing. Page 6 they're making banana waffles. I don't know what to think.


----------



## Leyline

lasm said:


> Just got _Gravity's Rainbow _by Thomas Pynchon.
> 
> Pages 1-2 are amazing. Page 6 they're making banana waffles. I don't know what to think.



Pynchon is really difficult for me. I adore his style but it becomes tiresome to me for some reason. He's one of those writers that I have to read in small chunks.

Currently reading _Writing The TV Drama Series_ by Pamela Douglas. Excellent info, breezily written.


----------



## Blondie

Reading _If I stay_ by Gayle Forman it's a little thin (page count wise) but it really sucks me into the story and that is all I ask of a good book.


----------



## Foxee

Just finishing up To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time since reading it in high school. It's just as engaging as I remembered.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

I am reading 1st to Die by James Patterson. Next up is 2nd Chance by Patterson. Finished Toys by him! (Can you tell I like his style of writing?)


----------



## Leyline

_Gun, With Occasional Music _by Jonathan Lethem. Pretty fantastic.


----------



## lothianwriter

Currently reading Jean M Auel and the Valley of Horses Earths children series. Thouroughly enjoying and going through all 6 books another 4 to go after this.


----------



## Ariel

I'm currently reading "The Hobbit" by J. R. R. Tolkien, "Darkly Dreaming Dexter" by Jeff Lindsay, "School's Out Forever" by Scott Andrews, and "Game of Thrones" by George R. R. Martin.  Yes, I'm in the middle of _all _of them.  I get bored if I just read one book at a time.


----------



## moderan

I'm reading George RR Martin's Armageddon Rag and trying to write music to his lyrics. I'm slogging through the complete O. Henry and chewing on Harlan Ellison's Partners in Wonder. I've just finished the autobiographies of Keith Richards, Tony Iommi, and Ozzy Osbourne. Surprisingly, there isn't much of a dropoff between the former trio and the latter. Kudos to the ghostwriters.


----------



## Foxee

Hi, Moderan!! Nice to see you again.


----------



## moderan

Greetings. Some folks may not feel as you do *winks* Time hasn't reduced my irascibility one bit


----------



## Leyline

Re-reading _A Feast Unknown_ by Phillip Jose Farmer. Still one of the most hilarious, horrifying and ridiculously entertaining books ever. 

_Not_ for the faint of heart, though.


----------



## Lilly Davidson

amsawtell said:


> I'm currently reading "The Hobbit" by J. R. R. Tolkien, "Darkly Dreaming Dexter" by Jeff Lindsay, "School's Out Forever" by Scott Andrews, and "Game of Thrones" by George R. R. Martin.  Yes, I'm in the middle of _all _of them.  I get bored if I just read one book at a time.



Hi, 
Lol! You are just like me, I always have several books on the go at once.


----------



## Lilly Davidson

amsawtell said:


> I'm currently reading "The Hobbit" by J. R. R. Tolkien, "Darkly Dreaming Dexter" by Jeff Lindsay, "School's Out Forever" by Scott Andrews, and "Game of Thrones" by George R. R. Martin.  Yes, I'm in the middle of _all _of them.  I get bored if I just read one book at a time.



Hi
one thing - have you seen the DVD series of 'Game of Thrones'? The books are great too of course.


----------



## Pluralized

I'm about knee deep in _Atonement_ by Ian McEwan. So far his writing strikes me as some of the most masterful I've yet to encounter. While his prose is a workout for my brain, I'm still able to follow the detail of the story. :icon_cyclops_ani:

Next up - _Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil_.


----------



## Lilly Davidson

Hi, 
What is 'Atonement' basically about?


----------



## Pluralized

Lilly Davidson said:


> Hi,
> What is 'Atonement' basically about?



Hi!

It's basically a British love story, set prior to and through the course of WWII. I'm only part way into the thing, but the character development of Briony (13 year old girl) is lengthy and superbly written. I'll be pressing to finish it this week and can expound upon my description and review it for you if you like. I probably never would have picked it up, but it was left at my house by a friend some years ago and I've finally made time to read it. I just finished _A Thousand Splendid Suns_, so _Atonement_ is creeping along by comparison. _ATSS_ moves very quickly. Sorry to ramble on!


----------



## Lilly Davidson

Hello Pluralized, 
I would appreciate a review of 'Atonement' certainly, thanks, when you have time. 
I have heard of 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' but never read it either.


----------



## Jon M

Jon M said:


> _The Things They Carried_, Tim O'Brien.


Wonderful book. Will be re-reading it many more times, I'm sure. 

Reading _If I Die In A Combat Zone_ now.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling!


----------



## Leyline

Reading _999: Twenty Nine Original Tales Of Horror and Suspense, _edited by Al Sarrantonio. A massive anthology of fright fiction that aimed to be the _Dangerous Visions_ of turn-of-the-millenium literary horror. Nearly 700 pages, bought for $1.99 from the Kindle store.

Have I mentioned how much I love my Kindle lately?


----------



## erusson

I'm re-reading _One Day_ by David Nichols (a brilliant book, please don't let the movie put you off) and after seeing _The Hobbit_ the other day I'm going to start re-reading that soon.


----------



## Lilly Davidson

Hi Erusson
Having never heard of it, I just looked up that book, 'One Day' on Amazon and it looks extremely interesting, really great reviews. So I have put it onto my list to read soon. I being given a Kindle for Christmas so I shall look forward to downloading it.


----------



## erusson

Lilly Davidson said:


> Hi Erusson
> Having never heard of it, I just looked up that book, 'One Day' on Amazon and it looks extremely interesting, really great reviews. So I have put it onto my list to read soon. I being given a Kindle for Christmas so I shall look forward to downloading it.



I'm really glad I've intrigued someone! It's one of those books that you keep thinking about after you've read it, and even reading it for the fourth or fifth time I still laugh out loud at times and feel really affected by the story. I hope you enjoy it! x


----------



## Lilly Davidson

Hi Erusson
I will let you know of course, when I read it. Some books do that to you, I remember when I read 'The Life of Pi' that it etched itself into my psyche - I look forward to seeing the movie that is coming out this month of it.


----------



## moderan

I've finished all of the previously-noted books and am now preparing to delve into the entire series of Humanx books by Alan Dean Foster. I have them in a stack on top of the printer, according to the timeline (check the link for details). I've never read this series in this manner and am looking forward to it, especially the adventures of Skua September (young-feller-me-lad) and the antics of the dragon Pip.
Completely under-rated space opera by an unsung master of the form.
The funny thing is...I have them all on my Kindle too, and will likely read them there. But I like looking at the stack.


----------



## chicagoliz

I'm reading War by Sebastian Junger.  I hope to read The Yellow Birds soon.


----------



## Arcopitcairn

Just finishing up 'Marvel Comics, The Untold Story' by Sean Howe. It's a juicy little gossipy book about all the personalities, creators, owners, and important story lines in the history of Marvel, from the 30's to now. It's comic geek porn, and a terrific read thus far.


----------



## moderan

That sounds awesome. It just fell into my cart.


----------



## Arcopitcairn

Just finished it a few minutes ago. It was actually touching in parts, not to mention informative. Highest recommendation for comic book history buffs!


----------



## moderan

I'm very familiar with the subject. An alternate take would be interesting. A pity Martin Goodman never published a memoir. In turn, I recommend Ron Goulart's Comic Book Culture.


----------



## Arcopitcairn

I'll search it out! You've probably already checked these out, but Alter Ego and Back Issue magazines are extremely sweet reads for comic fans


----------



## moderan

I haven't..I'm a used-to-be fan. Modern comics don't have the same appeal for me (I prefer graphic novels and webwork nowadays). But I was a teenage Marvel Zombie


----------



## Leyline

moderan said:


> I haven't..I'm a used-to-be fan. Modern comics don't have the same appeal for me (I prefer graphic novels and webwork nowadays). But I was a teenage Marvel Zombie



I've been meaning to ask you this: have you read Grant Morrison's incredible _We3_, drawn by Frank Quitely? About three experimental 'animal weapons' (a dog, cat and rabbit) that escape from the military when they're consigned to termination?

If you haven't, it gets my highest recommendation, and comes with a warning:

This is easily one of the most brutal, emotionally draining works of art I've ever experienced. I'd never cried over a comic, before, beyond a little misty eyes at a few. I still haven't. I friggin' wept. Sobbed at parts. 

And another: it's almost jaw droppingly violent, though never feels gratuitous or cheap. No superhero action here with added blood. It's a life or death situation and it feels incredibly real. And despite the death toll, this reader's sympathy never wavered an inch.

But it's one of the best, too. Brilliantly written and structured and characterized. Gorgeous, sometimes awe-inspiring art. And  though Morrison has a bone-deep moral there's not a drop of lecturing or preaching: he drives his point straight home (and through the reader's heart) with stealth, subtlety, and pure, raw emotion. Hell, I'm tearing up just thinking about it. It's that effective.


----------



## moderan

Nossir. It is in my cart though, now.


----------



## Leyline

moderan said:


> Nossir. It is in my cart though, now.





For about a year I had taken possession of my cousin's early model Kindle and loved it -- E-Ink is an amazing invention. I was gifted with a Kindle Fire 2 as an early Christmas present and while I'll admit that for text the screen doesn't match E-Ink, and the battery life simply can't compare, the tablet _is_ a much nicer comic reading platform.


----------



## moderan

I suspect that Santa is getting me a new model too. It's either that or a new guitar, and as I know that it was ordered from Amazon, it doesn't take a genius to figure it out.
If not...I have a 27-inch monitor. Pretty good comic reading platform. My Kindle is almost three.


----------



## Arcopitcairn

moderan said:


> I haven't..I'm a used-to-be fan. Modern comics don't have the same appeal for me (I prefer graphic novels and webwork nowadays). But I was a teenage Marvel Zombie



New comics mostly suck. You're not missing anything, except some small press stuff and independents here and there. I prefer stuff from the eighties or earlier. Back issues are where the fun is.


----------



## Arcopitcairn

Leyline said:


> I've been meaning to ask you this: have you read Grant Morrison's incredible _We3_, drawn by Frank Quitely? About three experimental 'animal weapons' (a dog, cat and rabbit) that escape from the military when they're consigned to termination?



Love that book. Love Quitely. A lot of people hate his stuff, but I think it's beautiful. I still think about We3 from time to time. It's a book that stays with you. Gonna have to dig out my issues and read them again.

Quitely's work on All Star Superman and The Authority is also top notch stuff, if you dig superheroes.


----------



## moderan

Arcopitcairn said:


> New comics mostly suck. You're not missing anything, except some small press stuff and independents here and there. I prefer stuff from the eighties or earlier. Back issues are where the fun is.


Got it in one. And I have all of those. Plus EC, Warren, and MAD.


----------



## Leyline

Arcopitcairn said:


> Love that book. Love Quitely. A lot of people hate his stuff, but I think it's beautiful. I still think about We3 from time to time. *It's a book that stays with you.* Gonna have to dig out my issues and read them again.



Oh, God, yeah. I sometimes suspect the dogs and cats send me telepathic signals to re-read it because they know when I do, it's extra treats and lots more petting than normal for days after.

*Home

?

 Is Run No More.*

*sniff*



> Quitely's work on All Star Superman and The Authority is also top notch stuff, if you dig superheroes.



I haven't since my early teens, other than Moore's _Prometha_ (which is a sort of magikal deconstruction of the idea of superheroes), but I've read _All Star_ just for Quitely's art and Morrison's sly, joyful meta-narrative play. 

The people who don't like him must be blind. *entirely different sorta sniff*


----------



## Arcopitcairn

EC and Classic Mad are just the best! Wood and Elder are my favorites, but all those guys are masters.


----------



## moderan

Jack Davis for me. And Sergio.


----------



## Leyline

Re-reading John Varley's _Steel Beach_ for about the fifth time. Such a beautiful, subversive, amazing novel. There's a tiny moment in it that has had more influence on my writing than reams and reams of other stuff.


----------



## erusson

Started reading _Game of Thrones_, it's so long but so good! Plus it gives a lot of opportunities to picture Sean Bean


----------



## Lilly Davidson

Hi Erusson
Have you seen it on DVD? It is brilliant. I am awaiting Series 2 which comes out in March.


----------



## TheWonderingNovice

Reading Lois Lowry's _Son, _the final book of _The Giver _quartet. I realized recently that _The Giver_ was the first book in a quartet, I read _The Giver_ when I was younger and so I was thrilled when I found out, all the questions that I had are now anwsered. It just fills me up with excitement.


----------



## Jeko

Percy Jackson. It's telling me not to be such a grump about my style of writing, because I write a little like Riordan, and I don't like how Riordan writes either.


----------



## Lilly Davidson

TheWonderingNovice said:


> Reading Lois Lowry's _Son, _the final book of _The Giver _quartet. I realized recently that _The Giver_ was the first book in a quartet, I read _The Giver_ when I was younger and so I was thrilled when I found out, all the questions that I had are now anwsered. It just fills me up with excitement.



Hi WonderingNovice, 

it's such a great feeling when a book moves you like that.


----------



## MisterZhifei

Just finished reading Echo Burning by Lee Child, one of the Jack Reacher books. You might've heard about the new Jack Reacher film in cinemas, I have to say, it's a good series although Reacher is a little too good to be true!


----------



## allyson17white

I recently read _Hood_ by Stephen Lawhead it's a re-writen story of Robin Hood it is amazing but I haven't gotten the second book, _Scarlet_​, yet and it's killing me.


----------



## allyson17white

I loved the books by Jean M. Auel I just started on the last one of the series but got sidetracked I'm going to get back to it soon though since I finished the other book I was reading.


----------



## Whisper

Today I should begin reading "Into the Storm" by Taylor Anderson. Apparently, it's the first in the Destroyermen series about a WWII ship that goes through a portal and ends up in the dino period. Not sure how I'm going to like it, because the first thing I want to know is where they are going to get fuel for the rest of the series. Since there are 6 books in the series they must make it somehow.


----------



## Jon M

Anyone read _House of Leaves_? Seems like it would be an interesting book.


----------



## Leyline

Jon M said:


> Anyone read _House of Leaves_? Seems like it would be an interesting book.



Tried it. Eh. It's in a box around here somewhere. Probably just wasn't in the mood. Will try again sometime.


----------



## ppsage

_Corrupting Dr. Nice_ John Kessel ... because I liked his anthologizing. Clever story about time travel, mediocre writing.


----------



## Leyline

ppsage said:


> _Corrupting Dr. Nice_ John Kessel ... because I liked his anthologizing. Clever story about time travel, mediocre writing.



That one's on my 'to read' list, 'sage. Have you ever read his fairly mind-blowing short story 'The Pure Product'? It's one of my favorites.


----------



## JimJanuary

Pulp - Charles Bukowski


----------



## ppsage

Leyline said:


> That one's on my 'to read' list, 'sage. Have you ever read his fairly mind-blowing short story 'The Pure Product'? It's one of my favorites.



Looked at it a few times, guess I'll pick it up now. It's the title of a collection also? My abebook fund is empty until Feb. though. Maybe library.


----------



## Lilly Davidson

Hi 
I downloaded 'Call of the Wild' by Jack London, a free book, to my Kindle. It is excellent! I am *so* taken with the story and those who recommended it were right. It is a powerful story indeed. I shall have to get his other books too.


----------



## Nee

MisterZhifei said:


> Just finished reading Echo Burning by Lee Child, one of the Jack Reacher books. You might've heard about the new Jack Reacher film in cinemas, I have to say, it's a good series although Reacher is a little too good to be true!




I just read child's *A Wanted Man*, last week...not his best work. And Tom Cruz is in no way, even remotely, equipped for the part. Hell, Jim Carrey would do better as Reacher.

...hmm you know, I actually think Carrey would do better than Cruz. LOL.


----------



## Leyline

ppsage said:


> Looked at it a few times, guess I'll pick it up now. *It's the title of a collection also?* My abebook fund is empty until Feb. though. Maybe library.



Yeah -- a good one. I also love 'A Clean Escape', 'Buffalo' and 'Invaders.'


----------



## Jon M

Halfway through Julian Barne's _Sense of an Ending_ and not sure it's doing much for me. And have _Madame Bovary_ on standby, just because I'm feeling a little like an uncouth savage and in need of some literary educatin'.


----------



## dolphinlee

Picked up a book on Energy Healing which I believe in. By the end of the book i was so annoyed with the authors misuse of physics that I threw the book in the bin. 

However, I now have a space in a bookcase.


----------



## Arcopitcairn

Burning my way through the entirety of Calvin and Hobbes.


----------



## Lilly Davidson

I've gone mad and downloaded 54 classic books for free onto my Kindle. Lord knows when I think I will read them all but I like carrying them around with me.


----------



## moderan

Arcopitcairn said:


> Burning my way through the entirety of Calvin and Hobbes.


I have that stuff on my Kindle. Also Doonesbury.



Lilly Davidson said:


> I've gone mad and downloaded 54 classic books for free onto my Kindle. Lord knows when I think I will read them all but I like carrying them around with me.



They're (mostly) free, and it's comforting to have them rub shoulders with the newer stuff. I did read through Candide the other day, before I read Under the Dome. Voltaire did a better job. My Kindle holds 26 gigs. I think I have filled it halfway, but I have tons of graphic novels.
Under the Dome was very disappointing. King took the easy way out with the story, which is very much a one-note about alien children playing with humans as we'd play with ants and bearing a tacked-on, thoroughly unsatisfying ending. Pretty sad for a guy that aspires to carry on the mantle of Ray Bradbury. He's written some damn good popular entertainments but never plumbed the depths I once thought him capable of. Too much locked into the Judeo-Christian cycle, Derlethian rather than Lovecraftian.
I'm in the middle of Comic Wars:Marvel's battle for survival, a completely dry account of how warring billionaires ruined a classic graphic publishing concern, told from the bean-counter pov. I'll finish, but I don't recommend the tome. Nothing really new or interesting unless you're a fan of Carl Icahn, one of the models for Michael Douglas' character in Wall Street.
Very highly recommended is the Icerigger Trilogy, by Alan Dean Foster. The three books are a sidebar to the Humanx timeline by the same author, and chockfull of picaresque adventure of the rollicking space-opera sort, with a good bit of worldbuilding thrown in. Not conworlding, but the Clement/Vancian hybrid stuff.
Am also reading transcripts of the Prophets of Science Fiction tv series. Complete garbage by people that should know better. The Philip K Dick segment especially is completely off-the-rails idiocy, focusing on the awful filmic renditions of Dick's work and ignoring the am I human? subtext of the man's work in favor of some extended discussion of precognition by people that can't see past the ends of their noses. Three thumbs down.
Go read some Leyline instead. The man has prose pouring out of him like I had music last year. Feed his muse.


----------



## Dominique

Currently finishing up the book: "Denial: A Memoir of Terror" by: Jessica Stern which has been really amazing. Deep, but a really good book in discovering what other people have done in situations like Jessica's


----------



## moderan

The Brass Ring, the autobiography of cartoonist and war correspondent Bill Mauldin. Found it while looking foor something else and promptly forgot the something else. Sharp, satirical, and adult. Recommended to thinking humans.


----------



## Whisper

Lilly Davidson said:


> I've gone mad and downloaded 54 classic books for free onto my Kindle. Lord knows when I think I will read them all but I like carrying them around with me.



Did you download the book, _Where the Red Fern Grows? _If not I highly recommend it.


----------



## Whisper

Just picked up and beginning today the book, _Lord of the Mountain_ by S.M. Stirling. I'm currently in my 'reading fun books' stage before I get back to the heavier books on history, religion and religious history and war.


----------



## Jeko

I've finally gone native and started reading some YA stuff about werewolves. _But _it's written much better than I thought it would be. And I had low expectations.

I bought the book for 25p, along with seven other books I bought for 25p.


----------



## Whisper

Cadence said:


> I've finally gone native and started reading some YA stuff about werewolves. _But _it's written much better than I thought it would be. And I had low expectations.
> 
> I bought the book for 25p, along with seven other books I bought for 25p.



I think _Twilight_ gives YA novels a bad rap. _Twlight_ was just TURBL. I picked up a YA book once (about a Ranger I think) not realizing it was YA and it was pretty good. Since then, I've read a few YA books and they haven't been too bad.


----------



## Jeko

The Ranger's Apprentice? I've been thinking of picking that up.

It wasn't the YA part that gave me doubts - it was the werewolf part.


----------



## Jeko

I will one day read Twilight for research. And recover with Gaiman afterwards.


----------



## Whisper

Cadence said:


> The Ranger's Apprentice? I've been thinking of picking that up.
> 
> It wasn't the YA part that gave me doubts - it was the werewolf part.



I believe that was the book. It's been awhile. For me it was the Hairy Potter series that turned me off of YA. I liked the movies, but those books were horribly, horribly written and yet I've give my left index finger to have a quarter of the success she's had.


----------



## Jeko

> Hairy Potter



I prefer Barry Trotter.


----------



## Whisper

Cadence said:


> I prefer Barry Trotter.



](*,)doh!


----------



## ppsage

"St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves," Karen Russell, in _The Best American Short Stories: 2007,_ edited by Stephen King. Hilariously brilliant premise, frosted with chuckle-worthy allegory—maybe a little short on plot, but I'm not quite done. Been buying these _BASS_ off the web (like 4$ US, incl. ship. Hardback.) This is a good one. "Wait," a whacked out airport story by Roy Kesey's my favorite so far, but the ubiquitous Munro entry, "Dimension," is a doozy. How can she even think of doing stuff like that?

Found _Year's Best SF13,_ 2008, in the mail today, Hartwell & Cramer edits. 25 stories, half the authors I don't know. (I see a Kessel in there.) Almost 500 pages. Paperback however. The print is pretty tight but not tiny. Also four bucks. ($3.65, to be technical.)


----------



## moderan

I have both of those in my to-read...but they're low on the totem pole. I'll await judgement.

I'm still going through the Humanx Commonwealth books, and am just starting to re-read Matt Wagner's Grendel series of comics. Plus Kurzweil's The Age of Spiritual Machines. Also back issues of Guitar World, for the exercises and the tabs.


----------



## ppsage

The _BASS_ is my way of sorta touching what the _legit_ (official? *HOITYTOITY*) guys are publishing. They started considering pieces published electronically recently though. If you ask me Heidi Pitlor (the series current editor, she does the real work) has the best job in publishing.


----------



## popsprocket

'A Memory of Light' just landed on my desk 

I should have been able to get it yesterday, but no one had their shipments in. Now that I have it I'm super happy. The prologue and chapters 1/2 were released as teaser material, so I get to skip all the way to page 115 right off the bat.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to be very busy for about the next day or so.


----------



## ppsage

Johanna Sinisalo. “Baby Doll,” _Year’s Best SF13._ 
My eight-year old granddaughter hijacks my Netflix to blithely idolize narrowly post-pubescent divas in bad vehicles; so this milieu could easily happen. Finnish author Joanna gives us a remarkably slathering dollop of tomorrow’s teeny-pube slang, or her translator does. Funny and morbid.

Tony Ballantyne. “Aristotle OS,” _ibid._ Operating systems study philosophy, reorder reality. Those with no inkling of either may get a one-neuron imagination burst. A too-cute premise executed poorly. Tony’s an _idea-rich, three-novel _star, per the editors; I’d give him another chance, sometime.


----------



## Bilston Blue

I've just finished Julian Barnes's _England, England;_ which, I have to say, is a wonderfully written, concise, funny, and highly intelligent work of satire. Two of its cast turn out to be preposterously brilliant characters (Sir Jack Pitman and Dr. Max), the concept behind the plot is bizarre but written as entirely plausible, and the ending sees the novel's humour turn into something altogether darker. It also contains perhaps the best orgasm/poo episode in modern literature.

I would definitely recommend (though not on the strength of the orgasm/poo episode alone).


----------



## Leyline

Just read 'The Tree Is My Hat,' a fragmentary, first person short story about an ill man's unreliably narrated adventures on a Polynesian island, that possibly ends up being about a shark god.

It's strange, a little jarring, painfully ambiguous,  probably shouldn't work, yet is beautiful, haunting and deeply satisfying on a level I can't quite explain. It's also by Gene Wolfe.

But I repeat myself.


----------



## moderan

I finished all of the Grendel stuff and am embarking on a thing called the Star War Factor, by some guy named Staniford. It's my second read. Pretty good book, actually...better than I expected, and my expectations were kinda high.
Where'd you find that story, G.?


----------



## Whisper

Entainment Weekly and TV Guide. Strictly high brow stuff today.


----------



## Leyline

moderan said:


> Where'd you find that story, G.?



999: New Stories Of Horror And Suspense, ed. by Al Sarrantonio. 

$1.99

It also includes that disturbing Gaiman story I recently mentioned.


----------



## moderan

Bought. Two bucks is a bargain. Also bought Gunn, though I keep thinking of Craig Stevens and ELP when I consider it.


----------



## Chronicler

I'm reading _Lives Like Loaded Guns: Emily Dickinson and Her Family's Feuds_ by Lyndall Gordon.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Finished reading Haruki Murakami's _1Q84 _the other day. The first two books are really good, barely even noticed I was 700 or so pages in, things were creepy and fascinating and fast. The third book kinda dragged though; felt like I knew what was coming, more or less, but had another 300 pages of stalling tactics to get through. But recommended.

After that the closest book to hand was _My Antonia_ so that's what I'm reading. Classic of American lit and all that but I find it a little ho-hum, to be honest. 

Leyline was right about the Pynchon being a hard read (I should note, however, that _Gravity's Rainbow_ did inspire some banana pancakes as a very pleasant eff-off to death) and I'll probably take another swing at that once I've finished or abandoned the Cather.


----------



## Lorem

Ian Kershaw's _Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris_

Andrew Heywood's _Political Theory An Introduction, 3rd  ed._

Chuck Wendig's _Blackbirds_

I don't read much fiction. I have only a couple of fiction books on my shelf at the moment (though many more on my Kindle) and three of those are in Spanish. I prefer non-fiction, specifically History. Good idea-fodder - stealing from history isn't plagiarism.


----------



## JimJanuary

Freedom - Jonathan Franzen


----------



## Farishtey

Pride and prejudice.....
Last king of damascus....
Reading both at a time.... And I find both really interesting specially the way it describe the whole arab history in such interesting manner in last king of Damascus is awesome.... I am teaply enjoying it...


----------



## Nee

The Bone Bed, by Patricia Cornwell, on CD

Meeting The Shadow: the hidden power of the dark side of human nature, edited by Connie Zweig and Jeremiah Abrams

The Cat Who Walked Through Walls, by Robert Heinlein.

And The Monkey's Raincoat, by Robert Crais, on mp3 audio.


----------



## John_O

Just checked out "The Man Who Saved The Union. Ulysses Grant In War And Peace" H.W. Brands.


----------



## Arcopitcairn

Just read Supergods by Grant Morrison. It's a lightly biographical, metaphysical, trippy, compelling history of superheroes, and what they can tell us about us. Highly recommended for comic fans, not to mention Morrison fans.


----------



## OWenDavis

Going back through the Hobbit after seeing the movie!


----------



## Lilly Davidson

Hi OwenDavis, 
what a great idea, I must do that too. Been years since I read it and the Lord of the Rings. Great escapism.


----------



## Jon M

_The Fault in Our Stars_, John Green. 

Has sort of a quirky, indie self-awareness that I am slowly coming to despise. The main character's pretentiousness can be excused, I suppose, on the basis of age, but still ... 

_Valley of the Dolls_ up next. I don't know. Bought it cos a stripper friend recommended it. Probably total camp. Front cover had pills and the loveliest shade of pink and that's good enough for me. Twenty bucks says it's a watered down version of Selby's _Requiem_.


----------



## OWenDavis

Lilly Davidson said:


> Hi OwenDavis,
> what a great idea, I must do that too. Been years since I read it and the Lord of the Rings. Great escapism.



That book is written in such a fun way as well. It's refreshing.


----------



## Charlaux

_Citadel _by Kate Mosse


----------



## Bilston Blue

About to start Margaret Atwood's _The Blind Assassin. _I hope it's as good as I've heard and as I want it to be.


----------



## Nee

I am reading:

Victim by Jonathan Kellerman

And listening to 

Pebble in the Sky by Isaac Asimov


----------



## Jon M

_We Need to Talk About Kevin_, Lionel Shriver. Enjoying this so far. Some sharp writing.


----------



## Pluralized

Demian -- Hermann Hesse. Again.


----------



## Circadian

_Runelight_ by Joanne Harris.  Sequel to _Runemarks_.  It's really good so far.


----------



## Leyline

_The Throne Of Bones_ by Brian McNaughton.

(Thanks, mod!  )


----------



## moderan

Enjoy.
Starting again-A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole. Something always interrupts my reading of this and disturbs the continuity.
Finishing up the Alan Dean Foster marathon (highly recommended) and leafing through a stack of vintage horror anthologies. There was a little boomlet in the early 70s, and Michel Parry and Stephen King's agent Kirby McCauley were issuing title after title of well-chosen golden nuggets. A separate but equal stack has the works of relative unknown Dennis Etchison, who is simply awesome.
Also have last year's complete Scientific American and Guitar World to go through. Dunno if I'm gonna renew.


----------



## Charlaux

_Moonlight Mile _by Dennis Lehane

I prefer the time of _Gone, Baby, Gone_ but I am halfway through this instalment in less than a day so...


----------



## Kitana

_The Hobbit_ by J.R.R. Tolkien

I'm Ashamed to say I've yet to read it, plus the LOTR trilogy..<~.~> And have just recently gotten my wee hands on them. Plan to read through them all <^.^>


----------



## Whisper

For research for a story I'm writing I'm reading Dr. Robert D. Hare's book, _Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Amoung Us_.

This book is scarier than any horror movie I've seen.

*shivers*


----------



## Lilly Davidson

Whisper said:


> For research for a story I'm writing I'm reading Dr. Robert D. Hare's book, _Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Amoung Us_.
> 
> This book is scarier than any horror movie I've seen.
> 
> *shivers*



Hi 
that sounds fascinating, I think I would be much too scared to read that too!


----------



## dolphinlee

Thud by Terry Pratchett.  This author can write on so any levels I get something new with each read.


----------



## Nee

Death in the City of Light : The serial killer of nazi-occupied Paris, by David King
And 
Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane. MP3 audio.


----------



## Leyline

Recently finished:

_The Throne Of Bones_ by Brian McNaughton. Ghoulishly good, fiendishly funny, etc. 

_The Cassini Division_ and _The Sky Road_ by Ken McLeod. Very enjoyable, though McLeod's usual 'communism would totally work if only people tried harder' is almost as wearying as Card's constant pushing of Mormonism.

Next up: I'm gonna chill and indulge in an old favorite: _10,000 Light Years From Home_ by the glorious Alice Sheldon (aka James Tiptree, Jr.)


----------



## moderan

As it happens, I'm on Raccoona Sheldon's tree too...*Warm Worlds and Otherwise* (which title I nicked for my first cd), one of her story collections (as Tiptree), which I'm alternating with *the People*, Zenna Henderson's linked collection. The McNaughton is just ridiculously good, I think. I can read it for the quality of the writing. The world really didn't treat Brian very well, I'm afraid. I hope he's enjoying a nice thighbone! Highbone! right now.


----------



## Bilston Blue

I'm currently reading David Foster Wallace's _Girl with Curious Hair,_ a collection of shorts of which I'm not sure what to make. His characterisation of Lyndon Johnson in _Lyndon_ is wonderful. _Luckily the Account Representative Knew CPR_ seems to make the Building the central character, a scary one at that. 

I've tried to get into a couple of the others, though I might need another go at them. I'm definitely inspired by _Lyndon, _so much so I'm thinking, hmmm, there must have been a cleaner or member of the admin. staff with a story or two to tell about, say, Enoch Powell. And if there isn't, there is now.


----------



## Leyline

_Brighton Rock_ by Graham Greene. So brilliant it hurts. Lines of such elegant power that they inspire stories in my head.


----------



## nicolam2711

Currently trying to give A Casual Vacancy J. K. Rowling. Can't seem to get hooked on it...  Determined to finish it though!


----------



## Lilly Davidson

Leyline said:


> _Brighton Rock_ by Graham Greene. So brilliant it hurts. Lines of such elegant power that they inspire stories in my head.



Hi 
Now I have never read that, although I have read a couple of his other books. I am making a note to do so at some point.


----------



## ppsage

Working on: _Peregrine: Primus _by Davidson. Just passed the bit with Ulyzus and the oar. Such erudite slapstick is right up my alley (ouch!); _Deathbird Stories _by Ellison. Just the foreward quotes about God, from Shaw's letter to Tolstoy, are worth the ptice of admission. And a scorching dust jacket by the Dillons; listening to (third time in as many decades) _Ulysses. _CD 20 of 40, in case anyone's forgot, Joyce wanted to be a singer more than a writer and listening it's possible to think he succeeded. Am also still trudging along in _Rivers of Gold_ by Hugh Thomas. This is history, of 16 century Spanish Empire, mostly for the reign of their Catholic Majesties and mostly slanted toward New Spain. Sir Thomas is England's dean of the Spanish Empire but, like Stenton on the Anglo-Saxons, terribly dated and pedestrian. At least Sir Frank has the excuse of being 40 years deceased. There are many good volumes on this topic, but I've read most of them already I think. Or they're too expensive.


----------



## moderan

Deathbird Stories is magical. Strange Wine, the previous collection, I thought his best since Partners in Wonder, the collaborative anthology. I hope you enjoy it.


----------



## moderan

The Best of Barry N Malzberg. A replacement volume. Excellent short stories by an sf master. Highly recommended. My copy cost a buck.


----------



## Lilly Davidson

Hi Moderan
I like the sound of that author and his science fiction short stories. I noted him on my ongoing list and will check him out, especially if the price is kindle-friendly.


----------



## moderan

Hi Lilly,
Don't think it's on kindle (isn't, after checking). There are about a dozen of his novels, but no short story collections, and the prices aren't too friendly. The paperback is dirt-cheap, as noted above.


----------



## moderan

I got nostalgic and am now reading the Best from Orbit, volumes 1-10.

It is easily in the top 10 of SF anthologies of all time. Possibly in the top 5. Here's a full TOC (copied from here:
*The Best from Orbit* ed. Damon Knight (Berkley, 1975, hc)


 · A Sort of Introduction · Damon Knight · in 
 · The Secret Place · Richard M. McKenna · ss *Orbit 1*, ed. Damon Knight, Berkley Medallion, 1966 
 · The Loolies Are Here · Allison Rice · ss *Orbit 1*, ed. Damon Knight, Berkley Medallion, 1966 
 · The Doctor · Theodore L. Thomas · ss *Orbit 2*, ed. Damon Knight, Berkley Medallion, 1967 
 · Baby, You Were Great · Kate Wilhelm · ss *Orbit 2*, ed. Damon Knight, Berkley Medallion, 1967 
 · The Hole on the Corner · R. A. Lafferty · ss *Orbit 2*, ed. Damon Knight, Berkley Medallion, 1967 
 · I Gave Her Sack and Sherry  [_Alyx_] · Joanna Russ · nv *Orbit 2*, ed. Damon Knight, Berkley Medallion, 1967 
 · Mother to the World · Richard Wilson · nv *Orbit 3*, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1968 
 · Don’t Wash the Carats · Philip José Farmer · ss *Orbit 3*, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1968 
 · The Planners · Kate Wilhelm · ss *Orbit 3*, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1968 
 · The Changeling · Gene Wolfe · ss *Orbit 3*, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1968 
 · Passengers · Robert Silverberg · ss *Orbit 4*, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1968 
 · Shattered Like a Glass Goblin · Harlan Ellison · ss *Orbit 4*, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1968 
 · The Time Machine · Langdon Jones · nv *Orbit 5*, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1969 
 · Look, You Think You’ve Got Troubles · Carol Carr · ss *Orbit 5*, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1969 
 · The Big Flash · Norman Spinrad · nv *Orbit 5*, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1969 
 · Jim and Mary G · James Sallis · ss *Orbit 7*, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1970 
 · The End · Ursula K. Le Guin · ss *Orbit 6*, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1970 
 · Continued on Next Rock · R. A. Lafferty · nv *Orbit 7*, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1970 
 · The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories · Gene Wolfe · ss *Orbit 7*, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1970 
 · Horse of Air · Gardner R. Dozois · ss *Orbit 8*, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1970 
 · One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty · Harlan Ellison · ss *Orbit 8*, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1970 
 · Rite of Spring · Avram Davidson · ss *Orbit 8*, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1970 
 · The Bystander · Thom Lee Wharton · ss *Orbit 8*, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1970 
 · The Encounter · Kate Wilhelm · nv *Orbit 8*, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1970 
 · Gleepsite · Joanna Russ · ss *Orbit 9*, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1971 
 · Binaries · James Sallis · ss *Orbit 9*, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1971 
 · Al · Carol Emshwiller · ss *Orbit 10*, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1972 
 · Live, from Berchtesgaden · George Alec Effinger · ss *Orbit 10*, ed. Damon Knight, G.P. Putnam’s, 1972 
There is not a bad story in the bunch. Several of them are among my favorite stories of all time (Passengers, The Big Flash, The Hole On The Corner, The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories). Many of them are award-winners, or multiple award-winners. You should get it right now.






I'm serious. I can't think of anyone whose life wouldn't be enhanced by reading this volume. And then go out and get the others:*Dangerous Visions*, *Again, Dangerous Visions*, *Epoch*, *Adventures in Time and Space*, *A Treasury of Great Science Fiction*,* The Essential Ellison*,* The Best of C.M. Kornbluth*,* The Past Through Tomorrow*,* The Doors of his Face, The Lamps of His Mouth*,and* The Robert Silverberg Omnibus.
*Yeah, that's my top ten list. It changes from time to time, but I'm sure that fellow aficionados would recognize the quality of each of those volumes.


----------



## Nee

Birdman by Mo Hayder

Infected by Scott Sigler MP3 audio

The Monkey's Raincoat by Robert Crais CD audio
And, 
Snakes in Suits: when psychopaths go to work, by  
Paul Babiak and Robert D. Hare.


----------



## Jon M

_Already Dead_, Denis Johnson. Third time on this ride, but still so sweet. 

"English words are like prisms. Empty, nothing inside, and still they make rainbows."


----------



## egpenny

Just starting American Gods by Neil Gaiman.


----------



## moderan

Your first time reading it? Let us know what you think. I have a review from a couple of years ago, if it's still here. My thoughts about that book change each time I read it-four times so far. Complex work.


----------



## egpenny

Yes, it's a first time read for me.  I've read a couple of other things of his and liked them, and the blurb sounded good, too.  I'll let you know how it goes.


----------



## moderan

Please do. It's among a group of things that I've converted for Kindle, and I'm preparing to re-read, I would do so with your take in mind.


----------



## Nee

Whisper wrote: "For research for a story I'm writing I'm reading Dr. Robert D. Hare's book,_Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Amoung Us.

This book is scarier than any horror movie I've seen.

*shivers*_
................

I read almost everything he has written--and have taken the full PCL-R test (given by a forensic psychologist). I under went a 5 month crash course in psychopathy for a ghost writing job.

For fun, here is a fairly decent test based on the PCL-R.  

Are you a Psychopath or Narcissist? Self test online. .:. Psychotherapy & Counseling Blog


----------



## Erwin

Currently reading "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".


----------



## Nee

Erwin said:


> Currently reading "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".




Don't Panic.


----------



## Lilly Davidson

Hi Moderan 
Wow! I have made a note herewith to look all that up and read one day. Love my SF


----------



## moderan

Hi Lilly. You should find me on Goodreads. Much longer lists


----------



## egpenny

I just finished American Gods, by Neil Gaiman.  I enjoyed it and even found myself smiling with pleasure while reading it, and couldn't quit reading when I should have.  
His writing is so easy to read, and I find his descriptive prose easy to visualize.  Although there were some areas where the descriptions were too mundane and I skimmed through them.  Overall I can see why one would want to re-read it.  The edition I read was the 10th anniversary one on kindle.


----------



## egpenny

And right now I'm reading Wolfwraith by our own John Bushore.  I'm pleased to say that I'm enjoying this book very much.  Good one, John.


----------



## FleshEater

_​American Psycho_


----------



## ppsage

Just finished _Shattered like a Glass Goblin _in _Deathbird. _My favorite so far.


----------



## Kevin

_A Confederacy of Dunces._  I'm about halfway in and really enjoying it. Funny stuff.


----------



## moderan

ppsage said:


> Just finished _Shattered like a Glass Goblin _in _Deathbird. _My favorite so far.


I remember encountering that story in Orbit, so long ago. One of my favorites too.


Kevin said:


> _A Confederacy of Dunces._  I'm abiut halfway in and really enjoying it. Funny stuff.


I didn't care for it. It was a lot of labor to get through...I didn't find it very funny and 'twas (to me) extremely dated. Almost like Ring Lardner without the funny parts.


----------



## Kevin

moderan said:


> I remember encountering that story in Orbit, so long ago. One of my favorites too.
> 
> I didn't care for it. It was a lot of labor to get through...I didn't find it very funny and 'twas (to me) extremely dated. Almost like Ring Lardner without the funny parts.


The Pulitzer commitee agrees with me. woopwoop woop. naknaknak


----------



## moderan

I give them about as much weight as the SAG or RIAA. *shrug*


----------



## ppsage

Kevin said:


> _A Confederacy of Dunces._ I'm about halfway in and really enjoying it. Funny stuff.


One of my all time favorites. Top ten for sure.


----------



## Nee

Elegy For April by Benjamin Black
Kiss by Ed McBain, MP3 audio
Dead Aim by Thomas Perry
And, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, on CD.


----------



## moderan

ppsage said:


> One of my all time favorites. Top ten for sure.


Really. *headscratch* I must be missing something...I mean, other than my mind. I got lost after they went to the bar. That whole episode was so unbelievable that I went away.


----------



## Kevin

moderan said:


> I give them about as much weight as the SAG or RIAA. *shrug*


 Is there any other 'body' that you would follow their recommendations or lists?


----------



## moderan

No. I am allergic to committees. A group of people attempting to think as one often lacks the prerequisite of thinking apparatus.


----------



## Travers

Halfway through loads of books at the moment...

The Great North Road - Peter F. Hamilton
The Butt - Will Self
The Secret Life of Poems - Tom Paulin
Snuff - Terry Pratchett
Heart-Shaped Box - Joe Hill


----------



## philistine

About to start Ernesto Sabato's _The Tunnel_.


----------



## Leyline

moderan said:


> I got nostalgic and am now reading the Best from Orbit, volumes 1-10.



Orbit 7 and 8, bought from a library sale for a quarter each when I was 11 years old, utterly changed my life. "Continued On Next Rock", "The Old Foot Forgot", "All Pieces Of A River Shore" and "Interurban Queen" by Lafferty. "To Sport With Amaryllis" by Richard Hill. "Eyebem" and "A Method Bit In 'B'" and the absolutely _mind-blowing_ "The Island Of Doctor Death and Other Stories" by Gene Wolfe. I was Little Red Riding Hoode. Those were my first Wolfes. 

Dozois' "Horse Of Air", Ellison's "One Life, Furnished In Early Poverty", Avram Davidson's "Rite Of Spring" --

-- I could keep going, but no need. Mind well and truly blown. 

It's why the literary orgasm of Atwood and McCarthy dredging up tired, creaking tropes and being praised in the mainstream press _enraged_ me. It's why I still can't get very excited about whatever hot new literary sensation comes along. In every case, I saw it better in Orbit. When I was 11. Published a couple of years before I was born.

Slackers.


----------



## moderan

I have the whole set, in paper, bought when I was approximately the same age, from a used bookstore across from Wrigley (about where Nuts on Clark is now) after a rainout, under the influence of Dangerous Visions. What I remember best is the *Loolies*. I laughed so hard and so long that my friends wanted to perform CPR. That book also had McKenna's *Secret Place*. I got all the way through Orbit 4 before stopping. 4 is the best ever. It has *Goblin* and *Passengers*.
McCarthy, Atwood, DeLillo, let the dawn take thee and be stone to ye. I agree and am also enraged. 
I am* ridden* when they are mentioned, like I am *ridden* when someone mentions Terry Brooks. Others, who have not been there, do not understand. They do not understand what a thrill it was for me last week when Sam Delany "liked" a post of mine, or when Ben Bova praised a passage from 1A that I put up as a teaser. I used to go to the ChiCon. I've met those people. It was like parting the freaking pearly gates, except with drunken Klingons and a shoggoth or two.
Cormac McCarthy couldn't hem Raccoona Sheldon's skirts. Margaret Atwood is to Kate Wilhelm as a Hupmobile is to a Rolls-Royce.


----------



## Leyline

moderan said:


> I have the whole set, in paper, bought when I was approximately the same age, from a used bookstore across from Wrigley (about where Nuts on Clark is now) after a rainout, under the influence of Dangerous Visions. What I remember best is the *Loolies*. I laughed so hard and so long that my friends wanted to perform CPR. That book also had McKenna's *Secret Place*. I got all the way through Orbit 4 before stopping. 4 is the best ever. It has *Goblin* and *Passengers*.
> McCarthy, Atwood, DeLillo, let the dawn take thee and be stone to ye. I agree and am also enraged.
> I am* ridden* when they are mentioned, like I am *ridden* when someone mentions Terry Brooks. Others, who have not been there, do not understand. They do not understand what a thrill it was for me last week when Sam Delany "liked" a post of mine, or when Ben Bova praised a passage from 1A that I put up as a teaser. I used to go to the ChiCon. I've met those people. It was like parting the freaking pearly gates, except with drunken Klingons and a shoggoth or two.
> Cormac McCarthy couldn't hem Raccoona Sheldon's skirts. Margaret Atwood is to Kate Wilhelm as a Hupmobile is to a Rolls-Royce.



It's like on Chris Miller's thread for _Nothing To Fear_, I typed out 'Orbit material for sure!' And I paused a second. I considered. And oh yeah, would not have seemed out of place in the slightest. If Chris had somehow craftily traveled back in time and replaced one of those seminal Orbit stories (and I have no doubt that Knight would have snapped that brilliant thing up!) Id be right now talking about his massive effect on my 11 year old self, and bemoaning the fact that we never got any more of the mysterious Christopher K. Miller (because I also know Chris would never abandon his family for some craptard one way trip through time. Seriously, come on) and you and I would have been debating his influence even now!

That's why time travel actually sucks.


----------



## moderan

Quite true, but I still want Jeffty's radio.


----------



## Sunny

I am reading"The Host" by _Stephanie Meyer. _I watched the movie trailer and it got me all excited to read the book again. it's been a few years. Loving it just the same as I did the first time around.


----------



## moderan

That might be the worst segue ever.


----------



## Hunter56

I'm currently reading Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes; got it for xmas.

It's alright -- a little over 150 pages into it and haven't lost interest. People have said and I definitely agree that it is a YA version of Game of Thrones.


----------



## moderan

I'm currently reading Bailin', a fast-moving noir by Linton Robinson. Just finished, again, The Star War Factor, a fast moving sf/thriller, by one Robert Staniford. Next up is Gunn, by Dakin Dukane. I expect it to be a fast-moving thriller/war story. I'm also reading Slash's autobiography, which I got for Xmas.


----------



## Nee

moderan said:


> That might be the worst segue ever.



Quite possibly...but, Linton isn't much better.


----------



## moderan

Comparing Linton Robinson's work to Meyer's is a complete misapprehension of logic. Nobody should be surprised, I suppose. Ta!


----------



## Leyline

I've been reading like a starving man, lately. A few I've finished:

_The Kill Off_ by Jim Thompson
_The Outfit_ by 'Richard Stark'
_Nova_ by Chip Delaney (for the first time since my early teens )

*Hat-tip to moderan for the above*

Currently reading a themed anthology edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois, _Wizards_ -- commissioned fiction from some of the best fantasists working today. Loved Gene Wolfe's "The Magic Animal", one of the best re-tellings of the Merlin legend I've ever encountered. But even it took a backseat to Jeffery Ford's "The Manticore Spell" which is short, compulsively readable, strangely moving, and almost pure poetry.


----------



## Whisper

The History of the Peloponnesian War, by Thucydides writen about 450 B.C.E.


----------



## Angelwing

Recently re-read The Hunt for Red October and The Cardinal of The Kremlin. Both great books in my opinion. 

I've had The Sum of All Fears going for a while too. Finished The Great Gatsby in my literature course.


----------



## Nee

moderan said:


> Comparing Linton Robinson's work to Meyer's is a complete misapprehension of logic. Nobody should be surprised, I suppose. Ta!



Linton is a very poor story teller. 

Meyer is an even worse story teller.

*However, I haven't read Bailin'...though I probably should, just to see who he has been borrowing from lately.


----------



## moderan

Linton is a very good storyteller. In addition, he is a friend of mine. You are a person who has yet to prove any of the big-shot claims you make for yourself. Don't bother answering. You're on my ignore list now. Should have done so immediately you began following me around.


----------



## Whisper

moderan said:


> Linton is a very good storyteller. In addition, he is a friend of mine. You are a person who has yet to prove any of the big-shot claims you make for yourself. Don't bother answering. You're on my ignore list now. Should have done so immediately you began following me around.



ahhh, that we actually had a ignore button.


----------



## moderan

We do. Simply click on a profile and you're given the option.


----------



## moderan

Leyline said:


> I've been reading like a starving man, lately. A few I've finished:
> 
> _The Kill Off_ by Jim Thompson
> _The Outfit_ by 'Richard Stark'
> _Nova_ by Chip Delaney (for the first time since my early teens )
> 
> *Hat-tip to moderan for the above*
> 
> Currently reading a themed anthology edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois, _Wizards_ -- commissioned fiction from some of the best fantasists working today. Loved Gene Wolfe's "The Magic Animal", one of the best re-tellings of the Merlin legend I've ever encountered. But even it took a backseat to Jeffery Ford's "The Manticore Spell" which is short, compulsively readable, strangely moving, and almost pure poetry.



I have that volume (Wizards). Dann and Dozois are two of the best eds working today. I remember their "Wandering Stars" anthology.
And you're welcome to the others. Stark/Westlake, that's a special writer there. As special as J Thompson, in his own way. I have some Dortmunder Beer here. I think I'll have one, in his honor.
My copy of "Nova" is in plastic (it's a first edition). I have it on kindle though.


----------



## nicolam2711

Just finished A Week in December by Sebastian Faulks(finally). I continued with this book to the end as I thought it was going to have a dramatic, terrorist attack related ending.. no it was a boring ending. Kind of disappointed I didn't just give up now.


----------



## Nee

nicolam2711 said:


> Just finished A Week in December by Sebastian Faulks(finally). I continued with this book to the end as I thought it was going to have a dramatic, terrorist attack related ending.. no it was a boring ending. Kind of disappointed I didn't just give up now.




Oh well. Everything you need to know if you will like a novel or not is in the first 5 or 6 pages. Because the beginning is so important that the writer goes over it again and again to get it right. And so if you like the first part then it is very likely you'll like the rest of it.


----------



## Rustgold

Nee said:


> Linton is a very poor story teller.
> Meyer is an even worse story teller.


Meyer's actually a very good storyteller, for the ditzy people she writes for.



moderan said:


> Linton is a very good storyteller. In addition, he is a friend of mine.


I don't know if Linton is good or bad, however being a friend of his mightn't provide the best evaluation as to his capability (or lack of).


----------



## moderan

Rustgold said:


> Meyer's actually a very good storyteller, for the ditzy people she writes for.
> 
> 
> I don't know if Linton is good or bad, however being a friend of his mightn't provide the best evaluation as to his capability (or lack of).


Just the friendship, no. But I'm fairly objective. Ask anyone from the LM. Personal feelings don't enter into the evaluation of the work. And Lin's novel Bailin' is a terrific little summer read. It's approximately akin to Donald Westlake going Tex-Mex. I enjoyed the hell out of it.
And no, she isn't. By any sane objective standard, Meyer is a poor storyteller with very little grasp of basic mechanics.


----------



## John_O

"Doc Holliday A Family Portrait" By Karen Holliday Tanner. So far really good! She has the advantage of being a cousin of him and has had access to family only stuff! Seems Hollidays family members have refused to cooperate with researchers in the past. There's rarely published images of his mother, Doc as an infant, growing up ect ect ( theres a lot of bogus images of Holliday out there, about 95% are fake) . Very good reading for the western history buff.


----------



## moderan

Sounds interesting. So much of history in general is just hired bs. It's good to learn the realities.


----------



## Rustgold

moderan said:


> And no, she isn't. By any sane objective standard, Meyer is a poor storyteller with very little grasp of basic mechanics.


Being a storyteller, and being a good writer are two separate things.


----------



## moderan

And she is neither.


----------



## Rustgold

moderan said:


> And she is neither.


We'll have to disagree on this.

Btw: I'm no fan of her garbage.


----------



## moderan

Rustgold said:


> We'll have to disagree on this.
> 
> Btw: I'm no fan of her garbage.


I suppose we'll have to. I don't see much in the way of story there. But I'm sooooo tired of discussing her work.


----------



## Nee

Rustgold said:


> Being a storyteller, and being a good writer are two separate things.




Absolutely.

'Course, it's best to be both.


----------



## L.K.Scott

KyleColorado said:


> *Mockingjay*, by Suzanne Collins. (Book three in The Hunger Games trilogy).
> 
> _I find her writing for the first two books to be a bit slow and tedius in the First Act, (a bit too much focus on tasty foods and pretty clothes) but she always makes up for it with intensity and action in the Third Act.
> 
> The third book seems to be starting off at a more respectable pace, as (finally) the irrelevant stuff has been wiped away. Her world-building is very unique, and the plot is impressing me more and more as it develops. There are several layers of conflict occuring at once, from the personal (the protagonist's struggle to stay alive) to the interpersonal (her conflicting, budding romance with two male protagonists), to the societal (her blossoming role in a larger war between two factions of humanity).
> 
> The writing prose itself doesn't impress me, but the story itself is quite engaging. I can see why it's so popular._
> 
> I just finished reading _Mockingjay_ a couple days ago. I felt the exact same as you, impressed by her world-building and the growth of her characters. I just couldn't figure out why Suzanne Collins ended the book the way it did. I don't want to give out spoilers to anyone who may be reading this, but I'm feeling conflicted about the end. I also have to agree with you about the writing prose. Although I, too, wasn't impressed, I can't help but to wonder if it's written that way because the trilogy was written and marketed for a teenage YA novel. The average literacy level in the United States in the mid 90's was assessed at an average of 8th grade level. I think that level has dropped since then. I'm not sure exactly why the prose is what it is, but I enjoyed the series as a whole and am looking forward to the 4-part movie quadrilogy. November 2013, November 2014 and November 2015 for _Mockingjay Part 2._


----------



## Jon M

_._


----------



## WechtleinUns

I'm slowly working my way through Leo Tolstoy's _War and Peace_ A little bit each day. I've actually gotten somewhat into the thick of things. After that, it will be _Les Miserables. _​


----------



## moderan

^is brave.
I'm finishing Slash's autobiography, obviously soon destined to be a classic, and working my way through a quintet of Brian Aldiss books-Greybeard, Starswarm, The Dark Light-Years, Who Can Replace a Man?, and Galaxies Like Grains of Sand. These were all issued in nice Signet paper editions in the early 70s, along with Hothouse, which I read a couple of months ago.
Though I do like the Malacia Tapestry, a laudable fantasy, and the Helliconia books, that sextet is to me the apex of Aldiss creative life. Though the material spanned quite a few years (1959-1972), the packaging and preoccupations dovetailed nicely and they've all long since become associated together in my mind the way the songs of a favorite album always fall in a "best order".
Starswarm, Who Can Replace a Man? And "Galaxies" are loosely-themed story collections. The others are novels. The Dark Light-Years is all about fecal matters. The aliens are truly alien but the subject matter renders it experimental and "not for everyone". Greybeard is a postapocalyptic tale, often forgotten by aficionados of the dystopia in favor of the "cosy catastrophe" school of Wyndham and Christopher or the flashier efforts of JG Ballard.
Brian Aldiss was at one time one of the finest writers of sf short stories. His prose was deft, his worlds imaginative and original, his satire and commentary lucid and barbed. These three books contain a large amount of that exemplary work.
Worth seeking out and still relatively cheap, Brian Aldiss sf work is a bargain. My local Bookman's has all of the above at about two bucks a copy. I'm tempted to buy another set and put it on ice.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

I'm reading Carrie by Stephen King!


----------



## L.K.Scott

An excellent classic! Keep in mind, the latest remake of _Carrie_ hits movie theaters this year (2013)! My favorite remake stars Angela Bettis, but still, nothing is like the original. Happy Haunting!


----------



## Angelwing

Finished Gatsby...A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man is next I believe.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Have been rereading Elaine Scarry's _The Body in Pain._ As research for the big project. I first read parts of it for a class a few years back and remember being sort of stunned, just by how bold and simple the main argument is, how huge the stakes are and how well she articulates them. One of those books that made me think lit/theory could really be something important. And I can poke some holes in her argument now, find her political engagement overly idealistic in many ways, but there's still something enormous and convincing about the basic ideas.


----------



## Angelwing

Good God, "Dead or Alive," and "Debt of Honor" by Tom Clancy are gigantic! "Dead or Alive" is 950 pages! Just borrowed both from a mate.


----------



## Nee

Gone by Randy Wayne White

The Wrong Case by James Crumley

And, 
From Eternity to Here: a quest for the ultimate theory of time  by Sean Carroll on MP3 audio.


----------



## Jon M

.


----------



## Nee

Go for 1984. Orwell writes so well that it just flies by. Great opening line and even better ending line.

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. 



Here is the full text.

George Orwell - 1984


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Jon M said:


> _IQ84_ or _Memento Mori_ next. Haven't decided. Probably _Memento_ -- quicker read.


1Q84 was a surprisingly fast read despite its length. The Mr, who claims to be a slow reader who subvocalizes constantly, read it in under a week. It's not super-artful prose (at least the translation isn't, I can't speak to the original) though.

Speaking of books we should have read long ago, I have finally got hold of _Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. _


----------



## Rustgold

I'm reading A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin.  I've gotten 1/4 of the way in, and still haven't found an actual plot for the book; it just seems to be a kid going on a journey.  Not sure if I'll continue reading.


----------



## Whisper

Currently reading A Brief History of Disease, Science and Medicine by Michael t. Kennedy

*Just a little light reading


----------



## Jon M

.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Jon M said:


> I read the first few pages online and was struck by how simple the prose style was and really loving it. Though I'd read bits of _Norwegian Wood_ before that and loved it then, too, for the same reasons. Looking forward to this new one. I don't know much about it -- is it sci-fi (enough to be sci-fi)?


I guess I'd call it fantasy more than SF; there's no real SF premise. But it doesn't really have that magical-adventure type plot that I associate with fantasy (probably inaccurately, not a genre I've ever gotten into). Hard to really describe. I liked it a lot though. At least the first 700 pages or so, I'll admit that around page 1000 I was wishing it were shorter.


----------



## Circadian

Just finished _Flatland._  Now I'm reading _Apollyon._


----------



## BluntAshwater

Currently reading "The Hero of Ages" by Brandon Sanderson. Third and final book of the Mistborn trilogy. Great fantasy/politics series, would recommend it to anyone


----------



## Fats Velvet

moderan said:


> ^is brave.
> I'm finishing Slash's autobiography, obviously soon destined to be a classic,



My one problem was that he devoted (relatively) few words to GnR's actual music.  I was struck by how fair Slash was to his former band mates.  Even Axl Rose got a fair hearing and it is clear that despite all their mutual acrimony Slash respects his talent.  Too bad a reunion will never be in the works.


----------



## Fats Velvet

Mark Twain's _Innocents __Abroad_.  Hilarious so far.


----------



## Terry D

Arthur Machen's, _The Great God Pan._


----------



## Jon M

.


----------



## Nee

Jon M said:


> Library had a copy of _Play It As It Lays_ (Joan Didion) on hand, and I've been wanting to read this for sooooo long (okay, a month tops), and so _IQ84_ and _Memento_ may have to wait an extra week or two.
> 
> Minor aside, books in the slim 180-250 page range are super duper sexy. Anyone else feel this way?



After getting my blood sugar back to something close to normal from last weeks roller-coaster ride, I can see, now that my eyes are sort-of working properly again, that I read IQ84, as 1984. Sorry.


----------



## Kevin

Jon M said:


> Library had a copy of _Play It As It Lays_ (Joan Didion) on hand, and I've been wanting to read this for sooooo long (okay, a month tops), and so _IQ84_ and _Memento_ may have to wait an extra week or two.
> 
> Minor aside, books in the slim 180-250 page range are super duper sexy. Anyone else feel this way?


 _'lithe'_ is one of my favorite adjectives.


----------



## Rustgold

Nee said:


> After getting my blood sugar back to something close to normal from last weeks roller-coaster ride, I can see, now that my eyes are sort-of working properly again, that I read IQ84, as 1984. Sorry.


You mean there's a book called IQ84 (1Q84)?  Here I was assuming that somebody was being queer with the spelling.


----------



## moderan

Fats Velvet said:


> My one problem was that he devoted  (relatively) few words to GnR's actual music.  I was struck by how fair  Slash was to his former band mates.  Even Axl Rose got a fair hearing  and it is clear that despite all their mutual acrimony Slash respects  his talent.  Too bad a reunion will never be in the works.


I didn't read it to see his opinions about their music. Slash comes across as a reg'lar guy and doesn't sugar coat very much.



Terry D said:


> Arthur Machen's, _The Great God Pan._


Ahhh. That is a tremendous book.


Rustgold said:


> You mean there's a book called IQ84 (1Q84)?  Here I was assuming that somebody was being queer with the spelling.


It's a Hiroki Murikami book. Acquired taste.


----------



## Kevin

What did you think of _No one gets out of here alive _?

and have you read _Lexicon Devil ?_  The narration is pure interview. I don't know if it had been done before, but I had never seen it.  I'd read them both again.


----------



## moderan

The Danny Sugarman book? Mostly invention, as near as I can tell. I'm not one of those that is taken by the Morrison mystique or whatever, but I do like their music. Robby Krieger can play some fine guitar. I do have that volume in my collection. It's a decently well-written book, if a little concerned with appearing like it was written by Carlos Castenada in order to be muy mysterioso.
And yes, I did read the book about the Germs, despite that I dislike their music. I've only seen that narrative technique is similar work. I haven't seen the film yet.
I like rock criticism. I have books by Lester Bangs and Jim DeRogatis and Legs McNeil and Lew Stathis and occasionally dabble in the art myself.


----------



## Kevin

I think I'm more interested in the culture and the actions of the 'rockstars'. The books are like pictures from an era. Morrison constantly getting effed with by the cops about looking like a girl, or the squats off Sunset blvd.  ten years later; same territory but completely different 'scenes'.


----------



## moderan

I suppose. I've seen enough of the "culture" to not really want to be part of it. Some of my friends continued on and I see how it has grown and changed.
There's a good book called "Cold Iron", by Robert Stone Pryor, that is supposedly modeled on the Doors. If so, the characterization is pretty liberally adapted. The book is a good slice of the counterculture circa '69/'70. It's usually pretty cheap at Amazon or wherever.


----------



## Nee

Kevin said:


> I think I'm more interested in the culture and the actions of the 'rockstars'. The books are like pictures from an era. Morrison constantly getting effed with by the cops about looking like a girl, or the squats off Sunset blvd.  ten years later; same territory but completely different 'scenes'.



Read Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, by Eric Burdon. There is some very interesting rock history in there that is not covered anywhere else.  

Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood: Eric Burdon, Jeff Marshall Craig: 9781560254485: Amazon.com: Books


----------



## Rustgold

moderan said:


> It's a Hiroki Murikami book. Acquired taste.



Yeah Googled it, don't think it'll be to mine.


----------



## moderan

Rustgold said:


> Yeah Googled it, don't think it'll be to mine.


Mine either. I tried reading some of his earlier stuff. The voice reads very "i'm-so-clever", more than Stephenson or Donald Barthelme. It has the same archness that informs the "humor" of such things as "Scream" and its endless sequels.


----------



## Fats Velvet

_Please Kill Me: Uncensored Oral History of Punk_ was great.  Iggy Pop is apparently invincible.


----------



## WechtleinUns

I started reading Arafel's Saga, bu C.J. Cherryh, who is an awesome author, and deserves more recognition in the literary community. Books I've read by her:

1. The Faded Sun Trilogy(The best science fiction saga you will ever read. Almost a science fiction counter-part to Tolkien, though definitely not a copy. Just, amazing. Her best work.)

2. Arafel's Saga(This is actually a two book Saga. I'm reading it now, but it definitely has her spark to the material. Probably her most underrated work. It's older, but by god, the writing is extremely polished. Read this book to learn how to make your prose smoother than the polished lacquer of Emperor Chin's Toilet Seat.)

3. Rusalka (This is one of her early works. It is highly different from the others, and if you pick it up, you'll know what I mean! Gritty, despairing, cynical, and hopeful, all enshrined in one fantastic tale taking place in the wilds of Northern Russia.)


----------



## Nee

Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell

The Right Hand, by Derek Haas MP3 audio

The Revisionist, by Thomas Mullen MP3 audio


----------



## js1268

rereading 'winter of our discontent' ... like to revisit steinbeck now and again... keeps me grounded

before that, i read 'killing lincoln' by bill o'reilly


----------



## Jon M

.


----------



## ppsage

Wrapped up _American Gods._ Exhilerating ten hour ride but not much take-away. Mz. Media doing sleight of hand, maybe sums it up for me. Does it mean you're not getting fed, if you can't put it down?


----------



## Kyle R

Finished reading the _Django: Unchained_ screenplay by Quentin Terrentino. It was intense and quite an engaging thrill-ride of a story, though screenplay prose still doesn't come close to that of a good novel (in my opinion). Still, I enjoyed it!

Now I'm reading _The Host_ by Stephanie Meyer. It's a little slow and a bit lacking in action so far (I'm up to chapter nine), but there is a lot of potential in the story for excitement and intensity, so the promise of that is keeping me reading to see if it pays off.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Finished reading _Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?_ the other day, as I am trying to catch up on things I should have read years ago--just swift pleasure reading, so I don't feel like I got a lot of nuance, will have to go back to it sometime and reread the parts about Mercerism especially. I enjoyed it a lot, though. Especially how some things that seemed fine--like Rachael's answers in the test--seemed fine on first read but later you realize why they weren't fine at all, I really like that kind of mindtrick.

Am not turning my attention to Gustave Le Rouge's _The Princess of the Airs_.

edit, ha, Freudian slip-- that is _now_ turning my attention. Whoops.


----------



## Circadian

Currently reading _Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates_ by David Cordingly.  I haven't gotten too far yet, but it's turning into an interesting read.


----------



## moderan

In queue:
Space War Blues, by Richard Lupoff. A novelization of his groundbreaking novella "With the Bentfin Boomer Boys...", from Again, Dangerous Visions. Kind of Lupoff's version of Finnegan's Wake, but like PJ Farmer's version, readable and entertaining. Snazzy language skills and an underlying pulpy storyline enhance this narrative. Dunno why it's forgotten-this is a tour de force. This is my fourth reading.
John Shirley-Wetbones. This one is new to me. The author certainly isn't. John Shirley has been working in the related fields of science fiction, horror, and punk rock for decades. The blurb promises California Lovecraftian. The title promises serial killing and maybe parts collection. Shirley's demented and professional enough to make that all work. I'll have to see.
William Marshall-The Hatchet Man. One of his Yellowthread Street suspense tales, set in Hong Kong not long before the end. Great eye for detail and great hand for piling on absurdities. Marshall's work reads as if Joseph Heller was Joseph Wambaugh's partner and they were in the Foreign Legion. Excellent altspice noir. I haven't read this yet but I've read other books in the series, which I hope one day to complete.
Roger Zelazny-The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth. Maybe the best short story collection that has ever existed, culled from all points of Zelazny's illustrious career. I read it regularly. The last time was three years ago. I had it in queue two years ago, and my wife reading from it apparently helped to stem a heart arrythmia that I had developed.
These are all possibilities for an in-depth review at Motley.
I've also begun Empress Theresa, a book of poems by William DeVault, and a book of poems by Scott Graves. More about those another time.


----------



## Nee

lasm said:


> Am not turning my attention to Gustave Le Rouge's _The Princess of the Airs_.
> 
> edit, ha, Freudian slip-- that is _now_ turning my attention. Whoops.



It's cool. You don't have to pay attention to the things you read, if you really don't want to. ;-P


----------



## Nee

The Enemies of God, by Jack McDevit
Lords of Corruption, by Kyle Mills, on CD
Tortilla Flat, by John Steibeck

And...an old beat-up copy of 
Unnatural Causes, by PD James on cassette tape
(if it will even play that is--bought it at a yard sale, 25 cents).


----------



## Arcopitcairn

Almost done with 'A Voyage Long And Strange' by Tony Horwitz. The author journeys to all the places visited in North America by explorers who predate the pilgrims, like Vikings, Conquistadors, and French and English colonists. It's very interesting and well-written. The author put himself through the ringer to explore these lost or ignored chapters of history, and I'm glad he did it.

Also reading the first five issues of 'Impact!', one of the failed 'New Direction' books from E.C. Comics.

Have been getting into old issues of 'Good Old Days' magazine. The newer issues include stories from the nineteen-thirties, forties, and fifties. But I have some issues from 1971, and the stories are reader memories from the turn of the last century up to the twenties. They are very interesting.


----------



## Mariner

I'm reading the forum.


----------



## John_O

Just finished " Lee's Real Plan at Gettysburg" By Troy D. Harman. Starting tonight, "Mary Surratt An American Tragedy" by Elizabeth Steger Trindal.


----------



## moderan

The Essential Ellison. An annual trip. Should be required reading.


----------



## Leyline

Recently finished:
_
The Portrait Of Mrs. Charbuque _by Jeffery Ford. (Just fantastic. Beautiful.)


----------



## NathanBrazil

moderan said:


> The Essential Ellison. An annual trip. Should be required reading.



I've actually been reading Ellison's Dangerous Visions.  I'll have to add that one to my list.


----------



## moderan

Dangerous Visions and Again, Dangerous Visions should also be required reading. The Essential Ellison has the man's own work. I consider him the best short-story writer that has ever existed. Over guys like Bradbury, O. Henry, John Collier, HH Munro, Charles Beaumont, Ambrose Bierce. I once had the opportunity to tell him so. He agreed with me


----------



## Leyline

_A Good Man Is Hard To Find_ by Flannery O'Conner. For about the tenth time, I'd guess.


----------



## Dave Watson

The Twelve by Justin Cronin. More vampiric post apocalyptic mayhem than you could shake a stick at. What an odd expression that is.


----------



## Leyline

Recently finished:

_More Than Human_ by Theodore Sturgeon (Surprised myself by discovering that I now prefer the opening segment 'The Fabulous Idiot' to the central section, the much lauded 'Baby Is Three.' Odd!)

_Pop. 1280_ by Jim Thompson (One of the few by him I hadn't read -- and it's one of his best! Check out this amazing opening sentence:

*"Well, sir, I should have been sitting pretty, just about as pretty as a man could sit.*. Awesome. Just extraordinary voice and tone throughout.)

Now reading:

_The Fifth Head Of Cerberus_ by Gene Wolfe (Third or fourth time, I think. A warning to new readers -- The SF Masterworks edition has an introductory essay absolutely filled with spoilers. Avoid the intro!)

All above, a hat-tip to moderan.


----------



## squidtender

I'll finish "The Knight" by Gene Wolfe, tomorrow, and start book two, "The Wizard". Once again, thank you, G, for giving me this one. I love finding a new (to me) author who's something really special. 

And the way you and moddy talk, I'll need to find more by him . . . and I'm good with that


----------



## philistine

_Conversation in the Cathedral_, by Mario Vargas Llosa. Only a few pages in, so can't give my thoughts yet. The premise seemed incredibly interesting, and it's supposedly one of, if not the best work he's produced.



Leyline said:


> _Pop. 1280_ by Jim Thompson




Have you by any chance seen the film, _Coup de torchon_, by Bertrand Tavernier? It stars Philippe Noiret, a much loved actor of mine, and is based quite faithfully on the book, from what I hear.

Anyway, it's a great film, and Stéphane Audran is always easy on the eyes. :smug:


----------



## moderan

Leyline said:


> Recently finished:
> 
> _More Than Human_ by Theodore Sturgeon (Surprised myself by discovering that I now prefer the opening segment 'The Fabulous Idiot' to the central section, the much lauded 'Baby Is Three.' Odd!)
> 
> _Pop. 1280_ by Jim Thompson (One of the few by him I hadn't read -- and it's one of his best! Check out this amazing opening sentence:
> 
> *"Well, sir, I should have been sitting pretty, just about as pretty as a man could sit.*. Awesome. Just extraordinary voice and tone throughout.)
> 
> Now reading:
> 
> _The Fifth Head Of Cerberus_ by Gene Wolfe (Third or fourth time, I think. A warning to new readers -- The SF Masterworks edition has an introductory essay absolutely filled with spoilers. Avoid the intro!)
> 
> All above, a hat-tip to moderan.


I knew I sent all of those books to a right guy 
Pop. 1280 is probably my favorite.



squidtender said:


> I'll finish "The Knight" by Gene Wolfe, tomorrow, and start book two, "The Wizard". Once again, thank you, G, for giving me this one. I love finding a new (to me) author who's something really special.
> 
> And the way you and moddy talk, I'll need to find more by him . . . and I'm good with that


You need all the Wolfe you can get. "Cerberus" and "The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories, and other stories" are my favorites. I have first ed. paper of both. I still haven't gotten around to the Book of the New Sun series. I've had it for years, and it keeps slipping down the pile everytime I shuffle. I just stuck it on top.



philistine said:


> Have you by any chance seen the film, _Coup de torchon_, by Bertrand Tavernier? It stars Philippe Noiret, a much loved actor of mine, and is based quite faithfully on the book, from what I hear.
> 
> Anyway, it's a great film, and Stéphane Audran is always easy on the eyes. :smug:



I have. Excellent version and extremely faithful.

I have entirely too many books (I indexed all of the ebooks and it's six figures). It's difficult to decide what to read next. I'm just beginning Ratman's Diary, which I haven't read since I was a teenager. It's the book that was made into Willard, Ben, and Willard. I'll review all of them for Motley next month. Still going through the Essential Ellison, which is 1018 pages, and the Age of Spiritual Machines, which is my "outside" book, that I read on the patio in the sunshine.


----------



## Leyline

squidtender said:


> I'll finish "The Knight" by Gene Wolfe, tomorrow, and start book two, "The Wizard". Once again, thank you, G, for giving me this one. I love finding a new (to me) author who's something really special.
> 
> And the way you and moddy talk, I'll need to find more by him . . . and I'm good with that



The pleasure's all mine. Wolfe should be required reading for anyone who loves literature, full stop, no genre qualifications need apply. If you're ready to jump head first into a long, rewarding, mind expanding experience, check out his _The Book Of The New Sun_ (_The Shadow Of The Torturer, The Claw Of The Conciliator, The Sword Of The Lictor, _and_ The Citadel Of The Autarch_). They take place on an Earth so far in the future that the sun is cooling, and technology has become -- to the fallen civilization -- more or less a magic system. There was a years after published coda as well (_The Urth Of The New Sun_) and two more series based in the same world. 

These are not easy works: Wolfe takes pure delight in playing word games and mind-games on the reader with his entirely unreliable narrator, so they reward careful, attentive reading.


----------



## Leyline

philistine said:


> Have you by any chance seen the film, _Coup de torchon_, by Bertrand Tavernier? It stars Philippe Noiret, a much loved actor of mine, and is based quite faithfully on the book, from what I hear.
> 
> Anyway, it's a great film, and Stéphane Audran is always easy on the eyes. :smug:



Nope, thanks for the recommendation. I loved Tavernier's _Death Watch_ and _'Round Midnight_!


----------



## moderan

Leyline said:


> The pleasure's all mine. Wolfe should be required reading for anyone who loves literature, full stop, no genre qualifications need apply. If you're ready to jump head first into a long, rewarding, mind expanding experience, check out his _The Book Of The New Sun_ (_The Shadow Of The Torturer, The Claw Of The Conciliator, The Sword Of The Lictor, _and_ The Citadel Of The Autarch_). They take place on an Earth so far in the future that the sun is cooling, and technology has become -- to the fallen civilization -- more or less a magic system. There was a years after published coda as well (_The Urth Of The New Sun_) and two more series based in the same world.
> 
> These are not easy works: Wolfe takes pure delight in playing word games and mind-games on the reader with his entirely unreliable narrator, so they reward careful, attentive reading.


Yeah. That's both the fun part of Wolfe's work and the daunting part, and why I've avoided those books for so long, I think. I didn't understand "Cerberus" for years (I read it first when I was 11, when it came out), but I liked it anyway. I bought it cuz he had stories in ADV.


----------



## Leyline

moderan said:


> Yeah. That's both the fun part of Wolfe's work and the daunting part, and why I've avoided those books for so long, I think. I didn't understand "Cerberus" for years (I read it first when I was 11, when it came out), but I liked it anyway. I bought it cuz he had stories in ADV.



Same. I was 11 as well when I stumbled across "The Island Of Doctor Death And Other Stories" in _Orbit_. It bewildered and hypnotized me, and the fact that I didn't get it made me slightly obsessed with it. I read it over and over, had my Mom read it, who shrugged and said she really didn't get it either. I think I was 13 or 14 when I found that copy of _Orbit_, read it again, and 'got it' in one breathtaking moment of revelation. 

Those who restrict kids from reading things because they are too 'advanced' really do them a disservice. They take much of the mystery and magic from the art of the thing. They turn it into a rationed thing of simple comprehension, rather than the gorgeous, puzzling web of sense and mystery that it should be. They take away the exploration and discovery.


----------



## moderan

Indeed. My wife and I had a conversation about this yesterday (we were outside and therefore could actually hear each other). It was actually in regards to the silliness of sex education, which should be an ongoing and honest process rather than the charade it's mostly made to be...but the principle is the same. I'm not for kids reading stuff that I know is really violent, and for no reason other than to glorify the violence, because that imparts a (to me) wholly unnecessary set of values, but I'll take the time to talk to the kid about.
My pop talked to me about what I read whenever I asked, and frequently when I didn't. Open-mindedness is the greatest gift.


----------



## Rosier

I'm currently reading Philip Coppens' The Ancient Alien Question : A New Inquiry into the Existence, Evidence, and Influence of Ancient Visitors. I'm having a blast so far.
Are there people around here who's also interested with this stuff?


----------



## moderan

I'm interested in it as potential comedy material;have been since von Daniken's work started appearing. Taken seriously, not in the slightest.


----------



## Rosier

I find some of the speculation presented in the book to be quite fascinating. Planetary alignments, coincidences, numerology, symbolism... in the end most of the things written down are just that. Speculation. 

But I still like Philip for helping me open my mind to more topics like this. Too bad he's not with us anymore.

Any recommendations? I'm tasked by my Editor-in-Chief to check out Philip K. Dick's _"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"_​ Coincidentally, it's another guy named Philip. :icon_shaking2:


----------



## moderan

That's worth reading.


----------



## Rosier

That's good to know. I'll be picking it up later after my birthday party. I wish I could give you a piece of the cake as my thanks, though. :icon_joker:


----------



## moderan

Thank you. I can enjoy virtual cake as I'm partially cybernetic 
Philip K. Dick is an excellent writer, but he's a bit of an acquired taste because he requires that you think about some of his premises in order to grasp where he's going. Cannot recommend his work highly enough. "Sheep" is very good. I also recommend "Martian Time-Slip", which has some unique and prescient things to say about autism, and "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch", which treats with the nature of reality in amusing ways.


----------



## Skodt

Just finished a fresh new fantasy. The Lies of Locke Lamora, very original, and caught be completely off guard.


----------



## moderan

So what is it that caught you offguard? The very originality? What's original about it? One can google but that isn't the same thing as personal reportage.


----------



## Leyline

_Nova_ by Samuel R. Delaney, another I haven't read since my teens.


----------



## moderan

Leyline said:


> _Nova_ by Samuel R. Delaney, another I haven't read since my teens.


That one's lasted a while. You started it a couple of pages ago. I'm due for some Delany myself. I'll even tell him about it when I'm done-about a year ago, on a lark, I sent him a friend request. To my surprise he accepted, and it was actually him, not a proxy. Have had the chance to chat, since. Fine gentleman. Good cook. Great writer.
I think a trip to Triton may be in order.


----------



## Rustgold

Leyline said:


> The pleasure's all mine. Wolfe should be required reading for anyone who loves literature, full stop, no genre qualifications need apply.



I hope his novels are better than his short stories.  His short stories do show his writing ability, but they're missing something, a vibrancy to bring them to life.


----------



## moderan

I disagree. His short stories are excellent and alive. Others may read for themselves. I recommend  The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories as an anthology worth reading, and the title story as superlative.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

Sandstorm by James Rollins


----------



## Leyline

moderan said:


> That one's lasted a while. You started it a couple of pages ago. I'm due for some Delany myself. I'll even tell him about it when I'm done-about a year ago, on a lark, I sent him a friend request. To my surprise he accepted, and it was actually him, not a proxy. Have had the chance to chat, since. Fine gentleman. Good cook. Great writer.
> I think a trip to Triton may be in order.



Heh, I actually changed my mind and read _Babel - 17_ instead. I'd forgotten I'd posted about it.


----------



## Leyline

Rustgold said:


> I hope his novels are better than his short stories.  His short stories do show his writing ability, but they're missing something, a vibrancy to bring them to life.



I disagree too, strongly. I count stories like 'The Tree Is My Hat' and 'No Planets Strike' and 'The Monday Man' as amongst the most alive and vital stories I've ever read. In fact, I've read almost all of Wolfe's short work and have never read a bad story by him. Some were weaker than others of course, but even the least of them was a work more than my own skill could create. He's one of those writers that I'm slightly in awe of, actually.


----------



## Rosier

Giovanni's Gift by Bradford Morrow.


----------



## nicolam2711

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult. Really enjoying it, however I'm no longer used to the weight of a hardback book. Kindle is definitely weakening my muscles


----------



## nicolam2711

Now finished The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult. A few of her latest books haven't grabbed my attention as much as some of the earlier ones. This one, however, changed all that! Definitely worth a read.


----------



## Skodt

moderan said:


> So what is it that caught you offguard? The very originality? What's original about it? One can google but that isn't the same thing as personal reportage.



Ever watched Oceans 11? If you have not imagine a group of con artist, but now imagine them in mid century times. In a mythical setting; with magic underlying all things, but never really coming forward till around the end. A group of boys who grew up thieves find themselves in positions that are very believable, but very disaster filled. Trying to hold their secret of stealing from the rich, they come across a man who knows all their secrets. He uses Locke like a puppet to keep his secret, but Locke is to clever by half, and finds his own special way at revenge. 

It's a mixture of high class, low class, and bottom of the barrel society's, and you're always right there in the middle of everything.


----------



## moderan

Ocean's 11 with Clooney is a remake. It was originally in midcentury times. But I get what you mean.


----------



## Skodt

I wasn't explaining the movie. I was explaining the book Lies of Locke Lamora. I was more meaning the original idea behind oceans 11. It's like oceans 11 with magic.


----------



## moderan

I understand.


----------



## philistine

_Forbidden Colours_, by Yukio Mishima. I could read anything this guy has written, and I know I'd love it. I'm slowly making my way through his English translated works.


----------



## philistine

Skodt said:


> Ever watched Oceans 11? If you have not imagine a group of con artist, but now imagine them in *mid century times.*



What the hell is that supposed to mean? 

The original film is brilliant, by the way. Richard Conte is sorely misrepresented in the noir world. The remake was good.

Anyway, I'm reading_ Forbidden Colours_, by Yukio Mishima. I could read anything this guy has written, and I know I'd love it. I'm slowly making my way through his English translated works.


----------



## Skodt

philistine said:


> What the hell is that supposed to mean?
> 
> The original film is brilliant, by the way. Richard Conte is sorely misrepresented in the noir world. The remake was good.
> 
> Anyway, I'm reading_ Forbidden Colours_, by Yukio Mishima. I could read anything this guy has written, and I know I'd love it. I'm slowly making my way through his English translated works.



I meant Mideval times. The middle ages, not in the 19th century. I understand the original was right after WW2; this books is more a victorian age.


----------



## moderan

Umm...I hate to point this out, but Queen Victoria was regent from 1837 through 1901. The Middle Ages are said to have lasted from the Fifth through the Fifteenth centuries, AD.
If I understand correctly, The Lies of Locke Lamora is another faux-medieval epic, with a group of bandit types, yes? Swords and castles and magic and all that, yes?
What's different about it? How does it compare to other novels of the type?
What chiefly bothers me about this type of yarn is that it doesn't seem realistic. It's a very idealized version of what the Middle Ages would have been...a "sanitized" version. I use that term advisedly, because that's essentially the root of the problem.
It's been my experience that science fiction writers do the best and most believable medieval fantasies. They take the time to research the period and get the details right. Such worthies as Poul Anderson, Gordon Dickson, Ron Goulart, L. Sprague de Camp, and Fletcher Pratt, Fritz Leiber, CL Moore, have crafted excellent fantasies set in that period, often using a thuggery sort of setup. I'd think that to be prevalent in that world anyway. Don't think there were a lot of actual jobs to be had.
Have you heard of Clark Ashton Smith? He was the originator of a lot of the cut-purse sort of fantasies. Brian McNaughton recently won a World Fantasy Award for his The Throne of Bones, set in a similar society, with the addition of a carrion-eater class of inhuman. And there's a very popular series called Thieve's World, with the same sort of characteristics, in case you're not familiar with that.
The recent Name of the Wind is more or less along those lines. I think there's a sequel to that too. I never investigated because I wasn't very taken by the first. Not enough lice for me.
Mind you-I don't mean to be disrespectful. But so often people in this thread just name off a book, telling us they're reading it, and then don't say anything about it, either then or later. Doesn't give anyone any incentive to search it out.
So I try to get a little bit more in-depth and actually talk about the books.
I've finished the Essential Ellison finally. That book is fantastic. I would give it seventy-five on the scale of one to ten if it just had "Shattered Like a Glass Goblin", and "Croatoan". But it has everything else too, except for his two novels. Unbelievably good short story writing about every subject imaginable, and always imbued with Ellison's unique voice.
I'm most of the way through Ratman's Diaries, which is as good as I remembered, and have begun John Shirley's Wetbones, which is slow going so far and not up to John's usual standard. The last thing of his that I read was the superlative Black Butterflies.


----------



## Skodt

What is different about the Lies of Locke Lamora?
Well first off the entire dedication to the structure of the city is superb. It is not a throw together background, but a well detailed city, with a well structured suit of men and women who inhabit it. The power structure is not a thrown together loop, but a well thought out structure of the fair dukes, ladies, capa's, dons, ect.. 

The characters are not your regular cut purse thieves; although they do start that way. Locke is an orphan(which is not original in itself) who finds himself inside a thieves din. Locke though has a knack for the dramatic things in life; he also at a young age is to ambitious for his own good. He is eventually(rather quickly actually) sold to a priest named Chains. Chains is a different type of thief. He steals from the comfort of his own steps; he uses the name of a god to collect coin. Chains celebrates and worships a different type of god though, namely the nameless god; or the 13th as they call him. This is the god of thieves and the like. Chains uses this church for his own good, underground is a small basement filled with extravagances from the richer part of the world around him. He teaches Locke and two twin boys Caldo and Galdo the art of written language, math, fine dining, and how to be royalty. He also teaches them how to impersonate others around the world. Later a bigger boy named Jean joins the group, and is sent to train with the dukes own swords master; he later becomes the muscle. 

Now with these skills they start to turn over jobs on the rich; but while doing this they are breaking the secret peace. The secret peace was originally made by the capa; whom the gentleman bastards(lockes group) pays fealty to. What the capa does not know is that Locke is rich beyond even himself; everyone believes the bastards to be a lowly cut purse group. Though there is rumors of the Thorn of Camorr throughout the city. Locke dresses up was a merchant from a fine rum company; he uses his skills to plant a trap for a Don. The story follows this bit of con artist treasure, but adds in a second element very quickly. 

A man naming himself the Gray king has came into the city killing of Garristas( head of the gangs of the capa). Locke soon finds himself trapped by the Gray king, do his bidding, or be ousted for his trickery. Locke now must juggle the con game, the capa, and the gray king, while still being the leader of the gentleman bastards. 

That's a pretty good start for the story without giving to much away.


----------



## moderan

Now people know what you're reading


----------



## Hunter56

The Call of Cthulu by H.P. Lovecraft


----------



## Skodt

Just started the Desert Spear; already about a third of the way in.


----------



## Jon M

_Watchmen_, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons


----------



## philistine

[h=3]*Le Grand Meaulnes, by Alain-Fournier*[/h]


----------



## Jon M

Was thinking about picking up _Wool_. Wondering if anyone here has read it.


----------



## moderan

I read the first part and decided not to continue.


----------



## John_O

Getting ready to start reading " To Hell On A Fast Horse" About Billy the Kid & Pat Garrett by Mark Lee Gardner. . Non-Fiction


----------



## Bilston Blue

_The Smiths: Songs That Saved Your Life_, written by Simon Goddard.

It's an anorak's guide to every last song by The Smiths, covering the songs' origins, influences, recording sessions, radio sessions, live performance history, and more.

The book owes much to Ian McDonald's _Revolution in the Head, _a history of The Beatles' songs.

A must for all devotees of said band.


----------



## Morkonan

I'm reading at least five different books, atm. But, I'm spending my most time re-reading Feintuch's "Seafort Saga." (I re-read that quite a bit, it seems.) I forgot that I had gone to a used bookstore on my last trip out of town and now have a stack of new material to read in the trunk of my car...  (No, I don't read in the trunk of my car.) I don't remember what I bought, but I'll mention a title or two when I stop being too lazy to drag them inside. (Some good older SF, IIRC.)


----------



## spartan928

Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace...see you in June.


----------



## spartan928

Hunter56 said:


> The Call of Cthulu by H.P. Lovecraft



I'd never read Lovecraft and read At the Mountains of Madness recently. Good stuff.


----------



## nicolam2711

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton. Not sure how it's going to go yet.


----------



## death cab

Currently on Trunk Music, fifth in the Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly. Some good stuff there.

Just finished Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard today. Even better than the movie, which is one of my favorites (sorry, Mr. Tarantino).


----------



## Rustgold

I'm going to be crucified here.

I'm attempting to read Gene Wolfe's Knight Wizard novel.  I'm seriously looking at giving up on the plotless book.  It confirms my opinion of his writing; he writes absolutely fabulous characters and wonderful settings, but his stories are rudderless ships.


----------



## Pluralized

Working on The Stand by Stephen King at night on the Kindle, and plowing through The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. About a hundred pages deep in TNOTR and it is obviously one of Eco's finest. I kinda don't want The Stand to end, it's a weird and epic journey so far (about halfway through). Learning a lot about suspense from that book.


----------



## Jeko

Firestarter by Stephen King

Whoa....


----------



## moderan

The LM. Every story. Gonna take a while to get that list done. But it is a distinct pleasure to prolong the journey.


----------



## ppsage

_Best American Short Stories 2005._ Justice Shiva Ram Murthy, by Rishi Reddi. The seventy-year-old Hindu widower, a first person unreliable narrator, and retired Hyderabad judge, comes to Boston to live with his daughter. Very humorous, laugh out loud in spots, but also poignant; a combination prone to the maudlin, but in this case too finely drawn for that. Old Boys, Old Girls, by Edward P. Jones. A longish story of murder, prison and release. Gripping and relentless and unexpected. Ends sort of quickly and ambiguously, but in the story are created depths which somehow rival those one might find in a novel. Have ordered Jones’ collection, _All Aunt Hagar’s Children. _Hart and Boot, by Tim Pratt. The last western outlaw and lady gunslinger conjures up the perfect helpmate. Brilliantly absurd magical realism with historical accuracy. Everything I’d aspire to as a writer, should I ever decide to pursue authorship. Trolled through Pratt in the library catalogue and on Syndetics, decided I didn’t trust his consistency enough to order yet, but he’s on my check-out list. Ordered _BASS 2004_, I’m going backwards through the editions from 2009, I read in these when I feel authorially dyspeptic. 

_The Middle Mind: Why Americans don’t think for themselves,_ by Curtis White. White is a bad-ass post-modernist fiction writer—I loved _America’s Magic Mountain_ and _Metaphysics in the Midwest; Requiem_ puzzled and intrigued and _generally_ entertained—and small press editor who’s turned to writing social criticism. This is a book, like McLuhan’s _Galaxy, _which will take me a long time to read because I dog ear and notate every page and then rant around the house in excited expostulation. In White I have found a compatriot, in the explication of imagination. Imagination is the RAM space of intellect, without it there is not thinking. It is not make belief except in the literal sense. I find the analysis of _Middle _essentially Marxist (in the good, New Left way, not Bolshie); mass-radical-egalitarian society reifies and commodifies the essence of what it means to be human. White seems to be evading the usual traps of strict anti-capitalism and historical necessity. Looks like the trip is going to be divided into sections on entertainment, academia and politics and I’m looking forward to something along the lines of what Wills did for free market ideology in _Agonistes. _I’ve found Curtis White a difficult author in all his manifestations but certainly worth the effort.

_Peregrine: Secundus_, by Avram Davidson. Finished _Primus_ a while ago. Read this in odd moments when I’m feeling ridiculous. Very light stuff from a pretty heavy dude, it’s interesting to me how he keeps going with it. Many cute twists from the late Roman histories; some classical reading helps considerably I’d say.

_Carl Faberge: Goldsmith to the imperial court of Russia,_ by A. Kenneth Snowman. Rereading this for my newsletter book review, it’s from our guild library. It’s basically a royal exhibition catalogue, extraordinarily illustrated. My review will probably be mostly scans. The Faberge Atelier was in the best of aristocratic patronage tradition, bringing together hundreds of artists and craftspersons in a safe and secure albeit strictly hierarchical community. Sir Ken is himself a servant of the British Crown, and is of the obvious opinion that, to the extent society is no longer ruled by class—and he emphatically rejects the possibility that the extent is anything like total—it is the poorer, especially in the arts. Pretty sure I don’t agree but he makes his case with an extreme politeness and snobbish respect which is sort of irresistible. The work of Faberge is one ideal, for the art I make in my real life, and this volume provides me considerable inspiration. One thinks of the eggs of course, and enameled cigarette cases, but things like the pages of sculpted lapidary animals are unexpected treasures.


----------



## ppsage

moderan said:


> The LM. Every story. Gonna take a while to get that list done. But it is a distinct pleasure to prolong the journey.


I read them all too. A couple of them are pretty good. It's sort of a shame, so many decide to put them up on the private board. I really can't see many that will be submitted for publication, without extensive enough revision to qualify as a different work.


----------



## moderan

While that may or may not be true, it is their choice to do so, and we must honor that. 
I'm still in the midst of that, but have picked up a number of new horror novels and stories and collections recently. So I'm reading the collected Rick Hautala because he passed recently, and am preparing to work my way through the Dark Country, a story a day, as the Etchison is so exquisite. Then I have a number of Ramsey Campbell collections and novels, which I had thought lost to me when I had to leave them behind in Chicago. Beloved works, some of them. Cold Print is just fiendish.


----------



## death cab

Easing my way through The Poet by Michael Connelly. It's good, very different from a lot of his other books. The only problem I have with it is that the protagonist is a journalist, yet he might as well be a detective with twenty years experience. I think I'm going to take a break from his work for a while. This is a really fun read, though.

On the horizon I have The Stand by Stephen King on hold on my overdrive library for the Kindle. Other than that, I want to get into some new authors and maybe read some more Elmore Leonard. Been thinking about finally starting either Lord of the Rings or the Dark Tower series, too.


----------



## columbo1977

The Great North Road by Peter F Hamilton on my Kindle. A great read.


----------



## Pluralized

_No Country For Old Men. _Halfway through, and just started it this morning. It's a short book, but I foresee blasting through it in one sitting. Gripping, indeed.

Also - picked up a huge anthology of Bradbury and I'm biting off chunks of that here and there. So far, incredible. Never have read his stuff before yesterday.

Also - read all the LM Bubbles entries, and about a hundred others going back a few months. What a diverse group of talent this place enjoys.


----------



## MisterTribute

_Forbidden_ by Tabitha Suzuma.

Gosh, it's really _great_.


----------



## raines80

"The Second Ship" Book one of the "Rho Agenda" by Richard Phillips

Not a terrible book. Picked it up off the Kindle store because of the reviews. The characters are not bad and the idea is very good, but the dialogue is pretty boring. I usually finish books in about 3 days.. this one has taken me 2 weeks to get near the end. I don't think I will be buying the second book.


----------



## Hunter56

Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King


----------



## John_O

Encyclopedia of Mammals by Professor David Macdonald. This book is as big as I am :uncomfortableness:  I set on my scale... 7.5 lbs!


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

The Life of Pi by Yann Martel


----------



## Jon M

_Dune_, Frank Herbert


----------



## allhailchief

I am reading Huxley's_ Brave New World_. I never got a chance to read it but I got into an interesting argument with some other well read people comparing Huxley and Orwell. I've read a lot of Orwell and was in shock when someone I was speaking with said that "Orwell is the poor man's Huxley." I'm going to have to see about that. I've already noticed many parallels but I just can't accept Orwell being called a poor man's anything.


----------



## Jeko

Stone Cold. Robert Swindells.

Whoa.


----------



## philistine

Some stories by Jules Lemaitre. They're great.


----------



## allhailchief

I have almost finished The Corner by David Simon. Just had to read the inspiration for the most brilliant show, in my opinion, to ever grace the television screen The Wire.


----------



## Pinnfeathers

I'm not reading it currently, but I did purchase this book today: Sepulcher by Kate Moss. It's an amazing novel (Labyrinth by her is wonderful as well).


----------



## philistine

_The Sorrows of Young Werther_. Loved it.


----------



## Mikal5

Currently, _Rules of Prey _by John Sandford. Re-reading it. 

Also James Scott Bell's _Plot and Structure _to help improve my planning and plotting skills.


----------



## Dave Watson

Just started The Blade Itself, first book in Joe Abercrombies First Law trilogy. 

Pretty good so far, and a nice change of pace from the last few fantasy epics I've been into - A Song of Ice and Fire and Robin Hobb's Assassin and Tawny Man books, both of which are beautifuuly written but can get a bit draggy. What I've read so far of Abercrombie's stuff is a lot more action focussed!


----------



## Jeko

'Guilty Pleasures' by Laurell K Hamilton.

Well written vampire crime/horror/thriller/good book.


----------



## ppsage

Erskine Caldwell, Saturday Afternoon. Found it online and you can too if you're clever enough. Short and sweet and definitely not for the kiddies. Horrific as it comes.


----------



## Pluralized

ppsage said:


> Erskine Caldwell, Saturday Afternoon. Found it online and you can too if you're clever enough. Short and sweet and definitely not for the kiddies. Horrific as it comes.



Whew - that was a fairly nasty read. Fast paced though, and you said it. Imagine living in such a time. Horrific. I did enjoy the country tone, and I have always been one to bank my rows with earth.

I'm reading Dune again, and a new one I picked up over the weekend - Hegemony or Survival. They don't carry that one in our libraries, oddly enough.


----------



## Jon M

.


----------



## Jon M

.


----------



## philistine

_The Painted Veil_, by W. Somerset Maugham. Already seen the 1934 film, which was pretty good. Only just started reading.


----------



## Hunter56

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger


----------



## Pluralized

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!


----------



## popsprocket

Peter and Wendy by JM Barrie.

Peter Pan has always been a favourite character of mine, for different reasons now than when I was six, to be sure. I finally decided that since he was such a great hero of mine that I should read the source material. Now, don't get me wrong, I knew he was kind of a dark guy, but this book could pass as a horror story. It's not told like one, but that's probably the very reason it's so dark. The narrator casually drops things like how Peter kills "tons" of people, or that he "adjusts" the Lost Boys so that they can fit into the underground home.

Honestly though, all of this scary Peter stuff makes me like him even more. An absolutely  fantastic example of an amoral character.


----------



## Jon M

.


----------



## Dave Watson

_The Blade Itself_, book 1 of_ The First Law_ trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. Epic throat slashing, sword fighting, spear hurling fun aplenty.


----------



## escorial

Like short stories mostly.The concrete garden,has been a very intresting read of late.


----------



## Robert_S

I was reading "Neuromancer." but I can't get engaged. I found my copy of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" so I think I'll start that.


----------



## philistine

_The Book of the Courtier_. James Joyce's brother once remarked that after he had read the book, he became 'more polite, but less sincere'.


----------



## SteelPalm

Reading *Scaramouche* by Rafael Sabatini.  Sabatini was a hugely popular writer in the 10s, 20s, and 30s, writing swashbuckling, exciting adventure novels like *Captain Blood* and *The Sea Hawk*, in addition to the one I'm reading now.  

I don't know yet whether the current book will be as amazing as *Captain Blood* (one of my favorite books, especially for pure entertainment), but I can definitively state it's better than *The Sea Hawk*, which was a wonderful tale itself.  

At any rate, it's a great book after the somnolent, dry, imagination-less *Silas Marner*, the book I had finished before that.


----------



## Staff Deployment

_Jam_ by Benjamin "Yahtzee" Croshaw. The guy does a webseries where he posts clip-art / stylized doodles on a yellow background while talking really fast with a british accent into a microphone, and one day he decided to write a book. Jam is his second, actually; the first one was _Mogworld_ which I read about a year and a half ago. My verdict is that he is incredibly intelligent, incredibly thoughtful, incredibly charismatic and distinctly-voiced . . . but also very amateur. His ideas are excellent, while the follow-through remains more mediocre. His action scenes in particular are rarely coherent. It was a quick and fun read regardless, though.

_Penpal_ by Dathan Auerbach (SP?). I read the whole book in a single day, staying up until 4am to finish it off. That was probably a mistake considering that it was a horror novel. Made me believe it was much better than it was. Upon reflection, all of the scares of the book were pretty obvious and telegraphed, sometimes thirty/fourty pages in advance. Interesting but kind of forgettable, to be honest.

_The City and the City_ by China Miéville. It is so good, read this book it's great, seriously wow.


----------



## SteelPalm

Staff Deployment said:


> _Jam_ by Benjamin "Yahtzee" Croshaw. The guy does a webseries where he posts clip-art / stylized doodles on a yellow background while talking really fast with a british accent into a microphone, and one day he decided to write a book. Jam is his second, actually; the first one was _Mogworld_ which I read about a year and a half ago. My verdict is that he is incredibly intelligent, incredibly thoughtful, incredibly charismatic and distinctly-voiced . . . but also very amateur. His ideas are excellent, while the follow-through remains more mediocre. His action scenes in particular are rarely coherent. It was a quick and fun read regardless, though.



I recall reading a sample chapter from _Mogworld_ he posted on the Escapsits, and having a similar, but more negative reaction.  

Namely, it came across as a really lousy, third-rate Terry Pratchett knock-off.  I realize Pratchett is one of the most widely copied and imitated writers, and it makes sense; people read Pratchett and think it's so easy to write a humorous fantasy story.  It's not.  Writing hilarious jokes within a compelling fantasy story that can be read so smoothly takes incredible talent and ability, and it's little surprise that most people aping him, Yahtzee included, fail at all three.


----------



## Staff Deployment

Well, Jam is actually _hilarious_. For the first three or four chapters, at least. I've never read Pratchett, but I found Mogworld wasn't all that funny anyhow.


----------



## SteelPalm

Staff Deployment said:


> I've never read Pratchett



I very strongly recommend checking out his Discworld series, especially _Making Money_ and _Going Postal_.  Really outstanding books.


----------



## ppsage

Paul Desmond's liner notes to the 1964 jazz album _Bossa Antigua; _[url = http://www.puredesmond.ca/bossa.htm ]. Besides blowing the coolest sax on the West Coast (okay, I amend; one of. Don't getz your panties in a pepper pot or the mulligan will come out spoiled.), Desmond was a renowned wit and general _bon mot_-ifier_._ (I thought about filching his redoubtable quip here, but it looks fail 'cause you'll all read that for yourselves.) Wikipedia has him remarking, seeing an ex on the street, “There she goes, not with a whim but a banker.” Also trying to do due diligence on the recommended [url = http://www.writingforums.com/writin...icle-about-modern-literature.html#post1635332 ] _A Reader's Manifesto, _[url = http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/07/a-readers-manifesto/302270/ ] by Brian Reynolds Myers [url = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Reynolds_Myers ], published in _The Atlantic_. This seems to me a watery and not-brief-enough rip-off of Curtis' _The Middle Mind,_ lacking the Marxist, or at least, financial-historical, foundation, and so floating off the Korean shore like a talking head untethered from its anchor desk. Which is maybe where I'd put a lot of contemporary commentary, so perhaps check it out from a precautionary perspective.


----------



## Jon M

.


----------



## DanielSJ

Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon. I'm about 1/3 of the way through now.

It's...er....intricate? 100% of what is happening isn't going through. It's the style rather than his antiquated spelling. Though, I'm getting a lot more of what's going on then with Gravity's Rainbow. Barely understood anything with that one, and it's a real shame.

Oh Pynchon.... why can't you write like you did in The Crying of Lot 49?

Still want to read Against the Day though. Maybe more will saunter through with that one.


----------



## philistine

Jean Santueil.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

The Odyssey by Homer


----------



## Dave Watson

New Stephen King book, _Funland_. Loving it.


----------



## philistine

Hemingway's _A Moveable Feast. _​Really enjoying it.


----------



## Terry D

Robert R McCammon's _Mr. Slaughter_. Not his best, but it is unpredictable.



> New Stephen King book, _Funland. Loving it._


_

Joyland?_


----------



## DanielSJ

philistine said:


> Hemingway's _A Moveable Feast. _​Really enjoying it.



Loved it.


----------



## SteelPalm

Just finishing up Paulo Coelho's *The Witch is Portobello*.  

I will write a long review on it, but suffice to say that I now understand why Coelho is so wildly popular.  He is an absolute master at what he does.  

Oh, and the book is pure garbage, Coelho is an ignorant moron, and I never want to read another of his works ever again.


----------



## Novel

_Mort_ by Terry Pratchett. Very refreshing after the grimdark fantasy of _Witcher_ or _Game of Thrones_.


----------



## Yurika

Too many at one time. Brisingr by Christopher Paolini, Sepulchre by Kate Mosse, and Land of the Painted Caves by Jean M. Auel.


----------



## Ariel

The Birth House by Ami McKay.

I'm only on the third chapter but it is enchanting and finely written.  I already feel like I'm attached to the main character.


----------



## Pluralized

The Poisonwood Bible. So far an excellent and very strange book.


----------



## philistine

Fitzgerald's _Tender is the Night_.


----------



## Jeko

Eoin Colfer's _The Supernaturalist._

His old work is good. His new work... not so much.


----------



## Staff Deployment

Novel said:


> grimdark



Just noticed this. Evidently you've been reading something much more ambitious and embarrassing.

:friendly_wink:


----------



## escorial

Tortilla Flat....Monterey a place I will visit befor I die....invites welcomed!!!!


----------



## FleshEater

Dean Koontz: Intensity

It's okay. His characters are always conveniently lucky or making the right choices. Reads more like a story you have to shut down reasoning to appreciate.


----------



## spartan928

Middlesex, Jeff Eugenides. Worth the read to dive into his brilliant prose.


----------



## philistine

Manon Lescaut.


----------



## OurJud

The novel [as opposed to the short story] _Flowers for Algernon_ by Daniel Keyes.


----------



## Hunter56

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk


----------



## Skodt

^ One of the few books that I would rather watch the movie.


----------



## FleshEater

Hunter56 said:


> Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk



Very good novel. If you like that, I'd suggest Invisible Monsters.



Skodt said:


> ^ One of the few books that I would rather watch the movie.



I like the novel more. I feel Palahniuk made the narrator darker. Edward Norton was a sissy in the film, nothing like in the novel. A great example is the scene with Tyler in the car (film version) compared to in the novel. I also like the novel's ending much more.


----------



## Leyline

FleshEater said:


> I like the novel more. I feel Palahniuk made the narrator darker. Edward Norton was a sissy in the film, nothing like in the novel. A great example is the scene with Tyler in the car (film version) compared to in the novel. I also like the novel's ending much more.



While I mostly agree with you on the novel version being superior to the film, I really can't see any actor other than Ed Norton pulling off the 'beat the crap out of myself in front of my boss' scene.


----------



## philistine

Leyline said:


> While I mostly agree with you on the novel version being superior to the film, I really can't see any actor other than Ed Norton pulling off the 'beat the crap out of myself in front of my boss' scene.



A challenger appears:


----------



## Skodt

I feel the movie had a better overall feeling to it. Though I do like the book ending more. The movie gave me an overall better feeling after it was finished. I also loved Norton's portrayal of the character. He was down to a T what I thought the character should be. Also Pitt; well, lets just say Mister Pitt is exceptional at most all he does. The scene with the bike is hilarious, also the scene where he goes into the fit of laughter while being beaten; just gets me every time.


----------



## OurJud

Hunter56 said:


> Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk



Would anyone care to spell this author's surname out, phonetically, as I've always wondered how it's pronounced.

Sorry, I'm being lazy. According to a few people, including a short youtube clip, it's Paula-nick. Does that sound about right?


----------



## Skodt

Palahniuk: Polo-na-hook


----------



## OurJud

Skodt said:


> Palahniuk: Polo-na-hook



Can I ask on what authority you're basing that? You are the first I've come across who pronounces it like that, amittedly as far as my very limited research goes.


----------



## philistine

Skodt said:


> Palahniuk: Polo-na-hook





OurJud said:


> Can I ask on what authority you're basing that? You are the first I've come across who pronounces it like that, amittedly as far as my very limited research goes.



I've always visited forvo.com for any pronunciation queries, and it's very rare you'll come up empty when looking for something. I've always pronounced his name in the sam fashion as this chap:

Chuck Palahniuk pronunciation: How to pronounce Chuck Palahniuk in English

Chuck 'pollah-nick'. Whether that's the real way of saying it, we'll never know. I think it's time the author made a YouTube video like Jake Gyllenhaal did.


----------



## FleshEater

From Chuck's site;

How do you pronounce Palahniuk?
PAUL-AH-NIK (Paula Nick). The story goes that Chuck's Grandparents decided to pronounce their name as a combination on their two first names, Paula and Nick. As Chuck relates it: So many Palahniuk's drop letters from the name. We kept all the letter's but we probably say it the worst.". The 'Old World' pronunciation is PAH-la-NYOOK

Also, don't get me wrong, Fight Club is definitely excellent on celluloid. I just liked the novel more after I read it. Edward Norton and Pitt were astounding, but I could definitely see Bale filling either of those shoes as well.


----------



## Bradley

Orson Welles:Hello Americans by Simon Callow


----------



## Pluralized

Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor 

I've just finished A View of the Woods, one of the short stories in this compilation. A simple but gripping story about a southern family struggling with progress and cultural retardation. Moving and extremely powerful, though simple and accessible.


----------



## philistine

I just finished Italo Calvino's _If on a winter's night a traveller..._, and it was absolutely brilliant. Couldn't put it down. 

Now starting Toole's _A Confederacy of Dunces_.


----------



## popsprocket

The Eye of the World

I swore I wouldn't reread the Wheel of Time this year, but here I am. I might not make it all the way through, but I'll just have to wait and see


----------



## Pluralized

philistine said:


> Now starting Toole's _A Confederacy of Dunces_.



That's a fine book that will leave an imprint on you for years. Very unique story, and strangely sweet. 

Let us know what you think.


----------



## Skodt

Just started the second installment of John Carter. The books is called the gods of mars. I liked the first one well enough; hopefully this goes quite the same.


----------



## Origen

The short stories of ETA Hoffman and a compendium of American Transcendentalists.  Both are excellent.


----------



## JimJanuary

I'm reading Irvine Welsh's _Trainspotting._ I'm fairly obsessed with it at the moment... or addicted I guess you can say. I'm definitely swearing a lot more than I usually do


----------



## Pluralized

_The Poisonwood Bible_ - Barbara Kingsolver

_365 Days_ - Ronald J. Glasser


----------



## escorial

The Red Pony..J.Steinbeck


----------



## reverend ben

*...*

Unfortunately I have been reading _Snail City_, which is written for 6 year olds to be able to read. My 2 year old loves. The first 50 time through, I hated it. But I am gradually coming to appreciate it. No Maurice Sendak, but it's not as bad as the Priddy Books titles.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Feeling guilty about the libelous supposition I mentioned about Seymour Glass in another thread, I hunted up _Seymour: An Introduction_ by J. D. Salinger and after pages and pages of rambling it suddenly got beautiful and almost made me cry_: Keep me up till five in the morning only because all your stars are out, and for no other reason._


----------



## FleshEater

Edge of Dark Water: Joe R. Lansdale

Thank you Leyline for recommending this author in another thread. I love his writing and storytelling.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy




----------



## reverend ben

Last month's Apex.
's alright, not great.
The first story "Call Girl" was good.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

In light of recent discussions, was trying to remember things I'd read on issues of hospitality and dug up Derrida's rather beautiful elegy to Levinas. 
Adieu to Emmanuel Levinas - Jacques Derrida - Google Books


----------



## John_O

The Book of North American Owls by Helen Roney Sattler


----------



## FleshEater

_The Girl Who Played with Fire


_I've only made it through the prologue. So far, so good.


----------



## Skodt

^ I absolutely enjoyed that series.


----------



## FleshEater

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was an awesome story. Though I must admit, I feel Fincher did a better job. I'm continuing the series in hopes that Lisbeth Slander will get more time. And, I already feel she will. She has to be my favorite female character ever created.

I plan on watching all three Swedish film adaptations after I finish the series.


----------



## Skodt

I don't like the Swedish films. I watched the first two, couldn't get myself hyped for the third. They take to much away from the story. Fincher did decent work on the US version, but it still felt slow as a movie. I really enjoyed the books. I am not usually drawn to the genera, but these books really pulled me in. 

Started reading Children of Dune today. Enjoyed the first in the series, so here is to hoping the second is just as good.


----------



## Govinda

_The Sparrow_ by Mary D. Russell


----------



## Skodt

Turns out I totally skipped a book in the Dune series. Whoops!

Anyhow started to read the book Realized I had no idea what was going on. Didn't have the second book. So I started reading "The Way of Kings" by Brandon Sanderson.


----------



## Omi

I finished rereading the School's Out Forever Omnibus by Scott K Andrews. Excellent

Now rereading House of Leaves by Mark K Danielewski


----------



## BreakingMyself

I've just finished 'On Writing' by Stephen King. 

It was a great read, full of advice and insights for the aspiring author. I was left with a feeling like I hadn't spent a few hours a night, reading non-fiction, which amazes me. If you haven't read it already, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy. I bought it for 1p + postage on Amazon, an absolute steal.

I'm now reading 'Oblivion is Coming' by new author John Moore. 

I'm only 4 chapters in, so I feel bad in saying this, but it's terrible. The amount of unnecessary description, hand holding and poor grammar is driving me crazy. I fear that John himself didn't bother to give his own story a re-read before publishing.

Another issue I'm having, is that John actually lives in my area and personally gave me a free copy, to read an review. I don't think I'll finish it, I can't bring myself to drag my eyes across the page anymore, especially when I have a small library waiting to be read.


----------



## Pishwi

20,000 leagues under the sea by Jules Verne


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

Inferno by Dan Brown


----------



## Omi

Dropped the reread of House of Leaves for a recently acquired paperback of

American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis

The prose goes a bit weird sometimes but oh I do love me some splatterpunk!


----------



## Pluralized

The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana - Umberto Eco

Easily his most accessible work. Highly recommended.


----------



## OurJud

_The Silicon Man_ by Charles Platt. Very enjoyable sci-fi romp so far.


----------



## Hunter56

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut


----------



## BreakingMyself

Just After Sunset - Stephen King.

I've only read Willa and The Gingerbread Girl, so far anyway.


----------



## LiquidAnubis

The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo. Great book, love his Harry Hole detective series!


----------



## Skodt

Prince of Thorns


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

Finished Infreno by Dan Brown, today.


----------



## Jon M

Checked out _Donnybrook_ on a whim, and after about ten pages I think what I really wanted to read was _The Devil All the Time_.


----------



## Skodt

Started the complete works of Plato. I plan to read at least the Republic and the Apology.


----------



## OurJud

Chatwin's In Patagonia. A little dull so far and I suspect I'll be dropping it once my copy of Thomsom's The Rum Diary arrives.


----------



## Skodt

^Should read his journalism. The Great Shark Hunt is a great book.


----------



## Robert_S

Three books right now:

Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting - Robert McGee
Save the Cat - Blake Snyder
Screenwriter's Bible - David Trottier


----------



## OurJud

Skodt said:


> ^Should read his journalism. The Great Shark Hunt is a great book.



Don't worry, all his works are on my list.

[update] The Great Shark Hunt just ordered 

600 + pages... Om nom nom.


----------



## Pluralized

TKAM.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

Started Fyre by Angie Sage Friday.


----------



## philistine

Another one of Paul Theroux's scintillating travel books, _The Pillars of Hercules_. I've loved every single one so far.


----------



## Sunny

I am reading a couple of books right now. _Fallen _by Lauren Kate and _Warm Bodies _by Isaac Marion. I've read _Fallen _before and loved every minute of it, so I know I will again, but I am enjoying reading it with my boyfriend to see what he thinks of it. _Warm Bodies _is good so far. We're only a few chapters in so I don't know too much of the world, but I find it interesting and it has some hilarious parts too. It's not so scary!


----------



## OurJud

_Futureproof_ by N Frank Daniels.

I'm only half a dozen chapters in - and they're short, but the writing, pacing, characterisation and language are all fantastic. The book is, by all accounts, a self-published jobby; over-sized paperback format, no publishers credits on or inside the book, suggesting the writer has had one too may rejections from the agents/publishing houses. If this is the case, then they've missed a gem.

Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys a good coming-of-age story.

[edit] It would seem this was originally a SP (I think the copy I got is one of these) but was then picked up by Harper Perennial.

_Amazon.co.uk: Futureproof: N Frank Daniels__

Amazon.com: Futureproof: A Novel (P.S.): N Frank Daniels: Books_


----------



## TwoStarTown

Currently reading Suttree by Cormac McCarthy. I'm on a bit of a McCarthy binge currently, having completed three of his other novels prior to this one.


----------



## escorial

The Wayward Bus...J...Steinbeck...one of his best.


----------



## MJ Preston

*The Black Box* by Michael Connelly. 

Just finished *Shock Wave* by John Sandford.


----------



## Pluralized

The Consolations of Philosophy - Alain de Botton

Finished his How Proust Can Change Your Life some time ago and found it to be uplifting and superb in every way. Highly recommended.


----------



## Bilston Blue

Graham Greene's _Brighton Rock_. A complete sin that it's taken me this long to read Greene. His _The End of the Affair_​ is next on my Greene list.


----------



## Sunny

I read _The Velveteen Rabbit_ by Margery Williams for the first time. Well, I had my superduper awesome boyfriend read it to me, so maybe that's why I like it even more!


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

R.J. Palacio's Wonder and Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark!


----------



## philistine

The Bible. No, really.

A friend of mine is planning a painting with a possible biblical theme (or scene from Greek mythology, failing that), and with my wealth of art texts, engravings, prints and whatnot, I said I'd help him out. I've selected a few dozen for the Greek side of things, though I'm just thumbing through the good book for some more uncommon scenes.


----------



## Hunter56

Hemlock Grove by Brian McGreevy


----------



## Abigail

The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw.


----------



## Jeko

How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely. A satire on the craft of writing, getting published, and so on.

_Very _funny. And contains a lot more writerly wisdom than any self-help book.


----------



## escorial

Watership Down.....those pesky wabbits..seriously a dark book about humanity.


----------



## OurJud

_Crafting Scenes_ by Raymond Obstfeld - brilliant!


----------



## Charlaux

Tales of the Unexpected - Roald Dahl. Some great stories, and background/autobiographical snippets about his past in boarding school and the army that read like stories themselves, and his surprise when C.S. Forster read some notes that he wrote and told him he was a great writer. Interesting to try and hold these stories up beside the children's stories I've read and link them up as written by the same man.


----------



## Arcana

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes. This is a seriously awesome delicous trilogy; It focuses on different character perspectives with different stories that all tie up together in the end. I felt so bad for all the characters! After reading it, I wanted to take a bite out of the corner of the book. xD


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak and Matched by Ally Condie!


----------



## Blade

I picked up an item at the library called _Building Bicycles in the Dark - a practical guide to writing  by John B. Lee _which has been a pleasant surprise seeing that I fell for the title.

It is well organized, lively and manages to touch on pretty well everything without labouring too long in any one spot. The author is a much published poet who seems to have retained a loving feel for his craft.


----------



## WordTrance

Just finished Hell House (Richard Matheson). Moving on to House on The Haunting of Hill House (Shirley Jackson). For the Halloween season!


----------



## ppsage

_Compassion, _by Dorothy Allison, the last story in the 2003 edition of Best American Short Stories, Walter Mosley guest editor and chief story chooser. This is a mother-death-bed story. A pretty long one, thirty pages. With alienated sisters and abusive step-father. Written in many, many short segments. Tight. First person POV. Mostly all characterization, with gritty insight but sufficient compassion. Oh, that’s the title. Well, I’d say Dorothy gets around it. So far, this edition of BASS is pretty angsty. Maybe I haven’t got to the weird stuff yet. Or maybe that’s Mosley, who I don’t think I know. Can’t remember anything all that sad, about 2003.


----------



## escorial

"Journey with Charley". John Steinbeck


----------



## Gavrushka

'Rides A Dread Legion', Raymond E. Feist... It's a good read, but sometimes feels like a draft version with grammar and continuity oopses!


----------



## philistine

_The Black Tulip_, by Alexandre Dumas.

I also have a copy in Dutch, which I'd like to be able to read eventually.


----------



## The Tourist

This might sound odd, but it's a real window into culture.  I'm flipping through parts catalogs for the winter build.

On its face, it might sound quite bland.  However, pull out old catalogs from years past and you'll see that the things we buy and covet show an archaeologist's dream.  Catalogs are not just a compilation of things we can order, but they are a striking statement on who we are, or more often, who we would like to be.

To demonstrate this, go find your old photograph album, be that an older hard copy or computer file.  Look at the pictures where you really thought you looked studly.  Sometimes you just want to cry.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Been rereading _Dangerous Liaisons_ and _Jane Eyre,_ just for the good parts.

However, I have now started Regis Messac's _Quinzinzinzili, _whose title I like so much I had to share. No idea what it means yet.


----------



## Pluralized

Knee-deep in _Ancient Evenings._ Fits the tone of my current creative streak really well, and has a unique density I both crave and detest. 

Also on my lunch hour I've been taking swipes at _Autobiography of a Yogi,_ by Paramahansa Yogananda. Hopelessly dry, but a perspective unlike any other.


----------



## philistine

_The General in His Labyrinth_, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I've read a lot of his work, and enjoyed it thoroughly. I don't doubt this will be any different.


----------



## Jon M

_Blue Nights_, Joan Didion


----------



## Folcro

I recently started _Drawing of the Three_, the second volume of Stephen King's _Dark Tower _series.

Took me a while to get to it--- the prose and outlandish narrative of its predecessor left a sour taste in my mouth. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that, even for its faults, _Gunslinger_ established an atmosphere darker, more despondent than Oceana, with an imagination as colorful. So I decided to start this'n. Enjoying it so far. Wish I were his editor, though :s


----------



## ChooWhee

Currently reading The Gods of War by Conn Iggulden from the _Emperor _series. Very good read, very exciting and engaging. If you can enjoy the story for what it is then it becomes part of a brilliant set of books that can be read again and again.


----------



## Alabastrine

I just started House of Leaves...Completely trippy, but I think I will end up loving it.


----------



## Jamie

A Whole Nother Story by Dr Cuthbert Soup.


----------



## Gavrushka

I'm between books now, and distressed... Anyone need a reader for their reasonable quality fantasy WIP or even mild scifi?


----------



## philistine

Marquez' _Strange Pilgrims_. Only on the first story, though I can't get enough of his writing style. There are few writers today who retain that grasp on the classic mode of writing, yet don't run the risk of alienating any potential readers.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Last volume of In Search of Lost Time: Finding Time Again.


----------



## Gavrushka

E.V. Seymour, The Last Exile.


----------



## Jon M

_The Boys of My Youth_, Jo Ann Beard


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Finished Proust's "masterpiece". 

Back onto "The Selected Stories of Anton Chekhov".



philistine said:


> Marquez' _Strange Pilgrims_. Only on  the first story, though I can't get enough of his writing style. There  are few writers today who retain that grasp on the classic mode of  writing, yet don't run the risk of alienating any potential  readers.



I like Marquez. I've read One Hundred Years of Solitude, Leaf Storm, No One Writes to the Colonel, and Chronicle of a Death Foretold.

Are his short stories really good as well?


----------



## Gyarachu

Just finished the Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson (kudos to Skodt for the recommendation) and the story was incredible. Just ordered _The Way of Kings_ by him and will start that as soon as I don't have a ridonculous workload.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

Beyonders #1: A World Wothout Heroes by Brandon Mull (Fablehaven Author)


----------



## Alexa

I'm re-reading John Fowles' _Daniel Martin_, which I think is probably his best book, though I suppose it would be asking a lot for  it to survive and be remembered long after his better known ones like _The Magus_ <sigh> and _The French Lieutenant's Woman_ have been forgotten.


----------



## John_O

"Innocent Killers" by Jane Goodall-VanLawick. It's about the world of Hyenas, Jackals & African Wild Dogs.


----------



## Alexa

I just re-read John le Carré's _The Secret Pilgrim_, which is outstanding. You might want to have read the Smiley/Karla trilogy first, and possibly even _The Russia House_, too. These are all standalone books, but still slightly better read in some sort of order, as they sometimes refer to events described in earlier books. What an underrated author, widely dismissed as "just" a spy-fiction writer.


----------



## JonEd

Reading two books at the moment:
Cloudstreet by Tim Winton
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Cloudstreet has been great, a true Australian novel, and Clockwork has been... interesting, to say the least.


----------



## escorial

The Grapes of Wrath.....not my favourite Stenibeck  by a long shot....still waiting for some orders of Amazon to arrive.


----------



## Jon M

Taking suggestions for an urban fantasy/sci-fi book. Something amazing and well written. 

Checked out King's _Dark Tower_ (book 1) yesterday and read the first story. Someone please assure me this book gets better. Like, miles and miles and epochs better. The first story was so bad I'm kind of ready to abandon the whole thing.


----------



## J Anfinson

Jon M said:


> Taking suggestions for an urban fantasy/sci-fi book. Something amazing and well written.
> 
> Checked out King's _Dark Tower_ (book 1) yesterday and read the first story. Someone please assure me this book gets better. Like, miles and miles and epochs better. The first story was so bad I'm kind of ready to abandon the whole thing.



Different strokes for different folks, but I love The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. (An urban fantasy about a wizard private eye)

As for the dark tower, I do think the first book was the weakest, being that it was written back sometime around the time he wrote Carrie and he still had much to learn about writing. I think there gets to be a lot more depth to it from book 2 on. And the writing certainly takes a leap on book four since there was a span of something like fifteen years between when he wrote three and four. Then of course there's the ending...some people like it...some people hate him for it. I thought it was fitting, but could have been worlds better.


----------



## Jon M

J Anfinson said:


> As for the dark tower ...


I might skip to book four, honestly. I just had a tough time with the first story because it was all so dumb. All I'll say is the gunslinger must have been carrying a truckload of bullets. :|

In the meantime, I've been reading random pages from _Anna Karenina_, thinking I might give it a chance because it doesn't seem as stuffy as I'd once thought.


----------



## Leyline

King wrote the connected stories that make up _The Gunslinger_ as an undergraduate in college. With some editing, they sold to _The Magazine Of Fantasy & Science Fiction_ much later. 

You're counting bullets? Why? Do you hate spaghetti westerns? It's metaphor, not Tom Clancy. 

But personally, yes, they do get better. _The Drawing Of The Three_ is, IMO, a masterpiece. None of the other books approach it for quality, but they're all decent until _Song Of Susannah_ which turns into a giant pile of crap and the last book just dives deeper into the toilet.

As ever, YMMV.


----------



## Leyline

Jon M said:


> Taking suggestions for an urban fantasy/sci-fi book. Something amazing and well written.



Fantasy: Someplace To Be Flying by Charles De Lint

SF: Queen Of Angels by Greg Bear


----------



## Alexa

I'm now reading _Where Did It All Go Right?_ - the autobiography of Al Alvarez (former poetry critic of _The Observer_ newspaper, poet, author of _The Savage God_, friend of Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath, etc. etc.) several of whose other books I've read. It's excellent.


----------



## Jon M

Leyline said:


> You're counting bullets? Why? Do you hate spaghetti westerns? It's metaphor, not Tom Clancy.


I know, I know. It was just a random thought I had while he was mowing down all those townsfolk. I suppose if I'd been more into the story I'd have gleefully overlooked that. Thanks for the book suggestions. My library doesn't have those particular books, but several others by those authors that look interesting. Under Charles De Lint: _Ivory and the Horn, Mystery of Grace, Onion Girl, Spirits in the Wires, Widdershins, & Circle of Cats._ And for Greg Bear: _Blood Music, Eon, & Songs of Earth and Power. _


----------



## Leyline

Jon M said:


> I know, I know. It was just a random thought I had while he was mowing down all those townsfolk. I suppose if I'd been more into the story I'd have gleefully overlooked that. Thanks for the book suggestions. My library doesn't have those particular books, but several others by those authors that look interesting. Under Charles De Lint: _Ivory and the Horn, Mystery of Grace, Onion Girl, Spirits in the Wires, Widdershins, & Circle of Cats._ And for Greg Bear: _Blood Music, Eon, & Songs of Earth and Power. _



I've read _Onion Girl_, _Blood Music_ and _Eon_ -- they're all excellent, but none of them are 'urban.'


----------



## Jon M

Leyline said:


> I've read _Onion Girl_, _Blood Music_ and _Eon_ -- they're all excellent, but none of them are 'urban.'


I am very intrigued by this Mr. De Lint; thank you for introducing us. I opted for one of his short story collections (_Ivory & the Horn_), plus the kid's book. But in perusing the child section at my library, I stumbled upon _The Tale of Despereaux_ (Kate Dicamillo) and checked it out on a whim. So I'm a bit distracted at the moment because it is _delightful!_ One of my favorite books in recent years.


----------



## Jon M

One of my favorite excerpts from Shirley Jackson's _Haunting of Hill House_: 



> On the afternoon of the day that Mrs. Montague was expected, Eleanor went alone into the hills above Hill House, not really intending to arrive at any place in particular, not even caring where or how she went, wanting only to be secret and out from under the heavy dark wood of the house. She found a small spot where the grass was soft and dry and lay down, wondering how many years it had been since she had lain on soft grass to be alone to think. Around her the trees and wild flowers, with that oddly courteous air of natural things suddenly interrupted in their pressing occupations of growing and dying, turned toward her with attention, as though, dull and imperceptive as she was, it was still necessary for them to be gentle to a creation so unfortunate as not to be rooted in the ground, forced to go from one place to another, heartbreakingly mobile. Idly Eleanor picked a wild daisy, which died in her fingers, and, lying on the grass, looked up into its dead face. There was nothing in her mind beyond an overwhelming wild happiness. She pulled at the daisy, and wondered, smiling at herself, What am I going to do? What _am_ I going to do?


----------



## escorial

Richard Yates...Eleven Kinds of Loneliness.


----------



## popsprocket

Bradon Sanderson - Steelheart

It's a YA book that's turning out to be a little too... YA... for my tastes. Sanderson does it well but I much prefer his high fantasy stuff. Still, this is the kind of book that gets a movie and I will always be happy to see an author who deserves it getting recognition like that.


----------



## irishmoe

Bernard Cornwell - Death of Kings


----------



## Carlton




----------



## Kyle R




----------



## Carlton

philistine said:


> _The General in His Labyrinth_, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I've read a lot of his work, and enjoyed it thoroughly. I don't doubt this will be any different.



Magical Realism rocks!


----------



## chongjasmine

I am currently reading the last book of the wheel of time series.


----------



## Gavrushka

chongjasmine said:


> I am currently reading the last book of the wheel of time series.



I've never moved beyond book eight.  - I will read them all one day. They are great books, but there is just such a surfeit of words. - I think it may be a case of buying the audio books, if they are available, and listening to them whilst I sleep! 

Currently reading Eviction by G.J. Rutherford.


----------



## popsprocket

Gavrushka said:


> I've never moved beyond book eight.  - I will read them all one day. They are great books, but there is just such a surfeit of words. - I think it may be a case of buying the audio books, if they are available, and listening to them whilst I sleep!
> 
> Currently reading Eviction by G.J. Rutherford.



I have read Wheel of Time through from start to finish twice. I have also read from start to nearly-finish once in the days before the last two books came out. And I have read the various books at least one more time each.

The trick is to read fast and skim. It's really easy to skip over the superfluous bits without missing anything.


----------



## dither

WF'ers, if you're in your late 50s or beyond,and a miserable,deranged "stay at home" like me,
 i thoroughly recommend "A shed of one's own" ( midlife without the crisis ). By Marcus Berkmann.
I am finding it impossible to put down.


----------



## Pidgeon84

I was going to start the girl with the dragon tattoo over cause lost the book and my place along with it. I hated the idea of it so I bought the LOTR series and thought by the time I finished that restarting the other wouldn't seem so bad.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

4th of July  by James Patterson and continuing Clash of the Kings by George  R.R. Martin


----------



## philistine

_O Crime do Padre Amaro_ by José Maria de Eça de Queiroz.

The style in which it's written reminds me very much of Marquez. Great book, too.


----------



## DABS

Unwholly by Neal Shusterman, and then likely to continue onto Dune by Frank Herbert after that.  Also might try getting back into Wheel of Time, soon.  Book eight has been a killer for me and taken me roughly two years of on-again-off-again reading to get through.


----------



## OrigamiSweaterClub

A hero with a thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell


----------



## Greedy Coddar Desmort

I'm rereading HP series looking for some easter eggs my friend hinted me .


----------



## Shari Sakurai

The War of the Flowers by Tad Williams - I'm not that far yet but really enjoying it so far


----------



## Morkonan

Weber's "Safehold" series. Interesting, so far. But, I'm eager for some space 'splosions and those are quite a ways away, methinks...


----------



## Blade

I am presently reading, among other things, a recent biography of Babe Ruth called _The Big Bam._I am not a fan of biographies generally but I have been taken up with this one. A most unusual character, more modern than his time in fact, but iconic in the history of the culture.


----------



## spartan928

Gone Girl ...cause my daughter said I should. Entertaining read. First person POV switching back and forth throughout was creative, if a bit hokey at times. Pretty flabby and fluffy in a lot of places but I can see why it's a best seller. It's different, very relationship & character centered with tension and twists galore.


----------



## Foxface

I am finishing Shrink Dreams by Wayne Myers. I am a therapist who prescribes to the neo Jungian approach and this book talks about Wayne's supervisory tasks and the therapists he supervised. It talks specifically of the dreams of psychiatrists and their counter-transference.

Also I just finished Lysistrata by Aristophanes...absolutely hilarious


----------



## Gargh

Currently reading one of my Christmas presents... Fantastic Women: 18 tales of the surreal and sublime from Tin House. So far, pretty good! I never thought it would happen that I just didn't have the mental space to read a novel, but short stories seem to fill me up just nicely at the moment :-k.


----------



## Gavrushka

*Duplicate post*


----------



## Gavrushka

A User's Guide to the Universe - subtitled Surviving the Perils of Black Holes, Time Paradoxes, and Quantum Uncertainty.

It's ppsage's fault! 

Oh, and for pleasure Brandon Sanderson's 'The Way of Kings': The Stormlight Archive.


----------



## Deleted member 53128

I'm currently going with "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline. Amazing.

- - - Updated - - -

I'm currently going with "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline. Amazing.


----------



## Morkonan

Gavrushka said:


> ...Oh, and for pleasure Brandon Sanderson's 'The Way of Kings': The Stormlight Archive.



I just finished that a couple of weeks ago. It's fun, but slow to develop. For instance, no discernible "Plot" makes itself known for the first five-hundred pages.

Spoiler Start (Highlight to view)

And, by the time you reach the end, you'll find out that there really isn't any major plotline in this book. It's a bunch of strung-together subplots that only begin to intersect at the very end of the book. This is also one of Sanderson's earliest works, written long before he wrote his other books. It's just not until now that his name has been recognized well enough to get these books published, IMO. This first one isn't bad, it's just darned difficult to stick with it, sometimes.

Spoiler End


----------



## Gavrushka

ARGH! LOL... - Problem is in the email notification, the spoiler section is visible text by default!

Yes, The Mistborn was similar, and I think it is just the way he writes. - He leaves you confused as he introduces names for things and concepts that he does not explain until later, but he is an author who I accept has a 'bear with me' attached to all the novels of his I read. - I love each little section, and each teasing revelation. - He doesn't write particularly well, and sometimes his description / action sequences are confusing, but he tells a superb story (in my opinion). - I have the impression that he is still a young bloke, but that may be wide of the mark.


----------



## Pluralized

Just finished _The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss _by Dennis McKenna (loved every word of it). Currently blasting through _The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard_.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Poetry collection called _Psychedelic Norway _​by John Colburn.


----------



## FrozenLadyElsa

Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.


----------



## J Anfinson

About to start on William Faulkner's _The Sound and the Fury_. Just finished _As I Lay Dying_, and I'm not sure whether I loved it or hated it. It's a mixed bag.


----------



## stephpend

J Anfinson said:


> About to start on William Faulkner's _The Sound and the Fury_. Just finished _As I Lay Dying_, and I'm not sure whether I loved it or hated it. It's a mixed bag.



I think a little of both feelings are appropriate.  I read both for a college course and I still don't know if I enjoyed them.  I don't know if I'll ever reread either book.  Now that you've read something of his, you are part of the club that gets to use "Faulknerian" as an adjective...and know why.  :wink:

I am rereading _Catcher in the Rye_.  I'm between classes and it's been a long time since I've read it, so I thought, "Eh, why not?"  I have _Country of My Skull_ in the queue after _Catcher_.


----------



## Mistique

Im reading 'De stomme zonde' by Anja Sicking. Its a Dutch book. She is the teacher of the writing course I attend. I figured since she is telling me how to write I should have a look at her own writing.


----------



## Crying

It, by Stephen King. It's scary, and filled with images that really stay with you even after you've closed the book. I'm enjoying it a lot.


----------



## ppsage

J Anfinson said:


> About to start on William Faulkner's _The Sound and the Fury_. Just finished _As I Lay Dying_, and I'm not sure whether I loved it or hated it. It's a mixed bag.


I've read widely in Faulkner. In my opinion these two, less than characteristic, fairly early works should be ranked among his poorest. Just above _Mosquitos _and that ilk. Poorer than _Sanctuary_. Poorer than _Pylon_. I get pretty huffy that, in the past several decades, they are the ones used to judge him and they are the ones taught. They're taught because they are different, not because they are his best or even typical. _Absalom_, _August_ and _Reivers_ are unquestionably his greatest, I would say. _Intruder_ or _Flags_ or _Moses_ are good places to start the saga, in my opinion. It's good to have read _Fury_, at some point, because the Comptons are important. Otherwise, its a derivative anomaly in Faulkner's opus.


----------



## escorial

Faulkner one author I have yet to read PP..I've been aware of him but never came across any of his books...thanks PP some good info there.


----------



## ppsage

escorial said:


> Faulkner one author I have yet to read PP..I've been aware of him but never came across any of his books...thanks PP some good info there.


Over here, his books are a dime a dozen in multiple editions. I have most of them in versions like Penguin Classics, with forwards and the works and also in versions like Bantam, with lurid paintings on the covers.


----------



## escorial

Next author on my amazon to buy list after I finish with Richard Yates..I ordered three Updike books and only received one a while back..Run Rabbit..excellent stuff but to me American Literature is beyond compare and when I get to read Faulkner I'm sure I won't be disappointed.


----------



## J Anfinson

ppsage said:


> I've read widely in Faulkner. In my opinion these two, less than characteristic, fairly early works should be ranked among his poorest. Just above _Mosquitos _and that ilk. Poorer than _Sanctuary_. Poorer than _Pylon_. I get pretty huffy that, in the past several decades, they are the ones used to judge him and they are the ones taught. They're taught because they are different, not because they are his best or even typical. _Absalom_, _August_ and _Reivers_ are unquestionably his greatest, I would say. _Intruder_ or _Flags_ or _Moses_ are good places to start the saga, in my opinion. It's good to have read _Fury_, at some point, because the Comptons are important. Otherwise, its a derivative anomaly in Faulkner's opus.



Hey thanks. I had no idea where to start with him so I just picked the two titles that I'd heard of. I may end up skipping The Sound and the Fury and trying one of the ones you suggested. I haven't made it very far into it, but I'm bored already. As I Lay Dying at least had an interesting plot. Until I got to the end and wanted to make a doorstop out of it, anyway. :razz:


----------



## Gavrushka

Morkonan said:


> I just finished that a couple of weeks ago _*(Brandon Sanderson 'The way of Kings')*_. It's fun, but slow to develop. For instance, no discernible "Plot" makes itself known for the first five-hundred pages.



There was no plot at all, as I could tell, but it didn't matter all that much. He does confuse the reader with so many threads, but overall it's an excellent read. - The sequel is out on March 4th, and I look forward to reading it. -I'll tell you though, the Kindle version is awash with errors!

I'm now reading '...And Remember That I Am A Man' by our own John Bushore (WriterJohnB), and I'd encourage everyone to grab a copy (it's free for the Kindle until Wednesday).


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Somebody recommended to me _The Van Gogh Blues._ It seems not entirely ridiculous as such things go.


----------



## Pluralized

Plowing through Avram Davidson once again. 

Also, Dune. It's so damn captivating, I recommend that book to anyone with eyeballs.


----------



## bookmasta

Various books. Right now, its Looking for Alaska and Carrie.


----------



## Gavrushka

I've recently finished reading "...And Remember I Am A Man." by John Bushore (WriterJohnB on this site) - what a truly inspirational read. - If you haven't read it, do so soon.

Now reading Neuromancer by Gibson. It was a recommendation by another forum member, who I think was trying to illustrate a point (successfully).- Any line of prose can be well-dressed without losing or diluting meaning, and complexity does not have to preclude clarity.


----------



## escorial

"Tales of Ordinary Madness"..by Charles Bukowski..short stories compiled over a number of years,some printed in other places...just buk writing about what he knows best.


----------



## Pluralized

Henepola Gunaratana's Mindfulness in Plain English.


----------



## escorial

Revolutionary Road..a mighty fine read.


----------



## bookmasta

The Shinning, or at least trying to. Stephen King with all his descriptions and such is making this book rather hard to stay with.


----------



## Gavrushka

Reading Eviction again, by G J Rutherford (and editing it as I go  )

Have you read Stephen King's 'Under the Dome.' A huge rambling book with little in the way of a discernible plot, but his characters were so damned three dimensional that I read through my confusion. - It's a book he had started many years ago, but lacked the ability to conclude at the time. - I understand there is a TV series based on it now, but I will give that a miss.


----------



## thepancreas11

The Fault in Our Stars. Next I read Collapse by Jarred Diamond.


----------



## bookmasta

thepancreas11 said:


> The Fault in Our Stars. Next I read Collapse by Jarred Diamond.



About to read that book next. Reading Looking for Alaska right now.


----------



## Grizzly

Reading Chaos by James Gleick. Sometimes I get pseudo-science-y vibes, but overall not a bad read.


----------



## Grizzly

thepancreas11 said:


> The Fault in Our Stars.



How's that? I read the first chapter for a class and wasn't impressed. Does it get better?


----------



## tinacrabapple

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri. Great plot and very well written- a page turner.  Highly recommend it.


----------



## thepancreas11

Grizzly said:


> How's that? I read the first chapter for a class and wasn't impressed. Does it get better?



Oh, it's kind of hit or miss for some people. I love it, probably because I think and speak very similar to the author, John Greene. It definitely gets better as it goes though. I couldn't put it down.

I'm actually starting a book (in conjunction with Collapse) that was recommended to me from the site: The War of Don Emanuel's Nether Parts. Interested to see where that goes.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

Sycamore Row By John Grisham, the sequel to A Time to Kill!


----------



## cdawgxc

The Lost Hero, by Rick Riordan.


----------



## Reject

Presently rereading "I didn't get where I am today," by David Nobbs.  A brilliantly written autobiography.


----------



## M. Cull

Splitting my time between Knife of Dreams (book 11 in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series), Crime and Punishment, and a fantasy novel I'm trying to polish up for submission.


----------



## escorial

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Just got a book of short stories by George Saunders, "The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil." Enjoying it so far.

on edit: more of a novella. A big complicated allegory, seems like. I maybe kinda get it.


----------



## Gavrushka

Just started the second instalment of Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight series. Looking good.


----------



## Caragula

Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel.


----------



## Pidgeon84

Suppose I'll start Alice in Wonderland.


----------



## Grizzly

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is my car book. I read it when I wait for the train in the morning.

[Post #100. Say What?!]


----------



## escorial

Notes of a Dirty Old Man..by buk


----------



## escorial

bought a pamphlet/booklet in Oxfam today about Liverpool women and poetry...had this great piece about depression and I've lost the thing..must have put it down on the train seat...gutted!!!..only a quid but it had some crackers in it.


----------



## riven_hands

Churning my way through Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series.  Currently on book two, Stone of Farewell.


----------



## Blade

I have happened across a rather odd item, _Duluth: A Novel _by Gore Vidal. I do not read a lot of novels but this one seems to me to be a mockery or satire of the genre more than anything else. There does not seem to be any main character or plot with the description involving many rather eccentric characters described it what appear to be unrelated scenes. The location is nominally Duluth MN (as per the title) but pieces of LA, New Orleans, Lake Erie and a stretch of desert containing an alien spacecraft also figure in the terrain. The chapters are ridiculously short with a total of 89 contained in 214 pages.

I had heard of the author but was not familiar with any of his work, which was a reason to have a look at it, though I am at a loss as to why anyone would write this sort of stuff. The chapters are bite sized short though so once you begin reading you can always pick it up for a short chew.:mushroom:


----------



## Ixarku

Presently, I'm reading Peter F. Hamilton's "The Great North Road".  Overall, it's what I'd call better-than-typical Hamilton (which is by no means bad).  The story has the kind of detailed world-building he's done in other books, and the same kind of multi-threaded plot revolving around several main characters.  But I think where Hamilton has really hit the mark this time is that he's cut out a lot of bloat from the story.  Or maybe that's just my perception.  The flow is strong and consistent from scene to scene, chapter to chapter.  I feel like he's cut back a lot of superfluous exposition; he doesn't over-describe character backgrounds or the settings.  I think this time around, he's found the right balance to get the reader necessary information without bogging the story down.


I know it's a year or more too late, but I got ambitious last year, and read the entire Wheel of Time series from beginning to end without a break in-between.  Despite some rough patches and a few loose ends, I think Sanderson really pulled it out of the fire.  At some point, though, I might get truly ambitious and try to read the entire Malazan: Book of the Fallen from beginning to end.  But I don't think I'm ready for that challenge yet.


----------



## 1109

As a nice segue, I actually am trying to read the entire Malazan: Book of the Fallen in one go! At current, I'm actually on Midnight Tides as we speak (first time I've ever read it as well)! I am stricken by yet another cast of characters I have to juggle, as if the first two weren't enough!


----------



## Ariel

Currently reading "Endurance" by Jay Lake.  It's the second of the "Green" fantasy series.  The voice is excellent and the language can be challenging.  I have it on my nook and have so many words highlighted for my vocabulary list.


----------



## Ixarku

1109 said:


> As a nice segue, I actually am trying to read the entire Malazan: Book of the Fallen in one go! At current, I'm actually on Midnight Tides as we speak (first time I've ever read it as well)! I am stricken by yet another cast of characters I have to juggle, as if the first two weren't enough!




Yeah, get used to seeing a lot of new characters; Eriksen doesn't let up at all.  I should clarify -- I've read the entire Malazan already, but I was reading it when he was still publishing the books, so there were gaps where I would go for months between books.  There's a lot I love about the series.  It's one of the only things I've ever read where I started imagining how confrontations would go between various characters who'd never met before.  Who would win this fight, who would totally own that guy.  Just so many completely badass characters.

The big weakness in the series, though, is the overarching plot is way too loose.  The grand menace is just too vague.  Some of the characters spend far too much time trying to figure out who's plotting against who without ever getting clear answers, and I don't really feel like the series is as cohesive as it should be.  Even so, it had some outstandingly epic scenes, and I love the humor.  I don't think I've ever read a fantasy series where I got so enthusiastic over as many characters as the Malazan has.


----------



## 1109

I think the only fantasy series I ever got this enthusiastic about was Jordan's Wheel of Time, I was completely devastated when he died. Sanderson did a good job of pulling it out of the fire, though. I am contemplating reading Roth's Divergent stuff since the lady in my life is currently raving about it. I usually dislike that whole angsty young adult genre as a whole, however. Conflicted feelings, haha!


----------



## NerdyMJ

I'm currently reading _The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest _by Steig Larsson. I read the first book in the trilogy a few months ago and now I'm obsessed with it. I think Lisbeth Salander may be one of my favorite characters in a long time. 
The book is really good, but I think I still like the first book the best.


----------



## Winston

The owner's manual for my new Honda CTX 700 motorcycle.  

The book is for a Japanese motorcycle, in English, published in China.  Yet, it reads well.

Editors / Proofreaders +1


----------



## Ariel

Before I started reading the _Green_ series I mentioned above I read this little gem of a sci-fi/fantasy by Tanith Lee called "Biting the Sun."

It is a very strange book, but then most of Tanith Lee's works are strange.  The lessons imparted and the imagery invoked stayed with me for a long time after I first read it.

Currently I'm reading the Egyptian _Book of the Dead_, Melissa Marr's _Graveminder_, and a book on the history of Ancient Egypt.  My reading lists get complicated.


----------



## stormageddon

I am Legend by whatsisname. Very underwhelmed. The voice is too modern and soulless for my tastes, and the main character is a pathetic man, and very difficult to believe. I mean, he's potentially the last survivor of a terrifying vampire apocalypse, the bloody things are beating on his windows and all he can think about is sex v.v but if I keep putting down books because they're terrible, I'll have nothing left to read.


----------



## kilroy214

Recently finished rereading The Colorado Kid by Stephen King. I love it as a stand alone story, but I reread it now and again because each time   I do I become more and more convinced it is tied in to the Dark Tower series.

I can't decide what to pick up next; Raylan by Elmore Leonard, or Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.  I tried reading Blood Meridian years ago and didn't make it through. It might have been a little over my head back then.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien


----------



## A_Jones

Five Kingdoms by Brandon Mull.  And thank you WF for making it hard to read one of my favorite writers because I am so busy critiquing his work in my head.


----------



## J Anfinson

A_Jones said:


> And thank you WF for making it hard to read one of my favorite writers because I am so busy critiquing his work in my head.



I've had that problem a lot lately. It's a struggle to keep from taking a red pen to some books.


----------



## bookmasta

The Spectacular Now.


----------



## Jon M

_The Liars Club_, Mary Karr.


----------



## Bilston Blue

John Barth's collection of shorts, _Lost in the Funhouse.
_
Talk about postmodern. The first "story", _Frame Tale_, is actually only ten words long, and is written on two sides of a page along a strip to be cut out, which runs vertically on the page. One is suposed to twist the strip and attached the ends, but by twisting it becomes a Mobius Strip and thus a continuous "story".

_Night-Sea Journey_ set me to sleep. Way over my head.
_
Ambrose His Mark_ was funny if not a little tiresome in the language used to tell it.

I await the rest with the feeling I'll be disappointed or bemused by as many as I enjoy.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Just finished reading _Cruddy_​ by Lynda Barry. Good in a very rough, dank way.


----------



## Warmaster Horus

I'm reading "The Horus Heresy". Pretty dark, political and gruesome.


----------



## JimJanuary

Currently reading 'Infinite Jest' by David Foster Wallace, and probably will be reading this for another month at least, haha


----------



## Gavrushka

'Keepers' by N J Crosskey. Damned awesome author of the future.


----------



## Rip Van Twinkle

I just gave up on a re-read of Stephen King's IT and am now beginning John Connelly's The Whisperers.  Never read Connelly before, so anyone who has feel free to tell me what you think of him.


----------



## Deb47

Started reading The Walking Dead comics finally. Got both compendiums so I've got a lot to read! :lol:


----------



## Bard_Daniel

World Without End- Ken Follett.

1000 pages. I'm up for it. 400 pages in.


----------



## Skodt

Just finished the second book in the stormlight archives by Brandon Sanderson. Now going to read Divergent, because I am a sucker for young adult block busters. Although, I really have no idea why. I think I am trying to recapture the magic of Harry Potter or something. :cat:


----------



## Gyarachu

Skodt said:


> Just finished the second book in the stormlight archives by Brandon Sanderson.



Ahh! I started reading the first one, but it's been put on hold for several months due to other obligations. This summer, though, I am going to read the crap out of those books.

Currently reading _Reflections on the Psalms_​ by C.S. Lewis. A brilliant man.


----------



## Deleted member 49710

Recently finished _We Have Always Lived in the Castle _by Shirley Jackson. Very good. Felt like a complex, extended metaphor for social anxiety.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

I also started reading Madness and Civilization two days ago and it's REALLY intriguing. I like Foucault's style, a lot. Halfway done...


----------



## dither

I'm about half way through "the chimp paradox" and starting to see just  how screwed up I am, and how hopeless it all is.

Can't change/won't change basically.

I kept my distance for way too long.


----------



## A_Jones

Gavrushka said:


> 'Keepers' by N J Crosskey. Damned awesome author of the future.



I am reading this myself.  Good stuff!


----------



## Dave Watson

Getting my teeth right into Glen Duncan's _By Blood We Live_, third part of the _Last Werewolf_ trilogy. Proof positive that horror writing isn't all mindless blood and guts, as Duncan's one of the best writers I've ever read.


----------



## stormageddon

HP Lovecraft: Great Tales of Horror. My sister gave it to me the other day. She is now my favourite person in the world~


----------



## Angelwing

Aristotle's _​Politics_


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Angelwing said:


> Aristotle's _​Politics_



Oooooooo. That's sitting on my bookshelf, waiting to be intercepted into my mind.

Let me know what you think.


----------



## Terry D

The House of Sand and Fog


----------



## kilroy214

When the Women Come Out to Dance by Elmore Leonard. I've been on a "collection of short stories" kick lately.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

I'm also reading Euripides' Medea for university.


----------



## Angelwing

danielstj said:


> Oooooooo. That's sitting on my bookshelf, waiting to be intercepted into my mind.
> 
> Let me know what you think.



I have only read half of it so far but will finish it next week. However it brings up, as always for these types of readings, some interesting things to talk about. it starts out by showing how the State is natural, and how the State is formed by conglomerations of Villages which in turn are made up of multiple Families and Families are started by the union of man and woman. Or something like that. And each level progresses because each satisfies certain needs but develops new ones. Well I don't want to give everything away, if you're going to read it!



danielstj said:


> I'm also reading Euripides' Medea for university.



i believe I will too. If you don't mind me asking, what major, and what university? I've been reading stuff like Aristotle there (and soon Euripides) for college.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Athabasca University, for now, but I'm thinking of transferring to Queens in my hometown. English major.

And thanks for the succinct description. Sounds nice.

Also just got, from my public library, The Cantos of Ezra Pound. I find it INCREDIBLY difficult but a good read.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Reading Aristophanes' Lysistrata. It sounds interesting.


----------



## Bilston Blue

Have recently been reading stories from the archives of _The Paris Review_, including wonderful stories from Marc Sheehan, _The Dauphin_; Jonathan Lethem, _The Empty Room_; Paul Maliszewski, _After the Mailman; _and currently reading April Ayers Lawson's _Virgin._

I'd seriously consider subscribing to their quarterly print version were finances more readily available. I guess ebay is my friend...


----------



## Skodt

Finished Divergent, it was such a horribly written book. It made me cringe my way through it, but I am dedicated and finished anyhow haha. Now reading Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson; hopefully this journey turns out more to my liking.


----------



## Angelwing

Skodt said:


> Finished Divergent, it was such a horribly written book. It made me cringe my way through it, but I am dedicated and finished anyhow haha. Now reading Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson; hopefully this journey turns out more to my liking.



In that case, it sounds like a similar case to The Hunger Games--all the teenage girls and such thought/think it's the best thing ever and then people on here say how poorly it/they were written lol. Maybe I'll just watch the movie if I get a chance, but not read it (that's what I've done with the 1st Hunger Games). 

@daniel - one of my major-mates loves Aristophanes. We read _The Clouds _and _The Birds_ and they were pretty outrageous, but in a humorous way.


----------



## John_O

Reading , Go Down Together. The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde. By Jeff Guinn.


----------



## Dave Watson

Just finished Stainless by TOdd Grimson. A very cool and well written noir style vampire novel set in LA. Well worth a read if you wnt something a bit better than Twilight and Ann Rice.


----------



## dither

I'm almost at the end of the chimp paradox by Dr. Steve Peters, and I wish hadn't bought it, it has had a very negative effect on me, but I shall get over it.


----------



## escorial

Afterlife by John Updike..12 short stories about middle age...not an easy read at times...


----------



## Clove

_Mrs Dalloway_ by Virginia Woolf. Again and again, I am reminded by her brilliance, even though, to me, I feel like she is always overshadowed by her male contemporaries.


----------



## escorial

Short Cuts by Raymond Carver.....his style of writing and this being the first thing i'vee read of his appeals to me.


----------



## bookmasta

Been reading a lot of YA fiction since most of my current projects are of that genre. Mostly its been books like Amy and Roger's Epic Detour, My Life Next Door, Thirteen Reasons Why, Warm Bodies, and so forth. Have yet to run into any disappointments yet.


----------



## Nicholas McConnaughay

I finished up the first ten issues of the Hellraiser comic-book and the graphic-novel for the Season 3 of Jericho, but now, I am back to what I have been working on for quite some time. That is, tackling everything that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ever did for Sherlock Holmes. I have to say, I enjoy the short-stories much more than I did The Study in Scarlet, as well his other longer novellas that I have read so far.


----------



## John_O

Wyatt Earp the life behind the legend - Casey Tefertiller. I've read a lot of books about Wyatt and/or the Earps, but I believe Tefertiller's to be one of the best (second time reading it)


----------



## dither

Gardens of Stone, by a chap called Stephen Grady, and it looks promising.
A young boy coming of age in France, at the start of the second world war.
True story.


----------



## Grizzly

Einstein's Dreams. It's a great book so far as stimulating thoughts goes, and I've been using it as a sort of prompt book for short science fiction pieces, but it can be really melodramatic at times.


----------



## dither

This is amazing, and i'm not just talking about the story-line.
It helps that i recently read a book about the occupation of France in the last WW, but well, here are the titles of the last four chapters that i've read;
8th oct 1943
13th oct 1943
31st oct 1943
23rd nov  1943.

How can such a stop-start exercise possibly work?
Let alone retain the interest of the reader, but it does, i can't put it down.

Y'know? It's weird, often i've wondered at how, on the very odd occasion that i've seen it mentioned, the term "Vichy" and "Vichyite" seemed like dirty words, a slur on the French, a cross that they should bear until the end of time, well, who are we to judge?

The more i read, the more i WANT to read, i am so in awe of those guys.


----------



## bookmasta

Been exploring some indie authors on Amazon. The majority I run into aren't that great, but so far I have also been impressed by some of the authors I've come across and their books. Will post a list later with their names and book titles.


----------



## dither

For the first time since i don't know when, i've had a book that i just couldn't put down, am so overwhelmed by it.
This exploration into the history of 2nd world war France is all consuming right now and words fail me.


dither


----------



## Angelwing

Reading Euripides' Bacchae.


----------



## escorial

about to start In dubious battle by j steinbeck....the guy for me is beyond compare


----------



## Pidgeon84

About to start We, The Drowned by Carston Jensen. Anyone read it? Any good?


----------



## PiP

Just started reading Dereliction of Duty by Dan McKeown (aka Sam).


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Finished Madness and Civilization. So good.

Also under 100 pages from being done with Ken Follett.

Starting 20,00 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne in English and L'exil et le Royaume en Francaise.


----------



## Dave Watson

Just about done with _The Hellbound Heart_ by Clive Barker, which was made into the film _Hellraiser_. Nice to see some of the classic lines from the movie are lifted directly from the story.

"No tears please. It's a waste of good suffering."


----------



## blazeofglory

I am reading wanderlust by Rebecca, and I like her  books and essays for they are full of ruminations about the goings-on or about the events taking place today that must demand our concerns. Environment is, for example, something we must really be concerned about if we do little care about our little ones. The earth is losing its shine and who knows this earth will be an unlivable place in a while if we shut our eyes shut to it totally at this crucial moment in history. 
The other book I am reading avidly is the power of now and something of Deepak Chopra and of J Krishnamurti and of course of Richard Dawkins. 
One book I have done half finished is by Piketty titles capital in the twenty first century.


----------



## Nicholas McConnaughay

Dave Watson said:


> Just about done with _The Hellbound Heart_ by Clive Barker, which was made into the film _Hellraiser_. Nice to see some of the classic lines from the movie are lifted directly from the story.
> 
> "No tears please. It's a waste of good suffering."


Hey! I read that. Clive Barker has a way of writing that I can never really figure out for myself. I can't decide if it's literary brilliance or an example of a writer trying too hard to sound intelligent. I will say that I think he portrayed the cenobites' ideas of torture in a much more sophisticated way than the movies. He just feels cluttered at times in his thoughts. Even still though, I really like a lot of his work and always find myself going back to it. I have seen all of the Hellraiser movies, the best one, in my opinion being Hellraiser: Inferno.

I read the first ten issues of the comics that he did for Hellraiser as well,I think they are really interesting, and the writing feels a lot more relaxed.


----------



## J Anfinson

Dave Watson said:


> Just about done with _The Hellbound Heart_ by Clive Barker



Haven't gotten around to reading any of his novels, but I loved his Books of Blood collection.


----------



## Caragula

1Q84 by Murakami


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Reading The Road To Wigan Pier, given to me by a friend, and it is TREMENDOUSLY good. Grade-A.


----------



## Lilly Davidson

Hi Daniel, 
sound good. Nothing compares with a book that you are really enjoying.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

Right now, the forums. But I am reading Divergent by Veronica Roth and The Bachman Books by Stephen King.


----------



## dither

I don't know why but i seem to have got myself locked into War stories, first the occupation of France, and now something entitled "forgotten voices" and it's a gripper, it really is.


----------



## Caragula

One Hundred Years of Solitude.  If I write a book 10% as good as this I'll die happy.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Caragula said:


> One Hundred Years of Solitude.  If I write a book 10% as good as this I'll die happy.



Good choice.

I'm also reading, as always, The Best Short Stories of Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The preface was shocking, powerful, and illuminating. Such an emotional man, it seems.


----------



## kilroy214

Started on Hilarity Ensues by Tucker Max. I hate this guy, but I can't remember laughing so hard while reading a book as when I read I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. That and it was 50 cents on a clearance rack at 1/2 priced books.


----------



## Terry D

_Drood_ by Dan Simmons


----------



## dither

I just finished reading "Forgotten voices of the great war" 1914/18.

Why great?
Read the book.
The eleventh hour,
of the eleventh day,
of the eleventh month.
That's spooky.

But,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Why?..........................Oh why?


----------



## escorial

In Dubious Battle by Steinbeck is his greatest social novel for me written before the Grapes Of Wrath....a story of how both sides use and manipulate the mob to acheive their own goals,good or bad.


----------



## dither

Steinbeck's,
has a reputation of being a difficult read doesn't it?
But then, the last few books that i've read have been difficult.


----------



## escorial

Steinbeck is very direct in his approach dither..he makes mundane life seem very interesting..he tends to stay in the present and only veers of into the past to enhance the characters life. No hidden storyline or meanings just an honest approach to the social novel that many think is outdated but I'm sure will return to favour.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Steinbeck is one of my favorite authors.


----------



## escorial

for me danlestj he is the best..what is your most recent read of his?


----------



## Holly_M

I'm reading _The __Acid House (short stories) by Irvine Welsh-_Scottish author. Maybe you like him Danielsjt?!:icon_cheesygrin:


----------



## escorial

started ,"Short Stories," by Raymond Carver..she said,he said takes a bit of getting use to but still i'm now reading the second book of his and enjoying them.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Escorial,

The most recent I've read is Travels With Charlie (In Search of America) and my favorite was probably East of Eden.

Holly M,

Never heard of it. Let me know if it's worth a buy.


----------



## escorial

Travels With Charlie is his best work I reckon dude...


----------



## Bard_Daniel

His best non-fiction book, absolutely. But I still think East of Eden was his best fiction work.


----------



## Holly_M

escorial said:


> started ,"Short Stories," by Raymond Carver..she said,he said takes a bit of getting use to but still i'm now reading the second book of his and enjoying them.



Yes that 'he said, she said,' put me off so much I had to stop reading. Plus the endings were so ambiguous it drove me mad!


----------



## codylf95

I'm reading this fourm. The last book I read was a carpentry book for my class. The last book I choose to read for leisure was a book about the 9/11 hijackers.


----------



## Holly_M

I started _The Girl with all the Gifts _by M.R Hall today. I wanted something light and a zombie tale is definitely it! :icon_cheesygrin: Anybody read him before?


----------



## deBroglie

I'm reading _Anna Karenina _by Leo Tolstoy for the third time, because I still cannot let go of Anna and Vronsky's relationship.


----------



## popsprocket

_Pan _by Knut Hamsun

I'm rather enjoying it; there's this great understated quality about the whole thing.


----------



## NerdyMJ

Reading _The Devil Wears Prada _by Lauren Weisberger. I don't read a lot of chick-lit because I find a lot of the books in that genre are just too similar to be interesting to me, but I remember really liking this movie when it first came out when I was high school. So I when I saw it on sale in at a thrift store I decided to buy it just for the heck of it. Plus, I needed new books for my reading challenge. 

Really wish I hadn't bought it. It's terrible. The story is all over place, the main character is really obnoxious, and contradicts herself every other chapter.


----------



## Skodt

Just finished Mistborn it was really a very good book. The ending was quite thrilling to say the least. 

Going to jump into some astronomy with Neil Tyson and explore space for a little while with he final frontier.


----------



## escorial

Holly_M said:


> Yes that 'he said, she said,' put me off so much I had to stop reading. Plus the endings were so ambiguous it drove me mad!




I can well appreciate your POV Holly M...he's for me a slow burner...


----------



## lonely-soul

http://www.booksie.com/other/novel/kalika997/the-greys/chapter/1


----------



## Bruno Spatola

William Gibson's _Neuromancer_, Michael Crichton's _Jurassic Park_, and CS Lewis' _The Magician's Nephew_.


----------



## Gavrushka

Bruno Spatola said:


> William Gibson's _Neuromancer_, Michael Crichton's _Jurassic Park_, and CS Lewis' _The Magician's Nephew_.



Read a chunk of this (Neuromancer), at someone's suggestion. He constructs complex prose with vivid imagery, and all without losing the reader. - A very skilled writer.

I've too much beta reading on the go to make much progress, but I've just bought the Jack L Chalker 'Dancing Gods' series.


----------



## Elanor

I'm currently working through the Riddle-Master Trilogy by Patricia McKillip.


----------



## John_O

Just starting "The Mafia's Greatest Hits"  David Jacobs. (Intro by Henry Hill)


----------



## NerdyMJ

Just started _Les Miserables _by Victor Hugo and am in the middle of the second omnibus volume of CLAMP's _Cardcaptor Sakura_​.


----------



## dither

I just HAVE to mention this;

SOUNDS OF THE RIVER,
a memoir of china.

by Da Chen.

I  can't put it down.

I'm on page 168 and i only got it yesterday.

It's real life, real people, real atmosphere, living and breathing.


----------



## J Anfinson

_Chase_ by Terry Durbin (Terry D). So far I'm totally hooked.


----------



## dither

dither said:


> I just HAVE to mention this;
> 
> SOUNDS OF THE RIVER,
> a memoir of china.
> 
> by Da Chen.
> 
> I  can't put it down.
> 
> I'm on page 168 and i only got it yesterday.
> 
> It's real life, real people, real atmosphere, living and breathing.



WOW!
Mega-reading,
i've just done three hundred pages in a weekend.
Well it's mega for me.


----------



## NerdyMJ

Started on Pet Sematary by Stephen King and just finished Madoka Magica number one, which is turning out to be not nearly as disturbing as the anime. Very disappointing. Hopefully, that will change, though.


----------



## Pidgeon84

Beyond Light!


----------



## Skodt

Finished my Neil Tyson book. It wasn't quite what I thought it would be. Science usually is a hit an miss, especially when it comes to article compilations. 

Started the second book of the mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson. Only fifty pages in, but I really enjoy the way he unfolds characters and settings.


----------



## Freezeblink

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest, and most likely the rest in that series soon. I've been on a steampunk fix lately and this satiates that desire nicely.


----------



## T.S.Bowman

I am currently reading Book Two of the Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks.

I highly recommend it.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Finished World Without End.

Started another Follett novel because it was a gift: Night Over Water. 100 pages in, speeding through it so I can get to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea!


----------



## Nicholas McConnaughay

I finished 13 1/2 by Nevada Barr. The last hundred or so pages really  disappointed me. It went in a direction that I was dreading.  Other-wise, it was a good read. I liked it a lot at first.



Now,  onward to other things, I think it's high-time that I return to Sir  Arthur Conan Doyle in the form of a couple of Sherlock Holmes  short-stores.



After, I have this other book, Anything for Billy by  Larry McMurtry that I have been meaning to read.


----------



## J Anfinson

Just finished Robert McCammon's _Boy's Life. _Absolutely wonderful. It was like being a kid again.


----------



## Angelwing

*Xenophon's Anabasis/'The March Up Country'/'The March to the Sea* (I think that's another name for it) - written by the Greek Xenophon who in about 401 BC had to lead thousands of Greeks in a fight and hike for their lives out of Persia. Haven't gotten terribly far yet but that's what it says it's about, and it's supposed to be a very good story.


----------



## Gyarachu

Rereading the Chinese classic _Romance of the Three Kingdoms _by Luo Guanzhong, and _Miracles_ by C.S. Lewis. Also reading _The Odyssey _for the thousandth time for an online course I'm taking.

Forgot to mention I'm also reading chapters 59-69 of the _Zizhi tongjian, _a complete history of China compiled by Sima Guang and his underlings in the early 11th century (these chapters describe the actual history behind _Three Kingdoms_).


----------



## Grizzly

Just finished _House of Leaves_, and got through it with only a few labyrinth-style dreams, none of which were at the level of a nightmare. Booyah.


----------



## John_O

Just started _John Wesley Hardin. Dark Angel of Texas._  Leon Metz


----------



## Angelwing

Gyarachu said:


> Also reading _The Odyssey _for the thousandth time for an online course I'm taking.



Iliad was my favorite out of the two  . I personally really love Diomedes, and I think him and Hector qualify as the 'real hero' of the Iliad, not Achilles who is of course more well known (at least, more well known than Diomedes)


----------



## ethreal

I'm reading the final fifty pages of Creepers by David Morrell. A fun read so far.


----------



## Hunter56

Just about to start _Watership Down_ by Richard Adams.


----------



## J.T. Chris

So many books, so little time... Sometimes I wish I was in that _Twilight Zone_ episode where Burgess Meredith was the sole-survivor of a nuclear war and found the library to hang out. I have spare glasses thankfully.


----------



## aliveatnight

I'm about to start reading The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans again. This is a really good read for those who haven't read it.


----------



## PiP

aliveatnight said:


> I'm about to start reading The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans again. This is a really good read for those who haven't read it.



I agree, aliveatnight. Nicholas Evans is one of my favourite authors. Have you read some of his other books... The Loop, Smoke Jumper and The Divide? All great reads!


----------



## aliveatnight

PiP said:


> I agree, aliveatnight. Nicholas Evans is one of my favourite authors. Have you read some of his other books... The Loop, Smoke Jumper and The Divide? All great reads!


Not yet, but I definitely plan to!


----------



## kilroy214

I started Plutarch' s Lives. Might have bit off more than I can chew here.


----------



## KJSinclair

I am currently working my way through Jeffery Deavers' Lincoln Rhyme Series... you know bone collector that movie with Angelina Jolie and Denzel Washington. I love this series, although Deaver has this awful habit of repetition, once you have fed me information it is not necessary to repeat same history in the next three books.

I recently attempted to read Divergent series by Veronica Roth, I loved the first two books and abandoned the final book in the trilogy, it was slow and uninteresting, I felt she had forgotten her characters true personalities, too much drama and not enough action.

I am a critical reader I suppose but flaws generally do not stop me from falling in love with a novel or series. There is perfection in imperfection! lol

KJ


----------



## Jillian

I have just started re-reading a book called "What is the What?" by Dave Eggers. The book follows the life of a Sudanese refugee named Valentino Achak Deng, who was one of the thousand Lost Boys who fled Sudan for America when the country of Sudan is torn apart by war. The story opens to Valentino being robbed in his own home and he is knocked unconscious, where he begins to have flashbacks of his life before, and the story goes from there. A good read.


----------



## Purple Inukshuk

I decided myself to take a turn to history and read Le Comte De Monte Cristo (the count of Monte Cristo) by Alexandre Dumas (again haha). It's such a great book, and thank goodness the original is in my native language of French. But I recommend the book to people who love tragedies and stories based on revenge. Always #1 on my favorite books list.


----------



## escorial

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers


----------



## Skodt

Just finished Brandon Sanderson's second book in the Mistborn trilogy. Which I highly recommend if you are into fantasy, like myself. 

Now, I am moving into a whole other area; science! I have picked up Richard Dawkin's unweaving the rainbow. I have read and enjoyed other things by Dawkins and so, this hopefully will be no different.


----------



## Grizzly

Just started The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. I'm not the biggest fan as of page 23, but hopefully it'll grow on me.


----------



## Pluralized

Oracle Bones -- Hessler


----------



## FleshEater

Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

So far it's much darker than the film adaptation (the Swedish one...not the American). Very enjoyable vampire novel/story. Er, let me say REAL vampire story. Not glittery, teenage heart throb vampires that want to cuddle.


----------



## DCG

I'm back and forth between The Idiot by Dostoevsky, and The Plague by Albert Camus. 

There are so many peculiarities in The Idiot that it's managed to capture more of my attention than I expected. It was free on the kindle store, and I haven't read much 19th century Russian lit, mostly because I find books that can double as dumbbells rather intimidating. It's odd though, this line made me laugh for some reason:



> I will come with the greatest pleasure, and thank you very much for taking a fancy in me. I dare say I may even come today if I have time, for I tell you frankly that I like you very much too. I liked you especially when you told us about the diamond earrings; but I liked you before that as well, though you have such a dark clouded sort of face...



It's just such a bizarre way to accept an invitation. 

I also love the character Joseph Grand in The Plague. The character is always talking about this book he's writing, but he's such a perfectionist that he can't get past the first line. 



> "One fine morning in May, a slim young horsewoman might have been seen riding a glossy sorrel mare along the flower-strewn avenues of the Bois de Boulogne" But, spoken aloud, the numerous "s" sounds had a disagreeable effect and Grand stumbled over them, lisping here and there. He sat down, crestfallen; then he asked the doctor if he might go. Some hard thinking lay ahead of him.



Camus writes some of my favorite characters.


----------



## Ariel

Asimov's "I, Robot" (of which I now own two copies), Phillip K. Dick's "A Scanner Darkly," and "Unsolved Murders of Victorian and Edwardian London."


----------



## Schrody

"Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration Into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel" by Michio Kaku


----------



## tabasco5

About 100 pages into The Cider House Rules.  Great writing with some parts forced in, possibly added in redrafting.  Overall a fantastic read though, hard to put down.


----------



## tabasco5

escorial said:


> The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers



How is this going for you?  This is a book I have almost read several times.


----------



## J Anfinson

_The Things They Carried_ by Tim O'Brien

Good stuff so far.


----------



## Pluralized

1Q84 - Murakami


----------



## Trent Barker

The Casual Vacancy by J.K Rowling


----------



## Skodt

Just finished unweaving the rainbow by Richard Dawkins. Now I am going to finish up the mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson.


----------



## Pluralized

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. A fast read, less than two hundred pages, and quite a fast-paced story. Read it in one sitting. Highly recommended.


----------



## Greimour

For the third time, I am once more  reading Trudi Canavan's 'Age of Five' Trilogy. Currently on book one; Priestess of the White.


----------



## kilroy214

I just read a book about Stockholm Syndrome.  It was pretty bad at first, but by the end, I kind of liked it.


----------



## popsprocket

_The Colour of Magic
_
I can't say for sure whether or not this will make me want to read more Discworld books, but it's certainly entertaining for short stretches of time. It's also an interesting throwback for me to the books I grew up on - fast-paced high-action adventure books. Whereas nowadays pretty much all fantasy is leaning heavily on the political conflict side of things, reading something so close to an adventure book is quite amusing.


----------



## Morkonan

Among the titles I'm reading is "The Thousand Names" by Django Wexler  (Recommended to me by a friend) and I'm deep into the Horatio Hornblower series, by CS Forester. (Been meaning to finish this for a long while. I love this stuff!)


----------



## Emily Logan

"Drowning Mermaids" (p18)

Pretty good book so far. Holding my breath. I've been looking for a particular book and this _might_ be it. Not sure. If it's not, I guess I'll just have to write the book I'm looking for, won't I? 

(Looking for a mermaid book about their world rather then one going gung ho mermaid on ours. What is _their_ world like? This is the only author I've found who might even possibly have what I'm looking for.)


----------



## J Anfinson

Summer of Night - Dan Simmons. Great story so far, but this guy is wordy as hell. I'm fighting the urge to take a red pen to his book.


----------



## PiP

"Chase" by Terry Durbin. Great read, Terry! Can't put the book down.

Check out his author interview here.


----------



## Schrody

I'm reading a book about anti gravity. It's impossible to put down. :mrgreen:

Meanwhile, some Lovecraft and Kaku (still). I read I am Legend recently, but didn't like the end.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

Reading Ben Hur by Lew Wallace (Great movie as well!)


----------



## Fru

A thread titled "what are you reading now"

Less literally, I'm in the middle of a few books atm, depending on which I remember to lift before I get the bus. 

Charlie Brooker's latest article compilation - _I Can Make You Hate_
David Nichols - _Starter For Ten_
David Gemmell - _Legend _

My literature tastes are a little more pulpy and mainstream than NOVELS with a capital NOVELS, sadly. My list of favourite books would obviously include "epics" like _Lord of the Rings _and the _A Song of Ice and Fire_ series (at least, up until where the TV show is, which I don't want to read past), but my own personal unique favourites would be the wrestler Chris Jericho's various autobiographies (he's holding a competition to let a fan write his next foreword, and I've entered: wish me luck!), _Live From New York: An Oral History of Saturday Night Live, _Charlie Brooker's entire oeuvre and the Drenai series by David Gemmell. Those are the books I can endlessly re-read.


----------



## JimJanuary

I'm bouncing between:

Don Dellilo - Underworld
David Sedaris - Naked
Nick Hornby - High Fidelity


----------



## Jon M

This morning: a short story by Rick Moody called _Boys_. 

Unexpectedly incredible. Blindsided, I was.


----------



## Pidgeon84

The Fellowship of the Rings- Tolkien


----------



## tabasco5

Just Listened to The Dog Stars by Peter Heller.  Fantastic book and story overall.  It is a post-apocalyptic survival story with a great setting and great characters.  I don't care much for language (_that_ language), and there we far too many F-bombs for my taste.  

Still trudging through The Cider House Rules.  At 600+ pages it has become a task just to keep going.  My impression is that Irving tried to do too much with the novel, forcing things that should not have been.  Irving is a great writer - I'm not sure what happened with the editing.  In my opinion, the story would benefit from removing several characters and erroneous side stories, and shedding 300 pages.


----------



## Kingstonmike

George RR Martin's bloated and rambling opus....on page 150 of the first book...Only about 1,345,654,546,234 pages to go, it feels like.


----------



## Emily Logan

Drowning Mermaids only took me 2-3 days to get through. Yesterday I started on "Acorna", one of my favorite series. I'm only too happy to read it again. With 4 chapters left in the first book, I'm sure I'll have it read shortly. 

Then it'll be onward and upwards to my next book- not Acorna 2. I'm waiting for that one to come through interlibrary loan. Update will be forthcoming, once I decide which my next book will be (I have 3 to choose from from the library). I'm only too happy to be reading like this again. It's exhilerating! My well of imagination will rejuvinate yet!


----------



## Skodt

Finished the Mistborn series. I really enjoyed the entire ride. Something about watching great characters develop and take different routes than you ever imagined is great. Brandon Sanderson may be my favorite writer of the moment; at least in Fiction. 

Delving back into the real world though. Reading another one by Richard Dawkins: The magic of Reality. He usually provides a good thought provoking read.


----------



## Kingstonmike

Kyle R said:


> I felt the same way! I thought the writing was actually very amateurish for the whole beginning hundred pages or so of the book. And I got quite bored with all the clothes and food talk. But once the games actually begin, it gets quite engaging (or at least it did for me).



I thought she hit her stride with the second book and then the third one was written with an eye to the movie it would become.


----------



## dither

Charles Dickens.

By Claire Tomalin.

What a man, what a life, what a story.


----------



## Emily Logan

Acorna's Quest. Plus, I'm getting into the Animorphs series with my husband.


----------



## escorial

"A Good School."...R.Yates


----------



## Jon M

_Nilda_, Junot Diaz.


----------



## Morkonan

dither said:


> Charles Dickens.
> 
> By Claire Tomalin.
> 
> What a man, what a life, what a story.



I've heard great things about this book.


----------



## Morkonan

Fru said:


> ... David Gemmell - _Legend _... and the Drenai series by David Gemmell. Those are the books I can endlessly re-read.



Ah, a master who died before his time. I love Gemmell's stuff. Legend is a great book, but the others in that Setting are equally as good. In particular, I highly recommend "The Quest for Lost Heroes." Great story! Abercrombie has somewhat taken up Gemmell's banner in some of his stories and I highly recommend "The Heroes" and the others in that same setting. Great characters!


----------



## Fru

Yeah, I love every book in that setting Morkonan, I've read them all more times than I can remember. That bit in _Quest for Lost Heroes_...you know the one...it always get extremely dusty in my room for some reason when I get around to reading that bit. 

I maintain that _Legend_ is the greatest video game/movie that never was.


----------



## E. Zamora

I am reading _Rookery_, poems by Traci Brimhall.


----------



## Jon M

_Xmas, Jamaica Plain_, Melanie Rae Thon

Another outstanding short story.


----------



## J Anfinson

_Usher's Passing_ - Robert McCammon


----------



## MJ Preston

Mr. Mercedes - S King


----------



## Skodt

Started reading Phantoms in the Brain. A neurology book. This is my actual major in school. So, I hope to find it an interesting read.


----------



## bravery101

I'm currently reading the seventh book of the _Dexter_ series by Jeff Lindsay titled "Dexter's Final Cut." The TV series (also awesome) is based on the first book in the series ("Darkly Dreaming Dexter) and on Dexter himself. It's an amazing series - filled with dark humor and the psychological twist of the main character being a serial killer who only kills killers... Jeff Lindsay is likely to write more, too!


----------



## Deleted member 56686

Well right now I'm finishing up the Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger.  My next book to read should be the collected tales of Nikolai Gogol


----------



## escorial

The Log from the Sea of Cortez.....even though it was published after Cannery Row and before Sweet Thursday i would recommend reading it before the other two as it will give you an insight into the main character Doc based on a true life figure in Ed Rickets...for me the best stuff i have ever had the pleasure to read so far.


----------



## JimJanuary

_Swamplandia_ - Karen Russell


----------



## escorial

mrmustard615 said:


> Well right now I'm finishing up the Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger.  My next book to read should be the collected tales of Nikolai Gogol




would like to know your thoughts on this book?


----------



## Deleted member 56686

Well there we're a couple of reasons I wanted to read the book to begin with. Firstly I had heard of the popularity of the book in my generation and beyond (I grew up in the 1970's). Second as a big John Lennon fan I was intrigued as to why his assassin felt like he would be influenced by this particular book. As for the latter I only really found passage where Holden Caufield himself even so much as fantasied as to even use a gun. This on a pimp named Maurice. It's tragic if that was the inspiration for a night that for me compares to the JFK assassination or 9/11. I mean Holden wanted to spend the spend the weekend at a hotel to experience life so to speak, not to actually shoot somebody.
     As for Holden Caufield I think it's safe to say he was a teenager who clearly lacked any real direction. I think JD Salinger had the pulse on what could be going through a disillusioned teenager's mind, even one with the privileges that Holden has. He seems to misinterpret other people's intentions (Mr. Antolini for example) and certainly seems quite naive. At the same time he doesn't seem to dislike people as people who may have not read the book might seem to think.
    Overall I guess I'd have to say Catcher in the Rye is a good insight into a certain psychology of a young man who is still trying to figure out himself.


----------



## escorial

mrmustard615 said:


> Well there we're a couple of reasons I wanted to read the book to begin with. Firstly I had heard of the popularity of the book in my generation and beyond (I grew up in the 1970's). Second as a big John Lennon fan I was intrigued as to why his assassin felt like he would be influenced by this particular book. As for the latter I only really found passage where Holden Caufield himself even so much as fantasied as to even use a gun. This on a pimp named Maurice. It's tragic if that was the inspiration for a night that for me compares to the JFK assassination or 9/11. I mean Holden wanted to spend the spend the weekend at a hotel to experience life so to speak, not to actually shoot somebody.
> As for Holden Caufield I think it's safe to say he was a teenager who clearly lacked any real direction. I think JD Salinger had the pulse on what could be going through a disillusioned teenager's mind, even one with the privileges that Holden has. He seems to misinterpret other people's intentions (Mr. Antolini for example) and certainly seems quite naive. At the same time he doesn't seem to dislike people as people who may have not read the book might seem to think.
> Overall I guess I'd have to say Catcher in the Rye is a good insight into a certain psychology of a young man who is still trying to figure out himself.



cheers dude..interesting POV.


----------



## Terry D

King's latest; _Mr. Mercedes_.


----------



## ppsage

Just finished rereading _The Master Butchers Singing Club._ When an author has created, over seven or eight books, as amazing a saga as Erdrich, who I consider the heir to Faulkner, it is a shame to single out a favorite, but this is mine in hers, by a narrow margin. Perhaps I am a wienie, when it comes to the darkest savagery.


----------



## Dave Watson

Just finished our very own MJ Preston's _The Equinox_, now onto Adam Nevil's _Banquet for the Damned._


----------



## Deleted member 56686

I just finished up As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. Starting on the Great Gatsby today. (finally catching up on my reading after all these years).


----------



## No Cat No Cradle

Just got done reading "Jailbird" by Kurt Vonnegut (fantastic, up there with his other highly regarded works), just picked up "Starship Troopers" by Robert A. Heinlein looking to be pretty good so far. Also currently reading "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy (202 pages to go!!!! amazing book!)


----------



## TKent

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt


----------



## TKent

Brings back memories.  Someone in my high school put a Catcher in the Rye cover on a smutty paperback and it was passed around half my sophomore class. I am sure the teachers were confounded over the unusual popularity of the book that year. Wow, I hadn't thought of that in years 



mrmustard615 said:


> Well there we're a couple of reasons I wanted to read the book to begin with. Firstly I had heard of the popularity of the book in my generation and beyond (I grew up in the 1970's). Second as a big John Lennon fan I was intrigued as to why his assassin felt like he would be influenced by this particular book. As for the latter I only really found passage where Holden Caufield himself even so much as fantasied as to even use a gun. This on a pimp named Maurice. It's tragic if that was the inspiration for a night that for me compares to the JFK assassination or 9/11. I mean Holden wanted to spend the spend the weekend at a hotel to experience life so to speak, not to actually shoot somebody.
> As for Holden Caufield I think it's safe to say he was a teenager who clearly lacked any real direction. I think JD Salinger had the pulse on what could be going through a disillusioned teenager's mind, even one with the privileges that Holden has. He seems to misinterpret other people's intentions (Mr. Antolini for example) and certainly seems quite naive. At the same time he doesn't seem to dislike people as people who may have not read the book might seem to think.
> Overall I guess I'd have to say Catcher in the Rye is a good insight into a certain psychology of a young man who is still trying to figure out himself.


----------



## Pluralized

Finished 1Q84 last night. What a wonderful experience, every word of it. No idea how much impact the book had on me, as it was emotionally rather bland, but the translated prose is exceptionally musical, and simple. Highly recommended, if just for the unique characterization and bizarre twists. 

Riding on a plane right now -- just read The Red Pony. It's a gut-puncher. Can't believe I waited so long to read that book. Superb work.

Onward to The Broom of the System.


----------



## InstituteMan

Burning Chrome, which is a collection of William Gibson's short stories. You read Gibson, and you think, "wow, that is good." Then you look at the copyright date, and you say, "Whoa! Dude's a freaking prophet!"


----------



## JimJanuary

Pluralized said:


> Onward to The Broom of the System.



The dialogue chapters in that are initially hard, but pretty fun to read and figure out


----------



## Deleted member 56686

Just finished Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Incredible book. Also read God Bless You Dr. Kevorkian by someone No Cat would probably be familiar with:lol:


----------



## Diatsu

I'm currently reading two books from my childhood, The Tale of Despereaux, and The Never Ending Story. I can't remember much about them to give an accurate review, but so far I'm enjoying them... Alot.. --> :drinkcoffee: This describes how much a lot is.

I miss childhood :/


----------



## MysticalMind

I'm reading this book right now: http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1859528,00.html
It's about how a Christian (a university lecturer and linguist)  who went to the Amazon Jungle returned an Atheist. I'll leave it at that since I'd hate to cause any arguments relating to religion. You'll have to read it yourself if you want to learn more.


----------



## Deleted member 56686

MysticalMind said:


> I'm reading this book right now: http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1859528,00.html
> It's about how a Christian (a university lecturer and linguist)  who went to the Amazon Jungle returned an Atheist. I'll leave it at that since I'd hate to cause any arguments relating to religion. You'll have to read it yourself if you want to learn more.




I'm not going to start a religious argument either but the concept does sound intriguing.


----------



## Terry D

Finished _Mr. Mercedes_ by Stephen King (a very good read and a bit out of character for King), and started _Empire of the Summer Moon_ by S.C. Gwynne. _Empire_ is a non-fiction book about the Comanche Indians and their last, greatest, leader Quanah Parker.


----------



## Laughing Duck 137z

Currently reading _Out of Sight _by Elmore Lenard

I just love the way he strings his dialog.


----------



## escorial

The Selected Poems of Stevie Smith....a believer and an unbeliever..both handles with respect.


----------



## J Anfinson

_Swan Song_- Robert McCammon. America and Russia are trading blows with nuclear warheads in the chapter I just finished. I'm pretty impressed with McCammon. He's 3/3 with me so far.


----------



## Pluralized

_Refuge Recovery _by Noah Levine. Superb, timely book.


----------



## No Cat No Cradle

Finished Starship Troopers which was pretty good, well written but I have a few problems with the point of the book but better story than the movie in my personal opinion. Also read Hocus Pocus. It was good but not Vonnegut's best work but definitely still a recommendation. Thinking of starting either Player Piano by Vonnegut or Battle Royale by Koushun Takami or Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev


----------



## Schrody

The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind by Michio Kaku. After I read that one, I'll had only one more to read before I can say I read everything he wrote (Hyperspace is a little bit outdated, written in the 1994).

EDIT: I'm finishing (the complete) Calvin & Hobbes


----------



## Terry D

J Anfinson said:


> _Swan Song_- Robert McCammon. America and Russia are trading blows with nuclear warheads in the chapter I just finished. I'm pretty impressed with McCammon. He's 3/3 with me so far.



_Swan Song_ is McCammon at his best. A must-read for anyone who liked King's _The Stand_.


----------



## J Anfinson

Terry D said:


> _Swan Song_ is McCammon at his best. A must-read for anyone who liked King's _The Stand_.



_Usher's Passing_ and _ Boy's Life_ were awesome.


----------



## Diatsu

I'm also reading through The Oxford Book of Essays; There's some really interesting perspectives involved.

I'm also hoping it will help with my own essays :thumbr:


----------



## Terry D

J Anfinson said:


> _Usher's Passing_ and _ Boy's Life_ were awesome.



_Wolf's Hour_ is also excellent, and my personal favorite (out of print now, but still available for the Kindle) is _They Thirst_. A Vampire story from a time before vampires were trendy.


----------



## LeeC

Being an old fogey, My tastes in reading may clash, but the best book I've read recently is V. S. Naipaul's Miguel Street. 


There are good examples on both sides of the show versus tell viewpoints, and in this case with a bare minimum of descriptive text, he engrosses one in the lives of the characters. 


Not just a very good read, but an excellent writer's learning source. I can't understand how it came to my attention so late in life, but I'm glad it did finally.


----------



## midnightpoet

Among others ,"Deep Ellum and Central Track" by Alan B. Govenar.  Back in the early part of the 20th century, it was an area close to downtown Dallas and a haven for black culture.  Several blues musicians, such as Blind Lemon Jefferson got their start there.  I used the area as a background in three of my novels.  The book is non-fiction about a very interesting era.  I thought about writing a historical novel about Deep Ellum in the 1920's, but have always doubted I could do it justice since I'm a WASP.


----------



## TKent

I will have to check out that vampire story... I saw your book is available in kindle unlimited. The opening is very unique. Hope to get a chance to read more on vacation next week.



> and my personal favorite (out of print now, but still available for the Kindle) is _They Thirst_. A Vampire story from a time before vampires were trendy.


----------



## TKent

Me too!  I love, love, love the Raylan books.



Laughing Duck 137z said:


> Currently reading _Out of Sight _by Elmore Lenard
> 
> I just love the way he strings his dialog.


----------



## Terry D

TKent said:


> I will have to check out that vampire story... I saw your book is available in kindle unlimited. The opening is very unique. Hope to get a chance to read more on vacation next week.



Be sure to let me know what you think... good, or bad.


----------



## TKent

Will do!  Chapter 1 and the blurb made me download it so great start 



Terry D said:


> Be sure to let me know what you think... good, or bad.


----------



## Bilston Blue

Jon M said:


> This morning: a short story by Rick Moody called _Boys_.
> 
> Unexpectedly incredible. Blindsided, I was.



Thanks for the link, Jon. Wonderfully creative and powerful. 


I've recently taken the plunge with _Infinite Jest_. Around sixty pages in and so far so good. Funny, too.


----------



## Miles-Kirk

Clash of Kings - George R R Martin

Finding it really difficult to keep interest with all the perspective changes and the fact I know what happens for the first 4 books after watching the TV series.


----------



## InstituteMan

Miles-Kirk said:


> Clash of Kings - George R R Martin
> 
> Finding it really difficult to keep interest with all the perspective changes and the fact I know what happens for the first 4 books after watching the TV series.



Clash of Kings starts slow but turns out to be a good read. The best thing about reading it is that it gets you closer to A Storm of Swords, the back half of which may be the best in the series to be published so far.


----------



## JimJanuary

Miles-Kirk said:


> Clash of Kings - George R R Martin
> 
> Finding it really difficult to keep interest with all the perspective changes and the fact I know what happens for the first 4 books after watching the TV series.



I hated this one at times. It was probably an influence of watching the TV series but I found myself wanting to yell 'get on with it' during the middle 400 pages of this book. 
First book, _Game of Thrones,_ was an enjoyable read though


----------



## dither

"GRACE under pressure, going the distance as an Aspergers mum".

By Sophie Walker.

I'm halfway through it.

It is the most awful thing.

It's tear-jerking, it's heart-rending, and it's happening, right now.

So glad i picked this one up.

My next read,,,,

BARRACK OBAMA, the audacity of hope.

Yes really.


----------



## Schrody

Future of the mind, and short horror stories: Lovecraft, Barker, etc.


----------



## Deleted member 56686

Yeah I need to catch up here too. Just read A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. Finally reading On the Road by Jack Kerouac. I've owned the paperback for years.


----------



## Gyarachu

Robert Jordan's _The Eye of the World_. 

Why is it so good!?


----------



## Schrody

Read "I have no mouth and I must scream" by Harlan Ellison. Currently reading "Do androids dream of electric sheep?", and then "Minority report" awaits me


----------



## escorial

Novel On Yellow Paper...bought 3 of her books..man i hope this is not going to carry through to the next two.


----------



## NerdyMJ

Currently trying to force myself to read Something Blue since it's prequel turned to out be the first piece of decent chick-lit I've encountered. I freaking hate the main character, though, so it is slow going.


----------



## MzSnowleopard

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. by Renni Brown and Dave King

I LOVE this book! IMO- every fiction writer should have a copy on their shelf.


----------



## Jamboree

Iain M Banks - The Hydrogen Sonata and 
Alok Jha - 50 Ways the world could end. A fascinating non-fiction book with the most likely ways that mankind could be wiped out. A cheery read


----------



## Threak 17

Sword Song -- Bernard Cornwell.  I love his stuff.


----------



## chizuru

Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki by Haruki Murakami.  I honestly should have finished it a month ago, but then classes started. haha

I'm currently reading Mean Boy by Lynn Coady for one of my classes.


----------



## escorial

just read one of those books that i can't stop reading even though i did not like it one bit....but i'm about to start Liars in Love..Richard Yates..now i know i'll enjoy that.


----------



## Pluralized

Just read Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk in one sitting. Highly recommended. On to Vonnegut!


----------



## TKent

About to start Book of Shadows by Deborah Harkness but it is the 3rd book in a trilogy and I can't remember how book 2 left off it was so many books ago, so reading the last chapter of book 2 again.  After almost non-stop on the go on vacation with my daughter, it is GREAT to kick back on the couch and VEG in a good book while the hubby cheers on the Falcons.


----------



## Gyarachu

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson, second book in the Stormlight Archive.

It's good, and thus far in the series there have been hints of epicness to come, but I'm actually getting sort of tired of his style. It seems like he writes his books where nothing really happens until the end, and it's all just biding time until then. Plus the story just doesn't feel "big" enough, and at times I have trouble believing the characters. I can't really say why. He does get some serious bonus points for sheer originality and creativity, though.

I'll keep reading, hoping the potential he hints at will be realized.


----------



## Terry D

_Nos4a2_, by Joe Hill.


----------



## tabasco5

Doc by Mary Doria Russell- about 3/4 through and is so far the best book on the Dodge City clan I've read.

The Years of the Forest by Helen Hoover - a couple lives in a cabin in Minnesota for a few decades.  I enjoy the book, but for some reason it's just not complete.  Can't put my finger on it.  And I really can't get completely into it.  I find myself skipping paragraphs often.

Slaughterhouse Five - it's been about a decade since I've read it and wow.  What an experience.

Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon - road trip masterpiece.  And a fine first novel.


----------



## JimJanuary

_Not That Kind of Girl_ - Lena Dunham    This is freaking hilarious. Makes me want to get back into writing creative nonfiction again


----------



## Pluralized

Irvine Welsh - _Skagboys_


----------



## E. Zamora

I just put in some new bookshelves, and while I was reorganizing, I picked up _On the Road_ and started reading it. I loved it in high school, which is fairly typical. I didn't expect that I would like it as much now, and I was right. 

There are still many exhilarating passages that are a pleasure to read, but I didn't remember that it could be so repetitive. I also didn't see Dean Moriarty as such an annoying, frustrating character. I suppose when you're a kid, it's easy to romanticize that kind of selfishness and irresponsibility. Any allure Dean Moriarty/Niel Cassady held for Kerouac or whatever inspiration he provided, the plausibility of it didn't really come across to me in this second reading. 

Still, it was worth the reread, almost for the wonderful stretches of poetic description alone. One bit where Kerouac describes the musicians and performance of a jazz band gave me goosebumps. Truly inspiring.


----------



## escorial

The Ballad of a Sad Cafe..."a hunchback coming down the road"...man how do you thinks she could work that into a story but she does


----------



## E. Zamora

escorial said:


> The Ballad of a Sad Cafe..."a hunchback coming down the road"...man how do you thinks she could work that into a story but she does



That was a good read. I think it was supposed to be almost mythical, or like a tall tale, but the end came off as a little cartoonish to me; a little bit of a letdown. 

I loved _The Heart is a Lonely Hunter._ It's one of my favorites. I really enjoyed _A Member of the Wedding _too. I found _Reflections in a Golden Eye_ to be pretty tedious, and I had a really hard time slogging through _Clock Without Hands._ Flannery O'Connor said it was the worst book she ever read. Then again, she panned _To Kill a Mockingbird._


----------



## escorial

E. Zamora said:


> That was a good read. I think it was supposed to be almost mythical, or like a tall tale, but the end came off as a little cartoonish to me; a little bit of a letdown.
> 
> I loved _The Heart is a Lonely Hunter._ It's one of my favorites. I really enjoyed _A Member of the Wedding _too. I found _Reflections in a Golden Eye_ to be pretty tedious, and I had a really hard time slogging through _Clock Without Hands._ Flannery O'Connor said it was the worst book she ever read. Then again, she panned _To Kill a Mockingbird._



enjoying the way she has turned the hunchback from a sad,pathetic individual to someone who feels he is now above that ..about half way into the story myself..The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is very similar in many ways...still i think is it to obvious to reason why he shot himself without trying to over think it..A Member of the Wedding felt like the first part of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter..her remaining works i look forward to reading.


----------



## spartan928

E. Zamora said:


> I just put in some new bookshelves, and while I was reorganizing, I picked up _On the Road_ and started reading it. I loved it in high school, which is fairly typical. I didn't expect that I would like it as much now, and I was right.
> 
> There are still many exhilarating passages that are a pleasure to read, but I didn't remember that it could be so repetitive. I also didn't see Dean Moriarty as such an annoying, frustrating character. I suppose when you're a kid, it's easy to romanticize that kind of selfishness and irresponsibility. Any allure Dean Moriarty/Niel Cassady held for Kerouac or whatever inspiration he provided, the plausibility of it didn't really come across to me in this second reading.
> 
> Still, it was worth the reread, almost for the wonderful stretches of poetic description alone. One bit where Kerouac describes the musicians and performance of a jazz band gave me goosebumps. Truly inspiring.



I love the road trips, which is...I guess the point. I agree with you about Dean and I see him as a tragic character. Somebody you love for his free spiritedness, but he sputters out like an empty tank of gas. How Kerouac wrote it is inspiring as anything.


----------



## JimJanuary

_The Marriage Plot _- Jeffrey Eugenides


----------



## ppsage

_Vanity of Dulouz, _​Kerouac. Rereading. In my opinion by far the best of his work.



escorial said:


> The Ballad of a Sad Cafe..."a hunchback coming down the road"...man how do you thinks she could work that into a story but she does


My favorite of her work that I've read.


----------



## popsprocket

The Lies of Locke Lamora

I probably wouldn't have picked it up if I'd known that the book is based around a con artist type of deal, but I'm enjoying it. Very well written and the humour is done well.


----------



## NerdyMJ

I am reading _The Shining _by Stephen King.


----------



## thepancreas11

A stop sign.


----------



## J Anfinson

thepancreas11 said:


> A stop sign.



How long did it take to read? Was it good?


----------



## thepancreas11

Longer than it should have with me trying to type this.


----------



## E. Zamora

ppsage said:


> My favorite of her work that I've read.



Have your read _The Heart is  Lonely Hunter?_ In my opinion the rest of her work pales. I've read it all, and saw flashes of that brilliance along with some very good writing. I can't say that I was every truly disappointed, but I think she had just the one great novel in her. There's certainly no shame in that. She's one of my favorite writers, regardless.


----------



## TKent

_Sula_ by Toni Morrison. She is one of my favorites and I'd never read this one and it happened to be a book on a reading list for a class I'm taking so I jumped on it. Her prose and descriptions are so wonderful to me.


----------



## ppsage

E. Zamora said:


> Have your read _The Heart is  Lonely Hunter?_ In my opinion the rest of her work pales. I've read it all, and saw flashes of that brilliance along with some very good writing. I can't say that I was every truly disappointed, but I think she had just the one great novel in her. There's certainly no shame in that. She's one of my favorite writers, regardless.


Have read it. Don't read her for brilliant writing, she's adequate though. For me _Cafe_ nails the story and the characters; _Hunter _is kind of all tatters and angst. Reads like a first novel, not in the good way.


----------



## E. Zamora

I thought the novel was brilliant. I'm kind of disappointed to learn that it isn't. Thanks for setting me straight!


----------



## escorial

was expecting to read Clock without Hands but i was informed by e-mail it was sent back in a sorry state..have two books of Stevie Smith on my shelf but her first novel was poor and i can't bring myself to open one of them..well here goes!!!


----------



## No Cat No Cradle

Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons by Kurt Vonnegut. Biafra: A People Betrayed is one of the best articles I have ever read.


----------



## tabasco5

The National Parks by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns.  A good overview of the parks with most of the book dedicated to the larger parks.  Would like to have a sequel featuring the smaller, lesser-known gems.

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman.  I'm struggling through this one, mainly because a friend said it was the best sci-fi book he'd ever read.  I'm just not getting it.  To me, the writing is amateur and clunky with too many unnecessary adverbs.  The characters are flat and unattractive, the dialogue is pathetic, the story is banal and basic, the abnormal science is not explained and therefore cannot be understood (by me anyways).  I'm only halfway through and forcing myself to finish.


----------



## J Anfinson

Jay Anson's _666_. I read it years ago and liked it, but that was before I started writing. Now, the story is good but I can clearly see he wasn't that great of a writer.

He overuses exclamation points! They're even in the narrative! It's driving me insane! A period works just as well!


----------



## Bishop

About to start reading Robert Heinlein's _The Rolling Stones, _a space faring adventure of the Stone family in a starship. Before anyone asks, the book was published in 1952, before the Stones came to be a big time band.


----------



## Greimour

Currently reading "Chase" by Terry Durbin

I had intended to read it ages ago after reading an excerpt he posted on the forum somewhere. Unfortunately I was constantly putting it off due to restraints. That and the fact I had to get the paperback copy due to using Kobo desktop reader rather than a Kindle. >.<

 In fairness, I had barely even been on the forum more than once a week, which shows how much of my time was used up. 

I currently have some time though, so I am taking the opportunity to read it. So far I am not disappointed... not sure I will write any sort of review on it when done though. I wouldn't want to spoil it for any future readers. Reviews always spoil the stories for me if I read them in advance of a book. 

Still, I will share my thoughts on it with him when I am done. :stupid: 

Muahahahah!!!!


----------



## Pidgeon84

The Suicide Squad comics.


----------



## Deleted member 56686

Finally finishing up The Trial by Franz Kafka. Will head back to library next week to borrow some more books to read, probably Vonnegut.


----------



## Schrody

In Search of Schrödinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality. It's pretty interesting


----------



## escorial

Schrody said:


> In Search of Schrödinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality. It's pretty interesting




maths they say is the language of science....hope you find shrody's moggy


----------



## Schrody

escorial said:


> maths they say is the language of science....hope you find shrody's moggy



I agree with you, although I'm pretty stupid for anything mathematical, so I'm sticking with the theory. It's interesting how math can explain Universe  At least, most of it. 

And maybe I do find out where did the darn cat run away


----------



## spartan928

Misery; never read this King novel before, quite good. Enjoying a bit of Halloween horror.


----------



## TomJMiller

As an avid gamer, I decided to read a novel based on a game, Bioshock. I'm a huge Bioshock fan, so once I heard about the book's release I was ecstatic. The book adaptation provides much more background of the plot and in-depth detail than is in the video game, surprisingly.


----------



## Morkonan

I want to heartily endorse Joe Abercrombie's "Half a King." http://www.joeabercrombie.com/books/half-a-king/

This is an awesome fantasy page-turner. I loved every darn bit of it.  It's packed with action and characters that grab you by the throat and tear you into the pages of the story... 

Abercrombie is one of my favorite fantasy authors and no fantasy fan should consider their library complete without having every single one of his books on their shelf. The only thing bad I could possibly say about "Half a King" is that it left me wanting more! And, that ain't a bad thing at all!

Buy it.
Read it.
Thank me later. 

************************

One of the books I'm finishing up is Brian Ruckley's "The Free." It's a fantasy story about a mercenary company. (I see some bits of Cook's "The Black Company" in this milieu, though I can't say that had any influence on this book.) 

http://www.brianruckley.com/category/the-free/

I'm disappointed. 

I liked Ruckley's "The Godless World" trilogy, except for the conclusion of a couple of subplots. But, "The Free" just doesn't read like it's written by the same guy. It's got some weird grammatical wanderings in it and some of the sentences just don't... read right. As a consequence, it's a difficult read and it's difficult for me to get interested in what's going on. The characters aren't developed well, there's far too much "mystery" going on and I don't really care about what they care about. The one thing I cared about is owed to the standard act of building up characters in an interesting way and presenting me with characters that I could feel some attachment to. Everything else is cobbled into place with flashbacks and ominous references that don't _mean_ anything to me.

There's a magic system, but nothing terribly interesting about it. At least, not until three-fourths of the way through the book, when some of the more interesting elements get some explanation thrown their way. It's not quite "too late", but almost.

/scratches head

I just don't know how he could have written this yet have also written "Winterbirth", which was much more polished and interesting. Oh well, it happens and there's no real harm in it, I guess.

Anyway, it's a fantasy story about a mercenary company. If you're a big fan of that sort of thing, you might be entertained by it. If you're not, you might find some value in picking it up at the store and skimming through it. If you find you like what you see, go ahead and buy it. I don't regret reading it (or almost reading it all), but I'm still left with a sort of hollow experience.


----------



## Schrody

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre. It's pretty interesting - Goldacre reveals modern quaks (detox) as much the as the myths of the old world, and shows you that homeopathy and placebo will have the same effect, and how some doctors (intentionally or unintentionally) will sabotage the research results.


----------



## dither

I am me and you are you and our reading tastes probably differ so much that the gulf is quite unimaginable, but right now i am having the most amazing reading experience ever, stomach aching and tears rolling down my cheeks  ( and i confess that unashamedly ), god knows when last i laughed so much,as i read a story by one  Suzanne Harrington.

THE LIBERTY TREE,
drunk to sober: A memoir.

I takes a while to get going, but it's worth the wait, she's brilliant.

dither

I suppose it's all about knowing one's level. Yes it might be frowned upon but in terms of real life, this is where i'm at, and imo this book is the absolute pinnacle of storytelling.
And that's me.

Just read the last few pages, my sides are aching from laughter and yet it's actually quite sad in places.
Brilliant write,
Brilliant read,
Brilliant.


----------



## escorial

dither said:


> I am me and you are you and our reading tastes probably differ so much that the gulf is quite unimaginable, but right now i am having the most amazing reading experience ever, stomach aching and tears rolling down my cheeks  ( and i confess that unashamedly ), god knows when last i laughed so much,as i read a story by one  Suzanne Harrington.
> 
> THE LIBERTY TREE,
> drunk to sober: A memoir.
> 
> I takes a while to get going, but it's worth the wait, she's brilliant.
> 
> dither
> 
> I suppose it's all about knowing one's level. Yes it might be frowned upon but in terms of real life, this is where i'm at, and imo this book is the absolute pinnacle of storytelling.
> And that's me.
> 
> Just read the last few pages, my sides are aching from laughter and yet it's actually quite sad in places.
> Brilliant write,
> Brilliant read,
> Brilliant.


the power in books is amazing man....you should try it yourself..write that book that's in all of us..


----------



## dither

Oh dear,
things that i said there could be so misinterpreted.

"The pinnacle of storytelling", and that's me? 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





IT takes a while to get going, not i.


----------



## Pluralized

Reading _Blood Meridian_ by McCarthy and _The Other_ by Guterson. Took an hour today and read a magnificent horror manga called _Uzumaki_. Highly recommended.


----------



## JimJanuary

He Died With a Felafel in His Hand - John Birmingham


----------



## Bruno Spatola

That has to be one of the best novel titles of all time.


----------



## Wannabe

I'm ready A Confederacy of Dunces.


----------



## Deleted member 56686

I'm reading Three Lives by Gertrude Stein. Very interesting book.


----------



## Schrody

The New Ambidextrous Universe by Martin Gardner.


----------



## Deleted member 56686

Besides the Gertrude Stein book, I'm now reading Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov.


----------



## Gavrushka

I recently finished book 2 of the Stormlight Archive, Words of Radiance, by Brandon Sanderson. Almost 1/2 million words, it's a superb read.

Gollancz sent me a free book, Simon Ings 'Wolves', but I'm struggling to get into that, so would be happy to hear any recommendations for good fantasy or accessible Sci Fi.


----------



## InnerFlame00

Right now I'm listening to "I've Got Your Number" by Sophie Kinsella.  I like to go back in forth between serious books and fluff books, so I'm on my fluff book right now.  She's great for funny and completely unrealistic situations.

Next up is Fahrenheit 451.  Somehow I haven't read that one yet (I know).  I love Ray Bradbury so not sure why I waited so long to pick this one up.


----------



## Schrody

I didn't like Fahrenheit 451 and Bradbury's archaic, messy style. In one sentence they're on the street, in the second one it's a new day... Too bad, I really like the idea


----------



## Kevin

> I didn't like Fahrenheit 451 and Bradbury's archaic, messy style.


 oh bother... I'm not sure I can associate with you. Okay... I'm going to try to forgive you. You could try _the Martian Chronicles_... It's actually a collection of shorts joined together afterward. If you can't get through that then I'll have to re-evaluate our relationship. Oh bother...


----------



## kilroy214

Or try The Illustrated Man, that's great Bradbury.

Currently reading Runaway Ralph to my daughter, we'd just finished one of my personal favorites, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nihm, a while back. I've begun rereading On Writing by Stephen King for about the third or fourth time.


----------



## AquaRoxas

I'm actually taking a break from proper literature. I've been reading online fanfiction from amateur writers. Since they're amateur as well, I want to be able to relate to the author, and imagine what they


----------



## Morkonan

kilroy214 said:


> Or try The Illustrated Man, that's great Bradbury.



Absolutely.



> Currently reading Runaway Ralph to my daughter..



Outstanding! I loved all of Cleary's stuff when I was a kid.

(I wish I had read NIMH back then.)


----------



## Schrody

Kevin said:


> oh bother... I'm not sure I can associate with you. Okay... I'm going to try to forgive you. You could try _the Martian Chronicles_... It's actually a collection of shorts joined together afterward. If you can't get through that then I'll have to re-evaluate our relationship. Oh bother...



If you recommend it Kyle, I must read it


----------



## Pluralized

_Getting the Words Right - How to Rewrite, Edit & Revise_


----------



## Clerically

Currently reading Nabokov's Lolita, Hesse's Siddhartha, and Elie Weasel's Night.


----------



## queenslime

Cress by Marissa Meyer. I was ready to give up on YA novels then bam, this series happened.


----------



## Terry D

Re-reading King's _The Shining_. It's been many years since my first read and I'm enjoying it very much.


----------



## docshoog

I can recommend, River God, and  also The Seventh Scroll, by Wilbur Smith.


----------



## Deleted member 56686

Finally have got around to reading Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut after saying I was going to read it for weeks


----------



## Morkonan

I'm reading McDevitt's new Priscilla Hutchins novel "Starhawk." I waited to pick it up until it was in paperback, so it matches the rest of my collection.  So far, it's a good read. Though, I have to say that I was a bit confused about the opening and the sort of "false drama" that was created as a hook. Given the technology available in this science-fiction series, I don't quite understand how such a dramatic "risk" could happen. It doesn't make a lot of sense. But, whatever... It's still a good read by one of my favorite authors with a character that I like a lot.


----------



## No Cat No Cradle

Finished "The Caves of Steel", about to finish "Less Than Zero"...dark and disturbing!


----------



## Schrody

Death by Black Hole


----------



## Deleted member 56686

On a Kurt Vonnegut kick. Right now reading his Breakfast of Champions


----------



## Sakurako

I'm currently almost finished with, "Amazing True Stories of Execution Blunders", by Geoffrey Abbott... It is both absolutely disturbing, and "amazing", the atrocities that Human Beings have inflicted on other Human Beings.

The next book waiting to be devoured is, "The Art of Eating though the Zombie Apocalypse", by Lauren Wilson. It's a cookbook and culinary survival guide, of sorts.


----------



## dale

got my christmas present to myself from amazon yesterday in the mail. "The Red Tree" by caitlin kiernan. was done with it
about 12 hours later. highly recommend it.


----------



## Bloggsworth

Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit.


----------



## aj47

_Memory_ by Lois McMaster Bujold was my present to myself. In Kindle format.  I'm re-reading the series in order (for values that start with _The Warrior's Apprentice_).  The last bound book I read was _Ethan of Athos_. I tried reading TWA in paperback but found my eyes weren't up to it.  

BTW, I used to prefer the Nook format--I would still if B&N didn't have such predatory practices.  Among other things, one cannot "pick up" a gifted book without providing bn.com with a payment method.  Whereas the kind people at Amazon just require an email address.  So my kids, who didn't have plastic, couldn't receive gifts from bn.com because I'm not about to link my card to my kids' accounts.


----------



## Gavrushka

Have set aside the Darwarth Trilogy while I beta read 'Changing Skies', a novel I first read a section of earlier in the year. Very much looking forward to seeing how it concludes.


----------



## J Anfinson

I Am Legend and other short stories~ Richard Matheson.


----------



## ngwin

American Gods by Neil Gaiman, and it is amazing. I'm about halfway through it. Definitely recommend it to anyone who likes mythology. It does contain some foul language, violence, and a fair amount of detailed sexual situations, so if you are offended by any of that stuff it might not be for you.


----------



## Winston

"The Complete Joy of Home Brewing" by Charlie Papazian. My wife got me all the gear for Christmas, now it's up to me to figure out how to use it.  

The book is easy to read, yet chock-full of detailed info.  Great for every skill level.  Practical, yet fun.  It'll be dog-eared in no time.


----------



## Boofy

Right now I am reading a few books. I got given two brilliant Dave Gorman books for Christmas and I was already half way through The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. If you like Science Fiction it comes highly recommended ^^


----------



## Deleted member 56686

At the moment I'm reading The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers


----------



## escorial

mrmustard615 said:


> At the moment I'm reading The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers




 would like to read your thoughts on the book man when your done....


----------



## Deleted member 56686

Will do. I'm about a third of the way through


----------



## escorial

just ordered


----------



## J Anfinson

Started Dan Simmons's _Carrion Comfort_. Put it down before the end of the first chapter. Way too much blah blah blah and failed to hook me. I'm disappointed because I liked _Summer of Night_.


----------



## Pluralized

About a hundred pages of _Blood Meridian_ down the hatch today, probably another fifty before bed. This book has me by the chin-hair. It makes me wonder why we don't use more examples of McCarthy's work here on the forums. 

The writing is both complex and simplistic, scattered yet focused. His vocabulary is exceptionally deceiving, and I'm really surprised now that I'm reading this book how wrong some of the descriptions I've heard of his work really were. 

I'm finding it to be some of the finest literature I've ever read.


----------



## Kevin

> McCarthy


 He's been highly criticized in articles by supposed experts who, turns out, struggle to read. We did have some discussion here.


----------



## Pidgeon84

Fables: Volume 1 (vertigo comics)


----------



## JamesR

Taking a bit of a break from fiction to study some history. I am currently finishing up _Russia under the Old Regime_ by Richard Pipes.


----------



## Deleted member 56686

mrmustard615 said:


> At the moment I'm reading The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers





escorial said:


> would like to read your thoughts on the book man when your done....





Well you asked so here goes.

I thought it was an interesting take on how different types of people could find camaraderie in one person, as if that person understood everything about them. It was curious that many of the interjecting stories at times had little to do the the MC. I also found it interesting that John Singer, the protagonist, who was also the deaf-mute (for those who haven't read the book or seen the movie), was more concerned with his institutionalized friend. This despite the obvious empathy he felt towards the other characters even if he didn't understand them quite as much as they have thought. I found it a very interesting and thoughtful read.

Right now I'm in the midst of reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.


----------



## escorial

so what do you think drove singer to commit such an act in the end..


----------



## Deleted member 56686

I think he was despondent over the death of Antonapolous in a nutshell. I don't think there was anything more complicated than that. Singer had a clearly deep love, and maybe an emotional dependence on Antonapolous. It trumped anything that may have been going on in Singer's life in town. Basically I don't think Singer felt he could live without his friend.


----------



## ShapeShiftnTrick

I've been finishing _Gone Girl_, but after that I'm moving on to bigger, better, nonfiction reads. I'm trying to expand my knowledge on things I usually wouldn't think about, so I picked up _The Shifts and the Shocks_ by Martin Wolfs in my weekly library trip, which is about the 2008 crash and the resulting recession. Fun.

Also planning on grabbing a photography book once my new DSLR arrives. Gonna be going on lots of trips as soon as this weather rights itself.


----------



## tabasco5

Just finished The Floor of Heaven by Howard Blum about the Alaskan gold rush, a gold heist, and Indians.  What's not to love?  I give it a solid A.

Now listening to Kansas City Lightning about Charlie Parker.  It's decent, a pretty good story if you have nothing else.  So far, I'd give it a B/C.

Reading My Life on the Plains by General Custer.  I am consistently blown away by his writing ability, and also by his humanness.  I've always been an anti-Custer, and still usually side with the Indians, but I'm really starting to respect Custer as a man as I learn this previously unknown side of him.  I highly recommend it.


----------



## Morkonan

I'm currently reading "The Red Knight" by Miles Cameron. Excellent book, great fantasy setting, some really nice work being done with this story. Two-thumbs up!
I also just started "How the Mind Works" by Stephen Pinker. It's one I've been meaning to read, but I could never find it on the shelf. Luckily, it got a reprint. 

Edit: Update



Morkonan said:


> ....I also just started "How the Mind Works" by  Stephen Pinker. It's one I've been meaning to read, but I could never  find it on the shelf. Luckily, it got a reprint.



Just a headsup... I hate to say this, but after reading a good portion  of this book, I just had to put it down. I don't know what he was trying  to do with this book. It seems more of a discourse against religion  than anything regarding popular science. It was written some time ago,  but that doesn't excuse some really horrible examples he uses to  illustrate or support the presented information. I don't care how  interesting some of the revelations are that he discusses, I just can't  stand the sort of "agenda" that I see presented all over the place in  this book. And, while I acknowledge his superior knowledge and rigorous  professional contributions, I just have to say that this popular science  book is written poorly. It's a rambling, unfocused, mess - I won't be  finishing it.

Strangely enough, I think he's got a "Style" book out. If this book is  any indication of what he believes is an appropriate writing style, I  fear for our future... 

I'd like to also present a disclaimer: I've many pop-sci books and some  that weren't so "pop-sci." I don't normally care about personal opinions  or even arguments for or against religion that may crop up in such  works from time to time. However, when it's so prevalent as to be  inescapable and it's paired with such a mishmash of wandering ideas, I  can't ignore it. I would not recommend this book to anyone. There are  many other books out there meant for lay audience and that cover all  sorts of subjects involving cognition and the human mind. I can't think  of any of the ones that I have read that are not better than this. I  respect the writer, just not what was written.


----------



## Morkonan

Boofy said:


> ... The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. If you like Science Fiction it comes highly recommended ^^



An outstanding series. The setting is so rich and unusual that it's an instant attraction. Who's not going to be drawn in immediately by the tale of an apprentice in a "Torturer's Guild?" Awesome stuff.


----------



## Atlantean

At the moment I'm not really reading much at all. I was reading quite a lot of Soloman Kane and Kull by Robert E.Howard, but there are only so many times you can read the same stories before you want to change it up a bit and find something new. I'm trying to find something akin to the old DnD books, but I can't really find much at all. I don't keep up with what is coming out so I'm just trying to find something at the moment.


----------



## Morkonan

Atlantean said:


> ...I'm trying to find something akin to the old DnD books, but I can't really find much at all. I don't keep up with what is coming out so I'm just trying to find something at the moment.



Read the "The Hammer and the Blade" series (Two books so far) by Paul Kemp. If you're familiar with the older DND series, you'll recognize his name. It's a really nice couple of books done in that old "adventure" style reminiscent of Fafyhrd and the Grey Mouser, but with a modern flair. Nicely done, fun, reads.

One thing that's hard to find, but worth the read, is the "Greyhawk Classics" series by Paul Kidd. https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/35064.Paul_Kidd I really love this series! It's classic-style adventure-fantasy with a nice punch-in-the-gut sort of humor. It's really well done. The only problem is that there should be more of these! But, for some reason, Kidd jumped into the "furry" world and it seems that's all he writes these days. Go figure. But, anyway, these are fun reads. They're "light reading" and they're not pretentious, perfect for a relaxing read on the couch.

Definitely read the "Swordsinger" (Tiger and Del adventures) series by Jennifer Robinson. It's a great adventure series and it's certainly entertaining and in the sort of style I think you're looking for.

"The Legend of Jig Dragonslayer" by Hines is a lot of fun! http://www.amazon.com/dp/0756407567/?tag=writingforu06-20 (Anthology of "Jig" stories.)

There are a couple of other series and titles I could recommend, if I could just remember them...


----------



## Morkonan

.. Delete pls. Edited my earlier post, above, instead.


----------



## Deleted member 56686

Right now I'm reading Bad Science by Ben Goldacre. Interesting read


----------



## InstituteMan

I just finished The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, which I had somehow managed to not read before. I'm glad I finally read it. I'm almost done with Wool, by our recent interviewee Hug Howey.


----------



## Wannabe

Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry


----------



## stevesh

Just finished Stephen King's latest, _Revival_. Not his best, but much better than his previous novel, and it asks a very interesting question.


----------



## TKent

I just finished: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Loved it! Although when I have more time, I need to go back through and understand her choice of tense. She goes into present tense for specific chapters and I'm sure there is a reason, but I wasn't experienced enough to see why, and I was way to engrossed in the story to stop and figure it out. Loved it.

from Amazon:

An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse, _Station Eleven tells the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity. 

One snowy night Arthur Leander, a famous actor, has a heart attack onstage during a production ofKing Lear. Jeevan Chaudhary, a paparazzo-turned-EMT, is in the audience and leaps to his aid. A child actress named Kirsten Raymonde watches in horror as Jeevan performs CPR, pumping Arthur’s chest as the curtain drops, but Arthur is dead. That same night, as Jeevan walks home from the theater, a terrible flu begins to spread. Hospitals are flooded and Jeevan and his brother barricade themselves inside an apartment, watching out the window as cars clog the highways, gunshots ring out, and life disintegrates around them. 

Fifteen years later, Kirsten is an actress with the Traveling Symphony. Together, this small troupe moves between the settlements of an altered world, performing Shakespeare and music for scattered communities of survivors. Written on their caravan, and tattooed on Kirsten’s arm is a line from Star Trek: “Because survival is insufficient.” But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who digs graves for anyone who dares to leave. 

Spanning decades, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, this suspenseful, elegiac novel is rife with beauty. As Arthur falls in and out of love, as Jeevan watches the newscasters say their final good-byes, and as Kirsten finds herself caught in the crosshairs of the prophet, we see the strange twists of fate that connect them all. A novel of art, memory, and ambition, Station Eleven tells a story about the relationships that sustain us, the ephemeral nature of fame, and the beauty of the world as we know it._


----------



## Pluralized

Finally found some focus this past week and read the entirety of _Blood Meridian_. 

I don't think I'll ever be the same. The violence is so vicious, but not because of a bunch of gory detail, just the _right_ detail. I found the prose to be incredibly well-flavored and I learned so many wonderful new words. I stand convinced that Cormac McCarthy is one of the finest fiction writers of his era. Can't believe how this book affected me. Highly recommend this 350-page epic work, but bring your stomach. Many scalpings and other senseless killings. Almost too much, but at the end of it all it makes for a perfectly tuned look into the aspects of Old West America that we have sugarcoated and glossed over for too long, including the slaughter of the buffalo. A satisfyingly bizarre ending, as well, which I liked.

Next, _The Broom of the System_ by David Foster Wallace and _Skagboys_ by Irvine Welsh. Been looking forward to both for months now.


----------



## ppsage

Thomas Ligotti, _Theatro Grottesco. _​Collection of shorts from the most terrifying horror author I've ever read.


----------



## escorial

bought 3 of her books and a poetry book..poetry was ok..first book was awful..so here goes


----------



## dither

Ben Elton's "Past Mortem" and it's a real page-turner.


----------



## am_hammy

I'm kind of all over the place with books. I just got a kindle for Christmas and while I do still like my books it's nice to have it for the features. It's like having my own personal library. Usually I know when I want to buy a book and unless it's more in the realm of being "scholarly" I don't buy books unless I know I will read them more than once. 

That being said, I'm also trying to branch out and kind of move past YA/Romance era of my reading. So I've started this book "PRIMAL: Origin" by Jack Silkstone. It's basically a kick-your-butt military action book. Never touched something like this before. I like it though. It's fast paced and is allowing me to broaden my horizons.


----------



## EliCruze

I'm currently reading Anne Rice's vampire chronicler series. I'm almost finished with Interview with a Vampire (was re-reading it actually since I read it in my teens) and about to read the Prince Lestat.


----------



## Lilith K Duat

I'm currently reading GRRM'S _A Dance with Dragons_, but I've been reading it for the last 2 years. I feel like nothing is happening.

I intend to read Linda Lovelace's _Ordeal _this month.


----------



## escorial

had to stop at page 50 because i just didn't want to finish it to soon.


----------



## dither

dither said:


> Ben Elton's "Past Mortem" and it's a real page-turner.



Just finished it.

WOW!

BRILLIANT.


----------



## escorial

dither said:


> Just finished it.
> 
> WOW!
> 
> BRILLIANT.



would be interested to know why dude?


----------



## dither

It's basically a "who dunnit?".
A very clever "who dunnit?" actually.
With plots and sub-plots. Twists and turns.
Towards the end i had to consciously slow my self down. I couldn't read the lines quickly enough.
The reader gets led up dead-ends.
Quite a few times it seemed obvious as to me where was story  leading, only to find myself  feeling totally baffled and bemused.


----------



## Wannabe

Trouble is my Business by Raymond Chandler


----------



## KJay

I just started Blood Red Horse by K M Grant. It's a children's book, but it sounds interesting  I read Powder by Kevin Sampson before this one, so I don't think it could be more contrasting...


----------



## MillennialWriter

Rick Riordan's House of Hades, Heroes of Olympus series.  But honestly I still can't get over about the deepest secret of one of the characters.


----------



## am_hammy

_Departure _ by A.G. Riddle. It's a sci-fi thriller. On chapter 9 and so far I'm intrigued. I hope it ends up to be a satisfying read. Seems like it so far ^_^


----------



## ppsage

_Villages, _by John Updike. One of his simple novels, the 21st I believe, which didn't win any Nobels or Pulitzers, but which is an interesting read none-the-less. It's another of the birth to death life journeys which are Updike's forte, this time about a soft-ware engineer in New England. As usual, it's mostly about sex. But the dust jacket has a reproduction of Ingres' 1862 painting _The Turkish Bath, _​so it's still classy.


----------



## Bruno Spatola




----------



## Angelwing

Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica, or at least parts of it. For school.


----------



## J Anfinson

I'm on a Richard Matheson kick. Starting _Now You See It._


----------



## J Anfinson

^ Highly recommend it. Now reading _Hunted Past Reason_.


----------



## Mr mitchell

Reading Tom Rob Smith, "The Farm." Really good, better have a good ending.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

Finishing up Cinder by Marrissa Meyer. Then onto Four by Veronica Roth.


----------



## TheWonderingNovice

I am finally able to get around to reading Catch 22. I always wanted to read it, never had the time. 

I just love the sarcastic humor in it. I now have a hefty repertoire of come backs that could last me a couple of months. 

Its pleasantly dark


----------



## Pluralized

Slogging through Shogun. It's getting good!


----------



## LordDarconis

I'm reading Entropy by Jeremy Rifkin. It's interesting applying engineering and thermodynamics to society and history.


----------



## escorial

Calans Eden....by LeeC..


----------



## Caragula

Adam Tooze, The Deluge.


----------



## Monaque

Just finished Legend by David Gemmell and now I`ve started Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. My friend at work said that I might find it a bit weird but I thought, no, I`ve read unusual books before. Twenty pages in and I`m thinking, this is weird.


----------



## LeeC

Finished it a bit back, but enjoyed "Miguel Street" by V. S. Naipaul
Lately for quiet moments away from beta reading, I enjoy rereading Frost's collection and Leopold's "A Sand County Almanac."


----------



## J Anfinson

Jack Ketchum's _Peaceable Kingdom_

His short stories are like reading my own daydreams. Often disturbing, but it's good to know I'm not the only one who dreams up such awful things.


----------



## Monaque

Given up on Perdido Street Station, it`s weird with caps W. Moved on to The Night circus.


----------



## Phil Istine

I've just started "The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists".


----------



## Monaque

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is a "not quite real" type of story, and very well written. But I`ve also just started The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke.


----------



## Loveabull

"Catch Me If You Can" by Frank Abagnale...terrific movie and even better book!


----------



## escorial

looked around for my copy of Firmin..could not find it so ordered it and that will be my next read...nice to re-read a book..and got it


----------



## dither

ORWELL, the life.
By D.J.Taylor.
Read a few of his books so why not read about the man?
Died at 46.
What a loss.


----------



## escorial

dither said:


> ORWELL, the life.
> By D.J.Taylor.
> Read a few of his books so why not read about the man?
> Died at 46.
> What a loss.




do you think that reading the works of Orwell will give you pre-concieved perceptions as to his character..?


----------



## voltigeur

Letters between Reagan and Breznev, minutes of National security meetings and declassified reports on other world situations.


----------



## Sforza

Right now I'm reading Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

Cress by Marissa Meyer.


----------



## dither

escorial said:


> do you think that reading the works of Orwell will give you pre-concieved perceptions as to his character..?



Basically, i read some of his stuff to see what all the fuss was about and i'm so glad that i did. If nothing else i sensed a great social awareness and conscience of him and such compassion, but the power of his writings, you just have to go there.
Now, reading about the man, i finding this particular offering about the man, as with every other, probably, hard going. It is, he is, of a bygone age but i'm determined to see it out.
Y'know? I used to dream of being a writer. I say "used to" as in i'm gradually realising the absurdity of that dream.
I've had, HAVE, such a cossetted life. I've been/seen nothing and nowhere. I have no points of reference in any way shape or form and reading about Orwell merely serves to reinforce that view.


Add on,
Am beginning to enjoy the read. I think i might like to have known him.
We shall see.

I think it's a book that demands to be read a second time but i just don't have the stamina. I'm at the Epilogue.

R.I.P. Orwell.


----------



## LeeC

I don't really have the time to start another book at the moment, but between beta reading and finalizing my own book, I've been rereading pieces in Jen's poetry collection "Magic Of Life." We all have different preferences and favorites, but in her collection my favorite is "Ode To Winter."


----------



## Kevin

Edward Abbey. I feel like I maybe shouldn't have. His descriptions of plant life are too similar to mine.


----------



## LeeC

Kevin said:


> Edward Abbey. I feel like I maybe shouldn't have. His descriptions of plant life are too similar to mine.


Forgive me, but that's the oddest reference to his writing that I've heard. May I ask which of his books?


----------



## Kevin

_Desert Solitaire_   ---- My neighbor brought it over and said I might like it. I did. But many of his ideas are too close to how I would or already do think. I wouldn't want to imitate him if I could help it, which means that my parallel evolutions could be tainted... in my mind.


----------



## Cindyj

Of Foreign Build by Jackie Parry. True story of their sails around the world. I love adventure stories.


----------



## Loveabull

Something I'm glad I do is that any recommendation or review that gets my interest means I put the book on my Barnes and Noble wish list. Then even months later I can refer back and order a few more. Some books have been on there a few years. There's about thirty on there right now. The point is sometimes I won't remember why a book is on the list or anything about it.

Makes for some pleasant surprises sometimes. My kid wanted to get me some books for Mother's Day so I directed him to the list. Guess it was just a random three and they arrived today. I felt like holy heck at work so it was great to have some new books to consume. One of them is "Meaty" by Samantha Irby. Don't know where I heard of her, but I can't put it down. Unflinching is an understatement. 

As you read the details of her appearance, her life, her Crohn's disease, you actually feel better about your own situation. No matter the stupid shit we wallow in she's in deeper. She has a blog...and a new fan!
http://bitchesgottaeat.blogspot.com/


----------



## Monaque

Big Red Tequila by Rick Riordan. Never heard of him before so bought a second hand on Amazon. Now I`ve ordered three more, although they aren`t easy to get over here in the UK. Love them, love the character, so much humour.
And not a little Tequila.


----------



## Harper J. Cole

Jem by Frederick Pohl. 50th book I've read in the SF Masterworks series (I'm trying to read all 74). Early days yet but it's shaping up to be an interesting story of exploring a new world.


----------



## R. Mountebank

Dan Simmons - Illium series.
A sci-fi epic incorporating The Illiad, The Odyessy, and Shakespares The Tempest.


----------



## Kevin

> Dan Simmons - Illium series


. pretty interesting, from a (relativel-) 'noob' writer's perspective (me),  the different styles/perspectives he used, in the same book, the extensive use of em dashes, the multiple character threads going on simultaneously, the re-reminding of the reader, to get them 'up to par' with where they(he ) are in each character's storyline. I'm SURE some would frown on such aspects, but I found it thoroughly enjoyable, both as a fan of intelligent sci-fi, and character development. The drunken, snide poet always got a chuckle. I know that guy, and he's an a-hole, but I'd still visit.


----------



## R. Mountebank

Yeah. He was a difficult character to like. I wanted to throttle the life out of several others too. I guess you are doing something right when the reader has that reaction yet keeps reading.


----------



## ppsage

_Embassytown_ China Mieville. Iridescent.


----------



## Whiskeyjack

The Autumn Republic - Brian McClellan. It's awesome so far, although, I'm just a couple of chapters in.


----------



## dither

Just finished "The Servant Girl" by Maggie Hope.
I found it intense, harrowing at times, deeply disturbing and impossible to put down.
Read in just a couple of days.


----------



## Gavrushka

Rereading the 'Lucifer Code' by Michael Cordy, for research as much as entertainment. Also, I'm finally making progress on my beta reading pile.


----------



## am_hammy

I'm reading _The Invisible Man _again by H. G. Wells. I first picked up a copy at my library when I was in middle school and was hooked. Found it on kindle so I'm indulging all over again to remind myself of it.


----------



## escorial

am_hammy said:


> I'm reading _The Invisible Man _again by H. G. Wells. I first picked up a copy at my library when I was in middle school and was hooked. Found it on kindle so I'm indulging all over again to remind myself of it.




a good read is often worth another...sometimes years later...cool


----------



## Loveabull

"A Ticket to the Circus" by Norris Church Mailer. Norman Mailer was probably very intelligent, quite gifted and sexy as all get out in private, but then he would go on a talk show and start throwing punches...complex to say the least.


----------



## Mesafalcon

_Moby Dick._

On page 100ish and we still haven't set out to sea yet. 

I wonder what reviewers would say of it today as far as "leaving things out that aren't important to the story." 

I am enjoying it, can't believe it was written SO long ago. And I didn't know Herman Melville actually has experiance at sea. So, it's not just a story pulled out of thin air so to speak. Which is why it feels so genuine I guess.


----------



## escorial




----------



## Terry D

Just started Cormac McCarthy's _Blood Meridian_. As with other McCarthy novels the writing is unconventional. The author uses punctuation sparingly, does not use quotation marks, and does not use apostrophes in contractions during dialogue. His style takes some getting used to, but the prose is spare and powerful. I've read _The Road _and enjoyed it, I love the movie version of _No Country for Old Men_, so I decided to try _Blood Meridian_. It is on many 10 best lists.


----------



## J Anfinson

Terry D said:


> Just started Cormac McCarthy's _Blood Meridian_. As with other McCarthy novels the writing is unconventional. The author uses punctuation sparingly, does not use quotation marks, and does not use apostrophes in contractions during dialogue. His style takes some getting used to, but the prose is spare and powerful. I've read _The Road _and enjoyed it, I love the movie version of _No Country for Old Men_, so I decided to try _Blood Meridian_. It is on many 10 best lists.



I started The Road but couldn't get used to the lack of quote marks. Maybe some day when I'm bored enough.


----------



## Terry D

J Anfinson said:


> I started The Road but couldn't get used to the lack of quote marks. Maybe some day when I'm bored enough.



It took me some time to get into the flow of _The Road_. It's taken less with _Blood Meridian_.


----------



## Crowley K. Jarvis

Mesafalcon said:


> _Moby Dick._
> 
> On page 100ish and we still haven't set out to sea yet.
> 
> I wonder what reviewers would say of it today as far as "leaving things out that aren't important to the story."
> 
> I am enjoying it, can't believe it was written SO long ago. And I didn't know Herman Melville actually has experiance at sea. So, it's not just a story pulled out of thin air so to speak. Which is why it feels so genuine I guess.



The writing style takes some getting used to...

I had a copy but stopped somewhere after another of his stories.


----------



## PiP

I'm currently reading The Abomination of Norma by one of our popular members, Dale Hollin.

Great story, Dale!


----------



## J Anfinson

Terry D said:


> It took me some time to get into the flow of _The Road_. It's taken less with _Blood Meridian_.



Having to reread sentences to figure out whether something was a thought or dialogue was what got to me.

I guess I just don't like to have to put a lot of effort into reading anything. If I struggle much, it goes in the rainy day pile.


----------



## Kevin

> ...again by H. G. Wells.


 I have a hardback anthology, collection of... _Fruit of the Gods_ is a bit of a struggle...have to pay attention... different style (for him) I like it, I would say... a lot.


----------



## aggieamy

number9dream by David Mitchell for my book club.

Writing Fiction by Janet Burroway.


----------



## Pluralized

I'm muddling through Gabor Mate's _In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts_. Such a sad, powerful book about addiction on the streets of Vancouver. Hope to finish that tonight and get into _Helliconia Rising_.


----------



## LeeC

Something I've just gotten into a little bit, and thinking of purchasing.

Pax Americana by Paul Otremba


The poems in Pax Americana are born out of the violent, fractious, and disillusioning opening to the 21st century. The decade of protracted wars and economic collapse—coupled with the polarizing of wealth and ideologies in this country—create the catalysts for this book. These are social poems that want to talk, and through talking hopefully make a space where people can meet and find meaning in each other.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

The thing that gets me about works like this is that seemingly few understand it's just history repeating itself ;-)


----------



## Terry D

Kevin said:


> I have a hardback anthology, collection of... *Fruit of the Gods* is a bit of a struggle...have to pay attention... different style (for him) I like it, I would say... a lot.



Did you mean, _*Food* of the Gods_?


----------



## Kevin

Ha! (what an idiot) Yes, Food of the Gods, no wonder I struggle   It's great. I read it before bed. 100+ years old language, right? I like it. The bindings are only 40 years old so I feel kind of bad, but... I pulled if off a trash pile, in decent condition, so... I'm reading it: _Food of the Gods, War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, Island of Dr. Moreau, First Men in the Moon._


----------



## Terry D

Kevin said:


> Ha! (what an idiot) Yes, Food of the Gods, no wonder I struggle   It's great. I read it before bed. 100+ years old language, right? I like it. The bindings are only 40 years old so I feel kind of bad, but... I pulled if off a trash pile, in decent condition, so... I'm reading it: _Food of the Gods, War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, Island of Dr. Moreau, First Men on the Moon._



Some great stuff there. _The War of the Worlds_ was one of the first books I can remember reading (I would have bee about 8 years old at the time).


----------



## Carlton




----------



## Loveabull

Just finished "Dead Center" by Shiya Ribowski. Inside the New York Medical Examiners office. Fascinating stuff but not while you're eating.


----------



## Carlton

...oops! I am also starting to read:


----------



## dither

The catcher in the rye:

Thanks to a lively discussion that happened in here somewhere, i went out and got a copy from my local library. Thought i'd go see what all the fuss was about. I've just finished chapter 5 and i'm enjoying the read but more so i'm enjoying Mr. Salinger's writing.
Might just have to read this twice. I've never done that before, have never "thought" that about a book before. Interesting.

Actually, i DID notice a book about the man himself when i borrowed The catcher in the rye and wondered which i should first, the man or the book but here i am with the book.
We shall see.


----------



## Allysan

I just finished An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir   Great read! Last night I started the second book in the Talan series by Julie Kagawa called Rogue. Decent so far!


----------



## Devium

Just finished Murakami's 1Q84. Interesting, but could have been shorter. Now moving on to Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five.


----------



## Pluralized

Finished Coelho's _The Alchemist_ in one sitting today (been trying to make time for a while). Superb novel, if a bit grandiose at times.

Next, Guterson's _The Other_.


----------



## escorial

packing books away i made the mistake of opening a book about Kandinsky ....spent a very enjoyable hour just looking at his paintings


----------



## Pluralized

Just finished moving m'self. Gave away 600+ books prior to the move; made myself retain only 25. Had to whittle my collection hard, but now I'm plowing through and finally close to reading all the books I own.  Moving sucks -- sucks double when you own a shit-ton of books.


----------



## escorial

Pluralized said:


> Just finished moving m'self. Gave away 600+ books prior to the move; made myself retain only 25. Had to whittle my collection hard, but now I'm plowing through and finally close to reading all the books I own.  Moving sucks -- sucks double when you own a shit-ton of books.




what was the 25 man......


----------



## LeeC

Read the book some time back ("A Most Wanted Man" by John le Carré), but last night watched the movie adapted from such. To me, many of his books are more than just "spy" stories in bringing out levels of the human condition, something I see overly lacking in general.


----------



## Carlton




----------



## J Anfinson




----------



## escorial

not reading much but looking mainly...a book on german expressionism


----------



## Blade

I am reading an historical novel named _1812, a novel _by David Nevin. I am about 160 pages in and have quite enjoyed it so far. As far as I can tell it is historically accurate and the author supplies dramatization of the MC's lives as well as commentary on the political and military issues of the day.

I find it very interesting as it is the first time I have read an account of the war from the American point of view. It kind of comes across as phase two of the American revolution.


----------



## bunnybun

I'm reading so many different book at the same time at the moment. But I'll say Grass For His Pillow.


----------



## Schrody

Beyond Star trek.


----------



## John T. K.

Currently reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. 

Audiobooks that I am listening to: The Winds of War by Herman Wouk. I've read this a few times before. One of my favorites. Also listening to Stephen King on Writing, which I've read once before.


----------



## Kepharel

My "Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture" arrived a couple of days ago.  It's a short book that uses Uncle Petros as a foil for a look-see into the Olympian world of great mathematicians.  There are good insights into their nature. I shall be finishing it tonight probably and it has pointed me to some persons of interest that I might pursue, the biggest stand-out guy being Srinivasa Ramanujan Ivengar. I need to deffo find out more about this guy. Goldbach's Conjecture, by the way, is that any even number above 2 can be expressed as the sum of 2 prime numbers. Something so easily understood you might think easy to solve.  If you manage it, a Fields Medal at the very least is waiting for you


----------



## Terry D

Stephen King's, _Finder's Keepers_, the sequel to _Mr. Mercedes_.

John T. K.  





> Currently reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.




I just finished _Blood Meridian_, what do you think of it?


----------



## Pluralized

_The Other_ by David Guterson - Simple yet amazing book about friendship which resonates heavily with me. One of those books I wish would never end, but it's pretty short.


----------



## Olly Buckle

"It's what I do; a Photographer's Life of Love and War" by Lynsey Addario.

A beautifully produced book, good paper, decent margins, nice font, and beautiful pictures, quite a number of them of horrific things and situations, some heart-warming. The lady makes her living from war, and distributes a powerful anti-war message. Her interest is more in the effects of war on the non-combatants than on heroic deeds, and her gender gives her access to people and information that is not always distributed.

My friend who works for the publisher pitches this at book fairs, she said every time she does so it starts her crying, I can see that, it is one that should be read.

It is also priced at £20 in the Uk, which considering the quality of production and content seems dirt cheap, most books I pass on, this is one I will keep, or at least want back.


----------



## ArrowInTheBowOfTheLord

I'm reading Lord of the Rings, right now I'm at the beginning of the Return of the King.

I was also re-reading bits and pieces of _Father Elijah _(by Michael O' Brien) . . .Like any good book, it's even better the second time.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

I'm reading Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts.

It is fabulously good. I'm excited.


----------



## Arthur G. Mustard

Just finished Bad Monkeys,  written by Matt Ruff. I bought it for the cover! The blurb sounded promising too and it delivered.  Funny, strange and weird; a fast paced thriller with a touch of The Matrix.  Not a particularly long book, but nevertheless a good read which you can't put down.

Moving on to The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.  Wanted to read it for a long time, only 50 pages in.


----------



## Deleted member 56686

I'm finally reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I'm about halfway through, it's getting quite interesting.


----------



## Monaque

I`m reading Patrick Rothfuss` The Name Of The Wind, to see what all the fuss is about, no pun intended.
So far, so good.


----------



## Teb

Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Jeff Lindsay.

Not too bad so far.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

Reading Beyonders: Chasing the Prophecy by Brandon Mull, First Love by James Patterson and V for Vendetta by Allen Moore and David Lloyd.


----------



## TimH216

Currently reading 1984 by George Orwell. The vision of a Dystopian future in which we are all watched by Big Brother.


----------



## stevesh

Re-reading _To Kill A Mockingbird_. It's a much better book today than it was when I was in high school 45 years ago.


----------



## Olly Buckle

To set a watchman, it's a crummy book compared to To kill a mockingbird.
Watching the English, Kate Fox
Fox Lane on Classical Greece and Rome
The bloody game, first hand accounts of war
Life and times of Jane Austen
Early one morning


----------



## No Cat No Cradle

Got done recently with "Foundation" by Isaac Asimov (loved it!)
"Ubik" by Philip K. Dick (Really enjoyed it, though not at all what I thought it was going to be.)

Now currently reading "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov and "Inferno" by Dante. Then next up is "Amerika" by Franz Kafka


----------



## J Anfinson

Just finished Neverland by Douglas Clegg. 

Good story. Not the best horror I've read, but better than most.


----------



## dither

Am coming to the end of "To Kill a Mocking Bird" and once again i am in awe of the writing.
This book could have been written for GP.
He jumps off the pages at me.
Amazing.


Finished it and i'm confused.

At first,
i thought the story was about Tom Robinson, and then, i thought it was about Atticus.
It's, it's, about America.
Isn't it?


----------



## dither

Well i don't know. I went into my local Library with just one thought, find a Steinbeck. I paced up and down, scoured the shelves, found nothing, and then this book-title grabbed my attention like nothing else ever has. I couldn't believe how strongly that i was drawn to it.
Now here i am, at chapter two, of " The Lavender Keeper" by Fiona McIntosh.
A yarn set in France during the second world war and, it's going okay. We shall see.


----------



## Terry D

Just started Mark Twain's, _The Innocents Abroad_. I'm looking forward to reading Twain's thoughts and observations unfiltered by a character's POV.


----------



## Rabber

I usually go back and forth between two or three at a time.

Currently I am reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Interviewing and Interrogation for Law Enforcement.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

Continuing reading Beyonders: Chasing the Prophecy by Brandon Mull and V for Vendetta by Allen Moore and David Lloyd. Also reading American Sniper by Chris Kyle.


----------



## J Anfinson

Just finished_ I'll Tell Them I Remember You_ by William Peter Blatty. It's funny, it's nostalgia-provoking, it's just a great read. I recommend it.


----------



## dither

"The Lavender Keeper".
By one Fiona McIntosh.

Well,
it's basically a tale of love, romance and espionage in a war-torn France. A tear-jerker and a page-turner.

Brilliant read.

Totally recommended.


----------



## Aquilo

King Perry, by Edmond Manning.


----------



## AtleanWordsmith

Currently reading the _Child 44_ trilogy, though I've got to admit that I would have been happier to have just read _Child 44_ and not bothered with the sequels.


----------



## ismith

Currently in the middle of "Catch 22".


----------



## Shi

Ooooh, "Catch 22", another book I'll definitely read.

Just finished "Nineteen Eighty Four" by George Orwell, and, man, was that a mind fuck!

Started on "Haunted Ground" by Erin Hart, and it's turning out to be a wonderful book. It's about bog men and archeologists and beheaded red-haired girls.

The moderators or the designers of this forum should make a thing for our profile page where it says what book we're reading now, and have an accompanying tidbit about said book. It'll make everyone's day brighter if they have a good book recommendation to look forwards to!


----------



## Olly Buckle

I gave my Mum Catch 22 when she was in her eighties, she phoned me up to tell me it was taking her an age to read, it was 'so dense, something in every line, wonderful'. She knew a good book when she read one.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Just booted up, a few days ago, "The Best Short Stories of J.G Ballard". Some real good stories in here! : D


----------



## MzSnowleopard

Zodiac, a novel by Romina Russell

as I shared on my Facebook writer's page:

In checking out the latest in YA fiction, I found one that caught my attention: Zodiac written by Romina Russell. So of course, I had to buy it. I have only just started reading and for a first person story, I like it. My first question was- is it anything like my own work? While there are one or two similarities- the answer is no. For one, Romina uses the 13th sign. For another the story is set in another galaxy. For other details that vastly differ- y'all will just have to buy her book. I found my copy at Barnes and Nobles for $17.99.

As I said, I have just started reading this book - as in today. It's Romina's first novel and I wish her well with it and future works.


----------



## J Anfinson

William Peter Blatty - _Elsewhere_


----------



## Wandering Man

A Dirty Job - Christopher Moore


----------



## escorial

just ordered ..Clock Without Hands..by Carson Mcullers after this i've read all her stuff..for a young person man she had depth in her writing


----------



## aurora borealis

I'm one of those people who has 7 books on the go at once.

I finished _1984_ by George Orwell yesterday. I was not expecting it to end the way it did at all.

Right now I'm reading _The Arms of Krupp_ by William Manchester (about the Krupp family of armament-makers in Germany), _Post Captain _by Patrick O'Brian (British navy during the Napoleonic wars, similar to Hornblower series), _The Constant Princess_ by Philippa Gregory (Tudor-era romance & intrigue), _Simon Wiesenthal: The Life and Legends_ by Tom Segev (a biography), and _Macbeth_ by William Shakespeare.


----------



## MrTiggles

Re-reading the Forgotten Realms books, been a long time and wanted to read the newest releases.
Am currently on streams of silver.


----------



## escorial

come to day....stoner........looking forward to reading it..


----------



## Winston

Finally got around to reading *One Second After *by William Forstchen.  

I'll be reviewing it (mainly for content) soon.  In it's unique way that book is more frightening than any work by King or Koontz.


----------



## dither

I got a copy of Orwell's nineteen eighty four today and i'm looking to starting it.
Expectation is high, i've  read quite a few of his.


----------



## TKent

Hmm... self-professed book addict that I am:

Finished since Thanksgiving: 

PlanetFall by Emma Newman - LOVED THIS (sci-fi - could not put this down)
The Girl with all the Gifts - LOVED THIS (a unique spin on zombies)
The Age of Miracles - Karen Thompson Walker - Very different End of the World - more YA coming of age than dystopian. I enjoyed it!
Dawn by Octavia Butler - I have been meaning to read this for some time - sci-fi / aliens - it did not disappoint. It is book 1 and I just finished it on a drive to Asheville and cannot wait for book 2.


----------



## Pluralized

_The Book of Legendary Lands_


----------



## J Anfinson

Mystery Walk- McCammon


----------



## kilroy214

I just finished Drive by James Sallis. It had a few things I didn't like, but over all a good read. This would be a good example of Strunk&White's rule "remove unnecessary words". It's short, and to the point, by god.
I might have to check out the sequel.


----------



## Monaque

Over Christmas i finished Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, one of the most unique stories i`ve ever read. Told in the form of a series of emails and messages and video logs and an assorted of other ways as an attack on a colony is investigated. The whole thing is set in the future and looked at in the past. Thoroughly enjoyable but eye opening.
Also finished the first in the Walt Longmire series by Craig Johnson and the fourth in the Tres Navarre series by Rick Riordan. I love the Tres Navarre series, very well written and enjoyable, humour filled, main character. I have a host of other books to read, the pile having been added to liberally as my presents arrived. Among them, The Girl On The train (paula hawkins), The Wise Man`s Fear (patrick rothfuss), What Remains (tim weaver), and Tigerman (nick harkaway). 
I have also got some digital books to get through.
Wish me luck!

Monaque.


----------



## JustRob

I've just finished reading _The Arrow of Time _by Peter Coveney and Roger Highfield. 

Published in 1990 this factual record of scientists' attempts to prove that time goes forwards may be a little out of date now but it does show just how difficult a task it is. After many chapters on all the various major models of reality upon which science relies, none of which apparently prove the point conclusively, their best advice is just to trust what our senses seem to tell us. I've been having trouble with that recently unfortunately.

Even if some of the reasoning escapes one's comprehension the background stories about the scientists involved over the years are entertaining. One of the more amusing must be that about the underlying principles of the "Big Bang" creation of the universe. Not only was the paper published on April Fool's Day 1948 but the authors Ralph Alpher and George Gamow asked Hans Bethe, who had not been involved at all, to allow his name to be added to it so that the list of authors apparently read "Alpha, Beta, Gamma" for the sake of symmetry. I suppose it proves the fact that it's the story that you tell and not how it's presented that ultimately wins over the readers.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Infinite Jest- David Foster Wallace.
The Republic- Plato.
While Mortals Sleep- Kurt Vonnegut Jr.


----------



## Winston

"When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops" by George Carlin.

Saw him live about 20 years ago.  Brilliant man.  I could hear his voice reading his book.  Unmistakable tone.


----------



## Schrody

A Scanner Darkly - Phillip K. Dick


----------



## J Anfinson

Just finished_ If I Die In A Combat Zone_ - Tim O'Brien. Good stuff.


----------



## escorial

bought 3 of her books last year..read one and was shattered mentally by the end but time is a great healer and i decided i would try and get her style...a struggle but hey...


----------



## kekmaw

Last book I read was Total Recall by Arnold Schwarzenegger. I loved it, I'm a big fan of his movies but even more of him, he's a huge inspiration in life and business.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy




----------



## TKent

Loved, loved, loved this entire trilogy!!! The author is a history teacher and especially in book 2, her history teaching colors shine through. Loved the Oxford library setting as well!!



Ol' Fartsy said:


>


----------



## TKent

Just finished reading The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. It was a book club choice and my first thought was, "Not another historical WWII novel," given that we have already read several historical war novels last year, but I am so glad I was stuck in the chair at the hair salon and pushed through the first chapter. This book did a number on my emotions. I ended up staying up through the night and into the morning to finish it and was literally 'rocking' the bed I was crying so hard at the end!! Woke up today with 2 black eyes where my mascara had run during the night. Then, CRIED AGAIN! I don't ever remember crying a second time for a book!!  It truly was a wonderful story, great writing, and technically sound.


----------



## Allysan

TKent said:


> Just finished reading The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. It was a book club choice and my first thought was, "Not another historical WWII novel," given that we have already read several historical war novels last year, but I am so glad I was stuck in the chair at the hair salon and pushed through the first chapter. This book did a number on my emotions. I ended up staying up through the night and into the morning to finish it and was literally 'rocking' the bed I was crying so hard at the end!! Woke up today with 2 black eyes where my mascara had run during the night. Then, CRIED AGAIN! I don't ever remember crying a second time for a book!!  It truly was a wonderful story, great writing, and technically sound.



i just finished it too!! I haven't cried that hard since I finished The Infernal Devices trilogy. I had the audio version on my headphones and was crying into my cooking, blaming the onions when my husband noticed! What a great story!


----------



## escorial

just ordered it..man i like the deep south writers....


----------



## Bard_Daniel

escorial said:


> View attachment 11427
> 
> just ordered it..man i like the deep south writers....



Definitely let me know what you think escorial. I'm a big fan of what I've read by William Faulkner.


----------



## escorial

will do howling wolf......cool man


----------



## Schrody

The Selfish Gene. What? I like to read more books at once


----------



## escorial

danielstj said:


> Definitely let me know what you think escorial. I'm a big fan of what I've read by William Faulkner.




been doing a bit of research in Faulkner and came across this dude...i found it very insightful and gave me more to look forward to...

[video]https://youtu.be/lUK698jJbmU[/video]


----------



## Patrick

The one constant is the Bible for one hour a day. That hasn't changed in years. I also have an ongoing thing with Ulysses, the complete works of Shakepeare and Byron. I am also going back to Dante's The Divine Comedy quite a bit and Tolkien's Silmarillion. 

Could do with a bit more Ahprodite Kallipygos, and a bit more :drunk:.


----------



## Schrody

I'm really enjoying "The Selfish Gene" - I'm no Dawkins fan, but this book is really good! Maybe because it was his first one :lol:


----------



## Terry D

I just received my new copy of Robert McCammon's _They Thirst_. I haven't read it in more than 30 years, but remember it as one of the best horror novels I'd read up to that point. It had been out of print for a long time, so to get a new one is quite a treat. It's a vampire novel from a time before vampires became _de rigueur_. I like monsters.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

Right now I am reading Blade Playing Dead by Tim Bowler.


----------



## dither

dither said:


> I got a copy of Orwell's nineteen eighty four today and i'm looking to starting it.
> Expectation is high, i've  read quite a few of his.



I've read about two thirds of this and like wow!
Orwell, how amazing WAS that man?
Incredible.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Now working on:

A Clash of Kings- George R.R Martin (surprisingly good)
My Best Stories- Alice Munro (very good)



dither said:


> I've read about two thirds of this and like wow!
> Orwell, how amazing WAS that man?
> Incredible.



I started with Animal Farm and 1984 back in high school. His non-fiction is REALLY good too. The Road to Wigan Pier and Down and Out in Paris and London are also amazing.


----------



## dither

danielstj said:


> Now working on:
> 
> A Clash of Kings- George R.R Martin (surprisingly good)
> My Best Stories- Alice Munro (very good)
> 
> 
> 
> I started with Animal Farm and 1984 back in high school. His non-fiction is REALLY good too. The Road to Wigan Pier and Down and Out in Paris and London are also amazing.



Yes, i've read those two. Enjoyed them both.


----------



## Olly Buckle

'A Whole Life' by Rober Seethaler; translated by Charlotte Collins, lovely writing, a short book that demonstrates beautifully that 'less is more'. This is seventy eight years in one hundred and forty eight pages, and you know him intimately.


----------



## MzSnowleopard

Just picked up a copy of a new book. Extreme Honor ( the true heroes series) by Piper J. Drake. The 2 main characters are brought together by a soldier dog suffering the loss of his partner. The man is a soldier / dog trainer, the woman is a dog whisperer. 

I have a like for stories involving animals that bring people together. This one promises to be good.


----------



## escorial

danielstj said:


> Definitely let me know what you think escorial. I'm a big fan of what I've read by William Faulkner.



Got to page 22 and thought who said what,where are they...so I went back and read the forward by Richard Hughes to get my bearings..a simpleton who has no concept of time..OK..start again..just got to page 60 and can't read anymore..I struggle to get who's saying what and to whom.. an were they are is beyond me..had enough..this an the last book I read have both been unfinished...well man like hemingway another great author I just can't read.....


----------



## ppsage

My favorite recommendations to people wanting to read Faulkner are _Intruder in the Dust_ and _Go Down Moses. _I am a great fan of his work and I did manage to choke my way through _Sound and Fury_ once, but I'd never do it again. Of all his many books he never wrote another like it again either. I do sometimes look at bits of S&F's fourth section, which is fairly pertinent to the whole saga. Otherwise, burn the damn thing. ( A fan of Steinbeck might especially appreciate _Intruder_ I think.)


----------



## escorial

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer....been a while but I'm looking forward to it again


----------



## Olly Buckle

Just finished 'Penguin lessons' by Tom Michell, not bad, an amusing, easy read.


> The Adventures of Tom Sawyer....been a while but I'm looking forward to it again


I know it comes first, but Huck Finn is an amazing book, probably the best he ever wrote, don't forget to carry on into it. He also wrote an awful  lot more I discovered trawling second hand shops over the years, mostly worth a read, which isn't bad a hundred + years on.


----------



## dither

dither said:


> I've read about two thirds of this and like wow!
> Orwell, how amazing WAS that man?
> Incredible.



Well, it could only end one way i suppose.
Not sure that i totally " got it ".


----------



## H.Brown

Hello everyone.
I'm currently reading Robert Jordan's wheel of time series. I'm on book six and completly addicted. I enjoy seeing what everyone else is reading  and seeing titles/authors I have never heard of that I may read in the future is awsome. a great thread.


----------



## TKent

Reading "Delicious Foods" by James Hanaham. 

Saw this on the Publisher's Weekly list of best books of 2015 then when I looked it up on Amazon, saw how many other lists it was on so I bought it. It is going to be one of those books that stays with me for a long time. Very gritty, dark, heartbreaking so far. But one of the reviews promised a bit of hope/redemption before it is all done. The voice is so unique, the writing wonderful. I keep going back and rereading paragraphs, in awe of the writer's skill. One of the narrators is Scotty who tells it like it is. Scotty is actually 'crack' cocaine and tells crackhead Darlene's story from within her mixed up head. Have been so busy, I can only read it when I go to bed. Bleary-eyed from several LONG nights where I couldn't put it down.

*NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR: New York Times, Washington Post

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, Kirkus, BuzzFeed, National Post, Kansas City Star

TOP 10 BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Publishers Weekly

TOP 15 BOOKS OF THE YEAR: BookPage
*


----------



## TKent

TKent said:


> Reading "Delicious Foods" by James Hanaham.
> 
> Saw this on the Publisher's Weekly list of best books of 2015 then when I looked it up on Amazon, saw how many other lists it was on so I bought it. It is going to be one of those books that stays with me for a long time. Very gritty, dark, heartbreaking so far. But one of the reviews promised a bit of hope/redemption before it is all done. The voice is so unique, the writing wonderful. I keep going back and rereading paragraphs, in awe of the writer's skill. One of the narrators is Scotty who tells it like it is. Scotty is actually 'crack' cocaine and tells crackhead Darlene's story from within her mixed up head. Have been so busy, I can only read it when I go to bed. Bleary-eyed from several LONG nights where I couldn't put it down.
> 
> *NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR: New York Times, Washington Post
> 
> A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, Kirkus, BuzzFeed, National Post, Kansas City Star
> 
> TOP 10 BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Publishers Weekly
> 
> TOP 15 BOOKS OF THE YEAR: BookPage
> *



ETA: If you read and like this book, I highly recommend WF member, Terry Durbin's book, Chase.


----------



## escorial

ain't seen the film yet...


----------



## Sonata

I had fished out my reading specs and was sitting outside in the sunshine reading "Mother Tongue" by Bill Bryson, when the puppy decided to tangle her tether round one of my wheels.  SIGH

Took specs off and leaned down to untangle her...

...and did the usual, fell off my chair and face hit the ground.  Rough concrete.

And I wondered why that book [and others] are still waiting to be read?


----------



## ppsage

_Mayflower_ by Nathaniel Philbrick.  Pretty tight academics, for a patriotic paean. Miles Standish has just carried out his first preemptive beheading against a neighboring sachem and his entourage.


----------



## dither

I've just started reading a Hemingway, borrowed it from my local library for no other reason than i thought that i ought to. And i'm finding it hard going. I find his writing ( please forgive me i'm new to this ) very similar to that of Orwell's but  EH simply isn't pulling me in/pulling me along like GO did. Maybe that says much about their backgrounds or the times in which they lived, or both.
Sticking with it for now anyway.

" Across the river and into the trees."


----------



## Dave Watson

The Queen of Bedlam by Robert McCammon, book two of his Matthew Corbett series, set in colonial times America. Annoyingly, these books are really hard to get your hands on in the UK due to some sort of publishing/distribution clusterfudge.


----------



## Blue

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Pretty classic. And I'm kind of obsessed at the minute...


----------



## Olly Buckle

Blue said:


> The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Pretty classic. And I'm kind of obsessed at the minute...



I had a period of reading these, different collections quite often have an odd story in them that is not in the others so you can go on discovering them for a while. They are also fairly common in charity shops which makes it affordable. It is a style and form I have always wanted to imitate and never been able to satisfactorily.


----------



## MzSnowleopard

Re-reading Extreme Honor by Piper J Drake, yeah, it's that good.


----------



## T.S.Bowman

I am just getting ready to start reading Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman


----------



## Reichelina

I'll start reading NIGHT by Elie Wiesel.


----------



## am_hammy

Reichelina said:


> I'll start reading NIGHT by Elie Wiesel.



It's a fantastic book. Very intense and emotional. Read it in high school while doing journal exercises alongside it. Good choice.


----------



## Olly Buckle

T.S.Bowman said:


> I am just getting ready to start reading Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman


Slightly predictable, but great fun, if you enjoy this try 'Rivers of London by Ben Aaranovitch.


----------



## escorial

Just finished..Why I Write by Eric Blair......will start Adventures of Huckleberry Finn tomorrow....


----------



## Olly Buckle

Finished 'The Bloody Game', an anthology of modern war edited by Paul Fussell. It covers the first and second world war, Korea, and Vietnam. It is mostly first hand, soldiers letters home, and poetry feature largely in the first world war, by the time of Vietnam the soldiers are not writing so  much, and they have a strange disconnection, there is a lot more from 'support groups', flight attendants, entertainers, journalists, it is interesting how it changes. Mostly it is from an allied/western point of view, but there is the occasional piece by a German retreating from Russia, or a NVA unit being bombed by B52's. The real attraction though is that "This is real, I was here" factor that Bernard Shaw talks about in the introduction to 'Diary of a super tramp'. Ordinary people writing about extra-ordinary things that actually happened to them, it makes compelling reading, and there are some images that will stay with me.


----------



## dither

escorial said:


> Just finished..Why I Write by Eric Blair......will start Adventures of Huckleberry Finn tomorrow....



I must check that one out.


----------



## dither

dither said:


> I've just started reading a Hemingway, borrowed it from my local library for no other reason than i thought that i ought to. And i'm finding it hard going. I find his writing ( please forgive me i'm new to this ) very similar to that of Orwell's but  EH simply isn't pulling me in/pulling me along like GO did. Maybe that says much about their backgrounds or the times in which they lived, or both.
> Sticking with it for now anyway.
> 
> " Across the river and into the trees."



Well, i read it, that's all.


----------



## escorial

dither said:


> I must check that one out.




orwells essays are brill...


----------



## J Anfinson

J.N. Williamson - Ghost.

Good story so far, but the excessive use of exclamation points is getting to me. We'll just have to see if it's worth continuing.


----------



## Terry D

Started _The Martian_, by Andy Weir. The best opening line I've read in decades.

_I'm pretty much fucked._

If those four words don't make you want to keep reading, then you haven't got a pulse.


----------



## LeeC

Being sent a copy of a book I've only seen parts of so far. 

"The Wild in You" is a book of poetry by Lorna Crozier. I like the way, without noticeable poetic mechanisms, she describes the wild places.


----------



## Monaque

Reading Spin by Robert Charles Wilson, first in a trilogy. Very good sci-fi, but almost more about the people than about the science. Some sci-fi is very hard science, and this is in part, but the lives of the people in the forefront shine even more brightly. Also reading the second in the Kingkiller series A Wise Mans Fear, which is as good as the first.


----------



## escorial

just finished Alice in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass...weird or what..!!!.....back to Orwell...essay..Books and Cigarettes...back to realism....


----------



## escorial

bought 1984 today....for some reason i have read many of his works,again and again.... more than any other author and he is not my fav or maybe he is and it doesn't sit well with my love of american literature...


----------



## LeX_Domina

anyone else actually like Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury?
been thinking of reading 1984--no real reason I haven't other than the fact that I haven't read literary fiction in a while now
I will also say that ocatvia butler's Fledgeling was one of the best vampiore novels I ever read ,though I don't really favor her stuff,despite being black myself..
I find myself reading comics more lately though an getting mad


----------



## dither

escorial said:


> bought 1984 today....for some reason i have read many of his works,again and again.... more than any other author and he is not my fav or maybe he is and it doesn't sit well with my love of american literature...



Escorial,
that book, that man, amazing.

Just finished Steinbeck's "East of Eden".

The power of the pen eh? HIS pen.

Shall take a short break the crack on with "Tortilla flat".


----------



## escorial

i'm coming around to the idea that steinbeck and orwell are very similar in style and tone.....east of eden..man the film is so poor but the book is great


----------



## escorial

tortilla flat then cannery row followed by sweet thursday would be a good order to read.....tortilla is so like the other two which are the same storyline..part1 and 2


----------



## dither

I shall certainly be keeping a sharp look-out for Steinbecks at my local library.


----------



## escorial

libraries always have a copy of grapes of wrath...gritty and miserable read but done with compassion....feelings...


----------



## LeX_Domina

hm...never read the book and cringed at the film.will read it when i get the chance.some things just don't translaet,like the color purple is way different than the book (both good) and Dune by Frank hurbert (did i spell that right).book and movie way different.

as of now,i started the anita blake series back up...I am not reading in order,however I will warn everyone though to stop at obsidian butterfly.afterwards it goes to shit with cerulean sin and narcissus in chains


----------



## escorial

LeX_Domina said:


> hm...never read the book and cringed at the film.will read it when i get the chance.some things just don't translaet,like the color purple is way different than the book (both good) and Dune by Frank hurbert (did i spell that right).book and movie way different.
> 
> as of now,i started the anita blake series back up...I am not reading in order,however I will warn everyone though to stop at obsidian butterfly.afterwards it goes to shit with cerulean sin and obsidian butterfly



books to film..yeah few cross over to well..best crossover i can think of is kestrel for a knave....Kes


----------



## dither

escorial said:


> libraries always have a copy of grapes of wrath...gritty and miserable read but done with compassion....feelings...



Gotta be done i suppose.
Will check it out.


----------



## escorial

dither said:


> Gotta be done i suppose.
> Will check it out.




all his works are on audio book on youtube.....if you could be bothered..but it's all there


----------



## Olly Buckle

Someone gave me a collected Steinbeck when they heard I hadn't  read  him. It sat in the downstairs loo and I worked through it, I liked East of Eden best. He invents some pretty unbelievable characters, the poor, down and out, and exploited don't have time to be that nice on the whole, but not bad writing.


----------



## escorial

Olly Buckle said:


> Someone gave me a collected Steinbeck when they heard I hadn't  read  him. It sat in the downstairs loo and I worked through it, I liked East of Eden best. He invents some pretty unbelievable characters, the poor, down and out, and exploited don't have time to be that nice on the whole, but not bad writing.




steinbeck gives his characters there own persona and emphasises their traits often overlooked until expressed in his compassionate but not sentimental look on the flaws in people often revealing in them traits we can all adhere to...for me his strength is his warmth for the good and bad in society...he tries to give you both sides of a person..Orwell does the same but in a much more real, gritty environment...he explores the guts of a character with passion good or bad..both i think offer pure character building techniques..


----------



## 20oz

I'm going to give it a try. Horror short stories are edible.


----------



## Yumea

I just started reading "Anne Frank - The diary of a young girl", in German. It's one of the classics that you get told about in school and I always wanted to read it. I bought it for when I go into hospital in a few weeks, but I just *had*​ to start it tonight.


----------



## dither

Maybe i should have left East of Eden ( the best probably ) until last.

Have just finished "Tortilla flat".
I read it, that's all.


----------



## escorial

dither said:


> Maybe i should have left East of Eden ( the best probably ) until last.
> 
> Have just finished "Tortilla flat".
> I read it, that's all.



how i long for one of those moments when you read another work by the author and want that same experience again...can we expect to much ..yes.....that's the way it should be i reckon....


----------



## dither

Well, we can expect, but how many "East of Edens" can a person be expected to write?

That really was, IS , one of the greats.


----------



## escorial

dither said:


> Well, we can expect, but how many "East of Edens" can a person be expected to write?
> 
> That really was, IS , one of the greats.




i think he wrote at least six and orwell at least three.....


----------



## dither

I shall keep a lookout for Steinbecks then but in the meantime, i've started reading "A slip of the keyboard" by Terry Pratchett", a memoirs type thing and i'm enjoying it.

I may just have found another hero. What an amazing read.

To think that i was nearly put off by the first chapter. So glad i stayed with it. From the very first word of the second chapter i can almost see and hear him and his view of things is, for me, awe-inspiring.


----------



## Schrody

"Last Ape Standing: The Seven-Million-Year Story of How and Why We  Survived", it really puts another perspective of who we really are, and  more important, who our ancestors were.


----------



## Yumea

"The Last Wish" by Andrzej Sapkowski - the first book in the series about the witcher Geralt, which inspired the videogame series "The Witcher" (which I am also currently playing  ). So far I am enjoying it.


----------



## escorial




----------



## John_O

" The One Percenter Encyclopedia" by Bill Hayes It's an encyclopedia of 1%er motorcycle clubs listed from A to Z.


----------



## Monaque

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - lean and spare and full of colour. Beautiful read.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Mark Thomas, 100 acts of minor dissent.

A pot boiler, lots of pictures. Some rather trivial or juvenile, others very funny. eg, he is try to get a new word into the dictionary 'Farage', it means the dirty water found at the bottom of a dustbin, what we used to call 'bin water'.

Careful you don't spill farage on yourself!


----------



## dither

Well, i finished Pratchett's slip of the keyboard.

I might just read it again, if i had a library i'd buy the book. It's a perfect example of what i'd love to be able to do, but how can i even begin to contemplate writing about life when i haven't lived?

Amazing, brilliant, my idea of perfection.

Went to my local library today and not a Hemmingway or Steinbeck to be had and so i came away with a Wodehouse, Something Fresh. We shall see.

Wodehouse's "something fresh",
An amiable enough wheeze, certainly no "classic" but easy enough to follow. 
I shall read it in the interests of learning and my quest goes on.

That wheeze turned out to be a rather clever little who done it. Had me barking up the wrong tree anyway.


----------



## dither

Stumbled upon a Steinbeck short at my local library today.

The moon is down.

I can't wait.

Written as a piece of propaganda apparently.
Strong stuff.
Thought-provoking.


----------



## dither

Charles Dickens,
just bought home a copy of Barnaby Rudge.


----------



## escorial




----------



## msjhord

Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon.
The Shipping News, by Annie Proulx
Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy

Yes, all three at once.


----------



## J Anfinson

I'm finding Jack Ketchum pretty awesome. Reading "Red" now. Very much liked his short story collection.


----------



## LeeC

Currently reading Living In The Event Horizon Of A Big Mud Hole by Robert Zwilling -- wow.

Weird title you think? Actually it's very apt as one discovers in digesting this book, and I do mean digesting as this is a collection that is best consumed one small bite at a time to experience all it offers to the mind's palate. Beyond the universe spanning subject matter, the odd turns of phrase the author uses add depth and colorful imagery to the writing. There is even an annotated Table of Contents so the reader may better select from the menu.


----------



## Schrody

"Why Sex Matters: A Darwinian Look at Human Behavior"


----------



## kilroy214

^it's a pretty interesting read, schrod-ster.

'The Silence of the Lambs' by Thomas Harris. I read this about 10 years ago and never noticed all the little nuances and themes that are in it. I find that books I read as a teenager have taken on newer and bigger meanings when I've returned to them as an adult.


----------



## Schrody

kilroy214 said:


> ^it's a pretty interesting read, schrod-ster.
> 
> 'The Silence of the Lambs' by Thomas Harris. I read this about 10 years ago and never noticed all the little nuances and themes that are in it. I find that books I read as a teenager have taken on newer and bigger meanings when I've returned to them as an adult.



It is, and I just love reading about evolutionary psychology  I love lambs, one of my favorite books and movies.


----------



## kilroy214

I love Lambs too!!! Especially on a plate...with some mint jelly...(drooool)


----------



## The_Scribbler

Rosemary and Rue, an urban fantasy novel by Seanan Mcguire. Loving it so far!


----------



## Schrody

kilroy214 said:


> I love Lambs too!!! Especially on a plate...with some mint jelly...(drooool)



I don't like to eat them, too dry.


----------



## Olly Buckle

re-reading 'Dynasty' by Tom Holland, the house of Caesar.


----------



## Monaque

The Gone Away World by Nick Harkaway, up to usual wackiness that Nick Harkaway usually gets up to. This does feature the longest sentence that I`ve ever read in a book, and I quote:

"Should the shrew turn out to contain elevated or even toxic levels of chemical waste, or should there be cause to suspect, by reason of signs of aberrant and un-shrew-like behaviour or outward symptoms of transmissible disease such as, but not limited to, rashes, bleeding, elevated temperature and coughing, evidence of pre-mortem deliquescence, or petechial haemorrhaging, that the aforementioned shrew was in fact the carrier of a biological agent, the business of disposal would be handed over to a hazmat team trained in these matters, and the tiny body would be removed in a suitable container by men and women wearing spacesuits and taken to a place of investigation to ascertain the level of the threat and also to tease from the tiny, terrified corpse any forensic evidence suggesting that it might be involved in anti-statist
activities, that it might, in fact, be a _suicide _shrew."

I suspect, since my reading probably isn`t quite as comprehensive as some of you guys here, that you might not think that long, but it`s the longest in my reading experience.


----------



## PrinzeCharming

I seriously need to start reading for leisure again. It relaxes me. I have all these books I buy on impulse and read half way through before life gets in the way. I rarely give myself any time.


----------



## Ariel

I just finished Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar."  (Literally just put it down).  Came across this beautiful line, "I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart.  I am, I am, I am."

I really enjoyed this book.

I'm also reading one of my college professor's textbooks, "Writing Poems: Sixth Edition."  I picked it up in Half Price Books a week ago and was highly amused to see her name on the cover.  I graduated college eight years ago and never knew she had a textbook.  I seem to be running into my old professors everywhere lately.  Maybe it's a sign.


----------



## CleverFox

I am reading a book called _The Panhandle Murders._  It isn't something I would normally choose to read.  The interesting thing about it is that when I went over to check on my neighbor, we began talking books.  He tells me to wait a minute, disappearing into his house, and coming back with a brand new paperback book.  Then, he informs me that it is his first published novel, fresh from the publisher.  I believe he said his second work is currently at the publisher.  His third is on his dining room table being worked on.  Funny how the people you need for inspiration just kind of fall into your lap sometimes.


----------



## Monaque

CleverFox said:


> I am reading a book called _The Panhandle Murders._  It isn't something I would normally choose to read.  The interesting thing about it is that when I went over to check on my neighbor, we began talking books.  He tells me to wait a minute, disappearing into his house, and coming back with a brand new paperback book.  Then, he informs me that it is his first published novel, fresh from the publisher.  I believe he said his second work is currently at the publisher.  His third is on his dining room table being worked on.  Funny how the people you need for inspiration just kind of fall into your lap sometimes.



That is pretty awesome, is the panhandle murders his novel?


----------



## PockyPokolro

I'm currently reading Otherland : City of Golden Shadow by Tad Williams, which I discovered through participating in the closed beta of a game that was based upon it.


----------



## Monaque

PockyPokolro said:


> I'm currently reading Otherland : City of Golden Shadow by Tad Williams, which I discovered through participating in the closed beta of a game that was based upon it.



Probably his best series, very good.


----------



## LeeC

Hope Or High Water by Duncan Morrison


The life-changing story of a voyage for our planet, its people, and all the creatures we share it with. 


Live as if your Life had consequences far beyond your understanding. It does.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

I'm working on a bunch at the same time:

The Count of Monte Cristo- Alexandre Dumas
The Cantos- Ezra Pound
Pericles-- Prince of Tyre- William Shakespeare
The Norton Reader (book of essays)- Various
The Sandman (Volume 4)- Neil Gaiman
Janson's History of Art- Various


----------



## Boofy

I'm trudging through the works of David Mitchell, right now. My lecturer recommended him. I picked up a copy of Cloud Atlas and worked my way out from there. Brilliant author, even if you do need a ruddy great textbook to really get the most out of his writing.


----------



## kilroy214

Foxcatcher by Mark Schultz

I don't know what compelled me to start reading this book, but I'm glad I did.


----------



## Reichelina

The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson for my free time.
Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs for my bedtime story.


----------



## Gyarachu

Yesterday I bought a post-apocalyptic short story anthology called _W__astelands_. Since they're stories of survival I figured there'd be at least _something _hopeful in there.

Nope. I was wrong. Very wrong. It's all so, so depressing.

I am so depressed.


----------



## oenanthe

I'm reading _Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime_ by Val McDermid

It's good.

I'll be reading _Red Queen_ next.


----------



## aj47

_The Forever War_ by Joe Haldeman.  I read it 30-odd years ago but don't really remember it all.
_
Red Queen_ -- yes.


----------



## Gyarachu

Finally found a not depressing story in that post-apocalyptic short story anthology. "Never Despair" by Jack McDevitt. Good stuff. I'll probably read it again.


----------



## escorial

Gyarachu said:


> Finally found a not depressing story in that post-apocalyptic short story anthology. "Never Despair" by Jack McDevitt. Good stuff. I'll probably read it again.



that's always a good sign..cool


----------



## escorial




----------



## LeeC

"The Soul of an Octopus" by legendary Sy Montgomery, also author of The Good Good Pig.


This is a fascinating book that brings out a small part of the exquisiteness of the web of physical existence we're a part of. It's books like this that remind me there are writers that go beyond the fanciful writings of the human bubble. So much of which issues from the bubble of trivial imagining to entertain our inward focused existence, when there is a world of other life in reality that is much more interesting. 


Read and write as if your life had consequences far beyond your understanding. It does.

*Save**Save*​


----------



## escorial

LeeC said:


> "The Soul of an Octopus" by legendary Sy Montgomery, also author of The Good Good Pig.
> 
> 
> This is a fascinating book that brings out a small part of the exquisiteness of the web of physical existence we're a part of. It's books like this that remind me there are writers that go beyond the fanciful writings of the human bubble. So much of which issues from the bubble of trivial imagining to entertain our inward focused existence, when there is a world of other life in reality that is much more interesting.
> 
> 
> Read and write as if your life had consequences far beyond your understanding. It does.
> 
> View attachment 14320*Save**Save*​



that summary belongs on the back of the book....


----------



## TWErvin2

Listening to Bruce Campbell narrate his book, *If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor
*
If you like Bruce Campbell, you'll enjoy his book--which I read some time back, and the audiobook. He does a good job narrating, and what I enjoy are the inserted updates about people and events that were discussed in the book written about 14 years ago.


----------



## Patrick

After watching the series, I've finally got round to reading A Game of Thrones. I am trying to read one book of the ice and fire series a week. Going well so far. I'll have read them all in no time, even though they're very large tomes, so I credit Martin with creating a world and an ensemble of characters that are very engaging. It's not my usual read, but it's a lot of fun. As well as being a very likeable man, he's a good writer.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Just picked up Green Hills of Africa by Ernest Hemingway.

Looking forward to it.


----------



## escorial

danielstj said:


> Just picked up Green Hills of Africa by Ernest Hemingway.
> 
> Looking forward to it.



will this be your first Hemingway..if not then man what makes him so adored..?


----------



## Bard_Daniel

escorial said:


> will this be your first Hemingway..if not then man what makes him so adored..?



Not my first. I've read nearly all of his fiction and A Moveable Feast and Death in the Afternoon.

 I really like his style and content. Such an interesting life too. I find him very impressive overall.


----------



## escorial

danielstj said:


> Not my first. I've read nearly all of his fiction and A Moveable Feast and Death in the Afternoon.
> 
> I really like his style and content. Such an interesting life too. I find him very impressive overall.



yeah..style and content....i've tried to like him and i keep saying i'll jump the euro tunnel to Paris and read A Moveable Feast and hope i change my opinion about him..enjoy man..


----------



## H.Brown

Im still plowing through wheel of time on book number ten now so not bad going since I only started them at christmas, loving them so far I must say such an emersive fantasy world


----------



## dither

I'm about a third of the way through Steinbeck's "The winter of our discontent" and it's a page turner.


----------



## escorial

dither said:


> I'm about a third of the way through Steinbeck's "The winter of our discontent" and it's a page turner.



a fascinating insight into family values and experiences that leads of in many directions...i really enjoyed that one...


----------



## dither

escorial said:


> a fascinating insight into family values and experiences that leads of in many directions...i really enjoyed that one...



Y'know? For a while i found it hard work and then suddenly, i couldn't wait to see what happened next.
Interesting, thought-provoking.


----------



## Olly Buckle

dither said:


> I'm about a third of the way through Steinbeck's "The winter of our discontent" and it's a page turner.


Don't think I have read that one, I read a bunch of his at one point, readable, bit a bit one dimensional, and unbelievable characters; Whores don't have hearts of gold and own and outs organise parties, Okies don't tun into madonnas when they reach rock bottom. East of Eden was the best one as I remember.

"My voyage around the world" by Francesco Carletti, a 16th century merchant.

He didn't circumnavigate, but travelled as a passenger in various ships, the journey across the Panama isthmus was horrific,he has made the Philippines and Malaya so far after visiting Peru and Mexico.


----------



## msjhord

Right now I am reading Jhumpa Lahiri's, _The Namesake_.  Really great read so far.  Got _The Interpreter of Maladies_ on request at my local library.   Just recently finished Jojo Moyes _Me Before You_.  Really liked that, though at one point I nearly hurled the book across the room screaming, "Noooooooooo!"


----------



## Gyarachu

Reading Game of Thrones to see what all the hubbub is about. I'm trying really hard to like it, but it's a struggle. Granted I'm only about 150 pages in, so I'll at least finish the book. I just don't think it's my cup of tea.


----------



## Gyarachu

Gyarachu said:


> Reading Game of Thrones to see what all the hubbub is about. I'm trying really hard to like it, but it's a struggle. Granted I'm only about 150 pages in, so I'll at least finish the book. I just don't think it's my cup of tea.



Never mind. Done with this rubbish. Apologies to any who enjoy it.


----------



## dither

Just borrowed one of Graham Greene's.

"A Gun for Sale."

We shall see.


----------



## Gyarachu

Gyarachu said:


> Never mind. Done with this rubbish. Apologies to any who enjoy it.



I've recovered and renewed my efforts. I'd never forgive myself if I didn't at least finish the book, not as a fantasy nerd. Maybe I just need time to adjust to the induced depression.

Is this how people normally react to this series? I'm starting to think it might be.


----------



## Gyarachu

So I finished Game of Thrones. It did get marginally better near the end, but still, I'll find my tea elsewhere...

Most of the characters felt pretty real; I'll say that about it at least. The whole 'American Tolkien' thing really irks me, though. Tolkien's works really _mean_ something, and _say_ something, which I just didn't get at all from Martin.

And now back to where I truly belong: The Wheel of Time (book 5).


----------



## Olly Buckle

Just finished 'Nelson's war'. Interesting, most books about him concentrate on Trafalgar, this also had analysis of the Glorious first of June, Cape St. Vincent, the Nile, Camperdown, and Copenhagen which showed how tactics developed, rather than implying they sprung fully formed from the mind of Nelson. Terrible pictures, black and white reproductions of oil paintings showing people striking heroic poses, often in the middle of bloodless battles.


----------



## Schrody

Started reading: "Schrodinger's Rabbits: Many Worlds of Quantum" 

I guess cats are out :scratch:


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Reading, and going to finish soon today, _Dreamtigers_ by Jorge Luis Borges. It was a very interesting read but not as good as some of his other books.

Next I'm going to dive into _Klingsor's Last Summer-_- a book of three stories by Hermann Hesse. I'm pumped! : D

Edit: I'm also starting Nietzsche's _The Birth of Tragedy_ today. Yeah!


----------



## dither

It's strange, and then,all things considered,maybe not so strange.
I find myself trawling the "classics" section of my local library hoping that i might learn from them.

Right now i'm reading C.P.Snow's "The Malcontents" and, as usual, am finding it hard work.

And that seems to be the way of things.

I struggle, i persevere, and then suddenly, i can't read enough, the story reaches it's climax, and every thing makes sense.

We shall see.


----------



## JustRob

dither said:


> It's strange, and then,all things considered,maybe not so strange.
> I find myself trawling the "classics" section of my local library hoping that i might learn from them.



Not strange at all. Sometimes I go into the library and pick books virtually at random, factual or fictional, just to get out of my personal rut, not that I have any clearly defined one as a consequence. The last such spate involved five books from the architecture section, but that was overkill I think. I only got them to look at the pictures really.

I'm not reading anything at present but have just ordered a book that a friend suggested to me, knowing my interest in the nature of coincidences. It is "Connecting with Coincidence: The New Science for Using Synchronicity and Serendipity in Your Life" by Bernard D Beitman, a psychologist who has spent many years looking into unusual coincidences in his and other people's lives. It may just be another example of a psychologist writing a self-help book when he is short of patients but I may find something there to compare with the thoughts on my own website. Coincidence rules my life apparently, so the book was published last March, the month when I stopped adding more speculation to my own website.  Furthermore the character who discovered the phenomenon of reliable precognition in my novel was also named Bernard. These are just everyday coincidences by my present standards though.

If the book is worth reporting on I will.


----------



## dither

Funny that you should mention psychology. Often i have read a two page excerpt from a book in a newspaper, then having been totally enthralled by it, found out that it was in fact from the psychology section.
We all think that we are so complex, so individual. One guy had me pigeon-holed in about three paragraphs.


----------



## Olly Buckle

dither said:


> It's strange, and then,all things considered,maybe not so strange.
> I find myself trawling the "classics" section of my local library hoping that i might learn from them.
> 
> Right now i'm reading C.P.Snow's "The Malcontents" and, as usual, am finding it hard work.
> 
> And that seems to be the way of things.
> 
> I struggle, i persevere, and then suddenly, i can't read enough, the story reaches it's climax, and every thing makes sense.
> 
> We shall see.


Different things make books a 'classic', sadly one of them is what English professors can say about them. If aa book is clearly and simply written in beautiful English there is not much to say, if it is full of things like hidden metaphors which they can 'draw out'for their students teachers can have a field day and appear really clever.

There is a sort of well known author who writes well, but does not make the 'greats', C  S Forester is one. He is known for the 'Hornblower' series, but wrote a lot of others as well. His style and writing  are so clear and readable that he has been turned into films several times, 'The Gun for example, but the films never seem to quite  match the quality or popularity of the books, possibly because someone else wrote the screen play and it is the writing, rather than the plot, that makes him so good?

Looking for good writing? I recommend him and Margery Allingham regularly to people, though they are both a bit dated. Picking books you have heard of, not necessarily 'Classics', very often turns out well.


----------



## ppsage

I've been listening to the _Adventures of Captain Horatio Hornblower_ radio series starring Michael Redgrave. Well dramatized 20 minute episodes (52 of 'em) which follow the books very closely, incorporating a lot of the text. Done in chronological order of publication which is also nice. On Youtube.


----------



## Olly Buckle

'The ship' is a good one, written after a day visit to a Naval ship in Portsmouth harbour it is a lesson in how to take in information and use it. 'Brown on Resolution' is another little known one, possibly because it is only a 'novella', but well worth a read.

They say the Hornblower character was partly based on Edward Pellew, his biography is worth a read.


----------



## columbo1977

I am now reading the Hyperion omnibus by DanSimmons and Seveneves by Neal Stephenson.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Friedrich Nietzsche's _The Birth of Tragedy._

Very interesting.


----------



## J Anfinson




----------



## Bard_Daniel

_The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory_ by Jorge Luis Borges.

I definitely am enjoying it. I've read a few short story collections by him.


----------



## dither

dither said:


> It's strange, and then,all things considered,maybe not so strange.
> I find myself trawling the "classics" section of my local library hoping that i might learn from them.
> 
> Right now i'm reading C.P.Snow's "The Malcontents" and, as usual, am finding it hard work.
> 
> And that seems to be the way of things.
> 
> I struggle, i persevere, and then suddenly, i can't read enough, the story reaches it's climax, and every thing makes sense.
> 
> We shall see.



Well,
i read it.All two hundred and ten pages,and i have no idea what it was about. I don't know.


----------



## TKent

I am on book 3 of the Atlantis Gene trilogy. It is one of those situations where I'm so spoiled that the writing is just okay (and sometimes less than okay - it isn't great writing for the sake of great writing and it doesn't quite 'disappear' and let the story happen - things like every time someone runs their 'legs pump' and the word 'seemingly' is seemingly used a million times) BUT . . . and this is why all three have been million sellers: the story is so interesting. Of course I have to know the end  Since both the books AND the audio are free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription, it has been well worth it to keep me occupied while driving.


----------



## ppsage

columbo1977 said:


> I am now reading the Hyperion omnibus by DanSimmons and Seveneves by Neal Stephenson.


Just did _SevenEveS _myself. Not my favorite of Stephenson, but still masterful.


----------



## escorial

i do like Eric.....


----------



## dither

That is a great read. I really enjoyed that one.


----------



## bdcharles

Gyarachu said:


> So I finished Game of Thrones. It did get marginally better near the end, but still, I'll find my tea elsewhere...
> 
> Most of the characters felt pretty real; I'll say that about it at least. The whole 'American Tolkien' thing really irks me, though. Tolkien's works really _mean_ something, and _say_ something, which I just didn't get at all from Martin.
> 
> And now back to where I truly belong: The Wheel of Time (book 5).



I don't think GOT is a particularly well-written series though its size and scope and complexity is decent enough; the rise and fall of great houses and all that. It's also quite accessible in that it is a lords'n'swords epic but where people have normal things like drinking problems and stuff, which I think forms much of its appeal. By no means is it my "best ever" read.

Reading "The Miniaturist" by Jessie Burton. It's not bad, quite slow and detailed but I'm in the market for that.


----------



## Gyarachu

bdcharles said:


> I don't think GOT is a particularly well-written series though its size and scope and complexity is decent enough; the rise and fall of great houses and all that. It's also quite accessible in that it is a lords'n'swords epic but where people have normal things like drinking problems and stuff, which I think forms much of its appeal. By no means is it my "best ever" read.



There is a quote from the second Lord of the Rings movie (which as far as I know does not come from the book), when the Uruk-hai are railing against the inner keep of Helm's Deep. Theoden turns to Aragorn: "So much death," he says. "What can men do against such reckless hate?"

It is one of my favorite movie quotes, because it encapsulates the question at the core of the fantasy genre for me: How would humanity react in the face of an unfathomably powerful, hope-devouring, insatiable evil bearing down on their world? The 'Dark Lord' gets a bad rap in fantasy today, which I find utterly ridiculous. Someone has put the idea in people's heads that such a thing leads to shallow characters and stories, which is nonsense. It's the opposite in fact, because what this great evil can do is push characters to the utmost extremes that no other plot device can. And it is in these extreme situations, at the ends of hope and all the other good stuff, that we see who people _really_ are. It can bring everything out of a character, if done right. (As an aside, this is also perfectly capable of creating the grey scale everyone loves to gush about, as different characters will react differently, filling out the scale from end to end.)

That is my frustration with GoT (the book). "The rise and fall of great houses and all that." If I wanted that I'd just look at the world around me, or read history (which I do). I want _fantasy_, dagnabit! I want something I _can't_ see in the real world. Something that pushes characters to the extreme, something that _inspires_ me.

Don't mistake me, I'm not saying Martin's books don't have a place in fantasy. Of course they do, people enjoy the heck out of them, and that is more than okay. Nor am I saying the Dark Lord trope ought to be anything close to ubiquitous. The problem is that popular sentiment is rather aggressively trading one cliche for another, and often trying to oust the old as if it holds no value. As a reader who rather enjoys the old cliche and finds little enjoyment in the new, it is maddening.

----------

Now... What am I reading? Currently flipping through _A Midsummer Night's Dream_, although in general I'm finishing up the last bit of Robert Jordan's _The Fires of Heaven_. I used to have a problem where I'd read five or six books at once and never finish any but one, but now I've got it pretty well narrowed down to two at a time, with only one being thick fiction.


----------



## Gyarachu

About 2/3 of the way through _The Alloy of Law_ by Brandon Sanderson. As always, Sanderson is an unrivaled genius when it comes to plot, and he oozes more originality than any author I've ever read.

Unfortunately the book suffers the same flaw as all his others: poor/unfinished editing. So many unnecessary words and phrases and explanations, he doesn't seem to trust the reader's capabilities at all. Things the editor should've caught. It reads as if one draft shy of a final draft, like it was rushed into publication--which wouldn't surprise me, given the insane amount of work he pumps out.

Still, the positives more than make up for it, and I one day intend to read all his stuff, if I can even keep up with his output.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

*Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World *by _Margaret MacMilan._

This is already an incredible read. The personalities and tribulations and trials of Clemenceau, Lloyd George and Woodrow Wilson-- along with all the minor personages that contributed, is delightfully well written. Recommended for history lovers!


----------



## J Anfinson

J Anfinson said:


> View attachment 14694



Masterful. Richard Christian is an expert in word economy, or the ability to say more in fewer words than other writers. This novel is reminiscent of King's _The Dark Half_ in some ways, yet far more complex. It's no secret that I love his father’s work but I now believe Richard Christian Matheson is technically even better. I'm still reeling from finishing it. What an incredible mind-fuck.


----------



## escorial

read a copy of the New European....a newspaper published locally aimed at the 48% who voted to remain in the EU....and i don't get it..why!


----------



## Gyarachu

Finally getting around to Patrick Rothfuss' _The Name of the Wind_. Holy crap can this guy write. About 200 pages in there isn't any obvious overarching plot, and yet somehow it doesn't matter. Hard to put it down.


----------



## J Anfinson

Started this today. _The Things They Carried_ blew me away and _If I Die In A Combat Zone_ was one of the best memoirs ever. Hoping this one is every bit as good.


----------



## escorial

don't think much of her novels or her attitude and thoughts but i find this woman interesting.....


----------



## dither

I can't say why but i've always over-looked Evelyn Waugh's, but having just finished " A Handful Of Dust", i shall now seek out others. 
Thoroughly enjoyed although, and maybe it's me, again i find myself feeling short-changed by the ending. A sort of anti-climax experience/feeling.


----------



## dither

Well, i trawled the classics section of the library for an Evelyn Waugh  and came home with John Kennedy Toole's " A Confederacy of Dunces". Couldn't resist that title.

We shall see.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

dither said:


> Well, i trawled the classics section of the library for an Evelyn Waugh  and came home with John Kennedy Toole's " A Confederacy of Dunces". Couldn't resist that title.
> 
> We shall see.



Ooooo, nice! I really liked that one. Hilarious. 

Let me know what you think!


----------



## dither

Reading " Ride a White Swan" right now.  Amazing.


----------



## Greyson

Working my way thought The Wind-up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami. Really good read, just takes a bit to pick up.


----------



## JustRob

I just finished reading _Codex_ by Lev Grossman and my reaction was "Yes, that was a book," about as bland as I could be. According to reviews it was actually an early work of his that was published later on the strength of his reputation gained from later works. This explains the patchy quality of it, which actually makes it interesting to a novice writer, who can decide for themself which elements were done well and which not so well, so why it doesn't quite hang together the way that it could have. No doubt Grossman himself learned things from writing it.

I bought the book from a market stall where secondhand paperbacks were on sale at three for a pound. It wasn't a bad price then, considering how far a pound goes since the UK voted to leave the EU. The second book bought with it was _Canal Dreams _by Iain Banks, which I have yet to read, and the third was something chosen by my angel. I have only read science fiction by Banks's alter ego Iain M Banks before, so this is an innovation for me. My only comment so far is that I winced at the title.


----------



## dither

danielstj said:


> Ooooo, nice! I really liked that one. Hilarious.
> 
> Let me know what you think!



Well,
as seems to be the way of things, i'm finding the groundwork heavy going but i'll stay with it for now.

BTW,
enjoyed Ride a White Swan.


----------



## Wandering Man

I just finished* Gun Church *by Reed Farrel Coleman.

I enjoyed the peek inside the fictional author's flaming out and redemption.


----------



## dither

Just took out a Kingsley Amis, " You Can't Do Both ".

We shall see.


----------



## JustRob

As previously mentioned I started to read _Canal Dreams _by Iain Banks. I have read and enjoyed his science fiction, but didn't get far with this book. Regardless of who the author may be a book must stand entirely on its own merit. So, reviewing the fragment that I read as one might an extract from any writer posted here in WF, here are my comments.

Five pages in which all that happened was that a woman scuba-diving had swum after her male companion over the sunken remains of some old habitation on the sea bed. With no dialogue and very little action the text just set out her thoughts and descriptions of the scene. I could certainly compliment the well crafted turns of phrase used in the text but there was no hook, no reason to keep on reading, and the only question in my mind was why I still was. At that point I put the book aside and looked for something more interesting to do. 

Is a description of how water pressure affects the sinuses when scuba diving a way to get a reader's attention in the opening pages of a story? If the text revealed aspects of the woman's character it was wasted on me at that point as I had no reason yet to get to know her. If her experience in scuba diving would later become relevant to the story it still didn't merit such detailed treatment in the opening pages. Was this an example of excessive application of the principle "show, don't tell"? As I bought the book secondhand at three for a pound I may never know, there being little financial incentive for me to return to reading it. It will be donated to a charity shop to earn income for some worthy cause eventually, read or not, anyway. Sorry Iain.


----------



## LeeC

*We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Joy Fowler*


_We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves_ is one of those books that makes the rest of the world disappear, while at the same time reminding us all too well of the world we come from and its sometime cruelty. The novel’s narrator, Rosemary Cooke, is clever and witty, yet underneath her wry tone is a haunting loneliness that stems from the loss of her sister, Fern. Exquisite and heartbreaking, this novel closes the distance that is often placed between human and non-human animals, proving that the anguish of loss transcends species. While a searing portrait of the plight of animals, both past and present, ultimately Fowler’s novel is one of family, the aftermath of loss, and the incredible bonds that unite all creatures.


----------



## dither

danielstj said:


> Ooooo, nice! I really liked that one. Hilarious.
> 
> Let me know what you think!



I'm about halfway through.
Erm, i don't know if it's really my kind of thing.
But as a piece of writing, i'm enjoying  JKT's portrayal of Ignaitus.


----------



## LeeC

Something I looked over first before getting for my grandson. 

J.E. Rogers’ One Hot Mess

It's an an early reader/picture environmental fable.


----------



## Gyarachu

Gyarachu said:


> Finally getting around to Patrick Rothfuss' _The Name of the Wind_. Holy crap can this guy write. About 200 pages in there isn't any obvious overarching plot, and yet somehow it doesn't matter. Hard to put it down.



Just finished. My opinion of the book has lessened, but only by a tiny notch. I think the lack of plot wore on me, and led to an ending that by nature really couldn't be anything but sudden, anticlimactic, and unsatisfying. Additionally, while I'm a sucker for some good romance, the tension there felt contrived and mostly nonsensical.

However, the book was still great overall. Rothfuss is a master of the craft, producing some truly beautiful prose and dynamite dialogue, all wrapped in a glorious wit. The mystery-laden world is intriguing, and he somehow managed to make a super-genius-who-can-do-everything-better-than-everyone likable and interesting. I will definitely be continuing the trilogy at some point.

EDIT: I've begun re-reading _The Lord of the Rings. _It's been many years, and I've not yet read it with a writer's eyes.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

_Oryx and Crake _by Margaret Atwood. It's my first Atwood book and, so far, I'm really liking it.


----------



## dither

dither said:


> I'm about halfway through.
> Erm, i don't know if it's really my kind of thing.
> But as a piece of writing, i'm enjoying  JKT's portrayal of Ignaitus.




Well, it was interesting, sort of. Enjoyed the main character.
Sympathised and saw a bit of me in him which is why i wonder about the state of MY mind, although no-one could be so detached from reality. Could they?

Yknow? i think i might just have learned something from it.  About not taking part as a human being. You can run but you can't hide eh?



Bring it on Mr.Amiss.


----------



## escorial

about 70 pages in and i'm loving the court QC..Barrister questions in court and how they turn things said into double speak....read 9 of his 16 books


----------



## dither

I try to find authors who seem to have quite a few books in circulation.

But i brought three home today, chosen completely at random.

We shall see.

I seem to be reading a lot at the moment because i have time to kill. Hoping that i might learn something.


----------



## dither

" The Silk Factory" by Judith Allnatt.

Hooked from page one and i'm still going strong at page 180.

It's a good read.


----------



## LeeC

Currently reading Terry Durbin's suspense/thriller Chase. So far it's engrossing and brutally realistic, that to the point I don't read when I'm in a down mood ;-) I'm surprised other suspense/thriller enthusiasts here haven't gotten into it (to my knowledge).


----------



## Scizologic

I'm reading the Beebox by Sylvia Plath.


----------



## dither

dither said:


> " The Silk Factory" by Judith Allnatt.
> 
> Hooked from page one and i'm still going strong at page 180.
> 
> It's a good read.




Well?

Once again i find myself feeling so glad that i broke my arm, apart from the long overdue break from work, hey! that's two breaks, i got to read this book that i probably wouldn't have if i'd been working. I've been quite lucky with books actually but this one;

I had hoped, call me a hopeless romantic, that maybe this broken arm business, with the time it would take for my arm to make a full fit for work  recovery, that it might turn out to be a catalyst of some sort. Bad turned good.
You know, a milestone ( not to be confused with millstone ), a crossroads,  the opening of a door perhaps. Well? I do seem to be finding time for fiction. But this book, ohhh WOW!

Judith Allnatt,

Thank you ' thank you ' thank you,for the experience.

Guys,

if you ever see this book read it


----------



## escorial

as some one commented on the jacket ...she may become better known for her diaries than her works..i agree with that...


----------



## dither

Escorial,

the name Sontag rings a bell, have you mentioned her name before? Are you a fan?

One for the notebook then.


----------



## escorial

Scizologic said:


> I'm reading the Beebox by Sylvia Plath.



i've read her poetry but not yet read any of her books...i'de really like to read your thoughts on that poem...?


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Started V by Thomas Pynchon today. Also started, yesterday, a "Time Life" book on WW2 about the invasions of the Scandinavian region and Shakespeare's A Comedy of Errors.


----------



## Zorg

A collection of critical essays about Thomas Pynchon, and re-reading _*Slaughterhouse-Five*_ by some guy named Kurt.


----------



## Zorg

danielstj said:


> Started V by Thomas Pynchon today. Also started, yesterday, a "Time Life" book on WW2 about the invasions of the Scandinavian region and Shakespeare's A Comedy of Errors.


You'll love V.  Keep cool but care.


----------



## dither

I seem to have hit the jackpot again. I recently borrowed three books from my local library in the hope that at least one might be readable, and it worked. Well? One out of three isn't so bad and i've done it again. Of the first three that i borrowed two were just non-starters with the other being totally , as those tarted up females in the adverts that a certain make-up manufacturer keeps bombarding us with " WORTH IT ".

The first book that i started, from the latest three, entitled " A Liverpool Song " by Ruth Hamilton.

Right from the word go, paragraph one, i've been turning the pages in anticipation. It's brilliant.


----------



## dither

dither said:


> I seem to have hit the jackpot again. I recently borrowed three books from my local library in the hope that at least one might be readable, and it worked. Well? One out of three isn't so bad and i've done it again. Of the first three that i borrowed two were just non-starters with the other being totally , as those tarted up females in the adverts that a certain make-up manufacturer keeps bombarding us with " WORTH IT ".
> 
> The first book that i started, from the latest three, entitled " A Liverpool Song " by Ruth Hamilton.
> 
> Right from the word go, paragraph one, i've been turning the pages in anticipation. It's brilliant.




This is amazing. I don't think i've read anything so voraciously since the Tolkien trilogy.

I've finished it and what brilliant read.


And now,
i've started another and i'm in, from the very first page.

This is having a profound affect on me.

I've always believed that knowledge was/is a double edged sword in so far as, the more you know the more aware you become of how much you don't know. That saying is totally applicable here. No way could i, in my wildest dreams, produce something like that.

btw,
i've just begun reading Jane Fallon's " Skeletons " and i'm IN.

Skeletons did good.
Not quite "A liverpool Song" good but still a good read.


----------



## escorial




----------



## LeeC

*Cisneros and Terry D.*

Doing a little research, and read a short story by Sandra Cisneros entitled Woman Hollering Creek. Wow, one seldom comes across such exceptional writing skill. I suppose that's why she's won so many awards.

I mention it here because whether one is reading for pleasure or studying other writing to improve their own skills, this is an author that is ignored at ones loss. 

-----------

I also wanted to clarify what I mentioned earlier in noting I was currently reading Terry Durbin's suspense/thriller Chase. I said that I'm finding it, "engrossing and brutally realistic." I meant that as an honest compliment. I've seen a bit of the dark side of humanity in my years, and prefer not to dwell on it much. Oh, I've read plenty of books in the same genre as Terry's, still do from time to time, but Terry's writing pulls me into the story where the others didn't. Thus I'm reading his book only in small bites. What I mean by his writing being "brutally realistic" is that I know what humans are capable of, and he brings it across realistically in a way not many writers do. For example, Jack London's "The call of the Wild" bit about the treatment of Buck by sled dog trainers, and Buck's experiences as he becomes increasingly feral, was arms-length stuff. Terry's on the other hand draws the reader in to where they feel dirty, and ashamed to be human. Good writing draws the reader in to experience the story, and is what I see missing in the vast majority of what I think even worthy of reading. 

As an aside, this begs the question of how I'm going to eventually word a review on Amazon. How does one write a positive review, and say the writing drew them in to feel dirty and ashamed  Maybe by the time I reach the end there'll be a balancing aspect I can focus on. I hope so ;-)


----------



## Bard_Daniel

escorial said:


> View attachment 15024



Is it good? I've been wanting to read it for a while.


----------



## escorial

danielstj said:


> Is it good? I've been wanting to read it for a while.



it's a great read....infact it's like a comedy of errors but it's a war being discussed and people dying....his writing is always clear and honest with that attention to detail that makes you realise that understanding why you react can often with hindsight be full of misguided actions and reactions to how you think at any given time. He is a writer of the truth as he see's it and has no need to over think situations but keep it all there for you to either disagree or agree with his perspective...there were changes over time that moved chapters into appendix and clarifications of some of the facts which may or not be accurate but still this is the essence of his writing style.


----------



## J Anfinson

J Anfinson said:


> View attachment 14815
> 
> Started this today. _The Things They Carried_ blew me away and _If I Die In A Combat Zone_ was one of the best memoirs ever. Hoping this one is every bit as good.



Finally managed to finish it.

My review?

I'll be damned. He got me. Did not expect that. As John Wayne used to say, that is all.


----------



## Nicholas McConnaughay

I recently started reading *How to Ruin Everything *by George Watsky, I've enjoyed it so far.


----------



## dither

I almost wish i hadn't read this:

" Angels Walking " by Karen Kingsbury."

A whimsical weepie laced with,,, oh dear, " God's messengers ".

Well enough written and certainly readable.

The cover, i wish i could show you , sky blue with wisps of white mist and a white feather fluttering down to earth, oh you know the picture.
I'm a sucker for those but i wasn't thinking fiction.

A decent story-line all the same.


----------



## escorial

i'am deliberty reading this slow to savour every word and scene....this guy seem's to be as close to Steinbeck and i'm so glad to have found a new author with so many books i have yet to read..sublime reading


----------



## Bruno Spatola

I'm on a Cthulhu binge. Plowed through_ Call of Cthulhu_ and _The Dunwich Horror_ yesterday. Currently half-way through _At the Mountains of Madness._ _Shadow Over Innsmouth_ next.

I'm also 120 pages into Clive Barker's _Weaveworld_. Awesome read so far.

I ordered a special edition version of _The Divine Comedy_ yesterday. Has 130 full-page drawings by the brilliant Gustav Dore. A bargain at £15 -- it's quite, quite beautiful. So that's on the cards, too.

Edgar Allen Poe collection was free on Kindle yesterday. Will gradually digest that over the next few weeks, I assume.


----------



## Schrody

The Dunwitch Horror is the best Lovecraft's story, in my opinion.


----------



## Bruno Spatola

His character descriptions in Dunwich are so much richer than I'm used to of Lovecraft's work. Wilbur and Old Wizard Whately were very tangible compared to his other characters who tend to take up the same space in my head.
_
At the Mountains of Madness_ is my favourite for its beautifully dark, frozen setting and the more intimate story of the Old Ones. I can see how much it had an influence on _Who Goes There?, _the novella _The Thing from Another World_ was based on, especially as the two were published a mere two years apart.


----------



## LeeC

This book was recommended to me, and reading the preview I've put in on my to read list. Yeah, it's Cli-Fi, but from the preview it seems an imaginative and interesting story. I like the voodoo Eskimo style touch 

-------blurb------
The Eskimo people of Greenland have grown tired of the damage being done to their world by global warming, and emissions from shipping lanes between Canada and Greenland are making people that live near the coast sick. 

When Akutak, a Greenlandic Shaman Eskimo, decides to...
------------------------


----------



## escorial

a very short book but inside these pages is death, love and life....I have never been moved by a short book so much..i am so happy to have only recently discovered Albert Camus and I begin reading The Plague with a burning desire to be inspired by him..


----------



## dither

escorial said:


> View attachment 15133
> 
> a very short book but inside these pages is death, love and life....I have never been moved by a short book so much..i am so happy to have only recently discovered Albert Camus and I begin reading The Plague with a burning desire to be inspired by him..



Has he written many?

One for my notebook perhaps.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Politics by Aristotle. Very dry. I don't know what I was thinking.

Also, much better, Demian by Hermann Hesse and The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain. 

Of Twain there is not a single story that has not impressed me one way or another. What a talent!


----------



## dither

danielstj said:


> Politics by Aristotle. Very dry. I don't know what I was thinking.
> 
> Also, much better, Demian by Hermann Hesse and The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain.
> 
> Of Twain there is not a single story that has not impressed me one way or another. What a talent!



That's interesting.. I'm reading Tom Sawyer because i thought that i should, and i'm finding it hard work.

Well, i finished it and i don't regret having read but it just,,, oh i don't know,,, didn't get it i suppose.


----------



## escorial

danielstj said:


> Politics by Aristotle. Very dry. I don't know what I was thinking.



my tip for a book like that..it can take a long time to read but you get there in the end...put it in the loo...took me six months to read..Chant and be happy with quotes from Ghandi...one could change the word chant but hey...


----------



## Olly Buckle

escorial said:


> my tip for a book like that..it can take a long time to read but you get there in the end...put it in the loo...took me six months to read..Chant and be happy with quotes from Ghandi...one could change the word chant but hey...



Fully agree, you get to read it in short pieces, and read over to find your place. Small chunks of information repeated like that are much better retained.


----------



## dither

I picked up three  more books from my local Library today and one's a Ben Elton so i'm hopeful.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Started Gone with the Wind today. High expectations but the first chapter is good. Here we go!


----------



## escorial

danielstj said:


> Started Gone with the Wind today. High expectations but the first chapter is good. Here we go!




i never knew that was a book to begin with...cool


----------



## dither

Well,
three out of three.

Enjoyed Esther Freud's " Mr.Mac and Me "...... and..... Ben Elton's " High Society"


And maybe i shouldn't be so surprised but i can't believe that i'm enjoying Maeve Binchy's " Chestnut Street."


It  really is a learning experience though. Amazing writing.


----------



## dither

I found a " Rushdie " midnight's children and, another Binchy, The RETURN JOURNEY.

I'm becoming a Binchyite.layful:


----------



## Firemajic

dither said:


> I found a " Rushdie " midnight's children and, another Binchy, The RETURN JOURNEY.
> 
> I'm becoming a Binchyite.layful:




I am a huge Maeve Binchy fan! I have almost all of her books, I read them over and over...there is something soothing about her unpretentious style and the way she entwines love, tragedy and relationships into a beautiful, hopeful picture of life... My favorite is "The Glass Lake"


----------



## dither

magic,
i'm almost at the end of "Chestnut Street" and the depth of her writing is awesome. When you read it, well, when i read it, it seemed so fragmented and yet it all fits perfectly. Amazing. I shall be looking out for her stuff.

"The Glass Lake", noted.


----------



## Firemajic

Let me know what you think.... 

Ann Rivers Siddons: Islands.... fabulous way to escape the mundane, but stay in reality....


----------



## dither

majic,
i have a list by my side and when i go to the library i look.

I'm keen to find Albert Camus, desperate almost, but you take from what they have.:?

Maybe i should move to a city, bigger libraries, but i'm a country boy.  Y'know? Mud 'n' pig-shit. layful:


----------



## Firemajic

dither said:


> majic,
> 
> I'm keen to find Albert Camus, desperate almost, but you take from what they have.:?





I am curious... I will check out Albert Camus....


----------



## Ariel

I just finished "Gretel and the Dark" by Eliza Granville. It's a story about a young girl in Nazi Germany and a psychiatrist in late 1800s Austria. Their worlds collide in an interesting way through fairy tales and stories. I would reccomend it to anyone.

I also finished "Relic" by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. It's about a failed expedition in the Amazon jungle and the repercussions of the expedition. It takes place in the New York Museum of Natural History where a monster picked up during that expedition is killing people. It was surprisingly interesting (I saw the movie first) and kept me engaged with just enough science and history.


----------



## dither

Amsaw,
often i see  books in the library, recognise them as a film-titles and pass them by, don't know why. Maybe i should give them a look.


----------



## dither

Firemajic said:


> I am curious... I will check out Albert Camus....



Somebody mentioned him in a blog i think and i'm impressed.


----------



## escorial




----------



## dither

I'm struggling with Rushdie, might give Binchy a look.


----------



## allyson17white

Working through _Invisible Man_ by Ralph Ellison. Good book. Just past the halfway point.


----------



## dither

Yes!

Binchy does it again.
And, i'm told that she has written quite a few.
Looking forward to tracking them down.


----------



## Firemajic

dither said:


> Yes!
> 
> Binchy does it again.
> And, i'm told that she has written quite a few.
> Looking forward to tracking them down.




Fabulous! I am rereadingrereadingrerereading Her book, "The Glass Lake"....


----------



## dither

Hey majic,:grin:

How are you?

Majic,
tut tut on madam binchy.
She put the same short story in two different books.


----------



## Firemajic

dither said:


> Hey majic,:grin:
> 
> How are you?
> 
> Majic,
> tut tut on madam binchy.
> She put the same short story in two different books.




Good morning Dear dither  I am fabulous...

Well, maybe the story was worth reading twice... hahaaa..... was it?


----------



## dither

Well yes i'd go along with that.

The story? nah too soon. 

Next year maybe.


----------



## Greyson

I have this incredible list of books I'm halfway through right now honestly, I'm reading Hafiz's "The Gift" which is beautiful, just picked up This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and I'm working my way through Hermann Hesse's Steppenwolfe for the second time. Very busy, but very happy with all the good books!


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Greyson said:


> I have this incredible list of books I'm halfway through right now honestly, I'm reading Hafiz's "The Gift" which is beautiful, just picked up This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and I'm working my way through Hermann Hesse's Steppenwolfe for the second time. Very busy, but very happy with all the good books!



Steppenwolf is one of my favorite novels. So well done.

Reading La Possibilité d'une ile by Michel Houellebecq. Yes, I'm reading it in French!

Also reading All Is True or Richard VIII.


----------



## dither

My latest three are by Bates Binchy and Steinbeck.

We shall see.


----------



## dither

The Purple Plain by H.E.Bates.

One man's redemption in war-torn Burma. Brilliant.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Peter the Great: His Life and World. 

A Pulitzer prize winner. I'm already liking it very much.


----------



## columbo1977

Finally picked up Ready Player One, liking it so far


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Halfway through This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz. The beginning was rocky but his stories are starting to get pretty good.


----------



## H.Brown

Im almost through Patrick Rothfuss' The name of the wind and after a slow start I have to say im loving it and finding it very hard to put down when arriving at work, I would recommend to anyone interested in reading fantasy. 

 Happy reading everyone.


----------



## sigmadog

I'm reading a book on Self Hypnosis, and I'm getting very sleepy…


----------



## LeeC

Previewed, downloaded, and next on my reading list.


Immersing real life depiction is to me where writers excel and help us broaden our perspectives.


----------



## dither

I just finished Maeve Binchy's "Light a Penny Candle.

It took an absolute age to get moving with the story-line.
Too impatient? Yeah maybe.
I actually put it down and gave up only to go back and have another try.
Then, after having got into it and reading like there was no tomorrow i was so disappointed by the end. "What? I thought, it can't end there." The End... Maybe that's the measure of a good book and it was probably the _perfect _ending.

Anyway, enjoyed.


----------



## Firemajic

dither said:


> I just finished Maeve Binchy's "Light a Penny Candle.
> 
> It took an absolute age to get moving with the story-line.
> Too impatient? Yeah maybe.
> I actually put it down and gave up only to go back and have another try.
> And then, after having got into it and reading like there was no tomorrow i was so disappointed by the end. "What? I thought, it can't end there." The End... Maybe that's the measure of a good book.
> 
> Anyway, enjoyed.





I always feel sad and restless when I finish a fabulous book... it feels like.... I just lost a good friend... hahaa....


----------



## dither

majic,
i just wasn't ready ( didn't _want ) _to stop reading.


----------



## Firemajic

When you get a chance, Read 'The Glass Lake", by Binchy... If you decide to read it, let me know, and I will reread it with you... It is my Favorite book, when I am in need of an escape from my world, I enter that world.... sooo fabulous...


----------



## dither

majic,
it's on my "must read" list.

If/when i find a copy i'd love to read it with you, assuming of course that i have the patience to endure the opening passages. Lol, i bet you wouldn't let me quit if i wanted to and maybe that's what i need, a push and a shove.
One day majic, one day.


----------



## Firemajic

You are right, I would NOT let you stop... it is worth the effort ... Hurry up and find a copy, so we can get started... or, tell me when you read another of her books.. I think I have almost every book Binchy has written...


----------



## aj47

Can we make this a group effort?  Never read any Binchy but am timid about approaching new-to-me authors, especially since I have a tight budget and can only read ebooks because of my vision issues.  I think if I had group support for reading, I'd be more likely to get going.


----------



## dither

Majic,

when i go to my library now, i have two authors in mind, Binchy and Bates. Members are allowed to borrow three at a time and so i randomly pick a third but i look for authors with a few books to their name. Try to get a feel for the mind behind the person who wrote them, y'know? Or at least form a kind of familiarity with the writing style.


----------



## Firemajic

astroannie said:


> Can we make this a group effort?  Never read any Binchy but am timid about approaching new-to-me authors, especially since I have a tight budget and can only read ebooks because of my vision issues.  I think if I had group support for reading, I'd be more likely to get going.




annie, I love that idea.... we should start a Book of the month club...


----------



## aj47

Well, we could maybe do this for October then ... give us time to ramp up and announce it and get more people on board.


----------



## dither

Astro,
that's a brilliant idea.

My reading is governed by what my library happens to have on their shelves whenever i go there.

As you will ascertained from previous posts, majic is a Binchy fan, i'm getting there, and majic, it would seem, owns every book that Binchy ever published. If we could read some together, how ever many, that would be, to borrow from majic, fabulous.


----------



## aj47

Okay, how long does your library let you borrow books? That becomes the key when determining which Binchy we read.


----------



## dither

Firemajic said:


> annie, I love that idea.... we should start a Book of the month club...



majic,
i'm only reading as i am because i'm off work right now. No way could i do this when i'm working but still, it's a great idea and Binchy has quite a few doesn't she?


----------



## Firemajic

Binchy has at least 12 books... some are a collection of short stories... we could start with those...


----------



## dither

Firemajic said:


> Binchy has at least 12 books... some are a collection of short stories... we could start with those...



I've done two of the collections and thoroughly enjoyed them.


majic,
i've started Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" and i'm "into it" y'know?
I don't allow myself to be without books nowadays. How about next time i go to the library if i can find a Binchy i bring it home and tell you what i've got? And maybe we can go from there. Would you mind?


----------



## Firemajic

That is a good Idea, dither! I will reread ANY Binchy book... I just thought that a collection of short stories would be a good way for annie to see if she likes Binchy's style... But I will go with what ever you guys want to read... this will be fun!


----------



## dither

Interesting thought there majic.

How many books of short stories did she write?

Maybe there's one i haven't read yet.


----------



## dither

Firemajic said:


> But I will go with what ever you guys want to read... this will be fun!



Erm,
whatever i can get majic.


----------



## aj47

Well, what i'm thinking is we see how long dith can get a book for.  *Total, including renewals.*  Then we figure out what kind of lead time that can give us so we know when in September he's going to pick our Binchy for us.


----------



## dither

annie,
there is no limit, within reason of course, to how long a book can be borrowed.

I had _wondered _actually, how readily available are these books for you?


----------



## Firemajic

OH, I found several books of short stories I have not read...!!

The September Letters
Full House

But you guys pick one, and I will read it...


----------



## dither

majic,
i shall search high and low.
Can't wait to start this.


----------



## Firemajic

dither said:


> majic,
> i shall search high and low.
> Can't wait to start this.




SQuEEEeek... I am sooo excited... It is so much fun to share books... me and my sisters used to do that, and I miss it....


----------



## escorial




----------



## dither

Firemajic said:


> me and my sisters used to do that, and I miss it....



Could be an extract from the book i just read.


----------



## Firemajic

" The Reading Room" is open! Anyone who wants to participate, send me a PM...


----------



## Lorem Ipsum

dither said:


> I've done two of the collections and thoroughly enjoyed them.
> 
> 
> majic,
> i've started Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" and i'm "into it" y'know?
> I don't allow myself to be without books nowadays. How about next time i go to the library if i can find a Binchy i bring it home and tell you what i've got? And maybe we can go from there. Would you mind?



dither,

Is this your first reading of The Grapes of Wrath? If so, I would be interested in hearing what you think about the ending.


----------



## dither

Ipsum,
that's an interesting question, my first reading? i'm not sure. I know i've read at least one Steinbeck but i can't remember which. The opening _does _seem vaguely familiar, i'm not sitting here recalling everything word for word so i shall probably stay with it and let you know.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Starting "Water-- New Short Fiction From Africa" tonight.


----------



## dither

I've been very lucky, again.

Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath",  what can i say? Great read.


Bates' "Purple plain", ditto.


I struggled, and almost gave up, with Binchy's "Light a Penny Candle". Took so long to get into gear but was, eventually, a page-turner.

I've just got hold of another Binchy, " Minding Frankie ". I was in from the very first paragraph and i can't put it down.

Happy days.


----------



## dither

Two more borrowed and i'm kicking off with H.E.Bates's " The Flying Goat ". A set of short stories.


----------



## aj47

dither said:


> I've just got hold of another Binchy, " Minding Frankie ". I was in from the very first paragraph and i can't put it down.



So is this our reading circle book?


----------



## queenie

The Sun Also Rises, by Hemingway


----------



## escorial

queenie said:


> The Sun Also Rises, by Hemingway



Hemingway is frustrating for me..would like to read your thoughts about his writing..?


----------



## dither

I'm reading H.E.Bates's " The Flying Goat". It's a collection of short stories and i'm bored witless.I just don't get them.


----------



## LeeC

I highly recommend
http://willstolzenburg.com

*Save**Save*​


----------



## Monaque

The City Of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau, clearly written for children but still very enjoyable. Now reading my first Don Winslow book, A Cool Breeze On The Underground. So far reminds me of Craig Johnson and Rick Riordan. Also have a few Arthur C Clarke books to get through.


----------



## escorial

just 1st person all the way through..pure genius at work..this guy is untouchable for me


----------



## dither

Just started D.H.Laurence's " The Rainbow ".


----------



## kaufenpreis

Doc by Mary Doria Russell- about 3/4 through and is so far the best book on the Dodge City clan I've read.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

dither said:


> Just started D.H.Laurence's " The Rainbow ".



I've been meaning to read more D.H Lawrence. Let me know if its worth picking up!

Reading Philip K. Dick's Paycheck and Other Classic Stories. It's really entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable. Dick has a great sense of story and each work is articulate and fluid.


----------



## Book Cook

"Jude the Obscure" by Thomas Hardy. The story is good, the pacing excellent, but the sentence structure awfully tiring. At times I even have to re-read a whole paragraph.


----------



## dither

danielstj said:


> I've been meaning to read more D.H Lawrence. Let me know if its worth picking up!
> 
> Reading Philip K. Dick's Paycheck and Other Classic Stories. It's really entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable. Dick has a great sense of story and each work is articulate and fluid.



Danielstj,
i'm finding this hard going. The language is very "olde worlde" and i'm struggling with the story-line 170 pages in.
I too would like to know other people's  thoughts on this.


----------



## dither

Book Cook said:


> "Jude the Obscure" by Thomas Hardy. The story is good, the pacing excellent, but the sentence structure awfully tiring. At times I even have to re-read a whole paragraph.



I've put it on my list BC. All i have to do now is find a copy.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Re-reading Oman, Art of war in the middle ages, strange how different a book can seem on a second read.
Also Robert Harris, Archangel and Michio Kaku,  Einstein's cosmos.

That's kitchen, bedroom and loobary.


----------



## Gyarachu

Today I began reading Brandon Sanderson's _Elantris_, and it's wonderfully enthralling.

I am left puzzled, however. I've mentioned before that while Sanderson is one of my favorite authors, an issue I've had with all his books thus far is that they feel so unpolished. The prose is often clunky and repetitive, and the dialogue frequently painful. _Elantris_ suffers from no such thing. Not even a little bit. Why is this puzzling? Because _Elantris_ was Sanderson's very first published book, written before any of the others I've gotten my hands on. And yet the writing quality is noticeably higher.

Why?


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Reading All's Well That Ends Well (Shakespeare), Utopia (Sir Thomas More), A Fable (William Faulkner) and A Model World (Michael Chabon).

I really like Utopia and A Model World. A Fable is curiously interesting and All's Well That Ends Well is a part of a challenge I gave myself. I'm 4 plays away from having read all of Shakespeare's drama! I'm pumped to put his "Complete Plays" on my bookshelf. = D


----------



## aj47

I liked The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and Summerland, but not Mysteries of Pittsburgh -- which is A Model World more like?


----------



## Bard_Daniel

It's really its own thing astroannie but I would think if you liked The Adventures of Cavalier and Clay-- which I quite enjoyed, that you would enjoy it! I haven't read The Mysteries of Pittsburgh though.


----------



## aj47

Save yourself the time.  It was his first and maybe should have lined a cat-box (I don't mean to sound quite that harsh--I did finish it rather than put it down in the middle somewhere but I'm not really pleased with that accomplishment).  It may be a thing that if you're a native of Pittsburgh you find something to like in it, idk.  

It could also be a Guy Thing.  It's coming-of-agey and, as I'm not a guy, it might be that it just didn't hit the right spots.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

astroannie said:


> Save yourself the time.  It was his first and maybe should have lined a cat-box (I don't mean to sound quite that harsh--I did finish it rather than put it down in the middle somewhere but I'm not really pleased with that accomplishment).  It may be a thing that if you're a native of Pittsburgh you find something to like in it, idk.
> 
> It could also be a Guy Thing.  It's coming-of-agey and, as I'm not a guy, it might be that it just didn't hit the right spots.



I think I'll heed your advice. There's only so many books I can read in a lifetime, right?


----------



## LeeC

Just started reading "Ice Canyon Monster" by Keith Rommel, and had a hard time stopping to get some other work done. Yeah it's cli-fi, but it's such a well written yarn I had to keep turning pages. 

"The Eskimo people of Greenland have grown tired of the damage being done to their world by global warming, and emissions from shipping lanes between Canada and Greenland are making people that live near the coast sick. 

When Akutak, a Greenlandic Shaman Eskimo, decides to ..."

Starting out with believable Eskimo sorcery (could the shaman's actions and the monster's appearance be a coincidence), the monster is just beginning to wreak havoc where I left off. 

It will be a pleasure reading and reviewing this. As another reviewer said, "Keith is taking no prisoners with this book."


*Save**Save*​


----------



## escorial

your passion for a gendre must give you endless hours of great reading....and i admire that...cool man..look foward to reading your pov/review


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Starting into Carl von Clausewitz's *On War *right now.


----------



## escorial

bought two books today so will pick which one to start wth over a coffee...


----------



## Jenwales

Too many books:
A discovery of witches by Deborah Harkness (it's a real time reading with a facebook group) reread love it
Wuthering Heights- reread towards the end must go and read it now
The Witching Hour by Anne Rice
Witches by Stacy Shieff, history book about the Salem witch trials
The Survivor by James Herbert - the last James Herbert book I haven't read. 

I started reading more Halloween themed books but there's so many too read. I have a week of so that's my excues


----------



## -xXx-

it's been a different kind of reading time for me.
i've been reveling in young adult fiction..._and_
enjoying what has been happening in the world of audiobooks.

several of the reader voices take me into a world that
existed before i was a gleam in eyes: classic radio shows.
this specific series is one of those.

IF you have not explored the historical fiction created
by* L. A. Meyer*, in the guise of Miss Jacky Faber,
_("Bloody Jack: Being An Account of the Curious Adventures
 of Mary “Jacky” Faber, Ship’s Boy" & 11 additional titles)_
i urge you to consider [them] as temperatures drop and
nights lengthen.

wonderful!


----------



## Jenwales

I am now reminded why I stopped reading Anne Rice don't think that I can continue


----------



## Gyarachu

Gyarachu said:


> Today I began reading Brandon Sanderson's _Elantris_, and it's wonderfully enthralling.



Holy _hell_ was this book good. As per usual, Brandon has left me to wallow in despair at my own mediocrity.

Today I'm starting _Shadowplay_ by Tad Williams, the second book in his _Shadowmarch_ trilogy. The first book was decent, but he's a very strong writer and the worldbuilding is both expansive and intriguing. I feel like I could learn a fair amount from him.


----------



## Ariel

"Cain's Blood" by Geoffrey Girard. It's enthralling and horrifying.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Now reading Arthur Rimbaud's Complete Works. Very interesting.


----------



## H.Brown

Re-readingL.A.Weatherly's Angel trilogy once again but another book that I would recommend is Patrick Rothfuss' The name of the wind which at first Imust admit it took me a couple of chapters to get into it but once I was I just could not put it down.


----------



## dither

dither said:


> Just started D.H.Laurence's " The Rainbow ".




I finally got through it.
494 pages of wasted time and effort is how i see it.

You know how sometimes you can plough on and on with a book, through all sorts of what seems total dross, but it does eventually come together, it all makes sense and there is a point to it all ?

Well, i didn't get it, i just didn't.

No more D.H.L. for me thank you very much.


----------



## tinacrabapple

I tried The Rainbow and I couldn't get into it, although I like DH Lawrence.

Just finished Masks by Fumiko Enchi.


----------



## Phil Istine

I felt like lightening things up from my usual mix of demons and psychopaths, so I'm reading Adrian Mole's Diary (aged 13¾).


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Also reading All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. I'm about seventy pages in and I'm diggin' it.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

I am reading A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.


----------



## Jamboree

United as One - Pittacus Lore 

The final book in the series. If every character survives but the token one death per book then I am going to be annoyed. Full scale alien invasions don't have high survival rates!


----------



## -xXx-

refer to post #1597, this thread
yes.
*L. A. Meyer *_jacky faber_ revelry continues.

i have decided to toss an odd man into the mix.
_Memory Man_ by *David Baldacci*

the unique qualities and characteristics which combine
in Detective _Amos Decker_ are captivating celebrations
of distinctive individuals - disclosing both the annoying
and awe inspiring counterpoints of being and experiencing
such persons.
i had no idea when i selected this work, that odd man was
an appropriate descriptor.
i am pleased to find that a _Decker_ series is developing.

if you enjoy story lines that explore
solution-oriented-strength-optimized teams of well developed,
realistic characters addressing oppressively redundant themes
in headline news, check _Detective Amos Decker's_ approach
toward resolution.

you may find a certain peace of mind peeks into your day.

enjoy!


----------



## Likas

I'm currently working my way through T. H. White's The Once And Future King. This is my second time reading it, but the first time was a while back.


----------



## dither

Binchy's shorts just keep on coming and i think they're amazing mini-masterpieces.

Am almost at the end of " A Few of the Girls. "


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Reading Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan, The Selected Stories of H.G Wells, Volume 9 of The Sandman comic and W.B Yeats' Collected Poems.

I'm enjoying all of them. : D


----------



## escorial

rationed myself to 1 chapter a day because i want to savour the experience..every book of his i've read i've read again shortly afterwards..passion,emotion,life,death..it;s all there.


----------



## dither

Still searching for Camus, it's tough here out in the sticks.


----------



## The Fantastical

I am busy reading _Hide and Seek _by Paul Preuss. I have really enjoyed the series so far. Great classic, adventure, space opera sci-fi at it's best. Just how I like it!


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Jeffery Eugenides’ Middlesex is amazing. I can’t seem to get enough of it.

I also started reading Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Michael Crichton’s Sphere. Both have good potential.


----------



## escorial

danielstj said:


> Started reading Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Michael Crichton’s Sphere. Both have good potential.



then you have alot in common dude...just sayin man


----------



## -xXx-

ref post #1609 same thread

Yes.
I've been dragging my feet on this one.

*L. A. Meyer *_Jacky Faber_ revelry continues.

_Memory Man_ by *David Baldacci*
was such a delight, that I perused the available selections
of audio books and selected _The Keeper_.

This is the second book in a series vastly different than
_Memory Man_, in which protagonist _Vega Jane_
is forced to sift through a lifetime of misinformation,
hone skills under less than favorable conditions and
navigate a path through malevolent designs for herself
and her companions.

_Vega Jane_ is a likable enough character. She is
resourceful, but not immune nor indestructible. I will suspend
final review until I can locate her introduction/backstory,
_The Finisher_.

Young Adult fiction has matured as a genre, IMHO.


----------



## Ariel

I just finished Sara Gruen's "Water for Elephants."  It was a good read.


----------



## Phil Istine

Reading Hesse's _Siddhartha_.  I read it years ago, but wanted another look.


----------



## bobo

Phil Istine said:


> Reading Hesse's _Siddhartha_.  I read it years ago, but wanted another look.



Fabelhaft !!
But the best Hesse is still Das Glasperlenspiel/The Glass Bead Game - imho rofilel:
What did I just say ?? - every Hesse is good :cheerful:  :cheerful: :cheerful:

I'm started out on Carlos Ruiz Zafon's serie about 'The Cemetery of Forgotten Books' - hehe !!


----------



## Srossics

I'm finally getting around to reading the _Harry Potter _books. I've read 1-3, and half of four so far; in the last year and a half. I've been a fan of the movies since they came out, but I never got around to reading the books. My brother nagged me to read the books ever since the first move came out in 2001. I didn't read them then because I was four and couldn't really read, and I kept dragging my feet sever since. I seriously wish I didn't do that. They're so good!


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Just finished reading Freud's The Future of An Illusion and Middlesex. Still working my way through Ovid's Metamorphoses but it is good.

Reading:

Death of A Salesman- Arthur Miller
Volume 11 of The Sandman- Neil Gaiman
The Hunchback of Notre Dame- Victor Hugo
The Minority Report and Other Stories- Philip K. Dick
Homage to Catalonia- George Orwell
A Storm of Swords (Volume 3 of A Song of Fire and Ice)- George R.R Martin


----------



## Monaque

The first of the Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve, young adult but very interesting take on the whole futuristic genre, now to be made into a film. Also the next Lisbeth Salander novel, The Girl In The Spider`s Web, now by David Lagercrantz. I`m not usually a fan of another taking over a previous authors work but this isn`t bad.


----------



## -xXx-

ref post #1618 same thread

*L. A. Meyer* Jacky Faber revelry continues.

_The Black Box_ by *Michael Connelly* is 16th
 in a series of 21 novels and an Amazon Prime series -
or so wikipedia tells me.

_Detective Harry Bosch_ is a well developed character
by this point in the series.  Nothing in the backstory conflicted
with the character I encountered in this novel.

While this novel may be the product of grueling research
into law enforcement, I am inclined to feel that it is
an amalgam or composite of actual experience(s).

imho, this is a well written book with several characters
of depth. If I pickup another in the series, it will probably
be a fallback selection. The Detective has enough steam
to be una/effected by my absence. I would not be surprised
by companion spin-offs.

_*peruses the selection*_


----------



## Monaque

-xXx- said:


> ref post #1618 same thread
> 
> *L. A. Meyer* Jacky Faber revelry continues.
> 
> _The Black Box_ by *Michael Connelly* is 16th
> in a series of 21 novels and an Amazon Prime series -
> or so wikipedia tells me.
> 
> _Detective Harry Bosch_ is a well developed character
> by this point in the series.  Nothing in the backstory conflicted
> with the character I encountered in this novel.
> 
> While this novel may be the product of grueling research
> into law enforcement, I am inclined to feel that it is
> an amalgam or composite of actual experience(s).
> 
> imho, this is a well written book with several characters
> of depth. If I pickup another in the series, it will probably
> be a fallback selection. The Detective has enough steam
> to be una/effected by my absence. I would not be surprised
> by companion spin-offs.
> 
> _*peruses the selection*_



They are pretty good, out of all detective novels out there his are the on the better side. So far there are the ones with Harry Bosch and those with Micky Haller, they tend to intertwine or standalone.


----------



## -xXx-

Monaque said:


> They are pretty good, out of all detective novels out there his are the on the better side. So far there are the ones with Harry Bosch and those with Micky Haller, they tend to intertwine or standalone.



How do you think Baldacci compares to Connelly?


----------



## Monaque

-xXx- said:


> How do you think Baldacci compares to Connelly?



Hmmm, well Connelly is for me the better writer. Bosch is a good character, maybe a little on the dour side, but lots of interesting back story and with a nice attitude towards his superiors. I wasn`t quite so enamoured of the protagonist of Baldacci`s stories, and now that I think of it I can`t remember his name. 
The reason I know a little about them is because my sister has all Connelly`s and all Baldacci`s novels. I have read a few of Connelly`s books but only one or two of Baldacci`s.
How about you?


----------



## -xXx-

Monaque said:


> The reason I know a little about them is because my sister has all Connelly`s and all Baldacci`s novels. I have read a few of Connelly`s books but only one or two of Baldacci`s.
> How about you?



not my genre of choice.
i've listened to one from each author.
i preferred the Baldacci (Memory Man/Amos Decker).
Decker was an atypical lead.
that put the character closer to my genre-of-preference-characters.


----------



## Monaque

-xXx- said:


> not my genre of choice.
> i've listened to one from each author.
> i preferred the Baldacci (Memory Man/Amos Decker).
> Decker was an atypical lead.
> that put the character closer to my genre-of-preference-characters.



Ah, right, yeah I don`t mind the detective/secret agent novel but in that genre I prefer something like Lee Child or Harlan Coban or Rick Riordan`s Tres Navarre. Otherwise I tend to read what my sister refers to as my, "weird books". Meaning: Sci/fi - Fantasy - Magic - Dystopian etc. 
I do read a wide variety it must be said.


----------



## dither

Well, as far as borrowing Binchys from my local libraries goes, i seem to have gone through the what is on offer and so, i brought home an H.E.Bates and a Trollope. We shall see.

Would love an opportunity to read all of Binchy's though. Just great reads, all of them.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo.

Very curious, and a little rough, of a start but I'm in! I like it so far.


----------



## -xXx-

_ref post #1625 same thread_
*
L. A. Meyer*_ Jacky Faber_ revelry continues.

_The Casual Vacancy_ by* J K Rowling*.
I'd no idea that this even existed!
As playaway audiobooks will do
(especially as environmental static
increases), this book has been on
hiatus for two weeks or so.
After accepting that the device _was not_
going to discharge any static and
permit my return to the story,
I made arrangements to transfer in a
replacement.

Once more, I am informed by wikipedia
that there is a television series.

I'll be waiting patiently for the arrival of
the audiobook.
I'm interested in what the author originally
chose to express and how.
Several characters hold my attention(s)
at this point.


----------



## The Fantastical

I have just started the *Saucer series* by Stephen Coonts. So far so good!


----------



## dither

Just finished Lyn Andrews' " Sunlight On The Mersey " and found it a real page-turner. Must be the shortest four hundred pages ever for me. Loved it, brilliant. It looks as though today is going to be a long boring one so i shall be banging on with H.E.Bares' " The Feast Of July ".

Happy days...


----------



## dither

dither said:


> Just finished Lyn Andrews' " Sunlight On The Mersey " and found it a real page-turner. Must be the shortest four hundred pages ever for me. Loved it, brilliant. It looks as though today is going to be a long boring one so i shall be banging on with H.E.Bares' " The Feast Of July ".
> 
> Happy days...



And another one bites the dust.Such a strange ending but well worth the read.I have books to return.All i need now is to find one by Lyn Andrews.


----------



## J Anfinson




----------



## Monaque

One of the early Peter F Hamilton books, A Second Chance At Eden, apparently the best book to start when it comes to this author. I`ll be honest, I`m a fan of Sci-Fi and I`d never heard of this writer. So far so good, quirky sci-fi, a little out there, good writing.
Did start an early novel by Don Winslow, which was pretty good, and to which I will return.
Regarding J K Rowling, I have tried her Cormorant Strike (not sure of the spelling) books, the first anyway, and that was very good. Don`t know about Casual Vacancy, and only got part way into the first HP before abandoning it, I guess I`m not into reading childrens books.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

I'm reading Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King and a collection of Emily Dickinson's poems. Both are quite good.


----------



## SystemCheck

Just finished _As I Lay Dying _and_ Absalom, Absalom!_ by William Faulkner.

Will be reading _Robinson Crusoe_ by Daniel Defoe.


----------



## dither

Just finished one myself, " My Husband Next Door " by Catherine Alliot.
I've been at all day and ache in places that i'd forgot existed.
Brilliant brilliant brilliant read.

Next is  Bernard Cornwell's " The Flame Bearer ".
I do hope that my luck holds.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Started, and in a three day span, read 310 pages of The Recognitions by William Gaddis. It's a complex read but its damn enthralling.


----------



## Monaque

Railhead by Philip Reeve, I know it`s a YA novel but it`s still really good.


----------



## Teozak

This Christmas I received so many books as gifts, mostly Stephen King, and I was actually surprised by the quality of Christine book. I am learning about cars and how they actually work thanks to it, and there is this bromance/ fraternal friendship, it's really cool.


----------



## dither

Can't believe my luck and the rate at which  i am reading.

"The flame bearer", not really my preferred genre, all mud blood and guts, feudal wars in Saxon Engerland but worth the read if you're into that sort thing.

Then Catherine Alliott's " Wish You Were Here " more along the lines of Binchy i'm afraid. 4oo pages, polished off no time at all. All of both fully enjoyed and now, although at the very early stages, i think i may well enjoy Josephine Cox's " Journey's End ".

I'm exploring unknown writers but choosing those with a long list of titles too their name, that gives the option of seeking more the same if i like them and so far so good.

Happy dithering...


----------



## dither

I can't believe it, i've gorged on Josephine Cox's " The Journey's End "  that's another 300 pages devoured in no time at all and now i have nothing else to read.

Well at least now i have writer's names to look for.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Reading_ Being and Nothingness_ by Jean-Paul Sartre in English (I'm not bold enough to try it in French ). Woah. Have to REALLY focus while reading this one. Challenging to say the least.


----------



## The Fantastical

Just started Rodger Zelazny's _Wizards World _​series. So far so good! I just love his writing.


----------



## Ell337

Just finished The Vagrants by Yiyun Li. I enjoyed it and I didn't enjoy it. I've read a lot of books about the Cultural Revolution so the topic was nothing new, but wow this was depressing. Honestly there was nothing redeeming about any of the characters - even the one who was the only ray of light in the novel disappoints at the end. Aargh! I actually can't stand nihilistic books.


----------



## escorial




----------



## Olly Buckle

"Surely you're joking Mr. Feynman." 'autobiographical', from tape recorded transcripts of conversations with Richard Feynman, he comes across very well. He is a 'proper' scientist, who points out the logical errors of others, it reminds me in places of Ben Goldacre's "Bad Science", which was awesome, but more chatty and personal. well worth a read.


----------



## Monaque

Silkworm by Galbrai...um I mean J K Rowling. :tongue:  I do like these books, interesting main protagonist and good writing.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert. Very good first two chapters. I hope it continues that way.


----------



## J Anfinson

Just finished it. I was hesitant going into this one but it surprised me. While the writing could have been tightened up here and there, this is one of the rare cases where the story does a excellent job trumping the mechanics. Multiple times I carried on after stumbling without ever considering putting it down because it held my interest that well. I recommend it.


----------



## CrimsonAngel223

A Game of Thrones


----------



## Ell337

CrimsonAngel223 said:


> A Game of Thrones


 I hope you know in advance that the series isn't finished and isn't likely to ever be. So if that bothers you ...


I'm reading something, but for the life of me can't remember what it is ...


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Tom Jones by Henry Fielding.

Very engaging. : D


----------



## Olly Buckle

'The ocean at the bottom of the lane' by Neil Gaiman.


----------



## Thaumiel

The Highway Code...


----------



## Ol' Fartsy




----------



## JustRob

I've just acquired _The No Rules Handbook for Writers (Know the rules so you can break them)_ by Lisa Goldman, who is actually a playwright but tackles the subject from all viewpoints. I've only read the introduction so far but it looks promising. It's recommended reading for a short course that I've signed up for locally to discuss breaking the rules of writing.

She tackles forty common "rules" including (number 1) "Write what you know", (number 7) "Write what the market wants", (number 21) "The ending must resolve", (number 26) "Show don't tell" and (number 40) "Just write".  

One remark in the introduction particularly caught my attention, that "You have already thrown away the rule book by taking the decision to write". Well, personally I certainly can't argue with that. I'll report further in the proper forum when I've read it.


----------



## dither

Just finished Lyn Andrews' " The Queen's Promise " a tale based upon the life and death of Anne Boleyn. Not my preferred genre but I saw it out and i'm not sorry that i did.


----------



## -xXx-

_ref post #1633 same thread_
*
L. A. Meyer*_ Jacky Faber_ revelry continues.

_The Casual Vacancy_ by* J K Rowling*.
The replacement audiobook arrived.
While this reader reviewed chapters repeatedly,
many of the author's _Potter_ audience might be
well displeased with this novel.

When the demographic for aficionado coalesces,
editing in here will suffice:
X

_The Rembrandt Affair_ by *Daniel Silva*.

This particular book was a fabulous fit for
this reader, at this time.
One might guess that a group of characters developed
over the course of years (possibly 10) would present
captivating depth.
One might guess that conflicts running over generations
of human beings would be an intriguing
relationship dynamics operations framework.
One might guess reframing all of the above
into contemporary context would suspend disbelief effectively
for most readers.
yeah, this was teh.awesome.ness(es).


Once more, I am informed by wikipedia
that this is a character series (book 10 of 16).


----------



## Bloggsworth

The Quiller Memorandum by Adam Hall (Who also wrote as Alexander Kent).


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak and a collection of plays by Henrik Ibsen.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

I am now reading






Next up is


----------



## Monaque

James 剣 斧 血 said:


> The Highway Code...




Always good to be prepared :applause:

I`m on short stories at the moment. Ted Chiang`s Stories Of Your Life And Others, and Paolo Bacigalupi`s Pump Six And Other Stories.


----------



## Monaque

-xXx- said:


> _ref post #1633 same thread_
> *
> L. A. Meyer*_ Jacky Faber_ revelry continues.
> 
> _The Casual Vacancy_ by* J K Rowling*.
> The replacement audiobook arrived.
> While this reader reviewed chapters repeatedly,
> many of the author's _Potter_ audience might be
> well displeased with this novel.



They might think the same of the Galbraith novels.



> When the demographic for aficionado coalesces,
> editing in here will suffice:


Well that went right over my head, what do you mean by that?


----------



## dither

Having recently reading and thoroughly enjoying an "Inspector Carlyle " murder mystery by James Craig and then because of that being drawn to similar, have just finished one by Shamani Flint. " A Curious Indian Cadaver ".

Another great read and again, thoroughly enjoyed.

When i'm trawling through my local library i try to find authors who have a few to their name with the hope of like one like them all. Well i may have hit on one with Shamani Flint, i did notice four or five others on the shelf i think. Looking forward to reading more of Inspector Singh.

Enjoying the experience.


----------



## TKent

Just did this on audio read by Neil himself. Really liked it! Also read amercan gods which is adults not ya. It was wonderful. Very long!



Olly Buckle said:


> 'The ocean at the bottom of the lane' by Neil Gaiman.


----------



## dither

I'm 84 pages into Lee Child's "Worth Dying For" and it's looking good.


----------



## -xXx-

Monaque said:


> They might think the same of the Galbraith novels.
> 
> 
> Well that went right over my head, what do you mean by that?



that means if i can imagine a type of reader that might enjoy it, i will edit it in to that post.
i'm pretty simple in many ways.


----------



## -xXx-

_ref post #1663 same thread_
*
L. A. Meyer*_ Jacky Faber_ revelry continues.


_The Bone Thief_ by *Jefferson Bass*.

Hmmm.
I don't think a situation like this has yet arrived for this reader.
The collaboration information was a better fit than than the novel.
Forensics certainly was, is and may be, heading towards content
that may or may not appeal.
In this particular case, the information presented within the novel
was received better than the fictional components.
I think it may have been a lack of quirkiness in the principal characters.
Never really identified with any of them....which is odd.

Once more, I am informed by wikipedia
that this is a character series (book 5 of 10 plus 2).

_*should have a different author in today*_


----------



## Monaque

-xXx- said:


> that means if i can imagine a type of reader that might enjoy it, i will edit it in to that post.
> i'm pretty simple in many ways.



Ah right, fair enough, I was just curious.


----------



## Moonbeast32

I'm reading Patrick Rothfuss's "The name of the wind." I'm thinking of dropping it though in favor of C.S. Lewis's "Mere Christianity." Been reading too much fantasy fiction as of late, so I want to try something different.


----------



## Monaque

Moonbeast32 said:


> I'm reading Patrick Rothfuss's "The name of the wind." I'm thinking of dropping it though in favor of C.S. Lewis's "Mere Christianity." Been reading too much fantasy fiction as of late, so I want to try something different.



The Name Of The Wind is great though, very good fantasy, a little different from the run of the mill. I`ve read some of CS Lewis` work but not that one. If you can come back to Rothfuss, well worth it.


----------



## -xXx-

Moonbeast32 said:


> I'm reading Patrick Rothfuss's "The name of the wind." I'm thinking of dropping it though in favor of C.S. Lewis's "Mere Christianity." Been reading too much fantasy fiction as of late, so I want to try something different.



read much of both.
rothfuss.
brilliant!
imho.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Lingo, lingo, lingo, about the European languages, pretty good
A new book of snobs, re-write of Thackery, not wonderful
Roman Empire, deals with the later Caesers of whom I knew little, brief but good.
Just  finished Fragile things, Niel Gaiman. a collection of bits and pieces, like the vicars egg, 'Excellent in parts'.


----------



## Moonbeast32

Monaque said:


> The Name Of The Wind is great though, very good fantasy, a little different from the run of the mill. I`ve read some of CS Lewis` work but not that one. If you can come back to Rothfuss, well worth it.



I probably will return.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

First Love and Other Stories- Ivan Turgenev
Foucault's Pendulum- Umberto Eco
Brick (Volume ?)- Literary Magazine
Complete Poems- Andrew Marvell
House of Sand and Fog- Andre Dubus III


----------



## -xXx-

_ref post #1673 same thread_
*
L. A. Meyer*_ Jacky Faber_ revelry continues.


_Tsar_ by *Ted Bell*.

yes, this was written some years ago.
looking for a great instructor
in many aspects of quality writing?
study this book.
fabulous _characters_, with development
(from the reader's perspective)
through delicious _dialogue/monologue_, etc.
superb handling of _sensitive subjects_
(rape, enforcement post-trauma, etc).
skilled handling of _suspending-disbelief_ elements
like significant technological devices, which may
or may not have-existed/exist.
excellent find for THIS reader.

once more, i am informed by wikipedia
that this is a character series (book 5 of 9).
haven't decided if i will pursue additional
installments of the story of Lord Alexander Hawke.
BUT, i may purchase this one.


----------



## moderan

Outside of forum threads, twitter, and facebook, I'm reading Orrin Grey's *Monsters in the Vault*, a compilation of his columns reviewing horror movies, and John Langan's *The Wide Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies*. Just finished Matt Taibbi's *Insane Clown President*, David Greenberg's *Republic of Spin*, and Michael Griffin's *The Lure of Devouring Light*. All are excellent-the Langan is a re-read before diving into his Stoker-nominated *The Fisherman*.  The Griffin is unforgettable 'quiet horror', the two political books  are seminal to an understanding of current context, and I love monsters.
How about you?


----------



## Monaque

moderan said:


> Outside of forum threads, twitter, and facebook, I'm reading Orrin Grey's *Monsters in the Vault*, a compilation of his columns reviewing horror movies, and John Langan's *The Wide Carnivorous Sky and Other Monstrous Geographies*. Just finished Matt Taibbi's *Insane Clown President*, David Greenberg's *Republic of Spin*, and Michael Griffin's *The Lure of Devouring Light*. All are excellent-the Langan is a re-read before diving into his Stoker-nominated *The Fisherman*.  The Griffin is unforgettable 'quiet horror', the two political books  are seminal to an understanding of current context, and I love monsters.
> How about you?




You sure do :mrgreen: ..... I noticed that you mention The Lure Of Devouring Light; when I looked that up it seems to be a collection of short stories. I`m not a huge fan of horror/monsters but I am looking for more quality short story collections. I`m reading Ted Chiang and Paolo Bacigalupi, who have a penchant for being slightly off beat and different but not into horror. I`ve also read Philip K Dick and Asimov.
What I`m getting at is, do you, or anyone, know of any really good short story collections?


----------



## Monaque

Just started The Circle by David Eggers (an interesting life, if you believe wikipedia) because, and I`m not joking, I saw the film trailer and it intrigued me.


----------



## moderan

Monaque said:


> You sure do :mrgreen: ..... I noticed that you mention The Lure Of Devouring Light; when I looked that up it seems to be a collection of short stories. I`m not a huge fan of horror/monsters but I am looking for more quality short story collections. I`m reading Ted Chiang and Paolo Bacigalupi, who have a penchant for being slightly off beat and different but not into horror. I`ve also read Philip K Dick and Asimov.
> What I`m getting at is, do you, or anyone, know of any really good short story collections?



Lots of them. I prefer short stories to novels. I mostly read sf and horror though. Given what you're reading, I'd suggest maybe Warm Worlds and Otherwise, by James Tiptree, Jr., or The Best of Cordwainer Smith. Both have otherworldly qualities and a high level of proficiency in the language.


----------



## Monaque

moderan said:


> Lots of them. I prefer short stories to novels. I mostly read sf and horror though. Given what you're reading, I'd suggest maybe Warm Worlds and Otherwise, by James Tiptree, Jr., or The Best of Cordwainer Smith. Both have otherworldly qualities and a high level of proficiency in the language.


I`m actually writing short stories at the moment, so wanted to get more of a feel for them, and I like the format. I`ll have a look at those, cheers.


----------



## Monaque

moderan said:


> Lots of them. I prefer short stories to novels. I mostly read sf and horror though. Given what you're reading, I'd suggest maybe Warm Worlds and Otherwise, by James Tiptree, Jr., or The Best of Cordwainer Smith. Both have otherworldly qualities and a high level of proficiency in the language.


I`m actually writing short stories at the moment, so wanted to get more of a feel for them, and I like the format. I`ll have a look at those, cheers. Do also know of any more modern short story writers?

PS - Sorry, I double posted by mistake, can anyone delete the post at 20:55?


----------



## TKent

Reading (listening) to these two right now 

- on audio when I'm driving - Colton Whitehead's The Underground Railroad (loved his Zone One - a literary zombie novel!) - So far is amazing, although painful to read at times due to the subject matter.

- Infomacracy - Malka Older - was familiar with her poetry and saw Tor had published her first novel. Just started this one and so far, it is great, as I had expected it to be.

And I always am reading short fiction, since sometimes I don't have the time or the inclination to focus on whatever novel(s) I'm reading:

- The Big Book of Science Fiction - edited by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer - some very, very good stories so far - past and present.


----------



## moderan

Monaque said:


> I`m actually writing short stories at the moment, so wanted to get more of a feel for them, and I like the format. I`ll have a look at those, cheers. Do also know of any more modern short story writers?



Dozens. But the best way, I think, is to go to Amazon or B&N, enter in Ted Chiang's name, or Paolo Bacigalupi's, and see what they recommend. I read mostly small-press stuff these days and that tends to get obscurantist.


> The Big Book of Science Fiction - edited by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer - some very, very good stories so far - past and present.



Love it. Astounding work by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, who are indefatigable in their quest to better the world of letters. You might like Jeff's Southern Reach Trilogy. I nommed the first volume (Annihilation) for the Hugo, but that nom got swallowed up in the SFGate controversy.


----------



## Monaque

Cheers guys, I`ll look up those, and a dictionary for Obscurantist. :applause:


----------



## Raevenlord

Just finished "Children of Time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky (if you're looking for a good SF book, give it a whirl). 

Now reading;

Murakami's "1Q84" (finishing book 3)

Yanis Varoufakis' "And the Weak Suffer What They Must?" 

and

Brandon Sanderson's "The Bands of Mourning".

To be an arsonist of souls is the best occupation I can think of... Even if you do end up with burnt fingers.


----------



## bobo

Monaque said:


> ...  and a dictionary for Obscurantist. :applause:


Try Ambrose Bierce: The Devil's Dictionary'


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Among others:

Leo Tolstoy's _Stories and Legends_.
The Works of Robert Burns.


----------



## moderan

bobo said:


> Try Ambrose Bierce: The Devil's Dictionary'



By all means. The original Hipcrime Vocab.


----------



## TKent

I adored the series. Can't wait for it to be made into a movie! I have already preordered Borne, which sounds sooooo good   One of my favorite collections of Jeff's writing is: Secret Life (in fact, the story: Secret Life is one of my all time favorite weird stories ever. I've worked in an office very similar to that one. LOL!)



moderan said:


> You might like Jeff's Southern Reach Trilogy. I nommed the first volume (Annihilation) for the Hugo, but that nom got swallowed up in the SFGate controversy.


----------



## moderan

As have I, back in dim prehistory. One very like the one in William Browning Spencer's Resume With Monsters, too.
I want to read about the bear (I have an arc but haven't gotten to it yet). Richard Adams will have a posthumous jealousy fit, I bet.
Started today (as I finished two books last night):

Mother, by Philip Fracassi
Gorgonaeon, by Jordan Krall

continuing:

Creeping Waves, by Matthew Bartlett (I am actually mentioned in the endpapers of this one)
The Wide, Carnivorous Sky, by John Langan (recommended!)


----------



## Bard_Daniel

I didn't mention that I'm also reading The Martian by Andy Weir. Interesting book. I'm about halfway through.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Kazuo Ishiguro, 'The buried giant'.


----------



## moderan

danielstj said:


> I didn't mention that I'm also reading The Martian by Andy Weir. Interesting book. I'm about halfway through.



You might consider Frederik Pohl's MAN PLUS and the collaboration (with Thomas H. Thomas) MARS PLUS if you like that. Pohl's conception influenced almost all "Martian" literature that followed. Is still basically feasible scientifically.


----------



## -xXx-

_ref post #1681 same thread_
*
L. A. Meyer*_ Jacky Faber_ revelry continues.
this may pause within the next month.

_A Study in Scarlet_ by *Arthur Conan Doyle*.

yes, this was written some years ago.
what a delight to discover this!
the brief author's bio provides
a nifty context for creation.
several aspects of this particular
sherlock holmes were worthy of
notice.
because it is what it is by whom
it is, i'll skip the simple reader
opinion, BUT if you only read
one: consider this one.
excellent find for THIS reader.


didn't have to check wiki on this one


----------



## escorial

-xXx- said:


> _ref post #1681 same thread_
> *
> L. A. Meyer*_ Jacky Faber_ revelry continues.
> this may pause within the next month.
> 
> _A Study in Scarlet_ by *Arthur Conan Doyle*.
> 
> yes, this was written some years ago.
> what a delight to discover this!
> the brief author's bio provides
> a nifty context for creation.
> several aspects of this particular
> sherlock holmes were worthy of
> notice.
> because it is what it is by whom
> it is, i'll skip the simple reader
> opinion, BUT if you only read
> one: consider this one.
> excellent find for THIS reader.
> 
> 
> didn't have to check wiki on this one



Always a great joy to find a book you know exists but for one reason or another it doesn't flood your boat then one day you give it a go and enjoy it immensely....


----------



## Ol' Fartsy




----------



## Bard_Daniel

Reading Almayer's Folly by Joseph Conrad, The Castle of Ortranto by Horace Wapole and The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe.


----------



## Winston

"Turbotax 2016" by Quicken / Intuit.  It's an interactive story where you provide input, and the story tells you what a broke-arse loser you are.

At least that's how I read it.


----------



## bobo

- masochist ??


----------



## dither

Shamini Flint's  " Inspector Singh investigates":

Just go there, take a look.

All in all a great read.


----------



## moderan

Fantastic book, reminiscent of Dandelion Wine/The Body. A coming-of-age piece with some endearingly dark matter and sharply-drawn characters. Read it in a sitting.


----------



## Terry D

danielstj said:


> Reading Almayer's Folly by Joseph Conrad, The Castle of Ortranto by Horace Wapole and The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe.



Old Joe must be smiling in the great beyond, I'm currently reading _Heart of Darkness_.


----------



## -xXx-

_ref post #1700 same thread_
*
L. A. Meyer*_ Jacky Faber_ revelry pause.
*
Daniel H. Wilson*_ Amped_ revisited.

_The Job_ by *Janet Evanovich & Lee Goldberg*.

pretty sure this is the 3rd attempt to post
regarding _Nick Fox_ and _Kate O'Hare_.
no surprise, in hindsight.
a basic search on this title in the series
nets 2 nice, unrelated, finds: 1 Sinclair Lewis, 1 Joseph Roth.

yup.
prolific pair, this cowriting pseudonym duo.
soooo, this reader's takeaway has more to do
with target audience, than the book.
both leads were quirky and personable, well developed
(as with most of the cast of characters) and were
reminiscent of *X-Files'* _Scully and Mulder_ in many ways.

this reader will classify as popular romance.
kinda' brought back memories of _Friday_,
but no.



*stares at incoming stack of 5*


----------



## Olly Buckle

Evelyn Waugh, 'Vile bodies'.

Not over impressed so far, more 'mildly amused'.


----------



## -xXx-

-xXx- said:


> _ref post #1709 same thread_
> *Daniel H. Wilson*_ Amped_ revisited.
> 
> _The Warriors_ by *Ted Bell*.
> 
> wiki says this is the eighth novel in
> the _Alexander Hawke_ series.
> 
> the fifth was more to my liking,
> which intrigued me.
> 
> i believe _suspending-disbelief_ was
> a critical component of _The Tsar_,
> and to large degree presented very differently
> in this novel.
> 
> _The Golem and the Jinni_ by *Helene Wecker*.
> 
> this is sooooo fabulous, i will go through it twice more
> immediately
> and i have already started a discussion group.
> 
> 
> *stares at incoming stack of 3*


----------



## Bard_Daniel




----------



## Ol' Fartsy

Right now:





Up next:





And then:


----------



## Bard_Daniel

I could not find another picture or get it any smaller.


----------



## escorial

Yet to read that...Camus is amazing...Kind of distant but familiar in his approach to characters...Good read man


----------



## Bard_Daniel




----------



## corybot

corybot said:


>


----------



## -xXx-

_ref post #1711 same thread_
*
Daniel H. Wilson*_ Amped_ revisited.


_Brotherhood_ by *Oliver Bowden*.

while gore description did serve a "suspend
disbelief" function, this reader was left to
skimming much of the "action sequences".
interesting historical context fiction, nonetheless.


*Arthur Conan Doyle*, details to follow.
_Tales for a Winter's Night_


*stares at incoming stack*


----------



## Jenwales

Inkspell by Cornelia Funke had it for years finally reading the books I've had for a while. And Shadow of Night by Debroah Harkness reread. More books I read and love on my blog: http://jensbookworm.blogspot.co.uk/
sorry to plug it here I'm new to blogging and love books


----------



## Bard_Daniel

and


----------



## -xXx-

_ref post #1718 same thread_
*
Daniel H. Wilson*_ Amped_ revisited.


_Hoot_ by *Carl Hiaasen*.

Excellent reference read for writers looking
toward contemporary young adult empowerment
themes.

This novel introduces many social entities that
a young adult reader may not have wide exposure to.
While the "villians" of the story may be much targeted,
understanding the interplay within social fabric
should provide much of value to inquiring minds.

There have been inquiries within the forums for
examples of more realistic young hero archetypes,
specifically for females.
This reader believes that this young hero could
easily have been of either gender.

*Arthur Conan Doyle*:
_A Study in Scarlet_
_Tales for a Winter's Night_
_The Sign of Four_

This reader is pleased to have experienced
Doyle's writing in the above order, and
would recommend as such.
_more to follow_


*stares at incoming stack*


----------



## Bard_Daniel

The big one:


----------



## escorial

danielstj said:


> The big one:




yeah man...picked that book up so many times in charity shops but never walked out with it...enjoy man


----------



## GaryM

I just finished Devotion and now reading Pacific by Adam Makos.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

and


----------



## Bard_Daniel

and






Come on everybody, share what you're reading!


----------



## PiP

I have just read Dr Margi Prideaux' (WF member: wildpolitics)  book Birdsong After the Storm: Giving Power to Communities to Speak for Wildlife in International Environmental Governance

Birdsong After the Storm” is brilliantly crafted. It explains the complexities of the NGOs and environmental politics in a simple to read language. The stories she shares by way of example help bring this book to life for those not directly involved with environmental issues. A great read and her words will stay with me. In fact I am reading it again!

https://www.amazon.com/Birdsong-Afte...fter+the+storm


----------



## Olly Buckle

Razor girl, by Carl Hiaasen, very American, lots of product references etc. that go straight over my head, but a good, funny story.


----------



## Bard_Daniel




----------



## escorial

Re-read The Heart of a Dog...I thought at first I disliked it but realised I disliked the characters not the writing...Only a short book but odd storyline and mixed with political satire it's not a great book for me but his other book after just 109 pages so far is brilliant...


----------



## violinguy

It's not bad so far.  I'm trying to read as many heist novels as I can as I write my own.  _Prince of Thieves_ was way better, but this is a good effort, especially for a first book.


----------



## -xXx-

_ref post #1721 same thread_

_The Forgotten Garden_ by *Kate Morton

*Fabulous intertwinings, imho!
This author successfully bridged past, present, future
fiction (or embellishment?) with fact? (context at a
minimum) into a multifaceted tapestry as
comfortable as a well-worn, cherished robe.

This reader was so spellbound - by both
story and technique - that sections were
reviewed daily for over 60 days.

Cannot recommend highly enough.


_The Golem and the Jinni/Djinni_ by *Helene Wecker* 

Fabulous intertwinings, imho!
This author successfully bridged past, present, future
fiction (or embellishment?) with fact? (context at a
minimum) into a multifaceted tapestry as
comfortable as a well-worn cherished robe.

This reader was so spellbound - by both
story and technique - that sections were
reviewed daily for over 60 days.

Cannot recommend highly enough.
_*sound familiar?*_


_Midnight in Europe_ by *Alan Furst*

Tepid.
May revisit.


_Playing with Fire_ by *Tess Gerritsen

*While this was a moving story,
this reader was saturated with WWII.
Much more impressed with the author.ess,
than this specific story.


_The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America_ by *Erik Larson*

This suggestion originated from a local book club.
The writing was so tremendously disturbing on
so many levels, this reader chose to read through
in all available discretionary time - and be done with it.

Upon reflection, a perception of omission is associated
with the emotional impact of one reader.

Not recommended, in current form, for female readers
of any age.


_I Sing the Body Electric!_ by *Ray Bradbury*
"I am not worthy" homage.


_Agenda 21_ by Glenn Beck
Well, well, well.
What do we have here?
_Someone's_ agenda?



*Sir Arthur Conan Doyle*:
*A Study in Scarlet*
_Tales for a Winter's Night_
_The Sign of Four_
_The Hound of the Baskervilles_

This reader is pleased to have experienced
Doyle's writing in the above order, and
would recommend as such.
_more to follow_


*apologies on the post w/o comment*
*will edit in when schedule permits*
*there are some significant words in the above list*
*stares at incoming stack*


----------



## Pluralized




----------



## Bard_Daniel

Pluralized said:


>



Oooooooh. You've got my attention Plur. Let me know if it's good-- pretty pretty please! 

I've read The Name of the Rose and Foucault's Pendulum.

As for me:






and






and (even):


----------



## Olly Buckle

Fly fishing, by JR Hartley

Really, found it in a second hand shop.


----------



## -xXx-

_ref post #1732 same thread_

_Patriot_ by *Ted Bell*

wiki says this is the ninth novel in
the Alexander Hawke series.

the fifth was more to my liking,
which intrigued me.

i believe suspending-disbelief was
a critical component of The Tsar,
and to large degree presented very differently
in this novel.


_And Thereby Hangs a Tale_ by *Jeffrey Archer* 

Fun, nice weather tales.


_The Shadow: Knight of Darkness_ by *get specific*

Fun.
Has radio ads for blue coal & goodrich tires!


_Chaos Mode_ by *Piers Anthony*

Sadly, couldn't do it.
Plan to return later in the summer,
possibly end-to-end all four books.

_Agenda 21_ by Glenn Beck

This is going back for now.



*stares at incoming stack*


----------



## C.Gholy

One of the redwall books.


----------



## -xXx-

_ref post #1736 same thread_

_Nick of Time_ by *Ted Bell*

wiki says this is the first of two novels in
the Nick McIver/Alexander Hawke series.

suspending-disbelief was a critical component
of The Tsar, and to large degree presents
effectively in this novel.
this reader, while somewhat put off by refreshing
story continuity, appreciates that it was intended
to assist target market young readers.

highly likely i'll look for the second book
(The Time Pirate, 2010).


_In the Courts of the Sun_ by *Brian D'Amato* 

pattern people should love this, at a minimum.
there is evidence of a second book.
dense and substantial reading here,
especially once the "doomsday context"
is ignored, imho.

highly recommended, but not-for-everyone.


_Carve the Mark_ by *Veronica Roth*

wiki says there is to be a second book,
circa 2018.
this reader wishes the authoress the best
of all writing experiences.

it would seem, given all of human history,
that an author willing to tackle social complexities
would be afforded a little wiggle room.
i disagree with stated opinions that this story
is racist, etc.
yes, it's a bit graphic - even for adults - but
remarkably mild when compared to what
_actually happens every day in the world of now_.



*stares at the 2 in the incoming stack*


----------



## who me?

reading yet another book on self publishing to see if i can learn anything new

several mistakes
a couple of good ideas for  ebooks ,  and about producing them, which are now having significant sales which have declined the last few years
but still offer a cheap  method of entry into self publishing


----------



## -xXx-

who me? said:


> reading yet another book on self publishing to see if i can learn anything new


does it have a title?
perhaps a successful self-published author?
_*wunders*_


----------



## Bard_Daniel

and





and then






and, even then






and, finally


----------



## sas

The Zookeeper's Wife, by Diane Ackerman.

Paid one dollar for it (they only wanted 50 cents, but I thought too cheap. Store run by developmentally disabled)
Glad I paid little. I'm on Chapter 8 and forcing myself to continue. Should I?


----------



## Olly Buckle

sas said:


> The Zookeeper's Wife, by Diane Ackerman.
> 
> Paid one dollar for it (they only wanted 50 cents, but I thought too cheap. Store run by developmentally disabled)
> Glad I paid little. I'm on Chapter 8 and forcing myself to continue. Should I?



No, there are more books you would enjoy than you can read in the rest of your life, why bother with anything less?


----------



## -xXx-

_ref post #1738 same thread_
*
James Dashner*_ Maze Runner_ revisited.

_The Alienist_ by *Caleb Carr*

wiki says this is the first of two novels in
the Kreisler series, and lists a wealth of other
works by this author.

difficult material explored in interesting ways.
this reader appreciates several aspects of the
author's endeavors and sees several significant
target markets.

this reader will begin a comparison contrast of
similar material, as a personal endeavor.
as ridiculous as it may sound, this may be
substantial reading for interdisciplinary methods
at the high school level; montessori, perhaps.

definitely not for everyone, imho.


*stares at the 1 remaining in the incoming stack*


----------



## polaroidcaesar

*The Leopard-Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa 
*This is one of the most gorgeous, lush, ravishing books I have ever read. I don't even know what else to say about it or how to describe it. The premise might sound a bit boring---noble family in 19th century Sicily and the marriage between one of the members of that family and a member of the rising bourgeoisie---but it's utterly fascinating and compelling. Highly recommended. 
*
The Silk Road: A New History-Valerie Hansen 
*
I do a lot of personal research about the Silk Road and Chinese dynastic history, so this is fantastic to me but could be dry and boring to others due to its heavy treatment of archaeological records and primary sources. Still, if you're interested in the Silk Road(s), it's worth a read. Just not a good introductory work. 
*
The Notebook, The Proof, The Third Lie: Three Novels-Ágota Kristoff 

*These are haunting, gruesome, and beautiful novels. I've read the first two and I'm halfway through the third...Let me just say, they have left an indelible impression. Illustrative of how long of a way a little can go---the books are written in sparse, nearly unadorned prose, yet it hits you like a brick. Utterly fascinating. Highly recommended.

*To Read*: 
_Master and Margarita--_Mikhail Bulgakov _
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind--_Yuval Noah Harari _
Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies--_Nick Bostrome
_El coronel no tiene quien le escriba_--Gabriel Garcia Marquez 
_Ninefox Gambit_--Yoon Ha Lee


----------



## -xXx-

_ref post #1738 same thread_

_Gulliver's Travels_ by *Jonathan Swift*

_The Lost Symbol_ by *Dan Brown*

wiki says this is the third of five novels in
the Robert Langdon series.

_Siddhartha_ by *Hermann Hesse* 

wiki says this is the author's ninth novel,
or the sixteenth of twenty listed writings. 

_Maze Runner_ by *James Dashner*

wiki says this is the first of five novels in 
the Maze Runner Series.
there appear to be five additional series
by this author.

*reading.*
don't ever give it up.
in fact, revisit some writings regularly.
read a few you strongly disagree with.
ever written a response?
try it - does a body good.


----------



## escorial

I was in a bookstore an I came across all the Hemingway stuff an I just thought.. I'm gonna read one ,so I closed my eyes an picked this one...


I'm at chapter 8 an if I read another and I'll scream..I can recall reading for whom the Bell tolls an thinking what's all the fuss about..ah well
..


----------



## -xXx-

_ref post #1746 same thread_

_Insurgent_ by *Veronica Roth*, reference

_The Whole Truth_ by *David Baldacci*

wiki says this is the first of two novels in
the Shaw and Katie James series.

_The Last Mile_ by *David Baldacci* 

wiki says this is the second of three novels
in the Amos Decker series. 

Baldacci appears to be quite prolific, and while
there does seem to be a few consistent context
threads within the novels read thus far, this reader
is not convinced the author has bounded himself
by these.

*Amos Decker* - this reader was much (a/e)ffected by
_Memory Man_ and
grateful that _The Last Mile_ did not continue along
the extreme path of the introductory novel.

_*Shaw*_ - as an introductory novel, _The Whole Truth_, worked
exceptionally well, imho.
it appears there are 110 million copies available.
written in 2008 and despite some lukewarm reviews,
this reader believes it should be offered as a
*high school class unto itself*.

_*stares at 2 incoming*
*from authors unknown to reader*_


----------



## -xXx-

escorial said:


> I was in a bookstore an I came across all the Hemingway stuff an I just thought.. I'm gonna read one ,so I closed my eyes an picked this one...
> 
> I'm at chapter 8 an if I read another and I'll scream..I can recall reading for whom the Bell tolls an thinking what's all the fuss about..ah well
> ..



_ref post #1748 same thread_

_Insurgent_ by *Veronica Roth*, reference

_Wind/Pinball_ by *Haruki Murakami*

read the wiki.
it's worth a reader's time.
philosophy in lit; understatement.
_*e, check this one*
*if you can get audio - try that*_


_*stares at 1 incoming*
*in process*_


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

​


----------



## LeeC

Hard for me to find a book I'm really interested in anymore, but this one is holding my attention so far.


----------



## Phil Istine

_Panic_ by Jeff Abbott.

It's not so much a _whodunnit_ as a _whydunnit_.

The opening few chapters have held my interest sufficiently to continue reading.  I have picked up a couple of partial clues as to the why, but they may be red herrings.  So I need to read more in order to find out.
This isn't the sort of genre that would normally appeal to me, so the author has done very well to keep me interested.  I was drawn to it by the blurb on the back cover (and the low price as I picked it up in a charity shop).


----------



## -xXx-

_Insurgent_ by *Veronica Roth*, reference

_All The Light We Cannot See_ by *Anthony Doerr*

There is no doubt in this reader's mind
why this novel was received and acknowledged
as it was.

After looking at wiki,
"Quality over quantity"
seems to apply.

Highly recommended.
Especially Young Adult.
Authors looking for more realistic young female protagonists:
Here it is, imho.


----------



## escorial

LeeC said:


> Hard for me to find a book I'm really interested in anymore, but this one is holding my attention so far.
> View attachment 18457



Wondering why your finding it difficult to find another read...


----------



## LeeC

escorial said:


> Wondering why your finding it difficult to find another read...


I'm a jaded old reader that's not into the escapist thing ;-)

While I've got your attention Esc, there's a couple things I've been meaning to mention to you.

Some time back there was a "discussion" about what a "classic" is. Being I prefer books that ask the reader to use their mind, the definition I subscribe to is:
“A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.” ― Italo Calvino

Also, I watched a YouTube video of a spray paint artist doing a Aurora Borealis scene. I found it fascinating and thought you might also. 
https://youtu.be/_aiYrPGTIhY


----------



## escorial

Cool vid man...


----------



## -xXx-

_The Escape_ by *David Baldacci*

wiki says 3 of 4 in the John Puller series.
amos decker in memory man still remains my fav.

_North of Boston_ by *Elisabeth Elo*
debut novel.
i'll let you know after "the holiday".
_
*stares at incoming*
*with affection*_


----------



## Olly Buckle

Ilan Pappe, The Biggest Prison on Earth (A History of the Occupied Territories). I saw him at Hay, he said the publishers put on the subtitle, 'occupation is a short term thing, after fifty years this is colonisation.' The cynicism of the politicians is predictable and frustrating.

Big Bangs, the story of five discoveries that changed musical history., by Howard Goodall. Enlightening.


----------



## LeeC

The book I was reading, NÁÁPIIKOAN WINTER by Alethea Williams, started out very interesting, but soon to me degenerated into a boring chronology. The author began with the events of a young Mexican girl being abducted by Apache, then started skipping ahead to introduce the European male character with which she would share trials.

It was professionally edited, adhering to all the current dogma of writing, but to me quickly lost the engrossing voice that keeps a thoughtful reader turning pages.

So, without another book that interests me, I’ve returned to reread “Heart of a Lion: A Lone Cat's Walk Across America” by William Stolzenburg. It renews my belief that there are critically thinking people, that truly care for their children in caring for the world they will have to get by in. 

“_A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say._” ― Italo Calvino

There's a full review on my site.



[click to enlarge]


----------



## jenthepen

I've just been reading a BBC magazine article online about the reintroduction of wolves in Scotland. Here in the UK we have eradicated every predator that used to roam this small island but the thinking has changed over the past few decades and there is quite a movement now to 'rewild' the UK by bringing back native species that were hunted to extinction, including the lynx and the wolf. There are already wild boar loose in England a lot of work has been done with the reintroduction of birds of prey - most notably the red kite.

You can read Adam Weymouth's article here. I found it an interesting read and I hope it bodes well for the future of the natural environment here in the UK.


----------



## sas

Jen, Interesting read and dilemma. Thank you for link.


----------



## -xXx-

_The Escape_ by *David Baldacci*

wiki says 3 of 4 in the John Puller series.
amos decker in memory man still remains my fav.

_North of Boston_ by *Elisabeth Elo*
debut novel.

very little info on this author.
would i recommend it, yes.
characters - awesome, well developed and very human.
depth of relationship(s) - ditto above.
central story/plot - ditto above.

would i read another in series?
i would.
if the main character described attire regularly,
that would be the last one this reader would
entertain.


_City of Fire_ by *Robert Ellis*

one of two series, and third of seven total novels,
according to wikipedia.

this reader appreciates the biographical evolution of
this author as well as the diverse medium(s)/experience(s)
of this author.
yes.
will look for another by him.

_The Looking Glass_ by *Richard Paul Evans*

Nope.
This reader is not the target audience.
Sat-ur-rated.
This reader will be looking at author bio's *FIRST*-
yes, this author is the reason.
unfortunate.
very unfortunate.

_
*stares at incoming*
_


----------



## escorial

Sometimes one reads stuff that is sad and true..much prefer fiction but now and again real life stuff...


----------



## Rick Keeble

_ In between reads at the moment, recently finished a book called *The Raven Game* by an Australian author *Caiseal Mor.* It is a Druid's Tale. One of my favourite reads._


----------



## Sebald

escorial said:


> Sometimes one reads stuff that is sad and true..much prefer fiction but now and again real life stuff...
> View attachment 18768



Even your books are grey, Esc ha ha.


----------



## escorial

not read 50 shades of grey though.....ha,ha


----------



## Sebald

I can definitely see it under your pile of sociology books.


----------



## escorial

Personality Color Gray
  While you may not exhibit all the traits of a personality color gray as listed here, if this is your favorite color you will find yourself somewhere in the description.  You may also find you exhibit some of the negative traits, particularly when you are stressed.
[h=3]_If Your Favorite Color is Gray_[/h]If this is your favorite color, you are neutral about life, often to the point of being indifferent.

If you love gray, you are trying to protect yourself from the chaotic outside world, even to the point of isolating yourself from others, leaving you with the feeling that you don't really fit in or belong anywhere.
As a personality color gray, it is important for you to maintain the status quo - you prefer a safe, secure and balanced existence and never desire much excitement.  You will usually compromise in order to keep the balance and stability you so desperately seek.
You are practical and calm, do not like to attract attention and are simply seeking a contented life.
With gray as your favorite color, you are the middle of the road type, cool, conserved, composed and reliable. You tend to conform just to keep the peace.
Being a personality color gray, you are attracted to this neutral, non-emotional color as it controls and contains your energy - you just don't show excitement or enthusiasm about anything much in your life.


ha,ha..maybe


----------



## bobo

I abhorre the colour grey - there being only one colour I abhorre more... the blue !!
I'm all for strong, clear colours, especially green and red.
Tralala - anything about that ??


----------



## escorial

red and green should never be seen


----------



## bobo

you made a little rhyme here, congrats,
but the proper text is: red and green should always be seen


----------



## escorial

Bought two books today and there different from my usual stuff..there both hardbacks...I do prefer paperbacks...


----------



## H.Brown

I have a mixture of paperbacks and hardbacks. I must admit I prefer paperbacks. Unless the design is spectacular in hardback or it was a first edition.


----------



## escorial

That's cool HB...yeah I would like some first editions,first prints of all my fav books...


----------



## -xXx-

ref post 1762, this thread

_The Escape_ by *David Baldacci*

wiki says 3 of 4 in the John Puller series.
amos decker in memory man still remains my fav.

_Curious Minds_ by *Janet Evanovich*
prolific author.
wiki says this is the first of two
in the Knight and Moon series.

this reader has been procrastinating this post.

the girl-friday category comes to mind.
romance readers might enjoy.
much of the context of the story was
quite thought provoking, but
this reader kept looking to see
exactly how long the story was.

a forum writer once inquired about
readers that skim, and whether precise
word selection really matters-in-the-end.

yes.
yes it does.
for this reader.
who gladly skimmed a second pass
for, possibly 25%, of the total presentation.
_might recommend_ as summer reading
for 14-18 year old female(s).

_
*stares at incoming*
_


----------



## The Fantastical

Busy filling in my time with Louise Penny's _Chief Inspector Gamache_ series. I am liking them so far, Gamache is a nice guy, something I like in my detectives. It is far too easy to write about one that is broken by his work but nicer to read about one that still has a life!


----------



## escorial

Been buying books quicker than I can read..got two books an a pamphlet today




Looking forward to reading them..


----------



## Anthony Clark

I really love the creativity of Steven King!


----------



## olive12

I'm currently reading everything on notetaking (unfortunately!): The Sketchnote Handbook - to practice visual notetaking as the digital notebooks that I've tried - such as these - are not working out for me. Back to pen and paper it is!


----------



## LeeC

After a disappointing, overpriced book by an award winning author, I think I’ve found a book that will hold my interest action wise, with enough said between the lines so my mind doesn’t go to sleep, a good combination. The awards for the disappointing book must have been from little old lady (romantically inclined) book clubs  It did have a great cover, and a good opening, but died on the vine. 

Anyway, this one is keeping me turning pages, with the seeming outragesnous highly believable. If all goes well next I’ll try his new book The Windup Girl. 

The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi (Reprint edition April 5, 2016)

Blurb:
--------

WATER IS POWER

In the near future, the Colorado River has dwindled to a trickle. Detective, assassin, and spy, Angel Velasquez “cuts” water for the Southern Nevada Water Authority, ensuring that its lush arcology developments can bloom in Las Vegas. When rumors of a game-changing water source surface in Phoenix, Angel is sent south, hunting for answers that seem to evaporate as the heat index soars and the landscape becomes more and more oppressive. There, he encounters Lucy Monroe, a hardened journalist with her own agenda, and Maria Villarosa, a young Texas migrant, who dreams of escaping north. As bodies begin to pile up, the three find themselves pawns in a game far bigger and more corrupt than they could have imagined, and when water is more valuable than gold, alliances shift like sand, and the only truth in the desert is that someone will have to bleed if anyone hopes to drink.


PS: Might be a book you'd appreciate MP ;-)


----------



## -xXx-

ref post 1775, this thread

_No Man's Land_ by *David Baldacci*

wiki says 4th in the John Puller series.

from a reading writer standpoint, baldacci
crafting incorporates multiple character
experiences coalescing into a timeline
of consequence for the reader.

one more from this series is in the incoming
stack.
at some point before autumn, an actual
comparison/contrast of storytelling
is slated.

amos decker in memory man still remains my fav.

_
*stares at incoming*
_


----------



## Olly Buckle

'How to be a Writer' by Daviv Quantick. 'conversations about writing with writers'

And, it must be said, with people like agents who work with writers, it is about people and their lives, not about what they write on the whole, very readable.


----------



## Terry D

Currently slogging my way through _Metamorphosis_ by Kafka (yeah, I know it's just a novella, but reading it is painful). I get why the theme of soul crushing conformity is popular, but the story itself is bad and the writing is dull. Maybe it's better in Russian.

Am also re-reading _The Stand_, by King. This is the expanded version which put back about 130,000 words that were taken out of the original publication. It was just King's fourth book and the publisher didn't want to risk a 1,200 page dud. I'm enjoying it very much.


----------



## LeeC

Terry D said:


> Currently slogging my way through _Metamorphosis_ by Kafka (yeah, I know it's just a novella, but reading it is painful). I get why the theme of soul crushing conformity is popular, but the story itself is bad and the writing is dull. Maybe it's better in Russian.
> 
> Am also re-reading _The Stand_, by King. This is the expanded version which put back about 130,000 words that were taken out of the original publication. It was just King's fourth book and the publisher didn't want to risk a 1,200 page dud. I'm enjoying it very much.


Kafka grows on you, not always in a good way. I liked The Castle better, being easier to read between the lines ;-)

I've always felt King's The Stand was one of his best books.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Terry D said:


> Currently slogging my way through _Metamorphosis_ by Kafka (yeah, I know it's just a novella, but reading it is painful)..



Why?? There are so many books you could enjoy reading, why use upa piece of your life doing this? I know some people think he is great, but you are obviously not getting that aspect of it, or you wouldn't feel that way, and if you are not getting that out of it, why bother? I never have, and I am never short of an enjoyable book to read.


----------



## escorial

Just finished reading it for the second time..only 114 pages..a very feminine book for me of prose poetry..a come of age story and filled with fantastic lines one can but remember


----------



## Terry D

Olly Buckle said:


> Why?? There are so many books you could enjoy reading, why use upa piece of your life doing this? I know some people think he is great, but you are obviously not getting that aspect of it, or you wouldn't feel that way, and if you are not getting that out of it, why bother? I never have, and I am never short of an enjoyable book to read.



Well, it's not my typical method of operation. I will usually drop a book like a bag of spiders if I don't like it after a short while, but since Metamorphosis is such a short book and I've heard all the hype, I want to stick this one out. I've never been 'into' the classics much and I figure I can use the exposure.


----------



## ppsage

Not sure if this has anything to do with your problems, Terry, but I'm pretty sure Kafka wrote in German.


----------



## John_O

" Hell's Angels, a Strange and Terrible Saga" by Hunter S. Thompson. Lost track of how many times I've read this book LOL.


----------



## escorial

Can't see myself reading another Hemingway...read 4 of his an they seem like as if there written in a junior school essay..just cannot appreciate that deceptively simple style so many go on about..on page 33 only 66 to go..


----------



## Olly Buckle

How to be a writer, by David Quantock.

It is not about writing as such, but a series of interviews with writers about being a writer, interesting.

A quote from Mark Ellen talking about good music journalism  'Keith Richards doesn't so much burn the candle at both ends as apply a blowtorch to the middle'. Yes! That is the way to start an article  and catch the readers!


----------



## JustRob

_The Works of Sir Joseph Paxton_ by George F Chadwick. Although Paxton is best known for designing the Great Exhibition building of 1851 and the greenhouses at Chatsworth, I wanted to know about his other greenhouse designs. Much of it's pretty tedious reading though and my eyes keep glazing over ... quite a pane really, but I'm getting there.


----------



## escorial

On page 65 an will finish Hemingway ..The Old Man and the Sea...at first him an the kid..I get that but since then he has been out to sea alone an had a few thoughts while tackling a fish and he killed a dolphin an ate it..yeah a flipper...why is this a good story...!!!


----------



## bobo

escorial said:


> On page 65 an will finish Hemingway ..The Old Man and the Sea...at first him an the kid..I get that but since then he has been out to sea alone an had a few thoughts while tackling a fish and he killed a dolphin an ate it..yeah a flipper...why is this a good story...!!!



It's not.
I never bothered reading it, cause I was put off by the picture the press made of him - sort of John Wayne at sea ... without the humour ... and without the depth of the sea 
It may be classic literature, but in that case the more lightfooted one --- what does your librarian says about the book ?? - I'll bet you have a cute one (librarian, that is )


----------



## escorial

There all Indian givers...


----------



## bobo

escorial said:


> There all Indian givers...



Cannot be true.
A librarian is somebody who loves her books, and who loves to share her knowledge about them, and having innocent people turning into her fan club, giving her their eternal gratitude  
- you can do that 
If that's not enough, say you're willing to give her your opinion after having read the book, your opinion as a writer and critic - chin up !!


----------



## Bayview

bobo said:


> It's not.
> I never bothered reading it, cause I was put off by the picture the press made of him - sort of John Wayne at sea ... without the humour ... and without the depth of the sea
> It may be classic literature, but in that case the more lightfooted one --- what does your librarian says about the book ?? - I'll bet you have a cute one (librarian, that is )



How do you know it's not good if you've never read it?

escorial, I think it's one of those books you need to read at multiple levels - the surface level isn't that interesting to me, either, but the deeper ideas are intriguing. Look at the archetypes, the themes, the characterization, etc...

Hemingway isn't my favourite author by a long shot, but I think he did some really interesting work, and writers can learn a lot from him about leaving things unsaid, picking the right details, making the reader do some work, shifting POV, etc. You don't have to enjoy him to learn from him, and the learning may become enjoyable as you go.


----------



## bobo

Bayview said:


> How do you know it's not good if you've never read it?....




Aha - you wanna know my method, Mr. _tabula rasa_ - sorry, classified material


----------



## escorial

So he won then lost out to nature because of his body and loneliness....i felt there was too much about the physical activity of catching over the struggle with life the old man survived...will read it again Bayview..cheers


----------



## Bayview

escorial said:


> So he won then lost out to nature because of his body and loneliness....i felt there was too much about the physical activity of catching over the struggle with life the old man survived...will read it again Bayview..cheers



Yeah, I do get impatient with Hemingway's the-only-way-to-be-a-man-is-to-perform-feats-of-strength-and-suffering macho bullshit, for sure. I think his stories, in general, appeal more to the average man than the average women, and I flat-out disagree with some of the messages I feel I read in his stories.

For me he's an example of a really talented writer who I would have wanted to punch in the face if I ever met him. Total dick. But I think he did good things with words.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Strikes me there are different things at work here. First off I don't reckon there is a book in the world that would suit everyones taste, which means it is okay not to like something, even if it is supposed to be great.

Different authors have their stronger and their weaker points, one can have a flow and rhythm of  languge that makes up for almost riscible plot lines for example, another the capability of describing some historical, nautical, manoeuvre so that it comes to life, but with stereotypical passions and excitement. 

If one were studying literature it would be reasonable to get an accquiantance with them all. If one were a writer looking to develop one's technique, however, studying things that do not appeal to you seems unlikely to lead you far, you are far more likely to find things you wish to emulate in something you like surely? I know I found more to help my writing in Forester than Steinbeck. I guess Bayview is right that you don't have to like him to learn from him, but if you can learn and enjoy at the same time ...

Then there is that most people get books through recommendation, 'classic' is a sort of recommendation, from a non-commercial scource, so it isn't to be ignored. On the other hand I found a Walter Scott that was a hundred years old, it was a terrible read, and when I got to about page eighty I found the pages were still uncut, no-one had thought much of it. I discovered later because he was famous he was paid by the word for it.


----------



## Bayview

I think I'd distinguish between enjoying someone's writing skills and enjoying the story itself. I enjoy Hemingway's skills, so I enjoy reading his work, on that level.

Absolutely, though, there's room for different taste! If someone doesn't like him at all, they don't like him at all. Fair enough.

But I do think there are times when, as writers, we should grit our teeth a little and read books we don't expect to enjoy. (I'm not sure about _re-reading_, escritoria - that may be crossing over into martyrdom!) And I think there are some authors who should be read by just about anyone serious about writing, even if they aren't enjoyed, just to see what they're about first hand.

I guess for me there isn't much of a division between "studying literature" and getting better at writing. I've never taken a writing course, never found how-to books of much use... almost everything I know about writing fiction I've learned from reading fiction. Including some fiction I didn't particularly enjoy!


----------



## JustRob

Hey! Not so much chat in the reading room please. Some of us are trying to sleep. That's not a problem in my case though. I spent an afternoon reading a third of the way through an English translation of _The Illogic of Kassel _by the Spanish writer Enrique Vila-Matas and fell asleep so many times that I had to read almost every page twice.

I'd tell you what the story is about if I truly knew. It seems to be about a writer trying to find something original to write about, but I find it difficult to determine whether he ever succeeds or not. Written in the first person, it describes his hope of discovering what is currently considered to be avant-garde in art so that he can write about it. However, the avant-garde art is so extreme that he finds it difficult even to know where or what it is, let alone write anything on it. For example, shown into an empty draughty room in an art gallery he is told that the draught is itself the work of art. Led into a completely dark room he feels someone else in the room brush past him, so writes about the experience of that, it apparently being the work of art. In other words, in the extreme anything that evokes a reaction can be considered to be art. Even the idea of such a work can then itself be art, such as a lecture on art given in such a remote location that nobody witnesses it but people just hear about it from others who also don't go to it. Maybe conjecture about whether the lecture actually took place is then equivalent to trying to find the hidden message in an abstract painting, the thought of the possibility of its existence being the evoked reaction. Whether the painting has any meaning or the lecture ever took place is irrelevant because they are art.

This book is the driest of dry humour and no doubt I could enjoy it if I could stay awake to read it just once, rather than having to read every page of a third of it twice as a consequence of repeatedly falling asleep. I am doubtful that I will continue to read another sixth of it twice to finish the story, although no doubt the author would appreciate my entering into the spirit of the story by doing so. Maybe I do already understand what this book is really about then.

I have just this moment read the ending to the story and it turns out that I guessed right. Here is a quotation from the final paragraph.

"Art was, in effect, something that was happening to me, happening at that very moment." 

Yep, I definitely got under the skin of that sentiment, but then I can work stuff like that out virtually in my sleep, which was literally essential in this case. By the way, I hope I haven't spoiled things for anyone else contemplating reading the book, but somehow I doubt it. What's really fascinating is no doubt in the two thirds that I didn't read. In fact I'm sure of it because ultimately that's what avant-garde art must be all about, experiencing not experiencing something, isn't it?

Right, you can carry on chatting now.


----------



## Sebald

Experiencing not experiencing something, Rob. Or not experiencing experiencing something.

Or something.

I love all that. It's like playing, for grown-ups. The only limit is the imagination.

"There's no such thing as good art or bad art. Art is art. If it's bad, it's something else." Billy Al Bengston


----------



## Darren White

"A Billion Wicked Thoughts" by Ogi Ogas


----------



## Sebald

Darren White said:


> "A Billion Wicked Thoughts" by Ogi Ogas



What's that about, Darren?


----------



## Darren White

Seb, the subtitle is:
"What the Internet tells us about sexual relationships," don't ask me for a review, I only just started


----------



## Sebald

Crikey. You'll have to update us.


----------



## PiP

Just started reading 'To kill a Mockingbird'. I was quite surprised to find the book in a charity shop here in Portugal. Normally it is full of tourist holiday read chic lits. The book is old and dogeared. The print is so tiny and I need my glasses AND a magnifying glass to read.

Anyone else read this?


----------



## Sebald

Yes, it's absolutely brilliant.


----------



## RHPeat

Carole

A great read. Truman Capote helped Harper Lee write her book by making suggestions like we do in any writing workshop, she also help him write "in cold blood" in the same way. They liked to bounce ideas off of one another and greatly respected each other as writers. 

Harper Lee's book is a fantastic look at the old south that is changing under the scrutiny of people like her father who was a lawyer, who is represented in the book as Addison. What a story it is, Addison makes the bigots eat their own slime in a trial. And in the end the villein is killed by a war vet with a head injury while he protects Addison's two young children from bodily harm. If you get into those characters the book is easier to read. For she suggests a lot in the book through those main characters. Even the black housekeeper plays in the story line as well as the one handed man that is accused of rape in the trial. It's a shocking story with a hundred perspectives in the story line. The book is very timely right now because of what went down recently in the south, it's all over the news and on facebook. White people are starting to voice their concerns about the bigoted organizations in the USA; that they are anti-American due to the 26 deaths by an extremist Nazi member in a parade demonstration. They are right, it's about time to end this crap concerning race and religion in America. Harper Lee's book was speaking out about all this.

a poet friend
RH Peat


----------



## PiP

No... don't tell me the plot! I like to be surprised


----------



## bobo

PiP said:


> Just started reading 'To kill a Mockingbird'. I was quite surprised to find the book in a charity shop here in Portugal. Normally it is full of tourist holiday read chic lits. The book is old and dogeared. The print is so tiny and I need my glasses AND a magnifying glass to read.
> 
> Anyone else read this?



Yes, certainly - it's mandatory.
PiP, last year another book by Harper Lee was published posthumt 'Go set a Watchman'.
I think you'll need that information when having finished the first one 
Enjoy !!


----------



## PiP

bobo said:


> PiP, last year another book by Harper Lee was published posthumt 'Go set a Watchman'.
> I think you'll need that information when having finished the first one
> Enjoy !!



Thanks, bobo. I will look out for that!


----------



## RHPeat

PiP said:


> No... don't tell me the plot! I like to be surprised



Carole

Believe me you'll be surprised. There is no doubt in my mind there. There are parts that will dig right into your core being. It's the details that will leave razor cuts on your skin and it will crawl, read the book and you'll find out what I mean. It's a powerful story told from a child's point of view. 

a poet friend


----------



## escorial

Charming read..


----------



## Olly Buckle

bobo said:


> Yes, certainly - it's mandatory.
> PiP, last year another book by Harper Lee was published posthumt 'Go set a Watchman'.
> I think you'll need that information when having finished the first one
> Enjoy !!



'Mockingbird' is a terrific book, my partner read it in her late teens and says it was 'life changing', I read it later in life and it is still up there with things like the film 'Heat of the night'.
'Watchman' was written earlier, a first novel and it reads like one, I found it very disappointing. Harper Lee never published it, I think its emergence was down to a greedy publisher and inheriting relative, a bit like Disney getting hold of 'Jungle book' after being denied it for years.


----------



## dither

Having enjoyed but ultimately feeling saddened by Chrissie Hynde's " Reckless " I am now struggling and confused by Lisa See's "China Dolls".


----------



## Sebald

'The Day of the Triffids' by John Wyndham. It's fantastic. A bit dated, but such a great opening; the main character wakes up in hospital after eye surgery, to find that everyone in the world has gone blind. As if that's not enough of a bummer, a seven-foot  genetically-engineered plant is waiting to take advantage of the chaos...


----------



## Olly Buckle

escorial said:


> View attachment 19291
> 
> Charming read..



I have often found the classic children's books worth a re-read, The Jungle books, Puck of Pooks hill, Alice, all great books well worth going back to from time to time.


----------



## escorial

Olly Buckle said:


> I have often found the classic children's books worth a re-read, The Jungle books, Puck of Pooks hill, Alice, all great books well worth going back to from time to time.



I never read much as a kid and going to a massive comprehensive school there wasn't a lot of culture going on except for footy and porn..so I often find books I would have liked to read as a kid...


----------



## bobo

escorial said:


> I never read much as a kid and going to a massive comprehensive school there wasn't a lot of culture going on except for footy and porn..so I often find books I would have liked to read as a kid...



Did he same Esq - wasn't allowed to buy books, and the library didn't always have what I wanted - then later in life - actually much later - I bought what I had wanted then.
Felt like a child again


----------



## escorial

bobo said:


> Did he same Esq - wasn't allowed to buy books, and the library didn't always have what I wanted - then later in life - actually much later - I bought what I had wanted then.
> Felt like a child again



it's great reading kids books......


----------



## bobo

escorial said:


> it's great reading kids books......



​Sure it is - ever read Winnie the Pooh ??


----------



## bobo

escorial said:


> it's great reading kids books......



Sure it is - ever read Winnie the Pooh ??


----------



## escorial

Not yet


----------



## Ol' Fartsy




----------



## Olly Buckle

Bee quest, by Dave Goulson, about searching for bumblebees, not like my friend Derek thought 'Bequest, is it a novel?'.

One of the authors I saw at Hay festival, good stuff generally, a bit Lamarkian in his descriptions sometimes 'The young bee has these mandibles explicitly for ...'. Knepp, near Brighton, sounds interesting.


----------



## escorial

On chapter 9 of Wind in the Willows..a book of depressing morale virtue and I would put it in room 101...will finish it an give it to a charity shop.


----------



## moderan

I love that book. Have owned a copy since I was five or six years old.
Am currently perusing *Neon Golgotha*, a collection of short works by Swedish author Michael Faun, and *Operation Luna*, the second of two pioneering urban fantasy novels by Poul Anderson (likely the basis for the movies Cast a Deadly Spell and Witch Hunt, which feature a similar magickal system if not the actual characters and situations). Both are smoothly written and feature piles of research.
Faun's work is definitely MA. Anderson's has no graphic scenes but has a certain amount of innuendo. Both are recommended.


----------



## Kevin

Looking for poetic inspiration... something epic..._100 Flowers Campaign_-wiki


----------



## Bayview

Just finished _The Bone Clocks_ by David Mitchell.

Some really nice writing in individual bits, but it didn't work for me as a novel. It's the first Mitchell I've read, but it certainly didn't inspire me to seek out more work by him.


----------



## escorial




----------



## Ol' Fartsy

​


----------



## Sebald

Esc, I admire your persistence with the Hemingways. He is brilliant. I like reading about his life (any anecdotes involving him usually result in a punch-up).

If you're looking for a new author some time, these two are similar to Hemingway, but much more pleasurable, in my opinion, to read.


----------



## Sebald

A quote from 'Ask the Dust':

"Listen closely. There's the remote possibility that you might learn something: First, I don’t give a damn if my work is commercial or not…I’m the writer. If what I write is good, then people will read it. That’s why literature exists. An author puts his heart and guts on the page. For your information, a good novel can change the world. Keep that in mind before you attempt to sit down at a typewriter. Never waste time on something you don’t believe in yourself."

John Fante was the author who inspired Bukowski to start writing. Bukowski stumbled across this novel in a library, and it changed his life. Bukowski brought the novel back into print and later editions carry an introduction (love letter) by him.


----------



## escorial

Thanks for the recommendation..sebald..I've stuck with Hemingway and I reckon I'm coming round to his style..I don't think his characters are strong and he's more about the experience and emotions felt by them..with Steinbeck you get invited into his characters world an Hemingway tells you about them...it's been a struggle but worth it..thanks Alice...


----------



## dither

" AGE is just a number.
what a 97-year-old
record-breaker can teach us
about getting older"

By Charles Eugster.

Enjoying the read.

Finding this amusing and inspiring, definitely thought provoking.


----------



## dither

Have just started reading Tony Robinson's "No Cunning Plan" and I can't stop laughing over something in the intro.


----------



## sas

On my Colorado trip, I read an old book (which was made into a movie/Robert Redford (?)): A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson.  Funny & fabulous true story about a guy, at age of 44, who decides to walk the Appalachian Trail.  If you ever have or will hike, this book is for you!  Could not put down.


----------



## olive12

i've read many books by Bill Bryson. He always manages to capture the true culture of the country.


----------



## sas

Sebald said:


> Esc, I admire your persistence with the Hemingways. He is brilliant. I like reading about his life (any anecdotes involving him usually result in a punch-up).
> 
> If you're looking for a new author some time, these two are similar to Hemingway, but much more pleasurable, in my opinion, to read.
> 
> View attachment 19353
> 
> 
> View attachment 19354




When in The Rockies last week I went trout fishing. My son cooks them fabulously. A meal we would have paid $22 for, in a restaurant, for free. Plus, the view surrounded by mountains. Damn, breathtaking.


----------



## dither

dither said:


> Have just started reading Tony Robinson's "No Cunning Plan" and I can't stop laughing over something in the intro.




Finished. An enjoyable read and now for " Breakfast with Lucian". Lucian Freud that is.


----------



## Winston

_One Year After _by William R. Forstchen


----------



## Fowly

I actually read that story ages ago but I barely remember what It's about. Someone snapped a photo of me reading it while I was wearing those godawful baggy pants on a ski trip. I think I was maybe Fifteen. Maybe younger.


----------



## Darkkin

_The Omnivore's Dilemma, Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism, Emperor of Maladies, The Disappearing Spoon, Anne of Avonlea, as well as Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, These Old Shades, and Twelve Kings in Sharakhai._


----------



## Olly Buckle

Darkkin said:


> _The Omnivore's Dilemma, Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism, Emperor of Maladies, The Disappearing Spoon, Anne of Avonlea, as well as Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, These Old Shades, and Twelve Kings in Sharakhai._



Are you like me? One in the downstairs loo, one in the bathroom upstairs, one by the bed, one by my chair in the kitchen, one in the front room and two in the car.


----------



## Fowly

Stephen King's It. I know it's a little silly due to the upcoming movie but I honestly enjoy the book.


----------



## Darkkin

Olly Buckle said:


> Are you like me? One in the downstairs loo, one in the bathroom upstairs, one by the bed, one by my chair in the kitchen, one in the front room and two in the car.



Two on my table, two in my bag, one on the foot of my bed, and another on the arm of the couch...   These rotate daily.


----------



## sas

Olly and Darkkin

I assume none are in an iPad or Kindle. So many books can be piled inside. Smiles.


----------



## Darkkin

sas said:


> Olly and Darkkin
> 
> I assume none are in an iPad or Kindle. So many books can be piled inside. Smiles.



My ebook library is significant, handy for travel, but there is just something about a book.  Other distractions aren't merely a click away.


----------



## sas

FYI: If the book is of significance to me (rarely is fiction significant, except for Clan of the Cave Bear), I must have it tangible, in my hands. I shouldn't admit that I am compelled to write notes, in their margins. Some would think it disrespectful. For me, it is communing with the author. Odd, I know.


----------



## Darkkin

sas said:


> FYI: If the book is of significance to me (rarely is fiction significant, except for Clan of the Cave Bear), I must have it tangible, in my hands. I shouldn't admit that I am compelled to write notes, in their margins. Some would think it disrespectful. For me, it is communing with the author. Odd, I know.



Read Clan of the Cave Bear in seventh grade and did a report on the skeletal remains Creb was based on for my ancient  history class.  My teachers thought I was nuts...Still love that series.


----------



## bobo

Darkkin said:


> Read Clan of the Cave Bear in seventh grade and did a report on the skeletal remains Creb was based on for my ancient  history class.  My teachers thought I was nuts...Still love that series.



Sure, the Clan belongs to an early stage development - but was the teacher right ?? :bee:


----------



## escorial

This is a poor cover but hey




676 pages..few


----------



## bobo

What is it ??
A biography ??
- or all his novels ??


----------



## sas

Darkkin said:


> Read Clan of the Cave Bear in seventh grade and did a report on the skeletal remains Creb was based on for my ancient  history class.  My teachers thought I was nuts...Still love that series.



I gave Cave Bear to my daughter when she was in high school. She did not care for it.  In college, she loved it. Guess she had to mature more. But, my granddaughter, her daughter, loved it at age 13.  I think it is the best of the Trilogy. The first feminist..smiles.


----------



## escorial

bobo said:


> What is it ??
> A biography ??
> - or all his novels ??



A biography...first one I've seen


----------



## bobo

escorial said:


> A biography...first one I've seen


Me too - it's rather long, eh ??
(he only became 46 )
Wait until they write about us - that ought to be in volumes then 
ENJOY !!


----------



## JustRob

sas said:


> I gave Cave Bear to my daughter when she was in high school. She did not care for it.  In college, she loved it. Guess she had to mature more. But, my granddaughter, her daughter, loved it at age 13.  I think it is the best of the Trilogy. The first feminist..smiles.



Actually there are six books in the _Earth's Children _series and they get progressively worse. I got through five but the last, _The Land of Painted Caves_, just appalled me and I never finished it. So yes, I would agree that the original book is the best with the second coming in a close, er, second. It just proves how disillusioned we are with Cro-Magnon Homo Sapiens as things seem to deteriorate once they come into the story in the third book.


----------



## Olly Buckle

bobo said:


> Me too - it's rather long, eh ??
> (he only became 46 )
> Wait until they write about us - that ought to be in volumes then
> ENJOY !!



No we don't count, look at Alexander, people have been writing biographies of him since year dot, and he only made his mid thirties. Even death is a world for  the young, a child dies it is all flowers and tears, I will be lucky to get a quick RIP "Had more than his share really, considering how he lived."


----------



## bobo

"Had more than his share really, considering how he lived." :smile:

Then you've nothing to complain about .... not that you do 
I don't know whos shares I got , but I think I could say the same - of both this and that ... especially that - lolol


----------



## escorial

bobo said:


> Me too - it's rather long, eh ??
> (he only became 46 )
> Wait until they write about us - that ought to be in volumes then
> ENJOY !!



As long as we don't get the same artist for the cover..


----------



## Phil Istine

I'm currently reading that Swain book that Jay Greenstein often recommends, _Techniques of the Selling Author._ I bought the Kindle version to save a few pounds.

I'm about one-third of the way through and my impressions so far are mixed.  I didn't learn anything new from the earlier part of the book, but it's handy having it under one roof.  It's fair to say that the author was right to cover that ground as he had no way of assessing the reader's knowledge at the time of picking up the book.  As I have progressed, I am learning new things, so have slowed down my reading to absorb them more efficiently.

For a while it felt like the author was being excessively verbose and used a number of less common words.  Fortunately, this didn't break my stride too much, because when using a Kindle, it's a trivial matter to look up new words.

The book is now settling down and gradually becoming more compact with its wording (or am I simply adjusting to the writing style?).  Also, the use of examples has increased; they seemed a little sparse at first.

I believe this book will help with my writing, and that's all one can ask really.  It's not clear whether a seasoned writer would benefit from this book, but as a writer who is starting to move on from 'beginner' phase, it's helpful putting words to things I already suspected.  And there is still two-thirds to go.

Would I recommend?
So far, a tentative yes, but I will be in a better position to say when I have completed it.


----------



## Terry D

Filling another slot in what should have been my high school reading list: 1984. My relationship with the 'classics' is spotty.


----------



## Olly Buckle

> For a while it felt like the author was being excessively verbose and used a number of less common words. Fortunately, this didn't break my stride too much, because when using a Kindle, it's a trivial matter to look up new words.



I have had a similar experience reading text books on something unfamiliar. I think there is a certain new vocabulary and by about the first third of the book you have learned it.


----------



## -xXx-

ref post 1781, this thread
whole stack omitted, compile

_A Whole Nuther Story_ by *Dr. Cuthbert Soup*

wiki says 1st in the Cheeseman family series.

hmmmm.
this is a fun young reader adventure.
there are several colorful characters that this reader
would love to hear more about.
from a young reader perspective, being on the run
from a ton of "dangerous" groups might be a bit
unnerving-especially at bedtime.
light summer reading with an illustration challenge...
could be a winner.

_
*stares at incoming*
_


----------



## -xXx-

ref post 1867, this thread
whole stack omitted, compile

_Hardball_ by *Sara Paretsky*

wiki says 13th of 17 novels in the v. i. warshawski series.

great study in all aspects of quality
storytelling.
rich characters, comfortable dialogue,
successful plot/subplot "reader reveal"
techniques.
this reader is guessing the polish of this
novel will exist in earlier novels.
really delicate topics are tastefully handled
by this incredible author.
looking for a solid, grounded female protaganist-
looking for an emotionally complex, intellectually
compelling tale of multigenerational value-
looking for an indication that society can and does
show periodic positive growth-
look here.

_
*stares at incoming*
_


----------



## LeeC

Got a load of unread books to get to, and another caught my eye that I’d forgotten. That because it’s awesome how history repeats itself, and we’re too shortsighted and dense to see. I wonder how many school reading lists this is on — it should be on all ;-)


*Animal Farm by George Orwell*
As ferociously fresh as it was more than a half century ago, this remarkable allegory of a downtrodden society of overworked, mistreated animals, and their quest to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality is one of the most scathing satires ever published. As we witness the rise and bloody fall of the revolutionary animals, we begin to recognize the seeds of totalitarianism in the most idealistic organization; and in our most charismatic leaders, the souls of our cruelest oppressors.


----------



## Pluralized

_Don Quixote_ - the Grossman translation. So far, enthralling in its own weird way.


----------



## -xXx-

ref post 1868, this thread
whole stack omitted, compile

_Layover in Dubai_ by *Dan Fesperman*

wiki says 7th of 9 novels.

repeat from previous post:
great study in all aspects of quality
storytelling.
rich characters, comfortable dialogue,
successful plot/subplot "reader reveal"
techniques.
this reader is guessing the polish of this
novel will exist in earlier novels.
really delicate topics are tastefully handled
by this incredible author.

cultural sensitivity points for this reporter-turned-novelist.
this reader is beginning to think reporters may
pack lunches and ride buses too.
life really is stranger than fiction.

looking for an-innocent-bystander-swept-up,
looking for a delicate-handling-of-i-don't-even-speak-the-language,
looking for at-the-mercy-of-events faith/trust,
or step-back-into-now:
look here.

_
*stares at incoming*
_


----------



## Jack Dammit

Tactics in Counterinsurgency; Army HQ, 2009.

You'll never guess how it ends.


----------



## dither

Bored with Bader, sorry Mr. Bader, and reading  "The Forgotten Highlander" by Alistair Urquhart like there's no tomorrow. It's an awful, powerful, story of survival as a POW in the far east.


----------



## Jack Dammit

Another gem from the Department of Defense: Psychological Warfare in Combat Operations; Army, 1949; declassified 1978. A plot line rich with hitches and switchbacks, lavishly-rendered settings and characters so real you can smell them.


----------



## sas

Just started:

*My Lost Poets-a life in poetry
by Philip Levine*

I am always drawn to Levine, as we both grew up in Detroit & went to the same inner city university: Wayne State University. Obviously, he learned more. Smiles.
He received a Pulitzer Prize & was poet Laureate of the United States. He wrote in a direct, understandable style about the urban working class. This book, however, doesn't have his poetry, but poetry that influenced him is laced through it. It is about his life, those poets he knew (some never known by others), and what shaped who he became. An easy fluid read, like his poetry. I paid more money for it than I usually do for a book (I buy used), but I made an exception on this one.


----------



## dither

"Reasons to stay Alive" by Matt Haig and already it's making me angry but I'll stick with it for now.


----------



## sas

dither said:


> "Reasons to stay Alive" by Matt Haig and already it's making me angry but I'll stick with it for now.




Staying alive is making you angry, or the reasons?


----------



## Theglasshouse

Considering buying the golden compass. Or another physical book, an old series which the whole series that can be found in a bookstore where I live. I can read novels if they have an engaging prose, characters, and plot. It used to be popular when harry potter was being printed each entry in the series. I like the poetic description. The thing is I accidentally bought the 3rd book of the series, and need book 1 and 2 now to make sure my money isn't lost. I will eventually read it because the 3rd one seems topnotch. My problem is reading while on a computer screen word processor. But now I have a reading list which will be big, starting with how to describe better from an mfa writing book. Since it takes a month or two to arrive from the USA, I must wait patiently. I already own a book by said book. And was able to write something at long last, to use it eventually to write a story. Since my skills are usually missing concrete details I have to wait. But I like the books recommended. (teaches how to describe to think of description in new perspectives).


----------



## dither

sas said:


> Staying alive is making you angry, or the reasons?


 One of the terms that he uses, something I totally cannot accept, and if I posted it in here it could cause quite a storm so best left unsaid.
The writer has listed the titles of books that he has read though and I certainly intend to check those out.


----------



## dither

Well? I've returned that one now and I'm, or seem to be, steaming through something entitled " THE SKELETON CUPBOARD" by Tanya Byron. Memoirs of a trainee Psychologist I think, and I'm at a loss to understand why I'm so gripped by it but there you go.

I still have the Raj thing to fall back on.


----------



## H.Brown

I have returned to Robin Hobb's world of the farseer trilogy at the moment, rereading all in the series before I read the latest one.

I have just finished reading a series called The steel and stone series by self-published author Annette Marie, all about a half human, half demon girl try to fit into a dangerous world where she does not seem to fit, she finds love, danger, mystery and new found friends. These had me hooked from page 1.


----------



## -xXx-

Theglasshouse said:


> Considering buying the golden compass.


i'd encourage that trilogy.
it's a shame the movie(s) weren't embraced, imho.


----------



## Theglasshouse

-xXx- said:


> i'd encourage that trilogy.it's a shame the movie(s) weren't embraced, imho.



Thanks for recommending it that solidifies my choice with your opinion that it is a good book. The golden compass I will pick up when I visit the bookstore near me once again. I'll carrry a pen and paper with me to write down more books to know what the opinions people have on them.  I like the mythology of the last book. But had to stop reading it once I knew it was the last entry of the whole trilogy.


----------



## -xXx-

Theglasshouse said:


> But had to stop reading it once I knew it was the last entry of the whole trilogy.


_His Dark Materials_, different names and content
according to where/when published.
_The Book of Dust_ trilogy/prequel is supposed to
 come out this month, wiki says.


----------



## -xXx-

ref post 1871, this thread
whole stack omitted, compile

_Hard Body_ by *Sara Paretsky*

wiki says 14th of 18 v i warshawski novels.

of the 6 in-process/completed, this is near
the top of the list.
several topics threaded through this novel
benefited from the author's ability to create
and sustain rich characters, comfortable dialogue
and believable backdrop scenario/settings.

this is one of a few authors that this reader
would intern with/for.

_Festive in Death_ by *J D Robb*

feel free to check the wiki list of Eve Dallas
novels.

_Apprentice in Death_ was not Nora Roberts giveaway that this novel was.

less the traditional romance-novel-content
this reader might check a few more.
unfortunately, that's no longer likely to happen.

_Shadow Zone_ by *Iris & Roy Johansen*

wiki says 2nd of 2 Hannah Bryson novels.

of the 6 in-process/completed, this is near
the top of the list.
not probable this reader will explore outside
this cooperative category.
interesting premise and development of
storyline.

_Turbo Twenty Three_ by *Janet Evanovich*

feel free to check the wiki list of Stephanie Plum
novels.

not a fan.
for several reasons.
this reader will try, again,
to make it through the whole story.

_M is for Magic_ by *Neil Gaiman*

this is one of a few authors that this reader
would intern with/for.

_Killing Patton_ by *Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard*

feel free to figure out the wiki list by
these phoaks.

of the last batch of incoming,
this will mostly be in the top 3
(less gaiman, of course, who may
remain above this reader's list
for a good many years to come).

perhaps it will be more factual
than fictitious.
perhaps.



_
*stares at incoming*
_


----------



## Theglasshouse

Yes his dark materials is what I own. You seem to a fan of the books. Interesting that I have different content in that book compared to others. I will pay attention to it.


----------



## -xXx-

Theglasshouse said:


> Interesting that I have different content in that book compared to others.


wiki says american version dropped select lyra sexualities.
reminds me of the british/american difference(s) in
_a clockwork orange_.
i'm not really feeling all that sheltered, despite all these efforts
on my behalf.
jussayin'


----------



## Latimeri

I'm reading the poet "The crime of ancient marine"  It makes me think that we don't know what is a fiction or real. Many of us have faced events which have made us thinking which is real and which way the reality goes. For example, the poem; "The crime of ancient mariner", by Samuel Coleridge is a vision as is a vision  the Old Testament and the Quran. 
But Could such a visions occur in real life? The voyage made Dungee's clipper "Duntrune" 1892 from Iquique to Plymouth prove that everything is possible. During this particular voyage, the crew of the Duntrune and to her Capt, John.C.B.Darvis experienced how the vision of the ancient mariner, could become very true. On March 16. 1892 the iron full-rigged Duntrune set the sails and left Iquique for England. According to Cap J. Jarvis during the first 14 days, there was nothing but moderate winds. For the next fortnight, they experienced gale after gale and the ship was frequently reduced from royal to lower topsail., fair progress was made and Cape Horn passed on April 11, ship been now at sea 26 days. After passing the Hor the weather improvised, the wind hung from the northward and the wind has driven the ship out of the usual track of vessels. Nothing worthy of mention occurred until April 20 when one of the A/B an Irishman, Michael Cosgrove was found lying in the forecastle by the fire, close examination revealed him being dead. The night of April 22 was dark, no moon, no stars. The wind blew from the northwest, and the weather was squally with drizzling rain. At midnight sail was reduced to lower topsails and courses. At 0001 a.m an iceberg was sighted ahead and the helm was immediately put up. In four or five minutes when the ship had paid off four points she struck the iceberg with a terrible blow, about a minute afterwards, she struck the berg again carrying away her bowsprit and all the headgears. Shortly afterwards the fore topmast having no more support broke off. the main sheet was left fly, and mainsail went to pieces cracking volleys of musketry. When the bumps were sounded the main hold was found to be tight, but the fore compartment was rapidly filling. Every pitch the vessel made was sending tons of water into the forecastle through a hole in the bow, After hard attempts, the crew managed to plug the hole with bedding. Between the time of the accident and daybreak, several bergs were passed both the windward and the leeward. The daybreak revealed that the ship laid two miles windward of a land of ice--a sheer line of cliffs, stretching in a northeast and southwest direction as far as the eye could see. several small bergs were laying around. The sorry plight of the ship may be imagined: A strong gale was blowing from the northwest, the fore compartment was full of water, putting the vessel out of trim,; the wreckage of the bowsprit was hanging over the bows while the wreckage of the topmast hanging at the masthead completely jammed the head yards, all the weather for braces were parted and gone, the lee main and fore braces were washed overboard and cut, the lee side of the lower fore topsail was gone, the forecastle-head was covered with ice piled several feet high, and the sea at intervals made a clear breach over the ship, smashing the boats and sweeping away everything movable. The only available sail - the upper main topsail, was immediately set to keep the ship windward. It was not sooner hoisted than a heavy squall parted the foot rope and split the weather side, it was goose winged and set again. No words can describe the awe-inspiring and never be forgotten scene witnessed by those in the 'Duntrune' on the morning of April 23 There were two forms of the same element; the greybeard ocean rolling up his mountainous billows making a clear breach over the outlying bergs and stormed the very crest of the flowing cliffs. The monarch berg, spurning with his foot each advancing wave and broke it into sparkling spray and ruining the particles, hurled them back as undertow on his raging foes. On the debatable ground between the two foes, in the midst of the wildest turmoil, staggered and weltered the poor crippled ship. Almost engulfed in the curling, creating seething water, the Duntrune seemed as little importance as a small bubble in a purling brook that will probably burst on the first stone it meets. For the first hour or two after daylight, it seemed as the fate of the ship and the crew was sealed, and that ill-fated Duntrune would require being posted as"missing" A merciful Providence had, however, provided a way of escape. About eight o'clock in the morning, an opening or inlet was seen on the ice three points on the lee bow. A small berg lay in the opening, and what appeared to be the northeast end of the ice right ahead for four or five miles distance. A little later the helm was put hard over. Would the ship answer? The after yards shivered, and the vessel gradually paid off, until she was heading directly for the small berg. The Berg was passed - the spray from the breakers almost falling on the deck, they knew moving to eastward in a narrow passage, mountains of ice all around and no visible road of escape. Mysterious noise issued from the bergs on either side and was plainly audible above the roar of the breakers. Those weird sounds inspired the crew aboard with an indescribable feeling of mingled awe and dread. It seemed as if the spirit of winter imprisoned in that icy fastness were reading their fetters and groaning to be free. After an hour of intense anxiety, the channel widened, hope revived and soon what appeared to be the head of the inlet was seen to the another large berg was laying some distance off the end of the passage. Duntrune was now in a dense archipelago of monster bergs, varying in length and breadth from one to three miles, and not two square miles of clear water was visible. All day long, with a strong north-western, through this ice-laden sea, taking the channels that lay in the northeasterly direction. During the afternoon shortly after passing through a narrow channel between two huge bergs, the leeward ice topped over to windward, and with loud reports broke into innumerable pieces, with completely blocked the passage. Froma a safe distance, the crew of the ship could admire the grand display of nature power, half an hour previous it would have been of short duration. Daybreak on the morning of Sunday, April 24 found 'Duntrune' still surrounded by bergs, a tense pack lying ahead and to leeward. From sunrise to sunset the ship was sailed among them never saw a square mile open water. Ass the afternoon wore away, and there was still no clear water to be seen, anxiety increased aboard, nightfall, however, found the ship on the edge of pack ice, the night was clear and they passed many bergs, by midnight the bergs become bigger and the main yard was again backed. Next day, although there were still dozens of bergs in sight, the sea was clearer. It was no until noon of April 26 that the last berg was passed, being then 43 deg. 56 min, S 32 deg. 4 min. W The ship had passed 300miles through the sea full of icebergs. In the trades, Duntrune met several vessels that had rounded the Cape Horn 11 -12 days after Duntrune, no one of them had seen any icy!


----------



## bobo




----------



## -xXx-

ref post 1885, this thread
whole stack omitted, compile

_Killing Patton_ by *Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard*

feel free to figure out the wiki list by
these phoaks.

yes.
one of the better books from the last batch.
this reader will be looking for additional books
in this series.
skillful balance between historical fact(s)
and storytelling - each character was given
breadth and breath; each place and time
painted in appropriate detail, imho.

_Brotherhood in Death_ by *J D Robb*

feel free to check the wiki list of Eve Dallas
novels.

_Apprentice in Death_ was not Nora Roberts
 giveaway that _Festive in Death_ was.

IF only one book in this series will be read,
please consider _Brotherhood in Death_.
this reader is pleased to conclude exploration
of this writer/series with this particular book.
despite the "romance-crime hybrid genre"
the author addresses serious social content
with incredible skill, allowing the layers of
the story to unfold gently upon a horrific
backdrop.
kudos for taking on the topic, giving the
anonymous faces and acknowledging
the transformative potential within every life.


_Stranded_ by *Alex Kava*

wiki says 12th maggie o'dell novel.

this author is a comfortable writer.
solid summer reading.

perhaps another is in order for this reader.


_A Question of Blood_ by *Ian Rankin*

wiki says 14 of 21 Inspector Rebus novels.

while wiki is up, take time to read the author bio.
remarkable!

this particular novel weaves complex;
complex times, complex issues, complex characters.
this reader wants to say rankin might be
doyle rarefied into the contemporary.

definitely on the _study-this-author _list.

_
*stares at incoming*
_


----------



## moderan

The Mask Of Sanity, by Hervey Cleckley. Recommended by friends and cited in the fabulous Netflix show Mindhunter. An in-depth consideration of the psychopathic personality, marred only by some mid-50s assumptions about gender roles that no longer apply. Accessible to the layman, though, and not just to people interested in abnormal/criminal psych.
Also, Mindhunter, by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker. The book the series is based on.


----------



## bdcharles

_The Handmaid's Tale_ by Margaret Atwood. To my shame I confess not having read it until I saw the series (though it was definitely on the TBR pile). Atwood does the voice of Offred well; we _are _the main character throughout as far as I can see, and this allows her certain liberties with grammar; for example, the text is littered with comma-splices. Pithy and astute observations abound. Personally I like a little more "world" in my writing - too much more sparse than this and I may not invest - but I can definitely recommend it.


----------



## escorial

If you know your history#


----------



## ppsage

Listening to _Skeleton Man_ by Tony Hillerman, wherein an aging icon of detective fiction spends whole chapters lecturing on ecology.


----------



## Pluralized

ppsage said:


> Listening to _Skeleton Man_ by Tony Hillerman, wherein an aging icon of detective fiction spends whole chapters lecturing on ecology.


Hillerman’s _Skinwalkers_ was particularly fun, as I recall. Been a decade or so. 

Currently wending my way through The Gulag Archipelago, after just devouring Night and Man’s Search for Meaning over the past couple days. We humans, I swear.


----------



## MzSnowleopard

These days I'm reading- The PCOS Diet Plan by Hillary Wright.

I had been diagnosed with this condition about 10 years ago. Tihs book has helped me to understand what it is and how to manage it, deal with the pitfalls, and avoid the potential risks of developing other, more severe conditions like diabetes or heart disease.


----------



## sas

This will show my ignorance of poetry, which I never read until AFTER I started writing it in 2011.

I am reading "Collected Poems 1947-1997 Allen Ginsberg. An exhaustive 1161 pages, in chronological order, as written. 
Without the dated order, I would have been unaware of how his writing drastically changed. I'm sure that his early work, although exceptionally constructed and written, in the more accepted fashion, would have left him in obscurity. When he took out his razor, and cut from accepted norm, he became a voice of HIS time. 

Two stanza examples below. The last was written just before his death.

Written 1948 (note used Caps first words; old style):

Rose of spirit, rose of light,
Flower whereof all will tell,
Is this black vision of my sight
The fashion of a prideful spell,
Mystic charm or magic bright,
O Judgement of fire and of fright?

Written, 1997, as dying (one of his last poems):

The mind is like a butterfly
That lights upon a rose
or flutters to a stinky feces pile
swoops into smoky bus exhaust
or rests upon a porch chair, a flower breathing
open & closed balancing a Tennessee breeze--


He reminds me of Picasso, who was an excellent artist of realism, but who broke loose from it to create his unique images, as did Ginsberg. 

.


----------



## sas

accidental double post deleted

.


----------



## Olly Buckle

sas said:


> This will show my ignorance of poetry, which I never read until AFTER I started writing it in 2011.
> 
> I am reading "Collected Poems 1947-1997 Allen Ginsberg. An exhaustive 1161 pages, in chronological order, as written.
> Without the dated order, I would have been unaware of how his writing drastically changed. I'm sure that his early work, although exceptionally constructed and written, in the more accepted fashion, would have left him in obscurity. When he took out his razor, and cut from accepted norm, he became a voice of HIS time.
> 
> Two stanza examples below. The last was written just before his death.
> 
> Written 1948 (note used Caps first words; old style):
> 
> Rose of spirit, rose of light,
> Flower whereof all will tell,
> Is this black vision of my sight
> The fashion of a prideful spell,
> Mystic charm or magic bright,
> O Judgement of fire and of fright?
> 
> Written, 1997, as dying (one of his last poems):
> 
> The mind is like a butterfly
> That lights upon a rose
> or flutters to a stinky feces pile
> swoops into smoky bus exhaust
> or rests upon a porch chair, a flower breathing
> open & closed balancing a Tennessee breeze--
> 
> 
> He reminds me of Picasso, who was an excellent artist of realism, but who broke loose from it to create his unique images, as did Ginsberg.
> 
> .



Must have been about my first date, took a girl called Sandy to see him at the Albert Hall.


----------



## escorial




----------



## escorial




----------



## Sebald

Ooooh.... Basquiat.

Hi Esc... are you well?


----------



## escorial

Yeah great..thanks...bought that book today in waterstones an it's still got the plastic cover on it.. can't wait to open it up tomorrow while listening to some music..he was in a Blondie video an she bought one of his paintings..he is brilliant sebald...cool


----------



## Sebald

Was he? Can you remember which video?


----------



## moderan

The Stay-Awake Men and other unstable entities, By Matthew M Bartlett. It just came out today. Bartlett is brilliant. His work is creepy and knowing in that Campbellish or Liggottian sense and his tone makes vantablack seem transparent.


----------



## escorial

Rapture vid... he's the DJ..just a cameo but he was lucky to get that because someone pulled out


----------



## Bloggsworth

Swallows and Amazons - Nuff said - I'm regressing... Picked up the complete set of Ransome's childrens books while on the Broads a fortnight ago.


----------



## Plasticweld

Spaceman by  Mike Massimino.  A really good read[h=1][/h]


----------



## Sebald

escorial said:


> Rapture vid... he's the DJ..just a cameo but he was lucky to get that because someone pulled out



Thanks. I'm off to have a listen. I've watched that video many times, and didn't realise.


----------



## escorial

Went back the Tate to look at sum expensive cartoons an was determined to walk past the bookstore without buying a book..failed



Only 76 pages an read 12 in the shop.


----------



## Olly Buckle

escorial said:


> Went back the Tate to look at sum expensive cartoons an was determined to walk past the bookstore without buying a book..failed
> 
> View attachment 19995
> 
> Only 76 pages an read 12 in the shop.


If you had returned four times you could have read the rest of the book, and bought another four books


----------



## escorial

Waterstones are a great place to sit and read...much better than library's and used bookshops. I prefer to read short stories an I could so easily read an finish them without buying but I like to own books..read them back home and like to be surrounded by them...also I prefer the feel of a new book and the shopping experience which I just don't get with online shopping...


----------



## AwkwardWriter

For a fantasy mood: Throne of Glass book 1.
For realism third person: Hatchet.
For realism first person: Walk Across America
For dystopic: Extras.

All the books that I can't read due to school  I'm reading Throne of Glass more than the others though, but it depends on my mood. Your book sounds cool too! Do you have a goodreads that we could follow?


----------



## Thaumiel

_Physics of the Interstellar and Intergalactic Medium _by Bruce T. Draine

_An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics_ by Bradley W. Carroll & Dale A. Ostlie


----------



## dither

Reading and enjoying " mad girl " by Bryony Gordon.

And I seem to have found a short cut to finding books to read. Often, when I borrow a book from the library, there'll be an old "returned or borrowed receipt" tucked inside the cover. Well? If I enjoyed the book, it  wouldn't be  unreasonable, I think, to suppose that I might like the books that _they _ borrowed. That's how I found mad girl.

The first half was tough reading but you have to know about the first half to appreciate the second half. I'm into the second half now and it's a breeze.:cheers:

The bad news is that this has got me thinking about O.C.D. Seriously.It's all there. The "what-ifs" and the "hang-ups."


----------



## Monaque

Ready Player One, finally started this as I bought it months ago and never got around to it, it`s supposed to be good and the idea sounds clever. And it`s the 80`s, which was kind of my era really. 
Also reading the Ben Aaronovitch series with Peter Grant the protagonist, as a kind of magician policeman, it`s witty and clever and well written. 
I`m on the third so that says something.


----------



## escorial

I can remember when books were cheap in charity shops before tinternet an eBay

Cud a bought a new but smaller version for a quid more in waterstones

I get bigger pages an some village gets a new tap..everyone's a winner...


----------



## Pyromanic

The Brothers Karamazov,
though I'm not sure why or how it got into my head that I should read _this _book.
I'm not even sure where I first heard the title, The Brothers Karamazov,
but it seems to me that this title was always hailed as some sort
of great literary achievement, and for that reason I told myself that I would
read it one day but always put it off reasoning that it was a translation from Russian and not an original English,
Until the other day, in the used book store, I picked up Crime and Punishment,
and having read it and enjoyed it, I decided to read another Dostoevsky.
I'm near the end now, but I can't say I'm too impressed.

For me, it has turned into a sort of Don Quixote (another book that
I convinced myself I had to read from start to finish only to feel utterly
cheated, as if the author had in his whole mind from the beginning to
taunt the unassuming reader who expecting some great fantasy to
suddenly occur, willingly endures long discourses of banality).

The Brothers Karamazov, although providing me with a decent plot
worthy of eliciting some suspense, readily lapses into numerous
useless conversations which only succeed in distracting from the
normal progression of the plot. In all honesty, I would rate it a 3/10,
so that anyone else who is thinking about reading this book should
know that it's just a trick and not be deceived by its lofty reputation.

If anything, it would be a much better idea to just read Crime and Punishment,
and then do away with Dostoevsky altogether. It is first of all a very Christian
book, and only interesting in that it captures the political attitudes of the people in Russia
following the emancipation of the Serfs. Among these attitudes, one sticks out belonging to certain socialists:
Namely that the individual is not so responsible for his crimes, that rather he is a victim of circumstance,
and everything is permitted as it is an expression of rebellion towards an unjust society.


----------



## dither

I'm getting bored, trying to kill the boredom with Elvis Costello. Some these people really are just tossers who got lucky.


----------



## sas

James 剣 斧 血 said:


> _Physics of the Interstellar and Intergalactic Medium _by Bruce T. Draine
> 
> _An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics_ by Bradley W. Carroll & Dale A. Ostlie




I keep reading astrophysics books over and over, hoping for clarity. It doesn't help that I am immensely interested, I glean only snippets of understanding. So, can you recommend one that might be Astrophysics for Dummies? I've read all of Hawking's.


----------



## Thaumiel

sas said:


> I keep reading astrophysics books over and over, hoping for clarity. It doesn't help that I am immensely interested, I glean only snippets of understanding. So, can you recommend one that might be Astrophysics for Dummies? I've read all of Hawking's.



I wouldn't know where start...

Are you look for a mathematical background or do you just want something descriptive?


----------



## sas

James 剣 斧 血 said:


> I wouldn't know where start...
> 
> Are you look for a mathematical background or do you just want something descriptive?



Other members of my family sucked out all the math genes and Mensa IQs. Really. So I work with more ordinary brain cells. Science types either have no idea as to how to communicate what they know simply, or it can't be done. I would love to know some of what they know. No doubt, I'm asking too much. At my age, I'd like to make more sense of things.


----------



## Thaumiel

sas said:


> Other members of my family sucked out all the math genes and Mensa IQs. Really. So I work with more ordinary brain cells. Science types either have no idea as to how to communicate what they know simply, or it can't be done. I would love to know some of what they know. No doubt, I'm asking too much. At my age, I'd like to make more sense of things.



Hmm, the ones I'm reading are for my master's so they might be a bit much. Another issue is that astronomy advances fairly frequently so older books can be outdated pretty quickly depending on their contents. 

If you don't mind looking at some older stuff, then books by Sir Patrick Moore might be good. Or more recently, perhaps something akin to _Astrophysics for people in a Hurry _by Neil deGrasse Tyson?

There is an Astronomy for Dummies book too.


----------



## sas

James 剣 斧 血 said:


> Hmm, the ones I'm reading are for my master's so they might be a bit much. Another issue is that astronomy advances fairly frequently so older books can be outdated pretty quickly depending on their contents.
> 
> If you don't mind looking at some older stuff, then books by Sir Patrick Moore might be good. Or more recently, perhaps something akin to _Astrophysics for people in a Hurry _by Neil deGrasse Tyson?
> 
> There is an Astronomy for Dummies book too.



Hey, thanks. The first one, Astrophysics for people in a Hurry sounds like it might fit. Not really interested in Astronomy, but more the formation, workings of the Universe, gravitational waves, etc. If I'm on a wave, I might fold back and return. Smiles.  I'll look for that book. Best. sas


----------



## moderan

Feynman. Get anything with his name on it. Worth its weight in Deuterium.


----------



## sas

moderan said:


> Feynman. Get anything with his name on it. Worth its weight in Deuterium.



Yes, I do know of Feynman. I went to your link to him (thank you) and the following made me smile:

When Richard Feynman’s mother Lucille heard that her son, Richard, had been designated the Smartest Man In The World by a magazine, her response was “*Our Richie?   The world’s smartest man?  God help us!*“.

I laugh at this because my daughter became a physician. I do not consider any of my doctors God-like, to be unquestioned. They were pooping their pants not long ago. 

Thanks for Link. Lots of free stuff there for me to read. I am now into free.  Best. sas


----------



## Olly Buckle

I like his direct, practical, approach. They say that as a student there was an argumentinhis halls as to whether urine was forced out of the bladder or depended on gravity. Feynman settled it by standing on his head and pissing


----------



## escorial

Bought this today in the workers co-op bookstore...do like to read political literature when I feel the views expressed are personal and not overtly biased towards their political ends..all things prose I say...


----------



## Olly Buckle

The reader on the 6.27, by Jean Paul Didierlaurent. 

Some great writing in varied styles. The 'reader' works in a plant that trashes books and rescues a few pages that he reads aloud each day, that is just the beginning.


----------



## ppsage

Listening to _Born a Crime _by Trevor Noah. The 'Hitler' story was so funny I spilled my whiskey laughing.


----------



## escorial

ppsage said:


> Listening to _Born a Crime _by Trevor Noah. The 'Hitler' story was so funny I spilled my whiskey laughing.



What was funny...


----------



## ppsage

So, under apartheid, education in the townships was so poor, ideas about ww2 were slight and confused. Also under it, blacks were required to have an 'English' first name, that the whites could pronounce. These were taken rather randomly, and Hitler isn't uncommon. It's the name of Noah's troupe's featured dancer. The crew chants 'go Hitler' when he dances. Their group is invited to perform at a cultural jamboree at a Jewish academy....


----------



## Olly Buckle

ppsage said:


> So, under apartheid, education in the townships was so poor, ideas about ww2 were slight and confused. Also under it, blacks were required to have an 'English' first name, that the whites could pronounce. These were taken rather randomly, and Hitler isn't uncommon. It's the name of Noah's troupe's featured dancer. The crew chants 'go Hitler' when he dances. Their group is invited to perform at a cultural jamboree at a Jewish academy....



This gives me an idea, if we set  up as producers and get little old ladies to invest...  Oh no, wait a min.


----------



## Ol' Fartsy

​


----------



## dither

I'm at page 24 in " long road from JARROW" by one Stuart Maconie.
Could turn out to be a difficult read but gotta be done I think.


----------



## Winston

...


----------



## Grizzly

Black Lavender Milk by Angel Dominguez.

A book of ritual, thirst, reconnection with ancestral roots, poetry... so good so far. Invites the reader to dream, to drown, and to wake up with a tongue seeking more.


----------



## bobo

How will it be to die of a stroke ??
of cancer ??
of AIDS ??
of a heart failure ??
of Alzheimer's ??
Sherwin B. Nuland knows - and has written a book about it: "How we Die".
He takes the reader through the stopping of circulation, the inadequate transport of oxygen to the tissues, the flickering out of brain function, the failure of organs, the destruction of vital centers ... and much more, which are common for the things we have to experience when in the process of dying.
Interesting ...
Don't you want to know ??


----------



## moderan

Germane to some of the topics in the 'writing discussions' area and a good volume in general, at least the best I've found so far: Without Conscience.


----------



## VonBradstein

moderan said:


> Germane to some of the topics in the 'writing discussions' area and a good volume in general, at least the best I've found so far: Without Conscience.
> View attachment 20211



I️ have read that book and it is excellent. For those who want something similarly paranoia inducing though perhaps a little more kitchen sink, may I️ also recommend “The Sociopath Next Door” https://m.barnesandnoble.com/p/soci...KEec-k2lUO-3D21vliwp7s9qZJJy9RFRoCklkQAvD_BwE


----------



## moderan

Currently reading Jeff VanderMeer's *Borne*. Excellent work...reads a little like *Blade Runner** crossed with Pangborn's *Davy*. I'm about a third of the way through -- there are also a novella and a short story set in this environment available, and rumors of more. I understand that this has been optioned for film also. Inspired narrative. (*Not so similar to the PKD novel.)
You ecofiction peeps should pick up on VanderMeer -- he's one of you.


----------



## TKent

Enjoyed this one immensely, although didn't hit me with the impact that the Southern Reach Trilogy did. Can't wait for the latter to be on the big screen in 2018!! 



moderan said:


> Currently reading Jeff VanderMeer's *Borne*. Excellent work...reads a little like *Blade Runner** crossed with Pangborn's *Davy*. I'm about a third of the way through -- there are also a novella and a short story set in this environment available, and rumors of more. I understand that this has been optioned for film also. Inspired narrative. (*Not so similar to the PKD novel.)
> You ecofiction peeps should pick up on VanderMeer -- he's one of you.


----------



## moderan

TKent said:


> Enjoyed this one immensely, although didn't hit me with the impact that the Southern Reach Trilogy did. Can't wait for the latter to be on the big screen in 2018!!



Southern Reach petered out for me. Dying to see it though. Jeff's an acquaintance, and his success is thrilling. He's been around for a while and is still pinching himself. Borne is more to my taste so far.


----------



## TKent

Yep, I've got friends who almost always land right where I do on books, who didn't like Southern Reach. It just got to me. So freaking weird. And the three books had such different styles as well. Loved it. 



moderan said:


> Southern Reach petered out for me. Dying to see it though. Jeff's an acquaintance, and his success is thrilling. He's been around for a while and is still pinching himself. Borne is more to my taste so far.


----------



## escorial

Thrilled to have found an bought this today..never read one of his books but enjoyed this lecture in print..


----------



## Olly Buckle

JK Rowling's 'A Casual vacancy' has started appearing in the second hand shops, so I thought I would try it. There is a little patchiness, but overall I found it excellent, better than her later Cormoran Strike novels, though I have only read the first two. Sympathetic and good strong characters on the whole.


----------



## dither

dither said:


> I'm at page 24 in " long road from JARROW" by one Stuart Maconie.
> Could turn out to be a difficult read but gotta be done I think.



Almost at the end of this. It's a bit anecdotal of course but I've enjoyed it.
Can't wait to start on Miranda Sherry's " Black Dog Summer ". I wonder what _that's _​about.


----------



## moderan

TKent said:


> Yep, I've got friends who almost always land right where I do on books, who didn't like Southern Reach. It just got to me. So freaking weird. And the three books had such different styles as well. Loved it.


Was better than most -- don't get me wrong. But Borne is more to my taste. I am absorbed in it. Such a riff on the genius-kid, deus ex machina idea. Original as hell, and that's hard to do.
The avatar on my profile is by artist Yves Tourigny, who made a board game from some of Jeff's novels. I'm part of the game, a Truffidian Priest, sent to Ambergris to find the watchers (I'm pleased as punch to be included, naturally). This is it here:


----------



## TKent

That is very, very cool! 

I am a major Jeff VanderMeer fan for sure. Have three of his short story collections, Strange Bird, and others. I have been meaning to try the Finch but just haven't gotten to it.

On the topic of games, read the funniest review quote on another book altogether yesterday. She essentially said: The isn't literary by any stretch, just pure pulp urban fantasy, but hopefully someone will make a game out of it. And you'll never see a game made for Lolita." I definitely chuckled.  





moderan said:


> Was better than most -- don't get me wrong. But Borne is more to my taste. I am absorbed in it. Such a riff on the genius-kid, deus ex machina idea. Original as hell, and that's hard to do.
> The avatar on my profile is by artist Yves Tourigny, who made a board game from some of Jeff's novels. I'm part of the game, a Truffidian Priest, sent to Ambergris to find the watchers (I'm pleased as punch to be included, naturally). This is it here:
> View attachment 20260


----------



## Ralph Rotten

Xom-B by Jeremy Robinson.  Okay book, but nothing that I haven't read a dozen times elsewhere.


----------



## Kevin

_The Quiet American _-Graham Greene. I just finished. A friend here recommended it. Period piece for me and very relevant for the time just before I was born and then after 1950- 1974. I went to school with refugee children, Koreans and Vietnamese, though the Koreans came for opportunity, not out of necessity like the Viets. The picture of Vietnam was fascinating. It was very good all around. I would read something else by him.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Kevin said:


> _The Quiet American _-Graham Greene. I just finished. A friend here recommended it. Period piece for me and very relevant for the time just before I was born and then after 1950- 1974. I went to school with refugee children, Koreans and Vietnamese, though the Koreans came for opportunity, not out of necessity like the Viets. The picture of Vietnam was fascinating. It was very good all around. I would read something else by him.



My favourite is 'Travels with my Aunt', one of the eighteen books I gave my daughter for her eighteenth birthday. I have always favoured the slightly subversive


----------



## escorial

Poets bring to non fiction a way of writing that for me is perfection...this short but full book has it all and as I read on I'm in that place only few writers can take me to...another world


----------



## moderan

David Weigel's The Show That Never Ends. All about progressive rock, where it started, what is is, where it went, where it's going. I love me some prog, am a prog artist myself.  This is great stuff, well-written and informative even if you're not into prog.


----------



## bdcharles

moderan said:


> View attachment 20386
> David Weigel's The Show That Never Ends. All about progressive rock, where it started, what is is, where it went, where it's going. I love me some prog, am a prog artist myself.  This is great stuff, well-written and informative even if you're not into prog.



Now that looks amazing.


----------



## escorial

Seen many films and been to see an animated version of Dickens but never read it and I found this catalogue from a Tate exhibition in the 70's...my local Oxfam shop is amazing....


----------



## moderan

bdcharles said:


> Now that looks amazing.


It turned out to be pretty good, if short. The footnotes and attributions were a little more than a third of the pagecount. Makes the thing authentic though. Had a whole lot of Rush in it, which is unfortunate to me as I don't really like their work after Hemispheres but ok, they're prog for sure. Good selections of anecdotes especially about ELP and King Crimson, not so much about the 'lesser' bands of the 'prog era' like Curved Air and Camel, lots about the "Canterbury set'. Didn't touch any of the North American prog before Kansas/Styx and pretty much glossed over them.
So four stars. I think I could write a better one, and might, after I finish my cookbook.


----------



## escorial

A great find an look forward to it


----------



## Pluralized

I'm absolutely infatuated with Eliade right now. Working through "From Primitives to Zen" at the moment.


----------



## Phil Istine

I recently read _Dark Matter_ by Blake Crouch.
It's a sci-fi novel (as you might guess by the title) based in current-day (or recent) USA.
I doubt that the science stacks up but this wasn't too important as the story was a pretty good one - a slightly different take on an old theme.
Crouch hooks the reader very early; although the opening scene isn't anything out of the ordinary, he does give a strong hint that this will change. It does. Quite quickly.  He does enough to leave the reader wanting more as the story progresses.
If I want to be picky, he does leave a couple of loose ends, and one aspect of the ending is pretty weak. I suspect this may leave room for a sequel.
I don't want to spoil the story for anyone else so I won't be too specific on these points.
If you like sci-fi, it's worth buying. If you don't, you might like it anyway - if only to study the writing techniques.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Antonia Fraser, 'The Gunpowder Plot'

I got to page 147 and there is a footnote that tells me that gunpowder ignites at between 550 and 600 degrees Farenheit. I have read Ray Bradbury, I know paper ignites at 451, I didn't believe it. Google sources tell me between four twenty and fifty, no one comes near five fifty. Maybe it was milled very badly in 1605 or some such thing, but I don't really believe it, and now I am doubting everything.


----------



## moderan

In 1605 was more likely to be black powder than modern gunpowder. The ignition point depends on the blend. It's @450F for gunpowder and @600F for black powder, according to numerous articles available to a casual googling.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Thank you Moderan

It would have been black powder, nitrocellulose is quite modern, I remember reading about the discoverer wiping up concentrated acid with his wife's cotton apron and then hanging it to dry over the stove, where it ignited with a flash. 

I went back and looked, I think I confused centigrade/farenheit.



> Nitrocellulose (smokeless powder) ignites at 160-170 C.
> 
> Black powder (per above link) Ignites @ approx. 427°C (801°F).



But that is even higher, then I found,



> For the reaction to start in black powder, the temperature must be raised enough for oxygen to be released from the potassium nitrate and combine with the fuel ingredients (the charcoal and sulfur). Surprisingly, there seems to be some disagreement about the ignition temperature of black powder; the official Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for black powder lists it as 464°C (867°F), which I believe is clearly too high. Other figures hover at or a little over 300°C (572°F), which sounds more like it. The discrepancies may be due to how the temperature is applied or how well incorporated the powder is. Pure sulfur will ignite at 216°C, but it may need a higher temperature if it closely incorporated into a mixture, and potassium nitrate decomposes at 400°C, which is likely to be a ceiling value for mixtures containing it.



It seems the footnote was less than complete in its information. I am still slightly sceptical; how on earth did they manage to blow up powder mills during manufacture?

I also found one person who claimed it was 5,000 degrees centigrade   My guess is that is the temperature reached during combustion rather than ignition temp.


----------



## Pluralized

Well, happy Festivus to me; I picked up a mint-condition-ish set of "Great Books of the Western World" off eBay, shipped right to my door. 1952, special "Private Library" edition that was only distributed to donors of $500/set, which was real money in those days!

Made it through "The Great Conversation" today and staggered around the house afterwards to stretch my legs, spluttering various incantations at the top of my lungs; what a blessed marvel that Adler was! Wending my way through Plato's "Apology" and "Crito" this evening. Stoked to read these 54 volumes for the next decade or six. 

The previous owner really took care of these books. She wrote the dates in the front of each (i.e., started volume 42 "Kant" in Feb. 1974, then worked on Freud in the late 90s), and I found a long gray hair in Syntopicon II. Kinda made me tear up for a second, thinking about how these probably came from an estate sale and have been around long enough to accompany someone from perhaps middle-age to the grave. I'll cherish them and maybe pass them along to my little rat-weasels.


----------



## escorial

woody has already written the ancient greek gag an i don't want to repeat it incase you haven't heard it because for the next few years your weasels might tier of hearing it....


----------



## Bloggsworth

Gordon Bennett! Plato? Socrates? As a bear of little brain, I'm happy with my "First Edition" of Swallows And Amazons and their adventures around Wild Cat Island...


----------



## dither

Just finished " The Brittle Star " by Davina Langdale.

Enjoyed.

And now I make a start on " Completion " by Tim Walker.


----------



## Theglasshouse

I am trying to diversify the fantasy I read. What ruled based magic system fantasy would be a good read? I am looking for such books. To see how the magic system operates. BTW, if there is one in the arthurian fantasy that would be a bonus for me? So readers here have any recommendations? I want to order about 20 dollars worth of books.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Theglasshouse said:


> I am trying to diversify the fantasy I read. What ruled based magic system fantasy would be a good read? I am looking for such books. To see how the magic system operates. BTW, if there is one in the arthurian fantasy that would be a bonus for me? So readers here have any recommendations? I want to order about 20 dollars worth of books.



Have you tried Ursula Le Guin's 'Wizard of Earthsea' ? It is the first in a series that are sold as kid's books, but are readable for adults and have a fresh approach to magic and fantasy. I enjoyed them, and they are a quick and easy read.


----------



## Theglasshouse

Olly Buckle said:


> Have you tried Ursula Le Guin's 'Wizard of Earthsea' ? It is the first in a series that are sold as kid's books, but are readable for adults and have a fresh approach to magic and fantasy. I enjoyed them, and they are a quick and easy read.



That's a good recommendation. Because she is still considered one of the most famous writers of fantasy. I will give her book a try. I read the first one a long time ago of the Earthsea trilogy in a high school library and enjoyed it. I forgot most of the plot and could try it again. I own a small short story collection of hers called the book of twelve quarters used. I also own another short story collection of hers that collects her later stories called: the real and the unreal.


If I don't find something better I will get those two books. I already read many of the books locus considered good but it is a long list of their all-time favorite books but not for fantasy. That's how I discovered many fiction classics. I think this one is listed as a favorite on their webpage. Just like lord of the rings and the hobbit it has one of the top spots probably.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Her adult collection I know is called 'The left hand of darkness', but as I remember I would call it science fiction rather than fantasy. She was the daughter of Alexander Kroeber who was the leading social scientist of his day, author of 'Configurations of culture growth', I think it was, and her mother wrote 'Ishi, last of his tribe', also under the name Le Guin. That is the biography of a Californian indian. They are both worth reading, but 'culture growth' is a bit heavy going and fairly huge.


----------



## Theglasshouse

She is smart, and had a smart family and has talent. I read left hand of darkness in high school as the first science fiction novel and which was the first popular fiction I was exposed to reading probably.


----------



## dither

Because I bought this,this,rubbish.


----------



## Riptide

I just read "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline

And now I'm going to be reading "Ex-Heroes" by Peter Cline when it arrives.


----------



## Theglasshouse

Got the first two books I was recommended(first two books of earthsea series). It's been such a long time since I read book 1 and never read book 2. One chapter is named the school of wizards. I wondered if this is one of the books that influenced some authors, and made some notes of things I liked. Reading it now. I might read two chapters or 3 a day. To add credibility she has a very big world she explains easily, and many tropes used I am picking up. Its better training than expected. Easy to picture the scene but not as much dialogue as some of the big novels I have recently at the beginning of the novel. But she uses a lot of poetic words. For example tanner's yard is used to allude to the sun and a fire and is a character. That is all glad to have bought it. Reminded of high school. I would have preferred a book but then I wouldn't be able to make notes.


----------



## dither

Just to give me needed breaks from the "f**k it" thing I borrowed a copy of " The Good The Bad and the Smug" by Tom Holt.

We shall see.


----------



## Irisd

Right now I'm reading Sense and Sensibility. It's the only Jane Austen I've never attempted (I love Emma and P&P but never got into her others). I'm also trying to get through a book in French which takes me about ten times longer to get through. Good thing it's very thin (Dora Bruder by Patrick Modiano).

I recently got a decent assortment of library books (I'm in France and the English-language book selections at libraries are a little limited)--one of Alice Munro's short story collections, the Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, The Sellout by Paul Beatty, and The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe. Not sure which of them I'll pick up next.


----------



## escorial

Those Germans bombed our chip shops


----------



## Mello

I'm reading _The five-minute writer_, _The writer's journey_, _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone_ (along with the audiobook) and I'm listening to the audiobook _The English & their history_ by Robert Tombs


----------



## escorial

One new an second hand...bruegel for me the first painter without that flatness perspective an the other the best Norwegian novel for sum[

ATTACH=CONFIG]20674[/ATTACH]


----------



## Roac

I’m about ¾ of the way through Stephen King’s The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three.

This and the previous The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger are the only books by King that I have read. So far, the books are quite amazing.


----------



## Monaque

Never heard of Bruegel.


----------



## escorial

Monaque said:


> Never heard of Bruegel.






Bruegel the elder huntsman in the snow is regarded as one of the first painting we're the viewer is given the image in a position never contrived so deliberately before an the background was incorporated as part of the work and not a backdrop to the central theme...amazing stuff


----------



## Monaque

escorial said:


> View attachment 20687
> 
> Bruegel the elder huntsman in the snow is regarded as one of the first painting we're the viewer is given the image in a position never contrived so deliberately before an the background was incorporated as part of the work and not a backdrop to the central theme...amazing stuff



Ah right, I think I may have seen the images you posted there, some time back. They do have a great depth to them.


----------



## Olly Buckle

I am very familiar with the lower one, it hung on our wall when I was a child (A reproduction of it anyway  )


----------



## escorial

What did you think of it then an now...just wondered


----------



## Olly Buckle

I think I liked it as a child because of all the detail, I seem to  remember, also, that at some point it was cleaned and we got a new print, with white snow and lots more detail showing. It was pointed out to me that he painted 'ordinary things' but I didn't appreciate his place in place in the history of art then.


----------



## sas

Ok, my roots are showing, and not on my head. My blue collar ones. 

I am wading (polite term) through Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. Will force myself to the welcome END. His poetic voice seems to consist of many redundancies. The same phrases throughout a poem. Plus, "ing"; "ing"; "ing"...."and", "and", "and".... as poetic music. 

One poem, in consecutive lines!:

With the Fourth-month
With floods
With the fresh...
with a wind-dapple
With ranging hills
with many
with dwellings

Really? Really? Really?


----------



## escorial

Some great books as defined in so many lists I've stuck with an often just give up on just because there considered great works....an some by far less  well known writers , I don't go beyond the first chapter...keep going sas..


----------



## dither

I've just finished " I Saw A Man" by Owen Sheers.
There are titles of other books written by him on one of the back pages and I hope they can be borrowed from my local Library.
Enjoyed.


----------



## Theglasshouse

Still haven't finished earthsea, will continue it but decided to post this. I will read it when it arrives. It uses no linguistics jargon and I saw good reviews and comments about the book on amazon. The non-fiction thread it is not active and I decided to post it here. Ordered both of the books yesterday.

Writing Good Prose: A Simple Structural Approach (Paperback)
by Alexander E. Jones, Claude Winston Faulkner


Writing Good Sentences, Revised Edition (3rd Edition)
Faulkner, Claude W. (saw the preview of this second book, the 1st book is by the same author so I hope the other book tells me how to organize my paragraph's sentences) It has some good comments left by reviewers on amazon. The author has the same last name by that famous writer.


----------



## Winston

_The Waste Land _ by T.S. Eliot


----------



## moderan

Theglasshouse said:


> Still haven't finished earthsea, will continue it but decided to post this. I will read it when it arrives. It uses no linguistics jargon and I saw good reviews and comments about the book on amazon. The non-fiction thread it is not active and I decided to post it here. Ordered both of the books yesterday.
> 
> Writing Good Prose: A Simple Structural Approach (Paperback)
> by Alexander E. Jones, Claude Winston Faulkner
> 
> 
> Writing Good Sentences, Revised Edition (3rd Edition)
> Faulkner, Claude W. (saw the preview of this second book, the 1st book is by the same author so I hope the other book tells me how to organize my paragraph's sentences) It has some good comments left by reviewers on amazon. The author has the same last name by that famous writer.



Don't forget your Strunk and White.


----------



## escorial

2 new 1 used...25 quid for the Rachel one but worth it..


----------



## Olly Buckle

Finally finished 'One hundred years of solitude', that took a while considering nothing happened.
Starting Henrietta Leyser, 'Medieval Women' and 'The fire and the fury' about Mr Trump.


----------



## escorial

tried reading a book about Mrs T.....how i miss the 80's.....enjoy olly


----------



## Darkkin

_Asleep_​ by Molly Caldwell Crosby


----------



## Jeko

For my dissertation, I'm reading a selection of texts from the Danson Erotica Collection housed in Trinity College, Oxford. Some of them are pornographic, some of them aren't. Some of them aren't and feel they have to say they aren't pornographic at the start to ward away the wrong sorts of readers. All sorts of old stuff (1700-1900, lots of texts past 1900 too but I'm not including those in the scope of my study) with all sorts of old ideas and mannerisms towards obscenity, eroticism, sex, drugs, rock n roll...

There's also an entirely smutless 'Dictionary of Love' in there, written by the same guy who penned the first pornographic novel (and was promptly arrested for doing so).


----------



## dither

I'm almost at the end of Jeremy Page's " The Collector of Lost Things ".
It hasn't been a bad read, a bit of a page-turner in places, and I shall be interested to see how he wraps this thing up.


----------



## sas

In 2014 I bought The Complete Poems of Phillip Larkin.  Still pushing through it. I find I like lines, rather than entire poems, with the exception of Aubade. I find myself wanting to workshop them. No shit. Too late. He's dead.


----------



## Olly Buckle

sas said:


> In 2014 I bought The Complete Poems of Phillip Larkin.  Still pushing through it. I find I like lines, rather than entire poems, with the exception of Aubade. I find myself wanting to workshop them. No shit. Too late. He's dead.



Stick the odd line in Firemajic's daily dose of poetic inspiration. I have been looking for some inspiration lately.


----------



## escorial

Larkin Poems are border line paranoia..people just seem to get in his way...an they fuck you up your mum an dad just about sums him up...for me the stuck up git is best when describing barren places or devoid of people..I like his stuff but.....


----------



## sas

escorial said:


> Larkin Poems are border line paranoia..people just seem to get in his way...an they fuck you up your mum an dad just about sums him up...for me the stuck up git is best when describing barren places or devoid of people..I like his stuff but.....



LOL. I'll keep reading with that in mind. Interesting take on him. Deep down I think he wanted to write poetry like Ginsberg's,  but didn't know how to cut loose. Shoulda been American. Larkin was too pinched assed. Not in private, though. Smiles.


----------



## dither

" BRENDA MONK IS FUNNY ."

By Katy Brand .

A funny witty and enjoyable read.


----------



## Matchu

I finished STONER - John Williams - that was 'literary' and fashionable as a lost classic a couple of years back.  It was an entertaining read.

Then I popped down the spooky second hand shop.  For a tenner I got 'Jack Tar' - which is social history - 'life of a common sailor in the time of Nelson.'  That's fun.  [ten pound 4 books]

Suckered into a £5 purchase of Harari's SAPIENS:  THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLER down the supermarket.  Very smooth prose, I'll immerse although it is a guilty pleasure, like the Ascent OF MAN, version 98.

...

as for the 2nd hand books - Tom Brown's Schooldays, mmm, Nabokov something - might be short stories? And John Masefield - something - I liked his seafaring story before [_The Bird of Dawning]_, so, so...

I'll buy most things nautical/piratical.


----------



## dither

dither said:


> " BRENDA MONK IS FUNNY ."
> 
> By Katy Brand .
> 
> A funny witty and enjoyable read.




Well,

I just finished it.
Great story, great read and I loved the character that was,Brenda Monk.


----------



## dither

I'm a few chapters in with Carol Goodman's " River Road". With a credit like "gripping" I'm not sure that it's really my kind of read but hey! So far, so good. I'm warming to it.


----------



## bdcharles

_Fool's Errand_ by Robin Hobb. This style of mid-level fantasy, detailed but not impenetrable, is very much what I want for my own writing. Interestingly, the call to action doesn't happen until chapter 9, page 180 of a 661 page novel. Up until then it's very much character setup, worldbuilding, backstory, and an almost imperceptible rise in threat until it's inevitable that Tom Badgerlock, aka FitzChivalry, will somehow be shaken out of his pleasant isolation.


----------



## dither

bdc,
we're obviously into different things/genre, worlds apart, but I can sort of relate to what you're saying.
My latest read had a similar affect.


----------



## dither

Did I really say that "gripping" wasn't my kind of read?
Engrossed by it, an absolute page turner and thoroughly enjoyed.
That's two out of two and author's names noted.

Now I have nothing left to read. It's bloody cold outside and I need to get to the library. A.S.A.P.


----------



## moderan

TH3 D3MON, by Sean M. Thompson. 
It's a story about a computer virus that may (or may not) have infernal origins and causes people to commit disgusting crimes, perform ritual murders, practice cannibalism, and enjoy other such adventures once they have seen the red screen of death. It is very possible, even probable, that the author is satirizing some or all segments of society in the process, in the most sincerely Romero-ish sense.
The characters are very well-realized and the incidents are generally not gloated over, occurring in fugue states, keeping the book from being splatter and adding to the mysterioso air of the book.
Great fun.


----------



## escorial

Bought 3 short ones today
 be


----------



## _Koriko_

The Cursed Child - J.K Rowley


----------



## escorial

Charity shop find today


----------



## sas

The Auschwitz Poems (an anthology I found in used book store)

In truth, the poetry, for the most part, suffers. But, they are riveting reminders of those who suffered, due to hysteric nationalism & prejudice. I have lovely Nigerian Muslim neighbors. The poems are written by those in Auschwitz; their families; and, those who visited concentration camps (I visited Dachau in '73; wrote one of my first poems about it; it compels writers to write). 

I had the book at my daughter's last week. It provided an opportunity to share with my granddaughters this horrible part of human nature. I foresee chimneys rising everywhere. Do you smell them?


----------



## escorial

Av u posted your poem or wud u post it on WF..


----------



## sas

escorial said:


> Av u posted your poem or wud u post it on WF..



Escorial, 

This is one of the very first poems I ever wrote. The note, at the bottom, is to my granddaughters. Funny, I never put questions in my poetry now. But, I think questions fit this poem. 


*Sterilized Human Nature* 

What?

No initials here are carved?
No scratch lines count time?
No claw marks or pounded dents?
Where is the anguish written?
Is it tattooed only upon wrists?

No acrid air blocks light?
No smell dulls the senses?
No ash singes hearts?
Where is the cloud hanging?
Is it over heads someplace else?

No wind echoes cries?
No ground shakes in sobs?
No tree bows in shame?
Where is the witness here?
Is it only witnessed from afar?

No hail stones the stack?
No lightening strikes burn?
No vine hangs like a noose?
Where is the wrath of nature?

Is it inside mankind, ever lurking?


 Syd & Kate: Went to Dachau, 1973. Too sterile for the evil that was there. -gammy


----------



## dither

Claire North's  " the Sudden Appearance of Hope. "

I'm 359 pages in and haven't the faintest idea where this thing is going, can't believe how I have, that I am, still reading this damned thing but I am and I shall. I DO hope that there is a point to this and that I get it.

A very confused dither...


----------



## Olly Buckle

dither said:


> Claire North's  " the Sudden Appearance of Hope. "
> 
> I'm 359 pages in and haven't the faintest idea where this thing is going, can't believe how I have, that I am, still reading this damned thing but I am and I shall. I DO hope that there is a point to this and that I get it.
> 
> A very confused dither...



I read 'One hundred days of solitude ' recently, that was a bit like that, nothing actually happened, even when it happened, like a whole crowd being slaughtered, nobody admitted it happened. Also it follows the family through the generations, but people keep  getting named after their grand parents or their father, so they end up all called by small variations of the same, Spanish, name. Quite glad to  finish that one.

read 'The fire and the fury', a bunch of hearsay and innuendo was my impression. Just started 'Stoner', a fictional biography. Not far in yet, but some really nice writing.


----------



## dither

Well, I finished it and I don't know. It HAD to end, as all stories must, obviously, but but but...

Life eh?


----------



## dither

I've just started reading  J.B.Morrison's " the extra ordinary life of FRANK DERRICK  AGE 81 " and it's hilarious. Brilliantly funny.


----------



## escorial

Oh..Lord won't u buy me a merc


----------



## H.Brown

Melissa Marr's Fragile Eternity, 3rd book in her Wicked Lovely series, based on the worlds and the four courts of Faeries.


----------



## Olly Buckle

HRF Keating 'The Perfect Murder' the first 'Inspector Ghote' mystery. Not often I give up on a book, but I might on this one. I have no empathy with the main character, and he asks all the wrong questions. There are some long passages that are very repititious and boring, stuff that could be put effectively in a sentence goes on for most of a page, I skim quite a lot. I also find the transcription of 'Indian' talking a bit cliche, it must be hard to represent Indian people talking, but this is a bit stereotypical and annoying.


----------



## Monaque

Anachronist, the first of the Infinity Engine stories by Andrew Hastie, very good it is too.


----------



## BlondeAverageReader

Olly Buckle said:


> HRF Keating 'The Perfect Murder' the first 'Inspector Ghote' mystery. Not often I give up on a book, but I might on this one. I have no empathy with the main character, and he asks all the wrong questions. There are some long passages that are very repititious and boring, stuff that could be put effectively in a sentence goes on for most of a page, I skim quite a lot. I also find the transcription of 'Indian' talking a bit cliche, it must be hard to represent Indian people talking, but this is a bit stereotypical and annoying.



I had to take that book back to the library PDQ for all the reasons you mentioned, life’s too short!


----------



## dither

Just finished " Welcome to Nowhere " by Elisabeth Laird.
A novel set in war-torn Syria , and, to my amazement, actually found myself caring.

Recommended.

Now, all I have is a Dick Francis novel. Pulse. Can't think why I brought it home and wondering if I might not find it a bit racey.

Oh well, here I go.


----------



## Olly Buckle

> ... find it a bit racey.


Not a phrase I have heard for a while, hope it is 'up to speed' and you do


----------



## dither

Mr.Buckle I was just amusing myself when I said that. Many if not all DF novels, I believe, are set around horse-racing.


----------



## dither

I can't believe that I've finished it already and what a brilliant read.
Enjoyed.


----------



## escorial

They never meet but who needs human contact....now there is the internet were you don't need a stamp


----------



## escorial

Found this in fav book shop...them reds can't half write


----------



## escorial

No one else reading
..


----------



## escorial

A very English novel never mind room with a view


----------



## BlondeAverageReader

*Just for a Laugh*


----------



## Olly Buckle

The collected short stories of Saki

Loving it, some are very short, an isolated simple idea, his metaphor is great.


----------



## seeoil

M.L. Rio's If We Were Villains. Love me some good theatre kids breaking down and slowly losing their minds.


----------



## Larry952

I love reading both fiction and nonfiction.  I have a nice collection of hardback books, and a number of paperbacks.  I have been reading ebooks lately even though I enjoy the feel of a well made leather bound book.  Recently, I've discovered an interest in graphic novels and comic books (not superhero or fantasy comics).  I just finished reading the six volume set of _Do Androids Dream of Electric Sh_ which was the basis of the movie _Blade Runner_.  I enjoyed this graphic novel far more than I expected I would.  So, I've added a new form of literature to my reading experience.

Currently reading a comic book series titled _Strangers in Paradise._  Clever, funny.


----------



## escorial

Still prefer Trump myself


----------



## escorial

God v wrong time wrong place


----------



## escorial




----------



## bazz cargo

I tried to read Harry Potter, but I don't have the time and when I sit down for 10 mins I fall asleep. I recommend the audiobooks though, listen while driving, walking the dog or garden feature constructing.


----------



## escorial

dude don't sit down when your driving..always buy a car with a sun roof...


----------



## escorial

Compared to other commy greats he is simply the best.. literally


----------



## escorial

No need to buy anymore until I've read these...


----------



## Dormouse

M W Craven - *The Puppet Show.*​ This is his third novel and he is just getting better and better.


----------



## dither

I borrowed a copy of James Salter's " collected stories " from a local library last week. God knows why and I'm finding it hard work. Seems like the sort of thing I might do. It's rubbish imo.
Well? Anyway,
Today I borrowed a book entitled "mosquitoland" by one David Arnold and I can't put it down. The short stories can wait.


----------



## dither

escorial said:


> View attachment 22188



Might just look for that one.


----------



## dither

Just finished " mosquitoland". Brilliant brilliant brilliant read.
I don't know how I'd tag it but that is most definitely my preferred genre.


----------



## dither

It's all about one person's journey, in this case a runaway sixteen year old girl, with all the slings and arrows that one might imagine , refreshingly, there's no sex and  adult language is almost non existent but a great read imo and a happy ending.


----------



## dither

Although it's a novel, it's life I guess and life isn't always pretty.


----------



## Miss_Spitz

I am currently rereading Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell


----------



## QuixoteDelMar

I just finished _Apathy and Other Small Victories _by Paul Neilan. I would highly recommend it to other millennials, but as the saying goes - The young shouldn't read Water Margin.

Next on my list is _Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits_ by David Wong, so that's what I'm reading now.


----------



## Olly Buckle

No computer recently, so been getting a bit of reading done, just finished 'English in a hundred words' by David Crystal, very readable. now got four going. 'The view from the cheap seats' by Neil Gaiman, writing about writers and writing; Herodotus, The histories, some good tales to re-write; 'Who murdered Chaucer', by Terry Jones, interesting history, and take the title literally; and, 'Nathaniel nutmeg', about the history of the spice trade.


----------



## NeoKukulza

I'm re-reading the Frostborn series. Absolutely amazing


----------



## QuixoteDelMar

Finished_ Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits_. Not as good as _John Dies at the End_. Not a comment on David Wong's abilities as a writer; personal taste.

So now I'm reading _Metro 2033_ by Dmitry Glukhovsky. Wondering if it reads better in the original Russian. I don't think this translation is very good.


----------



## dither

I just finished Janet Street Porter's memoir " Fall out".
And, love her or loathe her, it was so refreshing to read of such, how can I put this?, perceived wayward goings on from a seemingly respectable married woman.
You make friends with a member of the opposite and sometimes you cut loose.
Boy did she cut loose.
How WRONG is that?
You know what?
I envy, congratulate and applaud her.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Olly Buckle said:


> No computer recently, so been getting a bit of reading done, just finished 'English in a hundred words' by David Crystal, very readable. now got four going. 'The view from the cheap seats' by Neil Gaiman, writing about writers and writing; Herodotus, The histories, some good tales to re-write; 'Who murdered Chaucer', by Terry Jones, interesting history, and take the title literally; and, 'Nathaniel nutmeg', about the history of the spice trade.



Still on those four, they are all books that take a while, but I am acquiring more. 'This is going to hurt' , by Adam Kay, another David Crystal, and 'Pandora's daughters' by Jane Robinson have all crept in and been read in the meantime; and 'This Dark Business; the secret war against Napoleon.' by Tim Clayton, due out next month, has turned up. That looks like it might provide another distraction, I have already got into the introduction.


----------



## OtterlySilly

I just finished rereading Dragonlance: Dragons of Spring Dawning. This is one of my favorite books and includes one of my favorite wizards that I've had the pleasure of reading, Raistlin! Definitely recommend reading it if you like Dungeons and Dragons style literature.


----------



## Theglasshouse

The science fiction hall of fame volume 1. 

Currently at a bit over 10% so far of 500 pages. The stories at the beginning of the book are long.


----------



## Theglasshouse

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0741VJC4D/?tag=writingforu06-20

Currently at 3 dollars today only. Hurry at that price you'll get my favorite fantasy series. Actually, it is tied with the whole collection of the great book of amber.

4 books of the 8 book series at 3 dollars only. I saw it through the Amazon promotion in my email inbox. It's fun to read, I bought it for fun, and who knows if a plot could inspire me.


----------



## dither

The book that actually demanded, it fell from a shelf behind me as I viewed others in the biographies section, that I take it out on loan turned out to be a really nice read.
"After the crash by Martin Spinelli".


----------



## escorial

Reading moderate theological thinking books makes me realize how evil it is...


----------



## epimetheus

Sam Harris's Waking Up: Spirituality without religion.


----------



## escorial

his end of faith was a hoot


----------



## Olly Buckle

escorial said:


> View attachment 22824
> View attachment 22825
> 
> Reading moderate theological thinking books makes me realize how evil it is...



I recently finished 'Who killed Chaucer?' by Terry Jones in association with a couple of historians. You think they are evil, you should try Thomas Arundel, archbishop of Canterbury in 1400. He introduced burning alive for heresy, which meant disagreeing in any way with anything the church said, and banned publishing religious texts in English, had to be in Latin. He also banned anyone outside the church from criticising the church, that was Chaucer's crime, and he did it in English. He simply vanished around 1402 and probably died in the bishop's dungeon. At least you and I don't face a death penalty for what we have written, we would have then, and it would have been nasty, no clean death for heretics.


Edit, by the way, good to see you posting again.


----------



## dither

This kind of rings with what I'm reading about the Romanovs. It was the same the world over. Power-struggles. The few wanting to rule and control the masses


----------



## dither

And on a lighter note;

I've just picked up a book entitled " The January Man , a year of walking Britain". by Christopher Somerville. There are twelve chapters,all having a month as the title. It's a book about one man walking various parts of the British countryside reflecting on the coming and going of the seasons.

A few pages in [ well, one hundred actually ] and, mmmm, I don't know.
It's about places, county-side 'ish, I want to read about towns, cultures, traditions, cities, and people.
And their differences moving from one end of Britain to the other.
I would love to attempt such a thing.
Even I can dream.
Orwell sort of thing.Road to Wigan Pier and all that.
Now I really AM dreaming.

Trouble is, I know nothing of life and people beyond my own back yard.
But I long to observe the lives and times of others  across GB.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Dither, one of the books I have on the go at the moment is 'Mail obsession' A journey round Britain by postcode, by Mark Mason, you don't have to be an Orwell to write about the country, it is general trivia from every postcode. There is always demand for such books, pick an approach and allow yourself the luxury of research trips.


----------



## Olly Buckle

dither said:


> This kind of rings with what I'm reading about the Romanovs. It was the same the world over. Power-struggles. The few wanting to rule and control the masses



What do you mean 'Was'?


----------



## dither

We don't hear/read  reports of families being slaughtered because of their ancestry nowadays.


----------



## escorial

One of them that I just picked up  read a bit an then bought it


----------



## epimetheus

The Mists of Avalon.

The best magic i've seen in a work of fiction since... hmm, ever.


----------



## escorial

Bought two today...


----------



## dither

Olly Buckle said:


> Dither, one of the books I have on the go at the moment is 'Mail obsession' A journey round Britain by postcode, by Mark Mason, you don't have to be an Orwell to write about the country, it is general trivia from every postcode. There is always demand for such books, pick an approach and allow yourself the luxury of research trips.



I think, maybe it could be an interesting exercise in writing. Who knows? With the help of WF I might even learn how to write. I just love the way [ the mindset of the man ] Orwell saw, interpreted, and then put his experiences into to words but his travels weren't without risk. Getting up close and personal with real people? In this day age? Not a good idea I think. To trawl the thoughts  feelings views and experiences of the  general public [ lol! I bet I could walk the whole way around Britain without speaking to a soul ] could be a wonderful experience though.


----------



## Olly Buckle

dither said:


> I think, maybe it could be an interesting exercise in writing. Who knows? With the help of WF I might even learn how to write. I just love the way [ the mindset of the man ] Orwell saw, interpreted, and then put his experiences into to words but his travels weren't without risk. Getting up close and personal with real people? In this day age? Not a good idea I think. To trawl the thoughts  feelings views and experiences of the  general public [ lol! I bet I could walk the whole way around Britain without speaking to a soul ] could be a wonderful experience though.



Are you not old enough for a bus pass? Great way of getting into a conversation, waiting at a rural bus stop.


----------



## dither

Me? I've still got a couple of years to go.
Y'know? 
On Saturday lunchtime as I waited for my bus home from shopping, a woman spoke to me and I clammed up. I still can't make that leap. I just can't. And it rankles, it really does.

But, reading the book I have now brings home just how difficult such an enterprise would be. I don't like to go anywhere without knowing the whereabouts of public toilets for starters.
Would be nice to bus-hop and just call in at  b&b's as and when I felt like it but life isn't like that is it. And just imagine, doing it on a free bus pass. Pretty cool huh!


----------



## bdcharles

dither said:


> Me? I've still got a couple of years to go.
> Y'know?
> On Saturday lunchtime as I waited for my bus home from shopping, a woman spoke to me and I clammed up. I still can't make that leap. I just can't. And it rankles, it really does.
> 
> But, reading the book I have now brings home just how difficult such an enterprise would be. I don't like to go anywhere without knowing the whereabouts of public toilets for starters.
> Would be nice to bus-hop and just call in at  b&b's as and when I felt like it but life isn't like that is it. And just imagine, doing it on a free bus pass. Pretty cool huh!



I swear you've seen more action at bus stops in the last six months than I managed in ten years of studied moral dilapidation down the Big Smoke.


----------



## dither

bdcharles said:


> I swear you've seen more action at bus stops in the last six months than I managed in ten years of studied moral dilapidation down the Big Smoke.



If only I hadn't looked the other way.


----------



## escorial

Should have been the queen of blighty


----------



## Guard Dog

Just ordered the Kindle edition of Robert Heinlein's Glory Road.

It's one I always wanted to read, but never seemed to run across, back in the "old days" when I used to frequent book stores.

Just picked it up on Amazon, along with a free Audible version, so now I've got no excuse. If I get too lazy, or my eyes get too tired to do it the old fashioned way and read it myself, I can let this little device from Hell read it to me.


By the way, the only other book I currently have on my tablet ( for reading with the Kindle app ) is The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to write the story beneath the surface, by Donald Maass. It concerns writing emotion into your characters.

Haven't gotten very far through it, but it seems worth the few bucks I paid for it.

Anyway, that's my reading list for now. ( Other than the forums here, of course. )

Edit: Currently listening to the audio version of Glory Road. Was skeptical, but must say that I'm enjoying it in spite of my reservations. It's narrated by Bronson Pinchot, and although his "feminine" voice leaves a bit to be desired, he's doing an admirable job of voice acting. Would I prefer a full, multi-gendered cast? Yes. However, this is the next best thing, and still quite acceptable.


G.D.


----------



## escorial




----------



## escorial

Quack read


----------



## escorial

Charity shop fined on sale..hardbacks 50p..when I get to the top of my road there are million plus properties an in the village charity shop you can find some great stuff..can just imagine some right wing Tory reading this before they popped of...Maggie is my political hero..I might look middle class an walk amongst them but as soon as I open my gob they head for the hills...


----------



## NathanielleC

Get The Truth. It's from the same authors who wrote Spy The Lie. 

Whereas Spy The Lie was about the various tricks and methods you can use to determine whether or not someone is lying to you, Get The Truth focuses on how to get someone to tell you the truth. 

If you're writing mystery, or if any part of your story involves a character trying to ferret out the truth from someone, these books are very informative.


----------



## escorial

When a woman opposite me on the train seen me reading it she gave me a weird look...


----------



## escorial

Don't normally buy hardbacks but I can't walk away after a read of a few pages....16 quid to...


----------



## bazz cargo

Hi GD,
I am puzzling out something inspired by The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, love that book. Give my regards to A Star A.


Guard Dog said:


> Just ordered the Kindle edition of Robert Heinlein's Glory Road.
> 
> It's one I always wanted to read, but never seemed to run across, back in the "old days" when I used to frequent book stores.
> 
> Just picked it up on Amazon, along with a free Audible version, so now I've got no excuse. If I get too lazy, or my eyes get too tired to do it the old fashioned way and read it myself, I can let this little device from Hell read it to me.
> 
> 
> By the way, the only other book I currently have on my tablet ( for reading with the Kindle app ) is The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to write the story beneath the surface, by Donald Maass. It concerns writing emotion into your characters.
> 
> Haven't gotten very far through it, but it seems worth the few bucks I paid for it.
> 
> Anyway, that's my reading list for now. ( Other than the forums here, of course. )
> 
> Edit: Currently listening to the audio version of Glory Road. Was skeptical, but must say that I'm enjoying it in spite of my reservations. It's narrated by Bronson Pinchot, and although his "feminine" voice leaves a bit to be desired, he's doing an admirable job of voice acting. Would I prefer a full, multi-gendered cast? Yes. However, this is the next best thing, and still quite acceptable.
> 
> 
> G.D.


----------



## Guard Dog

bazz cargo said:


> Give my regards to A Star A.



I'll tell her you said 'Hi'. :thumbl:

( I wish I really could; I'd love to get a look at that gal, just... because. )

G.D.


----------



## bristow12

I am reading grand blue manga at www.mangazuki.me. This is the best place to read manga's.


----------



## Meldini

Currently reading Blossoms and Blood which is about the film director Paul Thomas Anderson who is a favourite of mine, it covers the period from his first film Hard Eight to The Master.  It's a shame that it ends there as he has made a couple of great films since then.  It's very revealing about both the man and his films and a must read for any fan of his.


----------



## dither

Just finished "Dancing with Dementia" by Christine Bryden and for anyone who might be affected by this condition through a family member/friend/acquaintance/whatever it's one hell of a read.

And now, for something completely different, yeah, I know, MPFC,

I'm about to make a start on " The Pursuit of Happiness" by Ruth Whippman.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Herodotus 'The histories' is taking time, it is my 'upstairs bathroom book', but there are some great ideas.


The flying snakes which have to be smoked out of the trees in Arabia before the myrrh can be collected are so fertile they would take over the earth if it were not for the fact that the female kills the male as soon as they have mated and the young eat their way out through the mother's belly, killing her.

Nobody knows where cinnamon comes from, giant birds bring the sticks to make their nests on inaccessible cliff faces, the locals feed the birds so much meat the nests can't take the weight and fall.

The Greek mercenaries who had captured the opposing kings sons and before the battle brought them to the front of the army, cut their throats, bled them into a large bowl, mixed the blood with vinegar and water, and then shared it out and drank it.

It is full of this sort of stuff, great stories. When you think where cinnamon actually comes from it is pretty amazing that the Greeks were trading for it over 400 years before Christ.


----------



## escorial

How many life changing decisions have you made while sitting on your throne Olly...?


----------



## Olly Buckle

dither said:


> I'm about to make a start on " The Pursuit of Happiness" by Ruth Whippman.



Careful you don't catch it


----------



## Bruno Spatola

I'm finally getting 'round to finishing off the Narnia chronicles (three left). I'm reading in chronological order, so started with The Magician's Nephew, and enjoyed it so much more than I expected. Going back to the origins of a universe in prequel form can often feel forced or unnatural if it doesn't somewhat resemble the first novel that was released, but Lewis did a great job of making it feel consistent with _The Lion... _in tone and voicing. 

My favourite part by a mile is where the young children find themselves in the forest betwixt realms, surrounded by magical puddles that lead beyond. When they fall into Charn, Jadis' native city on her native planet, I was transfixed beyond words; I was_ there. _He describes this dead world, barely lit by its dead star, inhabited by the ensorceled residents of Jadis' court, as if he were recalling a memory. It reminded me a lot of Anor Londo from the Dark Souls series -- a once-glorious kingdom put to sleep -- so much that I'm convinced the creators must have read this book, or observed artwork inspired by it, _something_. It's supremely eerie, and the way it all leads to the genesis story of Narnia is beautiful and captivating.

I'm up to Dawn Treader now, and it's definitely continuing in the style of Prince Caspian, which is fine by me.


----------



## dither

Olly Buckle said:


> Careful you don't catch it




Lol,
no worries there Mr.Buckle. It's all about making fun of those who  spend their whole lives preaching and buying into the self-help con.


----------



## Theglasshouse

Reading Ursula k le guin anthology 1st volume. Brothers and sisters, is the story it's a long novella.


----------



## escorial

Great find for moi


----------



## MzSnowleopard

a year's worth of reading one page a day.


----------



## escorial

Who u lukin @


----------



## Kebe

Sons of Cain: A History of Serial Killers from the Stone Age to the Present by Peter Vronsky.


----------



## Olly Buckle

escorial said:


> Who u lukin @
> View attachment 23222



The other one


----------



## escorial

he gets it


----------



## Hill.T.Manner

Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein


----------



## PockettePen

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.


----------



## Phil Istine

I obtained a copy of "I Could Pee on This" (and other poems by cats).
It's by Francesco Marciuliano.

It's a small book of poems written by cats.
As you may have guessed, it's pretty damned funny.

Well worth the £1 in the charity shop.


----------



## dither

Great title Phil.

I recently borrowed one of Ben Elton's from my local library. " TIME and time again." We shall see.


----------



## escorial

Here goes...


----------



## Olly Buckle

Architecture, schizophrenia, Dostoyevsky? You are going to do your head in reading that lot esc.  Take time off with a 'Famous five', or Agatha Christie a least.


----------



## escorial

Got a lift to the station today when a priest  pulled up and asked me...were was st Helen church and I commented that I thought it was an ugly building..when I got to the city I bought two books..one new an used..never intended to buy any...


----------



## dither

I've just finished Ben Elton's "TIME and TIME again and what an absolutely brilliant read. Have already read one or two of his but THIS one, amazing. I shall be seeking him out whenever I go to library now. Just a great great read.
What's that say about me? I wonder.


----------



## Olly Buckle

dither said:


> I've just finished Ben Elton's "TIME and TIME again and what an absolutely brilliant read. Have already read one or two of his but THIS one, amazing. I shall be seeking him out whenever I go to library now. Just a great great read.
> What's that say about me? I wonder.



I thoroughly enjoyed the first couple of his that I read, but then started finding them a bit 'sameish'. I shall look out for that one now you have said though. I see a fair bit of him in charity shops, I use the library for the particular, but browse the charity shops for general reading, I like contributing to the charity and having the book to pass on, and they are usually dirt cheap, the local Barnardo's shop was offering any four books for a quid the other day! I think they get far more than they sell.


----------



## dither

Mr.Buckle,
I suppose , to be honest, his writings are a little shallow, me to perhaps, I suppose, but this one has the most perfect ending. Would like to know what you think of it if you do read it.


----------



## wagtail

I've been listening to a lot of audiobooks lately. I borrow from the library and listen in the car on my way to and from work. Currently about a third of the way through Terry Pratchett's 'I Shall Wear Midnight' and loving it. The narration is quite perfect.


----------



## Dyeeeee

I found a pretty cool book at my library about the working memory, how it differs from IQ, and how to improve it. Its called 'The Working Memory Advantage.' I started it but I'll let you know how I feel at the end.


----------



## Theglasshouse

Going to read the naturalist which was number one in science fiction on amazon and they had it at a special price. So I bought it. I think it's a science fiction thriller probably with a detective. But that's from reading the blurb.


----------



## dither

I just finished reading " the way back home " by Freya North and it really resonated with me. A tale of self-doubt and insecurities and another great read imo.


----------



## -xXx-

ref post 1890, this thread, pg 189
whole stack omitted, compile
approx 5 per week

_Burn_ by *James Patterson*
Michael Bennett Series, 7/11
_The Murder House_ by *James Patterson with Dave Ellis*, 4/5

_Thankless In Death_ by *J D Robb*
Eve Dallas Series, 46/59

_The Defector_ by *Daniel Silva*
Gabriel Allon Series, 9/18

_Partials_ by *Dan Wells*, 1/4



_Heart of Darkness_ by *Joseph Conrad*
per wiki, 1899
Central to Conrad's work is the idea that there is little difference between so-called civilised people and those described as savages; Heart of Darkness raises questions about imperialism and racism.[3]
also note _Apocalypse Now _comment, same wiki

_
*considers next list of incoming*
_


----------



## escorial

some boss essay's...


----------



## Amnesiac

Giving Charles DeLint's, "The Onion Girl," another read. One of my all-time favorites... After that, a re-read of, "The Book Thief."


----------



## dither

escorial said:


> View attachment 23380
> some boss essay's...



Noted.
Might just look out for that one.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Saki, the complete short stories; there are a lot of them, some very short, and I tend to read a bit, go on to something else, and then return much later. He is very amusing and has some lovely throwaway lines, eg. "I love Americans, but not when they try to speak French, thank heavens they don't try to speak English.'


----------



## Plasticweld

Drop City by T.C Boyle, he is a great story teller.


----------



## dither

Two out of three, CAN'T be bad.
I recently finished a book entitled " Rusty Puppy" by Joe Lansdale.
I thoroughly enjoyed the read and shall looking out for his name in my local Libraries but the biggest surprise of all was  " A Turn In The Road " by Debbie Macomber.

It's a weepie and a real page-turner. If you like weepies you really must get a copy.

When I took those two out on loan I took three in total. I'm about start the third.

Happy days eh?

dither...


----------



## escorial

Not enuff coppers..I remember when there were plenty


----------



## theoldman

I'm reading, "The Book of  Awakening" by Mark Nepo, read it in the evening to my roommate who has vision problems.


----------



## -xXx-

ref post 2119, this thread, pg 212
whole stack omitted, compile
approx 5 per week

April NaPo Prep Resources:

_The Elements of Style, 4th ed._ by *Strunk & White*
III A Few Matters of Form
V An Approach to Style

_Poetic Meter & Poetic Form, rev'd ed._ by *Paul Fussel*

_e.e.cummings The Art of His Poetry_ by *Norman Friedman*

and then, audiobook:

_Killing the SS_ by *Billy O'Reilly*
-update edit 03222019
-so far, no new info
-don't listen _and try _to sleep

_
*puts away list*
_


----------



## escorial

Went to buy the little Prince the most published book from France..why!!!!...I read half of it an put it back on the shelf..


----------



## Olly Buckle

okay, so which French book would you expect to sell more?


----------



## escorial

The Outsider....quid pro quo


----------



## Olly Buckle

Niche book for intellectuals, I tried reading it once, didn't quite get as far as you did with the little prince.


----------



## escorial

bonnet de douche


----------



## -xXx-

best interview _ever
_paraphrase:
...coders have extremely high frustration thresholds...
...<able to continually> drive nails into floor with forehead...
i r neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed this!!!!



i will sleep with it under my pillow.
i will begin and end each day with a selected reading.
i will forgo pickle chips.
all types.
_*stares at library shelf*
*where it is not*
*yet*
*waits*_


----------



## escorial

Just read the Amazon reviews...how would you review it....


----------



## -xXx-

escorial said:


> Just read the Amazon reviews...how would you review it....


anthology style.
'cuz 
we need _a_ new language
new symbols..._refmusicthread
_do you have a copy i can borrow, by any chance?

then i can be the lightning
before the thunder..._also.refmusicthread_


----------



## escorial

I have quite a few face and hand gestures that can portray many emotions and you have no need to listen to the words coming out a frothy mouth..


----------



## Olly Buckle

I got given a copy of 'The heartbeat of Wounded Knee' (Native America from 1890 to the present) by David Treuer. It is a big book and I have a fair bit of reading going on at the moment, but the person who gave it me highly recommended it and she is usually a good literary judge, one to look forward to.


----------



## -xXx-

Olly Buckle said:


> I got given a copy of 'The heartbeat of Wounded Knee' (Native America from 1890 to the present) by David Treuer. It is a big book and I have a fair bit of reading going on at the moment, but the person who gave it me highly recommended it and she is usually a good literary judge, one to look forward to.


_native american wisdom _by *kent nerbum*
is a short, widely distributed by same subculture.
might be of interest, if you don't already have a copy.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain
The Law of Dreams- Peter Behrens
Her Body and Other Parties- Carmen Maria Machado
Fifth Business- Robertson Davies

This is a good set. All of them are proving to be eventful and there are some great moments, particularly in Twain and Machado's work. The Law of Dreams is still developing along-- I'm only on page 83, but it suggests it will be a worthwhile read.


----------



## Aquarelle

I've been in a reading rut for awhile (sad face!) but I just finished _The Knights in Fustian: a war time story of Indiana. _Research for a novel I have been thinking about forever but will probably never write...


----------



## escorial

Gotta know your history


----------



## meegads

I have two in progress right now - Seize the Night by Dean Koontz at home and rereading The Shining during breaks at work.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

During the past month and a half, I've been reading a lot of Philip K. Dick. 

To go through it:

Vulcan's Hammer
Solar Lottery
The Game Players of Titan
Clans of the Alphane Moon
Time Out of Joint
A Maze of Death
The Zap Gun

Solar Lottery and Vulcan's Hammer were the best. The rest, while entertaining, were so chaotic and disjointed that I felt they were more pulp fiction than anything else.


----------



## Bardling

I am taking another stab at Adam Smith _Wealth of Nations._ Its had going, even though I like economics.

He doesn't have much respect for poor people, I have noticed.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Bardling said:


> I am taking another stab at Adam Smith _Wealth of Nations._ Its had going, even though I like economics.
> 
> He doesn't have much respect for poor people, I have noticed.



Very true. He was an elite so he looked down on the "common person" as I suppose they would have been called. I've read it a long time ago, but would love to hear what you think it really meant. Economics is not my forte, despite me having a hefty interest in the subject.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Bard_Daniel said:


> Very true. He was an elite so he looked down on the "common person" as I suppose they would have been called. I've read it a long time ago, but would love to hear what you think it really meant. Economics is not my forte, despite me having a hefty interest in the subject.



*UPDATE* Finished Galilee and working on Culture and Imperialism by Edward W. Said. 

*UPDATE #2* Finished Culture and Imperialism.

*UPDATE #3* Finished The Cornish Coast Murder by John Bude, The Flame: Poems and Selections from Notebooks by Leonard Cohen, and Radio Free Albemuth by Philip K. Dick.


----------



## LeeC

I just got started on this.

*The Overstory: A Novel *
by Richard Powers

The Overstory, winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, is a sweeping, impassioned work of activism and resistance that is also a stunning evocation of―and paean to―the natural world. From the roots to the crown and back to the seeds, Richard Powers’s twelfth novel unfolds in concentric rings of interlocking fables that range from antebellum New York to the late twentieth-century Timber Wars of the Pacific Northwest and beyond. There is a world alongside ours―vast, slow, interconnected, resourceful, magnificently inventive, and almost invisible to us. This is the story of a handful of people who learn how to see that world and who are drawn up into its unfolding catastrophe.


Snippet from p. 4:
"_That’s the trouble with people, their root problem. Life runs alongside them, unseen. Right here, right next. Creating the soil. Cycling water. Trading in nutrients. Making weather. Building atmosphere. Feeding and curing and sheltering more kinds of creatures than people know how to count._

_A chorus of living wood sings to the woman: If your mind were only a slightly greener thing, we’d drown you in meaning._"


An exceptionally awesome book and the writing is to die for, yet over 25% of the reviews are less than five stars. If you take into account those that don't read because it might conflict with their imagined reality, such pretty much mirrors humanity to my way of thinking, given how we're so blatantly destroying the habitat that sustains us.


----------



## Olly Buckle

I met a lady called Jayasree Kalathil who has translated a book of short stories  by N. Prabhakaran called 'Diary of a Malayali madman'. I think I might be able to help her with her writing a bit, but they are interesting stories with a different sort of structure to the short stories I am used to.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Reading The Green Mile by Stephen King and A Column of Fire by Ken Follett.


----------



## ppsage

Been trying to bolster my pinko cred by plowing through Schlesinger Jr. Did Jackson and the first volume of FDR and am over halfway through the second. The first two were pretty easy biography and politics but this one's a detailed legislative history of the New Deal and a real bugger to follow. Many characters. My main impression is of the incomprehensible minutia of national governance and the takeaway seems likely to be an increased impatience with the superficiality of public political discourse.


----------



## Olly Buckle

> My main impression is of the incomprehensible minutia of national governance and the takeaway seems likely to be an increased impatience with the superficiality of public political discourse.



That made me smile.

 I like a bit of biography, one of the books I have going is 'The turn of the tide' by Arthur Bryant, it is a biography of Allen Brook taken from his diaries. At the moment he has evacuated the BEF from France, twice, and is now in charge of building army defences in case of an invasion. The conflict of traditional and modern (for 1940) tactics is interesting. Bryant is a bit 1950's gung ho British in his presentation, but he always writes well and is easy to read.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

I'm oogling over these books everyone is reading. Time for the public library, Openlibrary.org, Gutenberg, and purchases! :cheers:


----------



## Darkkin

America Before by Graham Hancock.  A meeting between bizarre archaeology and malarky.  :wink:


----------



## RHPeat

I'm rereading "Tarantula" by Bob Dylan
I'd forgotten how funny he was 
back in the 60's
I'm getting nostalgic for beat poetry,
and San Francisco. I asked someone
on the bus 10 years ago or more
It they had read any of Bob Kaufman's books
like "Ancient Rain"? They said, who's he? 
Right, who's he? Now I know I'm dead 
and I don't know it or give a damn. 
That was too long ago to count pods. 

Well have a good day or a good night
wherever you are. And remember 
Timbuktu was a big city one time
with a great library. Now the books
are buried in the desert. No lie. 
The desert is gathering ancient knowledge
from the sands of time. If you ask
they say their keeping the books safe. 
Any one of the books is worth 
half a million or more. We should 
have a bank account like that. 

Wear your bow tie and keep your 
snowshoes buckled tight. Smiles.
I might get the hang of Bob yet
if I keep working at it in the dark.


----------



## epimetheus

Started reading The Once and Future King by T. H. White. 

Two chapters in and already wondering whether to put it down. It has references and analogies completely out of time and place for an Arthurian story: a mention of Eton College jarred pretty hard, slap-stick comedy when we first meet Sir Pellinore, Merlin talking about electric and water companies and the Knights all saying 'What, what, good ol' port this, what do you say ol' chap?...' like they belong to some good old boys club rather than medieval knights. What's going on?

I picked it up because it was one of the most highly recommended books of modern Arthurian retellings. Anyone else read it? Worth persevering with?


----------



## Olly Buckle

epimetheus said:


> Started reading The Once and Future King by T. H. White.
> 
> Two chapters in and already wondering whether to put it down. It has references and analogies completely out of time and place for an Arthurian story: a mention of Eton College jarred pretty hard, slap-stick comedy when we first meet Sir Pellinore, Merlin talking about electric and water companies and the Knights all saying 'What, what, good ol' port this, what do you say ol' chap?...' like they belong to some good old boys club rather than medieval knights. What's going on?
> 
> I picked it up because it was one of the most highly recommended books of modern Arthurian retellings. Anyone else read it? Worth persevering with?



A bit tongue in cheek, but I have always enjoyed it. There are two versions, the first was written as a children's book, that was read to me as a child, and then it was re-written as an adult book , first of a trilogy, 'The ill made knight' which is about Lancelot and 'The queen of air and darkness' about Morgan le Fey.
Persevere a bit, it is the education of Art by introducing him to the different animal societies that is the cream of it for me, remember Arthurian legend is just that, legend, the real knights of medieval history were a bunch of murderous thugs. The stories are not history, just how someone would have liked it to be, an T H White's version is the same.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

The Divine Invasion by Philip K. Dick, Petrarch's Sonnets & Songs (Italian-English Edition), The History of the Medieval World by Susan Wise Bauer, and-- still, A Column of Fire by Ken Follett.

The Divine Invasion is better than the first VALIS book. Dick is a meth-fueled crackpot, but his writing really comes out strong and unique at times. Petrarch is REALLY impressing me, I've never quite seen poetry so fluid, longing, and mesmerizing. Bauer's historical book is one of the finest I've seen in a while, and A Column of Fire has its share of intrigues and suspense that I've come to know, and love, about his writing.

All in all, a good reading list for me ATM. I've got my new job now, but some debt that I have to work on is going to prevent me from buying anything new for a bit. Luckily, my local library, OpenLibrary (man I love that site) and other resources are enabling me to get plenty of material. It's been quite a while since I've bought a book, but I'm starting to feel the fever. 

Must work harder... wait, wasn't that what Boxer said in Animal Farm? 

*Finished the libretto of Aida, with the commentary and analysis. I like reading them: a fusion between poetry and drama.*

*UPDATED* Reading The Best Short Stories of the Century- Edited by John Updike and Katrina Kenison.


----------



## -xXx-

ref post 2128, this thread, pg 213
whole stack omitted, compile
approx 5 per week

_Spy_ by *Ted Bell*
Alexander Hawke Series, 4/10
This series does well with presenting contemporary
context not experienced directly by many readers.
The series considers such pertinent ideas
as manipulation of hardware (Tsar).
This particular novel speaks to one
of the popular/escalating "tensions".
Worth revisiting, imho.


_The Code Girls_ by *Daisy Styles*
Yes.
Read it.

_Speak_ by *Laurie Halse Anderson*
One year process of recovery by 13 year old assault survivor.
Yes.
Read it.
Gift it.

_The Power_ by *Naomi Alderman*
_"In 2012, Alderman was selected as a protégée by Margaret Atwood as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, an international philanthropic programme that pairs masters in their disciplines with emerging talents for a year of one-to-one creative exchange."_
per wiki
One critical schism, imho.

_
*considers next list of incoming*
_


----------



## L2me

Cross Her Heart, Sarah Pinborough. tis fooking aces


----------



## escorial

Smiler the first rock class chic


----------



## Bard_Daniel

I just finished The Transmigration of Timothy Archer by Philip K. Dick. It painted a portrait of the author himself, whether he was aware of it (and I think he might have been) or not. 

Reading Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship by Goethe and Circe by Madeline Miller. Both are quite good.


----------



## escorial

Man we're u been..new name an all..the wolfman is back


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Yessir, back in business and with all new sense of purpose!


----------



## escorial

That's great to read...cool


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Finished In Parenthesis. It was very impressive.

The Town and the City- Jack Kerouac

This is also thrilling. Kerouac's early writing style is surprisingly lucid and poetic.


----------



## -xXx-

Bard_Daniel said:


> Finished In Parenthesis. It was very impressive.



per wiki
_"Some critics, such as Evelyn Cobley and Umberto Rossi (who carried out a detailed analysis of Part 7), consider In Parenthesis a destructured novel, not a poem. "_

what say ye, contemporary reader
of aforementioned Hawthornden Prize 
winner?

poem?
destructured novel?


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Maybe it read like a deconstructed novel but with poetic elements? 

This is really a good question. I am very curious as to what Darren, and others who have read it, think...

P.S. Read through the entirety of The Town and the City, onto Maggie Cassidy by Kerouac as well!


----------



## Darren White

What they call poetry, and what not is an ongoing debate. I consider "In Parenthesis" poetry. Period 
Of course it's more complicated than that, but I need time to come up with a better reply.


----------



## TL Murphy

Poetry. The language is figurative  .


----------



## Pulse

'Paper' by Bahiyyih Nakhjavani, the story of a scribe who dreamt of writing poetry once he could find paper of high enough quality, at a time when paper had begun to be mass produced in other parts of the world.  He has to produce false documents for the local nobles but has never got paper for himself.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Working through The Golden Asse by Apuleius 

It's good!


----------



## Amnesiac




----------



## Bard_Daniel

Amnesiac said:


> View attachment 23777



Is it good? I've read The Shadow of the Wind in French...


----------



## Amnesiac

It's amazing. I like it better than, "The Shadow of the Wind," actually. (Well, so far... I'm only through Act I.) It's thoroughly engrossing. I love his style, his sense of atmosphere... There's a certain rambling romance in his writing; as though it's something that was written a hundred years ago. I love it. Fantastic author!


----------



## Ma'am

I'm reading _The Rosie Effect _by Graeme Simsion, a novel about a brilliant guy with Asperger's syndrome. I really enjoyed _The Rosie Project_ and this is the sequel.


----------



## Winston

_How To Talk to Your Cat About Gun Safety..._



[video=youtube_share;FL_HJXfmZTc]https://youtu.be/FL_HJXfmZTc[/video]


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Faust (Part Two)- Goethe

Finished it! Really, really good! I used a guide to go alongside to help me understand it. There is A LOT going on here, but so much of it is good. Goethe reached really high with this one: he was ambitious. I think it paid off. I've never quite read a play like this. It is distinct and different from the first part, which is still my favorite, but he did extremely well here.

Now reading Dream Psychology- Sigmund Freud

I find that Freud, despite very many of his theories being debunked, has an intelligent and worthwhile perception of any subject he analyses. I have been wowed and thrilled by many of his works. This one is good as well, brain food!  Additionally, I really like Freud's writing style. He had a lot of talent for presenting his ideas in reputable language. All in all, eagerly reading through.

P.S. Read Doctor Sax by Jack Kerouac. One of the most moving, intense, internalized novels I have ever seen. It was incredible!


----------



## Amnesiac

Finished, "The Angel's Game."  Really cool book. It left a lot of questions. Still, it was an amazing read.


----------



## Darkkin

Underworlds by Graham Hancock, Dance upon the Air by Nora Roberts, The Hummingbird Dagger by Anstey, and the Bishop Files series by Kay Hooper.  What can I say I love odd archaeology and series binging.


----------



## Amnesiac

I like Graham Hancock a lot. I read a book by him, years ago, called, "Fingerprints of the Gods," "Footsteps of the Gods," eh... something like that. I remember it being a startling and compelling read.


----------



## -xXx-

ref post 2159, this thread, pg 216
whole stack omitted, compile
approx 5 per week

_Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer_ by *John Grisham*
Theodore Boone Series, 1/7
This young adult series does well
with introducing judicial concepts
and providing age appropriate context
for that framework. 
The introduction to this series considers
a range of issues that an upper grade
school student might encounter.

This particular novel speaks to 
understanding options, process,
rights and responsibilities.
Compassion and understanding
are framed well, imho.

_
*considers next list of incoming*
_


----------



## Amnesiac

Don't laugh. It's a ridiculously GOOD book! Classified as "romance," when it should have been classed as suspense. (And a damn good one, at that!) Finished it last night.




Earlier this week, I read this, and thoroughly enjoyed this little murder mystery:


----------



## escorial

Eton rifles...


----------



## Ralph Rotten

Smithsonian magazine.
I have NetGeo in the bathroom.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Good omens, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, quite fun but could be a bit more subtle.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

...because I still like print books too:


----------



## Olly Buckle

When you have done Napoleon try 'Alexander the Great' by Robin Lane Fox. Great subject, well written.


----------



## Darkkin

Currently rereading Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone...


----------



## Olly Buckle

That was the one I read to my daughter, then her reading improved and she raced ahead reading for herself so I never got any further.


----------



## C P Sennett

I am currently working my way through The Time Machine by H.G Wells. It's good - I am liking it.


----------



## Amnesiac

John B. Keane - "Irish Stories."


----------



## dahand

I just finished The Picture of Dorian Gray and Fahrenheit 451 (I was teaching an English class and thought I better bone up on the books I made them read) and now I'm reading Stephen King's The Outsider.


----------



## Amnesiac

Love Bradbury. He and Poe were my first introduction to the macabre and short stories.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Fahrenheit 451 always seems over-rated to me, a nice little idea, might make a good short story where holes like where is this wilderness they escape to so easily, but it can be overlooked and it doesn't matter that none of the characters really get developed, but it is not a very good book in my eyes. Still plenty of other people rate it so maybe it is just me.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Amnesiac said:


> Love Bradbury. He and Poe were my first introduction to the macabre and short stories.



Yes! Me too fair fellow! 

I read, a little while ago, his collected stories (100 of them in there.) He was truly amazing. I think one of his quotes was, "I didn't go to university, I went to libraries."


----------



## Insolitus

Just finished _The Mad Scientists Daughter _by Cassandra Rose Clarke. It's a book set in a semi-dystopian future where a lot of the population has died and robots are normality. A little girl falls in love with a human-like android and the story details the ups-and-downs of her life with him. It's well written, and I loved it.


----------



## -xXx-

Insolitus said:


> Just finished _The Mad Scientists Daughter _by Cassandra Rose Clarke. It's a book set in a semi-dystopian future where a lot of the population has died and robots are normality. A little girl falls in love with a human-like android and the story details the ups-and-downs of her life with him. It's well written, and I loved it.



nice!
_*adds to "find this" list*_
read any of the others by this author?
pls.n.thx,


----------



## Insolitus

-xXx- said:


> nice!
> _*adds to "find this" list*_
> read any of the others by this author?
> pls.n.thx,



That was the first one, but it seems like the only one that focuses on AI romance. I believe her other works are fantasy. She also penned the 2017 Halo novel. It's a shame. I'd love to find some more grounded human/AI romance books.


----------



## escorial




----------



## seigfried007

_The Call of Cthulu and Other Weird Tales_ by H. P. Lovecraft. I'm in "the Call of Cthulu" right now, and I'm looking forward to the other works so far. I can certainly see how this author and his works have influenced a lot of other works now that I'm finally reading them.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Just finished Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond and Beckett's Complete Short Plays. 

I have five more Samuel Beckett novels lined up. I've read his trilogy already. I'm starting with Dreams of Fair to Middling Women and moving forth chronologically.


----------



## -xXx-

ref post 2813, this thread, pg 219
whole stack omitted, compile
approx 5 per week

_The Bell Ringers_ by *Henry Porter*
Explains many things.
Will probably spend another week with the content.
Don't want to read it?
Catch "the afterward".
Roll it around.
Catch it again.

_
*considers next list of incoming*
_


----------



## escorial

ISpy


----------



## escorial

for me a genius...you can be poor and happy as a child but not as an adult...


----------



## escorial

Watched the film last night..read the play in untold stories an read the book on train an bus today


----------



## Amnesiac

Nora Roberts, "Jewels of the Sun."

(Sorry... been on a Nora Roberts kick, lately.) LOL


----------



## ArrowInTheBowOfTheLord

Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson's Hoka series! Teddy bear aliens with runaway imaginations...


----------



## escorial

The first politician I was aware of.


----------



## dither

I found a Ben Elton at the library last week, "STARK", I'm about ten pages in  and it's looks as though I'm not going be disappointed. Enjoying it already but it wouldn't be everybody's choice I think.


----------



## escorial

A portrait of a 19th century dandy


----------



## Soda_Fox

I'm reading the light novel "Goblin Slayer vol. 1"... :icon_silent:


----------



## Bard_Daniel

I'm currently reading The Man Without Qualities and it's amazing.


----------



## escorial

Wouldn't want to sit next to these two at a dinner party


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Just finished The Royal Game and Other Stories by Stefan Zweig. An amazing assemblage! He managed to variate his form and technique with each story and the titular was incredible. Well worth the read.


----------



## thefloridapoet

At the Moment Book 1 of "Magic Bites" and as described on Amazon. com  "*Ilona Andrews invites you to experience the first novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series featuring the intriguing fantasy world of mercenary Kate Daniels…*

Kate  Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning  up magical problems. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, her quest for  justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions  within Atlanta’s magic circles. Pressured by both sides to find the  killer, Kate realizes she’s way our of her league—but she wouldn’t want  it any other way…"

Suming it up so far it is a fun read, not heavy at all, just an easy read that is a different story line from the usual (which is always refreshing).  I don't know what is going to happen next.  I just finished Bernard Cornwell's book Waterloo, which was kinda dry, but I love his writing so persevered through it.


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Just finished up The Man Without Qualities. I thought it was one of the finest novels that I've read. So much to like and appreciate here. The ideas, the plot, and the characters blended seamlessly together in a cornucopia of wonder. 

Truly well done.



thefloridapoet said:


> At the Moment Book 1 of "Magic Bites" and as described on Amazon. com  "*Ilona Andrews invites you to experience the first novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series featuring the intriguing fantasy world of mercenary Kate Daniels…*
> 
> Kate  Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living  cleaning  up magical problems. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, her  quest for  justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong  factions  within Atlanta’s magic circles. Pressured by both sides to  find the  killer, Kate realizes she’s way our of her league—but she  wouldn’t want  it any other way…"
> 
> Suming it up so far it is a fun read, not heavy at all, just an easy  read that is a different story line from the usual (which is always  refreshing).  I don't know what is going to happen next.  I just  finished Bernard Cornwell's book Waterloo, which was kinda dry, but I  love his writing so persevered through it.



That sounds pretty good- Magic Bites.

Was Waterloo about the infamous Napoleon battle? =-)


----------



## Periander

I'm reading Dostoyevsky's _Crime and Punishment_ and Virginia Woolf's _To the Lighthouse_ *at the same time.*

:-O


----------



## Amnesiac

I'm reading trash. LOL!


----------



## Bard_Daniel

How is it, Frank? Is it full of "Scurples?"


----------



## Amnesiac

LOL! I don't know. I'm not far enough along, yet. I've been reading a lot of romance, lately. Homework... After writing a lot of macabre, surreal, and ghost stories, I'm finding that I really enjoy writing romance. Go figure... /smh...


----------



## seigfried007

Reading The Colors Out of Space by H. P. Lovecraft.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Smoke and mirrors, by Neil Gaiman. Short story collection. 'The Price' is my favourite so far.


----------



## Grizzly

Just started Dune! 

Aside from some of my own (totally unfounded) biases that made me dislike the narrator from the onset, and aside from the strongly masculine style in which it's written (which honestly is to be expected given it's like a classic scifi piece, where most of the writers were old white men), it's an interesting read so far! Some nice quotes, and I like the meditation/vipassana-esque backdrop. Excited to see why some many people are hardcore fans.


----------



## BigBagOfBasmatiRice

_My Diary From the Edge of the World_ by...I forget the author's name and am too lazy to fetch the book.


----------



## Olly Buckle

BigBagOfBasmatiRice said:


> _My Diary From the Edge of the World_ by...I forget the author's name and am too lazy to fetch the book.



Jodi Lynn Anderson, you don't need the book, just open a new window for Google.


----------



## Grizzly

Y'ALL so I'm 192 pages into Dune and Paul just called himself a "freak" and WTF is this guy like the biggest Mary Sue ever? Why do so many people like this book??

EDIT: okay, i see why so many people like this book. But for real, Paul as a well developed character is WEAK


----------



## Kajaxis

I was reading The Weight of Honor by Morgan Rice, but took a break from it to sample A Clash of Kings. I was never that interested in the Game of Thrones series, but after hearing so much praise about it for so long I figured I'd give it a read.


----------



## escorial

The leader who set the way for Blair


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Ecorial, how do you select what you'll be reading- if you don't mind me asking?

I just finished up my Napoleon biography! I'm moving onto more plays from the Best American Play Series (1974-1982) and going to be debating what my next read is. Currently working on Raptor Red, but that'll only keep me busy for a day or so. I get money real soon so I'm thinking of splurging on the last 5-6 Philip K. Dick books I haven't read. = )


----------



## escorial

I buy nearly all my books from used bookshops and you never know what you might pick up on a visit...


----------



## seigfried007

Bouncing back and forth between H. P. Lovecraft (on Whisperer in Darkness) and Junji Ito's manga collection 
...

but mostly I'm going through Pinocchio, rewriting, writing, making a new outline to try to get my thoughts in order. Old outline was... really old. Didn't have a lot of the chapters.


----------



## -xXx-

ref post 2203, this thread, pg 221
whole stack omitted, compile
approx 5 per week

_The Atomic City Girls_ by *June Beard*

_The Black Book_ by *James Patterson*

_The Store_ by *James Patterson*
Tech hater heaven.
jussayin'

_
*considers next list of incoming*
_


----------



## Rojack79

Portrait if a killer, by Patricia Cornwell. A book based around Jack The Ripper.


----------



## escorial

I only had a five pound note and wanted to buy both...this one an MalcomX...the shop only accepts cash


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Today, I started The Poetical Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (complete) and The Golden Bough by James George Frazer.


----------



## escorial

Today found this on a table outside bookstore..I like the cover of this edition..now have four..


----------



## Bard_Daniel

Oooooo! That's a great find methinks. I'm going to go haunt one of the used bookstores in my town soon! Just need to get some money! XD

I finished this one yesterday and was pleasantly surprised:


----------



## escorial

I haven't bought a new book for nearly a year...never seen a Kindle in one yet...


----------



## Olly Buckle

Bard_Daniel said:


> Oooooo! That's a great find methinks. I'm going to go haunt one of the used bookstores in my town soon! Just need to get some money! XD



Used bookstores can be relatively expensive, I spend a lot of time going through books in charity shops. They tend not to classify them as well (or at all sometimes) and there is a lot of 'Chick lit.' as people use them as a sort of exchange, but there is stuff there. I have built up a really good collection of writing reference books, dictionaries of all sorts of things from quotations to idioms. Of course they only get used for browsing, it's easier to go on line to look up something specific, but it makes a fascinating six feet of shelf for an idle hour. The other thing I have found there over the years is a good collection of classics, they are the sort of thing people buy because they feel they ought to, then dump without reading, but on the whole they are actually worth reading, that is why they became 'classic'.


----------



## escorial

Never got a date in a charity shop......yeah..charity shops full of frigid spinsters an widowers


----------



## thefloridapoet

Of course Waterloo was about the Napoleon battle!  Magic Bites is a good book and a series....


----------



## dither

" The Rebel's Revenge " by Scott Mariani, a great great read. I thoroughly recommend it if bent cops versus quiet unassuming accidental visiting from England hero and good triumphing over bad in the deep south of America is your thing. If you get the chance to obtain or borrow a copy it's a must read.


----------



## Earp

Just started Jeffrey Deaver's latest, _The Never Game_. OK so far, but I had thought of the same idea for a book (guy solves missing person cases for the reward money), but Deaver beat me to it.


----------



## Ralph Rotten

Reading?
Who has time for reading?


----------



## escorial

One about a toff who joined the communist party..the other a militant who eventually sold his company for 5 million

an a free bookmark..luvly shop


----------



## seigfried007

Just finished "The Whisperer in Darkness" and have moved onto "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" by H. P. Lovecraft.


----------



## Art Man

I love reading and it use to be that I would read on average 6-10 thick books a year and dozens of magazines but nowadays I rarely ever read a book and I haven't read a book other than my own work cover to cover since 2017. I started reading "neuro-science for dummies" last year but had to put it up because of time restraints with my tight schedule. I would like to finish that book and I will likely re-read the whole thing when I finally get around to picking it up again.


----------



## dither

I'm talking up another weepie I'm afraid.

"The Farm Beneath The Water" by Helen Peters.

For me it was an absolute "page-turner". Couldn't put it down.


----------



## escorial

Have 4 to read before I buy more


----------



## Pluralized

_Doors of Perception_ - Huxley. Yep, again.

Also, _Eat Bacon Don't Jog_ - Petersen


----------



## dither

Pluralized said:


> _Doors of Perception_ - Huxley. Yep, again.
> 
> Also, _Eat Bacon Don't Jog_ - Petersen



Interesting titles Pluralized, and Huxley, that name rings a bell. I might just look out for those two.


----------



## -xXx-

ref post 2233, this thread, pg 224
whole stack omitted, compile
approx 5 per week

_City of Endless Night: A Pendergast Novelt_ by *Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child*
17 of 18 Pendergast series
This reader appreciates the collaborative accomplishments of this team.
Characters are rich and complex.
Subplots are substantial and enhance larger arc.
Excellent study for non-reactive-writing.

_Connections in Death_ by *JD Robb*
48 of 50 ...in Death series
This reader wants to write a program
which inserts different versions of same
into otherwise substantial storycraft.
*not qualified reminder*

_Humans, Bow Down_ by *James Patterson with Raymond, Dembowski, Ovchinnikov (illust)*
This reader will revisit this standalone collaboration
to better assess where this story fell short.
imho, the holes can be patched.

_The Pallbears_ by *Stephen J Cannell*
9 of 11 Shane Scully series
This reader mourns the loss of this author.
Wonderfully crafted exploration of significant themes.
Excellent study for group dynamic in limited time span.

_
*considers next list of incoming*
_


----------



## Umree

Pluralized said:


> _Doors of Perception_ - Huxley. Yep, again.
> 
> Also, _Eat Bacon Don't Jog_ - Petersen



I've read _Brave New World, _excellent book. _Doors of Perception_ is a collection of essays on psychedelics and art if I remember correctly? I was interested in reading it a couple of years ago, but couldn't find a cheap copy at the bookstore. 

I'm reading _Confederacy of Dunces_ by John Kennedy Toole. Just finished _Bird by Bird_ by Anne Lamott and_ The Glass Highway _​by Loren D. Estleman not long before that.


----------



## escorial

I have no idea who Tonybee is but I do like her upper class wit...


----------



## Olly Buckle

Just finished Gaiman's 'Smoke and Mirrors', starting in on his Norse myths. Also got Wolf Hall going and the prelude to the Canterbury tales.


----------



## Amnesiac




----------



## escorial

Only 50p an I don't buy books in bad Nick but reading a page I thought...read it again


----------



## dither

escorial said:


> Only 50p an I don't buy books in bad Nick but reading a page I thought...read it again
> View attachment 24371



I enjoyed that one. Great read imo.


----------



## dither

I seem to be set fair  for some  reading material, for now at least, good, or not, being a matter of opinion of course. I just finished "City of Friends" by Joanna Trollope , very similar to those of Binchy's imo and very much enjoyed.

Also, I may have found, I think, some good reads with a small series of murder mystery tales featuring one Agatha Raisin, a kind of amateur sleuth, written by M.C.Beaton, so, for now, all is looking good on the reading front here in dithering...


----------



## Irwin

4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster

I'm just starting on it.


----------



## escorial




----------



## dither

I'm currently reading .....The Turning Point... by Freya North.... and y'know what? I can't put it down, it's an absolute page-turner. I have a feeling that this isn't the first Freya North that I've read but for me, Freya North is a MUST READ.


----------



## Gentleman Rat

The Institute, by Stephen King


----------



## Irwin

The Extinction Agenda by Michael Laurence

It's full of cliches and there's not much character development, so I'm probably not going to make it to the end. I like interesting characters.


----------



## BadHouses

"I Am Charlotte Simmons" by Tom Wolfe.

The story of a young, fairly gifted girl who transitions from her tiny little mountain town to the Ivy League University environment. All her expectations of the ivory towers are torn down. 

Here's a small excerpt that made me laugh:
Tom Wolfe:


> She had been sitting down no more than fifteen seconds when she thought she heard a faint grunting sound. Then—a prodigious pig-bladdery splattering sphincter-spasmed bowel explosion, followed by, in rapid succession, plop plop plop and a deep male voice—“Oh fuck! Splashed right up my fucking asshole!”
> Filthy! The crudeness, the grossness, the vulgarity—above all the fact that there was a boy or a man in here . . . egesting . . . no more than three or four cubicles down the row from her!
> “Shit—a—brick!” said a deep male voice in a cubicle only slightly farther away. “What the fuck you been eating, Winnie—month-old sushi?” He made a mocking vomiting sound. “You’re fucking . . . morbid, dude. I need a gas mask.”
> Sure enough, a nauseous, putrid, gaseous odor was in the air.


----------



## Umree

Irwin said:


> 4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster
> 
> I'm just starting on it.



I love Auster's work, have you read _The New York Trilogy_ and _City of Glass_?
I saw an interview of Auster yesterday wherein he discussed how he got into writing. Evidently, he went to a baseball game when he was a kid and met Willie Mays --who was his idol at the time. Auster asked him for an autograph, but nobody had a pencil, so Mays didn't give him one. He was so disappointed the he decided to carry a pencil with him for the rest of his life.

52 years after meeting Mays, Auster has penned a good body of work. He goes to a writer's conference and speaks with Amy Tan who tells him that she's friends with a couple who live next door to Mays. She tells Auster that she'll ask the couple to buy one of his books and read it to Mays. Some time later Amy calls him and tells him that the couple read the book to Mays. Mays started crying a repeating "52 years...52 years..." He then took a baseball off his shelf, signed it, and mailed it to Paul Auster.

Apparently some stories take a long time to finish.


----------



## Ma'am

_Middlesex_ by Jeffrey Eugenides. I bought it years ago but forgot I had it until recently. So far, so good!


_"I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day of January 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of l974. . . My birth certificate lists my name as Calliope Helen Stephanides. My most recent driver's license...records my first name simply as Cal."_

So begins the breathtaking story of Calliope Stephanides and three generations of the Greek-American Stephanides family who travel from a tiny village overlooking Mount Olympus in Asia Minor to Prohibition-era Detroit, witnessing its glory days as the Motor City, and the race riots of l967, before they move out to the tree-lined streets of suburban Grosse Pointe, Michigan. To understand why Calliope is not like other girls, she has to uncover a guilty family secret and the astonishing genetic history that turns Callie into Cal, one of the most audacious and wondrous narrators in contemporary fiction. Lyrical and thrilling, _Middlesex _is an exhilarating reinvention of the American epic.
_Middlesex _is the winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction."


----------



## Mish

I'm reading:




It's only for the hardcore Tolkien fans.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Mish said:


> It's only for the hardcore Tolkien fans.



Can't say I am one, I enjoyed reading my kids The Hobbit and read L o t R once, but I bet there are enough that the publisher reckons to make a good profit; which kind of annoys me a little.


----------



## JesterTRT

I just finished the second book "Limited Wish" of the Impossible times series by Mark Lawrence. Very good book if you like crazy fiction.


----------



## J.T. Chris

I'm giving _Neuromancer_ another go-around in-lieu of _Cyberpunk 2077 _releasing_._ William Gibson is so ingenious.


----------



## dither

Just started reading Virginia Adams'  "Sage's Eyes", I'm ninety pages in and there seems to be something vaguely familiar about it.:dread:
Oh dear, I hope I'm wrong about this.


----------



## Irwin

I'm on a non-fiction kick right now with Mindhunter by John E. Douglas and Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer.


----------



## JustRob

After reading an article by Dr. Charles Whitehead in _Paranormal Review_ magazine I took a look at his website www.socialmirrors.org and his other articles there. His main interest in the field of social science is apparently role play and imagination, which I would say is close to the mental activities of fiction writers. Certainly in his writing he mentions the importance of "self" and "other" imagery in mental development and how people create imaginary characters within their minds who appear to behave almost independently of their creators' expectations. Taken to its limits this can result in multiple personality disorders but well balanced minds establish harmony between the various aspects of a person's character. No doubt as writers we can see how we ourselves allow this natural process to extend into creating plausible characters in our fiction. His specific interest is in drama and dance as a social interaction mechanism but there is no doubt useful information for any writer researching human behaviour or looking for ideas on how to modify conventional social activity into a fictional scenario.

He is a technical but entertaining writer. For example, in a review of a conference on the nature of consciousness that he attended he admitted that he fell asleep several times during it. There is a subtle irony in his failing to maintain his own consciousness during talks on that very subject, I think. Also, to quote, "The session ended with the chairman’s closing remark: ‘That brings us to the end of another successful conference on consciousness.’ Well, what else could he say?" That is a delightfully matter of fact remark to make in a relatively serious review of the event.

I was interested in how he identified the various camps in the debate on the hard problem of consciousness. Science has its sects just as religion does but the difference is that scientific sects don't modify their appearances to denote their strong beliefs in the way that religious people often do. Instead they all purport to be entirely rational, logical and impartial researchers despite holding quite different views, but that is just in itself an aspect of social behaviour and something that he would notice and classify.

For anyone interested in social structure and development his site may be worth visiting, of not for his own writings then for the references to others that he provides.


----------



## Moose.H

I am reading  an oldie called the "Green Armour" by Osmar White, a war correspondent in the New Guinea battle in WWII. A brutal jungle being the worst enemy. Intriguing how they crossed areas white people didn't venture into previously.


----------



## J.T. Chris

_The Year of Magical Thinking_ by Joan Didion. My NaNoWriMo project is memoir and this one is stellar.


----------



## escorial




----------



## Olly Buckle

Always so 'worthy' in your reading esc. I finished an Agatha Christie Miss Marple during a visit to the hospital. You make me feel trivial


----------



## escorial

Do not care much for these doorstop volumes but I bought it for the essays...there so awkward to handle an read..3 pound charity shop bargain..


----------



## Foxee

Currently sporting bookmarks:

_61 Hours_ by Lee Child (a Jack Reacher book)

_The Perfect You: A Blueprint for Identity_ by Dr. Caroline Leaf

Just finished up _Lethal White_ by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) on audiobook.


----------



## Theglasshouse

Harlan Ellison's anthology, "Dangerous Visions."


----------



## escorial

I do like upper class snobs...bit pervy at times but hey


----------



## escorial

All for 5 quid


----------



## Olly Buckle

Hey, esc, ever read Vis ?


----------



## Foxee

Just finished listening to _The Wrong Side of Goodbye_ by Michael Connelly. Not bad, the Harry Bosch series seems to be fairly straightforward.


----------



## escorial

Do you mean Viz...I hav


----------



## Olly Buckle

Sorry, I looked at it and wondered 'is that right' at the time but couldn't think why. So you do read the normal stuff as well?


----------



## escorial

What's normal....from chips advert...give the comma a break man


----------



## Ditchweed242

Read this about 35 years ago. Reading it again after all these
years has been fun.


----------



## -xXx-

ref post 2233, this thread, pg 224
whole stack omitted, compile
approx 5 per week

*2020* will begin with another personal focus
on an incredible *young adult historical fiction
series* AS a study in reimaginings.

this particular book will be reviewed *with*
each of the preceding books.
IT is the convergence of prior developments.
characters, events, incremental migrations are all skillfully integrated.

_The Wake of the Lorelei Lee: Being an Account of the Adventures of Jacky Faber, on her Way to Botany Bay_ (2010) 8/12

IF you have not explored the historical fiction created
by* L. A. Meyer*, in the guise of _Miss Jacky Faber_,
("_Bloody Jack: Being An Account of the Curious Adventures
of Mary “Jacky” Faber, Ship’s Boy_" & 11 additional titles)
i urge you to consider [them] as temperatures drop and
nights lengthen.

_
*considers next list of incoming*
_
ref post 2233, this thread, pg 224
ref post 2203, 2813,  2159,  2128, 2119,  1890,  1885, 1871,  1868,  1781,  1775,  1762, 1757, 1753, 1748, 1744,  #1738 , #1736, #1732 , #1721 ,#1718 ,#1711,#1709 , #1700 , #1681 , #1673 ,#1663,#1633,#1625 , #1618 , #1609 , #1597, this thread
invitation to l a meyer, ref10192016


----------



## Mish

I'm currently reading:


----------



## dither

I'm three quarters of the way through Juliet Ashton's " The Woman at Number 24 " and it's an absolute page-turner. Brilliant brilliant brilliant read imo. A novel involving ordinary people and their not so ordinary lives, the twists and turns therein are incredible. What a read, what a writer.

Another name added to  my " look out for " list.


----------



## Monaque

I finally finished Peter F Hamilton's Commonwealth Saga, 2500 pages and a plethora of characters so numerous it was hard to keep track of them; I often found myself wondering just who I was reading about only to recall a few minutes later. Brilliant world building but not a page turner by any means. 
Just finished Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus and did start her next The Starless Sea when I changed my mind and decided to re-read Altered Carbon and try to follow the whole trilogy through, if I can. The beauty with digital books is your virtual bookmark isn't going anywhere anytime soon; not that I haven't got enough physical books to get through, over a metre high and counting.


----------



## Greg William

I recently started re-reading The Chris Farley Show, (bio about Chris Farley). I had read it years ago and couldn't put it down. It's a dark yet fascinating story.


----------



## dither

dither said:


> I'm three quarters of the way through Juliet Ashton's " The Woman at Number 24 " and it's an absolute page-turner. Brilliant brilliant brilliant read imo. A novel involving ordinary people and their not so ordinary lives, the twists and turns therein are incredible. What a read, what a writer.
> 
> Another name added to  my " look out for " list.


Add to that M.C.Beaton's "The Death of a Sweep" another brilliant read.

Happy days here in the dither-room.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Dickens, 'Hard times'. Also 'The hare with the amber eyes'.


----------



## escorial

Autobiography or biography...not sure which I prefer


----------



## Irwin

I'm about to start on some Norman Mailer. That guy was a frickin' weirdo.


----------



## Ma'am

_The Sociopath Next Door._ And eyeing everyone suspiciously. :/


----------



## dither

I've just finished reading " One Hundred Names " by Cecelia Ahern. Not only was it a page-turner, I eventually got so that I could not put it down and finally finished it at about three o'clock this morning. :jaded:


----------



## Ralph Rotten

Currently reading Found In Amber by Esther Rabbit.
This is the second book in the series.
I know Esther from her blog & twitter.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YSCPX75/?tag=writingforu06-20


----------



## Amnesiac




----------



## escorial

a book for luvies....


----------



## dither

I can't believe my luck. I started Cecilia Ahern's " Postscript " yesterday.

Sometimes I'll start a book and within a few pages, it pulls me or it doesn't, and I'll decide there and then, to read on or not. Other times, I find that I'm being drip-fed, there is barely enough to keep me interested, it's hanging by a thread and I read on eventually wanting see it out but this "Postscript", right from page one, was, is, a page-turner. I get the feeling that, well I'm sure, it's a follow-on from the one that preceded it, " PS, I Love You" but well, I'm in now so never mind.

Brilliant brilliant brilliant read.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Thought I would check that out, Dither. Cecilia Ahern's genre is listed as 'Romance, young adult'. So you are young at heart after all.


----------



## Ma'am

I am reading _Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Dummies. _I'm going to be normal at last. I can hardly wait.


----------



## dither

Olly Buckle said:


> Thought I would check that out, Dither. Cecilia Ahern's genre is listed as 'Romance, young adult'. So you are young at heart after all.



Mr.Buckle,

I don't know about Celia Ahern's genre, and I wouldn't have put " postscript " in the "young adult, romance " section. Basically it's about one young woman who, having  nursed  her husband through the final stages of cancer, being left a series of letters, from him, with instructions for them to be read, one every month for a year. She then ends up helping others with terminal illnesses do the same.  Is that romantic? Yes ?  Maybe ? I suppose.

And I was born old.


----------



## Foxee

*Worth Dying For *by Lee Child (a Jack Reacher novel)
 Reacher investigates a disappearance in nowhere Nebraska as the godfathers/mafia of the place attempt to take him out. Great so far and knowing Lee Child, it'll stay that way.

*Imagine That* by Manuel Luz
 Discusses the role of Christians in the arts. Also really good so far.

*How to Talk to Anyone: 62 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships* by Leil Lowndes (audiobook)
Feels a little outdated and a tad gimmicky and even manipulative at points but there might be enough good to it for my curiosity to get through all 62 points. I don't really care for the way the author reads, either, and if anything kills my curiosity too quickly to get through it, that will be it. Still, hiking through it so far because talking to people is not my forte. At all.


----------



## Irwin

A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver

I need to learn some fundamentals of writing poetry if I ever want to be poet laureate.


----------



## dither

How about this for coincidence;

I borrowed three books from the library yesterday and the first one I started reading when I got home is about a man who, after working for the same employer his whole working life, has just retired and is totally lost. Doesn't know how to deal with retirement.

By the way, the newspaper that I read was promoting a book-title yesterday entitled " getting old, deal with it " but it's written about and for woman.


----------



## Foxee

*The Bitterest Pill* (a Jesse Stone novel written by Reed Farrell Coleman) Fentanyl kills people, is it murder to sell it? I haven't read the whole thing but I'd say it should be in a reasonable world.

*Snow Flower and the Secret Fan* by Lisa See on audiobook. I can't believe foot-binding was even legal much less common practice that only died out relatively recently. So many rules regarding how people interacted. I'm not usually into books about the lives of women in general but this one is fascinating. (Does remind me of Memories of a Geisha)


----------



## dither

Conor Bowman's " Horace Winter says Goodbye " proved difficult to read, although it's only fiction, it was about an old man whose whole life had been littered with missed chances just like mine. Reminiscences and regrets aplenty. Deep sigh...

Life eh?


----------



## escorial

Started reading and bought it soon after because it's a short essay on suicide...when I burst out laughing at a suicide note quoted I just had to stop before I read it to the end...I adore short books but 11 quid for this nearly put me of until I read...my darling wife..I despise you..good bye...


----------



## Olly Buckle

Just finished 'The hare with the amber eyes', 'Hard times', and 'The girl with the dragon tattoo' all on the same day. Time I went and trawled the charity shop bookshelves, the mist is gradually lifting, if only the sun would come out.


----------



## dither

I've just read Cressida McLaughlin's " The Cornish Cream Tea Bus " and it's brilliant.
I'm afraid that this confirms what Mr.Buckle has said  about my being a romantic.

Life eh?


----------



## Ma'am

Olly Buckle said:


> Just finished 'The hare with the amber eyes', 'Hard times', and 'The girl with the dragon tattoo' all on the same day. Time I went and trawled the charity shop bookshelves, the mist is gradually lifting, if only the sun would come out.



Just a note here, whenever I get charity shop books, I've started putting them in a plastic bag in the freezer for a couple of days, since I learned about book mites. :/


----------



## Olly Buckle

Been, got a copy of Dickens, 'Tale of Two Cities', an Ian Banks novel, and McNab by John Buchan. Started the Dickens, 'It was the best of times ...'


----------



## escorial

Never had a teddy instead I had an action man


----------



## dither

Much to my surprise, I 've just finished a TOM CLANCY, "Line of Sight".

It's not a bad read if that's your sort of thing.


----------



## Irwin

Alone, by Brett Archibald

It's about a guy who gets food poisoning on a boat in the middle of the night during an intense storm and while puking his guts out on the deck, gets thrown overboard. But nobody notices that he's missing until the next morning. Uh-oh!

Most of the book is just filler, but there are some good parts. I assume he will survive since he wrote the book to tell about it.


----------



## Amnesiac




----------



## Fiender

I'm not currently reading anything, but I did just finish a batch of books from the library. Strong Female Protagonist Volumes 1 + 2 were interesting, though very wordy and light on plot. The other books I'd checked out were Furyborn and Bookburners, neither of which held my interest for more than a couple of chapters.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Irwin said:


> Alone, by Brett Archibald
> 
> It's about a guy who gets food poisoning on a boat in the middle of the night during an intense storm and while puking his guts out on the deck, gets thrown overboard. But nobody notices that he's missing until the next morning. Uh-oh!
> 
> Most of the book is just filler, but there are some good parts. I assume he will survive since he wrote the book to tell about it.



Ever read 'Captains Courageous' by Kipling? It is about a spoiled brat who gets given a cigar, makes himself ill with it, and falls off a boat in the middle of the night ...


----------



## dither

Fiender said:


> I'm not currently reading anything, but I did just finish a batch of books from the library. Strong Female Protagonist Volumes 1 + 2 were interesting, though very wordy and light on plot. The other books I'd checked out were Furyborn and Bookburners, neither of which held my interest for more than a couple of chapters.



Lol, the luck of the draw eh? It's nice when you can hit on a good read written by an author who has a few book-titles on the shelves. I've found one such an author but they have the same old five or six, out of thirty odd.


----------



## dither

Amnesiac said:


> View attachment 25352



I bought one last year, still have it somewhere, entitled " f**k it " by John C Parkin.


----------



## DanR84

I'm reading David Copperfild by Charles Dickens. The recent release of the film has piqued my interest. I want to read it before I watch the film. I'm only about 50 pages in and I'm enjoying it. Charles Dickens really knows how to make you feel helpless as you witness a sense of injustice on the pages and evokes strong emotions.

I have just finished reading Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem. I watched the film afterwards. The film was completely different except the main characters being detectives and the main character having tourettes syndrome.

Both are good just they are both very different. I was disappointed when I started watching the film because I was looking forward to seeing how Edward Norton would depict certain scenes from the book but the story line and even the time line they are set in are very different. However once I got over this, they are both enjoyable.


----------



## Irwin

Olly Buckle said:


> Ever read 'Captains Courageous' by Kipling? It is about a spoiled brat who gets given a cigar, makes himself ill with it, and falls off a boat in the middle of the night ...



No,  is it good?


----------



## Olly Buckle

So so, not his best, but quite readable.


----------



## dither

I think, thanks to M.C.Beaton's Hamish MacBeth series, I've finally found a preferred genre. The MacBeth character is a Police detective and right from the off, I liked him, he just seems so real. The novels, crime novels/detective stories, call them what you will have all been page-turners for me. They're books that, once I've started reading, I can't put down. 
Well now, I've just finished Angela Marson's SILENT SCREAM. I didn't realise at the time of borrowing but it's another crime story, the MC is one D.I. Kim Stone and she is just great. Can't help but like her. Her refusal to adhere to protocol and her acerbic wit I find endearing and for me, to know her is to love her. I can't believe I just said that but there you go.


----------



## -xXx-

ref post 2291, this thread, pg 230
whole stack omitted, compile
approx 5 per week

*2020* continues with another personal focus
on an incredible *young adult /historical/ fiction
series* AS a study in reimaginings.

this particular book will be reviewed *with*
each of the preceding books.
characters, events, incremental migrations are all skillfully integrated.

_Library of Souls_ (2015) 3/5 miss peregrine's home for peculiar children series

IF you have not explored the reimagings created
by* Ransom Riggs*, in the guise of _Jacob Magellan Portman_,

i urge you to consider [them] regardless of temperature.
imho, this series wants to be read indoors and out.


*considers next list of incoming*

ref post 2233, this thread, pg 224
ref post 2203, 2813,  2159,  2128, 2119,  1890,  1885, 1871,  1868,  1781,  1775,  1762, 1757, 1753, 1748, 1744,  #1738 , #1736, #1732 , #1721 ,#1718 ,#1711,#1709 , #1700 , #1681 , #1673 ,#1663,#1633,#1625 , #1618 , #1609 , #1597, this thread
invitation to l a meyer, ref10192016


----------



## dither

I recently hit a rich vein of M.C.Beatons at my local library.
Happy days  dithering.


----------



## Irwin

Steppenwolf (the novel, not the band). I've never read it. I find Hesse's writing style relaxing and a joy to read, and that's a big plus in this day and age. I'm going to read Siddhartha next.


----------



## Deleted member 56686

I haven't read Steppenwolf either. I did read Siddharta from Hesse and that's quite good.


----------



## escorial

He never come near are church or estate


----------



## Olly Buckle

mrmustard615 said:


> I haven't read Steppenwolf either. I did read Siddharta from Hesse and that's quite good.



It was a long time ago I read it, but 'The glass bead game' was pretty good.


----------



## dither

Not so much what, but who?

I have recently discovered the works of a writer who goes by the name of David Baldacci. Classified as thrillers/crime stories. Whatever. I seem to have discovered my genre where reading material is concerned. Four books of his I have read now and they're brilliant although, perhaps, that has a lot to do with the writer. Truly amazing stuff.


----------



## Amy-rose

I'm reading Lolita again because it really is one of my favourites.


----------



## Olly Buckle

'The Night of the Mi'raj' by Zoev Ferraris. It is a a proof copy I was given back in 2008 when it came out, I was supposed to read it long ago. Pity I didn't, I am up to page fifty before I know it, and loving it.


----------



## escorial

I have no new reads left...time to re-read summit...a country doctors notebook or the outsider wud be a good starting point....


----------



## Sinister

Currently it is Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco.  That's a reread, though.  Must've read this book about ten times and it's not a short read, so I might drift to something else.  I only started it because it's a comfort book and in times like this I need something familiar.

-SIN


----------



## Irwin

I'm going to find a book about John Brown. He sounds like an interesting character.


----------



## Winston

Irwin said:


> I'm going to find a book about John Brown. He sounds like an interesting character.



Indeed.

I just replaced my copy of "Rand McNally's World Aircraft, Military 1945-1960".  I had the WWII books (Vol 1 & 2) but somehow lost the other.  But it's back.
My God, I'm a nerd, but I enjoy this stuff so much.  My retirement dream is to be able to volunteer at the local Museum of Flight at Boeing Field.  I want to work as a docent, and tell the glorious and fascinating stories of the aircraft, the people, and the events around them.  It's so much more than the airplanes.  
I just read a story about an Iranian F-14 Tomcat pilot that fought the Iraqis during the Iran-Iraq War.  The Iranians are now a "foe" of the US, but his stories from The Tomcat truly transcend.  I wish the Italian authors of this series of books compiled another, "1960-1990".  But like I said... nerd.


----------



## Ibb

Reading Platform by Michel Houllebecq (it's okay...); The Paris Wife by Paula McLain (it's great!); Some Thoughts Concerning Education by John Locke (to build their character, parents are implored to throw their children butt ass naked into the snow); various doom and gloom articles about the state of the world (total downers) paired off against articles calling all the doom and gloom articles a'buncha bullshit (also downers, but what can you do?); plus various snippets of things picked at here and there when pulled down from off my bookshelf; this, that, other things, etc.


----------



## Joker

Just finished _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. _​


----------



## Turnbull

I better just go copy the title so that I get it right...Sex  Differences in Antisocial Behaviour: Conduct Disorder, Delinquency, and  Violence in the Dunedin Longitudinal Study (Cambridge Studies in  Criminology).

This book....is very statistical.  I'm not the biggest math person, but it would help if I were.  However, there are lots of things to learn in it.  For example, girls tend to start expressing antisocial behavior peaking at two years post their first menstration.  The peak is two years afterward, and from there goes down.  Girls who start later than other girls have less antisocial behavior overall.  Men do not experience this kind of peaking.  When a guy has antisocial behavior, he's more likely to remain antisocial, as opposed to the girl who peaks and then goes down a bit.  

Also, while men usually express more antisocial behaviors than women do, this difference does not exist for alcohol and narcotics.  That is, a girl or guy is equally likely to abuse substances.


----------



## Joker

Finally found another book worth reading all the way - The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson.

At 400,000 words, I'm definitely gonna break this one into chunks.


----------



## EternalGreen

I just finished "the Yellow Wallpaper" (recommend) and "the Sculptor's Funeral" (it was okay).

I forced myself through "A Whisperer in Darkness" recently but it was so damn purple.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Amanda Craig, The lie of the land. Not bad, plenty of plot layers and issues to discuss. The actual writing feels a little 'self conscious' at times, don't ask me exactly what that means. I might have thought it inexperience, but she is quite a prolific author, perhaps it is the deep wounding of her darlings rather than all out eradication. Overall readable though.


----------



## Joker

I'm on Chapter 7 of the first book of the Night Lords Omnibus, a Warhammer 40K trilogy, now. A friend of mine has been nagging me for _years _to get into it. I tried Gaunt's Ghosts first, but found the writing way too focused on the over-the-top violence rather than the story itself, even if said violence was well-written. This is one is a lot more interesting.


----------



## EternalGreen

I just finished "Winter Dreams" by Fitzgerald.

Do not recommend.

Rich people love triangle told as a literary character piece of a man who goes from rags to riches.  The emotional punch at the end seemed incredibly weak and unfounded for a "classic".


----------



## seigfried007

_I Am Legend_ and a collection of H. P. Lovecraft's work.


----------



## Deleted member 64995

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
by Ken Kesey


----------



## Terra

Journal Of A Solitude
May Sarton


----------



## Matchu

I got half-way with that 'Jack Da Crow' memoir about a fruity prep school teacher rowing to the Black Sea from Bristol.  I didn't like it, and didn't like the _voice_ [shiver/shudder/prep school teacher jokes].  

Finally, and at last I began 'Storm of Steel,' Ernst Junger [translation 1929].  'Ze Tommy is the manliest of war-fighting soldier.  Chivalry iz Britisch.'  

After twenty pages this is a great book.


----------



## Deleted member 64995

Just finished 
Lord of the Flies by William Golding


----------



## EternalGreen

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

an excellent novel


----------



## bdcharles

EternalGreen said:


> Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
> 
> an excellent novel



Lol, same! She's a great character, isn't she? Where are you up to? 

Can you imagine being Charlotte Bronte and having that realisation, that 'holy crap, I can just ... write this in the first person as if it's an autobiography' moment.


----------



## EternalGreen

I finished it the other day. Coincidentally, I only went bought it because you recommended it on some thread.


----------



## bdcharles

EternalGreen said:


> I finished it the other day. Coincidentally, I only went bought it because you recommended it on some thread.



Lol, okay, that's cool. I am clearly a pretty slow reader


----------



## Olly Buckle

TBH it didn't grab me at all, too much all round, but important as the first social commentary in a novel. Would Dickens have started writing without her? She had a huge social impact at the time.


----------



## Tiamat

I just started reading a novel called "Luster" by Raven Leilani. I'm not terribly far into it, but it's got a literary style that appeals to me on so many levels. The prose is wonderful but it takes you by surprise a lot, both in what she's willing to say and in how it's presented at times as well. Plus there was a point where a single sentence ran on for a page and a half but it worked oh so very well. I aspire to write a sentence that amazing. I actually went back and read it three more times just to savor it. I won't say "everyone go read this!" yet because I'm less than halfway through and maybe it turns to crap eventually, but if you dig literary fiction with strong sexual undertones and themes of youth, self-worth, and identity, you may want to at least check it out.


----------



## Terra

The Sunless City by J.E. Preston Muddock has become binge-worthy reading for me and I've only hit chapter three ... nice that freezing temps and snow has made that an easy task to pursue


----------



## Olly Buckle

'The girl on the train' I quite enjoyed it , except for the timeline in italics at the top of each chapter, I had to keep going back and forth to work out where I was. How hard would it be to set the scene with a few introductory words, "Anna had just moved in with Tom." , bang, job done and I don't have to flip back through other chapters to get the timeline. I think she is a planner rather than a pantser and has simply stuck her plan at the top of the chapter to save herself trouble. Huh!

Enough of these novels for a bit, I've started on Christopher Hill 'A Turbulent, Seditious and Factious People. John Bunyan and his Church', a favourite author in a favourite time line, I like a bit of Civil War


----------



## Tiamat

_The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue_ by V. E. Schwab. Literary fantasy about a young woman cursed to live forever and be forgotten by everyone she meets as soon as they can no longer see her. The story takes place over the span of 300 years, alternating between past and present, and it's simply wonderful in the way the protagonist navigates the boundaries of the curse and learns to make her mark on the world anyways. I'm only about halfway through and she's recently met someone who is able to remember her. I have a number of theories about this and I hope every single one of them is wrong! I want this novel to be too good to be predictable, and I think it will be.


----------



## Deleted member 64995

The Handmaid's Tale  by  Margaret Atwood


----------



## EternalGreen

I'm reading _​The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, _Mr. Poe's not-very-well-known full length novel. The prose style is a little bit of a headache at times (although you do get several breaks where he writes "like a normal person" which I am grateful for). There were several moments that made me crack up pretty hard--something about the dry humor delivered in a gothic style. All in all, I am curious where this is going and I found the plot quite creative (not imaginative; there's a difference).


----------



## Deleted member 64995

I read again:
On Writing by Stephen King
For the 3rd time.


----------



## escorial

Unable to post a pic of the book...

Courage of Genius...The Pasternak Affair..considering the time and place he wrote Doctor Zhivago...he had guts....I reckon alot iof writers are scared these days to write about Islamic stuff...


----------



## -xXx-

escorial said:


> Unable to post a pic of the book...
> 
> Courage of Genius...The Pasternak Affair..considering the time and place he wrote Doctor Zhivago...he had guts....I reckon alot iof writers are scared these days to write about Islamic stuff...


might be where the images source...
this one?



interesting author

review when you finish?


----------



## escorial

My book looks better...


----------



## Olly Buckle

escorial said:


> My book looks better...



How about inside?


----------



## escorial

My copy is a first edition but it has a few blank pages....I had a good idea to the backstory so I kept it. .


----------



## Tiamat

Re-reading N.K. Jemison's "The Broken Earth" trilogy. Speculative fiction (with a literary tilt) at its very best. This is my second time through it and it's still every bit as wonderful as the first.


----------



## VRanger

I'm not sure if I posted in here recently or not.  If I did, I'm still on the fourth book of the Dresden Files. I need one more session to finish it off, I think. Then I'm probably going to read Firebird by Jack McDevitt. I've read the first five of the Alex Benedict series. I'm not sure how to describe them, except the plots are interesting and contain non-standard elements, so I get surprises I don't get from some other novels.


----------



## Deleted member 64995

I am continuing to read Robert McKee's 2 books (Story and, Dialogue), they are wonderful, I am learning a lot.


I discovered Tom Clancy and John Grisham: I fell in love :love-struck: I want to read all the books … :read:


----------



## escorial

Collins Guide to Parish Churches of England & Wales....Edited By John Betjeman...


Still can't post pics on here...


----------



## Deleted member 64995

The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II
by Iris Chang


----------



## Monaque

Tiamat said:


> Re-reading N.K. Jemison's "The Broken Earth" trilogy. Speculative fiction (with a literary tilt) at its very best. This is my second time through it and it's still every bit as wonderful as the first.


Yes, very well written, and quite unusual, Science Fantasy perhaps. Enjoyed the first book and never got around to reading the others.

Reading one of John Le Carre's books, A delicate Truth, inspired to read by his recent death. Also started Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club, a book I purchased for my sister for a Christmas present, fully knowing I would also get to read it. :cool2: I've also got to finish The Mars trilogy by KSR. Finished the first book and want to read the others. It's not exactly a page turning trilogy, and is very detailed, but brilliant in its own way.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Monaque said:


> Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club, a book I purchased for my sister for a Christmas present, fully knowing I would also get to read it.



My missus bought three copies for her 'girlfriends', she borrowed it from the library as she works there and gets first dibs.

Still reading Christopher Hill on John Bunyan, it is slow. In the meantime I have also read "Corduroy Mansions" by McCall Smith and started  'The fairy stories of Oscar Wilde' that my daughter gave me for Christmas.


----------



## Monaque

Olly Buckle said:


> My missus bought three copies for her 'girlfriends', she borrowed it from the library as she works there and gets first dibs.
> 
> Still reading Christopher Hill on John Bunyan, it is slow. In the meantime I have also read "Corduroy Mansions" by McCall Smith and started  'The fairy stories of Oscar Wilde' that my daughter gave me for Christmas.


My sister gave it the thumbs up, and the little I've read so far it's good.


----------



## OatmealMan

I just finished Che Guevara's Guerilla Warfare


----------



## PiP

OatmealMan said:


> I just finished Che Guevara's Guerilla Warfare



and... was it goood? Would you recommend it and if so why?


----------



## Pulse

'Arabia through the Looking Glass' by Jonathan Raban.  I recommend it to anyone; it's written with blunt good humour (mostly in English).


----------



## Olly Buckle

Pulse said:


> 'Arabia through the Looking Glass' by Jonathan Raban.  I recommend it to anyone; it's written with blunt good humour (mostly in English).



1979, bit dated for a travel book.


----------



## Pulse

I strongly dislike travel.  I picked up the book from outside a flat, which I am sure an old man was clearing out.


----------



## Olly Buckle

I am not alone in leaving books for people, there is a garden wall in Bohemia Road in Hastings that often has books left on it.


----------



## escorial

Memories at Midnight by Maggie Brown....nearly finished...


----------



## BrandonTheWriter

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher. I watched the first season of the TV show and didn't like it very much, but wanted to see what the book was all about and why it was such a phenomenon. I much prefer the book, but I have read a lot better. It is well written and engaging enough, but not easy to read by any stretch. Very depressing in parts and the theme is obviously quite dark.


----------



## Monaque

BrandonTheWriter said:


> 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher. I watched the first season of the TV show and didn't like it very much, but wanted to see what the book was all about and why it was such a phenomenon. I much prefer the book, but I have read a lot better. It is well written and engaging enough, but not easy to read by any stretch. Very depressing in parts and the theme is obviously quite dark.


Yes, I've seen it on Netflix, it always did strike me as being dark.

Reading a Sophie Hannah book, The Killings at Kingfisher Hill, a Poirot novel. It's not bad so far, although it's been a while since I read a genuine Christie, so hard to compare.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Neuromancer, William Gibson, takes a bit of getting into for an oldie like me, not bad, more violence than is my taste and page 123 and I stil don't seem to be getting anywhere, lots of colourful characters and background, not much plot.


----------



## Neetu

Wild by Cheryl Strayed, an absorbing memoir, takes the reader on a vivid journey of body and mind on the Pacific Crest Trail, over 1100 miles. 26-year old Cheryl's impulsive decision to undertake this hike comes during a period of intense self-search, loss of family, break ups and a sense of rootlessness.


----------



## Monaque

Olly Buckle said:


> Neuromancer, William Gibson, takes a bit of getting into for an oldie like me, not bad, more violence than is my taste and page 123 and I stil don't seem to be getting anywhere, lots of colourful characters and background, not much plot.



It's a tough book to get into, I started it once but got distracted by something else and never returned.


----------



## Neetu

I also finished reading another beautiful book recently titled Circling the Sun. It is a fictionalized story of a real woman (more dramatized than in her own memoir but follows the people and events in her life fairly closely), Beryl Markham, one of the first women to become a renowned race-horse trainer and later a pilot. She was again among the first women to fly solo from England to New York, making it close to, but not into New York. The story reveals the strong, passionate, and courageous character of Beryl who was white and from Britain, but raised in Kenya. The novel explores and depicts life in post WWI Kenya through Beryl's life and the many people who shaped it.


----------



## The Cynical Philosopher

I'm one of those kind of people who often has multiple books going at once.

I'm listening to "The Final Empire (Mistborn #1)" by Brandon Sanderson as an audiobook
I'm reading "The Windup Girl" by Paolo Bacigalupi (fiction) and "Quantum Field Theory for the Gifted Amateur" by Tom Lancaster & Stephen J. Blundell (nonfiction)

I am enjoying all three so far, which is refreshing after getting through a few stinkers prior to this.


----------



## Monaque

The Cynical Philosopher said:


> I'm one of those kind of people who often has multiple books going at once.
> 
> I'm listening to "The Final Empire (Mistborn #1)" by Brandon Sanderson as an audiobook
> I'm reading "The Windup Girl" by Paolo Bacigalupi (fiction) and "Quantum Field Theory for the Gifted Amateur" by Tom Lancaster & Stephen J. Blundell (nonfiction)
> 
> I am enjoying all three so far, which is refreshing after getting through a few stinkers prior to this.


Yes, me too. I've also read the Windup Girl, very interesting novel.


----------



## Neetu

I think I would like to read that one, too. Did you like it?


----------



## Neetu

I read The Paris Wife and liked it a lot.


----------



## Pulse

I've just read 'Three Daughters of Eve' by Elif Shafak.  My sister had given me her book on 'How to Stay Sane', which was a bit of a yawn; but I found a TED talk by the author and liked her; then I found a novel she'd written in a charity shop and found it well told.


----------



## Monaque

Neetu said:


> I think I would like to read that one, too. Did you like it?


Was that about the Windup Girl? If so, it was very good, well written, unusual, dystopian in a different way.


----------



## Neetu

Ummm, no, I think it was the Journal of a Solitude. I get all mixed up in these threads!


----------



## Monaque

Neetu said:


> Ummm, no, I think it was the Journal of a Solitude. I get all mixed up in these threads!


Ah, oops, sorry, got hold of the wrong end of the novel there.


----------



## Neetu

I looked up Elif Shafak and she has written several novels. I might look up some in my virtual libraries. I can't imagine you enjoying a book that tells you how to stay sane, Kat. I can't imagine me doing that either!
I enjoy reading diverse writers from around the world and the book I just picked up is called The Return and it's a Pulitzer prize winning novel by a Libyan writer, Hisham Matar. Will review after I finish reading it!


----------



## Neetu

No problem, Monaque.


----------



## escorial

Kafka short stories....


----------



## clark

Working on reading Murakami's _The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle _which, to my surprise, reminds me in tone and 'cultural' psychology to Forster's _Passage to India, w_hich makes no sense whatever, but who knows where one's sense of personal analogies comes from? And I must assume Jay Rubin's translation from the original Japanese is sensitive to both details of content and nuances of tone. This is my first Murakami novel and I'm very impressed. Intend to read more.


----------



## Neetu

If there are any readers here of historical fiction, memoirs, etc, please do suggest some of your favorite books! I would love to know.


----------



## Monaque

Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy is historical fiction, more on the fantasy side of it but historical nonetheless.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Neetu said:


> If there are any readers here of historical fiction, memoirs, etc, please do suggest some of your favorite books! I would love to know.


My favourites
Hillary Mantel for fiction.
Christopher Hill for non-fiction,  'The world turned upside down' was particularly readable.


----------



## Deleted member 64995

Today is Sunday, so today Relax.
The second Book of The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury


----------



## Pamelyn Casto

I'm compiling a list of favorite/ recommended poetry/ flash fiction "how to" books and the book I'm presently exploring (again) is Robert Hass's A Little Book on Form: An Exploration into the Formal Imagination of Poetry (2017). Hass is a Pulitzer Prize Winner (and winner of many writing awards) and clearly demonstrates his skill as a writer. I will definitely include this book in my list of recommendations. It's quite an interesting book and I was rather surprised to discover that.


----------



## Neetu

Doesn't Murakami seem fixated on cats? I haven't read any of his works but have read a little about them in random places. Curious you find it reminds you of A Passage to India....


----------



## Neetu

I just found an Elif Shafak novel with excellent reviews at my virtual library which I plan to read now. Will see how it "feels" to me. It's called The Forty Rules of Love. It's about Rumi and his companion and tells two parallel stories in the context of two different cultures and time periods.


----------



## Monaque

@Neetu - If you are a fan of historical fiction but not fussed about the country of origin then a series of books by C J Sansom featuring a character called Shardlake is excellent - wonderfully written.


----------



## Neetu

Deleted. Accidental double posting.


----------



## Neetu

Monaque said:


> @Neetu - If you are a fan of historical fiction but not fussed about the country of origin then a series of books by C J Sansom featuring a character called Shardlake is excellent - wonderfully written.



Monaque, I am a fan of historical fiction! And my goodness, to fuss about the country of origin would diminish me as a reader! I have found such incredible power in many of these books from all sorts of countries as long as they are in English. It gives me insight into cultures and attitudes far more interesting than in the plain reading of historical texts. Thank you for the recommendation. I will absolutely look it up and see if I can get it at one of the libraries I am member of.


----------



## Monaque

Neetu said:


> Monaque, I am a fan of historical fiction! And my goodness, to fuss about the country of origin would diminish me as a reader! I have found such incredible power in many of these books from all sorts of countries as long as they are in English. It gives me insight into cultures and attitudes far more interesting than in the plain reading of historical texts. Thank you for the recommendation. I will absolutely look it up and see if I can get it at one of the libraries I am member of.


No worries, I'm sure you will enjoy them.


----------



## EternalGreen

I'm reading _Left Hand of Darkness _by Le Guin, and to be honest, I don't really care for it.

It feels like an adjective soup. She hits you with word after word after word telling you how things went, but I do not feel that most of the events were actually made to transpire using words.

It's an interesting world and you're almost guaranteed to learn a few vocabulary words, so at least there's that.


----------



## Monaque

EternalGreen said:


> I'm reading _Left Hand of Darkness _by Le Guin, and to be honest, I don't really care for it.
> 
> It feels like an adjective soup. She hits you with word after word after word telling you how things went, but I do not feel that most of the events were actually made to transpire using words.
> 
> It's an interesting world and you're almost guaranteed to learn a few vocabulary words, so at least there's that.


She's supposed to be good, in the top whatever books to read she's always in there.


----------



## Tiamat

_Anxious People_ by Fredrik Backman. 

I'm about halfway through, and I love it. It manages to pull off being simultaneously hilarious and breath-takingly poignant. Also, I love the way it's told, almost like a fairy tale--one where the narrator might be a little shady. Definitely recommend!


----------



## Neetu

I looked up the reviews and it does sound like an interesting read. Will put it on my list. Thanks for the recommendation.


----------



## Monaque

Neetu said:


> I looked up the reviews and it does sound like an interesting read. Will put it on my list. Thanks for the recommendation.


Hi Neetu, who is this for?


----------



## Neetu

@Monaque, sorry, I thought the reply automatically goes in the right place! It was, umm, for the book “Anxious People”...


----------



## Neetu

Monaque said:


> Hi Neetu, who is this for?



oops again! My reply is in the box before this one!


----------



## Monaque

Neetu said:


> oops again! My reply is in the box before this one!


Hey, no worries, all's good.


----------



## The-90's-Sucked

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh


----------



## druid12000

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. 

So, I'm only a quarter of the way through (and hoping desperately my opinion changes soon), I want to dope slap almost all of the characters. Normally an author wants the reader invested in at least some of their characters in a good way and I have not been having that experience. I am going to stick with it because, well, there just _has_ to be something to it, right? Millions of readers claim this is a masterpiece. Again, so far, not so much.


----------



## Monaque

Black 13 by Adam Hamdy, a thriller that is decently well written and am finding also a decent page turner. Not out of the top drawer but a nice break from my normal Sci-Fi and Fantasy.


----------



## Deleted member 64995

The-90's-Sucked said:


> Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
> 
> Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh


Beautiful books !!




Just finished "Dirty Rich, by Patterson", The Shocking True Story of Jeffrey Epstein.

I start "The Runaway Jury By Grisham" and "And Then There Were None By Agatha Christie" and the 3rd time I read it.


----------



## Monaque

LadySilence said:


> I start "The Runaway Jury By Grisham"


In my opinion one of his best.


----------



## SueC

I'm reading "If it Bleeds" by Stephen King, Published April 2020.


----------



## escorial

Vile Bodies....by a bright young thing


----------



## Olly Buckle

escorial said:


> Vile Bodies....by a bright young thing


That seems a bit trivial for you. I mean, I know it's a nineteen thirties classic, but isn't your style something more like 'The Political philosophy of eighteenth century canal machinery repair' ?   

Just kiddin'.


----------



## escorial

I use to walk along the Liverpool to Leeds canal and never once had a conversation with bargees


----------



## thepancreas11

Just finished "The Priory of the Orange Tree" by Samantha Shannon, and I would highly recommend it.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Reaching the end of Hilary mantel, 'Bring up the Bodies', follow on to 'Wolfe Hall'. Excellent, love her writing.


----------



## BabesJJ

We are reading as a family Barack Obama's "Promised Land", we each read about 3 pages at a time and we are on page 286. And I heard a wonderful joke on this site. What book makes you cry. "Algebra". The other book I am spending a lot of time with is High School Algebra I Unlocked, a Princeton Review book. As am tutoring my 14 year old son in math and science as I have this background. And he is off the next 2 weeks on vacation from school in France. I had a cool book ready to read and my husband took it back to the library this morning without asking me if I was done with it. there is like one shelf of books in English in the town I live in I am sure I can get it back. We are really enjoying the writing style of Obama.


----------



## Theglasshouse

I bought Ray Bradbury's short story collection that has 100 short stories.


----------



## Monaque

Theglasshouse said:


> I bought Ray Bradbury's short story collection that has 100 short stories.


I did read something of his before, it wasn't bad.

Just finished the first book of The Expanse series and also the Butcher of Anderson Station, a short story set around the same time. Now onto the second book, Calibans War. So far, very good writing, interesting characters.


----------



## thepancreas11

BabesJJ said:


> We are reading as a family Barack Obama's "Promised Land"



I was wondering if I should read this. I don't really read memoirs, but would you recommend it? I was thinking of reading Michelle's latest too.



BabesJJ said:


> The other book I am spending a lot of time with is High School Algebra I Unlocked, a Princeton Review book.



Also, as someone who's mother, grandmother, and brother are/were math teachers, I very much appreciate this. YouTube recommended a geometry problem solving channel the other day, and I watched like two hours of it.


----------



## BabesJJ

thepancreas11 said:


> I was wondering if I should read this. I don't really read memoirs, but would you recommend it? I was thinking of reading Michelle's latest too.
> 
> 
> 
> Also, as someone who's mother, grandmother, and brother are/were math teachers, I very much appreciate this. YouTube recommended a geometry problem solving channel the other day, and I watched like two hours of it.



I would be very interested in the geometry utube name so we can watch it too.


----------



## thepancreas11

BabesJJ said:


> I would be very interested in the geometry utube name so we can watch it too.



It's called Mind Your Decisions! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHnj59g7jezwTy5GeL8EA_g


----------



## BabesJJ

Thank you very helfpul.


----------



## Deleted member 65569

The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson


----------



## Monaque

Finished Black 13, a run-of-the-mill thriller that I nearly got all the way through without skipping. On to Burn-In by Singer and Cole, which is on my phone. I sometimes have one book on my phone, another on my tablet, and occasionally a third IRL book.


----------



## Matchu

I tried to resurrect my spitfire book hobby and buy another spitfire book.  I had four spitfire books a while back and gave them to my brother, one was a spit-poet shot down 1941, a very beautiful book, I'll have to find that one again.  Geoffrey Wellum is another.  This latest one was written 1941 but more propaganda, by jingo stuff according to the 612 reviews, I read them all.  4 stars is not enough for my money, I think you'll agree.  It has to be first person perspective, 1st hand account, that's the rule.

Also don't buy the same book/different cover.


----------



## Monaque

Matchu said:


> I tried to resurrect my spitfire book hobby and buy another spitfire book.  I had four spitfire books a while back and gave them to my brother, one was a spit-poet shot down 1941, a very beautiful book, I'll have to find that one again.  Geoffrey Wellum is another.  This latest one was written 1941 but more propaganda, by jingo stuff according to the 612 reviews, I read them all.  4 stars is not enough for my money, I think you'll agree.  It has to be first person perspective, 1st hand account, that's the rule.
> 
> Also don't buy the same book/different cover.


Well, I've seen a few documentary's about rebuilt Spitfire's, about as far as I've gone there. Beautiful machines, not just from an engineering perspective. You do have to be careful about the whole five stars thing on Amazon, there have been a few investigations into paid star reviews there. 
Anyway, good luck with your search.


----------



## thepancreas11

acatchynick said:


> The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson



I just read his book "Warbreaker". Loved it. A guy basically stopped me in a bookstore and was like, "You have to read Brandon Sanderson." I think I would agree with that assessment, at this point.


----------



## Matchu

So I read that account of Peter Kemp joining Franco’s Nationalists a while back.  Just now read a very tender short by Colm Toibin - pregnancy in time of war, same war.  

[while] Ploughing through short story collection called That Glimpse of Truth.  I’ve enjoyed it a lot.


----------



## Irwin

I'm reading _The FBI Career Guide_. 

My current WIP is about FBI agents, about which I know nothing other than what I've seen in movies and maybe a few articles. What I'm learning is that a lot of authors get a lot wrong when they write about agents, which they may do for dramatic purposes, but like the old saying goes: you need to learn the rules first in order to break them. So I'm trying to learn the inner workings of the FBI before writing about agents.

I'm also reading some Jack Kerouac. I like his writer's voice.

And a few other authors.


----------



## Olly Buckle

I have just started 'All the pretty Horses' by Cormac McCarthy. There is some lovely prose, but somehow I am unsure how I am going to get along with it as a story, we shall see.


----------



## Moose.H

I am rereading "When a Crocodile Eats the Sun" by Peter Godwin, a sequel to Mukiwa. About the economic meltdown in Zimbabwe and how people struggled from being well off to being impoverished. I am also rereading U-boat warfare by Purnell - An astounding series of battles.


----------



## mr. ramstad

I have yet to start Misery by Stephen King but that is what I'll be reading next.


----------



## bazz cargo

Featuring The Saint. It is an antidote to Sherlock Holmes. A mad, whimsical froth of nonsense.


----------



## thepancreas11

Finally started reading "The Golden Compass". I read it as a middle schooler in like 1998 or something, but I don't remember much of it.


----------



## thepancreas11

I'm reading "Axiom's End" by the YouTuber Lindsey Ellis. Not bad. A little over-written, in my opinion, but I really like her YouTube essays.


----------



## Turnbull

Moose.H said:


> I am rereading "When a Crocodile Eats the Sun" by Peter Godwin, a sequel to Mukiwa. About the economic meltdown in Zimbabwe and how people struggled from being well off to being impoverished. I am also rereading U-boat warfare by Purnell - An astounding series of battles.



Dude, I need to read that Zimbabwe book.  I've heard of it before, and it sounds amazing.

Currently reading The Conscience of a Conservative and The Life of DL Moody.  Neither book is very thick, so I can add them to my "read books" list pretty quickly, lol.


----------



## Moose.H

Turnbull said:


> Dude, I need to read that Zimbabwe book.  I've heard of it before, and it sounds amazing.
> 
> Currently reading The Conscience of a Conservative and The Life of DL Moody.  Neither book is very thick, so I can add them to my "read books" list pretty quickly, lol.


Zimbabwe was one heck of a ride from Cecil Rhodes to the present and it seems to be starting to come right. I knew so many of the people in Godwin's books.   I admire him, I frankly confess it; and when his time comes I shall buy a piece of the rope for a keepsake. Mark Twain on Rhodes.


----------



## Turnbull

Moose.H said:


> Zimbabwe was one heck of a ride from Cecil Rhodes to the present and it seems to be starting to come right. I knew so many of the people in Godwin's books.   I admire him, I frankly confess it; and when his time comes I shall buy a piece of the rope for a keepsake. Mark Twain on Rhodes.



Ha, that's hilarious.  But whatever you do, don't read Rhodesia by Peter Baxter.  His writing style is shamefully bad and he doesn't cite sources in the text.  Seriously high school level writing.


----------



## TheChristianWitness

I picked up _Ronald Reagan in Private _by Jim Kuhn the other day and have made it about halfway through. At first, I didn't know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. It has a lot of interesting information and stories about the former President and his administration that you don't get in other places.


----------



## Steve_Rivers

Since one of the characters in my book is a James Bond wannabe, and he read all the original Iain Flemming books, I thought I would too for research and insight. So I started on Casino Royale last week.
Ugh!

To say those first 30 pages are a slog is an understatement.

First, I get treated to a few pages of unrelenting gambling terms that only the UK Gambler's Association will understand (I kid you not, it's basically Bond listing all the types of gambling plays he used at various games in the Casino. No explanations, no hand-holding, no easing you into it... nothing. For 80-90% of all readers, it will come off like a couple of pages of gobbledygook.
Then, you get M's file on LeChiffre just printed verbatim in its 3-4 pages of jargon and waffle.

Amongst all that you have Bond explaining all his business transactions to get the money through Jamaica or his handler to enable him to gamble.

*Don't *get me wrong, I was -not- expecting a Bond movie or action. I went in _knowing_ the books were very different.
What kept me going through the drudgery opening was what I was hoping for : one brief moment of Bond showing his neat spy tricks - to make sure his room wasn't searched. Like the fact he slept with a hand under the pillow holding his gun because he was fearful. _That_ was what I was hoping for. Unfortunately, that was 1-2 pages of the first 30.

THANKFULLY, now I'm onto Mathis and Lynd, and it's a lot better. But boy, Iain Flemming clearly wrote the book _he_ wanted and didn't give a tinkers toss about putting people off his book at the beginning. If someone wrote it like that today, it would get totally panned by customer reviewers. I think it's only shielded because its a classically well known book.

Fingers crossed it keeps with the upward trend.


----------



## Mark Twain't

Just about to start listening to The Elfor Drop by RR Haywood on Audible. Sequel to Worldship Humility and the author of The Undead series.


----------



## Tiamat

I just finished "The Midnight Bargain" by C. L. Polk. I bought it for two reasons: One, it's up for a Lotus award for Best Fantasy Novel, and two, because I saw someone on Twitter describe it as "Pokémon . . . except Jane Austin." 

That's a pretty apt description of it. Also, it's a pretty stellar book.


----------



## Jan

I'm Reading Harry Potter and the chambers of mystery. I've wanted to read the whole series for a long time but didn't actually start until recently. The plan is to read the whole series before this year is over.


----------



## TWErvin2

*Lost and Found *by Orson Scott Card.


----------



## Monaque

Listening to the first of the LOTR's books, FOTR. First time I've ever read an audio book, if you'll forgive the way I've written that. Very interesting experience and am enjoying it - can't remember enjoying LOTR's as much as this.


----------



## Wren9244

I'm currently reading *The Crystal Ship* by _TC Southwell_. It's #2 in her Slave Empire Series and simple, well-rounded, science fiction series.


----------



## TheChristianWitness

Monaque said:


> Listening to the first of the LOTR's books, FOTR. First time I've ever read an audio book, if you'll forgive the way I've written that. Very interesting experience and am enjoying it - can't remember enjoying LOTR's as much as this.


That series is really good. There is so much truth in there.


----------



## Monaque

TheChristianWitness said:


> That series is really good. There is so much truth in there.


I read it a long, long time ago (sounds like an intro to a book...), I honestly can't remember exactly when, don't have much memory left of that experience. Hearing it read though is an altogether different experience. Took me a while to take to the voice but I'm enjoying the journey now that they are taking. And yes, lots of truths, some relevant to today.


----------



## Monaque

TWErvin2 said:


> *Lost and Found *by Orson Scott Card.


The only book I've read is Enders Game, a really great read, although never got around to the sequels.


----------



## TWErvin2

Monaque said:


> The only book I've read is Enders Game, a really great read, although never got around to the sequels.


I have not read a lot by Orson Scott Card either, but my wife is a major fan and has read everything. I did read Ender's Game years ago and enjoyed it. Saw the movie and do not think it did the book justice (originally a novella--the form I read it years ago).  I am reading the book and also listening to the audiobook. This one is packed with a lot of quirky/snappy dialogue, especially between the main character and his friend. (Only about 1/2 way through the tale thus far).


----------



## Monaque

TWErvin2 said:


> I have not read a lot by Orson Scott Card either, but my wife is a major fan and has read everything. I did read Ender's Game years ago and enjoyed it. Saw the movie and do not think it did the book justice (originally a novella--the form I read it years ago).  I am reading the book and also listening to the audiobook. This one is packed with a lot of quirky/snappy dialogue, especially between the main character and his friend. (Only about 1/2 way through the tale thus far).


Yeah, I also read it a long time ago, and was similarly disappointed with the movie. Well, disappointed is the wrong word really, but, you know what I mean. Scott has some contraversial views but he seems to write great stories. My first audio book is my listening to LOTR's right now. I think an audio book is dependent on the voice used I think.


----------



## Moose.H

Enders game was excellent but you needed an understanding of the use of child soldiers throughout history. it is a sick and vicious practice done by the cruel or desperate. I have the original book and the remainder of the series. His first book was intellectual and exciting but the later became increasingly focused on redemption and trying to find a place in the universe that he didn't feel he deserved or could fit.

I enjoyed the film, and after hoping for a film - it could only dwarf Starwars and Startrek - it was only good but should have been great.


----------



## Monaque

Moose.H said:


> Enders game was excellent but you needed an understanding of the use of child soldiers throughout history. it is a sick and vicious practice done by the cruel or desperate. I have the original book and the remainder of the series. His first book was intellectual and exciting but the later became increasingly focused on redemption and trying to find a place in the universe that he didn't feel he deserved or could fit.
> 
> I enjoyed the film, and after hoping for a film - it could only dwarf Starwars and Startrek - it was only good but should have been great.


Ah right, context and perspective always help I guess. So, it was his subsequent books (sequels? prequels?) that changed in tone?

Dwarfing Star Wars and Trek? Now that's a starter for ten if ever I heard one lol 
I can't say that I have seen the best of any of the IP's mentioned, maybe the earliest Star Wars? And the ST tv series will always seem to have eclipsed it's big screen counterparts.


----------



## Moose.H

Monaque said:


> Ah right, context and perspective always help I guess. So, it was his subsequent books (sequels? prequels?) that changed in tone?
> 
> Dwarfing Star Wars and Trek? Now that's a starter for ten if ever I heard one lol
> I can't say that I have seen the best of any of the IP's mentioned, maybe the earliest Star Wars? And the ST tv series will always seem to have eclipsed it's big screen counterparts.


They were sequels. Interestingly the re release of his 1st book was slightly different to the original. Apparently he made a mistake the first time. I never picked up what was out of line.


----------



## Moose.H

I am rereading Jeremy Clarkson "Born to be Riled". A total bullshit artist who is fun, meaningless, rude yet rarely insulting. He proves that you can polish a turd. Sorry edit: he is broadly insulting.


----------



## Monaque

Moose.H said:


> They were sequels. Interestingly the re release of his 1st book was slightly different to the original. Apparently he made a mistake the first time. I never picked up what was out of line.


I've never read the sequels, maybe I'll give them a go one of these days.


Moose.H said:


> I am rereading Jeremy Clarkson "Born to be Riled". A total bullshit artist who is fun, meaningless, rude yet rarely insulting. He proves that you can polish a turd. Sorry edit: he is broadly insulting.


Is that 'the' Jeremy Clarkson, of Top Gear fame? If so then that totally makes sense, guy has made a living out of being rude. Interestingly he has a tv series now about him buying a farm, or on a farm, or working it, not sure which. I can only imagine the shenanigans.


----------



## Moose.H

The sequels are good, but not great. Very interesting.

Clarkson is a good writer, I loved his "I know you got Soul' when he deals with machines that were game changers and seemed to have an almost human flaw. Mostly things like Spitfires, Concords and Ships. But Excellent. His car reviews are fair and good when days are long and bleak. He is a moron and that simply makes it more entertaining.


----------



## Monaque

Moose.H said:


> The sequels are good, but not great. Very interesting.
> 
> Clarkson is a good writer, I loved his "I know you got Soul' when he deals with machines that were game changers and seemed to have an almost human flaw. Mostly things like Spitfires, Concords and Ships. But Excellent. His car reviews are fair and good when days are long and bleak. He is a moron and that simply makes it more entertaining.


Having seen TG over the years I can agree that he can be very entertaining, not sure if it is a persona he adopts for tv but it has worked. I might have a go at the farm series but I'm pretty sure it will be more of the same only farm related.


----------



## Moose.H

I don't think the farm series is for me.


----------



## LivingPoetintheFlesh

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. Every chapter seems to be short though.


----------



## Moose.H

Jan said:


> I'm Reading Harry Potter and the chambers of mystery. I've wanted to read the whole series for a long time but didn't actually start until recently. The plan is to read the whole series before this year is over.


I enjoyed them.. My youngest collected them so borrowing them off him was a mission.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Jan said:


> I'm Reading Harry Potter and the chambers of mystery. I've wanted to read the whole series for a long time but didn't actually start until recently. The plan is to read the whole series before this year is over.


I read the first one to our youngest daughter, she was just at the beginning to get fluent stage of reading and got impatient and read ahead, then read the rest of the books herself, so I never got to read more than three quarters of the first one.


----------



## Sinister

Shriek: An Afterword by Jeff Vandermeer

Lovely work, good world-building...but has a real issue with prolixity.  He did so well with the Southern Reach Trilogy.  He was terse and fascinating.  He's trying to imitate Lovecraft here.  Not Lovecraft's storytelling, or just his mythology, but his literary style.  I did not care for Lovecraft's literary style.  It's still a fantastic book and quite thrilling, at times.

-Sin


----------



## Deleted member 64995

_Security by Stephen Amidon_


----------



## Mark Twain't

Just started on the Nameless series by Dean Koontz. 6 short books, each around 60 pages so a good in-beed read.


----------



## Sinister

The Labours of Hercules.  This is a re-read.  Possibly my second choice off the Mystery shelf.  I needed a comfort read and Poirot is my objective correlative.  _Old friends is true friends.  They're the friends you love the best.  You never know with new friends.  Old friends is best._ 

-Sin


----------



## RHPeat

Just read a great 2 page poem In "The Sun" Literary Magazine August Issue 2021.
by Laurie Rachkus Uttich entitled: *"IT'S FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN THE FLORIDA STATE PENITENTIARY AND THE MEN READ POETRY." 
*It's gut wrenching, sad, and humorous throughout the poem. Some of the inmates even give their opinions about poets like Maya Angelou, Pablo Neruda and Robert Hayden. The lines are very long which makes it read like a prose poem. Some of their own poems are in the jive as well about cheating wives, first kiss, along with some of the history that put them there to begin with.

Here's a cell on Alcatraz after they closed the Prison and made a tourist attraction out of it. A lot of meditating space for poetry wouldn't you say? A  toilet, a sink, a bunk, blank walls and bars inside bars so you couldn't cut them because they'd roll with the blade. Regulated meals and sleeping time. 

a poet friend
RHPeat


----------



## Deleted member 64995

The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind (French: Psychologie des Foules; literally: Psychology of Crowds)  by Gustave Le Bon


----------



## PiP

Currently reading: The Last Dragon by Ken Barrett








						The Last Dragon: A young martial artist fights to save his home and the only family he has ever known. (OUTLAW Book 2)
					


As a boy, Alan Smith lived on the streets and owes his survival to a refuge for discarded children. As an adult, he lives within two realms, that of an outlaw biker and as a competitor in the underground world of martial arts. His history continues to push him toward life as a criminal, yet he...





					www.writingforums.com


----------



## PiP

RHPeat said:


> Just read a great 2 page poem In "The Sun" Literary Magazine August Issue 2021.
> by Laurie Rachkus Uttich entitled: *"IT'S FRIDAY AFTERNOON IN THE FLORIDA STATE PENITENTIARY AND THE MEN READ POETRY."
> *It's gut wrenching, sad, and humorous throughout the poem. Some of the inmates even give their opinions about poets like Maya Angelou, Pablo Neruda and Robert Hayden. The lines are very long which makes it read like a prose poem. Some of their own poems are in the jive as well about cheating wives, first kiss, along with some of the history that put them there to begin with.
> 
> a poet friend
> RHPeat


I'd love to read that, Ron. Can you link to the poem, please?


----------



## RHPeat

PiP said:


> I'd love to read that, Ron. Can you link to the poem, please?


PiP

I could send it to you email here  on WF; or post it here which ever you'd like. I typed it up for Clark and told him to send his prose like poems to them. Because it had a feel like some things he'd written. The Sun is a Canadian Mag as well. So he could be in the ballpark for getting one of his poems published. 

a poet friend
RH Peat


----------



## PiP

RHPeat said:


> PiP
> 
> I could send it to you email here  on WF


Thanks, Ron. Please can you either send me on a message here  Or link to the poem and we can discuss in the Poetry discussion forum


----------



## RHPeat

PiP said:


> Thanks, Ron. Please can you either send me on a message here  Or link to the poem and we can discuss in the Poetry discussion forum


Carole

I can make the ling if you wish. But the poem I sent I left open for anyone to read if you note. But I'll post it on poetry discussions. And just say it's poem from The Sun that is open for disc


PiP said:


> Thanks, Ron. Please can you either send me on a message here  Or link to the poem and we can discuss in the Poetry discussion forum


*DONE — I POSTED "THE SUN" POEM ON THE "POETRY DISCUSSION FORUM." YOU HAVE ONE RESPONSE BY PAMELYN ALREADY.  *


----------



## Sinister

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris.  Another reread.  I need more books.  This one is a classic to me.  I first read it when I was twelve.  It introduced me to William Blake, one of my all-time favorite poets.

-Sin


----------



## Olly Buckle

Just starting 'On Secret Service East of Constantinople' by Peter Hopkirk. In the prologue the author says his mother read him 'Greenmantel' by John Buchan, and this is the true story behind that. Looks like being a good read.


----------



## Matchu

The ‘Folklore, Myths & Legends of the British Isles’ book listed on Abebooks @ £250.  

My own version arrived and has some crayoning on illustrations.  Also pages missing, the start somewhere in chapter 2, no spine until I fix the spine with a different spine but bargain for thirty pounds, everyone in the country wants a copy, really more of a kids book for ‘advanced kids’ when back in the day when advanced children read those space books and Strange Stories, Amazing facts, the book of lists & Man’s Body.  This is a picture book, but an investment although a bit boring,  I already know about Stonehenge and King Arthur.  Also so old contains the discredited version of the Celts’ journey which is discredited as I just said & annoying really but a good purchase.


----------



## Earp

_Sports Betting for Dummies_. Judging from the title, I'm right in the desired reader demographic.


----------



## TheChristianWitness

_Pride and Prejudice _by Jane Austen. The quality of the writing is what got me. It is an amazing study of personalities and circumstances that kept me riveted all the way through.


----------



## Pamelyn Casto

Someone gave me a subscription to _The Gettysburg Review_. I was unfamiliar with the journal and admit I didn't dig in. I don't have time to read _everything_! 

I recently began a weeding out of magazines and books I don't need, a decluttering of my reading material, and was ready to toss (or donate) the several issues from my subscription--all unread. 

Then I made a mistake. I opened an issue, the Winter 2019 issue, and it's filled with some wonderful poetry (along with fiction, essays, and graphics). This issue includes the work of major prize-winning poets (Albert Goldbarth,  Jill Bialosky, Margaret Gibson, and others).  So I can't toss these unread issues after all. I took one step forward and four steps back in the weeding out process.

So that's what I'm reading now. All my subscription issues of the great _The Gettysburg Review_. These magazines are definitely worth spending time with.


----------



## Matchu

I am reading Lebanon hostage Brian Keenan’s An Evil Cradling - the account that received praise/the literary plaudits of the time.  By tomorrow I’ll move on to John McCarthy’s ‘softer’ Some Other Rainbow - comparing the two sat in my armchair hammock overlooking Buck Palace - being as these two men were chained or boxed together …anyway…researching the era…almost as intriguing are the former hostages who never did publish any book, whose lives fell apart completely in the aftermath.  Bitter.


----------



## Mark Twain't

I listen to The Tattooist of Auschwitz using an Audible trial a couple of years ago. I didn't realise that the author had written a follow up, Cilka's Journey, so that's what I'm reading now


----------



## Deleted member 64995

One, No One and One Hundred Thousand by Luigi Pirandello.


----------



## piperofyork

Dune (1st time), LOTR (nth time), All the Light We Do Not See, Mistborn, The Business of Being a Writer, Fire and Movement (early WWI British military history)


----------



## Pamelyn Casto

I envy you, Lady Silence, to be reading Luigi Pirandello. I've read just one of his plays, Six Characters in Search of an Author, and it was unforgettable. I've always meant to read more of Pirandello's work.


----------



## Deleted member 64995

Pamelyn Casto said:


> I envy you, Lady Silence, to be reading Luigi Pirandello. I've read just one of his plays, Six Characters in Search of an Author, and it was unforgettable. I've always meant to read more of Pirandello's work.


I love Pirandello very much.
6 characters in search of an author, it is a simply brilliant book.


----------



## Foxee

I just finished *Starman's Saga: The Long, Strange Journey of Leif the Lucky *by Colin Alexander. Really great immersive space adventure.

Currently listening to *The Influence* by Bentley Little which is interesting and well-written so that I am in it to find out how this all turns out even if I'm not sure I always like the book.

Currently reading (in print form)* In Plain Sight* by C.J. Box who is one of my favorite writers now.

Currently poking along with (in ebook form) *Numbercaste* by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne which has a great premise but  I'm getting a little bored with the the pace of the plot.


----------



## ehbowen

Right now I'm reading an advance copy of _Like Dust, I Rise_ which was provided to me by the author, Ginny Rorby (blog) as a thank-you for helping her with some period details of her characters' train trip. I'm about halfway through the book, which looks to be written for Young Adults, and so far I like it. I like it a lot. It's about a school-age girl who relocates with her family from the stockyards of Chicago to the Great Plains of Texas...just in time to be caught up in the Dust Bowl. It strikes me as a somewhat grittier version of _Caddie Woodlawn_ or the _Little House_ books. The picture it paints is honest about the struggles which the settlers of the era faced, but never gratuitously ugly. Well, so far. Due out in December from Black Rose.


----------



## LoveofWriting

Rumi: Spiritual Verses. (Penguin Classics)


----------



## JBF

Winston Groom's _El Paso_.  

Despite an era, a plot, and a cast that could not fail to hold my attention...it's abysmal.  I think it cost a quarter and I'm not altogether certain that was a bargain.  

I may have to return to Cormac McCarthy soon.


----------



## Olly Buckle

'The quiet crisis' by Stewart Udall. Quite prescient, this was published in 1963, conservation was still not a big thing back then.


----------



## Deleted member 64995

Reading again 
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka


----------



## robertn51

Foxee said:


> Currently reading (in print form)* In Plain Sight* by C.J. Box who is one of my favorite writers now.


Oh _yes!_ C J Box.

I discovered him through BookBub last December and read _nothing _but him throughout this past Winter. Inhaled all the books. I think _Out Of Range_ probably the personal best of all -- the way the Romanowski factor was finally woven in by Joe's absence, and that one line in the call from Joe to Marybeth, last line Ch 30. Still haunts me, that moment, sealing it all.

If you are reading in order, you are right in the sweet spot for his storytelling. Enjoy!

It might be because of my manic consumption -- having the brilliant and the _meh _all smushed together over only 12 weeks -- but I think his latest, _Dark Sky_, is the weakest of them all. No one should avoid the rest of the series because of that one. _There's gold in them hills._

C J Box (Joe Pickett) and Craig Johnson (Walt Longmire) and Peter Bowen (Gabriel Du Pré) all make me want to move to Wyoming/Montana and live in those places/spaces.

Good reading!


----------



## robertn51

Re-reading...
Raymond Chandler's _The Long Goodbye_. 
This is the third time. Fresh every time.
(Tried watching it -- the Robert Altman monstro -- on Kanopy Friday night and gave up, pulled up the book. Much better. Even the third time.)


----------



## Mr.Mingo

Chaeronia said:


> Light by M John Harrison.
> 
> I really must stop reading authors who are just that little bit too dauntingly good.



One of my favorite books I've read in a long time. Glad others are still enjoying it. Been a solid fifteen years since I last picked it up, but it still sits in a front position on my double-stacked shelves.

I have a lot of books to read this month for my Master's degree final class before the project, but I'm excited still. _Slaughterhouse-5_ by Kurt Vonnegut, one I somehow still haven't managed to read, should be first up in the month. Finally, after years of it getting pushed to the side, I have to read it. Hopefully it lives up to the hype for me. I'm also reading _The Great Hunt _by Robert Jordan over audiobook. Listening helps, but honestly I like the first book in the series,_ The Eye of the World_, a bit better. The characters at least had an excuse for being ignorant. In this one, they're just irritatingly so, and the best characters are left to only minor chapters. The coolest parts are virtually all off-hand. Feel like a true middle novel and little more, as it sets up a whole lot of things and surveys ground. Probably good for the rest of the series, but painful right now.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Mr.Mingo said:


> I have a lot of books to read this month for my Master's degree final class before the project, but I'm excited still. _Slaughterhouse-5_ by Kurt Vonnegut, one I somehow still haven't managed to read, should be first up in the month. Finally, after years of it getting pushed to the side, I have to read it. Hopefully it lives up to the hype for me.


Just as a novel it was good, but it was realising how much of this is autobiographical and how it set the guy up to write all the other stuff he wrote as well, sometimes context turns 'good' into 'wow'.


----------



## Dr Hooss

Armageddon the musical by Robert Rankin.

Planet Earth is a soap opera/reality TV show called the Earthers. The execs running the show decide to top the ratings with a nuclear holocaust event. Featuring theological warfare, Buddhavision- a terrestrial T.V network bigger than God, nasty nuclear leftovers, Elvis on an epic time-travel journey (the Presliad), Jesus's twin sister Christine, Barry the talkative time sprout and a cast of millions - including you. Don't touch that dial it's gonna be a hell of a show.


----------



## robertn51

....in the equinox reading carousel:

Powers' _Bewilderment_
Mosley's _The Awkward Black Man_
Michel's _The Body Scout_
Li's _Gold Boy Emerald Girl_
Stokes' _Fallen Sun_
and the Fall nosegay of _September LM stories_


----------



## bdcharles

_Book and Bone_ by Lucas Freeman. He bought my book so in a fit of gratitude, I bought his. It's pretty good - self-published, but absolutely stacks up against trad. I put aside_ The Lies of Locke Lamora_ for it.


----------



## cozwry

I am reading a few Redwall books, a few classics, some Hobb - just old stuff - but I want to read Ben Shapiro’s True Allegiance, because I like that guy.


----------



## Sinister

Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.

It is simply that time of year again.  Time to visit old friends in old books, with a pipeful of cavendish and warm apple cider.  I'm going to read this outside in one of the last warm sunbeams.  I used to consider this a book for children, but I've found that it's one of the most mature works of all-time.

-Sin


----------



## piperofyork

_The Name of the Wind_ (Rothfuss)


----------



## rlmoriguchi

The Silent Patient - Alex Michaelides
Patriots - James Wesley, Rawles
Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott
And rereading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - JK Rowling

I have a hard time reading one book at a time lol.  I'm really trying to broaden what I read but also not completely cut out what I already enjoy if that makes sense.


----------



## Mr.Mingo

rlmoriguchi said:


> I have a hard time reading one book at a time lol. I'm really trying to broaden what I read but also not completely cut out what I already enjoy if that makes sense.



Funny, I'm the opposite. I usually have to go one by one or I lose ground in the immersion of a novel.


----------



## Olly Buckle

I have recently finished Peter Hopkirk's 'Secret Service East of Constantinople', this led me on to his 'Quest for Kim' about the actual people and places behind Kipling's 'Kim' which I zipped through and finished this morning. The library now also has his 'The Great Game' waiting for me which the missus will pick up when she goes in later in the week.


----------



## Olly Buckle

The secret life of bees by Sue Monk Kidd. She is easy to read, at times she goes toward syrupy sweet or starts to indulge her darlings, but manages to stay on the right side of acceptable, It's a two day fill in book, more entertaining than some.


----------



## indianroads

Ganymede Wakes by Joshua Calvert. It’s kind of a knockoff of the Expanse series, not as good, and not original. Writing is good, characters are ok.


----------



## rnorris88

_Delivered from Distraction_ by Dr. Edward Hallowell and Dr. John Ratey. It's a book about living with ADD as an adult, and how to navigate a brain that doesn't seem to fit into the world. I like how it emphasizes finding strength and talents and developing them, rather than medicating as if it's an illness. Wonderful book so far!


----------



## PiP

Yesterday a friend gave me a book. Not sure if she is hinting I am GRUMPY or what but she said I would enjoy it.  The book is written like a diary which means I can dip in and out as and when I have a few minutes. ... and is actually quite funny.


----------



## indianroads

PiP said:


> Yesterday a friend gave me a book. Not sure if she is hinting I am GRUMPY or what but she said I would enjoy it.  The book is written like a diary which means I can dip in and out as and when I have a few minutes. ... and is actually quite funny.
> View attachment 27814


I wouldn't dare give that book to my wife.


----------



## VRanger

Currently reading @SueC's latest manuscript, and it's very well written.


----------



## PiP

indianroads said:


> I wouldn't dare give that book to my wife.


Be careful, there is a TV series called Grumpy Old Men... so I bet there is a book spin-off


----------



## indianroads

PiP said:


> Be careful, there is a TV series called Grumpy Old Men... so I bet there is a book spin-off


Admittedly, and proudly, I relate to that TV series.
Now get off my lawn.


----------



## Darkkin

rnorris88 said:


> _Delivered from Distraction_ by Dr. Edward Hallowell and Dr. John Ratey. It's a book about living with ADD as an adult, and how to navigate a brain that doesn't seem to fit into the world. I like how it emphasizes finding strength and talents and developing them, rather than medicating as if it's an illness. Wonderful book so far!




The one really good thing about this book, both of its authors have ADHD, it is not just another couple of doctors telling one to step up, buckle down, and get a planner.  Avoid anything by Amen.  That guy is still referring to ADHD as Adult onset ADD, a term that has not been used since 1987.  (There are three types of ADHD:  Hyperactive, inattentive, and combined).  It is a neurotype one is born with, you are not normal one minute ADHD the next.  It is the same with books claiming to heal ADHD.  It is your operating system, you can learn to work with it, but you cannot take your OS out of your head, take the ADHD elements out, and restart the system.  Unfortunately that is what many doctors want to do.

Another book that is really well done and a bit more current is The Divergent Mind by Nerenberg.  It is a couple decades more current and not only looks at the science, it also delves into the history, stigma, and biases of neurodivergencies.  Gail Saltz's The Power of Different is also another good book on the topic.  Saltz brings a humanising element to the DSM labels with the interviews featured in the book.

- D.


----------



## Foxee

Current audiobook: *The Husband* by Dean Koontz (re-listening to this) on my library app and *Discordia* by Max Barry which I needed a break from. Then I'll probably start *Farmer in the Sky* by Robert A. Heinlein (I took a 'who do you write like' thing online and Heinlein was one of the results so I guess I should read something of his!). I also recently finished *The Fold* by Peter Clines which was pretty interesting, very fringe-science-y writing was solid. Before that I listened to *Leviathan Wakes* by James S. A. Corey (first book of The Expanse). The books are at least as good as the show, better in that there is more ability to know internal thoughts of the characters.

Current ebook: Haven't been reading ebooks much lately but I have *Departure* by Ken Barret @indianroads  as my current read. Next up is probably *Bowl of Heaven* by Larry Niven and Gregory Benford though I've got a pretty good Kindle list built up.

Current paperback: *Free Fire* by CJ Box

Current helpful book that I should be reading but have been playing hooky: *Dialogue* by Robert McKee

Other regular reading includes the *Bible* and the *12-step books for Celebrate Recovery* as I try to deal with codependency and other fun issues.


----------



## rnorris88

Darkkin said:


> The one really good thing about this book, both of its authors have ADHD, it is not just another couple of doctors telling one to step up, buckle down, and get a planner.  Avoid anything by Amen.  That guy is still referring to ADHD as Adult onset ADD, a term that has not been used since 1987.  (There are three types of ADHD:  Hyperactive, inattentive, and combined).  It is a neurotype one is born with, you are not normal one minute ADHD the next.  It is the same with books claiming to heal ADHD.  It is your operating system, you can learn to work with it, but you cannot take your OS out of your head, take the ADHD elements out, and restart the system.  Unfortunately that is what many doctors want to do.
> 
> Another book that is really well done and a bit more current is The Divergent Mind by Nerenberg.  It is a couple decades more current and not only looks at the science, it also delves into the history, stigma, and biases of neurodivergencies.  Gail Saltz's The Power of Different is also another good book on the topic.  Saltz brings a humanising element to the DSM labels with the interviews featured in the book.
> 
> - D.



Exactly! It makes a huge difference coming from the perspective of two doctors who live with ADD.  I think the first chapter is even titled: "Read This if You Can't Read the Entire Book"  I laughed so hard when I saw that, like finally this guy gets me!

I should point out that there is absolutely no shame in taking medication, none at all.  It's helped me tremendously with my depression and anxiety and executive dysfunction.  However, I do take issue with doctors who only medicate and don't help a patient to live with and understand ADD.  I've gotten my best ADD insight and advice from a family friend who, in addition to being a pediatrician, has lived with ADHD all her life.  She's helped both her patients and friends like me understand that it's not a disability but a superpower.  

I'm really looking forward to reading more, and thanks for the additional recommendations!


----------



## Matchu

I bought my boy a copy of 'Survivors' and a copy of 'The Day the Grass Died.'  They're very genre-specific, UK 1970s sci-fi.  He likes that kind of thing.  Posted & gone.

Then I purchased two quite reactionary memoirs as an antidote to Nazi memoir trap syndrome. For me I bought Moitessier's The Wrong Way [or similar] a sailing memoir, Cape Horn - and 'Last of the Old Brigade' or similar, warfighting.  Both very masculine titles and secret.  I was all intent on Isabelle Allende's novel, but y'know, I have night shifts to complete - and I can always pass these titles on to the boys/colleagues.

I can hardly lend Isabelle Allende to a chap with a facial tattoo, y'know.


----------



## indianroads

Matchu said:


> I bought my boy a copy of 'Survivors' and a copy of 'The Day the Grass Died.'  They're very genre-specific, UK 1970s sci-fi.  He likes that kind of thing.  Posted & gone.
> 
> Then I purchased two quite reactionary memoirs as an antidote to Nazi memoir trap syndrome. For me I bought Moitessier's The Wrong Way [or similar] a sailing memoir, Cape Horn - and 'Last of the Old Brigade' or similar, warfighting.  Both very masculine titles and secret.  I was all intent on Isabelle Allende's novel, but y'know, I have night shifts to complete - and I can always pass these titles on to the boys/colleagues.
> 
> I can hardly lend Isabelle Allende to a chap with a facial tattoo, y'know.


Back in the 70's on the west side of the pond there was a book (and a movie I think) called 'No Blade of Grass'. It was about ecologic disaster - I read it back then, but don't remember much about it. I wonder if the book was re-titled for sale over here.


----------



## Matchu

...yeah, I think you're on to something - when I did the 'google' - with the different title in the US.  They're not 'perfect books' - just a bit of fun in his post box and he can talk to his dad (me, me) about them..


----------



## Olly Buckle

There were others, I remember 'The death of metal'. Basically 'what would happen to society if it lacked some essential?'


----------



## ehbowen

Olly Buckle said:


> There were others, I remember 'The death of metal'. Basically 'what would happen to society if it lacked some essential?'


If our present leadership remains in charge of energy and fossil fuel policy...we may find out!


----------



## indianroads

I started in on 'Where Seeds May Fall' by Peter Cawdron and am enjoying it - first contact SciFi.
The book is written in first person present tense, which I usually dislike, but the author pulls it off nicely.


----------



## Olly Buckle

'This is not a drill', an extinction rebellion handbook. Published by Penguin.

I am really enjoying this, a series of essays from very varied people about the effects of climate change and how people are dealing with it. 'Survival of the richest' by Douglass Rushkoff was depressing, he was invited to lecture the very rich, and their most important question was 'How do I keep my security loyal when it happens', no doubt in their mind it will happen, and these are the people represented at Copt 26. 
The one who annoyed me most was the one who adopted 'Indigenous peoples' to mean something quite different, I am indigenous to London, but she wouldn't have counted that. Used as a buzz word it becomes as meaningless as 'Ethnic' was a year or two back.


----------



## Megan Pearson

Reiley's Luck, by Louis L'Amour. My husband and I started reading L'Amour's Sackett series together earlier this year and just started RL today. 

We like reading books together. If it weren't for that, I can't say I've read anything outside of my academic reading in a very long time.


----------



## Sinister

The Jewel of Seven Stars by Bram Stoker.  Got a comprehensive tome of all of Bram's work last Christmas.  I didn't care for the Lair of the White Worm, never have.  Starts out nice, but it ends up a bit tacky.  Anyway, The Jewel of Seven Stars is Bram's greatest work or at least as good as Dracula.  There's a part in the book...deep, deep in the book that shocks and startles you.  It's an honest scare.  I got so mad at the book that I felt like throwing it.  On re-reading I realize how genius it was and how my anger was just the result of the book not following the cliches.  If anything, I'm sorry more books don't challenge cliche plot developments and confines the way this one does.  I'm kind of obsessed with this book, tbh.

-Sin


----------



## indianroads

Cold Eyes by Peter Cawdron - the author has written a series of well researched books that explore the Fermi Paradox - being the mathematics that suggest there are thousands / millions of other civilizations in our galaxy... so why haven't we heard from them?

This story is about the discovery of an advanced civilization on a planet that formed with high gravity and very few heavy elements - basically, they're locked in, and cannot escape their planet's gravity. Well written, and a very interesting tale - certainly different than the usual SciFi.


----------



## KeganThompson

currently reading chaos walking series by patrick ness. i'm on the 3rd book already. read the second one in a few days...those books arent small either lol
sace to say i enjoy it. lol i didnt think i was much of a scifi person, but it held my interest long enough for me to get attahced to the characters, the characters is what really keeps me reading. There is a lot of action and plot too. i read the first two books of the hunger games series, (also popular YA scifi) i personally reccomend chaos walking over that tbh


----------



## Olly Buckle

"The Girl who Played with Fire" Steig Larsson. The lurid publicity put me off this series for some time, there is a bit of sex and such in them, but it is not OTT and they are actually a really good story line, even with some somewhat improbable characters. Like most of my casual reading I have bought them in charity shops, so I read the first ones a bit out of order, and I think there is still one I have missed, but it wasn't too much of an impediment


----------



## indianroads

"3zekiel" by Peter Cawdron. He's an astrophysicist that writes stories concerning the Fermi Paradox - based on an Fermi equation that estimated that there should be many advanced civilizations in our stellar neighborhood - and the paradox is, why haven't we heard from them? Each of his novels presents a different possibility. Once The Last Ride (my next novel) is published, I want to write a 2 book series about first contact - so this is research.


----------



## got2write

I like to alternate Mystery with Horror.
Just finished The Plot by Jean Hanff Koreitz (fantastic!)
Now starting Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill


----------



## Olly Buckle

God's Terrorists; The Wahhabi Cult and the Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad. by Charles Allen.

I have trouble with all the Arabian names, but then I remember Peter Ustinov talking about touring in the old Soviet Union and the trouble officials had pronouncing names like 'Smith' or 'Brown' (try reading them out letter by letter) and how pleased they were to see his name. The book itself is very interesting, the originators interpretation of Islam was completely unacceptable to most of their contemporaries and they were 'driven out of town' a number of times for what they preached.


----------



## PrairieHostage

Olly Buckle said:


> "The Girl who Played with Fire" Steig Larsson. The lurid publicity put me off this series for some time, there is a bit of sex and such in them, but it is not OTT and they are actually a really good story line, even with some somewhat improbable characters. Like most of my casual reading I have bought them in charity shops, so I read the first ones a bit out of order, and I think there is still one I have missed, but it wasn't too much of an impediment


I adore the Millenium trilogy (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Girl Who Played with Fire & Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest). I also loved the Swedish films made from all three books. I feel Lisbeth was a groundbreaking lead female character and role. WOW

Oh and I'm reading Caste by Isabel Wilkerson and The Chancellor: The Remarkable Oddyssey of Angela Merkel by Kati Marton and Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder


----------



## Sinister

Shadows over Baker Street by Various

-Sin


----------



## Mark Twain't

Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri.

Only 99p for Kindle from Amazon (UK). Unfortunately, $8.08 from Amazon (US)


----------



## Darren White

Heinlein's _Citizen of the Galaxy_


----------



## bdcharles

Just finished _Quiet _by Susan Cain. An incredibly enlightening piece of non-fiction.


----------



## Taylor

_The Overstory_ by Richard Powers.  It's not my cup of tea, but I am forcing myself to read it for education purposes.


----------



## Olly Buckle

"How bad are Bananas? The carbon footprint of everything." by Mike Berners-Lee

One of those 'bit at a time' books, rather than sit down and read it. Interesting what makes up the footprint sometimes, and generally very readable and fun
Yes, that's Tim's brother wrote it.
Not too bad at all, bananas grow outside without much fertilizing and no heating and then travel by boat, which is low carbon.

Some things are surprising, London to Glasgow by coach is less than by train for example. Trains are heavy and move faster, that soaks up energy.


----------



## indianroads

Taylor said:


> _The Overstory_ by Richard Powers.  It's not my cup of tea, but I am forcing myself to read it for education purposes.


Michio Kaku Parallel Worlds- For the same reason @Taylor gave.


----------



## indianroads

Currently reading the last novel in the Expanse series Leviathan Falls - If you like SciFi and haven't tried this series, I suggest that you do. It's well written with compelling characters and a complex plot.


----------



## got2write

Half way through The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith. Can’t put it down!


----------



## D. L. Keur

Physics of the Interstellar and Intergalactic Medium by Draine


----------



## NajaNoir

Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle

It is fantastic.


----------



## indianroads

Current read is Bone Kien, a Tale of Heroes. Very entertaining and well written.


----------



## PrairieHostage

This is my favorite thread. Talented Mr Ripley is a gem.


----------



## VRanger

indianroads said:


> Current read is Bone Kien, a Tale of Heroes. Very entertaining and well written.


That's a pleasant surprise to stumble across while perusing "Latest Activity". LOL Thanks.


----------



## Deleted member 66681

I'm currently reading Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka. I highly recommend it! I'm really enjoying it thus far!


----------



## NajaNoir

The Colour Of Magic by Terry Pratchett.  

Just started but it's really quite fun.


----------



## druid12000

Rereading Feast of Souls, Book 1 of the Magister Trilogy by C.S. Friedman.

I read the first two books a few years ago, now getting back up to speed to finish.

Looooove her writing!


----------



## Olly Buckle

Agatha Christie, Crime collection, read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, now on They do it with Mirrors, Mrs McGinty's dead to go.
Coming to the end of God's terrorists, The Wahhabi cult and the hidden roots of Modern Jihad, by Charles Allen


----------



## Mark Twain't

Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson. Written in 1st person, present tense. A British author who writes "realize"!


----------



## indianroads

Finished Bone Kien, which was excellent - and have started The Fault in Our Stars, the writing is excellent.


----------



## Olly Buckle

Took a day out to read Ben Aaranovitch, 'What Abigail did last summer', only a short book, and he is very easy to read. It made me think of the thread about writing outside your background, he is a middle aged white man writing as a black teenage girl, he managed quite well. Easier for an English story I think, there are plenty of people here who are second generation, English born and bred. Within the cities there is a lot of integration.


----------



## TMarie

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer 

She poetically combines Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants into a braid of stories of her culture's history and modern times. I first captured it on Audible and was so smitten, I purchased the book to read along with. Not disappointed.


----------



## indianroads

I recently finished The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. This is a YA novel, that I thought might be comparable to my WIP (The Last Ride) - it was close, but no cigar. 

Here's the thing though - I started reading very young and have read thousands, maybe tens of thousands of books throughout my lifetime, and *The Fault in our Stars is HANDS DOWN the best book I've ever read.* The writing is superb and the characterizations incredible - especially considering that the MC is a 15 year old girl and the book is written by a man... who must be a keen observer of those around him.

The Fault in Our Stars follows a young teenage girl and her friends as they struggle with cancer. Do yourself a favor and give it a look.


----------



## indianroads

My current read, The NOTEBOOK, is a better comp for The Last Ride, and the writing is ok... reading the book I described in my previous post might have ruined it for me - but it's decently written, however my inner editor kicks in every few pages when the prose gets overly wordy or awkward. Still, it's a good book so far.


----------



## PrairieHostage

Made it halfway through three books (Caste, The Chancellor & Bitter) and started All My Rage. I've never had this many on the go at the same time, but Caste is heavy so I need some levity, and I'm anxious to read the two YAs with similar themes to my WIP.


----------



## elprup

I've just restarted _Make It Sweet_ by Kristen Callihan that I bought last year but only got halfway through when a scene annoyed me so much I couldn't read on. But on the second read, it made more sense (I have a bad habit of skim reading leftover from my student days) and I'm enjoying it more. When I finish that, next on my pile is probably _Killing Floor_ after watching the very excellent _Reacher _on TV.


----------



## VRanger

I'm reading @D. L. Keur/Dawn's _Death Scent_. I've just read a scene that's very much like a type of scene I include from time to time ... actually a kind of scene I create in real life from time to time ... probably why I write it. ;-) Anyway, both the scene and the novel are good stuff. I'm just getting to the crux of her mystery, I think, and I'm looking forward to its progression.


----------



## indianroads

I'm reading a book for research - How To Build A Moonbase. It's dry, but is teaching me what I need to know.
My Moonscape series will be about a prison on the moon, when an ancient artifact is discovered, zany adventures ensue.


----------



## Splinter

I'm a big fan of what-if scenarios and having finished Nineteen Eighty-Four again, I was about to start Fatherland by Robert Harris (if Hitler had won the war), but then I spotted The Wedding Day by Catherine Alliot which was given to me by a friend when she was having a clear out.
It's way off the path I normally tread - divorced woman with a child meets gorgeous doctor, still in love with handsome ex and what happens on the chaotic summer holiday in Cornwall.
It's pacey, lots of kitchen table type chats, with a view on life that perhaps I could only get through the eyes of a woman writer. I'll stick with it because I want to see what happens when she finally gets to the holiday home in Cornwall.


----------



## indianroads

Corridors of Time by Poul Anderson… interesting premise, but…

Title seemed familiar, and after a few chapters it came to me… I read this book when I was about ten years old. I kinda remember how it ended, so I may set it aside and find something else.


----------



## Parabola

Blood Meridian, people kept mentioning it and brainwashed me enough I wanted to read it. I will say some of his descriptions are truly amazing. Have a ways to go in the book, but he has this weird ability to pull you into a scene and you feel totally absorbed.


----------



## Kadamor

I'm in the middle of Book 1 of The Expanse. It's a bit underwhelming for me, unfortunately.


----------



## indianroads

Finished up Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel. Good book, really excellent premise that I wish had been more explored.
Current read is First Contact by David Hiers. A new and interesting take on first alien contact - I can tell that it's a self published book because there are a number of errors in the text that should have been picked up. I'm enjoying the story though.


----------



## Splinter

Splinter said:


> I'm a big fan of what-if scenarios and having finished Nineteen Eighty-Four again, I was about to start Fatherland by Robert Harris (if Hitler had won the war), but then I spotted The Wedding Day by Catherine Alliot which was given to me by a friend when she was having a clear out.
> It's way off the path I normally tread - divorced woman with a child meets gorgeous doctor, still in love with handsome ex and what happens on the chaotic summer holiday in Cornwall.
> It's pacey, lots of kitchen table type chats, with a view on life that perhaps I could only get through the eyes of a woman writer. I'll stick with it because I want to see what happens when she finally gets to the holiday home in Cornwall.


I'm half way through The Wedding Day, we're nowhere near the actual wedding day yet and the characters are beginning to irritate me, so I've picked up Fatherlabd instead. It's a real page-turner, in contrast.


----------



## indianroads

Finished First Contact by David Hiers, it was fast paced and energetic, a good read.
Currently reading My Sweet Satan by Peter Cawdron, another SciFi novel. It’s pretty good so far.


----------



## PrairieHostage

I keep trying to start Fault in Our Stars l, but life intrudes. Today it's the cat's turn to go outside. Then work on my WIP. Maybe tonight.


----------



## indianroads

PrairieHostage said:


> I keep trying to start Fault in Our Stars l, but life intrudes. Today it's the cat's turn to go outside. Then work on my WIP. Maybe tonight.


I hope you enjoy it - the story and the writing blew me away.


----------



## Parabola

Might go back to the first Odd Thomas book. Thought that one was excellent, but some of the typical Koontz humor is a tad too quaint for me. After the first book, the quality dips pretty significantly.


----------



## Olly Buckle

I have just finished The Casual Vacancy, J K Rowling's first book for an adult audience. It was a huge best seller, but I was not particularly impressed, I started it back in  Jan. or Feb. before I damaged my eye, I hate not finishing a book. I kept thinking 'Kill your darlings' and her use of brackets ... I found one end of bracket not having noticed the start, going back I found it over a page back, and couldn't figure why she didn't use simple punctuation.

I have now gone back to God's Terrorists, The Wahhabi cult and the Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad, by Charles Allen. This is also taking me a long time to read, but for completely different reasons. It is well written and very readable, but also very dense, I find I can read a couple of pages and still be thinking about them some days later. I only have thirty odd pages left, but there is a huge bibliography, this may well lead to further reading, this is a vital subject since the huge rise in oil prices after the Arab- Israeli war suddenly gave the promoters of this sub-species of Mohammedanism the means to promote their beliefs.


----------



## PiP

Just started reading
The Last British President  by Marc Thomas ​


----------



## indianroads

Finished My Sweet Satan by Peter Cawdron, it was pretty good.
Trolling for my next read, tonight I’ll try out All The Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr.
ETA:
After my first evening with the book I found that it suffers form an over abundance of florid prose. It could still turn into an interesting story, so I’ll give it another try tonight.


----------



## bdcharles

I am reading _The Bone Ships Wake_ by RJ Barker. The first of this series (The Tide Child Trilogy) was awesome. The second meandered a bit but was a serviceable read, and I feel the third is kind of ... hobbitting out the filler. And I feel like the author is packing the text with too many of their chops. I can see the author, feel the author, smell the author, and while I am a fan of RJ Barker, this is too close. The overarching plot goal just doesn't feel compelling enough. All of which is a shame because this series contains one of my favourite fantasy characters in Lucky Meas, but she doesn't overly feature in this (thus far) other than as part of the MC's endgame. Still, progressing on. Got an Anna Smith Spark hardback arriving later.


----------



## Matchu

I'm still salivating over copies of Ken Tout's _Tank _on Amazon..

On-line first edition is £100.  Paperback from '87 maybe £16?  I can't 'waste' the money for now - but a really very beautiful prose voice from Ken Tout.  His other books are much cheaper but that's the ONE.


----------



## vanessaawriter

Jon M said:


> You know the deal.
> 
> At the moment, I'm reading _The Red Pony_ by Steinbeck. It's about a pony. A red pony named Gabilan.


i am reading the silent patient. many people on amazon did not have anything good to say about it but me and my sister are reading it and we are half way through and i must say  its is good. its by a writer called Alex michaelides.


----------



## Splinter

Splinter said:


> I'm half way through The Wedding Day, we're nowhere near the actual wedding day yet and the characters are beginning to irritate me, so I've picked up Fatherlabd instead. It's a real page-turner, in contrast.


Just finished Fatherland by Robert Harris this morning and I simply couldn't put it down. The research he must have done to write this book is more than admirable and the way he wove actual characters into the story was seamless.
I won't give anything away, but I was fascinated by his no-nonsense style, his descriptions of places and objects, perfumes and the like. It's the kind of book that as a writer, one can learn from, apart from being a great read.


----------



## indianroads

Update on: All The Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr.
The beginning seemed overly florid, but it was describing the world the characters live in, and now that I’m in deeper I’m glad I didn’t set it aside. It’s a compelling story.


----------



## indianroads

indianroads said:


> Update on: All The Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr.
> The beginning seemed overly florid, but it was describing the world the characters live in, and now that I’m in deeper I’m glad I didn’t set it aside. It’s a compelling story.


I’ve just finished the book. It’s amazing, tragic, and wonderful. It’s among the best I’ve ever read.


----------



## Taylor

Started my day with the first chapters of _The Last Ride _by Ken Barrett.  Loving it so far!  

You can find it in our bookstore.


----------



## Daria Vasilenko

Now I read Dostoevsky's "Idiot". I really like it, I think Aglaya will become my favorite. I have already watched the film adaptation, very cool. I know Russian, so I read and watched in the original. I have already read from Dostoevsky "Brothers Karamazov," n I love it very much.


----------



## Gyt Kaliba

There are a good handful of manga (Japanese comic books) that I'm basically always reading (the usual method for new chapters is that they come out on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis), but as far as actual novels go? I'm currently in the middle of a re-read of Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park. I've long been a fan of that book, and it's probably one of the first books I remember reading and thinking 'oh wow, this is quite a bit different than the movie'. And with the franchise's latest movie out now (still haven't gone to go see it yet though), I figured it was time for a re-read. I probably re-read it once every year or two anyway as is though, it's definitely one of my favorite books.


----------



## Splinter

I've almost finished Frederick Forsyth's The Fourth Protocol which is captivating from the very start. The plot is entirely plausible involving Soviet agents, sleepers, spies, MI5, MI6 and a fact based backdrop of a British general election. The fun he must have had researching this novel and it's so much better than The Afghan which I read before this one. Unlike Tom Clancy, Forsyth doesn't bog us down in tedious technical details in this novel. Highly recommended if you enjoy this genre.


----------



## indianroads

My current read is 'To Sleep in a Sea of Stars' by Paolini. I didn't know it was nearly a door stop when I started (~ 850 pages)... a full doorstop would be Atlas Shrugged (1080 pages). It's a reasonably good space war/opera story. Lots of action and interesting characters.


----------



## Taylor

Almost finished _Carnegie's Maid_ by Marie Benedict. I'm enjoying it! The historical references are authentic as Andrew Carnegie, the richest man in America evolves from industrial steel magnate to philanthropist (with a little romance thrown in). Among his philanthropic efforts, he was a big supporter of reading, personally funding thousands of libraries throughout the United States, Britain, Canada, and other English-speaking countries.


----------



## PrairieHostage

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel (sci-fi)
The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht (historical fiction)

Sleeping Giants is my favorite. The other one has a very meandering plot.


----------



## Gyt Kaliba

Finishing up *Jurassic Park*, and my original plan was to re-read it's direct sequel, *The Lost World*, after that. That said however, I think I'm going to skip that at the moment - I've never been quite as fond of it as the original novel, and my 'to read' list is long enough as it is unfortunately...

That said, my next book is also still a re-read, but with at least some further purpose. I'm about to start re-reading *The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World*, by paleontologist Steve Brusatte. I'm re-reading it for two reasons - 1) he has a new book out that's kind of a follow-up, so I wanted to revisit this one first as I've only read it once, and 2) it's worth revisiting due to a story idea I've had brewing in the back of my head that I may want to jot down some things for later developing.

All that said, if anyone out there is interested in dinosaurs at all, I can't recommend this book highly enough. I grew up as a big dinosaur nerd, and there was no shortage of dinosaur media when I was a child. That said, a ton of it was inaccurate at best, and a lot of the accurate stuff has been proven to be less than originally thought as time went on as well. Brusatte is a modern day paleontologist, so there's tons of actively researched material and theories in the book, making for one heck of an interesting read and learning experience all at the same time.


----------



## C.K.Johnson

The Power by Naomi Alderman. I checked it out from my local library via the kindle app and I REALLY want to read it, but when I’m deep in my own writing I find it very difficult to focus on fiction. I may have to save this story for a time I can be fully engrossed.


----------



## Splinter

I'm back with Frederick Forsyth again and this time it's The Devil's Alternative which is another spy thriller of the Soviet era, this time involving a potential famine in the USSR. But it's also a multi-plot book which Forsyth weaves together with style as usual. It's also interesting how he portrays British secret services against The Cousins who are the US secret services, not to mention the so-called special relationship.
This particular copy was published in the US and my only criticism is that it's been 'translated' to American English which I find a tad irritating and begs the question, do American English novels ever get 'translated' into British English?


----------



## Theglasshouse

I am going to read The Witch of Blackbird Pond. It is on kindle unlimited and seems to be character centered which is what I wanted. I hope it will inspire me. It was by Elizabeth George Speare. It has excellent reviews in many places. I have a lot of reading to do. I have borrowed 9 books. So I will always have something to read.


----------



## PrairieHostage

The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya. Middle grade fiction about a little cuban dude whose abuelo runs a restaurant. I'm taking a workshop with Pablo in a few weeks so I thought I'd read one of his books.


----------



## Splinter

PrairieHostage said:


> The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya. Middle grade fiction about a little cuban dude whose abuelo runs a restaurant. I'm taking a workshop with Pablo in a few weeks so I thought I'd read one of his books.


Sounds fascinating, so I must check it out.








						The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora
					


Save the restaurant. Save the town. Get the girl. Make Abuela proud. Can thirteen-year-old Arturo Zamora do it all or is he in for a BIG,...




					www.goodreads.com


----------



## Explosia

Gyt Kaliba said:


> Finishing up *Jurassic Park*, and my original plan was to re-read it's direct sequel, *The Lost World*, after that. That said however, I think I'm going to skip that at the moment - I've never been quite as fond of it as the original novel, and my 'to read' list is long enough as it is unfortunately...



I think Jurassic Park might be my most favorite novel of all time. When I was a kid, I had a set of cassette tapes of the audio book, read by John Heard, which I would say is the best audio read of the book. Unfortunately, because they were cassette tapes recorded in the 90s, they had to abridge some sections of the book for time. But man, I listened to those tapes _so much_ as a kid.

Currently, I have two books I'm reading. One is Axiom's End, by Lindsey Ellis, and the other is The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home, by Joseph Fink. 

The former is about a government cover up of an extraterrestrial alien. The latter is about a girl who just straight up becomes a pirate with a motley crew.


----------



## Joker

I'm re-reading Snow Crash and it's even better the second time!


----------



## Gyt Kaliba

Finished re-reading Steve Brusatte's *The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs*, so now it's on to it's spiritual sequel, *The Rise and Reign of the Mammals*. It's pretty much exactly what the title describes - Brusatte tracks the beginning of mammalian life before and alongside the dinosaurs, through the ages after the dinosaurs during which they exploded in diversity, all the way through and including the rise of humanity's ancestors as well. I've never been quite as invested in that period as I have been dinosaurs themselves, but that likewise means I have less old and inaccurate information about that era still floating around in my head like I did with dinosaurs, so it should hopefully prove to be both educational and fun.


----------



## Splinter

Just finished Frederick Forsyth's Devil's Alternative in which he really ramps up the tension with plenty of spy threads to get one's teeth into. A hell of a great read!
Next, The Fist Of God, also by Forsyth which he has based on the first Gulf War with many of the real players involved.
Most of his plots are entirely plausible which is why I find him such a great read every time. I just hope he doesn't give the baddies any ideas.


----------



## Theglasshouse

Should I try the twilight zone series of books or is it too simplistic? I think Rod Sterling wrote that. Any opinions?

Now going to start:

Where the Forest Meets the Stars
They include audible narration in this novel.


----------



## cats88

Can anyone give me some recs for humorous YA fantasy? I need the demographic to be about ninth grade.


----------



## C.K.Johnson

Gallant by VE Schwab. It has a very gothic vibe.


----------



## Sinister

"Desperation" by Stephen King.  It's um...  It's fine.  Bit too cartoonish and despite what he preaches it tells a lot more than it shows.  That said, it's not a bad concept for a book.  But it hurts that Dean Koontz did "Phantasms" so much better.

I'd give it a 6 out of 10.  But for horror, look elsewhere.  That said, I have not read its "Mirror" book, "The Regulators".

-Sin


----------



## C.K.Johnson

Sinister said:


> "Desperation" by Stephen King.  It's um...  It's fine.  Bit too cartoonish and despite what he preaches it tells a lot more than it shows.  That said, it's not a bad concept for a book.  But it hurts that Dean Koontz did "Phantasms" so much better.
> 
> I'd give it a 6 out of 10.  But for horror, look elsewhere.  That said, I have not read its "Mirror" book, "The Regulators".
> 
> -Sin


Definitely not his best work. 
As a Constant Reader since the 70’s, I recommend Bag of Bones if you haven’t read it yet. Or Duma Key, similar vibe.


----------



## Pamelyn Casto

Someone recommended I read Sean Thomas Dougherty's The Second O of Sorrow so I picked up a copy. The title alone sold me. What a gorgeous title. The pieces are touching (a mix of poetry and prose poems), sometimes a little frightening and disturbing, and all quite interesting. The back of the book explains that Dougherty "celebrates the struggles, the dignity, and the joys of working-class life in the Rust Belt, " which also made me want to read it. I've read a few pieces, so far, and I want to dig into the rest this week. Dougherty's the author of fifteen books and I've just now learned about him . . .


----------



## Sinister

C.K.Johnson said:


> Definitely not his best work.
> As a Constant Reader since the 70’s, I recommend Bag of Bones if you haven’t read it yet. Or Duma Key, similar vibe.


I've definitely not read those two, so they are now on the list.  When it comes to King, if I'm honest, his short stories are unmatched imho.  My favorite of his novels will apparently always be The Shining.  I mean, I assume.  Like I say I'm unfamiliar with Duma Key or Bag of Bones.  I've not read anything more modern than Desperation.  So, I'm ignorant of most of his newer stuff.

-Sin


----------



## Erik Testerman

Reading '*Dungeon Crawler Carl*'... holy cow. I had no idea this LitRPG series was missing from my life. It's super entertaining.


----------



## Earp

C.K.Johnson said:


> Definitely not his best work.
> As a Constant Reader since the 70’s, I recommend Bag of Bones if you haven’t read it yet. Or Duma Key, similar vibe.


I enjoyed _Duma Key_, and apparently was the only reader who liked _The Institute_.


----------



## C.K.Johnson

Earp said:


> I enjoyed _Duma Key_, and apparently was the only reader who liked _The Institute_.


The Institute was okay, but if you liked Duma Key you will love Bag of Bones .


----------



## Parabola

I really wanted to try The Outsider but have heard mixed things on it.


----------



## PrairieHostage

I'm reading Ayize Jama-Everett's _The Entropy of Bones_. It's about a very unique female character who learns to fight while growing up with an alcoholic mom on their houseboat in Sausalito. His style of writing is other worldly.


----------



## Sinister

Jeff Vandermeer's "Authority".  

I'm not into it deep enough to give a verdict.  But I expect great things and I'm super excited to see how it goes.  "Annihilation" is one of my favorite books of all-time.  If anyone has ever thought of giving Vandermeer's work a try(Even his wordy and lengthy Ambergris series) I HIGHLY encourage you to be patient with him and dig into the pages.  Sometimes he's eloquent and sometimes he's minimalist, but he's always imaginative.

-Sin


----------



## indianroads

Looks like I have to catch up...
The Price of Time by Tim Tigner: well written and interesting premise but a predictable ending.
Started in on Stolen Thoughts by Tim Tigner: but set it aside - again an interesting premise but handled predictably.
Edges by Linda Nagata: struggled with the slow pace and dull characters. Finished it but... meh.
Upgrade by Blake Crouch: Fast pace, interesting story, and incredibly well researched. RECOMMENDED.

Current read: I Remember you by Brian Freeman: only about 20% through, but I'm really impressed by the voice the author created for the MC. First person past tense - not usually my favorite because so often it's not handled well - this story though... wow... this guy is good.


----------



## PrairieHostage

I'm starting _We Were Her_e by Matt de la Pena, about three kids who run away from a group home to make it to the Mexican border. I covet this author's agent, but I just read one of de la Pena's short stories so I know I'm in for some good writing and a decent story.


----------



## indianroads

Theglasshouse said:


> Should I try the twilight zone series of books or is it too simplistic? I think Rod Sterling wrote that. Any opinions?
> 
> Now going to start:
> 
> Where the Forest Meets the Stars
> They include audible narration in this novel.


I read those back when I was in grade school, and can only vaguely remember them. The were collections of short stories based on the TV shoe episodes. Not a bad read - but reserve it for a time when you might get interrupted a lot - it's easier to stop in the middle of a short story rather than a novel IMO.


----------



## indianroads

C.K.Johnson said:


> Definitely not his best work.
> As a Constant Reader since the 70’s, I recommend Bag of Bones if you haven’t read it yet. Or Duma Key, similar vibe.


I used to be a huge Stephen King fan, but as time when on and his success was assured I felt that he got lazy. Pretty much anything with his name on the cover was a best seller... I don't recall the last book of his that I read... Insomnia maybe? I forced myself to read through the Dark Tower series, even though (IMO) each new book was a bit worse than the one before.
His best book IMO is *It*.


----------



## C.K.Johnson

indianroads said:


> I used to be a huge Stephen King fan, but as time when on and his success was assured I felt that he got lazy. Pretty much anything with his name on the cover was a best seller... I don't recall the last book of his that I read... Insomnia maybe? I forced myself to read through the Dark Tower series, even though (IMO) each new book was a bit worse than the one before.
> His best book IMO is *It*.


Insomnia was not good. Loved the Dark Tower series. Most of my favorites are older: The Stand is #1, Misery, Rose Madder, Hearts in Atlantis, The Talisman. I really like the Mr Mercedes series, too.


----------



## ~sg

I'm working my way through The Last Kingdom series, which feels a bit formulaic but has been fun despite that. I took a break to read Joyce Sutphen's First Words, which reminded me how much I used to like to write poetry - and next thing I knew, I ended up here.


----------



## YggNate

In his dotage King seems to have fallen for being a bit of a political puppet. Maybe they drugged and brainwashed him back when he had that accident with the quad bike hitting a tree. He is a prolific and hugely successful writer and I think a lot of his stuff is quite powerfully evocative, and has his mark on it.

The other thread about POV writing also got me thinking about an author I used to enjoy reading a lot, Iain Banks/Iain M Banks and thinking that one he did, written from the perspective of a woman, was the one I enjoyed the least. It was called _The Business_ and totally lacked that kind of grainy texture a lot of King's better stuff has.

All that being said, at the moment I am actually reading a quite obscure little paperback on some of the training methods used in a style of Chinese grappling


----------



## indianroads

C.K.Johnson said:


> Insomnia was not good. Loved the Dark Tower series. Most of my favorites are older: The Stand is #1, Misery, Rose Madder, Hearts in Atlantis, The Talisman. I really like the Mr Mercedes series, too.


Cujo bothered me - mostly because my kids were little when I read it.


----------



## Nobelia

Currently reading Amor Towle's _A Gentleman in Moscow_, and Random Riggs' _Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children_.


----------



## PrairieHostage

Weird question. Is this the only _what are you reading_ thread? I've been trying to find @indianroads post about a couple books I wanna read, but now I can't find it.


----------



## indianroads

PrairieHostage said:


> Weird question. Is this the only _what are you reading_ thread? I've been trying to find @indianroads post about a couple books I wanna read, but now I can't find it.


I'm kinda all over the place and may have mentioned books in another thread - do you recall titles or anything about them?


----------



## PrairieHostage

indianroads said:


> I'm kinda all over the place and may have mentioned books in another thread - do you recall titles or anything about them?


I found this list in my cell phone notes:
Lark and Laurel and First Contact 
All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr
The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett

Were any of those ones you read?


----------



## indianroads

All the Light We Cannot See - is a beautifully written book. Highly recommended.

The other two titles aren't familiar... but I read a lot and may have forgotten.


----------



## PrairieHostage

indianroads said:


> All the Light We Cannot See - is a beautifully written book. Highly recommended.
> 
> The other two titles aren't familiar... but I read a lot and may have forgotten.


I just looked that one up on Goodreads and added it to my must read list. It looks really good. Thanks! Those other ones might have not been mentioned on this site.


----------



## indianroads

@PrairieHostage :
I looked at my kindle library and found *First Contact by David Heirs* - I vaguely recall reading it, but can't recommend it... it was just sorta 'meh'.
*The Fault in our Stars by John Green* was amazing - it's a genre I don't usually read, but the blurb grabbed me and I'm glad it did.

My current read: I Remember You by Brian Freeman is turning out to be pretty darned good. It's a kinda SciFi-ish story. The voice the author uses for the FMC is quirky, weird and fun, and the story line is unique.


----------



## VRanger

After I finished @indianroads very good novel, I decided to try an older work. Pioneer, Go Home! by Richard Powell. Powell had just come off a critical and financial success with The Philadelphian, and surprised people by going to a completely different style of novel. The novel was made into a play and also the movie _Follow that Dream._ From what I can see the movie stayed unusually faithful. Elvis Presley starred in the movie along with Arthur O'Connell, and Elvis' acting job nailed the character from the novel.

_Follow that Dream_ is a favorite comedy we watch every year or so, which is how I learned of and became interested in the novel. My son and DIL got it for me for my birthday four years ago. I didn't read it right away and forgot about it until rediscovering a few days ago that I own it.


----------



## Sinister

"The Bogeyman" by Stephen King is still prolly the most upsetting to me.

-Sin


----------



## Pamelyn Casto

I've just started highly acclaimed, highly talented writer George Saunders' _A Swim in a Pond in the Rain_. It's composed of seven essays that explore how fiction works, using as models works by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol. He explores and explains how narrative functions-- "why we stay immersed in a story and why we resist it.; and the bedrock virtues a writer must foster." He shows a way of training ourselves "to see the world with new openness and curiosity."

"_A Swim in a Pond in the Rain," says the cover,_ "is a deep exploration of not just how fiction works but of how the mind itself works while reading, and of how the reading and writing of stories make genuine connection possible."

As I said, I just started reading it and the first few pages I've read tell me this is one I'll be happy to complete. I can already tell I will learn plenty from it. Saunders is not only a bestselling author but also teaches in the creative writing program at Syracuse University. It's a very different "how to" book and I'm eager to fully explore it.


----------



## Taylor

_Thanks Universe_ by our own @C.K.Johnson.  I'm enjoying the read.  Crisp, clear language, vivid settings, and independent, complex female characters.  Right up my alley!


----------



## C.K.Johnson

Taylor said:


> _Thanks Universe_ by our own @C.K.Johnson.  I'm enjoying the read.  Crisp, clear language, vivid settings, and independent, complex female characters.  Right up my alley!


Thank you!!!


----------



## PrairieHostage

indianroads said:


> @PrairieHostage :
> I looked at my kindle library and found *First Contact by David Heirs* - I vaguely recall reading it, but can't recommend it... it was just sorta 'meh'.
> *The Fault in our Stars by John Green* was amazing - it's a genre I don't usually read, but the blurb grabbed me and I'm glad it did.


Okay thanks, I'll leave First Contact alone. I read Fault in Our Stars a few weeks ago and wrote a review on my blog. Absolutely loved it!


----------



## PrairieHostage

_Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow_ is now ony list.
New York Times best seller and a Jimmy Fallon Book Club pick 

Two friends—often in love, but never lovers—come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.

"Utterly brilliant. In this sweeping, gorgeously written novel, Gabrielle Zevin charts the beauty, tenacity, and fragility of human love and creativity. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is one of the best books I've ever read." —*John Green*

If John Green says that ... sign me up. 

Can read more here: https://books.google.com/books/about/Tomorrow_and_Tomorrow_and_Tomorrow.html?id=pLpHEAAAQBAJ


----------



## PrairieHostage

Dopeworld: Adventures in The Global Drug Trade by Niko Vorobyov, 2019

A former drug dealer turned writer, with access to drug lords, cartel leaders, and street dealers, this is Niko Vorobyov's travelogue on the dark underbelly of the worldwide drug world.


----------



## Parabola

PrairieHostage said:


> _Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow_ is now ony list.
> New York Times best seller and a Jimmy Fallon Book Club pick
> 
> Two friends—often in love, but never lovers—come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.
> 
> "Utterly brilliant. In this sweeping, gorgeously written novel, Gabrielle Zevin charts the beauty, tenacity, and fragility of human love and creativity. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is one of the best books I've ever read." —*John Green*
> 
> If John Green says that ... sign me up.
> 
> Can read more here: https://books.google.com/books/about/Tomorrow_and_Tomorrow_and_Tomorrow.html?id=pLpHEAAAQBAJ



I'll have to check this one out as game design is right up my alley!


----------



## indianroads

Slightly off topic... but... 
Back when my age was still in the single digits I read a book by Robert Heinlein (I think), about a society where everyone had to carry a gun. The few that opted out, wore sashes and couldn't be touched. @VRanger is a Heinlein fan - and as I've forgotten the title of that book, maybe he can remind me.


----------



## VRanger

indianroads said:


> Slightly off topic... but...
> Back when my age was still in the single digits I read a book by Robert Heinlein (I think), about a society where everyone had to carry a gun. The few that opted out, wore sashes and couldn't be touched. @VRanger is a Heinlein fan - and as I've forgotten the title of that book, maybe he can remind me.


Beyond this Horizon, which particularly focused on genetic selection as its premise.


----------



## indianroads

VRanger said:


> Beyond this Horizon, which particularly focused on genetic selection as its premise.


As a kid, I liked the parts about guns... wasn't there a dispute in a restaurant, and the MC used his antiquated revolver (vs a modern laser pistol).
And I think the MC and FMC's children were telepathic or empathic... something like that.


----------



## Parabola

Great Expectations. It started out sort of dry, but surprisingly I'm not hatin' it.


----------



## indianroads

Finished 'I Remember You' by Brian Freeman - male author writing in the first person of the female MC - so, ladies beware... but I liked it.
My Review:


 ​




from Ken Barrett on August 22, 2022
*unique and entertaining*
I really enjoyed this book, first for the quirky voice of the main character, and second for the unusual plot filled with unexpected twists and turns.
It’s a fun read and a wild ride. Recommended.​
 
Next up- I'm trying out 'The Big Dark Sky' by Dean Koontz. I've read a lot of his work over the years... and hope this isn't a book I've already read. I have the free sample to check it out - if it's familiar, I'll look for something else.


----------



## Galactic Goomba

_Mastery_ by Robert Greene and _The Black Hand: The Story of Rene "Boxer" Enriquez and His Life in the Mexican Mafia_ by Chris Blatchford.


----------



## indianroads

Stepped away from Koontz, but may return to it later.
current read is One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.
Kesey was our neighbor when I was a kid, but I had never read any of his books. This is a good book, and is an analogy of our society. The storytelling is tight, the voice unique and genuine. The book holds up well within our current social climate.


----------



## indianroads

Just finished One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. I highly recommend it. Description, voice, mood... man I have a LOT to learn.
My review:
*Still relevant
Kesey was our neighbor we he lived in La Honda, yet I had never read any of his books. Although this book is a classic fro the 1960's Hippy era, it remain powerfully relevant today. It is a lesson in what it take to live free in an oppressive society. Very highly recommended. *


----------



## Pamelyn Casto

I think, @indianroads, these are the most important words a writer can say to him or herself: "Man I have a LOT to learn." That's what the great writing masters show us all so well, show us all too well how much we still have to learn-- no matter how long we've been at it. Those classics remain so relevant. Sometimes too relevant. (The film version of Nurse Ratched, a wretched person, brilliantly painted that character as a monster.)  

I just finished watching the film Love and Mercy about Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. What horror that unfortunate man had to live under his therapist's manipulative power. Talk about oppression.


----------



## JBF

Pamelyn Casto said:


> I think, indianroads, these are the most important words a writer can say to him or herself: "Man I have a LOT to learn."



This is a double-edged concern, I think.  There comes a point in your reading/writing progression where you switch from reading other writers to see _how _they do it and begin deconstructing how and what _not _to do. 

I'm reading one now that's going to be a slog, which is unfortunate because otherwise (subject and era) this is a story I should absolutely love.  This has so far been derailed by an author doing everything in his power to disappointment and underwhelm at every turn.  Then again...said author is also published, so we can assume he grasped some part of the process.  

Or maybe he bribed somebody.  Who knows.


----------



## Pamelyn Casto

Yes, @JBF, a double-edged concern.  I'm clearly not a famous writer and never will be. Actually, I have no desire to be a famous writer. I don't have a clue how to become a remembered writer. I'd love to be a highly skilled poet but I will never be that either. Surely there is some small message or idea I could come up with that someone else in another generation or era might find important. Surely. But that's not likely to happen either. But what I _can_ do and what I _enjoy_ doing is exploring how other writers do their work and exploring their thoughts and ideas on this thing called the human condition. 

I write tons and enjoy getting my work published. But I know, and even enjoy knowing, "Man I have a lot to learn." I love reading those pieces that help me expand or change my own perceptions. That's worth something too, I think. I know all sorts of things NOT to do (usually, anyway). Learning what TO do is a little tougher to experience. I work on it every single day. Just last week I wrote a humorous short-short piece on this very topic. Someone wanted to become a poet but there was so much to learn, he finally gave up. As long as we don't do that . . . or maybe even doing that is okay too, if we have little to say that's of value. I guess we all have to do what we think we should do. I love the learning and exploring that comes from those writers who know far more than I know. I love being a reader. You writers need people like me!:-D


----------



## indianroads

Pamelyn Casto said:


> I think, @indianroads, these are the most important words a writer can say to him or herself: "Man I have a LOT to learn." That's what the great writing masters show us all so well, show us all too well how much we still have to learn-- no matter how long we've been at it. Those classics remain so relevant. Sometimes too relevant. (The film version of Nurse Ratched, a wretched person, brilliantly painted that character as a monster.)
> 
> I just finished watching the film Love and Mercy about Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. What horror that unfortunate man had to live under his therapist's manipulative power. Talk about oppression.


I started in on a Dean Koontz book last night - he's a very successful writer with a ton of best sellers under his belt - but he's no Ken Kesey.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest had layers upon layers of substance - most importantly, it had a THEME - A SUBTEXT that revealed aspects of human nature and society as a whole... Koontz, King, and the like write fun books to read, but they leave the reader in the same place as they were when they picked up the book. Huge difference between the two.


----------



## Pamelyn Casto

I often wonder about what might be the differences between commercial fiction and literary fiction. I think what you say above, @indianroads , is one of the identifiable differences. I love a good Stephen King novel for its great entertainment value. He's wonderful and I imagine most best-selling books are delightful. But then there's also the other type of novel that can make a strong and profound difference in a person's perceptions and/ or life.


----------



## C.K.Johnson

Stephen King’s latest landed on my doorstep yesterday so guess what I’m doing today.

And this article landed in my email today. I’ve been a Constant Reader since 1976, his books are the only ones I buy in hardback, and I agree with most of this writer’s ranking, so if you’re wondering what King book is ‘best’ this is a good article:








						All 75 Stephen King Books, Ranked
					


We're sorting through the exhilarating highs, bewildering lows, and many unexpected diversions.





					www.esquire.com


----------



## indianroads

C.K.Johnson said:


> Stephen King’s latest landed on my doorstep yesterday so guess what I’m doing today.
> 
> And this article landed in my email today. I’ve been a Constant Reader since 1976, his books are the only ones I buy in hardback, and I agree with most of this writer’s ranking, so if you’re wondering what King book is ‘best’ this is a good article:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> All 75 Stephen King Books, Ranked
> 
> 
> 
> We're sorting through the exhilarating highs, bewildering lows, and many unexpected diversions.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.esquire.com


You know, I've not read anything from Stephen King in several decades... maybe I'll pick up one of his books once I'm finished with my current read.


----------



## C.K.Johnson

indianroads said:


> You know, I've not read anything from Stephen King in several decades... maybe I'll pick up one of his books once I'm finished with my current read.


I’m certain I’ve mentioned this before but Bag of Bones is a personal favorite, probably because I have the audio with King reading the book. But if you’re looking for something shorter, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is perfect for baseball season.


----------



## Parabola

There's also "The Loser's Club" Stephen King podcast where they discuss his stuff. Might get you interested in one of his books.


----------



## Parabola

The Twelfth Transforming by Pauline Gedge. Love the concept of dynastic sweep, but much of the interactions aren't as compelling as when I read them years ago. Plus, not sure how much of the intricacies hold up in light of possible newer archeological evidence. There are some sections I like though, and she paints the corrupt family vibe well enough.


----------



## Maelgwynn

Currently reading New Maps of Hell: A Survey of Science Fiction by Kingsley Amis, 1960, a first time read for me. Quite interesting to read a sixty plus year old overview of a genre that has changed so much over time, and I enjoy the way Amis writes.


----------



## indianroads

C.K.Johnson said:


> I’m certain I’ve mentioned this before but Bag of Bones is a personal favorite, probably because I have the audio with King reading the book. But if you’re looking for something shorter, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is perfect for baseball season.


I recall reading Bag of Bones rears ago, don’t remember much about it though. My favorite book by King might be the Dead Zone. 
How about Stephen Pressfield? Tides of War is really good.


----------



## C.K.Johnson

indianroads said:


> I recall reading Bag of Bones rears ago, don’t remember much about it though. My favorite book by King might be the Dead Zone.
> How about Stephen Pressfield? Tides of War is really good.


Sounds interesting.


----------



## S J Ward

Working my way through my (70's) collection of John Wyndham books. Just re-read 'The Kraken Wakes' and actually found it quite prophetic... just take away the alien invasion part and replace it latterly with global warming.


----------



## indianroads

My Amazon review of *Big Dark Sky by Dean Koontz* (finished reading it last week):

_4 Stars: Good, not great
A cumbersome story with so many characters that it was hard to care about any of them. The story follows a common theme: alien artificial intelligence goes mad, which is often interesting, but the excessive number of characters made it hard to follow.
Still though, the writing was excellent, and for the most part I enjoyed the read. _

I'll add for WF that there was a subplot with three characters that just wandered off and was unused and unnecessary. Maybe the author didn't meet WC requirements? It was like a peninsula that spurred off the plot and went nowhere. This astounded me because Koontz usually writes well, so I don't know what got into him.


----------



## Sinister

Just read King's "The Jaunt."  Some of the character interactions were a little cringe and it was overtold and under-developed character-wise.  But it stuck the landing and for a Sci-Fi King story, it was very good.  Does it deserve to be a mini-series?  No.  Not everything King does should be a mini-series.  Just do a Stephen King presents show, ala Alfred Hitchcock Presents and tuck it in there.  Can't wait for "The Reaper's Image" mini-series, purely to see how you stretch a six page short story to a six episode show.

-Sin


----------



## C.K.Johnson

Just finished Jennette McCurdy’s autobiography “I’m Glad My Mom Died”. I’m not familiar with her career, but I heard a lot about this book and she is a wonderful writer.
Very disturbing yet funny, honest, insightful, heartbreaking and full of hope.


----------



## PrairieHostage

My new read is A Wolf Called Romeo by Nick Jans. It's about a wolf who interacted with humans in Juneau, Alaska for seven years. This kind of stuff makes me cry .. in a good way.
Edit to add, right from the first page, I know I'm in good hands. Get a load of this:

For the animal shall not be measured by man.
In a world older and more complex than ours, they move
finished and complete, gifted with the extension of the
senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices
we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings, they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time.

Henry Beston


----------



## JBF

Having completed the slog (and given it .5 out of a possible 5-star review) I've moved on to Harold Coyle's _Team Yankee._ 

Coyle was one of a batch of military fiction authors who started writing modern mil-fic when the Cold War was an ongoing thing.  The genre is somewhat older, going back roughly to the close of World War II, but as a whole it saw something of a resurgence in 1984 with _Clancy's Hunt for the Red October. _ This also provided a continuation of writing opportunities for a number of authors who had established names with Viet Nam-era fiction and cracked the lid on twenty or thirty years of military/technological what-ifs, though it seems mil/sci-fi has largely moved to scratch that particular itch.  

Anyhoo.  _Team Yankee._  This one follows a group of U.S. Army tankers in Europe in a Cold-War-gone-hot scenario.  Coyle is a fourteen-year army vet, so his grasp of the ins and outs of how the organization functions (and doesn't) are good, as is his eye for detail in what all is involved in fighting armor in wintertime.  

The writing is so-so and the characters are kinda flat - common enough in the early works of a writer with a high degree of technical expertise who hasn't figured out the whole character/characterization/dialogue thing yet, but it carries on the other merits.  

I'd call it a tentative 3.5-4/5 so far.


----------



## Theglasshouse

Nancy Kress, "Laws of survival." I hope to read her collection of stories and buy her book which costs five dollars on kindle. Already I have some ideas. Her collection has 700 pages. I am reading this story from The Year's Best Science Fiction twenty-fifth annual collection anthology.


----------



## indianroads

Current read is an ARC titled Hell Spring by Isaac Thorne. It's a paranormal-horror story. It reads good so far.


----------



## indianroads

My review of the ARC: Hell Spring -
_Visceral horror
I received this book as an ARC, an Author Review Copy, and this is my honest review.
Stephen King has nothing on this author. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s a visceral paranormal horror story that at times made my skin crawl. The novel is very well written, the characters are unique, relatable, and complex, and the demon is just… good heavens… wow.
I highly recommend this book for aficionados of creepy horror fiction._

Current read: Andromeda: The Encounter
Just started it last night, seems ok so far.


----------



## Asterion

A Hero of our Time - Mikhail Lermontov


----------



## Parabola

SkullCrack City, reminds of Fight Club in tone.


----------



## indianroads

Finished Andromeda the encounter.
Not recommended. Interesting premise, poor writing.
I’m sitting at a VI restaurant- no internet at home due to construction- searching for my next read. Downloaded a few samples and will see how it goes.


----------



## mistamastamusta

Lasy Midnight - Cassandra Clare


----------



## S J Ward

Clive Cusslers HellBurner written by Mike Maden... and you can tell it's not Cussler!


----------



## Matchu

I read Coetzee - Disgrace…the book was great, nourishing in Pedigree Chum sense [archaic]. But now I am mainly buying supermarket books - had time away from work, visited Waterstones fancy book store as a civilian activity and it was full of book wankers like me.  I lost equilibrium, threw tantrum in the book shop queue: tut, muttering toward the checkout and huffed &  left all of the stupid books about boring issues  I had selected - left behind on the counter - dear assistant posh person librarian assistant wouldn’t get off from  her telephone to service me -  and  so I purchased a childrens/sci-fi story down at the supermarket instead, much cheaper -  Opwration Hail Mary, Andy Weir, total sh@t, reads as WF workshop contribution, respectfully.


----------



## indianroads

Re-reading Orwell's 1984 - I do this every few years or so. Fahrenheit 451 is next, then Brave New World.
All these books stand the test of time IMO.


----------



## Pamelyn Casto

I just might join you, @indianroads , in re-reading 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and Brave New World.  I'll add Animal Farm to my list of novels that deserve revisiting. As you said, these have stood the test of time and might be particularly important to think about for our present state of being in the world.


----------



## indianroads

Pamelyn Casto said:


> I just might join you, @indianroads , in re-reading 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and Brave New World.  I'll add Animal Farm to my list of novels that deserve revisiting. As you said, these have stood the test of time and might be particularly important to think about for our present state of being in the world.


We've been standing on the tracks watching the train approach for decades - let's hope we step off the tracks before we're run over.


----------



## Joker

Pamelyn Casto said:


> I just might join you, @indianroads , in re-reading 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and Brave New World.  I'll add Animal Farm to my list of novels that deserve revisiting. As you said, these have stood the test of time and might be particularly important to think about for our present state of being in the world.



Don't forget Lord of the Flies.


----------



## Pamelyn Casto

Yes, @Joker, and Lord of the Flies. All these books we've mentioned for re-reading sit on my bookshelf. They sit there, patiently waiting for yet another reading. I too think they're that important.


----------



## Matchu

Triggered by the O level syllabus referencing -

…I hereby trade Orwell & the Huxley for ye olde The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists - if you like the classic political stuff- ww2 troops in Burma read this novel.  Claimed as the book that gave UK the 1945 Labour government displacing Churchill.

…an old man even stopped me on a train when he saw I was reading RTP, all misty-eyed he said the book was ‘compulsory in the trade union movement, son…’

Tressel explains why the Spanish hurl vicars from steeples and all bosses are filth blah blah: ‘evangelical’ if you want to annoy the family for a couple of months, join a commune, wear loincloths outdoors/shopping.

I always want to quote RTP but I need to read it all again - while you guys read 1984…


----------



## Pamelyn Casto

A memory triggered by the mention of Burma  . . . My dad fought in Burma in World War II. He received a Purple Heart and a Silver Star for his service. He was part of the famous Merrill's Marauders. Another memory . . . He told me that when his military service ended, they put him on a bus, took him to the edge of town, and just dropped him off. He had to walk the rest of the way home alone (a couple of miles). No one knew he was coming either.


----------



## Matchu

My uncle Charlie was a chindit.  But they are all dead now - quite difficult to locate the ‘links.’


----------



## indianroads

My father was a radio operator in the Navy during WW2 - had two ships sunk beneath him, once spending several days in a rubber raft before he was rescued.
He also had to go on land into China and Europe to set up communications there. He started me learning Savate (French Kickboxing) when I was 5 because he encountered 2 Savate trained Nazi sympathizers who killed several of his group.


----------



## Joker

Pamelyn Casto said:


> A memory triggered by the mention of Burma  . . . My dad fought in Burma in World War II. He received a Purple Heart and a Silver Star for his service. He was part of the famous Merrill's Marauders. Another memory . . . He told me that when his military service ended, they put him on a bus, took him to the edge of town, and just dropped him off. He had to walk the rest of the way home alone (a couple of miles). No one knew he was coming either.



If he happens to still be alive, thank him for his service for me.


----------



## Matchu

My Dad’s dad did something unglamorous , knocked dents from Lancaster bombers…maybe he was ground crew?  I mythologise him & he died before I was born, my father too upset to talk about any of it.

My Mum’s  dad -  chief engineer, merchant navy, sunk 3x. Very bad-tempered when I knew him!

Wife’s  family were all guards officers and desert rats, aristocracy.


----------



## indianroads

Matchu said:


> My Dad’s dad did something unglamorous , knocked dents from Lancaster bombers…maybe he was ground crew?  I mythologise him & he died before I was born, my father too upset to talk about any of it.
> 
> *My Mum’s  dad -  chief engineer, merchant navy, sunk 3x. Very bad-tempered when I knew him!*
> 
> Wife’s  family were all guards officers and desert rats, aristocracy.


Yeah - I think that entire generation had PTSD.


----------



## Matchu

Shell shock & lmf were the terms of the era.  Sure I got a spot of the PTSD spending nights with the bipolar guy in the workplace.  

Back to books - I had a secret saddo ‘spitfire’ collection’ - Richard Hilary being my favourite of those pilot-writers - the elegance of his prose - until his death.  I gave those books to my brother.  Then I got into tankers and the best of them is/was a guy who doesn’t even get his sentencing right all of the times - Ken Tout, really lovely and suburban, almost, voice….

bloke hobbies


----------



## S J Ward

My grandfather joined the army In 1913  he ran away from a paupers home to do so. He was 14 at the time. In 1914 he went abroad with the career. His claim to fame was... he never shot another human being. Unfortunately, his job was to move guns to the front line then take the horses back. He shot horses. That changes a person!


----------



## JBF

My grandfather on the paternal side went in the army in 1938 or '39 after a stint in the CCC.  Between secondhand stories from that side and what little I have of his service record we know he made it out of the Philippines in 1941 not too long before the Japanese Army took up residence.  He did a year or two cooking for a Coast Artillery outfit in California, and reclassed a rifleman in 1944, which got him sent to Europe.  He was evidently captured for a few days in the Winter of 44/45, which he survived, and stayed in until after Korea. 

Aside from what he told my grandmother, he never talked about any of it.  He died when I was nine or ten. ...probably wouldn't have said anything to me, either...but I'd have liked the chance to ask.

Grandpa on the maternal side was in between wars, after Korea and before Viet Nam.  He was supposedly in the same unit as Elvis.  He didn't talk about it, either.  Not an Elvis fan, one guesses.


----------



## indianroads

Grandfather - mother's side, immigrated from Ireland as a boy. Met and married a girl from his home village (Tralee), he was proud to be an American and although he and my grandmother were native Irish speakers they refused to speak the language around their children (he used to say, we're Americans now). Anyway, he served in the Calvary in WW1, fought in the trenches in Europe, was exposed to Mustard Gas and had breathing problems afterward. 

Great Grandfather - father's side, fought under General George Custer in the American Civil war. My cousin has an autographed photo of Custer.


----------



## Parabola

Tsardom of Russia. So, student of history or class clown? Either way the classroom gets obliterated.


----------



## S J Ward

Mike Maden writing as Clive Cussler, unfinished and in the cupboard.
Cider with Rosie, Laurie Lee now


----------



## M J Tennant 2022

Eleanor Oliphant it Completely Fine


*##Link removed by moderator##*


----------



## indianroads

Finished 1984, depressing in a good way because the book serves as a warning. I hope we’ll turn back before it’s too late.
Starting Brave New World.


----------



## Matchu

I raised ‘Eleanor Oliphant’ as a talking point with a colleague.  A useful communications tool actually - for older staff particularly.  The youngsters, I tend to sprinkle the rofl and lol into my dialogue for acceptance at their level.  Probably I’ll buy tins of monster, jelly babies maybe after senior briefing, going forward


----------



## Matchu

There should be limits on reading 1984.  At least, it has the sex scenes, & comparable to the sex paragraph in Jaws (see Damon, AD1984’s archaic references)

I suppose my secret ‘read 800 times in secret’ nominations would be Papillon and Forgotten Soldier, G Sajer..  Female choice, of course.


----------



## peter king

I'm going to be spending the next few weeks reading several detective stories.


----------



## Joker

My friend harassed me until I started reading The Second Apocalypse. This shit's long so he really owes me one...


----------



## indianroads

It's been many years since I read Brave New World - which I'm re-reading now.
As a writer I recognize and can appreciate techniques Huxley used - the intro (10%) was interesting because it seemed more of a TELL rather than a SHOW, but then the story takes off like a rocket as three or four timelines launch into glorious chaos. The experience was like riding a roller coaster, abruptly switching POV for (at times) a single sentence before whipping back to another character. I was left breathless. 

Now I look at my stuff and shake my head, knowing that I have SO VERY MUCH to learn.


----------



## wildsouthland

Currently reading The Dreamt Land by Mark Arax.

It's a kaleidoscopic look at the history of water in California's central valley. Fascinating, exhaustively researched, incredibly well-written.


----------



## TMarie

Just finished, Eye of the Needle (K. Follet)... the only hardcover book I kept from my husband's library. I do enjoy a good spy story. The last four chapters took over two weeks to read because I didn't want the story to end.

In progress, Wild (C. Strayed)... bathtub reading. My inspiration to climb a mountain next year. Not sure if I will watch the movie.

Starting, Five Little Indians (M. Good)... an award-winning story about survivors of residential schools in Canada. I was privileged last month to attend an author reading and discussion.


----------



## mistamastamusta

_Bridge of Clay _by Mark Zusak for the second time.


----------



## c8p1lu

On a Knife Edge: How Germany Lost the First World War (Cambridge Military Histories)​


----------



## S J Ward

Landlines by Raynor Winn. This is her third book and by far the best. The Salt Path, her first, was good; setting her on  her writing career after so much hardship (homelessness and a suspected (expected) terminally ill husband). The second, forget. But this one, I seriously recommend to any adventurer, or even any down- in- the-dumps moaner; that life is so unfair and there's never a light at the end of the tunnel.
Makes you believe that everything is possible if you put your mind to it.


----------



## indianroads

I finished Brave New World last night - it had been quite a few years since I had read it, and I had forgotten how through provoking and well written it is.
I'll probably start in on Fahrenheit 451 tonight - I'm building myself up to dive into a dystopian novel next - tentative name is, Maelstrom.


----------



## C.K.Johnson

My WIP storyline revolves around adoption and I have no experience with this topic so I’m seeking novels about adoption. Just finished ‘Somewhere Out There’ by Amy Hatvany and I plan to read more by this author.


----------



## Parabola

Since You've Been Gone (just a sample). I stopped reading after use of the name "Sloane." Might go back to finish reading it. Stumbled on this because I'm looking for some good slice of life shtuff. 

Ultimately, the search continues.


----------



## indianroads

Started in on Fahrenheit 451 last night - I'm humbled by Bradbury's writing.


----------



## mistamastamusta

_The Shadow Prince_ by Bree Despain


----------



## Sinister

"And then away for home! Away to the quickest and nearest train! Away from the cursed spot, from this cursed land, where the devil and his children still walk with earthly feet and things have learnt to walk when they ought to crawl!  At least God's mercy is better than that of those monsters, and the precipice is steep and high.  At its foot a man may sleep, as a man. Goodbye, all. Mina!"

Tis the season.  If you've never read the works of Stoker or Lovecraft, find yourself splitting open a book of theirs this October.  There's no better time.  I am rereading the best horror book ever writ.  Dracula.

-Sin


----------



## Mullanphy

_Atlas Shrugged_ by Ayn Rand.

After decades of avoiding it, seeing it recommended more than once in more than one thread in WF, I decided to give it a read. I bought the least expensive print edition, mass market trade edition, but might have to repurchase it in a digital version because the print is so small. I caught myself flicking my thumb and index finger open on the second page in a vain attempt to enlarge the print!


----------



## indianroads

Mullanphy said:


> _Atlas Shrugged_ by Ayn Rand.
> 
> After decades of avoiding it, seeing it recommended more than once in more than one thread in WF, I decided to give it a read. I bought the least expensive print edition, mass market trade edition, but might have to repurchase it in a digital version because the print is so small. I caught myself flicking my thumb and index finger open on the second page in a vain attempt to enlarge the print!


Lace up your running shoes - Atlas Shrugged is a marathon.


----------



## Mullanphy

indianroads said:


> Lace up your running shoes - Atlas Shrugged is a marathon.


On a real good day I can do 2.5 mph, but I can do it all day long. I may not finish in the top ten, but I'll finish the course.

The print copy I have, "pocket book" style, is over a thousand pages. Last book I read with that many words was a couple of Michener's novels. As much as I enjoy re-reading his stuff, the first three times I was in stage four:  https://www.writingforums.com/blog/stages-of-a-reader.2702/


----------



## Ladyserpentine

C.K.Johnson said:


> My WIP storyline revolves around adoption and I have no experience with this topic


FYI, I'm adopted- feel free to PM me if you want any first-hand information!


----------



## indianroads

I started The Peripheral last night. We’ve been watching the TV version on Prime, and it’s fairly interesting, the book though… well so far it’s subpar. Hopefully it will pick up.

ETA: I gave up on the Peripheral. The writing was poor and the sentence structure was dyslexic.


----------



## Matchu

I gave up on ‘Operation Hail Mary’ written by the author of ‘the Martian’ - or I used it as a wedge for the broken bed.  Come back to it, probably not.  I bought a famous book ‘Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee’ Dee Brown - which will either be brilliant, disturbing, enlightening when it arrives or difficult to read w my small brain.  It should arrive soon.  Maybe buy some Bertie Wooster anthology as the counter-balance?  I’ll go online now- trusting I don’t purchase Nazi tank commander memoirs.  ‘Do not purchase nazi tank commander memoirs!’


----------



## Jabba the Stag

_Death by Government_ by Rummel: an account of the people murdered by their own governments during the 20th century, around 200 million of them. It turns out that more, far more, people have been exterminated by the governments than all the people killed in war or murdered by criminals put together.


----------



## Matchu

I bought cakes and Ale W Somerset Maugham & Jeeves & Wooster vol1…a bit worthy - but my choice from some ‘funniest books in history’ list

(I’ve read Good Soldier Sjek and Catch 22…from the list…don’t really like hitchhikers guide - found it a bit forced, I’ll have to return to it…)


----------



## indianroads

Reading Eleven Days now by D. Ward Cornell. The writing is good and the story has captured my interest.


----------



## VRanger

I recently finished the last of @indianroads five book Extinction series. Good writing and lots of imagination. I recommend it, and you can find it in Member's Published Books here on WF.


----------



## Llyralen

_Madam, Will You Talk? _by Mary Stewart. I'm a huge Mary Stewart fan and this was her first book.It's the worst of her books, imo. Much more exposition, many more character descriptions that didn't need to be there. It was kind of refreshing, actually, to find that this author I love so much was able to get rid of these bad habits by book 2 and 3. Habits that are difficult for me too.


----------



## indianroads

VRanger said:


> I recently finished the last of @indianroads five book Extinction series. Good writing and lots of imagination. I recommend it, and you can find it in Member's Published Books here on WF.


Thanks. I’m glad you enjoyed it.


----------



## Pamelyn Casto

I'm enjoying exploring Palm-of-the-Hand Stories by Yasunari Kawabata. He is a fascinating writer. He's able to make a tiny story, a page and a half long, come to life. I guess that's why he won a Nobel Prize for his work. He is definitely out of the ordinary and a true genius with the short-shorts. A workshop friend and I have been reading the small story, "Immortality" (just three pages long) and we got two entirely different interpretations. I find that so interesting--the same words, two different readers, and two different interpretations. And two people who love the story.


----------



## Joker

Jabba the Stag said:


> _Death by Government_ by Rummel: an account of the people murdered by their own governments during the 20th century, around 200 million of them. It turns out that more, far more, people have been exterminated by the governments than all the people killed in war or murdered by criminals put together.



Yes, but disease blows _that _out of the water.


----------



## Parabola

Sometimes I read my google docs journal, an often fragmented account of days gone by. It's kinda strange how chaos and extreme repetition can co-exist.


----------



## indianroads

Finished 11 Days by D. Ward Cornell
It was just ok. The writing was kinda 'clunky'.

My review.
4 Stars
*interesting story*
An interesting story that starts out as a typical alien invasion tale, then morphs into a rescue mission. 
The story idea was fresh, and I liked that.


----------



## indianroads

Started in on Lost in Time by A.G. Riddle last night - and I'm impressed. The book is well written and has a unique story line.


----------



## Parabola

Fahrenheit 451. I'm enjoying it so far, and it conjures up some compelling imagery.


----------



## indianroads

Parabola said:


> Fahrenheit 451. I'm enjoying it so far, and it conjures up some compelling imagery.


One of my most favorite books - Bradbury is a genius IMO.


----------



## Parabola

indianroads said:


> One of my most favorite books - Bradbury is a genius IMO.



He's definitely more interesting than a lot of the "classics" I've tried. I plan on reading The Halloween Tree next.


----------



## LoveofWriting

Fight Night by Miriam Toews.


----------



## daleydale

3 books right now!
On audiobook: The Rose Code by Kate Quinn. WWII women's fiction. The narration on this (by Saskia Maarleveld) is really good! So far I love it. 
On e-book: just finished re-reading Tamora Pierce's The Realm of the Gods (which I haven't read since about 6th grade). Still loved it! Now onto book 1.5 of a paranormal mystery romance series called the Peculiar Mysteries by Renee George, My Furry Valentine
Also e-book (which I mostly read on my phone when I'm out in public [especially when my main e-book is raunchy] and waiting for something): A Goose Girl by K.M. Shea (fairytale retelling).


----------



## indianroads

Finished Lost in Time by A.G. RIddle - my review on Amazon:


 ​




from Ken Barrett on November 24, 2022 
*Something original*
These days I struggle to find novels with unique plots and engaging characters, this novel surpassed my expectations. The writing is clean, and the plot and characters kept me turning pages.
Highly recommended.​

Although I gave a 5 star review... which it deserved, the main premise of the story was about time travel and the multiverse, and I was disappointed that wasn't explored more than the off-the-cuff mentions that it received.


----------



## S J Ward

The Brilliant & Forever by Kevin MacNeil. A local lad from the isle of Lewis. His book is set on the island and revolves around a literature competition called the brilliant & forever, which actually sounds really bland. But in this story humans live alongside literate alpacas. This year, they actually held the competition on the island for the first time, alpacas were invited too!


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## C.K.Johnson

Bastard out of Carolina. I’ve read it before, many years ago, but it’s different reading it as a writer. The prose is beautiful and the character of Bone reminds me a lot of Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird. Except Scout wanted to be ‘good’ and Bone feels like the only way she can survive is to be ‘bad’.


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## HighSchoolDropOut

Re-reading _The Spirit Ring_, by Lois McMaster Bujold. The story takes place in the late middle ages of Italy (1500's ?) where magic is common place, but only by those licensed by the Church. As you can imagine, the story is intriguing and doesn't disappoint. Highly recommended.


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## PrairieHostage

The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture by Gabor Mate MD.

Posits we all suffer from small "t" trauma and some from big "T" trauma and that the culture within which we live is toxic in that it prevents us from healing. Culture includes a medical profession that refuses to acknowledge and treat mind body connection. Part One seems written by a different author than Part Two but I'll read through to the end. Will post a review in my blog.


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## roadscribe

Reading more Dennis Lehane this week, *The Given Day* in particular. It follows the lives of two men in the 1920's, covering a lot of grounded political events, racism, organized crime, and loads of juicy violence. Lehane is heads and shoulders above most in his genre.


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## indianroads

Struggling to get through 'Pushing Ice' by Alastair Reynolds. The book has an interesting story line, but the characters ... oy!
Two female main characters that have been in a cat-fight for most of the book - one is incredibly vindictive, and will do everything in her power to hurt the other. The thing is that what they are fighting about was over 15 years ago - yet one continues to punish the other. It's a maddening read, but fortunately I'm nearing the end.


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## LoveofWriting

I'm reading Brick Lane by Monica Ali. Anyone heard of her?


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## Parabola

The samples for Small Spaces, and Rot and Ruin (by separate authors), both horror but for the younger audience. Haven't decided yet, although the latter seems to have more gravitas. Not sure which one I'm in the mood for.


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## indianroads

Tiny Magic Big Heart by James Dutton (@VRanger ). It’s awesome! I bought copies for all my grandkids.


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## indianroads

Finished Tiny Magic Big Heart, and absolutely solved it. 
Highly recommended. Will post the review when it goes live.


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## indianroads

My review of Tiny Magic Big Heart came up quickly. Here it is.
Ken Barrett
_5.0 out of 5 stars_        beautifully written story, perfect for young adults.
Reviewed in the United States  on December 18, 2022
Verified Purchase
I thoroughly enjoyed this story and have bought the book for all my grandkids. It’s a wonderful story courage and loyalty, with the message that even the smallest of us can rise and become heroes.
Highly recommended!


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## bdcharles

_Rotherweird _by Andrew Caldecott (he of the Hutton enquiry). It's amazing!


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## indianroads

Just finished ‘Little Lost Witch’ by James Dutton (aka @VRanger ). Wonderful fairy tale with a message about the power of goodness and integrity. Will post my 5 star review when it comes up on Amazon.


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## Parabola

Decided to go back to my roots. 

Finished Small Spaces and Dead Voices (same series) in a number of days, and according to other people, the friggin' third book has an awesome plot twist, so now I have to do the same with that one.


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## indianroads

Currently about a third of the way through *'Straight Shot, Tom Keeler Book 1' by Jack Lively*. It's one of those war hero vs criminals stories - it's a genre I plan to write in eventually, and I wanted to get a feel for it. I'm not impressed with this book though; the author uses short choppy sentences that feels like riding over a bumpy road in a car with a bad suspension, and his descriptions are unnecessarily detailed as well. The story and the writing aren't awful, they're just not to my taste.


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## indianroads

Just finished 'Straight Shot, Tom Keeler Book1' by Jack Lively.
My amazon review:

Ken Barrett
_4.0 out of 5 stars_        Good story  
Reviewed in the United States  on December 29, 2022
Verified Purchase
The story itself was fine, but the characters didn’t seem real or relatable at all. Also, the writing was choppy, it was like driving over a bumpy road in a vehicle with bad suspension. Yet still, for those that enjoy the typical stories of an ex military guy saving the day, I recommend this book.   

Beyond the review - I won't be reading anything else by this author.


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## Riptide

I'm doing this whole 100 books challenge for next year. I'm starting a little early...

Reading _Truly Devious_ by Maureen Johnson. A little YA mystery. But it was a slow burn for me getting into it


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## indianroads

Oh good lord.
I’m loading up my reading with urban thrillers because beyond Maelstrom that’s what I want to write next.
My last read in that genre (see above) had what I feel is terrible sentence structure, short and choppy that barely made sense standing alone. I hated it, but finished it. The kindle sample I just opened is the first Jack Reacher book by Lee Child… can you guess what I found? Yup. The same short bumpy sentences. Is that a thing for urban fiction?


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## Joker

indianroads said:


> Oh good lord.
> I’m loading up my reading with urban thrillers because beyond Maelstrom that’s what I want to write next.
> My last read in that genre (see above) had what I feel is terrible sentence structure, short and choppy that barely made sense standing alone. I hated it, but finished it. The kindle sample I just opened is the first Jack Reacher book by Lee Child… can you guess what I found? Yup. The same short bumpy sentences. Is that a thing for urban fiction?



Use less words.


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## indianroads

Joker said:


> Use less words.


Make bumpy ride. Unintelligible.


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## Joker

indianroads said:


> Make bumpy ride. Unintelligible.


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## indianroads

indianroads said:


> Make bumpy ride. Unintelligible.


@Joker : That's what this form of sentences does to me. I find it annoying, but maybe I'm not their target reader.


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## Saturn Scarab

Jon M said:


> You know the deal.
> 
> At the moment, I'm reading _The Red Pony_ by Steinbeck. It's about a pony. A red pony named Gabilan.


Reading _I, Robot, _from Isaac Asimov, quite a good Sci-Fi book.


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## indianroads

Current read is Ripple Effect by L.T. Ryan.
It's a urban thriller with spies and assassins, which is what I was looking for and so far it's not awful. The problem is mostly me... my internal editor kicks in when come across misused words and clumsy sentencing. Each time that happens it's like running over a pothole in my car, jarring and unpleasant.


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## indianroads

Finished Ripple Effect by L.T. Ryan. It was a sort of 'meh' read, and the characters had propensities of "nodding their heads" and "shrugging their shoulders".
My Amazon review:
_4.0 out of 5 stars_        Lots of action  
Reviewed in the United States  on January 8, 2023
Verified Purchase
This is a good story with lots of surprises, intrigue, and gun fights. For me the main characters were overly typical for this genre, and the antagonists were two dimensional. The writing was good but had a few annoying quirks.


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## That Guy Named Aaron

Wikipedia: Deaths in 2023.

What?


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## Jon M

Started reading _Mongrels_, by Stephen Graham Jones, the other day. It is a story about a family of werewolves, ostensibly, but with a literary feel to it. So far I am enjoying it.​


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## Parabola

Jon M said:


> Started reading _Mongrels_, by Stephen Graham Jones, the other day. It is a story about a family of werewolves, ostensibly, but with a literary feel to it. So far I am enjoying it.​



It's in my collection of books I need to finish. I remembered enjoying what I did read though. Good atmosphere and snappy feel to the prose. Haven't read any of his other stuff and should probably get on that.


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## Jon M

Parabola said:


> It's in my collection of books I need to finish. I remembered enjoying what I did read though. Good atmosphere and snappy feel to the prose. Haven't read any of his other stuff and should probably get on that.


The other book of his I own is _The Only Good Indians_, which I hear is really good, too, maybe his best.​


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## PrairieHostage

Metabolical: The Lure and the Lies of Processed Food, Nutrition, and Modern Medicine


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## jej_jones

Currently reading Witch Hunter by Max Seeck. Not a fan so far. 30% through. Characters are stale and unrelatable. After this, I’ll be able to start writing my next book, so at least there’s that lol


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## indianroads

Started The Perfect Assassin by James Patterson. I’ve only just started it, so far, so good.


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## NajaNoir

Casino Royale by Ian Fleming. 

Watched all the Bond movies with my dad while growing up. I got to thinking not long ago that he'd be an interesting character to read, so I asked for some books for Christmas. 

I wasn't wrong, Fleming created a wildly vivid good time.


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