Book: What Book Are You Reading?

[Sapphire]

House of the Scorpion is an absolutely amazing novel. The characters and emotions are so intense. We get to see life in the main characters eyes as he is born, lives through prejudice, escapes from it, finds love, and conquers all of his challenges. The villains in that novel are my favorite kind, not truly 100% evil, all having thier own reasons for what they do. Everyone has a depth and personality that let's you understand them to some degree, even, if you'd rather not.

For the book of the month idea, sounds good. I know a lot of really good sci-fi+fantasy authors. But I also know good fiction, romance, adventure authors too. Will we vote on the book or something? (I personally would prefer to read a book I've never read, if possible)

My fave authors I can think of right now are
NEAL SHUSTERMAN
Karen Marie Moning
Laurell K. Hamilton (love hate relashionship)
Phillip Pullman (Just his His Dark Materials series)
Lisa Kleypas (Her early stuff)
Jaqueline Carey
K.J Parker
Juliette Marillier

some other authors

[Munsu]

For the book of the month idea, sounds good. I know a lot of really good sci-fi+fantasy authors. But I also know good fiction, romance, adventure authors too. Will we vote on the book or something? (I personally would prefer to read a book I've never read, if possible)

When I've thought it through... I'll create a specific thread to discuss it, for now let's keep this thread on-topic.

But yeah, the idea for the most part would be for people to give some suggestions, then through some criteria select 5 or so of the suggestions and have the people interested vote. But I got to think this through a bit more, probably a couple of weeks.

[rockmanj]

I'm reading "the dice man' by Luke Rhineheart. Its pretty funny, but really f-ed up. Its about a psychiatrist that chooses to live his life by rolling Dice. Interesting read, to say the least.

[Munsu]

J.D. Salinger wrote something other than the Catcher in the Rye? i thought that was the only book he had written.

Bud, let me know what you think of the sword of truth series. i've heard it's like an adult version of harry potter, so i'm curious about how it is.
I don't know of it being an adult version of Harry Potter, but it's quite good so far... 260 pages into Wizard's First Rule. There's magic, violence, and all those goodies... but aside from that I don't see the resemblance to Harry Potter at this moment. If anything so far, it seems more like a Lord of the Rings type of thing, probably more adult oriented in itself than LoTR. Regardless, it's quite good so far.


Well, after reading some more and as I haven't read many novels, the closest thing I can compare it to from what I know is to Berserk. Lots of magic, journey's, brutal, violent, everyone's horny, beast, demons, etc., disgusting acts against humanity, ruthless rapes, etc.

Great story in my opinion, but no one is safe... and not only are they not safe, but everyone could face some really harsh torments and a gruesome, disgusting, brutal death.

Good shit, I highly recommend it. Give it a go... there's a healthy amount of romance too, if you like those types of elements.

[SilentSnake]

dunno if anyone mentioned it here (13 pages is a bit too much to read at once for me at this late hour) but Pratchett's books are pure joy.

I read discworld series and I love every single book.

Bought myself Hogfather recently and it's in english - his books are very addicting (english is not my mother tongue).

random quote from this very book :

"An education was a bit like a communicable sexual disease. It made you unsuitable for a lot of jobs and then you had the urge to pass it on."

[python862]

Oh, man, I haven't read a book in awhile. I think the most recent was "The Golden Compass", part of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials". I enjoyed that one, although it did start off quite slowly.

Like SilentSnake said, 13 pages is a bit much, so if anyone has anything they've already said about what I'm about to say next, I'm sorry.

Another good title (or series) was "Halo: First Strike". I don't remember the author's name, but I remember that it was a well written story. I actually haven't read any of the other Halo books, but I think I'll try and chack some out soon.

"Merlin: The Lost Years" was a good title by T.A. Barron, and I did rather enjoy it. I think I posted something on it awhile back, but you'd have to file through my posts to find it, since I'm a bit too lazy at the moment.

I also rather enjoyed Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events. Simple reads, and progressively longer each novel. Drama sorta thickens up after the third book, but all twelve or thirteen are good reads.

I was introduced to the "Incarnations" novels by a friend, and the most recent one I've read was "Bearing an Hourglass". A very good read, but DAMN does Piers Anthony begin rambling on near the end. Beware in advance of the last fifty pages or so.

I think those are the last few books I've read. If I remember or find any more, I'll post another time with them.

[saman]

i just finished reading twilight by stephenie meyers. a little girly, but holy crap so good! i read the whole thing in a day

[Munsu]

Well an update on what I've been reading. Right now I'm reading the second book of Odd Thomas, Forever Odd. So far it isn't as good as the first one.

I also read the 5th book of Ranger's Apprentice, The Sorceress of the North which was more of a setup book for the next one in the series, not much happened.

Continued reading the Sword of Truth series, finished up to Naked Empire, so I think I only have the last trilogy left. Taking a break from it at the moment.

Also read Bloodheir, second book of the Godless World trilogy which I have been enjoying quite a bit.

I think that pretty much covers it. I just bought the first two books of the Gentlemen Bastard series which starts with The Lies of Locke Lamora. Anyone knows anything about this? I think it looks interesting from the description. Seen it described as a "high fantasy meets Ocean's 11".

I'm going to sticky this thread.

[saman]

oh hey! i remember this thread! i'm reading the entire narnia series in order right now. i'm almost done the horse and his boy. they're...um, interesting.

[Dark Dragon]

Now that i am FINALLY done with finals, it just occurred to me that i haven't had the chance to sit down and read a good book in quite a long while.

Since this is a thread on books people are currently reading, i was wondering if i could get some recommendations.

My favorite type of books are usually fantasy/fiction novels along the line of Eragon but i'm not a very picky person so i am willing to read almost anything as long as it hold my interest.

[Munsu]

Now that i am FINALLY done with finals, it just occurred to me that i haven't had the chance to sit down and read a good book in quite a long while.

Since this is a thread on books people are currently reading, i was wondering if i could get some recommendations.

My favorite type of books are usually fantasy/fiction novels along the line of Eragon but i'm not a very picky person so i am willing to read almost anything as long as it hold my interest.
I've only read a couple of series, so I don't have much to go on.

The Godless World me an my brother have been enjoying quite a bit; it's the debut series for the author. He says it reminds him a bit of the series A Song of Fire and Ice, which is his favorite book series. I haven't read that myself so it's probably worth checking out too... an HBO series is coming out based on A Song of Fire and Ice.

The Ranger's Apprentice is a fun simple series for children and young adults. The books aren't long, about 200-400 pages, and an easy read.

Some book series I'm planning on reading that look interesting are:
The Malazan Book of the Fallen
Riftwar
The Wheels of Time

All three have been highly recommended to me, so you might want to try them out.

But again, I don't know much about novels and stuff. And I'm not picky either, so keep that in mind... I'm easy to please in the enjoyment department.

I just started reading The Lies of Locke Lamora, a debut novel for the author, but I've only read about 30 pages so far. Don't know where it's going, but the plot concept seems original to me, and the dialogue is fun and vulgar.

[Ryllharu]

I'm about 3/4 of the way through Snow Crash, one of the more well know Cyberpunk novels in the genre.

I'm enjoying it, even if a little of it comes off seriously pretentious of the author.


In terms of fantasy/fiction novels, it is more of a modern-day fantasy, but I've really enjoyed the Weather Warden series by Rachel Caine. The first book is ill Wind (lowercase on 'ill' here simply for clarity). It's about a secret organization of people (who work out of the UN) who have abilities to control the weather and other elements so that the earth doesn't kill everyone on the planet thanks to storms and other natural distasters. There are also djinn, beings of fire and death (genies pretty much) who are bound to these people in order to assist this effort. Of course, everything goes to shit pretty fast. Six books are out so far.

[Bread-sama]

Reading It written by Stephen King, finally.

[Junior]

Started Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay.

I *love* Dexter.

[Ryllharu]

Well, they're not really novels, but I'm reading the first three trade hardcovers of Marvel's Runaways.

[Shinda]

"Catcher In The Rye" by J.D. Salinger and "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov.

[saman]

sense and sensibility by jane austen. i'm also reading the narnia and artemis fowl series, having just started the voyage of the dawn treader in the former series, and just finished the arctic incident in the latter one

[Sidnne]

Anyway I recommend Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas if you haven't read it.

I concur. Watching a movie version of it is not enough, too much is left out. The book is great.

Also, anything by Bernard Cornwell is amazing. He is an historical fiction writer, who basically takes a point in history (a period, war, or specific battle), creates a character, and tells the story through that character's point of view.

His books about medieval Europe are fantastic. He has a three-book series about King Arthur (beginning with The Winter King), a 3-book series called The Grail Quest (beginning with The Archer's Tale), which takes place during the early Hundred Years War, a currently 4-book series The Saxon Tales, with a fifth book in the works, about the danish invasion of england during the reign of Alfred the Great (beginning with The Last Kingdom). And a novel called Agincourt, a new release, which is about the epic battle of Agincourt during the Hundred Years War. Plus many, many other novels and series', including the widely popular Sharpe series (some may have seen the TV show based on it) and the Nathaniel Starbuck Chronicles.

My favorite of his books is easily the Saxon Tales novels and I'm dying for the 5th book to come out. I also absolutely loved the Grail Quest series.

If you're looking for a great story full of adventure and action, and maybe even a little historical accuracy as a bonus, you can't go wrong with Cornwell's books.

http://www.bernardcornwell.net/

[glyphes]

I love books! Books are the reason I watch anime - cause I'm a story junkie! I haven't read some of the more fiction oriented stuff people have mentioned in this thread (like the Dan Brown stuff), but I have read most of the scifi/fantasy stuff. . .here are my favorites in no particular order, some of which have already been mentioned.

For the urban heroines (like the previously mentioned Weather Warden series by Rachel Caine, which I liked, but got a bit boring, same with Kim Harrison's stuff):

Patricia Briggs (Love her older fantasy stuff the best - the new Mercy Thompson series is worth a read)

Laurell K Hamilton (Love/hate relationship indeed - I've basically given up on her, but her early stuff is amusing and fun)

Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse series, my favorite vampire series - way better than Hamilton)

Karen Chance (Her Cassandra Chance series is about a clairvoyent - a bit different from the regular butt-whomping heroine)

Tanya Huff (She had a vampires and strong heroines way before anyone else AND her assassin and Wizard of the Grove series are top notch.)

Fantasy Gives Way To Scifi - Authors Who Write Both and Write Them Well.

Lois McMaster Bujold (She has lots of series - Miles Vorkosigan series [space opera] and Curse of the Chalion and the subsequent books set in the same fantasy setting, and the recent Sharing Knife series[fantasy])

C.J. Cherryh (For her Foreigner series, great alien/human contact stories, and Fortress of ____ series, fantasy)


Detective/Supernatural Stuff

Jim Butcher (For his wizard detective in Chicago series [Dresden series], don't watch the scifi show, read the book! I like his Codex Alera series better sometimes, I flip flop, straight up fantasy vs supernatural mystery.)

Simon Green (I liked him long ago for his Deathstalker [space opera] series and Hawke and Fisher series [fantasy] but I like some of his new stuff better, the Nightside series [supernatural kinda weird noire mystery], and Eddie Drood [magical James Bond guy] series)

Whew, that's alot already, sorry for being long-winded, but I really like this stuff! I know it seems that I read alot of women authors, but it's only cause I started listing the butt kicking heroine genre and only women seem to write about, well, strong women. Why's that? Women write about guys, don't they? I actually don't like most of the stuff that comes out in that genre nowadays - alot are Hamilton rip offs. . . but the ones I mentioned are staples :) Maybe I'll list some of my other favorites later!

[Munsu]

Well, I finally finished the Sword of Truth, with Confessor being the final volume. I've heard that he might return to the series once again, but from the looks of it this is the end.

I also just finished reading the first two books of the Riftwar Saga, Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master. Good stuff, and reading this now I can see that the series Ranger's Apprentice got a lot of inspiration from this one. Now waiting for the next two volumes of the saga to arrive.

Some months ago I tried reading The Lies of Locke Lamora, but for some reason I didn't get into it. I'm giving it a second chance at the moment, and it's getting better. I think some here will enjoy it.

[Munsu]

And here's another update:

Still waiting for the next two books of Riftwar to arrive.

I read The Lies of Locke Lamora, and it ended up being great in my opinion. I should've been more patient on my earlier attempt to read it... if I had read two more chapters during that time I would've stuck with it.

It has fun characters, a ton of violence, vulgar and funny dialogues. You guys should give it a try. I also read the sequel too, Red Seas Under Red Skies, which wasn't as strong as the first one but still quite entertaining.

I may start reading The Wheel of Time, unless the books I'm waiting for arrive soon.

Anyone cares to update on what you have read as of late or are reading?

[KitKat]

I've been wanting to read The Lies of Locke Lamora. My brother read it and raves about how good it is.

I haven't read much except for a book entitled Water by Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson. It's a series of short stories about water, and made for great holiday reading while travelling on the bus and waiting at airports. But then, I absolutely adore anything written by Robin McKinley to begin with.

I just put down a deposit on a room, so I'm moving into the heart of Vancouver next month and my new house will be a block away from a brand new library branch. Woot! I'm looking forward to getting a library card and seeing what treasures I can find there. I should probably get around to finishing up the Sword of Truth series since I put that on hold almost 10 years ago, saying that I'd finish it when all the books were written.

And, from looking at glyphes' post, I thought I'd mention that I actually met Tanya Huff in person. She lives really close to where I grew up, so for my grade 12 English project, I wrote my paper on her, and the gracious lady that she is, she agreed to come meet me for an interview. We actually spent half the time talking about our respective cats (this is the dangers of conversations between two cat people). I'm pretty sure I messed up a lot of my interview questions because I was all shy, and it was my first time meeting a Famous Person. She was great though, and the humour and mischeif that you see in her writing style is definitely there when you talk to her in person.

[masamuneehs]

i'm reading Haruki Murakami's "Norweign Wood". bit depressing, and there's almost too much description of seemingly random things, but it's an interesting read and hits pretty close to home for me with the characters.... despite being set in 1970s Japan...

one thing I can't get over is every time I find a spelling / grammar error. I understand that it had to be translated, reprinted, etc, but, seriously, this guy is a fairly famous Japanese author, even abroad. It makes me want to claw my eyes out to know that some shmuck got paid to do this half-ass job...

[Nadouku]

I am currently reading Brave New World. It's quite interesting to see a world where everyone was at the same level, no smaller nor bigger and had the same capacity as every other people. Also, famous people are used as figures of speech: "For our Ford" for example.

[Munsu]

I've been wanting to read The Lies of Locke Lamora. My brother read it and raves about how good it is.


Well I highly recommend it for you guys that like the fantasy genre and are looking for something a bit different within the genre. It's quite refreshing in that regard, and worth it just for that. The author has 7 planned novels in this series, two are out.



I am currently reading Brave New World. It's quite interesting to see a world where everyone was at the same level, no smaller nor bigger and had the same capacity as every other people. Also, famous people are used as figures of speech: "For our Ford" for example.

Seems like the movie Equilibrium with Christian Bale was inspired quite a bit from this book, seeing as society tries to supress feelings, etc.


Anyways, finished reading Eye of the World, the first book from the Wheel of Time series, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I see some similarities with the Sword of Truth series, but better written. Right now I'm in the middle of the second book, The Great Hunt, and I'm liking it more.

I just bought myself the Night Angel Trilogy (The Way of Shadows, Shadow's Edge, Beyond the Shadows), from Brent Weeks, and this are his first three novels written. Seen quite a bit of praise for it, so I might get into it soon.

The other novel I just bought is The Name of the Wind, first book of The Kingkiller Chronicle, which is also a first for the author Patrick Rothfuss, and from what I see it's considered by many the best fantasy novel of 2008.

Any of you read or heard anything of these novels?

[Xelbair]

I'm mostly reading lately a polish fantasy(Narrenturm, God's Warriors, Lux Perpetua and Witcher Saga by Andrzej Sapkowski and Ragnarok 1940 by Marcin Mortka, Mordimmer Madderin Saga(aka. Inquisitor Saga) by Jacek Piekara).

Ragnarok 1940 is alternative version of history - imagine that vikings survived to the XX century - communistic rebellion in Russia was pacified thanks to them and western Europe, Germany is torn with civil war between Nazi, communists and rest. 1st world war was started by the Norseman, and they are now beginning an operation Ragnarok(it starts with assault on Iceland, supporting rebels in Saudi Arabia, and finally assault on Great Britain(part with Berserkir troops was very good - they were psychopaths used as one-time paratroopers armed with best rifle Stutr, some grenades and axe and dropped onto the Edinburgh ). Now i need to buy second tome. Oh and i forgot to mention that each Jarl of Norse alliance is descendant of one of gods, Norway's Konnung is descendant of Odin, henceforth he has some paranormal abilities(not d&dish but rather weak ones).

Inquisitor Saga might offend some people. It is also an alternative history, this time, Jesus, when he was crucified, broken the cross and with apostles killed half of Jerusalem. It is set in XIV century, now inquisition is hunting heresy, but its not so simple - church and inquisition are 2 separate organizations - corrupted one the church and not-so-good one but not corrupted Inquisition... of course they hate each other. Add to this fantasy elements, demons, angels, political plots, and put it into dark fantasy setting. I really enjoyed this series, and i can't wait for next book.
"..and give us strength
to don't forgive those who trespass against us..."
(i've got no idea how original prayer Our Father goes in English - but this is the version translated from the book by me, it shows the rules of that word best)

I would really like to read Wheels of Time, but thanks to f***ed up copyright laws there are chances near 0% to get it in normal store(and used ones are really rare - and they are mostly for 100-200PLN(25 - 50 USD) for one book. Company that bought copyright law for this has ended up bankrupt, but the copyright was for their director and its impossible here to have 2 people/companies have copyright for same thing... and the funniest thing is that nobody can reach that guy.

[Munsu]

Wow, that sucks.

If you want, then torrent this PDF which has all the books inside. Just 16mb and it includes some of the prequel novels, which you should ignore at the moment. Just scroll down to Eye of the World and begin from there.
http://www.torrentz.com/a92ef7b98e5d27696db16beb075ceb0a3b1a0f16

Anyways, updateting a bit. Read the 3rd book of WoT, Dragon Reborn, and really liked it... cool series so far.

Also read The Name of the Wind and I thought it was really good, waiting for the 2nd book to come out. Some of you that enjoy fantasy should like this one.

Also read the Ways of Shadows, the first of the Night Angel trilogy and although its writing wasn't strong, it was enjoyable. I would equate it to going to the movies to watch an action flick.

[Ryllharu]

Again, not really novels, but I just finished the ten trade paperbacks of Y: the last man. Written by Brian K. Vaughan (some Marvel, some DC, best known for Runaways), it's about a plague that kills every living creature on Earth with a Y chromosome, except for one man, and one monkey. Lots of time skips, a very healthy dose of post-apocalyptia, and covers some tougher issues about humanity...regardless of gender. A good mix of humor and drama, plenty of violence, and some really great characters.

Before reading those, I also read Undone, the first of the spinoff books to the Weather Warden series (mentioned before in this post (http://forums.gotwoot.net/showthread.php?p=410631&postcount=262)).

So now I'm back to murder mystery novels, Kisscut by Karen Slaughter. Her novels go pretty far down the graphic road, but they're well written for the most part and usually tough to guess the murderer until you get considerably far into each book (a big plus in that genre).

[Nadouku]

Have you guys read Flipped? Very compelling story about a boy and a girl whose feelings are switched as the years go by. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes romance.

[Death BOO Z]

Finished reading: Superman, last son of Krypton (http://www.amazon.com/Superman-Last-Krypton-Elliot-Maggin/dp/0446823198)


it's a great book, especially after watching smallville for a few years.

The storytelling itself reminded me of 'hitchikers' guide' - small points of interest (like an alien race of bureaucrats and their 23 plants big archive of the diary of each one of them who lived in last 8 million years) get fully explained, while the plot itself gets a scarce line or two, so figuring out what happened is rewarding by itself.

and seriously, Superman never looked so badass, he saves hundreds of people in less than a paragraph, and then goes to track Luthor by following electrons on the phone line.

oh, a premise of the plot: When Einstein died (not after delivering Kal-El to the Kents, mind you), he left a single invention in his will, and said it should be opened 25 years after his death. when the time of unraveling comes, it gets stolen by luthor. then someone else steals it from luthor, and Superman must co-operate with Luthor to find the intergalactic thief and foil an awesome plan (or two) that involves destroying the time space continuum.

it just gets better. it's a 30 years old book, and it still hits the exact spot for anyone who has the slightest interest in Superman.

[Munsu]

Interesting that you decided to post in this thread now, just when I was about to do the same.

The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie is a series that I just finished, and it really is a must read of the fantasy genre. The first book, The Blade Itself, was Joe's debut novel in 2006. The whole series is great. Awesome characters, great plot, good twists, top notch dark comedy, very good action, lots of violence... it really has everything.

So put this series in you to read list, I doubt you'll be disappointed. Here's a review for the first book:
http://www.sffworld.com/brevoff/293.html

I got the next novel set in the same world as the trilogy already ordered (Best Served Cold).

[NarutoAngel221]

I usually read books but romance pocketbooks but after it I shift to reading Harry Potter novels and now I am hooked again in reading romance pocketbooks again

[Death BOO Z]

Finally finished reading 'the fountain' by Ann Rand.

it was horrible the 400 first pages, and got somewhat better the next 200 pages. still a pile of crap.

at some times, it felt like I was reading twilight again.

I'll try looking for some more superman fiction in the library again.

[Kraco]

I have been reading slowly Cathedral of the sea by Ildefonso Falcones. Although all fantasy readers know the depictions of Middle Ages are extremely romanticized in sword and sorcery, it's still quite interesting to read a realistic description of just how shitty life was back then in a non-fantasy historical novel. I still have about a fourth or fifth of the book unread and while things have occasionally taken a turn to better for the main character, it's still a hellish place. An interesting novel in any case, but not one you would necessarily read in a few evenings like your standard fantasy book.

Looking at an earlier pages of this thread and noticing Sword of Truth I have to mention it was the first fantasy book series where I started skipping pages towards the end. Terry Goodkind's editor must have really given in to the pressure of how high selling a series it was; 33% of the last books could have been cut away and it would have made them a lot better and nobody would have thought it's missing anything. Seriously, the Soviet Union is 20 years dead and the guy is still spending a third of his books repeating the same preachings against communism...

[Munsu]

Speaking of Sword of Truth... Terry Goodkind is releasing a novel this month called The Law of Nines, and it's rumored to be somewhat related to the Sword of Truth series. I really enjoyed the Sword of Truth, but I have to say that some of those preaching monologues that were abundant in the series sucked major ass, and 1/3 of most novels were repetitions of things we already knew. But if I focus on the plot and characters solely, I enjoyed the series... Goodkind just failed in many regards.


I'm still reading The Wheel of Time, I'm in book 8 at the moment. I also bought myself the Shadows of the Apt trilogy, which looks like it's going to be a ton of fun.

[Munsu]

Well finished reading Empire in Black & Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky, the first book of the Shadows of the Apt series, and I thought it was a really good read. Fun characters with interesting characteristics and abilities. I hear the next two books are even better. So at the moment I'm highly recommending it because in all it's an easy read and it has some interesting elements.

It has some elements of steampunk, but it's mostly fantasy in nature. The characters are human, but each "race" is depicted by insect characteristics, and it's interesting how each race is characterized by which insect it is.

Next book in the series is Dragonfly Falling followed by Blood of the Mantis.

[Ryllharu]

I started reading The Diamond Age or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson. It definitely has a stronger start than Snow Crash, and the postcyberpunk or almost steampunk-reaction-to-cyberpunk setting is very interesting. It's hard not to like most of the characters, and even in the first hundred or so pages, I've laughed out loud a few times.

As with all of Stephenson's works, the language of the text has a lot uncommonly used words and even more fabricated words with the occasionally hint of pretensiousness, but in this book, it fits the theme a bunch of neo-Victorians using nanotechnology for everything. It certainly gives my vocabularly a workout though.

[masamuneehs]

after going for almost two years just reading textbooks and language books, i finally got on a reading streak during the time i was away from gotwoot. while nothing like what i used to do as a kid, it sure felt like a lot. here, in no particular order

Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns
Never read 'The Kite Runner', and this was just sorta sitting on my shelf at my new apartment. I picked it up one weekend night and finished it 36 hours later, staying up almost all the second night to read it. Has the 'historical drama' market cornered. There's a reason this guy is talked about. For those who don't know, he writes about Afghanis, and this one focuses on the lives of two women from about 1965-2003. Some pretty gripping stuff.

Nelson DeMille's By the Rivers of Babylon
I love thrillers, and although I really have some staunch views on the whole Israel-Palestine issue, I still enjoyed this book. The characters were awfully human and the action was enamored in those gritty, realistic details that I just live for. Lots of action and not as much politics as I'd feared there would be.

Terry Pratchett's Pyramids
It's Pratchett. He's fucking awesomely funny. I honestly thought the first part of the book was best, and although there were a few scenes towards the end that were great, I sort of lost interest. Some of the story events you could see coming miles away and only a few of the characters were memorable.

Terry Pratchett's Reaper Man
Read it after Pyramids, so I was a little Pratchett'd out. I love Death as a character, but I found the other story in this book to be absolutely mediocre, nothing good, nothing awful. The plot-line with Death is quite good though.

Joseph Heller's Catch-22
A re-read for me. Every time I discuss this book with someone, it really strikes me how much this is a polarizing novel. You either love it or hate it. I absolutely love it. Insanely confusing and the sheer amount of characters is off-putting at first, but it's totally worth it if you just don't worry about catching everything the first time. Even on my second re-read I caught more stuff.

Haruki Murakami's Norweigan Wood
If you ever get into any kind of discussion about Japanese authors, this guy's name will drop. I got this book as a recommendation from a work colleague, so I was sorta railroaded into reading it. I found it unnecessarily depressing and, overall, disappointing. A few good scenes and a fistful of interesting characters get lost in the otherwise run-of-the-mill "I had a sad life" autobiographical novel type.

[Munsu]

I started reading The Diamond Age or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson. It definitely has a stronger start than Snow Crash, and the postcyberpunk or almost steampunk-reaction-to-cyberpunk setting is very interesting. It's hard not to like most of the characters, and even in the first hundred or so pages, I've laughed out loud a few times.

As with all of Stephenson's works, the language of the text has a lot uncommonly used words and even more fabricated words with the occasionally hint of pretensiousness, but in this book, it fits the theme a bunch of neo-Victorians using nanotechnology for everything. It certainly gives my vocabularly a workout though.
I need to try my hand on sci-fi, but there are so many fantasy books out there that I don't know when I'll try some sci-fi novels. One of the things that makes me hesitate in trying some sci-fi novels.

@Masa, those are some Discwolrd novels right? I keep seeing people recommending those, but when I see that there are about 30 Discworld novels, it turns me off a bit in trying the series.

[Death BOO Z]

try it, You won't regret it.

having read around six or seven of the discworld books (not nearly enough to understand what's going on in the series), I can still say that the books range from all over the specterum, so as long as you don't pick a sequeling book (I think there are a few of those, but I can't name them right), you should be fine.
it's funny as hell, and after reading them a few times, you can also look past the jokes and understand whatever crazy plot was going on.

catch22 is an amazing book. it's the kind of shit that school should teach you, instead of of Shakespeare.

[dragonrage]

Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman : Richard Mayhew is an unassuming young businessman living in London, with a dull job and a pretty but demanding fiancee. Then one night he stumbles across a girl bleeding on the sidewalk. He stops to help her--and the life he knows vanishes like smoke.

Sex Sells, by Roger Paul Mosconi : An inside look at life of the advertising world through the eyes of a man that lived and is living it.

Thank You for Arguing, by Jay Heinrichs: The art and Rhetoric.

[Death BOO Z]

I recently read World War Z by Max Brooks. Surprisingly well thought out book about what would happen in today's world if there was a sudden massive outbreak of zombies. Told as a series of interviews with various survivors of the war it's a quick and fun read.


finally got around to read it. it's a real easy book, and some 'stories' have a really good punch to them.

and then it got me thinking that my house isn't zombie-proof. I need a big hammer.

[Munsu]

Just finished reading Dragonfly Falling, 2nd installment of the Shadows of the Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Once again, I'm highly recommending this series, I'm sure most of you fantasy readers will really enjoy it. It really has a good mixture of interesting characters, with peculiar characteristics, some great individual fights and mass battle, science vs. magic, political drama...

Really, take my word for it with this series. Reading the 3rd book now.

[Munsu]

And now I'm done with all that's out from Shadows of the Apt after finishing Blood of the Mantis. Again, this is really good series, and I'm really recommending it.

Now I'm back to continuing The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher which I started a couple of weeks ago, and I'm really enjoying the series. Up the the 4th book at the moment, Summer Knight.

[Death BOO Z]

It was Yom Kippor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur#Observance_in_Israel)this week, so I had time to finally go through the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy (Philipp Pullman).
the books are nice, although they hardly go anywhere. but I can say that the golden compass movie seriously messed up things. bunch of morons who missed the entire point, the books had almost perfect foreshadowing. the movie was piece of what the hell?

edit: turns out I wrote the wrong name for the trilogy. fixed.

[Munsu]

It was Yom Kippor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur#Observance_in_Israel)this week, so I had time to finally go through the 'Dark matters' trilogy (Philipp Pullman).
the books are nice, although they hardly go anywhere. but I can say that the golden compass movie seriously messed up things. bunch of morons who missed the entire point, the books had almost perfect foreshadowing. the movie was piece of what the hell?
My bro had the omnibus for this but it turned to shit, so I had to trash it. Guess I should go find the trilogy... I've been skeptical about reading it since I've seen a multitude of mixed responses.

[fahoumh]

Right now I'm reading "The Prince" by Niccolo Machiavelli. It's a pretty intense read but pretty good so far.

[Death BOO Z]

I've read it a few months back.
A good book, though it requires someone to explain all the examples (unless you happen to be an expert of the subject of Italian politics) and how the chapters reflect Machiavelli's situation at that time.

[Sapphire]

I love the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, it's one of my favorite trilogies of all time.

[fahoumh]

I've read it a few months back.
A good book, though it requires someone to explain all the examples (unless you happen to be an expert of the subject of Italian politics) and how the chapters reflect Machiavelli's situation at that time.

The copy my cousin lent to me has notes in the back which give brief explanations of his political examples. I'm trying not to get too hung up on who's who right now and just try to focus on the philosophical and political aspects of his writing (which can be pretty hard because I tend to become a little obsessive over minute details). I'll probably re-read this at later to get a more in-depth understanding of the material.

[Munsu]

I'm still reading The Dresden Files. Up to book 9 at the moment. I'm really hooked with the series, much better than I had expected it to be. Funny, witty, lots of action, fast paced... and the story gets better each book; doing a good job of connecting all the plots together while introducing new ones and new elements.

[Munsu]

As mentioned in the Dresden Files thread (http://forums.gotwoot.net/showthread.php?t=17644), I finished reading all 11 books that are out of the series and I really enjoyed it.

I also read Child of Fire first book of the series Twenty Palaces by Harry Connolly, a new author. The book is similar to that of the Dresden Files series, so those that enjoy Dresden should be able to enjoy this.

At the moment I'm reading the first book of Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. Brandon Sanderson, for those of you that don't know, is the author that is going to finish The Wheel of Time series now that Robert Jordan is dead... I think his first book of WoT just got released.

Anyways, read 80 pages so far of Mistborn and it's been good so far. The magic system is quite interesting.

[masamuneehs]

read the first thing ive ever fully read over the course of the past couple months while i was here in setagaya. it was Twelfth Night by old man Willie Shakes, and as much as i do not usually go in for Shakespeare, i have to admit that it was pretty funny, olde english and all.

now i am about half way through Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevesky, because i love everything the Russian writes, even if it is weird semiphilisophical rambling.

[complich8]

Just finished up Malcom Gladwell's Outliers. Sort of par for the course for Gladwell: well-written and engaging, but with a couple of rough patches that the editor should have caught, and with the usual non-academic lightness of research that sort of skips past the "correlation != causation" bit of the scientific method. As a bit of pop sociology, it's definitely compelling and recommended.

Starting on Superfreakonomics for controversy-inducing giggles in the next couple of days...

[Munsu]

Well here's what I've read in the last two months or so:

Codex Alera which is the other series by Jim Butcher. While Dresden is urban fantasy, this is more traditional fantasy. First book was a bit weak, but the series got better by each book, in all it was quite fun and entertaining. Nothing really groundbreaking, some good characters, good amount of action, and a bit of political intrigue.

I also read The Magicians by Lev Grossman and the best way to describe it is as an adult version of a combination of Harry Potter and Narnia. First half was quite slow, but the second half I found to be quite interesting. Their take on magic and it's consequences, and how it affects young people (around college level) with magic and how they deal in a world were magic is not used (and are ignorant to it) by the rest of the population is interesting. I'm really recommending it, though it can be slow at times, in my opinion the payoff makes it worth it. Overall well written, and it can be thought inducing. Not for everyone though.

I also read the remaining Wheel of Time books I had in hand, Crossroads of Twilight and Knife of Dreams. Crossroads of Twilight was pure shit, one of the most useless and boring books I've read. Knife of Dreams though was one of my favorites in the series, so it made up for that.

I'm hearing that The Gathering Storm, the next book from WoT.. first one written by Brandon Sanderson is great, so really looking forward to getting my hands on it.

Last, but not least, I read The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett, also known as The Painted Man in the UK. One of the top debuts of 2009, and it really delivered in my opinion. Great characters, grim world, great action. I'm hearing that early word on the sequel, The Desert Spear is great, so it might be something you guys want to check out. Keep in mind that there are some minor changes between the US and UK editions, so if you read The Warded Man make sure you continue with the US edition of the series and viceversa. If not mistaken Brett has already sold movie rights for the series.

[Ryllharu]

Just finished The Forever War by Joe Haldeman. It was written post-Vietnam as a response of sorts to Heinlen's Starship Troopers, and that's a pretty accurate description. It deals a lot with the numbing dispair that comes with coming back after the time-dilating effect of relativity from an interstellar war. Heinlen himself apparently really liked the book. It has the benefit of being really gritty because Haldeman was a veteran himself.

Now that I'm done with that, I'm going to read Dune. Should be fun.

[fahoumh]

Over the past few weeks I've read:

"How to Build a Robot Army" by Daniel H. Wilson - pretty funny book about robotics, some factual info mixed in with science-fictiony material.

"The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch - autobiography about a man dying from pancreatic cancer and how he spends his last few months, very uplifting.

"Festivus: A Holiday for the Rest of Us" - an okay book about Festivus (anyone who watches Seinfeld should know what it is), its origin and various people who celebrate it.

I also read some books from the "Simpsons Library of Wisdom" - Homer, Bart, Lisa, Krusty, Comic Book Guy, and Moe. All were pretty funny except the Krusty book.

[Munsu]

For the last month or so I've done quite a bit of reading, here are the notables:

The Vlad Taltos series by Stephen Brust - this is pretty much the series I'm currently reading, and I've been enjoying it a ton. Those that enjoy The Dresden Files should be able to enjoy this. It's narrated in first person, and it follows the life of a human assassin in a world where humans are the lowest of class.

Wolfbreed by S. A. Swann - excellent novel in my opinion about a warewolf that is being used by the Crusades in order to attack pagan villages. After years of service, the warewolf seems to have had enough and escapes to the care of a family with their own share of misfortune. Love and betrayal ensue. One would think this is a romantic novel, and although it has a bit of romantic elements here and there, this is not a romantic novel. It has a ton of violent action and horror. Well written and highly recommended. A sequel should come out later in the year called Wolf's Cross.

The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman. Cool debut for the author that just came out earlier this month and the first of a new series. Set in a what can I only assume to be a post-apocalytic world, and it follows Cale who has been raised in some sort of monastery cruelly being trained to be some sort of perfect soldier and killer.

The Psalms of Isaak by Ken Scholes. Two books out so far, Lamentation and Canticle and they've both been excellent.

Right now I'm reading The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliott and it looks excellent so far. The cover is awesome.

[Dark Dragon]

A bit off-topic but it still has some relevance.

I've been wanting to buy a kindle and is still rather undecided after reading reviews. I was wondering if anyone here have experiences with one and could recommend it?

[Munsu]

My best bet would be to wait a bit to see if something better comes along. Things are finally getting developed in that market, and I would say that it might be too much of an investment at the moment.

Though, many people seem to like them. One thing that worries me is the capability of transferring your ebooks to another device if you so wish to upgrade... I think that at the moment you're stuck with the ebook on the device you bought it with. I'm not certain.

[Logrus]

I am thinking about starting to read Lord of The Rings Triology.

Actually wanted some good opinions from gotwoot members :P
The Authors i whos books i absolutly loved where : Roger Zelazny (Amber Chronicles only though), Jack London and Edgar Allan Poe. ( thin list O.o )
So if you can recommend any books that are similar to these characteristics please do would love you for each contribution :)

[fahoumh]

I just started reading "Beyond Good and Evil" by Nietzsche. We only got a taste of some of his readings in my first year philosophy class last term and I've been meaning to read more of his work.

[Munsu]

Been reading quite a bit as of late, but here are some worth noting:

Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding - First in the Tales of the Ketty Jay series, and it really reads like a Firefly type of series. A really fun book, worth checking out. The sequel is coming out soon, Black Lung Captain. One of my favorite reads this year so far.

The Silver Bear and Columbus by Derek Haas - This is just a non-stop action, no nonsense series following a hitman. These are the first two in the series, quite enjoyable and fun.

Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs - Urban Fantasy mystery thriller which I enjoyed quite a bit. Main character is a native american walker who can change into a coyote, she's a mechanic who was raised by a pack of wolves. There are vampires and fae. She's always overpowered by everyone, though always finds a way to do what needs doing, plus being a walker gives her certain powers that many of the supernatural dislike. The fae have already come out to the world, the warewolves are thinking about it, etc. Good warewolf pack and vampire politics. A fun read in all.

Changes by Jim Butcher - Latest in the Dresden Files series, and nothing else needs saying other than this was a very awesome book, my favorite in the series and a real game changer.

I am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells - Now this one you guys have to check out. Together with Changes, it has been my favorite read this year so far. It's the first of the John Cleaver series, and it follows a sociopath teenager. Fans of Dexter surely have to check this out. There are quite a few similarities, but it's distinctive enough. The main character is great and very interesting. Like Dexter he has a set of rules (not a code), but the reason for those rules are to prevent him from becoming a serial killer. He has a fascination with them, and when a serial killer comes to town it's like a movie star showing up. So he starts investigating, and through his investigation some of his rules gets compromised, so it starts becoming harder to control himself, etc. In all he's a fascinating and very creepy kid. Really really recommended, you wont be disappointed. I should warn you though, the series contains a bit of the supernatural, for example there are demons around. Sequel is already out in the UK, Mr. Monster, coming in September to the US.

[Buffalobiian]

I finished The Five Greatest Warriors by Matthew Reilly a few weeks ago.

I didn't think it was as good as the rest.His "twists" aren't as good any more, and are losing their shock value, possibly due to their increasing predictability.

My personal favourite would have to be Temple, followed closely by Ice Station.

[Sapphire]

Summer is the time when I can really hunker down, forget everything and read all day, non-stop. Today, I'm going to the library for some books. I expect to come back with yummy romance, sci-fi, fantasy. Also some teen books just because they look cool.

Hmm a Dance with Dragons came out today? TODAY? NICE!!!! Maybe I should just skip all of the books and read that one.

...Running away from Yuki and Haru now.

[NeoCybercoin]

The Wheel of Time- The Eye of the World

Just finished New Spring

[Munsu]

The Wheel of Time- The Eye of the World

Just finished New Spring

How did you find New Spring? Only book in the series I haven't read.

[NeoCybercoin]

I actually haven't bought it myself. Was a gift from my little brother so I'd have to ask him.

[Munsu]

I actually haven't bought it myself. Was a gift from my little brother so I'd have to ask him.

I meant, did you like it or not?

[NeoCybercoin]

Ahhh that. I liked it. It was my first book of the series so I was excited since I heard a lot bout the series. It was some getting used to since there was just so much information. Sometimes I thought "Wow...80 pages in the book and nothing happened" But I reminded myself that it was a prequel so not really significant could happen. Other than that I liked it.

[Munsu]

Ahhh that. I liked it. It was my first book of the series so I was excited since I heard a lot bout the series. It was some getting used to since there was just so much information. Sometimes I thought "Wow...80 pages in the book and nothing happened" But I reminded myself that it was a prequel so not really significant could happen. Other than that I liked it.

Be prepared for a love and hate relationship, overall I've loved the series. But the books are massive and there are lots of times when it seems like the story isn't moving, particularly from book 7-11. But the last 2 have been very good, so now waiting for the final volume to come out to finish up the series.

[Ryllharu]

Just read Time for Outrage (Indignez-vous!) by Stéphane Hessel. It only took about a half-hour. It's about the size of a thick passport.

Pretty good read. Very thought provoking.

[Deadlift]

My favourite fantasy series is by Steven Erikson, The first book is called 'Gardens of the Moon' and the series is called the 'Malazan books of the Fallen'. The series is quite long, but very rewarding; Erikson has a Doctorate in Archeology and this can be seen in his creation of not only a diverse set of civilizations, but in his perspectives on a vast pantheon of new gods. The series is also credited for it's ability to kill of it's main characters tactfully, and by doing this humanizes their persona's allowing the reader to reach what Aristotle called catharsis, the point in any tragedy when the audience can truly empathize with a protagonist and reach an 'emotional release'.

Besides all that though it is a really entertaining series, action, laughs, and characters of both epic and tragic proportions.

[dragonrage]

The Infernals by John Connolly or Hell's Bells to the folks in the UK. It's the second book; first was The Gates, it's very fun to read and has a unique feel to it. The Infernals seems to have the same feel but doesn't have the same depth to it. Hope my opinion changes. It's great for something lite to read.

p.s. It was first released in the UK as Hell's Bells then later released in the US as The Infernals don't excatly understand why but thought you would like to know.

[NeoCybercoin]

The Wheel of Time- Dragon Reborn. I am just devouring all of these books.

[dragonrage]

Just finished, doesn't have the uniqueness, but that is to be expected since it's the second book. A very satisfying read. Definitely something worth reading.

[Abdula]

Just finished reading A Memory of Light after rereading the entire series again (minus New Spring). Fantastic book, best one in the entire series by far. The damn epilogue was quite disappointing though. The last battle comes and goes and we get no info at all as to what happens afterwards.

I still find it hard to believe that this series is over. It is going to be impossible to find another series like this one.

[NeoCybercoin]

I totally agree with you Abdula.

[SamuraiOdin]

I just read Alterworld (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LYJOII6/ref=rdr_kindle_ext_tmb) on Kindle, and it's sequel The Clan. Very good books, and the 3rd is coming out around New Years. Very similar in style to the Light Novels Legendary Moonlight Sculptor (http://www.royalroadl.com/table-of-content/) and Ark (http://japtem.com/projects/ark-toc/), which I'm also reading as the chapters come out.

As for what they're about...

LMS:
The man forsaken by the world, the man a slave to money and the man known as the legendary God of War in the highly popular MMORPG Continent of Magic. With the coming of age, he decides to say goodbye, but the feeble attempt to earn a little something for his time and effort ripples into an effect none could ever have imagined. Through a series of coincidences, his legendary avatar is sold for 3.1 billion won, bringing great joy to him, only to plunge him into despair at losing almost all of it to vicious loan sharks. With revelation of money through gaming, he rises from the abyss with new found resolve and steps forward into the new age of games led by the first ever Virtual Reality MMORPG, Royal Road. This is the legend of Lee Hyun on his path to becoming Emperor with only his family loving heart, his boundless desire for money, his unexpected mind, his diligently forged body and the talent of hard work backing him.

Ark:
Kim Hyun Woo lived the life of the wealthy thanks to his parents. But one day, he received a phone call informing him of a traffic accident which involved them. His father had died and his mother was hospitalized in critical condition. The normal life he once knew collapsed...

They sold their house, canceled various insurance plans, and moved to a one room apartment. And after a few years, Hyun Woo was spending four to six hours tending to his mother and worked to pay for her medical bills.

One day, one of his instructors recommended him for position in a company called Global Exos, which made an announcement of making history with its newest technological invention.

Alterworld:
A new pandemic - the perma effect - has taken over Earth of the near future. Whenever you play your favorite online game, beware: your mind might merge with the virtual world and dump its comatose host. Woe be to those stuck forever in Tetris! And still they're the lucky ones compared to those burning alive eternally within the scorched hulls of tank simulators.

But some unfortunates - the handicapped and the terminally ill, shell-shocked army vets, wronged crime victims and other society misfits - choose to flee real life willingly, escaping to the limitless world of online sword and sorcery MMORPGs.

Once a seasoned gamer and now a terminal cancer patient, Max grasps at this final chance to preserve his life and identity. So he goes for it - goes for the promise of immortality shared with a few trusty friends and the woman he loves. Together they roam the roads of AlterWorld and sample its agony and ecstasy born of absolute freedom.