We need a new Book Thread!

[Taichi]

So, I'm starting one.

whatcha reading?

I just finished "The Da Vinci Code" for the first time (Fantastic Read), and am now reading "The Color of Magic" by Terry Pratchett for the first time in ages.

after that, I'm gonna try to get through "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman, but I'm not holding out hope, since I've started it twice, and just couldn't get into it.

so, any good books you've read lately?, don't have to be Fiction, I just want some good suggestions!

[angryliberal]

my most current reads are getting through the entire hp series, twice and the first dark tower book. i want to read some of david sedaris' stuff, my friend keeps bugging me to read his works...

[Taichi]

The HP series was good, but it'll be a while before I re-read the whole thing beginning to end.

but I do have to have at least one unbroken readthrough of all seven books.

[angryliberal]

i wokring through book seven again, this time able to enjoy it more due to the lack of tension about who is gonna die...

[Rooks4]

I thought about giving the hp books a go. I was reading The Dark Tower which was great, but eventually stopped reading.. I've still got the book I was on sitting on my nightstand. I've gone through the WoT books 3 times now.. and thinking of starting over again.

Great series.. just so damn long.. Jordan better finish it before he kicks the bucket or Im gonna whoop his ass in the afterlife.

[Taichi]

Potter is good, I find most people who thought they'd hate it, but decided to give it a try anyway, were pleasantly surprised.

[angryliberal]

Potter is good, I find most people who thought they'd hate it, but decided to give it a try anyway, were pleasantly surprised.

add me to that camp...i instantly fell in love with the series after i finally took the time to read em...

[Evil Morrigan]

I've never read any of the Potter books, but I really enjoyed all the movies that came out so far. I was thinking about reading them but since everything has already been spoiled for me (even the last book) I dont think i would enjoy them as much. What do you guys think? Should I give them a chance anyway?

I just finished reading World War Z: The Oral History of the Zombie War. Very entertaining. I'm pretty sure that everyone here on SRK would enjoy that book for obvious reasons.

Right now I am halfway through reading Marley and Me. I'm enjoying it so far but I have a feeling that the end will be sad.

[Taichi]

WWZ was the last book I read before picking up Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

and even if certain things are spoiled for you (by the movies, or by people discussing the books), there's still plenty for you to discover, even in the books you've already seen as movies.

subplots, character development, and even important plot points (that don't translate well to film).

I think there's still plenty for you to glean from reading the books, and that's not just me blowing smoke up your ass.

[angryliberal]

yes, i knew everything that happened up through the sixth book and i still greatly enjoyed the books. no amount of spoiling can really detract form how fun the books are to read. yeah, you aren't going to have that tension of "who is gonna die", but even on subsequent readings, the books held their enjoyment. in fact, reading goblet a second time made that book even more amazing...i'd take the time tor ead em...they are an easy read and worth it...

[Taichi]

I would like to see Max Brooks write a series of Zombie books/fiction, dealing with a central group of characters during his zombie war.

could be an interesting series, if he were so inclined.

I did like the "Variety of firsthand accounts" from WWZ, but it was hard to form a timeline in my head of the successes with the disjointed nature of the narrative.

and since it was told from Survivors POV, there wasn't as much tension, as there would be if major characters were in danger of being eaten alive.

plus, you can do unconventional things, such as a victim's diary (slow progression into death, then bloody smears [like the gun shop owner in the remake of Dawn of the Dead])

[Riot Guard]

Fantasy- Erevis Cale Trilogy, and War of the Spider Queen

History- The Burning by Tim Madigan

[Riot Guard]

Harry Potter- just not enough bloodshed and urgency for me I would assume since children read them. I prefer to read Forgotten Realms novels.

[ben]

So, I'm starting one.

whatcha reading?

I just finished "The Da Vinci Code" for the first time (Fantastic Read), and am now reading "The Color of Magic" by Terry Pratchett for the first time in ages.

after that, I'm gonna try to get through "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman, but I'm not holding out hope, since I've started it twice, and just couldn't get into it.

so, any good books you've read lately?, don't have to be Fiction, I just want some good suggestions!

if you haven't read it yet, read angels and demons. its the first robert langdon book and I liked it a lot more than the da vinci code.

[Taichi]

I'm not ready to read another book by the same author so soon.

I find that most times, I can't easily get into another book featuring the same characters, or written by the same author quite so easily one after another.

but I hear Angels and Demons rocks, and It's definitely on my shortlist.

Harry Potter Bloodshed:

Sorceror's Stone: James, Lily, Voldemort's first body, Nicholas Flamel, Quirrel.

Chamber of Secrets: Moaning Myrtle (in a roundabout way)

Prisoner of Azkaban: 12 unidentified people.

Goblet of Fire: Cedric Diggory, Frank Bryce, the Riddles (in a roundabout way), Bertha Jorkins

Order of the Phoenix: Sirius Black

Half Blood Prince: Dumbledore, Florean Fortescue, Igor Karkaroff, Amelia Bones, Aragog, Hepzibah Smith.

Deathly Hallows: the death list is enormous, and if you don't know where to look to find it, well, tough shit.

and I'm sure, that that list is not even CLOSE to complete, there are TONS of deaths in the books, so to say its not bloody enough, is dismissing them offhand for no good reason.

[Zephyranthes]

I recently finished reading Deception by Denise Mina. It's a crime fiction tale about a Scottish guy whose wife gets put away for murder. Throughout the whole trial and ordeal, he stays supportive of her, but then one day he goes into his wife's study and starts examining her journals and stuff. This leads him to discover a side of his wife that he never knew, and although he tries to make sense of it all, his life slowly unravels. It's pretty heartwrenching.

I also read Jerry Rice's autobiography, which he cowrote with some other dude. So I don't know if he actually wrote it or just paid the other writer to do most of the work. It was okay. Nothing special. The prose itself felt like it was aimed at an elementary or middle school reader. The sentences were really simple and there wasn't too much that was revealing. Even when he talks about "juicy" info such as why he prefers Montana over Young, he's really diplomatic.

I'm currently reading The Galton Case by Ross MacDonald. I really dig the vintage hardboiled crime stuff. Plus, BRUBAKER loves MacDonald's stuff.

Next up, I think I'll probably read Stardust. I've had a copy of it for a long time now and never got around to it. I'll try to finish it before I see the movie.

[Taichi]

ah shit.

I knew there was a book out there I wanted to read, and couldn't remember.

that book is Stardust, thanks Zeph! Now I need to find a copy.

[Riot Guard]

I'm not ready to read another book by the same author so soon.

I find that most times, I can't easily get into another book featuring the same characters, or written by the same author quite so easily one after another.

but I hear Angels and Demons rocks, and It's definitely on my shortlist.

Harry Potter Bloodshed:

Sorceror's Stone: James, Lily, Voldemort's first body, Nicholas Flamel, Quirrel.

Chamber of Secrets: Moaning Myrtle (in a roundabout way)

Prisoner of Azkaban: 12 unidentified people.

Goblet of Fire: Cedric Diggory, Frank Bryce, the Riddles (in a roundabout way), Bertha Jorkins

Order of the Phoenix: Sirius Black

Half Blood Prince: Dumbledore, Florean Fortescue, Igor Karkaroff, Amelia Bones, Aragog, Hepzibah Smith.

Deathly Hallows: the death list is enormous, and if you don't know where to look to find it, well, tough shit.

and I'm sure, that that list is not even CLOSE to complete, there are TONS of deaths in the books, so to say its not bloody enough, is dismissing them offhand for no good reason.

You continue to say in a roundabout way as if all the deaths are barely PG 13. I'm sure the books are great hence the worldwide addiction to them, I just prefer the D&D universe to other works of fantasy. I will have to read one of these books to see what all the fuss is about.

[Biolink]

I'm finally getting around to reading Deathly Hallows,and I have about 250 pages left.

I want to know how they will make this book family friendly for the film release,because right now it seems to be a PG-13 movie.

[HeaT]

im still reading "into the river and through the trees" by hemingway...havent been reading as much as i should so it is going slow...interesting book though...it is about an old man and a very young woman that are very deeply in love, but that the old man is dieing...and they both know this...the man more so than the woman...i think the takes place in the time span of like 1-2 days...which is quite interesting...

im outi

Roberth

[angryliberal]

I'm finally getting around to reading Deathly Hallows,and I have about 250 pages left.

I want to know how they will make this book family friendly for the film release,because right now it seems to be a PG-13 movie.

the last two movies have been pg-13...

[Biolink]

the last two movies have been pg-13...


Word...

Damn,I've been living under a rock

[Taichi]

You continue to say in a roundabout way as if all the deaths are barely PG 13. I'm sure the books are great hence the worldwide addiction to them, I just prefer the D&D universe to other works of fantasy. I will have to read one of these books to see what all the fuss is about.

'roundabout' in this case means "A death that happens in a flashback, or that is mentioned by a major character"

usually this death has significance towards the plot.

[Ceirnian]

I just picked up the first book in the Song of Fire and Ice series. Heard lots of good things but the first 50 pages so far are abit boring... will hold out since I know these kind of books pick up after awhile.

[Septimus Prime]

IMO, we don't actually need a new book thread, but if someone bumps the older one for me, I'll go ahead and close it, replacing it with this one.

Currently, I'm reading Sputnik Sweetheart, by Harumi Murakami and The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Extreme Edition by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht (I think I misspelled that).

The last books I finished were The Cleaner, by Brett Battles; The Quickie, by James Patterson and Michael Ledgewidge; The Know-It-All, by A.J. Jacobs; and Requiem for an Assassin, by Barry Eisler. I recommend all of them (but if you go for the Eisler, start with Rain Fall, since it's a series).

[Mr. Bastos]

most recently I finsihed rereading the harry potter series and finished deathly hallows, and after that I read Ender's Game.

[running_gag]

I'm reading American Gods, Half Blood Prince, Smoke and Mirrors, Demian, The Pearl


Hey Mr. Bastos - you should credit that joke in your sig to Robin Williams, since the random dude from the man show just copied it from him

[Mr. Bastos]

I think I'm going to the bookstore and I'm gonna look around today, I look into the ones sep recommended in the other thread.

I'm reading American Gods, Half Blood Prince, Smoke and Mirrors, Demian, The Pearl


Hey Mr. Bastos - you should credit that joke in your sig to Robin Williams, since the random dude from the man show just copied it from him

oh yeah? I never knew. I only ever heard it on the man show..oh man I miss that show..thanks

[Taichi]

I can't read more than one book at a time anymore.

I used to do it all the time, but invariably, there'd be one book I didn't read as often, then it'd just sit on my shelf for years before I plucked up enough gumption to finish it.

[Septimus Prime]

I'm the same way, but I can handle a non-serious, short book (like a magazine or a Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook or a Hemingway) in conjunction with another book.

[HeaT]

i finished reading 2 of carmac mccarthy's novels...one which one the pulizter prize...The Road, pretty fucking tight, i recommend it...and the other No Country For Old Men...which was pretty tight as well but the ending was a little anti climatic...could have been done better, and there is a movie coming out...www.nocountryforoldmen.com

the road is about a father and son who travel like a post apocolypse america and really just about life would be like in such a desolate and destructive state...

no country for old men is about a dude who finds 2 million dollars then shits starts going crazy and a rediculous hit man is sent out to retrieve the money...a lot of good action in this one, and you can see that from the trailer if you watch it...

im outi

Roberth

[DanD]

I second the reading of Cormac McCarthy. He's amazing. The Road was epic.

I just finished reading "Captain Kidd and the War Against Pirates" (or something to that effect) by Robert Ritchie -- I had to read it for class, but it was still cool and insightful.

[EvilSamurai]

I just read an annotated version of Dracula that I found in my dad's library. The whole book is filled with allusions that I did not know were there. Still a great book. I also like the fact that the villain does not want to rule the world, he only wants to steal some dude's wife.

[DaDesiCanadian]

Lol i've read the HP series fully at least 3 times, and i'm sure i've read the individual books many more.

Just finished Heart of Darkness. It's a hard read, but worth it. Excellent book.

Read Oryx and Crake for the third time. Love that book.

About to start Silas Marner.

[akumatrunigga]

Well here goes.....
40 million dollar slaves (http://www.politopics.com/uploaded_images/40million-785502.jpg)

The Art of the Advantage: 36 Strategies to Seize the Competitve Edge (http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/513EAw4+bhL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg)

The white boy shuffle (http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51SB6F5N3XL.jpg)

The poetics of space (http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/41CAYB3BPCL._AA240_.jpg)

There are plenty I have read, my mind is a complete blank right now. I'll add once i go home

[MrBlank]

The 48 laws of power, The Game, The Cube, Blink, The Art of War at least every other month, The Mystery Method.

ive been into alot of psychological books lately. Some of these are women related obviously but there are so much applications of what ive learned from these books.

[Fadedsun303]

I'm reading I Am A Cat by Soseki Natsume. It's a satire on Japanese society during the time of the Meiji emperor. A cat observes the lives of humans and interacts with other cats. It's a funny book.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_am_a_cat

[nododgy]

I've read a few books within the last month. Catch 22 by Joesph Heller, The Stranger by Albert Camus, and The Fuck Up by Arthur Nersesian. If you haven't read Catch 22, just go get it now. It's the greatest novel I've read. I can't believe it took me so long to get around to reading it. The Stranger is pretty short, both it and Catch 22 are absurdist books. That is, books that basically follow or demonstrate the absurdist philosophy. The Fuck Up is about a dude in the 80's who starts small, and just spirals down. Odd relationships and the narrator's disillusionment make for a good read. The character is easy to identify with if you've ever felt that Murphy's Law applies to you. Life throws every shit covered curve ball at him that it can, even though much of it his fault in one way or another.

I'm about thirty pages into One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I also started Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground, but had to put it down. I was just having a hard time getting into it. I think it's because I started it right after I finished The Stranger, and just kind of needed a different read. I plan to pick it up after One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest. Gravity's Rainbow is sitting on my shelf, but that 700+ page monster is seeming a bit daunting at the moment.

[Z!M]

just got done reading starship troopers for the 5th time. Book is still the shit!

China mieville- iron council and looking for jake, both books are great. if you can read the other two books of his in the bas-lag series, the Scar and perdedo street station. they are connected in that they take place in the same world but if you look close enough you can see some characters mentioned in one book for one line and be a main in the next.

peter coogan- Superhero: the secret origin of a genre- great read for anyone that wants to know about the structure of comics and how they came to be that way. makes a lot of batman comparrisons in it too.

[J4YX2]

Just finished reading Vurt by Jeff Noon, books about the future, drugs, and sex are fun!

[AgantK7]

Don't know the author off hand, but check out a book called "I, Luciifer".
It's a good read.
-K7

[Darkstalker]

Currently reading the A Clash of Kings by George R R Martin..

Pretty fucking good.

[Zephyranthes]

Yeah, I like that Song of Fire and Ice series. The most recent book was pretty boring, but those first three are all really compulsive reads.

[Black Chanler]

Has anyone picked up "Tokyo year zero"? I wouldn't mind an SRK mini review before I hit up Barnes and Nobles Sunday.

[Scorpio_G]

my most current reads are getting through the entire hp series, twice and the first dark tower book. i want to read some of david sedaris' stuff, my friend keeps bugging me to read his works...

Sedaris is a good writer. His work is more of a quirky/offbeat humor to it.

Right now I dont know what to read nowadays. I've read a promotional book called Evermore or something like that.

[Irennicus]

Just finished Absurdistan by Gary Shyngart (sp?). I think I'll take a book off of this list for my next book.

[fishjie]

working on war and peace

so i can appear smart

shits epic

and i mean EPIC

but some parts are boring

[Lebowsk1]

i finished reading 2 of carmac mccarthy's novels...one which one the pulizter prize...The Road, pretty fucking tight, i recommend it...and the other No Country For Old Men...which was pretty tight as well but the ending was a little anti climatic...could have been done better, and there is a movie coming out...www.nocountryforoldmen.com

the road is about a father and son who travel like a post apocolypse america and really just about life would be like in such a desolate and destructive state...

no country for old men is about a dude who finds 2 million dollars then shits starts going crazy and a rediculous hit man is sent out to retrieve the money...a lot of good action in this one, and you can see that from the trailer if you watch it...

im outi

Roberth

That's going to be the new Coen bros film, right? As a Coens fan, I'm really looking forward to that. The dilemma is whether to read the book before or after seeing the film....

Book wise, well I used to read a lot but slowed down lately. I did finish "How to Talk to a Widower" the other week though. Not bad... had a couple of near laugh-out-loud moments but wasnt as funny as I'd thought it would be. Some alright stuff about grief, and a few interesting thoughts here and there, but I think if this was turned into a film it'd be a fairly average indie-flick.

Last really good book I read was the Wind up Bird Chronicles by Murakami.

Oh yeah and I started Nausea by John Paul Sartre but didnt like the writing style.

[DaDesiCanadian]

Still reading the Silmarillion, on & off. To be honest, I haven't touched it in awhile. Not that it's boring, it's just not as good as LOTR itself. I'm eventually going to write a book of my own, a sci-fi/fantasy work, and I think I need to read certain books for influence. So back story on Tolkien's world is a must.

That shit was a fucking grind. Honestly, if you skip large parts, you miss nothing.

And names and lineages are fucking IMPOSSIBLE to keep track of. Half the book I was going "who the FUCK is Glorfindel?".

It's more a history textbook than a work of fiction.

[fishjie]

^ that's the idea. the guy was basically creating his own mythology. so it was written in that fashion, especially silmarillion. it was written to provide the historical backdrop to middle earth, it wasn't really meant to be a piece of fiction.

edit: when i first read LOTR, i thought that shit was boring. but then i watched the special features of the LOTR dvds, where it explained tolkiens motivation. he was sad that most of anglo saxon lore was destroyed by the norman invasion of england, so he set out to create his own lore. complete with geography, geology, languages, and history. he came up with all that shit first, and the LOTR was kind of an afterthought to help describe this world he had created. since he still had left a lot of stuff out, he put it all in the appendices. then of course the rest of his notes formed silmarillion. since those covered the first and second ages, which were the very beginning, it read like the bible. or gilgamesh or beowulf or etc

[DaDesiCanadian]

^ that's the idea. the guy was basically creating his own mythology. so it was written in that fashion, especially silmarillion. it was written to provide the historical backdrop to middle earth, it wasn't really meant to be a piece of fiction.

edit: when i first read LOTR, i thought that shit was boring. but then i watched the special features of the LOTR dvds, where it explained tolkiens motivation. he was sad that most of anglo saxon lore was destroyed by the norman invasion of england, so he set out to create his own lore. complete with geography, geology, languages, and history. he came up with all that shit first, and the LOTR was kind of an afterthought to help describe this world he had created. since he still had left a lot of stuff out, he put it all in the appendices. then of course the rest of his notes formed silmarillion. since those covered the first and second ages, which were the very beginning, it read like the bible. or gilgamesh or beowulf or etc

Yes, I know all that.

:rofl:

The most amazing thing is the languages he created. That's dedication.

[fishjie]

i cant believe he created alphabets for them!

[DaDesiCanadian]

I actually loved the detail and descriptions in LOTR. The Hobbit + LOTR trilogy had the best mix of description plus fiction.

Like Pippin's ride with Gandalf during the first few pages of ROTK.. that shit was epic.

I'm about to read Rising Sun by Crichton. It's the only one of his books I haven't read multiple times (With the exception of Next which I haven't read at all, and his non-fictional work about hospitals).

[ToyRobotTerror]

Last book i read was American Gods by Neil Gaiman
, it was trippy but i really enjoyed it.
ISBN-10: 0060558121
ISBN-13: 978-0060558123


I actually loved the detail and descriptions in LOTR. The Hobbit + LOTR trilogy had the best mix of description plus fiction.
i liked them too but Silmarillion was a pain.

[EvilSamurai]

The only Crichton book I've read is Jurassic Park. Back when I was like...16 or something? Yeah. About a decade ago. During the movie hype, still in the dinosaur phase, telling my science teacher I was gonna find a way to clone dinosaurs. I think I read it at least twice.

The only Crichton book I read was Eaters of the Dead. I only read that because it had a cool title. Cannibal Neanderthals versus Vikings and an Arab historian sounds awesome. The movie based on it had potential but sucked hard, because of the "Life-size, Blow Up Antonio Banderas Love Doll".