NationStates Jolt Archive

or have recently finished?

i finished reading bram stroker's dracula last week and i started on micheal crichton's rising sun. (i think that was the title... i recently obtained the book and just started...)

Angels and Demons - Dan Brown; better than DaVinci Code IMO

And the following were all forced upon me by my evil English II Honors Summer Reading Assignments

Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut
Black Boy - Richard Wright
The Crucible - Arthur Miller
Raisin in the Sun - Lorrain Hansberry

And these two were assignments for French and AP US History (respectively):

L'evasion - part of a book by Joseph Kessell
The Shoemaker and the Tea Party - Alfred Young; the most boring piece of crap ever.

Umm...

Just finished
The Story of the Stone -or- Dream of the Red Chamber
The tale of Genji
Techopoly
"The Flood" (a book about Halo, the X-box game)

Still reading
The Journey West
The Conquest of Gaul
Machievelli's The Art of War

I just began reading The Green Mile by Stephen King, today.

Just finished:

1.) Parlaiment of Whores by P.J. O'rourke.

2.) A book containing a translation of Sun Tzu's Art of War and a summation of the historical/military context of his times.

Currently Reading:

1.) To Kill A MockingBird (I'm reading it again for a class.)

I'm reading The Iliad by Homer and Shogun By James Clavell.

By the way, Dracula is good, but the middle part is way too dull.

let's see. i just returned from a camp and tomorrow i'll go to the library and grab everything i can find that was written by Kafka. Then i'll exchange some syllabi with a lawstudent. He get's my 'science and philosophy' and i get his 'political and social systems'. Afterwards i think i'll read something about history and philosophy i guess. And i may not forget to search for 'brave new world' and '1984' while i'm at it.

And the following were all forced upon me by my evil English II Honors Summer Reading Assignments

Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut



*gasp* that's an amazing book by an amazing author... who has better ones, but still. you shouldn't complain about having to read one of kurt vonnegut's books.

Just finished reading

The Reality Dysfunction - Peter F Hamilton.
The Neutronium Alchemist - Peter F Hamilton.

Reading

The Naked God - Peter F Hamilton.

All three make up the "nights dawn" trilogy, some of the finest SF I've ever read.

AK 74 users manual. Boooring...

I’m reading the Catcher in the Rye again. And I’ve come to the decision that I’m going to walk around with it everywhere I go. That way if I am within close proximity to a violent crime where the perp runs away I can just sit down and start reading from a random page.

Nicholas Nickleby, but I actually just bough Jennifer Government, so I'll start on that as soon as I'm done (which won't be for a while; I'm a slow reader).

I'm not reading anything... right now. I recently finished Fast Food Nation.

I just finished The Bourne Identity. Not reading anything at the moment.

Louis XI - Paul Murray Kendall

The Forgotten Monarchy of Scotland - Prince Michael of Albany
This book is a joke. I'd shoot who ever did the genealogy in this book!

1632 - Eric Flint
1633 - Eric Flint

Dune: Battle of Corrin - Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

The Santaroga Barrier and next up The Adventures of Kavelier and Clay

Reading "The World of Chemistry" in an attempt to teach it. I have to stay at least a few chapters ahead of my students. :p

As school has started, pleasure reading is far down on my list, except for the books I know by heart and so can stop and start anywhere I want to.

If any new books come out, I'd better have my lesson plans made up the night before, otherwise my kids will have a horrible, boring day. :rolleyes:

The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond. Excellent book.

Before that: My Losing Season by Pat Conroy. Also recommended.

Next up: Wobegone Boy, Garrison Keillor.

Just finished:

1.) Parlaiment of Whores by P.J. O'rourke.

2.) A book containing a translation of Sun Tzu's Art of War and a summation of the historical/military context of his times.

Currently Reading:

1.) To Kill A MockingBird (I'm reading it again for a class.)


Hey, is that a Sawyer translation of Sun Tzu? If so, hold on to it tightly; Sawyer is the probably the best translation for English speakers to date. Although the treatment of "Weakness is born from Strength...Chaos from Order" passage is just plain ANNOYING to me...

They add their inferrance that "...[Feigned] weakness is born from Strength...[Simulated] Chaos from order" Those extra words are uneeded and actually harmful, as it limits the reader's thinking to one possible reading of that passage.

Sun-tzu was well known for the Taoist influences on his writing, and one of the principle notions of Taoism is the unbalanced natures of Extremes. Thus extremes of Strength and Weakness, Chaos and Order, are cyclical products that can be manipulated and adapted to. To limit the passage by focusing the reader entirely on feigning weakness or chaos in order to decive the enemy is just one facet of the writing.

Annoying.

Yeah, I'm obsessive.

Recently read:

TSOG: The Thing That Ate the Constitution by Robert Anton Wilson
People's History of the United States by Zinn
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
Diary of a Drug Fiend by Aleister Crowley


"The People's History of the United States" should be required reading in our school systems today.

Anna Karenina - Tolstoy
Brave New World (for like the 8985957th time) - Huxley
The Bluest Eye - Morrison

*gasp* that's an amazing book by an amazing author... who has better ones, but still. you shouldn't complain about having to read one of kurt vonnegut's books.

Yeah, I've heard a LOT of good things about it. I might get it soon.

Hmmm...I finished Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World some time ago, and I'm hoping to get to a bookstore to nab Norwegian Wood soon. Both by Murakami, and I've heard Norwegian Wood is one of his best works, so...I'm building myself up a bit since I can't get it right now.

1. The Faerie Oracle
2. The Physics of Astrophysics, Volume 1: Radiation. (text book for astronomy 700)
3. The Vegitarian's Handbook

Recently finished Out Of The Silent Planet and Perelandra, and I'm trying to read That Hideous Strength. It's a trilogy in that order by CS Lewis. Out Of The Silent Planet was fantastic, I love how it begins. Perelandra was also excellent but hard to read at points (I HATED the part at the end where everyone keeps saying whole paragraphs and ending with "Blessed Be He"... it was very confusing and I was very tired, so I imagine I'll re-read the end). That Hideous Strength so far seems to be hard to read as well. Maybe I'm just bored with it; (at this point at least) I'm not really interested in this Mark guy or whoever who's in college.

"The Myth of Sanity"

Hey, is that a Sawyer translation of Sun Tzu? If so, hold on to it tightly; Sawyer is the probably the best translation for English speakers to date. Although the treatment of "Weakness is born from Strength...Chaos from Order" passage is just plain ANNOYING to me...

They add their inferrance that "...[Feigned] weakness is born from Strength...[Simulated] Chaos from order" Those extra words are uneeded and actually harmful, as it limits the reader's thinking to one possible reading of that passage.

Sun-tzu was well known for the Taoist influences on his writing, and one of the principle notions of Taoism is the unbalanced natures of Extremes. Thus extremes of Strength and Weakness, Chaos and Order, are cyclical products that can be manipulated and adapted to. To limit the passage by focusing the reader entirely on feigning weakness or chaos in order to decive the enemy is just one facet of the writing.

Annoying.

Yeah, I'm obsessive.

Yes, it is the Sawyer translation. I too, was unsure of the effectiveness of the bracketed words. My preference would have been for him to offer alternate translations of the more ambiguous passages after his primary translation.

Brave New World; Aldous Huxley.
The Soviet-Afghan War; The Russian General Staff; Michael Gress and Lester Grau, editors.
Hidden Order: How Adaptation Builds Complexity; John Holland.

Distress, by Greg Egan
If On A Winter's Night A Traveller, by Italo Calvino
The Sea Kingdoms, by Alistair Moffat

book 7 wheel of time by robert jordan.

Foucault's Pendulum, by Umberto Eco. For the Nth time.

I just finished Stendahls "Le Rouge et Le Noir", an amazing story and one of the best ive read recently

Now im working on Kings "Hearts of Atlantis"

and previously to these books, i read

Wilson Rawls "Where the Red Fern Grows"
Hemmingways "For Whom the Bell Tolls"
and Dickens "Great Expectations" (for about the fourth time that is)

any classic recomendations?

Right now I'm reading "Ecotopia," and I've just finished "Galapagos" (another good Vonnegut book)

The Good Women of China

A book I can highly recommend.

I'm in the middle of 'Men Like Gods' by H G Wells (very VERY good book). Just finished 'War of the Worlds' (Also by H G Wells... made me want to go and read everything else he's ever written), and I'm rereading 'Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy' for about the 5 billionth time:)

Recently finished George Alec Effinger's When Gravity Fails (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/055325555X/104-9018984-1226302?v=glance) for the 6th or 7th time. Good, good stuff.

Currently reading Tom Clancy's The Teeth of the Tiger.

Not sure about what's next. I'll probably read somethin I have laying around...

Wilson Rawls "Where the Red Fern Grows"

Awsome, awsome, awsome book. I first read it some 25 years ago. It still makes me cry. Never, ever, ever try reading it and the listening to the old classic folk/blue grass song "Old Blue" (aka "Old Dog Blue") unless you really want to cry or hate dogs. :(

im not sure if i can remember how to spell this, but a few months ago i read a very interesting book by Herman Hesse called "Siddartha"(sp?), truly worth reading if you can find it.

also worth checking out is "one mans wilderness" by Dick Proneke (true story)
and Nietzsche's "Thus Spake Zarathustra" (if you are into Philo. that is)

Ive read Thus Spake Zarathustra so many bloody times it hurts, and i still feel compelled to read it again every once in a while.

If you do read it and like it, he has sevral other good books (written in the earlier part of the century so the translation is a little weird) but they also are worth checking out, and arent written like a novel so they might be better suited for people really into Philo

my favorites are, "Beyond Good and Evil" and "The Gay Science" (as in happiness - not that it would matter but just so you know)

truly great books

Awsome, awsome, awsome book. I first read it some 25 years ago. It still makes me cry. Never, ever, ever try reading it and the listening to the old classic folk/blue grass song "Old Blue" (aka "Old Dog Blue") unless you really want to cry or hate dogs. :(

yeah, it is a real tear jerker, ive read it so many times that youd think id be immune, in particular bc as a man im expected not to.

oh well!

I'm currently reading:

"The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by Robert Heinlein

"The Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin (ought to help me out in General!).

Recently finished Out Of The Silent Planet and Perelandra, and I'm trying to read That Hideous Strength. It's a trilogy in that order by CS Lewis. Out Of The Silent Planet was fantastic, I love how it begins. Perelandra was also excellent but hard to read at points (I HATED the part at the end where everyone keeps saying whole paragraphs and ending with "Blessed Be He"... it was very confusing and I was very tired, so I imagine I'll re-read the end). That Hideous Strength so far seems to be hard to read as well. Maybe I'm just bored with it; (at this point at least) I'm not really interested in this Mark guy or whoever who's in college.

Don't give up. Those books are great, but you will probably need to read them again to keep the story straight. And yes, That Hideous Strength is slow at the beginning. I just finished reading it (or rather, the trilogy) for the 3rd time. :D

Also reading Beowulf for senior English. It rocks!

Recently finished "Rogue Nation: American Unilateralism and the Failure of Good Intentions"

Currently Reading: "Colossus: The Price of America's Empire" by Niall Ferguson

The books offer contrasting points of view.
:cool:

I'm not currently reading any books. Nor have I lately. Though I do want to read The 9/11 Report.

alan moore and dave gibbons the watchmen
greatest story ever written, better than the bible even. anyone else read it?

also possitively fifth street by james mcmanus great book for poker players great story for lovers of nonfiction

Just finished reading

The Reality Dysfunction - Peter F Hamilton.
The Neutronium Alchemist - Peter F Hamilton.

Reading

The Naked God - Peter F Hamilton.

All three make up the "nights dawn" trilogy, some of the finest SF I've ever read.
Very good, now if only my books will stop falling apart...

right now I'm reading Darwin's Radio

the next book on the list Ironically enough is Jennifer Government
(No I'm not kidding)

Awsome, awsome, awsome book. I first read it some 25 years ago. It still makes me cry. Never, ever, ever try reading it and the listening to the old classic folk/blue grass song "Old Blue" (aka "Old Dog Blue") unless you really want to cry or hate dogs.
yeah, it is a real tear jerker, ive read it so many times that youd think id be immune, in particular bc as a man im expected not to.
oh well!

Where the Red Fern Grows, "Old Blue", and Old Yeller and manly tear jerkers.
If a man doesn't cry at at least one of them, he's either a liar or he ain't much of a man, in my book.

The last book I read was Jennifer Government, and the next I plan to read is Syrup. I haven't read it yet, as my library doesn't have it in, so they had to request it. Before that, I re-read for about the tenth time the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series and the Merry Gentry, Fairy Princess series, both by Laurell K. Hamilton. They're great fantasy novels. And they'll keep you busy for a while, as there are currently eleven Anita Blake novels, with the next due out in October (at least in the US) and three Merry Gentry novels. The next in that series is due out sometime next year, though I'm not sure exactly when. I'd recommend them to anyone and everyone. :D Though, they are not for people under 16, due to some content that most people would deam inappropriate for people of that age.

I recently finished Animal Farm. What a great book. I also recently finished Romeo And Juliet. Not too bad but they killed off the best character (Mercutio) halfway through. I am now reading The Goon Show Scripts

mm.. after reading my PC Gamer and Economist mags..

yeah moved on to Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire.. boaring book but i'm gonna read it cuz i will need the info for what i'm gonna do later.. lol

Just finished reading Moby Dick and am now reading atlas shrugged, man those are long books, not that i mind, although i did take about 2 months to finish moby dick.

Working my way through Joe McGinnis' "Miracle of Castel di Sangro", check here for a report on the book (http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/0767905997.asp)

I recently read Musashi by Joshikawa. Its an ancient Japanese story. It teaches the reader a lot about how samurai and Japanese people in general lived, around about 1600 I guess, and you learn a lot about human social interaction in general. A very, very, very good book. One of the best I've read...and I've read a lot. Japanese have a unique style. After that book I read Taiko, also of Joshikawa. It isn't as good as Musashi, it sometimes gets boring. The hardest part is remembering all those Japanese names, but you get used to it...

I don't say it often, but if you like a challenge, you MUST try it.

I recently read Musashi by Joshikawa. Its an ancient Japanese story. It teaches the reader a lot about how samurai and Japanese people in general lived, around about 1600 I guess, and you learn a lot about human social interaction in general. A very, very, very good book. One of the best I've read...and I've read a lot. Japanese have a unique style. After that book I read Taiko, also of Joshikawa. It isn't as good as Musashi, it sometimes gets boring. The hardest part is remembering all those Japanese names, but you get used to it...

I don't say it often, but if you like a challenge, you MUST try it.

Sorry, that would be Eiji Yoshikawa to most of the English speakers. :D (I am assuming you're either a Germanic or Slavic speker to transliterate his name with a 'j'.)
It's a good fictional rendition of the great fighter Myamoto Musashi.

Sorry, that would be Eiji Yoshikawa to most of the English speakers. :D (I am assuming you're either a Germanic or Slavic speker to transliterate his name with a 'j'.)
It's a good fictional rendition of the great fighter Myamoto Musashi.

English is Germanic too... (except for the French words that entered the English language during the Normandic ruling of England). Anyhow, you're right, I'm belgian.

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

I just finished reading "The Manchurian Canditate" ( oot- The Original movie is so much better then the sequel).

I just started reading "Casino Royale" by Ian Fleming

Im also reading "A Canticle For Leibowits" by Frank Miller Jr.

Im also reading "Mostly Harmless" (The 5th Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy book)

I just finished reading "The Manchurian Canditate" ( oot- The Original movie is so much better then the sequel).
How does the [original] film compare to the book? Understand that there are come things in the book not explored in the film.
Im also reading "Mostly Harmless" (The 5th Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy book)
I love that book

Finished Recently:

Samuri! Saburo Saki

Currently Reading:

Pacific Vortex! Clive Cussler

Books I wanna read:

**White Death
**Lost City
Inca Gold
Treasure
Cyclops
***Golden Budda
***Sacred Stone (not yet published)
*Black Wind (not yet published)
Night Probe
Deep Six

All books above are written by Clive Cussler.

Co-Written by:

*Dirk Cussler

**Paul Kemprecos

***Craig Dirgo

Jennifer Government, probibly one of the best books I've read for quite a long time.

Just finished reading

The Reality Dysfunction - Peter F Hamilton.
The Neutronium Alchemist - Peter F Hamilton.

Reading

The Naked God - Peter F Hamilton.

All three make up the "nights dawn" trilogy, some of the finest SF I've ever read.

Very good, now if only my books will stop falling apart...

I loved the first two sets, but I found The Naked God to be very, very dissapointing? Did you really like the ending CSW?

I just read Alchemy and Academe by Anne McCaffrey. It's an anthology, some of it's stories are fairly good.

I've read a few Peter Hamilton books, I thought they were sort of odd for scifi - but then, I like Asimov & mainly 'hard' scifi the most...

The last fantasy I read was Sabriel by Garth Nix. It's really good; I recommend it to anyone. The last scifi I read was Shade's Children, again by Garth Nix. Not as good as Sabriel, but decent.

Im reading roma eterna an alternative history book set if the Roman empire never fell.

I am also reading some Terry Pratchett.

Also i recently read the curious incident of the dog in the nightime which is a fantastic book.

George R. R. Martin is god. Everyone should read A Game Of Thrones.
I also just finished:
Sandkings by George R. R. Martin
Elsewhere by Will Shetterly
Jennifer Government (I found this to be rather dissapointing, it was poorly written)
and I just started The Armageddon Rag by George R. R. Martin

Well, having just finished the naked God today, I suppose I can answer. Perhaps it was a little too fast, I mean, with all of the story to round up in something like two hundred pages. I didn't find it disappointing, but I do think it could have been done better. Still a fantastic piece of fiction though. I can see myself reading it again in the future.

The Da Vinci Code

Deception Point - Dan Brown

Northern Lights - Philip Pullman

Sorry, that would be Eiji Yoshikawa to most of the English speakers. :D (I am assuming you're either a Germanic or Slavic speker to transliterate his name with a 'j'.)
It's a good fictional rendition of the great fighter Myamoto Musashi.

(Sorry to bold that, I just couldn't help myself.) Anyway, I've also read Yoshikawa's version (a long time ago), and I give it two thumbs up as well. It gives an interesting and very human portrait of the sword-saint and author of The Five Rings.

Faster Than the Speed of Light:The Story of a Scientific Speculation by João Magueijo... It's a pretty interesting book about VSL (Varying Speed of Light) theory, and its implications to cosmology (study of the universe, not astrology). Also, Magueijo's feelings about the current politics of the scientific and scientific publishing community are included throughout the book (with sometimes hillarious examples and plenty of profanity).. This is the third time I've read it, trying to see what I missed the first two times. Great book.

We Were Soldiers Once... And Young:
Ia Drang- The Battle That Changed the War in Viet Nam by Lt.Gen. Harold G. Moore [ret] and Joseph Galloway... This book, which was turned into a movie of a slightly shorter name (We Were Soldiers ) is a very powerful tale of the 1965 Battle of Ia Drang Valley. I got it yesterday, so, I'm not terribly far into it, but, so far, the book seems to be telling a little more than the movie (which is typical of books later made into movies). From what I've read, the book is quite a bit more striking than the film, and seems to do a better job of drawing you into it than the film (which was most excellently filmed). I'm not far enough into the book to give it a final judgement yet, but so far, it's looking like it's gonna be a good read.

The Hunt For Red October by Tom Clancy. I'm not very far into it but it's already better than the movie (aren't all books though?).

The New Great Game by Lutz Kleveman

Crime and Punishment: Dostoevsky, wonderful read, if you like crime novels.

I'm reading a book about the man who started a company to deliver ice to colonials in India, the Carribean, and the southern states of the US, another one about statistics, and one that traces the roots of literary characters to see if they're based on anyone the writer knew. I just finished Song of Susannah (latest Dark Tower), The Lovely Bones, and The Devil Wears Prada.

Yes, I am a book slut! It's true--I'll read ANYTHING! I'm the only one in my family who will read, cover to cover, the National Geographic or The National Enquirer...

Nightmares and dreamscapes by Stephen King. I relly liked "Popsy" and "The ten O'clock Poeple.

I am also reading some Terry Pratchett.
Excellent!

Also i recently read the curious incident of the dog in the nightime which is a fantastic book.
'Tis indeed.


Yes, I am a book slut! It's true--I'll read ANYTHING! I'm the only one in my family who will read, cover to cover, the National Geographic or The National Enquirer...

I see writing = I read it. I've been known to read cereal boxes (including the ingredient list) while eating breakfast; I also read dictionaries.
At the moment my for fun book is the Wheel of Time series.