NationStates Jolt Archive

We want some titles!!!
What's that huge brick on your night table?
What's that book lying on the floor beside your toilet bowl?
What's that small paperback novel camping in your bag/purse?

David Eddings - Crystal Gorge

Terry Brookes - Jakra Ruus

Just finished "War of the Worlds" by H.G. Wells
I'm currently reading "Hundred years of solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, fascinating read. The language is amazing
Parallel, I'm reading "Jennifer Government", and the Dragonlance-Chronicles.
And next on the list is "Ullysses" by James Joyce.

That's about it. Oh, on the floor next to the toilet is a stack of comic books, Calvin&Hobbes, Usagi Yojimbo, Gaston Lagaffe and Troll de Troy.

Currently:

The Political Economy of International Relations, Robert Gilpin
Marxism and Democracy, Joseph Femia.
Books of the New Sun Gene Wolfe.


The last one is for fun, just started after finishing The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger by Stephen King.

The first two are for modules I am taking next year. And I'm beginning to wish I didn't sign up for the International Relations one :(

Plannning to read War of the Worlds again before I see the film. Though I know it will be completely different etc....

Well re-reading a couple classics from my youth. Fahrenheit 454 and Martian Chronicles. Great books that I havent read in 20 years or so.

Forgot Humor and comics... Toilet reading for me is Garfield, Rose is Rose, Baby Blues, etc...

"Why I am so wise" by Friedrich Nietszche.

Second in the Dune triology. They're the first sci-fi books (or sci-fi anything) I've liked.

I have a short attention span, so I usually bounce between several books.
I'm reading Judith Tarr's Kingdom of the Grail, a historical fantasy. It's the crusades, pretty accurate historically, except it adds djinn and faeries.

Miranda: The Story of America's Right to Remain Silent, by Gary Stuart. Both of the above are library books that are about a week overdue. I'm used to living in a larger town where I can re-check them online. I just haven't gotten around to visiting our tiny library recently.

The Timetables of History, something I've had for years but still enjoy perusing occasionally.

Goldfinger by Ian Fleming
How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must) by Ann Coulter
The Good Life by Cierco

all parallel to each other:
The City Guard trilogy by Terry Pratchett, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, finished Twisted by Jonathan Kellerman, plus Teeth of the Tiger by Tom Clancy, and again, just finished Anne Franks Diary.

Is it possible to modify a poll? I'd add categories "Humor, comics, manga" maybe, and "Books about religion (or against religion)".

But then again... if you're reading books not in the available categories, there's nothing wrong in discussing them here. If I want to add the whole list of categories you find in libraries or bookstores, I'd end up with 20+ of them!

For instance, in the last months I have read a few sci-fi books by Jack McDevitt, many cookbooks (Indian, Mexican, Greek), the "House of Amber" series, a book about PHP programming, a data mining technical book, philosophy ("The malaise of modernity"), religious ("A new kind of Christian", "Compassion and solidarity" by Gregory Baum)...


PS: I'd put religious/atheist books in the "Personal development" section, with all due respect. After all, spirituality is part of one's personal development.

I was reading The Family by Kitty Kelly, but I've been too busy working and wasting time on forums online to be reading lately.

*scrolled down a bit*
UGH Ann Coulter!? OMG!

A Song Of Ice And Fire by George RR Martin

Right now I'm reading Archangel, by Sharon Shinn, and Building Harlequin's Moon, by Larry Niven and Brenda Cooper. I recently finished American Gods, by Neil Gaiman, and Excession, by Iain M. Banks.

I'm alternating between The Pentagon's New Map by Thomas Barnett, stuff by C.S. Lewis, and Robert Parker novels. The latter for entertainment - he's actually a very good writer, something you might not expect to find in detective novels.

i'm a slow-ass reader so i always have a big ol' backlog of things i want to read... so:

currently:

The End of Poverty by Jeffery Sachs


lined up:

biographies of Mohandas K Gandhi (started)
the Bolivian Diary of Che Guvera (started)
"Be creative" (to help solve my damn 2 year writers block :headbang: )
The Dirk Gently omnibus by Douglas Adams
1968: The Year That Rocked The World

plus some more books on Gandhi that TCG sent me
and the new Harry Potter when its out :)

I'm always working on a couple of books at a time as well.

Songs of Susannah - Stephen King, #6 in the Dark Tower Series

The Yale Shakespeare - Yale, I presume. HUGE book, something like 2,000 pages with all sorts of brain-food stuffed between the plays and sonnets. Truly remarkable read.

Colombia Poetry Review #27 - UoC, a collection of contemporary poetry. Good stuff.

Plus a myriad of other poetry collections. Just finished One Flew Over The Cuckoo' Nest by Kesey, which was mind-blowing.

Next Up: The Phantom Tollboth (Yes, a kid's book. But it still kicks ass.)

I'm currently reading "The Hidden Agenda" by John Pilger, "The 5th Freedom" by Noam Chomsky and "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde.

Yea... I'm reading 3 books at once. I'm like that.

The Iron Council by China Mieville and Silent Bob Speaks by Kevin Smith.

John Pilger, what an absolute moron. I hate the guy with a passion. Racist, bigoted, badly or not at all informed. Only reason I'd read a book of his is for the comedy material.

Neo-A, is the Neil Gaiman book good? I still haven't finished Good Omens either, by him and Pratchett.

Sabbatis, if you like detective novels, read anything by Jonathan Kellerman.

Stephen Kings Dark Tower septet. Looking for a cheap copy of number 6...

John Pilger, what an absolute moron. I hate the guy with a passion. Racist, bigoted, badly or not at all informed. Only reason I'd read a book of his is for the comedy material.
Bear with me here, the hidden agenda is the sum total of my experience of the guy. What makes you say all you just said? None of the things you just called him seems to be true, so be good and explain, eh?

I just finished reading ... Frankenstein.
One of my room-mates had it and I realized I hadn't ever heard the whole story (except for the part where the 'monster' comes alive.) hehe, I always thought the monster was called Frankenstein :)
Other than that and the fact that part of it is set in Switzerland (yay!) it wasn't all that exciting. I expected it to be more... scary.

Bear with me here, the hidden agenda is the sum total of my experience of the guy. What makes you say all you just said? None of the things you just called him seems to be true, so be good and explain, eh?
Well, my sum total of experience of the guy is a program he did on BBC, giving an "informed and objective opinion on the Israel-Palestine situation". He spent the next hour laying into Israel, showing nothing informed or objective. His blatant hatred for Israel was obvious and glaring, he didn't even look at any facts, just went on what he thought was right, then tried to pass it off as objective.

I just finished reading ... Frankenstein.
One of my room-mates had it and I realized I hadn't ever heard the whole story (except for the part where the 'monster' comes alive.) hehe, I always thought the monster was called Frankenstein :)
Other than that and the fact that part of it is set in Switzerland (yay!) it wasn't all that exciting. I expected it to be more... scary.
Blame 99999999999999999 Gazillion bad hollywood b-movies for giving you the impression it was about the monster. The book is a moral tale. It's about ethics, not monsters ;)

Well, my sum total of experience of the guy is a program he did on BBC, giving an "informed and objective opinion on the Israel-Palestine situation". He spent the next hour laying into Israel, showing nothing informed or objective. His blatant hatred for Israel was obvious and glaring, he didn't even look at any facts, just went on what he thought was right, then tried to pass it off as objective.
Maybe you should try reading The Hidden Agenda then. It's not bad at all. What was the program called? - I'd be interested in finding it ;)

Where does mystery go again? Or was that not an option? You'll have to cut out about 5 of the most recent books I read in that case. Yeah, I love reading the things. ;) Also working on some anthologies of humor, and a spot of fantasy...forgotten the author's name, but it was good.

But besides the point, I'm also being forced to read some poetry for summer school. Stupid thing, it is. :(

lets see i am currently reading stephen kings "eyes of the dragon" and veblen's "theory of the leisure class". next up is some book i saw the author on the daily show, i can't remember who it was, but it was about iran.

i just finished reading jennifer government. ... ... no comment

what exactly falls under the catagory of "cyber-punk" ?

Maybe you should try reading The Hidden Agenda then. It's not bad at all. What was the program called? - I'd be interested in finding it ;)
I don't remember the name, but it was on the BBC, about Israel-Palestine and hosted by John Pilger. You should be able to find it with that info.

What I dont get about books, if we are meant to read instead of watching TV all the time, why the hell are books so bloody expensive? As I say im reading the dark tower and the books are unbelievably expensive. I want the 6th - 20 quid rrp, I wont pay more than 10 - Why the hell should I pay 20 quid? Its ridiculous

Excession, by Iain M. Banks.

I LOVE that book!


Right now I'm reading "The Conquest of Gaul" by Julius Caesar.

Neo-A, is the Neil Gaiman book good? I still haven't finished Good Omens either, by him and Pratchett.
Yes, it's a damn good book
I loved Good Omens too.
Excession, by Iain M. Banks.
I LOVE that book!
Yeah, you're the one whom I heard about the books from.

I am? Spiffy. Now I feel all priveliged. If you like them as much as I do, Consider Phlebas and Look to Windward are my 3rd and 2nd favourites - if you haven't already read them, that is.

Currently:

The Political Economy of International Relations, Robert Gilpin
Marxism and Democracy, Joseph Femia.
Books of the New Sun Gene Wolfe.


The last one is for fun, just started after finishing The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger by Stephen King.

The first two are for modules I am taking next year. And I'm beginning to wish I didn't sign up for the International Relations one :(

Plannning to read War of the Worlds again before I see the film. Though I know it will be completely different etc....

Robert Gilpin, oh how I remember my IR courses when just starting graduate school... He is a little complex, but definitely worth reading and re-reading for that matter. I recommend everyone get into international political economy just to get a good reference. Although his later books were not my favorite, I also highly recommend Paul Krugman's Pop Culturalism. Very interesting book about the collapse of both South American and Asian economies in the 1990s.

Hahaha, Good Omens rocked, "Buggere Ye Alle This". "Where is thy flaming sword?" "Must have put it down somewhere, lose my own head next..."

If the Israel/Palestine thing interests you, try From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedmann (a Jewish reporter from the NY Times who lived in those areas for many many years).

At the moment I am reading Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter, and Paris 1919 by Margaret MacMillan. I am also poking about in an old book called When the Sky Fell about earth crust displacement theory (it answers a lot of nagging questions puzzling science, but there are a lot of problems with the event it postulates).

At the moment I am reading Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter
That's a good book. But nobody I've ever spoken to had heard of it.
I read it for the 6th or 7th time a few weeks back.

Originally Posted by Neo-Anarchists
Excession, by Iain M. Banks.
Have you read "Bridge", by the same author?

If you like "Bridge", then try "The Coma" by Alex Garland. (The guy who wrote the story behing "28 Days Later".)
This fine little book seems to be hard to find though. I've found it as a "limited edition" in English, in a Croatian library in Split.

I am reading 3 books that I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys history by one of the greatest historians-Barbara Tuchman, and a classic sci-fi novel-Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein.

1) The Proud Tower: A portrait of the world before the war 1890-1914.
It deals with the ANARCHISTS (the Idea of the Deed) and SOCIALISTS (The Death of Jaures), their ideals then and the way that these movements evolved during this period. But it also takes into account society in Europe as a primary force in the transformation. (Lord Salisbury-what a prick.)
**This one is easy to get into because you don't necessarily have to read it from front to back.**

2) The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam.
The idea she tried to convey here is the folly of gov't and how it doesn't really matter what form of government a nation has, they are all susceptible to folly (folly defined as a governments pursuit of policies contrary to their own interests, despite the availablilty of feasible alternatives.)

Even if history isn't your thing, she develops historical characters better than any historian I know of, which makes it far more interesting to me than fiction.

That's a good book. But nobody I've ever spoken to had heard of it.
I read it for the 6th or 7th time a few weeks back.
Now you've met at least two of us. Have you read Hofstadter's 'Metamagical Themas' compilation? Amongst other gems, it introduced the very wonderful game of "Nomic" to the world.

Me, I'm currently reading Anna Karenina, by Tolstoy; and The Kalahari Typing School for Men, by Alexander McCall Smith

Now you've met at least two of us. Have you read Hofstadter's 'Metamagical Themas' compilation? Amongst other gems, it introduced the very wonderful game of "Nomic" to the world.
I haven't read it, but I've been looking for it. Can't seem to find it around here though.

I haven't read it, but I've been looking for it. Can't seem to find it around here though.
Amazon UK claims to be able to source it, so Amazon USA should be able to, too. If you liked 'Godel, Escher, Bach', you've got to get it. I bought my copy after reading my girlfriend's copy, even though I was broke at the time, and living with said girlfriend.

I am reading 3 books that I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys history by one of the greatest historians-Barbara Tuchman, and a classic sci-fi novel-Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein.

1) The Proud Tower: A portrait of the world before the war 1890-1914.
It deals with the ANARCHISTS (the Idea of the Deed) and SOCIALISTS (The Death of Jaures), their ideals then and the way that these movements evolved during this period. But it also takes into account society in Europe as a primary force in the transformation. (Lord Salisbury-what a prick.)
**This one is easy to get into because you don't necessarily have to read it from front to back.**

2) The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam.
The idea she tried to convey here is the folly of gov't and how it doesn't really matter what form of government a nation has, they are all susceptible to folly (folly defined as a governments pursuit of policies contrary to their own interests, despite the availablilty of feasible alternatives.)

Even if history isn't your thing, she develops historical characters better than any historian I know of, which makes it far more interesting to me than fiction.


yeah, thats only 2 books

right now, im reading Hitchiker's guide to the galaxy for summer reading. yeah, my skool makes me read 3 books and do a report on one over the summer and counts it as 10% of my 1st term grade in english.

That's a good book. But nobody I've ever spoken to had heard of it.
I read it for the 6th or 7th time a few weeks back.

You are kidding. My copy is around here somewhere. Read it years and years ago.

Vewy intewesting.

Just finished "War of the Worlds" by H.G. Wells
I'm currently reading "Hundred years of solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, fascinating read. The language is amazing
Parallel, I'm reading "Jennifer Government", and the Dragonlance-Chronicles.
And next on the list is "Ullysses" by James Joyce.

That's about it. Oh, on the floor next to the toilet is a stack of comic books, Calvin&Hobbes, Usagi Yojimbo, Gaston Lagaffe and Troll de Troy.

One of the greatest novels ever written.

The Iron Council by China Mieville and Silent Bob Speaks by Kevin Smith.

Yay! Another great writer, but one I don't here others talk about.

Right now I'm reading Archangel, by Sharon Shinn, and Building Harlequin's Moon, by Larry Niven and Brenda Cooper. I recently finished American Gods, by Neil Gaiman, and Excession, by Iain M. Banks.

Oooh. Love the last 2. May have to check out the first 2.

Ugh.

Right now I'm reading Things Fall Apart (don't remember the author) for my summer project for AP World Cultures. I thought it'd suck, but I like it. Finished The Good Earth by Pearl Buck for the same class. That DID suck.

Other than that, in the summer I don't read that much.

I'm reading "A Confrontation In The Desert" by Spike Milligan. An entertaining read none the less. I'm also drooling over my PlayStation 2 mag that has the specs for the PS3...

Just finished:

Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen
The Great and Secret Show and Everville by Clive Barker

In the middle of:

Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
Villa Incognito by Tom Robbins
Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow

Just started:

The Politics of War by Walter Karp
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
Wealth and Democracy by Kevin Phillips

Just finished:
Kinky Friedman, Ten Little New Yorkers (Ten Little New Yorkers )
Charlaine Harris, Dead as a Doornail (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0441012795/qid=1120434237/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)
Cory Doctrow, eastern standard tribe (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0765307596/qid=1120434662/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

Reading now:
Brad Waner, Hardcore Zen : Punk Rock, Monster Movies, & the Truth about Reality (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/086171380X/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance) (re-reading for inspiration)
Charles De Lint, Trader (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312858477/qid=1120433976/sr=1-42/ref=sr_1_42/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books)
Yasmina Khadra, Double Blank (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1592641199/qid=1120434862/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-0345811-1703011) (an awesome lucky library find!!)

In the batter's box:
Stephen Fry, Making History: A Novel (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1569471509/qid=1120434535/sr=1-6/ref=sr_1_6/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books) (re-reading)
Sakyong Mipham, Turning The Mind Into An Ally (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/157322345X/qid=1120434728/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)
Kim Harrison, Every Which Way But Dead (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/006057299X/qid=1120434928/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

I can't wait to get a copy of:
James Lee Burke, Crusader's Cross : A Dave Robicheaux Novel (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0743277198/qid=1120434280/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0439784549/qid=1120434367/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-0345811-1703011?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)
Andrew Vachss, Two Trains Running (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400043816/qid=1120434435/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-0345811-1703011)

I will admit to being a vampire/romance novel fan. currently reading some of nina bangs stuff. very good.

Just finished A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers (I think, I returned the book 2 nights ago)... It was pretty good, but strange as hell...

Current:
The Essential Calvin and Hobbes (always good to have something funny)
Crossroads of Twilight by Robert Jordan (LOVE tWoT)
[I]Farewell to Manzanar[I] by Jeanne Watasuki Houston (it's for an Honors English project.... I can't stand this book)

Since I got a lot of time on my hands and since it's my habit to read one book at a time (helps you focus more), I've just finished When Thunder Rolled by Ed Rasimus. An excellent memoir and personal account (as a fairly low-ranked Thud pilot in the USAF) of the Vietnam air war around '66 (Rolling Thunder), I must say, and some parts are also rather humourous as well. For those interested in the air war aspect of the Vietnam War, it is certainly a good reading.

After that, hopefully I'm moving onto Generation Kill by Evan Wright. After I finish that sometimes soon, it's time to move onto The Submarine by Thomas Parrish. Wanted to read that for a llooongg time, and got it in my hands a few days ago.

Just finished the Hitchhiker's Volume. Good read.

Finished Pathology of Power by Paul Farmer, I think everyone should read that one.

Am now reading Shooting at the Moon .

Tom Clancy all the way! I've just finished Debt of Honor and are going to start on Executive Orders tommorrow or something, and then I have the Bear and the Dragon waiting. yeah, I like to go chronologically (sp?). Tom Clancy rocks!

Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday

A History of English Speaking Peoples by Winston Churchill

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

Tom Clancy all the way! I've just finished Debt of Honor and are going to start on Executive Orders tommorrow or something, and then I have the Bear and the Dragon waiting. yeah, I like to go chronologically (sp?). Tom Clancy rocks!
Executive Orders: Good book. Except I still haven't read Debt of Honor (the prequal). That'll be my next Clancy book.

Neo-A, is the Neil Gaiman book good? I still haven't finished Good Omens either, by him and Pratchett.


American Gods is quite good.

I just finished Gridlinked, by Neil Asher, I believe it is. Rather nice.

Tom Clancy all the way! I've just finished Debt of Honor and are going to start on Executive Orders tommorrow or something, and then I have the Bear and the Dragon waiting. yeah, I like to go chronologically (sp?). Tom Clancy rocks!

w00t for Clancy! I've read all of his Jack Ryan books at least twice, and Executive Orders is definitely my favourite.

I'm reading:

"Freakanomics" by Steven D. Levitt.

One of the most amazing books ever. It's understandable how he is worldwide known in Econ at the age of 26! He's expected to become the premier authority on econ. (Econ was my major.) He teaches in Chicago. You'll look at the world differently after getting into this. It is FUN! :D

Just finished:

"World on Fire" by Amy Chua
Loved it. It's so common sense that it seems that the US is trying to start racial hatred in other countries. Brilliant.

Still in the middle of:

"The Biology of Violence" by Debra Niehoff
I started it eons ago and don't know why I haven't finished it. It was excellent as far as I got.. Oh, then we moved and everything got messed up! It was so long ago I'll have to start over from the beginning.

What I find odd, is that I never read fiction anymore. At least not for many years.. :confused: The last fiction book I remember reading was "The Pelican Brief".

Heh. Right now my current pile is Young Patriots about Madison and Hamilton and the writing of the US Constitution, Heinlen's Stranger in a Strange Land, De Tocqueville's Democracy in America, The Age of Federalism, Sartre's Being and Nothingness, and Beckett's Molloy/Malone Dies/The Unnamable trilogy.


As you can see, I rigidly stick to one thought at a time. :D

Stack of collected Economist magazines.

"Krystof Kieslowski and Post-Theory Film", "The Inferno: Purgatory" and "Settling Accounts".

I just finished Idoru by William Gibson.

Next in my stack of "to read or re-read"... not necessarily in order:

Sixth Column by Robert A. Heinlein
The Pentagon's New Map by Thomas P.M. Barnett
Joy at Work by Dennis W. Bakke
Why Nations Go To War by John G. Stoessinger
All Tomorrow's Parties by William Gibson

"Writing Crime & Suspense Fiction"

"Writing a Novel: a practical guide"

"Structuring your Novel"

:D:D:D

Many after I die you'll read one of my books! :D:D:D

Peace Kills by P.J. O'Rourke
The Notebooks of Leonardo DaVinci
The Myth of the Great War by John Mosier
Neutron Star by Larry Niven

3 books from Kurt Vonnegut that I've re-read recently:

"Slaughterhouse 5" (it's about the fire-bombing of Dresden and a crazy American POW who believes he can "shift" back and forth through time)

"Cat's Cradle" (a doomsday device based on water, and a banana republic where nothing ever works)

"Galapagos" (Humanity survives a disaster... but loses intelligence on the way, thanks to a surviving party of incredibly stupid persons)

Ah that reminds me, I'm also reading Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut.

"The Dark Tower" series by Stephen King.

Irish Tales of Terror. Great tales.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis (to brush up before the movie comes out)

Illusions by Richard Bach

The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

Digital Fortress by Dan Brown

We Thought You Would Be Prettier by Laurie Nataro (hilarious, but not her best)

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (for no reason)

1984 by George Orwell

*I'm reading all of these at the same time, some more than others*