NationStates Jolt Archive

I'm a bit of an avid reader, and have a tendency to read a lot of the same author, Pratchette in particular.

I decided to try something new, and 've recently read a book by Tom Holt called Only Human and found it really funny and one of those unputdownable (there's a new one for the dictionary) books.

Who's your fave author and why?

What have you read lately and what did you think?

Recommendations and Criticisms Please.....

I'm a bit of an avid reader, and have a tendency to read a lot of the same author, Pratchette in particular.

I would be more persuaded of the avidity of your reading if you had actually written his name correctly.

I would be more persuaded of the avidity of your reading if you had actually written his name correctly.
Excuse me?
Pratchette is the best darn French Canadian writer ever!



My Boss recomends i read Prachett though.

I would be more persuaded of the avidity of your reading if you had actually written his name correctly.

I know, I always spell it wrong *shrug*

I would be more persuaded of the avidity of your reading if you had actually written his name correctly.

I've read a lot of em, I especially like the ones with The Watch & Rincewind

I read lots of Sci Fi and Fantasy.

Every book that changes my perception of the world.

Pratchett does that, but so do Margaret Atwood, Ian Banks, Eoin Colfer, Banana Yoshimoto, JRR Tolkien, Isaac Asimov, Roddy Doyle, Robert Schneider, Bernhard Schlink, Rohinton Mistry, Kenzaburo Oe, Goa Xingjian, Ben Okri, Ahmadou Kourouma, Alessandro Baricco, Umberto Eco, Stanislav Lem, Assia Djebar, Yasar Kemal and many many more. These were just the first few that came to my mind.

I am usually reading at minimum 4 books at a time....

1 with my kids
1 about parenting
1 for stress relief purposes
1 for time wasting purposes (like when I am waiting for the doctor ect.)

the past few months though that has jumped to 6, the regular 4 plus one for a Bible study class I am taking and one for a book club I joined.

I don't know how "well read" that makes me, since most of the books aren't "classics" (only the one I read with the kids)

For my stress relief book, I like "true crime" type of books, and when I am havingn a particularly crazy week I pull out some Cornwell, or some Clancy, but they are no brainers, so really not often.

My time wasting books are 90% of the time small novels that I pick up at garage sales, they are never anyone I have ever heard of, but some of them are pretty good, most of them sit at about 200 pages, so pretty short.

I get my parenting books from the library and I just started at one end of the decimal code and am working my way to the other, I just read what's 'next'

My kids are pretty into the classics, this year we have read
Alice in Wonderland
Animal Farm
A Wrinkle in Time
Charlottes Web
Stuart Little
THGTTG (all books more than once)
some other random book by Douglas Adams about a detective agency
The Little Prince
and we are re-starting The Chronicals of Narnia (we read them last year) and probably around Christmas we will read The Hobbit, not really a "Christmas" thing for normal people but when I was growing up, I burried my head in it so my family would leave me alone, JRR Tolkien is Christmas for me (shhhh don't tell Jesus)

I don't know that I have many recomendations....

Hmm books I've read recently:

1984 George Orwell : Good storyline but drags on a bit
Catch 22 Joseph Heller: Love this book. Its funny and in my opnion is hard to put down
Brave New World Aldous Huxley: Good in the begiinign but the story seems to get mixed up nearer the end.
Hard Times Charles Dickens: Worst. Book. Ever. If you haven't got a sleeping pill read this.
His Dark Materials Trilogy Philip Pullman: Love it. Its got a great storyline with humour in the right places. Definately recommend.

What have you read lately...?


My American Journey by Colin Powel, with Joseph E. Persico
Point Counter Point by Aldous Huxley
From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State by David T. Beito
Political Science Quarterly, Summer 2006

"Tragic Choices in the War on Terrorism: Should We Try to Regulate and Control Torture?" by Jerome Slater
"President Bush and Social Policy: The Strange Case of the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit" by Douglas Jaenicke and Alex Waddan
"The Rise of a European Defense" by Seth G. Jones


I actually read very very little fiction. That which I do read tends to be science fiction and/or political in nature (Huxley, Heinlein, waiting on the library's copy of "A Scanner Darkly" by Philip K. Dick, etc). I figure that reality is strange and screwed up enough as it is. Fiction is just too reasonable and believable to be of any real interest.

I'm a bit of an avid reader, and have a tendency to read a lot of the same author, Pratchette in particular.

I decided to try something new, and 've recently read a book by Tom Holt called Only Human and found it really funny and one of those unputdownable (there's a new one for the dictionary) books.

Who's your fave author and why?

What have you read lately and what did you think?

Recommendations and Criticisms Please.....
No one has read me, so I'm not very well read.

I'm a bit of an avid reader, and have a tendency to read a lot of the same author, Pratchette in particular.

I decided to try something new, and 've recently read a book by Tom Holt called Only Human and found it really funny and one of those unputdownable (there's a new one for the dictionary) books.

Who's your fave author and why?

What have you read lately and what did you think?

Recommendations and Criticisms Please.....


Just finished Max Hastings. Armageddon.

About the end of WWII.

Eye-opening read for anyone who thinks there's such a thing as fairness in war...

Interesting

I'm currently reading a story about a Trojan girl held captive on a Greek Ship.

What Tyrants!!!

:D


Tyrants tend to have a GREAT time!

*giggle* you oughtta here what the standing joke in Rokossovski's 2nd Bellorussian front was...

My favourite books are A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, 1984 by George Orwell, The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham and for a bit of light relief (and clever satire) the Adrian Mole Diaries by Sue Townsend.

I also like H. P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, and various other horror and sci-fi novels and authors.

Really?

I have a feeling it might get a bit steamy, but I like those sorts of books, good for the imagination.

Well, as the pundits had it, nemetzi ( germans in specific, but also foreigners in general ) had 2 possible fates if they met the 2nd Front.
For the chaps: a red army medal for labour services.
For the girls: a red army medal for horizontal services.


And, oh, for anyone who did not work really HARD at getting those medals,
there was the Hero of the Soviet Union thingie - posthumous.

Well, as the pundits had it, nemetzi ( germans in specific, but also foreigners in general ) had 2 possible fates if they met the 2nd Front.
For the chaps: a red army medal for labour services.
For the girls: a red army medal for horizontal services.


And, oh, for anyone who did not work really HARD at getting those medals,
there was the Hero of the Soviet Union thingie - posthumous.

why doesnt that surprise me

Oh, heavens, let's see, what am I reading ...


Started rereading the Lord of the Rings for the umpteenth time ...
Then picked up the Hobbit, too ...
Dipped into Harpo Marx's autobiography, Harpo Speaks, because there was a bunch of Marx Brothers films on TCM last night
The Rise and Rise of Richard B Cheney, but I can't read that for long without throwing it across the room
Two books on evolution, I can't remember the titles

I know there are some others on the shelf next to the bed but I can't remember what they are. I should read Charlotte's Web again, and all the mention of Orwell brings to mind 1984 and Animal Farm. Part of my collection is in disarray because we're having work done in that part of the house which has made it less than accessible, or I might be reading through some other volumes.

Lately?

Well...

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (I am currently working on a production of this)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl (just for fun)
Callahan's Con by Spider Robinson (I love the Callahan series)
Steel Beach by John Varley (wow! I highly recommend it)
Double Star by Robert Heinlein (one of my favorite authors)
The Poetics by Aristotle (re-read)
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel(I am in the middle of this one)

I read a lot; at any given point there are usually three or four things I'm reading that I switch between depending on my mood. I don't have favourite books, but I do like a lot of sci fi, fantasy, political philosophy, and 17th and 18th century French literature.

I went to the bookstore last night and picked up:
- Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (need something frivolous to read on vacation next week)
- the current issues of The Economist, Foreign Policy magazine, Foreign Affairs, and Cooking Light
- The Deceivers: Allied Military Deception in the Second World War by Thaddeus Holt

I haven't read anything of John Varley past the Titan, Wizard and Demon trilogy, and I LOVED that...read it about once a year. What else does he have in that sort of vein? I'm looking at his bibliography....anything you think I'd like based on my love of the aforementioned books?

I've enjoyed 1984, A Clockwork Orange and pretty much any other dystopia I could find.

I've also gotten into Chuck Palahniuk, and have read Fight Club, Choke, and Survivor, although Survivor was a little too strange for my tastes.

I have read a lot of Philip K. Dick, (The VALIS tiology is still on my list, though)

A friend of mine got me into Alan Moore, and I have read V for Vendetta and Watchmen

This summer I read Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and presently I split my time between Frances Fitzgerald's Fire in the Lake, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, The Essential Writings of Krishnamurti, and Alan Moore's Swamp Thing.

Whats next on my list is Chuck Palahniuk's Stranger than Fiction, Philip Dick's VALIS triology, Jack Kerouac's On the Road and Stephen King's Darktower series..

EDIT: I also have a strange love of Mario Puzo's writings and have read most of his books.

I don't know if I would consider myself 'well read', but I love a good book.

The latest was 'Settling Accounts: The Grapple' by Harry Turtledove, which was awesome, as I find most of his work to be.

I tend to read a lot of historical fiction, from Collen McCullough's 'Master's of Rome' series to Steven Pressfield's 'Gates of Fire'. I also like a lot of 'alternative history', such as Turtledove or S.M. Stirling.

I was into fantasy much more when I was younger, but the most recent was Tad Williams 'Shadowmarch', which was alright. Another series that was great, and should really fall into the 'historical fiction' genre is Jack White's 'A Dream of Eagles' which is a retelling of the Arthurian tale - sans magic. Good Stuff.

And of course, there a couple of classics. 1984, Animal Farm, and Brave New World are all great reads.

My favourite books are A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, 1984 by George Orwell, The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham and for a bit of light relief (and clever satire) the Adrian Mole Diaries by Sue Townsend.

I also like H. P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, and various other horror and sci-fi novels and authors.

Wow...good to see someone else has read that. Excellent book.

I do try to read, but i can never really find a book where i can just sit down and read and not want to look away.

I read everything. EVERYTHING.

I'm a compulsive reader. Whether it's "On the Road" or "A Farewell to Arms" or "Thinner" or "A Brief History of Time" or the pamphlet "How the Jews Stole Christmas", I will read it.

Wow...good to see someone else has read that. Excellent book.

Personally I prefer The Kraken Wakes when it comes to Wyndham. Them with a liking for his cosy catastrophes would do well to check out some of John Christopher's earlier novels (before he did all the Tripods ones). Aldiss also knocked out a few (Greybeard), as did Ballard - although they were a touch twisted, and Keith Roberts also did a pretty respectable one entitled The Furies.

Personally I prefer The Kraken Wakes when it comes to Wyndham. Them with a liking for his cosy catastrophes would do well to check out some of John Christopher's earlier novels (before he did all the Tripods ones).

You read the Tripod trilogy, too? :eek: Sweet! :cool:

I don't consider myself particularly well read.

My favorite author is probably either Thomas Ligotti or Jorge Luis Borges. Ligotti's writing, at it's best, combines a dream-like atmosphere where you're left unsure of what's reality and what's illusion and a nihilistic perspective that makes for what one book critic has described as "philosophical horror". Borges, well, who can resist tales of knife fighters, people failing to live up to their principles when it counts, and fantastic stories of labyrinths and legends.

You read the Tripod trilogy, too? :eek: Sweet! :cool:

Nope. Never got round to those, I'm talking about his other novels like The Death Of Grass, The World In Winter and Cloud On Silver.

Nope. Never got round to those, I'm talking about his other novels like The Death Of Grass, The World In Winter and Cloud On Silver.

You should. They were good.

Currently I am reading to try to find out how an economy works.

So far I've read these books

The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich Hayek
The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford
Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman
Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt
Principles of Economics by Carl Menger
Economics for Real People by Gene Callahan
and a few others I can't think of

Right now I am reading The General Theory of employment, interest and money by John Maynard Keynes.

Currently I am reading to try to find out how an economy works.

So far I've read these books

The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich Hayek
The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford
Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman
Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt
Principles of Economics by Carl Menger
Economics for Real People by Gene Callahan
and a few others I can't think of

Right now I am reading The General Theory of employment, interest and money by John Maynard Keynes.

Try some Adam Smith maybe?

Try some Adam Smith maybe?
I've already read the Wealth of Nations but thanks for asking. Maybe I should have made a more complete list including Just Capital by Adair Turner, Freakonomics by Steven Levitt, and The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx but its been a while since I've read those books. I dunno, I am just sort of interested because a bad economic policy is bad for everyone involved in the economy.

The manifesto was not fun to read...

The manifesto was not fun to read...
It was sort of easy compared to The Wealth of Nations though. The manifesto is about 100 pages and the wealth of nations is about 1000 pages.

My favorite book would have to be Steppenwolf(no, not named after the band:upyours:) by Hermann Hesse, that book hooks into my personality so well it scared me

lately i've read
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Candide By Voltaire
The Brothers Karamazov By Fyodor Dostoevsky(impossible to put down)
Macbeth By William Shakespeare
Beowulf
and like 3 or 4 Dune books

Wow...good to see someone else has read that. Excellent book.
Day of the Triffids is a classic! I didn't know it was an uncommon read. Did anyone else think that the film 28 Days Later was pretty much a remake, but with zombies instead of flowers?

"War of the Worlds" is another brilliant book, I loved "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" and "Good Omens" is probably the Funniest Book Ever.

well im a pretty heavy reader of anything thats not too serious!

what kinda genre are you looking for recomendations in?

p.s i dont think reading helps spelling...i read loads and mine still sucks!:(

well im a pretty heavy reader of anything thats not too serious!

what kinda genre are you looking for recomendations in?

p.s i dont think reading helps spelling...i read loads and mine still sucks!:(

Well, it obviously doesn't help with capitalisation... :p

Well, it obviously doesn't help with capitalisation... :p
capitalisation...:gundge:
i hate the word,as i hate hell, all Montagues and thee!!!

Don't really have a favorite author, but I'm an avid reader of Russian stuff. Dostoyevsky, Lermontov, Tolstoy, Solzhenitsyn and company are all awesome.

I'm also a fan of American literature, Mark Twain, Rand, Thurber, Fitzgerald and Hemigway are all good as well.

British stuff is fun, Orwell, Chaucer, Tolkien, Clarke and company good too.

"The Good Soldier Svejk" by Jaroslav Hasek is my all time favorite. None of that goblins and swords crap for me.

You read the Tripod trilogy, too? :eek: Sweet! :cool:
:D I read those, too! Haven't thought about them in ages. I'll have to check out the others.

Aldiss' Heliconia trilogy is very cool, too.

Thomas Hardy was an obsession for a while, some years back, until the introduction to the Penguin edition of Jude the Obscure gave away the damn plot!

Collins' The Moonstone is good, and all of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Some Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey books, especially Murder Must Advertise. Went through a long Ngaio Marsh, PD James phase once. Not so much Agatha Christie.

I'm a bit of an avid reader, and have a tendency to read a lot of the same author, Pratchette in particular.

I decided to try something new, and 've recently read a book by Tom Holt called Only Human and found it really funny and one of those unputdownable (there's a new one for the dictionary) books.

Who's your fave author and why?

What have you read lately and what did you think?

Recommendations and Criticisms Please.....

I'm a big Terry Pratchett fan myself!

Check out the Robert Rankin books:

Waiting for Godalming (funniest book known to man and where I got my nickname "Fangio" from).

The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocolypse (second funniest book known to man)

Read them and if you don't like 'em then I'll post my address so you can come and burn my flat down for wasting part of your life!!!!:D

I read at the very least 300 books a year. (Beleive it. Its true.) Maybe more, because I often read 5 or 6 books at a time. Mostly that's because I lose one and need something else to read, but hey. My favorite author is Tamora Peirce. I like most fantasy authors, though. :D I recently read "Song Quest" by Katherine Roberts, and I HIGHLY recommend it. I got "All I Need To Know I Learned From My Cat" by Suzy Becker last year at a used book store, and I read it once a month, because its one of my all-time favorite books. :p I don't read much serious literature. Once I read part of "Illead" but I had to return it to the library before I got anywhere. I'm planning on getting through it before school starts again.

I have over 800 books at home.

My major collections are

Humour: Pratchett, Tom Holt, Asprin, Herriot

Fantasy: Eddings, Feist, Robin Hobb

Sci-Fi: Dan Brown, Ian Banks

Historical: Bernard Cornwell

Thrillers: Dick Francis

Highly commended: A new (to me) writer, Trudi Canavan. She is Australian and her Fantasy work is excellent. From the female viewpoint without saying all men are swine. ;)

Fargozia']I have over 800 books at home.

My major collections are

Humour: Pratchett, Tom Holt, Asprin, Herriot

Fantasy: Eddings, Feist, Robin Hobb

Sci-Fi: Dan Brown, Ian Banks

Historical: Bernard Cornwell

Thrillers: Dick Francis

Highly commended: A new (to me) writer, Trudi Canavan. She is Australian and her Fantasy work is excellent. From the female viewpoint without saying all men are swine. ;)
heehee. We counted our books a few years ago-- we had about 3300. But wev'e got at least 240 books since then, so now its about 3500. Lets see...
We have books by Dave Barry, Tamora Peirce, Tom Clancy, JK Rowling, and various religion-based writers as the staples, plus a couple thousand books by random authors, some very old books, alot of very new books, and a huge number of various classics. (Like the Complete Sherlock Holmes, which I must say doesn't intrest me much.) Also, there are the 4 or 5 shelves full of books on engineering, metal pipe encyclopedias, and other disgustingly thick books on obscure mechanical subjects.

"Good Omens" is probably the Funniest Book Ever.
I love this book, thanks for reminding me of it. I'll have to hunt it down when I get home, it's probably accumulating dust in the back of my bookshelf.

Like the Complete Sherlock Holmes, which I must say doesn't intrest me much
Sacrilege! :p

I don't have a favorite author.

Lately, I've been reading, re-reading, and skimming:

After Virtue, by Alasdair MacIntyre
A Theory of Justice, by John Rawls
Fear and Trembling, by Soren Kierkegaard
Two Treatises of Government, by John Locke
The Last World War, by Datton Ward
The King's Peace, by Jo Walton
Whitewashing Race: The Myth of a Colorblind Society, by seven different authors
Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men, by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon

Of the above, I'd recommend them all, except for The King's Peace, because I'm about ten pages in.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon
I couldn't get through that. Maybe I should try again.

I'm a bit of an avid reader, and have a tendency to read a lot of the same author, Pratchette in particular.

I decided to try something new, and 've recently read a book by Tom Holt called Only Human and found it really funny and one of those unputdownable (there's a new one for the dictionary) books.

Who's your fave author and why?

What have you read lately and what did you think?

Recommendations and Criticisms Please.....
i used to read a lot of "Pratchette" (:p sounds so posh spelt like that!), i read some Tom Holt, Phillip Pullman, Harry Potter (you kinda gotta), LOTR... but not much else :(

i'm generally not well read at all. too lazy and i'm dyslexic so i have to concentrate pretty hard to read and its just not at all 'enjoyable' unless the book is particularly great (or easy to read), and even then i can only read a few pages at a time. am a slow reader as a result.

its a shame as i have a great and active imagination, and really enjoy being caught up in a good book, but because its such a stretch to read and not all that enjoyable it just... doesn't work out well :(

i used to read a lot of "Pratchette" (:p sounds so posh spelt like that!), i read some Tom Holt, Phillip Pullman, Harry Potter (you kinda gotta), LOTR... but not much else :(

i'm generally not well read at all. too lazy and i'm dyslexic so i have to concentrate pretty hard to read and its just not at all 'enjoyable' unless the book is particularly great (or easy to read), and even then i can only read a few pages at a time. am a slow reader as a result.

its a shame as i have a great and active imagination, and really enjoy being caught up in a good book, but because its such a stretch to read and not all that enjoyable it just... doesn't work out well :(
There's a lot of stuff on audio now, you know. Or maybe Glitziness can read to you? :D

I've recently got into the classics. In fact, I can't stand anything else, with a few exceptions. Favourites of mine are Oscar Wilde (a genius, period), the Bronte sisters (beautiful artists, if you can overlook Charlottes moral rigidity), and Charles Dickens (not as dry as one would think).

I enjoy reading fantasy novels. My favorite author is Mercedes Lackey. I have only read one of her books so far, called Joust. It is the first book in the "Dragon Jousters" trilogy. I am currently reading the second book, Alta, and I am looking forward to the third, Sanctuary. Fantasy fans will love this series, and most of Lackey's other works.

I've recently got into the classics. In fact, I can't stand anything else, with a few exceptions. Favourites of mine are Oscar Wilde (a genius, period), the Bronte sisters (beautiful artists, if you can overlook Charlottes moral rigidity), and Charles Dickens (not as dry as one would think).
Oscar's definitely good, and I enjoyed Jane Eyre. I should try Wuthering Heights again. And Dickens, yeah, I love the man. You should try Thomas Hardy, really, he's later than the Brontes and Dickens, but very, very good. Just stay away from the introductions in the Penguin editions, they give away major plot details.

You can get electronic versions of most 19th century authors at Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/), if reading from a screen works for you. It does for me sometimes.

There's a lot of stuff on audio now, you know. Or maybe Glitziness can read to you? :D
hehe i think she's offered in the past :p

and audiobooks rock - listened to tonnes (mostly prachett... however you spell his name) a few years back when i got nearly all his books on audiobook for free. since then its just something i haven't pursued as... frankly... i can watch movies just as well as listening to a book :p
think i'll look into them again though. first step is deciding what to "read"...

Oscar's definitely good, and I enjoyed Jane Eyre. I should try Wuthering Heights again. And Dickens, yeah, I love the man. You should try Thomas Hardy, really, he's later than the Brontes and Dickens, but very, very good. Just stay away from the introductions in the Penguin editions, they give away major plot details.

You can get electronic versions of most 19th century authors at Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/), if reading from a screen works for you. It does for me sometimes.

Don't worry! I have a copy of Tess of D'urbervilles (sp?) in my "To be read" pile. And I noticed that about introductions, not just with Penguin, but with all editions. I usually read them afterwards.

I enjoy reading fantasy novels. My favorite author is Mercedes Lackey. I have only read one of her books so far, called Joust. It is the first book in the "Dragon Jousters" trilogy. I am currently reading the second book, Alta, and I am looking forward to the third, Sanctuary. Fantasy fans will love this series, and most of Lackey's other works.

Joust, Alta, and Sanctuary are all excellent.

A Theory of Justice, by John Rawls
Yet another good one I haven't read in a while. *sigh* So many books, so little time for them all.

I'm an avid reader as well. In fact, I should have read all the posts here to see if I share interests with anyone else, but to be honest I'm reading a book between posts and didn't want to take the time.

I'm mostly into fantasy, but I'll read just about anything. In fact (excuse me as I only read the first couple of posts) I also read a Tom Holt book fairly recently called 'Little People'. Funny stuff. For real funny reading tho I generally prefer Spider Robinson. For just plain fun I love Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake books. Reading is my favorite thing :)

A Theory of Justice, by John Rawls
Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men, by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
*wants to read both*

I enjoy reading fantasy novels. My favorite author is Mercedes Lackey. I have only read one of her books so far, called Joust. It is the first book in the "Dragon Jousters" trilogy. I am currently reading the second book, Alta, and I am looking forward to the third, Sanctuary. Fantasy fans will love this series, and most of Lackey's other works.

So I got around to reading some of the other posts. I've read these two books as well and really enjoyed them, along with everything else I've ever read by this author.

Gay folks may be interested to know that many of her characters are gay and depicted in a very favorable light.

For other gay fantasy check out Lynn Flewelling's Nightrunner series.

I am generally quite an avid reader, although I might not be "well read," as I've read only a few classics.

I read a lot of Pratchett (all of the Discworld books at least once, twice if you don't count the newer young adult Tiffany Aching stort line), Douglas Adams, and oher assorted Sci-fi fantasy authors, including one who I am just getting in to, Jack Williamson.

I've already read the Wealth of Nations but thanks for asking.

How about The Theory of Moral Sentiments? Absolutely crucial to understanding Smith and his economics. It is also the work where he first develops the concept of the "invisible hand." It's interesting because before I read this work, I had always thought that Smith had argued that "society benefits because of self-interest." After reading it, however, I came away with the feeling that Smith had in fact argued that "society benefits despite self-interest." Most certainly a different sort of argument, especially when one reads Smith's characterization of the zealous pursuit of wealth and fashion as being generally stupid and silly in nature.

I like Michael Chrichton, I love Timeline.

Day of the Triffids is a classic! I didn't know it was an uncommon read. Did anyone else think that the film 28 Days Later was pretty much a remake, but with zombies instead of flowers?

Apart from the fact that there weren't any zombies in 28 Days Later?

Well, I've avidly studied Chaucer and Shakespeare, I got 100% an A Level in the poetry of Robert Frost, and I read anything I can get my hands on.

Some 'authors' I've read include Arthur Miller, John Steinbeck, Brian Friel, Orwell, ...etc. fuck I can't be bothered ther's too many, they're just a few off the top of my head.

Yeah, I love reading.

My favourite series of books is the "His Dark Materials" series by Philip Pullman. It's incredible.

Favorite Books:


Legionnaire by Simon Murray


Rites of Passage by Robert Peterson


Chicken Hawk by Robert Mason

Generation Kill

Just Another Soldier

Shooter

Marine Sniper

Black Hawk Down

Dead Sky, Black Sun by Graham McNeill

1984 by George Orwell

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

there are others in my vast library of over five hundred books, but these are a few of my favorites.

How about The Theory of Moral Sentiments? Absolutely crucial to understanding Smith and his economics. It is also the work where he first develops the concept of the "invisible hand." It's interesting because before I read this work, I had always thought that Smith had argued that "society benefits because of self-interest." After reading it, however, I came away with the feeling that Smith had in fact argued that "society benefits despite self-interest." Most certainly a different sort of argument, especially when one reads Smith's characterization of the zealous pursuit of wealth and fashion as being generally stupid and silly in nature.
Well, I don't want to focus entirely on Smith anyway, there are other authors who have made other contributions that I haven't read yet like Bastiat, or Ricardo, or even a more contemporary author like Sowell. Anyway, it is no matter what an individual thinks of self-interest the fact is that it exists and cannot be abolished without a large abridgement of freedom. It is better to create a system that allows individuals to pursue their self-interest and have it benefit society. Besides, I would even argue that one's moral beliefs are a part of one's self-interest, as morality cannot be ascribed to anything but an individual and ultimately an individual following their moral code, is following their own desire as others may not even view those aims as good. We only regard others as selfless if they sacrifice themselves for our own causes anyway, otherwise we regard them as idiots.

Books I read recently, and enjoyed are are still enjoying:


Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome (shame about the missing chapters)
John Keegan, A History of Warfare (opinionated, but very good)
William Gibson, Neuromancer (reread, a bit dated now but still fun)
New Testament, King James version (a little bit at a time)


I'm reluctant to recommend anything I read years ago, after recently discovering that Herman Hesse isn't as good as I used to think he was. I'll just mention Freud (the interpretation of dreams) and the early Neil Stephenson (everything up to the Diamond Age).

I'm a bit of an avid reader, and have a tendency to read a lot of the same author, Pratchette in particular.

I decided to try something new, and 've recently read a book by Tom Holt called Only Human and found it really funny and one of those unputdownable (there's a new one for the dictionary) books.

Who's your fave author and why?

What have you read lately and what did you think?

Recommendations and Criticisms Please.....
I don't realy have a fave author. But I like the Warhammer novels. Particularly William King.

I don't realy have a fave author. But I like the Warhammer novels. Particularly William King.


You are the man! Warhammer rules!


I love Valnir's Bane and Dead Sky Black Sun.


Another favorite book of mine in general, however, is Sun Tzu's Art of War.

Been reading the Witch series by Kim Harrison. Good story.
Now if she'd just bring Ivy and Rachel together...:D

You are the man! Warhammer rules!


I love Valnir's Bane and Dead Sky Black Sun.

I must admit I don't know which they are. Then again I've only stumbled onto the Warhammer novels a little ago. So far I managed to get the Konrad trilogy, 3 of the 4 novels with Ragnar from the Warhammer 40k universe, Drachenfels, and all 7 Gotrek and Felix novels. And in october a new adventure of this dynamic duo will be published. And this time the author is not Bill King. I just hope it will be as good as the previouse books in this serie.

My favorite authors include Aldous Huxley, Isaac Asimov, Arthur Clarke, Robert Heinlein, Bertrand Russell, Jack Kerouac, George Orwell, Frank Herbert and Patrick O'Brian.

I started War and Peace last week, and I think I might get to page 2 today. :)

I started War and Peace last week, and I think I might get to page 2 today. :)

Perhaps you should try the english translation instead :D

I do try to read, but i can never really find a book where i can just sit down and read and not want to look away.

Have you ever read the book of ultimate bushisms? That is impossible to put down. Its funny in a terrifying way.

Well, i am reading The Official World War Two History of Alam Halfa and Alamein, i have a mere 20 pages to go and next i'll read the first book of the Italian Campaign.:cool:

Currently reading Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card...

I tend not to read a lot in the summer, but fall is coming up, which means I'll be reading all my Tolkien (Silmarillon, Hobbit, LOTR) for the upteenth time.

I'm also a big Heinlein fan...working my way towards owning all his books. Job: A Comedy of Justice is my favorite of his.

I'm generally into almost any sci-fi or alternative history books...Turtledove is one mentioned here that I enjoy. Tolkein, however, is the only Fantasy author that I truly enjoy.

I need to read more non-fiction though...I find that I have less time to read these days, and non-fiction is not only more informative (at least in general), but it's also easier to put down! :p

and next i'll read the first book of the Italian Campaign.:cool:
Well, that should be a short one.:p

Excuse me?
Pratchette is the best darn French Canadian writer ever!



My Boss recomends i read Prachett though.

You should.


I adore reading, you should read all the great classics-Emma Pride and Prejudice etc.

At the moment I am loving Trudi Canavan she has two different series The Black Magican Trilogy and the Age of the Five-Her newest book came out on Tuesday-The last of the Wilds but I can't afford to buy it on hard back so I'll have to wait a while.

I really like her writing because she engages you with the characters so much, even the 'bad' ones. Very good writer.

I've recently read:

brave new world, 1984(reading now), war of the worlds, Several Discworld novels, Strata(also by Terry Pratchet),Gormenghast(reading now), several books on computer programming and New scentist.

You all have inspired me. I suddenly want to go out and read Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet... Maybe finish Jane Eyre...

Pratchett books are the coolest books in the universe ever, I have a signed Going Postal,and am eagerly awaitng his next book. I love them so much, Sam Vimes, and all his Random characters, (von Lipwig, de Word and others)

other cool books are War and PEace, 1984, Roald Dahl books, Spike Milligan books and the Sharpe series.

I also was lucky enough to have my Dad read me truckers diggers and wings to me when I was little as a bed time story