NationStates Jolt Archive

I just finished Against the Day (http://www.amazon.com/Against-Day-Thomas-Pynchon/dp/159420120X/sr=8-1/qid=1170905935/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-8510202-6439115?ie=UTF8&s=books). Was an... interesting read to say the least. I'm about to start Down and Out in Paris and London (http://www.amazon.com/Down-Paris-London-George-Orwell/dp/015626224X/sr=1-1/qid=1170906049/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-8510202-6439115?ie=UTF8&s=books). So what have you just finished reading?

I'm finishing up Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire (http://www.amazon.com/Lenins-Tomb-Last-Soviet-Empire/dp/0679751254/sr=8-1/qid=1170906315/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-5172225-8705456?ie=UTF8&s=books).

Some good ol' Lovecraft At the Mountains of Madness (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Mountains_of_Madness). I'm reading The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dream-Quest_of_Unknown_Kadath) now. I'm not sure which I like more now, Lovecraft's Dream Cycle stories or his Cosmic Horror stories.

Jennifer Government, actually...

I didn't finish, but am finished with, Ted Honderich's Right and Wrong, and Palestine, 9-11, Iraq, 7-7 (http://www.amazon.com/Right-Wrong-Palestine-9-11-7-7/dp/1583227369/sr=8-1/qid=1170906708/ref=sr_1_1/105-5484879-8072466?ie=UTF8&s=books).

I'm about halfway through a biography of Cicero and Faulkner's The Reivers. Slow going, though, what with grading and my own writing.

Some good ol' Lovecraft At the Mountains of Madness (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Mountains_of_Madness). I'm reading The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dream-Quest_of_Unknown_Kadath) now. I'm not sure which I like more now, Lovecraft's Dream Cycle stories or his Cosmic Horror stories.

Wow, those were good. My personal favorites are "The Rats in the Walls", "The Strange High House up in the Mist", and "Celephais".

I didn't finish, but am finished with, Ted Honderich's Right and Wrong, and Palestine, 9-11, Iraq, 7-7 (http://www.amazon.com/Right-Wrong-Palestine-9-11-7-7/dp/1583227369/sr=8-1/qid=1170906708/ref=sr_1_1/105-5484879-8072466?ie=UTF8&s=books).
Couldn't bear to finish it?

I just finished The Fountainhead again.

I started a book for book club tonight, it's pretty terrible.

I will save you the list of the other 4 books I am currently reading.....because I am at varying points in them.

Wow, those were good. My personal favorites are "The Rats in the Walls", "The Strange High House up in the Mist", and "Celephais".
Bah. The Colour From Outer Space is my personal favorite. The Dream Quest stories were good but they didn't seem like real Lovecraft to me.

I started a book for book club tonight, it's pretty terrible.

Whats it called?

Noam Chomsky, Government in the Future

Wow, those were good. My personal favorites are "The Rats in the Walls", "The Strange High House up in the Mist", and "Celephais".

Celephais was interesting. Since I started with his Cosmic Horror stuff, it seemed unnaturally "fluffy" to me. I mean, the part at the end where the company of bright, white knights came and took him away was more than a little too idealistic for what I knew Lovecraft for.

Whats it called?

The Yadda Yadda prayer group

Finished Kafka on the Shore which was... interesting and compelling at times, and boring at other times and left me wondering why half the people were in it by the time I was done.

Currently reading The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Darkness, which is a rather awsome look at how to apply science to persudoscience and why such myths are with us, even to this day.

Couldn't bear to finish it?

No, it wasn't unbearable... it was just that every five pages, I was asking myself, "What am I reading this for?"

Finished Kafka on the Shore which was... interesting and compelling at times, and boring at other times and left me wondering why half the people were in it by the time I was done.
I love that book. Maybe something got lost in translation. Have you read any of this other works?

Ian Rankin - The Black Book. Really fantastic.

Lets see...

Just finished Alger's Ragged Dick, James' Daisy Miller, Crane's Maggie, A Girl of the Streets, Delilo's White Noise, and Oates' You Must Remember This in the last two or three weeks.

Now I'm working on Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson and Morrison's Beloved

"Collapse" why some societies survive and others collapse.

I'm working on "Guns, Germs, and Steel" Why European conquerers were able to colonize the world.

Well, curently I'm reading The Manly Art: Bare-Knuckle Prize Fighting in America, but thats for class so I'm not sure it counts since I'm kind of half assing it even though it is kind of interesting, can't remember the last book I read that wasn't for class was either a sci-fi novel about an AI or an alternate history, can't remember which. Recently for fun I've been reading the Amazing Spiderman as I purchased a CD that had the complet run of the series for Christmas. Not exactly substantial reading, but I figure fuck it I'm doing enough of that for class I want something simple for fun.

I just finished "Fast Food Nation". Its ok. Very factual.

So what have you just finished reading?

http://i.walmart.com/i/p/09/78/03/07/27/0978030727788_150X150.jpg

It was Bloody Good!

I'm reading Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson.

I just finished The Fountainhead again.
Did you enjoy it? :) I love Ayn Rand's writings. I'm waiting to get Anthem and We the Living.

Currently reading Nozick's Anarchy, State and Utopia... will be moving into a couple of the genius Dr Hoppe's excellent publications when I'm through with it.

I'm reading And If I Perish: Frontline U.S. Army Nurses in World War II by Evelyn M. Monahan and Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee and Founding Mothers: the Women Who Raised Our Nation by Cokie Roberts. I just finished reading We Band of Angels - this was about the nurses on Bataan and Corregidor when Pearl Harbor was attacked; they were captured and held as P.O.W.s by the Japanese from 1942-1945 - I don't have the book handy, so I can't tell you who wrote it. I'm also reading Jedburgh, the story of the Jedburgh teams who parachuted behind the lines in France just prior to D-day.

I've sort of gone history-crazy lately, but I've always had an interest in World War II, particularly little known aspects, like the parts women and minorities played.

Did you enjoy it? :) I love Ayn Rand's writings. I'm waiting to get Anthem and We the Living.

I'm pretty sure We the Living was by Heinlan.

I'm pretty sure We the Living was by Heinlan.
It's one of Ayn Rand's novels.

I'm pretty sure We the Living was by Heinlan.

No, it was by Rand.

I'm pretty sure We the Living was by Heinlan.

Just to be sure, I googled both. We the Living was, indeed, written by Ayn Rand.

Macbeth.

It was written and bound between two pieces of cardboard. Why not?

Hmm, Heinlein must have a book with the same title, better check wiki.


Ah, never mind that was For Us, the Living. and I'm screwing his name up again its ei not a:headbang:

Finished Orson Scott Card's Children of the Mind earlier this week, and am currently slogging through Stephen King's Dark Tower series for the first time.

Then there's readings for school....but that's a thread in itself. :( :p

I love that book. Maybe something got lost in translation. Have you read any of this other works?
Actually part of it was the translation. Living in Japan I was able to see and know exactly what he was decribing, but then the translation would toss in a few Americanisms and it would jolt me out of the story.

Although I DID get the reference to the first cat and was laughing a lot.

LSD My Problem Child by Albert Hofmann

Real Ultimate Power: The Official Ninja Book. Currently reading Penny Arcade 3 The Warsun Prophecies.

Actually part of it was the translation. Living in Japan I was able to see and know exactly what he was decribing, but then the translation would toss in a few Americanisms and it would jolt me out of the story.

Although I DID get the reference to the first cat and was laughing a lot.

Speaking of America, you might want to pick up a copy of In the Miso Soup. Takes place in Japan but one of the main characters is an American tourist.

I just reread 1984, and now I'm rereading the Hitchhiker trilogy(all five of them).

Crete
The Battle and the Resistence
Anthony Beevor.
By tomorrow i will have finished reading the Odyssey.:)

Engines of God, by Jack Mcdevitt, top sci-fi novel could'nt put it down. (nothing to do with religion of any kind, strangely)

Hogfather, Witches Abroad, The Last Continent, The Fifth Elephant, and Going Postal. Not in that order. In fact, in roughly the opposite order.


Edit: Currently working on Robert Jordan's Lord of Chaos.

Reread The Lord of the Rings, (all 3 as a single book) recently, still the greatest book ever written, followed by War and Peace and Thucydides Histories.

Just finished re-reading "Macbeth", reading "Hamlet", and "Jingo".

I just reread 1984, and now I'm rereading the Hitchhiker trilogy(all five of them).

awesome, there great books, except for some reason everyone leaves out mostly harmless

i just finished reading grendel and the silmarilion. both great books. i'm also halfway through godel, escher, bach: the eternal golden braid, intresting, but not exactly light reading.

awesome, there great books, except for some reason everyone leaves out mostly harmless

i just finished reading grendel and the silmarilion. both great books. i'm also halfway through godel, escher, bach: the eternal golden braid, intresting, but not exactly light reading.

Spoiler alert.
yeah but in mostly harmless, it sucked because (in white) they wiped out all humans in all possible universes. after the dolphins went to so much trouble to bring us back agains.

Terry Pratchett's Maskerade (a parody of "The Phantom of the Opera") It was hysterically funny. Greatly enjoyable. Hugely reccommend it.

The book of James, in the New Testament. Such a good read.

just finished iain banks' "the bridge" last night. before that was "getting stoned with savages" by j. maarten troost.

could probably throw in the pile of ethics and philosophy of biology and restoration stuff i'm reading too, but that doesn't seem like it counts.

Read No Present Like Time, by Sven(?) Swainton. Very interesting book; pity I can't find the prequel, Year of Our War anywhere....

I just finished... "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit" by Jeanette Winterson. I really enjoyed it, personally, though it's not everyone's cup of tea. It's kind of a girl's growing up story, though she deals with a little more than the average girl; she's raised in an evangelical community, deals with issues concerning her sexuality, her relationship with her mother... etc.

Before that, it was "Jitterbug Perfume" by Tom Robbins. Also an amazing book; I probably enjoyed it more than Oranges. Oh, and I re-read "The Great Gatsby", which I enjoy a little more each time I read it. And "Like Water for Chocolate", which I have to admit I didn't enjoy as much as I hoped I would. It was a nice enough story, but it didn't do much for me.

I hope to read 50 books this year; so far, five down. (Oranges, Jitterbug, Gatsby, Water for Chocolate, and Beckett's "Waiting for Godot", which is really a play and not a book, but it counts.)

I just finished Kafka on the Shore (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kafka-Shore-Haruki-Murakami/dp/0099458322/sr=8-4/qid=1170925976/ref=pd_ka_4/203-0010143-1701538?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Haruki Murakami.

just finished iain banks' "the bridge" last night. before that was "getting stoned with savages" by j. maarten troost.

could probably throw in the pile of ethics and philosophy of biology and restoration stuff i'm reading too, but that doesn't seem like it counts.

I enjoyed reading "The Bridge" immensely. I like Iain Bank's books on the whole.

The book of James, in the New Testament. Such a good read.I would describe it vastly different...

I have read Hammerschmidt's alternative history/Sci-Fi PolyPlay. Scary, I tell you, scary!

The Mammoth Book of Chess (2nd (I think) edition). Very useful.

Last fiction book was Sprout Mask Replica by Robert Rankin. Extremely funny.

Last book I read was Double Eagle by Dan Abnett, currently rerererererereading Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett.

the eyre affair by jasper fforde. half way through lost in a good book, the next in the 'thursday next' series.

I just finished reading The Great Gatsby.

Farenheit 451, which I enjoyed. Before that was Brave New World. Currently The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Historian-Elizabeth-Kostova/dp/0751537284/sr=8-1/qid=1170933820/ref=pd_ka_1/203-3320638-2170311?ie=UTF8&s=books).

Jennifer Government, actually...

Is it good? I like dystopian novels. Although I can't really say Brave New World struck me as very dystopian... More pragmatic, really. I could see why the Savage wasn't keen on it, but he'd not been engineered to fit in, like everyone else.

currently (And for the last couple of weeks) Milton's Paradise Lost. It's brilliant, but hard going.

God Won't Save America by George Walden

read about half of it in the summer.


don't read much...

Last book I read was probably Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey, though I can't remember if I read it before or after I read Voyage of the Jerle Shannara by Terry Brooks.

Not that anybody cares, but I'm reading Thoughtlines by former NSW Prem Bob Carr.

I just finished Kafka on the Shore (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kafka-Shore-Haruki-Murakami/dp/0099458322/sr=8-4/qid=1170925976/ref=pd_ka_4/203-0010143-1701538?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Haruki Murakami.
And what did you think of it?

The Silmarillion.

I didn't finish it either... lol One of these days. ;)

I just finished Against the Day (http://www.amazon.com/Against-Day-Thomas-Pynchon/dp/159420120X/sr=8-1/qid=1170905935/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-8510202-6439115?ie=UTF8&s=books). Was an... interesting read to say the least. I'm about to start Down and Out in Paris and London (http://www.amazon.com/Down-Paris-London-George-Orwell/dp/015626224X/sr=1-1/qid=1170906049/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-8510202-6439115?ie=UTF8&s=books). So what have you just finished reading?

currently reading depak chopra's new book, innocent man by grisham, and Bob Woodward's newest investigation of the bush administration's war "strategy."

The Cassandra Compact, by [I Can't Remember]

The Silmarillion.

I didn't finish it either... lol One of these days. ;)


It weird how that book topped the sales charts for a while, when the Lord of the Rings was in the cinemas. It's like reading a weird, alternative bible, and still all these people bought it. :rolleyes:

All Quiet on the Western Front.

The Manga Bible

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0340910445.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

I finished a novel by Jack Williamson last night. Its italian title is "Il figlio dell'uomo", but I cannot remember the original title. Anyway, it was a sci-fi/fantasy mix about lycanthropes. Cool, but a bit naive sometimes.

I read Stephen King's The Long Walk. It's one of his best books and also one of the most true to life stories I've ever read. Read it about twenty times. It's just so weird how it seems to drag on. I think it's only about a hundred pages. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone going through hard times, though. It is a little depressing.

The Silmarillion.

I didn't finish it either... lol One of these days. ;)

I am the only one who has read the copy of the Silmarillion of my local library. The only one in the last 20 years, that is.:(

I am the only one who has read the copy of the Silmarillion of my local library. The only one in the last 20 years, that is.:(

lol. That's money well spent.

I am the only one who has read the copy of the Silmarillion of my local library. The only one in the last 20 years, that is.:(

I have a copy, but it's just too much like reading the bible.

The last book I read:

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0060872985.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_V45248836_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/Next-Michael-Crichton/dp/0060872985)

While not quite State of Fear or Jurassic Park, any fan of Crichton will enough NEXT. It is far greater than Amazon's 3/5 collective reader rating. It's a bit random...and doesn't quite have that "epic" feel his great ones do. Still a good read, however.

So what have you just finished reading?

No books, I can't read. I'm not a loser.

No books, I can't read. I'm not a loser.

So....how did you know what this thread is about?:confused:

So....how did you know what this thread is about?:confused:

:p

You got me. It's an old Aqua Teen quote from Master Shake.

The Devil Wear Prada, before that Crime and Punishment and now onto Auschwitz the Nazis and the Final Solution (eek).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Auschwitz-Laurence-Rees/dp/0563522968/sr=8-2/qid=1170944352/ref=pd_ka_2/026-3074233-9663651?ie=UTF8&s=books

I like to alternate between the serious, intelligent stuff to the silly doesn't make you think at all to give the old brain cells a break.

Road of the Patriarch, by R. A. Salvatore.

Righ now I'm reading ten different important literary works that'll make me sound clever as hell.. Or not. Life's too short for all that dusty old shite.

I'm on the fifth volume of The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson. High fantasy, centered around the struggles of an empire somewhat similar to the Roman one of old. The cast consists of anything from gods to villagers to skeletons, who typically all run around getting murdered in various creative ways for not so transparent reasons. Basically, they're everything movies consistently fail to be. Not high art, but highly entertaining.

Recently finished A Continent for the Taking: The Tragedy and Hope of Africa (http://www.amazon.com/Continent-Taking-Tragedy-Hope-Africa/dp/1400030277/sr=8-1/qid=1170944893/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-8893853-1366263?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Howard W. French. I'm now reading Africa in Chaos: A Comparative History (http://www.amazon.com/Africa-Chaos-George-B-N-Ayittey/dp/0312217870/sr=1-1/qid=1170944947/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-8893853-1366263?ie=UTF8&s=books) by George B.N. Ayittey and Saddam Hussein: A Political Biography (http://www.amazon.com/Saddam-Hussein-Political-Efraim-Karsh/dp/B000GG4I2O/sr=1-1/qid=1170945072/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-8893853-1366263?ie=UTF8&s=books) (the 1991 edition) by Efraim Karsh and Inari Rautsi.

High Fantasy?

Have you tried reading David Eddings, he's pretty good for an interesting fantasy read. Also, for some sort of fantasy/politics crossbreed - Terry Goodkind is excellent, if not a little long winded and somewhere to the political right of Ghengis Khan.

And the Beano, but that's personal preference :P

Terry Goodkind is excellent, if not a little long winded and somewhere to the political right of Ghengis Khan.



The whole rape-pilliage-rape again doctrine?

i finished reading "one year in the merde" by stephen clark. funny book^^

http://www.amazon.com/Year-Merde-Stephen-Clarke/dp/1582345910/sr=8-1/qid=1170945693/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-5194996-5904155?ie=UTF8&s=books

oh, and winnie the pooh (that books soo sweet :D) i love it. dunno why xD

right now id be reading (if i had the time)
jennifer weiner - in her shoes
kate fox - watching the english
judy garner - all on a summers day
dan brown - digital fortress
:p

Yes, basically - and it has that annoyingly self-satisfied main character who seems quite happy to pass judgement on everything, kill everything, do everything...and then wander off into the sunset with the 'prettiest girl at the dance', who naturally - having refused everyone else in her life, is now satisfied to devote herself slavishly to the first 'true' man to come along in her life.

Also, typically - the same girl also has the annoying tendency to get herself into a never ending spiral of circumstances that require the hero to drop everything to go off and save her. Much like Jack Bower's damn daughter in 24. He should've just have shot her and got on with his life.

High Fantasy?

Have you tried reading David Eddings, he's pretty good for an interesting fantasy read.He's the guy with The Belgariad series, right? Haven't gotten around to it yet, as I'm mostly a sci-fi reader, but the girlfriend's got them & has been urging me to read them. Her fault I'm reading Steven Erikson too, hehe.
Also, for some sort of fantasy/politics crossbreed - Terry Goodkind is excellent, if not a little long winded and somewhere to the political right of Ghengis Khan.Never heard of the guy. Ah, just checked the wiki.. I have a feeling studying the ceiling'd be more interesting, but thanks anyway.And the Beano, but that's personal preference :PYet again I must confess my total ignorance. Beano?

Yep, and the Tamuli/Sparhawk series as well - well worth reading. Although I wouldn't attempt them all in one go - his writing style is a tad circular, he tends to stick to what he 'knows' which, comforting as it is, becomes rather annoying after the 8th book in a row of the same 3rd person observation.

Goodkind? *shrugs* It really depends on what you like - I find them a good read, and what's more - you can dip into each book as a seperate, standalone, novel. This means you can avoid the experience of watching paint dry through literature in his middle chunk of the series.

As for the Beano, it's a comic series that has been going on for decades. It says something when, after manyyyyy manyyyyy years, it was finally knocked off the plinth as the best selling book [technically Album in its case] of the year by Harry Potter.

Terry Goodkind is excellent, if not a little long winded and somewhere to the political right of Ghengis Khan.

I don't think Ghenghis Khan had an ideology...

If you had offered him the concept of a welfare state...he may have formulated one ^^

Just finished T.E. Lawrence, a Biography (published in England as Backing Into the Limelight - A Biogrpahy of T.E. Lawrence) by Michael Yardley. Now reading Benford's Beyond Infinity. Plus all the other stuff I pick up and read from time to time.

Just finished Exodus by Eric Flint, latest in the Starfire series.

Caverns of Socrates (http://www.amazon.com/Caverns-Socrates-Dennis-L-McKiernan/dp/0451454677).

American Psycho, it was a noxious, disturbing tragic book with moments of intermittent funniness. I wouldnt say its better than the film, but just as good as it, I found it more of a surreal horror tragedy than a black comedy.

She's No Fairie Princess

American Psycho, it was a noxious, disturbing tragic book with moments of intermittent funniness. I wouldnt say its better than the film, but just as good as it, I found it more of a surreal horror tragedy than a black comedy.

Yes but without Christian Bale. Loses so much without him.

Just finished T.E. Lawrence, a Biography (published in England as Backing Into the Limelight - A Biogrpahy of T.E. Lawrence) by Michael Yardley.
If you're really interested in Lawrence, try to find a copy of 'Goodbye to all that' by Robert Graves. It's his autobiography of his time in WWI and the years after. He became very good friends with Lawrence and there's a couple of chapters devoted to him.
The book itself is a damn good read regardless.

Sword-Maker (http://www.amazon.com/Sword-Maker-Tiger-Del-Jennifer-Roberson/dp/0886773792/sr=1-17/qid=1170949932/ref=sr_1_17/105-7668043-5526065?ie=UTF8&s=books), by Jennifer Roberson.

If you're really interested in Lawrence, try to find a copy of 'Goodbye to all that' by Robert Graves. It's his autobiography of his time in WWI and the years after. He became very good friends with Lawrence and there's a couple of chapters devoted to him.
The book itself is a damn good read regardless.

Yardley talks about Lawrence's friendship with Graves, and says that while Graves was certainly honest in what he said about Lawrence, a great deal of it came Lawrence himself, and TE was notoriously inconsistent in what he told people about his life. But I like Graves anyway and should put Goodbye on my list.

Yardley talks about Lawrence's friendship with Graves, and says that while Graves was certainly honest in what he said about Lawrence, a great deal of it came Lawrence himself, and TE was notoriously inconsistent in what he told people about his life. But I like Graves anyway and should put Goodbye on my list.
Graves was certainly overwhelmed by Lawrence's personality (but it's apparent everyone was) but at the same time he was pretty forthright and honest about him.
Graves was also great friends with Wilfred Owen as well - they served in the same platoon, so if war poetry's your thing Graves gives some excellent insight into the hows and whys of their poetry.

I've always found Graves to have an excellent and highly readable style and definitely recommend him.

For anyone interested in high fantasy who hasn't already heard about it/read it, I'd seriously recommend the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin.

EXCELLENT series, though not completed yet.

The Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels.

Graves was certainly overwhelmed by Lawrence's personality (but it's apparent everyone was) but at the same time he was pretty forthright and honest about him.
Graves was also great friends with Wilfred Owen as well - they served in the same platoon, so if war poetry's your thing Graves gives some excellent insight into the hows and whys of their poetry.

I've always found Graves to have an excellent and highly readable style and definitely recommend him.

I do like Graves, I've read the two Claudius books many times, plus The Long Weekend, which he did with Alan Hodge.

Just finished reading Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham, and almost finished A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking.

The Last Samurai - The life and battles of Saigo Takamori
by Mark Ravina

Interesting read. Of course, Hollywood's version got some of the names right. ;)

Just finished reading Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham, and almost finished A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking.

If you really want to torture yourself, look for the movie Day of the Triffids....

If you really want to torture yourself, look for the movie Day of the Triffids....
Lol, I've been tempted, but I don't hate myself enough to force me to watch it :P

Lol, I've been tempted, but I don't hate myself enough to force me to watch it :P

Instead, look for the BBC miniseries version. It's excellent, and very true to the book.

Caverns of Socrates (http://www.amazon.com/Caverns-Socrates-Dennis-L-McKiernan/dp/0451454677).
Any good?

For anyone interested in high fantasy who hasn't already heard about it/read it, I'd seriously recommend the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin.

EXCELLENT series, though not completed yet.
I've not actually read that yet. Out of curiosity, has anyone read Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea Quartet? It's one of the best works in fantasy I've yet to come across, and it often amazes me how few people know of it.

The Silmarillion.

I didn't finish it either... lol One of these days. ;)
It's a heavy book. Not because of its size, but because of the content. It's essentially Middle Earth's cosmogeny, history, linguistics, royal pedigrees, ecology (with regard to the races) and theology all wrapped in one. Gorgeous piece of work, perhaps Tolkien's magnum opus, but it has a hundredfold the names of your average daytime soap opera. At one stage I actually was able to recall the vast majority of them. :p It's worth the effort though.

How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, and Musical Theatre (http://www.amazon.com/How-Paid-College-Friendship-Musical/dp/076791841X).

It wasn't the best thing I read, it wasn't overly awful either. I'd give it a C+. Not really my style. It was a local author and had a catchy title so I gave it a shot.

Before that I read Motorcycle Diaries (http://www.amazon.com/Motorcycle-Diaries-Notes-American-Journey/dp/1876175702). A+. I love travel memoirs. Wonderful narration.

Last book I read? Voltaire - candide, and George Orwell - coming up for air, both of which are my new favorite books. I've been meaning to get into some eastern philosophy though. Can anyone recommend some?

Last book I read? Voltaire - candide, and George Orwell - coming up for air, both of which are my new favorite books. I've been meaning to get into some eastern philosophy though. Can anyone recommend some?
Lao Tze and Confucius spring to mind. Buddha, perhaps? I'm not the least bit versed in Eastern philosophy. Perhaps this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_philosophy)'ll help.

Last book I read? Voltaire - candide, and George Orwell - coming up for air, both of which are my new favorite books. I've been meaning to get into some eastern philosophy though. Can anyone recommend some?

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu.

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu.
Beat you to it. :p

Thanks. I'll try to find a copy at the library...

Finished Stillwell and the American Experience in China last night.

The Brethren by John Grisham.

The Princess Bride: S Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure (The Good Parts Version)

Well, that's the last book I read, anyways.

I just finished reading the Constitution and Bylaws of my business. Does that count?

Rogue Star by Andy Hoare. (Okay, now I feel bad that all I read recently is "cheap" SciFi. :()

oh sure, leave us that don't know how to read out of your discussion

The Fortune of War by Patrick O'Brian

I just finished Against the Day (http://www.amazon.com/Against-Day-Thomas-Pynchon/dp/159420120X/sr=8-1/qid=1170905935/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-8510202-6439115?ie=UTF8&s=books). Was an... interesting read to say the least. I'm about to start Down and Out in Paris and London (http://www.amazon.com/Down-Paris-London-George-Orwell/dp/015626224X/sr=1-1/qid=1170906049/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-8510202-6439115?ie=UTF8&s=books). So what have you just finished reading?

I just read Christopher Booker's "Seven Basic Plots" (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seven-Basic-Plots-Tell-Stories/dp/0826452094). I must say, it has done a lot to improve my appreciation for both novels and movies I would otherwise have become bored with and put down/walked out on. After the first time I read it (I'm actually re-reading, first time I've ever done that with non-Terry Pratchett) I sat down and watched Ravenous and Roll Bounce. Two movies that had previously bored the crap out of me so badly that I couldn't even sit through the first 10 minutes.

Last book I read? Voltaire - candide, and George Orwell - coming up for air, both of which are my new favorite books. I've been meaning to get into some eastern philosophy though. Can anyone recommend some?

The Tao of Pooh. It's a nice primer for Western readers. Even if I didn't like it (I happen to think that a religion originally based on drinking mercury to become immortal is probably not a great source of wisdom.)

Crete
The Battle and the Resistence
Anthony Beevor.
By tomorrow i will have finished reading the Odyssey.:)
I have finished The Odyssey.

The Silmarillion.

I didn't finish it either... lol One of these days. ;)

I did. [thumps chest in supreme nerdiness].

The Republic of Plato, it was really dope

Subtopia (http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/11/03/1130823325672.html), by A.L. McCann.

The author is a Melbournian.

Is it good? I like dystopian novels. Although I can't really say Brave New World struck me as very dystopian... More pragmatic, really. I could see why the Savage wasn't keen on it, but he'd not been engineered to fit in, like everyone else.

I enjoyed it. It's not explicitly dystopian, though, in that you'd find many people on this forum who would advocate such a society as a good thing. ;) It's more satirical, I think.

Road of the Patriarch, by R. A. Salvatore.

Awesome. Like Promise of the Witch-King, one of his best.

Come Hell or High Water. Great booksky comrad.

does reading a few hundred pages of NS general posts count as a novel??

does reading a few hundred pages of NS general posts count as a novel??

NO, go read a book you lazy bastard before I pistol whip you.

NO, go read a book you lazy bastard before I pistol whip you.

ok ok, jeesh i'm sure i have a copy of cat in the hat somewhere around here

ok ok, jeesh i'm sure i have a copy of cat in the hat somewhere around here

That'a boy :D

Awesome. Like Promise of the Witch-King, one of his best.
Oddly enough, even though I love the drow, I have never read a single book by Salvatore (I refuse to read anything to do with Drizzt or other "good" Drow though), nor any of the War of the Spider Queen books... are they any good?

I've been told that Salvatore is not too good a writer, so second opinions would be appreciated (yes, I am aware the Spider Queen series is not his writing).

.. does my geometry book count?

The last book I read was Steal This Book by Abbie Hoffman; the last book I finished was Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll, during an awful, awful coach journey... I don't feel it's long enough to count, though... urm... before that it would've been The Crock of Gold, by James Stephens. Amazing books, all. I reccommend them highly.:D

I'm reading The Hunt for Red October on my free time and Romeo and Juliet for school. The last book I finished for fun was The Sigma Protocol by Robert Ludlum.

It's not really a book, but I just finished reading The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas...quite thought-provoking and unsettling.

Worldchanging: A User's Guide to the 21st Century, Alex Steffen, Al Gore, Bruce Sterling, et. all. A book based on the worldchanging website, soundbites for cleantech and environmentalism.

It's not really a book, but I just finished reading The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas...quite thought-provoking and unsettling.
Ah, I read that just the other day! A rather fascinating piece it was.

Ah, I read that just the other day! A rather fascinating piece it was.

It was excellent, and really is a major challenge to strict utilitarianism. Of course, I actually found the story when I was reading the Wikipedia article on utilitarianism, so I guess it makes sense.

I definitely would have been one of the ones that walked away.

It was excellent, and really is a major challenge to strict utilitarianism. Of course, I actually found the story when I was reading the Wikipedia article on utilitarianism, so I guess it makes sense.

I definitely would have been one of the ones that walked away.
The story was recommended to me by one of my philosophy professors whilst we were studying utilitarian moral theory. I've never been too fond of the theory to begin with, and this piece didn't really change my opinion of it much, but it did have a certain dramatic element to it. What I love about Le Guin is how she describes things - she infuses her writings with life.

And I agree with you on that, I'd walk away too.

Oddly enough, even though I love the drow, I have never read a single book by Salvatore (I refuse to read anything to do with Drizzt or other "good" Drow though), nor any of the War of the Spider Queen books... are they any good?

The Drizzt books vary; the last three (Hunter's Blade) were rather poor, but the earlier ones (Dark Elf, Icewind Dale, Legacy of the Drow) were pretty decent.

I liked his Cadderly books (The Cleric Quintet), but there are no drow in them.

His best is probably the Sellswords Trilogy, dealing with two of the villains from the other books, which just ended with Road of the Patriarch.

I haven't read the sixth War of the Spider Queen book; the other five varied, which makes sense, since they were written by five different authors. I don't remember them well enough to get much more specific than that.

I've been told that Salvatore is not too good a writer, so second opinions would be appreciated (yes, I am aware the Spider Queen series is not his writing).

I generally like him, but I've only read three of his non-Forgotten Realms books (and for the life of me I can't remember which ones... they dealt with a ranger named Elbryan or something.)

The Drizzt books vary; the last three (Hunter's Blade) were rather poor, but the earlier ones (Dark Elf, Icewind Dale, Legacy of the Drow) were pretty decent.
Do they contain any insights into drow society, or are they just a glorification of Drizzt and his merry men? If they do I might get them for that reason.

I generally like him, but I've only read three of his non-Forgotten Realms books (and for the life of me I can't remember which ones... they dealt with a ranger named Elbryan or something.)
Hmm, I've read The Demon Awakens by him which is indeed about Elbryan. Rather good book, it was quite entertaining. It had rather good concepts in it (even if unremarkable by high fantasy standards).

working on Another Roadside Attraction by Tom Robbins... awesome.

If they do I might get them for that reason.

Some of them do.

The first of the Dark Elf trilogy, Homeland, is set entirely in the drow city of Menzoberranzan. Several of the Legacy of the Drow books switch back and forth from the POVs of people in Menzoberranzan and "Drizzt and his merry men"; indeed, I believe that that is the case for all of them but the last, Passage to Dawn. But the focus is on Drizzt, always.

Some of them do.

The first of the Dark Elf trilogy, Homeland, is set entirely in the drow city of Menzoberranzan. Several of the Legacy of the Drow books switch back and forth from the POVs of people in Menzoberranzan and "Drizzt and his merry men"; indeed, I believe that that is the case for all of them but the last, Passage to Dawn. But the focus is on Drizzt, always.
I'll attempt to swallow my dislike for him, and read the books anyway then.

Do any of the War of the Spider Queen books focus at all on Triel Baenre? She's the character that interests me most.

Do any of the War of the Spider Queen books focus at all on Triel Baenre?

Not if I recall correctly.

Her sister Quenthel, though, is one of the main characters.

Michel Houellebecq - Atomised (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomised), although I read the Dutch translation. Although Houellebecqs style fluctuates a lot, it provides very interesting insights in French (or European) society but did not shock me as much as it did other people. Definitely recomended.

Monday and Tuesday I read The Return of the King; Wednesday through Friday I read The Fellowship of the Ring; today I started on The Two Towers.

I can be a fast reader when the mood hits me right.

Amy - By Mary Hooper. It was a good (topical) read.

Robert Sheckley - The Status Civilization - anyone heard of it?

The Bible. Not holy at all.

Monday and Tuesday I read The Return of the King; Wednesday through Friday I read The Fellowship of the Ring; today I started on The Two Towers.

I can be a fast reader when the mood hits me right.So you have time for the Silmarillion on Wednesday... ;) (from which my sig is)

I just finished Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, and The Prince, by Machiavelli.

I'm about to start Down and Out in Paris and London (http://www.amazon.com/Down-Paris-London-George-Orwell/dp/015626224X/sr=1-1/qid=1170906049/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-8510202-6439115?ie=UTF8&s=books). So what have you just finished reading?
Damned fine book, although it exposes a lot of his prejudices against anyone who isn't British, white, male and middle class.

Just finished The Road To Wigan Pier, as chance would have it.

"What's So Great About America", by Dinesh D'Souza.. Terrific book..

I just finished Against the Day (http://www.amazon.com/Against-Day-Thomas-Pynchon/dp/159420120X/sr=8-1/qid=1170905935/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-8510202-6439115?ie=UTF8&s=books). Was an... interesting read to say the least. I'm about to start Down and Out in Paris and London (http://www.amazon.com/Down-Paris-London-George-Orwell/dp/015626224X/sr=1-1/qid=1170906049/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-8510202-6439115?ie=UTF8&s=books). So what have you just finished reading?

Well, I'm not really an intellectual reader. If you want to get technical, I'm reading a really good computer book. The last novel I finished was Dr. No by Ian Fleming. Yeah, it was a James Bond novel.

Just finished Worse Than Watergate by John Dean. A quick easy read stating what most of us knew (or should have known) already.

Started the Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom and ... I think I'll go finish it now. This is a great book.

Monday and Tuesday I read The Return of the King; Wednesday through Friday I read The Fellowship of the Ring; today I started on The Two Towers.

I can be a fast reader when the mood hits me right.

So how did it hit you that it made you read the books out of order?