Re: What Are You Reading?

[Cypher]

Almost finished with The Waste Lands by Stephen King. Can't wait to get to Wizard and Glass. If it sucks, no-one please ruin my enthusiasm.

[Bird of Hermes]

I am going to start The Gunslinger. Eventually...

[Gadreille]

Not by Genes Alone: How Culture Transformed Human Evolution
by Peter J. Richerson and Robert Boyd

[Lucian 'The Wolf' Harth]

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carrol

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

I'll read one for a while, get bored with it, and switch to another. The Count is by far one of the most complicated books I've ever read. Loves it.

[Guest]

Mistborn: The Final Empire, by Brandon Sanderson

I just picked it up (after neglecting it for over a year), so I'm not really sure what it is about or the quality. It is long, and I'm hoping it will be worth the read.

This book was actually great. I really loved it. The magic in it was amazing; it wasn't your typical setup of flinging fireballs and hurling lighting. It revolved around the internal use of metals and was called Allomancy. It was well thought out and not too complex to understand (and the book even had a quick reference chart, which was nice).
The character development was absolutely amazing. The main character was transformed in so many ways throughout the story, and even at the end you realize she still has a long way to go. But these transformations are done realistically and didn't seem, to me, like something that would never happen in the given circumstances.

Anyway, I would certainly recommend this book to any fan of fantasy. I'm about to go pick up the next two books of the trilogy, and hopefully it won't take me quite as long to finish those as it did the first, now that I'm absorbed in it

[Gadreille]

I just finished reading D.F. Roberts' article on The Demography of Tristan da Cunha, published in Population studies November of 1971. The knowledge of the population patterns of the people there is so detailed that we can trace every person back to one of 22 ancestors. That sort of knowledge is just...eerie...that whole island kind of gives me the creeps...but I'm still obsessed with learning about it.

[Shekinah]

I started to re-read The Dark Tower series by Stephen King again! I'm currently reading the first book: The Gunslinger. I'm so in love with that series!

[Blackrock]

A fairly under-the-radar book by one Konstantin Simonov, called "The Alive and the Dead" (the name actually doesn't sound so cliche in Russian). It's the first book in a trilogy dealing with the Second World War. It was written shortly after the war by a person who saw most of the stuff described first-hand. The pro-Stalin government at that time was not too pleased with his works and even though he received many awards he was not well-liked.

Why? Because he paints a different picture to the first days of the war, rather than the "heroic Red Army fighting the invading Fascists." Most of the commanding officers are on vacation, while their regiments are already fighting. People are going left and right, trying to find the places they are assigned to. Nobody really knows what's happening, there are no communications, no orders from up top. Stalin is locked in his cabinet drinking himself to sleep (which, not surprisingly, isn't mentioned in the book) . All in all, it shows the war as a human tragedy, not a statistic.

[Guest]

I just finished reading Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi; Alliles (in record time, actually), and I'm trying to get through The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond. Interesting, but I don't seem to have the attention span to make myself get through it.

[Lara]

I just finished reading Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi; Alliles (in record time, actually), and I'm trying to get through The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond. Interesting, but I don't seem to have the attention span to make myself get through it.

Oh hay.

I just finished reading Omen yesterday, finished reading Abyss a few hours ago, and just started on Backlash. =D

-is still waiting for them to come out in paperback...-

[Kathryn Lacey]

Silvone, I always hate when that happens. I loved The Lord of the Rings for instance, but it took me a really long time to get through it because I was at a point in my life when I wanted to get everything done quickly.

I just finished a really good book called The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.

I didn't really know what to expect when I borrowed it from the library. The back of the book was vague about the premise of the book.

Basically, a religious sect took over the government and forced people to follow or they were tortured and/or killed. It's become incredibly difficult for women to conceive babies, so when the religious sect took over the government, they stole children from their families to give to more deserving, childless people ((basically people who followed their religion)).

The mother's who were deemed "unworthy" became handmaids. Their job was to conceive babies for families who were childless. The story follows one handmaid through her tale of how she came to be a handmaid in the first place and what her life was like before it.

It's really fascinating, and I devoured that book like candy.

The book was not about religion. It was about people doing terrible things in the name of religion.

It was a bit disappointing at the end if only because it was so good I wanted more. I wanted to know in vivid detail what happened to the main character, but it didn't say. The reader is left to decide that for themselves. I still loved it.


Now, on Sighlent's recommendation, I've started reading the first book in the Vampire Diaries series by L.J. Smith.

[Guest]

I think that actually sounds really interesting, Kathryn. I might just have to get that on my list someday. I honestly don't have a problem with religion...just what people can do in the name of religion.

@Lara: Backlash was pretty good. And Allies was great. I asked this in another thread, but have you read the New Jedi Order series yet? I noticed you've read the killik's trilogy, but you don't mentioned the NJO. If you haven't read them, you definitely should.

[Lara]

Ha, I just answered this in the other thread, but this is probably a better spot for a conversation anyway.

I'm loving the Fate of the Jedi series. I'll be sad when I catch up to Allies and have to wait...

But yeah, I just haven't gone back and reread all of the books. Those are just the ones I've read since January. I've been on a Star Wars kick, though, so I can definitely see more being added to the list very quickly.

[Guest]

I'm tempted to read 50 Star Wars books for next years challenge, from NJO - FOTJ. Yeah, if you respond to my other post in the other thread I guess you should do it here

[Lara]

I'd totally do that with you if you did. =D I need to go back and read a lot of the books, because I'll admit that when I used to read them, I'd skip the chapters that weren't focusing on the characters that I liked. >.>

Balance Point was good, but my favorite was Star By Star. And Vector Prime. I honestly cried when

Spoiler:

I loved Star by Star because of the character development and interactions. It set up so much for the future of the characters, its unbelievable. Unfortunately, I started Star Wars at NJO, and I've only read a few books centered just before and after the original movies. I haven't even read the original trilogy, which I'm ashamed to admit....

No worries, I haven't read the original trilogy either. After seeing the movies, I just don't know if I could without getting bored.

Spoiler:

I go back and skim through Star By Star all the time, just to reread Leia's reaction to the above spoiler, not going to lie. You definitely need to go back and read some of the older ones! I like reading them way more than NJO, and that's saying something.

I also loved the Legacy of the Force series, just because it brought Boba Fett into new focus for me. I had never really cared about him in the past, but I find that I find his story fascinating.

[Guest]

I would like to read some of the older ones. Hopefully this summer. But there are so many other books I would like to read that I don't really want to go backward at this point. I read the new Star Wars book when it comes out (as in latest time), but I can't really get into the older timeline stuff. Not yet.

[Lara]

That makes sense. I know one of these days I'm going to find a list of all the Star Wars books so I can go buy the ones I don't own yet.

I wonder how long my Star Wars kick is going to last. Usually I can read nothing but until it's over, but once it's done I can't touch them for a good while. XD

What other kind of books do you read?

[Guest]

Forgotten Realms, Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind, some Dragon Lance, a lot of Sci Fi like Rama and Space Odyssey. And some odd books here and there, whenever I find something that looks interesting. I also read some intellecual rather than entertaining stuff, like Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel, and The Third Chimpanzee.

[Gadreille]

I'm going to be reading The Little Ice Age once school is over. I can't afford the distraction right now!

[Lara]

I just finished reading a a fanfic for Team Fortress Two. It made me want to curl up in a ball and cry, and I don't even have the slightest idea what TF2 is. But it was incredibly well written and I felt the need to share it, just as the friend who linked me to it shared it with me. It's one of the darkest things I've ever read though, so warning in advance if you decide to take a look at it.

Now returning to my normal reading schedule of Backlash.

[Guest]

I'm currently reading the War of the Spider Queen series, set in the Forgotten Realms. It is about the Drow, or dark elves, and how they respond to their goddess, Lloth, disappearing. I've read the first book once already, and stopped halfway or so through the second. There are six books in all. I decided I would try to read them again. So far, I'm not that into it. Each book is written by a different author, and I know I like other books written by the author of the first, but I just don't like how he writes this book. Hopefully I can make it through it, and the second as well. I really want to know how this series ends. And once it is done I can go back to the Drizzt books.

[Spear-Face]

I recently finished A Feast for Crows, the fourth book of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. I highly recommend it.

Currently, I'm finishing up The Thousandfold Thought, book three of R. Scott Bakker's The Prince of Nothing trilogy. I highly recommend it as well.

Next, I plan to get started on Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series.

[The Melancholy Spirit]

Bought Prophets, Apotheosis: Book One by S. Andrew Swann. Very glad that I did, 'tis turning out to be one hell of an awesome Sci-Fi read.

[Guest]

I just read Instructions by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Charles Vess. It's very short, but both the text and the pictures tell a lot more than you can see. I just read it rather hastily and saw many different things you could read into it. I'm going to read it slower in a few days or so, and really analyze it properly. But I warmly recommend it!

[Lyonesse]

Good choice, Miss Dagger! Anything by Neil Gaiman is great in my humble opinion.

I'm currently reading an anthology of noir stories set in Portland, Oregon called Portland Noir. It's great in a way that only locals can truly understand, but it's part of a series that has books that focus on different cities.

I've also got volumes 1 and 2 of The Losers by Andy Diggle and Jock as well as volume one of Irredeemable by Mark Waid coming in the mail to satisfy my comics/graphic novel desires.

[xraineyesx]

I am currently reading this post. Teehee.

Just kidding, but really, I was.

As far as novels go, I'm rereading for the billionth time Eyes of Crow by Jeri Smith-Ready, which I would highly recommend to anyone who is into fantasy even the teensiest bit. And of course, Lord of the Rings never gets old for me. I'm trying to read my way through The Silmarillion yet again - and failing yet again. Most complex and difficult book that I have ever tried to read.

[Blackrock]

A lot of people find "The Silmarillion" difficult to read, but for some reason it went pretty smooth for me. Sure, for the first 60 or so pages, I had immense difficulties and probably re-read a lot of stuff over and over again. But in the end, I had all the names and family relations in check. It pays off to study the family trees that are located at the end of the book, it really really helps. Once you get the hang of who's son or brother or cousin or whatever that character is, things are pretty easy.

In the end, after the initial difficulties, I found that "The Silmarillion" makes for a pretty epic read. Overall, I found it more interesting than "Lord of the Rings", because it paints the picture of a much more grey-ish world, which I could relate to. The story of Hurin and his kin is probably one of the best moments in a book I've read. Very, very good book, must read for fans of fantasy.

[xraineyesx]

I know, and I'm such a Tolkien geek! I read and reread about the first 100 pages over and over. Eventually I'll get the who's who down and be able to enjoy it properly. It's the only book I've ever had trouble reading, which is strange to me, but you're right. It's mostly because I don't know who is who and why they're doing what they are doing because I don't know who they are.

[Lara]

<3 ~ I finally got to buy Michael Scott's The Sorceress, which is the third book in a fictional series surrounding Nicholas Flamel. I'm so excited, because I've been waiting over a year for it to come out in paperback, and at least half a year longer for it to come out at all.

AND AND AND when I found The Sorceress, there was a new book in the series next to it! The Necromancer! I resisted the urge to look at it because I didn't want anything spoiled for me.

Butyeah~. Because I got The Sorceress, I am currently rereading The Alchemyst and The Magician (in that order), which are books 1 and 2. I always reread the previous books if it's been a long enough time. Whee~

[Guest]

I'm reading a book about Japan's history. It's very fascinating. I really like it so far.

EDIT:: The book is in Swedish, so it doesn't matter if I tell you which book it is. But I'll do it anyway: Japans Historia by Ingmar Ottosson and Thomas Ekholm. ^^

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