Re: What Are You Reading?

[Guest]

I finished my Star Wars book. I have to say it was my favorite since The New Jedi Order: Star by Star. Too much good stuff...

I don't know what to read now. I should read something I haven't read before...but I really want to continue re-reading Star Wars (waste of time, I know Ryona).

Maybe I will pick up where I left off on Wheel of Time?

[Lord Saladin]

Definitely read the rest of WoT so far. I have to say that's my favourite series of all time.

At the moment, however, I am reading Dante Alighieri's 'The Divine Comedy,' a classic that outlines the afterlife: Inferno (Hell), Purgatory and Paradise (Heaven). An awesome, if somewhat difficult - in some places, at least - read.

Other than that, if you're looking for suggestions, also give David Eddings' 'The Elenium' trilogy a try, followed by 'The Tamuli,' its sequel.

[Mack]

I'm reading Sword of the Rightful King I like that time period, and it is beautifully written. After that? Most likely Tex by S. E. Hinton. I enjoy every book I read that she has written, especially The Outsiders.

[Kathryn Lacey]

I finished reading Dismantled by Jennifer McMahon. It was really good. It was pretty unpredictable to me though I tried to predict all that would happen. It was really interested. I'd recommend it to others.

[Kalon Ordona II]

I just finished Morningtide, the sequel to Lorwyn. It's a Magic: The Gathering book, but those two are the only books in that series I've read so far.

I'm also still reading The Elements of Style by E.B. White and William Strunk Jr.

Oh right! And I'm AAAALMOST done with Soul of the Fire by Terry Goodkind!
Hurraaaaay for Richard!!

[Gadreille]

You are only on Soul of the Fire??? You've got some reading to do! Faith of the Fallen is the best one!

Still reading The Edge of the World. Taking it slow because frankly, I don't get a lot of sit down and read time anymore...^_^ I will be reading various anthropology textbooks in a few weeks :[

[Kathryn Lacey]

I hate reading more than one book at a time. I only ever had to do that during high school, and I didn't like doing it. I prefer to immerse myself wholly in one work, so I can really give all of my thought to it without worrying about another book.

I'm currently reading The Thief of Always by Clive Barker. The beginning makes me think of the style that novels for kids are written, but this book was in the adult fiction section, so we'll see.

[Gadreille]

Ah yes...unfortunately, full time on the quarter system doesn't give me much choice but divide and conquer...er...pass...

[Barbarossa]

I've almost finished Azincourt, by Bernard Cornwell, and let me say:

Oh, my god. I love this book. I very rarely find a book in which I can feel; I mean, I read a lot, and I have read a lot of good books, but with this I actually feel like I am there...

I know this is probably common for most readers, but this is the first time it has happened for me and it's amazing...

I think the last book I read which was really good was Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk, but that didn't make me feel in the same way. Reading the end, when the battle takes place (That's not a spoiler, the books called Azincourt so it's gonna' happen at some point.) it has got me just exhilarated. There is so much going on but I totally... eurgh it's so good...

Anyway, I just love it and would greatly recommend it to anyone interested in the time period or anyone interested in bloody good books.

[Kalon Ordona II]

I just started reading The Circle trilogy, by Ted Dekker. It's pretty awesome so far! xD

[Stion Gyas]

I'm about a third of the way through A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin. So far, it's just as good as the first in the series.

Also, 100TH post!

[Kathryn Lacey]

I finished The Thief of Always by Clive Barker yesterday. It was interesting. It moved really quickly, and it wasn't as gory as one would suspect Barker would make it ((seeing as how he did the Hellraiser movies)). It was more or less written in the tone of the ten year old protagonist.

Anyway, now I'm reading The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. He's the guy that first wrote about the Phantom of the Place de l'Opera in France where the legend of a ghostly figure who would cause mishaps and such originated.

[Lets Dance On Fire]

I am currently [listening] to "Daughter of the Sun" by Lonnie Ezell.
'Tis a fabulous tale of magic, the bond of mother-daughter, over-arching conspiracies and counter-conspiracies and revolution in the good old vague medieval fantasy setting.

It’s a free podcast novel and I highly recommend it to any audio-book lovers (check out podiobooks.com too, they do hundreds of free audio-books by both published and un-published authors).

After that I plan to read both "The Poisonwood Bible" and "Shooting History" (The latter by Jon Snow, a British Newsman / Historian.) That and I’m currently half-way into Stephen King's "On Writing" auto-biography / advice guide to fledgling writers.

Reading is one of the few things I am capable of multi-tasking being the simple man I am.

[The Melancholy Spirit]

Currently reading:

Trek to Kraggen-Cor, book on of The Silver Call by Dennis L. McKiernan.

The Whisperer in Darkness by H.P. Lovecraft

Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne by David Gaider

[RedBaku]

Finally got my hands on Miyamoto Musashi's The Book of Five Rings.

[Sunwolf007]

I am currently in the process of finishing Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen. It's a really good critical look at the educational system for history in the United States. And I do me critical. Anyway I was wondering if anyone had a suggestion for a good Sci Fi novel. I am in the mood for one of those after reading Lies. Just don't know what one.

[Kathryn Lacey]

Well, a good science fiction novel in my mind would be Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card if you haven't already read it. It's made of awesome.


I'm currently reading Guernica by Dave Boling. It's basically fictional characters ((and a couple non-fictional ones)) in a real setting surrounding the events of the bombing of Guernica in 1935. I don't really know how to explain it, so I'll just type what's on the back of the book:

"In 1935, finding himself on the wrong side of the Spanish Nationalist, Miguel Navarro flees to Guernica, the most ancient town in the Basque region. In this idyllic, isolated bastion of democratic values, Miguel finds more than a new life- he finds someone to live for. Miren Ansotegui is a charismatic dancer from the town's most prominent family, and the two discover a powerful love.

"But their affair is doomed to be painfully tested. On the eve of World War II, the German Luftwaffe bombs Guernica. It is a devastating experiment in total warfare and, for the Basques, and attack on the soul of their ancient nation. Seamlessly merging history and fiction, Guernica speaks to the resilience of family, love, and tradition in extraordinary circumstances."

It's really good so far. I'm not quite to the part where their city is bombed, but I am to the part where the plans have been made and set into motion. It's quite interesting. I definitely recommend it.

[Sunwolf007]

I know the events that the book is set in. If I remember correctly the Nazis were trying to support a civil war in Spain because they wanted their fascist government style to spread to Spain. It sounds like an awesome setting for a story. Thanks for the suggestion. I haven't read that one yet so I might pick it up (if I don't forget the title the next time I am in the bookstore).

Forgot to mention that I am also currently rereading Viking: Sworn Brother by Tim Severin. Awesome historical fiction. The book series starts about the time they were attempting to settle on Vinland and is told from the perspective of a kid growing up and living in the world around 1000 AD. If you like historical fiction you will like this book. It's got Vikings what else do you need!?

[Guest]

"Demagogue: The Fight to Save Democracy From Its Worst Enemies," by Michael Signer.

dem⋅a⋅gogue  [dem-uh-gog, -gawg] noun, verb, -gogued, -gogu⋅ing.

–noun
1. a person, esp. an orator or political leader, who gains power and popularity by arousing the emotions, passions, and prejudices of the people.
2. (in ancient times) a leader of the people.
–verb (used with object)
3. to treat or manipulate (a political issue) in the manner of a demagogue; obscure or distort with emotionalism, prejudice, etc.
–verb (used without object)
4. to speak or act like a demagogue.

Basically, a demagogue is someone that uses emotional manipulation of the masses for political power; often appealing to anger and/or prejudice and getting people to stop thinking rationally and start yelling. Often, the most successful demagogues take power and do not relinquish it, after stirring up the masses to get them there -- a popularly acclaimed dictator.

Hitler is probably the most famous modern example, but there are plenty of others. In fiction, Chancellor Palpatine, who becomes the Emperor by whipping people up first against the Trade Federation and then against the Jedi, is certainly a demagogue. But the story itself is very human and repeats itself -- human nature hasn't changed, and the ways to manipulate it are well documented, if that documentation tends to get ignored in the heat of the moment. See, we are creatures with emotions, and often let those emotions guide the thinking. It can be bad, especially when someone is hijacking your emotional reaction to something for a political purpose.

At any rate, half this book is a history of demagoguery. Since a lot of it is used in modern politics, particularly on the unwary, it's always a good thing to be aware of this species of politician -- they flourish in democracies, but they also destroy them. The other half is the author's foreign policy agenda -- when I get there, I suppose we'll see what I think. It's a short book, so I'm leery of how much detail there will be.

Useful book, but I haven't even cracked it open yet. Honestly, I know most of the history that this book is going to talk about and how it all works, but I figured I'd mention it all anyway.

[MoiraofWords]

I just finished the novel the Soprano Sorceress. It was quite adequate and fun, a good take on a person transported to a distant land. A little repetitive, but that also made it more human.

[Gadreille]

I'm about halfway done with Death by Theory - Adrian Praetzellis
A textbook for my Theory of Anthropology class, and a damn good one at that!

[ImmortalSin]

I just finished reading Tithe by Holly Black and I can honestly say that it is one of the best books I've ever read, if not the best. I started reading it in the early afternoon and couldn't put it down until late that night after I'd finished it. Not many books, if any, could make me do that.

It commanded your attention from start to finish and the characters were pretty raw but believable. If I had to give it a genre, it'd be a dark, modern, romantic fantasy. There is so much thought put into this one and it really does show. I loved how blunt and rough it was. She never sugarcoated anything.

Apparently there's two other books to it, or so I learned today so I'm now pretty damn excited about getting my hands on them!

[Guest]

About to start "The Origins of Totalitarianism" by Hannah Arendt.

Yes, for self-enlightenment, not assigned. Well, I was assigned bits of it in a course once, and it was good enough to throw it on my shelf for the future. The future is now.

I'm a big fan of Hannah Arendt anyway.

[Kathryn Lacey]

I'm currently reading- and almost finished with- Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis. This is the first book of his that I have ever read, and I will admit that I like it a lot. It's a retelling of the Greek myth concerning Eros and Psyche. It's written from the perspective of Psyche's eldest sister, so a good portion of the book doesn't have much to do with Psyche once the part happens where Eros leaves her after she looks at him.

It's really good, and it makes you think about human nature quite a bit.

Lewis actually considered this to be one of his best works, but I learned that most people have never even heard of it. It's definitely something people should read.

[NotAliceInHerWonderland]

I'm currently reading Beneath a Darkening Moon, and I've just read Beneath a Rising Moon. Books by Keri Arthur - Her books are amazing!

[Kathryn Lacey]

I finished Till We Have Faces today, and it had a lot more to do with Psyche than I initially realized. It was amazing, and it definitely required thought, and it had the ability to make me think about myself.

Now, I'm reading the far less profound Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.

[ravenroses]

I finally finished my other book after two months of no free time to read it. Today, I began reading Kiss Me Again, Stranger by Daphne du Maurier.

[Shekinah]

I am currently reading Qualitative methods and technics in criminology, but that's for my study

For joy I'm reading Real World by Natsuo Kirino, but I'm not really enjoying it. The dialoques are kinda weird and off and her writing style seems somewhat childish, I don't know how to put it. I first noticed this writer when I read her Out, and that was a brilliant book if you ask me. But ever since all she's doing is disappointing me, or so it seems Too bad.

After that I'll start reading Dostojovski's Crime and Punishment or Kafka's The Trial. But it may change tomorrow I have so many books in my bookshelf I still have to read...

[ImmortalSin]

Well, I haven't started reading it yet but I bought the second book in a series by Robin Wasserman called Crashed today. I've been waiting all year for it to be released, so as soon as this term is officially over I'll get straight into it.

[Kalon Ordona II]

Currently reading The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett.
Yay for Discworld! xD

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