Recently Read..

<div class="quote"><div class="quotetitle">? quote:</div><div class="quotetext"><div class="quote">Yup, that's a fun little read. There are two:
Polticaly Correct Bedtime Stories and Polticaly Correct Fairy Tales.
One of them is great, the other one blows in comparision, but I can't
remember which is which. </div>

I am also looking forward to the potter book, Orph, but I don't
believe in pre-ordering. Last time there were stacks of them
EVERYWHERE, and I don't anticipate that this release will be any
different.

</div></div>

I have Politically Correct Bedtime Stories, Once Upon a More
Enlightened Time (more politically correct bedtime stories), and
Politically Correct Holiday Stories. I've only read the first one
though.

Just came from the town where I picked up some new books.

• The 9/11 Commission Report
• Taliban, The Story of the Afghan Warlord by Ahmed Rashid

+ 2 Finnish IT books on Perl and OpenOffice.

Got my copy this morning of Potter.. Was pleasantly surprise it was only $17.99 :biggrin:

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The best things in life, aren't things.

My granmother and his rich Swedish husband are somewhere in England at
the moment. Think they're trying to pick up the book for me. :smile:

Read it, but why i did not post in this topic, is that Potter deserves a discussion as a thread :wink:

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HL2 tutorials 'n' stuff: http://madedog.pri.ee
217.159.236.34:27050 - CSS Server - Clean | koffer.ee

Madedog said:
Read it, but why i did not post in this topic, is that Potter deserves a discussion as a thread :wink:

As long as its on topic, it still belongs in here.. But, whatever floats your boat. :razz:

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The best things in life, aren't things.

hey - it's a "General Banter" afterall :biggrin:

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HL2 tutorials 'n' stuff: http://madedog.pri.ee
217.159.236.34:27050 - CSS Server - Clean | koffer.ee

I've started reading the new Harry Potter, it's quite good so far, same style of writing as the others.

Also started reading The Shining (started reading this while I was
waiting for the new HP book lol), only read the first chapter but it
seems really promising.

$loth said:
Also started reading The Shining (started reading this while I was waiting for the new HP book lol), only read the first chapter but it seems really promising.

No insult to Mr. Nicholson but, the book rulz. The movie was good, the book was awesome.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

I finally fnished 'one flew over the cuckoos nest.' by Ken Kesly.
Normally I would say "ooh, the books FAR better than the film" but in
actual fact I'd say they were both equal. Probably the best book to
film conversion I've both seen and read, actually.

Orpheus said:
No insult to Mr. Nicholson but, the book rulz. The movie was good, the book was awesome.

THE BOOK IS ANAL GARBAGE.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

My granmother and his rich Swedish husband are somewhere in England at
the moment. Think they're trying to pick up the book for me. :smile:

Grandmother? His husband? Moving on...

I've been reading books my brother leaves lying around again, this one
was called something like "Understanding the opposite sex" (in
reference to ladies), and it's like 50 years old, which means it's just
written in that lovely old-skewl style. It didn't make me understand
the opposite sex that much more since I agreed with most of the stuff
the guy said... generally about women being narcissists. :razz:

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One day you'll know what you're talking about, I can hardly imagine

Maps! - Audio blog!

Yes Hugh, we got through this on IRC already: she is very manly. :smile:

Orpheus said:
No insult to Mr. Nicholson but, the book rulz. The movie was good, the book was awesome.

THE BOOK IS ANAL GARBAGE.

I've only read the first chapter, yet I have to dissagree. His style of
writing and introduction of characters is done very well.

Please elaborate your opinion. Unless it was suppose to be in this colour.

We had this discussion about the Shining already in the movie thread. Crono backed it up there.

I just started reading Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. It's hilarious, just great. Read it now.

all books by christopher moore

great comedies

especially Lamb and his newest- The Stupidest Angel

Just finished what is available of the Wheel of Time Series by robert Jordan. Dynomite!

John Gardner's GRENDEL is funny for any Beowulf fans.

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

My friend Joanna wrote a novel called "The Better of Two Evils". I'm half way through chapter one, its a big book. It's quite good, really brutal aswell.

Its about a young half-mage tennager who attend a school for blood born mages. The demons that live outside the school break the spell that protects it and slaughter all the little kiddies, BRUTAL! Selia, as is the main characters name, is saved by a Vampire. She is turned and taken to a frozen wasteland with all the other Vampires. She is on a quest to kill said vampire for making her sister stab herself in the chest, ouch! Her and her friend Azrial have to go oin lots of adventures, warning: things can get pretty passionate, and equally gory.

If anyone wants a copy i will e-mail it to them.

Don't mean to be offensive, but it sounds like another Harry Potter. Which is bad.

MY summer reading list this year consists of:

Devil in the white City: A nonfiction historical book set in teh 1880's/1890's in Chigaco during the building of the world's fair there. It tells the story of the head architect for the fair, and a sociopath killer living in chicago during the fair. Good read

A lesson before Dieing: Read 6 chapters in and wanted to kill my self, so I read the spark notes instead. Its supposely about a "dim witted" man who gets charged with murder and sentenced to death. His mom doesn't want him to die like a hog as one of the prosocuters referred to him during the trial. So she makes her nephew who is a teacher go to the jail everyday and try to teach the "dim witted" man to be a man and not a hog when he get excuted. CRAP book.

Crap book because it was crap? Or harsh?

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-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-

I didn't like the way it was written, and I didn't like the plot either. My main grudge agaist it was when it described characters it would do in TOO much detail, it would describe every detail (like to the extend of how many hairs where on there head type stuff) making the book unnecesarily long.

Just finished what is available of the Wheel of Time Series by robert Jordan. Dynomite.

Ditto

an excellent series

also in the same genre

David Eddings- the Belgariad, hes got some more but i cant think of them right now

I was very anti-harry potter until i read the first book a couple weeks
ago. I just finished the fifth book today. I like
them. They usually get me to laugh out loud 5 or 6 times over the
course of a book, which is not something I do often whilst reading.

As for the wheel of time series... i read about a 100+ pages of his
first book and decided I coudn't take any more of Jordan's writing
style. He was so overly dramatic... look at his dedication
in the first book:

<div style="text-align: center;">To Harriet<br style="font-style: italic;">
Heart of my heart,<br style="font-style: italic;">
Light of my life,<br style="font-style: italic;">
Forever.

<div style="text-align: left;">The rest of the book doesnt get any
better than that... makes me want to puke. I dont understand how
the New York Times raved and said "Jordan has come to dominate the
world that Tolkien began to reveal." The world (geography wise)
that Jordon has created in his books just seems like a blatant rip-off
of middle earth and all of Tolkien's work. Mountains of Dhoom in
Jordan's book? Coincidentally (I'm sure) there's a Mount Doom in
LoTR.

</div>
</div>

<div style="text-align: center;">

</div>

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting French Toast</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>Don't mean to be offensive, but it sounds like another Harry Potter. Which is bad.
</DIV></DIV>

I've finished reading it. Its nothing like Harry Potter.

I was gonna' write a book but the thing is i'm one of these people who gets bored really easily. I would write a paragraph and then i would'nt bother with the rest.

I'm into writing short stories. I almost won a publishing contest when I was in Grade 2, up against adults :smile:

Reading:
The Coming of Conan The Cimmerian, by Robert E. Howard. It's pretty good if you're a Conan Fan. I am because he's very chauvenistic, As am I. Also, he's described as having a strong jawline, like me.

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

I might afford the new (still?) Artemis Fowl. Part 4 already; But it got some bad reviews. I'll see. I enjoed the previous 3 pretty much. So I DON'T WANT TO GET DISAPPOINTED!!!

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Never try to be perfect - just try it and make the best out of it

I'm currently reading through the Waylander series of Drenai books by
David Gemmel. I've read most of the rest of the Drenai series and
enjoyed them all, so figured it was about time I tucked in to the
Waylander trilogy. I'm on the thrid book, and while I wouldn't say that
they have been his best books, they are certainly enjoyable and have
been tying up more backstory and family trees than I could ever have
expected.

After playing through Call of Cthulhu on the Xbox, I decided to pick up
some Lovecraft work as I was impressed by the style and athmosphere of
the game. There were 3 omnibus edtions selling on Play.com for ?5 each,
so I pcked up the set which apparently covers almost all his published
(and some unpublished) work. I've only read one story so far - At the
Mountains of Madness - and it was a very strangely told story. The
story is written as if it were a letter, discouraging an expidition to
the Antarctic from a scientist who recently returned from one, and in
it he describes a whole lot more than you would perhaps expect. I had
expected a dark and forboding horror story in a similar style to the
game, but it is as much a technical diary of the science expidition as
it is a frightening tale. It was a good story despite being hard
reading, and I'm looking forward to reading more, but I guess you can't
go into Lovecraft's work expecting the normal horror yarn.

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

Eh, I've been reading since that's the best way to learn to write and shiz, so yeah, picked up The Rainmaker by Mr. John Grisham off my shelf today since he's awesome and I've never read it... good stuff so far, since he talks about how evil lawyers are... I agree.

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One day you'll know what you're talking about, I can hardly imagine

Maps! - Audio blog!

I'm almost through The Moor's Last Sigh
by Salman Rushdie, for a class, and I have to say I'm pretty impressed
with his writing. The entire book is full to the brim with
cultural, literary, and biblical references.... its like the palimpsest
it references many times. Rushdie's vocabulary is insane as
well... There are about 20 new words I'm trying to learn from the book.

I also read Cracking India
by Bapsi Sidhwa, which was quite a good book. Our class had some
great discussions about this book, and, like Rushdie, Sidhwa has an
impressive command of the English language.

I read Kanthapura by
Raja Rao, and while it falls under the category of a literary novel, I
wouldn't recommend it as a random book to just pick up and read.
It's one of those books that you only read because of class.

I have recently reacquainted myself with a book that I had not read since childhood. "Rendezvous with Rama". I had forgotten just how well this book reads. Clarke is an excellent author.

I wanted to ask. Does it count is I listen to an audio book? Can I use this thread if I hadn't actually read a title?

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

I read Rendezvous with Rama awhile ago, and it was one of the best
books I've read. Really got me interested in Science
Fiction. Greeeat stuff. Number 2... not so much.

Don't let the second book discourage you from finishing the series. Its an excellent read and one that requires you to indulge the slower parts. I won't go so far as to say its the best I have read but It ranks up there as one of the most memorable.

I was actually in full blown tears by the end. Not because it ended, but how.

I would venture that I have read more Clarke books than any other author and thats saying something. When you consider that I discovered reading at about age 10 and am never without one now thats about.... a bunch. :heee:

Seriously. If you can get them all, read them.

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

I'm reading the Disc World series by... some guy who I forgot.

They're frikkin hilarous!

Terry Pratchett :smile: I read quite a lot of the series when I was younger
and really enjoyed them. Might try and give some of them another shot -
last time I read one was a few years back, but even then I picked up on
a few jokes I'm sure I must of missed first time around.

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

Altered Carbon by RIchard K Morgan. Wonderfully gritty sci-fi/bladerunner meets dick tracy. There are 2 other books based on the same main character that I'm looking forward to reading.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/104-3467961-8620724

The Magic of Recluce by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

Good series. REvolves around Chaos and Order. Pretty innovative.

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Terry Pratchett :smile: I read quite a lot of the series when I was younger
and really enjoyed them. Might try and give some of them another shot -
last time I read one was a few years back, but even then I picked up on
a few jokes I'm sure I must of missed first time around.

Indeed. I read the first book a year or two ago, and decided to
restart the series last month, and I understood it so much better, and
found it much funnier :smile:

I am a serious Terry Brooks fan. Creating ones own sets of universes to write in is always a plus if done well.

Another fantastic author who created their own universe to write in is Alan Dean Foster. Absolutely everything he writes is good stuff.

If anyone hasn't read these two authors you should consider them next time you go to the library/book store.

Of the two, I would suggest Foster first. Brooks books tend to lean on the descriptive side and can have chapters of boring, but necessary detail. Foster tends to capture early and hold the reader to the end. His main asset is his ability to capture younger readers.

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

Some books are "readable" some not so much but listening is superb.

I just finished book 1 in the original Dune series in audio book. I loved the movie but could not read it. The book is about as dry as the planet itself. Listening however has brought a massive amount of enjoyment and it filled in a lot of holes the movie omitted.

So anyway, I listened to Dune.

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

I am far from your average King fan. In fact, I like very few things of his but, I recently listened to Rose Madder.

I highly recommend it.

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

Finished Contact by Carl Sagan about a month ago. Good stuff. SCIENTIFICALLY ACCURATE. Imagine that! A science fiction novel with real science. The movie kind of just ... cut all the science out of it, except for the prime numbers ... (Movie is still good ... just different)

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Selected Verse of Ogden Nash. It's a book from the 1950's. I don't think you can get it anymore. But it's good fi your local library has it. or you can probably get it from the Intarweb.

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Finished reading The Crucible by Arthur Miller in school. Im not a fan of plays so I didn't like it at all. It claims to be an almost perfect account of the Salem witch trials.

Finished the "LIght Fantastic" by Terry Pratchet. It's book 2 of
26 thusfar in the Discworld series, and I must say it's great.
It's a comedy set in a middle-earthy type area, and about a tourist
that come to the world and wreaks havoc. It's pretty
awesome. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes reading funny
books.

The first one is called the Colour of Magic if you want to look into the series.

I was very anti-harry potter until i read the first book a couple weeks
ago. I just finished the fifth book today. I like
them. They usually get me to laugh out loud 5 or 6 times over the
course of a book, which is not something I do often whilst reading.

As for the wheel of time series... i read about a 100+ pages of his
first book and decided I coudn't take any more of Jordan's writing
style. He was so overly dramatic... look at his dedication
in the first book:

<div style="text-align: center;">To Harriet<br style="font-style: italic;">
Heart of my heart,<br style="font-style: italic;">
Light of my life,<br style="font-style: italic;">
Forever.

<div style="text-align: left;">The rest of the book doesnt get any
better than that... makes me want to puke. I dont understand how
the New York Times raved and said "Jordan has come to dominate the
world that Tolkien began to reveal." The world (geography wise)
that Jordon has created in his books just seems like a blatant rip-off
of middle earth and all of Tolkien's work. Mountains of Dhoom in
Jordan's book? Coincidentally (I'm sure) there's a Mount Doom in
LoTR.

</div>
</div>

<div style="text-align: center;">

</div>

do you not read much Fantasy fiction

nearly all of them have close resemblance to Tolkien's writings

Yeah -- I don't read too much fantasy fiction, although I used to read quite a bit of science fiction when I was younger.

Why don't they create their own worlds? I mean... RA Salvatore
did with his Dark Elf stuff... ( I loved the Dark Elf Trilogy... one of
the best fantasy books I've read to this day)... and it seems like most
of the fun would be in creating the world you're going to be telling
your story about. Why half-ass it and rip of Tolkien?

And anyway -- that wasn't what pissed me off about Jordan's writing. It was the melodrama and over-writing.

Same reason every creative industry is flooded with uncreative people: money. Why create something better when you could just make money off something that already exists? With the right type of advertising it doesn't even matter what the book is about, it'll sell. They'll make their money and they'll do it again and again. I would imagine paying reviewers to make good reviews happens all to often. (Read some movie reviews some time, it's as if they didn't even watch the same movie as you)

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.