Book Corner.

Hello. After all the serious talk of god and what not recently, I though I'de dip in and see what all you great people like to read in your free time. I'm currently reading "Stupid White Men" (Michael Moore). Heres a list of some of the books I've read recently:

• Dude, Wheres my Country? (Moore again)
• Hons and Rebels (Jessica Mitford)
• Monstrous Regiment (Terry Pratchett)

there isn't enuff room on this page to write down all our books... between 5 of our top readers, it would be about 5,000 books

i would venture that i alone have read close to 2,000

I'm currently reading through "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", which is an old Chinese novel about the conflicts between 3 ruling factions as the Han Dynasty is falling apart. I'm really enjoying it although at times it is a tad samey, challenge after challenge from the leading generals, each one panning out in similar ways, grates a bit. Oh and Wu, my favourite of the Kingdoms, doesn't feature nearly enough :sad:

Before that I just finished "Teeth of the Tiger" by Tom Clancy. I heard it got some bad reviews but I quite enjoyed it.

Orpheus said:
there isn't enuff room on this page to write down all our books... between 5 of our top readers, it would be about 5,000 books

i would venture that i alone have read close to 2,000

Its not a race Orph, just a friendly chate about what we like to read!

Apart from academic reading.....

The last book I read was "Miss Smilla's feeling for snow" by Peter Hoeg. I'd started on "The glass bead game" by Herman Hesse, but now I need to read The Royal Geographical Society's "Expedition Medicine" instead, in order to be prepared for my wilderness medical training courses :sad:

And ReNo - much respect! I've never had the patience to take on "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

Some of the recent ones i've read (within the last ten days or so)

• The Horse Whisperer (Nicholas Evans)
• A place called freedom (Ken Follett)
• The apocalypse watch (Ludlum)
• Third World War (Humphrey Hawksley)...scary
• The message of the upanishads (Raghunathananda)

Still reading the last one... Nothing of too much quality except Third World war and The Message of the Upanishads

matt said:

Orpheus said:
there isn't enuff room on this page to write down all our books... between 5 of our top readers, it would be about 5,000 books

i would venture that i alone have read close to 2,000

Its not a race Orph, just a friendly chate about what we like to read!

race?

can't have a race with one participant especially since i have been reading since about age 10..

be funny seeing most of you compete from the zygote stage :biggrin:

Recent schtuff:

The Collector of Hearts - Joyce Carol Oates
The Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (had to read it for a class)
Some HP Lovecraft Story Collection (can't recall the name right now and don't feel like digging around for it :razz: )
The Angle Quickest For Flight - Steven Kotler

laughs at Reno over the rugby :biggrin:

Uh, recently... don't have much time to read really but I'm a big sci-fi fan. Trying to get through Robert Reed's latest book- 'Marrow' was a great book. I think Neal Asher is my favourite author right now- 'Line Of Polity' and 'Skinner' are also worth checking out!- he has a great, realistic and rich futuristic universe, and I can't wait for his next book. Also like Alastair Reynolds and Peter Hamilton (hopefully 'Pandoras Star' is better than his last book about a treatment for ageing, too much teenage sex going on :argh: )

Monqui said:
Recent schtuff:

The Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

One book I can truely say I hated - I just couldn't stand the central characters constant whining.

in the past 3 months, i have read about 6 trek books, and 2-3 book sets from from forgotten realms..

i go through phases, for a while, i cannot touch a book, none seem interesting, then all of a sudden i must read.. and it will last for a while.

Would you like required:
Heart of Darkness
Hard times
Doctor Faustus
King Lear
Whithering Heights
(all not so good as what I actually like to read)

or free time:
Harry Potter (yes I know Im falling into what everyone else likes, but it still good reading)
Lord of the Rings (I read the whole series at least once a year)
and currently working on Aragon (nothing pertaining to LOR)

And those are just for the past few months (apox: 3).

The last two books I read were:

White Jazz - James Ellroy (big crime writer, did the book "L.A. Confidential", later made famous by a certain K. Spacey..)

White Trash - John King - interesting novel/socio-political commentary, a general look at todays disaffected youths and society (in the UK) through two main characters running parallel in the book, linked by one main thing...

very very good books both of them are, White Jazz is a little trying at times with its interspersal of chapters devoted to newspapers columns and entire dialect "sequences". Great all the same :smile:

Hmm, I don't have any time to read while I'm in school, but here are some favorite authors and books.

David Webber- sci fi; Honor Harington series

George R.R. Martin- Fantasy; The song of ice and fire series

H.G. Wells; War of the worlds; island of Dr. Morau... ect.

Tom Clancy's original books. (they suck after and marginaly including Rainbow Six)

Michael Chrighton- Prey is absolutly fantastic, though it gets a bit rediculas towards the end.

Robert Jordon- The wheel of time; unfortunatly this series seems to have stalled badly :sad:

there really are too many to list.

/me heads down to the book vault...

You sure you really want me to list this book collection? Lep might not have enough bandwidth. :biggrin:

Basically, almost every Forgotten Realms book(most of them I've read at least 4 times). The Wheel of Time series. All books by Raymond E. Feist. The Death Gate series. And a s**tload of other unconnected books.

Well, the most recent thing I've read for fun was Batman: The Long Halloween...

As for real books, I recently read four different books about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Fun?

Recent pieces I've been mulling through:

The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Finally got my hands on this over Christmas Break

The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens - He really has this unique intellectual approach to poetry

The Comic Toolbox by John Vorhaus - I'd say this is easily the definitive comedy writing book, certainly the best of the handful I've gotten my hands on. Kind of a specific taste though.

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut - Most of the way through this book and I gotta say it really is an odd duckling. Between the "tell it like it is" tone, interspersed drawings, and actual interaction between the author and his creations as such - it's a mindf**k and a half.

Re..ree...read?

Reading these forums is plenty for me :razz:

I prefer day dreaming or just reading my academic books on architecture, they tend to be really interesting.

I just finished Carl Sagan's Dragons of Eden. Great book about the evolution of human intelligence and some other relevant topics. He presents a lot of interesting theories and it's a very easy read, I'd highly recommend it for anyone interested in some very basic neurobiology.

I'm starting Aristotle's The Politics now, and up next will probably be Plato's The Republic. I'm starting to think I should have read these in the opposite order, as Aristotle seems to spend a lot of time arguing against components of The Republic.

Leperous said:
laughs at Reno over the rugby :biggrin:

Bah, you guys are the world champions, we weren't exactly expecting to do as well as we did thank you very much :smile:

Tracer, I've read a few of Clancy's older books, but personally prefer his newer ones. Perhaps I made bad choices from them in the past though. I've read Netforce (and oh dear god, I saw the film...must....forget....the film!) and a couple in another series called "Op Centre" or something? Been a while since I read those however. I found Rainbox Six to be the best of them, and Teeth of the Tiger to be better than the earlier ones.

Yak_Fighter said:
Well, the most recent thing I've read for fun was Batman: The Long Halloween...

As for real books, I recently read four different books about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Fun?

I have a friend who's on a 'Think Tank' that the UN hired to, er, think about the security barrier for this case they're starting. Perhaps we should start a new topic on Israel/Middle East :wink:

Leperous said:

Yak_Fighter said:
Well, the most recent thing I've read for fun was Batman: The Long Halloween...

As for real books, I recently read four different books about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Fun?

I have a friend who's on a 'Think Tank' that the UN hired to, er, think about the security barrier for this case they're starting. Perhaps we should start a new topic on Israel/Middle East :wink:

That sounds like fun :sad:

recently i've been reading 2 books. The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, which contains all of the stories plus an extra one. I'm about half way through, where currently, these aliens came down on a cricket pitch and slaughtered a load of guys and then left. wierd. and the second is the first part of a series. the book's called sabriel by a guy called garth nix. dont ask. ive only just started and it's a pretty big book.

The correct title of the book you are refering too is "The hitchhikers guide to the universe" by Douglas Adams. And I think the bit you're refuring too is in the third book of the series, Life, the Universe and everything.

/correction.

nope, i just checked the title and its the ultimate hitch-hiker's guide to the galaxy and yes the part im reading is life the unvierse and everything

changing the subject a bit, you're link to a game don't work.

I haven't read anything since Return of the King, I've got Bruce Campbell's book sitting here that I need to read :biggrin:

I've got to read the rest of the Heir to the Empire series (Star Wars) I kind of read the first book and half of the second and then . . . stopped, and that was a year ago, I'd probably speed through them now (my reading speed magically picked up, just like stats in most RPGs lol . . . . Crono Gained a Level . . . . Reading +2)

Anyway, there's way too many books under my belt, and too many that I have yet to read, I don't have enough time to re-read books I've read, there's too many I have to get to :\\

However, I've been favoring Michael Crichton for a few years now. And I've got Octopussy and Man with the Golden Gun laying around too (yeah, I found them both in atique shops lol)

Fredulom said:
nope, i just checked the title and its the ultimate hitch-hiker's guide to the galaxy and yes the part im reading is life the unvierse and everything

changing the subject a bit, you're link to a game don't work.

Yes it does you just need Flash Play 6 foo' Oh and I am right about the title of that book.

Stfu, 'foo.

Yeah, sorry again the link doesn't work. I'll fix it again. (thats twice in one day I've been wrong now, whats the world coming too??!!)

Leperous said:

Yak_Fighter said:
Well, the most recent thing I've read for fun was Batman: The Long Halloween...

As for real books, I recently read four different books about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Fun?

I have a friend who's on a 'Think Tank' that the UN hired to, er, think about the security barrier for this case they're starting. Perhaps we should start a new topic on Israel/Middle East :wink:

Oh man, I'm not going to touch that one with a 10 foot pole. You can start the topic... :razz:

ReNo said:
Tracer, I've read a few of Clancy's older books, but personally prefer his newer ones. Perhaps I made bad choices from them in the past though. I've read Netforce (and oh dear god, I saw the film...must....forget....the film!) and a couple in another series called "Op Centre" or something? Been a while since I read those however. I found Rainbox Six to be the best of them, and Teeth of the Tiger to be better than the earlier ones.

You definatly read the wrong ones then. My favorites in no particular order: Patriot Games, Without Remorese, Debt of Honor, The Sum of All Fears, Executive Orders, The Hunt For Red October, Clear and Present Danger. either patriot games or red october should be read first since most of these books follow the same character in chronological order. Without Remorse is all about Clark (the dude from rainbow six) and can be read at any time. I think that one is my absolute favorite.

matt said:

Fredulom said:
nope, i just checked the title and its the ultimate hitch-hiker's guide to the galaxy and yes the part im reading is life the unvierse and everything

changing the subject a bit, you're link to a game don't work.

Yes it does you just need Flash Play 6 foo' Oh and I am right about the title of that book.

No you are wrong. I listed that book too. See, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is the first book in the series. Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is one big book that has everything in it. Now stop being and idiot and accept it.

Cash Car Star said:

matt said:

Fredulom said:
nope, i just checked the title and its the ultimate hitch-hiker's guide to the galaxy and yes the part im reading is life the unvierse and everything

changing the subject a bit, you're link to a game don't work.

Yes it does you just need Flash Play 6 foo' Oh and I am right about the title of that book.

No you are wrong. I listed that book too. See, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is the first book in the series. Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is one big book that has everything in it. Now stop being and idiot and accept it.

YES I KNOW I WAS WRONG I ADMIT IT!!!

Its the American edition or something, my version is a similar version, they just have difference names. Now then, back to literiture. What do you Americans think of Moore? Me and my Nan are getting through all his books, and are quite suprised at just how much the fat cats are screwing over their common man. Any thoughts?

Mmm, the middle east is touchy - perhaps a debate focusing on a couple of conflicts centering around the whole region, and the interaction between the "west" and "islam" as it were..

still dangerous :razz:

Edge Damodred said:
/me heads down to the book vault...

You sure you really want me to list this book collection? Lep might not have enough bandwidth. :biggrin:

Basically, almost every Forgotten Realms book(most of them I've read at least 4 times). The Wheel of Time series. All books by Raymond E. Feist. The Death Gate series. And a s**tload of other unconnected books.

BUMPS edge's rating up to a 5, simply cause his book collection rivals mine :smile:

i don't have all of the forgotten realms, but i do have my portion of them.. my biggest collection is prolly my trek books, TOS and TNG of course :biggrin:

my hardcore sci-fi is prolly as big as my fantasy/adventure collection.

Ah of course, shoulda thought of all those old ones Tracer. I haven't read them, but saw the films and so got the jist of the stories. No doubt the books are significantly better than the films however.

Heh, I'm not certain the films give the jist of the stories... Red October is the only Clancy film I have seen which I liked.

I'm quite a fan of the Ender's Game sextilogy (if that is the right word).

Hrm, didn't like the first Enders book at all, the characters are so unbelievable... Fine if you want to think about all the moral gubbins and life lessons, but a pretty boring read.

Leperous said:
Hrm, didn't like the first Enders book at all, the characters are so unbelievable... Fine if you want to think about all the moral gubbins and life lessons, but a pretty boring read.

enders game, was my only motivation for continuing with the series.. i found it to be exciting, and actiony enuff to keep the pages turning.. book 2 and 3 were somewhat iffy, but since bean took over as "center stage" the renewed interest is... well i am very glad the series didn't end with book 3.

the intrigue since bean took over is well worth the time.. i highly recommend that anyone read these books.

and i am almost positive the series is up to 8 ???

i will have to check, but no matter the book totals, i have read them all and bought every one too :biggrin:

[EDIT]

Ender's Game
Speaker for the dead
Xenocide
Children of the Mind
Ender's Shadow
Shadow of the Hegemon
Shadow Puppets

First Meetings
Hardcover: August 2003

matt said:
What do you Americans think of Moore? Me and my Nan are getting through all his books, and are quite suprised at just how much the fat cats are screwing over their common man. Any thoughts?

I think on the list of fat cats screwing over the common man, Moore is #1 by way of his s**tty books. He is, in all probably, the least funny liberal to ever ejaculate on a page and publish it to a bestseller. I quote from his marvelously titled 'Dude, Where's My Country?':

"... where's Osama Bin Laden? Maybe he's... RIGHT BEHIND YOU!!!!!!!!"

That's not even an exaggeration, including the number of exclamation points. Michael, if you read this, you're welcome to write all the facts and legitimate opinions you have, but dear God, do not try to be funny.