Books

[Skogs]

Right, picking up on Necronopticous' thread I decided to make a more general thread.

What was the last book you read? What was it about? Did you enjoy it? Would you recommend it?

The last book I read was 'Vernon God Little' by DBC Pierre. It's a satirical take on the less comfortable aspects of contemporary living, seen from the view of a 15-year old survivor of a high-school shooting. It's dark, vulgar and disturbingly funny. 'Vernon God Little' is not one for literary prudes, but certainly worth reading.

[Calliope]

The Secret Life of Salvador Dali. I'm probably excessively biased on this book, because although I've seen a lot of works of art that are far better than his, the way he lived his life has always appealed to me.

Unfortunately I was fifty pages short of finishing it when it was due back at the library, but I decided I'm going to have to buy my own copy anyway, so I'll finish it later :D

[Miriel]

Just started on Dave Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Dunno what to think of it so far as I've only read the intro, but the guy seems to be trying too hard to be Vonnegut-esque and failing in his attempts. Maybe the "heartbreaking" and the "genius" parts come later. We shall see.

[TheAbominatrix]

The last I finished was <i>Return of the King</i>, and the rest of the trilogy beforehand. I hadnt read them since I first got them, which was about 10 years ago. Or more. We all know what that's about, and yes I would recommend them, especially for those of you who've only seen the movies. The movies are awesome, but they dont come anywhere close to the greatness of the books.

I'm currently reading a lot of books... switching back and forth. <i>The Hobbit</i>, and <i>Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas</i> (not to mention the large stack of <i>Mars</i> manga I read... pick up <i>Mars</i>, it's insanely great).

<i>The Hobbit</i> is the prequel to the LotR trilogy. It's a much easier read than those three, and it was my favorite of those as a kid (RotK has taken that spot now). It's about Bilbo Baggins and his own adventure through Middle Earth, traveling to the Lonely Mountain with a group of Dwarves (Gimli's father among them) and Gandalf himslef to reclaim the Dwarven gold from the evil dragon. It also introduces the infamous Gollum and explains how Bilbo got the ring. I highly recommend it.

<i>Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas</i>... it's hard to describe what that's about. If you've seen the movie (amazing movie), you've got a good idea. But basically, it's a semi-true story of Hunter Thompson's crazed drug-influenced time in Las Vegas, claiming to be searching for 'the American dream'. It's very funny and at times very deep, so pick up a copy. It's by Hunter S. Thompson himself, and all of his work is insanely good.

[Strider]

The last book I read was Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity. Very very good book, and much better than the movie (which says a lot, really).

Sometime next week, I should be getting The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum in the mail. I can't wait. :D

[m4tt]

I last read Deception Point by Dan Brown. It was an excellent book. It's about corruptness in the white house and conspiracy theories.

[Rusty]

The last book I finished reading was 'The Night is for Hunting' by John Marsden.

It's a book in the Tomorrow series, all about Australia being invaded. I loved it, I love the whole series. Yes I would recommend it, but I suggest reading the first book first.

[Necronopticous]

Well, now the last book I read was "Blinking with Fists" which is a poetry collection by Billy Corgan. As expected, I loved it. I was somewhat dissapointed at a few of the poems because I guess I was hoping for his poetry to be more similar to his lyrics. But that was the only downside I saw to the collection, and it's a biased one anyway. If you go into this without expectations (and a love of poetry) you'll come out with a lot of great reads. "A Twixt the Twine" was my favorite poem in the book. An excerpt:

"A twixt the twine and flowers divine
Devise the deign in this copper wane
Aghast the mask of ripping change
Aloft amongst the highest paid"

I suggest the collection to anyone with a love of poetry and an open mind.

[Lord Chainsaw]

A Clockwork Orange, which for some strange reason took me four and a half weeks to read.

I liked it. I was fortunate enough to have a version that included the last chapter, which was cut out of earlier printings of the book. The slang was a bit confusing in the beginning, but I got used to it. Was a good book.

[TheAbominatrix]

A Clockwork Orange, which for some strange reason took me four and a half weeks to read.

I liked it. I was fortunate enough to have a version that included the last chapter, which was cut out of earlier printings of the book. The slang was a bit confusing in the beginning, but I got used to it. Was a good book.

The fact that the last chapter was ever excluded just pisses me off. It takes all the meaning out of the story, really. And yeah, the nadsat can be extremely confusing, but by the end it's mostly understandable without having to think about it.

[Ancient Goddess]

The last book I read was called Kushiel's Dart by Jaqueline Carey. A friend told me that it would be right up my alley, since I enjoy the dark books with a lot of complex themes and detailed writing. Eh...It was okay, but nothing was in it that kept me glued to the pages. The main character was pretty much weak, and the surrounding world, while vivid in the descriptions, weren't interesting enough for me.

I'm currently reading a series my sister recommended by Laurell K. Hamilton about fey. I'm on the latest book in the series actually, entitled Seduced by Moonlight. It's not as great as my sister claims it is, but it's something to pass the time with.

[Shoeberto]

Currently reading The Damnation Game by Clive Barker.

[kikimm]

I think the last thing I read was The Tower at Stony Wood, by McKilip, or The Gates of Sleep, by Mercedes Lackey. "Tower" was better, but that's probably just because McKilip's one of my favorite authors.

But right now, I'm reading The Dirty Duck by Martha Grimes(present-day Agatha Christie), and Heir of Sea and Fire, by McKilip. Then it's The Charnel Prince, and then Winter Rose. I got it all planned out.


:D

[Logan]

A Clockwork Orange, which for some strange reason took me four and a half weeks to read.
It took me a little over a week..I had to read slowly and go back and reread bits and pieces.

One of the last books I read was Shopaholic Ties the Knot. I've been reading "trashy" (as my teacher calls them) books lately. They're fun.

[Meat Puppet]

I'm a Discworld nerd :upsidedow

Last one I read was Nightwatch.

[Starcrest]

the last book i read was Exile by R.A. Salvatore, and it's about a dark elf trying to live in a world were none like his kind. yes, i'd recomend it, cause it kicks ass

[Erased]

I would love to say the last book I read was Shadowmancer, but I have read one since that. It was called "Among the Hidden" and was pretty good. Its about thirds(Ender's game, anyone?) only now their really, really illegal. It was most interesting though. Shadowmancer is also very good. I'm reading "The Golden Compass" right now. Its not too bad, I need to read it more often to get it finished though. :)

[Shlup]

The last book I finished was Give Me a Break by John Stossel. It was excellent.

Right now I'm reading Dragons of a Fallen Sun, which is the first of the War of Souls trilogy in the Dragonlance series. I just started it last night. I'm on page 103.

[Skogs]

Wha-hey, just finished another book - 'The Hungry Tide', by Amitav Ghosh. Um... I liked it. I do quite enjoy reading books based on people from other (i.e. non-Western) cultures. It depicted quite a clash of cultures with a well off New Dehli businessman and an American girl of Indian (i.e. from India, not American Indian... but wait - she is American Indian, but er... not that sort :spin: ) meeting in the tidal mangrove areas of India. And there's something about a Scottish communist as well... well, sort of.

Anyway... recommended! :thumb:

Now reading: 'The Zanzibar Chest', by Aidan Hartley.

[Del Murder]

The last book I read was <i>The Oddessy</i> by Homer. Currently I am reading <i>Uncle Tom's Cabin</i>, because the slavery period intrigues me. I've read enough European history lately and so I thought I'd give my own country's a try. I read a lot of books of a lot of genres, because reading is fun and keeps you from going stupid.

[StarlightAngel]

the last book i read was Exile by R.A. Salvatore, and it's about a dark elf trying to live in a world were none like his kind. yes, i'd recomend it, cause it kicks ass

SO true. I like the whole Trilogy. Especially Homeland and Sojourn(sp?).

[Kirobaito]

I'm reading <i>Brave New World</i> by Aldous Huxley right now. I actually like it, quite a bit. Lot of porn involved in it. It's about a future society with strict social classes, and (atleast so far) a Savage who visits it from his Savage Reservation, which is similar to our current society. I just got done reading <i>The Scarlet Letter</I> by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I really hated it. For those who don't know, it's about a Puritan woman who commits adultery and wears a red "A" on her chest.

[Starcrest]

yeah Homeland's the best cause it explaines alot about Drizzt and what he has had to go through

[Kirkpatrick]

I'm reading <i>Brave New World</i> by Aldous Huxley right now. I actually like it, quite a bit.

That's the book that's next on my list, after my physics teacher told me to read (he was shocked I hadn't :p).

The last book I read would be the complete collection of Isaac Asimov's robot short stories that I'm finishing, before that would be...hmm, wow I really didn't as much as I usually do during the summer. It would have only been a few weeks ago, and I can't remember, that's odd.


It was called "Among the Hidden" and was pretty good. Its about thirds(Ender's game, anyone?) only now their really, really illegal. It was most interesting though.

Bah. I got all excited thinking that there was a new Ender's book :p.

[Bernhard]

I'm reading Perdido Street Station by China Mieville, for the second time. One of the best books I've ever read, and without a doubt the best fantasy book. Very refreshing seeing as how I'm so tired of the generic fantasy as written by Salvatore, Eddings, Jordan and so forth (this book is set in the steam-punk city of New Crobuzon). It swallowed me whole and I'm in love.