What are you reading?

Books are great! And reading helps broaden the mind, or something silly like that.

What are you reading right now? How are you liking it? Would you recommend it to others?

I am currently reading two books.
American Sniper - by Chris Kyle
It is the autobiography of the deadliest sniper in U.S. history. It kind of hits me just right, myself being in the military and having been to some of the places mentioned in the book.

also

Interview with the Vampire - by Anne Rice
This is my current 'bathroom book'. It is pretty good so far. I am about halfway through it. Vampires aren't my normal thing, even though I do read a lot of supernatural urban fantasy. I like it though.

I'm also in the middle of a few series' but not currently engrossed in a book. I'm reading Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea novels, Jim Butcher's the Dresden File, Simon R. Green's Secret Histories, and Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles. Oh, and Glen Cook's the Black Company books.


What are you currently into?

The things I've been silent about
By azar nafisi

Great yes I would
She's one of my fave authors to so biased

Magical Thinking: True Stories by Augusten Burroughs

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"A contagiously funny, heartwarming, shocking, twisted, and absolutely magical collection. True stories that give voice to the thoughts we all have but dare not mention. It begins with a Tang Instant Breakfast Drink television commercial when Augusten was seven. Then there is the contest of wills with the deranged cleaning lady. The execution of a rodent carried out with military precision and utter horror. Telemarketing revenge. Dating an undertaker and much more. A collection of true stories that are universal in their appeal yet unabashedly intimate and very funny."

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This is my fourth Augusten Burroughs memoir, and it's pretty alright. Before this one I picked up Dry, which had me in tears multiple times, both from sadness and painful feels, and also from laughing. He's an obvious egomaniac, and I often feel in a way as if his books are a personal account of gossip from him to the reader, which is hilarious but can become tiring at times. Either way, I love Augusten more with each memoir of his I read, and his realistic fiction Sellevision is one of my favorite books ever.

My sister has told me that I need to get through the rest of his memoirs and land on This Is How: Proven Aid in Overcoming Shyness, Molestation, Fatness, Spinsterhood, Grief, Disease, Lushery, Decrepitude & More. For Young and Old Alike. because he says it has become his personal revelation as a writer that this is the book he was born to write, and it's supposed to be incredibly ground-breaking and insightful. I can't wait to get there, so I'm trying to swallow through these last few memoirs of his to reach it!

The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee by Sarah Silverman

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"From the outrageously filthy and oddly innocent comedienne Sarah Silverman comes a memoir—her first book—that is at once shockingly personal, surprisingly poignant, and still pee-in-your-pants funny."

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I've only just started reading it and haven't really gotten a feel for the book. I really like Sarah Silverman's standup because I think she is just smurfing hilarious. She's so dry and so deadpan and matter-of-fact and I love it. I wasn't really a big fan of her show, though, because I guess in a way I felt it was sortof exploitative of her humor in order to garnish more laughs and it just didn't work for me. I hope her book works out, though.

I'm also reading American Gods but I've lost interest for now. I'll pick it up after I'm done with these two.

Neuromancer by William Gibson and it's freaking magical http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...pscb2ec6fc.png I am convinced that no one, anywhere, ever, can write like Gibson.

J R by William Gaddis. Not very far in at all so I can't fully judge it, but I dig it so far.

Now, to embark and an unrelated and barely intelligible rant: I thought I was doomed to forever wander this planet without being able to stomach scifi novels. I thought I had found refuge in Vernor Vinge, but he failed me. I mean, his novels would start out with an amazing premise, with incredible worldbuilding, and then halfway through the novel I was just like "wtf are we doing spending so much time here, where did this go wrong?" Sentient warrior trees who move by wagon, a race of telepathic rat-dogs who are the central focus of like half of the novel? It was just too much for me. I couldn't even finish A Fire Upon the Deep and it made me sad because it had so much promise from the start.

Then, like a month ago, enter Dan Simmons and Hyperion. God, the book is everything I wanted it to be and more. Engaging, well-written scifi fare with a tight focus and one of the best villains I've ever encountered in a novel (The Shrike). After that I immediately bought Fall of Hyperion, which I finished earlier this week. Fall of Hyperion is also excellent, but very, very different from its predecessor. The ending gets a bit messy because there's just so much to tie up, but overall a great sequel to Hyperion. Thank you, Mr. Simmons.

/endrant

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Originally Posted by Pike

Neuromancer by William Gibson and it's freaking magical http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...pscb2ec6fc.png I am convinced that no one, anywhere, ever, can write like Gibson.

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Neuromancer is incredible, yes. One of those novels you can gobble up in one or two sittings, immediately ravenous for more.

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Originally Posted by Pant Leg Eater from the Bad World

Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles

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I read those a while ago, they're pretty good. Still waiting on that third part...

I'm currently reading Fate/Stay Night. Books are fine but nothing beats a good visual novel. (Totally not subjective)

I just put Hyperion on my Kindle the other day ! Aaaaah, can't wait to read it

A lot of people didn't like the Kingkiller Chronicles because of the way it was written. But I really enjoyed it. One of the best books I've read in years. It was so good I had to take a break before reading the second one.

Also, I have been looking for a copy of Hyperion everywhere. I remember seeing it on my mother's shelf growing up and started to read it once, but never got past the first chapter. I misplaced it or something. Anywho, I really want to read it. Like super bad.

I have a digital copy that can be turned into a PDF if you don't mind reading digitally. Elsewise, I would suggest Amazon.

I finished Magical Thinking and instead of saying to myself, "I think I will finish American Gods and The Bedwetter before I add anything else to my list," I started listening to the Yes, Please audiobook by Amy Poehler and finally started reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy.

You know, I probably have a digital copy of it in my digital library (which is gigantic). But I really want a physical copy. Anyways, I really enjoy the long hunt. It makes the find in some used bookstore so much sweeter.

Everyone should read the Hitchhiker.

I finished American Sniper while I was on duty on Christmas. I'd only read 40 pages or so at that point. I finished the last 400 pages before noon. It was really really touching. Not in the like, oh so sweet kind of way. It was hard, and raw. I felt the pain of loss and war. I had to stop reading and collect myself well over a dozen times so that I didn't burst into tears in front of a bunch of my junior Marines.

I am still meandering through Interview with the Vampire. I need to knock that one out before the new year. I plan on reading the Silmarilllion, Hobbit, and LoTR all in January.

'Salem's Lot

Pregnancy For Men :shrug:

Currently reading an amalgamation of wiring diagrams I've scrounged up around the shop and from around the internet in an attempt to figure out why this smurfing Mercedes has turn signals and brake lights that won't operate.

Every wiring diagram I've found for a W111 chassis Mercedes mentions several dash operations all focused around the combination switch, but every W111 I've worked on has individual switches on the dash for pretty much everything. The cars are getting to be over 50 years old, and most of the diagrams I can find are either with unlabeled wire colors or with the diagrams in German. Plus they aren't for this exact car, just models related to it. :argh:

It's a good read. I recommend picking up a copy.

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond. I would highly recommend this book.

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Originally Posted by Pike

Neuromancer by William Gibson and it's freaking magical http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...pscb2ec6fc.png I am convinced that no one, anywhere, ever, can write like Gibson.

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Nice! Coincidentially, I'm currently reading Count Zero.