Spoilers What Book Are You Reading?

[greganpace]

I just started my second read through The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson. Long, Long series, but all the better because of it. You don't get this kind of character development and plot lines in one book or even a trilogy.

 

[mobilehaathi]

I've always wanted to read Crime and Punishment, but I fear that it's too heavy for me.

It can seem that way, but wow does the opening scene pull you in...

 

[rohantravel]

Yeah, the writing is hard to understand, but the themes are awesome.

 

[Heilage]

It can seem that way, but wow does the opening scene pull you in...

I had a go at Don Quixote when I was around 15 I think, the writing style got too heavy for me.

I do seem to struggle with older books, tried my hand at Dumas last year, couldn't really get into the flow of the text. Dante was difficult as hell, partly becasue of the poetic structure.

I suppose I can blame it on being a second language, far different than my first.

 

[avro707]

The Untouchables by Brian Shul / Walter Watson Jr.

Mine is the large format version signed by both of them and brilliant reading, accompanied by Mr Shul's amazing photos. You can sense the tension as they go on the Libya mission and need to push the speed up past Mach 3.5. The book is so well written it almost puts you inside the SR-71.

It's something any project team should read as well. It shows how people work effectively as a team.

I have the companion book Sled Driver too, also a limited edition large format version, and I treasure both books.

 

[pachyderm]

I had a go at Don Quixote when I was around 15 I think, the writing style got too heavy for me.

a classic tho. love it.

 

[eternlgladiator]

Just got the new Michael Crichton and Richard Preston book Micro. Can't wait to read it. I already read the sample on my phone and I'm hooked.

 

[bradl]

Anne McCaffrey: 1926-2011

I didn't want to lump this into the thread, as it would definitely get lost, but as a Sci-Fi/Fantasy reader, this one hit me.

Caught this one this morning from Today, via /.

Science Fiction author Anne McCaffrey Passes Away At 85

Prolific science fiction and fantasy author Anne McCaffrey died Monday at her home in Ireland shortly after suffering a stroke. She was 85.

McCaffrey published nearly 100 books in her lifetime and was best known for her popular “Dragonriders of Pern” novels. In her , McCaffrey shared the following insights about her approach to writing and her first novel, which was published in 1967:

“Her first novel, ‘Restoree,’ was written as a protest against the absurd and unrealistic portrayals of women in s-f novels in the ‘50s and early ‘60s. It is, however, in the handling of broader themes and the worlds of her imagination, particularly the two series ‘The Ship Who Sang’ and the fourteen novels about the ‘Dragonriders of Pern,’ that Ms. McCaffrey’s talents as a story-teller are best displayed.”

McCaffrey was born in Cambridge, Mass., and moved to Ireland in 1970. In the late 1960s she became the first woman to win a Hugo Award for a work of fiction and the first woman to win a Nebula Award. She was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2006.

While her health permitted, McCaffrey made frequent appearances at science fiction and fantasy conventions such as Dragon*Con, and she did much to encourage new writers in their craft.

In response to an announcement of McCaffrey’s death on a Random House website, one longtime fan posted this message: “Anne touched my entire family and was passed from mother to daughter and now granddaughters. I am crying over a woman who touched three generations and will continue to touch more. We love you Anne and know that your legacy will live on within my family and many others. You will be missed.”

Outside of CYOA books, the first fantasy book I ever read was Dragonsong, back in '84.. Still a damn good book and series to this day.

Farewell, Dragonrider.. you'll be missed.

BL.

 

[Huntn]

I didn't want to lump this into the thread, as it would definitely get lost, but as a Sci-Fi/Fantasy reader, this one hit me.

Caught this one this morning from Today, via /.



Outside of CYOA books, the first fantasy book I ever read was Dragonsong, back in '84.. Still a damn good book and series to this day.

Farewell, Dragonrider.. you'll be missed.

BL.

Thanks. I may have seen this series in the bookstore. I'm always open to new sci-fi reading leads.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Yes, definitely. And the show is fantastic. I watched all ten episodes in like a day and a half. Highly recommend both.

I'm still on Book 1 (Game of Thrones) so I can't vouch for the entire series, but so far, I'm hooked hard. This is better than the HBO series (which is also good), although I must admit media is powerful and I'm visualizing all of the characters based on the HBO show. Now I'm in a dilemma. I have to decide if I want to read the Second Book first or enjoy it on HBO first.

Thoughts anyone?

Yes. The first book is good and the second is better. The third may be the most captivating book I've ever read (but not the most amazing. Dune retains that title). The fourth one takes a bit of a dive, but I think the fifth is just as good as the first, if not a bit better.

Okay guys and gals. Today, I bought book one of this series and am looking forward to curling up on a sofa (gale force winds and lashing rain of the sort that thinks it is sleet outside) later this evening with it, and a glass or two of Innis & Gunn beer...... Books two, three, four and five await me in the book shop. So, thanks once again for the strong recommendation.......

 

[S.B.G]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 4S: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

I'm halfway through Steve Jobs's biography. My new Kindle will arrive today, and I look forward to reading some more books on that.

 

[Don't panic]

Okay guys and gals. Today, I bought book one of this series and am looking forward to curling up on a sofa (gale force winds and lashing rain of the sort that thinks it is sleet outside) later this evening with it, and a glass or two of Innis & Gunn beer...... Books two, three, four and five await me in the book shop. So, thanks once again for the strong recommendation.......

i am tempted to do the same, but I am afraid i will be get hooked on them and waste too much time i should be using to write grants.

 

[Iscariot]

Have recently read:

I tried to read this:

But I found the author to be such a repetitive, superficial bore.

I just started:

 

[ucfgrad93]

I am currently reading this on my Kindle.

 

[Randman]

Finishing up Steve Jobs. My first purchase in iBooks as I usually have opted for the Kindle reader on my iPhone.

After this, debating the Stephen King 1963 book or the Jerry West biography.

 

[tanderson11]

wonderful book i'm reading now.

 

[MacRy]

I've decided to go on a Stephen Kingathon as there are so many of his books I've always meant to read but never got around to it. I've kicked it off with "It"

 

[pachyderm]

I've decided to go on a Stephen Kingathon as there are so many of his books I've always meant to read but never got around to it. I've kicked it off with "It"

let me know if the new one is any good. i've never read any King. struck me as crap, but the new one has me intrigued...

 

[hulugu]

Have recently read...

What did you think about "Four Hour Body?" I've been thinking about picking it up, but I worry that it's a waste of time.

I'm reading "El Narco: Inside Mexico's Criminal Insurgency" by Ioan Grillo.

 

[MacRy]

let me know if the new one is any good. i've never read any King. struck me as crap, but the new one has me intrigued...

My wife's reading that at the minute. I'll keep you updated

 

[TexasChemE]

George Orwell's 1984. Fantastic book, and i'm only halfway through with it.

 

[jollygoodamy]

The Island Of The Blue Dolphins. So far I find it a bit bland.

Mockingjay. I quite enjoy it so far.

 

[Iscariot]

What did you think about "Four Hour Body?" I've been thinking about picking it up, but I worry that it's a waste of time.

It is, and it isn't. Tim Ferriss admits out of the gate that his sample size is 1, so he's open about some of the anecdotal nature of the book. That said, Tim seems to forget that he's been a competitive athlete for most of his life, is independently wealthy and had nothing but time on his hands to experiment, and that pretty much disqualifies him as a useful guinea pig to anyone who isn't him.

So it's interesting, but it's not useful.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

George Orwell's 1984. Fantastic book, and i'm only halfway through with it.

An excellent book, However, I think that Animal Farm is even better - for it is a literary masterpiece (written in an exquisite and deceptively clear prose), which also manages the difficult trick of being a philosophical and political tour de force as well. To my mind, it is simply one of the best books ever written in the English language.

 

[roadbloc]

George Orwell's 1984. Fantastic book, and i'm only halfway through with it.

It is an astounding book. Took me a while to get into it, but once you begin to understand his vision, from an abstract sort of view, he is scarily correct on a rather large amount of things in his predictions.