Spoilers What Book Are You Reading?

[LadyX]

I'm not sure where everyone is from here, but if you don't like the kindle books, I usually get "older" books at Half Price Books. If you can find an old copy (printed before the 1970's), they will charge you half price. So since most books back then costed less than $1.50.... and no grammar errors!

I'm from Dubai and this is where I'm located in. I think HPB is in the US only. But it's okay. I don't mind paying $0.99 for an ebook. This is how the Classics are usually priced at on the Amazon Kindle Store.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Been reading Dolores Ibárruri's autobiography...

What a woman!

An extraordinary woman. You must let me know whether or not you recommend this book, as I will most certainly track it down if you do. Probably the best account I have read of the Spanish Civil War is the outstanding (and very balanced) book bearing that very title "The Spanish Civil War" by the excellent historian Hugh Thomas.

SS, I totally agree with you on Wuthering Heights. In high school, we had to read it for English class and for the first time, every single girl (I say girl because it was an all-girls private school) in class loved the book. I recall the teacher being so happy about it. We had an amazing discussion as a class, it was great fun. We had to return the books since it was part of school property but I bought a copy for myself soon after. And wow, I absolutely love your description of the place and how you came about to reading the book. I really love your style of writing. You seem like a professional author








The majority of the classics are available for free as ebooks but I always get the paid version because the free versions tend to have lots of grammatical/spelling errors and the formatting isn't that good.

Glad you share my love of 'Wuthering Heights'; it is one of those astonishingly powerful books, so gripping that you tend to remember where you were when you read it. As we both have done.

A novella with an equally powerful punch (and written almost totally in a tone quite at variance with his more usual detached tone of subdued irony) is Anton Chekhov's brilliant and horrifying novella, or long short story, called 'Ward No 6'. That was another of those gripping stories which left me utterly stunned, and, apparently, to my fascination, V. I. Lenin (a fact which is mentioned in biographies of the man which I have read) described having experienced the exact same reaction when he, too, first read it.

 

[ucfgrad93]

I am currently reading Last Assault: 1944 - The Battle of the Bulge on my Kindle.

I've only read the Forward, but this look pretty interesting. The author is going to lay out a case that the Allies knew the Germans were going to attack through the Ardennes in December 1944. In fact, the author believes that Eisenhower deliberately left the area where the attack occurred weak in order to entice the Germans out from their defensive positions.

 

[VI™]

Still reading some Watchmen until I can get my hands on The Old Man and The Wasteland.

Oh...can the New Curry Bible. I love cook books.

 

[briannaharbor]

Anyone know of a good book comparable to LOTR that I could get started with fantasy? I've heard of the Wheel of Time series, and I kinda want something else. Suggestions?

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Anyone know of a good book comparable to LOTR that I could get started with fantasy? I've heard of the Wheel of Time series, and I kinda want something else. Suggestions?

Alright. Here are a few recommendations I can offer, from the top of my head; I'm sure I'll think of others.

The 'Shannara' series by Terry Brooks is pretty good, especially the first and second trilogies; admittedly, it goes downhill from there and becomes rather repetitive.

David & Leigh Eddings wrote some decent stuff with the five book series, 'The Belgariad' and its successor, another five book series, 'The Mallorean.'

More recent favourites include Trudi Caravan's stuff; her 'Black Magician' trilogy is actually really very good, far better than anything she has written before or since.

Others I like a lot include Carol Berg, and her 'Rai-Kirah' trilogy is excellent. Garth Nix wrote an excellent trilogy, the so-called 'Abhorsen' trilogy, and Jonathan Stroud's 'Bartimaeus' trilogy is also first rate.

 

[ucfgrad93]

Alright. Here are a few recommendations I can offer, from the top of my head; I'm sure I'll think of others.

The 'Shannara' series by Terry Brooks is pretty good, especially the first and second trilogies; admittedly, it goes downhill from there and becomes rather repetitive.

David & Leigh Eddings wrote some decent stuff with the five book series, 'The Belgariad' and its successor, another five book series, 'The Mallorean.'

I've read all of these and would also highly recommend them.

 

[VI™]

Anyone know of a good book comparable to LOTR that I could get started with fantasy? I've heard of the Wheel of Time series, and I kinda want something else. Suggestions?

WOT is tedious. I promised myself I would sit down and read all of them but I think I only made it to book 7 or 8.

A Song of Fire and Ice serious is pretty phenomenal. That's basically The Game of Thrones.

I also love the Raymond E. Feist books. There's several different series that all take place in different time frames throughout the same world. I found those to be pretty epic in scope and they always kept me reading. I'd definitely look in to those as well.

I have to have a really good fanatasy book to read or else they don't keep my attention because at a certain point, a lot of them start blending together. One of the most recent series I read that is sci-fi but is definitely worth the pick up if you haven't read them are the Wool series by Hugh Howey.

 

[LadyX]

What Book Are You Reading?

Anyone know of a good book comparable to LOTR that I could get started with fantasy? I've heard of the Wheel of Time series, and I kinda want something else. Suggestions?

The Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis

The Farseer Trilogy and the Liveship Traders Trilogy by Robin Hobb

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman


You might also want to check out Ursula K. Le Guin's books.

 

[briannaharbor]

Alright. Here are a few recommendations I can offer, from the top of my head; I'm sure I'll think of others.

The 'Shannara' series by Terry Brooks is pretty good, especially the first and second trilogies; admittedly, it goes downhill from there and becomes rather repetitive.

David & Leigh Eddings wrote some decent stuff with the five book series, 'The Belgariad' and its successor, another five book series, 'The Mallorean.'

More recent favourites include Trudi Caravan's stuff; her 'Black Magician' trilogy is actually really very good, far better than anything she has written before or since.

Others I like a lot include Carol Berg, and her 'Rai-Kirah' trilogy is excellent. Garth Nix wrote an excellent trilogy, the so-called 'Abhorsen' trilogy, and Jonathan Stroud's 'Bartimaeus' trilogy is also first rate.

Thanks for the suggestions, I think I'll look at the Terry Brooks series. I've heard lots about him

 

[Scepticalscribe]

The Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis

The Farseer Trilogy and the Liveship Traders Trilogy by Robin Hobb

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman


You might also want to check out Ursula K. Le Guin's books.

Oh, yes. These are excellent, too - I have read them all, with the exception of Ursula K. Le Guin, who is spoken of and written of very highly, but whom I have yet to make the acquaintance of, in print.

Robin Hobbs's books are dark, brilliant and memorable; I loved the Liveship Traders Trilogy, an example of excellent story telling. "His Dark Materials" by Philip Pullman is outstanding, an absolute classic. His 'Sally Lockhart' books, aimed at a 'young adult' audience, are also excellent.

 

[LadyX]

What Book Are You Reading?

A novella with an equally powerful punch (and written almost totally in a tone quite at variance with his more usual detached tone of subdued irony) is Anton Chekhov's brilliant and horrifying novella, or long short story, called 'Ward No 6'. That was another of those gripping stories which left me utterly stunned, and, apparently, to my fascination, V. I. Lenin (a fact which is mentioned in biographies of the man which I have read) described having experienced the exact same reaction when he, too, first read it.

I love short stories. I've read and enjoyed many. I love how succinct they are. It is hard writing a full novel, but I believe writing a short story takes some serious skills. It's basically a craft. Anyway, I haven't read Ward No 6. Is it the kind of short story available to read for free online?

I won't list all of them but some of my favorites are:

The Nose by Nikolai Gogol

Signs and Symbols by Vladimir Nabokov

The Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant

The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs

Tell Me a Riddle and I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olsen

 

[VI™]

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

Loved this series. It's a shame that the movie was butchered due to pressure from religious groups and a resulting terrible box office nixed any possibilities of sequels.

 

[LadyX]

;19256542]Loved this series. It's a shame that the movie was butchered due to pressure from religious groups and a resulting terrible box office nixed any possibilities of sequels.

Agreed! The film did not do the book justice at all. I was very disappointed.

 

[caseycicada]

Agreed! The film did not do the book justice at all. I was very disappointed.

A short story that I really liked was Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron" The short film adaptation, "2081" was acted...sorta well...but was still worth while. The story is really short, and definitely worth reading.

 

[LadyX]

What Book Are You Reading?

A short story that I really liked was Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron" The short film adaptation, "2081" was acted...sorta well...but was still worth while. The story is really short, and definitely worth reading.

Thank you for the reco. Will check it out! I've never read anything by Vonnegut.

 

[AVBeatMan]

Anyone read Dr Sleep by Stephen King? Any good? Thoughts?

 

[mobilehaathi]

An extraordinary woman. You must let me know whether or not you recommend this book, as I will most certainly track it down if you do. Probably the best account I have read of the Spanish Civil War is the outstanding (and very balanced) book bearing that very title "The Spanish Civil War" by the excellent historian Hugh Thomas.

I do recommend it. She is fiercely eloquent and passionately committed. I won't claim it is a balanced recitation of history, but it is a pleasure to read of her experiences.

Admittedly, I'm quite sympathetic to her cause, and I have a bit of a weak spot for strong women.

 

[VI™]

Thank you for the reco. Will check it out! I've never read anything by Vonnegut.

His "masterpiece" Slaughterhouse Five was not a favorite of mine. I never made it all the way through. I did really like Cat's Cradle though. That's a really good read.

Anyone read Dr Sleep by Stephen King? Any good? Thoughts?

I enjoyed it. It reminded me of a Deen Koontz novel I read about a year or two ago.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I do recommend it. She is fiercely eloquent and passionately committed. I won't claim it is a balanced recitation of history, but it is a pleasure to read of her experiences.

Admittedly, I'm quite sympathetic to her cause, and I have a bit of a weak spot for strong women.

Thanks for the recommendation. "Sympathetic to her cause' along with 'a bit of a weak spot for strong women' places you very much on my wavelength on such matters.

When I was teaching history (and politics), one was/is supposed to be nice and detached and objective; well, my heart always lay with the reformers - and those who tried to change things for the better, even if - a lot of the time - such attempts at reform ended poorly.

 

[VI™]

Anyone here hear of Oyster? It's like Netflix for books. I saw something on it this weekend and did some browsing and it looks pretty good.

 

[LadyX]

;19270315]Anyone here hear of Oyster? It's like Netflix for books. I saw something on it this weekend and did some browsing and it looks pretty good.

Just checked it out. It's a shame it's only available in the US. They should expand to more countries. They'll definitely receive recognition as it seems like a pretty nice idea.

 

[SandPebble]

Anyone here hear of Oyster? It's like Netflix for books. I saw something on it this weekend and did some browsing and it looks pretty good.

Just checked out their site. Wish they would let a non-member search for favorite authors. That would help me decide to join or not.

 

[Don't panic]

I do recommend it. She is fiercely eloquent and passionately committed. I won't claim it is a balanced recitation of history, but it is a pleasure to read of her experiences.

Admittedly, I'm quite sympathetic to her cause, and I have a bit of a weak spot for strong women.

for some reasons this reminded me of a great book in part set in the same background, which you might want to try and read
"Leonardo's bicycle" by Paco Ignacio Taibo II
a brilliant and bizarre wild ride of a book. i read it in spanish years ago, because i couldn't find a translation, but now i'll try to find the english translation and give it another shot

EDIT: i should add that my "connection" is not because of a strong female protagonist or that it is an historic work. it is more of a weird mystery novel set in multiple time-space locations.
one of them is anarchist Barcelona of the 20s-30s, so it was the spanish civil war setting the is shared, but in a very different context

for some reasons this book came to mind, and i though i'd share since i remember i liked it a lot.

 

[VI™]

Just checked out their site. Wish they would let a non-member search for favorite authors. That would help me decide to join or not.

I saw that they do a 1 month free trial. I may end up testing it out. If I do, I'll post a reveiw on their service.