what book are you reading [Archive] - Page 5

Sashasword

20-01-2005, 05:15 PM

I am currently reading (if rather spasmodically) a surprisingly enjoyable read called "The Soul of The Robot" by Barrington J Bayley. It's about a robot that was created by an old couple of robot master craftspeople (husband & wife team) that made a robot to not need to obey humans, and to think for himself. He seems to be the first robot to be made with a self-awareness.
I haven't finished it yet.
The book is followed by a sequel called "The Rod Of Light"

After I read those, I have been told these are a smashingly good read:
"Ill Wind" (book 1) by Rachel Caine
"Heatstroke" (book 2) by Rachel Caine

Apparently, in this particular universe, there are 'wizards' of a kind that can control weather. They can't fully stop a hurricane, say, but can calm it down a lot and move it somewhere else. These 'weather wardens' protect their area from more serious storm damage, much like a fire fighter calms and steers a bushfire. Sort of.
It is meant to be a good read, anyway, if you're longing for a good book to curl up in bed with...

That is all.

druckfugged

20-01-2005, 07:15 PM

Currently reading the third Emperor book by Conn Iggulden called "The Field of Swords". A sort of romanticised version of the life and times of Julius Ceasar, not a brown stain on Colleen McCullough's books, but interesting enough for me to fork over the bills for it.

HAL

20-01-2005, 07:41 PM

Bob Frissell 'Nothing in This Book Is True, But It's Exactly How Things Are'

polite

20-01-2005, 08:19 PM

'As I lay dying' by William Faulkner
I just finished 'Vernon God Little' by DBC Pierre.After putting aside the scepticism which I usually have for prize winning novels it got me in.Some razor sharp observations I thought.

arelius19

23-01-2005, 01:15 PM

catch 22
and the whole spearwielders trilogy by r. a. salvatore

Arsozah

23-01-2005, 08:54 PM

annie

23-01-2005, 09:43 PM

awww, i just finished (it took me long enough i might add) the Way between the Worlds, from that Tale of the Mirror quartet by Ian Irvine.. it's one of those series that just makes me want to keep reading about the characters for a long time :(

but now, i am going to re-read the Otherland series, starting with the City of Golden Shadow :D

Sparhawk

24-01-2005, 12:16 AM

Apparently Irvine's next quartet isn't as good. Though he's eventually returning to Llian and Karan's time (in 5 years or so, probably).

Just finished The Unifying Force.

badpauly

24-01-2005, 12:59 AM

What Wild Ecstasy - The rise and fall of the sexual revolution.

Very interesting read.

RedMaN

24-01-2005, 03:05 PM

Just got this book (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1860743560/starshopcom-video-20/002-9185824-4348824) on the Prodigy, one of my work colleagues lent it to me. Have been a big fan for awhile and was interested in the whole back story. Been a good read so far.

Sashasword

24-01-2005, 04:13 PM

It is a mementous occasion - the start of a great adventure (well, I hope so). I have before me, in its untouched, pristine, QBD-fresh glory, The Colour of Magic. I have never read Terry Pratchett, but it has come to me highly recommended (thanks, Shiny!) so expectations abound.

However, I'm not quite sure what I am getting myself in for. I am a keen buyer of books, not as bad as some though, (I love libraries, but there's nothing like owning a book) and while purchasing the above noticed a book subtitled "the 25th Discworld Novel".

I ask you (and google): just how many are there? I asked the QBD lady and she just tried to sign me up for their frequent shopper programme. I have no consumer willpower so I said yes and she never told me.

Soon I too will understand the Discworld references throughout this forum! Yay!!!!

You may not like this reply...

There are about 30 Discworld series books to collect, not counting all the other off to the side stories that don't deal with the main characters, but are in the same universe.
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, The Dark Side of the Sun, The Wee Free Men, and A Hat full of Sky,to name a few.
There are also four maps of Discworld that you can get, and various special yearly diaries. (like you'd ever write in them)

You poor bastard, your wallet is going to experience a world of hurt once you get hooked on them.
It really helps to read them in order too.

Good luck in forming you collection. You'll be glad that you did, especially since they're such a good read the second and third time around.

*The Dark Side of the Sun is in another universe - as I remember...*

Glompbot

24-01-2005, 05:28 PM

I'm starting my collection from scratch...
i've only picked out titles as they caught my eye :D

ShinymetalASS

31-01-2005, 03:22 PM

I shall take this opportunity (since I came to this thread to post that I was reading Equal Rites *again* and noticed the preceeding posts) to proclaim that there is nothing as satisfying and as (god help me in all my geekness) proufoundly pleasurable as having the pratchett collection in its entirety. I know that Manshoon will back me up on this. I also know (since we read pretty much exactly the same fantasy/sci fi) that Arsozah will become as addicted to pratchett the rest of us.

There was no real plan in the aquisition of said orgasmically sustaining collection, second hand copies, like all good fantasy, are hard to come by (ask the geek i chastised at the Rocklea markets for being a pseudo fan because no real one would ever sell a book let alone a pratchett). Of course I love them all but I do have some favourites: Theif of Time, Mort, Reaperman, Pyramids.

Arsozah

31-01-2005, 03:48 PM

I shall take this opportunity (since I came to this thread to post that I was reading Equal Rites *again* and noticed the preceeding posts) to proclaim that there is nothing as satisfying and as (god help me in all my geekness) proufoundly pleasurable as having the pratchett collection in its entirety.

I'm working on it! I am now the proud owner of "The Colour of Magic"; "The Light Fantastic"; "Equal Rights" and "Mort".

I have hit a snag though - I went on a rampage through my nearest shopping centre today looking for a copy of "Sourcery", but could I find it? NO! AND there was only one Pratchett book in the library (where I went as a last resort).

I have to read something non-Pratchett now... I'm all bereft.

As luck would have it, I happen to have a QBD and Angus & Robertson right next to where I work who have quite an ample Pratchett collection, but I'm not at work today :( I'll have to wait until tomorrow.

As for what I am currently reading pending further Pratchett: Hitchhikers :)

ShinymetalASS

31-01-2005, 03:59 PM

As for what I am currently reading pending further Pratchett: Hitchhikers :)

Hehe, what i read prior to picking up equal rites. Have trilogy in four parts if you want to borrow it. also have treasured ones (2nd eddings thingy like you wanted)..... p.s. see new thread? :pumpy:

ms edeity

31-01-2005, 04:09 PM

feel free to borrow any of our pratchett....on a short leash. they're always great for a re-read when out of new books!

Arsozah

31-01-2005, 04:17 PM

Hehe, what i read prior to picking up equal rites. Have trilogy in four parts if you want to borrow it.

:D That's what I'm reading... It was a QBD special

Enos

31-01-2005, 04:53 PM

Just started The Scar by China Mieville.

It's odd...

Bostonmess

31-01-2005, 06:22 PM

Something Fast

02-02-2005, 03:26 PM

I'm reading Number 9 Dream by David Mitchell.

Benwah

02-02-2005, 03:35 PM

Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple story of John Sculley and his time at Pepsi and Apple computer.

gunsella

02-02-2005, 09:47 PM

Chronicles Vol.1 - Bob Dylan's autobiography

ShinymetalASS

03-02-2005, 09:35 AM

I'm reading The Men Who Stare At Goats (http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/politicsphilosophyandsociety/0,6121,1355882,00.html) by Jon Ronson, I've just finished his other: Them. Adventures With Extremists. He's a funny fucker.

Now... these books sound interesting.... What sort of genre, etc are they? Cause those titles have me pretty freakin intrigued.

Anyone help me out with this? Im figuring its not fantasy, and judging by the url, are they some sort of social commentary/deconstruction?

EDIT: after doing the logical thing and clicking on that link (*retarded*) I reckon these books sound very interesting. I'd be liking to know more about them.... how are they recieved in America??

Bostonmess

03-02-2005, 10:42 AM

He's a British Journalist, he writes for the Guardian, he one of those annoying bastards in the nicest possible way, like Bloomfield and Theroux, and like thoise two he's also done his own documentaries. They were based on his books but they were called: The Real Rulers Of The World and The Crazy Rulers Of The World.

I doubt if they're much received in America. It's not that he's a conspiracy theorist or anything, he's a proper investigative journalist. He infiltrated Bohemian Grove with Alex Jones but unlike the Gung Ho full of shit Jones he has this air of cowardice about him, (I'm sure he'd admit it too) which gives his situations added hilarity. Actually I'm gonna add this edit and say: he's not really a coward, he comes across as scared but he's got more balls than me 'cos you'd never find me in some of the situations he gets in.

I love the time he gets unmasked as a Jew at this Jihadist training camp and in the Goats book he gets punished by this martial arts expert thats invented this defensive device thing. The martial arts guy enjoyed his time with Ronson so much he decided to name one of his devices after him

http://fromronson.blogspot.com/2005/01/more-weaponry-news.html <-----Ronson's blog.

I'd really recommend his books to anyone, like I say, he's not a conspiracy theorist, although he does deal with such things, he investigates them by interviewing others and following leads from those interviews.

The second chapter in "Them" "Running Through Cornfields" about the Ruby Ridge massacre (http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=%22Ruby+ridge%22&btnG=Search&meta=) is a genuinely moving piece of journalism.

There's some extracts to other chapters here: http://www.american-buddha.com/THEM.toc.htm

ShinymetalASS

03-02-2005, 11:42 AM

thanks heaps for that ;) champion.

p.s. tend to think the whole catagorisation of things as 'conspiracy theories' is such a loaded definition. One of those propaganda-ist terms that is specifically bandied about to catagorise people thinking laterally/differently/independently (even if it isnt "realistic" free thought is just that) as some sort of fringe-dwelling abnormal [insert arbitrary seperatist term here] type thing. I guess you can say (and you know i'm loving this) the term "conspiracy theory" is a conspiracy unto itself.

EDIT: prolly would have been more aptly posted in "stupid thoughts for the day" thread, eh?

Lina

04-02-2005, 11:40 AM

Genes, Peoples and Languages by Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza. Interesting book about how unscientific and stupid is racism.

BlueBoy

08-02-2005, 02:03 PM

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.
It's a second read through. But it's still damn good.

Sinwah

08-02-2005, 02:23 PM

The Laughing Corpse by Laruell K Hamilton.

Good horror/action series, basically Buffy the Vampire Slayer with more gratiuitous sex and violence.

RedMaN

09-02-2005, 07:14 PM

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.
It's a second read through. But it's still damn good.
I have read this book so many times I have lost count.... still a great read regardless :D

Going through my collection of Mathew Reilly (http://www.matthewreilly.com) stuff again, I never get tired of his stuff. Always over the top but I love his attention to detail. Just finished reading Contest, Ice Station now onto Temple.

I haven't read any Pratchett stuff before... should I be shot now or later?
/me runs from inevitable flaming :flame:

Manshoon

09-02-2005, 08:09 PM

Shot now....read it

Im nearly thru Jingo....then onto The Last Continent afterwards

brotherkrusty

10-02-2005, 12:26 AM

I haven't read any Pratchett stuff before... should I be shot now or later?

I have to admit I am in the same boat as you RedMan, I started Mort once...I would like to be blindfolded.

Just finished Clancy's Patriot Games. Color of Magic here I come.

Canalien

10-02-2005, 12:53 AM

Half way through Wilde's 'Picture of Dorian Gray'

locust

10-02-2005, 01:58 AM

The Unicode Standard, Version 4.0.

Serpent_Girl

10-02-2005, 09:12 AM

Terry Pratchett - Discworld - Night Watch

Foxfire

11-02-2005, 07:39 AM

A dark and hungry god arises. Stephen Donaldson

ShinymetalASS

11-02-2005, 10:28 AM

I should be posting this in the "I confess" thread, but I figured that it was better confessed here, given the nature of said confession.

I confess that I just started reading the first book in Salvatore's Forgotten Realms series. I further confess that I have never read any forgotten realms before. Ever. Even though it is always being recommended to me. I confess I already love those freakin dark elves.

YAY!

Arsozah

11-02-2005, 10:53 AM

I have a book I confess too!!!

I confess that I have two pages to go before finishing my Hitchhikers trilogy in 4 parts.

I swear, this is longest it has ever taken me to finish a book. I wonder what's wrong with me???

Next up on the reading list: another Discworld - Sourcery!

Foxfire

11-02-2005, 01:23 PM

Um arzosah, did y'know there's a 5th book to the trilogy? Mostly Harmless. Some people don't.

And Shiny, the first three books are great, the second three, are not as well written because they were his first and the third three, it has been too long for me to remember how well written they were. *grins*

Manshoon

11-02-2005, 07:56 PM

Foxfire.....1st trilogy rocks, 2nd Trilogy great as it introduces Cattie-Brie, Bruenor, Wulfgar and Regis, 3rd Trilogy????...ITS A QUARTET! (The Legacy, Starless Night, Siege of Darkness, Passage to Dawn), 4th Trilogy is great...centres more on Wulfgar at one stage but still, 5th Trilogy had me hooked too....I just need to get the 3rd book to read it!

Also I just realised you may have meant the Clerics Quartet at the 3rd Triliogy which is again a Quartet not a Trilogy.....either way the books based around Drizzt just rock!

See Shiny....I WAS RIGHT!!

Arsozah

11-02-2005, 09:00 PM

Um arzosah, did y'know there's a 5th book to the trilogy? Mostly Harmless. Some people don't.

I wasn't reading the books independently. I was reading the first four in a compilation, so it wasn't a real attempt to read them all :)

But no, I didn't know that. I'll have to check it out one day. Thanks

polite

11-02-2005, 10:01 PM

'Goodbye,Darkness' by William Manchester

hallmitchell

17-02-2005, 07:08 AM

Roadwork by Mark Bowden, Survivor by Chuck P, Don't try this at home by Dave Navarro

lego72

17-02-2005, 10:52 AM

Dead Air by Iain Banks
Billy Bragg's biography
Comso by Carl Sagan

Arsozah

18-02-2005, 07:25 AM

I have just finished the Treasured Ones by David and Leigh Eddings.

I found it tremendously tiresome. Let's count the recycled themes: well, there were characters, there were the character responses, there was the unknown helpful secret entity more powerful than everyone else, there was the dumb enemies who couldn't think independantly, there was the little girl who everyone adored who insisted on being held and kissed by everyone but managed the scare the shit out of everyone but appearing in control, there were jewels, there were puritans, there were the stupid dumbass soldiers/sailors/pirates that couldn't come to terms with the fact that they were fighting someone different to them (be it non human or female) and did I mention the recycled character quotes?

I'm sure that everyone who has read Eddings recalls a time when at least one character says something, the second character responds with "I noticed that" and the first answers back with "I thought I noticed you noticing"? That's not a clever comment!!! That doesn't make the character look witty! It makes him look like every other character who has done it before him!

Hmmm... maybe this should be in bitching and rants. I might just tone it down a little.

Listening to the characters made me think of when I was a kid and used to have these egotistical, self involved daydreams - as most kids do - where you would be terribly clever and everyone would bow before your cleverness and wit. And you would show this wit by answering back in a humourous manner. Guess what? What's funny when you're a kid with a childhood ego complex is not as funny to those without the complex!

I apologise if anyone else is reading Eddings and is not having these feelings. I am sick at the moment and irritable, but I found myself getting confused as to what book I was reading. Character parallels were everywhere. Story parallels were everywhere. People were getting called dear one everywhere! STOP!

Ugh. Again, please forgive me if you are enjoying the Eddings' new series. I just have some issues.

Now, I am back reading nice, sensible (hee!) Pratchett. And loving it.

lowededwookie

18-02-2005, 07:27 AM

I'm reading the Biography of John Britten, the genius behind the Britten Motorcycle.

And a Mojo magazine devoted entirely to Pink Floyd.

Cordis

25-02-2005, 11:34 AM

Immediate Action, its a biography on how a soldier called Andrew MacNab joined the British SAS. Its interesting as it shows their bastardisation tactics and their isn't alot of information around on the SAS's movement etc.

Glompbot

25-02-2005, 12:54 PM

Gibbons Decline and Fall by Sheri S Tepper

Sutter

25-02-2005, 10:03 PM

Imajica - Clive Barker

Found an untouched hard cover edition in an op-shop.

So far, so good. Quite slow to get into the usual Barker magic/weird stuff, but all the better for it.

SOC

25-02-2005, 11:28 PM

Comso by Carl Sagan
Is that his follow-up to Cosmos? :confused:

and3w

25-02-2005, 11:41 PM

Freezer Burn - Joe. R. Lansdale

Arsozah

25-02-2005, 11:50 PM

The Gift by Alison Croggon. It's not bad, actually. Very good

Manshoon

26-02-2005, 10:16 AM

Is that the same one they based the movie around Arsozah?....the one with Katie Holmes?

BlueBoy

26-02-2005, 10:43 AM

Last read "The Doors of Perception" and then most of "Heaven and Hell" by Aldous Huxley.
Boring. Crap. Irrelevant.

Arsozah

26-02-2005, 11:35 AM

Is that the same one they based the movie around Arsozah?....the one with Katie Holmes?

There was a movie? You know I haven't seen any movies... :)

EDIT: okay, researched and no, it's different. This one is quintessential fantasy. Light vs Dark, but with music as a base. Plus there's bards!

Manshoon

26-02-2005, 01:28 PM

Ah thats ok then....but still katie holmes topless....mmmm

Serpent_Girl

26-02-2005, 01:43 PM

The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time series) - RObert Jordan ..I've read it before but I love it :) Pity the latter books seem to drag on...

I'm also reading a book for school called "The Delinquents" - Criena Rohan. It sucks. It was apprently made into a movie with Kylie Minogue, though. :rolleyes:

Asmodeus

26-02-2005, 05:01 PM

Kim Harrison - Dead Witch Walking

sway

26-02-2005, 06:52 PM

Trying to Read Raymond E Feist - Magician.

ttpuk

27-02-2005, 10:40 AM

just finished past mortum. mutts nuts book by ben elton.

berkovxx

28-02-2005, 03:24 AM

i read troy

StudMuffin

28-02-2005, 03:43 AM

Trying to Read Raymond E Feist - Magician.
Awseome book, I'm reading soemthing by David Eddings, I forget the title.

rbranson

28-02-2005, 04:44 AM

Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco.

and3w

28-02-2005, 05:56 AM

Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco.

Fine book, show's The Da Vinci Code where to get off!

I'm struggling with 'Stolen Continents: Conquest & Resistance in the Americas" by Ronald Wright.
Very interesting and a well written book but I have to have James Elroys: "White Jazz" on the go as well, to relax with!

RedMaN

07-03-2005, 08:59 PM

Just got this book in the mail today and I didn't even ask for it!!
The Art of Intrusion : The Real Stories Behind the Exploits of Hackers, Intruders & Deceivers (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764569597/qid=1110189466/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/102-5448350-2018519)
by Kevin D. Mitnick, William L. Simon

Mr. Bungle

07-03-2005, 09:13 PM

Dead Air by Iain Banks
Billy Bragg's biography
Comso by Carl Sagan

have you read The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks? Excellent and fucked up book.

I need some advice for new books! I am going to Ireland on Sunday and will be buying some books (I live in Germany and the English language book selection is not the greatest). I am almost finished with The System of the World by Neal Stephenson and have enjoyed it thoroughly. Other recent books:

Has anyone read Lamb by Christopher Moore? Funny book and should be read by all the holier-than-thou Christians in the world so they can get some much needed perspective.

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett was excellent as well.

House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski was the major inspiration for my master's thesis. Check it out.

annie

07-03-2005, 10:31 PM

finished Otherland : Sea of Silver Light by Tad Williams
then read 'Carmilla; the return' by... i can't remember who

and now i am reading The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Letroux i think his name is.. i would go and check, but i'm lazy right now.

-=[BB]=-

07-03-2005, 10:50 PM

Just about to finish Fortunes Favourites by Colleen McCullough.
Its a great series, even if the names sometimes take some getting used to.

Anyone else read it?

Hired Goon

09-03-2005, 08:20 PM

I just started reading Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond (non fiction history/science). I have only read the first 40 pages, but it holds a lot of promise so far.

I'm also reading Tad Williams' War of the Flowers, but have put that on ice for a bit, not that it's bad or anything...just sick of Sci Fi at the moment

MADCAT

25-03-2005, 10:41 AM

I was just looking through a book store a couple weeks ago and I saw The Cleric Quintet Collectors Edition by R.A.Salvatore, I didn't even think twice I immediately bought it and now I've only got about a quarter of it to go.

ShinymetalASS

25-03-2005, 12:39 PM

I'm reading crystal shard right now....

and you are so getting plus repped madcat....

champion...

Mr. Bungle

25-03-2005, 08:18 PM

Finished Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle last week and decided I should read Cryptonomicon again.

And in Ireland I bought:

Umberto Eco - Foucault's Pendulum
Greg Bear - Eon
James Gleick - Isaac newton
Alecander Dumas - The Count of Monte Cristo

NightLightness

31-03-2005, 01:22 AM

ok ok i admit it i am stuck on a trashy romance novel it so very sad.......but before this sad period i was reading a book call popcorn but can't remember author might put it in later if i find book also want to read sophie's world as last time i got half way and had to give it back

hazza

31-03-2005, 01:36 AM

Finally finished Shogun bloody 1200 pages and no fucking war, :agnry:.

bout to finish off a load of fucking shit called the da vinci code, arghaghagh this book was so fucking useless.

"HEY LEIKE I JUST REMEMBERE MY GRANDPAR TAUGHT ME THIS EXACT CODE THAT HE USED ON THE HOLY FUCKING GRAIL, LIKE CO-INCIDEINCE OLOL"

sorry :spingo:

and3w

31-03-2005, 03:40 AM

I agree, da vinci is the pantest book I have read for a very long time. It's like "The Illuminati" trilogy for 3 year olds..utter pants

hazza

01-04-2005, 08:26 PM

starting the latest johnathon kellerman book 'twisted' its a sequel to the 'cold heart' murders book which stars a chic instead of the usual alex delaware and milo.

so far gruemsomely good

mcnish

03-04-2005, 10:26 PM

jennifer government
max barry

visual quickstart guide: indesign
sandee cohen

Elf_Girl

05-04-2005, 02:56 PM

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman (sp?), bloody great book! However I didn't enjoy Northern Lights as much (first book)

Glompbot

05-04-2005, 07:55 PM

jennifer government
max barry

What did you think of this?

Mr. Bungle

05-04-2005, 09:36 PM

For Neal Stephenson fans out there, I found an old slashdot q&a he did in October 2004. Pretty long and funny. This is the best part I´ve read:
*********************
4) Who would win? (Score:5, Funny) - by Call Me Black Cloud

In a fight between you and William Gibson, who would win?

Neal:

You don't have to settle for mere idle speculation. Let me tell you how it came out on the three occasions when we did fight.

The first time was a year or two after SNOW CRASH came out. I was doing a reading/signing at White Dwarf Books in Vancouver. Gibson stopped by to say hello and extended his hand as if to shake. But I remembered something Bruce Sterling had told me. For, at the time, Sterling and I had formed a pact to fight Gibson. Gibson had been regrown in a vat from scraps of DNA after Sterling had crashed an LNG tanker into Gibson's Stealth pleasure barge in the Straits of Juan de Fuca. During the regeneration process, telescoping Carbonite stilettos had been incorporated into Gibson's arms. Remembering this in the nick of time, I grabbed the signing table and flipped it up between us. Of course the Carbonite stilettos pierced it as if it were cork board, but this spoiled his aim long enough for me to whip my wakizashi out from between my shoulder blades and swing at his head. He deflected the blow with a force blast that sprained my wrist. The falling table knocked over a space heater and set fire to the store. Everyone else fled. Gibson and I dueled among blazing stacks of books for a while. Slowly I gained the upper hand, for, on defense, his Praying Mantis style was no match for my Flying Cloud technique. But I lost him behind a cloud of smoke. Then I had to get out of the place. The streets were crowded with his black-suited minions and I had to turn into a swarm of locusts and fly back to Seattle.

big long page (http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/20/1518217&tid=192&tid=214&tid=126&tid=11)

mcnish

06-04-2005, 12:18 PM

What did you think of this?

Don't know yet! I haven't finished it ;)
I like it so far though but I like these kinds of books.

BtrFly

06-04-2005, 12:22 PM

Jonathon Kellerman- the murder book... not bad :)

Elf_Girl

06-04-2005, 05:11 PM

For english over the holidays I have to read "The Great Gatsby". Anyone know if it is good? I read the first couple of pages and it hasn't really appealed to me yet...

Kez

10-04-2005, 11:58 PM

Gray hat hacking - The ethical hackers handbook
The art of intrusion, by Kevin Mitnick

.... yeah I'm not a geek .....

gunsella

11-04-2005, 12:17 AM

For english over the holidays I have to read "The Great Gatsby". Anyone know if it is good? I read the first couple of pages and it hasn't really appealed to me yet...

i think the great gatsby is an excellent book. i had to read it for school too, and then i even read it again when i was out of school. it's kinda sad...(the book that is, not that i read it again!)

i just finished reading magic circles by bob mason. he tries to convince his audience that john lennon, paul mccartney and bob dylan were having conversations of sorts through song. some of it was believable, but then he tries to tell us that yellow submarine is about satan.

:ghost:

ShinymetalASS

11-04-2005, 11:20 AM

And here, I thought they were just rrrrrrrreal fucken high [insert Bill here].

Though I can see the obvious analogous validity in using a yellow submarine to represent the devil.

Now someone tell Asmo he looks like a yellow submarine. And that we live in him. I dare you.

Finished Streams of Silver..... am now reading latest edition of Nexus. Anyone else find it weird that I found it easier to buy Nexus in Cairns and it is actually published in Brisbane? Fairy Odd.

Enos

11-04-2005, 12:35 PM

Started "Reality Dysfunction" by Peter F Hamilton yesterday. Is looking good so far and is fucking huge so I'm happy

(Oh, and there's 2 more after this one. Yay!)

BlueBoy

11-04-2005, 12:44 PM

I'm currently reading State of Fear.
The eco-bashing is as bad as people have been saying. Critchon's writing really suffers because of his bias.
Once he veers back into the story though it's not a complete write-off.

Cassa

11-04-2005, 12:48 PM

Just started reading 'Lord of Light' by Roger Zelazny...my dad's been bugging me for years to read it. And it makes a nice change from my gross-out medical-based readings.

Serpent_Girl

11-04-2005, 01:20 PM

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (or some name along those lines)

I have to read it for school. Apparently it's good but I have a feeling it's not my type of book.

hazza

11-04-2005, 01:40 PM

great gatsby is an awesome book ;)

twisted by jonathan kellerman, 3rd book for me this year woo watch out

ShinymetalASS

11-04-2005, 02:00 PM

I may or may not be the only person I know of to have read Great Gatsby and thoroughly disliked it.

So my lone voice will proclaim: Try not to be bored out of your brain reading this one. I think it is his style of writing. It just makes it very tiresome to read. Kind of like Dickens. Oliver Twist = Most. Boring. Book. Ever.

:D

Currently I am reading practice directions from the Office of State Revenue. Nothing like Stamp Duty re-assessment to bore you. I wonder if the Qld Govt consulted with Dickens when they drafted legislation. Cause it is certainly sleep-inducing. Technically GPs could write prescriptions to log on to govt websites in lieu of sleeping medications.

;)

Space Cowboy

11-04-2005, 02:17 PM

I'm currently reading the Australian Oxford Dictionary.

Seriously, I am! I'm looking up the word: escutcheon

BlueBoy

14-04-2005, 11:02 AM

Altered Carbon - Richard Morgan.

Finally got around to buying it.

ShinymetalASS

14-04-2005, 11:49 AM

The Halfling's Gem

R.A. Salvatore

:D

Cleric's Quintet next...... when Manshoon finshes reading it.... and since he aint got no adsl and his d/u isnt working.... WHY AREN'T YOU READING IT NOW SHOON??? :P

Sparhawk

15-04-2005, 01:52 AM

What do you think, BlueBoy?

God's Concubine by Sara Douglass. The first one in this series caught by attention more than Nameless Day...perhaps because of the repeated sex :)

deevil

15-04-2005, 01:58 AM

What do you think, BlueBoy?

God's Concubine by Sara Douglass. The first one in this series caught by attention more than Nameless Day...perhaps because of the repeated sex :)

Speaking of porn in novel form...

Sleeping Beauty Trilogy -- Anne Rice (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?isbn=0452156610)

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty:
Anne Rice writing as A. N. Roquelaure. In the traditional folk tale "Sleeping Beauty," the spell cast upon the lovely young princess and everyone in her castle can only be broken by the kiss of a Prince. Anne Rice's retelling of the Beauty story probes the unspoken implications of this lush, suggestive tale by exploring its undeniable connection to sexual desire.

Beauty's Punishment:
This sequel to The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, the first of Anne Rice's elegantly written volumes of erotica, continues her explicit, teasing exploration of the psychology of human desire. Beauty, having indulged in a secret and forbidden infatuation with the rebellious slave Prince Tristan, is sent away from the Satyricon-like world of the castle. Once again Rice's fabulous tale of pleasure and pain dares to explore the most primal and well-hidden desires of the human heart.

Beauty's Release:
In the final volume of Anne Rice's deliciously tantalizing erotic trilogy, Beauty's adventures on the dark side of sexuality make her the bound captive of an Eastern Sultan and a prisoner in the exotic confines of the harem. In Beauty's Release, Anne Rice makes the forbidden side of passion a doorway into the hidden regions of the psyche and the heart.

ShinymetalASS

15-04-2005, 01:23 PM

I wanna read those books.... used to read all Rice's vampire and witch books...

and who doesnt love erotica?

:D

I know what's next on my list... THANKS :D

BlueBoy

15-04-2005, 03:45 PM

What do you think, BlueBoy?
Halfway through now. It's a really good read.
I'm amazed that it's his first book.

deevil

15-04-2005, 04:03 PM

I wanna read those books.... used to read all Rice's vampire and witch books...

and who doesnt love erotica?

:D

I know what's next on my list... THANKS :D

Oh its not just erotica, this is some of the smuttiest, hard core stuff to ever be typed... I was quite suprised :D :ghost:

Sparhawk

16-04-2005, 02:31 AM

I picked up Altered Carbon on a whim since it was on special and was also surprised at its awesomeness.

Still need to read Broken Angels.

I have finished God's Concubine; now I will go back to Orphans of Earth I think.

Sagacious

16-04-2005, 01:02 PM

Trying to Read Raymond E Feist - Magician.

The riftwar sagas are what got me into Fantasy fiction genre that and the Belgariad and Elenium by David Eddings

Cool books

Tigress

16-04-2005, 01:18 PM

My textbook on Marketing Research...the most boring book on earth! Who the fuck invented mid-semester exams?!?

Serpent_Girl

16-04-2005, 03:05 PM

Stephen Donaldson - The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (The first book, called The Runes of the Earth)

Thyrd

16-04-2005, 03:12 PM

This months issue of PC Powerplay...oh? You mean actual book? Oh then Terry Pratchets Soul Music.

Sagacious

16-04-2005, 03:34 PM

Stephen Donaldson - The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (The first book, called The Runes of the Earth)
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant were also among the first Sci Fi Fantasy books I really got into

Fitty

16-04-2005, 03:46 PM

The riftwar sagas are what got me into Fantasy fiction genre that and the Belgariad and Elenium by David Eddings

Cool books

YES! Exactly the same two series for me - the Belgariad was schmick.

EnchantedToilet

22-04-2005, 10:39 AM

The Golem's Eye by Jonothan Stroud, part of the The Bartimaeous Trilogy :D

Cassa

23-04-2005, 07:18 PM

I just finished reading Reefer Madness by Eric Schlosser (trans-tasman flight entertainment). I like his writing style.

Sutter

23-04-2005, 11:47 PM

I am reading nothing. NOTHING!

m0nk3ymagic

24-04-2005, 02:03 AM

God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert

Thyrd

24-04-2005, 02:09 AM

I am about to start reading the book my grandma bought me for my birthday.

On Beulah Height by Reginald Hill

Glompbot

24-04-2005, 09:55 AM

Magician.... again.

stupid lack of money... need new books.

SOC

24-04-2005, 10:17 AM

Magician.... again.

stupid lack of money... need new books.

Go and join your local library - seriously. Since I moved to London I've saved probably close to £300 by borrowing books to read rather than buying them. And I've discovered some new authors, too. Plus at some libraries you can also borrow CDs - great for filling up your MP3 player.

Glompbot

24-04-2005, 11:18 AM

I used to work in library... I had no issues with it back then... but nowdays I don't like borrowing them... I won't even accept a friend lending me a book.
But I like owning them.... *strokes precious books*

Seriously though, I'm trying to build up my own little library of sorts.

[edit] and you're speaking to someone who paid $200 for an out of print book by her favourite author.... money isn't an issue, except when I can't afford books.

stewie

25-04-2005, 08:50 PM

yeh Sapia, i completly agree, i love my books, even though i dont have a heap lol!!!

iaidoka

26-04-2005, 02:17 AM

Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa..

Shootz

26-04-2005, 07:43 PM

Eleanor Rigby, by Doug Coupland.

Pretty awesome so far. Not as good as 'Hey Nostradamus!' by same, but good.

abelgold

26-04-2005, 08:02 PM

Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa..
Oooh cool.. where did you get that??

I'm reading Shogun at the moment... on a Japan kick presently as I've just returned from a visit there on the weekend...

catt

26-04-2005, 08:09 PM

I read that in high school - way good :D
I have judt finished reading the Art of War by Sun Tzu which was way interesting ;)

DCenT3

26-04-2005, 08:19 PM

How to Practice, The way to a meaningful life - Dalai Lama

SOC

26-04-2005, 08:44 PM

The Broker, by John Grisham. Borrowed from the library, not bought - he's rich enough without my help.

Henrik

26-04-2005, 08:49 PM

Fight Club-Chuck Palahnuik

Just finished finally reading 'Glue'...fantastic book even if the ending is a bit of a let down.

still life

26-04-2005, 08:50 PM

I just finished Icon by Fredrick Forsyth, and now I'm on to Catch 22

iaidoka

26-04-2005, 09:08 PM

Oooh cool.. where did you get that??

I'm reading Shogun at the moment... on a Japan kick presently as I've just returned from a visit there on the weekend...

I was actually in my TAFE library studying for a upcoming test.. walking past it was on a table. I had been meaning to get my hands on it for a while.. worked out quite nicely.

im finding it a most enjoyable read.. nice mix of historic fact, and romanticization / artistic license.

of course, i keep having flashbacks from various Kurosawa movies while reading it ^_^

Mr. Bungle

26-04-2005, 09:51 PM

I just finished Icon by Fredrick Forsyth, and now I'm on to Catch 22
Catch-22 is my favorite book of all time.

NastyButler

01-05-2005, 11:35 PM

I just finished Pandora's Star by Peter F Hamiliton and am eagerly awaiting pt 2 due out later this year.

Mr. Bungle

02-05-2005, 12:39 AM

I finished Cryptonomicon 5 minutes ago, and now I will be reading a biography about Isaac Newton by James Gleick

Actually I am reading Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami now

Kez

06-05-2005, 05:55 PM

Finished Ice Station a few days ago, and am on the last page now of Area 7.

Then I'll be reading Scarecrow in around 2 minutes, then Temple.

(All by the same author, Matthew Reilly)

Salted_Chipmunk

06-05-2005, 06:01 PM

Temple is a good read, i enjoyed it.

Sparhawk

07-05-2005, 02:24 AM

I had every Reilly book published up until Scarecrow (since this was before that came out) and then they all mysteriously disappeared. Now I only have A7, Scarecrow and Ice Station (which is my dad's).

Nothing right now, too busy.

Mr. Bungle

09-05-2005, 06:32 AM

OK I just finished Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami in a marathon reading session. It was excellent, but the end is totally gnawing at my brain now and I need to talk about it to someone.

Has anyone read it before? Please reply or PM if you get a chance. Cheers.

oh and I am starting Foucault's Pendulum now.

lego72

10-05-2005, 01:16 PM

Catch-22 is my favorite book of all time.

I read -22 and thought it was ok but not what its made out to be. Perhaps I just didn't get it.

lego72

10-05-2005, 01:19 PM

Just finished Billy Bragg's biography and Iain M Bank's The Algebraist.

I can't get enough of Bank's work, especially his Culture books so I have started on Excession.

Serpent_Girl

14-05-2005, 11:06 PM

Terry Pratchett - Hogfather

New inspiration for my sig. :p

SOC

14-05-2005, 11:13 PM

Past Mortem - Ben Elton

and3w

14-05-2005, 11:16 PM

Just finished Billy Bragg's biography and Iain M Bank's The Algebraist.

I can't get enough of Bank's work, especially his Culture books so I have started on Excession.

Good taste award of the week!

Am presently reading 'The Skinner' by Neal Asher...if you like Banks, try Ashers books, I'm sure you will like them

ewe2

14-05-2005, 11:26 PM

Jasper Fforde - The Well of Lost Plots.

My new hero :)

SOC

14-05-2005, 11:32 PM

Ah, Jasper Fforde ... brilliant, clever, witty writer ... for a Welshman! I've read his first 4 Thursday Next novels, and they are all stunningly good.

Juice Biscuit

14-05-2005, 11:33 PM

Past Mortem - Ben Elton
/me shakes fist at SOC and walks off.

/me walks back with a knife and stabs him and takes the book.

hheheheheheh, take that hippy.

So is it good so far?

ezer

14-05-2005, 11:33 PM

spike milligan,

ROMMEL, gunner who?

ewe2

14-05-2005, 11:34 PM

and women have the biggest crushes on him....on one of my mailing-lists they're all pretending to be apprenticed to Miss Havisham...it's not bloody fair :)

SOC

14-05-2005, 11:37 PM

/me shakes fist at SOC and walks off.

/me walks back with a knife and stabs him and takes the book.

hheheheheheh, take that hippy.

So is it good so far?
Please don't steal my book - it's from the library, and if I don't return it by Friday they'll fine me 50p.

Yeah, so far it's not too bad, but not as funny as some of his earlier ones. It even has a rather explicit sex scene involving fisting, pissing and anal sex... :aah:

balaamsdonkey

15-05-2005, 08:41 PM

survivor by the guy who wrote fight club

Sinwah

15-05-2005, 09:33 PM

Memories of Ice by Steven Erikson. Then onto the Lunatic Cafe by Laruell K Hamilton

BlueBoy

17-05-2005, 02:51 PM

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain.

Awesome, awesome book.

SOC

17-05-2005, 09:35 PM

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain.

Awesome, awesome book.
Oooh, I wanna read that ... can I borrow it once you're done please? :D

sheol

07-06-2005, 12:20 AM

Just finished
The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross and loved it.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1930846258/ref=pd_sxp_f/103-0191423-7599009?v=glance&s=books

Re-reading
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553379267/qid=1118063922/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-0191423-7599009?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
A Canticle for Leibowitz

and3w

07-06-2005, 01:11 AM

Re-reading
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553379267/qid=1118063922/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-0191423-7599009?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
A Canticle for Leibowitz

Great book..but please don't bother with the (25 years later) sequel.."Saint Leibowitz & the wild horsewoman"..it is fuking rank!

Re reading "The makingy of the english working class" by E. P. Thompson..what history should be about!

Davo_Dinkum

07-06-2005, 01:21 AM

Just finished school english unit on Animal Farm by George orwell, which is the biggest load of crap since the invention of the flushing toilet.

Now doing the yr 9 Romeo and Juliet unit. Which I read in yr 7 when I got sick of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Mr. Bungle

07-06-2005, 01:53 AM

I'm reading The Da Vinci Code because I want mindless trash when I fly to the US on Wednesday. I hope it isn't utter shite compared to Foucault's Pendulum, but I'm thinking I shouldn't compare the two.

kleph

07-06-2005, 02:06 AM

i have been going through philip kapleau's "three pillars of zen" recently (which i wrote a bit about on my blog (http://www.kleph.com/blog/2005/06/department-of-running-items.html)) and, last night, i re-read h. rider haggard's "king solomon's mines."

and3w

07-06-2005, 02:33 AM

MrBungle: Don't even think that 'The Da Vinci Code' is even worth cleaning 'Foucault's pendulum's' toilet bowl with! It is one of the worst books I have ever read!
Sorry to spoil your trip but if you even know a tiny bit about the theories of the Grail, this will annoy you beyond belief! Cold porridge, rewritten as crap...it truly is one of the worst books I have ever read! A good 'aircraft' book is 'The Cold 6,000' by James Elroy..now theres a book that will keep you gripped through a long trip and entertain you on the way.
You know it makes sense!

Mr. Bungle

07-06-2005, 05:27 AM

Grumblefish

07-06-2005, 05:37 AM

I'm still slogging my way through Chapman's English version of the Iliad. It's not a bad book, but reading stuff written four hundred years ago gets tiring after the first few hundred pages. I've managed to reach the point where Hephaestos has made Achilles his new weapons, and he's about to flip out and kill everyone.

and3w

07-06-2005, 05:44 AM

Damn fine book, but, as you say the language is hard work! But I think, if you persevere it sort of becomes rhythmical..I don't really know how to put it, but the language sort of compliments the book??

Grumblefish

07-06-2005, 05:51 AM

Yeah, and if you say the words aloud as you read them it becomes a lot easier. I only bought it because it was just two dollars, and I picked up a copy of the Odyssey at the same time, too (although it is a modern, novel format copy).

Mr. Bungle

07-06-2005, 05:52 AM

I've read Chapman's Iliad and it is a rather good interpretation. and3w is right about the rhythm. you will get it after a while. good luck.

Glompbot

07-06-2005, 09:43 AM

After long silence by Sheri S Tepper

Quite a good book, sci-fi fantasy... not one of my favourites, but I still love it.

SOC

14-06-2005, 10:09 PM

"A Is For Alibi", the first in the "alphabet mysteries" series by Sue Grafton. Not bad so far, but not as good as the Robert Crais "Elvis Cole" detective series I've been reading ... and loving.

Glompbot

14-06-2005, 10:50 PM

Gibbon's decline and fall by sheri S tepper

Its making me angry.

brotherkrusty

14-06-2005, 11:02 PM

David Baldacci - Last Man Standing.

He also wrote Absolute Power. Made into a movie with Gene Hackman and Clint Eastwood. Is about the a thief who witnessed the President murder a girl who liked rough sex. Sensational book, good thriller.

Fitty

14-06-2005, 11:14 PM

The Mozart Maulers - Dorain Mode. Simply awesome.

Grumblefish

15-06-2005, 02:35 AM

I'm reading the Odyssey in novel format, and it is kicking arse. It also came with a nice introduction that outlined an up to date theory about Homer, and also included little snippets about all the cool stuff that has been done with the book, such as people finding ruins (although, I think at times they go a little bit too far with their theorising).

Pocket Books Classics, Enriched Classic, the Odyssey (Homer).

ttpuk

15-06-2005, 08:14 AM

im currently reading a kiddies book. to be precise "artimis fowl"
and let me tell you its the absolute dogs bollox. :-)

eeefreak

15-06-2005, 08:24 AM

"The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul" by Douglas Adams...

It's fuckin great mate... for the 8759765754 time :)

damn selfish bastard going off and dying on us... *mumble grumble*

polite

15-06-2005, 11:47 AM

I'm reading ' Joe Cinque's Consolation' by Helen Garner.
I'm not easily disturbed more than I already am but this is doing it for me.

ShinymetalASS

15-06-2005, 01:29 PM

Passage to Dawn - RA Salvatore.

The last one. I shall be sad to say goodbye to Drizzt. But that's ok, cause Arsozah is going to lend me the second Alison Croggon aren't you? I'd been hanging for that to come out.

Oh, and the next book in Rhiannon's Ride is out too (8th (??) in Kate Forsath's Eelinaan Series FYI - one of the best fantasy series ever)

:D

p.s. and3w, have you read any stuff by Laurence Gardner?

Arsozah

15-06-2005, 01:34 PM

Passage to Dawn - RA Salvatore.

The last one. I shall be sad to say goodbye to Drizzt. But that's ok, cause Arsozah is going to lend me the second Alison Croggon aren't you? I'd been hanging for that to come out.

Yes, once I've finished reading it ;) I don't have too far to go, so while it may not be Shiny fast, I won't be long :)

Shoon and I saw the latest Kate Forsyth at Borders the week before last... If I didn't have so many books all lined up for me to read, I'd have bought it. Looks good :)

HAL

21-06-2005, 10:34 PM

Aldous Huxley -- Antic Hay

It's been a good read.

MADCAT

22-06-2005, 10:33 PM

Statics and Mechanics of Materials: An Intergrated Approach
William F. Riley, Leroy D. Sturges, Don H. Morris.

Very very boring book but if i want to pass I have to read this and resist the urge to pick up a Salvatore Book.

Tophizzle

22-06-2005, 10:41 PM

Book: 500 Days Of S&M Sex.
Author: Unknown.

dwarfthrower

22-06-2005, 10:42 PM

Peter Singer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Singer)'s "Writings on an Ethical Life (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/0060007443/ref=cm_cr_dp_2_1/102-2940542-0375337?%5Fencoding=UTF8&customer-reviews.sort%5Fby=-SubmissionDate&n=283155)"

Quite thought provoking stuff.

SOC

22-06-2005, 10:54 PM

David Balducci's latest paperback, Hour Game. It's the first book of his I've read. It's one of the many freebies I picked up at BookExpo America in New York.

ShinymetalASS

23-06-2005, 02:09 PM

Between Outer Space and Inner Space

berserk

23-06-2005, 02:30 PM

Book: 500 Days Of S&M Sex.
Author: Unknown.120 of Sodom (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00030URWI/qid=1119496718/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-7341052-3349416?v=glance&s=books) by de Sade?

Recently finished The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1400032717/qid=1119496935/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_ur_1/103-7341052-3349416?v=glance&s=books&n=507846), a short, funny read &
The Alchemist (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0062502182/qid=1119497092/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_ur_1/103-7341052-3349416?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Paulo Coelho (English trans of course) a ponderous, labourious affair. I can't see the attraction in the book.

Peach

26-06-2005, 08:36 AM

Moondust (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2102-1576457,00.html) - fascinating account of the 9 remaining astronauts, who walked on the moon.

Munchkin

26-06-2005, 09:32 AM

I've been reading a collection of HP Lovecraft short stories, but my friends taken the book back now ( booo ) so untill I get it back, I'll make do with 'Scar Tissue'.

mcnish

26-06-2005, 11:59 AM

Finally, reading the Discworld series.

MADCAT

28-06-2005, 08:37 PM

YAY my exams are over and I can start reading again, tomorrow when I get on the bus to head home I'm gonna start reading The Lone Drow book 2 in The Hunter Blades Trilogy by R.A Salavatore.

coreageek

29-06-2005, 10:24 AM

Skinny Dip by Carl Hiassan, thanks to SOC and his 1337 book providing skills

Glompbot

29-06-2005, 12:35 PM

Beauty by sheri s tepper

I've been too broke to buy new books.

ShinymetalASS

29-06-2005, 12:52 PM

You need to hang out up here Saps... there's so many of us you could lend books from... they have kept me sane in my interminable brokeness :D

BtrFly

29-06-2005, 12:54 PM

Peter Hamilton - The Naked God

Glompbot

29-06-2005, 02:31 PM

See, I don't borrow or lend books.... i have a book here on enneagrams from cassa that i'm reading slowly (its pretty awesome), but thats the first book i've borrowed in ages.

there has only been one person in the last few years i've lent books too, and even then i freak out when I do :(

I think I'm too over protective of my books.

gunsella

29-06-2005, 02:35 PM

ghostwritten - david mitchell (http://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm?book_number=613)

(good concise review)

BlueBoy

30-06-2005, 04:25 PM

Taking a break from hardcore DSing to read The Confusion by Neal Stephenson.

Fuzzy Dice

30-06-2005, 08:16 PM

I, uh, just finished the Da Vinci Code. Was a decent read, not something that i'd say is really worth the hubbub associated with it.

Henrik

30-06-2005, 08:19 PM

I'm reading 'American Psycho'.

I'm not really sure how to take it with it being a pisstake and all but jesus h christ it has some gruesome moments. But it is good to read on public transport just hoping someone is trying to read it over your shoulder and seeing a line like "I plan to put candles in Christie's head on Halloween"

samson

06-07-2005, 03:41 AM

The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen

kleph

06-07-2005, 05:24 AM

Squandered Victory:The American Occupation and the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0805078681/qid=1120587420/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/002-2201005-7869651?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Larry Diamond

very astute analysis (although necessarily limited in scope) by one of the foremost scholars on democracy today as well as a participant in the effort as an advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority.

i am working on a review to post at a later date.

Munchkin

06-07-2005, 05:56 AM

The Treasured One : David + Leigh Eddings.

dozer

06-07-2005, 06:42 AM

the latest 'loaded' magazine.

it came for a long gone flatmate so i thought i shouldnt waste the opportunity. it has an interesting article about sharking in romford, a 5:1 munter to stunner ratio no less.

cover to cover in 34 minutes.

Kid_Lobotomy

06-07-2005, 06:49 AM

Mapping the Mind (http://print.google.com/print?id=9o11QdffKmIC&pg=10&lpg=10&prev=http://print.google.com/print%3Fq%3DMapping%2Bthe%2Bmind%26oi%3Dprint&sig=aTAgwXKBz3wnj5xjorvhkRxAYio)

&

America (The Book) (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0446532681/selecttarget1-20/002-0245866-3910402)

SOC

06-07-2005, 07:35 AM

dozer

06-07-2005, 07:53 AM

theres slight damage to the jennifer ellison spread and the 'real girls strip in their own bedroom 20 page bonanza' but the rest is mostly fine.

Nodbugger

06-07-2005, 08:06 AM

Nodbugger

06-07-2005, 08:16 AM

how can someone post on zgeek without being able to read?

What did I not read?

kleph

06-07-2005, 08:19 AM

the terms of agreement that require you to stay on topic in the specialized forums.

amj

06-07-2005, 08:32 AM

I have no pennis

Lujan

06-07-2005, 10:33 AM

Sudden Prey by John Sandford.

Sabra

06-07-2005, 10:36 AM

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.

dwarfthrower

06-07-2005, 10:39 AM

How can someone write a book about something that hasn't even ended yet?

I seem to remember studying 20th century history at high-school in the late 80s.

Pretty sure it was from books mostly. Can't have been though... the 20th century hadn't even ended.

Sutter

06-07-2005, 11:28 AM

I'm not reading anything, which is strange for me. It's all WoW's fault.

royale

06-07-2005, 11:40 AM

Bleed out- John Brady.

Interesting-ish murder mystery

HAL

06-07-2005, 11:46 AM

Brendan Shanahan - The Secret of the Gold Coast: A Journey into the Dark Heart of Paradise

It was the only book around one night. The author is quite cynic so I can relate and to some extent enjoy the book.

Colonel Kurtz

06-07-2005, 11:47 AM

Rereading The Wheel of Time series, up to book 7

Funnily I started reading it again because I had nothing worht reading at the time. In the interim I now have a a large pile of goood books I'm looking forward to!

ShinymetalASS

06-07-2005, 11:59 AM

The Riddle (YAY!@$#$)

2nd book in Alison Croggin's (sp?) Pellinor Series.

We've waited 2 years for this, but damn, I'm nearly done already. Excellent fantasy.

:D

ersatz

06-07-2005, 01:27 PM

George Orwell - 1984

also bought Cervantes' Don Quixote for six bucks, I'll be spending a lot of time on public transport in the near future

Hired Goon

06-07-2005, 10:12 PM

I'm reading Dooms Day Book by Connie Willis

It's sci-fi; chick goes back in time to the 14th century, gets stuck there, hilarity ensues. meanwhile, people back in the present make some toast*

yeah, it's pretty good. will finish it tonight i think. then I'll read... something else

*may be a simplified and/or horribly inaccurate summary of the plot

Steely

06-07-2005, 10:17 PM

Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment, i've always liked his stuff, and have been buying one a week, hoping to have the whole collection by 2050 :)

Colonel Kurtz

06-07-2005, 10:23 PM

What's that about? I thinl I've seen the cover before

Mr. Bungle

07-07-2005, 08:51 PM

I had quit reading The Da Vinci Code on the plance back to the US because I found it pedestrian and shitty so I switched to another book when I got back. That book was Armor by John Steakley; a decent sci-fi book from the 80s. I think it was definitely the second source of inspiration for the Starship Troopers movie.

I then picked up the Da Vinci Code again and finished it. While it isn't a good book, it at least kept me occupied on the tram and bus while going to and from work for a few days.

So now I am reading Interface by Stephen Bury, who is really the combination of Neal Stephenson and J. Frederick George. So far so good. It's about a man who runs for president and has a microchip implanted in his brain that ties him directly into the feelings and reactions of the electorate in real time. Sounds hokey, but it is very Stephensonian so I am enjoying it.

pantsman

11-07-2005, 08:57 AM

Reading Down and Dirty Pictures by Peter Biskand. Its pretty good. Just finished Glue by Irvine Welsh, it was a little dissapointing.

Henrik

13-07-2005, 09:49 PM

Red Dragon-Thomas Harris.

Through I'd go for something lightweight after climbing the walls reading American Psycho but saw this at a marketplace for £1 so thought fuck it why not. More graphic than the movie.

Henrik

13-07-2005, 09:52 PM

Reading Down and Dirty Pictures by Peter Biskand. Its pretty good. Just finished Glue by Irvine Welsh, it was a little dissapointing.

Pantsman I loved Glue up until the final 'Period' when they were post the death and they were all grown up and doing whatever it was they were doing..just seemed to much of a jump from when they were in Germany to 2000 or whenever it was.

Everyone knows a 'Juice' Terry Lawson ;)

Enos

14-07-2005, 03:19 AM

Steppenwolf - Herman Hesse

Deimos

14-07-2005, 10:53 AM

I just finished reading Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. Definitely a very good geek book. My favourite quote from it is this:

"That time in Seattle - during the lawsuit - was a fucking nightmare. I came out of it dead broke, without a house, without anything except a girlfriend and a knowledge of UNIX"
"Well, that's something," Avi says. "Normally those two are mutually exclusive"

Cassa

14-07-2005, 10:59 AM

Blood of Angels, Michael Marshall

Great writer but some of his stuff is so hard to follow because you have very little idea of what's actually going on until after halfway.

ShinymetalASS

14-07-2005, 01:36 PM

The Stainless Steel Rat - Harry Harrison

Written in about 1970, this sci-fi/fantasy is pretty fucking amusing. And doesn't really feel dated. It has that sort of timeless quality that you get reading old CS Lewis (like cosmic trilogy) or watching Lynch's version of Dune.

Highly recommend!

Just finished reading Eric by Pratchett as well. Short, easy to read, but as usual, highly fucking amusing.

Siral

14-07-2005, 04:37 PM

The Hacker and The Ants by Rudy Rucker. How to explain this one, hmm. Okay it has robots and AI worlds and lots and lots of virtual ants

also reading Yellow Jack a history of yellow fever.

Not to forget, and some silly mystery with a dog whose name escapes me at the moment.

ersatz

14-07-2005, 06:08 PM

still 1984, next it'll be the Light Fantastic by Pratchett... I also want to track down a copy of Spares by Michael Marshall Smith to re-read <--- I highly recommend this one

NightLightness

15-07-2005, 11:53 AM

ok at the moment i have gone through a couple of josephine cox books and hav just started on chocolat to tide me over till sunday the BIG DAY the new Harry Potter

NightLightness

15-07-2005, 11:54 AM

and after i have read that i want to go onto a history of the worls in10 1/2 chapters by julian barnes

SOC

15-07-2005, 11:55 AM

I'm getting *MY* copy of the new Potter book tomorrow!!! Oh, its TODAY, actually - it's now Friday!

I'm currently reading the latest in Lawrence Block's "burglar" series - this one is called The Burglar On The Prowl

smellycat

15-07-2005, 11:59 AM

chuck palahniuk - haunted
quite unsettling so far....taking me a while to read...
well written but geez he has some amazingly wierd/perverted stories

SOC

15-07-2005, 12:06 PM

chuck palahniuk...
I haven't read any of his stuff yet, but he's on my "to do" list ... I'll probably start with Fight Club. Have you read any of his other books? What would you recommend?

Fitty

15-07-2005, 06:42 PM

I've read some of his stuff. He gets a bit full on some times, and a bit too neo philosophical, but if you can get past that then they're pretty good reads, and you can get something from them.

Mr. Bungle

15-07-2005, 08:01 PM

Harry Potter tomorrow morning. Why am I so excited for it?

Uther Pendragon

15-07-2005, 09:18 PM

I am about to start reading "olympos" by dan simmons. It is the sequel to "ilium" which was really fucking cool.

Also his hyperion series is fucking cool. Very good sci fi writer

rayjayjohnson

15-07-2005, 09:37 PM

lucifer's hammer, by some guy called niven and someone else. not bad. i like apocaplypse books. any others suggested? just read the hab theory over the weekend. it had a crap ending.

Mr. Bungle

15-07-2005, 10:02 PM

lucifer's hammer, by some guy called niven and someone else. not bad. i like apocaplypse books. any others suggested? just read the hab theory over the weekend. it had a crap ending.
I think I read this a long time ago. Larry Niven and Jeryy Pournell. Doesn't it follow up The Mote in God's Eye?

smellycat

16-07-2005, 02:03 AM

I haven't read any of his stuff yet, but he's on my "to do" list ... I'll probably start with Fight Club. Have you read any of his other books? What would you recommend?

The ones that stick in my mind are fight club (lots of hilarious bits that couldn't fit into the movie) and invisible monsters which is great....
I've also read lullaby and non fiction....out of those i'd pick lullaby....which i think may need another read to absorb fully.... :p

Cassa

17-07-2005, 05:11 PM

I re-read Diary by Palanhiuk recently, there's some fucked up shit right there, but you can't stop reading it..

MRBungle I read the mote in god's eye many years ago, it's one of my favourite books. Apparently the follow-up (not sure what it's called actually) is ok but not a patch on the original.

SOC you should get yourself a copy of Spares if you enjoyed Only Forward - it's a great book. I've just lent Only Forward to BlueBoy, results pending.