# What fiction book are you currently reading?



## arnisador

(This is a continuation of this thread.)

High Fidelity, by Nick Hornby

The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde


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## TLH3rdDan

Romeo and Juliet , William Shakespeare

The Count of Monte Cristo , Alexander Dumas


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## Fightfan00

Tom Clancy   Without Remorse


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## pesilat

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Great American Short Stories Vol. 1 (anthology)
A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I've just finished (within the past couple of days):
A Fine Dark Line by Joe R. Lansdale
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
The Scarlet Pimpernel

Mike


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## Touch Of Death

"Cry Wolf" by Wilbur Smith


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## Blindside

The Ten Thousand by Michael Curtis Ford
The Dosadi Experiment by Frank Herbert
Ensign Flandry by Poul Anderson


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## arnisador

> _Originally posted by pesilat _
> *To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis*



My wife really enjoyed that one. I recently finished "The DaVinci Code" by Dan Brown and thought it was great.

I'm working on Slapstick, by Kurt Vonnegut.


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## pesilat

> _Originally posted by arnisador _
> *My wife really enjoyed that one. I recently finished "The DaVinci Code" by Dan Brown and thought it was great.
> 
> I'm working on Slapstick, by Kurt Vonnegut. *



Yup. My wife turned me onto Connie Willis, too. She's a very good writer.

Mike


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## warder

well I just finished Harry potter 5. Loved it!!!! and am in search of my next read.


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## lost_tortoise

I'm in the middle of The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson.  It finally came out in paperback, so I had to read it.

Just finished re-reading Behold the Man by Michael Moorcock and Pastwatch by Orson Scott Card.


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## Senfeng

I just finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  I thought it was good, but I liked the fourth book a lot more.

I also finished The Deer and the Cauldron - the Third Book.  Jin Yong (Louis Cha) is such a great writer.  He's inspired me to learn Chinese (Mandarin) and to eventually learn the written language.  I hope to read one of his novels in Chinese some day.  In fact, I was so happy with this book that I re-read The Book and The Sword translated by Graham Earnshaw (which I feel is a better translation).  You can find both sets of books on Ama zon.  My translation for TBaTS I got from Earnshaw's old website (now unavailable).


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## arnisador

Ozma of Oz, by L. Frank Baum.


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## Mithios

Lasombra, 4th book in the dark ages vampire series by white wolf.


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## KenpoTess

Just finished David Farland's  Wizardborn,  3rd in  The Runelord's series.. course have to wait for the next one out ~!

Very well done ~!

Now I'm reading The Naked Empire by Terry Goodkind.. 
I'm enjoying it so far


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## Michael Billings

Cyber fiction with a Silat twist.


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## arnisador

_The Bourne Identity_, by Robert Ludlum


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## pknox

Finishing up _Musashi_ by Yoshikawa, and then I plan to reread Lord of the Rings.


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## arnisador

_Carrie_, by Stephen King


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## pknox

> _Originally posted by arnisador _
> *Carrie, by Stephen King *



How was it?  I saw the movie, but never read the book.  Are there any big differences between the movie and the book?


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## arnisador

I only started it last night--and I've never seen the movie! One difference: John Travolta isn't in the book. 

Essentially all the Stephen King I've read has been stuff wher I've seen the movie and wanted to read the book (The Running Man, Firestarter, Christine,...). This is an exception.


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## arnisador

_Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz_, by L. Frank Baum


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## Kroy

Gaijin / James Clavell


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## MA-Caver

> _Originally posted by pknox _
> *How was it?  I saw the movie, but never read the book.  Are there any big differences between the movie and the book? *



Just finished: Labyrinth by Mark T. Sullivan
Starting: The Cave by Anne McLean Matthews 
(what can I say... look at my name heh)
In the middle of Harry Potter Yr. 5 if I can get over to CeiCei's place often enough I can finish it. 

To answer your question... rarely has ANY Stephen King book translated well into film. Exceptions have been The Dead Zone (original with Christopher Walken and Martin Sheen), Stand By Me (aka The Body), The Shawshank Redemption, The Shining (new version not with Nicholson and DuVal), and one or two others. The rest were done by directors who were more in to gore (Carrie: Tobe Hooper), or scares (The Shining: Krubrick) or generally had thier own visions of how it should be. 

The books will always be better than the movies because King (IMHO) is that good of a writer.  Personal favorites are IT and The Stand.


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## Blindside

Just finished:

The 97th Step by Steve Perry
Sharpe's Rifles by Bernard Cornwell 
Firelord by Parke Godwin

Just started:
Lord Hornblower by C.S. Forester


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## arnisador

_The Road to Oz_, by L. Frank Baum (still at my daughter's insistence)


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## M F

Just finsished _Voyage of the Jerle Shannara, Morgawr_, by Terry Brooks.  I don't have anything lined up next.  Any suggestions from the Fantasy fans out there?  I've read everything by Jordan, Goodkind, Farland, David Drake,  George RR Martin, and several others I can't think of right now.  Help me out here.


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## Akashiro Tamaya

Balck Belt Magazine.!!!!!.....Just teasing :shrug:  

Just got done reading Michael Criscton's Rising Sun again.


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## pknox

> _Originally posted by M F _
> *Just finsished Voyage of the Jerle Shannara, Morgawr, by Terry Brooks.  I don't have anything lined up next.  Any suggestions from the Fantasy fans out there?  I've read everything by Jordan, Goodkind, Farland, David Drake,  George RR Martin, and several others I can't think of right now.  Help me out here.  *



Have you read any Piers Anthony?  His Xanth series is great, but he has some other excellent books as well.  I'd also recommend any of the Dragonlance books by Weis and Hickman.


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## qizmoduis

I'm currently reading "The Great Book of Amber" by Roger Zelazy.  It's all 10 of the Amber books in a compilation volume.


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## pknox

> _Originally posted by Akashiro Tamaya _
> *Just got done reading Michael Criscton's Rising Sun again. *



Did you read Crichton's _Timeline_?  Someone gave it to me and I was just wondering if it was any good.


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## arnisador

_How to be Good_, by Nick Hornby (to break up the Oz book!)


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## Blindside

> Just finsished Voyage of the Jerle Shannara, Morgawr, by Terry Brooks. I don't have anything lined up next. Any suggestions from the Fantasy fans out there? I've read everything by Jordan, Goodkind, Farland, David Drake, George RR Martin, and several others I can't think of right now. Help me out here.



Hmmm, have you read Sherwood by Parke Godwin?  Yet another retelling of the Robin Hood tale, but in a different setting than most of the other versions.  I'm not sure this is fantasy, maybe more like historical fiction.

For more of a fantasy book, how about something something by Steven Brust? Start with Jhereg or for a Dumas flavor try The Phoenix Gaurds.  How about Glen Cook, the first three Black Company books are the best though they might be an acquired taste (The Black Company, Shadows Linger, The White Rose) and I will recommend a forth, though not technically a Black Company book: The Silver Spike.  Spike was my favorite but you need to read the first three to have any understanding of the characters.

Have you read the Drake/Flint Belisarius series?

Hope I got one you haven't read yet. 

Lamont


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## Blindside

> Did you read Crichton's Timeline? Someone gave it to me and I was just wondering if it was any good.



IMO that was NOT a good book.  It felt like it was designed to be turned into a movie, rather than be its own book.  Bleah.  I used to like Crichton....


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## pknox

> _Originally posted by Blindside _
> *IMO that was NOT a good book.  It felt like it was designed to be turned into a movie, rather than be its own book.  Bleah.  I used to like Crichton.... *



Interesting.  Maybe Crichton has become a bit of a victim of his own success.  The gentleman who gave it to me didn't read it either, but noticed it had a medieval slant to it, which is something I like.  He figured I'd make better use of it.  I'll let you know what I think when I get to it (I think have four or five more books to go first).


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## Old Tiger

The DaVinci Code


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## Akashiro Tamaya

> _Originally posted by pknox _
> *Did you read Crichton's Timeline?  Someone gave it to me and I was just wondering if it was any good. *



No, I didn't I think someone already made a comment regarding this book  timeline.  The strangest part was that I saw the movie then found the book at the Salvation Army.

I had this book for about a year and I thought It was good reading.  Still enjoy as I was able to put faces to the characters.


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## Blindside

> The strangest part was that I saw the movie then found the book at the Salvation Army.



Um, I don't think the movie has released yet.

Most sites put the release date at November 26, 2003, as in seven weeks from now.  Are you sure you aren't thinking of a different book?

Lamont


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## khadaji

Dune: The Butlerian Jihad


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## arnisador

> _Originally posted by catchevangelist _
> *The DaVinci Code *



I really enjoyed that one!


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## M F

> Hope I got one you haven't read yet.



Blindside,
You got a bunch I haven't read yet.  Like all of the ones you posted.    I'll have to check some of those out.  Thanks!


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## Touch Of Death

Dune: House Cornino By Brian Herbert  and just one more book after this and I've read the whole series woo hoo! I should get a some sort of Prize for that.


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## Cthulhu

> _Originally posted by Touch'O'Death _
> *Dune: House Cornino By Brian Herbert  and just one more book after this and I've read the whole series woo hoo! I should get a some sort of Prize for that. *



Sorry to disappoint you, but you still have:

Dune: The Butlerian Jihad
Dune: The Machine Crusade
and the forthcoming
Dune: The Battle of Corrin



The Butlerian Jihad book was very good, and I'm halfway through The Machine Crusade now.

Cthulhu


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## Shodan

The Mammoth Hunters...........one of the Clan of the Cave Bear books

  :asian:  :karate:


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## Blindside

The Cider House Rules by John Irving


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## Blindside

Just finished:

Flandry Agent of the Terran Empire - Poul Anderson
(Sci-fi fluff from an older era, good stuff though)

Master and Commander - Patrick O'brian
(Very good, gritty and realistic, but it has some weird transitions between time periods in the book.  I liked it, but I may be one of those who winds up preferring Hornblower.

On one of my 15 hour drives to Seattle I listened to Bernard Cromwell's "An Archer's Tale" on audiobook.  Pretty good, but I thought Cromwell overemphasized the use and effectiveness of the English longbow.  

I just started Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper.  This is fairly dense reading so I may have to counteract it with some sci-fi fluff, hmm, cue up another Flandry novel.

Lamont


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## Touch Of Death

> _Originally posted by Cthulhu _
> *Sorry to disappoint you, but you still have:
> 
> Dune: The Butlerian Jihad
> Dune: The Machine Crusade
> and the forthcoming
> Dune: The Battle of Corrin
> 
> 
> 
> The Butlerian Jihad book was very good, and I'm halfway through The Machine Crusade now.
> 
> Cthulhu *


Iknow that now. We just bought the Buttlerian Jihad. I'm back to square one. Literaly ha ha.


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## Cthulhu

> _Originally posted by Touch'O'Death _
> *Iknow that now. We just bought the Buttlerian Jihad. I'm back to square one. Literaly ha ha. *



From an online interview, it looks like Herbert and Anderson will be doing a 7th book to the original Dune series, based off of extensive notes for the book made by Frank Herbert.  They even suggested that it may be published as two separate books.

So, after this current prequel trilogy ends, we have at least one more Dune book to look forward to 

Cthulhu


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## YouAgain

Last man standing.


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## RanaHarmamelda

George R. R. Martin, A Storm of Swords.


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## Cthulhu

> _Originally posted by RanaHarmamelda _
> *George R. R. Martin, A Storm of Swords. *



A very good series.  Unfortunately, Martin takes about 10 years to write each friggin' installment.

Cthulhu


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## RanaHarmamelda

*chuckle* SO I have heard...the fourth one has been delayed for, what...almost a year now?

*grumble*


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## arnisador

_Prey_, Michael Crichton.


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## ABN

The Screwtape Letters  by C.S. Lewis

The Victorious Opposition  by Harry Turtledove


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## Rich Parsons

I just got down rifling throught eh Myth Series by Robert Lynn Apsrin, and I am now back into the Belgariad Series. I have read both before numerous times. It is what I do when I run out of new books to read.


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## Michael Billings

By Joe Lansdale (Shen Chaun)


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## Blindside

The Winter King by Bernard Cromwell
Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard


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## someguy

How is buba ho-tep


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## arnisador

The Emerald City of Oz, by L. Frank Baum

Also just started re-reading The Hobbit. I've only read it and The Lord of the Rings once, and it was in junior high school for The Hobbit and high school for LOTR.


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## Marginal

I've been reading the Dark Tower Series by Stephen King this last week. Up to Wizard and Glass right now. (Prepping for Wolves of the Calla or whatever it's called.)


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## 2fisted

Gai Jin by James Clavell.  Good read but LONG.


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## Jmh7331

The Sea Wolf - Jack London
Arthur - Stephen Lawhead
Read 3-4 Louis L'Amour /month


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## MartialArtsChic

A Gothic Christmas.  (romance).


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## Blindside

Just finished 
Dune: House Atreides

Can't say that I really liked it, something about that book just didn't jibe with me, maybe it was the writing style.

Horblower During the Crisis.

Fast read, two short stories and one unfinished story, I'm glad I picked it up used, but Crisis had alot of potential.  That finishes Hornblower for me, I've got O'Brian's Post Captian on order.

Just started:
Paying the Piper by David Drake.

Pretty standard Hammer's Slammers stuff so far.

Ongoing:
The Winter King by Bernard Cornwall

I've been reading alot of Arthurian fiction over the last year and I'm at that point in the story arc where you know "this just can't end well."  I'm having a hard time getting through that, so it has been sitting alone for awhile.


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## rmcrobertson

Ed Ruggiero and Robert K. Tannenbaum, for what I recently realized is their brilliant exposition of, "the fog of war."


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## arnisador

_The Pleasure of My Company_, by Steve Martin

I really enjoyed his _Shopgirl_, though I found the ending a little weak.


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## OULobo

Just started Salvatore's Spider Queen set.


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## pknox

About 1/3 of my way through the one-volume set of _The Lord of the Rings_ (just finished The Fellowship of the Ring, and started on The Two Towers).  The last time I read it I think I was 16 -- it sure makes a lot more sense now.


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## arnisador

_The Patchwork Girl of Oz_, L. Frank Baum


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## Chronuss

I just finished the three books based on the X-Box game Halo, The Fall of Reach, The Flood, and First Strike.  before that, I had read The Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony...the man is a hysterical writer.  Now I'm reading The Gunslinger by Stephen King...kinda slow and strange...but hey, it's Stephen King, go figure.


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## Aikikitty

> _Originally posted by arnisador _
> *The Patchwork Girl of Oz, L. Frank Baum *



I LOVE the Oz books!  I grew up with my mom reading them out loud, then my sister did it, then me when I was old enough.  

My Sensei is a fellow Lord of the Ring fan and he bought me The Silmarillion which I've never read before and I'm currently reading and enjoying now.  

Robyn :asian:


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## pknox

George R.R. Martin, _A Game of Thrones_ (first book in the "A Song of Fire and Ice" series)


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## arnisador

> _Originally posted by The Opal Dragon _
> *I LOVE the Oz books!  I grew up with my mom reading them out loud, then my sister did it, then me when I was old enough. *



My 9 y.o. daughter loves them and is making me read them so I can share Oz with her. I don't mind. It was neat reading the first one since the movie is so famous.

She _was_ a Sailor Moon fan, but it hasn't been shown here for so long that she's lost interest!


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## Aikikitty

> _Originally posted by arnisador _
> *My 9 y.o. daughter loves them and is making me read them so I can share Oz with her. I don't mind. It was neat reading the first one since the movie is so famous.
> 
> She was a Sailor Moon fan, but it hasn't been shown here for so long that she's lost interest! *



That's really neat!  I'm glad your daughter is enjoying the books.  The original Oz book by Baum are awesome of course but the Oz books written by Ruth Plumly Thompson are really good too (and there are a good number of them)!   I love the humor and the play on words. 

I taped my favorite animes when they were on TV and I'm glad I did as some of them aren't on anymore as you've said.  I started watching some of those tapes a couple of months ago.  (Outlaw Star first, and now I'm watching Tenshi Muyo.  Next, I'll probably watch Sailor Moon.)   

Robyn :asian:


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## Matt Bernius

Just got up to the third book in A Cantical for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.

It's been excellent and provactive reading. After that it's on to some nonfiction for a while.

- Matt


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## KenpoTess

Laurell Hamilton's 'Anita Blake Vampire Executioner' Series..*not for kids~!*

Just finished the 4th in David Farland's 'RuneLord' series.. excellent read if you like Sword/Sorcery fantasy..

Been listening to some audiobooks, The LOTR and Harry Potter are Excellent~!!


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## Blindside

> Just got up to the third book in A Cantical for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.



There are sequels to Canticle??!  Cool, I loved the first book.


Just finished:

Gold from Crete by C.S. Forster, WWII naval and aerial warfare.

In keeping with the nautical theme, I just finished Far Side of the World by O'Brian.  Very different from the movie.  I just started Post Captian by the same author.  Good stuff, I love the subtle humor.

Lamont


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## Matt Bernius

> _Originally posted by Blindside _
> *There are sequels to Canticle??!  Cool, I loved the first book.*



Ooops, probably should have written that better. I'm reading the third "sub" book of Canticle (it's essentially broken into three interconnected novellas).

But there is a sequel called "Saint Liebowitz and the Wild Horse Woman." I don't really know anything about it though,

- Matt


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## Blindside

Finished:
Post Captain by O'Brien
Redcoat by Bernard Cromwell
Limits by Larry Niven

Gotta grab something new off the shelf....

Lamont


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## arnisador

Now or recently:
Tik-Tok of Oz, L. Frank Baum

The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien

Starship Troopers, R. Heinlein

Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice


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## qizmoduis

I just tracked down the original Space Opera books by E. E. Smith: The Skylark novels (Skylark of Space, Skylark Three, Skylark of Valeron, and Skylark DuQuesne).  I just finished the first two.  I also picked up his Lensman series.  Very interesting.  The Skylark books take great delight in one-upping itself nearly every chapter.


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## Blindside

Hmm,

Finished "Sensei" a completely forgettable martial arts murder mystery.  The next in the series is "Deshi" I suspect I'll miss it.  The author is obviously fairly well versed in martial arts, but man it comes across as "traditional styles are best."

I finished "Kingdom River," a post-apocalyptic epic, I liked the world that is presented and the battle descriptions were good, I thought it wrapped up a wee bit fast, but the world building made up for it.

A Game of Empire by Poul Anderson, fun stuff, much better than the early Flandry novels, at least the aliens are well, alien.

What else:
Heroes in hell, edited by Benford/Cherreyh/Drake
Space Dreadnoughts edited by Drake
Firefight 2000 by Dean Ing
Finity's End by Cherryh

And apparently I'm on a Heinlein juvenile kick, since I read "Podkayne of Mars" and am now reading "Have Spacesuit Will Travel."

enough for now,

Lamont


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## Elfan

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

Its a quick read (read it in a day) but not superfluous, its the classic book on Soviot labour camps.


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## arnisador

Scarecrow of Oz, L. Frank Baum

The Santaroga Barrier, Frank Herbert


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## OULobo

I just started Harlan Ellison's, " 'Repent Harlequin!', Said the Ticktock Man". It's a very short read but an author that I seem to have completely missed during my literary journeys.


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## Blindside

Harlan Ellison is an amazing author, most of his stuff is edgy and way out of the bounds of normal sf and fantasy fiction.

I recommend his Dangerous Visions anthologies.

Oh yeah, he was the sf advisor for Babylon 5, that alone gives him high marks in my book. 

Lamont


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## arnisador

Telefon, by Walter H. Wager 

The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger


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## Blindside

Last bunch of books:

The Ionian Mission - O'Brian
-More Jack Aubry of "Master and Commander Fame" sort of a transitional story, slow in places, but intriguing.  Actually it is set immediately before "Far Side of the World."  I'm slowly starting to like Jack and Stephen over Hornblower, it is just a little more gritty and real.

Arabesques - fantasy collection set in the Arab world, several interesting short stories

The Magic Goes Away by Niven (older fantasy, interesting in mana mechanics if not in the story itself)

People of the Wolf by W. Michael Gear - Nice historical fiction, solidly grounded in archeology, and far less sex than in Auel's stuff.  (not that sex is a bad thing....)

Speaking of sex: The Erotic Spirit edited by Hamill - a book of historical love (and lust) poems from the Egyptians to the present.

The Lord of Castle Black by Brust - more swashbuckling Musketeer style stuff in Dragarea.


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## Aikikitty

I recently finished reading Ben-Hur for school and I enjoyed it.

Now I'm reading Eragon by Christopher Paolini.  About a boy and his dragon. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 Robyn


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## Cryozombie

M F said:
			
		

> Just finsished _Voyage of the Jerle Shannara, Morgawr_, by Terry Brooks.  I don't have anything lined up next.  Any suggestions from the Fantasy fans out there?  I've read everything by Jordan, Goodkind, Farland, David Drake,  George RR Martin, and several others I can't think of right now.  Help me out here.



Id recomend "The Book of Jhereg" by Steven Brust

I am currently re-reading "Wisdom From The Ninja Village of The Cold Moon" by Hayes.  a Fictional Account of what Hayes believed the ancient Ninja would have passed down from generation to generation.


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## TigerStripe

Just to pipe in here, I'm currently reading Cloud of Sparrows by Takashi Matsuoka.  Pretty entertaining.


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## muaythaifreak

Demons Don't Dream by Piers Anthony.  Just finished Dragonriders of Pern by Ann McCaffery.  Old fiction and I've read both before, but it's been a while and I found them when I moved recently.  If you've never read any of Piers Anthony's stuff, I highly recommend it.  Very entertaining.


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## Don Roley

I am currently re-reading the Lord of the Rings. I just relalized, it probably would be considered a racist book if it were not so popular.

Think about it and the way certain books, movies, etc have been called racist recently.

First of all, the good guys are all white, while the villians are dark colored and and sometimes called "The dark powers" etc.

Elves have blond hair and are beautiful. Orks are black and ugly. The good guys all seem to have European- style names and are so much more competent than the sub- humans with their funny names.

Oh, if there probably wasn't already a movement against the book on these grounds somewhere in cyberspace, I would be tempted to laugh.


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## marshallbd

Currently reading the "Nicholas Linnear" books by Erik Van Lustabader.  They are Corporate espionage/Martial Arts (With some fantasy mixed in) set in Modern Times in Japan/America.  I enjoy them.  (The Ninja, The Miko, White Ninja, The Kaisho, Floating City and one more I havent found yet and can't recall the title)

Also am going to start "Grass for his Pillow" by Liam Hearn.  It is book two in the "Tales of the Otori" trilogy about a young boy in Fuedal Japan who is learning about a his past as he discovers his mystical powers of the "tribe" (Sounds like Ninjutsu stuff) but very well written and enjoyable.  The first book is called "Across the Nightingale Floor" :asian:


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## Cryozombie

marshallbd said:
			
		

> Currently reading the "Nicholas Linnear" books by Erik Van Lustabader.  They are Corporate espionage/Martial Arts (With some fantasy mixed in) set in Modern Times in Japan/America.  I enjoy them.  (The Ninja, The Miko, White Ninja, The Kaisho, Floating City and one more I havent found yet and can't recall the title)



Uh... I forget which was the other one from that series... Zero, or Second Skin... it was one of those two... 

I also read his "Sunset Warrior" novels. (Sci-fi) They were ok.

Interesting enough (or not, if you dont care) Lustbader also wrote the lyrics to the Blue Oyster Cult song "Shadow Warrior" off their "Club Ninja" album.


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## OULobo

Re-reading Donalson's Thomas Covenant books and starting Farenheit 451 for the first time.


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## dubljay

I am currently re-reading _Ender's Game_ by Orson Scott Card.  I have all the books of the series, all are good but the first (_Ender's Game_) is the best.


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## arnisador

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Douglas Adams


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## Blindside

Legacies by F. Paul Wilson.  I always heard good things about this author, I just haven't gotten around to him until now.

Lamont


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## Cthulhu

Blindside said:
			
		

> Legacies by F. Paul Wilson.  I always heard good things about this author, I just haven't gotten around to him until now.
> 
> Lamont



I highly recommend all of his books with the 'Repairman Jack' character.  Very good.

Currently re-reading Chapterhouse: Dune.

Cthulhu


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## Feisty Mouse

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder.  My sister loaned it to me.  A fiction book about the history of philosophy.  So far, so good!


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## arnisador

Sounds interesting *Feisty Mouse*. I'll have to check it out!


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## BlueDragon1981

I have read all the Harry Potter books.
Currently I am reading a book calle Eragon. Good book so far. (Don't have much time to read it) It is also a book written for teens but oh well doesn't stop me.

I like the Forgotten Realms books.
R.A Salvatore, Robert Jordan,Terry Goodkind all authors of the books that I read.


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## Blindside

Just finished "Blade Dancer" by S.L. Viehl.  Sort of a science fiction martial arts book, it was strictly ok, interesting training ideas, but I preferred the Steven Perry "Matador" series for this genre.  My biggest beef is that this universe is apparently alot like Star Trek, where every species can mate with every other species and have half-breed offspring, that just rubs my biologist brain the wrong way. 

I just started The Fortune of War by O'Brian, the British navy in the war of 1812.  It is nice to see the Americans as the bad guys for once. (That is the way it was supposed to be in the movie Master and Commander: Far Side of the World, but Americans as bad guys is not acceptable in Hollywood.)  I highly recommend the entire Jack Aubry series to anyone interested in this period of history. (And Hornblower, never forget Hornblower!)

Lamont


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## Feisty Mouse

> Sounds interesting *Feisty Mouse*. I'll have to check it out!


 I hope you do!  It's got a mystery component to it that I'm enjoying, and the summaries of ancient philosophers' positions are simple without, I hope, being too simplistic.


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## Ronin Moose

My Life, by Bill Clinton


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## Seig

Ronin Moose said:
			
		

> My Life, by Bill Clinton


[MOVE]:roflmao::rofl::barf::rofl::roflmao:[/MOVE]


----------



## Seig

I am reading Laurell K Hamilton's Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series


----------



## Blindside

Just finished Colonization: Down to Earth by Turtledove
Just starting God Emperor of Dune by Herbert


----------



## TigerWoman

Balance of Power by Richard North Patterson about politics and gun control. It is a continuing cast of characters from Protect and Defend which I read before. Just got into it...good so far.  TW


----------



## Rich Parsons

Re-reading the Dragons of PERN (* Paralell's Earth Resources Nominal *) by Anne McCaffrey


----------



## marshallbd

MACaver said:
			
		

> Just finished: Labyrinth by Mark T. Sullivan
> Starting: The Cave by Anne McLean Matthews
> (what can I say... look at my name heh)
> In the middle of Harry Potter Yr. 5 if I can get over to CeiCei's place often enough I can finish it.
> 
> To answer your question... rarely has ANY Stephen King book translated well into film. Exceptions have been The Dead Zone (original with Christopher Walken and Martin Sheen), Stand By Me (aka The Body), The Shawshank Redemption, The Shining (new version not with Nicholson and DuVal), and one or two others. The rest were done by directors who were more in to gore (Carrie: Tobe Hooper), or scares (The Shining: Krubrick) or generally had thier own visions of how it should be.
> 
> The books will always be better than the movies because King (IMHO) is that good of a writer.  Personal favorites are IT and The Stand.


If you like King's stuff, how about Dean Koontz?  I really enjoy his stuff, especially "Dark rivers of the heart" and "Intensity"


----------



## marshallbd

M F said:
			
		

> Just finsished _Voyage of the Jerle Shannara, Morgawr_, by Terry Brooks.  I don't have anything lined up next.  Any suggestions from the Fantasy fans out there?  I've read everything by Jordan, Goodkind, Farland, David Drake,  George RR Martin, and several others I can't think of right now.  Help me out here.


Erik Van Lustbader is good....


----------



## qizmoduis

Just finishing up the fifth book of the Harry Potter series.  Good stuff.  I was pleasantly surprised by her writing, although the last book is getting a bit tedious.


----------



## michaeledward

Fahrenheit 451 ... 

So far ... it is weird.


----------



## Brother John

"Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman.
It's....odd.
Slow beginning...but starting to pick up.

Your Brother
John


----------



## Brother John

Blindside said:
			
		

> Just finished Colonization: Down to Earth by Turtledove
> Just starting God Emperor of Dune by Herbert


The DUNE series by Herbert IS GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just got done reading the first two in the new Butlerian Jihad series, waiting for the third and final one to come out some time soon.
I HIGHLY recomend these books to anyone.

Your Brother
John


----------



## Ronin Moose

*SENSEI*, by John Donohue.   He is regular contibutor to the Journal of Asian Martial Arts.  There is a brief review of the book at:  

http://www.fightingarts.com/estore/catalog_books_tales.shtml

It is an excellent read!


----------



## deadhand31

Rainbow Six, by Tom Clancy


----------



## marshallbd

Ronin Moose said:
			
		

> *SENSEI*, by John Donohue.   He is regular contibutor to the Journal of Asian Martial Arts.  There is a brief review of the book at:
> 
> http://www.fightingarts.com/estore/catalog_books_tales.shtml
> 
> It is an excellent read!


I enjoyed that book as well.  Have you read any of the books written by Eric Van Lustbader?  I especially enjoyed his series of Nicholas Linnear novels....(nicholas is a modern day ninja who is half japanese half caucasion and is torn between the two cultures).   :asian:


----------



## AaronLucia

Cloud of Sparrows - An Epic Novel of Japan by Takashi Matsuoka


----------



## Blindside

Wow, I must give a contrary opinion on Sensei, I didn't like it at all.  

I finally finished God Emperor of Dune, that was a hard read for me, interesting social commentary, but I couldn't really identify with Leto II.  

I'm about half way through Pride and Prejudice and will start F. Paul Wilson's Conspiracies.


----------



## gyaku-zuki queen

not reading one right now.. but if i was.. harry potter


----------



## marshallbd

AaronLucia said:
			
		

> Cloud of Sparrows - An Epic Novel of Japan by Takashi Matsuoka


Could you tell me a little about the story line (Time frame, charachters and such?)


----------



## AaronLucia

For Cloud of Sparrows, its basically set in the middle 1800's, when the foreigners just arrived. Basically there is a lower Great Lord (Genji) who is supposed to have the gift of prophecy..and alot of people don't like him. Basically, since i'm only half-way through i can't expungiate on the whole book, but..there isn't a whole lot of action, but the cool dialogue makes up for it. Supposedly some foreigner is supposed to save the Great Lord's life, but nobody in the Great Lord's posse trusts them..and in general the Great Lord is trying to survive because the Shogun and many other Great Lords don't like him

That might be a super crappy description..but...


----------



## marshallbd

AaronLucia said:
			
		

> For Cloud of Sparrows, its basically set in the middle 1800's, when the foreigners just arrived. Basically there is a lower Great Lord (Genji) who is supposed to have the gift of prophecy..and alot of people don't like him. Basically, since i'm only half-way through i can't expungiate on the whole book, but..there isn't a whole lot of action, but the cool dialogue makes up for it. Supposedly some foreigner is supposed to save the Great Lord's life, but nobody in the Great Lord's posse trusts them..and in general the Great Lord is trying to survive because the Shogun and many other Great Lords don't like him
> 
> That might be a super crappy description..but...


Actually that sounds like something I might be interested in.  How about "across the Nightingale Floor" and "Tears for his Pillow" by Liam Neeson?


----------



## AnimEdge

I just finnished Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
 man they need to hurry up and release the movie here in the states
 untill then go hong kong bootlegs


----------



## Chronuss

...I finished the fifth Harry Potter book the only night...now I gotta wait til next year for the sixth...oy!


----------



## AaronLucia

Marshall, what are Across the Nightingale Floor and Tears for His Pillow about?


----------



## Cryozombie

I am now Currently reading "The Steampunk Trillogy" by Paul DiFilippo.

Its Cyberpunk set in the Victorian Era.


----------



## Rob Broad

I have been reading the Wheel of Time series  by Robert Jordan and the Wizards Firts Rule series by Terry Goodkind.  Both are good series but it takes forever between new releases.


----------



## Blindside

> I have been reading the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan and the Wizards Firts Rule series by Terry Goodkind. Both are good series but it takes forever between new releases.



Wow, you have been sucked into two of fantasy's worst examples of stories that got away from the authors.  I used to give away the first book in WoT, but now I just feel guilty about that.   :uhyeah: 

Lamont


----------



## Rob Broad

I also enjot L.E. Modesitt's Recluce series.  I have read everything in that series, and I am awaiting another installmant.


----------



## Blindside

At least Modesitt's books are stand alone, or two books complete the story, those are several books set within the same world.  The Goodkind and Jordan books are one freakin' long story.  And yes, I am bitter that the last three Jordan books could have been condensed into one.....    

Actually the Drake/Flint Bellisarius series seems to be doing the same thing now.

Lamont


----------



## marshallbd

AaronLucia said:
			
		

> Marshall, what are Across the Nightingale Floor and Tears for His Pillow about?


here is part of the teaser from the inside front dust cover of the first book "Across the nightingale Floor"....

 In his black walled fortress at Inuyama, the warlord Iida Sadamu surveys his famous nightingale floor. Constructed with exquisite skill, it sings at the tread of each human foot. No assassin can cross it unheard.

The youth Takeo has been brought up in a remote mountain village among the Hidden, a reclusive and spiritual people who have taught him only the ways of peace. But unbeknownst to him, his father was a celbrated assassin and a member of the Tribe, an ancient network of Families with extraordinary, preternatural skills...

The hidden I took to be christians and the Tribe sound like the Ninja clans.  Takeo is in the Hidden village when a warlord comes through and kills everyone, only Takeo escapes.  He is adopted by another warlord, Otori Shigeru.  The books deal with his strugle between his new adopted father and the pull of the Tribe to reclaim him...I thouroughly enjoyed both books and am anxious to read the third......of the "Tales of the Otori" Trilogy.

Hope my little book review helped and if you do read them, let me know what you thought about them.... :asian:


----------



## OULobo

Blindside said:
			
		

> At least Modesitt's books are stand alone, or two books complete the story, those are several books set within the same world.  The Goodkind and Jordan books are one freakin' long story.  And yes, I am bitter that the last three Jordan books could have been condensed into one.....
> 
> Actually the Drake/Flint Bellisarius series seems to be doing the same thing now.
> 
> Lamont



I liked Goodkind's stuff, I loved Jordan's stuff (although I have to agree, it is getting rediculous in length and he's become way too wordy), but I just couldn't get into the Recluse books. The stories were too spaced out and jumpy, and the world and rules of the Recluse world were too loosely spelled out. I bought the entire series or set of books, and never read more than three.


----------



## Rob Broad

OULobo said:
			
		

> I liked Goodkind's stuff, I loved Jordan's stuff (although I have to agree, it is getting rediculous in length and he's become way too wordy), but I just couldn't get into the Recluse books. The stories were too spaced out and jumpy, and the world and rules of the Recluse world were too loosely spelled out. I bought the entire series or set of books, and never read more than three.




I really liked the Recluce Books, they have a current  situation in their world, and then the next book went back in time to how that practice came to be.  It is an interesting set up.


----------



## KenpoTess

I made the mistake of reading Goodkind and Jordan about the same timeframe.. finished one.. picked up another as I waited for the new release.. man did I ever get the two stories confused.. *hush all that know me~!*   I thoroughly enjoyed them til the last couple books.. I couldn't  finish the last book~!! 
Then Jordan decides to write the prequel 'New Spring' and well my small mind was like.. *tilt*
I found both series on audiotape.. and I must say, I'm really enjoying them more ten-fold by listening.. I think I must of skipped a bunch reading (all the descriptive filler). 
I'm into the 3rd book of David Drake's 'Lord of the Isles' series.. It's different.. and reviewers say he's up there with Jordan and Goodkind.. I can see the similarity..  Not my favorite.. 
I really REALLY enjoyed the Elizabeth Haydon series 'The Symphony of Ages'  Excellent Read~!!  Find It Here 
I usually get my books at the library, unless they are ones I absolutely have to buy.. and getting rather annoyed as they invariably have an author I like, but only one out of a series.. *grumbles* 

~Tess


----------



## AaronLucia

Marshall, i think i know to what books you are referring.

I remember i saw them in Kuwait when i was stationed there. 

Cloud of Sparrows has a character named Shigeru in it, i wonder if he's the same..


----------



## marshallbd

AaronLucia said:
			
		

> Marshall, i think i know to what books you are referring.
> 
> I remember i saw them in Kuwait when i was stationed there.
> 
> Cloud of Sparrows has a character named Shigeru in it, i wonder if he's the same..


Book three is coming out soon, called "Brilliance of the Moon.  The Shigeru in "Cloud of Sparrows" is just a coincidence. It seems that maybe Shigeru is a common name? I will be reading this book next after "Brilliance of the Moon" :asian:


----------



## Brother John

Seig said:
			
		

> I am reading Laurell K Hamilton's Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series


I've heard a LOT of good about this series! Let us know what you think.

BTW: I've heard that if you like her stuff You'll LOVE the Harry Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. (I suggested these to your wife a while back)
Your Brother
John


----------



## Blindside

I just finished Wilderness by Zelazney.  This was a fictional accounting of the amazing true life survival stories of Mountain Men Jim Coulter and Hugh Glass.  Very poetic writing, I was impressed since I haven't read that much of Zelazney outside of his original Amber series. 

I am starting Harlan Ellison's "Deathbird Stories," and still trying to plug through Pride and Prejudice.

Lamont


----------



## Paul B

Ahem..(clearing dust from throat)....."The Complete Works of Shakespeare".....I have finally found an alternative to NyQuil.....It's just one more thing on my life's "to do" list. I guess it would qualify as a "fiction" book.:uhyeah:


----------



## Blindside

Blink... Blink....

You find Shakespeare boring?

What exactly are you reading?  Come on, we are talking about the Bard here!  There is some difficulty is interpreting some of the references do to the change in language, but it is still amazing work.  I could see where back to back could be tough, try interspersing your reading with other material, or simply alternate the comedies and the dramas.

Don't diss the Bard man!  

Lamont


----------



## Paul B

Yep, that's it....too much all at once. I do agree,though,absolutely astounding stuff. I think it's interesting that he used "entendre" quite a bit,if you know where to look.


----------



## Don Roley

Well I have a problem with reading Shakespeare's plays. I refuse to believe that he wrote them to be read. He wrote them to be seen by an audience.

Now his sonnets are the very definition of poetry. I liked reading them, loved reading them. But seeing Hamlet is just worlds better than reading Hamlet IMHO. there is something that the director and actors bring to the work that makes it a team effort. The excitement that they bring, the emotion, are part of the mix that the Bard meant when he wrote the plays and took part in their production.


----------



## michaeledward

Once upon a time, I read through much of 'The Complete Works ....' but it was difficult to understand while reading. I caught myself, re-reading passages trying to figure out what did he say?

Enjoy ... but be sure to see them too.


----------



## Paul B

I agree completely! There is a definite missing dimension to reading the plays as opposed to seeing the performance. The written word doesn't do them any justice. The sonnets,as mentioned before,are in their "natural" environment...so,yeah.What he said.


----------



## Don Roley

One thing about the sonnets. They are not "fast food." Written at a time when the written word was rare and precious, they were meant to be taken in slow motion, with attention being paid to each word for it's full effect. Today, we may read a book on the train. That is not what they were written for.

I remember the last time I read the Bard's sonnets. It was a rainy spring day when the flowers in my gardern were in bloom. I took a seat just outside the area where the rain hit with a bottle of sake and cracked open my collection of his works. For the next hour there was nothing more in this world I was interested in. I truely had more wealth than a sultan's realm.

That is the time you should invest if you are going to read Shakespeare's poetry. Sometimes it is nice just to take a little time away from the world and have a conversation with those long gone through the pages of their works.


----------



## Paul B

I hear you Don, I usually try to get out on the deck with a cup of joe and just sit there reading and winding down. Can't get good sake' around these parts!:drink2tha 

Thanks for the advice,though!


----------



## Patrick Skerry

*REMEMBERANCE OF THINGS PAST  *by Marcel Proust; 

maybe it must be read in its original French, because I find it less profound than Melville's MOBY DICK.


----------



## kenpo tiger

_The Perfumed Sleeve_ by Laura Joh Rowland - latest in the series about the Sano Ichiro, Sosakan-Sama (most honorable investigator of events, situations and people) of the Tokugawa regime in feudal Japan (1694).

Also _R is for Ricochet_ by Sue Grafton.


----------



## KajuMom

_Hawaii_ by James A. Michener. Fiction based on fact, lots of details!


----------



## sifu nick

The Choirboys by Joseph Wambaugh. I read it years ago and decided to pick it up again.


----------



## bassplayer

Angels & Demons...I dont recall who the author is....just picked it up and couldnt put it down for the first 90 pages!


----------



## qizmoduis

Just finished "Freehold" by Michael Williamson from Baen Books.


----------



## bassplayer

Finshed Angela & Demons.  Definitely one for my recommended list!  Had a rough time putting it down and finished it this weekend.  I loved the mix of science and religion, tying everything in an exhilaratingly plausible manner.  I'll be waiting to get my hands on the Da Vinci Code once my fiancee is done with it!  Author is Dan Brown, couldnt remember that when I posted before.


----------



## Blindside

I was on the plane alot last weekend so I actually got some reading done:

Sharpe's Eagle and Sharpe's Gold by Bernard Cornwell
-Good gritty historical fiction

Reborn by F. Paul Wilson
-pretty mediocre horror, which was too bad, I liked some of this author's previous stuff.

Still working on Pride and Prejudice, I think I have to start over since I picked it up again and I have no idea who all these people are.  :uhyeah:


----------



## Blindside

What nobody else reading anymore? 

In the last month:

Sharpe's Sword by Bernard Cromwell

Chapterhouse Dune by Herbert

Witchworld 1 by Andre Norton


----------



## Feisty Mouse

I finally picked up Dune and started reading it.  And yes, it's quite good so far.


----------



## jaymo

i just finished reading the 11th book in the LS series and  "the face" by dean koontz. i'm not sure what i'll read next. i'm in the mood to be scared. any suggestions?


----------



## pesilat

jaymo said:
			
		

> i just finished reading the 11th book in the LS series and  "the face" by dean koontz. i'm not sure what i'll read next. i'm in the mood to be scared. any suggestions?



I'd recommend "Writer of the Purple Rage" by Joe R. Lansdale.

Joe is good friends with Dean Koontz, btw. Their writing styles are very different but some of the stories in WotPR (it's an anthology of shorts) should have your flesh crawling some. Like "Drive-In Date" or "Steppin' Out, Summer '68". And, one of my all-time favorites, "In the Cold, Dark Time". And then there's others, like "Bubba Ho-Tep" (now a fantastic B rate movie starring Bruce Campell and Ossie Davis) and "Godzilla's 12 Step Program" are just plain funny in Joe's inimically twisted way 

Joe's written a lot of other good stuff but he mostly writes crime/mystery these days. But WotPR is a very good collection with some of his old horror stuff. He's one the Bram Stoker award 4 times for his horror work - he's a *very* good author.

Mike


----------



## Blindside

jaymo said:
			
		

> i just finished reading the 11th book in the LS series and  "the face" by dean koontz. i'm not sure what i'll read next. i'm in the mood to be scared. any suggestions?



Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison

Maybe scared isn't the right word, disturbed might be better.

Lamont


----------



## Cthulhu

Just finished 'Gateways' by F. Paul Wilson.

  Reading 'Hogfather' by Terry Pratchett


  Cthulhu


----------



## Touch Of Death

Cthulhu said:
			
		

> Just finished 'Gateways' by F. Paul Wilson.
> 
> Reading 'Hogfather' by Terry Pratchett
> 
> 
> Cthulhu


I'm reading "Blackwood Farm" by Anne Rice. Is "Gateways" a continuation of a series or is it an hospital book?
Sean


----------



## Touch Of Death

Feisty Mouse said:
			
		

> I finally picked up Dune and started reading it.  And yes, it's quite good so far.


Your hooked. :ultracool 
Sean


----------



## Feisty Mouse

Cthulhu said:
			
		

> Just finished 'Gateways' by F. Paul Wilson.
> 
> Reading 'Hogfather' by Terry Pratchett
> 
> 
> Cthulhu


Pratchett is so funny.  I'm waiting to get his latest - I think it's Monstrous Regiment.


----------



## Cthulhu

Reading "Thief of Time" by Pratchett now

 Cthulhu


----------



## Blindside

"Chance" by Robert Parker, another witty Spenser novel, fun but forgettable.

"Cloud of Sparrows" by Takashi Matsuoka, wow was I disappointed, I hate to say it, but Clavell is way better in showing eastern culture through western eyes, or for that matter eastern culture through eastern eyes.

"Damphir" by the Hendees, I liked the world creation, but the repeated fights between the same opponents got old.  I liked that the heros are mortal and that someone actually put a falchion in a story.

Getting back into the Napoleanic wars era by reading "Rifleman Dodd" by CS Forester immediately followed by "Sharpe's Siege" by Cromwell.

Ah winter, when I actually have time to read.

Lamont


----------



## Rynocerous

I'm currently reading "Dreamcatcher" by Stephen King.


Ryan


----------



## OULobo

I just picked up Donaldson's new Thomas Covanent book.


----------



## 5 hand swords

Last book I finished was The System of The World by Neal Stephenson.
Currently I am not reading anything but this list is giveing me some Ideas


----------



## Xequat

Rading book 7 of Stephen King's Dark Tower series.  It's the final installment and I've heard that it's to be his final book altogether.  I love the series and I'm about 500 pages into the last book.  It hasn't disappointed so far.  As far as series go, I like The Lord of the Rings, of course, The Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, and this one the best.  I've read the Orson Scott Card Maker series and Ender series, about 2/3 of the Wheel of Time, but I got tired of them looking for that stupid weather bowl for three books and quit the series, Death Gate Cycle (also quite good...a little different), first 6 Dragonlance, maybe a few others.  I love the Dark Tower, though.  It's cool because so many of his other books refer to it.


----------



## Cthulhu

Re-reading "A Haunted Air", one of F. Paul Wilson's 'Repairman Jack' books.  Great series and great character.

 Cthulhu


----------



## Feisty Mouse

Just finished The Phoenix Guards by Stephen Brust at about 5:30am with a bout of insomnia.

Now I want to go back and finish reading the series that he started with Jhereg.  He's a fun author.

I was thinking of picking up the latest Tad Williams books, but the first trilogy I read that he wrote sucked me in so much, I'm hesitant.


----------



## 5 hand swords

Burst and Pratchatt first - Williams is not the same class IMHO


----------



## ABN

Return Engagement by Harry Turtledove and Star Bright! by Andrew Greeley. I guess I should start getting into the holiday spirit and Greeley's books are pretty good for that.


----------



## Feisty Mouse

Finished The Phoenix Guards and then Five Hundred Years After, by S. Brust....  Now starting Cloud Atlas, I picked it up because it looks odd and interesting, and suppossedly is similar to Haruki Murakami's work, and he's a talented whacko (if a bit dark!), and I like his stuff a lot.I should be doing more science reading in my free time, but....


----------



## Adept

I'm currently re-reading The Ninja by Eric van Lustbader, for about the tenth time. I cant quite place it, but there is just something comfortable and familiar about it. Reading it is like slipping on an old pair of comfy slippers.


----------



## Blindside

Finished the Rifleman by Forester and Sharpe's Siege by Cornwall.

Both very good, and sort of complementary, the Rifleman is about a seperated soldier from the 95th Rifles, and Sharpe is an ex-officer of the 95th.  Good stuff, if you like Napoleonic wars settings.

The Shadow of Saganami by David Weber, a nice return to the single-ship space opera that made Weber famous.  I'm looking forward to seeing more of this crew.

Rain Fall by Eisler, which was VERY good.  An action-thriller set in modern day Japan.  The city of Tokyo rang very true, and the description of the judo matches at the kodenkan were very nice.  An interesting perspective on Japan, one that isn't seen very often.  It looks like this is a series now, so I'm going to have to pick up the next one.

Starting Mirrorshades an older Cyberpunk anthology.

Lamont


----------



## Mithios

Finished, Blood & gold, and now i am going back to finish up with dark ages vampire (ravnos) book 6. There are 13 book's in it so i will probably take another break and read some thing else, later.  Mithios


----------



## Cthulhu

Rereading "The Tomb", the first 'Repairman Jack' novel by F. Paul Wilson.  I'm reading the earlier printing from the nineties, with it's Betamax players, cassette boomboxes, and typewriters.  Hope to get the update version soon.

 Cthulhu


----------



## OnlyAnEgg

Just finished Neuromancer, by William Gibson and am about 3/4 done with Clavell's Shogun.

Next?  Taipan, I guess.


----------



## kelly keltner

the most recent fiction book is entitled "How George W. Bush Stole the election"

kk


----------



## qizmoduis

Now I'm working on "Pandora's Star" by Peter F. Hamilton.  His last set of books (Neutronium Alchemist, etc.) were pretty much space opera, whereas this is much more of a harder, speculative style.  It's pretty good so far.  Hamilton's a fairly decent author.


----------



## K Williams

The Bourne Supremacy(The book is better than the movie...as usual.)


----------



## Feisty Mouse

Paths of the Dead by Stephen Brust.

It's really only the first part of one big novel, the Viscount of Andrilahnka (sp???? - I know that's wrong) series.
I got a whole stack of nonfiction books for Christmas, so I'll be in the other thread for a while, I guess.


----------



## AC_Pilot

Recently, and right now:

The last of the Mohicans

Ivanhoe

The Count of Monte Cristo

The Three Musketeers

The Sea Hawk, by Sabatini
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My favorite fiction books of all time are The _Nine Princes in Amber_ series by Roger Zelazny, and _The Hobbit_ and _Lord of the Rings_ trilogy by JRR Tolkein.


----------



## Blindside

Hard Rain by Barry Eisler, better than the first great urban tactical stuff, nasty knives, and the importance of suprise and range.

Playmates, Ceremony, and Pale Kings and Princes by Parker.  More Spenser and Hawk in action.  Always good.

The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian by Howard.  The first book in a  chronological compilation of Conan tales.  As a dedicated Sci Fi and Fantasy reader I'm somewhat embarrassed to say that these are the first of the Conan stories I have read.

Legends II: Shortstory compilation, I mostly read it for the Dunk and Egg story as a fix for whenever Martin finishes Feast of Crows.

Lamont


----------



## Feisty Mouse

I just finished The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer, by Neal Stephenson. 

It was excellent.


----------



## Cthulhu

Crisscross - Latest Repairman Jack book from F. Paul Wilson

Just finished re-reading Bernard Cornwell's 'Warlord Chronicles', in my opinion, the best version of Arthurian legend available.  Series is comprised of: The Winter King, Enemy of God, and Excalibur

Cthulhu


----------



## Missy

"Little Polar Bear and the Brave Little Hare" by Hans de Beer

Only 43 pages long but WOW does it rock ..<wink>


Mis


----------



## Fightback2

Good, Bad . . . Better (Harlequin Blaze).  I admit, without much shame  , that I'm addicted to romance novels.  (I may look like an unabridged dictionary, but I'm a trashy novel at heart.)


----------



## Eldritch Knight

American Gods. A friend recommended it to me, and its turning out to be quite the page-turner.


----------



## Blindside

Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling sort of a post-apocalyptic northwest US meets the feudal age book.  

I really liked it, but then I would be reasonably well prepared should such a catastrophe takes place.  I could finally justify my hobby of collecting large, functional, sharp and pointy implements to my wife.    I must get into bowmaking though....

Lamont


----------



## Schtankybampo

Rain Fall, by Barry Eisler

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by JK Rowling

The Fifth Elephant, by Terry Pratchett

and 

Stone of Tears, by Tery Goodkind

Yes, all at the same time. I read zonally. One is in the Living room, one in the car, one in the knapsack, one at my desk...


----------



## Feisty Mouse

Schtankybampo ~ I totally understand the zonal reading.

Right now, I finished up Asimov's Foundation, and am into Foundation and Empire.  Quick reads, very interesting, never dull....  Asimov is fab.

I'm thinking of starting the Neal Stephenson Baroque trilogy, but it's huge - I'm afraid I'll get lost in it!


----------



## KenpoTess

Yeppers Zonal reading is all good 

I'm reading Fred Saberhagen

The Book of the Gods 
The Face of Apollo 
Ariadne's Web
The Arms of Hercules
God of the Golden Fleece
Gods of Fire and Thunder

I'm on God of the Golden Fleece right now.. can't find The Arms of Hercules around here.. grrr..  but luckily they are each their own tale.
Good reads


----------



## Schtankybampo

ABE.com is great for gently used titles, I'll bet they can find the one you're missing. Me, I have this weird fetish for the smell of new books, so I'm an Amazon.com girl...


----------



## KenpoTess

Thanks Morgan~! 

Yes, Amazon has it and we should all know if we poke the Amazon buttons at the bottom of MT index and purchase.. MT gets a cut 


I'm just a penniless Martial Artist who relies on the local library for my books unless it's a collection I really want to purchase.. but since we're in the process of building our house.. I am holding back on having to pack even more books~!!
I'll see if the library can get ahold of a copy


----------



## LT2002

Hope to begin "Rain Storm" by Barry Eisler this week.

Recently finished,
"The way of the warrior" by John Gilbey and
"The Last Juror" and "Bleachers" by Grisham


----------



## Rex Downie Jr.

Angels and  Demons by Brown - a fictional tale of the Illuminati attacking the Roman Catholic Church. :Facinating, though I am a Protestant. Rex Downie


----------



## Schtankybampo

I've read all of the Dan Brown books so far, and have to say that I completely enjoyed every single one of them.  I think I liked Angels & Demons more than I liked the much-vaunted DaVincini code, and that's saying a lot, since I'm a art major. 

Thanks for mentioning the MT/Amazon link, Tess, I'd never noticed it before, but will definately be clicking in there from now on!


M


----------



## Melissa426

The Dante Club  ... Matthew Pearl

Historical fiction about a series of murders committed to imitate the deaths of sinners in Dante's inferno, 1865 Boston

Loved it.

Peace,
Melissa


----------



## Cthulhu

Melissa426 said:
			
		

> The Dante Club ... Matthew Pearl
> 
> Historical fiction about a series of murders committed to imitate the deaths of sinners in Dante's inferno, 1865 Boston
> 
> Loved it.
> 
> Peace,
> Melissa


I read The Dante Clube very shortly after reading The Davinci Code.  Maybe because it was I had just finished The Davinci Code, but I was a bit disappointed in The Dante Club.  I was interested in the book, being a fan of The Inferno, but I just found it a chore to finish The Dante Club.

Cthulhu


----------



## K Williams

I just finished reading Hard Rain by Barry Eisler. It's a pretty good read, and even includes some ASP baton vs. knife work near the end.


----------



## Blindside

Hmm, its been a while, time to bump this thread. 

Rain Storm by Barry Eisler - excellent as usual, I think Hard Rain edged it though.

The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey - the book that inspired Earth First! I read it about 12 years ago as a much younger and more idealistic environmentalist and it isn't holding the same appeal to me.  

Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton - the modern world meets fantasy monsters, appealing because of its quality world creation.   

Lamont


----------



## Seig

The GodFather Returns


----------



## Loki

Fiction? What's fiction? Everything's real, isn't it?

I don't read much fiction, but the last book I did read was Good Omens by Terry Prattchet and Neil Gaiman.

~ Loki


----------



## arnisador

Seig said:
			
		

> The GodFather Returns


 How was that? The reviews I read were mixed. I only read The Godfather fairly recently, then re-watched the movies.

 I'm now re-reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in advance of seeing the movie.


----------



## arnisador

_Paradise Lost_, Milton.

Pretty boring, actually.


----------



## K Williams

Avenger by Frederick Forsyth


----------



## Raewyn

Have just finished reading:

The Legacy
Starless Night
Seige of Darkness
Passage to Dawn

All part of the Drow series by R A Salvator

Awesome series, so many other books of his to read


----------



## Feisty Mouse

The Siege of Krishnapur by JG Farrell.


----------



## The Kai

Devil in the White City
Eric Lerner


----------



## rutherford

I just read King of Foxes by Raymond Fiest, the second book in his Conclave of Shadows series.  It suffers from many of the same problems that plague Fiest's works.  Its pacing is inconsistent, the climax and ending are rushed through, etc.  But the characters are always interesting and this work is far from his worst novel.

And, I'll read anything by Fiest.  The first adult length novel I picked up was his Magician, where it all began.  So, they're comfort reading for me now and a good way to spend an afternoon.  (Rarely do I spend more than a few hours to finish a book)

Looking forward to the next book's release in paperback.  China Mieville and William Gibson are about the only fiction authors I'll buy in hardcover . . . although Stover's novellization of Episode III is really tempting me.  He's an amazing writer as well.


----------



## SwedishChef

Stories From The Twilight Zone.  Rod Serling was a genius.


----------



## rutherford

I've been reading a couple of Lee Child's books on Jack Reacher.  I finished *Tripwire* early in the week and started *Die Trying* last night.  If you like mystery thriller or Men's Adventure novels, I recommend this series.


----------



## Crom

Closing Time by Joseph Heller


Had to rush out and buy it as soon as i'd finished Catch 22, i'd advisew everyone who hasn't to read it.  Funny and poignant in a way no one else manages.


----------



## hardheadjarhead

Ack!  I put a non-fiction book in the fiction section.  Must edit...must...

I'm reading "Tides of War."  That's a work of fiction.   Pretty good, too.  


Regards,


Steve


----------



## Fightback2

Dance with the Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon


----------



## arnisador

(Re-reading) The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Douglas Adams


----------



## SwedishChef

Have they stolen the ship yet?


----------



## arnisador

Yeah, that was the first book.


----------



## Ronin Moose

*Deshi*, by John Donahue.  It's a follow up, with the same principal character, to *Sensei*, which came out last year.  Great read and a well crafted martial arts thriller.

-Garry


----------



## SwedishChef

arnisador said:
			
		

> Yeah, that was the first book.


I meant the rockstar's black ship.


----------



## Blindside

Pattern Recognition by William Gibson - very good

Crown of Slaves by David Weber/Eric Flint - pretty standard Honorverse stuff, much better than War of Honor.

HMS Surprise by Patrick O'Brian - just starting, but good stuff as usual.


----------



## K Williams

Teeth of the Tiger by Tom Clancy


----------



## Feisty Mouse

The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks.  I hear it's a classic.


----------



## Don Roley

Slight change in topic, just slight.

I just finished reading "Men at Arms" by Terry Pratchett. I buy English language books well in advance since there are no bookstores in my city (in Japan) that sell them. So I have several to choose from for my next selection.

Here are the choices I am debating.

Soul Music By Pratchett.

The Final Prophecy (New Jedi Order) by Greg Keyes

Hard Rain by Barry Eisler

The Doublecross Program by Chris Bunch and

Star Swarm by Jerry Pournelle.

Some feedback would be welcome before I crack open my next fiction book.


----------



## Paul B

Hi Don,

I would recommend anything by Chris Bunch. I love his Seer,Demon,Warrior King series..outstanding work. I'm really not that into the "swords and dragons" type of books,but he does a more "believable" job than most.

IMO,Terry Brooks is way overrated. Sorry,Fiesty. Check out George RR Martin's series for some good "fantasy" reading.


----------



## Don Roley

Paul B said:
			
		

> Hi Don,
> 
> I would recommend anything by Chris Bunch. I love his Seer,Demon,Warrior King series..outstanding work.



Cough....cough....Sten.....cough...cough......


----------



## Paul B

*Ahem*....which is a great way to remind me that *outstanding* is maybe not the best choice of words. Ah well....I enjoyed them.


----------



## Don Roley

I _liked_ the Sten series. Going to start on the Bunch book in a few hours. Thanks!!!


----------



## Raewyn

Feisty Mouse said:
			
		

> The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks.  I hear it's a classic.


 The whole series are awesome, would recommend!!


----------



## Blindside

Don Roley said:
			
		

> Slight change in topic, just slight.
> 
> I just finished reading "Men at Arms" by Terry Pratchett. I buy English language books well in advance since there are no bookstores in my city (in Japan) that sell them. So I have several to choose from for my next selection.
> 
> Here are the choices I am debating.
> 
> Soul Music By Pratchett.
> 
> The Final Prophecy (New Jedi Order) by Greg Keyes
> 
> Hard Rain by Barry Eisler
> 
> The Doublecross Program by Chris Bunch and
> 
> Star Swarm by Jerry Pournelle.
> 
> Some feedback would be welcome before I crack open my next fiction book.



Hard Rain by Eisler!  Better than the first book in my opinion.

I really didn't like Star Swarm and I stopped reading the Star War universe books along time ago.

Lamont


----------



## rmcpeek

The Bear and the Dragon - Tom Clancy


----------



## Don Roley

Blindside said:
			
		

> Hard Rain by Eisler!  Better than the first book in my opinion.
> 
> I really didn't like Star Swarm and I stopped reading the Star War universe books along time ago.
> 
> Lamont



Well then I probably will go to Hard Rain in the near future. Oh, and I am on a mailing list with the author (hence me getting his first two books) and will probably be meeting up with him this summer. Gloat, gloat!!!!! I also have the Clancy novel rmcpeek mentioned.

All these books just waiting to be read... and that is only the begining of the potential. I think I have 50 or so novels waiting to be read. I am on page 61 on The Doublecross Program by Chris Bunch and loving the way it reminds me of his novel "The Wolf Worlds" along with Alan Cole. Thanks Paul B!!!! :asian:


----------



## JenniM

Patricia Cornwell - "Trace"


----------



## arnisador

Life, the Universe, and Everything, Douglas Adams


----------



## Feisty Mouse

Faithful Unto Death, have to remember the author.  Very good writing, mystery.


----------



## Jmh7331

I just finished "Over On The Dry Side" by Louis L'Amour tonight.


----------



## OULobo

The Marquis, Danse Macabre by Guy Davis


----------



## hardheadjarhead

_Bangkok 8_, by John Burdett.  I just finished it.

A friend of mine from Hawaii sent me, her husband (in Iraq) and her sister a copy.  I don't normally read fiction, but felt obliged given her great enthusiasm for it.  Hell, when you send books halfway around the world to friends, I'd say that's enthusiasm.

Surprisingly, it was a very good book.  It's a "whodunnit" set in Thailand.  The protagonist is a half-Thai/half-American son-of-Thai-prostitute buddhist cop whose partner is murdered.  

Martial artists would dig this book, I think.  People who have been to Thailand would dig this book.  People who like an interesting prose style would like this book...Burdett is a good writer, and not just a mystery hack.


Regards,


Steve


----------



## arnisador

HP6, of course.


----------



## Gene Williams

"Barnaby Rudge," by Charles Dickens and Shakespeare's Comedies.


----------



## Blindside

The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Robinson - Wow, very different fantasy/alternate history from what I am used to seeing from Turtledove or Stirling.  The "what if" is "what if the black plague wiped out 99% of western Europe rather than 1/3.  Throw in reincarnation and alot of education on Hindu, Muslim, and Chinese cultures and you have a very interesting product.  As a word of warning it is not an action/adventure type of book.

Killing Rain by Barry Eisler - just starting but looking forward to it, I thought the previous books in the series were great.

Lamont


----------



## TheEdge883

arnisador said:
			
		

> HP6, of course.



Don't know if you've finished it yet, or are a Harry Potter fan, but the end will blow you away


----------



## Brother John

"The Drawing of the Three"
By Stephen King, it's book II of the Dark Tower series...

about a third of the way through right now, enjoying it.

Your Brother
John


----------



## TheEdge883

Brother John said:
			
		

> "The Drawing of the Three"
> By Stephen King, it's book II of the Dark Tower series...
> 
> about a third of the way through right now, enjoying it.
> 
> Your Brother
> John



Drawing of the three was pretty slow for me, but that might be because I started reading it when it came out so long ago (I think my parents gave me the book 15 years ago as a hospital gift and I just never picked it up after I started). The Wastelands is where it starts getting really good


----------



## Dan G

"The Lathe of Heaven" by Ursula le Guin.

I love her stuff, really subtle writing style and produces sci-fi or fantasy with lots of deep social, emotional and philosophical issues explored. One of my all time favourite writers, and I return to her books a lot. It is a tough call, but as a fantasy writer I prefer her to Tolkein - chalk and cheese, but she is a more skilled writer IMHO. Her "Wizard of EarthSea" quartet is a modern masterpeice. Soon to be in film apparently.

Last fiction book was "The Feast of the Goat" by Mario Varga Llosa - good read and some deep stuff on courage and inaction. Deals with the historical assasination of a Dominican dictator. Thought provoking stuff.

Dan


----------



## Martial Tucker

To Have and Have Not, by Ernest Hemingway.


  I spent some time in Key West several years ago, and while Hemingway has never been one of my favorite authors, I enjoyed a couple of the Key West bars he used to hang out at, and this book is set in Key West and Cuba.

  A quick read, entertaining, and fun to read if you know the area at all.


----------



## Drifter

Brother John said:
			
		

> "The Drawing of the Three"
> By Stephen King, it's book II of the Dark Tower series...
> 
> about a third of the way through right now, enjoying it.
> 
> Your Brother
> John


 I love that series but still haven't finished it.

 Meanwhile, I'm working on The Tommyknockers, also by Mr. King.


----------



## Mark Weiser

The Swarm --- about technology and gentics alonside with computer designing. The possiblity of nanotechnology running amok and we humans maybe become instinct.


----------



## arnisador

Sounds like Michael Crichton's "Prey" which I read a while back.

Swarm computing is a great idea...for some things! But everyone rushes to it for optimization these days, it seems. It's a bit of a fad.


----------



## Brother John

TheEdge883 said:
			
		

> Drawing of the three was pretty slow for me, but that might be because I started reading it when it came out so long ago (I think my parents gave me the book 15 years ago as a hospital gift and I just never picked it up after I started). The Wastelands is where it starts getting really good


Yeah... you can totally tell that King used this book for setting the stage for later books, like everything is either building up something else or establishing background for character development long before the characters do the really interesting stuff.
But: I've grown to appreciate that too.... long drawn out character development. I think I began appreciating it when I read the 12 existing "DUNE" books. 

Later...

Your Brother
John


----------



## shesulsa

"Good to Great" by Jim Collins and ... *whispers*  HTML for dummies


----------



## arnisador

I've read a number of the For Dummies books and their cousins, and bought several for my children. They can be good for those needing a bare bones intro. to a subject!

Finished HP6! I thought it was a bit dull, actually..much of the book was just marking time.


----------



## shesulsa

Whoops!  I posted my last post in the wrong thread - those are non-fiction - sorry for the gankage, y'all.



			
				arnisador said:
			
		

> Finished HP6! I thought it was a bit dull, actually..much of the book was just marking time.


 It was definitely much less exciting than books 4 or 5.  Expected, nonetheless - someone had to catch us all up on the history behind everything.


----------



## arnisador

Well, I did enjoy reading the history, it's true. But there's a lot of "filler" in there otherwise!

 We spent the afternoon at bookstores getting more books. I peaked in at Steve Scott's school, but no one was home!


----------



## Brian R. VanCise

Currently I am reading "Second Skin" by Erik Lustbader for the tenth or eleventh time. While not his best work, I can see many of the places in the book in my mind as I was in Japan last August for training!

Brian R. VanCise


----------



## B. D. Cooper

Gates of fire by Preston, Historical fiction on Thermopole.  If you like ancient Greece this is an amazing book.  His other book last of the amazons is just as good.


----------



## andy

the last two are 'the dead' by mark rogers--awesome.
and 'the lone drow' by R.A. Salvatore-cool read for martial artists


----------



## still learning

Hello, My all time favorite is  " Musashi"  base on a true person. Today the book is broken up into 3 books.  If you can find it "Musashi" the book has over 900 pages, took me one month to read it.  Then I pick it up and read it one  more time,2nd month.  Then I started in the third month and read it for the third time in 3 months.  It took a while for me to place the people and places of the actions in the book, but I love the story.  Teaches us some great lessons in life. ...............Aloha


----------



## Blindside

B. D. Cooper said:
			
		

> Gates of fire by Preston, Historical fiction on Thermopole.  If you like ancient Greece this is an amazing book.  His other book last of the amazons is just as good.



I think you are thinking of Pressfield, How does Last of the Amazons compare to Tides of War?

Lamont


----------



## Gin-Gin

"Three to get deadly" by Janet Evanovich  (funny mystery novel, my favorite kind!  )


----------



## arnisador

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by Gregory Maguire

We really enjoyed the musical! The novel is not intended for kids, though--mature subject matter.


----------



## Korppi76

Elminster's Daughter by Ed Greenwood


----------



## arnisador

_Portuguese Irregular Verbs_, by Alexander McCall Smith.

Yes, it's fiction! It's a parody of academic life, featuring a German philologist with the above-named specialty.


----------



## Martial Tucker

Atlas Shrugged,       by Ayn Rand


----------



## OnlyAnEgg

God Emporer Of Dune - Frank Herbert


egg


----------



## Blindside

The Cobra Event by Preston
-Good frightening stuff on biological warfare, it feels a bit dated due to the whole current Iraq situation.  It really doesn't compare to his real-life book "The Hot Zone" which scared the pants off of everybody about Ebola.

An Oblique Approach by Flint/Drake
Actually a reread, I forgot how enjoyable the Belisarius series was.

A Storm of Swords by George RR Martin
Another reread in preperation for the November release of the next book.

The Dog from Hell by Chris Bunch
Completely forgettable military sci-fi popcorn.


----------



## Brother John

"Angels & Demons"
By Dan Brown (also wrote "The Davinci Code"...which I plan on reading soon)

An excellent, EXCELLENT Book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Couldn't recomend it more!

Just read it.




Your Brother
John


----------



## arnisador

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, by Douglas Adams


----------



## tradrockrat

Just finished Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

In the middle of Blowback, by Brad Thor

Started to re-read the Burke series by Andrew Vachss - If you have never read these books, you owe it to yourself to get a peek at them.  Incredible series of books in the "Crime Noir" style.


----------



## shesulsa

The kids and I are re-reading the HP series I-VI to look for clues.


----------



## dubljay

Finally broke (litterally broke $30 book still in hardback) down and bought _Shadow of the Giant_ by Orson Scott Card.  The finally to a long series.


----------



## OnlyAnEgg

Shogun by James Clavell 

Maybe Taipan next, maybe not.

egg


----------



## arnisador

The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs by Alexander McCall Smith


----------



## OnlyAnEgg

Yep, Taipan


----------



## The Kai

David Gemmel

"legend of the hawk queen"


----------



## arnisador

_Mostly Harmless_, by Douglas Adams


----------



## Xequat

"A Feast for Crows,"  by George R. R. Martin.  Book #4 in "A Song of Ice and Fire," one of the best fantasy series I've ever read because it doesn't rely on dragons and monsters for action; it really does center around the characters first, then the plot.  Kind of different because there aren't really many good guys and bad guys; it all seems kind of relative and depends on what type of character you like the best.


----------



## Shizen Shigoku

Eragon.

It's a fun read; a real page turner.


----------



## Blindside

Its been awhile, in no particular order:

A Feast For Crows by George RR Martin
-Definately a different pace/tone than the last book, but still excellent.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
-Great book, I liked just about everything about it, I'm not sure what category to put it into, Modern Fantasy?

reread of Fortunes Stroke by Drake/Flint

Shadow Puppets by Orson Scott Card
-I will argue that nothing in this series really can compare with Ender's Game, but that was a classic.  This is a solid if a bit dull book.

Requiem and Tributes to the Grandmaster- Heinlein memorial and retrospective.  The highlights for me were "This I believe" and Niven's story.

Assignment in Eternity by Heinlein 
-Decent, but below average Heinlein

Weapons of Choice by John Birmingham
-What if: A US naval task force from 2025 goes back in time to WWII right before Midway....  Decent Alt History, lots of in-jokes and references to Turtledove's World War series.  Very cool description of naval hardware 20 years out, and the clash between future and 1940's American cultures.

Lifehouse by Spider Robinson
-Interesting but not great sci-fi.  I really liked Spider's early work, but he seems to be getting a bit repetitive of late.  

Oath of Fealty by Larry Niven
Intriguing issues with the culture clash between arcology dwellers and the surrounding city, dry but thought provoking.

Currently reading Cryptonomicon by Neil Stephenson


----------



## Navarre

I had never read any of the Narnia books.  When I heard the movie was coming out I read _The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe_ as well as its prequel _The Magician's Nephew._

I've enjoyed them so I'm reading the remainder now. I'm still on A Boy and his Horse.

I read _Angels and Demons_ and really enjoyed it. My wife is urging me to read _The DaVinci Code_ as well.

I'm reading selected stories of _Sherlock Holmes_ by Arthur Conan Doyle. I'm trying to develop my ability to contruct intrigue and mystery so I can use those skills in creating a new D&D game for my wife.


----------



## Michael Billings

I only read one at a time, but very fast.

Steve Perry's new one, *The Musashi Flex* just hit paperback and it is a prequel to *The Man Who Never Missed* series.  Lots of martial arts in all of them, but more Silat in this one.  He has been training for the past 8 years or so I think.  You also see Silat in his *Cybernation *series he did with Tom Clancy.

Peace - Out,
-Michael


----------



## Henderson

J.R.R. Tolkien's

The Silmarillion


----------



## Blindside

Michael Billings said:
			
		

> I only read one at a time, but very fast.
> 
> Steve Perry's new one, *The Musashi Flex* just hit paperback and it is a prequel to *The Man Who Never Missed* series. Lots of martial arts in all of them, but more Silat in this one. He has been training for the past 8 years or so I think. You also see Silat in his *Cybernation *series he did with Tom Clancy.
> 
> Peace - Out,
> -Michael


 
I've been pretty disappointed with the last several installments (Black Sword, Omega Cage, 97th Step, Albino Knife) but I loved the original Matador series.  How does the Musashi Flex compare?


----------



## KenpoTess

Jennifer Fallon's  Hythrun Chronicles.. Medalon is very good and I'm looking forward to the 2nd 'Treason Keep'


----------



## OnlyAnEgg

Chapterhouse Dune.  Frank Herbert.


----------



## arnisador

_Bored of the Rings _(the parody from Harvard Lampoon).

Better than I expected, so far.


----------



## shesulsa

Chronicles of Narnia - the entire series


----------



## Touch Of Death

The Confusion by Neal Stevenson
Sean


----------



## Kenpoist

Martial arts based fiction.  I am now reading Hard Rain by Barry Eisler.  A 1/2 Japanese-1/2 American contract killer (Judo Expert) living in Japan. The book focus's on the Yakuza and underground fighting.
Good Series of Books.

Also the John Donohue books (Sensei and Deshi) were good.


----------



## Wes Tasker

I just finished Feist & Wurts' "Empire" series.  Now onto the third and final collection of Howard's original Conan stories...

-wes tasker


----------



## Don Roley

Kenpoist said:
			
		

> Martial arts based fiction.  I am now reading Hard Rain by Barry Eisler.  A 1/2 Japanese-1/2 American contract killer (Judo Expert) living in Japan. The book focus's on the Yakuza and underground fighting.
> Good Series of Books.



Barry is also pretty cool in person.

Right now I am reading Infinity's Shore by David Brin. It is the second book in his second uplift trilogy.

I do not reccomend this book or series to anyone who needs to get work done. Brin has the ability to write a great novel about aliens, but not use them as a crutch. It is not all about how weird aliens are, but there is a real plot. At the same time, the aliens are really alien with the way they think and he lets us get into their head. There are things that could not happen in this series if aliens were not involved. It is not a plot of a regular book with a few SF references thrown in to disguise it.

But at the same time, the books stand on the excellence or the plot and not on it being something different for having aliens in it.

Gotta get back to it.......


----------



## stone_dragone

Just finished "Congo" by Michael Crichton and am now working on George Orwell's "1984"


----------



## OnlyAnEgg

Dan Brown's 'Angels And Demons'


----------



## shesulsa

Just finished The DaVinci Code a few weeks ago and Obsidian Butterfly yesterday.


----------



## Cryozombie

stone_dragone said:
			
		

> am now working on George Orwell's "1984"



They said fiction book Stone...


----------



## Jenna

*Hustling the East* .. Tom Bradley

I have NEVER in my life experienced writing like this and the images of Japan and Japanese culture that I have now in my mind are kaleidoscopic with colour and I would recommend this phenomenal and hugely underrated American author to anyone who enjoys an author who KNOWS how to use language WAY beyond all the normal conventions.. and I know it has become quite expensive and a rarity but I got mine second hand and I promise you will be impressed

Yr most obdt hmble srvt,
Jenna


----------



## fnorfurfoot

Robert Jordan's Knife of Dreams.


----------



## Blindside

For some reason I'm reading about 4 books simultaneously:

Agent of Vega by James H. Schmitz
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
All the Rage by F. Paul Wilson
Bolos!  by David Weber


----------



## Lisa

Brother John said:
			
		

> "Angels & Demons"
> By Dan Brown (also wrote "The Davinci Code"...which I plan on reading soon)
> 
> An excellent, EXCELLENT Book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> Couldn't recomend it more!
> 
> Just read it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Your Brother
> John



Reading this one now.  Fantastic book so far.


----------



## FearlessFreep

Re-reading "Battle Angel: Alita" for the Nth time


----------



## OnlyAnEgg

Deception Point by Dan Brown.

I've fallen in with the heretics...


----------



## Lisa

OnlyAnEgg said:
			
		

> Deception Point by Dan Brown.
> 
> I've fallen in with the heretics...



Read this over the weekend...awesome book.


----------



## Jade Tigress

I'm reading Sellevision by Augusten Burroughs. I read Running with Scissors and got hooked on the author. I have since read Dry and just started Sellevision. I do have The DaVinci Code waiting to be read but I got side-tracked by Burroughs. I'll have to check out Deception Point too it sounds like.


----------



## Kreth

I need to get back to Albert Camus' The First Man. I set it down for a while when I was reading Moby Dick and never got back to it...


----------



## mrhnau

Kreth said:
			
		

> I need to get back to Albert Camus' The First Man. I set it down for a while when I was reading Moby Dick and never got back to it...



Read le estrange. interesting read. 

currently starting Monster by Perretti.


----------



## shesulsa

Started "Cider House Rules" by John Irving.


----------



## Don Roley

Metaconcert. Book two of Intervention by Julian May.

It is not quite as god as his Pliocene Exile saga. And it seems to me that there is a bit of difference between the realities of the two series even though they have the same charecters and universe. Maybe it will be resolved by books end.


----------



## bushidomartialarts

island of the sequined love nun

chris moore


----------



## qizmoduis

No Phule Like an Old Phule

by Robert Asprin


----------



## stone_dragone

About to start "DaVinci Code."


----------



## crushing

Just finished Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse and started Kurt Vonnegut's Timequake.


----------



## arnisador

crushing said:


> started Kurt Vonnegut's Timequake.



I'm working on his "Sirens of Titan"...


----------



## mrhnau

crushing said:


> Just finished Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse and started Kurt Vonnegut's Timequake.



I read Siddhartha. Was interesting. Go pick up Slaughter House 5. Really awesome! Let me know how Timequake is. I enjoyed SH5.

I just finished up Frank Peretti's Visitation. I saw it on Showtime while I was in the middle of reading it! The movie was decent, but I still think the book was better.. 

I've moved on to The Rising, one of the prequels to Left Behind series.


----------



## mrhnau

I'm working on Rapture, the last in the prequels for the Left Behind series by Lahaye and Jenkins.

I got some neat books for Christmas, so I'm looking forward to reading those


----------



## mrhnau

crushing said:


> Just finished Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse and started Kurt Vonnegut's Timequake.



How was Timequake?


----------



## jdinca

Just finished "The Left Hand Of Darkness" by Ursula K. Leguin.


----------



## Cryozombie

I just finished the Novel "MARKET FORCES" by Richard K Morgan:



			
				PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY said:
			
		

> Morgan's brutal, provocative third novel (after _Altered Carbon_ and _Broken Angels_) charts the moral re-education of executive Chris Faulkner, who joins notoriously successful Shorn Associates, which specializes in "conflict investment" - financing totalitarian regimes, as well as guerrilla movements, in developing countries that are never allowed to develop. Taking his theme from such well-known critics of Western capitalism as Noam Chomsky, Susan George and Michael Moore (all listed as sources), the author presents a bleak near-future that includes continuing job loss through NAFTA, the undermining of national economies like that of China and the creation of a permanent underclass. Faulkner and other company hotshots compete in highly dangerous, often fatal car races, which reflect the ruthlessness of their corporate careers. Faulkner's auto-mechanic wife, Carla, strives to humanize him, but he will have to kill a lot of people with his car, guns and, in the penultimate bloodbath, a baseball bat before seeing the error of his ways. While some may be put off by the graphic violence and the heavy-handed polemics, most readers will find Morgan's economic extrapolation convincing and compelling.



Honestly, I thought it was a great book, BUT I did not enjoy it quite as much as his First Two novels, (_Altered Carbon_ and _Broken Angels_) which were hard core cyberpunk, and less politics...


----------



## Blindside

Just finished "The Enemy" and "Persuader" by Lee Child.  Good in an action thriller sort of way, however it doesn't hold a candle to Eisler's John Rain series so I'm a bit disappointed.

Working on Parke Godwin's "Tower of Beowulf" which is a retelling of the Beowuld/Grendel story, very well done as is all his works.  I also reread "Firelord" by him as well, probably one of my favorite Arthurian stories.

I have been struggling with "Eragon" for about 2 months now, and officially put it in the used-books-to-sell pile after Chapter 20, where Luke, I mean Eragon has become a master swordsman after 3-4 months of training.  I curse my brother-in-law for trying to get me started on that waste of paper.  

I am also reading "London" by Edward Rutherford, which is fictional stories set in different periods of the city's history.  So far it has been pretty good.

Lamont


----------



## mrhnau

I just finished up Mists of Dawn by Chad Oliver. Quite good! It's out of print, but I'd encourage picking it up from the library if you get the chance. About time travel, but more from an anthropological perspective rather than physics. quite good!

I'm currently reading Adrift in a Boneyard by Robert Lewis Taylor. Its starting a bit slow, but it was one of my dad's favorites when he was a kid, so I'm looking forward to getting through it


----------



## tellner

_The Musashi Flex _by Steve Perry.


----------



## Blindside

tellner said:


> _The Musashi Flex _by Steve Perry.


 
Thats probably the best book Perry has written in the series since Matadora.


----------



## mrhnau

mrhnau said:


> I'm currently reading Adrift in a Boneyard by Robert Lewis Taylor. Its starting a bit slow, but it was one of my dad's favorites when he was a kid, so I'm looking forward to getting through it


That was one of the weirdest books I've ever read. The difficult thing is I think it was satire, but I'm not familiar enough with the era to know for sure if its purely political in nature! Also, there were alot of pop culture references I was clueless about since it was written in the 50's. Still, an entertaining read  Very very odd.

I'm on to Babylon Rising now by Tim LaHaye et al.


----------



## Kreth

Right now I'm working on The Dark Tower Book 7: The Dark Tower.


----------



## ArmorOfGod

I just finished "Peter and the Starcatchers" by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson and am now starting the sequel.

They are INCREDIBLE!!
I know it is Dave Barry, but the books are seriously written, even though the subject matter could have been turned into something silly.  They are about the origin of Peter Pan, Captain Hook (formerly Black Stache), and other related characters.  
Just think, why is Peter "immortal?"  How can he fly?  Where did Hook's hand go?  Where did the mermaids come from?
I highly highly recommend these books.

AoG


----------



## Jenna

The Power and the Glory -- Graham Greene..  I picked this up for next to nothing at an old sort of dusty secondhand bookshop and it reminded me of school.  I loved this at school but never truly appreciated it properly..Do we ever? Phenomenal scene-setting..  SO claustrophobic..  Yr most obdt hmble srvt, Jenna


----------



## mrhnau

This Present Darkness, Frank Peretti. I've gone through about all of his adult books this past year... great author


----------



## crushing

Kurt Vonnegut's Bluebeard: A Novel

It was a toss-up at the library between that and Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes.


----------



## Kacey

I'm re-reading Sho-gun... I re-read it every several years.


----------



## bydand

OK, I'll admit I'm a geek who loves the old classic authors.  Right now I am re-reading Dostoevsky's "Notes from Underground."    He is in my personal top 5 for favorite authors, actually 3 of my top 5 are Russian Authors, and I tend to go back to their books time and time again every few years.


----------



## Blindside

The Killing Floor by Lee Child - pretty much a popcorn thriller, just trying to tide me over until the next Eisler book comes out.

The Afgan Campaign by Steven Pressfield - not on the level of Gates of Fire, but better than Tides of War.

Working on The Fortune of War by Patrick O'Brian and Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.


----------



## bookworm_cn317

I'm currently re-reading the Harry Potter series. Right now I'm on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.


----------



## Jenna

bydand said:


> OK, I'll admit I'm a geek who loves the old classic authors.  Right now I am re-reading Dostoevsky's "Notes from Underground."    He is in my personal top 5 for favorite authors, actually 3 of my top 5 are Russian Authors, and I tend to go back to their books time and time again every few years.


Hey Scott  I think the classic authors still do offer us much more than most of the repetitive and plagiarist modern authors..  are you an adorer of Anna Karenina by any chance?  One of my all time favourites 
Yr most obdt hmble srvt,
Jenna


----------



## bydand

Jenna said:


> Hey Scott  I think the classic authors still do offer us much more than most of the repetitive and plagiarist modern authors..  are you an adorer of Anna Karenina by any chance?  One of my all time favourites
> Yr most obdt hmble srvt,
> Jenna




Jenna, it also is one of my favorites.  

If you want an interesting read sometime, read both Anna Karenina and War and Peace at the same time.  Both books are set about the same time in Russian history, but told from 2 vastly different perspectives.  One right after the other works also, but due to my ADD tendencies it keeps things more interesting to compare the two at the same time.


----------



## KeeblerElf

I'm reading Shadow of the Hedgemon and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy


----------



## Jenna

bydand said:


> Jenna, it also is one of my favorites.
> 
> If you want an interesting read sometime, read both Anna Karenina and War and Peace at the same time.  Both books are set about the same time in Russian history, but told from 2 vastly different perspectives.  One right after the other works also, but due to my ADD tendencies it keeps things more interesting to compare the two at the same time.


Anna K and W&P AT THE SAME TIME??  Now that IS impressive!!  Man..  But yes I often think it sounds like a romantic and yet difficult era.. and but then the celebrated writers seldom came from the proletariat classes so I daresay we do not always get into the nitty gritty of how life would have been for the likes of you or I in those days..  Anyways apologies if I have taken up too much space in this here thread already  

Are you a chess player also I wonder?   Sorry.. I am nosey..

Yr most obdt hmble srvt,
Jenna


----------



## Cryozombie

I just finished "I, Strahd"... quick, light reading.

I don't read a lot of vampire fiction, but It was arite.


----------



## Yeti

Three irons in the fire right now...

The Third Option - Vince Flynn
The Lions of Lucerne - Brad Thor
Dracula - Bram Stoker (I read this about once a year...just a great book).


----------



## mrhnau

I picked up the Hobbit the other day. Been a LONG time since I read that  After that, I think I'll pick up Similrilion... Never read it, and just borrowed it from a friend. Good stuff!


----------



## crushing

I recently finished The Cat Who Walks Through Walls.  After reading it I checked out the Wikipedia article on it and figured there were a couple books I didn't read that probably should have been read before that one; The Number of the Beast and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.


I'm currently reading The Great Gatsby.  I've heard it called 'the great American novel', so I thought I would check it out.

I'm halfway through it and I don't think it is about a magician.    Also, I know it's bad, but when I think of the author's name I always want to add, "and the horse he rode in on too!"


----------



## Sukerkin

Some interesting volumes being mentioned in this thread :tup:.

For myself, nothing too heavy at the moment.  I'm re-reading "Prelude to Foundation" by Asimov with "Forward the Foundation" next in the pile. After that, I suspect that it's back to the Honour Harrington series that I'm half way through for the umpteenth time (books that move you to tears when they're supposedly 'space opera' just *have* to be respected ).


----------



## bushidomartialarts

mrhnau said:


> This Present Darkness, Frank Peretti. I've gone through about all of his adult books this past year... great author



Even though I'm not a Christian, I found This Present Darkness rather stirring.  Peretti's kind of an *** -- some of his other work demonstrates a profound ignorance of many of the things he condemns (martial arts among them).  But I rather enjoyed Present Darkness.  

Guilo kicks ****.

Me, I'm reading Stephenson's Quicksilver.  Good read thus far.  Also, the wife and I are rereading Harry Potter in anticipation of the next book.


----------



## Blindside

I'm just about finished with Stephenson's "The Diamond Age" which is very very good, and managed to keep me awake and on the freeway on a one-shot drive between Seattle and Green River, WY.  Audiobooks rock for long drives.

I think this guy is becoming one of my favorite authors.

Lamont


----------



## bushidomartialarts

Blindside said:


> I'm just about finished with Stephenson's "The Diamond Age" which is very very good, and managed to keep me awake and on the freeway on a one-shot drive between Seattle and Green River, WY.  Audiobooks rock for long drives.
> 
> I think this guy is becoming one of my favorite authors.
> 
> Lamont



Have you read "Zodiac" yet?  One of his earlier efforts.  The main character is the world's most user-friendly a-hole.


----------



## mrhnau

bushidomartialarts said:


> Esome of his other work demonstrates a profound ignorance of many of the things he condemns (martial arts among them).


At what point did he condemn martial arts? I don't seem to recall that, at least not a general razing of MA. I think I've read just about every adult fiction book of his lately...


----------



## Blindside

bushidomartialarts said:


> Have you read "Zodiac" yet? One of his earlier efforts. The main character is the world's most user-friendly a-hole.


 
Nope, I've only read Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, and now the Diamond Age.  I don't think he is a writer than I can read alot of, 1 or 2 a year is pretty good for me, but I really like his style.


----------



## bushidomartialarts

mrhnau said:


> At what point did he condemn martial arts? I don't seem to recall that, at least not a general razing of MA. I think I've read just about every adult fiction book of his lately...



The sequel to Present Darkness (perhaps called 'Piercing the Darkness'...it's been 15 years or so)  sets up a conflict wherein a local school teaches yoga and tai chi, which is of course the work of the devil.  Piretti's descriptions of the actual classes demonstrate absolute ignorance of the subject.


----------



## bushidomartialarts

Blindside said:


> Nope, I've only read Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, and now the Diamond Age.  I don't think he is a writer than I can read alot of, 1 or 2 a year is pretty good for me, but I really like his style.



Yeah, I'm with you.  There's so much info on any given page that it's actually _fatiguing_ to read his stuff.  Enjoyable, though.  He really is very, very good.


----------



## mrhnau

bushidomartialarts said:


> The sequel to Present Darkness (perhaps called 'Piercing the Darkness'...it's been 15 years or so)  sets up a conflict wherein a local school teaches yoga and tai chi, which is of course the work of the devil.  Piretti's descriptions of the actual classes demonstrate absolute ignorance of the subject.


Actually, thats next on my list of books to read of his. I'll pay attn. I lost my copy, had to borrow one from a friend 

Thanks for the heads up...


----------



## Kacey

I'm nearly done with a novel by Sheri S. Tepper, called Beauty - possibly the most unusual take on fairy tales I've seen; in this version, Sleeping Beauty is half fairy... except she's not the one who sleeps - her nearly-identical half-sister (dad sleeps around a lot) gets caught by the spell, while Beauty ends up being taken to the 2200's by some time traveling researchers, then coming back to have her daughter... Ella (that is, Cinder Ella)... to whom Beauty (who left when Ella was an infant) plays fairy godmother, and who in turn has a daugther named Snowdrop (Snow White and the 7 dwarves, more or less).


----------



## bushidomartialarts

mrhnau said:


> Actually, thats next on my list of books to read of his. I'll pay attn. I lost my copy, had to borrow one from a friend
> 
> Thanks for the heads up...



Yeah, it was disappointing that way.  I _really, really_ enjoyed This Present Darkness and have given it as a gift more than once.


----------



## mrhnau

bushidomartialarts said:


> Yeah, it was disappointing that way.  I _really, really_ enjoyed This Present Darkness and have given it as a gift more than once.



I hear ya. I've been reading some of his more recent works, such as Monster and The Visitation.  I read Piercing the Darkness many moons ago, but I simply don't remember it that well..


----------



## KempoGuy06

rereading _Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince_

Im also reading _From The Corner Of His Eye_ by Dean Koontz

B


----------



## mrhnau

KempoGuy06 said:


> rereading _Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince_
> 
> Im also reading _From The Corner Of His Eye_ by Dean Koontz
> 
> B


HP and the 1/2 Prince was good. I'll probably be picking up the new one as soon as I can get it cheap 

I'm working on the Simillrilion now by Tolkein. Kind of a tough read. Way too many names and aliases!


----------



## crushing

I'm on a classics kick now.  I made a list of around fifteen books to read this summer.

I recently finished Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise, now I'm reading Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms.

After the mortar round explosion early in the story I thought maybe the book should have been named A Farewell to Legs, but he recovered for the most part and maintained all limbs (unlike in The Sun Also Rises, where a war injury to the main character causes problems with a different appendage).

Ulysses by James Joyce is next on my list.  I understand that the prose may be difficult.  It maybe especially difficult after coming from the very simple and straightforward style of Hemingway.


----------



## Touch Of Death

I'm reading "Angels and Demons" so I won't have to pay to see the movie.
Sean


----------



## Blindside

Just finished The Cobweb by Neal Stephenson and J. Frederick George - Ok, but blander and not as interesting as Stephenson's solo works that I have read.

Reqeium for an Assassin by Barry Eisler - Good book, it may be the newness is wearing off, but this one didn't grab me like the earlier Rain books.  Great psychology work though, I really like the real world based looks at confrontation mentality and torture resistance.  

A Meeting at Corvallis by SM Stirling - I'm a sucker for a good apocalypse tale, and one that thrusts a modern civilization back to the iron age works for me.  I preferred the first tale in the series to the latter two, but they certainly qualify as good popcorn reading.

Finally finished Deathbird Stories which I started a year or more ago, Ellison just isn't an author who makes you want to slam through his works.  Best savored slowly.

-Lamont


----------



## qi-tah

"The Secret River" by Kate Grenville. Ought to be required reading in all Aust. high schools, IMHO. Convicing, sensitive and powerful book.

"Shantaram" by Gregory David Roberts. A cracking read, though i guess it's more autobio than fiction. But what storytelling! I can't wait to see the film!


----------



## arnisador

_The Adventures of Tom Sawyer_, by Mark Twain


----------



## newGuy12

On the last bit of Rainbow Six by Tom Clancy


----------



## Skip Cooper

Just finished _Life Expectancy _by Dean Koontz.

Now reading _Mystic River _by Dennis Lehane.


----------



## crushing

Just started Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow.


----------



## newGuy12

Without Remorse, Tom Clancy


----------



## Sukerkin

For about the sixth time, "Ashes of Victory" by David Weber (9th book of the Honor Harrington series).  If I could only have one series of books in the Sci-Fi genre, then this would be it.


----------



## Blindside

Sukerkin said:


> For about the sixth time, "Ashes of Victory" by David Weber (9th book of the Honor Harrington series). If I could only have one series of books in the Sci-Fi genre, then this would be it.


 
"War of Honor" was a bit of a drag, but "At All Costs" made up for it.  The early Honor books are probably my favorite examples of space opera.


----------



## Blindside

I listened to "The Golden Compass" on audio tape, that was great, I love the dark children's fiction.  I was much more impressed with Pullman's world creation than Rowlings.  

I just finished "The Skystone" and "The Singing Sword" by Jack Whyte, fantastic historical fiction, the two books cover the end of Rome in Britain, and the origins of the Arthur "King of the Britons" lineage.  This isn't an action packed story, and I like it all the more for that.

Starting in on "Infernal" the umteenth entry in the Repairman Jack series by F. Paul Wilson.  So far so good, but in some ways I liked the madder, meaner Jack.

Lamont


----------



## Sukerkin

Blindside said:


> "War of Honor" was a bit of a drag, but "At All Costs" made up for it. The early Honor books are probably my favorite examples of space opera.


 
Absolutely agree with the latter sentence there :tup:.  Probably my favourite single volume ,if I was forced to choose, would be "Flag in Exile".

As to "War of Honor", I've ever felt it to be a 'stage setter' for an upcoming confrontation between Manticore and it's allies and the Sollies.  Either that or a simple 'backdoor' to a new region so we can get to meet new and interesting cultures to stop the Andermani and the Peeps from getting stale.


----------



## CoryKS

Blindside said:


> Starting in on "Infernal" the umteenth entry in the Repairman Jack series by F. Paul Wilson. So far so good, but in some ways I liked the madder, meaner Jack.


 
"Infernal" is good.  Not my favorite, but oh man - you have to get through it so you can read "Harbingers"!  Jack has never been madder or meaner.  And I've been told by a friend who couldn't wait for the paperback that "Bloodlines" is the best one yet.  I can't wait!


----------



## Live True

Blindside said:


> A Meeting at Corvallis by SM Stirling - I'm a sucker for a good apocalypse tale, and one that thrusts a modern civilization back to the iron age works for me. I preferred the first tale in the series to the latter two, but they certainly qualify as good popcorn reading.
> 
> Finally finished Deathbird Stories which I started a year or more ago, Ellison just isn't an author who makes you want to slam through his works. Best savored slowly.


 
I have to agree that the first Stirling book was the best.  I think the events kinda overwhelmed the characters in the last two.  I believe that a new one in the series just came out...The Sunrise Lands?  If anyone's read it, I'd love to know what they thought.  Undecided if I'll get it or not.

Deathbird Stories is on my "to read list"  I had a friend introduce me to Ellison's works, and I've not found anyone quite like him.

Anywho...to answer the original question, I just finished devouring "At All Costs" by David Weber.  Having no direct military experience, I never thought Id read a book where the tactical minutie excited me and didnt make my eyes glaze over.  I love the way he writes!  The only other writer I've read recently who writes battles as well is Robert Jordan.

Also just finished Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman.  Gotta love a good surreal-mytho-boogie.

I tend to read 1-3 books at a time, depending on where I am and how busy my life is...so next up is Dante's "Divine comedy" (unabridged audio because I have a long commute) and TA Barron's 3rd book in the Great Tree of Avalon series.

I have to say, though...having read most of this thread...my list of books just got MUCH longer! OY! YES!:headbangin:


----------



## Big Don

I'm re-reading my way through the Death Gate Cycle for probably the third or fourth time. This time I finally read the "About the authors" bit on the dust cover and was very surprised that Tracy Hickman is a man...


----------



## Brian R. VanCise

I am currently reading: "The Last Assassin" by Barry Eisler.  So far it is the best of all his books.

http://www.barryeisler.com/


----------



## Live True

I just finished reading Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy because I wanted to decide for myself if it was worth the uproar, and I think more critics of the story should read the books.

Just started reading The Essential Ellison: A 50 year Retrospective  It's a fascinating look into the growth of an author and the themes in his works.


----------



## thardey

My wife is on the Amber Spyglass, for the same reason.

I am starting again on an old favorite I haven't read in about 15 years, Taliesin, by Stephen Lawhead. It's part of a trilogy that starts with the Destruction of Atlantis, and follows through to the King Arthur stories. (Hint: the Lady of the Lake is a survivor of Atlantis.)


----------



## Live True

thardey said:


> My wife is on the Amber Spyglass, for the same reason.
> I am starting again on an old favorite I haven't read in about 15 years, Taliesin, by Stephen Lawhead. It's part of a trilogy that starts with the Destruction of Atlantis, and follows through to the King Arthur stories. (Hint: the Lady of the Lake is a survivor of Atlantis.)


 
Gotta love someone who is wiling to find out for themselves!

Have you read T.A. Barron's take on the Merlin mythos?  It's pretty good!


----------



## thardey

No, but I did recently read The Once and Future King. It should be required reading for anybody who has to work with people.


----------



## Blindside

Live True said:


> Gotta love someone who is wiling to find out for themselves!
> 
> Have you read T.A. Barron's take on the Merlin mythos? It's pretty good!


 
Nope, but I finished up The Eagles Brood and The Saxon Shore by Jack Whyte which is another take on the Arthurian mythos.  Excellent excellent books.


----------



## crushing

I'm reading Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 for the first time.  I've seen the Truffaut film (1966) a couple times, including just last week which led me to finally check the book out from the library.

I'm surprised how different the pop culture take on it is different than the actual story.  Maybe that is because the book is critical of the media and the turning of media characters into Friends and Family and the distraction the mass media played in pulling people away from books, not to mention the 'political correctness' as demonstrated by the line "Don't step on the toes of the dog-livers, the cat-lovers, doctors, lawyers, merchants, chiefs, Mormons, Baptists, Unitarians, second-generation Chinese, Swedes, Italians, Germans, Texans, Brooklynites, Irishment, people from Oregon or Mexico."  The censorship that lead to the Firemen starting fires, rather than putting them out didn't start with the government, but with the political correctness from special interest groups.

I guess I justed wanted to say that the story is so much deeper and involved than any pop culture references or film could provide.  I hope the upcoming movie does it justice and doesn't end up being a Barb Wire (1996), but instead starring Tom Hanks.


----------



## Big Don

I just finished CONFESSOR The tenth (DAMN) and final novel (eleventh really, but...)of Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth epic. Yes, it was good. No, I did *not* like the ending. It tied up just a little too neatly and easily for me. All this horrific stuff goes on and the end comes down to, well, I won't spoil it...
One of the Black Belts in my school gave me the first six books last year. So, I blame him.


----------



## crushing

I'm still on my classics kick and I'm reading James Joyce's Dubliners.  It's supposed to be one of the great classics, but I'm not really getting in to it.  I guess I'm just not sophisticated enough for Joyce?  I've only read the first four stories, maybe I will start _getting it_ with the other stories?

I just noticed as I glanced at the index that 'The Dead' is one of the stories.  When I was putting together my list of 'must read' classics, someone said to read 'The Dead' first.  I thought it was a separate book and couldn't find at the library.  I think I'll jump ahead to 'The Dead' and then come back to the other stories.


----------



## Sukerkin

It's an important thing to sometimes remind ourselves that 'classics' were things that were popular in their time and are thought of as having literary significance or being examples of excellence in their genre.

That does not mean that we all have to like them tho'.  

From my own tastes, I *love* Shakespeare but can't handle Dickens, Golding is excellent in my view but Hemmingway can either tune me in or leave me cold.

So, if Joyce is turning into work rather than pleasure, *Crushing*, let him go.  Come back to him another time and maybe then you'll 'get it' and enjoy reading him.  I intend to do the same with Dickens once I've hacked into my stack of novels and texts that's built up on the library shelves .


----------



## crushing

I hear you Sukerkin!  Good advice.  I'm planning on revisiting some required school reading and see how different they are now that I want to read them, rather than have to read them.  

Speaking of Hemingway,  I've really enjoyed a few of his works in the last year.  The most recent read being Green Hills of Africa, which was ok to me until he shot the Rhino.  I understand it was a different time/different place and told myself that as I read on because I was enjoying the read, but it still bothered me.  I'm not sure if it is speciesist (?) of me, but I didn't mind the kudu hunt, or other 'deer- or cow-like' animals, but the killing of a rhino, or the discussion of shooting an elephant or lion I found very offputting.


----------



## Sukerkin

I can understand that response - sometimes when we read things from an other time the large changes in social attitudes really hit home.  

That's especially so when we're looking at the literary 'heavyweights' as we can tend to approach them with a degree of reverence and are, therefore, shocked more when something jars our sensibilities.


----------



## harlan

Thanks for the heads-up. Would you happen to have a review yet? 



Live True said:


> Just started reading The Essential Ellison: A 50 year Retrospective It's a fascinating look into the growth of an author and the themes in his works.


----------



## Fiendlover

the good guy by dean koontz was the last fiction book i read.

i started reading the mists of avalon but damn that book is over 700 pages long so i didnt finish it.


----------



## Jade Tigress

I just started reading I Am Legend 2 days ago. I haven't seen the movie yet.


----------



## crushing

I actually kind of got into Dubliners a little bit.  I had to change my mindset (paradigm shift?) that a story needs to have some closure rather than being open ended.  One story ended with a man coming home drunk after a lousy day at work and an evening of drinking and beating his child for letting the fire die down.  That was the end.  No come-uppance for the drunkard.  No lessons learned for the father.  I ran into the same thing reading Chekhov's short stories.  In fact, one of the Chekhov stories was very similiar with a drunk beating his child.  But, Chekhov went on to the next day where the father didn't remember the insults and beating he put on his child the night before and tried to give his boy a hug and the young boy was pale, meek, and standoffish.

Well, it's on to Heart of Darkness.  Only a couple pages in.

Speaking of Chekhov.  My favorite story was of a young man that was so proud of his name appearing in the newspaper.  He figured he was famous and would be known around the area.  He was bragging himself up in regards to his newfound fame to everyone around him.  

*SPOILER ALERT*
Come to find out, his name is in the paper for having too much drink which ended up causing the destruction of property and injury to himself!!!!!  LOL!  Anyway, it made me think of so many people now-a-days looking for their 15 minutes of fame.


----------



## Jack Meower

There are many pages to this thread and I've just come in on it.  That said, I'm not currently reading anything, but I'm eagerly awaiting the new book by John Sandford.  It is called Phantom Prey and it comes out in May.  

If anyone is interested in the series, the first was called Rules of Prey, and my personal favorite is Winter Prey.  My favorite series of books by far.  

It is basically about a cop in Minneapolis, but that description doesn't do justice to the author.  If you google John Sandford you'll find his site where you can find more info.  

Not a paid endorser, just a huge fan.


----------



## crushing

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.  I made it through the forward and introduction last night.  It sounds like it will be quite interesting.  Next to the Satanic Verses by Rushdie, it is probably the longest fiction book I've attempted.


----------



## mrhnau

crushing said:


> Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.  I made it through the forward and introduction last night.  It sounds like it will be quite interesting.  Next to the Satanic Verses by Rushdie, it is probably the longest fiction book I've attempted.


I read the Invisible Man by HG Wells. I assume this one is a bit different  any good?


----------



## crushing

mrhnau said:


> I read the Invisible Man by HG Wells. I assume this one is a bit different  any good?


 
Yeah, I think it's a different invisibility .  Here is more info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_Man_(novel).  I'll post a follow-up when I get into the story.  It sounded like a compelling read and was on several of the 'best book' lists when I was researching things to read.


----------



## benj13bowlin

I just finished reading Reaper's Gale: Malazan Book of the Fallen, by Steven Erikson.  

I really liked it.  Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen has to be my favorite series right now.  Everytime he comes out with another instalment I start the series over at the begining.  

Before that I read all the books in the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.

Now I need something new to read.  I read pretty fast going through 2-3 books a week, and I have read most of the better know books in the genre. Any suggestions?  Something along the same lines.  I read mostly SF/Fantasy with a little bit of just about everything else thrown in.


----------



## mrhnau

benj13bowlin said:


> Now I need something new to read.  I read pretty fast going through 2-3 books a week, and I have read most of the better know books in the genre. Any suggestions?  Something along the same lines.  I read mostly SF/Fantasy with a little bit of just about everything else thrown in.


Geez, I wish I had that kind of time to read!

I really enjoyed some of the classics lately. I got on an HG Wells kick for a little while. Old, but really entertaining. For a twist, you can try some of CS Lewis's lesser known books: The Space Trilogy. I have been meaning to reread those. If you like old stuff, I could recommend a few more, but not a lot of people like reading that these days 

As far as Fantasy, I always enjoyed the Star Wars novels, but they kept coming out faster than I could read, and it got a bit much to keep up with. Been reading the Forgotten Realms books a bit. Just finished up Elminster: The Making of a Mage. That was a fun read...


----------



## kidswarrior

Well, I hate to admit this to you group of highbrows, but I read the newest Robert B Parker Saturday, and John Grisham's _Playing for Pizza_ on Sunday (had just gotten home from a 6 day, 3200 mile, 10 state, 3 time zone road trip which included a funeral service for a sibling, so needed some R&R pretty badly). Both really hit the spot. I was in no mood for the likes of Dorian Gray or Shakespeare .


----------



## Hand Sword

I will say that aside from my math book, my fictional books are all of my other school books!


----------



## LoneRider

Right now I just polished off Star Wars: Republic Commando by Karen Traviss.


----------



## stickarts

The sequals to The Wizard of Earthsea trilogy by Ursula Le Guinn


----------



## Sukerkin

kidswarrior said:


> Both really hit the spot. I was in no mood for the likes of Dorian Gray or Shakespeare .


 
.  Sometimes all a book needs to be is entertaining, my friend.  I'm currently reading "The Stars at War II" by David Webber and Steve White.  It's pure space-opera and ninety percent battle descriptions and reports that I can see.  In fact, I suspect that it is a fictionalised account of a gaming campaign for a system akin to Starfire .


----------



## Blindside

Sukerkin said:


> . Sometimes all a book needs to be is entertaining, my friend. I'm currently reading "The Stars at War II" by David Webber and Steve White. It's pure space-opera and ninety percent battle descriptions and reports that I can see. In fact, I suspect that it is a fictionalised account of a gaming campaign for a system akin to Starfire .


 
Actually, I believe it is based specifically on the Starfire game.


----------



## Sukerkin

Ah - thanks for the additional certainty, *Blindside* :tup:.  It must've taken them months to run through all the battles give how long it used to take us to complete an engagement .


----------



## mrhnau

I've been reading a lot of classics lately... "Firefly's First Flight", "Mirror Me", "On the Farm", "Bible Stories for Children". I'm not too intellectually challenged by them, but at least my son is enjoying them


----------



## crushing

I thought that Invisible Man was such a good read that when I turned it back in to the library I picked up Juneteenth.


----------



## CoryKS

Reading The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, fast on the heels of Atlas Shrugged, which I enjoyed very much.  I like her writing style, except for the plodding John Galt speech, which took as long for me to read as any three other chapters.


----------



## SensibleManiac

Next by Michael Crichton


----------



## LoneRider

Republic Commando: True Colors - Karen Traviss.


----------



## Cerradura

The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss


----------



## Jade Tigress

I'm reading Duma Key by Stephen King. I used to be huge King fan. Back when his books were good. Then he seemed to go into a "crank them out for the contract" mode, and they sucked. This one is *very* good, I'm almost finished and hope the ending doesn't disappoint. 

What do I mean by disappoint? That it doesn't turn out the way I want it to? No. Remember It? Pennywise the clown, scary. And it turns out to be a big damn spider? C'mon. 

I will say, the ending on this one is shaping up to be satisfying. I'll let ya know in about 75 pages.


----------



## Omar B

My favorite author is Ayn Rand so I always have all her books on a constant loop.  I'm about 20 pages from the end of Atlas Shrugged which means by tomorrow I'm gonna be back to We The Living.  She's my favorite as a philosopher and an author.

Last week I read Devil May Care by Sebastial Faulks, that's the new James Bond book.  It was good but falls short of Fleming (of cource), Amis, Gardner and Benson.  What can I say, Bond and Batman are my favorite fictional characters, I have everythng on them in print.


----------



## pesilat

Jade Tigress said:


> I'm reading Duma Key by Stephen King. I used to be huge King fan. Back when his books were good. Then he seemed to go into a "crank them out for the contract" mode, and they sucked. This one is *very* good, I'm almost finished and hope the ending doesn't disappoint.
> 
> What do I mean by disappoint? That it doesn't turn out the way I want it to? No. Remember It? Pennywise the clown, scary. And it turns out to be a big damn spider? C'mon.
> 
> I will say, the ending on this one is shaping up to be satisfying. I'll let ya know in about 75 pages.



I liked Duma Key quite a bit and, personally, didn't find the ending to be disappointing.

Right now I'm reading "Man with the Golden Torc" by Simon R. Greene, "Tarzan the Terrible" by Edgar Rice Burroughs and "Recursion" by Tony Ballantyne.

"Man with the Golden Torc" is shaping up to be a good story. Like most of Greene's writing, I find the writing itself to be somewhat redundant - he repeats the same phrases quite a bit (often within the same page and sometimes within the same paragraph). But, also like most of Greene's stuff, I find the story to be very entertaining and enjoyable.

"Tarzan the Terrible" is good. As always, it's important to remember that Burroughs was way more concerned with telling a good yarn than with any sort of historical, geographical or scientific accuracy.

"Recursion" was Ballantyne's first novel and is shaping up to be an incredibly good first novel - and, I would say, a good novel by any standards. Set in the future, it covers three story lines that span several hundred years. It's about human vs. self-replicating artificial intelligences. As the tag line says, "The future was everything we hoped for - and more than we bargained for."


----------



## pesilat

Omar B said:


> What can I say, Bond and Batman are my favorite fictional characters, I have everythng on them in print.



Do you have "Captured by the Engines" - a Batman novel by Joe R. Lansdale?

If so, you'd be one of the very few people I've run into who do 

If you don't, then I'd recommend picking it up - if you can track down a copy. I'm a huge fan of Joe's work. I wouldn't put this one among the best of his work but it's a fun read. He also did some writing for "Batman - the Animated Series" on T.V. - if memory serves he wrote the episode with Jonah Hex and co-wrote one or two other episodes.

Mike


----------



## Omar B

Yeah, I have it.  Got it used for $0.25.  Used book sale on my street every Saturday.


----------



## Ahriman

Jade Tigress: one of my favourite books from King is It...  If you can remember, the spider was the base form in the *physical* realm as It's true material form was so alien that the human mind couldn't understand it thus their weak little minds rendered a more understandable image. The absolute form of It was left nearly totally unharmed and untouched_ (yes, they slayed the "spider" and with it the connection of It to the material world, but they merely escaped that light out there - a bit Lovecraftian, eh?)_, thus the AFAIK two further mentions of Pennywise in later books _(Tommyknockers and Dreamcatcher)_. I like that in most books by King the evil never dies, the good boys never win fully - how could anyone possibly truly defeat powers so much greater than them?
Oh, and did anyone realize whose lesser avatar was Mr. Gaunt in Needful things? 
...
And to be on-topic:
All works of Howard Phillips Lovecraft
Select works of Edgar Allan Poe
Péter Zsoldos: A distant fire
_(yes, I really read more than a dozen books simultaneously)_


----------



## girlbug2

hmmm, could it be...Satan?


----------



## Ahriman

Nah, that would be very cheap... 
Put it this way: who has acces to the plateau of Leng at any time; who is in the same "family" as the wife_ (nice relationship, 1000 children, some not likely from the not-to-be-named one and they're still together)_ of one of the inhabitants of that plateau; who likes to corrupt and defy humanity either on large or small scale; who dares and survives mocking Yog-Sothoth _(Gaunt's car in the garage, graffiti on the wall)_; who is arrogant enough to do a little "hunting" for pleasure when he should be carrying out orders from his superiors, the Outer _(or "Other" for purist HPL fans )_ Gods?
...
He's the crawling chaos, the three-lobed burning eye, the messenger of Azathoth, the soul of the Other Gods, the Black Man: Nyarlathotep_ (who is thought to be the devil by some HPL fans, so after all we got back to your idea)_.
Uh, OK, not really him, only a manifestation of him. 
_
(While it is likely that Flagg, Stark and Gaunt are linked to some level, the lack of reference for this would imply that either there is no actual link or that they are indeed lesser avatars - lesser to the point where they stop being linked directly to Nyarly, thus losing much of his power and knowledge while aiding the work of him; this would be a logical reason for their apparent short memory and lack of logic in some cases)_



edited to add: I looked this up in the wiki about 2 minutes ago and to my surprise I found a theory like mine there. Damn. I hate when it looks like I'm copying the wiki. :S


----------



## irishwolf08

The Host by Stephine Meyers


----------



## Big Don

Death and Honor by W.E.B. Griffin


----------



## pesilat

Omar B said:


> Yeah, I have it.  Got it used for $0.25.  Used book sale on my street every Saturday.



I'm impressed  I enjoyed "Captured by the Engines" but didn't think it was a particularly good sample of Joe's work. If you haven't read any of Joe's other work I would highly recommend it (in fact, I'd highly recommend Joe's work to anyone who enjoys a good yarn; he's written stuff in just about any genre you want to mention) - with the caveat that he is pretty raw at times so if you're easily offended then you might want to close your eyes while you read it  He also wrote the novella that "Bubba Ho-Tep" is based on (a great movie starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis). Also, the short story that "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" is based on (this was the episode that kicked off the first season of "Masters of Horror" on Showtime and this was the best made-for-cable horror flick I've ever seen).

Mike


----------



## Big Don

I was going to pick up Brad Thor's The First Commandment, but, as I was leaving the store I got sidetracked


----------



## Sukerkin

Finally have been reading "The Children of Hurin" :faints:.  It's only taken me about a year and a half to get far enough down the stack to reach it ... I blame the internet :lol:.


----------



## Big Don

OnlyAnEgg said:


> Deception Point by Dan Brown.
> 
> I've fallen in with the heretics...


For some reason, the title makes me think Deception Point=Where people go for divorces, of course, that could just be my smartass nature...


----------



## CoryKS

The Big Sky by A.B. Guthrie Jr.  Have never read anything in the Western genre, so it's an interesting change.


----------



## mrhnau

Sukerkin said:


> Finally have been reading "The Children of Hurin" :faints:.  It's only taken me about a year and a half to get far enough down the stack to reach it ... I blame the internet :lol:.


Post a quick review when you can. I'm contemplating picking it up relatively soon...


----------



## Big Don

I spent an hour or so mining the 29 pages of this thread and hopping back and forth between this, my library and Barnes and Noble's websites.
I picked up a couple of books after seeing them mentioned here, and both were very enjoyable.


----------



## Big Don

I did something I have never done before. I bought a book, because of a TV commercial. 
Now I am reading Brad Thor's Lions of Lucerne, having started backwards through his novels, I am now to his first and am loving it.


----------



## Sukerkin

mrhnau said:


> Post a quick review when you can. I'm contemplating picking it up relatively soon...


 
I can say that the background details that it fills in are quite interesting but the writing is very much in the style of the Silmarrilion - it tells the story effectively enough but it's historical reportage rather than drama.


----------



## stickarts

I just finished the book from the latest Indiana Jones movie (Crystal skull) Not a bad read.


----------



## jkembry

"In Secret Service" by Mitch Silver.  Not bad...but not the greatest either.


----------



## Phadrus00

pesilat said:


> I'm impressed  I enjoyed "Captured by the Engines" but didn't think it was a particularly good sample of Joe's work. If you haven't read any of Joe's other work I would highly recommend it (in fact, I'd highly recommend Joe's work to anyone who enjoys a good yarn; he's written stuff in just about any genre you want to mention) - with the caveat that he is pretty raw at times so if you're easily offended then you might want to close your eyes while you read it  He also wrote the novella that "Bubba Ho-Tep" is based on (a great movie starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis). Also, the short story that "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" is based on (this was the episode that kicked off the first season of "Masters of Horror" on Showtime and this was the best made-for-cable horror flick I've ever seen).
> 
> Mike


 
Mike,

Great Lovecraftian Scholarship here!  Always happy to meet a fellow HPL fan as especially one so well read and versed inthe Mythos.  I too love the conneciton that King has to Lovecraft and enjoy tracing his characters back to the archetypes established by HPL.

Bubba Ho-Tep was a great movie! So underappreciated by the masses!  I tried to get through Dagon but just found it too cheesy unfortunately.  I did enjoy "Cast a Deadly Spell" though!

I'll be sure to try and find the "Masters of Horror" series on DVD.

Regards,

Rob


----------



## JBrainard

"The Necronomicon" by ???
The fact that it is full of fiction but is supposed to be an authentic evil spellbook is pretty entertaining.


----------



## CoryKS

JBrainard said:


> "The Necronomicon" by ???
> The fact that it is full of fiction but is supposed to be an authentic evil spellbook is pretty entertaining.


 

That's what they want you to think.  A shoggoth got my cousin once.  He was reading page 133.  _Aloud_.


----------



## Phadrus00

Currently I am reading a Clive Cussler Novel called "Sacred Stone".  It's ok, but not outstanding.  

I have also been reading a collection of Short Stories by Steven King called "Everything is Eventual" that is much better (Mike I think one of Nyalothotep's avatars appears in a short story int his collection as well.. it's called "The Man in the Dark Suit" and it has appeared in a number of other collections and there is even a short filmbased on it).  It includes the short story that the movie "1408" is based on. 

I have been looking for a good list of Summer Reads and found this article on io9 that has some excellent recommendations:

http://io9.com/396994/twelve-books-you-should-read-at-the-beach-this-summer

For those not familiar with io9 it's a great spot for all things Sci-fi in nature!

I read the "Wanted" graphic novel last month in anticipation of the movie coming out this month.  The GN was excellent but it looks as if the movie is taking a COMPLETELY different direction.  Too bad really.

Rob


----------



## JBrainard

CoryKS said:


> That's what they want you to think. A shoggoth got my cousin once. He was reading page 133. _Aloud_.


 
Noted. I'll be careful


----------



## Kreth

I just finished up Gordon R. Dickson's Tactics of Mistake. A little light, but not a bad read.


----------



## Big Don

Whoever mentioned F Paul Wilson, 
THANKS!
I am about a third of the way into The Tomb and am enjoying it very much


----------



## SensibleManiac

The Footprints of God by Greg Isles
It's a suspense novel. I'm halfway through and It's amazing.


----------



## stickarts

Just starting Voyage of the Shadowmoon by Sean McMullen. The book was given to me by a friend. I know nothing about the author. Anyone here ever read books by this author?


----------



## Big Don

Based on another poster's recommendation, I'm reading Robert Asprin's Phule's Company.
That is the second author I've gotten to from this thread and couldn't be happier, so, thanks, whoever you were.
I read purely for entertainment, so let me recommend: Sir Apropos of Nothing by Peter Allen David, the way David uses the English language is just awesome.


----------



## jks9199

Kreth said:


> I just finished up Gordon R. Dickson's Tactics of Mistake. A little light, but not a bad read.


*Tactics of Mistake* is just a beginning point... Have you read *Dorsai!* or any of the rest of the series?  Dickson was working a really interesting idea out through (I think) something like 12 planned novels, plus some ancillary books and stories, like _Man of War_.  

I'm a big fan of Dickson; his death really saddened me because he left some things unfinished!


----------



## LanJie

Star Wars Legacy of the Force: Inferno by Troy Denning


----------



## Touch Of Death

I've just read the first book, "Christ the lord, out of Egypt" and am now starting "Christ the lord, The road to Cana" by Anne Rice. That first book was a little slow moving, but tastefull. No big revelations, just a story, written in first person. I was ok with it.
Sean


----------



## Touch Of Death

Big Don said:


> Whoever mentioned F Paul Wilson,
> THANKS!
> I am about a third of the way into The Tomb and am enjoying it very much


 I've read almost the entire Repairman Jack series. They are most cool.
Sean


----------



## LanJie

I just finished Star Wars Legacy of the Force: Inferno by Troy Denning and I am now reading the Chaos Curse by R. A. Salvatore for the second time.


----------



## Sukerkin

"Altered Carbon" by Richard Morgan.  It's sort of a film noire Gumshoe novel in a Sci-Fi setting.  It puts you in mind of "Blade Runner" in terms of tone mixed in with some of the classic 'Gumshoe' movies like "Chinatown".

Oddly about the only thing I don't like about it (and I'm showing my middle-age now ) is that there is too much sex in it.  It's not unnecessary to the plot per se and it does carry character relationships along but I don't need it to be so explicit.


----------



## Kacey

I am reading Hominids, by Robert Sawyer, the first in a trilogy about the crossover between our world and an alternate world in which Neanderthals are the dominant human species - a very interesting take on how their culture might be different if they had dominated and developed technology similar to our own.


----------



## tshadowchaser

The Two Swords By R.A. Salvatore
This is the third book in the Hunters Blade Trilogy


----------



## mrhnau

tshadowchaser said:


> The Two Swords By R.A. Salvatore
> This is the third book in the Hunters Blade Trilogy


Great series. Loved Drizzt


----------



## jks9199

Kacey said:


> I am reading Hominids, by Robert Sawyer, the first in a trilogy about the crossover between our world and an alternate world in which Neanderthals are the dominant human species - a very interesting take on how their culture might be different if they had dominated and developed technology similar to our own.


It's a very interesting series... and raises some interesting questions about prejudice and beliefs.

That's one of the things science fiction is great at; shining a light obliquely enough on us that we can recognize it -- without being driven away.


----------



## Cryozombie

I'm reading the "Tales of the Otori" series.  I just finished "Across the Nightingale Floor" for the second time, and I just started Book 2, "Grass for his Pillow."



> *Tales of the Otori* is a series of fantasy novels by Lian Hearn, set in a fictional world based on feudal Japan. The series initially consisted of a trilogy: _Across the Nightingale Floor_ (2002), _Grass for His Pillow_ (2003), and _Brilliance of the Moon_ (2004). It was followed in 2006 by a sequel, _The Harsh Cry of the Heron_, and in 2007 by a prequel, _Heaven's Net is Wide_.
> The books follow a young warrior named Takeo in his struggles to avenge an adoptive father, escape the legacy of his biological father, and pursue the love of his life in the midst of an enormous power struggle involving dozens of clan lords and thousands of warriors.


----------



## crushing

Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury.  It was quite confusing right off the bat until I read a wiki about it, describing Faulkner's use of "stream of consciousness" and time shifts.  Well, it's still confusing, but I have a better idea of what is going on.


----------



## tshadowchaser

Just started reading Stormblade by Nancy Varian Berberick.  It is volume two of the DragonLance  H*E*R*O*E*S  group of books.

Yes I tend to read SciFi and Fantasy


----------



## Sukerkin

"Tales of the Otori" sounds very interesting, *Cryo*, I shall have to look out for them.

Also, thanks to *shadow* for reminding me that I never got around to completeing my collection of D&D based books.  Another oversight I shall have to amend .


----------



## crushing

Native Son by Richard Wright


----------



## Big Don

No Phule Like an Old Phule
One of you suggested Asprin...


----------



## Cryozombie

Im currently on book VII of the StarFist series.  A Sci-fi military series about Marines fighting wars on various planets.  Its Co-authored by a Retired Marine and a retired Army Sgt Major, so despite the sci-fi elements its an equally good military adventure series.

They're a quick read, I can get thru a novel in about 2 days of casual reading.


----------



## bowser666

I am re-reading the Dark Elf Trilogy in Forgotten Realms fantasy setting.  One of my favorite trilogies!  I have probably read it at least a dozen times and still enjoy it to this day.


----------



## Kreth

My fiancee just picked up Dragons of the Dwarven Depths, since we're both Dragonlance fans. It's the first of trilogy that's supposed to fill in the gaps between the books of the original Chronicles. What would you call that, an intraquel? :idunno:


----------



## JBrainard

Just finished Animal Farm. Still a great novel.


----------



## harlan

An anthology. 'The O. Henry Prize Stories 2002'

Was dropping stuff off at the town recycling shed, and of course...books always catch my eye. Picked it up, and couldn't put it down. I forgot how much I like short stories. I started reading 'Anthropology'...and it went home with me.


----------



## Big Don

The new Stephen Coonts book The Assassin 
Pretty good so far, although, I'm lukewarm on Carmellini...


----------



## Brian R. VanCise

Cryozombie said:


> I'm reading the "Tales of the Otori" series.  I just finished "Across the Nightingale Floor" for the second time, and I just started Book 2, "Grass for his Pillow."
> 
> ​



I read those as well and it was a fun read in general.  The first one across the nightingale floor is the best of them though.


----------



## jks9199

*The Two Space War* by David Grossman and Leo Frankowski.

Interesting read, puts lots of Grossman's work to "work" and on display in a fantasy/sci-fi setting.


----------



## CoryKS

A Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin


----------



## jkembry

Stephen Coontz

"Deep Black: Biowar"


----------



## Lynne

Conversations with the Devil, by Jeff Rovin.

I actually just finished it.  Loved it.

Psychologist Sara Lynch believes that God and the Devil are constructs of the human mind to embody good and evil.

One of Sara's teenage patients hangs himself one gloomy fall evening.  Sara enters his home, trespassing, and explores the boy's room and discovers that he was a Satanist.  She steals a few artifacts from the boy's bedroom, including rites on how to conjure the Devil.

Sara cannot comprehend why the boy committed suicide as he wasn't suicidal.  To get inside his mind, Sara decides she must feel what he felt.  She attempts to raise the Devil...and she does.

Satan is after Sara's soul.  He is relentless.  This story has a few surprises at the end.


----------



## Touch Of Death

"The Diamond Age", by Neal Stephenson. So far so good.


----------



## jkembry

Finished:  Black Ops:  Biowar

Starting:  Caribbean by James Mitchner


----------



## Big Don

The Last Oracle by James Rollins
not bad at all


----------



## stickarts

Wild Fire by Nelson DeMille. Interesting so far.


----------



## tshadowchaser

The Brethren by John Grisham


----------



## mrhnau

jkembry said:


> Finished:  Black Ops:  Biowar
> 
> Starting:  Caribbean by James Mitchner


Post how you enjoy Caribbean. I really enjoyed The Source and Alaska by Mitchner. Would consider picking up another of his books. I enjoy his style and thoroughness.


----------



## Mark L

The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem.


----------



## Live True

THe Ghost Brigade by John Scalzi, just finished Old Man's War.....I'm liking his writing style, and the topic is interesting...Old Man's War starts with the main character turning 75, visiting his wife's grave, and joining the army.....it gets more interesting from there

If you like Heinlein...his style is reminsicent...


----------



## crushing

Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner


----------



## jks9199

Live True said:


> THe Ghost Brigade by John Scalzi, just finished Old Man's War.....I'm liking his writing style, and the topic is interesting...Old Man's War starts with the main character turning 75, visiting his wife's grave, and joining the army.....it gets more interesting from there
> 
> If you like Heinlein...his style is reminsicent...


It's a great series; I just finished *The Last Colony*.


----------



## bowser666

I jstu finished book 2 In The Haunted Lands Trilogy. Forgotten Realms setting. Undead by Richard Lee Byers.  Very good.  I am enjoying it, but now i have to wait for book 3 which doesn't come out until March 9th of 2009


----------



## MA-Caver

Reading two books right now... book 2 of The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant and book 7 of Harry Potter. Mainly because I don't have anything new to read around the house and canna afford something new. :idunno: They're great books anyway... just finished the LOTR trilogy.


----------



## Lynne

The Shapeshifter by Tony Hillerman.  Navajo tribal policeman, Lt. Joe Leaphorn, is retired but ends up on a wild ride to find a detective friend who has gone missing in search of a 150 year-old Navajo rug.  The rug had supposedly burned in a fire years ago at a Trading Post along with a serial killer.

Hard to put down!


----------



## BlueDragon1981

Brisingr... third book in the inheratance triology. ... or I mean cycle. He is writing a fourth now.


----------



## dancingalone

I just finished With No One as A Witness by Elizabeth George.  It's part of a mystery series that follows some Scotland Yard detectives as they wonder around Britain solving various murders.  I understand the BBC has made some TV series based on some of the books although I've never watched any for myself.

I am currently re-reading The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman.  It's historical fiction based on Richard III and the Wars of the Roses.


----------



## Live True

jks9199 said:


> It's a great series; I just finished *The Last Colony*.


 
I've just started that one, and then will do SM Stirlings Sunrise lands next. 

I like Scalzi's writing style, very nice!


----------



## Brian R. VanCise

Reading an oldie but a goodie for the umpteenth time.  The Ninja by Eric V. Lustbader.


----------



## stickarts

I am currently listening to the audio books Plum Island, The Charm school, and Word of Honor, by Nelson DeMille. They are interesting and help pass the long commute I have to and from work.


----------



## Kreth

I picked up Dragons of the Highlord Skies for my wife as a stocking stuffer, but ended up starting it first, lol. We're both Dragonlance fans and have most of the books.


----------



## Big Don

Just went through Simon R Green's Nightside series in about a week, followed by W.E.B. Griffin's Black Ops (the new one).


----------



## jks9199

The Nightside books are great... Have you read *A Night at the Lonesome October* and *Shadows Fall*?  Or *The Man With the Golden Torc*?  Or *Blue Moon Rising* and the rest that follow it?

(Yeah, I like Green's swords & fantasy type stuff; *Deathstalker* and the rest lost me somewhere...)


----------



## Big Don

jks9199 said:


> The Nightside books are great... Have you read *A Night at the Lonesome October* and *Shadows Fall*?  Or *The Man With the Golden Torc*?  Or *Blue Moon Rising* and the rest that follow it?
> 
> (Yeah, I like Green's swords & fantasy type stuff; *Deathstalker* and the rest lost me somewhere...)


The Man with the Golden Torc was very good, and it's follow up,_*Daemons are Forever* _was as well Generally, when I find an author I like I go through ALL his/her books in . I read Blue Moon Rising the rest of the Forest Kingdom Series. chronological order as fast as I can lay hands on them.


----------



## crushing

Just started A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.


----------



## Big Don

Since my computer up and died one day ( I had lots of time to read...
Grisham's latest, The Associate was pretty good. I mostly reread a few series that I reread every year.


----------



## crushing

I enjoyed the story A Thousand Splendid Suns so much that I followed it up with The Kite Runner.

Now I'm reading Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy,


----------



## Tomu

Just finished "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy.  Excellent read.

I think I am going to start Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series over again. By far my fave fiction.  Just wish there were more.


----------



## Big Don

Just another Judgment Day by Simon R Green. It is the latest Nightside novel.


----------



## Marginal

Cauldron by Jack McDevitt

His Priscilla Hutchens novels are interesting pretty much in the same way Ring World or the Foundation series are. 

Before that, Pattern Recognition by William Gibson. Eh.


----------



## crushing

I just started Aldous Huxley's Eyeless in Gaza.


----------



## Big Don

Big Don said:


> Just another Judgment Day by Simon R Green. It is the latest Nightside novel.


Get it from the library or wait for the paperback $24.95 seems steep for less than 300 pages... It was good, as I have come to expect.


----------



## MA-Caver

Dark Rivers Of The Heart by Dean Koontz. 
Another one of his typical but very good reads.


----------



## girlbug2

The Ruby in Her Navel by Barry Unsworth. He also wrote Sacred Hunger, one of my favorite historical fictions. Ruby is a little slower and more introspective, but worthwhile.


----------



## Big Don

Run for your Life by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge was very good, if a very fast (five hour) read
*
*


----------



## girlbug2

Now it's Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. 300 pages in, and so far, it is rabidly anti-socialist. I can see where she had a huge influence on American philosophy and politics in the mid-20th century.


----------



## crushing

I just couldn't get in to Eyeless in Gaza so I moved on to Bradbury's Now and Forever: Somewhere a Band is Playing & Leviathan '99 and now I'm reading Number of the Beast by Heinlein.


----------



## CoryKS

Just finished The Terror by Dan Simmons.  Great book!


----------



## crushing

Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo

I'm halfway through the huge book and it is quite captivating.


----------



## Sukerkin

Aye, Dumas makes for a wonderful read.  I've always preferred the 'Muskateers' for swashbuckling fun but the Count is an excellent book.

Complete change of tack, I'm currently reading "The Song of Homana" by Jennifer Roberson.  I read "Shapechangers" in the early '80's and this author then just seemed to drop out of sight.  Now I learn that there is a whole series that grew from that first book (and other series besides).

Goes to show that not only is publishing a fickle trade but also that distribution and 'exposure' are not necessarily follow-ons from getting your work into print.


----------



## K Williams

Requiem for an Assassin by Barry Eisler


----------



## tellner

_The Judging Eye_
_The Count of Monte Cristo_ by sheer coincidence
The _Shahnameh_
An as-yet unpublished Steve Perry book


----------



## Omar B

Now I'm reading a crapload of Don Pendleton's Mack Bolan novels I got on sale (4 for a $1)  and as always rereading Atlas Shrugged ... see my signature.


----------



## Big Don

tellner said:


> An as-yet unpublished Steve Perry book


Not... Journey's Steve Perry?


----------



## arnisador

Omar B said:


> Now I'm reading a crapload of Don Pendleton's Mack Bolan novels



Oh, I read a bunch of those as a kid!Also many of the knock-offs...The Death Merchant, The Butcher...



> Atlas Shrugged



Read it at my wife's suggestion years ago. I hear they want to make a movie of it with Angelina Jolie.


----------



## jks9199

Big Don said:


> Not... Journey's Steve Perry?


Nope.  It's Steve Perry, the author.  Well known for the Matador series, among others.  

And if Tellner's reading what I suspect he's reading -- it's a great read.  I sure hope it sees print.


----------



## jks9199

arnisador said:


> Oh, I read a bunch of those as a kid!Also many of the knock-offs...The Death Merchant, The Butcher...
> 
> 
> 
> Read it at my wife's suggestion years ago. I hear they want to make a movie of it with Angelina Jolie.


I preferred The Destroyer books... but for a while, they lost the humor... and just plain got hard as hell to find.


----------



## Omar B

So I hear, but a movie won't do it.  Atlas Shrugged needs a mini-series at least, or a year long run at most.  Condensed it would not be nearly as good.  ASome things need to be in long form instead of an hour and a half adaptation.

As for Mack Bolan, I'm a huge Punisher fan (as well as all round comic nerd) and someone suggested it to me.  Used book sale at 4 for a dollar, I gave the dude a $5 and grabbed a huge handful.  Loving it.


----------



## CoryKS

Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds


----------



## tellner

Big Don said:


> Not... Journey's Steve Perry?


jks is right. It's Steve Perry the science fiction writer. He is the best out there at fiction with martial arts in it. If you haven't read his _Matador_ series do yourself a favor and buy them. They were recently re-issued.


----------



## Big Don

tellner said:


> jks is right. It's Steve Perry the science fiction writer. He is the best out there at fiction with martial arts in it. If you haven't read his _Matador_ series do yourself a favor and buy them. They were recently re-issued.


I'll pick one up, thanks for the tip


----------



## crushing

The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie.  I bought it back in '89 and started it a couple times.  Maybe I'll finish it this time.


----------



## Flying Crane

I'm in the middle of Mary Shelley's original _Frankenstein_.  I had started it a couple of times in the past, but I kept losing the book somewhere and not getting back to it.  I finally picked up a new copy and I'm about halfway thru.  It's quite good.

what I find amazing is the quality of the writing, particularly that Shelley was largely self-educated and it was a point about which she was rather self-conscious.  I think a lot of what gets published these days has some truly atrocious and shallow writing, and it becomes glaringly apparent when compared to something like _Frankenstein_, which was written in the early 1800s.  I am just amazed at how much more eloquent it seems many of the authors of that time were.  They seem to exhibit a command of the language that simply surpasses the norm of today.

Anyway, it's a great story, I highly recommend it.


----------



## girlbug2

Omar B said:


> So I hear, but a movie won't do it. Atlas Shrugged needs a mini-series at least, or a year long run at most. Condensed it would not be nearly as good. ASome things need to be in long form instead of an hour and a half adaptation.
> 
> .


 
Considering the changes in technology since the book was written, I'd say it would have to be set in a sort of alternate universe to work as a movie today -- along the lines of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. (We just dont' seem to rely on railroads like we once did).


----------



## Omar B

You know, that's exactly how I envisioned it, being similar in Style to Sky Captain.  Also, if you've seen Casshern (the most beautiful looking movie ever!) which takes the digital backlot approach like Sky Captain and goes even further with the visuals.  Even as a kid reading AS the first time I realized that it has to be done in that retro-futuristic style like the world of Superman and Batman (in the comics, the movies modernize) and that's the same style Sky Captain (which looks like a Max Fleisher Superman cartoon) and Casshern went for.

As for books, right now I'm reading George RR Martin's A Clash of Kings, amazing book.  GRRM is my second favorite fantasy author after Terry Goodkind (me being an Ayn Rand fan can you blame me?).

So I've given Mack Bolan a couple days off but I have 4 brand new ones waiting for me.  I'll get to those by Sunday I think.


----------



## Touch Of Death

I'm reading, "THE QUEST" by Wilbur Smith. Its the fourth Book about Ancient Egypt. My only ***** is that Wilbur Smith made all the Egyptians White guys, as in Blonde Hair Blue eyed white guys, but what R YA gonna do? Its a good series other than that.
Sean


----------



## Touch Of Death

Omar B said:


> So I've given Mack Bolan a couple days off but I have 4 brand new ones waiting for me. I'll get to those by Sunday I think.


There is a New "Destroyer" series you might check out.
Sean


----------



## Omar B

I know about the new Destroyer series, I'm pretty excited.  as always my backlog of books to read is a couple weeks long so it's all about scheduling.  I love a good action book, Flemming, Amis, Clancy, Ludlum, I'm a sucker for that stuff when I'm not reading fantasy and sci-fi.


----------



## girlbug2

Omar B said:


> As for books, right now I'm reading George RR Martin's A Clash of Kings, amazing book. GRRM is my second favorite fantasy author after Terry Goodkind (me being an Ayn Rand fan can you blame me?).
> quote]
> 
> A Song of Ice and Fire is the third best series I've read, the first being Lord of the Rings and the second being The Dark Tower. I have no comment on Goodkind.
> 
> If you've just started ASOIAF, a piece of advice; take it slow and savor it. Book #5 is stalling, much to my frustration. I wonder if he'll ever finish it!


----------



## Omar B

Yeah, I know about GRRM's slow down.  It's just that I've got them all (picked 'em up on sale last weekend) so I can finally tell everyone "Shut up, I'm reading it ok!"


----------



## Jade Tigress

I am ALWAYS reading a novel. The one I'm reading now is not fiction, but it's entertaining all the same. Marley and Me. It's hilarious.  I haven't seen the movie, but I have laughed out loud reading the book. I'm about 2/3 through.


----------



## Big Don

I'm going through Stephen Coonts Jake Grafton novels again.


----------



## Live True

I'm getting ready to start Storm from the Shadows by David Weber. It's the next novel in the space opera/war novels about the admirable person of Honor Harrington. Not only is she a well written strong female character (as are many of characters in these books), it's a well written story with nicely written and explained military strategy and well done battle scenes.  Can't wait!


----------



## Jenna

"King Rat" - China Mieville.  

Anyone here into contemporary fantasy genres or know much about it?  I am on the above and really quite like it.  I have not tried much at all in the fantasy genre after kind of growing out of Terry Pratchett.  Anyone recommend any modern, contemporary fantasy ie. set in real-world environments?  Not sword and sorcery stuff... Help appreciated. Thanks, Jenna


----------



## CoryKS

Jenna said:


> "King Rat" - China Mieville.
> 
> Anyone here into contemporary fantasy genres or know much about it? I am on the above and really quite like it. I have not tried much at all in the fantasy genre after kind of growing out of Terry Pratchett. Anyone recommend any modern, contemporary fantasy ie. set in real-world environments? Not sword and sorcery stuff... Help appreciated. Thanks, Jenna


 
Have you read any of Neil Gaiman's stuff?  I read "Neverwhere" and it was similar to Amazon's description of "King Rat".  He also wrote a book with Terry Pratchett called "Good Omens" which was a spoof of end-of-days movies like "The Omen".  

You might also try Clive Barker.  "Imagica" and "Weaveworld" are really good.


----------



## Omar B

I love both Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett!  I came to reading Neil through his work in comics then went over to his novels.  Terry I discovered because I read every Douglas Adams book and asked the guy at my book store for something similar.  Good Omens was awesome!


----------



## Live True

I'll add my vote for Neil Gaiman. He has a nice way of interweaving various mythos into a cohesive whole. I recommend Anansi Boys, American gods...well..just about anything...American Gods is about the older norse gods and the new gods (like television, railroad, internet).

I can think of a few other authors, but my mind is mush at this time of day...will try to add some later


----------



## girlbug2

I'm about 1/4 of the way through Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. OMG I can't believe this book was written, but I'm loving it! 

P&P&Z combines my fondness for both Jane Austen and Zombie fiction. It's intentionally funny that way. Expect a very Austen style of prose interspersed with accounts of Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters vanquishing the sorry stricken with their Shaolin-trained warrior skills. Pure fun!


----------



## CoryKS

girlbug2 said:


> I'm about 1/4 of the way through Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. OMG I can't believe this book was written, but I'm loving it!
> 
> P&P&Z combines my fondness for both Jane Austen and Zombie fiction. It's intentionally funny that way. Expect a very Austen style of prose interspersed with accounts of Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters vanquishing the sorry stricken with their Shaolin-trained warrior skills. Pure fun!


 
I read the first chapter at Barnes & Noble last Saturday and almost bought it on the spot.  It looks great and it's a funny concept.  I wish I had thought of it!


----------



## Omar B

John Le Carre - A Most Wanted Man.

Le Carre's one of my literary heros.  You guys gotta check his stuff out.


----------



## stickarts

Listening to an audio book of "The Hobbit"


----------



## Ken Morgan

Jenna said:


> "King Rat" - China Mieville.
> 
> Anyone here into contemporary fantasy genres or know much about it? I am on the above and really quite like it. I have not tried much at all in the fantasy genre after kind of growing out of Terry Pratchett. Anyone recommend any modern, contemporary fantasy ie. set in real-world environments? Not sword and sorcery stuff... Help appreciated. Thanks, Jenna


 
Charles de Lint http://www.sfsite.com/charlesdelint/
Modern world stuff with a bit of a fantasy twist. Some of his stuff will really make you think.


----------



## Sukerkin

Currently re-reading after a twenty year lay-off "Deryni Rising" (Volume 1 of the Chronicles of the Deryni) by Katherine Kurtz.

The reason for the long hiatus was not that these books are no good but because they're a bit too 'gritty' in places.  By this I don't mean that there's loads of swearing, graphic violence and full frontal nudity but that _real politik_ plays a strong role and if a character is honourable and good then they usually end up dead (or any good that they have achieved is undone) .


----------



## Omar B

Sukerkin said:


> Currently re-reading after a twenty year lay-off "Deryni Rising" (Volume 1 of the Chronicles of the Deryni) by Katherine Kurtz.
> 
> The reason for the long hiatus was not that these books are no good but because they're a bit too 'gritty' in places.  By this I don't mean that there's loads of swearing, graphic violence and full frontal nudity but that _real politik_ plays a strong role and if a character is honourable and good then they usually end up dead (or any good that they have achieved is undone) .



Sounds intense man.  How do they compare to GRRM's Song Of Fire And Ice?


----------



## Big Don

The Spy Who Haunted Me, by Simon R Green. Droods again, + Walker from the Nightside books and a few other special guest stars. I like it. 
On deck are Nightworld and Blackwind by F Paul Wilson. Since Blindside got me hooked on these, I have had to order a used copy of Reprisal, because it is out of print... what a PITA...


----------



## Jade Tigress

I just finished "Everybody Smokes in Hell" by John Ridley. HILARIOUS.


----------



## cooker1

The Moon is Down. John Steinbeck


----------



## Jenna

Charles de Lint The Onion Girl  I am all taken now by dreamlands and native American mysticism and I am very very grateful to whoever it was that recommended the author to me here 

Any other suggestions for contemporary fantasy would be appreciated  Thank you


----------



## Big Don

*Relentless* by Dean Koontz only a couple of pages in, I'll let you know.


----------



## Big Don

OK! Every bit as good as his older stuff!


----------



## CoryKS

Century Rain by Alistair Reynolds.  Though I'm not a frequent reader of hard sci-fi I've been very impressed with Reynolds, for his writing style and subject matter, and am working through all of his stuff.  I'm not loving Century Rain as much as some of his other books, but it's still a pretty good story.


----------



## Big Don

Relentless is GOOD! He didn't ruin this one!
Now, I am reading The Scarecrow, by Michael Connelly


----------



## Blindside

I haven't had much time for reading recently, but I did manage some popcorn reading of whatever subset of fantasy deals with vampires/werewolves/mages etc in the modern world.  I read the first two of Briggs' "Mercy Thompson" series, the first two of Butcher's "the Dresden Files," and two of Harrison's "The Hollows" series.  All of these worlds tend to blend together, and quite frankly they aren't all that memorable.  I enjoyed Briggs' series because it takes place in the Tri-Cities of Washington where I moved last year and apparently the lair of the evil vampire/demon/mage/can't really remember now is a couple of blocks from my house.  Also there should be a martial arts studio run by a 200 year old alpha werewolf a couple blocks in the other direction, I'm still on the look out for that one.  Actually, of the three authors I think I enjoyed Harrison's the best.  

In a desperate search for something different I tried a Louis Lamour novel "The Walking Drum," the setting was great for 12th century Europe and the Byzantine Empire, but the main character was too much the uber-hero, the master warrior/scholar and all around renaissance man.  

Besides that I'm reading David Wolstencroft "Contact Zero" which is a good spy novel, a bit thin in places but good overall reading.


----------



## Omar B

Wolstencroft is awesome!


----------



## Live True

Jenna said:


> Charles de Lint The Onion Girl  I am all taken now by dreamlands and native American mysticism and I am very very grateful to whoever it was that recommended the author to me here
> 
> Any other suggestions for contemporary fantasy would be appreciated  Thank you


 Jenna, 
Have you read an _T A Barron?  Neil Gai_man?  I'd recommend both authors if you haven't.  I go through spurts with De Lint. I understand he just put out a new novel in the Newford universe.  It's on my list.

I just finished an oddly intriguing book called the Atrocity Archives by _Charles Stross_. If you  are into Cthlulu mixed with tech nerd, that would be an author for you.

I also just finished a popcorn mystery by Sarah Graves, Triple Witch of the home repair is homicide series (?).  Light and entertaining.

But I am really excited, as I'm about to sink my teeth into the latest 
Honor Harrington addition by David Weber, Storm from the Shadows,  I've read good and bad reviews, but I really like the characters and he writes in a way that has me interested in ship design, tactics, and the mathematical calculations behind them...which surprised me.  Good stuff with several strong and intriguing female warriors.


----------



## dancingalone

I'm reading _Dies the Fire_ by SM Stirling. It's set in our present time when all technology fails, causing civilization to collapse.  Pretty gritty book with cannibalism and rediscovery of fighting with weapons like swords.  I even found the description of farming with horse-pulled plows to be interesting.

Recommended by me.  It's one of the better books I've read in the last couple of years.


----------



## Jenna

Live True said:


> Jenna,
> Have you read an _T A Barron?  Neil Gai_man?  I'd recommend both authors if you haven't.  I go through spurts with De Lint. I understand he just put out a new novel in the Newford universe.  It's on my list.
> 
> I just finished an oddly intriguing book called the Atrocity Archives by _Charles Stross_. If you  are into Cthlulu mixed with tech nerd, that would be an author for you.
> 
> I also just finished a popcorn mystery by Sarah Graves, Triple Witch of the home repair is homicide series (?).  Light and entertaining.
> 
> But I am really excited, as I'm about to sink my teeth into the latest
> Honor Harrington addition by David Weber, Storm from the Shadows,  I've read good and bad reviews, but I really like the characters and he writes in a way that has me interested in ship design, tactics, and the mathematical calculations behind them...which surprised me.  Good stuff with several strong and intriguing female warriors.


Thank you Shana for replying, that is very very kind of you  Neil Gaiman, yes I have seen the movies Stardust Coraline and am always wary of reading novels post-movies and but yes, Neverwhere I read on a recommendation, yours maybe??  So thank you for that   Yes I do so love HP Lovecraft, specially shorts Randolph Carter, Mountains of Madness etc though could never dig into Cthulu but I will certainly look up Charles Stross.  Goodness, you are so widely read, I do not even think I have heard of TA Barron.  Thank you for these recommendations Shana I really truly appreciate it 

I am reading *Iain Banks* "*Matter*" and which is so deftly characterised and adeptly stylised and with such phenomenally conceived technologies and landscapes, I am completely captivated and engrossed and I am grateful that there is a little more length in the novel for the story to spread itself into.

Yr most obdt hmble srvt,
Jenna


----------



## teekin

Just finished _World War Z _by Max Brooks. As good as the hype said it was. Finished _The Road_ by Cormac McCarthy. mehh
 Think I'll see if I can find _Dies the Fire_ and _Everybody Smokes in Hell_. ( I'm betting Jade has good taste)
lori


----------



## Omar B

I loved World War Z!  I should buy it, ended up reading it on a trip to the library when it caught my eye on the shelf.  The Road I loved too, it's not my favorite by McCarthy, but it's pretty cool.


----------



## blindsage

Lisey's Story- Stephen King

Recently finished the Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, love that dude's imagination.


----------



## teekin

Well maybe I'll try The Road again in a few months. Perhaps I missed something in the first read. As a journalist Omar you must have seen something I didn't. hhhmmmmm. Cheers
lori


----------



## sempai little1

I am just about finished Lamb, the gospel according to Biff. Jesus' childhood friend.
It is a story told by Jesus' best friend Biff. It takes place from when the bible leaves him as an infant and picks up when he is proclaimed the messiah.
It is a funny and light hearted story. Fairly easy and fast read.
Your friend, 
Sempai Little1 :wavey:


----------



## girlbug2

I read Lamb too...chuckleworthy. Some good puns and one liners.


----------



## girlbug2

I just finished a James Patterson, Double Cross. It was my second ever JP book, the first one I read a few years ago. Double Cross had extremely short chapters and was light on descriptives and character development; it seemed like a Reader's Digest version of a thriller. OTOH the plot was masterfully done to keep me guessing and trying to stay one step ahead. I think JP would probably appeal to the "cut to the chase" types, if this was any indication of his usual style. 

My mom also lent me a new romance coauthored by JP and Gabrielle Charbonnet, whose name is put in much smaller typeface on the cover. Titled Sundays at Tiffany's. About 1/3 into it, ironically I see a lot less of JP's writing style than his coauthor's. Kind of cute and light, a beachy read.


----------



## Omar B

Grendel308 said:


> Well maybe I'll try The Road again in a few months. Perhaps I missed something in the first read. As a journalist Omar you must have seen something I didn't. hhhmmmmm. Cheers
> lori



LOL.  It's pretty dismal but once you crack the first few chapters you get into a groove and can find the lightness and joy the characters share.  Be warned though, it's pretty damn disturbing at times.


----------



## Live True

dancingalone said:


> I'm reading _Dies the Fire_ by SM Stirling. It's set in our present time when all technology fails, causing civilization to collapse. Pretty gritty book with cannibalism and rediscovery of fighting with weapons like swords. I even found the description of farming with horse-pulled plows to be interesting.
> 
> Recommended by me. It's one of the better books I've read in the last couple of years.


 Have read all but the most recent book of the series. I still think the first book was the best, but the series is not bad.  Having been in the SCA (medieval re-enactment), I found some of the groups that arise interesting and disturbing...tis a good read and I also recommend!


----------



## Big Don

Now reading Aftershock & Others 19 Oddities by F Paul Wilson.
Short stories...


----------



## blindsage

girlbug2 said:


> I just finished a James Patterson, Double Cross. It was my second ever JP book, the first one I read a few years ago. Double Cross had extremely short chapters and was light on descriptives and character development; it seemed like a Reader's Digest version of a thriller. OTOH the plot was masterfully done to keep me guessing and trying to stay one step ahead. I think JP would probably appeal to the "cut to the chase" types, if this was any indication of his usual style.


This is the 13th book in the Alex Cross series so a lot of the main character development was done a long time ago, and over a few books.  But yeah he does write at a quick pace and his plots are usually pretty interesting and keep you guessing.


----------



## Big Don

Now I'm reading Black Wind by F Paul Wilson. When I finish it, I won't have anything to read...


----------



## Big Don

Sir Apropos of Nothing By Peter David. VERY FUNNY. David's use of the English language is masterful!


----------



## teekin

Big Don, how was AfterShock? Now that I have read a few fiction novels again I am acquiring an appetite for them. ( I can blow thru fiction at a rate of 600 page book 4 hours, sucks! Off to the flea mart I go.)
lori


----------



## Big Don

Grendel308 said:


> Big Don, how was AfterShock? Now that I have read a few fiction novels again I am acquiring an appetite for them. ( I can blow thru fiction at a rate of 600 page book 4 hours, sucks! Off to the flea mart I go.)
> lori


It was good. I just don't like short stories. That and Wilson prefaced EVERY story with a page of whatever was going on in his life at the time he wrote it, that, I just didn't give a rat's *** about...


----------



## girlbug2

Just finished Kite Runner and  A Thousand Splendid Suns (by Khaled Hosseini). Very pull-on-your-heartstrings kinds of stories, set mainly in Afghanastan over a period of a few decades in the late 20th century.

As I read these books, I could not help but think that the writing was very good and compelling, while yet wondering how much of their success as smash bestsellers could be attributed more to the timeliness of their post-9/11 publishing. Just after 9/11, suddenly the topic of Islam became hot. I recall reading that sales of the Koran skyrocketed. The Kite Runner shows up in the midst of this social phenomenon, a story about a moderate Muslim family living in Afghanastan. There is a clearly communicated love of Hosseini's homeland and culture permeating the text. The themes touch on racial discrimination, social class, morality and personal responsibility. The plot also strongly highlights the differences between the peacable average muslim and the radical extremists of the Taliban. Perhaps the post-9/11 American readers, hungry for insight into this issue, snapped up Kite Runner for its reassuring take on moderate and tolerant muslims as for any other reason. If we Americans can believe that Hosseini represents the voice of the average man-on-the-street in the middle east, we can have hope for peace.

Regardless, it was a good story, well-written. A Thousand Splendid Suns is arguably even better; a very personal fiction about the plight of some Afghan women who experience firsthand the oppressive results of Taliban rule and the general misogyny of their culture well before that. I had to marvel at how well Hosseini seems to understand the female perspective. He'd make a good Romance author if he were so inclined to try his hand at it.

What I took away from both stories is that they were strong indictments against mixing religion and state.


----------



## Jenna

girlbug2 said:


> Just finished Kite Runner and  A Thousand Splendid Suns (by Khaled Hosseini). Very pull-on-your-heartstrings kinds of stories, set mainly in Afghanastan over a period of a few decades in the late 20th century.
> 
> As I read these books, I could not help but think that the writing was very good and compelling, while yet wondering how much of their success as smash bestsellers could be attributed more to the timeliness of their post-9/11 publishing. Just after 9/11, suddenly the topic of Islam became hot. I recall reading that sales of the Koran skyrocketed. The Kite Runner shows up in the midst of this social phenomenon, a story about a moderate Muslim family living in Afghanastan. There is a clearly communicated love of Hosseini's homeland and culture permeating the text. The themes touch on racial discrimination, social class, morality and personal responsibility. The plot also strongly highlights the differences between the peacable average muslim and the radical extremists of the Taliban. Perhaps the post-9/11 American readers, hungry for insight into this issue, snapped up Kite Runner for its reassuring take on moderate and tolerant muslims as for any other reason. If we Americans can believe that Hosseini represents the voice of the average man-on-the-street in the middle east, we can have hope for peace.
> 
> Regardless, it was a good story, well-written. A Thousand Splendid Suns is arguably even better; a very personal fiction about the plight of some Afghan women who experience firsthand the oppressive results of Taliban rule and the general misogyny of their culture well before that. I had to marvel at how well Hosseini seems to understand the female perspective. He'd make a good Romance author if he were so inclined to try his hand at it.
> 
> What I took away from both stories is that they were strong indictments against mixing religion and state.


A Thousand Splendid Suns was an eye opener for me.  I will admit I had been ignorant of the circumstances and the brutality that the various coups and regimes had imposed in Afganistan.  A beautifully poignant and well-drawn read. I am sure I had a tear in places


----------



## tallgeese

"Soldiers Live" by Glen Cook.  It's the last of his Black Company series.


----------



## jks9199

*Orphan's Triumph *by Robert Buettner.


----------



## CoryKS

Just finished Pushing Ice by Alistair Reynolds, and liked it much better than Century Rain.  Am taking a break from sci-fi now, and have started The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler.


----------



## Flying Crane

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.


----------



## Big Don

Swimsuit by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro


----------



## girlbug2

I have to say, I'm trying _really hard_ to get into James Patterson, on the premise that he must be such a huge, longtime bestselling author for a reason. I just can't seem to pin down that reason, except to suppose that in his horror/thrillers he does display some good mastermind plotting abilities. Certainly his writing is no feat of talent IMO, which may explain why I enjoyed the movie adaptations of Along Came A Spider and Kiss the Girls more than the lone Alex Cross book I read, Double Cross.

In his Romance genre, I've tried Sunday at Tiffany's and Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas. (These were all lent to me by my mom btw--I have a hard time passing up free reading material).  In my previous post on Sunday at Tiffany's, I speculated that the "voice" of the main character was lent its charm and wit more by Patterson's coauthor, as said charm and wit was entirely absent from his Thrillers I read. But then, maybe Romance is really his opportunity to spread his wings so to speak and develop better dialog? Nope, SDfN just confirmed for me that Patterson is no great shakes at dialog, as that one was written alone. But boy, does he ever know how to pour on the syrup! Patterson's second talent, apparently, is his keen knack for idealized, iconic stereotypes of Perfect Boyfriend, Perfect Girlfriend, Saintly Mom, etc. whilst delivering a schmaltzly brand of emotionalism previously unheard of in seven countries. I found myself getting impatient about half way through, starting a chapter titled "Diary" and realizing after the first couple of sentences that it was *yet another* diabetic coma-inducing homage of Suzanne to her wonderful husband, her perfect baby, and how lucky she was to have such a _good life_. I began to skip paragraphs in frustration, something I rarely do. The "chemistry" between the lead characters is similarly so idealized as to have little flavor--these people never have arguments, never even snip at one another, the men always know the perfect thing to say and do, and their jokes are so cutesy I nearly gagged a few times. Yup, archetypes. _Boring_.

Well, maybe that's too hard on JP, there are clearly a lot of people that eat this stuff up and love it. I must lack the gene for sugar-appreciation or something. I merely like my fictional characters to have a third dimension now and again.

Could somebody please point me in the direction of a JP (perhaps his earlier Alex Cross stuff, as somebody suggested?) in which we can see noticeable character development, interesting dialog, descriptive details of any kind? I really want to know what all the fuss over him is all about. I'm willing to give JP one last shot, I will even buy the book if necessary!!


----------



## CoryKS

Girlbug, it sounds like you've tried a decent sampling of his work and didn't like it.  Maybe he's just not your thing.  Why keep trying?  There are thousands of writers out there that might be more to your liking.

I had the same kind of experience with Dean Koontz.  So many people love the guy, but after trying to choke down a couple of his stories I realized that he wasn't for me and moved on.


----------



## Big Don

Do NOT buy Patterson's books! He writes in the 2 page chapters in such a style as to encourage fast reading. Swimsuit at 391 pages lasted less than 12 hours, with a karate class, dinner, and several hours online...


----------



## girlbug2

CoryKS said:


> Girlbug, it sounds like you've tried a decent sampling of his work and didn't like it. Maybe he's just not your thing. Why keep trying? There are thousands of writers out there that might be more to your liking.
> 
> .


 
Yeah, I'm just about there. Still, if somebody can recommend me a JP book that they feel is genuinely well written (as opposed to "good plot that kept me guessing") I'd be open. Like I said, I'm trying to understand what everybody else apparently sees in him.


----------



## Big Don

He's certainly entertaining. Entertainment isn't always the classics...


----------



## Omar B

girlbug2 said:


> I have to say, I'm trying _really hard_ to get into James Patterson, on the premise that he must be such a huge, longtime bestselling author for a reason. I just can't seem to pin down that reason, except to suppose that in his horror/thrillers he does display some good mastermind plotting abilities. Certainly his writing is no feat of talent IMO, which may explain why I enjoyed the movie adaptations of Along Came A Spider and Kiss the Girls more than the lone Alex Cross book I read, Double Cross.
> 
> In his Romance genre, I've tried Sunday at Tiffany's and Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas. (These were all lent to me by my mom btw--I have a hard time passing up free reading material).  In my previous post on Sunday at Tiffany's, I speculated that the "voice" of the main character was lent its charm and wit more by Patterson's coauthor, as said charm and wit was entirely absent from his Thrillers I read. But then, maybe Romance is really his opportunity to spread his wings so to speak and develop better dialog? Nope, SDfN just confirmed for me that Patterson is no great shakes at dialog, as that one was written alone. But boy, does he ever know how to pour on the syrup! Patterson's second talent, apparently, is his keen knack for idealized, iconic stereotypes of Perfect Boyfriend, Perfect Girlfriend, Saintly Mom, etc. whilst delivering a schmaltzly brand of emotionalism previously unheard of in seven countries. I found myself getting impatient about half way through, starting a chapter titled "Diary" and realizing after the first couple of sentences that it was *yet another* diabetic coma-inducing homage of Suzanne to her wonderful husband, her perfect baby, and how lucky she was to have such a _good life_. I began to skip paragraphs in frustration, something I rarely do. The "chemistry" between the lead characters is similarly so idealized as to have little flavor--these people never have arguments, never even snip at one another, the men always know the perfect thing to say and do, and their jokes are so cutesy I nearly gagged a few times. Yup, archetypes. _Boring_.
> 
> Well, maybe that's too hard on JP, there are clearly a lot of people that eat this stuff up and love it. I must lack the gene for sugar-appreciation or something. I merely like my fictional characters to have a third dimension now and again.
> 
> Could somebody please point me in the direction of a JP (perhaps his earlier Alex Cross stuff, as somebody suggested?) in which we can see noticeable character development, interesting dialog, descriptive details of any kind? I really want to know what all the fuss over him is all about. I'm willing to give JP one last shot, I will even buy the book if necessary!!



I hear you, there are many "popular" authors I just cannot get into.  Sure they are bestsellers, that does not mean that they are good, maybe they just cater to the lowest common denominator.  Guys like Stephen king, Dean Koontz, James Paterson, Dan Brown, etc just don't do a thing for me.  Though I do love a good Clancy, Ludlum, and such, I'm a sucker for a good techno-thriller or spy novel.


----------



## teekin

GirlBug, thanks for the comments on "A Thousand Splendid Suns" I have been looking at that for a few months. I will pick it up when I am done, "Dies the Fire."


----------



## Omar B

Right now I'm reading George RR Martin's A Storm Of Swords.  I'm so loving this series of books it's not even funny, though I can hardly read because my nephew is spending some time with me and any time I pick up the book he takes it as his que to go get his Dora book and ask me to read it to him.  I kid you not I've read the same book to him 10 times in one sitting!

I also picked up the entire Sherlock Holmes collection in hardcover at a thrift store and I'm pretty excited about getting to that next.  also this week I got another shipment from Golden Eagle Publishers with this months Mack Bolan, Stony Man and Able Team books.  Hey, it's a damn good series, why not subscribe and get them as they come out?  

http://readgoldeagle.blogspot.com/  By the way, if you wanna know, I'm up to Mack Bolan/The Excecutioner - Hostile Odds which I just finished so I'm like running 2 books behind current.


----------



## Big Don

Rereading One Knight Only by Peter David. Interesting idea King Arthur meets Gilgamesh in 2001...


----------



## blindsage

I'm on to God-Emperor of Dune.  Never made it past the previous book the first time I got into this series.


----------



## Big Don

Rereading The Woad to Wuin, by Peter David.


----------



## Jade Tigress

Today I finished Invisible Prey and started The Perfect Poison.


----------



## Frostbite

Currently reading The Mission Song by John Le Carre.  I find his dialog a bit tough to read but I always enjoy having read his books by the time I'm done.


----------



## Omar B

Oh, I love LeCarre!  My favorite of his is "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" or "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold."  His dialogue takes getting used to, and he jumps around within the story's time line, but once you catch on it's thrilling.


----------



## Frostbite

Omar B said:


> Oh, I love LeCarre!  My favorite of his is "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" or "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold."  His dialogue takes getting used to, and he jumps around within the story's time line, but once you catch on it's thrilling.



Yeah, I've read a few of his books.  They just take some adjusting to compared to the trash I normally read.  They're a lot more nuanced than most modern novels.


----------



## Omar B

Yeah, The Tailor Of Panama is laugh out loud funny, but written in his high brow voice that it took me about 100 pages to figure out I should be laughing at Harry Pendel.  LeCarre rules, I'm still pissed someone stole my backpack with my copy of Absolute Friends, I was so close to the end.


----------



## stoneheart

Omar B said:


> Right now I'm reading George RR Martin's A Storm Of Swords.  I'm so loving this series of books it's not even funny,



Unfortunately, the next book in the series A Feast For Crows isn't quite as good as the first three.  I hope Martin can rebound with the fifth book, and I also hope he can finish his series soon.  Martin is over sixty and we know what happened to Robert Jordan...


----------



## CoryKS

stoneheart said:


> Unfortunately, the next book in the series A Feast For Crows isn't quite as good as the first three. I hope Martin can rebound with the fifth book, and I also hope he can finish his series soon. Martin is over sixty and we know what happened to Robert Jordan...


 
I agree.  Started out loving the series for its realism and large cast of complex characters, but by Feast For Crows I started to wonder if Martin really knew where he was going with the series.  

Finished "The Big Sleep", am now reading "The Maltese Falcon".  Never seen the movie, so it's new to me.


----------



## Omar B

Dammit guys!  Now I'm expecting disappointment, same reason I never bothered with Robert Jordan after his foray into Conan.  Well thanks anyways.

I just broke into the Sherlock Holmes collection so that's where I'll be concentrated for the next few days.


----------



## Big Don

Omar B said:


> Dammit guys!  Now I'm expecting disappointment, .


I sympathize, I laugh, but, I really sympathize. I've gotten turned on to a number of good books/authors here, but, I've been turned off a few too...


----------



## Big Don

Knight Life by Peter David, while I await The Apostle by Brad Thor.


----------



## dancingalone

I finally read Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty.  I can see why it won a Pulitzer Prize, although I myself wanted to shoot Gus multiple times by the end of the book.  I know a lot of readers like him, but he's exactly the kind of mouthy, know-it-all that I dislike in real life.


----------



## Frostbite

The Judas Strain by James Rollins.  I read one of his earlier books and enjoyed it.  They're kind of a weird mix of adventure, science, historical fiction and conspiracy theory.


----------



## tallgeese

Finished off "Soldier Live".  On to Neil Gaiman's "Anansi Boys".


----------



## CoryKS

Finished "The Maltese Falcon", now reading "Riders of the Purple Sage" by Zane Grey and "Galactic North" by Alistair Reynolds.


----------



## Frostbite

Finished The Judas Strain and moved on to The Last Oracle, also by James Rollins.


----------



## dancingalone

I'm now reading How Few Remain by Harry Turtledove.  It's an alternate history where the Confederate States won the Civil War and now 20 years later Stonewall Jackson is commanding the Confederate army in a second war against the United States.  Abraham Lincoln has turned Marxist and is speaking against capitalists in the Utah Territory, and Sam Clemens (Mark Twain) is running an anti-war paper in San Francisco.

It's a pretty fun read for history buffs like me.


----------



## Sukerkin

"The Children of Hurin" - J.R.R. Tolkien (ish).  I have read this before but I cannot recall when or where.


----------



## Omar B

Sukerkin said:


> "The Children of Hurin" - J.R.R. Tolkien (ish).  I have read this before but I cannot recall when or where.



That's a good one.  And yes you have read it before.  If you've kept up with the series bits of it has popped up everywhere since even the Silmirilion (still the best one IMO).


----------



## jadelee

_Needful Things - Stephen King._ Lovely thing i should say. Try!


----------



## girlbug2

dancingalone said:


> I'm now reading How Few Remain by Harry Turtledove. It's an alternate history where the Confederate States won the Civil War and now 20 years later Stonewall Jackson is commanding the Confederate army in a second war against the United States. Abraham Lincoln has turned Marxist and is speaking against capitalists in the Utah Territory, and Sam Clemens (Mark Twain) is running an anti-war paper in San Francisco.
> 
> It's a pretty fun read for history buffs like me.


 
I've heard of that series and I'd like to try it someday...let us know how you like it.


----------



## girlbug2

Just finished the Poisonwood Bible by Kingsolver and am now on Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break.

TPB by Kingsolver is wonderfully written. It is inspiring me to find other Kingsolvers. If somebody could tell me their opinion on which other of her books is the best I'd appreciate it.

MTACB is different, I'll give it that. It is keeping me interested.


----------



## Big Don

Just finished Dean Koontz's Frankenstein Dead and Alive
Not as good as the first two with Kevin J. Anderson, but, entertaining


----------



## CoryKS

Finished Galactic North by Alastair Reynolds, now reading The Prefect by the same author.  If anyone here likes scifi, I highly recommend this author.  He presents large-scale themes and near miraculous (yet plausible) technology, but the focus is always on his well-defined characters.


----------



## Blindside

girlbug2 said:


> TPB by Kingsolver is wonderfully written. It is inspiring me to find other Kingsolvers. If somebody could tell me their opinion on which other of her books is the best I'd appreciate it.



I read The Bean Trees and Animal Dreams years ago.  Of the two I recall preffering the Bean Trees, but both were very good.  She also put out a book of poetry called "Otra America" which her poetry in both Spanish and English.

Edit: Actually I think "Otra America" is the Spanish language version of "Other America" at the time my espanol was pretty good and I was trying to read in the language for proficiency.


----------



## Blindside

dancingalone said:


> I'm now reading How Few Remain by Harry Turtledove.  It's an alternate history where the Confederate States won the Civil War and now 20 years later Stonewall Jackson is commanding the Confederate army in a second war against the United States.  Abraham Lincoln has turned Marxist and is speaking against capitalists in the Utah Territory, and Sam Clemens (Mark Twain) is running an anti-war paper in San Francisco.
> 
> It's a pretty fun read for history buffs like me.



Good series, but I wound up dropping out after book three or so.  Turtledove did a great job with this one, IIRC all the "Marxist" quotes that were attributed to Lincoln in that book were actually lifted from Lincoln's actual speeches, though taken out of context.


----------



## Blindside

Reading "Rise to Rebellion" by Jeff Shaara, good stuff so far and its inspired me to kickstart my stalled reading of the The Federalist Papers.  The third book I am juggling is Sorcerer: Metamorphosis which is Jack Whyte's take on the Arthurian tale, this series is now my favorite historical fiction.


----------



## girlbug2

My thanks to whomever mentioned Apropos of Nothing a while back. I just finished it and it was excellent. Incidentally, there's some good self defense philosophy underpinning it


----------



## Jade Tigress

I'm about 3 chapters into The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and I'm already hooked.


----------



## David43515

Just finished rereading "Going Postal" and Making Money" by Terry Pratchett. He`s probably the funniest person writing in the English language in the last 40 years.


----------



## Omar B

Awesome!  Terry's great, I actually went to one of his speaking/signing events when he released "We Free Men."

Anyways, both Going Postal and Making Money are both awesome.  Moist is one of his best characters in years.  Though I'm a fan of Carrot and the rest of the Nightwatch.


----------



## Big Don

Reading Alex Cross' Trial by James Patterson and Richard Dilallo, er Richard Dilallo in Patterson's short chapter format with Patterson's Character's name on the cover...
All in all it is good, but, doesn't read nearly as fast as Patterson.


----------



## crushing

Just starting Shelley's Frankenstein


----------



## girlbug2

Just finished the Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Chabon. Nicely told story that manages to combine the (more or less) true story about the golden age of comic books with the fictional story of a Jewish boy who escaped Prague during the Nazi occupation. Joe Kavalier is written as something of a Marty Stu, but the imaginitiveness that went into the plot and some of the clever side characters makes up for that.

Now on Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet, about 1/3 in. So far so good, and I'm learning everything I ever wanted to know about building a cathedral in medival England, the politics of the early Catholic Church, and the life of your average 12th century peasants (it sucked).


----------



## dancingalone

girlbug2 said:


> Now on Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet, about 1/3 in. So far so good, and I'm learning everything I ever wanted to know about building a cathedral in medival England, the politics of the early Catholic Church, and the life of your average 12th century peasants (it sucked).



Excellent book.  I honestly felt for Tom Builder reading about his daily struggles to feed and house his family while trying to find opportunities to ply his trade.  There's a sequel of sorts, too, but I didn't like it as much as Pillars of the Earth.


----------



## Omar B

girlbug2 said:


> Just finished the Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Chabon. Nicely told story that manages to combine the (more or less) true story about the golden age of comic books with the fictional story of a Jewish boy who escaped Prague during the Nazi occupation. Joe Kavalier is written as something of a Marty Stu, but the imaginitiveness that went into the plot and some of the clever side characters makes up for that.
> 
> Now on Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet, about 1/3 in. So far so good, and I'm learning everything I ever wanted to know about building a cathedral in medival England, the politics of the early Catholic Church, and the life of your average 12th century peasants (it sucked).



Both awesome books, as a longtime comic nerd and sorta historian of the genre a lot of what happened in the story actually connected on a pretty deep level with me.

As for Pillars of The Earth, it's good, but I prefered when Follet wrote spy fiction.


----------



## Jdokan

I have just gotten back to non IT reading.....In the last 2 weeks: the 5 people you meet in Heaven, da Vinci Code....I'm cheating though because I not really reading I'm doing the books on cd....hour & 15 commute each way gets me through material quite fast.....Wish I started a few years back.....the ride is really boring...


----------



## Big Don

Just started The Clan Corporate, by Charles Stross.


----------



## CoryKS

"By The Sword", the latest installment in the Repairman Jack series by F. Paul Wilson.


----------



## Big Don

I'm reading The Murderers by W.E.B.Griffin as fast as I can.
I bought Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol and it is screaming "READ ME NOW"


----------



## girlbug2

I am moved deeply by Jody Picoult's My Sister's Keeper. It was emotionally engaging to read about Anna, who was genetically engineered to be a spare body parts factory for her older sister. I found myself hating their mother, even though I could sympathize with her predicament.

The movie version was a tearjerker, but the ending departed completely from the book's.


----------



## Big Don

girlbug2 said:


> I am moved deeply by Jody Picoult's My Sister's Keeper. It was emotionally engaging to read about Anna, who was genetically engineered to be a spare body parts factory for her older sister. I found myself hating their mother, even though I could sympathize with her predicament.
> 
> The movie version was a tearjerker, but the ending departed completely from the book's.


Shame on you! Throwing spoilers out with no warning...


----------



## Knives

The Silent Blade - R.A. Salvatore
The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R Tolkien


----------



## Big Don

Finished Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, now reading Charles Stross' The Revolution Business.
I've been telling a friend of mine false spoilers about The Lost Symbol. It amuses me.


----------



## Big Don

I told him about the part where the Nazis steal the thing, and then they get attacked by the big Arab with two swords in the market...


----------



## Touch Of Death

"Anathem" By Neal Stephensen


----------



## CoryKS

Just finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy. One of the best books I have ever read, if not _the_ best.


----------



## Big Don

I'm reading Codex by Lev Grossman. Different than what I've been reading.


----------



## Jade Tigress

I'm reading Of Mice and Men again. It's been many, many years since I've read it and a friend of mine on MT reminded me of it.  I had to pick it up again.


----------



## Ken Morgan

Bernard Cornwell, "Enemy of God" book two of The Warlord Chronicles.
I think in the past two years I've read about 30 of his novels.


----------



## Big Don

Just started Vince Flynn's Pursuit of Honor


----------



## Big Don

About the Codex by Lev Grossman, WORST friggin ending I have read in years, and I read Dean Koontz...


----------



## Knives

The Stone and the Flute by Hans Bemmann


----------



## Big Don

Just finished John Saul's The House of Reckoning. 7/10


----------



## Big Don

Just starting Breathless by the aforementioned Dean Koontz.


----------



## Jade Tigress

Just finished The Girl Who Played with Fire, the second book in the The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series. Unfortunately, the third and final book in the series is not yet available in the US. I'm not sure what I'm going to read next, but I need to find something fast. I'm ALWAYS reading a book and I'm already jonesing after a day and half with no novel.


----------



## CoryKS

Anathem by Neal Stephenson.  As with most of his books I'm really enjoying it, and I'll be terribly disappointed (yet again) if it turns out that he still hasn't learned how to end a story.


----------



## Big Don

Jade Tigress said:


> Just finished The Girl Who Played with Fire, the second book in the The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series. Unfortunately, the third and final book in the series is not yet available in the US. I'm not sure what I'm going to read next, but I need to find something fast. I'm ALWAYS reading a book and I'm already jonesing after a day and half with no novel.


A day and a half! Holy crap! That is when I start rereading stuff until I can get something new.


----------



## Blindside

By the Sword by F. Paul Wilson 
The Steel Tide by Jeff Shaara.  
Grey Lensmen by EE Doc Smith
Under Enemy Colors by S. Thomas Russell

The Repairman Jack series is starting to lose my interest, this last one felt like it was just going through the motions.  Too "big scary end of the world" stuff, I liked his early work where he "fixed" things more mundane.

The Steel Tide is excellent and makes a good albeit fictional companion peice to Ambrose's "Band of Brothers" as it focuses on some members of the 82nd airborne during Normandy.

The Lensmen series is great if you like classic space opera where the heroes are incorruptibly good, the damsels in distress appropriately beautiful, and the evil aliens villians incredibly evil, callous, and indescribably hideous.  Good stuff in limited doses.

Under Enemy Colors was a gamble based on my like of the Forester and O'Brian naval series, and I am very surprised and pleased that it is falls as a good companion to those other books.  Not as detailed as the Aubrey/Maturin series, more like the early Hornblower books, which were my favorite anyway, more swashing the buckle than details about rigging.  So far I have been very impressed.


----------



## Sukerkin

Knives said:


> The Stone and the Flute by Hans Bemmann


 

A bit late with this but my deepest commiserations :lol:.  The only book I can think of that I have not managed to finish!


----------



## Sukerkin

Currently reading "On Basilisk Station" ... yes ... AGAIN! What of it? It's only about the 12th time (ish) :lol:. Webber is one of my favourite authors and Honor Harrington one of my favourite fictional characters.  She is like I aspire to be but fail miserably.


----------



## girlbug2

Well with contacts, it shouldn't be too hard to get those melting chocolate brown eyes anyway.


----------



## Sukerkin

I was thinking more of her physical and moral courage ... but each to their own


----------



## Bruno@MT

The last volume of the coldfire triology (Crown of Shadows) by Celia Friedman.

The coldfire trilogy is one of the most captivating series I have ever read. The characters feel so human, and the book does away with the concept of good and evil characters. No main character is purely good or bad. The most evil one has its human touches, and the most virtuous also have their petty actions. Oh, and some of the 'good' ones die in the story.

Pure genius.


----------



## Blindside

Sukerkin said:


> Currently reading "On Basilisk Station" ... yes ... AGAIN! What of it? It's only about the 12th time (ish) :lol:. Webber is one of my favourite authors and Honor Harrington one of my favourite fictional characters. She is like I aspire to be but fail miserably.


 
That is one of my favorite books.  Like many such story arcs the early books are better as they focus on smaller actions and greater individual development.  The last couple of Honor books have been bloated with politics.  It feels like the Saganami books are an attempt to return to the single ship actions that made the Honor books so good, he'll be lucky to duplicate the magic though.


----------



## Big Don

Blindside said:


> By the Sword by F. Paul Wilson
> The Steel Tide by Jeff Shaara.
> Grey Lensmen by EE Doc Smith
> Under Enemy Colors by S. Thomas Russell
> 
> The Repairman Jack series is starting to lose my interest, this last one felt like it was just going through the motions.  Too "big scary end of the world" stuff, I liked his early work where he "fixed" things more mundane.


While it isn't losing my interest just yet, I would like some more stories of "fixing" things.


----------



## Big Don

Breathless by Koontz...
Son of a ______! This is why I get his books from the library. Interesting, entertaining but, it was like half a dozen subplots that never came together enough for my satisfaction.


----------



## Jade Tigress

Big Don said:


> Breathless by Koontz...
> Son of a ______! This is why I get his books from the library. Interesting, entertaining but, it was like half a dozen subplots that never came together enough for my satisfaction.



LOL! As you know, I'm not a Koontz fan, but I will read his books on rare occasion. I saw his new book Breathless and almost thought of picking it up, but...nah. And I'm glad I didn't, cuz then I would have to finish it. It must really suck if a Koontz fan wasn't satisfied with the read. 

I picked up a fluff book. The last 3 novels I read had serious plots and I was hankering for something light and mindless. lol So now I'm reading Bright Lights, Big ***. Only a chapter or 2 into it but it's making me chuckle.


----------



## Big Don

I just finished Michael Crichton's Pirate Latitudes. I liked it, very entertaining.
Rereading The Bear and the Dragon by Tom Clancy.


----------



## CoryKS

CoryKS said:


> Anathem by Neal Stephenson. As with most of his books I'm really enjoying it, and I'll be terribly disappointed (yet again) if it turns out that he still hasn't learned how to end a story.


 
Finished. And... the ending was okay. I think the problem with Stephenson is that he can't write action sequences very well. They end up very confused and disjointed. It wasn't as bad in this book because even the action scenes were talky. Overall, I liked it. It was definitely not your run-of-the-mill science fiction.

Am now reading Pandora's Star by Peter Hamilton.  I'll give it a shot, but the prologue annoyed me.  For one thing, he's a British writer and his attempt to write American surfer dialog was very clumsy.  For another, it was written around 2003 and he can't resist taking shots at the US based on current affairs despite the fact that his main character is an American astronaut.  Kinda makes me wonder if his head's really in the future.  We'll see.


----------



## Big Don

Just picked up The Disciple by Stephen Coonts at the library.
Love Jake Grafton.


----------



## Big Don

The Disciple was very good. Stephen Coonts can end a story, Dean Koontz, not so much...


----------



## Big Don

Ground Zero, the latest Repairman Jack Novel.


----------



## Sukerkin

Close to finishing "The Honour of the Queen", the second Honor Harrington novel.  Brilliant as always - you can tell I love this series of books as I read it at least twice a year :O.


----------



## masurai

The Burning ny Bentley Little


----------



## Skippy

The Demon Hunters Guide.:flame:


----------



## The Last Legionary

Heir to the Empire - Timothy Zahn.


----------



## Big Don

Rereading Term Limits by Vince Flynn


----------



## girlbug2

Re-reading World War Z by Max Brooks. I'd forgotten how good it is. This is gonna make a fabulous movie if it doesn't deviate too much--especially if they use some of the actual dialog.


----------



## Satt

Just finished reading City of Ember and now I am on the second book, The People of Sparks. I love children's fantasy books.


----------



## Big Don

The Honor of Spies by W.E.B. Griffin


----------



## masurai

Doctor Who and the Revenge of the Cybermen by Terrance Dicks


----------



## Big Don

I, Alex Cross by James Patterson, the library got it to me fairly quickly. 15min waiting for prescription to be filled = 35 pages.


----------



## Big Don

At the Gates of Darkness by Raymond Feist. Amazon UK got it to California in four days.


----------



## masurai

Dispatch by Bentley Little


----------



## Big Don

James Rollins the Altar of Eden


----------



## Big Don

Big Don said:


> James Rollins the Altar of Eden


Pretty good. Interesting.


----------



## Big Don

Six Sacred Stones by Matthew Reilly
Entertaining. Just read his new one Five Greatest Warriors and so, had to reread this and Seven Deadly Wonders.


----------



## Omar B

Robert Jordan - The Further Chronicles Of Conan

I've been reading through all the Conan cannon of late.  With jason Momoa being cast as Conan and people loosing their you know what about it I thought I would go back and reread them as I have not in a while.  after I finished the REH, DeCamp, Carter and a bunch of others I decided finally to buy the Robert Jordan novels because they are the only ones I am missing.  I gotta say, he's not bad, couple grammatical errors (the use of "an" where "a" should be used happens a lot) but now I'm interested in reading Wheel Of Time.


----------



## girlbug2

Okay I'm blushing with shame to admit this, but I just finished Twilight.

It's not because there's a hunky, romantic vampire, heavens no! I just wanted to see what all the hoppla has been about. And to peek into the psyche of today's 13 year old teenage girls. Yup, it's pretty much the same as the psyche of yesterday's 13 year old teenage girls...from what I remember. A basic romance novel plot, but with virgins instead of steamy sex scenes. For a vampire book, there's very little in the way of either blood or violence. Neutered, in other words. But if I was a bit younger, I could see myself going nuts over it.


----------



## MA-Caver

Just finished the novelization of the film "Terminator: Salvation" written by Alan Dean Foster. Foster has written many film novels in his time and has written a few that have been made into films i.e. *ahem* "Star Wars: A New Hope." Yes, he wrote it Lucas bought it totally and slapped his name on it and took full credit for it. Foster later admitted (on his website) that he indeed did write the story. 

Anyway like much of the author's work dealing with film to novels, Terminator Salvation is just an expansion of the film written out with more detail than celluloid could ever give. Back stories and so forth.  He also written Alien which is a good read in-of-by-itself. 

I'm a big fan of the author ... having read dozens of his original novels including some of the Flinx and Pip adventures. The marvelous Spellsinger series and other trilogies that he's cranked out in his career.


----------



## Big Don

girlbug2 said:


> Okay I'm blushing with shame to admit this, but I just finished Twilight.
> 
> It's not because there's a hunky, romantic vampire, heavens no! I just wanted to see what all the hoppla has been about. And to peek into the psyche of today's *40year old women*. Yup, it's pretty much the same as the psyche of yesterday's *40year old women*...from what I remember. A basic romance novel plot, but with virgins instead of steamy sex scenes. For a vampire book, there's very little in the way of either blood or violence. Neutered, in other words. But if I was a bit younger, I could see myself going nuts over it.


Fixed that for you


----------



## Big Don

I reread a couple of Feist's books, Silverthorn, Servant of the Empire while waiting for the library to get me Dale Brown's Executive Intent.


----------



## stickarts

Back to "Wildfire" again by Nelsen DeMille.


----------



## Ken Morgan

Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead


----------



## girlbug2

Big Don said:


> Fixed that for you


 
I have absolutely no comment!


----------



## fireman00

no time to read but I've been doing a lot of listening lately: Stephen King's "Duma Key", Ben Bova Asteroid War series and currently working on Michael Koryta "So Cold the River".


----------



## Big Don

Halfway done with Executive Intent, I remember why I like Brown.


----------



## Omar B

Ken Morgan said:


> Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead



Awesome man.  As you can see from my sig, I love Ayn.

Right now I'm reading Robert Markham (Kingsley Amis) Colonel Sun.  It's his one entry in the James Bond canon following directly from Fleming's The Man With The Golden Gun.

Since the announcment of Jeffrey Deaver as the new Bond author I've went back and started rereading the whole thing from start to finish.  So I've gone through Charlie Higson's Young Bond, Fleming's run, now Amis then (chronologically) Sebastian Faulk's "Devil May Care."  Then I'm onto my beloved run by John Gardner and on.


----------



## Big Don

From Hell with Love by Simon R Green


----------



## Big Don

Wit'ch Storm by James Clemens


----------



## Big Don

The Trade of Queens by Charles Stross
a smart *** remark occurs to me...


----------



## Big Don

Shadowfall by James Clemens
I like it


----------



## Omar B

Robert Ludlum - The Bankroft Strategy.

The last Ludlum novel, published after his death.  I've had it sitting on the shelf for a long while now but could not bring myself to read it.  Just like when Douglas Adams died and I could not read Last Chance To See.

Now I'm jumping back into reading the whole Bond canon in order.  I've already finished the Higson, Fleming, Amis and Faulks books so I took a break to read the Ludlum before jumping into the Gardner, Benson, Westbrook part of the arc.


----------



## girlbug2

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. A Depression-era tale of a veterinary student who runs away to join the circus.

I am very impressed by Gruen. This has to be the best fiction I've read so far this year. Originally I picked it up because I'd heard it's being made into a movie. This one may be one of the few books that would made a good film IMO.


----------



## David43515

Just finished "Gone Tommorrow" by Lee Childs, and began "The Girl Who Played with Fire" by Stieg Larsson. So far I`d reccomend either one. I really like Lee Childs`s main character Jack Reacher, a former US Army MP. "Gone Tommorrow" begins with him riding a NY city subway and spotting what he believes is a suicide bomber. I`ll let you read the rest.


----------



## Omar B

Love Jack Reacher, glad to see there's another Lee Child fan around here.


----------



## Carol

A good friend of mine is an unpublished author.  I'm reading her latest work, a novel that we've dubbed "The British book", as it doesn't yet have a formal title.

Its a romance novel...a Boston composer visits relatives in London and falls in love with a young British lady.  Not my fave genre really but the interplay between the traditions and cultures in the story has made it a rather enjoyable read.


----------



## CoryKS

Just started The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi.  It's the sequel to Old Man's War, which I liked a lot.


----------



## jks9199

CoryKS said:


> Just started The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi.  It's the sequel to Old Man's War, which I liked a lot.


You'll enjoy it.  The entire series is well done, and each book stands on its own as well as being part of the series.

You might also look into the Jason Wander series (*Orphanage*, *Orphan's Destiny*, *Orphan's Journey*, *Orphan's Alliance*, and *Orphan's Triumph*) by Robert Buettner.


----------



## Gruenewald

I just read Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, and am now reading Red Dragon by Thomas Harris.


----------



## Big Don

Just started Old Man's War. Where can I get my Green Body?


----------



## Steve

I'm in the last few pages of the Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks.  I read tons of sci fi/fantasy as a teenager, but have only dipped into the genre occassionally since.  These are among the best I've ever read.  Complex, intelligent characters, gritty violence and an epic storyline.  

He's releasing the first in a new series later this month and I'll be sure to pick it up.  I'm officially a Brent Weeks fan.


----------



## Big Don

I'm about finished with Brad Thor's new book, Foreign Influence.


----------



## Big Don

Now I am reading The Ghost Brigades, since Cory was nice enough to mention it.


----------



## Big Don

The Last Colony. Thanks again to Cory and JKS.


----------



## Jade Tigress

Just started "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest" the third book in the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" trilogy by Steig Larrson.


----------



## CoryKS

Big Don said:


> The Last Colony. Thanks again to Cory and JKS.


 
Wow, you've overtaken me.  Let me know how The Last Colony is.  I just finished The Ghost Brigades, which was really good but not as good as Old Man's War, IMHO.


Currently reading House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds.


----------



## Hudson69

Magic Bites.... good read so far.


----------



## Big Don

CoryKS said:


> Wow, you've overtaken me.  Let me know how The Last Colony is.  I just finished The Ghost Brigades, which was really good but not as good as Old Man's War, IMHO.


I read really fast... I liked the last colony, there were some bits I could have done without and some things I really would have liked, but, all in all I've enjoyed all of these so far. I'm now reading Zoe's Tale, where we FINALLY get a (half-assed) description of what the Obin look like.





> Currently reading House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds.


----------



## Big Don

I read the first of the Jason Wander Orphanage series, as suggested by JKS. Very entertaining, I liked it a lot.


----------



## baron

Reading Siddhartha by Herman Hesse.


----------



## girlbug2

The Host by Stephanie Meyer.

Halfway through....much better than expected. A story similar to Puppet Masters by Heinlein, at least in concept, but told in first person solely from the POV of the alien. S Meyer actually has the makings of a decent sci fi writer, if she can avoid the temptation to recreate Bella, Jacob and Edward in every book. (Oh wait, I spoke too soon. The main character is starting to become very Bella-like and there's a love triangle developing.) Still, it's been a good read so far and one of those hard to put down books. I wonder if S Meyer can sustain the dramatic tension until the end of the book...looking forward to it.


----------



## Big Don

Just finished the last of the Jason Wander books, Orphan's Triumph and started Robin Cook's new book CURE.


----------



## xJOHNx

The dark chamber of damokles!

Post war, very dark and very sober!


----------



## CoryKS

Big Don said:


> I read the first of the Jason Wander Orphanage series, as suggested by JKS. Very entertaining, I liked it a lot.


 
I just picked up Orphanage and Last Colony this weekend.  Just finished House of Suns which was not great by Reynolds' standards, but still pretty awesome compared to everything else.  If you like massive scale space opera, you should check him out.


----------



## Big Don

CoryKS said:


> I just picked up Orphanage and Last Colony this weekend.  Just finished House of Suns which was not great by Reynolds' standards, but still pretty awesome compared to everything else.  If you like massive scale space opera, you should check him out.


Picking up House of Suns tomorrow. Reading Greg Isles' Turning Angel.


----------



## Omar B

John Gardner - James Bond, Death Is Forever


----------



## CoryKS

Big Don said:


> Picking up House of Suns tomorrow. Reading Greg Isles' Turning Angel.


 
I'm about halfway through Orphan's Alliance.  Good series.


----------



## Big Don

CoryKS said:


> I'm about halfway through Orphan's Alliance.  Good series.


It is, thanks for turning me on to it.


----------



## CoryKS

Big Don said:


> It is, thanks for turning me on to it.


 
I can't take credit for that one.  *jks9199* is the one who recommended the Orphanage series.


----------



## Hudson69

Vorpal Blade by John Ringo


----------



## Touch Of Death

I just bought the latest Repairman Jack novel By The Blade by F Paul Wilson. He's kinda like Remo Williams but without the little old guy. Instead there are a lot of little old guys and old lady's popping up and offering advice. It also deals in a supernatural battle of good vs Evil.
Sean


----------



## CoryKS

Touch Of Death said:


> I just bought the latest Repairman Jack novel By The Blade by F Paul Wilson. He's kinda like Remo Williams but without the little old guy. Instead there are a lot of little old guys and old lady's popping up and offering advice. It also deals in a supernatural battle of good vs Evil.
> Sean


 
Great series!  The next one, Ground Zero, comes out in paperback next Tuesday, and the one after that, Fatal Error, comes out in hardback next month.  I wish there wasn't such a long delay between the hardback and paperback releases (of the same title).


----------



## Big Don

CoryKS said:


> Great series!  The next one, Ground Zero, comes out in paperback next Tuesday, and the one after that, Fatal Error, comes out in hardback next month.  I wish there wasn't such a long delay between the hardback and paperback releases (of the same title).


Another reason I get them from the library. I've had Fatal Error requested for months.


----------



## Big Don

Just starting Greg Iles, The Devil's Punchbowl


----------



## CoryKS

Finished Orphan's Alliance, am now starting Orphan's Triumph.


----------



## sfs982000

I'm just about finished with Terry Pratchett's "Witches Abroad", then it's on to "Guards!, Guards!" also by Pratchett.


----------



## Big Don

CoryKS said:


> House of Suns


I'm about halfway through House of Suns, odd little book...


----------



## Mark Jordan

Quiet Teacher by Arthur Rosenfeld -an exciting and interesting read.


----------



## Touch Of Death

Big Don said:


> Another reason I get them from the library. I've had Fatal Error requested for months.


Ah, a fellow kicker. LOL


----------



## Big Don

Touch Of Death said:


> Ah, a fellow kicker. LOL


I identify more with Abe, but, with fewer weapons...


----------



## CoryKS

Big Don said:


> I'm about halfway through House of Suns, odd little book...


 
Yes, it is.  A better starting point might have been Revelation Space.  House of Suns is not part of that series.  Reynolds deals with time on a grand scale and he defines his characters based on the technology available at the time and how society would have evolved in response to it.  RS takes place in a future time that is fairly near to our own compared to the millions of years in HoS, so the characters are easier to identify with.


----------



## Touch Of Death

Big Don said:


> I identify more with Abe, but, with fewer weapons...


I was making more of a karate joke but ya know...:ultracool


----------



## Gemini

Golden Fool - Robin Hobb


----------



## Big Don

Touch Of Death said:


> I was making more of a karate joke but ya know...:ultracool


I was making a fat old guy joke in response, but, you knew that too...


----------



## Big Don

Just started PRIVATE by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro, I expect it will be a fast paced, page turner, entertaining, and I should be done by suppertime.


----------



## Sukerkin

Having finally finished the latest Wheel of Time offering, I am once again reading Honor Harrington ...

...

...

... yes, I know there are other books available :lol:.

Currently on "Honor Among Enemies", one of my favourites.


----------



## dancingalone

Shinju by Laura Joh Rowland.  It's detective fiction set during feudal Japan.  The main character is an investigator for the Shogun.  There's an entire series of which this book is the first volume.


----------



## Big Don

dancingalone said:


> Shinju by Laura Joh Rowland.  It's detective fiction set during feudal Japan.  The main character is an investigator for the Shogun.  There's an entire series of which this book is the first volume.


That sounds interesting.


----------



## girlbug2

Question Sukerkin, since you are an Honor Harrington fan, have you ever read the Miles Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold? After reading two from Weber I'm convinced that Bujold was his inspiration.


----------



## Big Don

Big Don said:


> Just started PRIVATE by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro, I expect it will be a fast paced, page turner, entertaining, and I should be done by suppertime.


I swear I have read the same basic story before!  
A group/team of serial killers? Anyone recognize that concept?


----------



## Sukerkin

girlbug2 said:


> Question Sukerkin, since you are an Honor Harrington fan, have you ever read the Miles Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold? After reading two from Weber I'm convinced that Bujold was his inspiration.




I haven't, *girlbug*, no.  But I do know of them and if I recall correctly Weber does talk about her in the interview he made that you can see on YouTube.


----------



## bakerchick

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, next one will be In the Kitchen by Monica Ali.


----------



## Big Don

Just started Greg Iles' True Evil, I was momentarily confused by the title, but, no, Iles did not write a book about my ex wife.


----------



## dancingalone

Big Don said:


> That sounds interesting.



I do recommend the book if you want to grab it from your library.


----------



## Mark Jordan

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon  and just started reading yesterday Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen


----------



## Omar B

Mark Jordan said:


> *The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay* by Michael Chabon  and just started reading yesterday Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen



F-ing amazing book!  You'll love it on a regular storytelling level, but if you know the history of comics well it toys around with he different eras and occurrences throughout the comic world for quite a few decades.  Reading it was like reading another version of the Lee and Kirby or the Kane and Finger or some other famous comic creating duo.


----------



## Indagator

Technically non-fiction masquerading as fiction (little bit of kyojutsu tenkan ho going on there lol) but I'm about to begin The Windswept House by Fr Malachi Martin.

Think the last fiction book I read would have been either A Scanner Darkly by Phillip K Dick, or one of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. Don't quite remember as I've been reading a lot of non-fiction books lately.

PAX


----------



## Big Don

Just started John Scalzi's Agent to the Stars.


----------



## Big Don

Big Don said:


> Just started John Scalzi's Agent to the Stars.


You really should pick this up, it is his best work IMO


----------



## clfsean

Brandon Sanderson - "The Way of Kings" currently & am waiting for the Robert Jordan via Brandon Sanderson "Towers of Midnight" next month.


----------



## dancingalone

I'm now reading Lady of the Forest by Jennifer Roberson.  It's essentially another retelling of the Robin Hood story from the viewpoint of Lady Marian.


----------



## Blindside

dancingalone said:


> I'm now reading Lady of the Forest by Jennifer Roberson.  It's essentially another retelling of the Robin Hood story from the viewpoint of Lady Marian.



For another excellent retelling of the Robin Hood tale try "Sherwood" by Parke Godwin.


----------



## girlbug2

Now on "The Bad Mother's Handbook". Taught me everything I know .

But really it is a good read from the POVs of 3 generations  in one family. Mainly a comedy, but also insightful at times. Good characterizations of how different people think and what drives them. I will be ordering more from this author.

Oh, and it's British! Double bonus!


----------



## Big Don

Since the library is lagging, I'm rereading W.E.B. Griffin's The Majors and hoping I can just read the one without getting sucked in and having to reread the whole series, again.


----------



## Sukerkin

:lol:  I know oh-so-well how that feels, Don .  I'm re-reading all the Honor Harrington series yet again!


----------



## Big Don

Sukerkin said:


> :lol:  I know oh-so-well how that feels, Don .  I'm re-reading all the Honor Harrington series yet again!


Yeah, Griffin sucks me in pretty fast. Fiest, I can read one alone, but, he sucks me in a lot of times too.


----------



## stickarts

" A legend in time" by Jonathan Westbrook. I swam competitively with this guy long ago and it's very cool that he is now an author!


----------



## Blindside

girlbug2 said:


> Question Sukerkin, since you are an Honor Harrington fan, have you ever read the Miles Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold? After reading two from Weber I'm convinced that Bujold was his inspiration.


 
The Honor books are essentially a space opera Horatio Hornblower, with the early setting being direct parallels to the Napoleonic wars.  The Miles Vorkosigan books exist in a similar space opera universe, but the world (or universe) creation is different as it seems to be more individual systems plotted against each other rather than well developed federations/kingdoms/whatever.  Protagonist wise, Honor is a paragon, eventually growing into the uber martial artist/gunslinger/tactician/strategist/ridiculously wealthy/lord/ultra-dutiful sailor/heroic icon for Manticore and Grayson, Miles is "just" damn smart, devious, and heroic.

I like both, but Miles was never built up to the point that he has to be retired, Honor does, she is simply too good at everything at this point, and too important to be haring off on the wild adventures that we want to read about.


----------



## Sukerkin

That's a fair point about how the Harrington series has to end, *Blind*.  After book 10 the feeling of it being a touch 'far fetched' grows to the point of affecting the enjoyment of the reader.

I can suspend disbelief with the best of them if the story warrants it, mind you, and if the hero is my kind of guy (or lass in Honors case ).  Why Honor appeals to me so much is that there are elements of how I'd like me to be in her character (or so I delude myself) and I like my heroes to be heroic.

In general terms, I've had my fill of this 'Shades-of-Grey' crap that we've been getting in Sci-Fi recently.  I get enough of that in the real world.  Give me heroes I can admire and villains I can despise, not good bad-guys and bad good-guys :lol:.

... psst ... Battlestar Galactica remake and Stargate Universe I am pointing at YOU  (way to go wrecking my favourite sci-fi series of all time in the latter case).


----------



## Big Don

Sukerkin said:


> Stargate Universe I am pointing at YOU  (way to go wrecking my favourite sci-fi series of all time ).


Amen brother, that show is pissing me off.


----------



## Omar B

Sukerkin said:


> That's a fair point about how the Harrington series has to end, *Blind*.  After book 10 the feeling of it being a touch 'far fetched' grows to the point of affecting the enjoyment of the reader.
> 
> I can suspend disbelief with the best of them if the story warrants it, mind you, and if the hero is my kind of guy (or lass in Honors case ).  Why Honor appeals to me so much is that there are elements of how I'd like me to be in her character (or so I delude myself) and I like my heroes to be heroic.
> 
> In general terms, I've had my fill of this 'Shades-of-Grey' crap that we've been getting in Sci-Fi recently.  I get enough of that in the real world.  Give me heroes I can admire and villains I can despise, not good bad-guys and bad good-guys :lol:.
> 
> *... psst ... Battlestar Galactica remake and Stargate Universe I am pointing at YOU  (way to go wrecking my favourite sci-fi series of all time in the latter case).*



I am so with you on that man.  Sci-Fi literature is (the way I see it) an extension of romanticism.  The characters should not be gray, they should be technicolor.  Good guys should be paragons of heroism and virtue and villains should be broken, corrupt souls.  Stargate was great till they went in the shades of gray direction with SGU, now if I miss an episode I really don't care one way or another.


----------



## Big Don

Omar B said:


> I am so with you on that man.  Sci-Fi literature is (the way I see it) an extension of romanticism.  The characters should not be gray, they should be technicolor.  Good guys should be paragons of heroism and virtue and villains should be broken, corrupt souls.  Stargate was great till they went in the shades of gray direction with SGU, now if I miss an episode I really don't care one way or another.


Have you read W.E.B. Griffin at all? Because all his heroes are a little morally jacked at times. Yes, way off topic, but, Suke started it


----------



## Omar B

I've got a WEB Griffin book sitting on the pile waiting to be read.  It's 7th in the order right now.

I have no problem with naturalism in literature, but it is it's own thing.  If I wanted to read about people who are just like regular people, who have problems with their ethics, who do good but could have easily have done wrong then I would buy those books.  But I grew up on Superheros and sci-fi novels.  Heroes present the Greek Ideal, perfect in mind and body.  Even Ian Fleming (my favorite) made a point of giving many of his villains ugly, twisted, as if their evil was made manifest upon their person.


----------



## Big Don

I'm about halfway into Vince Flynn's latest: American Assasin
Its the origin story on Mitch Rapp. I like it


----------



## Big Don

Big Don said:


> I'm about halfway into Vince Flynn's latest: American Assasin
> Its the origin story on Mitch Rapp. I like it


OK, I finished it and don't know whether to hope his next Rapp novel follows where this left off, bringing him up to where and when we met him or where Pursuit of Honor left off.


----------



## Omar B

Superman Earth One.  It's a pretty mediocre version of the hero that's garnered way too much newstime because they opted to make him younger (early 20's) and wearing a hooded sweatshirt.  Oh look, Superman dressed like some regular jerk!

What JMS tried to do was write a Superman story that takes place not in DC's universe, but in ours.  How would the real world react to someone of the magnitude of Superman?  Well that's the missed oppertunity here.  For much of the book he's trying to secure a job in Metro and he's great at everything, the NFL, MLB, NHL and even a scientific research company want him but he decides on a failing newspaper.  The big reveal of him as Superman in costume happens after an invasion by a race who were at war with the Kryptonians and came all the way here to kill the last one.

So we missed the opportunity to see people react to Superman's powers.  I guess I'm more used to John Byrne's version where he saves an airline from crashing as his big reveal and then the whole world freaks out.

It seemed like JMS while trying to maintain that Superman Earth One takes place in the real world he spent some time name checking people, places and events from DC's main continuity so he kinda hobbled his own child.  Too referential to DC's world when it should be our's, Clark's characterization is way too dark and dour.  He's the warrior of hope, he is not an angry, depressed or sad person.


----------



## Big Don

I just started the new Repairman Jack novel: Fatal Error.


----------



## CoryKS

Big Don said:


> I just started the new Repairman Jack novel: Fatal Error.


 
I just borrowed Ground Zero and Fatal Error from a friend at work and have started Ground Zero.  It's been a while since I read the last one, and frankly I'm having trouble keeping the different factions straight.


----------



## Indagator

Indagator said:


> Technically non-fiction masquerading as fiction (little bit of kyojutsu tenkan ho going on there lol) but I'm about to begin The Windswept House by Fr Malachi Martin.
> 
> Think the last fiction book I read would have been either A Scanner Darkly by Phillip K Dick, or one of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. Don't quite remember as I've been reading a lot of non-fiction books lately.
> 
> PAX


 
WOW! I highly recommend to everybody to read Windswept House. There is a tough scene to get past at the start (a child being violated) but once you soldier on past that, this book will blow your mind.

The most incredible part is that it's completely true, and not like Dan Brown's refute-in-ten-minutes-if-you-check-it-out kind of "true" but more of a all authentic and legitimate research accurately confirms all that this book says kind of true (with slight creative license as to names, but I do have a list somewhere of book names and who the real names are as well, can post up if desired...)

MUST READ BOOK, DO NOT PASS IT UP!!!

Technically not fiction, but usually found in fiction section...


----------



## Big Don

I am about 100 pages into The Reversal by Michael Connelly. This one has both his lead characters, Bosch and Haller.


----------



## girlbug2

Just finished Odd Thomas by Koontz. Very good story, as good as any from this author.

My one quibble is that Odd is far too mature for a 20 year old. In fact he's more mature than most 40 year olds I know LOL.


----------



## Big Don

Big Don said:


> I am about 100 pages into The Reversal by Michael Connelly. This one has both his lead characters, Bosch and Haller.


His best book, so far! KICK ***


----------



## billc

Recently finished Monster Hunter: Vendetta, the sequal to Monster Hunter International, a great series about a private company that kils monsters for bounties.  It is a really well written series by a gun enthusiast.


----------



## jks9199

Guess I gotta look for that one.  *Monster Hunters International* was a pretty good read.  Not stupidly macho, not making monsters into good guys... and it started out with a guy killing a werewolf in an office!


----------



## Ken Morgan

Watch by Robert J Sawyer


----------



## Big Don

Just starting Prostitute's Ball, by Stephen J. Cannell, the title makes me wonder what kind of prostitutes he knew...
This is, most likely his last book, since he died a while back. That sucks.


----------



## dancingalone

I'm rereading The Magicians by Lev Grossman.  It's been described as a Harry Potter for adults with a self-absorbed NY intellectual as the protagonist.  Parts of it feel a lot like The Secret History by Donna Tartt if any of you like that kind of writing.


----------



## Blindside

I just finished my first Cannell novel, "Three Shirt Deal" and quite frankly I wasn't that impressed.  

In the middle of "Course of Empire" by Flint and Wentworth, and it is very good.  Good world building and its nice to see an alien species that actually seems alien in its approach, I haven't seen it this well done since Brin's Uplift Saga.

Rereading Pournelle's collected "Falkenberg's Legion" books.  I read them 15+ years ago and remember them as being very good military sci-fi, they are better on the reread, now I would classify them as excellent.


----------



## Big Don

Blindside said:


> I just finished my first Cannell novel, "Three Shirt Deal" and quite frankly I wasn't that impressed.
> .


I didn't care much for that one, but, seriously? You can't start with the second to last book of a series...


----------



## Mark Jordan

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini -  Just started reading it but this is a page turner and I'm enjoying it.


----------



## Blindside

Big Don said:


> I didn't care much for that one, but, seriously? You can't start with the second to last book of a series...


 
Well, it was part of a very limited selection that I had to choose from before going on a long flight.  There was obviously a backstory going on that I wasn't aware of, but it was the main story that wasn't good and the wife's odd (and rapid) recovery from TBI as a sidestory just didn't feel right, much less the really silly method that the bad guys were going to use to off Scully in the end.  It felt like it was written for TV, bad TV, like "Renegade" bad.


----------



## Jdokan

Microsoft's Windows Server 2003.....
Are there really fictional books available....you're kiddin' me!!
never heard of them....:uhyeah:


----------



## Big Don

billcihak said:


> Recently finished Monster Hunter: Vendetta, the sequal to Monster Hunter International, a great series about a private company that kils monsters for bounties.  It is a really well written series by a gun enthusiast.





jks9199 said:


> Guess I gotta look for that one.  *Monster Hunters International* was a pretty good read.  Not stupidly macho, not making monsters into good guys... and it started out with a guy killing a werewolf in an office!


OK, I just started Cross Fire by James Patterson, because, I'll be done with it quick, and it does entertain me. 
Then I'll start Monster Hunters International, which I also picked up today.


----------



## Blindside

jks9199 said:


> Guess I gotta look for that one.  *Monster Hunters International* was a pretty good read.  Not stupidly macho, not making monsters into good guys... and it started out with a guy killing a werewolf in an office!



Now I have to read it, the author was my CCW instructor.


----------



## girlbug2

Revisiting A Game Of Thrones by George RR Martin. As good as I remember it from ten years ago.  I recommend it to all forumites who enjoy SF/F, especially if you are planning on watching the premiere on HBO in January.


----------



## Big Don

OK, I just started Monster Hunters International, and based on the first 2 chapters, this is awesome.


----------



## Big Don

Big Don said:


> OK, I just started Monster Hunters International, and based on the first 2 chapters, this is awesome.


I'm too lazy to see who mentioned this first. But, thanks, I am loving this.


----------



## Big Don

Just started Monster Hunters Vendetta


----------



## Sukerkin

I know this is probably a daft question given the title {} but what are they about, Don?

I am presently on Echoes of Honour, having finished In Enemy Hands the other night The last twenty or thirty pages of that book, when they are escaping from the StateSec battle-cruiser, always have me blinking away tears I am not ashamed to admit - courage and self-sacrifice are virtues that hit hard for me.

Okay, it might not be Checkov or Tolstoy but, for me, fiction is darned good if it gets your emotions engaged.


----------



## billc

If you like Monster Hunter International, the second book, Monster Hunter Vendetta is just as good.  the author has a great website as well.  If you look around there you can see a helicopter crewman from either Iraq or Afghanistan with a M.H.I. patch on his helmet, it looks pretty cool.  Sukerkin,  if you like the Honor Harrington series you might like the books that start with Battle At Armegedan Reef: Helfort's war book one.  It is pretty much like the Harrington series, but it is not so  bad, it is hard to beat Weber's space naval warfare books.


----------



## Big Don

Sukerkin said:


> I know this is probably a daft question given the title {} but what are they about, Don?


Well, Suke, it is another author, *that I really like, * I might never have heard of or picked up except for hearing people on this board recommend it.


billcihak said:


> Recently finished Monster Hunter: Vendetta, the sequel to Monster Hunter International, a great series about a private  company that kills monsters for bounties.  It is a really well written  series by a gun enthusiast.


----------



## Blindside

billcihak said:


> If you like Monster Hunter International, the second book, Monster Hunter Vendetta is just as good.  the author has a great website as well.  If you look around there you can see a helicopter crewman from either Iraq or Afghanistan with a M.H.I. patch on his helmet, it looks pretty cool.  Sukerkin,  if you like the Honor Harrington series you might like the books that start with Battle At Armegedan Reef: Helfort's war book one.  It is pretty much like the Harrington series, but it is not so  bad, it is hard to beat Weber's space naval warfare books.



Well, the Nimue/Merlyn character ain't no Honor.  The first one is pretty good, the remaining quickly enter into the bloat that the later Honor books suffer from.  Tons of politics, lots of intrigue, lots of (low) tech development, and a once in a while fight or big battle.  I use them for long drives, the last audio book was something like 24 hours long, fine if you have little else, but I would rather reread early Honor books.

Lamont


----------



## Big Don

On my way home from sparring tonight, I'm going to pick up Brad Thor's The Athena Project from the library. Hot female commandos.


----------



## baron

I just started reading Last Light by Terri Blackstock.  It's about when all the power goes out not even cars will work.  Haven't ran into any zombies yet though.  This book is free on Amazon for Kindle today only.


----------



## Big Don

Big Don said:


> On my way home from sparring tonight, I'm going to pick up Brad Thor's The Athena Project from the library. Hot female commandos.


Not his best effort. Somewhat disjointed.


----------



## Big Don

Finally picked up The Color of Magic by the much hyped Terry Pratchett.


----------



## granfire

Big Don said:


> Finally picked up The Color of Magic by the much hyped Terry Pratchett.



Hype is hot air and nothing of substance! 


I have book 6 of Jeff Stone's Five Ancestor series laying on my night stand. 'Mouse'

Following Tiger, Monkey, Snake, Crane and Eagle...
Pretty strong series, to be found in the Juvenile/Young adult section...


----------



## Big Don

granfire said:


> Hype is hot air and nothing of substance!


Would you accept much loved? I'm loving it so far. I didn't make it past the prologue and had already laughed aloud, "Big Bang Theory".
Indeed.


----------



## granfire

Big Don said:


> Would you accept much loved? I'm loving it so far. I didn't make it past the prologue and had already laughed aloud, "Big Bang Theory".
> Indeed.



Yes, much loved!


----------



## Omar B

Big Don said:


> Finally picked up The Color of Magic by the much hyped Terry Pratchett.



Sweet man.  Rincewind is gonna blow your mind.  It is by far not the best in the series, but it serves to set up the world, after reading the first 2 you can pretty much read them in the order or follow the character you like.


----------



## Big Don

I must admit I had never thought of insurance as a bet before.


----------



## Big Don

Just finished The Color of Magic, thanks again to everyone who sang the praises of Pratchett.

Just starting John Grisham's The Confession.


----------



## Mark Jordan

Somebody gave me this book and I'm still on page 17 but it looks interesting.

No turning back - Donald Calloway


----------



## Big Don

Finished the Confession, and although I thoroughly disagree with Grisham's take on capital punishment, I think it was probably his best book so far.

Just started The Light Fantastic


----------



## CoryKS

I just restarted the Wheel of Time series.  The first time I made it to about book 10.  That was right about the time Jordan died, which left me wondering if the series would be finished (and how well), plus I was just losing track of all the characters.  I'm pleased to see that the new Sanderson books are getting good reviews.


----------



## Big Don

I just picked up Equal Rites and Mort. Busy karate weekend, End of the Year Sparring, Stick class, Kiddie tournament, Seminar. Even money I finish Equal Rites before Sunday.


----------



## Big Don

Big Don said:


> I just picked up Equal Rites and Mort. Busy karate weekend, End of the Year Sparring, Stick class, Kiddie tournament, Seminar. Even money I finish Equal Rites before Sunday.


Bah, It is technically Monday, but, I finished Equal Rites and am starting Mort.
Having read a few of these, without nearly incessant narration, I can't see how they would translate well to movies. The really good stuff isn't in the dialogue, but, in the descriptions.


----------



## billc

Cohen the Barbarian's list of the three joys in life are great, it is a great scene with him and the other barbarians.  I think they are in Color of magic, if that is the first book in the disc world series.


----------



## Ken Morgan

Terry Brooks, Legends of Shannara, Bearers of the Black Staff
Halfway through and love it


----------



## Ken Morgan

CoryKS said:


> I just restarted the Wheel of Time series. The first time I made it to about book 10. That was right about the time Jordan died, which left me wondering if the series would be finished (and how well), plus I was just losing track of all the characters. I'm pleased to see that the new Sanderson books are getting good reviews.


 
LOL.
I did the exact same thing. I stopped at 10 and haven't touched them since. I was getting tired of the whole thing, nothing ever seemed to "get anywhere".


----------



## Big Don

> hot water,good dentishtry and shoft lavatory paper


Cohen the Barbarian


----------



## Cryozombie

I just finished "The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove" by Christopher Moore.  

Its about a Sea Monster that wants to eat a Blues Musician, and hilarity ensues.



> Pine Cove suffers a major crisis when the town psychiatrist, Val  Riordan  who has been haphazardly issuing prescriptions instead of  dealing with the real mental problems of her patients  suffers a sudden  bout of guilt and substitutes all of her patients' anti-depressants with placebos.  At this same time, by coincidence, human-generated environmental  activity stirs a prehistoric sea-beast from its underwater keep to come  ashore.
> In addition to its ability to change form, the beast exudes a pheremone  that inspires uncontrollable lust among the residents of Pine Cove and  also lures some of them as prey. After mistakenly trying to mate with a  fuel truck (causing an explosion), the beast hides in a trailer park,  attracting the curiosity of local crazy lady and former B-movie star  Molly Michon, who builds a rapport with the injured beast.
> Meanwhile, Theophilus Crowe, the town constable, investigates a  strange suicide, the activities of his corrupt boss, and his adversely  affected marijuana habit. When the beast (whom Molly has named "Steve") starts eating residents of Pine Cove and interfering with Theo's boss's meth  business, Molly (who has become romantically involved with the beast)  and Theo band together to make possible the beast's safe escape and to  take down the boss at the same time.



I didn't like it as much as the other 2 books by him I have read, "Practical Demonkeeping" and "Coyote Blue", but It was still a decent read.


----------



## CoryKS

Ken Morgan said:


> LOL.
> I did the exact same thing. I stopped at 10 and haven't touched them since. I was getting tired of the whole thing, nothing ever seemed to "get anywhere".


 
Supposedly, the Sanderson books are to be the last three (of which two have been released).  So there's a good chance that this thing will be done and over with by the time I get down to the last few books.  I'm using a wiki this time to keep the names straight; I do okay until a second-string player goes missing for a book and a half and then turns up again to play a crucial role.


----------



## Slipper

I love the Wheel of Time series. I have read the first of the last three and enjoyed it. I felt like the loose ends were finally coming together. I bought the second one a couple of weeks ago, but it will probably be untouched until after Christmas. I should have some peace and quiet once all the Christmas toys are finally opened and guests are gone!


----------



## Big Don

I just finished the newest Star Wars novel, Vortex. Just starting Sourcery.


----------



## Indagator

Just started The Red Fox by Anthony Hyde. Seems interesting so far. After that I have another one lined up, The Fifth Angel by David Wiltse which also sounds quite good.


----------



## billc

THe Anita Blake vampire novels are good up to about book 5.  The problem becomes her obsession with sex(I know, how can that be a bad thing), because it is one scene after another in her later books, with the rest of the story thrown in as an after thought.  If you go to amazon and read some of the reviews you can see the frustration of the fans of her first books.  

If you like urban fantasy, the Dresden books are really well written, and he manages to keep the series pretty fun even through the last 6 books or so.


----------



## Big Don

Finished Sourcery, Eric, and Pyramids. The OCD in me makes me read all the books I can of an author as soon as possible...
I'm about ¾ of the way through W.E.B. Griffin's The Outlaws. Much better than his last two or three.


----------



## Omar B

Dude, how epic was Eric?  LOL.


----------



## Big Don

Omar B said:


> Dude, how epic was Eric?  LOL.


I'm loving these books! I just had to take a break, a palette cleanser, so to speak.


----------



## Big Don

OK, Omar, now I am starting Small Gods. I have to mention, the compilations that the library had, are really screwing with my OCDish need to read books in their published order.
I hate it when authors, like Vince Flynn (with American Assasin) and Tom Clancy (with BOTH, Patriot Games and Red Rabbit) go back in time with their characters to show us something. Even when I like the books, it makes the OCDish thing crazy...


----------



## tshadowchaser

Just started reading:  The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry.
Got hooked on ready Mr. Berry's novels a while ago and only have two left that I have not read. I must say he sometimes give one something to think about with some of his thoughts


----------



## granfire

Big Don said:


> OK, Omar, now I am starting Small Gods. I have to mention, the compilations that the library had, are really screwing with my OCDish need to read books in their published order.
> I hate it when authors, like Vince Flynn (with American Assasin) and Tom Clancy (with BOTH, Patriot Games and Red Rabbit) go back in time with their characters to show us something. Even when I like the books, it makes the OCDish thing crazy...



LOL, I feel your pain.
Not in the story, that's ok when it's not all that confusing...

But the book thing, I hate. Especially when some aspects of the story from a previous book are refrenced....

(but you can help yourself out by donating heavily, books or money and give the librarian a wish list!  )


----------



## Omar B

Big Don said:


> OK, Omar, now I am starting Small Gods. I have to mention, the compilations that the library had, are really screwing with my OCDish need to read books in their published order.
> I hate it when authors, like Vince Flynn (with American Assasin) and Tom Clancy (with BOTH, Patriot Games and Red Rabbit) go back in time with their characters to show us something. Even when I like the books, it makes the OCDish thing crazy...



Don't drive yourself crazy about the order with Discworld really.  At this point you should be familiar with Rincwind, The Witches, The Professors at the Unseen University, The City Watch, Lord Vetinari.  At this point you can pretty much read them in whatever order you get them in.

You mentioned Clancy so I must mention I got the new Clancy novel this morning.  It's  on the pile, in the rotation, I'll get to it by at least Thursday since it is 7 down.


----------



## Big Don

Omar B said:


> Don't drive yourself crazy about the order with Discworld really.  At this point you should be familiar with Rincwind, The Witches, The Professors at the Unseen University, The City Watch, Lord Vetinari.  At this point you can pretty much read them in whatever order you get them in.


I'm not. Well, too much...





> You mentioned Clancy so I must mention I got the new Clancy novel this morning.  It's  on the pile, in the rotation, I'll get to it by at least Thursday since it is 7 down.


Oooh, I haven't picked it up yet, but, I may Thursday is payday.


----------



## granfire

Omar B said:


> You mentioned Clancy so I must mention I got the new Clancy novel this morning.  It's  on the pile, in the rotation, I'll get to it by at least Thursday since it is 7 down.



how do you read so fast?

Or do you read several at the same time?!


----------



## Big Don

granfire said:


> how do you read so fast?
> 
> Or do you read several at the same time?!


I generally read about one a day, depending on what all I have to actually, do. 
I read one at a time, because, even reading wildly different genres, I get confused.
I blame my blonde sister.


----------



## Omar B

granfire said:


> how do you read so fast?
> Or do you read several at the same time?!



I went to college for Literature and Journalism remember.  So yeah, I speed read though I hate calling it that since most people take it as skimming which it is not.  You can easily teach it to yourself, I've taught several people, send me a PM if you want.


----------



## granfire

Omar B said:


> I went to college for Literature and Journalism remember.  So yeah, I speed read though I hate calling it that since most people take it as skimming which it is not.  You can easily teach it to yourself, I've taught several people, send me a PM if you want.



Thanks, I appreciate it. Though my problems are more of the nature that I have too much going on that demands my attention.


----------



## Omar B

No problem at all.  I find it a great skill that many should try to develop but don't.  But then many people don't read as much as they should.


----------



## Blindside

The holidays were a good time to kick back and do some popcorn reading.

So:
Most of the John Ringo "Paladin of Shadows" Series
Kildar
Choosers of the Slain
Unto the Breach

Still pretty much a modern day soldier fantasy, with lots of sex with hot women and lots of firefights, the ratio of sex to firefights goes down over the series, and that is a good thing.  the protagonist still has way way too much money to throw around so it doesn't feel like they have any real logistical problems that can't just be solved by the application of "more money."  

The Crucible of Empire by Flint & Wentworth, good sci fi, I liked the first book (Course of Empire) better, but still pretty good.  

"Old Soldiers" by David Weber, good bolo action, and another good female protagonist. 

Finished Monster Hunters International by Larry Correia and just started Monster Hunter Vendetta.  After hearing about it on this thread, I knew I had to read it, Larry was my concealed carry instructor.  Good stuff, lots of guns, lots of dead monsters, lots of fun.


----------



## Big Don

granfire said:


> Thanks, I appreciate it. Though my problems are more of the nature that I have too much going on that demands my attention.


Reading has to be a priority of its own.


----------



## granfire

Big Don said:


> Reading has to be a priority of its own.



I know, but it's hard to immerse yourself when you are on call 24/7 "_MOOOOOM" "HONEY"


_


----------



## Omar B

That is true.  I usually use my time before bed to read, seems to work for the most part.  Though it sometimes backfires and I end up staying up all night.  Damn you Clancy!


----------



## granfire

Omar B said:


> That is true.  I usually use my time before bed to read, seems to work for the most part.  Though it sometimes backfires and I end up staying up all night.  Damn you Clancy!



Yeah, I have been interupted at 3 AM (when I have to get up at 5:30!)
"Aren't you coming to bed?!" Rita Mae Brown does that for me.... :lol:


----------



## Big Don

I ALWAYS have whatever book I am reading where I can easily get to it. No matter where you go, someone is going to make you wait.


----------



## Omar B

Yeah, though I usually have my coffee table/bedroom side-table book and the book I leave in the car for when I'm stuck out somewhere.


----------



## Indagator

Omar B said:


> I went to college for Literature and Journalism remember. So yeah, I speed read though I hate calling it that since most people take it as skimming which it is not. You can easily teach it to yourself, I've taught several people, send me a PM if you want.


 
Does that work on any sort of published work? I have a pile of philosophical... well, "tomes" pretty much, to get through and very little time to get through them...


----------



## CoryKS

Big Don said:


> I ALWAYS have whatever book I am reading where I can easily get to it. No matter where you go, someone is going to make you wait.


 
I usually have two or three books going and I preposition them for when I think I'm going to need something to do.  There's the nightstand book, the office book for lunchtime, the book I keep in the car...


----------



## girlbug2

Once I get involved with a book, it goes everywhere with me. No need to keep a stash in the car or on the nightstand.


----------



## Big Don

girlbug2 said:


> Once I get involved with a book, it goes everywhere with me. No need to keep a stash in the car or on the nightstand.


That's how I am, although, I have a back up handy if I'm over halfway through.


----------



## Omar B

Indagator said:


> Does that work on any sort of published work? I have a pile of philosophical... well, "tomes" pretty much, to get through and very little time to get through them...



Yeah sure.  I usually reommend a book that can lay flat like a hardcover to learn on because its easier but once you have it down then it works.


----------



## Big Don

I'm almost done with the Wyrd Sisters, will be my fourth book this year.


----------



## Omar B

Seems anotherb has been driven batty by Pratchett.  Gotta love that.


----------



## Big Don

Omar B said:


> Seems anotherb has been driven batty by Pratchett.  Gotta love that.


You are a wossname, literary pusher.


----------



## granfire

yep, he is isn't he.

a few pages into 'Going Postal' and I already had to check myself not to scare the family laughing hysterically...


----------



## Big Don

I'm almost finished with Guards! Guards! Moving Pictures is sitting on my desk.


----------



## Omar B

You guys heard that story about me bringing 2 Pratchett books on a vacation?  My gf of 4 years broke up with me not long after.  LOL.


----------



## granfire

Omar B said:


> You guys heard that story about me bringing 2 Pratchett books on a vacation?  My gf of 4 years broke up with me not long after.  LOL.



dork!

That's not what you bring the GF on vacation for! :lfao:


----------



## Omar B

I didnt want to go really.  We were on our last legs and she made me feel bad for going to my best friend Mike's annual b-day/superbowl party.  Screw with me, my friends and my football in one go?  Didnt work out too well after.


----------



## CoryKS

Omar B said:


> You guys heard that story about me bringing 2 Pratchett books on a vacation? My gf of 4 years broke up with me not long after. LOL.


 
Good stuff, I'm writing that one down.  Keep the tips coming!


----------



## Omar B

Yes, I have the superpower to make any situation completely awkward!

BTW, the new Clancy ruled.  Another one of those cases of me reading and half expecting to turn on the news ans see stories from the book, like when I read The Bear And The Dragon, very immersive stuff.


----------



## granfire

Omar B said:


> I didnt want to go really.  We were on our last legs and she made me feel bad for going to my best friend Mike's annual b-day/superbowl party.  Screw with me, my friends and my football in one go?  Didnt work out too well after.



LOL, well THEN.....

then she is the idiot...I mean...you have to be a complete tart to insist a guy stays home on Superbowl Sunday....
(I would have packed you a tend...don't drive home drunk, Honey) 

:boing2::boing2:


----------



## Big Don

Omar B said:


> Yes, I have the superpower to make any situation completely awkward!
> 
> BTW, the new Clancy ruled.  Another one of those cases of me reading and half expecting to turn on the news ans see stories from the book, like when I read The Bear And The Dragon, very immersive stuff.


Lets hope that doesn't happen, again. I clearly remember watching the second plane hit the WTC  and thinking, "Oh Holy crap! Clancy kinda predicted this." Granted, Clancy had a lone nut hitting a joint session of Congress, but, still, it was a lone nut with a 777...


----------



## Big Don

About halfway through Witches Abroad. The new Koontz, What the Night Knows, is on deck. I quit buying Koontz about 8 books ago, right about the time he quit writing decent endings, so, now, the library...
Most books, I get at the library, with the exceptions of, if I KNOW I am going to read, reread and rereread them, those, I buy in hardback, because they just don't make paperbacks worth a damn anymore.


----------



## Omar B

Ok, I am so excited now.  The next James Bond novel which has been refered to as Project X up to this point now has a title!  It's name is Carte Blanche, will be partially set in Dubi and centered around a young James Bond, but set in the contemporary while maintaining all the things from the books that the movies got rid of (like his Bentley or his maid May, his love for his secretaries Loelia Ponsonby then Mary Goodknight [not Moneypenny like those f-ing movies]).  So what he seems to be doing is picking up the threads from Charlie Higson's "By Royal Command" and those picked up in Fleming's "Casino Royal" and filling in the time between ... except it won't be set in the 30's but rather in the present.

Anyways, here's the press release, for a literary Bond nerd like myself this is pretty amazing.  http://commanderbond.net/12833/carte-blanche-press-release.html


----------



## Big Don

Damn you Omar! It's going to be a pain going back to books with chapters.


----------



## Omar B

Try reading "House Of Leaves," great book but breaks every rule of literature there is.  Like entire pages with just one word, or every time the word "house" shows up it's in blue rather than black like the rest of the story.  Or breaking up the narrative with a poem out of nowhere.

It's like reading Pynchon but with a scary bent and less impressed with it's own brilliance.


----------



## CoryKS

I loved House of Leaves!  I need to revisit that one.


----------



## Cryozombie

I just finished "Island of the Sequined Love Nun" by Christopher Moore

Cargo Cults, Organ Harvesting, Ninjas, and a Disgraced Pilot.  

Moore's writing has really grown on me, I have read several of his books since Christmas, and I would recommend them to anyone who likes to get a chuckle from their reading.  

"Bloodsucking Fiends" and "You Suck" (the first 2 of his Vampire Comedies) were pretty good... but I still really like "Coyote Blue" which was the first novel of his I read.


----------



## Big Don

Cryozombie said:


> I just finished "Island of the Sequined Love Nun" by Christopher Moore


*Tucker Case is a defrocked pilot for the  Mary Jean Cosmetics Corporation who lost his job, totaled his boss'  plane, and nearly demolished his manhood during a drunken airborne  sexual liaison. Now he is running for his life from Mary Jean's goons  toward the only employment opportunity left for him: piloting shady  secret missions for an unscrupulous medical missionary and a sexy,  naturally blond High Priestess on a remote Micronesian island hell,  whose one-time cannibalistic residents have not completely abandoned  their culinary past.*
With a blurb like that, how can I resist? You may be as bad as Omar.


----------



## CoryKS

Big Don said:


> *Tucker Case is a defrocked pilot for the Mary Jean Cosmetics Corporation who lost his job, totaled his boss' plane, and nearly demolished his manhood during a drunken airborne sexual liaison. Now he is running for his life from Mary Jean's goons toward the only employment opportunity left for him: piloting shady secret missions for an unscrupulous medical missionary and a sexy, naturally blond High Priestess on a remote Micronesian island hell, whose one-time cannibalistic residents have not completely abandoned their culinary past.*
> With a blurb like that, how can I resist? You may be as bad as Omar.


 
Wow, it's like they took a drunken game of Mad-Libs and ran with it as a story.


----------



## granfire

Big Don said:


> *Tucker Case is a defrocked pilot for the  Mary Jean Cosmetics Corporation who lost his job, totaled his boss'  plane, and nearly demolished his manhood during a drunken airborne  sexual liaison. Now he is running for his life from Mary Jean's goons  toward the only employment opportunity left for him: piloting shady  secret missions for an unscrupulous medical missionary and a sexy,  naturally blond High Priestess on a remote Micronesian island hell,  whose one-time cannibalistic residents have not completely abandoned  their culinary past.*
> With a blurb like that, how can I resist? You may be as bad as Omar.





CoryKS said:


> Wow, it's like they took a drunken game of Mad-Libs and ran with it as a story.



ROFLMAO....you guys crack me up!


----------



## Cryozombie

CoryKS said:


> Wow, it's like they took a drunken game of Mad-Libs and ran with it as a story.



Dude, sometimes Moore's writing feels like that... but its awesome stuff, It's not deep reading for sure, but Moore does enough research on the subject matter that it feels plausible despite being fantastic... and everything has gotten more than one chuckle out of me...

I'm getting ready to read "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal" and then I'll have read most of his Catalog.  (There is one more and He has a new one coming out)

He has sample Chapters on most of his books HERE


----------



## Big Don

I have this thing, I have to read in published order, his first book, Practical Demonkeeping, will be here tomorrow.

Koontz's latest was very good. Back to how he used to write, rather than the past 5-10 books.


----------



## granfire

sounds like fun. Putting him on my list to check out.

So far I ma still reading Pratchett, 'Interesting times' atm, 'Making Money' is up after...


----------



## Sukerkin

Still working may way through the Honor Harrington series so that I can read the new ones that my missus bought me for Xmas .

Am up to "Ashes of Victory" presently - my problem being that computer gaming is eating far too deeply into my reading time - that's something I need to get a handle on I reckon.


----------



## Big Don

granfire said:


> sounds like fun. Putting him on my list to check out.
> 
> So far I ma still reading Pratchett, 'Interesting times' atm, 'Making Money' is up after...


After ten in a row, I needed a change up.


----------



## granfire

Also got Rita Mae Brown 'Cat of the century' on my nightstand...so far the last Mrs Murphy book.


----------



## Apache Kid

I write my own novels.  My first sci-fi novel (The Sword of Urmas) had this scene: Setting - the Great Pyramid, in a parallel timeline.

     "Stuart's eyes glinted with a deadly sheen in the moonlight.  "It's time for my revenge, Caldwell.  You're gonna love it."  He pointed toward the pyramid entrance.  Move!"
      Caldwell's mind raced into overdrive, sorting through his catalog of dirty tricks for anything that would deliver him from a fate he concluded would be horrible at best.  Newfound respect for his adversary precluded him from trying anything stupid.  He would have to wait for his moment.
      At Stuart's bidding, Caldwell climbed upward to the pyramid's entrance.  Just before reaching the entrance level, he lashed out with a well aimed side-kick at Stuart.  His boot caught Stuart on the forehead, knocking him backward onto one of the huge stone blocks of the pyramid's superstructure.  The Remington clattered down the pyramid's stepped sides.
      Stuart grabbed for the pistol in his belt a split-second too late.  Caldwell leaped upon him, punching with desperate fury, grabbing for the weapon.  Stuart shifted his weight and rolled, pulling his opponent onto the slab below.  Caldwell, stunned, released his death-grip on Caldwell's gun.  Stuart stood and staggered backward.
      Caldwell rolled onto his left forearm and kicked at Stuart's knee, sending him over the edge.  Quick as a cat, Caldwell leaped down and caught Stuart's hand with a front snap-kick.  The weapon flew off into the Egyptian night, clattering its way to join the Remington.  Caldwell saw his opportunity for escape, and gave Stuart a sweeping side-punch to the temple before scrambling upward across the pyramid's face.
      Stuart shook his head, then launched himself in pursuit.  He caught up with Caldwell at the eighth masonry level above the entrance.  Caldwell tripped and quickly recovered to face his attacker.
      A moment of quietness loomed as preamble to a deadly martial arts duel.  Both combatants were aware there could be but one winner.  Caldwell adopted the 'cat' position, as manifestation of his _Tae-Kwon-Do_ fighting style.  Stuart, who preferred _Judo_ and _Pak-Ua_, crouched low, weight evenly balanced, and waited for the inevitable kick.
      Stuart feinted, drawing back suddenly in mid-stroke.  Caldwell's foot stabbed the air.  Stuart lunged, spun 180 degrees, and struck Caldwell in the solar plexus with the heel of his down-turned foot.  Caldwell reeled backward along the ledge, gasping for breath, then recovered and counter-attacked.
      Stroke!  Parry!  Lunge!  Kick!  In the course of the mortal struggle, the combatants stood silhouetted in the silver moonlight like two arch-enemies from the Kabuki Theater.  Caldwell struck from a distance, Stuart from in close.  Cuts opened and blood spattered the sides of the ancient structure as the fighters ranged across its face.  Harshly drawn lines of fatigue etched themselves on their faces.
      Caldwell took a deep breath and went on the offensive, releasing a deadly series of kicks and punches.  The more disciplined Stuart gave ground.  Caldwell sent a bone cracking whirl-kick to Stuart's ribs and a reverse-punch to the gut.  Stuart staggered from the gut blow.  
      Caldwell moved in to finish Stuart off, only to find he had moved in too close.  Stuart parried the blow with both elbows forward, fists upward, moving into Caldwell at the same time.  He grabbed Caldwell's jacket, then dropped, pulling Caldwell forward and off balance.  Stuart rolled backward with his foot in Caldwell's gut still grasping the lapels.  He launched Caldwell upward and behind him, relishing the heavy thud when Caldwell came to rest on the stone slab.
      Stuart rose to his feet in an instant.  He delivered a downward punch into Caldwell's windpipe.  Caldwell rolled off the ledge and lay gasping for breath.  Stuart followed him, pulled him up by the hair, and hit him in the teeth with a punch he had saved for five months.  The blood-spattered Caldwell sagged like a rag doll.
      Stuart screamed in primal fury, "That's for what you did to Golda!" He grabbed Caldwell's lapel and pulled him to his feet, then drove two swift punches to the groggy man's mid section.  Caldwell bent forward and slumped to his knees.
      "That's for trying to drown me!" Stuart snarled through clenched teeth.
      Caldwell staggered to his feet and cocked his right arm for one last desperate punch.  Still in the heat of battle-fury, Stuart parried, then drew up his right thigh for the final blow.  The kick slammed into Caldwell's groin without restraint.  Caldwell slowly collapsed into a writhing puddle of _Master-Race_ jelly.
      "That's for trying to fry my balls, you worthless scum-bag!"
      The desert wind whipped along the upper reaches of the pyramid singing its banshee song, almost drowning out the muted sobbing of the would-be storm trooper.  Stuart grabbed Caldwell by the collar and began the laborious task of dragging him down to the entrance.


----------



## CoryKS

Some of you sci-fi fans might be interested in this.  I just found out via Instapundit that the Baen Books website has a number of books available in electronic format for free.  Looks like those Honor Harrington books that Sukerkin mentioned are included in that.  Website is here:  Baen Free Library


----------



## Big Don

CoryKS said:


> Some of you sci-fi fans might be interested in this.  I just found out via Instapundit that the Baen Books website has a number of books available in electronic format for free.  Looks like those Honor Harrington books that Sukerkin mentioned are included in that.  Website is here:  Baen Free Library


Yeah, I've known about this for a while now, Eric Flint was the driving force behind it. He has written some pretty entertaining books, including The Philosophical Strangler and 1632.

I'm rereading Term Limits by Vince Flynn while I wait for the library.


----------



## Sukerkin

Thanks for pointing that out, *Cory* - that's something I should have done myself as I spead the word of Harrington .

It was a case of just assuming that everyone already knew .


----------



## Omar B

It's Superman - Tom DeHaven

What an intersting book!  It came out a while ago in hardback but I didnt get it but yesterday I noticed the paperback and had to.

It's a Superman story set in middle America in and around the great depression.  It's written as Slagel and Shuster originally wrote Superman back when they started, he's a champion of the downtrodden man, his powers are back down to a less god-like level (Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerfull than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound).  Like the original it's also set in NY and LA, this is before the invention of Metropolis.

There are all the trappings of a Superman story, the big battles, giant robots, Lex.  But what's great is how it captures who he is, and the country at that time, the people's desperation in small farm towns and in city slums.  I gotta say, it's very Steinbeck meets Chabon.

http://www.amazon.com/Its-Superman-Novel-Tom-Haven/dp/0345493923


----------



## Big Don

Just starting Practical Demonkeeping, to see if Cryo is as much of a pusher as Omar.


----------



## granfire

Big Don said:


> Just starting Practical Demonkeeping, to see if Cryo is as much of a pusher as Omar.




But Omar has the biggest spectrum of goods he pushes...


----------



## Big Don

granfire said:


> But Omar has the biggest spectrum of goods he pushes...


True.


----------



## Omar B

Wait!  Now I'm sounding like the bad guy here.  

And you will read that Superman book I recommend or you will be hearing from me!

LOL


----------



## Big Don

Omar B said:


> Wait!  Now I'm sounding like the bad guy here.
> 
> And you will read that Superman book I recommend or you will be hearing from me!
> 
> LOL


No, no, not a bad guy, just a pusher of addictive reading materials.
I already requested it from the library.


----------



## granfire

Omar B said:


> Wait!  Now I'm sounding like the bad guy here.
> 
> And you will read that Superman book I recommend or you will be hearing from me!
> 
> LOL



Yes, pushing the consumption of literature is truly evil!


----------



## Big Don

OK, Practical Demonkeeping was very funny.


----------



## Big Don

I just finished my sixteenth of the year, Tick Tock, by James Patterson. Typical Patterson page turner, short chapters, quick read, entertaining fluff. I'm amazed more of his books haven't been made in to movies.


----------



## Ken Morgan

Gwenhwyfar by Mercedes Lackey. First one of her's I've read in ages, so far so good. Just entertianment.


----------



## Big Don

Ken Morgan said:


> Gwenhwyfar


 Coming across a word I can't instantly pronounce drives me nuts. Thanks Ken.


----------



## Big Don

Just starting A Hard Day's Knight by Simon R Green.


----------



## Ken Morgan

Big Don said:


> Coming across a word I can't instantly pronounce drives me nuts. Thanks Ken.


 
Any time. It's like reading a book with lots of "foreign" names, just to make sense of it you kinda make up your own as you read it. Lots of Bobs, Robs, Stans, and Lynnes in War and Peace....


----------



## yorkshirelad

I'm reading "My Life" by Bill Clinton....biggest load of fiction I've ever read!!


----------



## Sukerkin

Just noticed this:

Gwenhwyfar

To help Don out, my first stab at this would be:

Guenn Hoo Eye Var

The pronunciation would vary depending on which part of Wales the speaker is from ... assuming that it is based on Welsh at all of course :lol:.

My aged and decayed brain says it means something like "The Blessed Ones" (or "The Pale/White Ones") but my Welsh was twenty five years, one bike accident and a fair bit of brain damage ago .


----------



## Big Don

I'm reading Lords and Ladies.


----------



## Omar B

Big Don said:


> I'm reading Lords and Ladies.



Nice!

I'm reading back through the thread to pick a couple books for this week.


----------



## Cryozombie

Omar B said:


> Nice!
> 
> I'm reading back through the thread to pick a couple books for this week.



Joe Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy man...



			
				Joe Abercrombie said:
			
		

> Epic fantasy. Its all the same, no?
> There&#8217;s a grumpy wizard, a deadly barbarian, a jumped-up nobleman and  some feisty girl, more than likely. They&#8217;re all engaged in a mysterious  quest to bring that from there, and they&#8217;re all made out of cardboard.  Probably there&#8217;s a dark lord of some kind involved. They talk like  extras from a bad soap opera. They fight like extras from a bad cop  show. Probably there&#8217;s a prophecy, and a farmboy with mysterious  parentage, and if not a magic tower, then certainly a strange tall  building of some kind. There&#8217;ll be battles, there&#8217;ll be intrigue, and I  wouldn&#8217;t be at all surprised if a magic sword came up somewhere along  the way
> 
> I don&#8217;t need to read that again.
> 
> I want to read a fantasy with all the grit, and cruelty, and humour  of real life. Where good and evil are a matter of where you stand, just  like in the real world. I want dialogue that actually sounds like people  talking, and action that actually feels like people fighting. I want  magic and adventure, sure, but I want it to hurt. I want blood, sweat,  and tears, and plenty of them. I want to read about characters as  selfish, as flawed, as complicated, and as unpredictable as real people.  I want a fantasy that can shock and surprise, amuse and horrify,  delight and excite me, all at once.
> I spent a long time looking, and I couldn&#8217;t find a set of books quite like that. So I thought I&#8217;d write some.
> You like your fantasy with the edges left on?
> Try _The First Law_.


----------



## Big Don

Cryozombie said:


> Joe Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy man...


Thanks Cryo. Something else to read!


----------



## Cryozombie

Big Don said:


> Thanks Cryo. Something else to read!



NP man.  I tear thru books so I have a lot I could recommend. 

The Joe Pitt Casebooks by Charlie Huston are a great read too... Think a gritty brutal streetwise Mickey Spillane style story about Vampires.  It ain't your sparkly Vampire, or even your romantic "Lestat" type.  Down and dirty and hardcore.

Actually, I have loved everything I read by Huston EXCEPT his most recent Novel, "Sleepless"


----------



## Big Don

About halfway into Coyote Blue


----------



## granfire

Artemis Fowl (while the rest of the series resides in Young Adult, this was in adult fiction - go figure...)

But the name of the hero throws me, always.


----------



## stickarts

"The Return of the King" audio book for the millionth time! :0)


----------



## Big Don

This is what I am reading now:





Omar B said:


> It's Superman - Tom DeHaven


Omar did it to me again...





Thanks, Omar

By the way, any investment strategies, foods, liquors or board games you want to recommend?


----------



## Big Don

Now I'm reading Bloodsucking Fiends.


----------



## granfire

Just finished Artemis Fowl.

At times it was so intense I had to put it down, afraid to keep reading :lfao:

And yes, it's YA lit....


----------



## Omar B

granfire said:


> Just finished Artemis Fowl.
> 
> At times it was so intense I had to put it down, afraid to keep reading :lfao:
> 
> And yes, it's YA lit....



You should read Charlie Higson's Young Bond series.  When you talk about hair raising and at times uncomfortable to read, that's the series for you.  By far some of the best post-Fleming work in the Bond series in my opinion.  Not only is Higson well researched creating the childhood and teens of a man who's past is only hinted at and barley sketched in by Fleming (and to a lesser extent Gardner, who was one of the few of the following authors who seemed to care).

http://youngbonddossier.com/Young_Bond/Home.html


----------



## perceive

Dan Simmons - Ilium.  It's actually a re-read from a few years back but after this not much fiction for a while as I have a bunch of non-fiction books to go through.


----------



## granfire

Omar B said:


> You should read Charlie Higson's Young Bond series.  When you talk about hair raising and at times uncomfortable to read, that's the series for you.  By far some of the best post-Fleming work in the Bond series in my opinion.  Not only is Higson well researched creating the childhood and teens of a man who's past is only hinted at and barley sketched in by Fleming (and to a lesser extent Gardner, who was one of the few of the following authors who seemed to care).
> 
> http://youngbonddossier.com/Young_Bond/Home.html




Pusher! 




:lfao:

(put on my search list)


----------



## granfire

perceive said:


> Dan Simmons - Ilium.  It's actually a re-read from a few years back but after this not much fiction for a while as I have a bunch of non-fiction books to go through.




Is that the somewhat futuristic retelling of the Illiad?


----------



## perceive

granfire said:


> Is that the somewhat futuristic retelling of the Illiad?


Correct, basically turns the Iliad into a sci fi.  With robots, Shakespeare and Proust for good measure.
About thirty pages left to go at the moment, then onto some of those martial arts books from my other thread that have turned up.


----------



## granfire

Ah, yes, I heard of that...


----------



## Big Don

Now I am reading Island of the Sequined Love Nun. Which one of you pushers turned me on to this?


----------



## granfire

Big Don said:


> Now I am reading Island of the Sequined Love Nun. Which one of you pushers turned me on to this?



Tez?


----------



## Big Don

granfire said:


> Tez?


I don't think so, but, I'm currently too lazy to look.


----------



## Cryozombie

Moore was me.  



Fool is my Favorite by him thusfar.


----------



## Big Don

Cryozombie said:


> Moore was me.
> 
> 
> 
> Fool is my Favorite by him thusfar.


Oh, dude, thanks for the tip. This is funny stuff.


----------



## Big Don

I'm just starting Tom Clancy's Dead or Alive


----------



## Omar B

Big Don said:


> I'm just starting Tom Clancy's Dead or Alive



Nice.  Read that a couple weeks ago... or was it a month.


----------



## Big Don

Omar B said:


> Nice.  Read that a couple weeks ago... or was it a month.


950 pages! Holy crap, I dropped it, but, luckily, being a highly trained martial artist, got my foot out of the way just in time. That would have hurt!


----------



## Big Don

Just picked up Bite me and Lamb, the gospel according to Biff, Christ's childhood pal. It is published EXACTLY like a Bible. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			




Gold edging on the pages, little cloth bookmark sewn in, same halfway limp binding
Funny, but, wow.


----------



## granfire

Big Don said:


> Just picked up Bite me and Lamb, the gospel according to Biff, Christ's childhood pal. It is published EXACTLY like a Bible.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Gold edging on the pages, little cloth bookmark sewn in, same halfway limp binding
> Funny, but, wow.



roflmao! I am sure it'll end up on a bonfire soon enough around here


----------



## Big Don

granfire said:


> roflmao! I am sure it'll end up on a bonfire soon enough around here


So, I pull it off the shelf in the library, and start laughing hysterically...


----------



## Omar B

Big Don said:


> Just picked up Bite me and Lamb, the gospel according to Biff, Christ's childhood pal. It is published EXACTLY like a Bible.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Gold edging on the pages, little cloth bookmark sewn in, same halfway limp binding
> Funny, but, wow.



Gotta give more details.


----------



## granfire

Big Don said:


> So, I pull it off the shelf in the library, and start laughing hysterically...



rofl, I can imagine. I would have probably had to scrape my eyeballs off the floor...being in the Bible Belt and all...  (I don't think the library has it...)



EDIT: I just checked: Audio book...


----------



## crushing

Does "reading" include audiobooks?  I noticed an ad for a free audiobook from Audible.com in the right advertising pane on Facebook.  So I went I got my first audiobook, Atlas Shrugged.  There is just something about dystopian novels like Nineteen Eighty-Four, A Brave New World and Atlas Shrugged that I find compelling.

It took a little while to get used to listening to a book.  When reading a book and there is a distraction, it is easy to find your place.  When listening it takes a little more concentration and a distraction, or falling asleep, may mean searching back through the audio track to find the last thing remembered.  At least I can get some book time on my commute.  I also find myself not driving as fast.  

I thought I had a free month for the Audible.com account.  It was only 2 weeks, so I ended up paying for a month.  The book is no longer free, but I did get another credit for another book.  I'm not sure what I'll get next.


----------



## granfire

I don't know if it counts as reading. 
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy having a book read to me, but I like it to be a life experience.
I don't have a lot of time with no outside distractions and I don't drive long enough to make it count (I found I'd rather have music while driving anyhow)

But: A cousin of mine drive a lot for her job and she is stocked up on audio books.
There are a couple that are narrated/read by the author that make them a treat listening to them (I have a couple of German authors in mind, one started out as a TV comedian, the other I heard his stories on the radio, I will have to buy his stories about his cocktail mixing great aunt and his monk traveling Italy while cooking, recipes included...)
They also supplied my sister with a lot of them when she was sick and really too weak to hold a book.


----------



## CoryKS

crushing said:


> Does "reading" include audiobooks? I noticed an ad for a free audiobook from Audible.com in the right advertising pane on Facebook. So I went I got my first audiobook, Atlas Shrugged. There is just something about dystopian novels like Nineteen Eighty-Four, A Brave New World and Atlas Shrugged that I find compelling.
> 
> It took a little while to get used to listening to a book. When reading a book and there is a distraction, it is easy to find your place. When listening it takes a little more concentration and a distraction, or falling asleep, may mean searching back through the audio track to find the last thing remembered. At least I can get some book time on my commute. I also find myself not driving as fast.
> 
> I thought I had a free month for the Audible.com account. It was only 2 weeks, so I ended up paying for a month. The book is no longer free, but I did get another credit for another book. I'm not sure what I'll get next.


 
I'd count it, though I can't personally do audiobooks.  Reading forces me to concentrate on the text.  When I listen to audiobooks, my mind wanders so much that I end up missing huge chunks of what was said.


----------



## Big Don

crushing said:


> Does "reading" include audiobooks?


I don't think so. No. That is listening.


----------



## crushing

Big Don said:


> I don't think so. No. That is listening.


 
And, a book in braille is feeling.  Got it!


----------



## CoryKS

Big Don said:


> I don't think so. No. That is listening.


 
You still end up with the same info in your head.


----------



## Big Don

CoryKS said:


> You still end up with the same info in your head.


Not always, a lot of the audio books are abridged or edited.


----------



## Omar B

Audiobooks don't count as reading since you are not ya know ... reading.  Hearing the story is one thing, but when you mom read you a bedtime story it was her reading not you.

And now the good news!  GRRM's A Dance Of Dragons has a firm release date!  Winter is coming.  http://io9.com/#!5775706/george-rr-martins-a-dance-with-dragons-gets-a-release-date-july-12

Also, here's the motion poster for the upcoming Conan movie.  I post it here because he's a literary character and I've been dipping into my Conan collection for the past week.  http://www.aintitcool.com/node/48714


----------



## dancingalone

Hmm, I am eyeing my wife's copy of The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult after I finish Old Man's War by John Scalzi.  Picoult seems to be popular with women, but I don't mind the occasional Maeve Binchy book, so I'm going to give it a chance.


----------



## Big Don

Now reading Christopher Moore's Bite Me. Anxiously awaiting A Kingdom Besieged by Raymond Feist, which, because I am impatient, I ordered from Amazon.uk


----------



## Big Don

No, I never noticed that only the Star Spangled Banner is referred to as spangled. But, I will remember it.


----------



## Omar B

Ok, just got a new haul from the book store.  I will have to go open the bag to list all I got, but the two highlights are the latest two John LeCarre novels.


----------



## Big Don

I'm reading both, they are wildly different enough, You Suck! by Christopher Moore, and Men at Arms by Pratchett. So, there are two of you to blame...


----------



## Omar B

Men At Arms!  I'm laughing just thinking about it.


----------



## Big Don

Just about to start A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore


----------



## Bruno@MT

Omar B said:


> And now the good news!  GRRM's A Dance Of Dragons has a firm release date!  Winter is coming.  http://io9.com/#!5775706/george-rr-martins-a-dance-with-dragons-gets-a-release-date-july-12
> [/url]



Yes! GRRM is imo the best fantasy writer there is. Each book is a masterpiece.
My only concern is that -given the time between releases- he pulls a Jordan before the tale is finished.


----------



## Bruno@MT

I just finished Dan Brown's latest monstrosity.

I'm currently readin 'Ravensoul' by James Barclay.
A bit predictable but an interesting read nonetheless.


----------



## Blindside

I am working through A Desert Called Peace by Tom Kratman

I am not quite sure what to make of this, a book with a disjointed timeline showing the discovery and colonization of a new world (Nova Terra), how the UN and all the liberal organizations take over our planet, how the Nova Terra countries become established and grow into exact analogies to modern 20th century countries, how geopolitical and religion issues are remarkably similar to year 2000 issues including a terrorist attack on the "Global Commerce Center" of the Federated States by a Muslim extremist group.  The book focuses on the founding of a mercenary band that gets employed in the ensuing war and all the things they can do to thwart the liberals and media that seek to impair their prosecution of the war.

I think Pournelle, Drake, Ringo, and Stirling have done similar and better work on the topic, I really can't recommend it.


----------



## Big Don

I just started feet of clay


----------



## Big Don

I am almost done with Fool by Christopher Moore. He rewrote King Lear. Wow.


----------



## Omar B

A TV series based on The City Watch from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels is on the way!  http://io9.com/#!5784654/terry-prat...ing-a-cop-show-from-monty-pythons-terry-jones


----------



## Cryozombie

Omar B said:


> A TV series based on The City Watch from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels is on the way! http://io9.com/#!5784654/terry-prat...ing-a-cop-show-from-monty-pythons-terry-jones


 

Way too cool!  And it says they are doing a Good Omens Miniseries too!  Woot!


----------



## Cryozombie

Big Don said:


> I am almost done with Fool by Christopher Moore. He rewrote King Lear. Wow.


 
This is my Favorite of all his books thusfar.  Leave it to Moore to turn Lear into a comedy.


----------



## granfire

Omar B said:


> A TV series based on The City Watch from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels is on the way!  http://io9.com/#!5784654/terry-pratchetts-discworld-becoming-a-cop-show-from-monty-pythons-terry-jones



can they pull it off?

(then again, I have zero faith in TV shows atm...)


----------



## Big Don

atm? At the moment?
Just starting Fluke by Moore


----------



## Big Don

Cryozombie said:


> This is my Favorite of all his books thusfar.  Leave it to Moore to turn Lear into a comedy.


It was good, but, I really liked the whole Bloodsucking fiends/Bite me/ You suck trilogy.


----------



## Big Don

Jingo.
Damn you Omar.


----------



## Sukerkin

Currently on "War of Honor" ... honest I do read other things than David Weber's Honor Harrington books :lol:.  It's just that I'm workig through the series again before I read the new ones ... 

...


...  oops, that really doesn't sound like I read anything other than Weber does it :lol:.


----------



## Omar B

Big Don said:


> Jingo.
> Damn you Omar.



I love a good series and somehow Terry has done tons of books and kept the quality up.  I gotta say man, for my money he's the most impressive author out there right now.  When it comes to sheer quality and volume of it nobody has him beat.  

How many series really stay that good that long?  Not even Conan maintained that level, not James Bond (many of the later 80's and early 90's books really fell off), don't get me started on Jordan.  I could go on right?

I think right now the only other dudes approaching Terry levels are Terry Goodkind, GRRM (but that's debatable), Daniel Silva, Lee Child and John Lecarre.


----------



## Big Don

I don't know about Goodkind. Is Richard just doomed to have everything happen to him? I would rather he followed up The Law of Nines, but, no.


----------



## granfire

Omar B said:


> I love a good series and somehow Terry has done tons of books and kept the quality up.  I gotta say man, for my money he's the most impressive author out there right now.  When it comes to sheer quality and volume of it nobody has him beat.
> 
> How many series really stay that good that long?  Not even Conan maintained that level, not James Bond (many of the later 80's and early 90's books really fell off), don't get me started on Jordan.  I could go on right?
> 
> I think right now the only other dudes approaching Terry levels are Terry Goodkind, GRRM (but that's debatable), Daniel Silva, Lee Child and John Lecarre.



I suppose he managed to have so many angles to the story.
But I finished what I am assuming is the last of the Sneaky Pie Brown Mysteries...I liked it well enough but it was not really as good as the first few (and it had a few discrepancies in the continuum from as recent as the previous book...)


----------



## Omar B

John Gardner's run on James Bond is being reprinted!  I'm beyond words with joy.  http://www.thebookbond.com/2011/03/gardner-renewed-all-14-john-gardner.html


----------



## Big Don

About to start The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove.


----------



## Omar B

Here are the first 15 mins of Game Of Thrones.  I've you have not read GRRM's Song Of Fire And Ice series yet, you have about a week before the show starts.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQykXOukM2Q&feature=feedf


----------



## Cryozombie

Omar B said:


> Here are the first 15 mins of Game Of Thrones.  I've you have not read GRRM's Song Of Fire And Ice series yet, you have about a week before the show starts.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQykXOukM2Q&feature=feedf



What is the start date for the series Omar?


----------



## Omar B

15th


----------



## Big Don

Read James Patterson, and some other guy's Toys, not to bad, the other guy did more of the writing, it didn't read nearly as fast as Patterson...
Now I'm reading Pratchett's The Truth. The Truth shall make ye fret. True.


----------



## baron

I'm starting Countdown by Jonathan Maberry.  I like the way it starts out; I didn't plan to kill anyone.  I wasn't totaly against the idea, either.  This was a free download for Kindle.  Love my Kindle and free book's.


----------



## Big Don

baron said:


> I didn't plan to kill anyone.  I wasn't totaly against the idea, either.


That is a great line. It reminds me of: The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but, it is on the list.


----------



## Big Don

About 20% into 1636 The Saxon Uprising by Eric Flint


----------



## Big Don

Just finished Jack: Secret Vengeance by F.Paul Wilson and started Pratchett's Night Watch. Two books from two authors pointed out to me in this thread.


----------



## Big Don

Carpe Jugulum


----------



## Omar B

Carpe Jugulum, gotta love that.  Egor steal the show.


----------



## Big Don

Omar B said:


> Carpe Jugulum, gotta love that.  Egor steal the show.


SHUSH! I'm only just starting!


----------



## Big Don

Omar B said:


> Carpe Jugulum, gotta love that.  Egor steal the show.


Yeth, he did theal the thow.
Just started Thief of Time. 
Shush!


----------



## bushidomartialarts

Man, I just finished "The Name of the Wind." Best straight fantasy (as opposed to Pratchett's comedic fantasy) I've read in ten years or more.

Seriously.

Wow.


----------



## Big Don

Big Don said:


> Yeth, he did theal the thow.
> Jutht thtarted Thief of Time.
> thuthh!


Fixed


----------



## Touch Of Death

I am reading the first book in a new teen series by Clive Barker called, Abarat I am only a few pages in; I will let you know how it goes.
Sean


----------



## Cryozombie

I've just started reading Jim Butcher's Dresden Files novels.  Its cheap and whorish writing... I got into this modern Fantasy thing recently with stuff like Charlie Huston's hardcore Vampire Noir novels and stuff like this feels light and fluffy by comparison.

Not that I am not enjoying them.


----------



## Big Don

Cryozombie said:


> I've just started reading Jim Butcher's Dresden Files novels.  Its cheap and whorish writing... I got into this modern Fantasy thing recently with stuff like Charlie Huston's hardcore Vampire Noir novels and stuff like this feels light and fluffy by comparison.
> 
> Not that I am not enjoying them.


Cheap and whorish has it's place, ask Charlie Sheen


----------



## granfire

Big Don said:


> Cheap and whorish has it's place, ask Charlie Sheen



LOL, come on, you know his whorish days were never cheap.


----------



## Big Don

granfire said:


> LOL, come on, you know his whorish days were never cheap.


Cut me a break. It was late, I was tired and couldn't come up with a better smart *** remark, and you must admit, one was demanded...


----------



## Big Don

bushidomartialarts said:


> Man, I just finished "The Name of the Wind." Best straight fantasy (as opposed to Pratchett's comedic fantasy) I've read in ten years or more.
> 
> Seriously.
> 
> Wow.


Just starting it. Looks promising


----------



## billc

Just started "Hard Magic" by Larry Correia, not bad.  I was never into the 1930's as a time period, but he does make it interesting.  I think this book shows that he has talent that may last a while.


----------



## Omar B

John Lecarre - A Most Wanted Man.

Lecarree is my favorite thriller/spy novel author after Fleming.  He writes with such knowledge and lyrical beauty that he does dwarf Fleming in many ways, except one, he didnt create Bond.  Lecarre's heros are real men, they have real lives, problems, foibles.  Many of his books don't even have action, but such amazing edge of your seat dialouge that it blows you away.

A most wanted man is set in the Muslim community in Hamburg Germany in the wake of 9/11 seeing as some of the hijackers came from there.  There are SS men trying to do the right thing and due diligence to find why their city is such a hotbed.  There's also a young Muslim man with a dubious past who's moving through the community and nobody knows his real endgame ... but he's got lots of money.


----------



## Big Don

The Name of the Wind is OUTSTANDING. You should read it.


----------



## granfire

The Moore book with the sea monster jumping the tanker truck and leaving the whole town horny....good read, but somewhat inapropriate when you are sitting in the emergency room... :lol:


----------



## Big Don

The Name of the Wind lived up to and exceeded the hype, IMNSHO. I can't wait to read the sequel.
Starting One Rough Man by Brad Taylor.


----------



## Cryozombie

I just picked up "The Bro Code" by Barney Stinson.  A little lighthearted change from my usual fare.


----------



## Ken Morgan

Robert Sawyers new one. Wonder.


----------



## granfire

I think I'll have some light reading today:
Jeff Stone 'The five Ancestors' Book 6 'Mouse' (and book seven is in the wings, the only series so far I paid full price for at the store)


----------



## dancingalone

Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber.  Hmm, not sure if I will finish the book or not.  Weber isn't the best framer of prose, at least as judged by this book.  I am weary of all his characters using the same sentence structure... You'd think someone from 900 years ago as the protagonist is would talk differently from the current modern day characters.  Weber is also overly fond of describing smiles, whether of the wry or half-only type.


----------



## Omar B

A bad Weber review?  I've been really interested in getting into his work since I've spent some time away from sci-fi for a while.  He certainly has a huge catalogue and I was thinking of jumping in, but I would like to hear more of your thoughts.  

I wanted to get his book "Hell's Gate" because I love the idea of a fantasy setting meeting a modern military setting.  Wizards and spells against machine guns and rocket launchers.  It's the only book I can think of that blends modern military and fantasy that I'm aware of.


----------



## dancingalone

Granted Off Armageddon Reef is a very politically oriented book, so there's bound to be lots speeches and other dialogue.  I guess that's why some of the quirks in Weber's writing is so noticeable.  When you have umpteen characters pontificating about something and they all talk exactly the same... 

Don't let me put you off from reading the book or any of Weber's other novels.  He is entertaining, albeit not a master of crafty prose like perhaps a few select other authors can be.


----------



## Big Don

Just reread Monster Hunter Vendetta while waiting for other things


----------



## Big Don

Rereading 7 Deadly Wonders by Matthew Reilly, 2 parts Indiana Jones, 1 part Tomb Raider.


----------



## dancingalone

I'm reading some escapist vampire fiction right now by E. E. Knight.  There's an entire 'Vampire Earth' series, but I'm only into the opening chapters of the first volume, titled 'Way of the Wolf'.


----------



## Big Don

Read 6 Sacred Stones and 5 Greatest Warriors by Reilly. Now reading Footprints of God by Greg Iles


----------



## Omar B

Right now I'm reading nothing.  I have a WEB Griffin book sitting on deck, but the release of the new James Bond novel Carte Blanch by Jeffrey Deaver is all that I'm stuck on.  Too bad it was released in the UK yesterday and not for another 2 weeks here.

So now I'm avoiding all my favorite Bond sites.  Makes me sad.


----------



## granfire

Omar B said:


> *Right now I'm reading nothing.*  I have a WEB Griffin book sitting on deck, but the release of the new James Bond novel Carte Blanch by Jeffrey Deaver is all that I'm stuck on.  Too bad it was released in the UK yesterday and not for another 2 weeks here.
> 
> So now I'm avoiding all my favorite Bond sites.  Makes me sad.






:xtrmshock

:eye-popping:
:jaw-dropping:


Are you alright?


----------



## bushidomartialarts

Big Don said:


> Just reread Monster Hunter Vendetta while waiting for other things


 
How is that series? I've been hearing some good things, but I'm leary of "supernatural in the modern world" novels. So much of it devolves into bad zombie fiction...


----------



## Omar B

granfire said:


> :xtrmshock
> 
> :eye-popping:
> :jaw-dropping:
> 
> 
> Are you alright?



I'm fine.  The next thing I read WILL be the new James Bond novel.  Nothing is gonna even come in the way of that, distract me in any way, just not gonna happen.


----------



## granfire

Omar B said:


> I'm fine.  The next thing I read WILL be the new James Bond novel.  Nothing is gonna even come in the way of that, distract me in any way, just not gonna happen.




Now I am really concerned...
That's like 10 books that remain unread until then!

You mean, like, really? you can wait that long?


----------



## Big Don

bushidomartialarts said:


> How is that series? I've been hearing some good things, but I'm leary of "supernatural in the modern world" novels. So much of it devolves into bad zombie fiction...


Very entertaining, I like it. Someone mentioned it in this thread. That is where I heard about it.


----------



## Cryozombie

bushidomartialarts said:


> How is that series? I've been hearing some good things, but I'm leary of "supernatural in the modern world" novels. So much of it devolves into bad zombie fiction...


 
If you want something good in the "Supernatural in the Modern World" check out Charlie Huston's Joe Pitt Casebooks series.  The first book has a bit of Zombie involvement in it, but not in the typical fasion... and it's NOT a zombie story.  There is just a bit of Zombie in it, and then the rest of the series is mostly a dark, brutal Vampire power struggle.


----------



## bushidomartialarts

Cryozombie said:


> If you want something good in the "Supernatural in the Modern World" check out Charlie Huston's Joe Pitt Casebooks series.  The first book has a bit of Zombie involvement in it, but not in the typical fasion... and it's NOT a zombie story.  There is just a bit of Zombie in it, and then the rest of the series is mostly a dark, brutal Vampire power struggle.



Are these sexy emo vampires? I'm all sexy emo vampired out...


----------



## granfire

bushidomartialarts said:


> Are these sexy emo vampires? I'm all sexy emo vampired out...



But the SPARKLES!!!


----------



## Big Don

granfire said:


> But the SPARKLES!!!


Actually, in Monster Hunter Vendetta, the main character says:"Real vampires only sparkle when they are on fire"


----------



## granfire

Big Don said:


> Actually, in Monster Hunter Vendetta, the main character says:"Real vampires only sparkle when they are on fire"



Several degrees of awesome!


----------



## Big Don

granfire said:


> Several degrees of awesome!


Yeah, read the Correia slaps Biden thread in the study...
he's all kinds of cool


----------



## Big Don

The Footprints of God is REALLY good.


----------



## Cryozombie

bushidomartialarts said:


> Are these sexy emo vampires? I'm all sexy emo vampired out...


 
No, these are brutal hardcore thuggish Vampires.  The books read more like Hardboiled PI novels than anything else.  



> The vampire mythos gets a healthy dose of attitude a la Raymond Chandler in Charlie Hustons singularly cool _Already Dead_, a savage and sardonic novel that blends blood-sucking fantasy and horror elements with the hard-boiled style of noir thrillers.
> Joe Pitt is a vampyre living in post-9/11 New York City. On an island ruled by all-powerful and very politically diverse vampyre clans Pitt is a loner, surviving by doing various odd jobs for clan bosses. When he becomes indebted to the Coalition and is strong-armed into finding the runaway daughter of a biotech magnate, the undead amateur detective begins a treacherous mission that will lead him through the dark underbelly of Manhattan and pit him against brain-eating zombies, drug-addicted squatters, warring vampyre factions, and his most base desire: the need to feed.
> Huston is primed to blow the socks off of yet another genre audience with _Already Dead_, a novel that introduces a rousing new twist on one of literatures oldest and most popular myths. Simply put, this is an absolute must-read for dark fantasy, horror, and mystery aficionados, as well as mainstream fiction fans looking for something a little off the beaten path.


----------



## Big Don

Michael Z Williamson's Freehold.


----------



## HammockRider

The Destroyer #122-Syndication Rites . The Mafia gets involved in the stock market and Chiun discovers the joys of country music. Nothing but the classics for me!


----------



## Big Don

Going Postal


----------



## granfire

Like Omar said: I envy you for the experience of reading it for the first time! 


Christopher Moore 'Fool'


----------



## Big Don

granfire said:


> Like Omar said: I envy you for the experience of reading it for the first time!
> 
> 
> Christopher Moore 'Fool'


I liked Fool. I really liked the audacity it takes to rewrite Shakespeare.


----------



## granfire

Big Don said:


> I liked Fool. I really liked the audacity it takes to rewrite Shakespeare.



And it was probably a lot less censored, too :lfao:


----------



## Big Don

granfire said:


> And it was probably a lot less censored, too :lfao:


Ya know, I'm not big on Shakespeare myself, but, I don't remember the F bomb...


----------



## granfire

LOL, no, Moore, compared to Shakespeare...

I am sure the F-bomb is not new, though I wonder when it made it's way into everyday speech!


(funny you mentioned Willy's lack of usage of the F-bomb: From Wiki





> While Shakespeare never used the term explicitly; he hinted at it in comic scenes in a few plays. _The Merry Wives of Windsor_ (IV.i) contains the expression _focative case_ (see vocative case). In _Henry V_ (IV.iv), Pistol threatens to _firk_ (strike) a soldier, a euphemism for _****_.


)

:lfao:


----------



## Big Don

I'm reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. My library lists it as young adult fiction. I wouldn't.


----------



## granfire

Big Don said:


> I'm reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. My library lists it as young adult fiction. I wouldn't.




Sometimes I wonder how they classify all that stuff!

I was searching for Eion Colfer's 'Artemis Fowl' in the YA section - no luck, all the followup books were there tho...it's in the regular fiction aisle...go figure!


----------



## Omar B

Yup.  Charlie Higson's Young Bond series is called young adult, but it's clearly written and paced like a modern thriller.  It's got grizzly death, torture, in one book (Blood Fever) the villain rots away before you eyes as the book progresses as a result of an injury he gets hijacking a ship.

Never got the YA thing.


----------



## punisher73

Currently, I just started "Game of Thrones".  So far I'm only about 100 or so pages into it and it is good, not alot of action so far, but the way it is written it still pulls you into the plots.


----------



## granfire

Omar B said:


> Yup.  Charlie Higson's Young Bond series is called young adult, but it's clearly written and paced like a modern thriller.  It's got grizzly death, torture, in one book (Blood Fever) the villain rots away before you eyes as the book progresses as a result of an injury he gets hijacking a ship.
> 
> Never got the YA thing.




I suppose it keeps the humping and fornicating in the books to a minimum....I don't think some of the books were meant for young readers at all...

Seems to be the gray area between picture books and actual chapter books.

(also, I don't like the children's section being walled off much either...some good stuff in there, but you feel like a perv going in there...)


----------



## Omar B

punisher73 said:


> Currently, I just started "Game of Thrones".  So far I'm only about 100 or so pages into it and it is good, not alot of action so far, but the way it is written it still pulls you into the plots.



Oh man what a ride you are gonna be in for.  Best part is GRRM leave so much of it out there with foreshadowing, red herrings, misdirections, etc that you will be surprised at every turn, guaranteed.

As for the Bond thing Gran.  They tried to keep the sex out of it, but it's Bond novels so there's a fair bit of torture in a couple of them and "the incident with the maid" that got him kicked out of college is shown in the last 2 books of the series and how it eventually leads him to joining the Navy.  So even when they try to keep it vague, the sex is still there.


----------



## LuckyKBoxer

I just read all three books of the hunger games this weekend. I could not put them down.
Loved the first book, the second book was good, the third book had a really screwed up ending in my opinion.. I am left thinking it was screwed up... who knows..

I want to dive into the game of thrones books, but know nothing about how many there are or where to start, and I also want to jump into the old Conan books as I have never even read one and am more and more excited about the new  Conan movie every day


----------



## dancingalone

Big Don said:


> I'm reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. My library lists it as young adult fiction. I wouldn't.



Good book.  I read a copy before I even know that it was classified as youth fiction.


----------



## granfire

Omar B said:


> Oh man what a ride you are gonna be in for.  Best part is GRRM leave so much of it out there with foreshadowing, red herrings, misdirections, etc that you will be surprised at every turn, guaranteed.
> 
> As for the Bond thing Gran.  They tried to keep the sex out of it, but it's Bond novels so there's a fair bit of torture in a couple of them and "the incident with the maid" that got him kicked out of college is shown in the last 2 books of the series and how it eventually leads him to joining the Navy.  So even when they try to keep it vague, the sex is still there.




LOL, no, I mean, like the girly lit. By the time the doing is done you know the exact number of pubes the participants have, according to a friend of mine. Not in a guy kind of thinking: They got together, shagged, left....:lfao:


----------



## punisher73

LuckyKBoxer said:


> I just read all three books of the hunger games this weekend. I could not put them down.
> Loved the first book, the second book was good, the third book had a really screwed up ending in my opinion.. I am left thinking it was screwed up... who knows..
> 
> I want to dive into the game of thrones books, but know nothing about how many there are or where to start, and I also want to jump into the old Conan books as I have never even read one and am more and more excited about the new Conan movie every day


 
Ditto on the old Conan.  I have read many, but missed alot too of the originals.  Here is an all-in-one book with all of Howard's original Conan stories.
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Chro...=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1307382712&sr=1-2

It is alot cheaper than trying to track down the 14 volume set from Ace/Lancer that were published in the late 60's with stories and modifications done by Sprague and Carter.


----------



## Big Don

dancingalone said:


> Good book.  I read a copy before I even know that it was classified as youth fiction.


Yeah, I really liked it. I searched online and saw there were sequels in 2008 and 2010, so I went to my library's website to request them. Holy Crap. I'm 28th and 31st on the list(s)


----------



## dancingalone

Big Don said:


> Yeah, I really liked it. I searched online and saw there were sequels in 2008 and 2010, so I went to my library's website to request them. Holy Crap. I'm 28th and 31st on the list(s)



I've read Catching Fire and didn't like it as much as Hunger Games, but it's still worth reading.  I'll definitely read the final book at some point.


----------



## Omar B

LuckyKBoxer said:


> I just read all three books of the hunger games this weekend. I could not put them down.
> Loved the first book, the second book was good, the third book had a really screwed up ending in my opinion.. I am left thinking it was screwed up... who knows..
> 
> I want to dive into the game of thrones books, but know nothing about how many there are or where to start, and I also want to jump into the old Conan books as I have never even read one and am more and more excited about the new  Conan movie every day



It's easy, the first book is Game Of Thrones, the newest book coming out this summer is A Dance Of Dragons.  There are also ancillary works that fall before the events of the novels, like The Hedge Knight that takes place almost 50 years before.

As for Conan, yes, I am also excited about the upcoming film.  In fact I can say that the only movies I truly want to see this summer in order are Conan, GL and Captain America.


----------



## Big Don

Thud!


----------



## Cryozombie

I just finished all of the Dresden Files novels.  Yeah, I sat down and read the entire series back to back... But to be fair it was only 11 novels, not like discworld or anything.  

I just ordered Steven Brust's first 5 Vlad Taltos novels.  I read the first couple probaly 10 years ago, and I saw he has recently released a few new ones, so I thought I would re-read the ones I read, and then read the rest.  

And for Firefly Fans, or (Brust fans, take your pick) he has written and released for free on his Website a short Firefly novelette that you can download and read.  I thought it was pretty decent, I think he really captured the feel of the characters, even if I felt he made too much reference to the Serenity movie. 

http://dreamcafe.com/firefly.html


----------



## dancingalone

The Heritage of Hastur by Marion Zimmer Bradley.


----------



## Big Don

Big Don said:


> Yeah, I really liked it. I searched online and saw there were sequels in 2008 and 2010, so I went to my library's website to request them. Holy Crap. I'm 28th and 31st on the list(s)


somehow, I'm still 22d and 29th on the lists and both are in transit...
If it is stupid and it works, it isn't stupid, especially when it works for me.


----------



## Big Don

It aggravates me that some books read so much slower than others. 
Anyways, I am now reading The Weapon by Michael Z. Williamson, it is a (the?) sequel to Freehold.


----------



## Big Don

Big Don said:


> It aggravates me that some books read so much slower than others.
> Anyways, I am now reading The Weapon by Michael Z. Williamson, it is a (the?) sequel to Freehold.


Has anyone else read these books?
 I would love to discuss the social and political theories in them


----------



## Omar B

Well today is the official release of the new Bond novel, Carte Blanche by Jeffrey Deaver.  I went to Walmart last night just after midnight to get it just as they were shelved, I'm pretty sure I bought the first one too.

I'll save my review for the weekend as I plan to have read it twice by then.  So far, it's everything the original Fleming creation was.  Only his birth date is no longer 1928, but sometime in the late 70's.  Everything one would expect from literary Bond is there, only now he's an ex-smoker.

So far it's very Deaver in sweep since the characters and characterizations are Fleming's.  It's very fast, lots of action, many plot twists, all one would expect from Deaver.

I'm also reading the Transformers - Dark Of The Moon novelization, because I love novelizations.  This one is not as well written as I would have liked, sometimes you luck out with a tie in and it's actually good, great, or even better than the movie (like Daylight, based on the Stallone movie or the John Gardner Bond novelizations that actually brought the movie Bond into continuity with Lit Bond in a way that worked).  

So far the story's pretty good, nice action, humor, all you would expect.  Non of the characters, scenery, or really anything in well described.  Describing Sam's new gf as looking like a Victoria's Secret model is not good writing, especially when she is played by  a VS model!  Non of the robots are well described at all either.  I would have loved if they used a more seasoned SF novelist to do the book, someone who can write huge robot battles really well, there has to be like 20 different authors coming out of the Warhammer series of novels who could have done it more convincingly, or any other number of lower to middling level sf writers.


----------



## Big Don

Omar B said:


> I'm also reading the Transformers - Dark Of The Moon novelization, because I love novelizations.


That surprises me


----------



## Omar B

What?  Why?


----------



## Big Don

I've just never met anyone that likes them. I know people who read them when they aren't going to see the movie, but, I don't think that is your deal. Your taste in books has led me to a few authors I really like.
It just surprised me.


----------



## Omar B

Oh, novelizations and media-tie in books are an art in and of themselves.  It's something I grew interested in after being a kid reading the Star Wars novels which are pretty good to great most of them.  Then after the movie Mission Impossible was released I saw the book in the store and got that.  

There's an art to it, if you are working from a script like most novelizations then you have to flesh it out and make it work as a book.  If it's a media tie in you have to write to the voice of the characters and not destroy the franchise.  Like the Monk, CSI, Psych, Doctor Who, etc.  

In the case of movies you have to write a book that follows the script but gives enough detail to make it a full reading experience.  The highest form of the art is to produce a book that is so good it's as if it is the actual source material.  Or in the case of TV tie ins, you can't write a Stargate novel and kill one of the characters when the guy is still on the show.  You have to write a new story that knows the characters and world well enough to slot right into the narrative.

I'll also ad that I usually see the movies I read the novels for, after all, I wouldn't have gotten them in the first place if I was not interested in.  With big summer blockbusters and superhero movies I know I'm going to see, I like reading them.  I get the story in, in detail, more detail event than is usually in the movie even.  Where directors and editors sometimes fail at making an important point, or gloss over it too quickly I get the whole picture.  Plus, when my buds and I go see a big summer movie we usually go to dinner first, then the bar, then to the movie, by then I'm just there to sit and look at the pretty pictures unfold, not be burdened to try to follow a story though a haze of beers.  By the way, Superman Returns, the book ruled, as did Batman Begins, way more detail, Talia even was in there!  The Dark Knight was also a great read too.

http://www.iamtw.org/art_licensedfiction.html
http://www.iamtw.org/art_novelization.html
http://www.iamtw.org/art_latimes_08.html
http://www.iamtw.blogspot.com/


----------



## granfire

I found the Hitch hiker thing by Colfer...

I suppose I should read the other 5 first before I check the new one out....(I do like Colfer, so I don't expect any bad things...)


----------



## Big Don

Star Wars novels, I love the Star Wars novels


----------



## Omar B

Yeah, so do I.  Star Wars novels for the most part destroy the movies in areas of storytelling quality, and scale.  Heck, even the original Star Trek I didn't really get into till I got a whole bunch of the tie-in novels second hand (got a box of 10 for like $3).  Creatures that they could never do because of budget or effects where in there, ships that were never in the show, aliens that never showed up, alien cultures written like real cultures (why do whole planets seems to speak the same language sometimes?).

I see nothing wrong with novelizations or tie-in novels, if they are good and add to the whole mythology.  Look at how much George Lucas took from the SW novels, lots, the stuff that actually works in the new movies.


----------



## Big Don

Just got an email from the library. The new Star Wars novel awaits


----------



## girlbug2

Still Alice by Lisa Genova. It's a fictional account of one woman's slow decline into early onset Alzheimer's disease. Very poignantly done. I couldn hardly put it down and finished it in two days.


----------



## Big Don

Star Wars Fate of the Jedi Conviction by Aaron Allston.


----------



## Big Don

Catching Fire  by Suzanne Collins


----------



## jks9199

*Outrageous Fortune* by Tim Scott


----------



## Jade Tigress

Just finished an amazing book called *The Help* by Kathryn Stockett.


----------



## Big Don

MockingJay by Suzanne Collins


----------



## Jade Tigress

Big Don said:


> MockingJay by Suzanne Collins



I read the first two books in the series. Need to get to the final one now.


----------



## granfire

Not sure what to grab next....

got an Artemis Fowl laying around, but it's one removed from the 2nd in the series...

'Slam' does not seem like something I want to read (bargain bin, like most of my books) and the 'Misadventures of Bartholomew Piff' start at book 2 as well, no book one...

Still got a few boos line up tho....(or do I have to write the sequel to my NaNo?)


----------



## Big Don

granfire said:


> ' start at book 2 as well, no book one...


I can't do it. I have to read them in published order. Even when it doesn't matter, like the Discworld books...


----------



## granfire

Big Don said:


> I can't do it. I have to read them in published order. Even when it doesn't matter, like the Discworld books...



I know! Long live CDOness...


----------



## Big Don

granfire said:


> I know! Long live CDOness...


For those not up on proper terminology:
CDO is OCD with the letters in alphabetical order, THE WAY THEY MUST BE!!!


----------



## Big Don

Just started Against All Enemies, the new Tom Clancy (and some guy) book.


----------



## Omar B

Let me know how that is


----------



## girlbug2

Under the Dome by Stephen King.

This one has future film written all over it.


----------



## Big Don

Omar B said:


> Let me know how that is


Doesn't read like Clancy. Much faster pace. I think he may have rented his name out...
Anyone wishing to rent my name PM today for rock bottom prices


----------



## Big Don

The title of the book is in 2 inch lettering 
Tom Clancy's name is in 2 inch lettering
the phrase: "With Peter Telep" is in ¼ inch lettering. 
I would estimate Clancy's contribution to the actual text of the book as slight, and very noticeable. When descriptions of tech or weapons are in the book, it is clearly Clancy. The rest I attribute to Telep. I am about 550 pages (of 750 some). Faster paced than Clancy's novels. Entertaining. I like it. Telep has apparently 40 some books out, I'll have to find a few.


----------



## granfire

Big Don said:


> The title of the book is in 2 inch lettering
> Tom Clancy's name is in 2 inch lettering
> the phrase: "With Peter Telep" is in ¼ inch lettering.
> I would estimate Clancy's contribution to the actual text of the book as slight, and very noticeable. When descriptions of tech or weapons are in the book, it is clearly Clancy. The rest I attribute to Telep. I am about 550 pages (of 750 some). Faster paced than Clancy's novels. Entertaining. I like it. Telep has apparently 40 some books out, I'll have to find a few.




Interesting...


----------



## Omar B

I would say Tom contributed more than just technical descriptions.  At the launch of his imprint (The books starting with) _Tom Clancy's_ Op Center I read an interview where he talked about doing character profiles and detailed outlines and handing it over to a writer to finish.  He talked about how these original frameworks can sometimes be over 100 pages themselves, since it's the whole book scene for scene in a shorter form.

He's not the only one who works this way.  There's Robert Ludlum's (like his covert One series), Stephen King's (cuz the last thing he wrote outright was Under The Dome) even Daniel Steele's.


----------



## granfire

Omar B said:


> I would say Tom contributed more than just technical descriptions.  At the launch of his imprint (The books starting with) _Tom Clancy's_ Op Center I read an interview where he talked about doing character profiles and detailed outlines and handing it over to a writer to finish.  He talked about how these original frameworks can sometimes be over 100 pages themselves, since it's the whole book scene for scene in a shorter form.
> 
> He's not the only one who works this way.  There's Robert Ludlum's (like his covert One series), Stephen King's (cuz the last thing he wrote outright was Under The Dome) even Daniel Steele's.



It's good to have people! ^_^


----------



## Big Don

It was good, I really liked it. I hope there is a follow up.
Going to the library in a few minutes to pick up Simon R Green's For Heaven's Eyes Only.


----------



## Big Don

Big Don said:


> Simon R Green's For Heaven's Eyes Only.


Because you just gotta love the Droods


----------



## swivel63

requiem for an assassin - barry eisler
protect and defend - vince flynn


----------



## swivel63

Big Don said:


> Just started Against All Enemies, the new Tom Clancy (and some guy) book.



hmmm.....


----------



## Big Don

Just started The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss.


----------



## Big Don

Big Don said:


> Just started The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss.


* Books are a poor substitute for female companionship, but, they are easier to find.*


----------



## Big Don

Big Don said:


> * Books are a poor substitute for female companionship, but, they are easier to find.*


They are also legal to buy, and/or rent...


----------



## granfire

Big Don said:


> * Books are a poor substitute for female companionship, but, they are easier to find.*





Big Don said:


> They are also legal to buy, and/or rent...



:roflmao:

and much quieter, too


----------



## Cryozombie

Currently reading "Orca" by Steven Brust. The 7th book in his Vlad Taltos series.


----------



## granfire

I put 'Devil may care' on my nightstand.

It's all Omar's fault!!

(and no I don;t think this forum is working right: I did NOT click quick reply and it's all the options I am getting. Boss, I'm not liking the new look!)


----------



## Omar B

Don't blame Devil May Care on me.  I said it was a a good pastiche of a Bond novel, not a great book.  But Carte Blanche By Deaver that came out a few weeks ago, now that's a great Bond book.


----------



## granfire

I blame all that stuff on you! Always. Get used to it!

Let's face it, you are the resident pusher....

(Considering I read Casino Royale 20 years ago....I can't tell a good Bond from a bad one...)


----------



## Omar B

20 years ago?  I would finish that joke but I would have to drop a word I can't use on this forum.


----------



## granfire

call me old?

yep, about covers it.
^_^


----------



## Omar B

No.  How pedestrian.  My material is most of the time way better than that ... most of the time.


----------



## granfire

Omar B said:


> No.  How pedestrian.  My material is most of the time way better than that ... most of the time.



prove it!


----------



## Big Don

granfire said:


> Let's face it, you are the resident pusher....


True story, Omar.
I'm not saying it is a bad thing, but, it is clearly a true thing.


----------



## Big Don

Just starting Hard Magic by Larry Corriea


----------



## Omar B

granfire said:


> prove it!



Son of a *****!


----------



## granfire

Omar B said:


> Son of a *****!


what? that's it?

.......


----------



## Big Don

Just finished Dead Town the Fifth and final Frankenstein book by Dean Koontz.


----------



## Omar B

GRRM -ADWD!







Yes, book 5 is here!


----------



## Big Don

Just starting Squire by Peter Telep (Co-wrote Clancy's latest)


----------



## Sukerkin

"At All Costs" by David Webber ... finally!  Too much LOTRO and MT blathering have long delayed this book :lol:.  In fact it's taken me so long to get to it that I have had it spoiled by interviews with the author himself giving away important details {I have a hanky ready in case the stiff-upper-lip cracks }.


----------



## Big Don

Lotro?


----------



## Sukerkin

"Lord of the Ring's On-Line" - an MMO set in Middle Earth {like WoW but a bit more 'grown-up'}.


----------



## Big Don

Oh, OK


----------



## granfire

Sukerkin said:


> "Lord of the Ring's On-Line" - an MMO set in Middle Earth {like WoW but a bit more 'grown-up'}.



Nowai it's more grown up than WoW!
<stomps foot; pouts>


----------



## Sukerkin

:chuckles:  Retorts by sticking out tongue ... in a mature and dignified way of course, as befits one of the Noldo who was born under the light of the trees of the Valar .


----------



## Jade Tigress

Not fiction, but a good read. *The Company She Keeps* by Georgia Durante.


----------



## Omar B

Net Force is good stuff.  I read all the Clancy and all those other little series books he does outside his main continuity.  Op-Center is another good series he did.  Too bad he's not writing anymore and is just a name to sell.

Conan The Barbarian (2011 movie Novelization) - Stackpole.  Not bad so far.  This dude has written on some Star Wars novels so he's pretty decent.  The book seems to be treading lightly between REH and the old movie, then throwing in references to the comic (Buseck's Born On The Battlefield) and even the cartoon.  The story also jumps from his childhood way into his adulthood but before he is king leaving a 10 year gap that one assumes the earlier REH stories occurred (there is even a mention of Belit!).


----------



## granfire

Five Ancestors - Dragon by Jeff Stone
it's book 7 of the series and looks like it's going to be the last one (meaning the bad guy gets it.)

The story through the other 6 volumes took a rather unexpected turn....
it written for kids but I found myself having trouble putting it down.


----------



## Big Don

Rereading Foreign Influence in preparation for Full Black


----------



## billc

Hard spell, an Urban fantasy novel.  Police detectives who solve crimes involving the supernatural.  It is really good and the bonus is you can get it for .99 cents on your kindle.  I have read several books for less than a dollar on kindle and this is the best one so far.

http://www.amazon.com/Spell-Angry-R...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1311551262&sr=1-1


----------



## Ken Morgan

A Clash of Kings


----------



## Omar B

Late to the party but we are glad you are here.


----------



## Big Don

Big Don said:


> Just starting Squire by Peter Telep (Co-wrote Clancy's latest)


Did not like it. Couldn't force myself to give a crap about the characters or the story.


----------



## Sukerkin

Aye, if it doesn't engage the reader then that's always a sign that a 'story' has failed, Don :nods:.


----------



## Maiden_Ante

Well, soon I'll have my hand on Metro 2034, the sequel to Metro 2033. It's a post-apocalyptic sci-fi taking place in the subway system Metro beneath Moscow. The inhabitants fight against mutants, psychic and chemical anomalies and most of all - each other. The stations are divided between communists, nazis ("The fourth Reich") and politically gray groups. Very fascinating and claustrophobic.


----------



## Big Don

Last night I read Brad Thor's new book: Full Black. Very good, with a deep, thinly veiled contempt for George Soros... no, really


----------



## stone_dragone

Reading Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove (when I have time to read for fun).

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Big Don

Just starting Monster Hunter Alpha by Larry Correia, because Earl Harbinger BAMF wouldn't have been a good title?


----------



## billc

That would have been a great title.  To bad if people don't ******* get it.  Just started Monster Hunter Alpha myself and it is great.  Larry Correia so far has been a good, consistent story teller.


----------



## Blindside

The Sword of the Lady by SM Stirling - its OK, the main character is way too perfect, expert warrior, singer, amazingly good looking, etc etc etc. but a good continuation of the "Dies the Fire" world.

A Dance with Dragons by Martin.... Finally.  On page 600, and it isn't progressing terribly quickly, but good to revisit old friends, and no so old friends.  Reek, ugh, why is this viewpoint here?


----------



## billc

The problem with Martin is that he has so much going on that he needs seperate books to handle the same timeline but for different characters.  How do you solve that problem?


----------



## Omar B

The problem with Martin?  I hate this armchair quarterback BS.  The man has written quite possibly the greatest series ever and of course it's going to take a shape heretofore unseen because of how unique his creation is.  Why is it there is so much complaining about nothing from the peanut gallery?  So far the whole thing is a stunning achievement and it seems people like yourself see a problem where there is non.  _How do you solve the problem?_  What problem I ask.  You see it as a problem that we have 2 parallel books?  Like that's never happened before, one contemporary story that has lots of that is the Malazan series.

The only sad thing about his achievement is people who could never equal it and their need to drag it down.  Parallel books, a long time between books.  Not like any of this has not been done before.


----------



## billc

I'm a customer, he wants me to buy his books.  I am giving feed back on the product.  That's how it works.


----------



## Big Don

Now I'm reading A Time for Patriots By Dale Brown. The new James Patterson and somebody is on deck.


----------



## stickarts

The Lions Game by Nelson DeMille. I have enjoyed his other books.


----------



## David43515

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith. I`m half way through it and enjoying the heck out of it.


----------



## Blindside

I finished Dance of Dragons, and I'm pretty happy with it, things are starting to move and shake and Martin keeps his up his trend of creating "I didn't see that coming" events.  And as of now I like the "Reek" arc in this book.


----------



## Ken Morgan

Picked up A Storm of Swords an hour ago....


----------



## Carol

Just finished The Girl Who Played With Fire.   Enjoying the series so far but its a bit more violent than I was expecting.  Looking forward to reading the final book if the trilogy.  

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk


----------



## billc

If those books are anything like the first movie, I will probably skip to something a little less...unpleasant.


----------



## Carol

I've watched the first two movies on Netflix. They are notably tamer than the books. 

I'm going to wait a bit before reading the third. 

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk


----------



## billc

Yeah, I'm just not a fan of that kind of violence.  I don't mind violence but the sadistic violence against a helpless victim...not interesting to me.  I probably won't watch the other two movies or the remakes.  I think the same thing about the Hostel movies and some of the newer sci fi/horror films like the hills have eyes, the remake of the texas chainsaw massacre ( I tried watching the original back in the 80's, before gore was really common, and I had to turn it off), violence against the helpless as a premise of a book or movie is not for me.  Are the books any good beside that.


----------



## Carol

They are.  He is a decent storyteller.  Bloomkvist is just as flat in he books,  but he weaves a good sense of cameraderie win the Millennium team and intrigue over Harriet.  Its enough to make me want to finish the series. 

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk


----------



## Big Don

Just starting, meaning I'll be done long before noon tomorrow, Now You See Her, James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge. 
The new Star Wars book (Fate of the Jedi: Ascension) and the new W.E.B. Griffin (Victory and Honor) ship tomorrow. Can't wait for the new Vince Flynn in November.


----------



## granfire

Hiss of Death, a Sneaky Pie Brown mystery...


----------



## Omar B

Don Pendleton's Mack Bolan/The Excecutioner - Renegade ForcePicked this up in a used book store yesterday, got a whole bunch of stuff in fact.  They didn't have bags though so my haul was limiyted to what I could carry in my hands.The basic story is separate cells of highly trained cops all over the US are going out and killing criminals that the courtgs could not convict for whatever reason.  Bolan is sent in to figure out the deal, but he has to break his vow of never killing lawmen.  Its pretty good so far, the quality on a series with a revolving door of authors can be tricky (I do have favorite writers within the series) but so far this is pretty brutal.


----------



## Big Don

Rereading W.E.B.Griffin's The Hunters, while I wait for my new books.


----------



## Big Don

Read the new Star Wars Fate of the Jedi: Ascension. Now reading Victory and Honor by W.E.B. Griffin and his son.


----------



## billc

Just started reading Spellmonger, sort of like Harry Dresden in a fantasy kingdom, not as a detective, but as a battle mage.  It is a fun read, and even better...on kindle for 2.99, one of the better e-books I have read.

http://www.amazon.com/Spellmonger-T...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1313373297&sr=1-1


----------



## Omar B

David Morrell - First Blood

One forgets how good a books it is because the movies are just so damn amazing.  Rambo's internal dialog is great.  People's prejudices against the straggly looking long haired guy in torn jeans always hits home with me because I get those same looks sometimes.  In fact over the years when there have been the occasions when people ask about the long hair or beard (when I do have one) I usually use one of Rambo's smart answers.


----------



## Mark Jordan

Just started reading A DANCE WITH DRAGONS, by George R. R. Martin.  So far, so good.


----------



## Sukerkin

Just finished "At All Costs" by David Weber.  

Had to take a break after page 844 to gather myself ... I tend to get very heavily invested emotionally when I'm reading and this was very much a "Last Samurai" moment. By that I mean that the final charge in that film always moves me to tears, no matter how often I see it; one paragraph on that noted page had the same effect .

It wasn't made any less emotive by the fact I knew it was coming (having been delayed in reading this book so long that the author himself 'spoiled' it) or by the fact that the battle was so huge that even Weber wasn't quite able to keep that level of 'being there' that he normally manages.

So ... I lost a hero tonight, just as I did back in "In Enemy Hands" when Jamie Candless chose to stay and hold a position, knowing he would die .

It's a very good book, trying as it is to wind together some very long threads from the previous ten volumes and open up new ones to carry the story forward.  To get an emotional engagement out of such a monumental interstellar conflict is an achievement :bows:.

See?!  Sometimes the 'stiff upper lip' does quiver ... just a little :lol:.


----------



## Big Don

I'm rereading both 1632 by Eric Flint, online, baen books has a free library, and W.E.B. Griffin's The Hunters, which I took a hiatus from to read the new Star Wars novel and Griffin's new one. Griffin looks OLD, he needs to live longer and write faster.


----------



## Big Don

Yeah, Suk, Drake has a few on there 

Just starting to reread the Hobbit because it's been 10 years or so.


----------



## Sukerkin

Aye, the Baen Books on-line resource is wonderful indeed I do agree.

I keep meaning to get the 16** series that Flint has done.  I've read 1632 and, I think, the follow up and really enjoyed them - so it is only right that the author gets some recompense :nods:.  Mind you, Flint stole my idea!  Except that mine was a British Army unit on manoeuvres that slipped through the crack in space-time and ended back in Medieval times - the opening chapter had a squadron of M113's appearing in the middle of a cavalry battle .


----------



## Big Don

Sukerkin said:


> Aye, the Baen Books on-line resource is wonderful indeed I do agree.
> 
> I keep meaning to get the 16** series that Flint has done.  I've read 1632 and, I think, the follow up and really enjoyed them - so it is only right that the author gets some recompense :nods:.  Mind you, Flint stole my idea!  Except that mine was a British Army unit on manoeuvres that slipped through the crack in space-time and ended back in Medieval times - the opening chapter had a squadron of M113's appearing in the middle of a cavalry battle .


I really like the 1632 series, I've read all the books and most of the Grantville Gazettes.  
You have a copy of yours? I'd love to read it. Don't hold back on us.


----------



## Sukerkin

I have to confess that it never got beyond a plotline and a couple of disconnected chapters, written to get a 'feel' for the story.  I'd still love to resurrect it mind you as the ideas in it really appealed to me, particularly the 'political' aspects, with the unit bluffing its way with the nobles in the region when they began to run out of fuel, ammunition and batteries.


----------



## Big Don

Sukerkin said:


> I have to confess that it never got beyond a plotline and a couple of disconnected chapters, written to get a 'feel' for the story.  I'd still love to resurrect it mind you as the ideas in it really appealed to me, particularly the 'political' aspects, with the unit bluffing its way with the nobles in the region when they began to run out of fuel, ammunition and batteries.


You should finish it. In the mean time, you should send me what you've got.


----------



## Sukerkin

:chuckles:  This is handwritten scraps of paper from about thirty years ago, assuming I can find them .

Have a read of my BattleTech stuff that I posted up here at MT tho' to get a glimpse into my writing style.  My own critique is that I am good at description but awful at dialogue .

EDIT: here's a link to make finding it easier http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?96304-Creative-Writing


----------



## Big Don

Oh. Dialogue is a pain. I'll have to check that out after class tonight.
Thanks.


----------



## Big Don

Marine One by James W Huston


----------



## Big Don

Falcon 7 by James Huston
It is about 2 naval aviators shot down over Pakistan and shanghaied to the ICC, and Obama is the president in the book.


----------



## Sukerkin

Just finished "Mission of Honor" last night.  A very good read but I have a message for Mr. David Weber ... STOP killing my heroes!  

This time he took a character whose iron devotion to his duty was an inspiration.  I wish that I could be half as disciplined as he was.

Yes, I know it's 'only' a fictional character but the emotions and responses that stories elicit are non-the-less real because of that.


----------



## Big Don

Sukerkin said:


> Just finished "Mission of Honor" last night.  A very good read but I have a message for Mr. David Weber ... STOP killing my heroes!
> 
> This time he took a character whose iron devotion to his duty was an inspiration.  I wish that I could be half as disciplined as he was.
> 
> Yes, I know it's 'only' a fictional character but the emotions and responses that stories elicit are non-the-less real because of that.


In one of the Star Wars novels, Lucas let the author kill Chewbacca.   I wonder how much extra Lucas got out of that.


----------



## Big Don

I am about halfway through The Omen Machine by Terry Goodkind. After last year's The Law of Nines it is nice to have Richard and Kahlan back.


----------



## Big Don

D'Shai, Joel Rosenberg. The Omen Machine reads really fast...


----------



## stickarts

Onboard the maruader by Jonathan Westbrook


----------



## granfire

besides 'Atlas shrugged' do any of you guys ever read a female author?


----------



## Big Don

granfire said:


> besides 'Atlas shrugged' do any of you guys ever read a female author?


I've read a few. The only one I can name off the top of my head is Catherine Asaro, who I emailed, and received a (Non-automated) reply in less than 20 minutes.


----------



## Omar B

granfire said:


> besides 'Atlas shrugged' do any of you guys ever read a female author?



Gayle Lynds.  She's a spy/thriller writer.  Wrote on one of Ludlum's series as well as I think ghost wrote The Matarese Countdown.  She's a damn good thriller writer, right up there with any man.


----------



## Sukerkin

granfire said:


> besides 'Atlas shrugged' do any of you guys ever read a female author?



Several, Gran.  Why do you ask?

Julian May is one of my favourites - she wrote the Saga of Exiles series, which I love.  Indeed, I loved it so much that it (and it's related books about the Meta-psychic Rebellion) inspired certain aspects of my RPG campaign that I used to run .  

Anne McCaffrey too of course.  Not so much for her iconic Pern series but for the "Crystal Singer" books.

Katherine Kerr, particularly the Westlands books.

Ursula Le Guin for the splendid Earthsea trilogy (plus one ).

Tanith Lee I have read some by but her style never really grabbed me.  The same with the improbably named Storm Constantine (tho' she is probably one of the best looking fantasy writers out there ).

Mary Gentle, the wonderful "Ash" (I very much recommend this).

Katherine Kurtz; her Deryni series' formed another backbone for my RPG campaign.

I'm sure that there are many others but those are the ones that occur to me as I sit here .


----------



## jks9199

Ursula Leguin.  C.J. Cherryh.  Esther Friesner.  Mary Shelly.  And more that I can't think of at the moment.


----------



## Sukerkin

How could I have forgotten Cherryh? :nods:


----------



## Sukerkin

Currently reading Towers of Midnight, book *13* of the Wheel of Time!  I recall predicting long, long ago that there would be 7 books, one for each Seal :lol:.


----------



## granfire

Sukerkin said:


> Several, Gran.  Why do you ask?
> 
> Julian May is one of my favourites - she wrote the Saga of Exiles series, which I love.  Indeed, I loved it so much that it (and it's related books about the Meta-psychic Rebellion) inspired certain aspects of my RPG campaign that I used to run .
> 
> Anne McCaffrey too of course.  Not so much for her iconic Pern series but for the "Crystal Singer" books.
> 
> Katherine Kerr, particularly the Westlands books.
> 
> Ursula Le Guin for the splendid Earthsea trilogy (plus one ).
> 
> Tanith Lee I have read some by but her style never really grabbed me.  The same with the improbably named Storm Constantine (tho' she is probably one of the best looking fantasy writers out there ).
> 
> Mary Gentle, the wonderful "Ash" (I very much recommend this).
> 
> Katherine Kurtz; her Deryni series' formed another backbone for my RPG campaign.
> 
> I'm sure that there are many others but those are the ones that occur to me as I sit here .



seemed like the last 100 books listed were written by guys. ^_^


----------



## Sukerkin

:chcukles:  It's not our fault if there aren't many ladies writing military fiction .


----------



## granfire

Sukerkin said:


> :chcukles:  It's not our fault if there aren't many ladies writing military fiction .


lol, I suppose.


----------



## Blindside

granfire said:


> besides 'Atlas shrugged' do any of you guys ever read a female author?



Elizabeth Moon, Ursula Le Guen, Jody Lynn Nye, Melanie Rawn, and while I used to read Anne McCaffrey, I haven't read one of her books in years.

Edit: and Lois McMaster Bujold.


----------



## Blindside

Finished "The Last Centurion" by Ringo, and well, I probably should have quit about halfway through, it wasn't great.

Started a short story compiliation edited by George RR Martin called Warriors 1, pretty good so far, one of the things is that it is cross genre, so you get sci-fi, fantasy, and historical fiction rather than it being a "Sci-Fi" themed book.  I bought it for the Dunc and Egg story, but the others are pretty good too.


----------



## jks9199

Forgot Luis McMaster Bujold, and I'm sure many others...

There are some authors I do read just about anything they write.  Steve Perry, L.E. Modessit, Gordon Dickson (late, regrettably, and with more left to write in The Childe Cylce   ), Robert Buettner... just looking around at recent reads.  There are plenty of others, and the omission of a female at this juncture doesn't mean there are none, just that I'm not running through 'em all.  There are other writers that I read any of a particular series.  Jim Butcher is one; I like the Dresden Files books, but not so impressed by some of his other books.  But, generally, I look at the material (I like certain types of mysteries, I like science fiction, I like fantasy that touches on reality - like the Dresden Files or the Monster Hunter International books, and pure fantasy, among other things -- especially stuff that makes me think) and the writing.  If the book catches my eye, and the description on the back seems decent -- I skim a few pages.  If I like what I see... I give it a shot.  So I don't often care about the gender of the author.


----------



## Big Don

The Measure of the Magic by Terry Brooks.


----------



## Ken Morgan

"A measure of magic"
Whoa!! When was the release??? I gotta get it!


----------



## Ken Morgan

Just started "A feast for crows"


----------



## Big Don

Ken Morgan said:


> "A measure of magic"
> Whoa!! When was the release??? I gotta get it!


I picked it up from the Library last Saturday...
I'm forcing myself to read it because I've read all his other books...


----------



## Sukerkin

jks9199 said:


> So I don't often care about the gender of the author.



I was saying just the same thing yesterday whilst conversing with a colleague on this very subject. 

By happy coincidence with Gran's question, I've been listening to a radio series (on Radio 4) of discourses about female writers over the past century and it sparked an interesting chat on whether women actually do write differently than men and if that is a desirable thing or not.


----------



## Big Don

As bad as I am with names, I have a list, on my computer of authors I like.


----------



## rlobrecht

Big Don said:


> The Measure of the Magic by Terry Brooks.



I'm reading this as well.  I'm almost done.  I really like the idea of these pre-Sword books.  I really liked the Word and the Void books (set modern day), but these in between ones haven't had the same magic (pun intended) as the original trilogy had for me when I read it in the early 80's.


Rick


----------



## Big Don

Now I'm reading Jim Butcher's Storm Front, because Larry Correia mentioned him.


----------



## Omar B

Jim Butcher?  How is that?  My friend got into the Dresden books and was raving to the point that he left the first 3 books at my house with an order to read them.  They were light, fun, airy, humorous, but I can't really call them good.  Much like I think of my Mack Bolan/Executioner books.


----------



## Big Don

Omar B said:


> Jim Butcher?  How is that?  My friend got into the Dresden books and was raving to the point that he left the first 3 books at my house with an order to read them.  They were light, fun, airy, humorous, but I can't really call them good.  Much like I think of my Mack Bolan/Executioner books.


Anytime anyone says "YOU HAVE TO READ THIS" I get turned off, it all goes back to To Kill a Mockingbird in 5th grade...
I like it, but, I read solely for entertainment, so, YMMV


----------



## Omar B

I hear you man.  Most of the time people doing the recommending of books don't know a thing about literature ... not enough to deem something "great" and a must read.  I can't tell you how many Stephen King books I've gotten as presents, but he's truly terrible.  Or the time when everyone was telling me how great the Divinci Code was.


----------



## Big Don

I'm reading Power Down by Ben Coes. I kept seeing ads for it on facebook and then saw it in the gift shop at the airport, where I had no book...
Pretty interesting so far.


----------



## KempoGuy06

Just started reading A Game of Thrones.

Waiting on the last book of Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi to come out so i thought id start another series. Watched the show on HBO and my friend told me the book was much better.

We shall see

B


----------



## clfsean

KempoGuy06 said:


> Just started reading A Game of Thrones.
> 
> Waiting on the last book of Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi to come out so i thought id start another series. Watched the show on HBO and my friend told me the book was much better.
> 
> We shall see
> 
> B



The latest SW:FotJ is out. I get them on audio since I don't have a ton of time unfortunately to spend on reading. GoT is good....


----------



## KempoGuy06

clfsean said:


> The latest SW:FotJ is out. I get them on audio since I don't have a ton of time unfortunately to spend on reading. GoT is good....



I thought the last book of SW:FotJ was Apocalypse and it wasnt due out till next year. 

I shall be Googling now....

B


----------



## KempoGuy06

clfsean said:


> The latest SW:FotJ is out. I get them on audio since I don't have a ton of time unfortunately to spend on reading. GoT is good....


 


KempoGuy06 said:


> I thought the last book of SW:FotJ was Apocalypse and it wasnt due out till next year.
> 
> I shall be Googling now....
> 
> B



According to Amazon.com the release date is April 12, 2012. 

Also never been a fan of audio books unless i have already read them like the HP series. To each their own

B


----------



## clfsean

KempoGuy06 said:


> I thought the last book of SW:FotJ was Apocalypse and it wasnt due out till next year.
> 
> I shall be Googling now....
> 
> B



No Apocalypse is the last book in the series, not the latest and you're right it's due next year. The latest is Ascension.


----------



## KempoGuy06

clfsean said:


> No Apocalypse is the last book in the series, not the latest and you're right it's due next year. The latest is Ascension.



Good book overall. The ending was weak in my opinion. You could see it coming.

B


----------



## Big Don

I'm rereading Joel Rosenberg's The Crimson Sky, because I was too cheap to order the first two books of the series when I bought this one...


----------



## stickarts

Against All Things Ending by Stephen R. Donaldson


----------



## Blindside

The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

About halfway through and so far it is fantastic.


----------



## Big Don

Blindside said:


> The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.
> 
> About halfway through and so far it is fantastic.


The follow up, Wise Man's Fear is just as good.


----------



## joshbrown

I have The Name of The Wind on audiobook and am just about ready to start listening.

Currently reading A Dance with Dragons by George RR Martin. I'm on page 510, which is almost the half way point.


----------



## Big Don

Now I am reading The Fire Duke by Joel Rosenberg, who never wrote a fourth book to the series, and then died.


----------



## Big Don

Caliphate by Tom Kratman


----------



## Big Don

The Silver Stone by Rosenberg
with 
Fool's moon by Jim Butcher on deck


----------



## Blindside

Finished Storm from the Shadows (David Weber) and am now working on Mission of Honor the next book (sort of) in the Honorverse.  

I am also rereading On Basilisk Station simultaneously, the first Honor book, and I must say that I really liked the stripped down approach of that first book, these latter books feel bloated in comparison.  Too many badguys whose machinations the reader has to sit thorugh, in "Mission" you see the inner workings of Haven, Manpower/Mesa, and the Sollies.  A bit too much, I am just waiting for the Sollie Battle Fleet group to arrive at wherever it departed for in "Storm."  I won't quit reading but it is getting annoying.


----------



## Big Don

Fool's Moon by Jim Butcher
Shut up, Omar, I enjoy it


----------



## Carol

Big Don said:


> Caliphate by Tom Kratman



Verdict?  I hear its quite good.


----------



## Big Don

Carol said:


> Verdict?  I hear its quite good.


Death threats, LOTS of death threats... I hope he doesn't plan on travel outside the US... 
I liked it, but, YMMV, his style takes a little getting used to.


----------



## Sukerkin

I don't reckon he gives much of a flying about such things as death threats, Don .  He strikes me as the kind of man I'd love to spend the night drinking and shooting the breeze with, even if I disagreed with him on some/many things.  A bit like you and John {no blushing now }.  When we first 'bumped heads' years ago I had a terrible opinion of you both; then over time I learned more about the 'men' behind the 'screen', which pierced the political 'shield' in a positive way.

I can't recall if I've posted these links before so please forgive my repetition if I have:

[yt]qXK9UyiLQSI[/yt]

[yt]MuCs7myzmWo[/yt]

[yt]8xaMzGS7cXE[/yt]

[yt]-qZndiIEHUA[/yt]

[yt]uKSBKra6t_M[/yt]


----------



## Big Don

Sukerkin said:


> I don't reckon he gives much of a flying about such things as death threats, Don .  He strikes me as the kind of man I'd love to spend the night drinking and shooting the breeze with, even if I disagreed with him on some/many things.  A bit like you and John {no blushing now }.  When we first 'bumped heads' years ago I had a terrible opinion of you both; then over time I learned more about the 'men' behind the 'screen', which pierced the political 'shield' in a positive way.
> 
> I can't recall if I've posted these links before so please forgive my repetition if I have:
> 
> [yt]qXK9UyiLQSI[/yt]
> 
> [yt]MuCs7myzmWo[/yt]
> 
> [yt]8xaMzGS7cXE[/yt]
> 
> [yt]-qZndiIEHUA[/yt]
> 
> [yt]uKSBKra6t_M[/yt]


I don't remember seeing them.


----------



## astrobiologist

H.G. Wells' "First Men in the Moon"


----------



## Big Don

Just starting Prayers for the Assassin by Robert Ferrigno, pretty good so far. Going to test drive a kindle tomorrow night.


----------



## Balrog

It's time for my annual re-reading of the Dresden Files books.  Damn, Jim Butcher tells a great story!


----------



## sfs982000

Dead Reckoning: Dawning of the Dead.  It's an un-official sequel to the original Dawn of the Dead movie.


----------



## Big Don

Devil's Colony by James Rollins


----------



## Monroe

On The Road by Jack Kerouc. Oldie but so far a goodie.


----------



## Big Don

Kill me if you can by James Patterson and some guy you've never heard of


----------



## Big Don

Summer Knight by Jim Butcher, because the library ALWAYS ships series out of order


----------



## Big Don

Grave Peril by Butcher 
Game of Thrones is on deck


----------



## Blindside

Dzur by Steven Brust
World War Z by Brooks (again)


----------



## Big Don

The Dark at the End by F. Paul Wilson on my new Kindle!


----------



## Blindside

What do you think of the Kindle?  I am still on the fence, I fear change.


----------



## Big Don

Blindside said:


> What do you think of the Kindle?  I am still on the fence, I fear change.


I did too. It took me about 3 minutes of playing around with it to get over that. I'm loving this thing


----------



## Big Don

Death Masks by Jim Butcher.
I turned on the text to speech on the kindle. That is creepy. Maybe if I was reading i Robot...


----------



## Big Don

Blood Rites by Jim Butcher. I find an author I like, I read everything they have written, in order, as fast as I can.
He killed a VAMPIRE with a 20lb FROZEN TURKEY that FELL FROM THE SKY. 
Come on, Omar, you gotta love that...


----------



## billc

Hey Big Don, what do you think of the kindle?  Which one did you get?


----------



## Big Don

billcihak said:


> Hey Big Don, what do you think of the kindle?  Which one did you get?


Best legal thing I have ever spent money on. The Kindle Keyboard 3G. Ebay via friend at karate $85.  I read markedly faster on it for some reason. I think I would like the touch screen version just because I am half afraid of wearing out the "NEXT PAGE" button, so I use both.


----------



## Blindside

Sandman Slim and Kill the Dead by Richard Kadrey.  They are sort of like a very down and dirty version of urban fantasy, first person perspective and lots of foul language, which totally works for the character and the people he is hanging around with.  In general it is alot of fun.

Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold, - a little jaunt into an corner of the Miles Vorsigian universe, seems serviceable and entertaining enough so far.


----------



## Big Don

Reading another of the Dresden Files books, this one: Changes


----------



## Big Don

Did everyone else quit reading?
I'm now reading The Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher. Different. Romanesque Sci Fi. I like it.


----------



## Sukerkin

:grins:  No, I haven't quit reading, tho' I am playing far too much LOTRO .  I am gradually getting through "Towers of Midnight", book thirteen of the "Wheel of Time".


----------



## Blindside

Citadel by John Ringo
The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
edit: Also I started reading the Narnia series to my son, so we started with "The Magician's Nephew," this is fun because I haven't read it since high school.


----------



## Big Don

Blindside said:


> Citadel by John Ringo
> The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
> edit: Also I started reading the Narnia series to my son, so we started with "The Magician's Nephew," this is fun because I haven't read it since high school.



I loved those books as a kid. Glad you are reading them in the right order as opposed to the published order.


----------



## Big Don

Sukerkin said:


> :grins:  No, I haven't quit reading,



see how you are?


----------



## Big Don

Now reading  Jim Butcher's Cursor's Fury. I like this series better than the Dresden Files. 
Magic wielding not-quite Roman empire.


----------



## Big Don

10% into First Lord's Fury, by Jim Butcher.


----------



## Blindside

Finished "The Detachment" by Barry Eisler, good but not up the the early Rain series, but better than the two Treven books.
Still plugging through Connie Willis' "the Doomsday Book" which I've been having trouble getting into because a stupid mental hitch in a "sci-fi" book that I can't get my head around.  The book was set in 2050 or so and it was published in 1993, so perhaps this is forgivable, but in London of 2050 nobody has a cell phone or whatever the advanced equivalent is, they have fairly regular time travel but they can't get ahold of someone on vacation without their secretary getting them near a landline?  Weird, and a hole I apparently can't forgive. 

Just finished reading "The Magician's Nephew" to my son and now onto "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," which in retrospect is a fantastic title.


----------



## Big Don

Rereading Simon R Green's Deathstalker series. On book 2 Deathstalker Rebellion. Kill Alex Cross by Patterson is on deck


----------



## Big Don

Interrupted the series to read Kill Alex Cross, I kinda hope he does die. Patterson, oy, this book will take me about 3 hours to read, it is entertaining, but, damn it, Jim, a chapter longer than 3 pages won't kill us.


----------



## Big Don

Vigilante by Stephen J Cannell (creator of the Rockford Files, Silk Stalkings, etc) most likely his last book, since he died in 2010.


----------



## Big Don

Michael Connelly's The Drop. Apparently, no one else is reading fiction anymore.


----------



## HammockRider

I'm reading Young Men in Spats by PG Wodehouse. it's my first Wodehouse and it's pretty funny if you're in the exact right mood for it.


----------



## Big Don

Back on the Kindle. Reading W.E.B. Griffin's Covert Warriors


----------



## Big Don

Locked on by Tom Clancy and mark somethingorother


----------



## Blindside

High King of Montivel by SM Stirling

Silver Pigs by Lindsay Davis


----------



## dancingalone

Just finished Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence.  Wow.  A protagonist who is a murderer, rapist, and probably a future parricide as well.

Not for the faint.


----------



## dancingalone

Blindside said:


> High King of Montivel by SM Stirling



I enjoyed the first 3 books in that series.  The more recent movement into actual fantasy within the later books by Stirling bothers me a bit.


----------



## Big Don

Finished Locked On. The title had nothing to do with the story IMHO. The story was better than the last Clancy.
Now, I'm back to Deathstalker War.


----------



## Blindside

dancingalone said:


> I enjoyed the first 3 books in that series.  The more recent movement into actual fantasy within the later books by Stirling bothers me a bit.



Me too, I would have enjoyed a closer science based story myself, I thought the first three were very good and the most enjoyable.


----------



## Sukerkin

Currently taking a detour into "The Shadow of Saganami" by David Webber.  As usual, Mr. Webber got me with tears in my eyes in very short order with his tale of bravery and sacrifice .

I am still battling on with the latest Wheel of Time epic - it's not that it is bad, for it is not, but it is very long - so I needed a break into something that fed my soul rather than my mind .


----------



## Big Don

I went looking for Spellbound by Larry Corriea for Kindle. Amazon doesn't have it. Corriea sells his books in various electronic formats on Baen's website, for substantially less than Amazon sells most Kindle titles, especially those still in hard back.
Sukerkin, Dave Weber is on there too...


----------



## Sukerkin

Aye, the Baen site is one of the very best for those of us interested in sci-fi, fantasy and military fiction that involves elements of both.  For myself, I am not yet convinced by electronic media for reading - I much prefer to have my nose buried in a real book. But my house already has one room devoted to being a library and it is now full, so it might be a case of 'needs must' in the not too distant future.


----------



## Big Don

Have you tried a kindle?


----------



## Sukerkin

Only briefly.  The problem with them for me is that I do most of my reading in bed and with my glasses off.  As my reading distance is about three inches without my specs, a proper book I can literally bury my nose in (especially if I fall asleep) is much better.


----------



## dancingalone

Sukerkin said:


> Only briefly.  The problem with them for me is that I do most of my reading in bed and with my glasses off.  As my reading distance is about three inches without my specs, a proper book I can literally bury my nose in (especially if I fall asleep) is much better.



I've been using a netbook for reading in bed.  It's been no big deal to just close the lid and set the computer on my nightstand before I fall asleep for good.  I still prefer reading physical magazines since the content has lots of pictures and graphics, but reading fiction on a little device isn't so bad and the advantages are obvious.


----------



## jks9199

E-readers do generally let you resize the text, y'know?


----------



## Sukerkin

Let me restate - I prefer *real* books.  No need to try and persuade me otherwise, gentlemen.

I even prefer to still work with hardcopy schedules and schematics, it makes it much easier to actually see and resolve the problem when you're not stuck looking at 'postage stamp' snippets of circuits - whatever the conveniences of computers they are still not better for actually getting the job done in some circumstances, even in what I do for a living.


----------



## Big Don

Leave the poor old blind (apparently, 3" from text...) man alone


----------



## Sukerkin

:chuckles:  I can still handle the macroscopic world well enough without my specs (it took quite a few years for people to realise I couldn't 'see' worth a damn (measles ravaged my eyes when I was three) so my brain learned to interpret things on limited data).  But I'm not kidding about my focussing range - which is being complicated by the fact that I'm at the age now where hardening of lenses is really messing things up.  There's a reason my glasses cost £650 :lol:.


----------



## Big Don

Spellbound by Larry Corriea, way cheaper on Baen and only available in ebook form there.


----------



## ryuu55

A Game of Thrones (on my Kindle)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Big Don

77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz, because I've read all his other books and kinda feel I have to read it.


----------



## Blindside

The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwall


----------



## stickarts

Night Fall by Nelson DeMille. I have enjoyed a number of his books.


----------



## Blindside

An Eye of the Fleet by Richard Woodman which is providing a very good addition to naval fiction associated with the Napoleonic wars.  Not as swashbuckling as Hornblower and not as indepth as the Aubrey/Maturin books, but very good.

The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White for my son.  I remember reading this book as a kid, but in rereading it, wow, what a fantastic book.  I am having a hard time only reading one chapter a night.


----------



## sfs982000

Z.A. Recht's Plague of the Dead.  Pretty decent little read so far if you are into the Zombie genre.


----------



## dancingalone

The Road by Cormac McCarthy


----------



## Sukerkin

"Storm from the Shadows" by David Webber.  A good opener for a new 'arc' in the Honor Harrington universe with Michelle Henke as the central character rather than the now far too senior Harrington.


----------



## Blindside

dancingalone said:


> The Road by Cormac McCarthy



Beautifuly written, almost poetic in places, and oh so depressing.


----------



## Big Don

A Desert Called Peace by Tom Kratman or, as the subtitle should have been: Jihadis in Space


----------



## granfire

5th attempt to finish 'Making Money'

No, don't ask, long sordid tale....


----------



## jks9199

*The Three Musketeers*, Alexandre Dumas.

Gotta hit classics now & then.


----------



## Big Don

Scarecrow Returns by Matthew Reilly
The first book of his I read included the sentence: Matthew Reilly is Australian, for which he apologizes. How could I resist?


----------



## stickarts

The Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille. OK but I like the Jogn Corey books better. I hear DeMille is doing another one due out this year called " The Panther "


----------



## Big Don

Death Benefit by Robin Cook
Oh I wish he was more prolific.


----------



## stickarts

Spencerville by Nelson DeMille. I am on a DeMille roll. :0)


----------



## Blindside

Got totally distracted putting away Ringo's "Live Free or Die" and wound up rereading it, and because I did that, now I am rereading the sequal "Citadel" now.

Have Weber's "How Firm a Foundation" on audiobook in the car.


----------



## Cryozombie

I am re-reading Gibson's "Neuromancer" for probably the 7th or 8th time since I read it in the late 80's.  It's amazing, that the man, who couldn't operate a computer to save his life, (neuromancer was written on an old fashioned typewriter in fact) and had almost no technical knowledge whatsoever not only predicted so much of today's technology, helped to define an entire genre of Sci Fi, AND influenced a huge Subcultural movement...


----------



## blindsage

Last Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko.  Really good contemporary horror/fantasy.  This is the fourth book in the series (Night Watch, Day Watch, Twilight Watch).


----------



## Big Don

about to start Pronto by Elmore Leonard, this is the book where Raylan Givens, the lead character from Justified comes from.


----------



## AJPerry

Just got hooked over Christmas on Vince Flynn with his series of Mitt Rapp novels about an American Assasin.

I love finding a good series that I missed so I don't have to wait for the next book to come out but I have nearly caught up on all of them.

If anyone wants to read these get "American Assasin" first because it's a prequal to the series (I just got lucky with my timing)


----------



## billc

AJperry, did you see the movie Red?  I think from that movie that Karl Urban, the guy who played Cooper would be perfect for Mitch Rapp in the upcoming movie.


I am currently working through the Robert Crais books about Elvis Cole, the private detective and his partner, Joe Pike.  The first couple were a little weak, but the later ones have been really good.

Also, I am reading "Wearing the Cape," a 2.99 book on the kindle about superheroes.  It is pretty good, much like the Jim Butcher Harry Dresden books in tone, but with superheroes.  Besides, you can't beat 2.99 for a book these days.


----------



## Big Don

billcihak said:


> AJperry, did you see the movie Red?  I think from that movie that Karl Urban, the guy who played Cooper would be perfect for Mitch Rapp in the upcoming movie.
> 
> .


too pretty


----------



## Cryozombie

I'm currently reading Joe Abercrombie's 4th book, "Best Served Cold".  Abercrombie is my current favorite fantasy author... his books are hard edged, pull no punches fantasy with believable, well thought out characters.  



> War  may be hell but for Monza Murcatto, the Snake of Talins, the most  feared and famous mercenary in Duke Orso's employ, it's a damn good way  of making money too.  Her victories have made her popular - a shade too  popular for her employer's taste.  Betrayed and left for dead,  Murcatto's reward is a broken body and a burning hunger for vengeance.   Whatever the cost, seven men must die.
> 
> Her allies include  Styria's least reliable drunkard, Styria's most treacherous poisoner, a  mass-murderer obsessed with numbers and a Northman who just wants to do  the right thing.  Her enemies number the better half of the nation.  And  that's all before the most dangerous man in the world is dispatched to  hunt her down and finish the job Duke Orso started...


----------



## Big Don

Kill Shot, Vince Flynn
Rapp is bad ***, for a lefty


----------



## Blindside

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
Reminds me alot of the John Christopher books that I read as an early teen, dystopian futures with teen protagonists, not bad but I don't really understand the hype and incredibly high reviews these books are getting.


----------



## Jason Striker II

Judge Dee: Murder in Canton, by Robert Van Gulik.


----------



## Big Don

Deathstalker Destiny by Simon R Green


----------



## puunui

Star Wars Darth Plagueis by James Luceno. Darth Plagueis is Darth Sidious' (Emperor Palpatine) teacher.


----------



## Blindside

Dead Six by Larry Correia and Mike Kupari.  I am fairly underwhelmed, not bad but not half as good as Correia's MHI stuff, so I am a bit disappointed.


----------



## Josh Oakley

Just got done reading "This Is Not A Game" by Walter Jon Williamson. Gratuitously awesome.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk


----------



## Big Don

Blindside said:


> Dead Six by Larry Correia and Mike Kupari.  I am fairly underwhelmed, not bad but not half as good as Correia's MHI stuff, so I am a bit disappointed.



It is on my list but, a ways down. 

Two (or more) authors working together tends to leave a substandard book...

I'm reading The Bride Wore Black Leather By Simon R Green


----------



## Blindside

Monster Hunter Alpha by Correia - already way better than Dead Six


----------



## Big Don

Blindside said:


> Monster Hunter Alpha by Correia


I loved the use of heavy machinery.


----------



## Big Don

Big Don said:


> I loved the use of heavy machinery.


Just reread it, Blindside, you're a bad influence... 
Just starting A Crown Imperiled by Raymond Feist.


----------



## Sukerkin

"In Fire Forged - Worlds of Honor #5"  By David Weber & Jane Lindskold & Timothy Zahn


----------



## Blindside

Big Don said:


> Just reread it, Blindside, you're a bad influence...
> Just starting A Crown Imperiled by Raymond Feist.



It was good, not as good as the first two, but pretty fun reading.

Currently:
Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold, I forgot how much I like Miles Vorkosigan.


----------



## Big Don

Finished A Crown Imperiled. Somewhat pissed about that...
Started Mistworld, a prequel to Simon R Green's Deathstalker series


----------



## Makalakumu

The Gulag Archipeligo

Sent from my SCH-I405 using Tapatalk


----------



## Aiki Lee

Currently reading the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martian. Currently on book three, Storm of Swords. Exceptionally well written for anyone who likes dark fantasy without a lot of magical hoo ha.


----------



## Big Don

Star Wars Fate of the Jedi Apocalypse by Troy Denning, the title needs to be a bit longer...


----------



## clfsean

Big Don said:


> Star Wars Fate of the Jedi Apocalypse by Troy Denning, the title needs to be a bit longer...



Finished that one last week or so. Day after it released I know.

Sent from my Thunderbolt on Tapatalk. Excuse the auto-correct spelling errors.


----------



## Big Don

clfsean said:


> Finished that one last week or so. Day after it released I know.
> 
> Sent from my Thunderbolt on Tapatalk. Excuse the auto-correct spelling errors.



I'm not the only geek! I'm not the only geek!I'm not the only geek! I'm not the only geek!I'm not the only geek! I'm not the only geek!I'm not the only geek! I'm not the only geek!


----------



## mmartist

I've just finished _Dune Messiah_ and now I'm reading _Children of Dune_ (second and third books from the Dune series by Frank Herbert). Great books!


----------



## granfire

K E Mills, 'Witches Inc' the second in a triology.
need to finish it....


----------



## Blindside

The Hot Gate by John Ringo
1634: The Ram Rebellion compilation edited by Flint


----------



## dancingalone

The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman.

It's interesting how most of us read SF/Fantasy.  I guess martial artists like that kind of stuff.


----------



## Dansolo

Dune! I saw the old movie and the miniseries of it and had been meaning to read it for YEARS, but I finally started it when a friend gave me a copy the other week. (Hence the quote in my sig, lol)


----------



## Big Don

Just finished Ghost World (Deathstalker Prelude 2) by Simon R Green 
Now reading Contact with Chaos by Michael Z Williamson


----------



## jks9199

Just finished *Fuzzy Nation* by John Scalzi.  Good read; it's a reboot kind of thing of a book by H. Beam Piper.  
Just started *Ghost of a Chance *by Simon Green.


----------



## Big Don

Just started Rouge by Michael Z Williamson


----------



## Josh Oakley

Big Don said:


> Just started Rouge by Michael Z Williamson



Love that book! Have you read his other books?

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk


----------



## Josh Oakley

Oh, duh. You have. I just scrolled up.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk


----------



## Big Don

Josh Oakley said:


> Oh, duh. You have. I just scrolled up.
> 
> Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk


hahahaha
Yeah. I really like the Freehold books.


----------



## KempoGuy06

i just finished all the current books in The Song of Ice and Fire series. Great books!! i highly recommend them.

B


----------



## Blindside

The Hot Gate by John Ringo, not as good as the previous two in the series, but good.


----------



## Big Don

Rereading Old Man's War By John Scalzi, because it is that good and I needed it on my kindle.


----------



## Big Don

Now I'm reading The Ghost Brigades


----------



## Blindside

Ran through the first Harry Potter book with my son and have started the second, and we have "Swiss Family Robinson" on audiobook in the car 

For myself I am reading "Summer Knight," which seems to be on a similar level (meaning good!) as the previous Dresden novels.


----------



## Big Don

Love the Dresden Files. Good stuff.


----------



## KempoGuy06

reading Star Wars Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse. It is the last book in the Fate of the Jedi series, so far it is pretty good.

B


----------



## Gnarlie

'Skag Boys', Irvine Welsh's new prequel to 'Trainspotting'.  Like 'Trainspotting', it's Edinburgh and Glasgow accents and dialects written phonetically, which makes it quite a hard read at first, until you convince the voice in your head that it is Scottish.  Good so far though, and 'Trainspotting' was a brilliant, brilliant book, so I have high hopes.


----------



## Big Don

Now reading the Last Colony by John Scalzi


----------



## SnyderD

Just picked up Hunger Games the other day.


----------



## Big Don

Deathstalker Legacy by Simon R Green


----------



## Josh Oakley

The golden compass. Finally.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## Big Don

[h=3]Guilty Wives         by James Patterson and David Ellis[/h]Don't judge me


----------



## dancingalone

Knights of the Cross by Tom Harper.  It's a murder mystery/political thriller set during the First Crusade.


----------



## mmartist

Go Tell the Spartans   by Jerry Pournelle and S.M. Stirling 
The Mote into God's Eye by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven  
both books are Sci Fi and they are genious


----------



## Omar B

Niven!


----------



## Big Don

Rereading Monster Hunter Vendetta


----------



## Sukerkin

Just finished "A Rising Thunder", the latest Honor Harrington book from David Webber.  Not bad in terms of the plot repositioning for the major players but a small quibble for the increasing use of foul language from characters.  It's not a context that I would expect the use of the F word and I didn't appreciate it's over liberal appearance.


----------



## mmartist

The General Series: The Steel by S.M. Stirling and David Weber


----------



## Blindside

Windrider's Oath by Weber, it is OK so far, I don't seem to be enjoying it as much as I did the previous books in the series.

Old Man's War by Scalzi, very very good so far.


----------



## billc

The Raven's Shadow.

http://www.amazon.com/Ravens-Shadow...r=8-1&keywords=raven's+shadow+by+anthony+ryan

I couldn't believe this book had so many 5 star reviews, but it is a quality book.  Also, you can get it for kindle for 1.50.  The writing is really good and the story is interesting so far.  I have just started it and I would have to say that the beginning is 5 stars.  I hope the rest of the book keeps that rating.  This is about a swordman trained in a Hogwarts school, if hogwarts trained warriors and was interesting.  I never understood the interest in Harry Potter, so this book will fill that gap.


----------



## mmartist

The Way of the Wolf by E.E. Knight. Book one from the Vampire Earth series.
 I didn't expect much. Actually I thought it was going to be just another Vampire book for teens with sweetly romance and love drama. The book was a gift and I decided that the least thing I could do was to try read it because it would be disrespectfull otherwise. And I was surprised. The book is actually quite good, there is no charming vampires and the author has really created something new and original. I am looking forward to reading the second book


----------



## Blindside

mmartist said:


> Go Tell the Spartans   by Jerry Pournelle and S.M. Stirling
> The Mote into God's Eye by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven
> both books are Sci Fi and they are genious



The Falkenberg's Legion series is very good military sci-fi, they are like the infantry version of Drake's Hammer's Slammers and the two could quite easily co-exist in the same universe.  As I recall even the planet names are very similar.


----------



## Big Don

Rereading the Dresden files in no particular order. On Grave Peril at the moment. I am enjoying it more the second time around.


----------



## billc

It is surprising how well Dresden holds up, especially the earlier books.


----------



## Omar B

Never got into Dresden too much.  Only got through the first 3 before it wore off.


----------



## mmartist

With this post I will probably confirm that I am a bibliophile but here it goes 
I&#8217;ve just finished reading:  Kingmaker, Kingbreaker : The Innocent Mage by Karen Miller aaand its not good. I kept on hoping that it will turn for the better in the last pages but it never did. There are some strong points but the whole book is static, almost uneventful, the characters don&#8217;t have depth, don&#8217;t change and the paste is so slow it is a pure torture reading it.


----------



## Big Don

Bloodline by James Rollins
I like it.


----------



## dancingalone

Just finished Redshirts by John Scalzi.  An amusing meta-Star Trek romp seen through the eyes of the guys who always get killed during the away missions.


----------



## Big Don

rereading my way through the Codex Alera, now on book two Academ's Fury


----------



## Omar B

dancingalone said:


> Just finished Redshirts by John Scalzi.  An amusing meta-Star Trek romp seen through the eyes of the guys who always get killed during the away missions.



So it's good.  I saw it and wanted to pick it up.  On a side note, picked a whole load of books at the used book store.  At 4 for a dollar I now have every Clancy, Ludlum, Trevanian, LeCarre, Hamilton (Matt Helm series) and a couple other random ones.

Read The Hunt For Red October in the past few evenings.


----------



## Big Don

My dad picked up a first edition copy of Hunt for Red October in a thrift store for $2 a few years ago.


----------



## elder999

Big Don said:


> My dad picked up a first edition copy of Hunt for Red October in a thrift store for $2 a few years ago.



Too bad that wasn't signed. The Naval Isititute  one, or the Penguin Putnam one?

I haven't had much time for pleasure reading over the last 15 years or so, but that's changing now, and I'm loving it....

Right now, I'm finishing up the last of F. Paul Wilson's _Repairman Jack_ novels, _Nightworld_. I've been looking forward to it, and I'll be sorry to see Jack go, but I think some of the direction he took it in was a bit thin.....

What I'm really looking forward to, though, is revisiting an old friend. I've picked up all Patricia Highsmith's novels, so Tom Ripley and I wll be reaqcuainted....before there was _Dexter_ (who I really love) there was _The Talented Mr. Ripley_....


----------



## Omar B

Yeah dude, Ripley rules.


----------



## Blindside

Just finished "Ghost Brigades" by Scalzi, not as good as "Old Man's War" but readable.

Just started Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, fun so far.

Just starting reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for my son.

We use audiobooks for when we are driving, we just finished the audiobook of Swiss Family Robinson yesterday, so today we started on Treasure Island. I have to give thanks to librevox.org for providing free audiobooks, the reader of Swiss Family Robinson was so-so, but the one for Treasure Island is very good. Get (free!) resource.

And for me, I started Torch of Freedom by Weber on audiobook as well, I suspect it will fill in alot of the backstory on A Rising Thunder that I was clearly missing.


----------



## Instructor

Without Remorse by Tom Clancy.  This is like my fourth time reading it over the years.


----------



## Omar B

Heck yeah.  Clancy rules.


----------



## Instructor

Omar B said:


> Heck yeah.  Clancy rules.



Definitely!  That particular book is my favorite of his, even after all these years.


----------



## Omar B

For me my favorite has always been Rainbow 6.  Great book, great action scenes.  It's the first book of his I have multiple editions of.

But I must point out I'm a big fan of the huge airport novel styled technothriller.  Big f-ing books.


----------



## Instructor

Huh, I'll try that one, thank!


----------



## Cirdan

Reading a lot of science fiction as usual. I finished _Cobra guardian_ by Timothy Zahn a few days go, a great book. Just got started on _The Green and the Gray_, also by Zahn. Plan to pick up a book by Isaac Asimov next, maybe _The Gods themselves_.


----------



## Big Don

Naval Institute Press
Love the Repairman Jack books, has the revamped Nightworld been released?


----------



## elder999

Big Don said:


> Naval Institute Press



Slightly more  than cool!



Big Don said:


> Love the Repairman Jack books, has the revamped Nightworld been released?



"The Author's Definitive Edition," sitting in my grubby large hands.....


----------



## Omar B

In an effort to keep this topic alive.


I picked up the Dark Knight Rises novelization by Greg Cox last night.  There is a lot in the movie I want cleared up and in more detail, which is where novelizations shine.  It's written in an omnipotent first person perspective which I like.  Cox is a good writer so this far it's not been bad.  It's also over 400 pages which I like.


It's the workweek so I can't get through the whole thing in one day.  I'm up to the first batcave scene.  So far there are some nice details. 


-Gordon is now 56.  
-Blake has been on the force for a year and only made 12 arrests.  
-The scene where Alfred told Bruce to make his bed and get back at it, the scene that follows with the made bed that in the movie implied Bruce making the bed in the novel is interpreted as Alfred as Bruce not having slept.
-Bruce was working on the batcave in the intervening years, only having abandoned it in the past 3 months.
-The batcomputer is built upon 7 Cray Supercomputers that rivals the NSA in computing power


----------



## elder999

_The Talented Mr. Ripley_, by Patricia Highsmith-after many years, I'm actually rereading the entire _Ripliad_.

I like Tom Ripley-he's a lot like me.....though a little more nihilistic, and a little less paranoid.....:lol:


----------



## SnyderD

The Bourne Identity - Robert Ludlum. A little dry, but quite interesting


----------



## Big Don

SnyderD said:


> The Bourne Identity - Robert Ludlum. A little dry, but quite interesting


Way too descriptive for me. Too many damn adjectives.


----------



## Omar B

Really?  I think Ludlum is one of the better of the old school technothriller bunch.


----------



## Big Don

Yes, really, my tastes are eclectic or weird, whatever...
Now reading:When Libby met the Fairies and her whole life went fae
by Kirsten Mortensen
It is different, I like it. Red Shirts is on deck


----------



## crushing

My tablet came with a Kobo Books app, so I decided to check it out.  Being the cheap...I mean frugal person that I am, I checked on the availability of free titles.  Sure enough, there are a few, including Mark Twain's Roughing It, which I'm reading now.


----------



## Big Don

I'm reading W.E.B.Griffin's latest in the Men at War series, The Spymasters. It is really pissing me off. From FDR claiming to have spoken to Teddy Roosevelt about the dangerous man Hitler was, when Teddy DIED in 1919 before Hitler came to prominence... To FDR and others complaining about the UN, which wasn't created until 1945, btw, after FDR was DEAD, the errors annoy me, the tempo sucks. Sadly, I think at 83, Griffin's best days are far behind him.


----------



## Big Don

Sorry if there were spoilers, but, the errors have kinda spoiled the experience for me...





Big Don said:


> I'm reading W.E.B.Griffin's latest in the Men at War series, The Spymasters. It is really pissing me off. From FDR claiming to have spoken to Teddy Roosevelt about the dangerous man Hitler was, when Teddy DIED in 1919 before Hitler came to prominence... To FDR and others complaining about the UN, which wasn't created until 1945, btw, after FDR was DEAD, the errors annoy me, the tempo sucks. Sadly, I think at 83, Griffin's best days are far behind him.


----------



## billc

Kill Shot, by Vince Flynn.  It is the second book in the early career of Mitch Rapp, the assassin tasked with killing Islamic terrorists and their supporters.  The first book, American Assassin, wasn't as good, it might have to do with Vince Flynn's fight with cancer at the time, but this one is better.  I like Rapp's character because he enjoys his work.  In one part of the book he thinks to himself that "Killing these a******s is all the therapy I need."  I think the closest you could come to an actor for Mitch Rapp would be Karl Urban in the movie Red.  Although he wasn't playing Mitch Rapp, he might as well have been.  The controlled rage and the intensity was really close to the Rapp character and is one reason why I hope Urban was chosen over Eric Bana and some others, to play Rapp in the upcoming movie.


----------



## jks9199

*Bristlecone*, by Steve Perry.  E-book only, I believe.  Interesting spy/action piece, kind of along the line of the movie *RED*.  Old, "retired" agent/operators are forced back into action...


----------



## billc

Larry Correia's "Monster Hunter Legion," is coming out on Tuesday, the fourth in his monster hunter international series.  If you like well designed action, and good stories you should look up this series.

http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Hunte...6984908&sr=8-1&keywords=monster+hunter+legion


----------



## Big Don

billcihak said:


> Larry Correia's "Monster Hunter Legion," is coming out on Tuesday, the fourth in his monster hunter international series.  If you like well designed action, and good stories you should look up this series.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Hunte...6984908&sr=8-1&keywords=monster+hunter+legion



Or, you could do what I did, and get it from Baen, for less than Amazon will charge, and, btw, 3 months ago...


----------



## billc

How do you get it from Baen...on kindle?


----------



## Big Don

billcihak said:


> How do you get it from Baen...on kindle?



Yes, indeed, the only way to read


----------



## billc

Thanks, Big Don.  I signed up at Baen and picked up Monster Hunter Legion for $6.00.  I miss going to bookstores, it was a nice quiet place to go to clear the mind, but I have to say, clicking a few buttons and getting a book is kinda neat, especially when more than a few books are at the prices close to what I paid when I was in junior high.


----------



## Big Don

anytime
I'm rereading Patrick Rothfuss' excellent, the Name of the Wind, because it is that good.


----------



## Blindside

Correira's "Hard Magic" - good stuff, definitely some echoes of MHI, but who wouldn't like the X-Men stuck in the roaring 20s?

Webers "Out of the Dark" - opened well, some good modern survivalist type fiction for "what if the aliens invade," and a piss-poor ending.  Unfortunate.

Working on Jeff Shaara's "Gone for Soldiers" - a good look at the Mexican-American war through the eyes of the officers who would be the movers and shakers of the Civil War, particularly Captain Robert E. Lee.


----------



## Omar B

Heads up dudes.  Terry Brook's Shannara series of novels is being turned into a TV series.  This was just announced yesterday so if you wanted to jump into a new series right now this is gonna be the hot one.  http://screenrant.com/terry-brooks-shannara-tv-series


----------



## Big Don

Rereading Vince Flynn's Term Limits.


----------



## Big Don

Rereading Monster Hunter Legion, because Bill brought it up and you gotta love a book with a character called "Ultimate Lawyer"


----------



## Cryozombie

Omar B said:


> Heads up dudes.  Terry Brook's Shannara series of novels is being turned into a TV series.  This was just announced yesterday so if you wanted to jump into a new series right now this is gonna be the hot one.  http://screenrant.com/terry-brooks-shannara-tv-series



This could either be very awesome (ala Game of Thrones) or Suck (ala Sword of Truth) 

I hope for Awesome.


----------



## Big Don

Cryozombie said:


> This could either be very awesome (ala Game of Thrones) or Suck (ala Sword of Truth)
> 
> I hope for Awesome.


As do we all. The realist in me knows SUCK is more likely...


----------



## crushing

I enjoyed The Count of Monte Cristo so much I decided to check out another Dumas book, so I'm giving The Three Musketeers a go.  Not really getting in to it yet, but it's still early.


----------



## Dirty Dog

crushing said:


> I enjoyed The Count of Monte Cristo so much I decided to check out another Dumas book, so I'm giving The Three Musketeers a go. Not really getting in to it yet, but it's still early.



Dumas actually wrote a whole series of books following the musketeers through their lives. There's a good reason why they're classics. 

I just read J.K Rowlings "The Casual Vacancy". As a writer of adult fiction, she fails. Needs to stick to childrens books.
Now I'm reading "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn.  So far it's also not doing much for me.
Also recently finished Koontz' "Odd Appolcolypse" and "77 Shadow Hill", both of which were good, but not as good as I expect from Mr Koontz.


----------



## jks9199

crushing said:


> I enjoyed The Count of Monte Cristo so much I decided to check out another Dumas book, so I'm giving The Three Musketeers a go.  Not really getting in to it yet, but it's still early.


View it as a series of shorter adventures, linked by the characters and some continuing stories.  It's easier to read it that way than as a giant novel, I found.  And realize that Dumas wrote over a long period as a series of serials, so there are details that don't always run consistent... kind of like in comic books.


----------



## dancingalone

Just finished King of Thorns, the sequel to Prince of Thorns.  Wow, it outdoes the first book and I thought Prince of Thorns was very entertaining, though quite dark.

Recommended if you don't mind the protagonist being half-evil himself.


----------



## Mauthos

Currently reading The Painted Man by Peter V, Brett.  Good start so far and an interesting premise, enjoying it.


----------



## Omar B

dancingalone said:


> Just finished King of Thorns, the sequel to Prince of Thorns.  Wow, it outdoes the first book and I thought Prince of Thorns was very entertaining, though quite dark.
> 
> Recommended if you don't mind the protagonist being* half-evil himself*.



Half evil?  How dare you sir.  Come back to me with a book where everyone is evil!


----------



## Big Don

Hilarious, Omar.
I'm rereading the Dresden Files, because a new one comes out next week and I've read 100 or so things since...


----------



## Big Don

Reading Cold Days, the New (today!) Dresden Files novel by Jim Butcher. Bad *** so far.


----------



## Dirty Dog

*Death of an Adept* - Katherine Kurtz & Debra Turner-Harris.
*The Pillars of the Earth* - Ken Follet


----------



## Steve

Dirty Dog said:


> *Death of an Adept* - Katherine Kurtz & Debra Turner-Harris.
> *The Pillars of the Earth* - Ken Follet



Pillars of the earth was great.  Read that years ago.

I just finished Lightbringer by Brent Weeks.  Good fantasy.

Also reading the Red Branch Cycle, by Randy Lee Eikhert.  Good stuff.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## Dirty Dog

Steve said:


> Pillars of the earth was great.  Read that years ago.




So did I. And the sequel. But it's worth a reread.


----------



## DennisBreene

"Fifty Shades Darker" by E L James. I guess I'm feeling a little randy.


----------



## GrandmasterP

Phil Rickman's latest.... The Heresy of Dr Dee, superb.


----------



## Omar B

Dirty Dog said:


> *Death of an Adept* - Katherine Kurtz & Debra Turner-Harris.
> *The Pillars of the Earth* - Ken Follet



I used to love Follet, till he stopped writing good spy thrillers and it's all drama wrapped in a historical veneer.


----------



## dancingalone

I'm reading Woman of Stones a novella by Meredith Allard.  It's a free Kindle download from amazon, but quite well written - it's about the adulterous woman who Jesus saves from a stoning, telling the events that led up to that point along with a short epilogue.  I supposed it qualifies as feminist fiction on some level but I don't feel hit over the head with the message.  Recommended.


----------



## Big Don

Just starting Vince Flynn's the Last Man.


----------



## Omar B

Finally read Ender's Game yesterday.  Holy crap did that suck.  I don't wanna give too much away but the end was a cop out and we are never treated to a real battle (in space, on the ground or anywhere else) in a book about war.  It was the friggin game the whole time, and I'm mad.


----------



## Dirty Dog

Omar B said:


> Finally read Ender's Game yesterday.  Holy crap did that suck.  I don't wanna give too much away but the end was a cop out and we are never treated to a real battle (in space, on the ground or anywhere else) in a book about war.  It was the friggin game the whole time, and I'm mad.



You didn't get that from the very first????


----------



## Big Don

Omar B said:


> Finally read Ender's Game yesterday.  Holy crap did that suck.  I don't wanna give too much away but the end was a cop out and we are never treated to a real battle (in space, on the ground or anywhere else) in a book about war.  It was the friggin game the whole time, and I'm mad.



I read that last year, I think. Yeah. suck.


----------



## Steve

Lol.  Enders game was great, but its juvenile fiction.  It's in the same category as Harry potter or the like.  


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## Omar B

No, just read it yesterday.  But when they said that  since he got to the command school they were real I wanted to toss the book in the garbage.


----------



## Gemini

dancingalone said:


> Just finished King of Thorns, the sequel to Prince of Thorns.  Wow, it outdoes the first book and I thought Prince of Thorns was very entertaining, though quite dark.
> 
> Recommended if you don't mind the protagonist being half-evil himself.


I've been wanting to read this but I have a bad habit of getting engrossed in trilogies before they're finshed and get left hanging. Emperor of Thrones isn't supposed to be released until Aug. 2013.


----------



## dancingalone

Gemini said:


> I've been wanting to read this but I have a bad habit of getting engrossed in trilogies before they're finshed and get left hanging. Emperor of Thrones isn't supposed to be released until Aug. 2013.



I guess I'm not so bothered by incomplete series.  I'm eagerly holding on for George R. R. Martin to finish his series.  I did go back and scan Prince of Thorns prior to reading King of Thorns just for a refresher.

One of my favorite fantasy series will apparently never be finished by the author, who got writer's block along with some secretive personal problems after she wrote book #2.  She is publishing books in a totally unrelated world now, but I don't think she has any intention of going back and trying to complete volume 3.  That one does chap me some.


----------



## Omar B

Just start reading the GRRM books.  There's no magic to reading them all at once.  Truth be told, old fat-*** like him, he's gonna be dead before he's done likely or not.


----------



## Gemini

Omar B said:


> Just start reading the GRRM books.  There's no magic to reading them all at once.  Truth be told, old fat-*** like him, he's gonna be dead before he's done likely or not.


You may well be right. That's another one of my unfinished readings and at his rate..hmm.


----------



## Omar B

I never got the "I'm gonna wait till the series is done to read it" thing.  It just makes you that much further behind, that many more people know what happens before you (and will spoil it).  Imagine if some dude said he's gonna wait for the series to end to see how it plays out with Mack Bolan or Superman, some crazy wait huh?


----------



## Big Don

I don't wait for a series to be done, but, I cannot bring myself to read one book of a series and not the rest. Which is why I just reread all of the Dresden Files, since the new book was coming out.


----------



## Gemini

It's only because I forget everything leading up to the new book and have to reread most of it. One serjes is okay, but 3 series makes it all  just confusing. You'll see when you get to be an old fart like me.


----------



## Omar B

Gemini said:


> It's only because I forget everything leading up to the new book and have to reread most of it. One serjes is okay, but 3 series makes it all  just confusing. You'll see when you get to be an old fart like me.



Sounds like a brain eating worm to me, not age.


----------



## Gemini

Omar B said:


> Sounds like a brain eating worm to me, not age.


That must be it.


----------



## Big Don

I'm rereading Brad Thor's first novel: The Lions of Lucerne.


----------



## GrandmasterP

Re-reading as many of Robert Rankin's books as I can get through over the holidays.
Currently up to The Brentford Triangle.
Hilarious sequel to his Antipope.


----------



## Omar B

Last Read - Tom Clancy's Splintery Cell - Operation Barracuda, by David Michaels (Raymond Benson).  I'm no video gamer so don't ask, I got the book because it's Tom Clancy and Raymond Benson (who wrote 6 James Bond novels).  As always, Clancy's plotting, pace, etc is great.  As always Benson's characterization is garbage.  A good action novel, not great.

Current Read - James Bond - Icebreaker by John Gardner.  Palette cleanser with one of the best Bond novels from the second best author in the series (after Ian of course).  Haven't read it in a few years so it's almost new again.


----------



## Big Don

Rereading my way through Brad Thor, I'm on Blowback, now. After this, a drastic shift in gears to Peter Allen David's Pulling Up Stakes 2. Then back to Thor, then Clancy and somebody's Threat Vector. It irks me that he has a coauthor on a Jack Ryan book... >:


----------



## stickarts

The Hobbit quiz book. Even a fanatic like me gets stumped on many of the questions.


----------



## dancingalone

The Tokaido Road by Lucia St. Clair Robson.  It's the story of the 47 ronin through the eyes of the lord's daughter.  Recommended.


----------



## dancingalone

I am on a Japanese kick.  Currently reading Daughter of the Sword by Steve Bein.  It's about the attempted theft of a legendary taicho (sword) in modern Japan, but it seems there are interwoven stories from the past about previous owners of the same blade.  I am still very much in the beginning of the novel, but it is entertaining.


----------



## Big Don

I'm just starting Blood Gospel by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell. Great so far.


----------



## Dirty Dog

The *Half-Orc* series by David Dalgesh. Not bad. His storyline is pretty good, but he clearly borrows his characters from other books within the genre.


----------



## Blindside

Spellbound by Larry Correia
the right before bed reading with my son:  Mossflower by Brian Jacques
the long distance car ride audio book: Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riorden (great seriies)


----------



## Big Don

Dirty Dog said:


> The *Half-Orc* series by David Dalgesh. Not bad. His storyline is pretty good, but he clearly borrows his characters from other books within the genre.



:angry: You spelled his name wrong! It's David Dalglish.
Don't you know I read this thread to find authors?
The first book of that series is free on kindle, so, I'll give it a shot...


----------



## Gemini

Dirty Dog said:


> The *Half-Orc* series by David Dalgesh. Not bad. His storyline is pretty good, but he clearly borrows his characters from other books within the genre.


On book 4 now. Not earth shattering, but good enough to fill time gaps.


----------



## Tgace

TLOTR....again.


----------



## Big Don

Tgace said:


> TLOTR....again.


Never again. Peter Jackson ruined them for me.


----------



## Omar B

Big Don said:


> Never again. Peter Jackson ruined them for me.



I agree.


----------



## Tgace

Big Don said:


> Never again. Peter Jackson ruined them for me.



Eh..I never really associated books with their movie adaptations.


----------



## Instructor

Funny I am rereading TLOTR as well.  All three books bound in one cover.  If I go all the way through this would be my third reading.  Not sure why I keep coming back, guess I just enjoy Tolkien.

I enjoyed the films for the most part, though I agree they aren't the books.  But then what movie could be?


----------



## grumpywolfman

"The Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan


----------



## Big Don

I just reread Honor Bound by W.E.B. Griffin, now I'm rereading Simon Green's The Man with the Golden Torc.


----------



## dancingalone

Just finished The Cutting Season by Attica Locke.  It's a mystery that revolves around 2 killings, 1 in the present and 1 in the past, on a Louisiana sugar cane plantation.  I enjoyed it. 

Next up is The Antagonists by Ernest K. Gann.  It is a fictional retelling of the siege of Masada that ended with the Jewish rebels killing themselves rather than surrendering to their Roman conquerors.  There was a TV miniseries in the eighties with Peter O'Toole in one of the starring roles based on this book.


----------



## Dirty Dog

Re-reading the *Sword of Shanara* trilogy by Terry Brooks.


----------



## Omar B

Shanara?  Really?  Enjoy it that much?  I started reading one and never got around to finishing it, don't even ask which one.

I'm more into the darker, more brutal fantasy now.  Yes, GRRM, but there's also Steve Erickson's Malazan, Joe Abercrombie, Glen Cook, ya know.  The stuff that has more in common with REH than JRRT.


----------



## Big Don

Omar B said:


> Shanara?  Really?  Enjoy it that much?  I started reading one and never got around to finishing it, don't even ask which one.
> .


I read the first few, then I felt like I had to read the rest. Then I got to the ones where the elves home is in the future, in OREGON. F Oregon and F Shanara!


----------



## Big Don

Bias Incident: The World's Most Politically Incorrect Novel by Ari Mendelson
   Very good so far, only $.99 on Kindle, can't go too wrong for that price. I'm also rereading the Belgariad by David Eddings, in hard copy because there is no Kindle edition... >:


----------



## Big Don

Just started Terms of Enlistment by Marko Kloos pretty good so far, reminds me of Scalzi, kinda...
Also started the fourth book of the Belgariad, which is in the other room and the title eludes me.


----------



## Cirdan

Just finished I, ROBOT (which has very little to do with the film with Will Smith). I`ve read most of Aasimov`s Robot and Fundation stories by now, Robot Dreams and Robot Visions still waiting in the bookcase.


Took a break from the robots and started on Timothy Zahn`s Cobra Gamble, third book of the Cobra War trlilogy. The first few pages seems exelent.


----------



## sfs982000

I'm just about finished with The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury, pretty decent read if you're a fan of the comic and the series.


----------



## Blindside

Just finished Monster Hunter Legion by Correia - fun as usual, would but has run into the problem of having to maintain the level of action at "world crisis" levels, in many ways I enjoyed the first book where the mosters were "merely" vamps or other bump in the night uglies.

Working on the Mongoliad by Stephenson et al. - very good, a little disjointed right now but I am enjoying the description of accurate swordplay.

The in the car audio book with my son is "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riorden, continued good stuff for kids interested in adventure, I like them better than the Harry Potter series.

The right before bed book with my son - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  -


----------



## celtic_crippler

_Game of Thrones_... can't put it down.


----------



## Big Don

Magician's End by Raymond Feist. 30 years, 30 books, over far too soon...


----------



## Tgace

Patrick O'Brian- Master and Commander

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2


----------



## grumpywolfman

"On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life" by Charles Darwin. I don't think I'll finish reading it though, because it makes me laugh so hard my sides become sore.


----------



## Dirty Dog

grumpywolfman said:


> "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life" by Charles Darwin. I don't think I'll finish reading it though, because it makes me laugh so hard my sides become sore.



I know the feeling. I tried to get through the Christian bible and had the same problem.


----------



## grumpywolfman

Dirty Dog said:


> I know the feeling. I tried to get through the Christian bible and had the same problem.



Try the NLT version Dirty Dog - it uses more common words that may help out with your comprehension level.


----------



## Steve

Dirty Dog said:


> I know the feeling. I tried to get through the Christian bible and had the same problem.


It's a great read.  A little preachy, but the authors had good imaginations and a flair for storytelling.


----------



## grumpywolfman

Steve said:


> It's a great read.  A little preachy, but the authors had good imaginations and a flair for storytelling.



I'll let the ending be a surprise for you guys, but I'll warn you that you might feel burned by it not turning out the way you wanted it to.


----------



## rlobrecht

I'm reading the new Dan Brown book, The Inferno.  I'm about half way through it so far.  It's set it Florence, Italy, which is kind of cool for me because I went there a few years ago, and I recognize a lot of the scenes.

If you've liked the other Robert Langdon books, you'll probably like this one.


----------



## Cyriacus

A World Without End, by Ken Foller. Watched the movie, mildly curious about the book.


----------



## jks9199

*Antiagon Fire*, the latest book in L. E. Modesitt, Jr.'s Imager Portfolio.  As usual, a good read with solid and consistent magical systems that have their own costs for those who can do magic, and a strong theme of personal responsibility and doing your best.

Just finished *For Honor We Stand* and *To Honor You Call Us *by H. Paul Honsinger & Harvey G. Phillips.  Solid hard military science fiction, reflecting a lot of research into sailing era navies (which makes sense in the setting) and some hard thinking on the physics end (as well as some fun in-jokes about Star Trek and other science fiction series).  In some ways, I think David Feintuch did it a little better with the Seafort Saga, but the stories are very different, and the issues are rather different.


----------



## Tgace

Hugh Howley's "Wool" and "Shift" series...anyone else read these?

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2


----------



## Tgace

jks9199 said:


> *Antiagon Fire*, the latest book in L. E. Modesitt, Jr.'s Imager Portfolio.  As usual, a good read with solid and consistent magical systems that have their own costs for those who can do magic, and a strong theme of personal responsibility and doing your best.
> 
> Just finished *For Honor We Stand* and *To Honor You Call Us *by H. Paul Honsinger & Harvey G. Phillips.  Solid hard military science fiction, reflecting a lot of research into sailing era navies (which makes sense in the setting) and some hard thinking on the physics end (as well as some fun in-jokes about Star Trek and other science fiction series).  In some ways, I think David Feintuch did it a little better with the Seafort Saga, but the stories are very different, and the issues are rather different.



Waiting for Honsinger and Phillips next book...supposed to be out this year.

Try Elliot Kay's " Poor Mans Fight" if you liked the Honor series...an interesting contrast.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2


----------



## Steve

I'm reading A Feast for Crows, but I'm looking forward to receiving Boys in the Boat.  One of my coworkers' dad was on the 1936 UW rowing team that went to the olympics and won gold medals.  He mentioned several months ago that someone was writing a book about them, and I've been anxiously waiting for it since.  Comes out Tuesday.

Grumpywolfman, I appreciate your concern.  Fortunately, the new pope has my back.


----------



## jks9199

Tgace said:


> Waiting for Honsinger and Phillips next book...supposed to be out this year.
> 
> Try Elliot Kay's " Poor Mans Fight" if you liked the Honor series...an interesting contrast.
> 
> Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2



There's also Dave Grossman's *Two-Space* books, though they're almost more about showing some of his research "in action" in a fictional setting...  Apparently Honsinger & Phillips's next book is going to be delayed a bit; they've got a blog out about being picked up by Amazon, who intends to reissue and re-edit the first two books, then issue the third.  Honestly...  I think a good, professional editor can improve the books.  Some redundant exposition can be eliminated, and maybe some of the dialogue cleaned up and made more realistic.


----------



## Big Don

rlobrecht said:


> I'm reading the new Dan Brown book, The Inferno.  I'm about half way through it so far.  It's set it Florence, Italy, which is kind of cool for me because I went there a few years ago, and I recognize a lot of the scenes.
> 
> If you've liked the other Robert Langdon books, you'll probably like this one.


People who like this sort of thing will find it the sort of thing they like.
I enjoyed it.


----------



## Big Don

Tgace said:


> Hugh Howley's "Wool" and "Shift" series...anyone else read these?
> 
> Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2


I trudged through the first 3 wool books. A friend kept telling me they would get better, the lying bastard...
I'm rereading Simon R Green's From Hell with Love.


----------



## Tgace

Big Don said:


> I trudged through the first 3 wool books. A friend kept telling me they would get better, the lying bastard...
> I'm rereading Simon R Green's From Hell with Love.



I'm liking them well enough...Interesting how its the democrats of the future who take on the mantle of rebooting the world to their vision and under their control. 

I hear there's a movie in the works. 

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2


----------



## arnisador

_Rebecca_, Daphne du Maurier


----------



## DennisBreene

Just started "Fall of Giants" by Ken Follett.


----------



## Mauthos

Just started Dodger by Terry Prattchett, different to his Discworld stuff, but still well written and funny.  Got to appreciate it as I can't see many more books coming from him.


----------



## arnisador

Now on _A Tale of Two Cities_, C. Dickens.


----------



## Sukerkin

Finally got a copy of "Shadow of Freedom" by David Webber.  It's only a Kindle copy (I know my wife was going to get me the hardback but I must trim costs where I can now) so I probably won't enjoy reading it as much as a 'real' book but we shall see how it shapes up.

One thing has continued on from the recent book or two in the Harrington series is the use of profanity in the dialogue - I know enough real life veterans to know how colourful their language can be but I wish Webber hadn't fallen into this path.  Maybe it's just my age but I don't need to see certain words in print; to my mind I am inviting an author into my home when I buy their books and I'd prefer them to mind their manners.


----------



## Big Don

Suke, I hate "real" books now. I love my Kindle, best thing I ever spent money on.
Reading John Scalzi's The Human Division, which was originally published in serial form, which, while I like the idea in theory, I was fine with waiting for the compilation.


----------



## Big Don

Just started Simon R Green's Casino Infernale


----------



## arnisador

Read Neil Gaimon's How to Talk to Girls at Parties. Dull. Now re-reading A.A. Milne, Winnie-The-Pooh.


----------



## Sukerkin

Big Don said:


> Suke, I hate "real" books now. I love my Kindle, best thing I ever spent money on.



They are very convenient when out and about, I do agree.  I take mine with me whenever I am going somewhere that is going to involve me waiting for a while.  But I have to say I do much prefer the tactile sensations of handling a real book - plus I tend to fall asleep reading in bed and I am a little worried I'll drop the Kindle onto the floor and break it.


----------



## Big Don

Oh, I am paranoid about breaking my Kindle. But, I'm really REALLY careful with it.


----------



## Carol

Big Don said:


> Suke, I hate "real" books now. I love my Kindle, best thing I ever spent money on.



Me too.  I have a Kindle app on my other gadgets too....but I still like reading from my Kindle best of all.

That being said, I picked up 3 fiction books by a local author at a Farmer's market.  The first, Tall Boy, is meh. Hope it gets better.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2


----------



## rlobrecht

Sukerkin said:


> They are very convenient when out and about, I do agree.  I take mine with me whenever I am going somewhere that is going to involve me waiting for a while.  But I have to say I do much prefer the tactile sensations of handling a real book - plus I tend to fall asleep reading in bed and I am a little worried I'll drop the Kindle onto the floor and break it.



I also love my Kindle.  I've fallen asleep and dropped it on the floor more than once.  It's survived that three foot fall onto carpet without issues.  (knocks wood)  I also have the Kindle app on my phone and iPad, and i prefer the real thing.


----------



## jks9199

Prefer Nook to Kindle.  My wife has both, and has had lots of problems with the Kindle...


----------



## Makalakumu

I'm listening to the Game of Thrones series. I got them off of Audible.com for free. You get a free download every month and it takes me about a month to get through each volume.


----------



## DennisBreene

Sukerkin said:


> They are very convenient when out and about, I do agree.  I take mine with me whenever I am going somewhere that is going to involve me waiting for a while.  But I have to say I do much prefer the tactile sensations of handling a real book - plus I tend to fall asleep reading in bed and I am a little worried I'll drop the Kindle onto the floor and break it.



Isn't middle age wonderful


----------



## Mauthos

Just started reading the Conan Centenary edition, basically all of the original Conan stories in one collection.  Really good and visceral, if a little bit repetitive.


----------



## arnisador

2 B R 0 2 B, Kurt Vonnegut.


----------



## arnisador

_World War Z_


----------



## Flying Crane

arnisador said:


> _World War Z_



Excellent book.  And the companion "Zombie Survival Guide" is very good too.  Don't get the cheap imitations.  Read Max Brooks, he's the best.


----------



## Flying Crane

Samurai Cat Goes To The Movies.

I read the first three volumes of Samurai Cat, and recently discovered that three more had been written.  This is volume 5.  Sometimes the humor is a bit overdone, but he's got some pretty funny stuff in there.

The last volume is Samurai Cat Goes To Hell.  That's next.


----------



## SuitableScroll

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Various Shakespeare plays


----------



## Mauthos

Still trudging through the _Complete Chronicles of Conan_ but I have also started reading _Red Country_ by _Joe Abercrombie_ and so far that is swiftly becoming my favourite book of his.


----------



## Big Don

Just finished Brad Thor's Hidden Order


----------



## Instructor

Atlas Shrugged


----------



## arnisador

Instructor said:


> Atlas Shrugged



My wife and I both read that. We saw Parts I and II of the movie and are wondering if they'll make Part III.

I'm still working slowly through _World War Z_  as the structure lends itself to episodic reading.


----------



## Instructor

Saw the movie's too.  So far I can't put the book down.  Netflix also has an excellent documentary for streaming about the author Ayn Rand.


----------



## Big Don

Almost done with James Rollins Eye of God.


----------



## Big Don

I'm reading Encounter with Tiber by John Barnes and Buzz Aldrin, yes, that Buzz Aldrin.


----------



## Balrog

Currently re-reading my way through The Dresden Files novels again.


----------



## Instructor

If I ever get to the end of Atlas Shrugged (it's longer than I like) I think I may reread Shogun by James Clavell.


----------



## Big Don

Balrog said:


> Currently re-reading my way through The Dresden Files novels again.



New one comes out December 3d


----------



## Big Don

Finally got around to Threat Vector by Tom Clancy and some ghost writer.


----------



## Mauthos

Started the _Night Lords _trilogy and swiftly churned through _Soul Hunter_ and I am ripping through _Blood Reaver_ now.  Aaron Dembski-Bowden is definitely becoming my favourite Black Library Author and he sure does know how to write those pesky Space Marines.


----------



## Blindside

Been a while, with my son we have been audio booking the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan, which is excellent.  Think Aragorn or one of his fellow Dunedain taking on a 15 year old apprentice, it isn't Tolkien based but clearly drew inspiration from it.    

I just finished up "Shattered Hourglass" by J.L. Bourne, the third book in the Day by Day Apocalypse series.  Sort of had to force myself to finish this one, and that is disappointing because the first two were pretty good.  Meh.

A while back I picked up a stack of old Heinlein books at the thrift shop, so just read "Starman Jones" and "Farmer in the Sky" for the first time.  Good, not as good as many of his other juveniles, but good reading.  I have "Red Planet" next in line.

I started CJ Cherryh's s "Inheritor" but it seems dry and isn't sucking me in, hoping it gets better.


----------



## Big Don

Going back through Brad Thor's Scot Harvath books
I want the last Clancy book...
Read Midkemia: the Chronicles of Pug by Raymond Feist, on my kindle. The artwork didn't translate to b/w well, I read parts on my iPhone, I think I may have to buy the hard copy.


----------



## Mauthos

After having a break to catch up on my comic reading by completing _God Hates Astronauts _(rather odd and definitely left of centre stuff) and _Kick *** 2_ I have returned to the _Night Lords_ Trilogy and I am currently 100 pages into the final book, _Void Stalker_.  If you like your games workshop stuff and have a particular penchant for heritcal traitor space marines then I heartedly recommend these books.


----------



## Big Don

Just started A Game of Thrones, yes, yes, late to the party and all that... 
I admit the HBO series prompted me... Free HBO this weekend, season 1 was on all day yesterday...


----------



## Mauthos

Onto _Raising Steam _by _Terry Pratchett_, hopefully another funny one and a break from the sci-fi stuff I've been churning through.


----------



## sfs982000

I just started The Walking Dead:Rise of the Governor. Pretty good so far.


----------



## Big Don

Just getting into A Dance With Dragons.


----------



## wingchun100

I'm about to start rereading the works of Thomas Pynchon.


----------



## jks9199

_Fledgling _by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller.  Just discovered they snuck several Liaden Universe books out, and were so discourteous as not to tell me!  Balance must be addressed...


----------



## Mauthos

Just started _Gilead's Blood_ by Dan Abnett and Nik Vincent, an early fantasy of theirs, not up to their current standards as it reads a little simply, but definitely a good story and told in an unusual way.  Hoping the sequel, which was written 14 years later, is as fun but hopefully written in a more accomplished style.


----------



## Big Don

I'm about halfway through Robin Cook's new book Cell. Spooky how close to reality this fictional story is.


----------



## DennisBreene

Anna Karenina


----------



## tshadowchaser

just started reading Knight or Knave by Andre Norton and Sasha Miller.
Used to read a lot of Norton's books years ago


----------



## wimwag

Red Storm Rising

Sent from my ZTE V768 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## Big Don

Just starting The Return by Buzz (walked on the friggin moon) Aldrin and some guy named Barnes. I read their second novel. It was really good, now, I'm reading the first.


----------



## Big Don

Just started Grisham's The Racketeer, it has been a while since I read one of his.


----------



## Big Don

finished Monster Hunter Nemesis, rereading The Majors by W.E.B. Griffin


----------



## wingchun100

I forgot I have the collected works of Oscar Wilde sitting around, not to mention THE RUSSIA HOUSE by John Le Carre. I still want to read his debut THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD too.


----------



## Transk53

Just finished "The Columbus Affair" by Steve Berry. A cracking novel by a favorite author of mine. Going to go Roman next I think. The "Forgotten Legion Trilogy" looks good. Apparently rivals Conn Iggulden's Emperor series.


----------



## hussaf

Just started The Princess Bride.  Didn't even know it was a book until a few months ago.  Also just finished Dune.  First time for a lot of classics lately, but then I pretty much read nothing but scholarly journals for a few years, so the break is nice.


----------



## Transk53

hussaf said:


> Just started The Princess Bride.  Didn't even know it was a book until a few months ago.  Also just finished Dune.  First time for a lot of classics lately, but then I pretty much read nothing but scholarly journals for a few years, so the break is nice.



Would that be the 1965 novel?


----------



## hussaf

Dune is 1965, Princess bride is 74, I think


----------



## Big Don

I'm reading A Distant Eden by Lloyd Tackitt. Very good story so far.


----------



## Blindside

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson, very very good epic fantasy.  Very funny in spots but really really long.


----------



## Transk53

Big Don said:


> I'm reading A Distant Eden by Lloyd Tackitt. Very good story so far.



Looks like you are a quick reader.


----------



## wingchun100

After letting a lot of books pile up on my desk, I finally picked one to read: THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE by stephen King. I am a long-time fan of the DARK TOWER series, so I was excited to hear he wrote another book in that world. And then...I never got around to reading it. LOL


----------



## Instructor

Rereading the Hobbit. It's a revision I've not come across before, I like it!


----------



## wingchun100

Ah yes, the wide world of multiple revisions. It reminds me somewhat of the multiple translation thing that occurs with texts from other languages. I've been meaning to read other translations of TAO TE CHING, but the DC Lau one is so good that I haven't gotten around to it yet.


----------



## Transk53

Michael Billings said:


> Cyber fiction with a Silat twist.



Read the entire lot a long time ago. Shame the film was so poor.


----------



## Big Don

Rereading my way through Kevin Anderson's Saga of the Seven Suns series.


----------



## tshadowchaser

Have just finished reading the first book in The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. The local library is getting the rest of the trilogy for me.
Also reading Steve Berry's The King's Deception. This my be the only book by Berry that I have not read yet


----------



## wingchun100

Currently reading THE COMPLETE WORKS OF OSCAR WILDE.


----------



## Instructor

Finished Atlas Shrugged and the Hobbit.  Now reading the Lord of the Rings again.


----------



## Big Don

Just finished Skin Game by Jim Butcher, the best Dresden book so far.


----------



## Sukerkin

"For the Honour of the Queen" ... Weber's Honor Harrington series being read yet again .


----------



## Big Don

American Gods by Neil Gaiman.


----------



## tshadowchaser

Just finishing Brent Weeks The Black Prism and the Blinding Knife
these books are long but interesting once you get into them


----------



## Blindside

Monster Hunter Nemesis - Good as usual, but not as funny as the Pitt viewpoint books, because much of it is from Agent Franks' POV, a literally humorlous character.


----------



## Blindside

Oh, and if you like MHI books, check out the Joe Ledger novels by Maberry, not as funny, but good stuff in a similar vein.  I think I have gone through all six books in the series in the past 6 months.


----------



## Steve

tshadowchaser said:


> Just finishing Brent Weeks The Black Prism and the Blinding Knife
> these books are long but interesting once you get into them


Great books.


----------



## Steve

Reading the mhi books now.  Considering the grimnoire series next.


----------



## Dirty Dog

Reading *The Twelve* by Justin Cronin. 
Tried to read the *Descent* series by S M Reine but the author is too stupid. After reading about people breathing through their esophagus, being told that all semi-auto handguns have the same size magazine, and noticing her inability to use proper grammar (something that should be important to all, but most especially to an author) I gave up.


----------



## jks9199

Steve said:


> Reading the mhi books now.  Considering the grimnoire series next.



I'm enjoying them.  He's got a concrete, rather well thought out "magic" system, solid characters, and a couple of interesting on-going plot lines across the series that are interesting.



Dirty Dog said:


> Reading *The Twelve* by Justin Cronin.
> Tried to read the *Descent* series by S M Reine but the author is too stupid. After reading about people breathing through their esophagus, being told that all semi-auto handguns have the same size magazine, and noticing her inability to use proper grammar (something that should be important to all, but most especially to an author) I gave up.



That's the sort of thing that bugs me sometimes, too...  Like I'm reading *The Long Earth* by Stephen Baxter & Terry Pratchett.  One of the rules of stepping across Earths in the book is that iron & ferrous compounds like steel can't go.  So... a character who is a cop steps across universes... and her Glock is described as "rattling."  No... a Glock would, under those rules, be a pile of loosely gun shaped plastic (the frame) with no slide, no barrel, and a few other odds and ends left.  It would be barely identifiable as once having been a gun...  And it would have taken literally seconds of research to determine that.


----------



## Big Don

While not at home, I'm reading The Magicians by Lev Grossman. At home, because of Steve... I'm rereading Monster Hunter Alpha, and also because it is badass...


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## tshadowchaser

Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb.   the first book in a new trilogy by one of my favorite writers


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## Transk53

Just finished "The Samurai Inheritance" which is not actually about Samurai overall. Now starting "Silencer" by Andy McNab.


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## Dirty Dog

Reading James Pattersons *Private* series. It's a Sam Spade-ish detective series.


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## Reedone816

I love detective novels. After finishing up harry bosch series i have my hand on, i currently reading mongo the magnificient detective series.
It is a twist in private eyes novel since it is including conspiracy teories that dwell on psychics and a dwaf karate blackbelt who was a circus tumbler who currently a univ prof in criminology and private eye who happens to have a private line to us president.
Sent from my RM-943_apac_indonesia_207 using Tapatalk


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## Buka

Reading Swan Song by McCammon. Read it in the nineties, enjoying it even more this time.


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## tshadowchaser

Reading The Companions by R.A. Salvatore.  It is the first novel in a series written by different authors. 
I have heard it may be one of the best novels written by Salvatore.


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## Peterloom

I just finished reading an amazing book called *The Last Umbra* by *M.R Chavez*. He has a unique take on the Japanese culture by bringing a samurai warrior to early California. The book is full of action that kept me entertained from beginning to end. 

A Historical Adventure, Action-thriller. It is focused on the admiration for the Japanese warrior class. This book tells of not a pride filled Samurai, but instead, a ninja assassin on a quest in gold-rush era California.

If anyone want to check it out you can find it here.

http://www.amazon.com/Last-Umbra-M-R-Chavez-ebook/dp/B00W01KUD4


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## jezr74

Just finished 'The Way of Kings' by Brandon Sanderson, onto the second volume Words of Radiance.

Would have to rate it in my top 10 of all time books, it contained great story line and the psychology and philosophy found throughout was very clever.


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## Buka

Reading Centennial (Michner) for the umpteenth time.


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## Flatfish

Thinking of buying "Stretching scientifically" by Thomas Kurtz.....pretty much fiction in my case.....


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## Lexx

The brotherhood of the Rose by David Morrell it's a trilogy next part The fraternity of stone followed by the league of night and fog I have read and reread a few times love these books


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## granfire

finished 'The Help'
didn't follow through on 'The End Of Eternity' (I am guessing I will get around to it in the future - or past  )


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## 23rdwave

*Europe Central *by William T. Vollmann

Europe Central

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/03/books/review/europe-central.html


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## JMikeG

Not currently reading it, but I always recommend 'The Name of The Wind', and it's sequel 'The Wise Man's Fear' to everyone who asks for a book. Anyone who is a fan of Game of Thrones, Lord of The Rings, or anything like that will love this series. One of the best I've ever read.


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## UqaabKamikaze

Started Steven Pressfield's Gate of fire. I a, new to this auther. Can anyone name any book on Miyamoto Musashi's biographical novel.


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## wingchun100

I am reading one called THE BIG HEAD by Edward Lee...a really disgusting horror novel. It is like a rite of passage for fans of the genre. In fact, I think I heard somewhere that he purposely set out to write the grossest book ever. Yet somehow, it doesn't read like trash fiction. The writing is actually quite good.


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## wingchun100

I am about to start reading OFF SEASON by Jack Ketchum.


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## UqaabKamikaze

Oh, I finished Gates of fire and currently halfway through Virtues of War by Steven pressfield.

I would rather feel pain than nothing at all.


----------



## Buka

World War Z. 

Pretty good read.


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## wingchun100

THE SCARLET GOSPELS by Clive Barker.

I had yesterday off from work, and I tore through one third of the book in one day. The only thing slowing me down today is this job!!!


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## wingchun100

It is a sequel to his novella THE HELLBOUND HEART, which was the first story to feature Pinhead.


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## wingchun100

Next up, I think I will finally get around to reading BLEEDING EDGE by Thomas Pynchon.


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## wingchun100

I forgot that I wrote about reading OFF SEASON by Jack Ketchum. Needless to say, I finished that. It kicked butt, although I did not really like the ending. Too reminiscent of the way they ended the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.

After all the "torture porn" movies that have come out, I don't think too many new audiences would be appalled by the book's violence. Still, it is worth a read to see where those movies took their inspiration.


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## Touch Of Death

The latest installment of, "DUNE"...."Navigators Of Dune".


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## 23rdwave

_Soul _by Andrey Platonov


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## wingchun100

OUR GAME by John Le Carre.


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