Books, Books, BOOKS! What are you reading?

I'm on the 3rd Flynn book now, and still really enjoying it.

I know this is totally OT, but there's no comics thread going right now. Last night I read J. Michael Stracyzinski's (sp) _Midnight Nation_ (again, it's a comic). JMS is the guy behind Babylon 5 (which I'm actually just starting to watch). Anyway, I read Midnight Nation in one sitting, although I totally didn't intend to and it kept me up a little past 1am. Really good read.

I just finished a wonderful book last week; The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. It's an extraordinary tale of betrayal, redemption and the ties of family, all set in Afghanistan or Afghan communities in America. This is the author's first book, which I find absolutely amazing - he has a wonderfully mature style. Read it, read it, read it!

I have that lying around - it was a present from an aunt - but never managed to get over his constant foreshadowing. Guess I'll have to try again

I've added a technical book to the list that I'm currently reading because my workplace bought us copies. This is the first time in memory that I've chosen to read my technical book over fiction which is saying a lot. That book is Head First: Design Patterns, a Java-centric design patterns book. There are a lot of Java books, a lot of design patterns books, and, I'm sure, a lot of Java design pattern books, but I've never read one that actually compelled me enough to want to read it.

Sure, I've read design patterns books before as most programmers do at some point or another. Several in fact. Personally I feel like it's never too much to immerse yourself in something you know just to get it flowing in your head again. And I'll be damned if this book -- rather oddly and even eccentricly presented as it is -- isn't effective in engaging your brain.

Lester King! There's the man! I'm up to the Thirteen Gun Salute in O'Brien's books, and love them. You really come to love the characters and age with them.
I almost feel that, on sight, I could tell a for'ard staysail from a mizzen topsail...

I'm also with Heimdal. Reading Collapse at the moment, and enjoying it. Makes me want to read Guns, Germs, and Steel

Karmajay, I read Starship Troopers yearly as well. BF:Earth, only about once every two years.
But I've got the same taste as yourself. Its almost an annual reestablishment of values and sense of justice, if you understand my meaning.

Those of you haven't read BF:Earth because of Hubbard, well... Give it a shot. Its worth it. A quick read, and an engaging story. Even if he's bananas and enlightenment comes from a ride on a DC130. Apologies to all you Scientologists out there...

I've been meaning to try the Sharpe books as well. I guess I just like historical fiction.

Even if he's bananas and enlightenment comes from a ride on a DC130. Apologies to all you Scientologists out there...

My auditor says I shouldn't believe you. And they're DC-8s, thankyouverymuch.

Sorry. My brother's the pilot of the family, not myself.
Consider my slanderous confusion of numbers to be retracted... or altered. Whatever fits your world-view.:D

Haakon7 wrote:

Sorry. My brother's the pilot of the family, not myself.
Consider my slanderous confusion of numbers to be retracted... or altered. Whatever fits your world-view.:D

Yeah, well, just watch it or Xenu is going to jam a Thetan in your ass and you'll become a walrus from space in... I'm sorry, but do people -- any people in the entire world -- actually believe in Scientology? I mean, people with intact cerebrums? Sorry, I know this comes perilously close to evolving into a religious flamewar. Therefore...

Yes, I used to read Battlefield Earth every couple of years, too. I dug it, even if I wanted to pierce my own sack every time I read the name "Johnny Goodboy Tyler" or however you spell it. Then again, I get the same nervous tick when I see "Hiro Protagonist." They're both simply too cute for their own good.

I stopped reading BF:E about the same time I found out about Scientology. That horrid series of like 12 books he wrote, Mission Earth, didn't help matter much.

Has anyone else read Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire? I read it over the New Year's Eve long weekend and was completely immersed in the story of the little green girl that came to be thought of as a witch. I couldn't put the book down except for moments of contemplation over "good vs evil". I recently lent it to a friend, and while telling her about the story realized that I'd really like to read it again. I've always been a fan of "The Wizard of Oz", watching the movie at least once a year since my childhood, and this story is such a departure! It was great fun to read, and challenging on many levels. I don't want to say much more about it, but I'd recommend it to anyone that enjoys a good fantasy, regardless of how you feel about "The Wizard of Oz".

Johnny Goodboy Tyler is up there on the list of worst possible protagonist names ever.

But in answer to your question - No. I don't believe that any 'functioning' (and I use the term loosely) human being believes in Scientology.

To adapt Lewis Black: If you know anyone who believes in Scientology... you take a stick and you [i]HIT 'EM![/i] Then you tell them.. 'No'.

They're almost as bad as that religion that thinks that you get a planet when you die.

Haakon7 wrote:

Lester King! There's the man! I'm up to the Thirteen Gun Salute in O'Brien's books, and love them. You really come to love the characters and age with them.
I almost feel that, on sight, I could tell a for'ard staysail from a mizzen topsail...

You ain't kidding. I told a friend of mine something was off to larboard the other day... as if I wasn't a big enough dork before...

House of Leaves is a good albeit strange book as well.

Boy, Haakon7 really calls 'em like he sees 'em. Not that I'm really in favor of Scientology, or the getting of planets...

Boy, Haakon7 really calls 'em like he sees 'em. Not that I'm really in favor of Scientology, or the getting of planets...

Hate to tell it like it is, but... Oh wait. No, sorry. I lost my tact somewhere in the delays on the metro this morning!

You ain't kidding. I told a friend of mine something was off to larboard the other day... as if I wasn't a big enough dork before...

Enh. If that's being a dork, I don't ever want to be cool.
How did you start the series? After seeing the movie or was it just an impulse at the local B&N?

I just finished Spares by Michael Marshall Smith, really good scifi book. Has a Blade Runner feel to it. This is the first book I've read by Smith, can anyone recommend any others by him if you have read any?

I have also recently finished Dan Simmon's Summer of Night (liked it) and the sequel A Winter Haunting (didn't like it). For A Winter Haunting, I thought the ties to the first book were very thin; he seemed to use retro-history to mash his story in.

Haakon7 wrote:

Enh. If that's being a dork, I don't ever want to be cool.
How did you start the series? After seeing the movie or was it just an impulse at the local B&N?

I read the first one before the movie came out and a buddy of mine gave me the etexts for my new treo so I thought I'd get back into them. Nothings better than riding the bus and reading about the high seas while listening to crackheads argue.

just finished Spares by Michael Marshall Smith, really good scifi book. Has a Blade Runner feel to it. This is the first book I've read by Smith, can anyone recommend any others by him if you have read any?

I don't know about Michael Marshall Smith, but if you're into the whole Blade Runner phenomenon, then I advise you read 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' by Philip K. Dick. Assuming you haven't read it yet, I mean. It was actually the basis of the movie Blade Runner, and I've heard that if you read it, you'll find the similarity. Hope that helps.

Nothings better than riding the bus and reading about the high seas while listening to crackheads argue.

Ha HA! So true. I tear through them on my commute.
While everyone is on their Ipods & trying to stay awake, I'm firing rolling broadsides into a French privateer.

I started mine just ahead of the movie, too. The only problem is that all of my editions are UK, so I have to order them in batches. When I've finished the current ones, I can't immediately pick up the next! Damn my need for consistency!

Currently on the nightstand:
Red Mars
The World is Flat
Jihad vs. McWorld
& the Accidental Systems Librarian.

I don't read much hard sci-fi, but I'm really enjoying Red Mars. I certainly will read the entire cycle.

The World is Flat and Jihad vs. McWorld are my attempts to catch up on world affairs. I read a little George Soros and George Lakoff last year, now I'm trying to keep up a little.

The other title is for work, and will likely bore anyone who isn't a librarian.

Oso wrote:

I don't read much hard sci-fi, but I'm really enjoying Red Mars. I certainly will read the entire cycle.

Great series, the next 2 books are just as good as the first.

I can recommend The Years of Rice and Salt by the same author. It's an alternative history novel detailing a world in which the Black Death had a 99% fatality rate throughout Europe. It's got a few weaknesses towards the end, but nonetheless, it's a very engaging read.

I just finished the Harry Potter series and Tomb of Horrors also White Plume Mountain. The latter two are D&D Books. I know these aren`t the most intellectual savvy books but I enjoy them. Last year I read the entire CT Public Health Code subsection -ON-SITE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEMS WITH DESIGN FLOWS OF 5,000 GALLONS PER DAY OR LESS AND NON-DISCHARGING TOILET SYSTEMS- This helped me design and install my own septic system, wOOt! Reading pays!

Brennil wrote:

Nemesis, you've won me over. I can't believe that I never thought of that. I feel dumb now.

He's got me convinced, too. He must be Bill Harris, to be so smart.

I've been feeling all zen with software design since I found The Timeless Way of Building by Christopher Alexander. I like to call it the Sun Tzu of architecture, although it was published in the 70's. After that I have Naked Conversations on deck.

Fletcher wrote:

He's got me convinced, too. He must be Bill Harris, to be so smart.

The irony in that remark almost reached toxic levels, but still, thank you good sir. You cheered me up after a maths exam gone horribly wrong.

Finished A Concise History of the Middle East and the Red Mars trilogy. Up next is either 'Confessions of an Economic Hitman,' the sequel to "How the Irish Saved Civilization," or the newest Robert Jordan, depending on which I can borrow first.

Elysia wrote:

I just finished a wonderful book last week; The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. It's an extraordinary tale of betrayal, redemption and the ties of family, all set in Afghanistan or Afghan communities in America. This is the author's first book, which I find absolutely amazing - he has a wonderfully mature style. Read it, read it, read it!

I read that and agree, good book. it's pretty sad that this guy has a better grasp of the english language than I ever will, and it's not his first language

karmajay wrote:

House of Leaves is a good albeit strange book as well.

House of Leaves is one of those novels that you have to read a few times, and there really isn't much of an order that you could go wrong with. You can read the appendices first, then the story, or the story then the appendices, or just Johnny's writing first, or just Zampano's writing first.

The Official Website is insane. Read it through the first time yourself, then before you start forgetting things, go through this site and read all the theories. A number of people have done more research on this novel than some do for their masters degrees.

BabaGanoush wrote:
Elysia wrote:

I just finished a wonderful book last week; The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. It's an extraordinary tale of betrayal, redemption and the ties of family, all set in Afghanistan or Afghan communities in America. This is the author's first book, which I find absolutely amazing - he has a wonderfully mature style. Read it, read it, read it!

I read that and agree, good book. it's pretty sad that this guy has a better grasp of the english language than I ever will, and it's not his first language :(

Wasn't his writing outstanding? I love that he doesn't do loose threads. If he introduces a character, you can bet that character will figure into the story in an important way. And his descriptions were so clear - I really felt like I was there, watching it all.

He also manages to write it in a way that doesn't feel like he's describing it to a western outsider, explaining everything unfamiliar, and yet he makes everything that people do perfectly clear in the context of the story. A rare gift in a writer - so often you get a ham-handed explanation of anything that the writer feels like you need to know. (i.e. "Steve took a sip of his daiquiri, a strawberry-flavored frozen concoction made in a blender, and set it down on the table.") I hate being treated like a doofus by an author. Khaled Hosseini assumes I must have a brain. Nice attitude for a writer to have.

I recently picked up and read Seperation of Power by Vince Flynn and I'll say it was definitely an enjoyable book.

But!

I wouldn't exactly call it "Tom Clancy without the technical manual". It's more like Tom Clancy with extra politics instead of the technical manual.

I can picture plenty of people getting bored before Seperation of Power really gets going because there's a lot of political back and forth that goes on for the early half of the book.

I'll be picking up one of his other books probably tomorrow.