Apart from the umpteen-millionth reread of GRRM's A Song of Ice and Fire, I've also been rereading Neil Gaiman's Sandman and am getting caught up with Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Specifically, I'm now on Interesting Times, and chuckling madly at every page, footnote, in-joke, and trope-fiddling that comes standard with anything done by Pratchett.

Wolfblade by Jennifer Fallon at the moment. Think I'll either continue with the crown of stars series by Kate Elliot, the series by Diana Gabaldon or begin with Shadowline by Tad Williams when I'm finished. Or maybe Necronomicon if someone's bought it for me as a christmas present. Ok, I think I'm going to stop thinking about that now. To many titles... (considering I've got another half a dozen in my room) Um, yeah...

Currently Surface Detail but Iain M. Banks, and he's really excelled himself in the strangness this time. For those familar with his Culture novels it's one, for those not it's set in a very advanced civilisation (and setting) where most things are possible. It revolves around the idea that it would be possible to 'back-up' a persons mind, memories and personality and possible repercussions of this. Particularly the rather more certain possibilities of heaven and hell running in simulations...

It's classic Banks really, outlandish ideas, well written with mad characters. Like much of his SF stuff it is uncompromisingly Science Fiction and can be a bit heavy though. Still a good addition to the Culture series.

I'm currently on the final book of The Deathgate Cycle. I've been on a fantasy genre reading spree all year. Once I'm done with The Seventh Gate I think I'll switch to Sci-Fi and read Ender's Game again. It's one of my all time favorites and I haven't read it in about 4 years.

OOH. I'm rereading the:

Pendragon Series
Harry Potter Series
Phantom Tollbooth
The Great Cheese Conspiracy
Barcode Rebellion (and Sequal)
Maximum Ride (Series)
The Lightning Theif (and the other 4 books)
Alice in Wonderland
Seeing Redd
Through the Looking Glass Wars
Ender's Game
Ender's Shadow
Xenocide
Shaddow Puppets
Shadow of the Hedgemon
Eregon
Brisingr
Eldest
Hunger Games
Catching Fire
Mockingjay
and a couple other ones. Yeaaaah... I'm reading to many books, huh? Oh, well. I'll be done with all of em before Jan. 15th (Because I am a super fast reader , highest record, 1331 pages in 3 hours. However many pages per minute that is, it's true.) . So, yeah.

That is an impressive reading list, Petra. I figured from your name that you were a fan of the Ender books. I've read all of them myself, more than once. (Ender's Game: 8 times. Ender's Shadow: 8 times. Shadow of the Hegemon: 6 times. Those are my three favorites.)


That's about 7.4 pages per minute. I wish I could read that fast. As it is, my best was reading ten books (totaling 6283 pages) over an eight day period. I read for two and a half hours each day (so about 5.24 pages per minute).

Hey, thanks. Yeah, Ender's Game is battling for my top favorite series. It's either that or Hunger Games. Orson Scott Card is a MASTER. I've gotten a lot of subtle writing tips from him.

I'm giving THE SILMARILLION by J.R.R Tolkein, a read. It's pretty darn good.

Recently got into this Clockwork Century series. Pretty good.

I'm reading the instruction manual on my new coffee pot. It looks like a cyborg robot or something, and is way too complex for something you use BEFORE you wake up in the morning. If I can figure out how, I plan to set it up the night before so all I need to do is push a button in the a.m. - GAAAAAH !!!

Lol. Good luck, mALX. Here's hoping this is what you get:

ROFL !!! Thanks, Acadian !!! Maybe when I get it figured out I can sip my coffee while leafing through the latest National Geographics. What tribe was it that thought being cross-eyed was a sign of sex appeal? After trying to figure out this coffee pot, I may be cross-eyed now ... etc.



Woodaabe:

http://bp3.blogger.com/_JF8UtJK3aog/RdnEpv...h/wodaabe+1.jpg

http://bp3.blogger.com/_JF8UtJK3aog/RdnE6v...h/wodaabe+4.jpg

I think those are zombies, not a tribe...

I just started reading Pride and Prejudice. I have seen the movies enough times, I thought I owed it to Jane Austen to at least read it.

It was quite wordy, I think in those days they were paid per word - but excellent. It takes just a little longer to immerse because of the wordiness, but her characters are excellent and begin to shine through once you wade in. By the time her plot is opening, you are hooked into the genius of her. I loved the book Emma much more than the movie, although Emma can be irritating in print as well as visual. Both Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility - I thought the book was better until the Colin Firth and Emma Thompson/Kate Winslet versions of the movies came out (respectively).

Well, I just finished my ninth read through of Ender's Game. I've started reading Gauntlgrym by R. A. Salvatore. I just can't seem to get enough of Drizzt Do'Urden.

I don't read much, as *shh* my parents banned me from reading, but I am secreatly reading the Lord of The Rings! It's good! I like tom bombadil.

I just finished Blood Debt. Apparently its the fourth or fifth book in the series. The story was interesting but the writing was.... oh goodness I could barely get through it at times -_-

Yay! He's one my favourite LOTR characters. I only wish they had included him in the films.

I am currently read Jian by Eric Van Lustbader he is my favorite author of all time because of his descriptive writing skills.

Recently received a couple new books from my grandfather over my Christmas vacation:

-Helmet for my Pillow, by Robert Leckie
-With the Old Breed, by Eugene Sledge
-Hero of the Pacific, the life of John Basilone

The first two are autobiographies of their services in the Pacific theater during World War 2, and the third is a biography of a marine legend and celebrity, who was sadly killed in service on Iwo Jima.

The Pacific war was one of the most hellish experiences a man could ever go through. You had the intense heat, incredible humidity, disease, and an enemy who would sooner die than surrender. This was a truly brutal war, and every man who served in it, who are now constantly haunted in their dreams by it, has my undying respect.

It's good. Informative, easy for most to understand and totally spot-on.

Did you have a chance to see The Pacific yet? It is based on those three books.

It was another gift from them.

Well, right now I'm reading the first book in A Song of Ice and Fire. It's great so far... shame I don't have any more books from the series. ^^' Next I might read the first Xanth book... which I can't remember the name of.

A Spell for Chameleon?

I'll be starting Dead or Alive by Tom Clancy as soon as I finish The Killing Frost by Scott Gamboe

The Lusty Argonian Maid

TEH BEST BOOK I EVAR READ!!!

The Real Barenziah is pretty great too - one of my faves of the "in-game" books.

Fantastic mini-series! Eclipsed only by "Band of Brothers" from the same network.

I am currently reading (actually restarting) The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. It is the first book in a 13 volume fantasy series. I had started it back in the late '90s, but got side tracked in the middle of the fifth book. Fun reading. I highly recommend it.

Ten years later...I started Eye of the World, and was sidetracked about ten pages in. Not sure what it was, usually I love long books. Speaking of long books, I just finished Otherland by Tad Williams. The first in a huge quartet, it's a masterpiece. I got lucky and picked up a signed copy for five books in an antique bookshop, so that made it better.

I liked the Thief of Virtue, myself. The thief reminds me of Eugenides from Megan Whaler Turner's books, that's probably why. Also, a Less Rude Song is a great in-game book.

I read that but it left me feeling distinctly meh. I didn't see the point in the middle thousand pages and while some bits were clever others weren't which sort of spoiled the whole thing for me.


I'm reading them... very very gradually. Wikipedia is my friend here, I can read the synopsis of the last book to remind myself which everone is before beginning the next...

Recently finished rereading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies as well as Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters for a discussion about how Jane Austen's work could have been immensely improved.

For anybody else that suffered through the initial rough-drafts published over a century ago, I urge you to try the finished editions available today. Though less useful for the history professor looking at literary trends of the day, they stand up much better when looking at things like plot, narrative, characterization, etc.

Are you KIDDING me with the quintuple spam? YIKES!

I've been reading the Dark Tower series by Stephen King lately. I happened to have books 1-4 laying around my house, so I started reading them. I was very into them for a while, just haven't gotten around to picking up the final 3.

In the meantime, I'm re-reading one of my favorite books, Neuromancer. If you haven't read it, you need to. The whole concept of the book is mind-boggling.

I just reread Gone, which is morbidly depressing, and read Hunger, a gone book, for the first time, which is even MORE morbidly depressing. Also, King Matt the First, which is even worse than Hunger and Gone in terms of depressing. Not too morbid, but still. And, as always, Maximum Ride, Percy Jackson and the Olympians (which is better than most people think), Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay, The Mysterious Benidict Society (which is funny) (all three books), Harry Potter series, and a lot of other ones which I forgot...

And then, of course, I'm reading all of the countless stories that I've written on my fifteen year old laptop, and fanfics and stuff.

I like to read (duh).

I just finished re-reading Good Omens. I read a few years ago and then lost my copy, and a few days ago while wandering around my local bookshop I spotted it again and just had to get it. It's possibly one of my favourite books of all time, though I do feel that the ending is a little...it seemed like the writers (Two of the best, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet) just didn't quite know what to do with it.

Still, that book holds so many memories, so many awesome quotes.

"Crowley was an angel who didn't so much fall from heaven, but sauntered vaguely downwards"

I've just started reading Matter, by iain M. banks.

cant say much about it since ive only read the first few pages, but its really interesting so far.

Spook Country, by William Gibson.

It's disorienting, and a little difficult to grasp at times, but Mr. Gibson never did write stuff that was easy to read! At least, none of his stuff that I've read is easy!

I think I have that book floating around here somewhere... never read it though. let me know if its any good?

Late reply, I know, but that book is awesome. The culture is my favourite book series. Anyone who hasn't read some Iain M. Banks should.

I'm about halfway through it. It's getting quite interesting, combining high technology (tracking a shipping container by GPS, locative art etc) with good ol' fashioned cloak and dagger stuff a la Le Carre. Two of my favorite genres in one book! It's a little slow getting off the ground, but fortunately the chapters are pretty short so it's not difficult keeping the pace moving. Three viewpoints, though, and that can get a bit confusing, but Mr. Gibson manages well.

I'll be back when I finish the book, but thought I'd pipe in and let you know how I like it so far.

Sounds interesting. I've read a lot of Tom Clancy so I don't think it will be too difficult to get through.

Speaking of which, I have finally started

I've finished Spook Country. It is actually quite good, and I ended up being glued to the pages wanting to know what happens next! Not as much violence as in the standard cloak-and-dagger fare, but I did always love the psychological side of the spy game.

I've kind of stopped reading Tom Clancy, though I have all of his Jack Ryan books and even the Teeth of the Tiger. I do have several of his nonfiction books, which are quite good and very well-researched. The one I liked the best is Battle Ready, which he co-wrote with Anthony Zinni. And he holds a place of honor in my mind for having created one of the most compelling male characters I've ever read - Ding Chavez, who makes his first appearance in Clear and Present Danger. In the movie version (not as good as the book but still quite good) Ding was played perfectly by Ray Cruz. Like Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, Ray Cruz owns Ding.

I don't know what I will read next. I have about 80 plus books that I haven't read yet, and they run the gamut from non-fiction to science fiction. I'll look 'em over and decide what I'm in the mood for next.

Looking through Harry Potter 7 again, I am noticing that there are quite a sizable number of plot holes and blatant continuity errors in the first portion of the book. I admit, I didn't see these the first few times because I wasn't looking for them, but now, I am, and I am finding plenty. Here's a couple:

--In Chapter Six, Hermoine admits to Harry that she modified her parents' memories to send them away. But later in Chapter Nine, she says she had never performed a memory charm before. We have never been introduced to another way to modify memories throughout the entire series other than the memory charm, so... yeah.

--In Chapter Three, we are told that the original plan to get Harry from Privet Drive to the Burrow had to be scrapped because the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had been brainwashed to side with Voldemort. The original plan was for Mad-Eye Moody to fetch Harry and Apparate with him to the Burrow, but because of the circumstances it was now too dangerous to do that. However, come Chapter Eleven, Lupin tells us very blatantly that it is impossible to track an Apparating wizard. Why the hell did Moody scrap that plan, then? Especially given the alternative?

This is cool! I only just found this thread.

Currently, I am reading The Life of Elizabeth I, by Alison Weir. I'm a major history buff, I guess, and biographies are one of my favorite kinds of histories, as long as you find the right ones. I read more non-fiction than I do fiction, but when I read fiction I usually prefer the classics--William Shakespeare, Agatha Christie, and Jane Austen are some of my favorites. But anyway, that's probably more information than you were asking for, so I'll hush up now... :facepalm:






Both of those are excellent in-game books. I haven't found all of the volumes to Lusty Argonian Maid, though--are all of the volumes even in the game?

I love Jane Austen's works, but saw more Shakespeare in plays than in text. I have an ongoing fascination with 18th century - 15th century England/Scotland history (in that order). I read Agatha Christie when I was in my teens, but never felt compelled to re-read it. Austen, Heyer, Caldwell - I can't stop re-reading, lol.

mALX--It's cool to find that you like Austen, too! She's always been a favorite. Shakespeare has just always appealed to me for some reason, but then most things from that time period have always fascinated me... I was actually in a Shakespeare in high school my junior year, and it was so much fun! I haven't seen them performed more than a handful of times, as I just can't get my husband into Shakespeare!