What are you reading?

A place to discuss your favorite authors and poets, Christian and secular

Postby Alice » Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:22 pm

Deuces Wild: Beginners' Luck
by L. S. King

("With gangsters hot on their heels, a bereaved cowboy and cynical space pirate are forced to work together for their own survival.")
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share

And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence.
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Postby jon_jinn » Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:00 pm

*sniff* *sniff*...i'm currently crying my way through Foxe's Book of Martyrs. a tragic collection of many stories of many who were martyred, over the past centuries, for their faith.
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"Sometimes we don't present the Gospel well enough for the non-elect to reject it."
- John MacArthur

"In the total expanse of the human life, there is not a single square inch of which Christ, who alone is sovereign, does not declare, 'That is mine'."
- Abraham Kuyper

"God the great Creator of all things doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by His most wise and holy providence, according to His infallible foreknowledge and the free and immutable counsel of His own will, to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy."
- Westminister Confession of Faith (Chapter 5, Section 1)

"The wisdom of God has found a way for the love of God to deliver sinners from the wrath of God all the while upholding the righteousness of God!!"
- John Piper

"Grace is the pleasure of God to magnify the worth of God by giving sinners the right and power to delight in God without obscuring the glory of God!"
-John Piper

"The very One from Whom we need to be saved, is the One Who has saved us."
- R.C. Sproul

"All of Christian life is ceaseless worship of God the Father, through the mediatorship of God the Son, by the indwelling power of God the Spirit, doing what God commands in Scripture, not doing what God forbids in Scripture, in culturally contextualized ways, for the furtherance of the Gospel, when both gathered for adoration, and scattered for action, in joyous response to God's glorious grace."
- Mark Driscoll

"Believers do not pray with the view of informing God about things unknown to Him, or of exciting Him to do His duty, or of urging Him as though He were reluctant. On the contrary, they pray in order that they may arouse themselves to seek Him, that they may exercise their faith in meditating on His promises, that they may relieve themselves from their anxieties by pouring them into His bosom; in a word, that they may declare that from Him alone they hope and expect, both for themselves and for others, all good things."
- Martin Luther

"I have to tell you first that I am ready to die. I have put my affairs in order. Your supreme weapon is killing. My supreme weapon is dying, because when you kill me, people all over Romania will read my books and believe on the God that I preach - even more than they do now."
- Dr. Joseph Ton, the exiled Romanian pastor (quoted by James Montgomery Boice)

"The best prayer I ever prayed had enough sin in it to condemn the whole world."
- John Bunyan

"If the Christian has lost sight of Calvary, that shows that he has lost his way."
- J.I. Packer[/SIZE]
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Postby Kamikaze » Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:22 pm

The Pirate's Dilemma on PDF. Not too far into it yet...
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Postby eternalprincess » Sat Jul 05, 2008 12:24 am

I'm reading True Honor by Dee Henderson. I've liked it more than the rest of her work so far. Gosh I love Navy SEAL and CIA books. Anything involving armed forces, really. Or espionage. XD

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Postby uc pseudonym » Sat Jul 05, 2008 3:13 pm

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Mostly in one sitting, actually - they weren't kidding when they called it a novella. The writing was solid and interesting enough, though the characters felt archetypal. Given the age of the work, it could very well be what created the archetype.
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Postby Suzysaver » Sat Jul 05, 2008 4:13 pm

Currently at the end of Saint by Ted Dekker, who is just awesome. i love his books.
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Postby Lilac#18 » Sat Jul 05, 2008 9:55 pm

I just started reading Chronicles Of Brothers 2; Messiah - The First Judgement by Wendy Alec. Lucifer is the king of Perdition and planning to destory the human race.
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Postby RobinSena » Sun Jul 06, 2008 1:47 pm

ChurchPunk (post: 1240960) wrote:Around 370 pages through The Order of the Phoenix.

About 450 pages through The Half Blood Prince. I expect to finish it tonight, and perhaps start on The Deathly Hallows.
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Postby uc pseudonym » Sun Jul 06, 2008 5:48 pm

Lolita by Vladimir Nobokov

Read to help round out my survey of classic literature. Throughout the novel I was less distracted by the object of Humbert's obsession and more the obsession itself - which could very well say something about me. In the end, however, I feel the story is exactly as the author describes it: an artistic image without a moral. Or, in my mind, a real point.
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Postby Monkey Princess » Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:29 am

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. I actually don't know why I'm reading the last one because all my friends that read it said it was really dull, but it's a classic. Might as well.
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Postby RobinSena » Thu Jul 10, 2008 10:01 am

Finished The Deathly Hallows last night. *sigh* Moar plz?
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Postby jon_jinn » Thu Jul 10, 2008 6:00 pm

dunno if comics count or not, but i just started on Watchmen yesterday night. really neat stuff. i like the way the story unfolds and the characters are very interesting too. especially Rorschach, he's tight. it's a tad bit gritty and graphic, but that's what you gotta expect with a comic like Watchmen. i'm eagerly awaiting the movie that is due out next year.
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"Sometimes we don't present the Gospel well enough for the non-elect to reject it."
- John MacArthur

"In the total expanse of the human life, there is not a single square inch of which Christ, who alone is sovereign, does not declare, 'That is mine'."
- Abraham Kuyper

"God the great Creator of all things doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by His most wise and holy providence, according to His infallible foreknowledge and the free and immutable counsel of His own will, to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy."
- Westminister Confession of Faith (Chapter 5, Section 1)

"The wisdom of God has found a way for the love of God to deliver sinners from the wrath of God all the while upholding the righteousness of God!!"
- John Piper

"Grace is the pleasure of God to magnify the worth of God by giving sinners the right and power to delight in God without obscuring the glory of God!"
-John Piper

"The very One from Whom we need to be saved, is the One Who has saved us."
- R.C. Sproul

"All of Christian life is ceaseless worship of God the Father, through the mediatorship of God the Son, by the indwelling power of God the Spirit, doing what God commands in Scripture, not doing what God forbids in Scripture, in culturally contextualized ways, for the furtherance of the Gospel, when both gathered for adoration, and scattered for action, in joyous response to God's glorious grace."
- Mark Driscoll

"Believers do not pray with the view of informing God about things unknown to Him, or of exciting Him to do His duty, or of urging Him as though He were reluctant. On the contrary, they pray in order that they may arouse themselves to seek Him, that they may exercise their faith in meditating on His promises, that they may relieve themselves from their anxieties by pouring them into His bosom; in a word, that they may declare that from Him alone they hope and expect, both for themselves and for others, all good things."
- Martin Luther

"I have to tell you first that I am ready to die. I have put my affairs in order. Your supreme weapon is killing. My supreme weapon is dying, because when you kill me, people all over Romania will read my books and believe on the God that I preach - even more than they do now."
- Dr. Joseph Ton, the exiled Romanian pastor (quoted by James Montgomery Boice)

"The best prayer I ever prayed had enough sin in it to condemn the whole world."
- John Bunyan

"If the Christian has lost sight of Calvary, that shows that he has lost his way."
- J.I. Packer[/SIZE]
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Postby the_wolfs_howl » Thu Jul 10, 2008 6:31 pm

Monkey Princess (post: 1242922) wrote:A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. I actually don't know why I'm reading the last one because all my friends that read it said it was really dull, but it's a classic. Might as well.

Well, that would depend on your tastes in reading. If you mainly read stuff like Twilight or action titles or something, you'd probably find thick writing like Alexandre Dumas's rather dull. But if you enjoy classics, written by authors who can actually write...Monte Cristo is anything but dull. I, for one, was riveted by it. It can be a little confusing at the beginning, when you don't really know who anyone is (not half as confusing as a Russian novel, though XD), but once you get into it it's really, really good. It's like a mystery, except it's not really a mystery. If that made any sense at all.

I've finished reading The Feverbird's Claw by Jane Kurtz. I really liked this book, even if my brother didn't]real[/i] the cultures felt. Kurtz grew up in Ethiopia, so she's been in contact with other cultures since she was two years old. She knows how to make a culture realistic, and I reveled in how different it was from the typical European-based culture of most fantasy stories. Another big plus is that Kurtz is a Christian, and towards the end there's a hint at a Christian-related theme. I'd been wondering about that all through the book, and when I came to that part it was like a breath of fresh air. I would definitely recommend this book.

I've also started Voices by Ursula K. Le Guin. I read Gifts, the prequel, a couple years ago, and loved it to pieces. Voices is proving to be different, but just as good. It's about a girl named Memer who lives in a city where the written word is prohibited. As an avid lover of books and writing, this is of particular interest to me. It's proving to be quite interesting, and just as well-written as anything else Le Guin has written.
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- Brad Stine
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Postby ich1990 » Thu Jul 10, 2008 7:09 pm

Just read: Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton

This is my third -and favorite- Chesterton book. Although it is a little haphazard at times (the author doesn't seem to stick to any one particular topic), it is a work of pure genius. In it, Chesterton portrays the world as he sees it, and man is it an incredible view. This book is extremely original and attacks many notions that seem like common sense. Despite going against the grain, his pure wit and logic make you want to believe him.

I would recommend this book to everybody, although I would warn you that this book takes a lot of focus to read. It is not overly dry or dense, but it is very deep. 10/10
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Postby Htom Sirveaux » Fri Jul 11, 2008 2:23 pm

Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett. Can't seem to stop reading the Discworld books. Whenever I'm in the midst of one I have to go out and buy the next so I can dive right into it when I finish the current one. They're really the only books I've read beginning-to-end since I started the series in December.
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Postby ich1990 » Fri Jul 11, 2008 2:51 pm

Just read: Soul Survivor by Philip Yancey

After hearing many good things about Yancey, I decided to give one of his books a shot. Upon arriving at my library I quickly learned that this was the only novel of his that they carried.

This book has the misleading title of Soul Survivor: How My Faith Survived the Church. While it does cover Yancy's dissillusion with the church, this is a small part of the book. The book is Yancey's spiritual biography told through the biographies of thirteen other people. The author's spiritual biography was very enjoyable to read. He was very open with his faults and troubles, which, in turn, made his eventual reconcilliation with God all the more poignant.

In addition, the biographies of the other thirteen people were exceptionally beneficial. These mini-biographies allowed me to get an overview of their lives in 20 pages rather than the several hundred that a full flegded biography would have taken. The brevity of these stories allowed me to read about people that I wouldn't have normally.

Some of these people I am a little ashamed to admit that I know little about. Prior to this book, I only knew a little bit about Mahatma Ghandi, Leo Tolstoy, Feodor Dostoevsky, and John Donne. Now, I feel like like I have walked in their shoes for a few minutes and, as a result, see my own relationship with God a little better.

Additionally, this book walked me through the lives of several people that I have never heard of before, but probably should have: Dr. C. Everett Koop, the former Surgeon General, Shusaku Endo, a Japanese Christian writer, and Frederick Buechner, the painfully honest author and minister, are excellent examples. I would recommend this book as a quick but excellent introduction to the lives of 14 truly remarkable people. If you have already read about most of these people, however, your time will be better spent elsewere.
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Postby Aileen Kailum » Fri Jul 11, 2008 3:43 pm

The Red Planet by Robert Heinlein
Out of all the Heinlein juveniles I've read [all three], I liked this one best. Of course, I'm a bit of a sucker for stories with rebellion against tyranny in them.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Now that I think about it, this story had a rebellion theme as well. Hmm...
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Postby ich1990 » Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:29 pm

Just read: Creation as Science by Hugh Ross

This is my second book in the Reasons To Believe series. This book puts forth some of the basics of the RTB origin of life model and knocks down a few of the model's more common complaints. Further, the book overviews how each of the current origin of life models stand today in light of popular opinion, science, and the Bible. I found this overview in particular to be very helpful.

I would recommend this book as the ideal starting place for anyone who wishes to begin learning about RTB model or the origin of life controversey in general. If anyone is interested in the RTB model, but does not have adequate time or access to this book, PM me and I will give you a rough overview of the model.
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Postby Kkun » Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:46 pm

Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan, book eleven in the Wheel of Time series.
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Postby Technomancer » Mon Jul 14, 2008 12:52 pm

The scientific method," Thomas Henry Huxley once wrote, "is nothing but the normal working of the human mind." That is to say, when the mind is working; that is to say further, when it is engaged in corrrecting its mistakes. Taking this point of view, we may conclude that science is not physics, biology, or chemistry—is not even a "subject"—but a moral imperative drawn from a larger narrative whose purpose is to give perspective, balance, and humility to learning.

Neil Postman
(The End of Education)

Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge

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Postby Aileen Kailum » Mon Jul 14, 2008 6:57 pm

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
I am infinitely annoyed that the library didn't have Specials. I guess I'll have to go buy the book now.
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Postby ich1990 » Wed Jul 16, 2008 8:11 pm

Just read: The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

My first Wodehouse. This short book consisted of a handful of loosely interconnected stories concerning the main character Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves. It was uproariously funny. I would liken it to a sitcom, only it was written before there was tv. The characters undoubtedly find themselves in the worst situations possible and, through the clever mechinations of the conniving yet straight-faced Jeeves, manage to get themselves out again. I would highly recommend reading this book, it is absolutely hilarious. Heck, it is worth reading for the british slang alone. 10/10
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Postby jon_jinn » Wed Jul 16, 2008 9:30 pm

Kaffir Boy - Mark Mathabane
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"Sometimes we don't present the Gospel well enough for the non-elect to reject it."
- John MacArthur

"In the total expanse of the human life, there is not a single square inch of which Christ, who alone is sovereign, does not declare, 'That is mine'."
- Abraham Kuyper

"God the great Creator of all things doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by His most wise and holy providence, according to His infallible foreknowledge and the free and immutable counsel of His own will, to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy."
- Westminister Confession of Faith (Chapter 5, Section 1)

"The wisdom of God has found a way for the love of God to deliver sinners from the wrath of God all the while upholding the righteousness of God!!"
- John Piper

"Grace is the pleasure of God to magnify the worth of God by giving sinners the right and power to delight in God without obscuring the glory of God!"
-John Piper

"The very One from Whom we need to be saved, is the One Who has saved us."
- R.C. Sproul

"All of Christian life is ceaseless worship of God the Father, through the mediatorship of God the Son, by the indwelling power of God the Spirit, doing what God commands in Scripture, not doing what God forbids in Scripture, in culturally contextualized ways, for the furtherance of the Gospel, when both gathered for adoration, and scattered for action, in joyous response to God's glorious grace."
- Mark Driscoll

"Believers do not pray with the view of informing God about things unknown to Him, or of exciting Him to do His duty, or of urging Him as though He were reluctant. On the contrary, they pray in order that they may arouse themselves to seek Him, that they may exercise their faith in meditating on His promises, that they may relieve themselves from their anxieties by pouring them into His bosom; in a word, that they may declare that from Him alone they hope and expect, both for themselves and for others, all good things."
- Martin Luther

"I have to tell you first that I am ready to die. I have put my affairs in order. Your supreme weapon is killing. My supreme weapon is dying, because when you kill me, people all over Romania will read my books and believe on the God that I preach - even more than they do now."
- Dr. Joseph Ton, the exiled Romanian pastor (quoted by James Montgomery Boice)

"The best prayer I ever prayed had enough sin in it to condemn the whole world."
- John Bunyan

"If the Christian has lost sight of Calvary, that shows that he has lost his way."
- J.I. Packer[/SIZE]
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Postby the_wolfs_howl » Thu Jul 17, 2008 10:18 am

Finished Voices by Ursula K. Le Guin. Very good book; I enjoyed it very much, but even so it's not as good as Gifts. There was just this magic about Gifts that I can't explain, but it was missing in Voices.

And now I'm dying, because I have nothing to read but the novelisation of Star Wars: Episode III -_-
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Postby Htom Sirveaux » Thu Jul 17, 2008 2:14 pm

"Reaper Man" by Terry Pratchett. I still loves my Discworld.
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Postby ich1990 » Sun Jul 20, 2008 9:09 pm

Just read: A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh

This is my second Waugh novel, and, as such my expectations were very high. (I believe that I rated "The Loved One" 8/10, this low score was a result of my shock at encountering his writing style for the first time. Upon further review, "The Loved One" merits at least a 9/10).

First off, I would like to say that Waugh's writing skill is extremely evident. He is a superb writer, and the way that he sets up his character's interactions is nothing short of marvelous. Additionally the book had several very funny parts, wit and humour are to be found throughout the novel.

The content of the book was noticeably different from "The Loved One", however. Where as "The Loved One" is a humorous satire with a tragic twist,
"A Handful of Dust" is a tragic satire with a humorous twist.

When I say "Tragic" people have a tendency to think of a classic tragical story like Oedipus Rex or Macbeth. This book is not at all like those. In this novel, you actually pity the main character, you feel a deep sadness for the man as his life gradually drifts towards ruin. It was quite depressing..... and funny.

Enjoyment: 7/10
Quality: 9.5/10

It has recently come to my attention that there are actually two endings to this book. I read and reviewed the "The Man Who Liked Dickens" ending. I will have to locate the other ending and read it soon. I am curious as to what other miserable fate Mr. Last could have fallen into.
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Postby AlyssHeart » Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:11 am

I am reading Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor...it pwns!!! XD Its about Alice in Wonderland...but way different!! The first one is called The Looking Glass Wars...=) I reccomend it to any Alice fan!!!
"Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of man he is."-C.S.Lewis. =)
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Postby Cognitive Gear » Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:28 am

Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches: Five Perspectives
by Mark Driscoll (Author), John Burke (Author), Dan Kimball (Author), Doug Pagitt (Author), Karen Ward (Author), and Robert Webber (Editor).

Wicked by Gregory Maguire

I am also currenlt rereading Watchmen by Alan Moore.
[font="Tahoma"][SIZE="2"]"It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things."

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Postby bigsleepj » Mon Jul 21, 2008 12:05 pm

ich1990 (post: 1246974) wrote:Just read: A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh


I've only read Evelyn Waugh's semi-autobiographical Sword of Honour trilogy, which is an interesting, haunting and story that takes a somewhat satirical, unromanticized view on England during the Blitz, characterizing it as a small island in a state of chaos with patriotic fervour and unpatriotic profiteering by speculators. Its only satiric on the side-lines, though, since its actually very serious with its characters and story than some of Waugh's early work. Still its a good read and will tell you a lot of WW2 from the British perspective. Since you're on a Waugh-binge you should try and read it. :)
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KhakiBlueSocks wrote:"I'm going to make you a prayer request you can't refuse..." Cue the violins. :lol:

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bigsleepj
 
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Postby uc pseudonym » Mon Jul 21, 2008 1:43 pm

Marvel Civil War by Mark Millar

It has been a while since I read any real Marvel and this was a decent reintroduction. I wasn't particularly blown away or disappointed by it, but it was something worth reading.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore

I have been meaning to read this for some time and happened to came across the first volume. Excellent as per usual, and I admire the creativity that went into the concept, but my favorite part was probably the blurbs at the end of each chapter. Long live the queen!
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uc pseudonym
 
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