What are you reading?

[uc pseudonym]

Harry Potter 7 by You-Know-Who

Yeah, yeah, I'm reading the last Harry Potter book. Borrowed it from a more fanatical friend. Right now all I have to say is that this is the largest font I have read in years, even including a few children's books. It's been a long time since my reading rate has been pages/minute instead of minutes/page.

[Alice]

Mysteries I'm reading:

The Long Goodbye, by Raymond Chandler, which I think I must've read previously because bits of it, mostly phrases, are familiar as my own hands. (I didn't remember the story at all when I started reading it.)

Seventy Times Seven, by Brandt Dodson. Christian detective fiction, sequel to book I read earlier this year.

Sam the Cat Detective, by Linda Stewart. Nostalgia trip from my childhood: Chandler-esque children's mystery starring a cat.

Biggie and the Poisoned Politician, by Nancy Bell. Quirky mystery with lots of Southern slang and weird characters, and an unusual narrator.

[Kaori]

I finished Dostoyevsky's The Idiot and Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia not long ago and am now reading Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther.

[Kkun]

Star By Star[i] (Star Wars: New Jedi Order) by Troy Denning.

Also, [i]The Radical Cross by A.W. Tozer.

[mitsuki lover]

Star Trek Voyager:Shadow by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn
Rusch,part of the Section 31 mini-series.

[ilikegir33]

Just finished The Diary of A Young Girl by Anne Frank. Really sad. It was really good though.

[Puguni]

Next by Michael Crichton. Eerie and depressing.

[PolarHeat]

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman.

[the_wolfs_howl]

I finished Dostoyevsky's The Idiot and Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia not long ago.

I love Bridge to Terabithia! I read it several years ago for school, and read it one sitting (not too hard a feat, but still). I thought it was a simple, somewhat light-hearted children's book until...well, you know.
And I've tried and tried to get through The Idiot, but I've failed miserably. I've only read Part I. It's strange, because I really like Dostoevsky's writing. I enjoyed The Brothers Karamazov and simply adored Crime and Punishment, but maybe I just got tired of his stories by the time I got to The Idiot. Got tired of Katerina Ivanovnas or something. Besides, Prince Myshkin just seems too perfect of a character to really relate to. I could relate much easier, somehow, to Raskolnikov of Crime and Punishment.

Anyway, I was reading Dune by Frank Herbert, but then I lost my copy T_T It's good writing, but the plot is so dense and complicated that I feel I have to stop for an hour and process what I've read after finishing each chapter. It makes for slow reading. If you don't know, Dune is a science-fiction story about a Duke's family that has to move to a planet called Arrakis, or Dune, which is a desert planet. There's lots of political machinations and intrigue and all that good stuff, and it's very interesting.

[bigsleepj]

Over the past few months I've read a lot of "heavy" literature, including Crime and Punishment, so now I'm trying to read lighter reads, mostly fantasy aimed at younger people. I wanted to originally read the first Harry Potter book (mostly because I've never read the series, at all) but couldn't find it; I suppose everyone must have bought a new copy the same time as I wanted to. So I got a temporary replacement at a 2nd hand book shop. So currently I'm reading The Wind Singer by William Nicholson. I'm rather liking it, so far.

[Kaori]

I love Bridge to Terabithia! I read it several years ago for school, and read it one sitting (not too hard a feat, but still). I thought it was a simple, somewhat light-hearted children's book until...well, you know.

I was slightly disappointed by it, but only because I approached the book with excessively high expectations--there are certainly lots of things to like about the book. Some of the descriptions of the characters emotions seemed very apt, for example.

And I've tried and tried to get through The Idiot, but I've failed miserably. I've only read Part I. It's strange, because I really like Dostoevsky's writing. I enjoyed The Brothers Karamazov and simply adored Crime and Punishment, but maybe I just got tired of his stories by the time I got to The Idiot. Got tired of Katerina Ivanovnas or something. Besides, Prince Myshkin just seems too perfect of a character to really relate to. I could relate much easier, somehow, to Raskolnikov of Crime and Punishment.

Yes, Raskolnikov's a great character (though my personal favorite is Ivan from The Brothers Karamazov). I wouldn't worry too much about not getting through The Idiot--I like Dostoyevsky quite a bit, too, but I'm glad to be done with that book. There are various interesting and insightful things here and there, but on the whole it seemed to me like a cross between Dostoyevsky and Jane Austen-style drawing room fiction, only with a bunch of really weird characters. There was also too much matchmaking and not enough murders or metaphysical discussions, which made the book less engaging than his other works.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Yes, Raskolnikov's a great character (though my personal favorite is Ivan from The Brothers Karamazov). I wouldn't worry too much about not getting through The Idiot--I like Dostoyevsky quite a bit, too, but I'm glad to be done with that book. There are various interesting and insightful things here and there, but on the whole it seemed to me like a cross between Dostoyevsky and Jane Austen-style drawing room fiction, only with a bunch of really weird characters. There was also too much matchmaking and not enough murders or metaphysical discussions, which made the book less engaging than his other works.

Lol, okay. Maybe someday when I'm thirsting for confusing Russian novels again, I'll go back and read it. But I agree with you; Ivan Karamazov was a very interesting character. I don't know why, but I have this...almost penchant...for insane or potentially-insane characters. Ivan Karamazov, Rodion Raskolnikov, etc. There was one part with the eldest Karamazov brother (I'm blanking on his name right now) that I really liked. It was the part when he was ranting and explaining why he kept money tied up in the handkerchief around his neck, about how he was going to return it so that he could say, "I may be a thief, but I am not a monster!" That really inspired me, in a dark and morbid way.

Yikes, now I'm scaring myself *runs away and hides*

[Technomancer]

I've just picked up a copy of Before Darwin: Reconciling God and Nature by Keith Thompson.

http://www.amazon.com/Before-Darwin-Reconciling-God-Nature/dp/030012600X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-1257457-4719039?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186587857&sr=1-1

I've also recently finished Forbidden Journey by Ella Maillart, which recounts her and Peter Fleming's 1936 journey from Peking to Kashmir.

[Alice]

A Day to Pick Your Own Cotton, by Michael Phillips. It's really good.

[mitsuki lover]

Bookwise I finished with the Voyager novel Shadow and haven't picked up anything else to read yet.Comic bookwise,I have finished with reading
Catwoman for now and am going to start to reread Green Lantern(Kyle
Rayner version)starting with part 1 of Hero Quest.

[EricTheFred]

"Ilium" by Dan Simmons.

Thick. Very thick.

[Bobtheduck]

Currently working on (and almost finished with) The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. Going to move onto screwtape letters, next.

[Freezair]

I'm not currently reading anything in particular, but I just got finished reading Fablehaven and Rise of the Evening Star by Brandon Mull. I'm a total goober for young adult fantasy. And I actually think these two are rather well done. The concept is definitely cute, and I think that the character development going on here is pretty good. It feels like the characters "revert" a bit too much, though--but then again I'm probably guilty of same in my own writing, so perhaps I shouldn't judge. I enjoyed myself anyway, which is really all I ask of a book. If you can scintillate me and make me think, that's awesome! But entertain me and I am a happy girl.

Speaking of scintillating, any fellow goobers have any suggestions for good fantasy to look into? I'm tired of reading the same-old-same-old series and would really like to try something I've never before. I'm currently checking out the Pendragon series, though I haven't actually started reading this one yet. Hum. So, yeah, suggest something to me to dive into! It doesn't have to be too "deep" (though that's always a plus); a little hack-'n'-slash swords-'n'-sorcery is great too.

I think I may re-read Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones. Again. That book is my comfort book. Sometimes you just need to go to a virtual fantasy convention and go around five right angles.

[Tenshi no Ai]

Well, I managed to make my deadline of Order of the Phoenix before seeing the movie^^ Now I'm onto Half-Blood Prince with no deadlines, but I'm just realllly wanting to get to book 7, and I never did read Half-Blood :/

[the_wolfs_howl]

Speaking of scintillating, any fellow goobers have any suggestions for good fantasy to look into? I'm tired of reading the same-old-same-old series and would really like to try something I've never before.

I don't know if this is exactly the kind of fantasy you'd be interested in, but have you ever read the Old Kingdom Trilogy by Garth Nix? They're really good, though at times a bit morbid (lots of necromancers). In all three books (Sabriel, Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr, and Abhorsen), the main character is female, and I find it an enormous achievement for a man to write accurately from the perspective of a woman, and I think Nix does a wonderful job. Garth Nix's short stories are also pretty good.

[uc pseudonym]

Atlanta Nights

It's a "book" put together by 30ish authors attempting to make the worst excuse for a novel in history (they had another reason, but that's a longer story). The prose is consistently cringe-worthy and I'm finding it rather hilarious.

[Alice]

Isn't Atlanta Nights from the print-on-demand publisher Lulu.com?

[Technomancer]

Atlanta Nights

It's a "book" put together by 30ish authors attempting to make the worst excuse for a novel in history (they had another reason, but that's a longer story). The prose is consistently cringe-worthy and I'm finding it rather hilarious.

Sounds fun. Ever read The Eye of Argon? (link goes to MST3K'd version)

[jon_jinn]

i'm reading C.J. Mahaney's The Cross Centered Life.

[PolarHeat]

A PlaceTo Call Home by Deborah Smith

[the_wolfs_howl]

I'm about halfway through reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince aloud to my mom and brother. I thoroughly detest all the romance in that book, but love all the Dumbledore stuff.

[uc pseudonym]

Isn't Atlanta Nights from the print-on-demand publisher Lulu.com?

Only somewhat. You can get it there (or online) but they only put up those versions after their successful exposure of a print-on-demand site that pretended to be a traditional publisher. The full story is readily available online, so I won't go into too much detail here.

Sounds fun. Ever read The Eye of Argon? (link goes to MST3K'd version)

No, but it was compared to Atlanta Nights several times in various reviews. I shall check it out once I am finished with my current reading.

[Technomancer]

No, but it was compared to Atlanta Nights several times in various reviews. I shall check it out once I am finished with my current reading.

But the fun part about Argon is that the author's playing it straight up; he never set out to write a bad novel.

Anyways, at the moment, I'm reading the following:

My Life as an Explorer by Sven Anders Hedin.

Probabilistic Reasoning in Intelligent Systems by Judea Pearl

Applicability Analysis of Fuzzy Inference by Means of Generalized Dempster-Shafer Theory by Romer and Kandel.

[Alexander]

It's time I really need to start reading something besides manga myself.

So today I'm going to be reading Gulliver's Travels. A classic novel as I've heard from many people.

[uc pseudonym]

Right now I'm reading Norse mythology. I'll soon have to leave internet sources (though Wikipedia has been rather helpful) and find some more scholarly material.

[quote="Technomancer"]But the fun part about Argon is that the author's playing it straight up]
I was thinking of asking about that. Knowing the author is serious will make it all the more amusing, I'm sure.