What are you reading?

[Kaori]

The Great Gatsby
This is the kind of book that English teachers love and students hate. It isn't easy to read, has little in the way of a overarching plot, contains almost strictly unlikable characters, and is a unusual in its method of delivery.

I would say the initial tension is maintained by the question, “Who is Gatsby?â€

[shooraijin]

I am unrepentant and once again fully intend to coerce some students into reading The Great Gatsby this school year.

RUN AND HIDE!

[ich1990]

I didn't like that book at all, so you aren't alone in your dislike. Though I probably disliked it more than you, because I definitely wouldn't have given it 8/10... I think I only gave it 1 or 2 stars on my Shelfari account.

What was it you disliked about the book?

[quote="Kaori (post: 1516932)"]I would say the initial tension is maintained by the question, “Who is Gatsby?â€

[Rylynn4869]

I have about 50 pages left of Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones. Then I have several books to read after that, but I'll get around to them all eventually. I'll probably read Crispin at the Edge of the World by Avi next.

[Edward]

"The Way of Kings" by Brandon Sanderson

1,000 pages of epic fantasy goodness.

And a great out of context quote:
"And lo! The monster avoided arrest for public indecency!"

Have you read The Alloy of Law yet? It's really good, you should get it. And I hope you finish TWOK, as it's definitley worth it.

And I forgot to post a little over a week ago that I finished Mockingjay, the last of the Hunger Games trilogy. I thought it was pretty meh. I really didn't care about any of the characters except Gale. So when various people died (many do) it didn't matter to me. Neither did the result of the revolution, or Katniss's mental state, or anything else, really. Also, the way the love triangle got resolved was kind of pathetic. Yeah, I really don't get the hype about this series.

Me too.

I might just go read some Terry Pratchett now... XD

This is a good idea. I'd reccomend Going Postal. I've just finished it, and it's my favorite Discworld book so far.

I've also read The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson and I'm currently reading Ender's Game again.

[MomentOfInertia]

Have you read The Alloy of Law yet? It's really good, you should get it. And I hope you finish TWOK, as it's definitley worth it.

I made that post after I finished it, no I haven't read any of the Mistborn books.

Now I'm going to go loan Fu my copy of Going Postal/bug her with it.:XD:

[Htom Sirveaux]

House by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker. This is good. This is really good.

[Popyman]

Yes, read Watchmen again. And have you read Battle Royale yet?

I LOVE Battle Royale!

Well, I was reading Monster Hunter International but...it vanished. I had it beside me on my bed, woke up the other morning, and I still have been unable to find it.

[Shao Feng-Li]

Finished All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot. Now about 150 pages into the sequel All Things Bright and Beautiful. I think I'll take a break though and read The Summons by John Grisham.

[Kaori]

[quote="ich1990 (post: 1517137)"]Surely there must be some other book that could be substituted. ]
Yes, the skills of literary analysis could be taught using some other book. That’s why if I, an English teacher who loves The Great Gatsby, were teaching a book that students all hate, with no other reason besides that I like it, it would be selfish and sadistic. Fortunately, survey results from my former American Lit students reveal that Gatsby was the only book from the whole school year that no one disliked: 25% selected “neutral,â€

[Atria35]

I understood Great Gatsby, liked the prose... and hated everything else about it. Go figure. I really wish I didn't have to read it twice for school that year.

Been reading a little more of Because the Angels. Still okay, some parts I'm unsure about liking or thining are believable.

[rocklobster]

back to reading now that I have more time.
I'm starting Sons of Neptune book 2 of The Heroes of Olympus, Rick Riordan's sequel series to Percy Jackson.

[Atria35]

And Then There Were None- While the excitement of reading this has worn off from the first time, it's still an excelent mystery book. I'm glad my teachers decided to have us read this a while back. I also caught a few things in it that I didn't (or didn't understand) when I was in 8th grade, and the teachers didn't explain.

[ich1990]

[quote="Kaori (post: 1517506)"] Fortunately, survey results from my former American Lit students reveal that Gatsby was the only book from the whole school year that no one disliked: 25% selected “neutral,â€

[the_wolfs_howl]

I have about 50 pages left of Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones. Then I have several books to read after that, but I'll get around to them all eventually. I'll probably read Crispin at the Edge of the World by Avi next.

...Does that book by any chance have some connection to Avi's book Crispin: The Cross of Lead?

[Winry]

Since NaNoWriMo is now over, I just started The Hunger Games. Heard it was a good series so thought I would give it a try.

[rocklobster]

What a coincidence, Winry! I'm starting that too!

[seaglass27]

The Count of Monte Cristo.

[Adorima]

Otaku Jordan: Be patient at some parts because that one is a satsifying oldie, but goodie.

I'm currently reading The Dimsum of All Things.

25 year old, Chin-Am girl braving the waters of dating teeming with "horders" aka. not asian guys who have an asian girl fetish. She's a little annoying and, seemingly to me, very Californian, what with her strange self-deprecating yet snobby sense of humor, but if you can stomach and look past all the neurotic, flakiness, it actually turns out to be kind of interesting.

[Kaori]

What other books did they have to read that made them chose this as their favorite?

The Scarlet Letter, The Great Gatsby, In His Steps by Charles Sheldon, and The Testament by John Grisham. Keep in mind, however, that when selecting their favorites, the students chose from everything we read during the school year, not just those four books, and those who didn’t wish to choose a favorite simply left that question blank.

The above is at least somewhat related to something someone is reading; on the other hand, there’s a lot that I could say in response to the rest of your post, but I feel that my thoughts on the subject are far too off-topic to belong in this thread. For the record, my opinion is pretty much diametrically opposed to yours. ^^;

[uc pseudonym]

I see Great Gatsby discussion and want to say something, but I know I won't have time to follow up. While I am all for discussion of books in this thread, we might be reaching the point where it would be too large of a tangent.

The Black Gryphon by Mercedes Lackey
The story of a war, told mostly from the perspective of the medics back at camp. I liked that premise but felt the book avoids the usual war plots without replacing them with anything else. That left it unsatisfactory.

Cross-Cultural Conflict by Duane Elmer
A decent book if you have no experience with worldviews substantially different from your own or you want biblical arguments about cultural conflict. I found it less useful than I'd hoped.

The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia
With poetic prose and a non-traditional storyline, this book has won a variety of awards. I'm afraid I couldn't get over the fact that I feel like it's false advertising. It says it is a story about inhumanity, but though the protagonist is a robot she struck me as entirely too human. If the hype was merely marketing, I understand, but if the recommenders felt the story explored anything other than basic human emotions, I disagree.

The Unremembered by Peter Orullian
The author said that he wasn't afraid of tropes and that fact is pretty obvious. I enjoy massive fantasy tomes, but I'm afraid I didn't feel this one became anything more than Generic Quest Fantasy.

I'm also reading the Leviathan trilogy, but since they're fairly short I'm thinking about them as a unit.

[rocklobster]

Will be starting The Forgotten Warrior, the latest book in the Warriors's Omen of the Stars arc tomorrow.

[Mike123123]

Im reading "the name of this book is Secret"

has a bit of "lemony snicket / Darren shan" style of writing

[rocklobster]

I'm starting 11/22/63, Stephen King's latest book.

[ich1990]

“On Libertyâ€

[bigsleepj]

I'm currently reading Spoor by Deon Meyer, an Afrikaans crime writer whose works are available in English as well (under different names, in this case, Trackers. This is the first book I'm reading of his and I am truly surprised at how good he is. Really. I hope the English translation is good.

[FllMtl Novelist]

Because it looked interesting (and because I don't mind dawdling before doing things MOI wants me to do), I've just read Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.

I could complain about this book so much, because it was very good for about the first half. The writer showed skill at creating tension, the secret magic was interesting, and the prose had few cliches. But eventually things started to feel very predictable, the charm was lost, cliches abounded, and it all felt like really lame YA fiction. Various plot threads and a poorly-executed character arc finally came together in a boring, nonsensical, and at times laughable climactic battle ("Woah, the badguy dropped his gun down the stairs! How convenient!") that was not even resolved in a satisfactory way. The book's final sentences are extremely "Wait... wha? That it?" and whether a badly-needed sequel is coming or not is left ambiguous.

Overall, the book seemed to put a lot of effort into hooking the reader in, and once satisfied its job was done, it stopped trying to do anything else. Blarg.

Now I really need me some Pratchett. Going Postal time!

[MomentOfInertia]

Going Postal time!

*Hides*

[Blacklight]

I picked up the collected works of Edgar Allen Poe again... about a week ago... Just figured I'd mention it now...

[Neane]

Read All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. It was quite good. I am now ready for the upcoming American Movie of it starring Tom Cruise.