What are you reading?

[the_wolfs_howl]

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson - a very well-written, unique fantasy novel. Sanderson is a master of magic systems and battle scenes

I also read Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, which is basically a retelling of Hosea set in 19th-century California. It's not really my kind of thing, but the romance was a really good one, and I greatly appreciate the message.

[Kaori]

Foundation by Isaac Asimov: Why have I not read more Asimov? I was impressed by the way that the book is largely about large-scale and long-term patterns in history, economics, and politics, even though it's a fairly quick read. Okay, so the way that he overused ellipses and always cut off sentences in the middle of a thought in the encyclopedia excerpts at the beginnings of chapters was pretty annoying, but other than that I have no complaints.

The Moon is Down, a play by John Steinbeck: My overwhelming preference when it comes to drama is for plays written in verse, not prose. Nevertheless, this one is quite good, as expected of Steinbeck. The plot is about a small town occupied by an invading army; the nationalities of the two opposing sides are not named, but since the play was written in 1942 it is plainly referencing WWII. The characters were very well-fleshed out and had distinct personalities that became clear pretty much as soon as they appeared, in exactly the way that is necessary for drama. They were also all thoroughly human—not just the townspeople, and not just the soldiers, but both sides; the audience's sympathies naturally align more with the occupied townspeople, but the occupiers are not demonized. The play addresses things like the moral dilemmas faced by the characters and particularly the way that the occupying forces start to become mentally unhinged due to the continual hostility and veiled opposition that they face from the locals. In the end, without melodrama and in a way that is very human, the climax showcases the resolute bravery of a pair of characters--and I find it very admirable that Steinbeck was able to strike such a note of nobility without idealizing his characters.

Finally, Language Learning Strategies: What Every Teacher Should Know (1990) by Rebecca L. Oxford is pretty much exactly what one would expect based on its title.

[Xeno]

Just picked up The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy by Robert Ludlum. They're much different from the movies if you've seen them. This will be my first read even though I'm fairly familiar with the book's differences from the films.

[MomentOfInertia]

Haze by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
I'm not sure what to say about this one, it's well written, but the plot involves a lot head games and philosophy, and there are multiple timeline ruining at once for a good chunk of the book. I enjoyed it but it was a bit confusing.


Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer
It's over it's all over! The series is finished and not a moment too soon.
Not that it's a bad book it's just that the series peaked at Lost Colony and hasn't been all that great since.

[Jolly Roger]

Just read through The Napoleon of Notting Hill by G.K.C. I have to say it is one of the best books I have ever read. It might have been in my top 5 had the ending been a teensy bit more satisfying.

Getting ready to start The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

[Atria35]

So, I finished Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and I enjoyed it. True to his style, it was very in-your-face about the kind of reality some of us face – not only as a Native person but also a Native living on or having grown up on a reserve. It really made me think about my own reserve, and the young people with their lack of hope.

I've read his book Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. I thought it was just amazing, and because I will admit to not knowing much/anything about life on a reserve, it was also an eye-opener. He's also just a great writer.

Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer
Not that it's a bad book it's just that the series peaked at Lost Colony and hasn't been all that great since.

I could not agree more. Except I'd say it in harsher terms.

[MomentOfInertia]

I could not agree more. Except I'd say it in harsher terms.

I tend to understate things. To be honest after reading the blurb on the cover I almost didn't bother reading it.

[Atria35]

I tend to understate things. To be honest after reading the blurb on the cover I almost didn't bother reading it.

I don't blame you. But since I've come this far in the AF series, I might as well finish what I started. I'm still worried about how much of a disappointment I'll find this last book.

[SierraLea]

I started The Candy Shop War. It's still to early to say if it's good or not.

[rocklobster]

If you like that book, Sierra, Brandon Mull has written a great series called Fablehaven. I highly recommend it.
I'll be starting book 4 of the Conspiracy 365 series today.

[rocklobster]

Starting For God, Country, and Coca-Cola. It's a history of America's most iconic soft drink, Coca-Cola. And yes, there's a chapter about the infamous "New Coke" blunder.

[CrystalChalice]

Finished reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio. It's one of the most heartwarming books I've ever read.

[MomentOfInertia]

Starting The Monster Hunters by Larry Correia, it's a collection of Monster Hunter International, Vendetta, and Alpha. Good so far.

[eightluvver888]

*Randomly wanders in*
Riven by Jerry B. Jenkins. Good book.

[Popyman]

Starting The Monster Hunters by Larry Correia, it's a collection of Monster Hunter International, Vendetta, and Alpha. Good so far.

Oh man, I forgot all about those books! I was reading the first one and...lost it somehow. It just kind of up and vanished. O-O I need to look for it, I was really liking it...

[Atria35]

Magic Time: Angel Fire - The second book in the series, and I'm still as hooked as the first one! It's light reading, for a post-apolcalyptic series, and thrives the most on the strange and imaginitive creatures and things that it creates (trees made of glass, written contracts that warp when the world does).

[Makachop^^128]

Right now I'm reading:
Every mans battle, I know its a book written for men, but It really explains some things in my past.

Peter Pan, Though its a childrens book it is so adorable! I love it. Its written so well.

The Power of a Praying women, Its a great book about getting closer to God, and your prayer life.

[rocklobster]

Currently reading the final Artemis Fowl book.

[Atria35]

The Stepsister Scheme - YES. These stories are taking the fairytale girls (Sleeping Beauty, Red Riding Hood, etc) and turning their stories into AWESOME action/adventure ones! I am totally into this!

[Furen]

I FINALLY finished No More Christian Nice Guy
It was good, I was just being slow, considering it's over a year for it, and it's not that long (215 pages or so)

The Stepsister Scheme... I must read that

[Furen]

I started a book by Ted Dekker Chosen I started it before, but I just stopped reading it. Anyway, going to try it again (the beginning is really good)

[rocklobster]

that book sounds good, Furen. Oh, I finished How the Irish Saved Civilization while the power was out.

[SierraLea]

I'm reading Howl's Moving Castle again! i just love the ending to that story, and I love Howl's contrariness, and yes that is an actual word.

[rocklobster]

I'm reading a history of Sci-fi during the previous century. It has some great pictures of classic covers from pulp magazines.

[Kala13]

Homemade Haunting
It's about a struggling author trying to write a horror story and figures out that scaring himself silly is the key to scaring his readers. He begins to mess with a Oujia board and other supernatural (and dangerous) things. His family gets involved and theres conflict between his religious neighbors. That description sounded awful, but it is a really cool (and creepy) book.

[Maokun]

Following my Terry Pratchett's bibliography plunge, I moved into Jingo. Ohhh split timelines goodness.

[Furen]

@Rock
I finished the book a few days ago, very good, I don't tend to read books that fast, so for sure take a look into it.

Though, this book series is a sub-series of the Circle Trilogy
you don't have to read in any order to understand what's going on, but the history of it takes place between the books Black and Red

Anyway, I'm reading the next book in the series, Infidel

[Neane]

I'm currently fixing hole in my fantasy education by reading Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood. The reason I hadn't read it before is that I picked up Holdstock's Ancient Echoes when I was 12 or so and it freaked me out and went completely over my head, effectively alienating me from the author for years.

So, anyway. Mythago Wood ...Geez, this is basically Jungian pulp fiction if such a thing exists - and I don't mean psychoanalysing literature through your preferred theory, I mean this is pulp fantasy story with strong Celtic flavours based directly on Jung's most basic ideas interprepted in the most kind of hammy, bluntest possible way.

In short it is good.

I also read Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. (Translated into English, of course.) [spoiler]Wonderful, interesting, fun, but to be honest, a little underwhelming in the end. But that's probably just because I was expecting it to be a lot more. In the end it felt kinda like a Dean Koontz book (though I've only read one of those), like the whole thing didn't really matter that much. I guess I was expecting more of a Cloud Atlas, something that at least felt "weighty." This didn't feel "weighty," even if it actually was.

But I might sound a lot more critical than I am. It was hilarious in parts. Colonel Sanders! The characters were fleshed out and likable. The mysteriousness and creepiness were at just the right level, where you could get a sense of the forms and rules and mechanics of the hidden, spiritual world, but in the end there's still so much you can't piece together and so the mystery isn't lost. Would've liked to know more about who was who, especially when it comes to the boy named Crow, but I'm just greedy. Also, I noticed that while I was reading Kafka on the Shore, I recognized it as magical realism, but then kind of reinterpreted it as a sci-fi for myself. It could easily be sci-fi on the level of Lost or Stephen King's It, the latter of which a lot of people might have a hard time seeing as sci-fi. Maybe some of Murakami's other stuff is even more outlandish, and devoid of the kinds of "rules" that give a semblance of sci-fi.[/spoiler]

[FllMtl Novelist]

I finally got to read Cutting by Steven Levenkron. Was a great, interesting read. I really liked the anecdotes about real cases. My only complaint (and it's extremely minor) about the book is the occasional overly-long sentence that I'd get lost in. xD; But I got the hang of Levenkron's voice before too long.

Definitely recommended for anyone that wants to learn more about the subject.

[QtheQreater]

Reading The Pathfinder by James Fenimore Cooper (author of The Last of the Mohicans). I've liked all of his other books so far; his main character has a refreshing kind of honesty and resolve, though I have to say he seems too free from defects or vice sometimes to be quite believable. I really like descriptions of colonial America, and Cooper does a great job of setting a feel for the time.

One fun excerpt, when two of the characters are consuming some scotch:

"This is real mountain dew, Lundie, and it warms the heart like a gleam of bonnie Scotland."

There it is. Mountain Dew was around in colonial times, and it's Scottish.