What book are you reading?

[The Corparation]

Just finished a re-read of Fellowship of the Ring. I can't find my copy of Two towers though.

[North Wiedna]

Currently reading Tao Te Ching, hoping to get a better outlook on life.

[Brickistan]

The new Terry Pratchett book Snuff, just started it but I'm not finding it up to his usual stamdard.

Truth to be told, I've found Pratchett to be going downhill very fast lately. Don't get me wrong: I've got tons of respect for the guy continuing to write (or rather: dictate) despite suffering from Alzheimer’s but that doesn’t change to fact that the “spark” (for lack of better word) just isn’t there anymore...

I’ll probably get the book when it’s released in softcover but I’m not expecting much...


For myself I’ve just read two old World War Two books: Lancaster Target by Jack Currie and We Rendezvous At Ten by Ronald Adam.
Lancaster Target was okay though strangely disjointed in places. So much so that I sometimes wondered if, by unfortunate accident, I had gotten hold of an abridged version. We Rendezvous at Ten was just downright bad in all kinds of bad ways. Mr. Adams might be a Wing-Commander and have an O.B.E., but an author he certainly isn’t...

Lying on my desk right now is The Last Ship by William Brinkley. To be honest, I don’t really know what to expect from it. I have a soft spot for post-apocalyptic tales but the reviews were rather so-so. Guess I’ll just have to get reading and find out...

[Izzyshipper]

The new Terry Pratchett book Snuff, just started it but I'm not finding it up to his usual stamdard.

Truth to be told, I've found Pratchett to be going downhill very fast lately. Don't get me wrong: I've got tons of respect for the guy continuing to write (or rather: dictate) despite suffering from Alzheimer’s but that doesn’t change to fact that the “spark” (for lack of better word) just isn’t there anymore...

I’ll probably get the book when it’s released in softcover but I’m not expecting much...

I felt that way about Unseen Academicals, although I enjoyed I shall Wear Midnight. But yeah, I actually on the same boat as yourself, but I'll post if it gets better.

[Natty Narwhal]

The Avatamsaka Sutra

[Thurask]

I just finished Syrup, so Company's next on the list.

[Charlotte Ryberg]

Jackson Mac Low's works.

[Something with wings]

I'm currently reading the first Goosebumps book in Spanish (for a class, not for fun). I recently finished the Belgariad and the Malloreon, which are two amazingly great series.

I loved The Belgariad and The Mallorean, they're two of my favorite series by far, I haven't gotten my hands on a set of his third series yet.

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

my local library had all the books from the belgariad, mallorean, elenium and tamuli series, though its been a while so im not certain how many theyve retained.

[Manahakatouki]

The Bible

Got bet by a friend that I couldn't read a certain passage and understand what it "truely" meant because I'm not Christian...

[Brickistan]

Truth to be told, I've found Pratchett to be going downhill very fast lately. Don't get me wrong: I've got tons of respect for the guy continuing to write (or rather: dictate) despite suffering from Alzheimer’s but that doesn’t change to fact that the “spark” (for lack of better word) just isn’t there anymore...

I’ll probably get the book when it’s released in softcover but I’m not expecting much...

I felt that way about Unseen Academicals, although I enjoyed I shall Wear Midnight. But yeah, I actually on the same boat as yourself, but I'll post if it gets better.

I’ve actually felt that way since around the time of Nightwatch. To me, that was when the series suddenly changed tone, going from light-hearted fun’n’games with the occasional clever wordplay thrown in, to a much darker and more sombre tone with no humour whatsoever.

Mind you, Nightwatch was an excellent book (in my opinion one of the very best in the series) but it was still a shock to read such a dark story. Compare Guards! Guards!, for example, with Nightwatch. Both are rather dark, one dealing with a drunkard well and truly down on his luck and the other with outright revolution. And yet, Guards! Guards! managed to deal with Vimes’ problems without going overly dark whereas Nightwatch...

Oh well, just my opinion. Please do stop me if you’re not interested in my ramblings...

I’m looking forward to getting hold of I Shall Wear Midnight. A friend of mine has it and thinks it’s the best Tifanny book (not that they were ever that good) so it can’t be entirely bad (I hope). But I’m still waiting for it to be released in the large softcover binding so it will match the three previous books standing on my shelf...


Anyway, I’ve gotten about 150 pages into The Last Ship and, oh my, it’s bad. Of those 150 pages, some 20 of them (perhaps 30 if I’m being really generous) is actually plot-driven. The rest is just the author rambling on and on and on about everything and (mostly) nothing through the captain’s never-ending internal monologue.

Worse, the composition of the book is entirely wrong. It starts at the end (nothing wrong with that) but rather than giving a short prologue and then going back in time to explain how this came to be, it just goes on and on and on without actually explaining what happened. There is an American missile destroyer anchored off a small tropical island, part of its nuclear payload gone and low on fuel. There’s rising tension between the men and women on-board, there was a mutiny at one point, a deal with a Russian sub, and the Bixby incident.

And so far, 150 pages in, nothing of this has been explained at all. In fact, I’ve only just gotten to the point where the author goes back in time and describes the launch of the nuclear missiles – although he never explains why they were launched in the first place...

Truthfully, I began speed-reading and skipping ahead after the first 30 pages or so, hoping to get to some sort of plot. Never a good sign...

[I V Stalin]

I felt that way about Unseen Academicals, although I enjoyed I shall Wear Midnight. But yeah, I actually on the same boat as yourself, but I'll post if it gets better.

I’ve actually felt that way since around the time of Nightwatch. To me, that was when the series suddenly changed tone, going from light-hearted fun’n’games with the occasional clever wordplay thrown in, to a much darker and more sombre tone with no humour whatsoever.

Harsh to say there's no humour whatsoever, as far as I remember there's plenty in Night Watch, Thud!, Going Postal...not to mention the repeated appearances of the Nac Mac Feegle since The Wee Free Men.

Unseen Academicals was really very poor, though, and I was a bit worried about how good Snuff would be. Overall, it's a considerable improvement: not as good as the best Discworld novels, but then, did we necessarily expect that. You could argue that we've been spoiled by the quality of the first 25 or so Discworld novels, and that the sub-standard ones since then are actually still better than most of the guff that gets published nowadays. Except Unseen Academicals. That was crap.

Anyway, currently reading The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick.

[Coccygia]

I have just started Snuff, the latest (and perhaps last? ) Discworld book. I like it already: it starts with a description of the goblin religion, Unggue, which is based on saving all bodily secretions.

[Flavionia]

Traitor to the Nation: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing

[Zaras]

Whatever's on my course reading list. Last was International Relations Since 1945: A Global History by John Young and John Kent...

[The Rich Port]

I have just started Snuff, the latest (and perhaps last? ) Discworld book. I like it already: it starts with a description of the goblin religion, Unggue, which is based on saving all bodily secretions.

... WTF?

The Goblin Anti-Defamation League will hear about this.

[Hippostania]

''The Dawn'' by Steven King. I bought it from New York so it's in English, so it's going to take a while until I'm going to finish it. It has almost 2000 pages after all.

[Kalessin]

Currently reading things that I should have read a long time ago but never got round to, thus: Hamlet

[Darkora]

Morpheus Road:The Light(Book 1) by D.J. Machhale

[Rhodmhire]

I'm stumbling over Watership Down by Richard Adams and The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. Reading them both at the same time when I have no time to do anything to begin with isn't working out well for me.

I still have, like, twenty books I still haven't read, too.

[Isolated China]

The Roar.

Apparently, animals are going to have a plague, get half the Earth nuked, and London's going to be covered in massive golden turrets while people under it live off mold. Not very happy.

[Portieria]

Chaucer's Complete Works - Geoffrey Chaucer

The Civilization of the Middle Ages - Norman F. Cantor

The Divine Comedy - Dante

The Republic - Plato

All very interesting.

[Fanaglia]

I'm stumbling over Watership Down by Richard Adams and The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. Reading them both at the same time when I have no time to do anything to begin with isn't working out well for me.

I still have, like, twenty books I still haven't read, too.

The Time Machine is the shit. I just read it last year. Pretty easy afternoon read, too.

Currently, I'm reading Dracula by Bram Stoker.

[Andaricus]

H.P. Lovecraft's - Haunter In The Dark
And
Don Pendleton's - Executioner "Washington I.O.U."

[Hallistar]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0071635 ... eader-link

Its one of my father's reference books, but I've been really into it lately and understanding from it..I'm just too lazy to make myself read history books and fiction for some reason.

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

I'm about to finish Noah Gordon's The Last Jew.