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[quote name='Maklershed']I really enjoyed Timeline. It's a shame that movie was so awful.[/quote]

The film was cringe-worthy. It could have been so much better.
 
[quote name='traininvain']i saw the movie first.. i really liked the movie, so i don't think i'm going to read the book. i heard in the book mccandless is kind of a douche.[/QUOTE]

I saw the movie first as well. He is kind of a douche, even moreso there is a lot of criticism of what he did and many considered him to be an idiot where I felt the movie really just made him seem amazing. The other dissapointment was there was really much less detail on his adventures in the book and almost half of it is made up of the author's own "Into the Wild" experiences as well as other McCandless type people. I'd say skip it.

If Chins Could Kill on the other hand was great and I finished it in one day getting almost no work done. Highly reccomend.
 
[quote name='Mr Unoriginal']I saw the movie first as well. He is kind of a douche, even moreso there is a lot of criticism of what he did and many considered him to be an idiot where I felt the movie really just made him seem amazing. The other dissapointment was there was really much less detail on his adventures in the book and almost half of it is made up of the author's own "Into the Wild" experiences as well as other McCandless type people. I'd say skip it.

If Chins Could Kill on the other hand was great and I finished it in one day getting almost no work done. Highly reccomend.[/quote]

i am really interested in reading all the books that were made into movies. Sphere I thought was a good movie, and Jurassic park was watchable, but besides that I can't think of any others that were even remotely good.

I remember watching the Scifi channels Path of Destuction which was based off Prey. It was laughable.
 
Haven't been in this thread a while, finished Atonement a while back, read The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife. Starting on the Amber Spyglass now. They're not bad, but not as great as I was expecting.

Ah, some Michael Crichton fans, I need to check out Next, I've read nearly all his books, once I start one I usually can't put it down and I'm finished in a couple of days. Like him or hate him, he does do a lot of research into the science and subjects of his novels, but remember that he is writing a work of fiction, and not a textbook so of course some of the science and facts may be off.
 
I just started Elantris by Brandon Sanderson. I picked it up last spring after reading rave reviews on LibraryThing. I can't believe it's taken me so long to get to it.
 
[quote name='MidnightRain']The film was cringe-worthy. It could have been so much better.[/quote]

Swap Paul Walker with a CPR dummy and the movie is instantly 10x better.
 
[quote name='MidnightRain']State of Fear was interesting. Not one of my favorites, but a quick read that I enjoyed. My favorites by Crichton are Timeline and Sphere. Jurassic Park and The Lost World are also quite good, and much better than the films. (Especially in the case of The Lost World, which was absolutely butchered.)[/quote]

State of Fear has been my favorite of his books. Jurassic Park and Lost World were great. Timeline was okay, I wasn't a big fan of Andromeda Strain though. I have Rising Sun but haven't gotten to it yet. I love the movie though.
 
I've just finished Cormac McCarthy's The Road, and it is well deserving of its heaping praise.

I'm also currently reading what I consider to be one of my favorite novels of all time, Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policeman's Union. I can not recommend this novel enough, read it.
 
Just started re-reading Snow Crash (yay Stephenson). After that I'm not sure, probably dig deep in my library, maybe some F. Scott or Hemingway (yay Lost Generation).
 
Just finished the last Star Wars book in the Legacy of the Force arc - Invincible. I've got a bit of mixed feelings about it. The book is unevenly paced. There's too short (about 4 chapters) a build up before everything reaches the climax and heads towards a conclusion. The action is pretty intense (and sometimes a bit more gruesome than your standard SW book... even for a non-Yuuzhan Vong storyline) but it seems to sputter to a slow finish like a sprinter who's forced into a marathon. It seems like there should've been another book or two before this one as the tone of the book felt like they were just wrapping up various plot threads* without explaining how they arrived at those conclusions. The shortest way to describe this perception is like if I was describing a 'Lord of the Rings'-style story in vast detail then, near the last chapter, I say, "And then stuff happens, THE END".

Also, while they were building up
Jacen Solo aka Darth Caedus as a villain
in the previous books (brilliantly I might add), it seems, just like the overall story, they just rushed him to a weak end. Plus, unlike previous books, I never got the feeling like there were Machiavellian plots unfolding and
Jacen
was more maniac as a Sith rather than calculating.

Also, (a bit of a minor point but still) it seems to be short for a SW novel clocking in at 299 pages. Usually those are reserved for the young adult (read: teen set) novels so I can't help but feel like that's the audience who this was written for (which doesn't make sense as the SW fans I know tend to be in their 20s).

*
like the space battle between Admiral Daala & Bu'uatu is completely ignored even though you find out the 'winner' of said battle; the assassination attempt on Tenel Ka & her daughter is glossed over (though, to be fair, it was partially due to the conclusion); Zekk is MIA (potentially dead depending on future book releases) out in space w/o a ship & minimal life support; Fett is a major character for about 3/5ths of the book and is pretty much relegated to background fodder afterwards and becomes a footnote by the end of the book; Prince Isolder is never mentioned again.

Overall, I'd have to give 2/5 stars.
 
Almost done with Chuck Palahniuk's Snuff...should be able to blaze through the last couple of chapters tonight. I think it's the best thing he's done since Lullaby.

Up next: Diablo Cody's autobiography, Candy Girl.
 
[quote name='metaphysicalstyles']World War Z by Max Brooks... fantastic!!! I couldn't recommend this book enough![/quote]
Yes. I love that book. I want that guy to create a zombie series for tv. And don't make it jokey either. Make it serious.

And I recommend Labyrinth by Kate Mosse to anyone who is looking for a very entertaining, light read. It has a lot of elements of The Da Vinci code to it but it's exponentially better.
 
I've been re-reading the ender's game novels, up to xenocide. I also just started listening to the audiobook of Cory Doctorow's Little Brother.
 
I just finished re-reading Nine Princes in Amber by Zelazny. Such a fantastic series!

Side question - has anyone read any of the Amber pre-quels, written by John Gregory Betancourt?
 
[quote name='blackjaw']I'm on book 5 of the Wheel of Time series, Fires of Heaven, I believe.[/QUOTE]

i've read those many times since high school, it's a shame the author died before finishing the series.
 
It is a shame that Robert Jordan died so prematurely, but they have hire a ghostwriter to finish the series from notes and dictations that Jordan left behind.
Just frinished Reaper's Gale by Steven Erikson, A Deeper Blue and Sister Time by John Ringo, and i am starting Hell's Gate by Linda Evans and David Weber.
 
Currently reading At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon. Boring, but not without a bit of charm.

Weird request .. can anyone recommend some books set in the 1800s in the south?
 
Finished State of Fear last night, have to say I like Prey better. Am going to start Next today. Went to a used book store over the weekend and picked up a bunch of Crichton books, and also watched the A&E miniseries Andromeda Strain, which was on last night.
 
[quote name='Maklershed']Currently reading At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon. Boring, but not without a bit of charm.

Weird request .. can anyone recommend some books set in the 1800s in the south?[/quote]
The only one I can think of is Huck Finn but who hasn't read that?
 
[quote name='Maklershed']
Weird request .. can anyone recommend some books set in the 1800s in the south?[/quote]

Are you looking for Civil War era books or just general 1800's?
 
I finished reading Palahniuk's Rant. It was interesting, but I wasn't too keen on the who oral biography approach. Also, it seem like the novel had an identity crisis midway through and it sort of became something it wasn't planning on becoming.
 
I've heard a lot of talk about Chuck Palahniuk lately so I think I'm going to read something of his. What's a good book to start with? His newest one sounds interesting.
 
[quote name='mrchainsaw']I've heard a lot of talk about Chuck Palahniuk lately so I think I'm going to read something of his. What's a good book to start with? His newest one sounds interesting.[/quote]

I've enjoyed both Choke and Lullaby.
 
[quote name='mrchainsaw']I've heard a lot of talk about Chuck Palahniuk lately so I think I'm going to read something of his. What's a good book to start with? His newest one sounds interesting.[/quote]

Fight Club is amazing, but there really isn't much reason to read it if you've seen the movie. The end of the book is different, though.

That said, I think Survivor is the best thing he's ever done.

Completists should check out Chuck's non-fiction, too: Fugitives and Refugees and Stranger Than Fiction are both full of some amazing writing.
 
[quote name='mrchainsaw']I've heard a lot of talk about Chuck Palahniuk lately so I think I'm going to read something of his. What's a good book to start with? His newest one sounds interesting.[/QUOTE]

choke, lullaby, survivor, or invisible monster.

theyre all very good
 
Electronic Gaming Magazine.

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[quote name='mrchainsaw']I've heard a lot of talk about Chuck Palahniuk lately so I think I'm going to read something of his. What's a good book to start with? His newest one sounds interesting.[/QUOTE]

I would start with Survivor or Invisible Monsters. Definitely start with his first works (which also happen to be his best.)
 
[quote name='Maklershed']Just general 1800s.[/QUOTE]

Try William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!. It's basically a ghost story told through multiple perspectives. It's definitely not an easy read, but well worth the effort.
 
In the shitter at home, I'm reading The Unbearable Lightness Of Being by Milan Kundera. About 85 pages in and I decided to read it since I loved the movie.

In my free time, I'm reading The Tibetan Book Of The Dead translated by Gyurme Dorje. Bought it on a whim while I was on vacation.
 
Nearly finished with American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis... Crazy that is for sure. Just got the Blu-ray but gotta go the "true" route first.
 
[quote name='smiggity']Nearly finished with American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis... Crazy that is for sure. Just got the Blu-ray but gotta go the "true" route first.[/quote]

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[quote name='SneakyPenguin']Personally, I'd just skip Palahniuk completely, and go read some Danielewski.[/quote]

Danielewski's good (well, House of Leaves was, anyway) but I don't think he's a suitable stylistic replacement for Palahniuk.

Max Barry, Craig Clevenger, Warren Ellis, and Will Christopher Baer all have much more in common with Palahniuk.

Unless that wasn't your point.
 
I've started reading Micheal Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union. I really enjoyed The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay a few years ago, so I'm looking forward to reading some more of Chabon's work. By the way, how do you pronounce Chabon?
 
I am reading Civil Disobedience and other Essays by Henry David Thoreau.

I am enjoying it quite a bit, I think he is my new favorite philosopher, if you can call him that.
 
I'm reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Friggin great. I'm really enjoying it.

I'd love to see this turned into a movie that is directed with the same sense of soberness and dignity as No Country for Old Men. It could easily be turned into a movie like "No Escape" but that would be ashame.
 
James Patterson - Jack & Jill

Found the Alex Cross series and I've been going through them like mad. Very refreshing change from my Tom Clancy fix where I couldn't take the technical jargon anymore regardless of how interested I was in the Jack Ryan universe.
 
Finished Next last night, will probably go get The Terminal man today.

Still like Prey the best out of the ones I have read.
 
[quote name='ighosty']Finished Next last night, will probably go get The Terminal man today.

Still like Prey the best out of the ones I have read.[/QUOTE]


Just finished Next a few weeks back. Hadn't heard of it, went to get Ender's game from the library, but it was checked out, so I took it. I was very surprised. Haven't read Prey in years, but JP and Lost World will always be my favorite of his books.

Right now, reading Ender's Game. Read it 10 years ago in Science Fiction class and loved it, but never read any of the sequals, so I figured I'd give it a shot now.
 
[quote name='QiG']James Patterson - Jack & Jill

Found the Alex Cross series and I've been going through them like mad. Very refreshing change from my Tom Clancy fix where I couldn't take the technical jargon anymore regardless of how interested I was in the Jack Ryan universe.[/quote]


Alex Cross FTW!!! Good books...I just finished American Psycho last night, and picked up Burning Rainbow Farm: How A Stoner Utopia Went Up In Smoke. Should be interesting...
 
Im reading: Cracking the LSAT..... ugg its so dense, curse my desire to go to graduate school
 
New Moon by Stephanie Meyer

Worth checking out and a movie based on the first novel "Twilight" is in the works.
 
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