What are you reading?

evilpenguin9000

CAGiversary!
What's everyone reading these days. I'm in the middle of three books right now. The first is The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum, which I'm reading to see what's different from the movie. I'll probably read the two sequels after finishing the first.

I'm also in the middle of Catch-22 by Joseph Heller and Reefer Madness by Eric Schlosser.
 
The Great Gatsby for my ap english class. But damn, pimp_daddy_smurf has a point. Manga has taken over my mind.
 
I've never really read any manga. It's too expensive to just jump into and I don't know anyone I want to fraternize with that enjoys it. Also the last thing I need is another hobby to spend money on.
 
Well, right now, I'm reading the 'Legend of The Five Rings' series (on the Phoenix book now). I am also reading 'Writing Power' from Kaplan. (Preparing me for my English Class.)
Oh, and also 'Windows XP Professional Complete'.
 
Just finished "Citizen of the Galaxy" By Robert Heinlin
It's a book about a boy who starts as a slave and ends up inheriting a huge space trading company.
(great book, I've read it 20+ times over the last 15 years)

Currently reading

The Planet Buyer (aka Norstralia) by Cordwainer Smith

A guy uses an "old" 20th century super computer to buy the entire planet earth.

The world of Tiers by Phillip Jose Farmer

A man finds a portal to a universe ran by a mad god. He must fight his way up to the top of the planet and do battle with this false god and reclaim the throne that is rightfully his.

on my "to read" list

Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix
(groan! I'm 28 and reading this stuff? Strangely addicting for some wierd reason)

LOTR Trilogy (again)

and a stack of cheepy garage sale sci fi. I love the sci fi books from the 60's and 70's.
 
Yeah mrpotatohed, I myself am also addicted to Harry Potter at age 29. It's just good clean fun I suppose and a really well told story.
 
Hmm this is kinda off topic but I was wondering if anyone could recommend me a few fantasy books with a "steam punk" setting. I don't know too many people into fantasy, so really any help would be awesome. Also if anyone knows any non-Shadowrun books that are fantasy in a futuristic setting I wouldn't mind a few ideas of those either.
 
[quote name='evilpenguin9000']
I'm also in the middle of Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.[/quote]

Mmm a great book.

I'm currently reading Neverwhere by Neil Giaman (2nd time)

After this I think I'll get started on the Xanth series assuming my classes don't take up ALL my time.
 
The only non school books I have read in the last 3 years have been the Harry Potter books, I read the 5th one about a month ago. Harry Potter and Lotr are my favorite books, but I really dont read at all anymore.
 
I just finished the fourth book of John Ringo's Posleen War series, which in turn is intended as part of a larger series. His next book, arriving in October, picks up forty or so years later with a character who was in her early teens in the last book.

The series thus far is that in the 90's some alien show up who say they've had an interstellar civilization that been going just fine for many thousands of years and they've been content to leave Earth alone and let humanity mature a bit before making contact. (They lie.) But now a very nasty race called the Posleen are conquering their way across the galaxy, literally eating everyone in their path. The alien feel that since this will eventually affect Earth and the aliens are almost helpless when it comes to making war, Earth would probably like to take on the role of frontline troops in this war.

Oh, and by the way, on their current route, the Posleen will reach Earth in five years. (And further, our so-called allies aren't nearly as helpful as they could be because they don't want the war to end with Earth in control of its own affairs with all the alien's technology.)

The first volume (A Hymn Before Battle) and many others can be downloaded for free from the publisher here:http://www.baen.com/library/defaultTitles.htm

The hardback of the fourth book includes a CD-ROM with all of the book in digital form and the fourth book in audio format! Also includes all the downloadable stuff from the site. They figure most people would still prefer to read from paper than current screen technology so if you get them hooked on an author they'll end up buying stuff.
 
Currently reading "Deadhouse Gates" the second book in Steve Erikson's A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen. I picked up his first book in Europe and finished so I picked up the second too. He is hard too find in the states, he is from England. The first book was pretty good, on an epic scale with some interesting characters.

I am currently anxiously awaiting A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin. Nothing in the fantasy genre compares to Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice, the best series currently being written. It is truly an epic series, will eventually span 6-7 books, and doesn't follow the typical fantasy cliche of "a lone unassuming hero whose destiny is to rid the world of evil". The best part of Martin's books are the deep characters, nobody is strictly good or evil, he can make you love and hate a character at the same time. He also has no problem killing major characters so you never know what will happen next. Pick up A Game of Thrones, his first in the series and thank me later.
 
I tell you what I'm not reading: the final book in the Dark Tower series. Why? I don't know why! It should be out by now, it's done!

Edit: right now I'm re-reading the Harry Potter series in an effort to stave off buying it until there's a complete box set. After these I think I might check out Uzumaki.
 
I'm currently not reading anything, if only for the fact that Monday I just finished off reading The Dead Zone. I'm thinking about starting up reading The Dark Tower series, but I'm still not completely sure if I can just jump into it with The Gunslinger, or if I have to read some of King's other books before I start that, since I know The Dark Tower overarches through pretty much all his books.
 
The last book I FINISHED was Animal Farm, but I've got a few that I started on my last trip.. which was uh.. like May 8th or so.. which I have yet to finish. Sigh.

Also, that Polseen War stuff sounds pretty interesting.
 
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. My friend recommended it to me. Before that I read the Manchurian Candidate (which the movies were based on).
 
[quote name='msdmoney']Currently reading "Deadhouse Gates" the second book in Steve Erikson's A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen. I picked up his first book in Europe and finished so I picked up the second too. He is hard too find in the states, he is from England. The first book was pretty good, on an epic scale with some interesting characters.

I am currently anxiously awaiting A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin. Nothing in the fantasy genre compares to Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice, the best series currently being written. It is truly an epic series, will eventually span 6-7 books, and doesn't follow the typical fantasy cliche of "a lone unassuming hero whose destiny is to rid the world of evil". The best part of Martin's books are the deep characters, nobody is strictly good or evil, he can make you love and hate a character at the same time. He also has no problem killing major characters so you never know what will happen next. Pick up A Game of Thrones, his first in the series and thank me later.[/quote]

I love the Song of Fire and Ice Series. I might have to re-read some of it when the next one comes out. My reading time has been really cut down since I now have to drive to work instead of taking the subway.

I'm currently reading The Tower of Fear by Glen Cook, then next on my list is the 9/11 report.
 
Just finished The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.
Just started Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Next on list...Exit Wounds.
 
Its been 5 years in the works and i have been along for the whole ride, its finally going to end. The New Jedi Order: Unifying Force. I would like to have read it when it came out like a million months ago, but i couldnt convince myself to pay 26 dollars for a book that i will finish in 2 days. I finally picked up the paperback on release day and I was very satisfied, its hard to believe the story has been ongoing for so long when i look at the list of all the titles, it shocks me how many i had to read to get to this point, I remember when i was 18 years old and I had a shitty job at Sega City in Irvine California, i used to read the series on my lunch break. Other than that, I have been reading a lot of poker books, i just finished Biggest game in town and Poker nation, which were cool books on how vegas came to be what it is and how poker has changed over the years.
 
I finished the New Jedi Order books not long ago. I think I'll re-read Les Miserables again (sixth time) and by that time, I'll be ready for Survivor's Quest and that other Star Wars book where Obi Wan and Anakin go to Zonoma Sekot.
 
I like pahlaniuk's books too.. his writing style is great, he just tends to be kinda out there in concepts. I finished the 3 halo books recently (Fall of Reach is the best, First Strike's not bad, The Flood Sucks)

My Year of Meats by ruth ozeki and Fast Food Nation were good recently.
 
[quote name='jer7583']I like pahlaniuk's books too.. his writing style is great, he just tends to be kinda out there in concepts.[/quote]

Which have you read? So far I'm through

Fight Club
Choke
Survivor
Invisible Monsters

As for out there, Invisible Monsters is the wierdest so far. FC and Choke are the most enjoyable and easy to read, but Survivor had the biggest impact on me. If you haven't read Survivor yet, do it now. It's a tough read emotionally, but it's worth every page.
 
[quote name='Ledhed'][quote name='jer7583']I like pahlaniuk's books too.. his writing style is great, he just tends to be kinda out there in concepts.[/quote]

Which have you read? So far I'm through

Fight Club
Choke
Survivor
Invisible Monsters

As for out there, Invisible Monsters is the wierdest so far. FC and Choke are the most enjoyable and easy to read, but Survivor had the biggest impact on me. If you haven't read Survivor yet, do it now. It's a tough read emotionally, but it's worth every page.[/quote]

I'd recommend against reading Lullaby. Not anywhere near as good as his other books and really felt forced.

I'm reading Charlie Wilson's War currently, which is the true story of the people behind funneling weapons to the Afghanis when the Russians invaded. VERY dry so far.
 
[quote name='WildWop']I'd recommend against reading Lullaby. Not anywhere near as good as his other books and really felt forced.[/quote]

Really? It was next on my list. Oh well.

Have you read Diary yet? I heard it was a little different from his, erm, 'normal' style of writing. I suppose I'll do that one instead.
 
[quote name='WildWop'][quote name='Ledhed'][quote name='jer7583']I like pahlaniuk's books too.. his writing style is great, he just tends to be kinda out there in concepts.[/quote]

Which have you read? So far I'm through

Fight Club
Choke
Survivor
Invisible Monsters

As for out there, Invisible Monsters is the wierdest so far. FC and Choke are the most enjoyable and easy to read, but Survivor had the biggest impact on me. If you haven't read Survivor yet, do it now. It's a tough read emotionally, but it's worth every page.[/quote]

I'd recommend against reading Lullaby. Not anywhere near as good as his other books and really felt forced.
[/quote]

I disagree. I liked Lullaby a lot. It's a really great concept. It may be my fav. after fight club.
 
[quote name='Ledhed']Broken Summers - Henry Rollins

It's usually him or Pahlaniuk.[/quote]
Cool! Im a huge Henry Rollins fan. I have his other book "See a grown man cry/Now watch him die". Didn't think there were too many fans out there of his written stuff. :)
 
[quote name='mrpotatohed']Cool! Im a huge Henry Rollins fan. I have his other book "Watch a grown man cry /Now watch him die". Didn't think there were too many fans out there of his written stuff. :)[/quote]

Yeah, he is most righteous. I saw him live doing spoken-word stuff in February. I had to stand in freezing rain for almost an hour before they opened the doors, but it was worth it. One of the funniest men I've ever seen. If you ever get the chance to see him live, do so.

And boy is that book depressing. He wrote it right after Joe Cole died, so it's all about him coping with the loss and venting his frustrations. Intense stuff. If you can find them, his spoken word cd's are great too. My faves are The Boxed Life and Sweatbox.

Ok, I'll shut up about how awesome Henry Rollins is now.
 
Reading Brave New World, 1984, some Stephen King's how to write book for AP English, and 2 400 page Biology books for AP Bio.
 
I've got a couple Rollins books. Pretty intense.
I was somewhat disappointed by his last spoken word. He can still tell a tale, and he can definitely be hilarious; his habit going way off topic then returning to the story twenty minutes later keeps you guessing. But when we saw him in January, I believe, it seemed 'typical', with him jumping on the bash-Bush bandwagon. Some of his anecdotes were hilarious or moving, but much of the show didn't offer anything you couldn't get from late-night TV.
I think I've got One from None and Art to Choke Hearts, maybe another one as well.
I'm mainly working my way through Patricia Cornwell's crime novels; they're pretty good, but they sure do end quickly.
And for 'light reading I'm going old school--we're going through our garage and unpacking a bunch of boxes of books that have been packed through a few moves. I found my collection of Dark Forces books, a 'teen occult' series that came out in the early 80's. I think I've got about 11 of the 15 books, and have had no luck finding the others [for reasonable prices]. Very light, quick reads, plus that added bit of nostalgia.
 
lullaby was in the spirit of stephen king (deliberately so) and really needs to be reread to see what was happening from the beginning. I would rank chuck's work as fight club, lullaby, diary, choke, stranger than fiction (others I have not read)
I am knee deep in Public Enemies (the origins of the FBI and the Dillinger/Bonnie&Clyde/Machine Gun Kelly folks)
as well as Hazard's Great Fire and a book on Herriman/Krazy Kat
I finished Rule of Four not long ago and recommend it, but Shadow Divers I cannot recemmond as easily.
Howling at the Moon is a decent beach read.
I swept through the first 2 parts of Tezuka's Buddha but havent gotten around to the more recent releases.
In the Shadow of No Towers is...interesting but no Maus
I picked up Findley's The Wars recently and probably will check into it next.
I am looking forward to the upcoming releases:
Lone Samurai (about Miyamoto)
Naked Airport
and the first boxset of the Peanuts collection 50-54
 
Right now I'm going back through An Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology by Ayn Rand. It's one of those books you need to go through a few times to get everything out of it. And for those that haven't picked up a Rand book.. go read Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead atleast. You'll thank me later.
 
Lullaby just gave me a headache. I hated the whole "these quiet-ophobics. These noise-oholics" lines. They were repetitive, overly bitter, and just aggrivating as a whole.

Whereas his other books tend to take clever angles to take jabs at society, this one just seemed lazy and overly blunt.
 
[quote name='dtcarson']He can still tell a tale, and he can definitely be hilarious; his habit going way off topic then returning to the story twenty minutes later keeps you guessing. But when we saw him in January, I believe, it seemed 'typical', with him jumping on the bash-Bush bandwagon. Some of his anecdotes were hilarious or moving, but much of the show didn't offer anything you couldn't get from late-night TV.[/quote]

I have to know. During the spoken-word set you attended, did he tell the story of how he once went home from his office to find a guy trying to break into his house? He sees the guy at the window, and figures it's some guy cleaning the windows. The guy looks at Henry, and looks panicked. Henry wants to know what's going on, so he asks, 'What are you doing out there?'. The thief says, 'Hi, I need to talk to you. Let me inside...' Of course Henry says 'No', they talk a little longer, and the thief takes off down the street towards Henry's office. He calls his office and gets on the phone with one of his assistants. He tells the assistant to look outside for a man running down the street toward the office. When the assistant says he sees him, Henry tells him that the guy just tried to break in. The assistant says, 'I'm on it', drops the phone, and starts boking it down the street towards the thief! Henry had already called the cops about the thief, and had to call them back to make sure they didn't go after his friend by mistake!
 
the other americans

the sun also rises

and zen and the art of motorcycle maintence.

I like to read chapters alternately to keep things fresh.

unless I am in the john we have some of those bathrooms readers in there.
 
bread's done
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