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[quote name='SneakyPenguin']Had to take a break from the Marquis De Sade so I'm switching it up with I, Robot. Really good so far.[/QUOTE]


That's next on my mission to try to read the entire Foundation collection.
 
[quote name='Maklershed']That's next on my mission to try to read the entire Foundation collection.[/QUOTE]

I really need to read those too. Finished I, Robot last night, now I'm reading Silent Running by Harlan Thompson.
 
Just finished 1635: Cannon Law by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis. It was a pretty good entry in the Ring of Fire series and much better than the ones co-written with Virginia DeMarce.
 
[quote name='crunchb3rry']


Have you ever read The Stand? Or Swan Song? The Stand is probably the penultimate "last people alive" book. I hear nothing but great things about Swan Song but I started reading it a while back, forgot where I was after a break, and have yet to pick it up again. It doesn't get its hooks in you like The Stand does.[/QUOTE]

Impressed that you mention Swan Song tells me you are a true horror fan. McCammon was a good writer he just wasn't quite as good as King and suffered from the inevitable comparisons. He also had a bad habit of having quickly rushed unsatisfying endings to his books. Even though I really enjoyed his stuff and it's too bad he burned out and stopped writing.

I'd get back into Swan Song though there is actually a good pay off to it. Especially after how much misery the characters go through to get there
 
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Finished The Help and I'm now on to I, Robot:

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[quote name='Maklershed']That's next on my mission to try to read the entire Foundation collection.[/QUOTE]

The foundation trilogy and prelude to foundation are the best books in the series. Everything after that leaves something to be desired.
 
Star Wars : Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil
and soon to be reading the sparrow for my science fiction class.

edit: lol : D no space is :D ,oppsie
 
Rules of Acension by David B Coe (spelling?). It has a pale looking guy on the front and it is 500+ pages and the first book in a series. And $3 at the used book store. Required reading by my rules.
 
[quote name='jlarlee']
I'd get back into Swan Song though there is actually a good pay off to it. Especially after how much misery the characters go through to get there[/QUOTE]

I might give it another go. For me though, it was that the characters are just not interesting. Not like those in The Stand. Trashcan Man > Sister Creep. ;)
 
[quote name='Maklershed']That's next on my mission to try to read the entire Foundation collection.[/QUOTE]

I just finished Prelude to Foundation recently. It was an okay read, but I wouldn't consider it anywhere near the top of the sci-fi heap.
 
Up Till Now (it's the william shatner autobiography) I got it is a birthday present way back in november and just got around to reading it. So far is surprisingly decent.
 
Dipped through this over a day or so; quick read and fun to see such huge errors in other sports, as someone who referees sports myself. If you're an armchair reader or a diehard fan of some team, reading about how they got screwed over in the "big game" might be tough to handle, but when they get one over on another team, I'm sure it's delightful:
http://www.amazon.com/Worst-Call-Ev...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266416885&sr=8-1

Read this on Sunday/Monday. While I thought the book was super weak in terms of good research methods that justified the author's conclusions, there were two good chapters in terms of identifying major legal cases and legal difficulties in terms of cyber racist sites, and also a great description of a pilot study where teenagers were asked to google a topic and identify/explain which websites they viewed as legitimate (and worthy of taking research/info from) and which they viewed as weak/illegitimate and not worth their time. It's interesting b/c these teenagers (who we assume to be internet-savvy, at least moreso than older folks) almost all misidentified a civil rights site as legitimate, when it was run and propogated by an avowed white supremacist. It shows that astroturfing works and people's evaluatory skills aren't as good as they think:
http://www.amazon.com/Cyber-Racism-...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266416980&sr=8-1

Now I'm about 2/3 into Shutter Island. I didn't want to pick it up, but the author wrote a few episodes of "The Wire" and Scorcese's making it into a film. If it's good enough for Scorcese it's good enough for me. It's a quick read and pretty good, but so help me god I see a really corny twist coming up in the next 70 pages. If it happens like I think it will, I'll drop the book right then and there. I hope it doesn't disappoint me, since it hasn't so far.
 
Finished re-rerading Tuesdays With Morrie and started I Am Legend. I knew there would be differences between the book, The Omega Man and I Am Legend, I just didn't think they'd be THAT different from oone another...but I'm glad they are.
 
Currently reading Youth in Revolt. I've got through the first 2 books and just started the 3rd. Its a great book and well written. I recommend it to everyone.
 
I just finished reading A Hole in my Life by Jack Gantos.

I am currently reading through Robert Englund's Hollywood Monster: A Walk Down Elm Street With the Man of Your Dreams.
 
Still reading Atlas Shrugged. It is better than The Fountainhead and moves quicker as well. There is just something emotionally or mentally draining about the size of the book. Every time there is a climax, you realize there is still 600 pages to go, then the next climax, 400 pages to go. It's hard to get very interested in any one plot point because you know you have so much further to go.
 
Recently started the Dark Tower by Stephen King. I have read The Gunslinger and The Drawing of the Three and am currently reading The Waste Lands. Also reading Brethren by Robyn Young. It is a historical fiction set in the 13th century and focusing upon the Knights Templar. Finally, I am still plodding through The Proud Tower when i go to the gym.
 
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[quote name='mykevermin']Now I'm about 2/3 into Shutter Island. I didn't want to pick it up, but the author wrote a few episodes of "The Wire" and Scorcese's making it into a film. If it's good enough for Scorcese it's good enough for me. It's a quick read and pretty good, but so help me god I see a really corny twist coming up in the next 70 pages. If it happens like I think it will, I'll drop the book right then and there. I hope it doesn't disappoint me, since it hasn't so far.[/QUOTE]

Finished that on Tuesday. For the record, it did go in the direction I thought it would. It was handled much better than I expected, but still...what's that metaphor about shining up a turd?

Moved onto Tim Wise's "Speaking Treason Fluently," which is pretty eh so far. More polemic than insightful.

Also going to start Karolyn Frost's "I've Got a Home in Glory Land" tomorrow.
 
Moved onto Tim Wise's "Speaking Treason Fluently," which is pretty eh so far. More polemic than insightful.

What else were you expecting from this one trick pony?
 
Just finished A Game of Thrones, and must ask how the rest of the series compares. I read it with an understanding there would be far more after this, but shit, I thought there'd be a semblance of denouement. Instead I felt the book was over after
Ned was decapitated
, with the remaining pages filler for A Clash of Kings. Hell, even the setting of some pieces at the end, like
Drogo's death and Dany's dragons
, felt rushed and haphazardly placed.

Don't get me wrong, I liked the book. I just felt wanting after two-thirds in, knowing little would be resolved by time I was done, and expecting to feel forced to read the next installment immediately afterwards. So, I guess, I'd like to know if I read A Clash of Kings, will I be able to break for afterwards for other books? Or should I say fuck it and wait until I read through my backlog, then tackle the remaining books in tandem?
 
^ If at any time you feel "forced" to keep reading this series, put it down. It's not for you.

It's a series of 7 massive books, you can't expect closure in the first book. It's not like Harry Potter where he saves the day and goes home for the summer. All of the books just continue the story, not a single one of them so far has an "end" in them. Your first spoiler is just an example of some events that just stun you so much you might be distracted reading the following chapters because that major event is still on your mind. Book three has the same effect, but tenfold.
 
[quote name='Kilraven']So, I guess, I'd like to know if I read A Clash of Kings, will I be able to break for afterwards for other books? Or should I say fuck it and wait until I read through my backlog, then tackle the remaining books in tandem?[/QUOTE]

I've not read it, but with any fantasy series (or really series in any genres) they're best read all in a row. So I'd wait until you have time to do it.

It can be a pain, I read the Dark Tower series (7 books) early last year through the summer, then took a break from series reading for a while and have been reading Salvatore's Demon War series (another 7 booker, though not as long page wise) the past 2 or 3 months. Thought of taking a break between the two trilogies (one bridge book in between), but it's hard to not keep reading and find out what happens next in series like this.

Will take a long break before reading any other series.
 
[quote name='crunchb3rry']It's a series of 7 massive books, you can't expect closure in the first book. It's not like Harry Potter where he saves the day and goes home for the summer. All of the books just continue the story, not a single one of them so far has an "end" in them. Your first spoiler is just an example of some events that just stun you so much you might be distracted reading the following chapters because that major event is still on your mind. Book three has the same effect, but tenfold.[/QUOTE]

You're right. Obviously the true ending will be once the series ends; however, most epics still have the common structure for each act, part, or book - Dante's Comedy and King's The Dark Tower come to mind.
Ned dying shouldn't have been much of a shock. The dead direwolf mother at the beginning was ominous enough, while the path the character continued to take, throughout, foretold his and Robert's death.
The problem I have is that it didn't end there. I felt the remaining chapters didn't belong in this book, as they seemed more a set-up belonging in the second book. That's my problem, I felt I read 200 pages into the second book and stopped because I ran out of pages. A minor gripe, I know, but damn if I just blindly walk into that a second time.
 
Well, maybe that's a fair claim, but you're expecting Martin to write a book like anyone else. The chapters belong where they belong.
Stark's death
is actually quite unimportant in the grand scheme of things, which is precisely why George didn't end the book there.
 
Coincidentally I just finished A Game of Thrones last night. I unfortunately will not be doing much English reading for the next three months as I will be in Japan studying. Hopefully I will still remember what was going on when I start reading the next book when I get back.

Also extremely looking forward to the last book of The Hunger Games coming out in August.
 
Just about finished up on Clash of Kings and desperately would like to take a break until book 5 comes out but the books have always left me wanting to read more. Curious how many of the main characters will be around or at least alive by the end of the series.
 
John Dies at the End by David Wong

STOP. You should not have touched this flyer with your bare hands. NO, don't put it down. It's too late. They're watching you. My name is David Wong. My best friend is John. Those names are fake. You might want to change yours. You may not want to know about the things you'll read on these pages, about the sauce, about Korrok, about the invasion, and the future. But it's too late. You touched the book. You're in the game. You're under the eye. The only defense is knowledge. You need to read this book, to the end. Even the part with the bratwurst. Why? You just have to trust me.

The important thing is this: The drug is called Soy Sauce and it gives users a window into another dimension. John and I never had the chance to say no. You still do. I'm sorry to have involved you in this, I really am. But as you read about these terrible events and the very dark epoch the world is about to enter as a result, it is crucial you keep one thing in mind: None of this was my fault.
Click to expand...
 
I'm sure it's been brought up a lot already, but holy shit, the Hunger Games is amazing! I also found Behind the Bell, a book by Dustin Diamond. He played Screech on Saved by the Bell, and it's pretty bad, but really funny how much shit he talks about everyone that was on that show.
 
[quote name='SneakyPenguin']That book sounds really interesting and is now on my to-read list.[/QUOTE]

It's hysterical. Easily the funniest horror novel I've ever read.
 
[quote name='bmachine']It's hysterical. Easily the funniest horror novel I've ever read.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the tip, just sent the sample to my Kindle.
 
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