The Book thread

Inspired by the music thread, I thought one about books may be good.

 

Post whatever you may be reading now, or recently.

 

Mine:

Some of the most recent, and my personal favorites:

 

The series is "Song of Fire and Ice", all by George R.R. Martin

 

A Game of Thrones

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Game_of_Thrones

 

A Clash of Kings

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clash_of_Kings

 

A Storm of Swords

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Storm_of_Swords

 

A Feast for Crows

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Feast_for_Crows

 

If anyone is looking for a good series, I can't recommend these enough.

 

 

So...what's everyone reading?

 

 

I recently finished reading Animal Farm , and Im currently reading the COmplete works of Edgar Allen Poe. Before that, lots of Terry Prachet stuff.

LOLBOOKS WUT

im a huge kurt vonnegut fan. breakfast of champions and timequake are my favorites.

I'm guessing we're talking about pure fantasy novels.

 

I would recommend David Gemmell's series of books. I especially enjoyed "Legend" which gave a unique outlook on the "hero" characters of high fantasy novels.

 

I read the first three books in Song of Ice and Fire but I was pretty unhappy with the 3rd book so I will probably not be reading the 4th book, but I might give it a shot.

 

Anyhow, in my opinion fantasy has never been done better then The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny.

Edited November 20, 2007 by Vanin

I recently finished reading Animal Farm , and Im currently reading the COmplete works of Edgar Allen Poe. Before that, lots of Terry Prachet stuff.

 

 

^---You are a man among men sir.

 

The first books I ever bought with my own moniez was The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe, and Animal Farm. Animal Farm to this day is still my favorite book ever. Period.

LOLBOOKS WUT

 

Chuck Palahniuk and Daniel Silva are my favorite authors.

My favorite all-time author is probably Kurt Vonnegut. I don't read much anymore outside of classes, however.

 

If I had to pick a favorite book of all time, however, it would probably be Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. His writing style is poetic and engrossing. Reading it was like being in a dreamstate; beauty and darkness twisted into maelstrom of raw emotion.

 

As far as Poe goes, my favorite work is The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. I believe it is the only novel he wrote, and I think it is his best work.

 

I did read some amazing books this semester for my 20th century Europe class, check them out if they sound interesting to you:

The Twelve Chairs:

A novel written in young Soviet Russia. Extremely entertaining and humorous; hilarious even by today's standards.

 

Goodbye to All That:

The autobiography of Robert Graves, a British war-poet that fought in the trenches of World War I. Graves is a fantastic writer, and possesses an exceptional dry humor.

Anybody with a passing interest in WWI should read this.

 

 

haha, no way! The Twelve Chairs! I saw the movie to that book in Russia and read the book in Russian! HV...you surprise me every time man! Lolita was interesting as well...but I'm not big on literary books.

 

Outside fantasy I enjoy my over analytical mildly depressive Russian writers, Dostoevsky is probably my favorite. Especially Notes for the Underground, The Idiot and Crime and Punishment. I also enjoy existential writers like Sartre's "Nausea" and pretty much anything by Albert Camus.

Edited November 20, 2007 by Vanin

Chuck Palahniuk and Daniel Silva are my favorite authors.

I've had two of my friends go through mental breakdowns. Both of them were either fans of, or were reading Chuck Palaniuk. I still believe that it's required reading if you're nuts.

 

I love his books btw.

I've had two of my friends go through mental breakdowns. Both of them were either fans of, or were reading Chuck Palaniuk. I still believe that it's required reading if you're nuts.

 

I love his books btw.

Diary is the best one

Edited November 20, 2007 by Atrus

Right now I'm reading Children of Men and just finished The Hobbit for like the umteenth time and various Haruki Murakami short stories.

 

 

Outside fantasy I enjoy my over analytical mildly depressive Russian writers, Dostoevsky is probably my favorite. Especially Notes for the Underground, The Idiot and Crime and Punishment. I also enjoy existential writers like Sartre's "Nausea" and pretty much anything by Albert Camus.

 

Igor, comrad! I

Edited November 20, 2007 by Hykos

I've had two of my friends go through mental breakdowns. Both of them were either fans of, or were reading Chuck Palaniuk. I still believe that it's required reading if you're nuts.

 

I love his books btw.

 

i definitely second this =p my favorite is chucky p as well, although i'd have to say haunted is my favorite book by him. everyones individual story was awesome. his style of writing is just so sharp and clever, i love it.

 

books i've read recently and/or enjoyed and need to reread:

letters from the earth - mark twain

lolita - vladimir nabokov [silly russians]

candide - voltaire [=D]

the shadow of the wind - carlos ruiz zafon [amazing]

nausea - jean-paul sartre [silly frenchmen]

the amulet of samarkand - jonathan stroud [need to finish!]

 

and a plethora of philosophy books via my philosophy class including but not limited to [these are the ones that didn't make me want to stab myself]:

 

confessions - saint augustine

discourse on inequality - rousseau

discourse on method - descartes [not so much the book.. but i liked his style!]

 

igor my philosophy advisor said to me that no one ever speaks of camus and theres some secret hidden thing about him that we don't talk about and he wouldn't explain. i had no idea what he was talking about but i was pretty flustered when he said no one cares about camus. what do you think of this?!?!?

 

Edited November 20, 2007 by Klaudia

Im reading The History of Graphic Design....because its all i have time for >.> and its required for my class ><

I recently finished reading Animal Farm , and Im currently reading the COmplete works of Edgar Allen Poe. Before that, lots of Terry Prachet stuff.

 

I had to read Animal Farm last year in English class. What'd you think of- Wait, what are books again?

and various Haruki Murakami short stories.

 

Lawl Murakami...I took a whole class in college reading his novels and short stories. Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and Norwegian Wood are two that stand out in my mind.

 

and a plethora of philosophy books via my philosophy class including but not limited to [these are the ones that didn't make me want to stab myself]:

 

confessions - saint augustine

 

Good book klakla

 

 

And everyone stop reading Nabokov...he's a dirty old lech (true story!)

 

Lawl Murakami...I took a whole class in college reading his novels and short stories. Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and Norwegian Wood are two that stand out in my mind.

 

I started Kafka on the Shore but honestly I got really bored and stopped after a few chapters. It was a very different style than any of his short stories. If I can find any of his other novels I might get them. I've heard Norwegian Wood is great. Most stores only carry Kafka and his 2 short story collectives, though.

I started Kafka on the Shore but honestly I got really bored and stopped after a few chapters. It was a very different style than any of his short stories. If I can find any of his other novels I might get them. I've heard Norwegian Wood is great. Most stores only carry Kafka and his 2 short story collectives, though.

 

Yeah we had to order our books through Amazon.com for that class (got reimbursed for shipping whee). I have a lot of them I could...mail? you, if youre that interested. Theyre all good stuff.

 

Also recommend South of the Border, West of the Sun.

For those of you that aren't tree hugging liberal hippie douches.... read some Vince Flynn. He writes books that are very 24-esque. He actually did some consulting for the show. He has been writing books like that forever and they are great. The main character, Mitch Rapp is like Jack Bauer on stem cells. I didn't read much until I read his books.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Flynn