Saw Fez's hobby thread, and since reading and collecting books is my hobby, I thought I'd bump this. I'm reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I should finish it this weekend.
Anyone that likes Shogun should try Taiko, takes place around the same time period and actually uses the historical figures real names.
My wife got me a Nook with "glowlight" for Father's Day. I am a devoted physical book reader, but I must admit that the Nook is great late at night in bed. (That's what she said!)
Interesting. That's one of my larger problems with society today...I'm ok if you don't believe in the flying spaghetti monster...I'm ok if you think the Bible is a set of R-rated Aesop's Fables...I'm ok if you don't think that there should be prayer in school. But if you want to claim being a Christian, at least profess the tenets truthfully or shut up. It's impossible to live up to them (that's why it's "Christianity", based on Christ and what He did, and not legalistic Judaism, which is about what you are or aren't doing). But that's just me. And "progressive" (not the political, but the theological) watering down of Christianity to make it not sound like what it is is what's eroding that "base" or "vital center" that the quote talks about.
I got through the George RR Martin series last year and then moved on to Hunger Gams (plot's okay but the writing is not great) and then read the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series. I really liked the dragon tattoo series. Now I am reading "Pay Me in Flesh" which is about a zombie who is also an attorney. It's average, but kind of a nice break
^^Good point. Hunger Games was a decent read, could've been fleshed out more but a solid "B." The other two got progressively Oedipal (in the "gouging my eye out with a brooch, not wanting to see what Mom was up to" way). But I couldn't put down GWTDT, and have re-read the last one a few times.
The third Hunger Games was horrible. I still need to read the newest Song of Ice and Fire book, is it as horrible as everyone says?
Yes, the first three are great, and the last two are supposedly horrible. I can testify to the fourth one not being very good.
I liked the plot of the first two HG's, the third one was god awful. I liked the 4th GOT better then the 5th, but I see the 4th and 5th as probably a set up to the next one (whenever that comes out).
Heh, I just noticed this. I love George RR Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" series, so I clicked the link to the wikipedia entry and it says this: "The Malazan series is often compared both to Glen Cook's The Black Company series (to whom the seventh book is dedicated) and George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series." So, it's often compared to my two favorite series ever? Might have to check into it.
Weren't the fourth and fifth ones supposed to be one book originally? That might explain why they aren't very good.
I'm reading Nothing To Envy, about North Korea. Crazy crazy stuff. On the fiction side, I'm plowing through Player Of Games by Iain M Banks, which is space opera supreme. And then also slowly moving through Swann's Way by Marcel Proust. Next up is The Victorian Internet, about the telegraph. Yes, I'm a huge nerd.
Favorite authors: 1. Jack Kerouac - Smooth, poetic and never afraid to share ANYTHING. He was drunk, depressed, joyous, lonesome, friendly, and completely talented. Given his spontaneous writing style, you never know what is going to come out. It could be garbage for a few pages. or it could turn into utter genius poetry. 2. Henry Miller - Kind of a forebearer of Kerouac. He wrote about his life and spared no details. Probably the best American writer there is/was. He was very great with story arc, but at the same time, had no qualms about spewing a volcano of beautiful song at any moment. He has made me cry at the beauty of his words. And that is something for someone who can be as vulgar as he was. He basically hit on every possible human emotion to the greatest degree. 3. Vladimir Nabokov - He wrote his first few books in Russian (which he later translated himself into English), escaped Russian during the revolution, moved to Germany, and then escaped Germany during the Nazi reign and moved to America. At that point he started writing in English. And holy shit! English was his 4th best language. But, he was a goddamn wordsmith! He was particular and overly descriptive at times, and other times he was the most clever and funny writer EVER. Read Pale Fire and Invitation to a Beheading if you have any doubts. Currently reading Bukowski.
