Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[Rastyn]

I'm reading "It" by Stephen King

[-Thomas-]

Originally Posted by Rastyn

I'm reading "It" by Stephen King

I've just read The Running Man, a great book IMO. Do you recommend reading It too?

[astra]

Originally Posted by -Thomas-

I've just read The Running Man, a great book IMO. Do you recommend reading It too?

I didn't read The Running Man but I would definitely recommend It. One of the very best King's books.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by -Thomas-

I've just read The Running Man, a great book IMO. Do you recommend reading It too?

Yes. Yes, I would.

Okay, to elaborate, I think 'It' is one of his best books, and worth its length (whereas I thought 'The Stand' was written into the dust, as good as it was).

If you like it (that is, 'It' ), I recommend the significantly darker 'Floating Dragon' by Peter Straub. I'm not saying either is better, and I achieved a similar sense of horror from both books, but Mr. Straub took me down darker paths, and was far less likely to contrast and relieve the horror with the light, childlike humour which Mr. King likes to play you with.

Incidentally, to contribute to the "reading right now" point behind this thread, I'll note that I've just started "Perdido Street Station", its purchase based on repeated reco's from folks around here and at the io9 blog. It certainly has an engrossing beginning (I think I'm only at about 100 pages).

Cheers,
Marc

[Kingston]

Originally Posted by Basqueman

I'm about half way through Ken Follett's "The Pillars of the Earth". It's the best book I've read in along time and it is the first Ken Follett book I've ever picked up. Not sure how his other books stack up since from what I understand, they are all thrillers. I am really impressed with his writing and how richly descriptive his prose is. I feel like I'm sitting down and watching a movie instead of reading. The pictures created in my mind by his words are very detailed.

I am also reading Pillars of the Earth. I had been purposefully holding it for a special occasion and finally decided to dig into it. He really does have a marvelous ability to put the reader into the action, rather than dryly describing it. A

The only other book I've read that is as good as Pillars is Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson, the guy who will complete the Wheel of Time series. It is available on this board as a free download, as the author has offered it for reader evaluation before it is published in paper in 2009. Try it, you will not be disappointed. A

I also recently finished Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King, a very good book, well written. B+

Other recent books I've read:

Cat on the Edge by Shirley Rousseau Murphy C
My Bat Boy Days by Steve Garvey. (Garv was batboy for Dodgers many years before playing for them, back in the days of Campanella, Hodges, Reese, etc). C
Secrets of the Royal Family ( free from Wowio) B
Richard Herleys series: Stone Arrow, Flint Lord, Earth Goddess B
The Riddle-Master trilogy by Patricia McKillip, not as good as I expected. A lot of meandering descriptive pages, followed by relatively little action as a payoff. D-



It's Good to be the King by Jerry Lawler. The wrestler who 'feuded' with Andy Kaufman. I was in med school in Memphis in the 70's when Lawler was popular there, and Elvis was still in the building. Surprisingly good and worth a try. Much better than expected. B+

His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. Very good but did not quite live up to the hype. B

Abhorsen trilogy by Garth Nix. Very well written and absorbing. Recommended. B+

Neverwhere and Coraline by Neil Gaiman. B for both.

Ponzi's Scheme by Micael Zuckoff B+

Dean & Me by Jerry Lewis B

Born Standing Up by Steve Martin B

[nekokami]

Kingston, you might try Jonathan Stroud's Bartimeius Trilogy next (The Amulet of Samarkand, The Golem's Eye, Ptolemy's Gate). Based on other books you've liked, you'd probably like these. The writing level is similar to Garth Nix's Abhorsen trilogy (though the story is quite different).

Patricia McKillip is something of an acquired taste. If you like elaborate descriptions, she's very interesting, and she has a lot of fascinating mythological ideas, but I agree her plotting is a bit weak.

[JSWolf]

Ursela K. LeGuin is also an acquired taste. One I just cannot deal with. She is way over descriptive to the point where it interrupts anything actually going on in the story.

[Lobolover]

just finished "The thing from the lake" by Eleanor M. Ingram and started "Wieland or the transformation" by Charles Brockden Brown .

[bookwormfjl]

Just finished reading Mistborn: Final Empire. Excellent book. Held my interest throughout. Great ending. Hope they come out with the next two in ebook form. I see the 2nd book is out in hardcover.

Johnny

[astra]

Last night I finished The Shadows of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe.
I didn't find it exciting or interesting or gripping story. Boring
2.5 out of 5.

I am starting The Claw of the Conciliator today. If there is no improvement over the first book, it is going to be the last book in the series and after that I am going read Crown of Stars series by Kate Elliott.

[yvanleterrible]

I'm about to start "Barney's Version" by Mordecai Richler. He's the one who wrote the movie "The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz".

Mordecai Richler was (he died couple years ago) an Anglophone living in Québec who always spoke his mind against French. He apparently writes pretty well so I'll give it a go... even if I don't accept his ideas.

[brecklundin]

right now I have been stalled on reading 1633 by Eric Flint for almost a month. It is my busy part of the year and also am doing a lot of remodeling of the old cardboard shack so I have a bit of an excuse.

I am unsure why but I find the whole idea of the 1632 series interesting. Dropping today's tech into a world 400+ years in the past is just, well, interesting to me for some reason.

The social issues are interesting too. Such as how, previously unknown to me, couples would actually do what is today called "live together" before actually marrying. This allowed them to build a home, business and gather the finances needed to sustain a family. And it was not unusual for a blushing bride to waddle down the isle with a "bun in the oven". It was actually quite civilized if it was as depicted in these novels. I'll admit I have not researched the topic for historical accuracy, but it did catch my eye...

I am unsure if I will read beyond one more of the series though as I am typically not a reader of serial books. Too many others interest me. I think next is either one of the middle Callahan series by Spider Robinson (they have several over at Baen) or something from Steve J's Big Bundle o'Books. I would love to find some/all of the Budayeen series from Alec Effinger too. But the estates/copyright holders of these authors simply have not appeared to show any interest in ebooks.

I would dearly love to find something by Edward Abby like Monkey Wrench Gang, A Fool's Progress, Dessert Solitaire, just everything and anything really. I read many of them years and years ago and would love the ability to read then again. I gave away almost all of my copies to friends over the years as that is how I feel books should live, traveling around the world given from person to person until all the pages fall out. Ironic how much I like ebooks now... Guess I have to now buy my friends each a reader and a memory card with a bunch of PD books from here and Feedbooks.

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by nekokami

I'm reading Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, but in paper from the library, because it wasn't available as an ebook. I just finished Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee, again, in paper, same reason. Both are assigned reading for a course I'm taking, so I don't have the choice to just read something available as an ebook instead.

I did not read, but listened to Shantaram from Audible. An amazing 'read' to say the least. I think I got a great view going with the audiobook. The reader was exceptional. The writing was just vivid and captivating to me...I am interested to see how badly they butcher the up coming movie. Though I think it's a pet project of Johnny Depp so it might actually be well done. The thing will have to be 3hrs long to do the story justice though.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by bookwormfjl

Just finished reading Mistborn: Final Empire. Excellent book. Held my interest throughout. Great ending. Hope they come out with the next two in ebook form. I see the 2nd book is out in hardcover.

Johnny

How did you convert the PDF to Mobi format?

[nekokami]

Originally Posted by brecklundin

I did not read, but listened to Shantaram from Audible. An amazing 'read' to say the least. I think I got a great view going with the audiobook. The reader was exceptional. The writing was just vivid and captivating to me...I am interested to see how badly they butcher the up coming movie. Though I think it's a pet project of Johnny Depp so it might actually be well done. The thing will have to be 3hrs long to do the story justice though.

I can't see this as a movie. It would make a year-long series, at least. Maybe a multi-year arc like B5. I suppose they'll have to pick one part and focus on that. I wonder what they'll pick?