The Mandatory "What book are you reading now?" thread

[Jintor]

The Dalai Lama is one enlightened mother****er. I love reading his writings and teachings, he's an amazing individual.

I went and saw him when he was in Sydney. As soon as he started speaking the sky cleared up and the stage was encircled in sunlight.

Seriously. 'Twas awesome.

 

[Acepilotf14]

Finally finished Hawaii.
Now reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck.

 

[Sheepo]

Ace I <3 your avatar to death

 

[Ennui]

Almost finished with A Walk in the Woods and I'm going to be reading Cannabis: A History next I think.

 

[V-Man339]

I've finished "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" recently, and I'm now reading "The Two Towers". This is my second read through of the whole series and I'm uncovering alot of the hidden details.

 

[Ennui]

I need to read through LOTR again. The last time I read the entire trilogy front to back was in 4th grade, when I was 8 years old, and I daresay some of it was lost on me. Since then I think I've read all three separately but not in proximity with one another.

I finished A Walk in the Woods last night, and I loved it. Anyone who's interested in nature/the outdoors (backpacking and whatnot) should check it out. Bill Bryson is hilarious, and it's a great novel about his experience on the Appalachian Trail. There were a few small things I disliked about it but on the whole it was a very interesting and informative book.

 

[Sulkdodds]

I need to read through LOTR again too. Just to confirm whether or not I really hate it.

 

[Ennui]

If you hate LOTR I hate you.

 

[Warbie]

I'm surprised you rate Dark Materials, Sulk, and not LOTR. I like the Dark Materials trilogy, but could name a whole host of fantasy that gripped me more.

 

[repiV]

Repeat after me:

I must read the Hyperion Cantos. (Hyperion)

I must read the Hyperion Cantos. (The Fall of Hyperion)

I must read the Hyperion Cantos. (Endymion)

I must read the Hyperion Cantos. (The Rise of Endymion)

At the sound of the bell, you will be on your way to the bookstore with fiddy dollaz in your hand...

 

[Sulkdodds]

I'm surprised you rate Dark Materials, Sulk, and not LOTR. I like the Dark Materials trilogy, but could name a whole host of fantasy that gripped me more.

I couldn't, because I haven't read much. But, bearing in mind that I read LOTR quite a long time ago, when I was 12 or something, I found it interminable, plodding, terribly paced, turgidly written with unengaging characters and little, subtextually or viscerally, to excite me. HDR's fun, smart and beautiful.

"Hate" is perhaps too strong; I can see it's got some virtues and I really did enjoy reading it, sometimes, when the wind was blowing from a certain direction. But I am given to extremity of opinion. It took ages and it wasn't that great and the world building was cool but he nicked it all from Old English literature, which is generally better and shoter. Maybe a younger me judged the book harshly; after all, I tried and rejected both Harry Potter and His Dark Materials a couple of years before I read and enjoyed them. Hell, maybe if I started reading LOTR right now I'd enjoy it. But I honestly have no inclination to ever spend the time or the effort going back to what I remember as a great grey crawl, redeemed only by those days I spent taking a break from Tolkein and reading my first Pratchett novels instead.

 

[Warbie]

I haven't read LOTR for donkeys years, but do remember loving the way it was written. I was touched by how much it felt a labour of love and I enjoyed the almost chivalrous King Arthur meets high fantasy feel. It's like an old folktale. I do see what you mean though - it rambles on at times like an old drunk english lit teacher

 

[Que-Ever]

Reading Jurassic Park right now. hoooooaaah.

 

[Kadayi]

The invention of Morel. It was featured in one of the recent episodes of LOST and it piqued my interest and I was ordering some stuff from Amazon anyhows.

 

[Jintor]

I've really got to go out and read the rest of bloody Hyperion. At the moment I'm slumming through the poetry of Keats and Tennyson. Which is brilliant, but not, you know, stories that I'm used too.

 

[repiV]

I've really got to go out and read the rest of bloody Hyperion. At the moment I'm slumming through the poetry of Keats and Tennyson. Which is brilliant, but not, you know, stories that I'm used too.

I've just started The Rise of Endymion. Believe it or not, Hyperion is arguably the weakest book of the four. I don't really share his obsession with obscure 17th century poets, mind.

 

[Sulkdodds]

I've really got to go out and read the rest of bloody Hyperion. At the moment I'm slumming through the poetry of Keats and Tennyson. Which is brilliant, but not, you know, stories that I'm used too.

GoGoGo.

I would recommend you check out Browning and Christina Rossetti ('Goblin Market') for the latter. They're very much Tennyson's contemporaries and I like them better.

Also, Bill Blake, lulz.

 

[.Wolf.]

A sex made easy pop up book

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

I'm currently reading Tom Clancy's "The bear and the dragon". Very very interesting book, and relevant to modern events (at least compared to his other books - he acknolodges the colllapse of the USSR in this one for example).

 

[Dynasty]

Andy McNab - Bravo Two Zero

Ive had this for so long the pages have gone yellow.

Started reading it last night to get into it before going to Uganda for 3 weeks on sunday on a uni trip *inhales*.

Lots of waiting around apparently, need a good book. This one's awesome as always.

 

[Solaris]

Shame the book is utter bullshit and lies though.

 

[Dynasty]

What, Bravo Two Zero?

Well yeah its fiction based on facts. Its not a documentary.

 

[Solaris]

What, Bravo Two Zero?

Well yeah its fiction based on facts. Its not a documentary.

It's not even that. And Mcnab seriously claims it is true.

 

[Dynasty]

Well he WAS there...atleast...im pretty sure he was...

 

[Slug Advisor]

Robert Jordan - Lord of Chaos

I'm still on the first half, and so far it's briliant.

Spoiler

Although, who is the Lord of Chaos? Is it Rand? Also, I can't wait to read the reactions of the Two Rivers Folk when they find out Rand is the Dragon Reborn/Car'c'carn/He Who Comes With The Dawn/Coramoor/whatever.

 

[dfc05]

Just finished The Crossing (Cormac McCarthy). I thought it was better than All the Pretty Horses but got pretty sad in a couple of parts.

Currently reading Cryptonomicon (Neal Stephenson). Only about 150 pages through the 900 page book. Nowhere near the awesomeness level of Snow Crash, but it's getting pretty good. Started out feeling kinda annoyed at how he keeps switching between three people's stories with each chapter. It's just that when one person's story starts getting good and I want to keep reading, then it switches to someone else's story. Bleh.

 

[jimbo118]

No Country For Old Men - Just began it.

The Forgotten Soldier - Probably my favourite book, re-reading it again, nearly finished it.

 

[Laivasse]

Currently reading Cryptonomicon (Neal Stephenson). Only about 150 pages through the 900 page book. Nowhere near the awesomeness level of Snow Crash, but it's getting pretty good. Started out feeling kinda annoyed at how he keeps switching between three people's stories with each chapter. It's just that when one person's story starts getting good and I want to keep reading, then it switches to someone else's story. Bleh.

I too was slightly disappointed in Cryptonomicon after how ace Snow Crash was. You might come to enjoy it better once you come to accept, as I did, that it's just a different kind of novel entirely. The leaps in narrative perspective can be jarring, but you become accustomed to it.

I personally liked Quicksilver and the Baroque Cycle series better than Cryptonomicon (so far, at least) but they are more similar to Cryptonomicon than Snow Crash.

 

[Sulkdodds]

Iain M Banks - Matter

Woooooooooo
exciting.

 

[Ennui]

still reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, it's excellent

and sheepy hath given me a copy of On the Road that's a reprint (typos and all) in book form of the original 120 foot scroll of typewriter paper Kerouac wrote it on in three days and nights. So I'll probably read that next because it's about time I read On the Road again anyway.

 

[kineaesth]

The Road - Cormac McCarthy.

Anyone?

Reminds me of halflife2, kinda... Good old dystopic futures.

 

[Ennui]

That book is amazing, Kinetic. I sat down, read the first paragraph, and proceeded to read the entire book in the next three hours.

 

[kineaesth]

That book is amazing, Kinetic. I sat down, read the first paragraph, and proceeded to read the entire book in the next three hours.

Except how he gets shot with a spoon, and manages to kill a guy with a flare gun. Those bits are silly. **** the train scared me in that book. It needs to be a movie.

 

[Iron Kat]

Northern Lights. At long last!

 

[Jangle]

The Road - Cormac McCarthy.

Anyone?

Reminds me of halflife2, kinda... Good old dystopic futures.

Brilliant book, but the ending seemed kind of stupid to me. I know he wants to leave the reader with a sense of hope, but it just seems too unlikely that the boy would find somebody else to look after him. If any book could have done with out a (kind of) happy ending, it was this one.

 

[jimbo118]

Just finished The Road last night, got it Saturday afternoon. The ending(or the bit before it to be precise) was really upsetting. Some of the scenes evoked were terrifying, the people in the basement naked asking for help, the group the man and boy observe from a distance who are carrying slaves chained at the neck to one other, the images of the masks over their face, the corpse being cooked at the fire.

Some parts of Mccarthy's language I find difficult to read. Sentences can go on for a good number of lines. Often i haveto re-read parts to fully appreciate the images.

I see they are making a movie of it, I hope it won't suck.

 

[knut]

Northern Lights. At long last!

Same here, and goddamn am I enjoying it. Seriously, fantastic stuff.

My only complaint is that sometimes characters feel like they are rushing explaining events or happenings, and it feels a little mechanical when they do so, but otherwise a really good book. And theres two more to go, too!

 

[Dynasty]

Richard Hammond - On The Edge

His biography is just incredible where he talks about all the things he went through. The section written by his wife is truly saddening.

 

[lord_raken]

Roots of American order, just finished Snow Crash for the third time, The Declaration of Independence.

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

The bear and the dragon by tom clancy. I've been reading this for some time, its only just started getting interesting (thus progress has been slow until recently).