Whatcha readin' right now?

[Jintor]

It's pretty much a direct sequel. Sure, it picks up a year after Going Postal, but if you read it right after Going Postal you'll feel like you're reading more chapters from the same book. It's rather slow near the start, though, and the villains aren't exactly as awesome as Gilt was, and the situation never seems are desperate as it did in Going Postal, but it's still got a nice conclusion as well as another setup for the next book. Moist's place in the world seems to have become Vetinari's instrument for massive social and economic change, and that is awesome.

It's not quite as good as Going Postal, but it's definitely value for your money. More of the same, but it's a good same.

Mind you, I'm worried for the future of the series since Pratchett has been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's.

I've only read it once (in a bookstore... natch) but it was pretty good. You're right, Gilt was a much better villain. But the sheer absurdity of the events that occured - reminding us that Discworld is not merely a parody of the real world, but it's own damn hilareously fantasy universe - was great. But man, we got to see more of how Ankh-Morpork runs, and of higher society, and its diplomatic channels, and more Moist von Lipwig of course... and, of course, the Department of Post-Mortem Communications. Damn I've been missing a trip into Unseen University.

 

[delusional]

The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall

Very interesting, but very long.

 

[Majestic XII]

I'm soon done "getting" all of the seven Foundation books of Issac Asimov, in mp3. I hate reading on a screen and it's great for traveling... which I will do a lot during christmas and new years.

Hurrah!

The last book of Asimov I read was The Last Question which is a short story with pretty epic proportions. If you havent read it, I force you to do so now.

 

[Unfocused]

The forums, duh.

 

[VirusType2]

Wait, they still make books?

I'd probably only read books if I was grotesquely ugly. Or if I was Amish. I've read books before, like when I was shipped off to military school and had no alternative forms of entertainment.

 

[sinkoman]

I'm soon done "getting" all of the seven Foundation books of Issac Asimov, in mp3. I hate reading on a screen and it's great for traveling... which I will do a lot during christmas and new years.

Hurrah!

The last book of Asimov I read was The Last Question which is a short story with pretty epic proportions. If you havent read it, I force you to do so now.

I ended up reading Foundation'd Edge first, and was so enthralled by it that I decided to start the series properly.

Lost interest after the second book. Don't know why, but none of them were nearly as engaging as Foundation's edge.

READ FOUNDATION'S EDGE BEFORE STARTING THE SERIES! I COMMAND IT OF YOU!!!

Btw, have you read the Robot series yet? The Foundations make ALOT more sense after you've finished that.

 

[Solaris]

I despise people just a little who don't read.

Heres a sample of what I've read so far recently

Notes from Underground - 60% read been reading for 6months approx
Lost in translation - 90% read - 3 months
The Man who loved only numbers bio of Paul Erdos - 30% one day
If this is a man - Primo Levi - just finished
The Drowned and the saved - Primo levi - Just Finished
1984 - 80% - 1week
God is not Great - 40% - 4months


I don't finish most books, and the ones I do finish I reread about once a year.
Reading is ace.

 

[Raziaar]

Just finished Pre-Algebra Demystified. Moving on to Algebra Demystified.

Math sucks.:angry:

 

[Seppo]

I started reading some Dragonlance again.

currently reading Dragons of Winter Night

 

[Solaris]

Just finished Pre-Algebra Demystified. Moving on to Algebra Demystified.

Math sucks.:angry:

Your never went to school right?

Respect for teaching yourself Maths if that's what you're doing.

It's a fantastic thing, stick with it.

If you want some inspiration to keep what you're learning relevant may I recommend reading "The Music of the Primes".

 

[Raziaar]

Your never went to school right?

Respect for teaching yourself Maths if that's what you're doing.

It's a fantastic thing, stick with it.

If you want some inspiration to keep what you're learning relevant may I recommend reading "The Music of the Primes".

I've been in school up to the eighth grade. I never did my math homework though, and generally did shitty in school because I never did my work.

I am eager to learn math, and get to a point where I don't clam up every time the subject is raised.

I already love Pi. 3.14159... <3

 

[VirusType2]

I despise people just a little who don't read.



Reading is ace.

I like to read, but I just don't like to read books. I prefer reading about hobbies, like a salt-water fish book that talks about the care of them as pets, I like to read magazines, etc. I just prefer things to be short and sweet, rather than long and drawn out.

For one thing, I have trouble reading books because I end up drifting off and having to read the same line over and over. My mind becomes occupied with other thoughts and minutes later I realize I haven't absorbed what I've just been reading for 5 minutes, and have no idea what was just said.



Besides, whenever someone says something in a book, it's always in my voice, no matter their gender. As opposed to say, The lord of the rings (the movie), gandalf sounds like gandalf.

I like movies because I can watch them in hours instead of months. Life is short.

Also, I've had experiences before where you get a significant percentage of the way through the book and you realize you don't like it. What a waste of time. If it was a movie, I would have only wasted 30 minutes or so before realizing it was shit, and turning it off.

 

[Darkside55]

Finishing up another Drizzt book tonight; will start on "The Last Assassin" by Barry Eisler, which I think is the latest so far in his John Rain series. It's about a professional assassin whose job is to make his kills look like accidents. Very stylish.

 

[Solaris]

Generally the books are so much better than films.

 

[VirusType2]

Math sucks.:angry:

Math is the universal language. It can be fun. Why don't you get a math drill program for your computer? That's how I like to learn. They tell you how to do the lesson short and sweet, and even have little videos with the teacher showing you, and then they give you a bunch of problems to solve.

You can get these lessons at a local college - even basic math ones if you need to catch up.

 

[Darkside55]

Generally the books are so much better than films.

Not in the case of Lord of the Rings.

I'd burn those f*cking books if I didn't love books so much. The same with The Wheel of Time series.

 

[repiV]

I like to read, but I just don't like to read books. I prefer reading about hobbies, like a salt-water fish book that talks about the care of them as pets, I like to read magazines, etc. I just prefer things to be short and sweet, rather than long and drawn out.

For one thing, I have trouble reading books because I end up drifting off and having to read the same line over and over. My mind becomes occupied with other thoughts and minutes later I realize I haven't absorbed what I've just been reading for 5 minutes, and have no idea what was just said.



Besides, whenever someone says something in a book, it's always in my voice, no matter their gender. As opposed to say, The lord of the rings (the movie), gandalf sounds like gandalf.

I like movies because I can watch them in hours instead of months. Life is short.

Also, I've had experiences before where you get a significant percentage of the way through the book and you realize you don't like it. What a waste of time. If it was a movie, I would have only wasted 30 minutes or so before realizing it was shit, and turning it off.

Maybe you just haven't read the right books. Try The Prometheus Deception or The Matarese Circle by Robert Ludlum. I'll eat my non-existent hat if you aren't hooked on those.

 

[VirusType2]

Maybe you just haven't read the right books. Try The Prometheus Deception or The Matarese Circle by Robert Ludlum. I'll eat my non-existent hat if you aren't hooked on those.

It's a little intimidating to start reading books of which you don't even know what the titles mean.

lol.


Hmmm..

Prometheus
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

Pro?me?the?us /prəˈmiθiəs, -θyus/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[pruh-mee-thee-uhs, -thyoos] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun Classical Mythology.
a Titan, the father of Deucalion and brother of Atlas and Epimetheus, who taught humankind various arts and was sometimes said to have shaped humans out of clay and endowed them with the spark of life. For having stolen fire from Olympus and given it to humankind in defiance of Zeus, he was chained to a rock where an eagle daily tore at his liver, until he was finally released by Hercules.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, ? Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Pro?me?the?us (prə-mē'thē-əs, -thyōōs') Pronunciation Key
n.

1. Greek Mythology A Titan who stole fire from Olympus and gave it to humankind, for which Zeus chained him to a rock and sent an eagle to eat his liver, which grew back daily.
2. The satellite of Saturn that is third in distance from the planet.

That sounds.... totally badass actually.

No results found for Matarese.
Did you mean Matres (in dictionary) or Ma?tresse (in encyclopedia)?

 

[repiV]

It's a little intimidating to start reading books of which you don't even know what the titles mean.

lol.

They're espionage thrillers. Written in a fast-paced, action-oriented style.
You get totally sucked into his books because there's a shocking plot twist or desperate chase scene in every chapter and none of it has the chance to be dull.

The Matarese Circle is a (supposedly long-dead) secret society of assassins, and when it becomes apparent that they're back and taking over the world, the only people that can stop them are the top KGB agent and the top CIA agent, who want to kill each other.

They're brilliant books, and if you can get into those you may find you'll be able to concentrate on heavier reading material too. If the book sucks I have the same problem as you, but I love espionage/action-based political thrillers and most varieties of science fiction. Speaking of sci-fi, you might try Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan - it's a modern classic, extremely violent, pornographic in places - quite movie-like in presentation. It's set in a dystopic future where nobody dies because their mind is stored on a chip implanted at the top of the spine and can be transferred between bodies and virtual realities. I guess the setting is really about how mankind misuses amazing technologies.

 

[ríomhaire]

1984
I always knew that HL2, Children of Men, Equilibrium and so many others had taken inspiration from this book, but I never know how they didn't even come close to how depressing and awful Oceania is. This book is great.

Next on my list to read is Day of Triffids.

 

[repiV]

1984
I always knew that HL2, Children of Men, Equilibrium and so many others had taken inspiration from this book, but I never know how they didn't even come close to how depressing and awful Oceania is. This book is great.

Next on my list to read is Day of Triffids.

Thing is, stuff like HL2, Children of Men, Equilibrium and so on aren't true dystopias - each involves hope and a successful struggle for a better future.
Real dystopias - like 1984 - are hopeless places. Nothing will ever improve.

 

[Solaris]

1984 is a reference we should keep at the front of our mind when thinking about the role of the state

 

[repiV]

1984 is a reference we should keep at the front of our mind when thinking about the role of the state

I'm surprised to hear that from you without some kind of revelation attached, since 1984 is about as anti-communist as literature comes.

 

[VirusType2]

you might try Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan - it's a modern classic, extremely violent, pornographic in places - quite movie-like in presentation. It's set in a dystopic future where nobody dies because their mind is stored on a chip implanted at the top of the spine and can be transferred between bodies and virtual realities. I guess the setting is really about how mankind misuses amazing technologies.

That sounds interesting.

I was thinking of writing a book that takes place in present time, but nearly every major event in history had a different outcome. It would be like the world as it could have been.

Problem is, I don't know much about history and I'm not a very good writer.

I think it would make a killer book. A movie would be good too, but I think this is better suited to a book so more detail could be given and more could be explained.

 

[repiV]

That sounds interesting.

It is.

The sequel Broken Angels is excellent, too - it's set against the backdrop of a war, which is an interesting concept when the soldiers are given another life only to get killed again, and you can buy their minds by the kilo on the black market.

I was thinking of writing a book that takes place in present time, but nearly every major event in history had a different outcome. It would be like the world as it could have been.

Problem is, I don't know much about history and I'm not a very good writer.

I think it would make a killer book. A movie would be good too, but I think this is better suited to a book so more detail could be given and more could be explained.

Writing is a lot more difficult than you'd think. I always had a talent for writing, but I've never been able to make anything of the ideas for novels I've had over the years. You need incredible self-discipline and follow-through, but if you have those skills then not knowing very much about history and not being a very good writer can be overcome. It's much easier to learn history and creative writing than it is to change your personality. Go for it.

I've had this idea floating around about a sci-fi novel which follows the life of a man who begins to unravel things that don't make sense about the world he lives in. As a soldier, he's had some exposure to people who challenge his opinions about history and other things he knows...turns out that he actually lives in a totalitarian regime that bears an intentional resemblance to North Korea, with its own version of history and present reality.
So he slowly discovers the truth about the world, which is difficult as he has to overcome decades of brainwashing, and it's kind of a twist for the reader aswell because they're presented with one future reality and then that changes gradually. Could be used to great effect.
Eventually it turns out that the society he was born into is essentially a giant war machine created by one man and kept going by his family over the generations to accomplish a specific goal. Ironic twist could be that the goal is a noble one, but such grand-scale evil is used to pursue that goal. The main character must choose between doing what's right for the world and doing what's right for his people.

Of course, that's an extremely challenging concept to pull off convincingly. I've stuck with it because unlike most of my ideas it's actually unique, and it could be a great tale about realistic shades-of-grey morality.

 

[theotherguy]

The Extended Phenotype- Richard Dawkins
Started reading this one after reading the selfish gene. The beginning is rather disappointing. It's mostly just Dawkins dealing with criticisms of his earlier books. The rest though, about the actual extended phenotypes is quite interesting.

Darwin's Dangerous Idea- Daniel C. Dennet
Wonderfully written, but I've only gotten around to reading the first couple of pages.

Native Son- Richard Wright
Quite possibly the most violent book I've ever had to read for school. Seriously, this book has a guy cutting a girls head off and throwing her into a furnace, then has him raping another girl and beating her to death with a brick, then shooting at and gun-butting random police officers. The book, however, is great literature. It's an excellent look into the culture of 1940-1950's America, and even includes a highly sympathetic attitude towards communists.

 

[Asknoone]

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six

The cool thing about Clancy is once you've read one, you have read everything he's ever written.

 

[theotherguy]

Wait, they still make books?

I'd probably only read books if I was grotesquely ugly. Or if I was Amish. I've read books before, like when I was shipped off to military school and had no alternative forms of entertainment.

Books, if understood correctly, can be far superior and far more immersive than any movie or video game.

I feel sorry for you really.

 

[knut]

I've only read it once (in a bookstore... natch) but it was pretty good. You're right, Gilt was a much better villain. But the sheer absurdity of the events that occured - reminding us that Discworld is not merely a parody of the real world, but it's own damn hilareously fantasy universe - was great. But man, we got to see more of how Ankh-Morpork runs, and of higher society, and its diplomatic channels, and more Moist von Lipwig of course... and, of course, the Department of Post-Mortem Communications. Damn I've been missing a trip into Unseen University.

That's what I loved about Going Postal. After reading all of the Vimes books, you start to see the 'higher' areas of Ankh-Morpork, whereas with the City Watch it's all back streets, The Shades, the University grounds or the palace. Awesome, aye, but what I loved about Going Postal was that it felt a lot cleaner and nicer when describing the city. Not to mention it went in to some detail about the Clacks towers, those in which I love, for some reason.

Anyway, pretty sure Making Money is heading towards me for Christmas off my aunt so hurrah.

Still reading Honour Guard by Dan Abnett. It's fantastic, but then I loooove the Imperial Guard and Warhammer 40k. There's some elements of the Dirty Dozen going on at the moment which is awesome, but Gaunt and his Tanith soldiers are always great to read about. It's nice to see more of politics of war coming in to it now, with Gaunt really getting hammered by military brass for all the wrong reasons. But dammit, these books don't half make me want to start collecting and making scenario tables again. If only I wasn't using my desk for college work and had a job...

 

[Narvi]

I've only read it once (in a bookstore... natch) but it was pretty good. You're right, Gilt was a much better villain. But the sheer absurdity of the events that occured - reminding us that Discworld is not merely a parody of the real world, but it's own damn hilareously fantasy universe - was great. But man, we got to see more of how Ankh-Morpork runs, and of higher society, and its diplomatic channels, and more Moist von Lipwig of course... and, of course, the Department of Post-Mortem Communications. Damn I've been missing a trip into Unseen University.

Spoiler

I like how the golems managed to fill in one of my major nitpicks about the clacks; how were they powering the mechanisms? Then they told us about the donkey treadmills and it was an illuminating moment. Of course, the golems will make things that much more efficient.

I loved how there is an entire ward full of people who think they're Vetinari. And Topsy Turvy! Nice old bat.

It was nice to have a reminder that Ankh-Morpork still has rivals in other cities though. We haven't had one since Jingo. I wonder how Vetinari plans to keep the golems under his control, now that the secret is out. True, they can't be used for war anymore, but any government can confiscate them for their own use.

That's what I loved about Going Postal. After reading all of the Vimes books, you start to see the 'higher' areas of Ankh-Morpork, whereas with the City Watch it's all back streets, The Shades, the University grounds or the palace. Awesome, aye, but what I loved about Going Postal was that it felt a lot cleaner and nicer when describing the city. Not to mention it went in to some detail about the Clacks towers, those in which I love, for some reason.

Anyway, pretty sure Making Money is heading towards me for Christmas off my aunt so hurrah.

The description of the Post Office rather balanced that out. I'm surprised you noticed though. The Truth used pretty much the same description.

 

[Steel.Inferno]

Just finished Pratchett's Making Money, and just about to finish Susanna Clarke's? Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrel, which I rather like.

After that, I think I'll raid my brother's room for some Asimov, or pick up Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, perhaps...

Oh, and I'm reading the Great Gatsby for school - only just started, but I like it so far.

Also, Damn ye book thread for reminding me of A Song of Ice and Fire still not having the fifth book out. Damn YE!

 

[delusional]

The Great Gatsby had a crappy ending. But maybe I can't appreciate things like that.

 

[sinkoman]

I have before me a copy of Black Hawk Down, Mother Night, and the Sirens of Titan.

Which should I re-read?

 

[Darkside55]

The Great Gatsby had a crappy ending. But maybe I can't appreciate things like that.

I hate that book. For all the racist humor I enjoy (and I do enjoy it so), I can't get over all the blatant racism in that book. It seriously pisses me off.

 

[Social Bacon]

I'm currently reading a biography of Stalin and a biography of P.E. Trudeau. Both are extremely interesting, though I have much less time for reading than I'd like.

 

[Emporius]

A Fine Balance, by Rohinton Mistry. Semi-fiction about how the lives of completely different people become intertwined during the 'emergency' in India. Awesome book

 

[Qonfused]

HL2.net

 

[sinkoman]

Jesus christ, my astigmatism has gotten bad.

I used to be able to finish a book a day like it was nobodies business. Now i'm struggling to get past 13 pages without falling asleep.

 

[theotherguy]

I keep trying to write a novel but end up losing interest in my own plotlines as my tastes change.

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

I've been reading bits and pieces of my friend's copy of Mass Effect: Revelation.