Do We Have Any Bookworms Here?

[Thomas]

Card's older stuff is amazing, but he's really gone a little crazy in the past few years. His politics have gotten more obnoxious and his writing has gotten less interesting. Ender's game, Speaker for the Dead, and The Worthing Saga are all very good. And his collection of short stories is incredible. Gut wrenching stuff.

[Loyal]

Naturally I disagree. I completely enjoy not only the action/war ones but also the political/religious ones. To me it seems that the main reason why some people dont like the later ones is because they are constantly comparing them Ender's Game when they really should be looked at as a series unto themselves. Although I agree that the short ones(War of Gifts, etc.) are pretty lame but you cant expect a big epic adventure out of a short story.

But I would really like it if Card continued on where he left off in Children of the Mind, although I doubt it will happen. The ending had too much of a "...and the ride off into the sunset feel."

[jacobmovingfwd]

Yeah, CotM had a good ending. There's another story there, but it's not Ender's story.

I like a lot of his series, but I tend to more enjoy anything pre-CotM. I love Homecoming (and it has serious Mormon overtones), Folk of the Fringe, Planet called Treason, Lovelock, Pastwatch... I enjoyed Alvinmaker, and I read it up through Heartfire in one go. I haven't tried to pick it up, or start over, but I will if/when it's ever finished.

[viperstingblue]

I do lots of reading - TONS. I carry at least one book with me most of the time. I like to know lots of things. I'm one of those readers who will read the dictionary for fun - I love to know what a word means. It also never hurts to know something completely random and obscure, it really impresses people!

The current books I'm getting through are 'Drive' by Dan Pink and 'The New Rules of Lifting' by Lou Schuyler and Alwyn Cosgrove.

'Drive' explains people's motivations to do what they do and so on.

'New Rules' covers 6 basic exercise movements (deadlift, squat, push, pull, lunge and twist) - and uses variations of the 6 in exercise plans depending what you want to do (fat-loss, hypertrophy, and strength).

I just finished 'The Adventures of Johnny Bunko' also by Daniel Pink, 'What Should I do With My Life?' by Po Bronson, and 'The War of Art' by Steven Pressfield.

I am hoping to read up on meditation and some of Emerson's essays this month.

[Steve]

Interesting....I think I might check out that new rules of lifting book after I finishing "practical programming for strength training"

I'm a big fan of cosgrove, so that's moving to the top of my list.

-Steve

[robbersean]

Love A Song of Ice and Fire, love Name of the Wind, love Wheel of Time Books 1-7, and the new one, but hated 8-11. It's frustrating to wait for "A Song of Ice and Fire" books, but they're so good, that I think they're worth the wait.

Currently reading "The Dragonbone Chair" by Tad Williams, and loving it.

As far as non-book reading goes, I love comics, and just finished "The Great Fables Crossover" graphic novel, and enjoyed it thoroughly.

[Steve@265andfalling]

Just finished reading: Ultramarathon Man by Dean Karnazes

Current reading (rereading, actually): "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War" by Max Brooks

Skim through when I'm on the shitter: The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging

[viperstingblue]

Interesting....I think I might check out that new rules of lifting book after I finishing "practical programming for strength training"

I'm a big fan of cosgrove, so that's moving to the top of my list.

-Steve

Practical programming actually helped me get my technique down much better! The visual diagrams were thorough!

XD I almost burned that book when I modified my squats the first time though - it hurt like hell

[Robzilla1983]

I'm 100 pages into Xenocide now and am really enjoying it. Which surprises me a bit. I don't think I could pinpoint exactly what I like, it just seems to work and keep me interested in the next chapter. I read more in the past week than I have in a month (finished up House of Suns by Alistair Reynolds FINALLY... read about the whole second half over the weekend)

[Anamal]

Steve, you like travel right? Have you read anything by Mark Jenkins? He has a really wonderful style, his book Off the Map: Bicycling Across Siberia is really a great, I think I've read it 4-5 times. Also To Timbuktu: A Journey Down the Niger, same author, fantastic style and writing. And Last but not least The Places in Between by Rory Steward (the dude walks across Afghanistan!). I really love travel lit/journalism. Also for a lighter side (but still travel related) read anything by Bill Bryson, I'm re-reading his book on Australia right now, and the book "I'm a Stranger Here Myself" about his return to America after living in England for nearly 20 years is hilarious and poignant too.

[stubbsmcgee]

Just finished reading:

The War of Art and Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield, really good if you need a bit of a bitch-slap to get yourself motivated to do what you know you should be doing.

 

Clash of Generations by Kolikoff and Burns, not something I'd pick myself, but it was a good read from one of my FCHD classes this semester. Kind of depressing/enlightening on how much we're being screwed by the entitlement systems in the US.

 

Currently reading:

Be Excellent at Anything by Tony Scwartz - I'm a bit of a self-improvement junkie I guess

 

Vital Point Strikes by Sang H. Kim - To feed my martial arts nerd

[AmandaM]

Currently reading "A Game of Thrones" in between writing chapters of my own book.  I have a crapton of books on my Kindle right now - I think I might read something a little more brain-candy-like after GoT.  Maybe "Zombies on the Titanic" (it was a freebie...)

[Irish Oisin]

I'm going through a break from reading at the moment, but usually I go from book to book and devour them.

 

Currently slowly reading Discover your destiny with The Monk Who Sold His Ferrarri, It's kinda cheesy but it has good ideas in there!

 

The next book on my list is The Power of Now, I read A New Earth recently and it was a pretty fantastic read. After that I want to jump into some good fiction. Not sure what I want to get into, maybe Enders Game

 

I recently read the A Song of Ice and Fire series and I can't recommend it enough, absolutely adored it! 

[ColbyWan]

Holy thread necro batman!

I haven't acquired it yet, but the next book I want to start is "The Principia: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" by Isaac Newton.

[Irish Oisin]

About 2 years ago I read The Modern Library's top 10 books and found some truly wonderful books but Ulysses, number one of the list, was a painful read. Did not enjoy it one iota. Same goes for A Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man, he's just showing off what a good vocabulary he has and how insanely verbose he can be! There's very little story and I think he's MASSIVELY overrated.

 

The Grapes of Wrath became my new favourite book though through that list!

[ModernSpartacus]

I'm currently re-reading the Harry Potter series for the billionth time. It never gets old. I've got a few books on the go, I mostly read fantasy and historical fiction. I split my HF collection into Roman, Greek and Other. Yes, obsessive is the word.

[HierophantJ]

I'm currently re-reading the Harry Potter series for the billionth time. It never gets old. I've got a few books on the go, I mostly read fantasy and historical fiction. I split my HF collection into Roman, Greek and Other. Yes, obsessive is the word.

 

The Illiad is one of my favorite reads of all time. I named my American Bulldog Achilles When I get another dog, he's automatically Patroclus. Do you have any suggestions on what else I can get into in that genre?

 

Edit: Also, if any of you are into the "Space Opera" genre like I am, PLEASE read Hyperion by Dan Simmons!

[Maj. Bloodnok]

Just finished 'Amped' by Daniel H. Wilson; pretty good wag-the-dog technothriller dealing with issues of xenophobia, veterans' alienation, and post-humanism.

 

Also just finished Carlos Ruiz Zafon's 'A Game of Angels'; the plot's nothing new, but the dialogue sparkles. The ending's a bit weird, though.

 

Current nonfiction: 'The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook' (the first substantial relief I've found for my tennis elbow, gunky shoulders, and Achilles tendon)

 

Tom Reiss' 'The Black Count': A biography of Gen. Alexandre Dumas, father of the author and inspiration for The Count of Monte Cristo.  Also arguably one of the best military commanders in Europe at the end of the 18th century, devoted father and husband, champion swordsman, and all-around stupendous badass.  Good read.

[airen123]

 ME! I just pre-ordered Inferno Dan Brown for Kindle...Can't read til May 14 though

[JasontheKiwi]

Yeah Reading Is Amazing! I usually read a book a week and have a pretty wide taste I think. I have compiled a list of my top 30 books here. I'm always on the lookout for book recommendations too. I recently read 'Everything Is Illuminated' by Jonathan Foer. I really enjoyed it, and it was written beautifully but the end was somewhat of a let down. 

[JasontheKiwi]

 ME! I just pre-ordered Inferno Dan Brown for Kindle...Can't read til May 14 though

I wonder if it will be good? Ive read a few of his and they have good ok but the last one, the lost symbol, was appalling, so bad I gave up almost at the end. 

[JasontheKiwi]

Just finished reading: Ultramarathon Man by Dean Karnazes

Current reading (rereading, actually): "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War" by Max Brooks

Skim through when I'm on the shitter: The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging

Oh man I loved that book by Dean Karnazes, he's insane eh. I read a few of his other ones too which were also great. However I haven't read his 50 marathons in 50 days yet. 

[JasontheKiwi]

I LOVE READING.

I read probably four books a month, and often have two or three going at once.

I'm currently reading:

-Practical Programming for Strength Training by Rippetoe and Kilgore

-Man's Search For Meaning, by Viktor Frankl

As you can see, "I like to break a mental sweat too!"

Next up is:

Franny and Zooey by J.D. Sallinger

and Chasing Fire by ....somebody I can't remember...

Anybody read anything good lately?

-Steve

 

Hi Steve 

 

I think you would absolutely love this book called 'Mr Penumbra's 24 hour book store'. It's epic and full of books, modern technology, secret cults and sooo much more. Its a real fun read. Here is a link http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Penumbras-24-Hour-Bookstore-Novel/dp/0374214913

 

Enjoy

[porchcricket13]

I am really into dystopian fiction right now, strictly because some of the story lines are so interesting. My favorite author of sll time is Neil Gaimen though. My favorite book is American Gods, can't wait to see what hbo does with it.

[marionette]

Currently I am reading The Mongoliad, which is really good. Just finished the Heaven series by Mur Lafferty (We love the Escape Pod podcast she edits) Once we finish restocking our new bookshelves (We turned a whole wall into built in bookshelves) I will post a picture. Basically we could run a fantasy/scifi/cooking library out of our front room. We ended up getting kindles a few years back just because we had no more shelf space.