The Osterman Weekend by Robert Ludlum. It's ok, but rather vague. I don't really know whose on what side, or why they're trying to kill one another. It makes me think of an Agatha Christie novel, but without the depth that she would have put in.
I'm rereading "The Eyes of the Dragon" by Stephen King. I love this book immensely and it still hasn't lost its charm.
I'm reading something called Gate Crashers by someone named Patrick S. Tomlinson. Picked it up based on a pretty damn funny analysis he wrote of the Ewoks fighting ability, and so far it's pretty good. There are a couple places (since I've started looking at everything as a writer now) that could have used a bit of beta/editing (misused "imminent" in place of "eminent," a weird head-hop that I had to re-read three times to understand), but overall it's pretty funny, got more than a bit of a Douglas Adams feel to it. We'll see how it progresses.
The Cruel Prince, by Holly Black Normally, a YA title wouldn't even be on my radar screen... but I've made a new year's promise to myself, to start reading more stuff that might teach me to broaden my horizons as a writer. So far I'm really enjoying the book, and I'm already about halfway through.
SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard. Three more books (Birthday and Christmas presents) to get through, too.
Just finished Fredric Backmans ..., My Grandmother told me to tell you she’s sorry. Most profound quote was “ The mightiest power of death is not that it can make people die, but that it can make the people left behind want to stop living”. Having recently been in a rather long struggle with loss..., I was unprepared for the power of that sentence. Books are sometimes the only thing in your life that make you realize that somewhere someone has felt the same way as you have. This is a wonderful book and not at all what I was prepared for when I picked it up.
That book keeps getting mentioned, but isn't it in second person or present tense or something? I have a low tolerance for that sort of thing and I'm just scared it'll set me off and I won't be able to finish it.
Actually first person from the cyborg's POV. Somewhat interesting, I am finding it somewhat of a slog to get through.
For really good YA .., try reading the Newberry Medal winners and the Honorees and the Caldecott Award winners. My favorite book of all time was The Giver...., no idea why that thought provoking piece of amazing literature was consigned to the childrens book area of the library. Happy reading hours.
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, which I'm happy to finally have started reading after putting it off for so long.
Great choice. Read the 'sinking of the Atrocity' part with a glass of brandy and some truffles—helps one see all the (many) metaphors.
@Night Herald I said I’d update you with the progress of how my Game Of Thrones Reading is going. I know it’s been a long time but those are big books!! I’m currently just beginning A Feast For Crows And I’m looking forward to it, but also patient.. After that I’ve got Dance of Dragons to read and I’m looking forward to that too. I’m a bit bugged that Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring has not been published by the author yet because I like my stories to have endings but at the same time, those books are pending and something to look forward to. Nothing ever goes well in GOT and there’s always an interesting conflict via every POV. My biggest shock and lingering nightmare was the wedding at the Freys.. an absolute bloodbath and I still can’t get those upsetting images out of my head. I guess the only way to kill the mighty King of the North is through the guise of a peaceful wedding where he assumes he was supposed to be celebrating. The boy was sorry a thousand times over, his only crime being that he fell in love. Walder Frey came as a bit of a shock and I couldn’t believe how malicious minds could get!! A Feast For Crows seems to be a lot different to all the other books because for the first time we see things through Cersei and Brienne’s perspective and Tyrion or Jon or Danaerys POV are not in this book.. but they will be again in subsequent one. My favourite POV is actually Tyrion’s as I find the dwarf incredible, insightful and amusingly cunning so I’m a bit disappointed he won’t be represented in Feast for Crows. I also think he may be one of my favourite characters if not one of the most interesting perspectives. Poor sod, didn’t even kill Joffrey, though many would have wanted him dead because he’s a spoilt little brat. Why should he have to confess to a crime he didn’t commit. Any hoo.. Wonder when GM will be releasing Winds of Winter + maybe he’ll release A Dream of Spring too at the same time. Wouldn’t that be perfect?? (This author’s just making us all wait!!). I’ve still got those other two books on my plate, though, and wouldn’t it be great if he releases those by the time I get through with them. It’ll probably take another century to get through + something to look forward to anyway.
For those of you interested in personal-development books. I recently finished reading The Magic of Thinking Big by David Scwhartz, a incredible book that made me believe more in myself and what I can achieve just by developing a different mindset. Right now I'm reading Healthy On The Inside Out by Linda Luoma, a book for you who wants to change your life, become more optimistic and get a different perspective on life. So far really great and I’ve had some really valuable insights. Two amazing books which I highly recommend to anyone wanting to transform.
Down To The Sea In Ships Horatio Clare Writer gets permission to sit on a container ship and muse. Nice, but reveals horrendous info like chickens are farmed in Denmark, culled in Denmark then shipped to China for portioning and then shipped back again to Denmark for sale - because it's cheaper :/ Containers full of crap traversing the globe WHILST WF has a thread entitled 'what did you buy?' Disgusted, increasingly on verge of my manifesto - play with potatoes in your assigned commune cell of four comrades/friends.
A couple of years ago I got the complete box set from amazon... yes, I would definitely say “repetitive” after you’ve gotten through 21 of those!! At first I found the stories quite enchanting and the first couple of stories especially when the siblings meet George and Timmy for the first time. The air of mystery and wanting to know who’s behind it also got me intrigued. I soon found out that sussing the villains became a lot more predictable.. but also the way Enid Blyton incorporates food all the time got me very hungry and longing for their scrumptious picnics, tea times and lunches, always having to prepare myself a scrumptious sandwich to satisfy those quenches. Whoever thought reading would do that??
I've been reading through The Neverending Story by Michael Ende with my oldest daughter. Almost done with chapter W. (For those wondering The Neverending Story has 26 chapters. Each starts with a different letter of the alphabet.)
Yeah, tell me about it, I've been waiting for The Winds of Winter for... holy Weirwood, has it been seven and a half years already? I get it, this is a huge and complex story, but... please? Glad to hear you're liking them. Tyrion is indeed the best, you're right about that. One of the more sympathetic points of view. I really doubt we'll be seeing both Winter and Spring drop at the same time, though that would be neat, but I expect Martin has put some work into both, so hopefully we'll have Springs within a couple of years of Winter. Who knows, with those crazy Westerosi seasons... But a man can dream (of spring), right?
I may actually have to remember that one. I quite enjoy Douglas Adams, and sounds like I could enjoy that as well.
As for me, I've been getting it on with some non-fiction. Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire by Peter H. Wilson, and Brief Answers to the Big Questions by the late Stephen Hawking. For my next course, I've finally gotten a hold of Olaf Stapledon's First and Last Men, which I've been looking for forever.