What book are you reading at the moment and how good are you finding it. I'm reading Straight Silver its the the eight book in the gaunts ghost series. The story focus's on the Tanith regiment stuck in the trenches. of a world under seige from its invading countries.
I'm reading a book called The Shakespeare Secret. The title says it all really. The plot ain't the best, and to be honest I've read work as good as JL Carrell's novel. At one point I nearly threw it away, but have persevered withit and am finding it better then tolerable. Las book I read was The Vault of Bones by Pip Vaughan Hughes which I found very entertaining, reasonably well written, (I sound all pretentious here and I don't mean to - but I have learned a lot about writing from several different sources recently, including this site and am trying to put it into practice, albeit badly).
I've just finished reading The Beach by Alex Garland - truly an amazing book. Just before that I finished The Mist by Stephen King, which turned me off the movie. Now I'm co-reading Duma Key (Stephen King's latest) and The Stand, also by Stephen King. The former is pretty good, but the latter is my favourite novel and remains so. The characters are simply so well written that the book is a masterpiece.
Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy - It's the final installment in the border trilogy. I loved the first one, All the Pretty Horses, but The Crossing and this one aren't quite as good.
The Master and Margarita- Mikhail Bulgakov. Bulgakov is incredible, he should be required in college reading. Zami; A New Spelling of My Name- Audre Lorder. An interesting creation, which she entitles "a biomythography". All of you writers should read it, good stuff. Very unique. lastly, The Perennial Philosophy- Aldous Huxley. He's an interesting specimen, to say the least. The way his mind works to create structure is truly astonishing.
The Stand is by far King's greatest novel to date. The movie actually depicts the town I grew up in (Attleboro, Ma) but it looks like rural New England rather than how it actually looks, which is run down and dingy. I believe the original copy of the book was something like 1200 pages, but they refused to print it so it was cut down. I bet that would have been interesting to read.
Yeah, a lot of the good stuff was cut from the original published version. Which town are you talking about from the mini-series? They go through so many. Is it actually referred to as Attleboro? I've only seen the first two parts.
Just started reading Sabbat Maytr by famed author Dan Abnett its the ninth book in the gaunts Ghost series and so far has a beauty of an opening prologue.
I just finished reading Dragonflight (Anne McCaffrey) as recommended by Banzai It was actually pretty good- good enough that I sat and read all of it in one sitting anyway It took me a while to get into (though i'm not sure if that was the writing style or the fact that I haven't read anything for a while) but was well worth it. Looking to get hold of the next book in the series now.
On the Road by Jack Kerouac - This is supposed to be part of the three biggest works of Beat literature, along with Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs and Howl by Allen Ginsberg. So far, I like this a lot more than I liked either of those.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery. I always enjoy these little fable-type stories. I'm quite impressed with this one.
Child of God by Cormac McCarthy - I'm not sure what I think of this yet. It's well written, but it's a brutal tale of a man who appears to be an awful human being.
Younger Reading Right now, I'm reading my textbook for college. Not very exciting. Normally I'm in to blood, guts, gore all that, but reciently my little brother told me to check out a series called "The Keys to the Kingdom" by Garth Nix. I finished the first book and I'm pretty impressed by it. I started reading the second book, Grim Tuesday. I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a unique twist to young adult fantasy. It's an easy read, but the plot is really good.
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner - I tried reading this in tenth or eleventh grade, but I just couldn't understand it. I'm having a better go of it this time though. So far, I like 'The Sound and the Fury' more.
I just finished Eragon and Eldest by Christopher Paolini, a friend gave them to me and said I had to read them!!! They were great I couldn't put them down! And actually I read Eragon before the movie came out but when I went and saw it... I was so disapointed, to me they killed the greatness of the novel.
attempting to read If I pay you not in Gold piers anthony and Mercedes Lackey. just into the first chapter. Seems ok so far.
I'm reading The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor. It's about Alyss, the princess of Wonderland, who's parents are killed by her Aunt Redd. Redd comes into power when Alyss vanishes into the Pool of Tears which transports her to Victorian England. Alyss must enhance her powers of imagination to gain her rightful place as queen and overthrow Her Imperial Viciousness: Redd. In my opinion, a very good read.
I'm 'bout halfway through Beach Road. Not a book I would pick out for myself, but a coworker lent it to me insisting that I read it and I haven't been able to put it down. I've now completed this novel and returned to give a full review. ***Spoilers are included*** As I stated before the book was a gripper. The chapters are short and sweet with each one being in first person as if you are in the mind of that character and it switches back and forth through different characters. The thing that made it so interesting was the same thing that ruined it for me. It had a surprise twist ending that I'll admit was surprising, but it just wasn't believable. The main character who you've been following all along is finally revealed as the murderer. His motive? To look good. What? That's a motive? To have a fantastic day in court? But the real kicker is that the whole time you're reading as if you're inside his head, he's never mean or callouse. Suddenly, once you've found out he's the killer, he begins swearing and thinking evil thoughts. Also, his supposed evil conspirator was all upset in the courtroom when things were turning in his favor. Why? Why is your stomach turning Mr. Bad guy - isn't this what you two were planning? I was confused and put off. Frankly, this book was SO good up until the end I would still recommend it. But I cannot deny that I was severly disappointed by its "twist".
I've just began The Vampire Lestat, out of sheerly having nothing to read. I'd rather read something else, because I really hate Anne Rice's holier-than-thou attitude.
I'm reading Underground, a nonfiction by Haruki Murakami, about the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in the '90's. This is a re-read, since I'm not liking very much his two most recent novels: Kafka on the Shore and After Dark. I've only recently began to get interested in nonfictions (read Ben Kiernan's The Pol Pot Regime and The Rape of Nanking, by someone whose name slips my mind atm). Underground is one of the best out there. With Haruki Murakami behind the tape recorder, it's like, the interviewees are actually telling their story to you, and you get enough background information about these people, that it feels so personal. I'm planning to interview a few people I know of my own that survived the Killing Fields in Cambodia, and want to take this same approach, so rereading this with bolster up my courage to go through with it. Not to mention, it is a really excellent read.
Currently I'm reading Jennifer Government by Max Barry. Its theme is capitalism and it makes the idea of the US government sound insane. I hate to say it but I think Britain is going that way too.
