Reading anything?

[Criswell]

Currently working on - The Hobbit, The Great Hunt, and the Drawing of the Three.

[indianasmith]

Just finished George R. R. Martin's latest installment in A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, entitled A DANCE WITH DRAGONS.  It is totally engrossing from start to finish, and - without giving away any specifics - he maintains his annoying habit of killing off truly admirable characters and allowing some that are total b*****ds to go one maiming and killing their merry way along!  That being said, you never quit caring about the story.    The man is truly one of the greats of our time.

[lester1/2jr]

mofo rising- yeah, I would have preferred more ideas and less info.

[sideorderofninjas]

I'm working on Asmiov's "Foundation" series for the first time in years...

[BoyScoutKevin]

Ye-es.

The Monteparts' "Around the World on the 'QE2'" or 29 countries in 80 days and Paul Coelho's "The Alchemist" in graphic format.

While one masquerades as a travelogue, and the other masquerades as a work of fiction, both are on the subject of philosophy.

They, at least, get one thing right and one thing wrong.

What they get right. If you want to say something profound, then keep it simple.

And what they get wrong. "Change happens." In the 30 years since the Monteparts have sailed around the world . . .

The Panama Canal has become obsolete. It is now so obsolete, they are either building another canal along side it, or seriously consdering building another canal along side it.

Hong Kong is no longer part of the British empire, but part of mainland China.

Ceylon has had a name change to Sri Lanka.

Yalta is no longer part of the Soviet Union, nor is it part of Russia. It is part of the Ukraine, which became its own independent country, when the Soviet Union became Russia.

And Romania is no longer a communist country.

What has not changed are the natural and manmade wonders featured in the book. Of the 29 listed, only . . .

The World Trade Center in New York City, New York, of course, no longer exists.

The replica of the "Santa Maria" in Barcelona, Spain was destroyed in an arson fire.

And the Sky Parachute Jump was removed from Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California.

Next time: Weis and Hickman's "Secret of the Dragon" and et al.

[Criswell]

The Way of King - Really good read so far, but as Ambrose Bierce once said, "The covers of this book are too far apart".  Still the first 75 pagers point to it being a good book.

The Dragon Reborn - 3rd book in the Wheel of Time series. I'm really enjoying these so far, and its likely some of the best fantasy iv'e read.

[Psycho Circus]

Currently reading "The Shimmer" by David Morrell after I finished 1984 (which was very good). It's been quiet at work, so I've managed to read about 200 in the last two days, 200 to go. It's pretty good so far, as there's some weird lights in this Texas town that cause people to go apes**t and kill each other. A pilot's wife disappears and he has to go and track her down in said town.

[Vik]

The first book of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. 

[InformationGeek]

The first book of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. 

What a concidence!  I'm reading that too... in comic book form.   

[Psycho Circus]

Half-way through this entertaining yet foul piece of adapted fiction. I bought this book basically because the cover caught my eye (it looked very intriguing) and because it had a lot of mixed reviews based on the nature of the content. This book is absolutely diabolically disgusting that it will turn the stomach of most casual readers. There's baby's being burned, horses being spat on, dogs having their throats chewed out, demons, appalling language and that's just the first 15 pages! It tells the tale of two brothers travelling (and being hunted) across Europe in the thirteen hundreds seeking their fortune and always finding trouble. I am loving this book as it is genuinely engaging, shocking and even funny. 100/10 so far....

[Newt]

Bed of Nails by Michael Slade.  Somehow I missed this one.  I have read just over 100 pages and it has already been pretty odd.  Which is just fine as that is at least half the reason I like Slade's work.      Jack the Ripper, cannibals, Cthulhu, cannibals, a Viking biker, cannibals, Goths, the World Horror Convention in Seattle, cannibals, an island in the South Pacific - with cannibals - and the RCMP (of course).  What's not to love?

[AndyC]

Bed of Nails by Michael Slade.  Somehow I missed this one.  I have read just over 100 pages and it has already been pretty odd.  Which is just fine as that is at least half the reason I like Slade's work.      Jack the Ripper, cannibals, Cthulhu, cannibals, a Viking biker, cannibals, Goths, the World Horror Convention in Seattle, cannibals, an island in the South Pacific - with cannibals - and the RCMP (of course).  What's not to love?

What a coincidence. I finally got around to reading Hangman, which is the one Slade book I'd managed to miss. And I'm about 100 pages into it. Weird.

The story itself is not so weird at this point, at least by Slade standards. Victims being hung from a noose in their homes, each with one more limb sawed off, and a word puzzle scrawled in blood on the wall. As Slade goes, that's a pretty straightforward detective story. Still plenty of pages left for things to get weird though.

[Zapranoth]

Re-reading all original Lovecraft.  Have re-read many of the greater classics ("At the Mountains of Madness,") for example.   Thoroughly enjoyable.  :)

Also am reading _A Game of Thrones_ for the first time.  Rip-roaring soap opera for men.  :)  Brutal books too.  Enjoying.

[FatFreddysCat]

Currently reading "Does the Noise in my Head Bother You?", the autobiograpy of Aerosmith's Steven Tyler. Some funny stuff but it's been a bit of a chore to get through because he writes the same way he talks -- lots of stream-of-consciousness, rapid fire rambling. Some chapters are coherent, while others remind me of the homeless guys I'd see in the Staten Island Ferry terminal wandering around talking to themselves.

[HarlotBug3]

http://www.cracked.com/blog/8-hilarious-moments-from-otherwise-terrible-movies/