Reading anything?

[lester1/2jr]

I just got a case of need by michael crichton. haven't started it yet

[Mofo Rising]

Don't laugh, but I'm about 60 pages into TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES by Thomas Hardy . . . and I'm enjoying it . . .

I just finished reading Pride and Prejudice. Of course, I really only read it so I could read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

[Derf]

I just started on The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. It was recommended to me by a friend, and so far (I'm on book 3), it's been pretty good. I've never seen the TV show, though I've heard good things about it.

And Mofo Rising, I just bought Pride and Prejudice and Zombies; not sure when exactly I'll get to it.

I also just recently finished Terry Pratchett's Nation. It's not one of his Discworld books. It's more of an alternative history book, with some familiar things mixed in with fantastic things. It has touches of Pratchett's wit, but overall it is a much more serious story than his usual stuff.

[Jim H]

I just started on The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. It was recommended to me by a friend, and so far (I'm on book 3), it's been pretty good. I've never seen the TV show, though I've heard good things about it.

And Mofo Rising, I just bought Pride and Prejudice and Zombies; not sure when exactly I'll get to it.

I also just recently finished Terry Pratchett's Nation. It's not one of his Discworld books. It's more of an alternative history book, with some familiar things mixed in with fantastic things. It has touches of Pratchett's wit, but overall it is a much more serious story than his usual stuff.

Thing that's most amazing about the Dresden Files is that each book is better than the last for quite a while.  Then White Knight came out and is by far the weakest book in the series..  It's been getting better again (the last book in particular was solid) but I'm a little worried the series has peaked.  They're all worth reading though.

I just read The Sword Edged Blonde by Bledsoe.  Cross between hard-boiled detective fiction and a medieval fantasy.  So, you've got a main character named Eddie LaCrosse and bad guys with names like Frankie and Jimmy...  Who are running around with swords and riding on horseback.  It's a little strange, but it works.  The ending was terrible, utilizing a genre cliche I've always hated.  This book is the second in the series, and from what this one implies, the original book ended in a similar way.  Solid book, but because of the endings I'm not going to read any more of them.

Dragon Rule just came out.  



Bought it today.  I don't remember the details of the previous book in the series that well, so I'm going to reread it before getting to it.  I quite enjoy the Age of Fire series though.  Fantasy fans should enjoy it, as long as you can deal with some grim material (they're pretty dark and gory at times).  And, of course, if you love dragons few books are better.

[BoyScoutKevin]

Yes. "People of the Thunder" by Gear and Gear.

He is an archaeologist that specializes in Native American archaeological sites, and she is a Native American, in part, so they really know their stuff.

This is a continuation of their earlier book "People of the Weeping Eye," which I have also read, but, I like "People of the Thunder" better. Because most of the characters were introduced in the first book, this one has less exposition, and because we are over half way to the conclusion, this one has more action in it.

These are not the only books they have written. They have written sixteen books in total about the Native Americans. While not written in any chronological or geographical order, they do cover the history of the Native Americans from 13,000 B.C. to 1300 A.D. and an area as far north as Alaska, as far south as Florida, as far east as Chesapeake Bay, and as far west as the Pacific Coast.

While I may not go back and pick up any of their previous books, I am interested in their next two books: "People of the Longhouse" and "People of the Forest."

[Allhallowsday]

I just finished Reel Tears a memoir of BEVERLY WASHBURN here she sings her Top 40 hit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P441MSnDEYE&feature=PlayList&p=C0E35A8F2874B12F&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=78

[Joe the Destroyer]

Still reading HHGTTG.  Currently on the third book: Life, the Universe, and Everything.

[Trevor]

I'm re-reading Michael Moore's Stupid White Men. 

[AndyC]

I'm re-reading Michael Moore's Stupid White Men. 

His autobiography?

[Trevor]

I'm re-reading Michael Moore's Stupid White Men. 

His autobiography?

I bought this paperback at the Frankfurt Airport in 2003 ~ my first and so far only trip overseas. I asked the lady at the airport bookshop for something funny that would keep me sane during the 12 hour flight to Johannesburg and she said that I should buy this. She said that it was very funny, even "the German translation is funny". 

[lester1/2jr]

chris elliots "shroud of the thwacker" is hilarious

[Fausto]

[AndyC]

Finally finished Koontz's Frankenstein. The third book is not nearly as intense as the first two, but it has a lot of dark humour. The ending, however, was a letdown. A few really interesting ideas were developed earlier in the story, then very little was actually done with them. The book built up expectations until it reached what should have been the big, climactic confrontation, then suddenly wrapped itself up in a neat little package without much of anything happening. No suspense, no real twists, just a straight line to the end. It's like Koontz got about two thirds of the way through the book, said "f**k it" and tied up all the loose ends in a couple of chapters. I enjoyed most of the book, but everything resolved itself far too easily in the end, and quite a few good ideas just seemed to get discarded along the way. But I suppose this book is heavily rewritten from the original that was completed around the time of Hurricane Katrina (the story is set in New Orleans), so maybe the weak story and general unevenness of the book is due to that.

I've just started Michael Slade's "Ripper" which starts out with a satanic ritual in the 1920s, vividly described, with lots of masked naked people dancing about in a big, old mansion with a thunderstorm going on outside. So far, so good.

Oh, and one of the activities described, involving a large statue of Old Nick, bears a striking resemblance to the one depicted in this pic from the Humorous Captions board. It's called the osculum obscenum and it's exactly what it looks like.


One thing I can say about Slade books - the author does his research and he delivers the freakiness.

[Rev. Powell]

FAIRY TALES OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM

[indianasmith]

Just re-read Jack Brooks' THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE.  Can't be too prepared.