Reading anything?

[Alex]

I read his Green Angel Tower series. Found it enjoyable enough, although fairly standard fantasy.

[ER]

This:

http://www.galwaydailynews.com/

Almost as funny as The Onion, and vurra Irish.

[indianasmith]

I just finished CAESAR'S WOMEN, the fourth book in Colleen McCullough's "Masters of Rome" series.
In many ways, this one is my favorite.   Pompey Magnus is shown at the zenith of his power, settling the affairs of entire kingdoms with the stroke of a pen and making the Senators quake in his wrath; Cicero is portrayed as an oratorical genius with a strong streak of cowardice that battles with his moral center; Cato is perhaps the least likable character in the story, making the reader want to punch him every time he launches into one of his screeds.  But Gaius Julius Caesar is very much center stage in this story - here he is at the beginning of his rise to the top: brilliant, ruthless, mentally and physically attractive and able to turn that attribute to his benefit.  The women of the title are Caesar's mother Aurelia, his daughter Julia, his lover Servilia, and his wives, Pompeia Sulla and Calpurnia Pisa.  No other writer captures the heartbeat of ancient Rome with the ring of truth that Colleen McCullough conveys, and I strongly recommend all her books - but especially this one.

[BoyScoutKevin]

Ye-es!
Continuing with . . .
Andrew Shvarts' Royal Bastards

Would this look good on film?
Ye-es!

What?
Not a TV movie or a theatrical film like Hunger Games, but a TV miniseries, as someone, not I suggested, as you could then retain more of the book.

Where?
Again, as the same person suggested: Free Form.
The built-in audience, and it'd then not bump into Descendants, and with Descendants II drawing a 50% larger audience than Descendants I, there will be a Descendants III.

Why?
The villains. Some of the best ever seen in a book.
The victims. Victims you really care about.
The scenes. A feast, especially those inside and outside of the bar in Bridge Town. Bar fight! Bar fight!
All (IMHO)

Who should do it?
The House of Mouse.
The cast. They have the largest pool from which to draw the cast. Maia Mitchell has already been mentioned.
The promotion. They can promote it.

Problems
Not a musical.
No dancing.
Not the language, which can be cleaned up, but the violence. Which is brutal and has teens doing it to other teens.

To be continued . . .

Next time: the language

[FatFreddysCat]

Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero

[316zombie]

oh, definitely good things to say! tailchaser's song is a regular reread, as are the adventures of ordinary farm. and the bobby dollar series is also excellent! i liked the shadowmarch series too, and my youngest niece( soon to be EIGHTEEN, GAWD I'M OLD!) has all of his books.
   i have some of his short stories in daw anthologies too, he's very talented!

[stine.greta]

Always and Forever, Lara Jean

[BoyScoutKevin]

Ye-es!
Continuing with . . .
Andrew Shvarts Royal Bastard

33 b"()"'%(
24 s())
06 holy s())
06 b.s.
06 p)() (ed) (ing)
05 s$'_" (ed)
04 piece of s())
03 a-hole
03 b))$( es
03 s.o.b.
01 p)((-looking
01 S()))$
95 total

24 hell
05 a((
04 dammit
04 damn(ed)
03 b.a.
02 balls
01 frozen hell
01 gods-damned
01 holy frozen hell
01 tits
46 total

Noveris
03 titans' breath
03 titans' tits
Zitochi
01 khanzar
07 total

148 grand total

It maybe funny, but I find the language here less offensive than someone who throws in a curse word or two into their story.

Next time: final comments

[Alex]

Pulled out one of my HP Lovecraft anthologies to read through.

[316zombie]

manuals. lots of them. i start a new job on monday and i like to be able to fix my kitchen equipment myself whenever possible. and be able to fix front of house stuff in a pinch as well.
   so i've got 2 ice machine manuals, 2 reachin fridge manuals, the freezer manual,the fryer manual,the flattop/grill manual, the multi-kegerator manual, the jukebox manual, the projector tv manual, the vacuum cleaner manual and 6 other tv manuals.
  it's VERY strange for me to have to read these, i'm not used to having brand new equipment, lol! at least i don't need to read manuals for the toilets!

[ER]

Ecclesiastes, my favorite scripture in human history, filled with headrush-inducing brilliance.


1:4  One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.

1:18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

2:16 For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.

3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven...

3:19-20  For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

4:5 The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh.

7:5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.

10:12 The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.


Honestly, there is a great line in nearly every verse. It is the book for humanists, and the faithful, those who love the Bible, and those who enjoy nothing else in it. It is literature of the highest order and a source of advice that increases wisdom.

[316zombie]

ER,have you read the tad williams yet?

[FatFreddysCat]

Just finished:

Ramones at 40 by Martin Popoff

Stay Ugly: The Life and Near Deaths of King Fowley by King Fowley/Mike Sloan

On deck:

What Does This Button Do? by Bruce Dickinson

[frank]

Anyone have anything good to say about a writer named Tad Williams? I got gifted one of his books and I'd never heard of him.

I read "The Dragonbone Chair" and some of the follow-ups as a kid. I was quite into fantasy at that time and enjoyed them a lot. If fantasy is your thing, it will be interesting.

[indianasmith]

This month I finished two LONG books I've been reading simultaneously - one at home, one at work - for a while.

CAESAR: LET THE DICE FLY is the fifth installment in the Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough, but it is the first one I read, nearly a decade ago. This was my fourth journey through this volume.  This masterpiece of historical fiction presents Julius Caesar in the midst of the campaign that made him immortal, the conquest of Gaul and the beginning of the Civic Wars.  The story begins with Caesar in Great Britain, where he receives word from Pompey Magnus that Caesar's only daughter - who is also Pompey's wife, Julia, has died, and Caesar's mother, Aurelia Cotta, has starved herself to death in grief.  Caesar swallows that tremendous loss and goes on about the grim business of subduing all of Gaul and bringing it into the growing Roman Empire.  The tragic betrayal and death of the Thirteenth Legion, the heroism of Quintus Cicero, the siege of Alesia - all those great battles unfold even as Caesar's enemies in Rome slowly seduce Pompey into their camp.  Finally they make their move, ordering Caesar to surrender his troops and his imperium and stand trial as a criminal.  Then comes the crossing of the Rubicon, the flight of the Senate, Caesar's great triumph at Pharsalus, and finally the sad death of Pompey Magnus at a remote beach in Egypt.  This is historical fiction at its very best, I am always sorry to finish this book!

At work, on my lunch break, I have been reading TEAM OF RIVALS: THE POLITICAL GENIUS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, for the third time.

I have probably read somewhere around 40 or 50 books on Lincoln, but this one is hands down the best of the lot, and many say the best ever written. Goodwin shows Lincoln here in a capacity where many biographers have fallen short: as the greatest master politician of his era.  She discusses the four men who were Lincoln's rivals for the 1860 Republican nomination:  Henry Seward, Edward Bates, Salmon P. Chase, Edwin Stanton.  After surprising all of these men and their supporters by winning the nomination, Lincoln then named all four to serve in his cabinet, and welded them into a remarkable team, harnessing their strengths, minimizing conflict between them, and finally becoming firm friends with three of the four.  This book shows a remarkably personal portrait of our greatest President, and I always get a little weepy in the last chapter, knowing how it ends yet wishing it could continue.  A must for anyone interested in the life of Lincoln.