Anyone Read Any Good Books Lately?

[Ash]

Was just wondering if any of you had read any good fiction lately?  Within the past 3 months I've read quite a few.  18 novels to be exact.  I used to go an entire year and only read 2 or 3 but now I just can't seem to get enough of them!  I'm mentioning this because this is where most great movies originate from.  Here are some good recommendations of what I've read lately.

Desperation--Stephen King

The Regulators--Richard Bachman (A.K.A. Stephen King)

On Writing--(nonfiction)--Stephen King

Rose Madder--Stephen King

Different Seasons(novella)--(contains Apt Pupil, The Body, Rita Hayworth & the Shawshank Redemption and The Breathing Method)--Stephen King

Alien and Aliens--Alan Dean Foster

The Relic--Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child (excellent read!  10 times better than the movie)

Reliquary--(sequel to The Relic)--Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

Red Dragon--Thomas Harris

Extreme Measures--Michael Palmer (much better than the movie)

Mr. Murder--Dean Koontz

The 6th Day--Terry Bisson (based on the screenplay)

The Association--Bentley Little

Midnight's Lair--Richard Laymon  (it sucked!!  Would make for a good B-movie)

These are just a few.  The book I'm currently on is Black House by Stephen King & Peter Straub.  Reading most novels for me is like jumping into an olympic size swimming pool.  You dive in, swim to the other end and then you're done.  Black House on the other hand in my opinion is a little more slower to read.  Reading Black House is like jumping into that pool but instead of water, it's Jell-O.  It's much thicker and yes, you'll eventually get to the end of it, but it'll take longer!  Anyone else have any good recommendations?

[Neville]

I read many novels, about one per week (lots of spare time, you know). Best I have read lately is some Lovecraft (Randolph Carter series), some Philip K. Dick ("Second variety" and "The variable man" on top of the list), and specially "The puppet masters", by Robert Heinlein. Bloody fantastic stuff.

[Luke Bannon (too lazy to log)]

I'm reading Animal Farm right now. It's a very interesting book, and an excellent metaphor for the Russian Revolution.

[Chadzilla]

I average about one a week (sometimes more, sometimes less given narrative density*/personal interest and/or genre) -

Currently I am reading Diuturnity's Dawn by Alan Dean Foster, it's the third book in the Founding of the Commonwealth trilogy.  I am also nibbling away at Japan's Favorite Mon-star: The Unauthorized Biography of the Big-G, which I think is required reading for any Godzilla fan.

The ones I have polished off recently -

Phylogenesis by ADF (Book 1 in the Founding trilogy)
Dirge by ADF (Book 2 in the Founding trilogy)
Marrying Owen by Colleen Faulkner
Burden of Truth by Charles Colson
A Dance with Deception by Charles Colson
The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
From the Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury
Rogue Squadron by Michael Stackpole
Wedge's Gamble by Michael Stackpole
The Krytos Trap by Michael Stackpole
The Bacta War by Michael Stackpole
The Approaching Storm by Alan Dean Foster
Everything's Eventual by Stephen King
The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale
Embrace and Conquer by Jennifer Blake

Next on deck (i.e. what I plan to be reading next)

The Ghastly One (the Andy Milligan biography)
Taming Ben by Collen Faulkner
Assassins (Left Behind #6) by Jerry Jenkins and Tim La Haye
From A Buick 8 by Stephen King (whenever it arrives from the book club)

* Narrative density is the best term I can come up with to explain the difference between reading, say, a category romance (i.e. Harlequin) and A Requiem for a Nun by William Faulkner.

Note to Ashthecat -

Take the sage advice of Ray Bradbury - read EVERYTHING you can get your hands on, regardless of genre.  Take chances.  As Bradbury says "The good books will teach you how to write, the bad ones will teach you how NOT to write."  Mr. Bradburys's Zen in the Art of Writing is pretty much a must read.

[Gerry]

Just finised Yendi by Stephen Brust -- a terrific writer.  A must read for Fantasy fans.

Before that it was Meg by that guy whose name I can't remember right now--giant Killer Megalodon wreaks havoc.  Chadzilla recommended it--a good mindless read for aquatic  terror fans.

Right now I'm just starting Stanislaw Lem's Solaris.

Chadzilla wrote:
>
> Bradburys's Zen in the Art of Writing is pretty much a must
> read.

Gotta agree there.  It's a  good read for budding writers.  I lent my copy out and never got it back though :(

[Mofo Rising]

Philip K. Dick and Joe R. Lansdale are two of my favourite writers.

The book I'm reading now is Sophie's World.  It's a short history of philosophy wrapped in a sort of modern fairy tale.  It's interesting, but I don't really like any of the characters, which is a problem.  Would be a great book for a thoughful teenager.  I would have loved to have read this book as a teenager.

[Susan]

I can't stand stephen king anymore. Not that he was ever that good to begin with, he has his moments. But I think in some instances he goes too over the top towards the end. I tend to like his short stories more (Skeleton crew, night shift) or stuff that isn't horror "the girl who loved tom gordon", "the green mile". I DID like "insomnia" because it was really different, but often his books feel like they run out of steam and he tries to overcompensate with a sensational ending.

I've hardly had time to read lately, i'll enjoy reading this thread for some ideas. I think the last book I read was "Flags of our fathers" (recommended) and some lovecraft.

[Chadzilla]

Gerry wrote:
>
> Before that it was Meg by that guy whose name I can't
> remember right now--giant Killer Megalodon wreaks havoc.
> Chadzilla recommended it--a good mindless read for aquatic
> terror fans.
>

Steve Alten, for the record.

[Cool Tester]

I'm reading "Armor" by John Steakley right now (very good).  Someone mentioned Stanislaw Lem's "Solaris."  I finished reading that a couple of months ago.  It's a very philisophical novel, and I enjoyed it very much.  I hope the new movie doesn't screw it up to badly.  I also recently reread "A Wrinkle In Time" by Madeline L'Engle.  It's a childrens' book, but it's a lot of fun to read.  I'm probably going to read "A Wind in the Door" next (the second in the series).  

Up Next on my list:
A Requiem for the Sun (the fourth part of the Rhapsody series by Elizabeth Haydon.  It's good if you are into Fantasy, which I am).
Splinter in the Mind's Eye (an old Star Wars novel that takes place between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back).
Gust Front (by John Ringo, heard some good things about him but I've never read him.  Always did like Military SF though, so I'm hopeful).

[Gerry]

Cool Tester wrote:
>
> Splinter in the Mind's Eye (an old Star Wars novel that takes
> place between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back).

It doesn't relate events that happened between the two movies.  It features an apocryphal storyline that Lucas had once considered for a sequel but abandoned for the one he used for EMPIRE.  It focuses just on Luke and Leia and their relationship--and I'm not talking brother and sister here.  There's no sign of Han or Chewy though Darth Vader does make an appearance.  It also features the force-amplifying Kiber crystal that appeared in early drafts of the STAR WARS scripts.  It's an interesting look at where Lucas had once intended to go with the series.

[Cool Tester]

Cool.  Thanks for setting me straight :)

[J.R.]

Hopscotch by Kevin J. Anderson

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

[Luke Bannon (too lazy to log)]

Is catcher in the rye a good book? Since I've been thinking of getting it out of the library for a while now.

[Susan]

I read it, it ain't that gripping. It's one of those literary pieces that I think schools and critics love to analyze but it personally didn't do much for me

[Luke Bannon (too lazy to log)]

Susan wrote:
>
> I read it, it ain't that gripping. It's one of those literary
> pieces that I think schools and critics love to analyze but
> it personally didn't do much for me


OK.