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Twilight

At 9/20/09 11:12 AM, WritersBlock wrote:
I also borrowed a couple of books by John Grisham off my parents, crime/law fiction, and I thought they were really good. I think the ones I read were... the Partner and... the Chamber. I should also read more of his books. I should read more. I've got a few books that I've got that I want to read, but I've already got plenty of other books started and as of yet unfinished, and I really want to trim that number down and actually finish more books. Anyway, I've got Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to read, as well as Orson Scott Card's Ender's game and Raymond E Feist's Magician. I've got Terry Pratchett's Carpe Jugulum barely started, along with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I haven't yet got the Lord of the Rings books just yet or Frank Herbert's Dune, but I intend on getting my hands on them and reading them some time in the future. There are more, lots more, but I'll leave it at that for the time being.

You're reading far to many books at the same time man. Pick one up and stick with it until the end and then move on to another. I find reading more than one book at a time detracts from them all and that is never good. You must not really be enjoying any of them if I'm honest, if you can simply put one down after a few chapters and start another book.

I also find it distressing that for such an avid reader you haven't read two of the stanchions of modern fantasy and sci-fi, in LotR and Dune. Put everything you're reading down now and get these books. You'll be glad for it.

I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell
Tweak
A Million Little Pieces
Beautiful Boy

At 9/21/09 09:20 AM, Slightly-Crazy-Dude wrote: You're reading far to many books at the same time man. Pick one up and stick with it until the end and then move on to another. I find reading more than one book at a time detracts from them all and that is never good. You must not really be enjoying any of them if I'm honest, if you can simply put one down after a few chapters and start another book.

I have to agree, it absolutely sucks to be reading more than 2 books at a time. I can handle 2 if only because of having to do it for school, where I might have to be reading 2 at a time.

I also find it distressing that for such an avid reader you haven't read two of the stanchions of modern fantasy and sci-fi, in LotR and Dune. Put everything you're reading down now and get these books. You'll be glad for it.

Tack on to that A Game of Thrones, which at times is actually better than LoTR, though its clearly a different book all together.

As far as finishing the Dune series, I didn't bother. I read the first novel and loved it. I read the second one and was ok with it. I read the third one and felt like I was reading Anime. I gave up on the forth one a few pages in.

My personal opinion now is that, in general, short stories tend to be more to my liking than anything else. I've been picking up anthologies lately and I highly recommend these stories/authors:

Steven Millhauser
George Saunders
A.M. Homes
The Gambler by Paolo Bacigalupi : Story Online
The Erdmann Nexus by Nancy Kress Story Online
The Ray-Gun: A Love Story by James Alan Gardner Story Online
The Tear by Ian McDonald not available online
"N-Words" by Ted Kosmatka not available online
"Evil Robot Monkey" by Mary Robinette Kowal Available MP3, recommend reading, flash fiction
"Five Thrillers" by Robert Reed
"The Egg Man" by Mary Rosenblum
The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm by Daryl Gregory
G-Men by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
"Lester Young and the Jupiter's Moon's Blues" by Gord Sellar

At 9/18/09 11:59 AM, Magik-Waffle wrote: They say the best way to learn is through observation. So give me some good novels to read, with a gripping story, descriptive narration, etc. Just give me the name, author, genre, and why I should read it.

Okay, go.

any novel from Clive Cussler, the Dirk Pitt series is the best, but if you want to read the better books of the series, it will have to be Cyclops, Atlantis Found, Valhalla Rising and Iceberg, they're all good.

The Abhorsen Trilogy starting with 'Sabriel'.
Fantasy genre
Garth Nix

A gripping read with an interesting concept of a country blocked off with a wall to the Old Kingdom, where legend rules with magic both taught and untaught among different people and technology doesn't work and vice versa with magic in the normal country. Features death as the main villain and people controlling their path to avoid it through sorcery.

READ SOME HP LOVECRAFT GOD DAMNIT!

At 9/21/09 09:42 AM, gumOnShoe wrote:
I have to agree, it absolutely sucks to be reading more than 2 books at a time. I can handle 2 if only because of having to do it for school, where I might have to be reading 2 at a time.

I have never done that in my life if I'm honest. Even at school.

Tack on to that A Game of Thrones, which at times is actually better than LoTR, though its clearly a different book all together.

I'm not sure what you mean. Are you wanting to read AGoT or are you reading it at the moment, although sporadicly with other books?

I just finished my first re-read of AGoT a few days ago and I'm moving on with A Clash of Kings again. If you think AGoT is good, wait till you get to ACoK and further into the series, there'll be times you'll feel like putting the book down because it's that fucking good, I kid you not.

My personal opinion now is that, in general, short stories tend to be more to my liking than anything else. I've been picking up anthologies lately and I highly recommend these stories/authors:

I'll check a few of them out, it could be a while though I've been sternly told to read Ender's Game and some of the Discworld books. Which I will do after my re-read of ACoK and the first of the Malazan Empire books.

Fahrenheit 451- Ray Bradbury, Dystopian

A great Dystopian thriller about censorship and society, with a gripping storyline and a great external and internal conflict.

At 9/21/09 07:32 PM, JKMonkey wrote: Fahrenheit 451- Ray Bradbury, Dystopian

Read it. The movie sucked but the book was good.

These are a lot of books, people. Keep going.

At 9/21/09 09:42 AM, gumOnShoe wrote:

At 9/21/09 09:20 AM, Slightly-Crazy-Dude wrote: You're reading far to many books at the same time man. Pick one up and stick with it until the end and then move on to another. I find reading more than one book at a time detracts from them all and that is never good. You must not really be enjoying any of them if I'm honest, if you can simply put one down after a few chapters and start another book.

I have to agree, it absolutely sucks to be reading more than 2 books at a time. I can handle 2 if only because of having to do it for school, where I might have to be reading 2 at a time.

For some odd reason, I'm ok with it. I'm only just recently starting to read frequently. I finished Fight Club in 5 days, and now I've started on Cormack McCarthy's The Road. I don't mind flicking back a few pages to get back up to speed with things.
The Road is my "main" book at the moment.
Then I've got "Dracula" on the side. I didn't pick it up when I was reading Fight Club.
Then there are several that I've left for quite a while, Carpe Jugulum, The Wild, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and It.
So I'll probably finish the Road and Dracula before picking any of the others up.

I also find it distressing that for such an avid reader you haven't read two of the stanchions of modern fantasy and sci-fi, in LotR and Dune. Put everything you're reading down now and get these books. You'll be glad for it.

Oh great, layer on the guilt trip. Thanks guys. :|
But believe me, someone else could easily come along and state "for an avid reader, I find it distressing that you haven't read *insert another classic, yet another classic, another classic* ". There's too many books. LotR and Dune are at the top of my list of 'to read' books, and believe you me I will follow those up with many more books that I should have already read but haven't so I will soon.

Tack on to that A Game of Thrones, which at times is actually better than LoTR, though its clearly a different book all together.

Will do. It looks quite interesting. I searched it on wikipedia and notice that it's a part of a larger series. Would you recommend the whole series?

As far as finishing the Dune series, I didn't bother. I read the first novel and loved it. I read the second one and was ok with it. I read the third one and felt like I was reading Anime. I gave up on the forth one a few pages in.

Ok, so I should... read the first one then stop? Got it. I saw there were quite a few more books written (by Frank Herbert's son?) after Herbert died, so I think they're just stringing it on without even knowing fully what the novels are about.

My personal opinion now is that, in general, short stories tend to be more to my liking than anything else. I've been picking up anthologies lately and I highly recommend these stories/authors:

I'm more interested in the novels, personally, although I've got the complete works of H.P Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe each in their own volumes. I also had to read a bunch of short stories by Tim Winton (a Western Australian writer, whom, coincidentally, studied at the same university as the one I'm at now) in high school, but I'll probably end up getting that book sooner or later.

I go into the bookstore maybe 2-3 times a month and usually come out with 2 or 3 books. And each time I go in, there's probably about a dozen that I'd love to buy, and I'd love to read, but I lack the time and money for it. I see Dune, I see Lord of the Rings, I see Tim Winton's The Turning. I'll eventually get around to buying those books. Eventually.

At 9/23/09 12:30 PM, WritersBlock wrote: Stuff.

You haven't read the LotR series? What is wrong with you? Start it ASAP! It's almost necessary to read early in life, and a few times. Start with The Hobbit, though.

I read all three LotR books during my last month of senior year. I read only in school and still finished all three books in two-and-a-half to three weeks. I then watched the three extended DVDs in the last week and wept like a baby when Sam closed the door and "The End" popped up on the screen. I'm not even sure why. I guess when you become emotionally attached to a plot and group of characters that you feel like you know, it's heartbreaking to see them go and have the story end. Then again, I'm glad no one has butchered the series by making a cartoon or something out of it.

Oh, wait.

At 9/20/09 01:09 PM, People wrote:

:references to The Giver

A great book yeah, but I absolutely hated the ending.

I never really got into fiction, but I did enjoy reading The girl who loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King and a 10 book series By Darren Shan Called Cirque Du Freak.

You're probably looking for fiction, but here's some other stuff you might like.
I am America, and so can you.-Stephen Colbert
If you're into gears of war you might like the book
and if you wanna learn how to write 450+ pages about something that would seem impossible to write 450 pages about:

At 9/23/09 02:43 PM, SirCannabisClock wrote: I am America, and so can you.-Stephen Colbert

I've seen it and skimmed some pages. Maybe I should give it a read through.

If you're into gears of war you might like the book

Read them both now. Finished the second one just hours ago.

and if you wanna learn how to write 450+ pages about something that would seem impossible to write 450 pages about:

That's impressive, to say the least.

At 9/23/09 02:21 PM, Magik-Waffle wrote:

At 9/23/09 12:30 PM, WritersBlock wrote: Stuff.

You haven't read the LotR series? What is wrong with you? Start it ASAP! It's almost necessary to read early in life, and a few times. Start with The Hobbit, though.

I read the Hobbit about a month ago, for Uni. And when I say I will buy and read the Lord of the Rings books I'm not just saying 'oh yeah I'll do that so you'll stop harping on about it', I actually will definitely do it. I mean, I'd love to make a living out of writing, particularly in the fantasy/sci-fi realm of things, so yeah, I pretty much HAVE to read the books. But I want to. Jeez. ;P

Try books by Douglas Adams, Clive Cussler, and Chuck Pahalniuk.

So I'm almost done with The Road.

What shall I read next?

Pr0n: The Reawakening....

At 9/21/09 06:48 PM, Slightly-Crazy-Dude wrote: I have never done that in my life if I'm honest. Even at school.

I never had to until under-grad. But at that point I was in two English courses that required me to be reading books on strict timelines, usually 100 pages every 2 days per 2 separate books...

I'm not sure what you mean. Are you wanting to read AGoT or are you reading it at the moment, although sporadicly with other books?

No, I was telling WB to pick up the series eventually. I finished the ones that are out and am eagerly awaiting A Dance With Dragons, which I should probably just forget about for a few years as the writer seems to be enjoying the land of Cons.

I'll check a few of them out, it could be a while though I've been sternly told to read Ender's Game and some of the Discworld books. Which I will do after my re-read of ACoK and the first of the Malazan Empire books.

Ender's game is worth reading. I haven't picked up Diskworld yet, but I've got tons of friends who rave about Pratchet and the series. I've got wheel of time sitting on my shelf, but I don't know if I want something that epic and expansive at the moment.

At 9/23/09 12:30 PM, WritersBlock wrote: But believe me, someone else could easily come along and state "for an avid reader, I find it distressing that you haven't read *insert another classic, yet another classic, another classic* ". There's too many books. LotR and Dune are at the top of my list of 'to read' books, and believe you me I will follow those up with many more books that I should have already read but haven't so I will soon.

Eh, my life timeline with books went as following:

Age 8: Read lots and lots of Goosebumps till I could read 100 page novels in a day.
Age 11: Reach Chronicle's of Narnia interspersed with school novels.
Age 12: Read the hobbit & LOTR & Dragon Rider's of Pern (really horrible crap that last one)
Age 13: Read Redwall (usually a book a week)
Age 14: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

About here I just started reading everything I could get my hands on, including Harry Potter.

I have a friend though that just has a brain built for reading. He downs 300-500 pages in a day when he focuses on reading. When you are around someone like that, you tend to look at reading large quantities of books in a different light.

Will do. It looks quite interesting. I searched it on wikipedia and notice that it's a part of a larger series. Would you recommend the whole series?

Yes, the whole series is good, but take your time with it as the new books are coming out slowly. I'm sort of worried the author is going to die of a heart attack before the series is finished.

Ok, so I should... read the first one then stop? Got it. I saw there were quite a few more books written (by Frank Herbert's son?) after Herbert died, so I think they're just stringing it on without even knowing fully what the novels are about.

Its up to you whether you stop. The first one was very good. The second one lost some of its luster for me... it'd be up to your tastes as to whether you liked them. I'd recommend trying to go beyond if you like the first one, just be aware you might be disappointed. I know plenty of people who like the whole thing.

I'm more interested in the novels, personally, although I've got the complete works of H.P Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe each in their own volumes. I also had to read a bunch of short stories by Tim Winton (a Western Australian writer, whom, coincidentally, studied at the same university as the one I'm at now) in high school, but I'll probably end up getting that book sooner or later.

Its a taste I've developed. Finding a good short story isn't easy, but I've been happier reading some of the short stories I've read than some of the novels.

Like WritersBlock said, Orson Scott Cards Ender's Game. It's the best novel ever. I'd also recommend every book in the series if you like the first one (by publication date that is).

The Corrections.
I'm reading it right now and it has some of the most complex and accurate depictions of real world people, and their own mental struggles with mankind. READ IT. It's got everything.

Just finished The Wasp Factory. By far the most twisted, grotesque, and interesting novel I've ever read. I highly recommend it. I'm thinking of reading It next.