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What are you reading?

Posted: Jan 16th, '11, 03:29
by badcompany
What books do you have on the go at the moment?

Do tell.

Posted: Jan 16th, '11, 04:28
by Gir
I recently bought a Kindle, and I downloaded a bunch of free books which are mostly older/classics. So that's mostly what I'm reading now, I just finished off "Moby Dick" and have just started Edgar Rice Burrough's Barsoom series.

Posted: Jan 16th, '11, 13:25
by JaJe
Lev Tolstoy "Anna Karenina", Well I should read it, but I haven´t even started with it....

Posted: Jan 16th, '11, 13:45
by Ethlenn
I love Thomas Hardy and right now I'm reading The Woodlanders, for xxx time. Also, for my work I'm reading lots of boring books without a plot, like Xinzhong Yao: An Introduction to Confucianism, Joseph Campbell: The Masks of Gods, Mircea Eliade: Shamanism, etc.

Posted: Jan 16th, '11, 18:57
by saigo_x
Right now I'm plodding my way through The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings. It's nothing like the movie but still somewhat entertaining. :P Lately i've been mostly reading random older books like Atlas Shrugged and Pride and Prejudice. I'm thinking of reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo after The Fellowship... or sooner if the story doesn't pick up hehe.

Posted: Jan 16th, '11, 19:14
by Peggy
It is almost impossible for me to read from the printed page. Vision problems..cannot remain focussed on the printing. However, I can deal with text on the computer. I am thinking of getting an iPad but not sure yet since I have not had one in hand. Does anyone have any opinions re this and do you think it will work like a PC for reading. It would be nice to sit in an armchair and read again.
Thanks for any thoughts.

Posted: Jan 16th, '11, 19:21
by Ethlenn
Sorry, Peggy, can't help you with that, but maybe Kindle would suit your needs? Perhaps iPod may be too small of a device.

Re LOTR: I hate the movies!! Fervently hate with all my might! Movies killed the book, they killed the epic tone of it. LOTR was written with epos-deprived people of England in mind, and Hollywood made a load of crap out of this. Faramir, my favorite character in the book, became some pansy cry-baby. And Legolas... oh damn, let's not start on this one. Plus they killed Haldir, that started the rage of mine and few friends along.
Now I'm patiently waiting for Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin^^ :cheers:

Posted: Jan 16th, '11, 21:27
by Peggy
Ethlynn.
Not an iPOD It is an iPAD which is as large as most books but very light in weight. Can also have email etc I believe. I suppose it is like a small PC.
Must get to the Mall and mosey around the Apple store when I have time.

Posted: Jan 16th, '11, 21:59
by Keiko1981
Peggy wrote:It is almost impossible for me to read from the printed page. Vision problems..cannot remain focussed on the printing. However, I can deal with text on the computer. I am thinking of getting an iPad but not sure yet since I have not had one in hand. Does anyone have any opinions re this and do you think it will work like a PC for reading. It would be nice to sit in an armchair and read again.
Thanks for any thoughts.
I'm in the exact same situation as you.
I can no longer read usual books or newspapers, reading on the computer is fine though.
I'm also wonder over which option would be best when it comes to reading E-books.

I have gone over to audio books. Sadly I can't find all books I want to read as audio books.
At the moment I'm reading Robert Jordan's fantasy serie.The Wheel of Time.
I'm at the last chapter of book 9 (Winter's Heart), soon I'll begin with the 10th which is Crossroads of Twilight.

Posted: Jan 16th, '11, 22:22
by Ethlenn
Stupid me, stupid me, stupid me. I read it wrong.

iPAD would be nice, I guess.

And just a stupid question, but I can't find it anywhere, is there a pdf version or any other readable online of Patricia Kennealy-Morrison's series The Keltiad? I read Silver Branch, but I'd like to read also Copper Crown and the rest, and only the SB is available at my library. It's not the highest literature, but I remember I enjoyed it very much.

Posted: Jan 17th, '11, 09:28
by alanmoore
Well im reading chapter 600 of One Piece

Posted: Jan 17th, '11, 15:17
by badcompany
Mmm, would love to get a Kindle, having your whole library at your disposal when travelling would be awesome. Just can't get used to reading on a screen.

Currently reading:
A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby, very funny.
Snakes & Earrings - Hitomi Kanehara, when on the toilet.
The Secret Teachings of All Ages - Manly P. Hall, browse reading.

Posted: Jan 17th, '11, 15:23
by badcompany
Ethlenn wrote:Also, for my work I'm reading lots of boring books without a plot, like Xinzhong Yao: An Introduction to Confucianism, Joseph Campbell: The Masks of Gods, Mircea Eliade: Shamanism, etc.
Those books don't sound boring to me, your work sounds like it's pretty interesting. What do you do, if you don't mind me asking?

Posted: Jan 17th, '11, 15:31
by badcompany
saigo_x wrote: Lately i've been mostly reading random older books like Atlas Shrugged
Have this on my to read list, it's been sitting in my library for a couple of years now, just can't seem to bring myself to open it. Looks like a difficult read, is it?

Posted: Jan 17th, '11, 19:52
by saigo_x
badcompany wrote:
saigo_x wrote: Lately i've been mostly reading random older books like Atlas Shrugged
Have this on my to read list, it's been sitting in my library for a couple of years now, just can't seem to bring myself to open it. Looks like a difficult read, is it?
Actually it was pretty good until it got to a certain scene toward the end that took me two weeks to get through a 40-50 page section. I understand why alot of people never finish it. :crazy: Unless you are willing to force yourself through that incredibly tedious section I would probably recommend not starting at all hehe. Although I guess you could skip most of it and still be able to finish the book without missing much. :lol The philosophical slant is pretty strong in some parts, most notably in that section I mention, but most books from that era are that way. IMHO it fits in pretty well with 1984 and Faranheit 451.

Posted: Jan 17th, '11, 22:56
by Ethlenn
badcompany wrote:
Ethlenn wrote:Also, for my work I'm reading lots of boring books without a plot, like Xinzhong Yao: An Introduction to Confucianism, Joseph Campbell: The Masks of Gods, Mircea Eliade: Shamanism, etc.
Those books don't sound boring to me, your work sounds like it's pretty interesting. What do you do, if you don't mind me asking?
Well, they are not boring, actually, not Eliade at least, but for people who consider reading a supermarket leaflet as "reading" that may soind boring. Hard to believe, there are such people.

And if we speak about classic (1984 is one) I could never finish A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. And strange enough, I don't like Jane Austen, even though all girls in my class used to cry buckets over her works.

Posted: Jan 18th, '11, 19:13
by TylerDurden2604
@ Ethlenn:

you love to read Thomas Hardy !!! And i thought, i´d be the only one out there.

I like "The Life and Death of the Mayor of Casterbridge" the most and "Jude the Obscure".

Great to hear, that someone reads this kind of older books.

His writing style is just wonderful.

A bit depressing sometimes, but i guess that´s what i like about his books.

Posted: Jan 21st, '11, 13:56
by Ethlenn
My favorites of T.H. are "The Woodlanders" and Jude the Obscure". Yes, I love how he can describe feelings, putting them along with nature elements. And when describing the nature or things, I can almost feel the cold drops of mist and snow...

How about even classic-er classic? Shakespeare?

Posted: Jan 21st, '11, 14:33
by SSpiegel
I used to read Shakespeare in high school, but only comedies and such. The Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merry Wives of Windsor... I'm not really into tragedies, and I think the best thing about Shakespeare is the witty language he uses in his comedies. I haven't read anything in years, tho, and don't remember much of those that I've read.

Just a while ago I did this book list test in fb, and got, like, 6 out of 100. Which makes me wonder what I've been reading all these years! I totally have a fear of classics, tho, because I don't even want to start reading them because of the hype. I always feel they are never as good as they were said to be. And well, many classics are just so damn boring! :) I tried reading Russian classics (Anna Karenina, The Master and Margarita), but I just don't have the patience for them. And for years I thought I hadn't read The Catcher in the Rye, but I have and I just didn't like it.

Anyway, I just finished Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. Next on my list is The Aquariums of Pyongyang and Jan Guillou's Ondskan ('evil' in English). I have to read it in Swedish for my Swedish class, but I've seen the movie and it was really good. So I'm hoping it's interesting, since it's gonna be a pain to read it in a language I suck at.

Posted: Jan 21st, '11, 16:57
by TylerDurden2604
@ Ethlenn:

Yes, i read most of the Shakespeare Stuff. Favourites are "Much Ado about Nothing" and "Hamlet".

And i read Zola "Therese Raquin", Goethe "Werther" and so on.

Posted: Jan 21st, '11, 20:04
by Ethlenn
I like "Makbet", maybe because I'm into treason leitmotif in literature. But Shakespeare had some great sense and balance of words, like in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" or "Tempest", but also "Taming of the Shrew" is great (btw. BBC re-made Shakespeare's classics in a modern way, and "Taming of..." is just a masterpiece, highly recommended!)

Somehow Zola never appealed to me, the same goes for Hugo (although I did cry for poor Esmeralda in "Hunchback...", can't believe what Disney did with that twisted, tragic story, aigoo).
As for "Werther"... hmm, for me it's not anything about the love for a woman. Young Werther loved his own love, his own idea of love, thus - he loved himself the most.
But if we are in this geography, I'd like to
THE GLOVE

by: Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805)

EFORE his lion-court
Impatient for the sport,
King Francis sat one day;
The peers of his realm sat around,
And in balcony high from the ground
Sat the ladies in beauteous array.
And when with his finger he beckoned,
The gate opened wide in a second
And in, with deliberate tread,
Enters a lion dread,
And looks around
Yet utters no sound;
Then long he yawns
And shakes his mane,
And, stretching each limb,
Down lies he again.

Again signs the king,--
The next gate open flies,
And, lo! with a wild spring,
A tiger out hies.
When the lion he sees, loudly roars he about,
And a terrible circle his tail traces out.
Protruding his tongue, past the lion he walks,
And, snarling with rage, round him warily stalks
Then, growling anew,
On one side lies down too.

Again signs the king,--
And two gates open fly,
And, lo! with one spring,
Two leopards out hie.
On the tiger they rush, for the fight nothing loth,
But he with his paws seizes hold of them both
And the lion, with roaring, gets up, - then all's still,
The fierce beasts stalk around, madly thirsting to kill.

From the balcony raised high above
A fair hand lets fall down a glove
Into the lists, where 'tis seen
The lion and tiger between.

To the knight, Sir Delorges, in tone of jest,
Then speaks young Cunigund fair;
"Sir Knight, if the love that thou feel'st in thy breast
Is as warm as thou'rt wont at each moment to swear,
Pick up, I pray thee, the glove that lies there!"

And the knight, in a moment, with dauntless tread,
Jumps into the lists, nor seeks to linger,
And, from out the midst of those monsters dread,
Picks up the glove with a daring finger.

And the knights and ladies of high degree
With wonder and horror the action see,
While he quietly brings in his hand the glove,
The praise of his courage each mouth employs;
Meanwhile, with a tender look of love,
The promise to him of coming joys,
Fair Cunigund welcomes him back to his place.
But he threw the glove point-blank in her face:
"Lady, no thanks from thee I'll receive!"
And that selfsame hour he took his leave.

This anonymous translation of "The Glove" was originally published in 1902.
present some poetry^^
This is one of the wickest poems by this author.


I like Russian old works, "Idiot" being one of my favorites, even though I hit the wall few times with the book. "Master and Margarita" is simply awesome.

Posted: Jan 22nd, '11, 00:47
by refev
Right now I'm reading Murakami's 世界の終り~, the next book will probably be something by Isaka Kotaro (伊坂幸太郎). Any other recommendations for contemporary Japanese novelists?

Posted: Jan 22nd, '11, 03:17
by SSpiegel
@refev: you've probably read other books by Murakami, too? I liked Sputnik Sweetheart, but Kafka on the Shore and Norwegian Wood were also pretty ok. Kaori Ekuni's Twinkle Twinkle is also good. Mishima Yukio isn't exactly contemporary, but he is pretty well-known: I've read The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. My Japanese teacher can't stop raving about Natsume Soseki's Kokoro and Kawabata Yasunari's Thousand Cranes, which I have personally read.

Posted: Jan 22nd, '11, 15:22
by Lucille
badcompany wrote:Mmm, would love to get a Kindle, having your whole library at your disposal when travelling would be awesome. Just can't get used to reading on a screen.

Currently reading:
A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby, very funny.
Snakes & Earrings - Hitomi Kanehara, when on the toilet.
The Secret Teachings of All Ages - Manly P. Hall, browse reading.

Snakes and Earrings was crazy, awesome, and scary all at the same time. I have the movie, but I can't make myself watch it.

Posted: Jan 22nd, '11, 15:28
by Lucille
SSpiegel wrote:@refev: you've probably read other books by Murakami, too? I liked Sputnik Sweetheart, but Kafka on the Shore and Norwegian Wood were also pretty ok. Kaori Ekuni's Twinkle Twinkle is also good. Mishima Yukio isn't exactly contemporary, but he is pretty well-known: I've read The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. My Japanese teacher can't stop raving about Natsume Soseki's Kokoro and Kawabata Yasunari's Thousand Cranes, which I have personally read.
Kafka on the Shore was not an easy read. I read it a while back and I am still trying to figure out some of the meaning. It's like the play 'Waiting for Godot."

Posted: Jan 22nd, '11, 16:48
by SSpiegel
Lucille wrote:
SSpiegel wrote:@refev: you've probably read other books by Murakami, too? I liked Sputnik Sweetheart, but Kafka on the Shore and Norwegian Wood were also pretty ok. Kaori Ekuni's Twinkle Twinkle is also good. Mishima Yukio isn't exactly contemporary, but he is pretty well-known: I've read The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. My Japanese teacher can't stop raving about Natsume Soseki's Kokoro and Kawabata Yasunari's Thousand Cranes, which I have personally read.
Kafka on the Shore was not an easy read. I read it a while back and I am still trying to figure out some of the meaning. It's like the play 'Waiting for Godot."
Yeah, I think my problem is the selection of books I've read from him. Sputnik Sweetheart was sci-fi, Norwegian Wood was a coming of age story, but Kafka on the Shore was something from between. I did like it, but the fantasy just threw me off. It's not that I don't like sci-fi or fantasy. It doesn't have to be realistic to be good. But many times when I see a movie or read a book that has surrealistic elements that I don't understand, it turns me off. You can do all sorts of weird stuff, especially in writing cause there's no boundaries, but if the reader/watcher doesn't understand the meaning or can't draw anything out of it, I don't get the point. For example, Lynch's Mulholland Drive. I mean, even if you could give it some meaning, all of that is overshadowed by really weird sh*t happening 24/7. I'm not saying stuff like that is all crap and they shouldn't be done, or that everything should be given to us already chewed and digested, but it's not for me.

Anyway, sorry that pretty much everything I say is superlame. For some reason I'm really bad at explaining myself in English. I'm not that good at it in Finnish, either. I have all these thoughts, but they just don't come out right. :(

Posted: Jan 22nd, '11, 21:51
by refev
Lucille wrote: Kafka on the Shore was not an easy read. I read it a while back and I am still trying to figure out some of the meaning. It's like the play 'Waiting for Godot."
I thought it was great and entertaining but it did end somewhat prematurely and suddenly IMO.

Also, his Japanese is pretty easy to understand so I can read his books without thinking too much ;-).

Posted: Jan 23rd, '11, 09:45
by Es2Key
Right now Im reading Metro 2033 and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
I'm thinking about reading some Murakami's book, any suggestions, which one is better to begin with?

Posted: Feb 18th, '11, 19:38
by Sajen16
Es2Key wrote:Right now Im reading Metro 2033 and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
I'm thinking about reading some Murakami's book, any suggestions, which one is better to begin with?


I've read almost all his books my favorites are the Wind-up Bird Chronicle and Kafka on the Shore, but for starting I'd suggest either of his short story collections, The Elephant Vanishes or Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman

Posted: Feb 18th, '11, 20:39
by arakira
Oh, I didn't know such a thread existed here on da!!?

I used to love Murakami and read most of his works...but strangely i didn't like windupbird and kafka on the shore all that much.
My fav of his are A Wild Sheep Chase and Hard Boiled Wonderland but I also like his short stories. Just started 1Q84 (in German translation) and I love it thus far. Did anybody else read this? Or is there a Japanese ebook version available?

Another Japanese author I recently found is Kawakami Hiromi. I loved her novel The Teacher's Briefcase (Sensei no kaban) - about a love between a 30 yrs old and her 70yrs old teacher. It's a quiet but lovely story!

Mishima Yukio's Confessions of a mask is another memorable Japanese novel for me. Was one of the first Japanese author's I read.

Ecchan...I LOVE Master and Margarita. The only Russian novel I really adore. Strange enough, I never managed to admire Tolstoi or Dostojewski...Neither do Goethe or other "Sturm and Drang" authors appeal to me. My all time favourite German author is Hesse. Dunno how many times I reread Demian and das Glasperlenspiel ;)

Also reading The Bad Girl by Vargas Llosa atm and I have to say, I love his sober style and the way he makes me pity, despise and love his protagonist alternately ;)

Posted: Feb 18th, '11, 21:31
by Ethlenn
I hate Murakami, but he's easy to read (in Japanese).

One author I can read all over again is Akutagawa. I just can't get enough of him, I even read his China diaries. The same goes for Korean poetry and Rimbaud.

And Ara: I love Hesse's Siddhartha.

Right now I'm reading some books on anthropology of religion (gibberish) and Joseph's Campbell's Creative Mythology series. And I second - is there any pdf site with books like this?

Posted: Feb 18th, '11, 23:54
by aNToK
"Perceiving the Arts," and "The Art of Being Human" for my humanities class. Then maybe I can finish watching "Gloria" get caught up on my Smallville viewing...

Posted: Feb 20th, '11, 22:27
by JaJe
Erich Maria Remarque "Three Friends" and after that I will start with Hemingway "For whom the bell tolls"

Posted: Feb 28th, '11, 18:07
by SSpiegel
I'm trying to read Audrey Niffenegger's Her Fearful Symmetry right now, but it's progressing slowly. I loved The Time Traveler's Wife, it was so well constructed, but I'm not into this new one yet. Not sure if she's that good of a writer, but I'm a sucker for time travelling stuff, especially when it's done without huge holes in logic.

Posted: Feb 28th, '11, 21:45
by H a n a
Adobe Lightroom 3 for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby
its soo interesting
I like his books ,,,

Posted: Mar 1st, '11, 12:35
by H a n a
Speak Japanese Today
by "Taeko Kamiya"
it looks basic but its good !!

Posted: May 3rd, '11, 10:46
by Ethlenn
Oh, I can do magic too, I can make spammers disappear.

Reading: Mircea Eliade, Myth and Reality. :mrgreen:

Posted: May 3rd, '11, 10:59
by Keiko1981
"Towers of Midnight" book 13 in the fantasy series "The Wheel of Time":by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson.

Posted: May 5th, '11, 03:28
by curlywurly
Currently reading: Matter by Iain M Banks.

Has anyone read any of the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series by George R. R. Martin?

Posted: May 13th, '11, 17:33
by Ethlenn
Does anyone know where I can get (金城一紀) Kaneshiro Kazuki's GO! ? As some downloadable file preferably. Amazon.jp doesn't ship here. Language is irrelevant (English, Japanese, Korean) in a regular range. No Swahili though.
:mrgreen:

Posted: May 13th, '11, 17:54
by dtyc
No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. There are 11 series. It is very good, interesting, funny at times, and easy reading. I love it. I'm on my 11th book of this series.

Posted: May 14th, '11, 08:57
by arakira
Ecchan, sorry I don't know where to get it as ebook but wrote you a PM about it. Only watched the film which was pretty good.

Reading Mr. Peanut by Adam Ross which is a surprisingly grand first work, being through half of it, I'd recommend it to anybody who doesn't mind a complex and layered story ;)
and Sergio Alvarez' 35 Dead, which is as fascinating as it's shocking and tells the recent history of columbia on the side.

Posted: May 14th, '11, 09:33
by Llyss
I am reading Frank Schätzing's Limit. :alcoholic:

Considering that I usually avoid books which involve the space and I read through one of his other books with a mild grin on my face - aliens anyone?- , it's very surprising that I actually bought it.

Posted: May 20th, '11, 11:36
by zooey
On the last chapter of Ryu Murakami's "Popular Hits of the Showa Era"-- a quick read, very kooky. Might check out the movie version after that.

Posted: May 20th, '11, 14:32
by arakira
Llyss wrote:I am reading Frank Schätzing's Limit. :alcoholic:

Considering that I usually avoid books which involve the space and I read through one of his other books with a mild grin on my face - aliens anyone?- , it's very surprising that I actually bought it.
Keke I thought I should try one of his works, too. But I just can't get used to his writing style. I read about 100 pages of Limit but still couldn't get into it, so I put it away for the time being, interested in whether it's worth picking up again...please tell me your impression once you've read it ;)

Btw, is there any talented contemporary Korean writer whose works are available translated into English (or German)?

Posted: May 21st, '11, 11:37
by Ethlenn
Ara: http://www.kahs.org/downloads/99KoreanFic.pdf
http://hompi.sogang.ac.kr/anthony/TranslationList.htm
And lately there's been much fuss around Shin Kyeongsuk and her "Please Look After My Mom". It's nice, from what I read, cause I didn't have the chance to read it. Give me more time, and I will come up with more names^^

Posted: May 22nd, '11, 10:52
by arakira
YAY, Ecchan, I knew I could count on you!! Thanks a lot! xD

Posted: May 24th, '11, 11:02
by JaJe
I just finished reading "Beastly" by Alex Flinn. It was better than I expected. Just what I needed after reading the classical literature for over a year.

Posted: Jun 27th, '11, 22:08
by complexfest
I just finished reading "Beastly" by Alex Flinn. It was better than I expected. Just what I needed after reading the classical literature for over a year.
I saw the movie quite recently and I was really disappointed.
Is the book any better?

Posted: Jul 1st, '11, 07:57
by JaJe
complexfest wrote:
I just finished reading "Beastly" by Alex Flinn. It was better than I expected. Just what I needed after reading the classical literature for over a year.
I saw the movie quite recently and I was really disappointed.
Is the book any better?
I haven´t seen the movie - so I can´t say which one is better, but I know that they changed a lot of things while making the movie. For example: the characters look. From a woman´s point of view I´d say Vanessa Hudgens is really beautiful - but in the book Lindy is red-haired nothing-special looking girl. Also Kyle himself is more like a monster in the book (hairy and stuff). So I guess the movie differs from the book alot.
I didn´t like the way the author had written some scenes where Kyle was having an internet conversation with so-called "other monsters" aka people who are turned into something by the witch. It was quite pointless because it didn´t add anything to the main storyline and it´s really hard to figure out how a frog could write with the keyboard...
I did like the romance part. As it is written from Kyle´s point of view it´s much more easier to understand him and his actions.

Posted: Jul 13th, '11, 04:49
by MoonRaven
Currently reading the second book in the Vampire Academy series.

Posted: Jul 13th, '11, 07:22
by XrayZ
Normally I hate doing research, but this time it's fun cause I'm reading two very different histories of Japan.

One is The Story of Japan Vol. 1 by Hiraizumi Kiyoshi - a book written in 1970 by an elderly historian who had been deeply committed to Japanese militarism and resigned his post on the day Japan surrendered in WWII. The intro says it was written "in the midst of a left wing avalanche" and that the author "remained firm as a rock in his orthodox view of history"... so, basically, this is more useful as an insight into the early-Showa nationalist mindset than it is as actual history. I'm actually researching the '30s, but I've had this for ages and never read it (in fact, I won it in a charity raffle!).

The other book is A History of Modern Japan by Richard Storry, which was written just 8 years after the end of the Occupation in 1960, and which is far more useful as research, and perhaps more entertaining to read. Because the author is more detached and more modern in his methods, it seems very strange that this book is ten years older. It's a good read, actually, always interesting and concise, and quite balanced (although Storry's politics are as easy to read as Hiraizumi's).

So... can any of you cultured souls reccommend some works concerning 1930s Japan?

Oh yeah, and I just read a kids' book my daughter lent me called Teacher's Dead by Benjamin Zephaniah. I never really got into the guy's poetry (for my money he's like a cut-rate Linton Kwesi Johnson), but he's a pretty damn entertaining novelist. The narrator seems a bit fresh-faced and innocent compared to me at his age, but maybe that's cause I was already old and cynical at 15.

Posted: Jul 13th, '11, 11:24
by arakira
@XrayZ
I never really did japanese studies so I don't know about history/scientific literature but during my studies on imperialism I did read a fascinating book about the cultural/societal driving forces and effects of the Manchuko craze. It's called "Japan's Total Empire - Manchuria and the Culture of Wartime Imperialism" by Louise Young.
And there's also Herbert Bix' biography "Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan" which was a very interesting read about the workings of the political system, the monachy and the emperor's role.

I'm reading Shantaram by G.D. Roberts atm which is a fascinating autobiographical novel about the shadow-life of an Australian prison escapee in Bombay. The author's language is rather crude but that's how the book manages to feel true and authentic while telling an absolutely unbelievable story.

Posted: Jul 13th, '11, 11:30
by Keiko1981
Not so long ago finished Box 21 and now halfway through The Beast by Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström.
Awaiting the next book in the Wheel of Time series.

Posted: Jul 13th, '11, 17:50
by Ethlenn
I took a vow to read again all by Dumas father. So here I am, The Vicomte de Bragelonne, whoohoo^^

And I read lately funny short story by Miyazawa Kenji, Tsuchigami to kitsune, kekeke...
Also, less funny Golden Rush by Yu Miri, omo...

Posted: Jul 21st, '11, 13:01
by XrayZ
@arakira - Thanks! The Louise Young book in particular sounds really interesting, I'll have a look and see if there's any affordable copies around. (Fingers x'ed!)

@Ethlenn - Yay, Dumas! I've only read his rockin' famous ones like Count of Monte Cristo and the d'Artagnan books, so can you reccommend me one of his lesser-known works? My French probably isn't up to reading the original but all his work has been translated at some point into English.

Since I said I don't mind romance, someone online reccommended I read "The Princess Diaries"... but I'm thinking that's WAY TOO girly for me... plus I'm an anti-monarchist... so does anyone know any good books combining a touch of romance with a bit of excitement and plot?

All this history has left me needing a novel... the "cracking good read" type more than the "classic of literature" type, although both at once is always best!

Posted: Jul 21st, '11, 13:58
by Ethlenn
@XrayZ: you may try Ascanio, I really enjoyed that. Also, Queen Margot is nice (a bit different from the movie), Les mille et un fantômes (it's about ghosts, vampires and all), Chroniques de France : Isabel de Baviere - Regne de Charles VI, La Dame de Monsoreau, Georges etc.

Posted: Jul 25th, '11, 01:48
by sayapikun
I'm reading Kagerou by Saitou Tomohiro aka Mizushima Hiro.

Since there are lots of kanji I don't understand, it really takes time for me to read. But the book looks promising although I've only read the first chapter :)

Posted: Aug 5th, '11, 07:21
by denisa
I am currently reading John Steinbeck - Cannery Row. I really love his books, especially East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath.

Posted: Aug 17th, '11, 16:47
by bluchan
Kafka on the shore by Haruki Murakami (reading / pending)
Malena es un nombre de tango by Almudena Grandes (pending)
The New York trilogy by Paul Auster (pending)

Posted: Aug 17th, '11, 17:16
by kuro570
Currently reading Lovecraft tales edited by Peter Straub. So favorite stories are Call of Cthulhu, The Outsider, Rats in the walls, and At the Mountains of Madness.

Posted: Aug 20th, '11, 10:13
by Ethlenn
Have a weird habit, each year in August I read "I, Claudius" by Robert Graves. It gives me shivers each and every time...

Posted: Aug 24th, '11, 13:58
by .kate.24
I just finished a Sherlock Homes book that came with the dvd. I actually quite enjoyed it.

I am also reading a book of poems by Alexander Pope. I have never read poetry before but I found its aged binding in a old book store and its sweet inscription from 1927 convinced me to read it. it does take me a few reads of each poem until I got the gist of what he is trying to say, but some of it is really moving

' Say, is not absence death to those that love ? '

Posted: Sep 10th, '11, 13:50
by electricBonBon
"Strawberry Panic" (Light Novel)

Posted: Sep 30th, '11, 01:17
by avieamber
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee :D

Posted: Oct 24th, '11, 10:35
by jessiesoon
Undead and Undermined by MaryJanice Davidson

Posted: Oct 26th, '11, 03:08
by SaruSurfer
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows.

Since I saw the movie I wondered what the book was like.

Posted: Dec 31st, '11, 10:56
by inishi
Game of Thrones book one by George R. R. Martin
Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian by Rick Riordan (put this on hiatus)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling (hiatus since it first came out...this one is kind of horrible)
Paradise Lost by John Milton (also on hiatus...)
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory (hiatus...probably won't finish reading it lool)

Yeah i'm awesome like that.

Posted: Dec 31st, '11, 12:25
by Lucille
anyone reading haruki's 1Q84? Is it good? i keep heeming and hawing about buying it.

Posted: Jan 1st, '12, 06:58
by moadeep
I am currently reading the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews and just finished Out of the Dark by David Weber. Out of the Dark was awesome. I can't say much cuz it would spoil the twist a little, but after reading it I thought to myself "This is like the plot of a bad SyFy original movie...how is it such an awesome book??" Next on my list is some nonfiction, french grammar, joy. Brushing up to help a friend practice. Let's see how much I remember from high school. heh.

Posted: Jan 3rd, '12, 11:46
by arakira
Lucille wrote:anyone reading haruki's 1Q84? Is it good? i keep heeming and hawing about buying it.
TBH I dropeed it. I liked his earlier works quite a lot but in recent years his novels just fail to keep me hooked. 1q84 started out pretty interesting with the talk about the different moons, music, the killer girl, the world being just a tad different all of a sudden...also the other part about the wanna be author and the girl writing about those strange beings toying with humans etc etc (been about a year since I tried so I only remember vaguely, sry)...but yeah i just lost interest in the characters and the whole surreal setting once again. Tough if you enjoyed wind-up bird and kafka in the shore you might well like this one too. ;)

Just finished Julian Barnes "The sense of an Ending" which was maybe the best book I've read in 2011. Very much reccomended.

Posted: Jan 3rd, '12, 17:17
by moadeep
The Giver is one of the best books ever. Did you know she wrote two more books in that world? I haven't read them yet, but they are on my list.

Posted: Feb 2nd, '12, 08:04
by candysimon2012
Hi! I am currently reading The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (wonderful classic novel!). I have seen the movie way before, but I only had the chance to read the book thanks to our librarian who made me borrow them (somehow forcefully) after telling her about my problems with my mom. She told me that I'd see my mom in a different light after reading the book, and I am starting to realize that she is right. I recommend the book and the movie to everyone!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Joy_Luck_Club

Posted: Feb 16th, '12, 12:10
by miyachanfan
I'm reading 'What The Bleep Do We Know!?'

It's so awesome I have to read in chunks b/c I get all exited and overwhelmed, you could say literally radiating gamma waves all over :D hehe

As for fiction, there's 'The Turn of the Screw' and 'Paranoid Park', both quite cool :)

Posted: Mar 3rd, '12, 16:37
by Keiko1981
Reading through Mari Jungstedt's books, almost done reading "Den Farliga Leken" (literary: "The Dangerous Game").
And I'm waiting for Roslund & Hellström's next (audio) book to come out this month. My favorite book with them is Box 21.
Been thinking of reading Brandon Sanderson's, Mistborn as well, because of Michael Kramer doing a wonderful job reading The Wheel of TIme together with Kate Reading.