On the bookshelf

So, since there is a thread for music and movies, I thought I'd add one for books!
What are you reading right now? What do you recommend? Looking for a good read? Post it here!

To start, I am currently reading 'Dear American Airlines' by Jonathan Miles. I would strongly recommend it to anyone interested in a smart and subversive read.

I just joined the rest of the planet and read books 1-6 of Harry Potter. I have not read #7, but intend to before the movie comes out this fall. I had not watched or read the stories until about a month ago.

Other recently read books that I'd recommend:
The Walk by Richard Paul Evans (mildly schmaltzy, but a quick read and had a good message)
The Summer of Naked Swim Parties by Jessica Anya Blau (coming of age, set in the 70's, natch)
The House of Tomorrow by Peter Bognanni
The Pinball Theory of the Apocalypse by Jonathan Selwood
Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell (one of my favorites that I read this year, hands down)
Wetlands by Charlotte Roche (not for the faint of heart or squeamish, but fantastic all the same.)

So...what's on your bookshelf?

plussed, great thread

i actually just read all the harry potters for the first time myself a couple months ago also

recently finished the road and starship troopers, both were good


this is going to be jill's favorite thread of all, i just know it lol

and if you read this sweety, find me the damned night watch book!
hehehe

I tend to go by authors really.

I really enjoy almost every Nora Roberts and I've read almost all.

She also writes as J.D. Robb and did what I call the death series as all are titled, "Naked in death", "Glory in death", etc. It's set a bit futuristic, female bad arse cop coming from a bad childhood solves crime, gets targeted. Best read in order, but each stands alone as well.

Dean Koontz is another favorite of mine.

I'm not reading anything right now, but really need to.

I've read all the HP books, at least twice.

Its Banned Books Week!

Read 'em and celebrate freedom!

Haven't really enjoyed books in a while. Can't seem to focus. Decided goal is to read the entire Bible so that if anyone ever asks me, "Have you actually read the Bible?," I can say yes and ague point by point since it seems to be the most debatable book ever written. So far, there's nudity, murder, floods, incest, offering up daughters for gangrape, mass destruction, old ladies having babies. And I'm not even done with book 1.

Currently reading "the Mistress of the Empire" by Raymond E Feist and Janny Wurts. It is the third in a trilogy (the others being: Daughter of the Empire and Servant of the Empire) and tells of a world called Kelewan. Anyone who has read the rift wars series will know about Midkemia, and well, this is the story from the other side.  I like it because it shows a very oriental style culture and not many books are written like that for us in the west.

Elois wrote:

Haven't really enjoyed books in a while. Can't seem to focus. Decided goal is to read the entire Bible so that if anyone ever asks me, "Have you actually read the Bible?," I can say yes and ague point by point since it seems to be the most debatable book ever written. So far, there's nudity, murder, floods, incest, offering up daughters for gangrape, mass destruction, old ladies having babies. And I'm not even done with book 1.

hehe, bible is dirty book i havent read all, but did read apocalypse, it's interesting even if you aren't believer. and once in rk i made a list of apocalipse heroes (pale horse etc), instead of writin 1,2 3 for free spots and everybody was askin how do i know so many pplz damn uneducated rk players lol

recently i've read 'i'm a legend' by mateson (about vampires, tryin to explain 'em as a some disease caused by bacteria). tho i mostly was sorry for hero's dog, which died of that fuckin disease i like dogs. fuckin much more than humans...

and yes, me read all hp books long ago. should i feel ashemed? lol they werent bad, all except 7th, imo

Right now I'm reading... Natural History by Justina Robson. On the 3rd or 4th chapter and haven't made up my mind if I like it or not. Its sci-fi and seems a bit slow paced to me. Oh and at the same time I'm reading a 300 pages thick course literature about disablement (its still a book right!) Its actually more interesting than the sci-fi one.

The recent books I read
Cirque Du Freak by Darren Shan - it haz vampirez, except its a youth book which can be read in like an hour and I saw the movie and the book became very repetitive. Because its so short I'll probably read the rest of the series (12 books).
Morganville Vampires series by Rachel Caine - on book 3, its sort of like Twilight except no matter what Twilight will always be worse. It haz vampirez too but disappointingly they're not seen much. Youth book and silly, I'm reading it because its short and might get better.
Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris YAY! Real vamps, bloooood Good stuff!

Note: I don't only read books about vampires, just happened to be this way. I liked vampires before all the Twilight crap, I hate those books & movies.

I've read the HP books several times too. They're youth books so they should be expected to be at a certain level. They've kept me interested and wanting to know more... which I can't say about most other youth books I've read, which I tend to read because I like the genre and it has something I like (dragons, vampires, magic). I'm not ashamed to say I like the HP books, but I don't like all the hype around it.

The Bible, is on my to read list some day too. I've read short parts and yeah..

...

Ok, reading is pretty much my favorite thing in the world... now how to organize my long list of suggestions...

Young Adult Books:
- So you want to be a Wizard series by Diane Duane - magic and wizardry of course
- Graceling by Kristin Cashore - young girl gifted with the 'Grace' of killing, used as an assassin
- Redwall series by Brian Jacques - talking animals and wars... how can you go wrong?
- Circle of Magic quartet by Tamora Pierce - 4 very different youths taught how to use their different magics and get along
- Alanna series by Tamora Pierce - young girl switches places with her twin brother to become a female knight

Werewolves:
- Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs - Female mechanic who is a skinwalker (changes into a coyote) lives next door to the werewolf alpha of her region, add vampires and fae
- Women of the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong - my favorite are the ones starring Elena Michaels and Clay, lots of action, a touch of romance, Clay is the enforcer of the pack with a ruthless reputation, Elena is a reluctant werewolf who wants to avoid the darkness of pack politics
- Kitty Norville series by Carrie Vaughn - late night radio DJ host Kitty (horrible name for a werewolf) gets a strange call in one night which prompts her to start giving advice to the supernatural, but also attracts the attention of a werewolf hunter, death and danger ensue
- The Mating, and The Keeping, by Nicky Charles - FREE EBOOKS! These two really surprised me when I got them on my Nook for free, definitely worthy of publication, paranormal romance.

Dragons:
- Temeraire series by Naiomi Novik - Historical Fiction with a Draconic twist, The Napoleonic Wars in a world with Dragons, follows Capt. Will Laurence as he captures a dragon egg from the French and then joins the Arial Corps with the hatchling.
- Dragons of Pern series by Anne McCaffery - A Science Fiction and Fantasy mix, futuristic in the fact that Pern is a colonized planet and Dragons are the result of genetic manipulation but the world itself is rather primitive technology wise, an all together great world.
- Young Adult Pit Dragon Trilogy by Jane Yolen - A bond servant works in a dragon barns and steals a hatchling to raise and fight in the dragon pits to buy his freedom
- Dragon Jousters series by Mercedes Lackey - A war between two countries has caused a boy to become a serf on his father's land under a cruel man, he is taken by a dragon jouster for mistreatment and put to work as a servant to the dragon and his rider (enemies to his native country) to get away and help his people, he steals a dragon egg that was supposed to be destroyed and escapes (much more in rest of series)

Vampires:
- Sunshine by Robin Mckinley - A young girl with an affinity for sunlight finds herself with a counter affinity for vampires. She must help a vampire survive against his own kind.
- Sookie Stackhouse seriesy by Charlaine Harris - better known as True Blood on HBO, the books are a great read.
- Argeneau Vampire series by Lindsay Sands - Vampirism is explained as a result of advanced technology of Atlantis, micro bots were invented to cure disease and illness and fuel themselves on blood in the body, the bots, however, saw aging as an illness and required more blood to constantly repair the damage (sunlight enhances skin damage) the bots altered the body to allow their hosts to obtain more blood, hence vampires, this series is a Romance series with plenty of interesting plots, well written.
- Kerrelyn Sparks - another Vampire romance author, Scottish vampires... what's not to like?

Science Fiction:
- Ender's Game by Orsen Scott Card - Classic MUST READ, a book full of twists and a mind blowing ending.
- The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide by Douglas Adams - if you're a fan of sarcasm, hilarity and all around fun, this is the series to read. The movie Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy somewhat skims over the series, books are a lot better.

Other Fanasty (fae and witches and such):
- Fever series by Karen Marie Moning - A girl with Fae blood's sister is killed while studying in Ireland, she travels there to investigate the murder and finds a lot more than she expected...
- Rhiannon's Ride trilogy by Kate Forsyth - an epic fantasy that follows a girl of mixed blood through danger, murder, plots, captivity, and quests. Amazing series.
- Diskworld series by Terry Pratchett - around 40 books that take place in this amazing world created by Terry Pratchett, the one that got me hooked was "Going Postal"
- Heralds of Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey - you cannot go wrong with this series in my opinion. Brilliant world created where Heralds keep the peace act as spies, assassins, and fight in armies. Chosen by spiritual beings in the form of white horses for their natural gifts of magic, the various protagonists of these books live and die for their country, she is not afraid to kill her characters off.
- Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind - Epic Fantasy, full of everything you could ever want.
- Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin - Epic Fantasy series, full of plots, wars, murder, treachery, and more.

I'm sure there are a ton more I could put out there, and probably will write more recommendations later, but these are a few that should keep you busy.

Very interesting thread, can't say I care for vampires, dragons, werewolves, or any of that though

What i'm reading right now is Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, great so far.
On queue for reading (not reading as much, but still getting a new book every couple of weeks):

Slaughterhouse-five by Kurt Vonnegut
The Kite Runner (no idea why i'm reading this, probably will change my mind)
The Romanov Prophecy by Steve Berry (after finishing this one, i would have read ALL of Berry's books, i like them )
Titan: the life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr By Ron Chernow (for no particular reason)

Books I recently finished and would recommend :

Alexander Hamilton Biography by Ron Chernow, will show you why this guy is a genius and Jefferson's an idiot

I read Jack Whyte's Templar Trilogy (well 2/3 of the books), good read if you have an interest in history.

Mario Puzo's The family is a good book too and so is Dan Brown's latest, last symbol i think. all good books

A complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews is a good book if you don't mind a non-linear plot and sarcasm

I used to really really hate detective novels, until I discovered Harlan Coben. Ever since then I can't get enough of his books... they really pull you in! I particularly recommend Hold Tight and The Woods to get you started

I loved all HP books except for The Order of the Phoenix.

OMG!!! I'm a huge book worm and just happened on this thread.

Love Love Love! Dean Koontz, Nora Roberts, Sookie Stackhouse Series that were mentioned above. Did enjoy the Twilight series but another series of books I came across recently and waiting for the last to come out in December is the Vampire Academy novels by Richelle Mead. Here's the Link. Last Sacrifice comes out, like I said, in Decemeber and let me tell you the one before that left tension filled suspense. lol. So I can't wait. I'll definitely check into others listed above for sure! Thanks for the thread

And Hi Zoggy!! It's been a while *huggles*

Bekah wrote:

Currently reading "the Mistress of the Empire" by Raymond E Feist and Janny Wurts. It is the third in a trilogy (the others being: Daughter of the Empire and Servant of the Empire) and tells of a world called Kelewan. Anyone who has read the rift wars series will know about Midkemia, and well, this is the story from the other side.  I like it because it shows a very oriental style culture and not many books are written like that for us in the west.

I love that series Magician, I think, is my favourite book though. Or the Talon book. I love that one but not the other two in the series so much. I don't know about his more recent Midkemia books, the Darkwar ones. I just can't get into them at all

And Pern <3 Pern is awesome. I want to live in Pern with dragons and awesomeness >.< Simpler world. I think that's the appeal. Todd's books haven't been too bad either, though I think a large part of that is that he's chosen to write a different Pass to Anne's books. Which is a great choice to have made. I love a lot of Anne McCaffery books - the Talent books, Catteni series, Crystal Singer and the Brainship books... Petaybee, but only the original trilogy, not the one about the twins.

David Eddings is another one I really really like. The Elenium and the Tamuli I probably prefer over the Belgarion books. And I actually hate the Dreamers series, but I pretend they don't exist >.> Best thing from him though is the Redemption of Althalus. It's a stand alone book and I LOVE it.

And Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series. Just love it. Especially the book about fate.

i can't read

Achilles wrote:

Very interesting thread, can't say I care for vampires, dragons, werewolves, or any of that though

What i'm reading right now is Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, great so far.
On queue for reading (not reading as much, but still getting a new book every couple of weeks):

Slaughterhouse-five by Kurt Vonnegut
The Kite Runner (no idea why i'm reading this, probably will change my mind)
The Romanov Prophecy by Steve Berry (after finishing this one, i would have read ALL of Berry's books, i like them )
Titan: the life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr By Ron Chernow (for no particular reason)

Books I recently finished and would recommend :

Alexander Hamilton Biography by Ron Chernow, will show you why this guy is a genius and Jefferson's an idiot

I read Jack Whyte's Templar Trilogy (well 2/3 of the books), good read if you have an interest in history.

Mario Puzo's The family is a good book too and so is Dan Brown's latest, last symbol i think. all good books

A complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews is a good book if you don't mind a non-linear plot and sarcasm

Heh, I was readin Catch 22 this summer, and what was funny - exactly that time met once a guy next the shop, in t-shirt with text "Catch 22".
To save my image of bully jerk, I can say that I read Vonneguts Slaughterhouse too, and till now can't understand what so great about it. For me just quite boring book with hysteric writing stile.

Catch-22 is great its sequel "Closing Time" isnt that bad either.

Slaughterhouse five is pretty good but I think Vonneguts " Cats Cradle" Is much much better.

Lets see right now I'm reading the "Code Book" by Simon Singh and just starting "Mockingjay"

Here is a list of books that I've finished reading in the last 30-40 days....

Economics for the Rest of Us *Moshe Adler*
The Forest of Hands and Teeth * Carrie Ryan* " Zombie book, kinda sucked"
The Maze Runner *James Dashner* "About a bunch of kids stuck in a deadly maze"
At War at Sea * Ronald Spector* " in depth history of the evolution of naval warfare from 1904-2007"
Building Green *Clark Snell/Tim Callahan* "how to guide on various green building techniques such as hay bale, cob, and cordwood construction"
Catching Fire *Suzanne Collins* "book 2 in the Hunger game Series"

Life as we knew it *Susan Beth Pfeffer* A really interesting book about a meteor hitting the moon and knocking it out of orbit, the result of which leading to the collapse of Earths Climate. It reads as a diary from this 16 year old girl who records all the shit that her family has to go through as her world falls apart and her family has to deal with wacky weather, lack of civil services like no running water or electric power and the overall collapse of civilized society, a surprisingly good read
The Dead and the Gone*Susan Beth Pfeffer* sequel to "Life as we knew it" Same time line but from the perspective of a Puerto Rican family in New York City. I think its better then the first book actually.

I know there is more but I just cant remember any of them right now lol

I heard a great anecdote about Joseph Heller the other day. Someone apparently said to him that he never wrote anything as good as Catch-22. He replied, "true, but neither has anyone else"!

I just finished (for the third time) "Heavier than Heaven, the Kurt Cobain Biography. It was a really informative read, I tend to stay away from fiction. I love a good true story about nearly everything. My favorites though are reading about other peoples problems. It makes me realize that sometimes my problems are not nearly as bad as what other people had gone through

Zakku wrote:

Life as we knew it *Susan Beth Pfeffer* A really interesting book about a meteor hitting the moon and knocking it out of orbit, the result of which leading to the collapse of Earths Climate. It reads as a diary from this 16 year old girl who records all the shit that her family has to go through as her world falls apart and her family has to deal with wacky weather, lack of civil services like no running water or electric power and the overall collapse of civilized society, a surprisingly good read
The Dead and the Gone*Susan Beth Pfeffer* sequel to "Life as we knew it" Same time line but from the perspective of a Puerto Rican family in New York City. I think its better then the first book actually.

Holy Crap!! I have been thinking that a meteor hitting the moon would make a FABULOUS story idea for a book/movie! I am gonna read this at the first opportunity!

In other news, I just started the last Harry Potter book, just in time for the first installment of the movie (that was intentional).

And an Urban Fantasy genre mention: Gotta love Jim Butcher, Mario Acevedo, Kelley Armstrong and Carrie Vaughn. I will read anything by any of those authors.

I do love the Incarnations of Immortality series

Tops for me have to be:

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Starship Troopers (yes I know the movie is god-awful.. and the only thing it shares with the book is some of the names), and Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein.

The Night Watch series by Sergei Lukyanenko (yes honey I'll find you the first book). This one's hard to explain... They were originally in Russian. They are very well translated but it takes a couple chapters to immerse in the modern Russian culture. Werewolves, vampires, witches all exist. And there are people who have found that they are not so ordinary that keep tabs on the battle between light and dark. Best modern fiction I've read in a long long time.

The short stories of Henry Kuttner. Just awesome.

Harry Potter

I also have a soft spot for my childhood favorites.. Most of Mark Twain's books, Louisa May Alcott, My Side of the Mountain...

I think Life as We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone will be the next ones I pick up. Sound interesting and if Zak likes 'em I figure they can't be too girly

ArcaneJill wrote:

The Night Watch series by Sergei Lukyanenko (yes honey I'll find you the first book). This one's hard to explain... They were originally in Russian. They are very well translated but it takes a couple chapters to immerse in the modern Russian culture. Werewolves, vampires, witches all exist. And there are people who have found that they are not so ordinary that keep tabs on the battle between light and dark. Best modern fiction I've read in a long long time.

The Night Watch! Gaaaah! I saw these in the bookstore the other day overpriced compared to the internet. I checked the library but they only have the books translated into swedish Its a classic sort of and they don't have them in english... they did have them in russian . I'm gonna have to buy them, been wanting to read them for so long but haven't got around to it. I do have some movie made after them but I always read books before any movie made after them if I can.

ArcaneJill wrote:

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein.



I think Life as We Knew It and The Dead and the Gone will be the next ones I pick up. Sound interesting and if Zak likes 'em I figure they can't be too girly

Stranger in a Strange Land eh? I didnt know that you and Anto were into grokking and water sharing, maybe I should come over sometime lol jk


but yeah I would totally recommend those two books, they are young adult books though so they are a quick read, surprisingly deep though

Zakku wrote:

Economics for the Rest of Us *Moshe Adler*

what kind of economics and does it come in other similar subjects?

is it like one of those guides for dummies?

am gonna try find online versions

x m

no it was just an explanation of why certain economists believe things like rent control and food subsidies among other things are not economically *effiecnt* and the basis and numbers behind where they get these weird ideas from. Its mostly a * this is how rich people use economics to fuck everyone else over* book and you need at least a smidgen of knowledge of economics to get the most out of it. If you wanted a interesting * but naive* read about economics and the rise of money then I would recommend * The Ascent of Money* by Naill Ferguson