books

[redhotswami]

i love all the hype and going to the midnight opening with all the fans

oh me too!! it is so much fun. i do it every time. i've met some really awesome people at those parties. lol i also then shut off my phone for the entire weekend and lock myself in my room to read it all. i always reread it later, but i just cant stand having things like that spoiled for me. i could imagine the devastation when some of the plot leaked when the other books came out. i refuse to let it happen to me.

 

[No spoken words]

And a large portion are adults, too.

I find that younger cousins remember more about those books than us old ones do.

Yes, a lot of adults read them, I know. But a lot of kids do, too, and I actually do not find that kids recall those books more than adults do, and that could be why she uses repetition as a literary device.

 

[redhotswami]

Yes, a lot of adults read them, I know. But a lot of kids do, too, and I actually do not find that kids recall those books more than adults do, and that could be why she uses repetition as a literary device.

sometimes i need the repetition

 

[corianderstem]

I need the repetition. I'm not as involved in the whole world of Harry Potter as some of the fans, and I can't remember what happens from book to book when it's several years between each one.

They're a fun read. I enjoy the movies as well and am looking forward to the next one.

 

[No spoken words]

You don't hear me complaining about the repetition. Hell, when I read book 5 it'll have been 6 years since I read #4.

 

[Babydoll]

Ahh, reading. My favorite hobby. I love and read all varieties of books, from trashy romance novels to heavy duty literature. I like girly books too, such as the ones by Jennifer Weiner. "Alternate Beauty" is a good one too. John Grisham's books are thrilling. I loved the Da Vinci code but I admit Angels and Demons wasn't as good. Anyone read Deception Point?

 

[corianderstem]

Jennifer Weiner

As fun as her first few books were, I think she's getting better. Goodnight, Nobody was very, very good, and I hear her latest collection of stories is supposed to be excellent as well.

 

[Laura M]

Yes, a lot of adults read them, I know. But a lot of kids do, too, and I actually do not find that kids recall those books more than adults do, and that could be why she uses repetition as a literary device.

Well I find it to be the opposite.

Oh well, I'll just be the only one complaining

 

[No spoken words]

Well I find it to be the opposite.

Oh well, I'll just be the only one complaining

Yup, I know you do, that's why I replied. I get it.

I'd complain about it, too, if I experienced it a lot with otehr series. But, since I have not, I can tolerate it here an there. And, I'll need it for Book 5, as I said, since it's been ages since I read the prior 4.

You know what bothers...or, actually, distracts me, when reading...overuse of onomatopoeia. This is probably a petty complaint but if I see it too much in one book...or go on too long in a passage, it irks me. I like a lot of Thomas Wolfe's books, for example, but he uses this device a little too much for my liking. But, that's his thing.

 

[BonosBaby12]

I am a complete book My idea of a good time is curling up with a book and some music playing in the background

For me it's anything by John Grishmam,Nora Roberts,Stephen King and VC Andrews. Never have been one to shy away from other authors though.

Btw "To Kill A Mockingbird" and "The Great Gatbsy" are some of the best books ever!

 

[corianderstem]

Oh man, I used to love Nora Roberts. I haven't read any of hers in years, but the ones I read, I loved.

I still have my VC Andrews books. Such a guilty pleasure. She died ages ago, didn't she? And yet her estate still has oodles of writers writing books under her name, following the same template.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

excellent book that one
invaluable to understand the forces going on in economics the last couple of years and the next decade or so

I left it on a plane with about 40 pages to go. Have any idea how annoying that is? Half or more to go, and you re-purchase. 40 pages though, you don't. I don't know anyone else who's read it either. I know, I know, find a library.....

 

[BonosBaby12]

Oh man, I used to love Nora Roberts. I haven't read any of hers in years, but the ones I read, I loved.

I still have my VC Andrews books. Such a guilty pleasure. She died ages ago, didn't she? And yet her estate still has oodles of writers writing books under her name, following the same template.

I discovered Nora over the summer and fell in love with the first book I read of her's. Just finished reading "Blue Dahlia" which is the first in the series of "In The Garden". Had a horrible time putting the book down!

Yes VC died some years ago was really shocked when I realized she had passed. It's really nice that the new writers didn't change anything.

 

[onebloodonelife]

I loved the Da Vinci code but I admit Angels and Demons wasn't as good. Anyone read Deception Point?

I've read Deception Point. It's good, it's a fairly similar plot line as his other books, but exciting nonetheless.


Right now I'm reading House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski and House of God by Samuel Shem. Both are very good. House of Leaves is a newer book and it's pretty much insane. I don't even know how to explain any of it.

House of God is about a hospital and becoming a doctor (fiction). It's a lot like Catch-22, but replacing the military with doctors.

 

[redhotswami]

how about poetry? anybody read Rumi, Hafiz, Kahlil Gibran? they are my faves

 

[Babydoll]

Oooh I read The Prophet by Khalil Gibran, it was so enlightening!

 

[redhotswami]

YAY! Me too! I love that book. That man is really brilliant. His stuff is like food for my soul.

 

[Babydoll]

have you read the Alchemist?

 

[redhotswami]

no but everyone tells me i should!

 

[Babydoll]

You should.

 

[corianderstem]

House of Leaves is a newer book and it's pretty much insane. I don't even know how to explain any of it.

The only way I was eventually able to get through it was by skipping all the footnotes, which were a second story in and of themselves. It was a weird book. Some parts were kind of freaky, but overall it didn't stick with me that much.

 

[No spoken words]

If you ever want to read someone that uses footnotes endlessly, check out David Foster Wallace. He's written a few novels, and he also writes long articles for various magazines, some of which were compiled into books. I read Consider the Lobster and one of the pieces in there was priceless...amazingly funny.

 

[daygloeyes2]

I'm reading You'll Never Eat Lunch In This Town Again by Julia Phillips right now.

 

[corianderstem]

I read good things about one of David Foster Wallace's books, but it didn't do anything for me. I think it may have been Consider the Lobster.

I used to have a copy of Infinite Jest, but I finally accepted the fact that I was never going to read it, so it went off to Half Price Books.

 

[No spoken words]

I have Infinite Jest and will maybe read it. There's just so much stuff to read, though. Consider the Lobster was hit and miss for me. Some of it was funny, some of it was good food for thought, and some of it was too pretentious for my tastes. Glad I read it, though. I cannot call myself a fan of his, but he does beat the shit out of footnotes.

 

[AtomicBono]

I really should read more...when I was a kid I read a lot but I hardly ever read now. Right now all I'm reading is U2 by U2, and Candide by Voltaire for my humanities class (which I actually quite enjoy). I started this Chuck Klosterman book of articles he'd written awhile back but can't even manage to finish that...I'm terrible about finishing books!

my favourite book ever is The Catcher in the Rye. It's one of those books you either love or think "this is boring." The writing style is what really makes it. I start thinking in that style after I read it

 

[No spoken words]

I remember loving Catcher in the Rye as a teenager.....then I re-read it a few years ago, and I had a totally different perspective on the book.

I know people that never re-read a book or watch a film twice, but not me. I like how a book can have different meaning or impact to me if read at a different point in my life.

 

[meegannie]

Last year I read:

Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami
Persepolis: The Story of an Iranian Childhood - Marjane Satrapi
Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return - Marjane Satrapi
Small Island - Andrea Levy
Sandman: Endless Nights - Neil Gaiman
Fantasy Lover - Sherrilyn Kenyon
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling
Lucky Man - Michael J. Fox
Void Moon - Michael Connelly
The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova
Sir Thursday - Garth Nix
The King of the Middle March - Kevin Crossley-Holland
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke
Haroun and the Sea of Stories - Salman Rushdie
253 - Geoff Ryman
Waterland - Graham Swift
The Boy Who Kicked Pigs - Tom Baker
Wonder Boys - Michael Chabon
Holes - Louis Sachar
Death and the Penguin - Andrey Kurkov
How I Became Stupid - Martin Page
The Constant Gardener - John Le Carré
Mr Vertigo - Paul Auster
How to Win as an Open Learner - P. Race
Night Pleasures - Sherrilyn Kenyon Sputnik Sweetheart - Haruki Murakami
How to Manage Your Distance and Open Learning Course - Lucinda Becker
The Dream Hunters - Neil Gaiman
A History of Violence - John Wagner
The Unbearable Lightness of Being in Aberystwyth - Malcolm Pryce
Use Your Head - Tony Buzan
The Little Friend - Donna Tartt
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - Philip K. Dick
Eragon - Christopher Paolini
Information Seeking in the Online Age - Andrew Large, Lucy Tedd, and RJ Hartley
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
Time's Arrow - Martin Amis
The Wind Singer - William Nicholson
Slaves of the Mastery - William Nicholson
Firesong - William Nicholson
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper

So far this year I've read:

Over Sea, Under Stone - Susan Cooper
Greenwitch - Susan Cooper
The Grey King - Susan Cooper
Silver on the Tree - Susan Cooper
Blankets - Craig Thompson
The Best of H.P. Lovecraft -- H.P. Lovecraft

...and lots of stuff for school.

I read a lot of crap.

 

[No spoken words]

Last year I read:

Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami
Persepolis: The Story of an Iranian Childhood - Marjane Satrapi
Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return - Marjane Satrapi
Small Island - Andrea Levy
Sandman: Endless Nights - Neil Gaiman
Fantasy Lover - Sherrilyn Kenyon
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling
Lucky Man - Michael J. Fox
Void Moon - Michael Connelly
The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova
Sir Thursday - Garth Nix
The King of the Middle March - Kevin Crossley-Holland
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke
Haroun and the Sea of Stories - Salman Rushdie
253 - Geoff Ryman
Waterland - Graham Swift
The Boy Who Kicked Pigs - Tom Baker
Wonder Boys - Michael Chabon
Holes - Louis Sachar
Death and the Penguin - Andrey Kurkov
How I Became Stupid - Martin Page
The Constant Gardener - John Le Carré
Mr Vertigo - Paul Auster
How to Win as an Open Learner - P. Race
Night Pleasures - Sherrilyn Kenyon Sputnik Sweetheart - Haruki Murakami
How to Manage Your Distance and Open Learning Course - Lucinda Becker
The Dream Hunters - Neil Gaiman
A History of Violence - John Wagner
The Unbearable Lightness of Being in Aberystwyth - Malcolm Pryce
Use Your Head - Tony Buzan
The Little Friend - Donna Tartt
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - Philip K. Dick
Eragon - Christopher Paolini
Information Seeking in the Online Age - Andrew Large, Lucy Tedd, and RJ Hartley
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
Time's Arrow - Martin Amis
The Wind Singer - William Nicholson
Slaves of the Mastery - William Nicholson
Firesong - William Nicholson
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper

So far this year I've read:

Over Sea, Under Stone - Susan Cooper
Greenwitch - Susan Cooper
The Grey King - Susan Cooper
Silver on the Tree - Susan Cooper
Blankets - Craig Thompson
The Best of H.P. Lovecraft -- H.P. Lovecraft

...and lots of stuff for school.

I read a lot of crap.

I've read a lot of the books on your list, actually.

The one that I liked the best from your list is Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, I really loved that book. The Secret History was also great....the author did not write a 2nd book for a long time afte that.

 

[corianderstem]

I loved The Secret History but heard mixed things about The Little Friend. Would you recommend it, meggannie?

Ditto with The Historian. Mixed reviews, not sure I want to spend my time wading through it.