i'm about to start the Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman
i finished the subtle knife(also by pullman) yesterday.
next i want to finish the ender series but speaker for the dead got extremely boring and i haven't read it for a few months now, but i might try to finish it

What is this "read" you speak of?

I've actually just been thinking about finding something read lately. I don't read all that much, mostly because I rarely find any books that interest me. Used to read westerns several years ago, but I've long since lost interest in those. The most recent book I've read was Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, by Eric Nylund, which I was quite thrilled with. That was back in October though, shortly after it came out. I'm probably going to start over again with Halo: The Fall of Reach, also by Eric Nylund, since it's been a while since I last those. Most likely going to skip Halo: The Flood this time around, but otherwise I'll probably reread the whole series.

i've been thinking of picking up the Halo series but I didn't think it would be that great but i might just try them out.
I'm also about to buy Blackjack For Blood: The Card-Counters' Bible, and Complete Winning Guide.
I'm planning to go hit the casinos soon

Neal Gabler - Walt Disney: Triumph of American Imagination

This thread.

Hey, somebody had to say it.

In all seriousness, though, I don't really read for entertainment, although in many respects I really should. I just find it hard to get into reading, sometimes, see. That said, the Halo series might not be a bad thing to look into - they're supposed to not suck, if I'm not mistaken, and while I still think I prefer Half-Life 2 overall, Halo's somewhat intricate plot's got me interested. Even if the level design still sucks.

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i've been thinking of picking up the Halo series but I didn't think it would be that great but i might just try them out.

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I'd definitely recommend checking it out. They're better than I was expecting, at times I find the books to be more interesting than the games.

I mainly like the books written by Eric Nylund though (1, 3, and 4 so far), book 2 was a novelization of the first game and was written by a different author, whose style I didn't like near as much.

SH, the Halo books are a good read, yes (although I have something of a reputation as a fanboy). The Flood - which is about 75% direct game adaption - is the weakest of the lot, but for the most part they are good.

As for me, I'm currently reading the Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster! m/

Oh and this is sort of relevant maybe.

I'm reading Stephen King's 'The Dark Tower III: The Wastelands,' right now. It's pretty good so far, but dang, I've never read anything so mature. Considering the worst thing I've read before this is '1984,' it's almost something of a culture shock.

~Nytloc Penumbral Lightkeeper

My recent finished books are Fahrenheit 451 and Helter Skelter.

I'm currently into The Greats Shark Hunt, Better than Sex, Kingdom of Fear, Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72, and Generation of Swine.

I'm reading Black Boy by Richard Wright for English class. It's a pretty good book; I can't help reading past our assigned chapters.

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This thread.

Hey, somebody had to say it.

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I'm pretty you said that, word for word, in the last thread. You haven't changed a bit.

Not currently reading, but just got finished with Bone by Jeff Smith, one of the better graphic novels I've seen, and certainly recommended to all.

I just finished, for school, a novel called Plowing the Dark which was pretty good, if a bit trippy. Next I'll be reading some short stories from a collection called I'm a Man. In my free time I've been reading Dune: House Corrino which isn't good but I'm reading it out of Dune fandom.

I've taken on the challenge of reading 50 books this year but I'm a bit behind.

The last book I read was "Snow Crash" over the summer =...

I love reading, I really do. I'm one of those people who gets lost in the world that the book creates. If the book is right, I'll stay up until 2am. I was always one of the first people done with the books in English class. I've noticed with college, I've been reading a lot less. It's sad... I still haven't finished reading '1984', a book I started 2 summers ago.

nytlocthehedgehog, go read "The Catcher In The Rye"... The book is awesome the first time around, just due to shock. I found I didn't like it as much the second time though...

And yes, I will fully recommend Fall of Reach. For a book based on a mature video game, it has incredible depth. The ethics and morality that play into the story really surprised me. Can certain unthinkable actions be justified? What if the fate of the world balance on these actions?

And finally, I include a list of my favorite books. 'Snow Crash', 'The Giver', 'The Lord of the Rings', 'To Kill A Mockingbird', 'The Mayor of Casterbridge', 'A Separate Peace', 'The Scarlet Letter', 'The Transall Saga', 'A Wizard of Earhtsea', 'Of Mice and Men', 'Alas, Babylon', 'Flowers for Algernon', 'Fahrenheit 451', 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn', 'A Lesson Before Dying', 'My Name Is Asher Lev', 'Brave New World', 'Gathering Blue', 'The Messenger', 'The Things They Carried', and 'Death of a Salesman'... Yes, I was in 'Honors' English in High school m/

Haven't picked up a book in a long time. Reading takes alot out of me, sad to say.

Currently crawling through the Spider-Man: Sinsiter Six novels at the recomendation of Vortex, who describes them more of a sitcom with Doc Ock, Electro, Mysterio, Chameleon and Vulture living together, than an actual Spidey title.

That intrigues me.

If my reading urge is sparked up again I may start reading Thief of Time for the 9th time :3

Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ by Daniel Goleman

A bit unusual for me - I don't tend to read a lot of non-fiction in my spare time (takes more concentration on average than fiction) - but it's about a topic I'm interested in to a certain extent, and I'm finding it reasonably interesting. Before that, I read Sun Tzu's The Art of War, mostly because it was there. Some interesting basics which I can see a lot of sense in, but tended to get a bit repetitive towards the end.

I'll probably opt for something less intellectual for the next book I read...

In the last thread of this, I was reading the Halo trilogy of novels.

In this thread, by coincidence, I'm reading the forth Halo novel.

This week:
-Helen Thomas: "Watchdogs of Democracy?" It's a non-fiction about the role of journalists in the post 9/11 world.
-The Winter 2007 issue of Ms. I sort of work on magazines on the subway, I'm in the middle of the interview with Nancy Pelosi.
-I read the front page,money and metro sections of the Washington Post every day with breakfast because it is being delivered mistakenly to my house and I haven't bothered to call the publisher and have them send it to the correct subscriber.

I want to start reading more fictional classic literature because I love novels and short stories, but I seem to always end up reading another non-fiction (ha) about politics or feminist theory or webdesign.

Next week I need to read some books on using PHP in f'ing Dreamweaver.

Hmm. I haven't actually read anything in a while. Last things I read was "Alex Rider: Stormbreaker". Not bad. Alex has no soul though.

I need to finish up "The Prince" because I've neglected it for a while, then head onto "The Time Machine".

Still working my way through the Discworld series. I'm on Small Gods at the moment and I'm about 50 pages from the end. After that I'll probably take break from the ol' Pratchett and read Why Don't Penguins Feet Freeze, which is a compilation of readers' questions from New Scientist magazine.

Hotel Dusk.

What, c'mon, it's more of a novel then a game! :O

Agh, our library doesn't have The Prince D:

Uh, you do mean Machiavelli, right?

Starting Black Hawk Down tomorrow or hte day after, then on to more James Bond novels, probably starting with Icebound by John Gardner.

Just finished reading: Empire by Orson Scott Card
Currently reading: Rediscovering George Washington by Richard Brookhiser
Will read next: The Blonde by Duane Swierzcynski

EDIT: Astrid, you should write a book on political feminist web design theory.

That happens to be a life goal of mine.

After five years of procrastination, I have finally finished Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

I'm currently reading the much less technical Vampire: The Requiem For Dummies.

if you enjoyed Lord of the Rings than i suggest that you read Dune.
I personally havent read it but my brother has and he said it was awesome and kind of like Lord of the Rings in some way. He won't let me touch any of his books except the ender series so i don't know if thats true

*nods approvingly at Nuch*

I'm partway through Pratchett's The Last Continent at the moment, and I still need to read his Feet of Clay. In the erstwhile, of course, I'm reading Aristophanes' The Assemblywomen for my uni class.

Currently, I'm working my way through Dracula. The original novel's something I've been curious about for a while, so I've decided to finally give it a go. It's not as much a bore as Frankenstein was, I can say that much positive about it, but I'm still pretty near the front of the book. Although I am going through it a lot faster than it took me to trudge through Lord of the Rings.

I'm also going through a GRE book, if that counts.

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Agh, our library doesn't have The Prince D:

Uh, you do mean Machiavelli, right?

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Yes. I've heard of the book and the contents inside, felt intrigued, then manage to buy a copy at my sister's college. I really, REALLY like the way he thinks. Next book: The Art of War, Mwahahaha.

Our library wouldn't have something like The Art of War but that'd be something I'd read.

Maybe I can download it.

I *LOVE* that book with a fiery passion that consumes me. Hiro Protagonist: best name ever. I've went through two copies of it, too - first one came from my uncle, who got me into it. I lost it somewhere, and then I got a second copy, much prettier, that got horribly maimed in the move ;-;

I started Jarhead but I left it at my mom's house, so alas, I'll have to wait another week or so to get it >>;; Meanwhile, I'm finishing up Knight of the Sacred Lake. Horrible, horrible story.

I read a lot, and I'm really into Arthurian Legend (NERD, i know, yesh.) I re-read The Once and Future King by TH WHite, and then I picked up Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, but I haven't bothered to crack it open yet. The I made the unfortunate choice of getting into the Guenevere Novels, Guenevere: Queen of the Summer Country.

I'm sorry; I have nothing against Pagans, but I really hate the author's portrayal of it. Also, the term "thigh-friendship" really starts to irk me. WTF, she can't come up with a better way to describe free lovin' better than that? It's like trying to make it all eloquent but sucking at it. I also hate how all the Christians are supposidly evil. Get real. Also, WHY DO ALL THE MEN CRY? Lancelot, Arthur, Mador - everyone cries! 'He wept.' 'Tears filled his eyes. 'He cried.' 'He could have wept.' These are supposed to be manly men - knights, for god's sakes. It really irritates me. Feminism irritates me. And i hate how she uses terrible metaphors and similies. She's always comparing something to something else unnecessarily.

ARGH! But i digress. it makes me mad when i read a story and i think to myself, 'I could have written that... and it would have came out 100x better.'

Recommendations that are actually an ENJOYABLE read; "The Widow of the South" by... Robert Hicks, was it?; "Gods of Alabama" by Josceline something or other (notice a trend here? I like Southern fiction.) "Snow Crash" is always a good one, as is "Forever", written by some NY Times writer who I can't remember the name of.

What can I say? I'm a book worm.

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if you enjoyed Lord of the Rings than i suggest that you read Dune.
I personally havent read it but my brother has and he said it was awesome and kind of like Lord of the Rings in some way. He won't let me touch any of his books except the ender series so i don't know if thats true

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Dune and Lord of the Rings are almost nothing like one another. The only things they really have in common are their scale and importance.

I love Dune, it might be my favorite book ever. LotR... not so much. I think it's highly overrated.

I was reading the Sonic Archives Number one book to unwind after studying for several tests. That and the Star Wars Episode One Artbook.

my brother might have told me dune was like lord of the rings to get me interested in it maybe. i'll try to see if he'll let me read it, last time i asked he said maybe

Guven how much I enjoyed Vellum, I need to buy Hal Duncan's Ink, which has just emerged.
Think Philip Pullman but much better written, if a little less accessible.

I've just finished with some late-era Doctor Who New Adventures (Happy Endings, Christmas on a Rational Planet, Eternity Weeps & The Room with No Doors for those who are interested). Death and destruction as usual, but interesting interference by the TARDIS in one case, sentimental old thing

Much foreshadowing of the Eighth Doctor, a little annoying since the Seventh is my favourite.

My collection nears completion; only the most expensive ones left to get. You'd think with Dying Days & Lungbarrow being available as e-books the price of the paperbacks would come down, but nooooo...

DW

i just bought microsoft visual basic game programming for teens. i've gotten very interested in the whole video game making process. i also bought a book about game programming so i'm learning programming first.

Im reading 'The Secret Life of Bees' by Sue Monk Kidd. It takes place dureing the Civil Rights movment, but Its not in real life.

I also have the intire Naria seris - IN ONE FRIGKING BOOK. Im not read the whole thing. I just finshing where I left off at the last book I read.

(Slinks back into the sahdow)

We're supposedly starting Anthem by Ayn Rand soon in Philosophy (not really looking forward to it, as I've already read the novella several times, therefore there'll be nothing new to find...).

In my spare time, I find myself staring at the Red Star series I started in freshman year and never finished due to its dark tones and depressing storyline... but I found myself lying sick in bed with nothing to do, so I picked up a more lighthearted book. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, anyone? ^^

On the subject of books... RAGH J.K. ROWLING, WHY MUST YOU RELEASE THE LAST BOOK WHILE I'M OUT AT CAMP AND THEREFORE HAVE NO FREE TIME TO READ IT?! oVo

Rant over. Carry on. ^^

~Shadowed Spirit Sage

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Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, anyone? ^^

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I KNOW that you realize those are the magic words.

the narnia series is the whole reason i started to read alot. If you havent read any than you should! by now i could read like a whole book in a couple of hours.
thinking back in the fourth grade it took like a week to finish just one.
I'll have to take some time to re read the whole series.
I'll just have to push back a few hours of gaming.

Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 in: For Special Services - John Gardner

Re Hitchhiker's Guide - anyone who has ever drunk tea from a vending machine will appreciate this book. That reminds me, my boss has had my copy of it for around 18 months now, I really ought to reclaim it...

At the moment, an old school friend has lent me some of her Chalet School collection. She managed to collect the lot in various guises, so is letting me read all the ones I missed out on in my youth. Other than that, I'm rereading my Biggles collection, or at least that part of it which is down in Bristol with me.

DW

Right now I'm reading "Best American Short Stories 2006," and they really are quite good.

I just finished The Clocks by Agatha Christie.

Cold Sassy Tree, by Olive Burns. Great story.

I'm glad this thread is staying alive.

Right now:

-Blowback (The Costs and Consequences of the American Empire) by Chalmers Johnson
-Teach yourself .Net in 28 Days! Officially making me a tool.

Last: Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 in: Moonraker - Ian Fleming
Current: Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 In: The Man from Barbarossa - John Gardner
Next: Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 In: Brokenclaw - John Gardner

i will be reading soon Evil star book 2 in the Gate Keepers series hopefully tommorow but might not get it till moms feeling better....shes sick again....