I have seen everything from bands to music and political opinions described on this site. One thing I haven't seen discussed is something so archaic that not even the TV sells.
Joking aside I wondered what kind of books people read for fun. I personally read fantasy books. Right now I'm reading the Wizard's First Rule of the Sword of Truth series.
I LOVE to read.
My favorite books in my library - The Godfather, Lord of the Ring trilogy, a forensics book about Jack the Ripper (cant remember the authors name....oh, yeah - Cornwell), I have a book with speeches and such from Albert Einstien that is a great read from time to time. I have tons of history books and science books that I like to pick up as well. I get inspired from music and such - but, I often can get inspired by something that I have read. Happens quite a bit. I have so many books...I haven't read them all...not sure when I'll find the time. Probably when the kids leave the house. :D
I devour books. My mother once said of me that I would read a telephone directory if there was nothing else.
My house is filled with books & I used to work in a bookshop. I like most stuff and have practically everything in my house from fiction to history/religion/philosophy, but am very keen on sci fi/fantasy. Tolkien is a must. Coincidentally I am also reading the Sword of Truth series - am on the second book. I am also reading the Song of Ice & Fire series - excellent stuff. I have been wading through the Wheel of Time books, but got bogged down at book 6. Oh, love Iain Banks as well.
Recent authors I have come across include Alistair Reynolds (sci fi - very good) and China Mieville, a totally brilliant author with a dark and inventive imagination.
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." Bertrand Russell
I've been a reading-addict since early childhood and couldn't break the habit even if I wanted to (which I don't...grin). Now that I'm so ancient and in the throes of incipient blindness I have a house full of dead-tree books I can no longer read, and have to settle for reading only those books that are published in e-book format. My favorites are (and have been since the 1950s) sci-fi and fantasy, although I've been known to consider reading even CaptainHero's phone book when there was nothing else available. :D
If anyone else is into e-books and SFF, I highly recommend this web site: www.baen.com
since it has a large free library of some of their best-selling books, as well as a Webscriptions library where you can purchase a month's worth of new publications (usually four to six books) for a total price of just $15. It's really kinda cool to get the March 2004 books in your hands (well, onto your computer) two weeks before the book stores receive their hardbacks to sell. Hehehe.
Actually there have been a few chats about books on the discussion boards and even on some of the image discussions... just yesterday I was talking (well OK typing) about "Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy" on Klas' image "Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster". Also have talked about Sci Fi a couple of times, esp. Arthur C Clarke ( this is at least the third time I have mentioned my favourite "A Fall of Moondust") and Phillip K Dick, who wrote some of the weirdest stuff I have ever read, and was the inspiration behind "Bladerunner" and "Total Recall".
Actually I was thinking of doing a post about starting a book club, where we could all read the same book and then discuss it on the forum, but I wasn't sure if it was too ambitious. Anyone interested? Mary would you be able to get hold of most popular fiction in your format?
I'll post a list of the Baen e-books that I have as soon as I get it coordinated. Right now, it's on my hard disk by month, rather than author, but won't take long to re-compile it. I'll also try to mark which ones are also available as freebie downloads from Baen's Free Library.
I'd certainly join. I have way too much time on my hands anyway. I must say I was suprised by the number of quality responses.
I was expecting at least one guy or gal say "what's reading? :-)"
I think we should all read Digital Control System Analysis and Design and then discuss the first 4 chapters. Better yet, someone can write me a short summary, preferrably in crib sheet format, for my exam next week. Gah. After this semester, I'll most likely be unemployed and indebted, and will have plenty of time for pleasure-reading.
Coincidentally, just last night a friend was excitedly saying how cool it was that so many books were available for free online now. I then related this amazing new development that many people seem to have taken to, called a "Library". No longer do you have to pay Borders for books! You can borrow them for free! All you have to do is promise to bring them back. :-)
something inside of me has opened its eyes
why did you put it there did you not realize
this thing inside of me it screams the loudest sound
sometimes i think i could
-nin
My all time favorite books are the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy series...I bought the fancy edition that came out a few years ago...the black hardcover with the gold trim on the pages..anyway, he only got through about two of the books, but I devoured the whole thing!
I LOVE to read! I like Steven King and Gary Pulson the best. I like fantasy books or books about surviving outdoors (like "the Hatchet" by Pulson). I also enjoy religous books, like "Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul". If I get a book, I'll have to force myself to stop reading or I'll just read for hours. Oh! I read this really good trilogy by Phillip Pullman- I think that was his name- the first book was "the Golden Compass", the second was "the Subtle Knife" and the third was "the Amber Spyglass" that was the best trilogy I've ever read...
At times life is wicked and I just can't see the light, a silver lining sometimes isn't enough to make some wrongs seem right, whatever life brings, I've been through everything, and now I'm on my knees again but I know I must go on, although I hurt I must be strong, because inside I know that many feel this way... ~Creed~
The book club has been officially launched for those of you who missed it. Please see the post for a link to the first book chosen by Marideath. I have already finished the first short story... is anyone able to keep up with me? :-) ( and yes, that was a thinly disguised attempt to goad you into joining )
I read too much, I am often in the process of reading three of four books at any given time, I keeps books all over, one at work, one in the car, one downstairs in the living-room and one in my bedroom. I have an attic filled with boxes of books I have read. Every summer I clean out my desk's bookshelves and start filling it with new books as I read them, right now there are @ 90 books on the shelves that I have read since last July. A mix of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Humor, History, and other nonfiction.
A good series to check out is Piers Anthony's "Incarnations of Imortality" Series. Most of Piers' stuff I don't get into, but after reading the first book "On a Pale Horse" about the Grim Reaper, I was hooked. There are seven books in all, each one covering a different Incarnation, such as War, Mother Nature, Time, and Evil... you can find them at any used-book store.
ha ha ha, that sounds like me piner! i go to the library like once a week practically. i used to read alot of fantasy books, but mostly i read historical fiction. i can get so lost in a book that i don't even notice anything else. it is like watching a movie in my brain, haha.
2E...that doesn't rhyme.. :P
I guess we just don't have the time...
Like CC does to make poems aplenty
Our brains aren't as squishy...more cementy...
Too sing-songy are mine...
So like I said I just don't have the time...
To come up with something clever
So I'll let CC be the lady of letters...
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." Bertrand Russell
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." Bertrand Russell
yeah, I know what it means. I just hadn't intended to be amusing, just lazy by referring to my post at the top. now look at the extra typing it has cost me!
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." Bertrand Russell
I do! It is informative, entertaining, educational and it's always best to read the book before you see the movie to that you can compare the differences.
I love to read. I read science fiction, fantasy, and classics. Certain particular books I've read are:
The Lord of the Rings (how can you not?) . . . (and YES, there IS a book)
Star Wars (yes, I know they're literary value is zero, but I like the stories, OK?!)
The Bitterbynde Trilogy by Cecilia Dart-Thornton (not the type of thing usually in my tastes, but . . . )
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (why is this labeled a kids' book?)
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Star Trek: The Next Generation: I, Q by John deLancie and someone else I can't remember (Peter David, maybe?) --this one has some very interesting ideas
stuff by H.P.Lovecraft (. . . though I have to read it in the store . . . my mother again . . .)
Edgar Allan Poe (I'm related to this nut--explains a few things)
and many other things I can't think of right now . . .
suffice to say that I have a harder time yanking my nose out of a book than getting off the phone or the tv or whatever normal people do . . .
or maybe THEY are the weird ones and those of us who still read ought
to be snickering behind our collective hand at the brainwashed zombies.
Anyway, reading is good, as I think I've communicated, but I got off on a tangent, and I'm not sure what I was trying to say anymore.
"May the soul of the emperor rain mousetraps on your head forever." --Daniel Stephens
"Eagles may fly, but weasles don't get sucked into jet intakes." --Jonathan McDowell
I love to read. I find myself reading CSI type books. Authors like Tami Hoag, Jonathan Kellerman, and Kay Hooper. My only problem is I get so caught up in my books that any one around me who tries to bother me gets snapped at. If I find a good book, it will only take me a couple of hours to read it, everything else around me stops.
Pim: You should try the link Mary mentions in "Book club". This is a set of short stories so you don't have to start anything big and long... however it is in english so you may not want to...
hmm well, at one site, it's good for my english... but I'm learning enough english @ school and @ internet.... so..
well maybe i'll do....
thnx for the info :)
i read quite often, and usually have a few books going on at the same time. The last book i read was Catch-22 (WOW! LOVED IT!!!!) and right now i am reading 100 years of solitude, and for all of you out there that DO read books, i would HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend reading it, its a great book. beyond that, i loved the entire redwall series, and the harry potter books were fun, and the enders game series was amazing as well. also, anyone here read books by Robert Ludlum??????
It really great to see so many people loving books, and shering this with others. I too am a book worm :) and just love it ! Here are a list of great books !!
Dune by Franc Herbert - a must read. Iv just finished it and moved on to the next in the sieries. I literraly could not put it down. The story is just fantastic, full of twists, and challenging for even the most sophisticated reader, and has been magnificently wrriten with a great plot !!
All of Terry Pratchets books (ohh my spelling! doh !) - These are great fun to read, and sorry for the cliche, but i just cant weight to turn the page and find out whats happening next. His best are all the ones with Samuel vimes - the "policeman"
Phillip pullmans Dark Materials - As someone mention above, how this has ever been classed as a childrens book is absured. The plots are just top notch, and his revalations on how the world work are stunning. Allthough his views on christianity on this book may disway some readers, this is easily a classic, and generations will enjoy it's complexity and story.
A really great read was William Nicholson's The wind on fire sieries - most enjoyable, and all fantasy adventure readers should have a look at his trillogy.
Arthur C Clark - none should be deprived of this mans incredible tallent at writing. A great one of his i found was Childhoods end, though everyone of his books are a must read. This is possible the greatest ever SF writer of all. If only he'd have written longer books !!!!!
I had better finish after this one, though there are so many great books out there.
Asimovs Foundation, Foundation and Empire and Second foundation - Increddible. The scope and concept behind these books are breathtaking. For me these could easily be the best of the bunch here. This mans writing is terrific, and these plots will have you amazed and in awe, for months after reading the books !!!!
For all who'v accrually bothered to read this, i hope this will inspire to read these great books, and i stongly recomend them all.
I do have one questino though, and that is that we all here seem to be SF reader, or similar. I disslike intensly the "classic books" out on the market, and am wondering weather anyone els agrees or dissagrees with me, and if so, what are your reasons.
i'm completely obsessed with reading. my favorites list could go on forever.
harry potter
ender's game
eragon
artemis fowl
books by tamora pierce
lord of the rings
series of unfortunate events
tuck everlasting
holes
the work and the glory series
the chronicles of narnia
the supernaturalist
the giver
bloody jack
Meg, I notice the excellent choice of books you have: Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, Lemony Snickett, C S Lewis, Tolkien. I would like to take this oppurtunity to corrupt you further:
Might I suggest you read Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy? Utterly brilliant! Technically an older children's book (like Potter or Narnia) but far superior and very intelligently written. He does his audience the favour of assuming they actually have a brain and want to be stretched in their reading.
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." Bertrand Russell
thanx for the suggestion. i've heard of them over and over. i started the first once once, but i never finished it. i think that i got involved with another.
Ok, I was wondering..... has anyone read the book "Winnetou" by Karl May?? Most people that I asked have never heard of it. I read it 3 times and I think it's an incredibly well written book and the story is amazing. (well, ok, the third time it got A BIT boring, but just a bit :p)
Another book that I will recommend until the end of my days to anyone listening is "Phantom" by Susan Kay. It made me cry... that says a lot because books and movies NEVER make me cry. I read that one twice....it was actually even more touching the second time through.
I don't know how many books I've read, but I haven't gotten to read for myself for a while. College takes that away from you sometimes. I've read things like The Secret Life of Bees and Pledged but like I said, it's been a while. I used to read so much more when I was little. I was reading at age 3, and my mom said I had reread every book in the house at least 3-4 times. I'd spend hours reading.
I belong to another website called www.bookcrossing.com. You can go there and check it out. It's about making the world a library and spread books around for anyone to read. Then you can also track where a book has been (either who has traded it or "released it into the wild") almost like wheresgeorge.
"And [Adolf Hitler] was a – a vegetarian and a painter, so he must have been going, 'I can’t get the f***ing trees – d***! I will kill everyone in the world!'"
One of MY new years resolutions is to read less. I burn through 800 pg novels in a couple days, and its ruining my health. But hey what is healh when you're happily reading a book.
Nwo that you mention it, I really thought about it, I love reading. I just finished reading all of Dan Brown's books (auther of The Da Vinci Code) as well as the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Now I'm reading The Gunslinger by Stephen King.
I've got four going right now, Pompeii by Robert Harris, If Chins could talk; confessions of a B actor by Bruce Cambell, Digital Photography by Katrin Eisman, and The House of Medici it's rise and fall by Christopher Hibbert.
But what I'm rabbidly waiting for is the next in the Song of Ice and Fire by GEORGE MARTIN. I hate series books but I understand why Science fiction writers do it. By the time you've created an entire landscape, government, religon, races, and power strata you kinda want to use it for a while. Besides Martin is a masterful writer anyway and a 900 page book is very attractive to me.
I've thrown a ton of them away too. If you can catch me in the first fifty pages a standard four hundred pager will take three days, if not, trash it and try again
I stopped reading for fun when I got into middle school, but I've finally started again just this year. I read "Cujo" by Stephen King and now I'm almost done with "Dreamcatcher" by him. When I'm done, I'd like to start on either "Fire Starter" or "The Shining" (I never did see that movie).
I'm really into goth rock and new wave. My favorite band is The Birthday Massacre. The guy in my avatar is, in fact, a guy. His name is Mana from the band Malice Mizer.
my favourite books are definitely Clive Barker's novels. Really got into them after reading Weaveworld and The Great & Secret Show. More recently I read all four Dan Brown novels whilst on holiday. I started with The DaVinci Code as I felt compelled to read it in order to avoid being the only person in the world not to have done so. I enjoyed all four of his books in a lightweight distraction kind of way.
I read books and listen to them on tape while I am working and I am not free to turn the pages. I read for work and pleasure. I even read manuals. Reading is goo dmental stimulation.
Some of you into the real mathamatics of fractals might enjoy - and unlike me be able to understand - "Mathimatical Principles of Natural Philosophy" by Isaac Newton, I read a very very small part of it and it was interesting but way over my head so... all you fanatics have a blast! Also a few other interesting peeps and as far as I am concerned the two greatest minds ever are "Archemedes" and "Nikola Tesla" The former being a math genius, Tesla is electronic scientist ( http://www.uncletaz.com/library/scimath/tesla/index.html ) Enjoy, and keep making the cool fractals, I enjoy them a lot!
I read books on history and science, esp. evolutionary biology.
Also culinary stuff. I love to hang about in libraries, but only to fondle the books.
Current read: Rivers of Gold by Hugh Thomas.
Recommended reading: Finding Darwin's God by Kenneth Miller.
Just bought the LOTR DVD box set, a fine companion to the books.
I have a million books in my room that I have read. And most of them are on "extended lease" from various libraries. I must owe thousands of dollars by now no joke.
Fine vapors escape whatever is doing the living.
The night is cold and delicate and full of angels
Pounding down on the living. The factories are all lit up,
The chime goes unheard.
We are together at last, though far apart.
-from “The Ecclesiast” by John Ashbery
All I basically do is read and stare at my computer screen. Mostly read. Right now I'm reading The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbuck. It's sort of depressing, really...I like fiction, though. Nonfiction usually bores me out of my wits.
Ditto on earlier non-fiction comment, with certain exceptions. Grapes of Wrath... not to bad a book I hear, never read it myself. Reading is however my greatest love, read several books of the bible when I was six; mostly Judges through to Estherish (loadsa action you see :D). Spent more than half my life reading (seriously... don't sleep much (check the time on this post, lol), less leisurely reading now with studies mounting. Currently consecutively reading, Excession, Iain M Banks, Two Towers, J.R Tolkien and Macroelectronic Circuits, A.S.Sedra and K.C.Smith(bleuuccch!)
It doesn't seem too bad, but it seriously makes some terrible turns....they just knocked this poor guys handmade house down because the "Bank" pays this guy to do so.
I used to be really hardcore into Stephen King..I think there's maybe four or five books I haven't read, excluding the Dark Tower series...never could get into those. I've read all nine of The Sword Of Truth series, good choice, I like Terry Goodkind. Lately I tried reading historical fiction, and Margaret George has written four wonderful(ly huge) novels that are interesting. Right now I'm reading Dragons of a Fallen Sun...Dragonlance has always kicked major arse. Ok I'll go now...
I used to be into Stephen King too, but then I sorta stopped...I got really into books by John Irving, like "the world according to garp" and stuff, mainly cuz i read it in high school...then i started reading books by john grisham, and mary higgins clark....currently i am reading a book called "bodega dreams" i like it cuz it takes place in New York...i read a lot of books that take place in NY and they are all so very interesting...hmm..i guess that is about it for now....
As a child I was permanentely ill. It turns out that I have an extreme allergy to dustmites; and my favourite things were making me sick. I start sneezing as soon as I come near a library; let alone into one.
If I want to read a book I have to get someone else to get it and freeze it for me. Once all the little dust mites are dead then I may have a chance; but it is just too much of a hassle.
I know read comparitively little; and what I do read I download off the internet.
Wow, I LOVE books!! All I do on my free time is read...well, not excatly. But still, reading is my life. I don't understand people who don't like reading...hm.
i'm an old fashioned girl when it comes to reading ;) i don't like the modern books which are not worth of my attention.. all those crime and love novels bursting around.. personally, i love shakespeare.. ok, don't freak out ;)
i'm not very fond on fantasy either.. well, tolkien is certainly a great writer, but today, most of the people read him because it's "modern" to be a fantasy reader nowadays.. after the harry potter and lotr series, everyone suddenly became obsessed with it. fascinating. before the movies came out, the true fantasy bookworms and "real" lovers were very rare.. i would always prefer reading a good book than watching a movie. lotr move series is quite impressive, but, if i ever manage to read the books, i''m sure my imagination will make breathtaking scenes too ;)
no hard feelings.
oh.. besides shakespeare, i love e.a.poe, f.m.dostoyevsky and h.hesse.. quite an unusual taste, isn't it? ;) oh, and technical books, too ;) the first one i had read was the tcp/ip illustrated.. and then i went on with my unix studies.. so.. that's on of my passions too ;)
Well I guess I've always been the visual and picture oriented learner. I really don't get too much from novels, my attention span for that is not too big! lol
I mostly read a LOT of reference books and articles. I also love reading about ancient myths, but not renditions of them. I have a HUGE respect for Shakespeare just because he practically immortalized his name through his writings. For me, a thousand words on paper doesn't communicate to me what a Picture itself would. Quite interesting how our brain works :)
WEll, I love poetry books, I have some very very old ones. They inspire me to write more poetry...they use words and sentences we dont use much anymore, but that are still acceptable and wonderful to use. One person I enjoy very much is Mark Twain..his book called "Diaries of Adam and Eve" and the other one "Letters from the Earth" are amazing!! He was a very smart man..I adore Oscar Wildes writings...he uses so many colours...in his poetry...that I've picked up on that, not only in my writings but also in my paintings. I love true adventure stories...when I have time to read them...but I love to read, and always will...there is a great feeling i reading that cant be found anywhere else.
in response to _myst_, ive been a fan of the LOTR books long before they were made into film.. ive always been a science fiction/fantasy fan.. some of my favs include, but arent limited to..
- War Of The Worlds - H. G. Wells
- The Enders Game / Enders Shadow series - Orson Scott Card
- Dune - Frank Hebert
Steven King and Anne Rice are others included in my favs.. i also like Oscar Wilde.. amazing poetry in there for anyone whos interested..
as far as a common book reading and discussion, i think its a great idea.. hopefully it hasnt been forgotten..
Anyone read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainance"? its a MOST fantastic book. Its not about motorcycle repair...its this man who travels across the USA on his cycle and tells you the things he sees and does..along with his "zen" thoughts on life. Its a great great book.
Verena - read it years ago, and again last year. I didn't learn much about Zen, but I did learn good workshop practices that still stand me in good stead today, if I'm working on anything that can be taken to bits more easily than it can be put back together.... But yes, it's a good book for more reasons than that :-)
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." Bertrand Russell
Ooooh! I found this and was like "Yes! This is my area!" I'm a graduate English Lit student (American Lit, actually) So I really can't tell you how many books I've read. I've been hopping this semester, so I've been reading about 2 novels a week plus various theory oriented books/essays for different classes. I haven't actually read anything for fun lately because I haven't had time (even though I do enjoy the books I read for class, its different when you have to read it for a certain thing). I have actually read the Terry Goodkind series all the way to "Soul of Fire," which is about 5 of the books in the series. I'm sorry to say that after the first two books, the series goes downhill (the writing gets sketchy, the plots become scattered and a bit contrived, not to mention the whole constant toturing and maiming obsession he has). I'm another one who will recommend the "His Dark Materials" series, especially if you have any experience in philosophy, in which case you will recognize Spinoza in the writing. Ok- I'm off to read "Native Speaker" (Chang-Rae Lee) for class. It's good, too!
when i used to get in trouble with my parents they would take away my reading time at night. i was always so upset. i have been reading since i was like 4, i used to get in trouble for staying up at night reading with a flash light....
i just read two books called "milkweed: a novel" by jerry spinneli, and "the downsiders" by. . oh dang, i forgot! right now i'm reading "gifts" by ursula k. le guin. has anyone read any of those?
Joking aside I wondered what kind of books people read for fun. I personally read fantasy books. Right now I'm reading the Wizard's First Rule of the Sword of Truth series.