What Are You Reading?

bluejay14

Reading that isn't college related is the most amazing thing ever. I was hoping nine months of English Lit. wouldn't make me hate it but seemingly not as in 9 weeks, 5 of which were study/exams, I've made it through Catching Fire, Mockingjay, The Lovely Bones, The Life of Pi, The Bell Jar, The Picture of Dorian Grey, The Importance of Being Earnest, Great Expectations, Gone Girl, My Sister's Keeper, The Old Man and the Sea and a reread of The Fault In Our Stars.

Bazinga_N

CTYIgirl wrote: »

I am so annoyed at the ending of Allegiant, it kills me. I understand why it happened, and it was damn brave, but no. IT DIDN'T HAPPEN.

The ending killed me as well! It's a real stab in the heart! Very well written though and I just felt it was one of those books were even though that's not how you wanted it to end, you just feel it was right or something! I loved it anyways!

What are you planning on reading next?

Aragneer

Bazinga_N wrote: »

I'm considering reading the A Song of Fire and Ice series. I've never watched the Game of Thrones series but I've heard a lot about it! Can anyone tell me if they've read the series and let me know their thoughts on it?

I am currently on the fourth book of the series (it is the fourth book but since two were cut in half because of size it is actually the fifth). I watch the show also but read the books first (trying to finish the next few books before the next season).

My opinion?: Brilliant. They are absolutely fantastic. They are filled with so many different twists and turns but since each chapter is a PoV of a different character, you start to love and hate certain chapters. I find myself reaching particular character chapters and closing the book. It then takes me a number of days to pick it up again. I burned through the first three books (third is one cut in half so counts as four books) but the one I am on now, A Feast for Crows, is quite difficult as not much happens.

I really highly recommend reading the books if you have the time and a love of detail. There are A LOT of characters, places and different names and it can get quite thick at times but all in all, it is well-written and leaves you wanting more. I think it would be good to get into if you like medieval, lord of the rings type books

Hope that helped!

---

What am I reading?

Lately I just finished No Country For Old Men for my FYP. It was great until that very boring, disappointing ending. It put me off writing about it really. I am now onto reading To Kill a Mockingbird for the second time as I am doing that for my FYP love it!

I have three chapters to go of A Song of Ice and Fire - A Feast for Crows, it has taken me a year and a half to get through it due to business and the fact it is the most difficult of the series to get through.

I also just bought myself A Fault in Our Stars as an easy summer read. It's not something I would usually read as I often pick heavier books. Who has read this and what are their opinions on it? Thank you!

LoonyLovegood

Bazinga_N wrote: »

The ending killed me as well! It's a real stab in the heart! Very well written though and I just felt it was one of those books were even though that's not how you wanted it to end, you just feel it was right or something! I loved it anyways!

What are you planning on reading next?

My sister got her hands on an ARC of the next Sarah Rees Brennan book (I'm rather upset she got one and I didn't, she hasn't even read the series) so possibly that. Or going through the pile of ebooks I bought, because I won a €100 amazon giftcard, so I went shopping.

Junco Partner

Couple of chapters into the fifth asoiaf book. Feast for crows was fairly weak but I'm enjoying the series so far .

For people who like epic fantasy a la game of thrones I'd recommend Stephen kings Dark Tower series . Probably my favourite series and it's in development for a tv series at the minute

shefellover93

Bazinga_N

CTYIgirl wrote: »

My sister got her hands on an ARC of the next Sarah Rees Brennan book (I'm rather upset she got one and I didn't, she hasn't even read the series) so possibly that. Or going through the pile of ebooks I bought, because I won a €100 amazon giftcard, so I went shopping.

A €100 Amazon gift card sounds like heaven!!

SarahBeep!

What's your FYP about Aragneer?

Aragneer

SarahBeep! wrote: »

What's your FYP about Aragneer?

I am writing about the Southern gothic sub-genre in No Country for Old Men and To Kill a Mockingbird. I am thinking of doing the subject of gender (as women are back up characters in NCfOM and mains in TKaM) but I can't work out a thesis topic...

Any ideas or advice? :P I'm a little panicked by it even though I love what I'm doing :P

SarahBeep!

Aragneer wrote: »

I am writing about the Southern gothic sub-genre in No Country for Old Men and To Kill a Mockingbird. I am thinking of doing the subject of gender (as women are back up characters in NCfOM and mains in TKaM) but I can't work out a thesis topic...

Any ideas or advice? :P I'm a little panicked by it even though I love what I'm doing :P

I'm a bad one to be asking for advice :P

I do actually show a clip of TKaM to my kids when we're talking about disease. The bit where

Atticus shoots the dog with rabies.

I always thought that was such a powerful symbol, even though he was a good man he couldn't save everybody. Nobody can.

tr0llface

i'm reading animals at the moment by emma jane unsworth. it's alright like, it has its moment.
i was really looking forward to read white oleander but play.com never posted it :mad:

Slow Show

I'm on a reading binge lately and am currently reading Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, I've been meaning to read something by him for ages after hearing such good things. One of my habits,when reading a book, is to look up quotes by the author, partly to decide if I want to read more and partly because I just really love reading quotes. This guy, I really just need some medium to express how blown away I am. I think there's a cobwebbed quotes thread lying around somewhere but this will do fine.

“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”

''Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possible can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.”

“Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”

“Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, "It might have been.”

“And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, 'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.”

“Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning do to do afterward.”

“I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different.”

“Many people need desperately to receive this message: 'I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone.”

I actually had like three times this many quotes but I went back and removed some so as to avoid making an essay out of the whole thing. So good though, off to read his entire works now...

marko93

Started "The Night Watch" by Sergei Lukyanenko, so far so good. Now that I'm finished my repeats I want to read quite a few books

Junco Partner

Just finished "The Man In The High Castle" by Philip K. Dick.
It's a really interesting what if?/alternate history novel.
The "what if?" scenario being a world where the Axis powers won WWII.

Dick does a really good job of creating a believable American society with the Japanese as the ruling class. The Cold War being a stand off between The Reich and Empire rather than the Yanks and the Russians. The central point of the story being a book being published describing a society where the allies won the war and the events set in motion by the books release. The Nazis and The Japs waging an invisible war on the streets of San Francisco

There's this whole commentary on antiques and art and how people pay vast amounts of money on things based on the "historcity" of them. I.e age, brands. And how essentially its meaningless and stupid.


Really good read.

iamanengine

Just started Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky. Wish me luck :pac:

Burt Macklin

iamanengine wrote: »

Just started Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky. Wish me luck :pac:

Never read it myself but my old English teacher recommended reading the Pevear & Volokhonsky translations of Russian literature where available. Supposed to be much easier to read.

pajor

Tatiana by Martin Cruz Smith.

Definitely my favourite author, have read all of the books in the Renko series. Have loved all of them.

floutingmaxims

Between all my college bits n' pieces, I'm reading Rage of Angels by Sindey Sheldon. The author was recommended to me by a friend who's all time favourite book is Master of the Game from the same author. Only 1 chapter in; so far so good!

pajor

Now it's Tokyo Station by Martin Cruz Smith.

starlit

Mad about you by Sinead Moriarty

FreeFallin94

Just finished The Beach by Alex Garland- it is fantastic! Definitely one of the best books I've read. I've seen the movie multiple times, but the book is SO much more interesting. Really devoured this book- there was no point where I felt bored by what was happening.

LostBoy101

Just reading The Hobbit and how I haven't read it before I do not know..

marko93

Just finished Alien : Sea of Sorrows


Major meh.

pajor

Find a job probably. :pac:

LoonyLovegood

I'm ugly crying on the train. Oh, Sarah Rees Brennan books ALWAYS do this to me.

Junco Partner

Just finished Filth by Irvine Welsh.
Grim is not even the word.
I need a hug now.

iamanengine

Currently reading Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. It's theeee best!

pajor

iamanengine wrote: »

Currently reading Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. It's theeee best!

I love the film. Is the book even better?

iamanengine

pajor wrote: »

I love the film. Is the book even better?

Yeah it's absolutely brilliant and really well written and it came first of course. :P But I also find that the movie follows the book very well, so it's win win!

If you love the movie you will love the book!

green and yellow

finished 'the Sisters Brothers' by Patrick DeWitt there, a good read. kind of a different take on the life and mind of hired killers around the time of the gold rush in California, focusing on loneliness and a doubt in the value of their existence, but with plenty of action to keep it bouncing along.

SarahBeep!

Just finished Gone Girl. A bit disappointed with how little impact the ending had!

Junco Partner

Picked up a book while waiting on a bus in Galway the other day.
2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson.
Pretty standard Sci-fi; using futuristic settings to comment on contempary society .
Follows a colonist from Mercury as they trek through the galaxy from planet to terraformed planet with the occasional terraformed asteroid thrown in.

Reminds me a lot of Asimov's Empire series, pretty derivative stuff but some of the imagery in it is beautiful; been having science-boners for days.

There's this two page description of sunrise on mercury in the first chapter that is just fupping sexy.

Well worth a read if you like sci-fI.

Junco Partner

Junco Partner wrote: »

Picked up a book while waiting on a bus in Galway the other day.
2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson
.

I described this all wrong. I've been reading this in bursts on the bus to work for four months because I do not want it to finish.

It touches on politics; the destructive,stubborn nature of capitalism. Nature conservation, gender identity and sexuality, classical art and music. Lots of astrophysics and robots and a.I and self awareness.
male and female does not exist in this future. Everybody is either an androgyn or gynandromorphous or a hermaphrodite and everybody is boning everybody. Fulfilling different parenting and sexual roles in like these communal families rather than mother father child.

it's just chock full of interesting concepts and visions of where we might go as a species.

pajor

I'm actually finding the reviews of 'Go Set A Watchman' a bit disturbing.

I think I just have to buy and read it though.

Junco Partner

I bought a book last year that I started but couldn't get into.
Russian novel. The Master and Margharita by Mikhail Bulgakov.
I made another attempt at starting it last week. I'm glad I went back to it. A very lovely novel.
So far it seems like an examination of the nature of good and evil. The language is very beautiful. Russian style writing can be hard to follow sometimes. Very very descriptive but some really funny moments and anecdotes.
the fact it was written in the thirties in the soviet union makes some of the subject matter very interesting. Bulgakov must have had balls of steels to risk the wrath of Stalin.

diusmr8a504cvk

Bam, First post on this forum! I'm reading "The Death of WCW: 10th Anniversary Edition" by Bryan Alvarez. It's a Wrestling book (Yep, I'm one of those guys) about World Championship Wrestling and tells the tale of their inception, how they overtook the WWF (now WWE) in a ratings war and nearly put them out of business and through bad decisions still managed to fumble it all and go out of business in 2001.

iamanengine

About to start The Catcher in the Rye

FreeFallin94

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. It's about the real life murder of a family in Kansas in the 1950's.

Only 100 pages in, but it has been very chilling in parts already.

LoonyLovegood

I nearly bought Go Set A Watchman today. I want to read it, but it seems very dodgy how it was 'uncovered'.

SarahBeep!

LoonyLovegood wrote: »

I nearly bought Go Set A Watchman today. I want to read it, but it seems very dodgy how it was 'uncovered'.

What do you mean?

Planning on picking up a copy tomorrow!!

LoonyLovegood

The way that Harper Lee's lawyer says she found the book keeps changing. Plus, it was only announced to be published after Lee's sister (who had been the person in charge of Lee's estate) died, by the lawyer who Lee's sister didn't get on with. It all seems a bit weird. I'll probably get it out of the library.

pajor

LoonyLovegood wrote: »

I nearly bought Go Set A Watchman today. I want to read it, but it seems very dodgy how it was 'uncovered'.

Sounds a bit dodgy alright. I'd say $$ were flashing in the eyes of the person who found that manuscript.

I have to read it though. I haven't been this interested in a book in years. Slight sense of foreboding though. Difficult to describe my feeling about it.. I shall go for the Dutch word 'spannend'. :pac:

LoonyLovegood

pajor wrote: »

Sounds a bit dodgy alright. I'd say $$ were flashing in the eyes of the person who found that manuscript.

I have to read it though. I haven't been this interested in a book in years. Slight sense of foreboding though. Difficult to describe my feeling about it.. I shall go for the Dutch word 'spannend'. :pac:

I'm the same. I just...Lee's known to be deaf, mostly blind and pretty much senile now. It feels very dodgy that it's being released now, when she's literally not been able to make a statement about it

iamanengine

I agree, the circumstances seem strange at best. Isn't that book really just the first draft of To Kill A Mockingbird?

LoonyLovegood

My sister bought it for me...halfway through, it's difficult to read.

wnolan1992

Everly Crooked Valedictorian wrote: »

Bam, First post on this forum! I'm reading "The Death of WCW: 10th Anniversary Edition" by Bryan Alvarez. It's a Wrestling book (Yep, I'm one of those guys) about World Championship Wrestling and tells the tale of their inception, how they overtook the WWF (now WWE) in a ratings war and nearly put them out of business and through bad decisions still managed to fumble it all and go out of business in 2001.

I have virtually non interest in wrestling, but this sounds like a really interesting book and I may pick it up.



Heard a review for this Harper Lee book that just said "it's a bit meh. Just go and read TKaM."

Having never read TKaM, would y'all recommend it? I've always sort of kept it in the Catcher in the Rye, Jane Eyre, etc pile of "great literature" that I just can't be arsed investigating.

Insect Overlord

wnolan1992 wrote: »

Having never read TKaM, would y'all recommend it? I've always sort of kept it in the Catcher in the Rye, Jane Eyre, etc pile of "great literature" that I just can't be arsed investigating.

Read "Catcher In the Rye" while you're still young enough! It's one of those books that you're less likely to appreciate as you get older/more cynical/less romantic/less rebellious.

TKAM is well worth it too.

LoonyLovegood

TKaM is a book that I read every summer. (I'm actually due to read it around now) Atticus has been in my top list for boys if I ever have kids for years, thanks to it.

wnolan1992

An File wrote: »

Read "Catcher In the Rye" while you're still young enough! It's one of those books that you're less likely to appreciate as you get older/more cynical/less romantic/less rebellious.

TKAM is well worth it too.

See, I read the synopsis of it. And I already think I'm too old and cynical to put up with his angsty sh*te. :P



Plus, I'd have to kill John Lennon if I read it... #southparkteachesmeaboutliterature

Insect Overlord

wnolan1992 wrote: »

Plus, I'd have to kill John Lennon if I read it... #southparkteachesmeaboutliterature

LOL. I bought myself a copy of Taxi Driver on DVD this week too. :pac: