Bookworms Anonymous

[Filthy Old Drunk]

You can't go wrong. The scene with Ignatius at the cinema is my favourite part of the novel. It still makes me laugh just thinking about it. There's actually a lot of really great books in that Popular Penguins range (http://www.popularpenguins.com.au/booklist-printable.cfm).


I've bought too many books these past few weeks. My unread pile grows again.

American Pastoral by Philip Roth (BD; still waiting for delivery)
Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth (BD; still waiting for delivery)
Empire Falls by Richard Russo (BD; still waiting for delivery)
A Good School by Richard Yates (BD; still waiting for delivery)
Young Hearts by Crying Richard Yates (BD; still waiting for delivery)
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez (Popular Penguins; Dymocks)
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez (Popular Penguins; Dymocks)
Outer Dark by Cormac McCarthy (Dymocks)
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (Popular Penguins; Dymocks)
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (Dymocks)
Rose Madder by Stephen King (Markets)
Insomnia by Stephen King (Markets)
Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King (Markets)
Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King (Markets)
Bag of Bones by Stephen King (Markets)
Four Past Midnight by Stephen King (Markets)
The Dark Half by Stephen King (Markets)

I asked my Dad if he ever saw a Stephen King book at a garage sale to buy it for me as I want to read some of his stuff so Mum comes home with all those King novels in nearly perfect hardback for $2 each.

As for what I'm reading...I've been on a South binge the last few days so I'm reading Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe by Carson McCullers (incl. six short stories) and I am still ever so slowly making my way through The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor.

[Jickle]

My current 'unread' pile is about 50 books high. My 'PhD reading' pile is at about 20 books. Urgh!

[Ali G]

Just bought Ilustrado by Miguel Syjuco after reading some good reviews. Very promising so far.

[Slippery]

You can't go wrong. The scene with Ignatius at the cinema is my favourite part of the novel. It still makes me laugh just thinking about it. There's actually a lot of really great books in that Popular Penguins range (http://www.popularpenguins.com.au/booklist-printable.cfm).



I have read far too few of those.

I'm surprised The Importance of Being Earnest isn't in there, but I'm glad Hedda Gabler is.

I didn't realise The Mayor of Casterbridge was popular, I just read it off the shelf at home.

[Araenel]

My current 'unread' pile is about 50 books high. My 'PhD reading' pile is at about 20 books. Urgh!

Now I feel better about my pile of 12 unread books.

[TAT]

Rose Madder by Stephen King (Markets)
Insomnia by Stephen King (Markets)
Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King (Markets)
Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King (Markets)
Bag of Bones by Stephen King (Markets)
Four Past Midnight by Stephen King (Markets)
The Dark Half by Stephen King (Markets)
Not bad
Good*
Great
Not bad*
Not bad
Great
Great

The ones with the asterisk are directly related to The Dark Tower series, for whatever that's worth

[texta]

John Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy of Dunces. It's $10 in that Penguin Classics range. Go. Read it. Now.Great book!

[Second]

The Definitive Book of Body Language - Allan Pease.

Interesting...

[Australian Ninja]

The Definitive Book of Body Language - Allan Pease.

Interesting...

Don't forget to watch the clips from his old TV show. Once you stop laughing at the clothes and the set, you'll find them pretty interesting. His other books are ok too.

[Australian Ninja]

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a88/Jonny9999/takeshi.jpg

Currently reading this book published by the British Film Institute (http://filmstore.bfi.org.uk/)in their World Directors series on Takeshi Kitano written by Aaron Gerow.

It's good reading so far. It has some early chapters on his work before making films, talks about his days as a comedian and the various TV shows he fronts. Then it goes on to thematic discussions / theory on what other critics have said about Takeshis films, some general stuff on trends in Japanese cinema, then goes into title specific sections on each of Takeshis films.

Don't ask me where I bought it, probably ebay UK after googling to find info on the book itself. Only about 1/3 in, but it's proving to be very insightful, and while heavy reading at times - the jargon is kept pretty light. Still, I keep a dictionary handy for some of the theory related "post-whatever-post-new-wave-hullaballoo" descriptions that sometimes need clarifying.

I may buy some other books from this series on world directors (http://filmstore.bfi.org.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2ffilmstore%2ebfi%2 eorg%2euk%2facatalog%2fBFI_Filmstore_Books___Magaz ines_7%2ehtml&WD=directors%20world&PN=BFI_Filmstore_Filmmakers_20%2ehtml%23a298#a298) , as the quality is very high.

[Slippery]

Recommend me a book to read!

GO!

John Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy of Dunces. It's $10 in that Penguin Classics range. Go. Read it. Now.

Is now in my possession, I shall nep and/or pep Jickle as a I see fit as I make my way through it :p

[BB2K]

You'll pep him. Believe me.

[Jickle]

Is now in my possession, I shall nep and/or pep Jickle as a I see fit as I make my way through it :p

If you don't like it I'll send you my honours thesis (which is on the book) and force you to read it over and over until you agree that it's incredible. :p

As for me: finished The New York Trilogy (which was fantastic), and now I'm reading Stephen King's Gerald's Game. The premise is great (a woman finds herself handcuffed to a bed in the middle of nowhere after accidentally killing her husband during a sex game) and it's been executed fairly well.

[Slippery]

Can you do that when I finish, even if I like it?

[JC Henderson]

I too am curious to read your work on Ignatius.

[BB2K]

Pirate Ignatius or lumberjack shirt and hat Ignatius?

[[m]averick]

Is now in my possession, I shall nep and/or pep Jickle as a I see fit as I make my way through it :p


I'm about three-quarters of the way through it and am not overly keen to finish it. The sections with Ignatius are really enjoyable, but some of the other sections are quite dull and uninteresting.

[TAT]

As for me: finished The New York Trilogy (which was fantastic), and now I'm reading Stephen King's Gerald's Game. The premise is great (a woman finds herself handcuffed to a bed in the middle of nowhere after accidentally killing her husband during a sex game) and it's been executed fairly well.
I need to re-read that one, I think.


I've recently become more interested in the fantasy genre.

I picked up an airport book called The Dwarves (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/markus-heitz/dwarves.htm) a month or two ago and didn't mind it. Turns out it's one of three, but I'm not too fussed to keep reading.

I grabbed a trilogy of Garth Nix books the other day (Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Kingdom_series)) and after just a hundred pages or so, am sucked in.

Does anyone have any fantasy they recommend?

[Australian Ninja]

Anyone read any Cliver Barker stories? I'm thinking of getting the first collection of Books of Blood and possibly The Hellbound Heart (Hellraiser) seeing as I really like Clive's style and particulalry enjoy the first Hellraiser film and The Midnight Meat Train (story from the books of blood).

He's written a lot that falls into the generic term of fantasy stories (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clive_Barker#Bibliography), but I'm more interested in his darker / horror stories.

[Vindik8or]

I need to re-read that one, I think.


I've recently become more interested in the fantasy genre.

I picked up an airport book called The Dwarves (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/markus-heitz/dwarves.htm) a month or two ago and didn't mind it. Turns out it's one of three, but I'm not too fussed to keep reading.

I grabbed a trilogy of Garth Nix books the other day (Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Kingdom_series)) and after just a hundred pages or so, am sucked in.

Does anyone have any fantasy they recommend?

This one:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51xMB4ufD7L.jpg

?

In this case I judged a book by its cover, and I don't regret it. CG, really?

In other news, I've just finished reading The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski (it's one of The Witcher books). It's really, really good. Some of the best literature I've ever read, easily the best fantasy.

[TAT]

Anyone read any Cliver Barker stories? I'm thinking of getting the first collection of Books of Blood and possibly The Hellbound Heart (Hellraiser) seeing as I really like Clive's style and particulalry enjoy the first Hellraiser film and The Midnight Meat Train (story from the books of blood).

He's written a lot that falls into the generic term of fantasy stories (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clive_Barker#Bibliography), but I'm more interested in his darker / horror stories.
Definitely pick up Books of Blood 1 & 2 as there are some truly epic short stories within (Yattering & Jack is a personal fave). Decide whether you like him enough to keep reading, I guess.

[texta]

I'm reading James Joyce's Ulysses. It's not as hard going as I was expecting.

[Australian Ninja]

I'm reading The Barcode on the Serial Box, if you keep staring at it, it makes you dizzy.

[VanAce]

http://www.desktopmag.com.au/news/printed-book-a-fast-read/

Apparently printed books are faster and more enjoyable to read than their digital counterparts according to a study.

[Almighty Beanchild]

I need to re-read that one, I think.


I've recently become more interested in the fantasy genre.

I picked up an airport book called The Dwarves (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/markus-heitz/dwarves.htm) a month or two ago and didn't mind it. Turns out it's one of three, but I'm not too fussed to keep reading.

I grabbed a trilogy of Garth Nix books the other day (Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Kingdom_series)) and after just a hundred pages or so, am sucked in.

Does anyone have any fantasy they recommend?

The Game of Thrones series by George RR Martin is pretty good. The first trilogy of books Robin Hobb did, the Assassin series, are great. I wouldn't bother with much else by her though. Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. Steampunky kind of stuff, very weird, very cool.

Can't really think of anything else remarkable I've read lately.

[jawsy]

The first trilogy of books Robin Hobb did, the Assassin series, are great. I wouldn't bother with much else by her though.

But the Liveship Traders trilogy is the best stuff she has done. That's not even my opinion, it is Just Fact.

The Wheel of Time is always worth a read (and I will never tire of recommending it) and Ian Irvine writes some very good stuff (Terminator Gene or the View from the Mirror series).

[Second]

I <3 Robin Hobb, but the new stuff about the Dragon Keepers I'm a little unsure on.

[Almighty Beanchild]

But the Liveship Traders trilogy is the best stuff she has done. That's not even my opinion, it is Just Fact.

Hey look at that, I didn't know facts could be wrong.

EDITAT: Though I guess I was harsh. The Liveship Traders books were good, though didn't grab me at all like the Assassin series did, and the Fool series was a satisfying end to Fitz's story.

EDITAT 2: Also I'm always hesitant to reccomend WoT because it's such a huge series and only half the books are any good.

[dinopoke]

I really enjoyed Irvine's Well of Echoes quartet except for the fact that the ending was very anticlimactic and clearly set itself up for another series of books. Also as Bean said, the Assassin series is great. I read the first of The Liveship Traders but didn't really feel compelled to continue. I guess the characters weren't as interesting. I might try and track down the other novels some day.

[Second]

I found Liveship more difficult to start, but I still enjoyed it more.

[jawsy]

EDITAT: Though I guess I was harsh. The Liveship Traders books were good, though didn't grab me at all like the Assassin series did, and the Fool series was a satisfying end to Fitz's story.

I actually enjoyed the Fool series more than the Assassin series as well, which seems to make even less sense now that I think about it.

EDITAT 2: Also I'm always hesitant to reccomend WoT because it's such a huge series and only half the books are any good.

You take that back now!

The end of book six still ranks up there as my favourite book moment ever. Big call.

I really enjoyed Irvine's Well of Echoes quartet except for the fact that the ending was very anticlimactic and clearly set itself up for another series of books.

Big Picture, buddy.

I read the first of The Liveship Traders but didn't really feel compelled to continue. I guess the characters weren't as interesting.

Buddy, buddy, buddy; I read the third book in one sitting.

[Vindik8or]

The Wheel of Time is f***en slop. Slop with crack mixed into it. You'll enjoy the ride, and want some more, but you'll hate yourself and everyone else for it.

[jawsy]

I already hate all you jerks anyway.

[TAT]

Is Wheel of Time that enormous ****ing 11-book series I saw?

EDIT: 15 books? what the ****

[Second]

WoT was excellent help back in the old days. I used to need to read to help calm my mind down at night in order to sleep. WoT certainly provided enough material to assist with that.

[Almighty Beanchild]

The end of book six still ranks up there as my favourite book moment ever. Big call.

The plot moves about 2 inches in books 7-10 though, and a lot of characters had very dragging storylines before that. Now Robert Jordan is dead, the latest book (Book 12 huuuurf) is actually a lot better than the rest of the series. The quality of characterisation, plot developments, etc is a lot better and it's really noticable.

[jawsy]

Yeah, needed more explosions.

[Jickle]

Reading through Bret Easton Ellis' Less Than Zero, since the sequel just came out and I've been hearing good things. It's boring as shit, which is sort of the point, but it's still a major drain. It's just like his other books, only nowhere near as good.

Also about 110 pages into Ian McEwan's Solar, which has been awesome and hilarious so far.

[Ali G]

Reading through Bret Easton Ellis' Less Than Zero, since the sequel just came out and I've been hearing good things. It's boring as shit, which is sort of the point, but it's still a major drain. It's just like his other books, only nowhere near as good.
You've heard good things about Imperial Bedrooms? All I've heard is that it's worse than Less Than Zero.

[jawsy]

I hope not 'cause I just dropped 32 bucks on it.

[Australian Ninja]

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a88/Jonny9999/art-of-being.jpg

Re-reading (psychoanalyst, humanistic philosopher) Erich Fromm's Art of Being. First read it many years ago and looking up his other titles I'm keen to read some of his other earlier works such as Escape from Freedom and The Sane Society

It's strange how reading the same book many years later can have such an effect on you. Of course the book has not changed, but the person reading it has.

Tempting as it is to buy a whole pile of his books, I'm determined to read and absorb each one before buying another title. Otherwise it's too easy to stockpile unread books.

[Australian Ninja]

Can anybody recommend some sites for public domain books (NOT torrents), that is books that are free, (fiction and non-fiction) usually because they are out of copyright, or have permission from whoever to be listed.

Here's one to start with:

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

And here's a list of some of their popular downloads

Top 100 EBooks yesterday
1.How to Analyze People on Sight by Elsie Lincoln Benedict and Ralph Paine Benedict (1405)
2.The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana by Vatsyayana (871)
3.The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (616)
4.Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (450)
5.A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (422)
6.The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci — Complete by Leonardo da Vinci (422)
7.The Art of War by Sunzi 6th cent. B.C. (407)
8.Ulysses by James Joyce (392)
9.Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (390)
10.Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (319)
11.Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome by E.M. Berens (285)
12.The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas père (270)
13.Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie (265)
14.Dracula by Bram Stoker (259)
15.A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (256)
16.War and Peace by graf Leo Tolstoy (249)
17.Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases by Peter Mark Roget (248)
18.Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (245)
19.The Bible, Old and New Testaments, King James Version (242)
20.The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (235)
21.The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli (232)
22.Moby Dick, or, the whale by Herman Melville (229)
23.The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells (221)
24.Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (214)
25.Custom and Myth by Andrew Lang (213)
26.Grimm's Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (209)
27.The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (206)
28.An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith (206)
29.The Time Machine by H. G. Wells (206)
30.Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll (203)
31.Emma by Jane Austen (201)
32.The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (198)
33.Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (190)
34.The Divine Comedy by Dante, Illustrated by Dante Alighieri (187)
35.Encyclopedia of Needlework by Thérèse de Dillmont (174)
36.The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare (171)
37.Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (165)
38.Walden by Henry David Thoreau (163)
39.Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift (162)
40.The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (156)
41.The Republic by Plato (156)
42.The Third Class at Miss Kaye's by Angela Brazil (153)
43.Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse (152)
44.The Trial by Franz Kafka (152)
45.Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (151)
46.The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce (143)
47.Anna Karenina by graf Leo Tolstoy (143)
48.Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (141)
49.Knots, Splices and Rope Work by A. Hyatt Verrill (141)
50.Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (141)
51.Paradise Lost by John Milton (140)
52.Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (139)
53.Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne (138)
54.The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter (135)
55.Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (135)
56.Living Up to Billy by Elizabeth Cooper (134)
57.The Day of His Youth by Alice Brown (134)
58.The Iliad by Homer (133)
59.Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery (130)
60.The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 1 by Edgar Allan Poe (129)
61.The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 by Edgar Allan Poe (128)
62.Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman (127)
63.A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (127)
64.Persuasion by Jane Austen (126)
65.The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (126)
66.The Communist Manifesto by Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx (125)
67.Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (124)
68.Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (123)
69.Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (123)
70.The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 17, No. 99, January, 1866 by Various (121)
71.The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (120)
72.The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells (120)
73.The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas père (119)
74.Under the Mendips by Emma Marshall (116)
75.Gala Day Luncheons by Caroline Benedict Burrell (116)
76.My Man Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse (115)
77.Doctrina Christiana by Anonymous (114)
78.The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (114)
79.Koran. English (113)
80.Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (113)
81.Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie (111)
82.The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling (110)
83.Within Prison Walls by Thomas Mott Osborne (110)
84.Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (109)
85.A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (108)
86.Novelas Cortas by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón (104)
87.The Practice and Science of Drawing by Harold Speed (104)
88.Fair Margaret by Henry Rider Haggard (101)
89.Max und Moritz by Wilhelm Busch (97)
90.Memoirs Of Fanny Hill by John Cleland (96)
91.Don Quijote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (96)
92.The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (93)
93.Diccionario Ingles-Español-Tagalog by Sofronio G. Calderón (93)
94.The Canterbury Tales, and Other Poems by Geoffrey Chaucer (93)
95.Keats: Poems Published in 1820 by John Keats (92)
96.David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (91)
97.A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift (84)
98.Bindle by Herbert George Jenkins (83)
99.Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (82)
100.The Marvelous Land Of Oz by L. Frank Baum (79)


I much prefer a physical book to read, but sometimes it's good to find books online that you won't get in the library, anything that is worth purchasing must be worth reading more than once imo, otherwise it doesn't deserve to be on my bookshelf.

[buckstwits]

http://www.feedbooks.com/

[TAT]

The first trilogy of books Robin Hobb did, the Assassin series, are great. I wouldn't bother with much else by her though.
I've picked up this trilogy, btw.

Liking it so far. The development of Fitz is really intriguing, and the snippets of history preceding each chapter are also a nice touch

[Australian Ninja]

http://www.feedbooks.com/

Thanks for the link. I see that site has PDF's. The Gutenberg site does not seem to have PDFs, I assume as part of their credo of being the most accessible over as many formats as possible with their scanned book file types.

Hmmm they have Tao Te Ching, Art of War and The Book of Five Rings in PDFs, I'll be downloading those thank you very much.

[Jickle]

You've heard good things about Imperial Bedrooms? All I've heard is that it's worse than Less Than Zero.

I hope not 'cause I just dropped 32 bucks on it.

Near the end now, it is leaps and bounds beyond Less Than Zero. Not up there with his best works, purely because of its brevity, but still a great read (unless the final 30 pages fall apart...)

[Ali G]

Near the end now, it is leaps and bounds beyond Less Than Zero. Not up there with his best works, purely because of its brevity, but still a great read (unless the final 30 pages fall apart...)
Good to hear, I might have to check it out after all.

[VanAce]

Can anybody recommend some sites for public domain books (NOT torrents), that is books that are free, (fiction and non-fiction) usually because they are out of copyright, or have permission from whoever to be listed.

http://www.archive.org/details/texts

[Filthy Old Drunk]

I just finished my third Richard Yates novel in a row, last two were good not great. I was given a 3-book boxset of Leah Giarratano novels (looks like generic crime fiction) so I'll probably start one of them now and I've also got to finish off If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino.

If you have any love for reading, you have read this book. It had an odd structure: The first chapter starts out with you, the reader, going to the book store to buy Italo Calvino's latest novel - yep, you guessed it - If on a winter's night a traveler. The second chapter is about you reading If on a winter's night a traveler (which is narrated by a different character) and you soon discover that the novel starts repeating itself so you take it back to the book store to replace it, but are informed that you were actually reading another novel, Outside the town of Malbork. So you buy Outside the town of Malbork. And this process of reading these incomplete novels is repeated. There's actually a reason for this which I won't explain (plot points occur in the 'you as the reader' chapters). The interesting thing is that each of the books you read are all different genres so the whole book is a mixture of different genres and subject matters which fits the book perfectly because it is essentially a book about reading. It's confusing at first, but once you understand the structure all is good.

Oh and finally caved and pre-ordered a Kindle - the new one (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003DZ1Y8Q?country=AU). Set me back $160USD incl. shipping which is just at the "**** it, I'm going to buy one" pricepoint. I was in A&R the other day and they were flogging the Kobo for $200. Still not convinced about buying new ebooks (because they are only a few dollars cheaper than a paperback), but it will come in handy with all the free ebooks available.

[Larry]

You've heard good things about Imperial Bedrooms? All I've heard is that it's worse than Less Than Zero.I couldn't get into it, not as clever as his other books. Definitely nowhere near Lunar Park.

I'm reading The Passage by Justin Cronin. Heard some hype and decided to buy it. I've read a few reviews and each one I've read says that the book drops off around page 250. And they're right. The first 250 are worth the price alone, but maybe wait for paperback when it's a bit cheaper. Also just finished the new Nick Hornby and I felt like a girl reading it. Definitely no High Fidelity or Fever Pitch.

[Larry]

Not bad
Good*
Great
Not bad*
Not bad
Great
Great

The ones with the asterisk are directly related to The Dark Tower series, for whatever that's worthI think your asterisks are a bit off, neither of those relate to the The Dark Tower Series.

[TAT]

Insomnia is referred to in a crucial part of DT7, and Ted Brautigan (sp?) from Hearts in Atlantis becomes a key player in either DT6 or 7.


Assassin's Apprentice was pretty good. The world and characters were fleshed out quite nicely, though the latter part of the story sort of comes out of nowhere and is resolved really quickly. Good, but a little convenient.

[TAT]

Thanks for putting me onto the Farseer Trilogy, Bean.

I've just started Assassin's Quest, and I think what I like about Fitz the most is that he's fallible. There are occasions where he does good things, and bad, and holds his own and is beaten soundly. He has faults, and that's something that makes me want to keep reading about him.

[Filthy Old Drunk]

I'm reading through Liars in Love, Richard Yates' second short story collection. Once I'm done, I won't have any more Yates to read :( I'll be starting Rock Springs by Richard Ford after that. I got it for $1 at Vinnies (score!)

As for book buying, I haven't bought much outside of a few books at Vinnies... until today. I ordered Raymond Carver: Collected Stories from Amazon, which has all Carver's short story collections including Beginners and some Essays. I also bought three Sinclair Lewis novels (Main Street, Elmer Gantry and Babbit) and Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson.

[HiredMan]

Reading Shogun by James Clavell (again). After that it's Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove and then The Prow Beast by Robert Low (4th book in the Oathsworn series).

Anyone read Lonesome Dove? Supposed to be awesome (it did win the Pulitzer for fiction in 86).

[Australian Ninja]

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a88/Jonny9999/interviewsclint.jpg

Picked this up on the weekend, a fantastic collection of interviews with Clint from a wide variety of sources taken from throughout his career.

Wish I had more money, would have grabbed the Brian De Palma, Lars Von Trier and Terry Gilliam books from the same series.

For anyone interested you can see a list of other titles in the series here http://www.upress.state.ms.us/files/spring2010.pdf , on page 32 of the PDF.

Also on the publishers website. (http://www.upress.state.ms.us/category/film)

[Ad-Rock]

Finished the first book of Stephen King's Dark Tower series. It's ****ing brilliant.

[enrique]

I'm reading the Rise and Fall of Peter Brock by Bill Tuckey. Very interesting look at what happened in those turbulent days.

[Lazlow]

Anything about him being gay?

[enrique]

Anything about him being gay?

Wtf? Havent come across anything like that yet. Its more to do with him and Holden splitting in the eighties over the Polariser.

[Knuckle Children]

Finished reading Game Over a while back. It's a book which documents the establishment of Nintendo's near monopoly of the video game industry in Japan in the early 80s, as well their assault on, and domination of the new frontier of America.

It was written just after the launch of the Super Nintendo, but even today gives a great insight into the inner workings and psyche of the company. It includes detailed biographies of all of the major players and discusses in detail the tactics and dirty tricks used by Nintendo and its competitors.

It's very well written, and is a fascinating read for anyone interested in the industry's backrooms.

[Sleazy Martinez]

I have been reading Jonathan Franzen's new novel Freedom. I am 160 pages in and whilst I am enjoying it, I'm not really understanding all the praise it is getting. Perhaps it gets better as you go along. I also bought a book about Little Pebble (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kamm) called A Wolf Among the Sheep.

Any of you guys have a Goodreads account?

[Ad-Rock]

Halfway through The Drawing of Three, the second book in the Dark Tower series.

This shit just keeps getting better! Can't believe it took me so long to pick them up.

What is even better is that the books are being made into a movies and tv series (http://www.stephenking.com/index.html), which was confirmed the other day. Apparently it will go 1st Movie - Tv series - 2nd Movie - 2nd tv series - 3rd Movie.

[TAT]

The scope will be ridiculous, and I'm struggling to work out who they're going to put in the main roles.

[Knuckle Children]

I posted this pic in the Positivity thread yesterday, but I found a copy of an original 1930 edition of Vitalogy, boxed up by my wife's Grandma.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd45/Danos1977/23e7807d.jpg

I had a flick through last night; the chapter on Self Pollution (masturbation), as featured in the booklet of Pearl Jam's Vitalogy album, and how it inevitably leads to mental deterioration, and if unchecked, insanity, is quite amusing.

It's also interesting to note that many of the herbal remedies and medicines that the book espouses, are now back in vogue (and cost a fortune) after spending many years being denounced as hippie voodoo.

[HiredMan]

Reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.

Fantastic so far, even though not much has happened. Characters have awesome names like Augustus McCrae, Captain Woodrow Call, Pea Eye etc, the dialogue is brilliant, descriptive text vivid. Love a good Western.

[Zeph101]

Hey does anyone know if Guillermo Del Toro's book, "The Fall", is out yet in local shops? I just want to know if I can get it without taking the risk of dealing with amazon's random bullsh*t.

[Ninjalada]

I'm reading The Happy Economist by Ross Gittins after I got it for free from work. It's interesting to read about the secret to happiness from a statistics-driven economist's point of view.

[Sleazy Martinez]

I'm reading Wasted: The True Story Of Jim McNeil, Violent Criminal And Brilliant Playwright. I probably would have never read it if I hadn't got it for free, but it's actually quite enjoyable.

[Ad-Rock]

Reading Wizard and Glass - Stephen King.

The series is still going strong, but I've heard it takes a downturn for the next two books... As it stands at the moment, the series would have to be one of the best that I've read.

[Lazlow]

Picked up Metro 2033 on the weekend. Can anyone confirm the translation is as bad as some reviews make it out to be?

[Dark Wader]

Reading Wizard and Glass - Stephen King.

The series is still going strong, but I've heard it takes a downturn for the next two books... As it stands at the moment, the series would have to be one of the best that I've read.

I've actually just started reading this as well. Haven't read in eons, and this series has me full-scale back in powers of reading a good book. Gunslinger I thought was a bit slow, found my mind wandering off a lot. . .but it still kept me invested enough to grab Drawing of the Three.

Glad I did, because now I can't put them down. About 100 pages away from finishing Wastelands, from what I've heard of Wizard and Glass I can't wait. . .I've heard similar things regarding the last three books, but I think it would be impossible to let go of the series after the first four.

[TAT]

I've said numerous times that Wizard & Glass isn't just the best of the DT series, but one of King's best, period.

Books 5 & 6 aren't great, but 7 is fantastic.

[Ad-Rock]

Mid-way through the, so far, excellent Wolves of the Calla. This series has me so hooked it's not funny; I struggle to put them down, and when I do all I want is to pick them up again.

Wizard and Glass was magnificant, if a little predictable.

[VanAce]

Finished reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Not bad for a children's novel. Also it was an easy read which isn't too bad now and then Next thing I will start is The Philosophy of Andy Warhol.

[Jickle]

Just wrapped up Kingsley Amis' Colonel Sun (a James Bond novel). Pretty great stuff - he emulates Ian Fleming's style very well, but adds his own flair. The villain is ****ing mental, too. A very enjoyable read.

Now onto The Girl Who Played With Fire. For a book that sold so well (usually a surprisingly bad sign), The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was pretty good.

[Slippery]

I'm reading The Secret Servant by Daniel Silva

I haven't read anything fiction since I read A Confederacy of Dunces, this is a good light read when I should be studying.

[Knuckle Children]

I've said numerous times that Wizard & Glass isn't just the best of the DT series, but one of King's best, period.

Books 5 & 6 aren't great, but 7 is fantastic.

I finished Gerald's Game not so long ago. For one of King's lower profile books, it was a great read. Considering that 90% of the book revolves around one woman handcuffed to a bed, he did well to make it so engrossing for the whole read.

[Jickle]

Gerald's Game is great.

Speaking of great, I'm reading John Ajvide Lindqvist's latest, 'Harbour'.

[TAT]

I've been meaning to track down Gerald's Game, actually.

[HiredMan]

Finished Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove last week. One of the best books I've ever read I reckon.

Now re-reading Dune.

[Antwandemarco]

Quick question: Can someone advise me as to the best translations of The Iliad and The Odyssey. I have second hand copies at home that i picked up but i have no idea if they are translations worth reading.

Bear in mind that i'm not interested in poetic versions.

Thanks :D

[Vindik8or]

Y... you. The Iliad and The Odyssey are goddamned poems. Go to f***en wikipedia if you don't want 'poetic' versions. I'm sure you can track down some shit arse graphic novel that cuts all the literary value out of it and leaves JUSS DA ORSM PLOT N ACTION N SHIT

[Jickle]

Y... you. The Iliad and The Odyssey are goddamned poems. Go to f***en wikipedia if you don't want 'poetic' versions. I'm sure you can track down some shit arse graphic novel that cuts all the literary value out of it and leaves JUSS DA ORSM PLOT N ACTION N SHIT

Having talked to Antwan about this two nights back, I assure you he's not being as stupid as you're assuming he's being. He means he doesn't want one that shoehorns in a rhyming structure, as some translations do. Because, you know, a translated text shouldn't magically rhyme in English.

[Vindik8or]

The poetic techniques used in The Odyssey and The Iliad do not include rhyming, that is a much more recent styling. But it is still a poem and should be rendered as such.

[HiredMan]

Way to get Vin all hot and bothered Antwan!

:D

[Antwandemarco]

The poetic techniques used in The Odyssey and The Iliad do not include rhyming, that is a much more recent styling. But it is still a poem and should be rendered as such.

Sorry mate, next time i want to read something i'll run it past you. Hope this hasn't soured our relationship lol!

Thinking of reading a Dan Brown next, what would you recommend Vin?

[Vindik8or]

I'd recommend acid in the eyes. It's more enjoyable and far-and-away more enlightening.

[Slippery]

I'm reading Let the Right One In.

Everyone says the movie is amazing and my sister borrowed the book from the library so thought I'd give it a read, pretty weird so far. The scenes with Eli and Oskar are great, but that dude Hakan(sp?) and the drunks aren't as good.

[Ad-Rock]

Halfway through The Dark Tower. OMG! OMG! OMG!

I'll be sad when it's all over.

Until 2013, that is.

[Dark Wader]

Just finished it last night actually. . .amazing series. Heard a lot of people hated the ending, but I loved it.

King said he was writing another one, "Wind Through the Keyhole" that would be set between the 4th and 5th book, and something to do with Roland and Cuthbert hunting werewolves. . .can't wait for that. (although I'm assuming it will be set in the past, so I don't get how it fits in between the 4th and 5th book. . .)

[Australian Ninja]

Currently reading Fear of Freedom by Erich Fromm [first published around 1942] - in which he talks about community and individual freedom in medieval times contrasted with the modern world, the psychology of Nazism and totalitarianism, freedom and democracy and other topics.

Also waiting on this Vincent Price bio to arrive. Not a big fan of biographies - given the author's usally have all sorts of prejudices and wild inaccuracies when writing about somebody they have not met in person. I prefer Bio's by people who actually met/knew the person they are writing about - or autobiographies. This book is by Price's daughter and looks to an illuminating read.


http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a88/Jonny9999/VincentPriceBio.jpg

[Ad-Rock]

Finally got around to finishing The Dark Tower and thus the series.

****ing epic journey. Never read a series which I was so sad to be finishing.

The ending was pretty great, makes me want to read the first couple of books again. It answers so many questions which were only half raised.
Big SpoilerWhen he told of losing the Horn I new it was going to be really important, but by the end it'd slipped my mind until the field of roses

[HiredMan]

V for Vendetta. Enjoying it significantly more than Watchmen.

[Space_Monkey]

Ordered the Metal Gear Solid Omnibus and Mogworld (the book by yahtzee). $15 postage argh but still $15 cheaper than buying them in store. Now we play the waiting game...

[nonch]

Angus & Robertson was doing 50% off everything, so I picked up American Gods by Neil Gaiman for $13. Haven't read any of his comics, but this looks interesting.

[Munky]

Reading "This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly" by Carmen M Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff.

Worth investing (see what I did there) your time in.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/This-Time-Different-Centuries-Financial/dp/0691142165/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300093300&sr=8-1 Serious praise by other well known finance authors indeed.

ALso reading The Gunslinger, ordered the first three books off Amazon. I reckon the series will make a good travelling companion on my 2.5 month epic across Western Europe and Northern USA and Canada.

[VanAce]

Here is a list of the Borders and A&R stores closing down

http://images.theage.com.au/2011/03/03/2213892/Borders.jpg?rand=1299139937658

[TAT]

None of the ones near me. Awesome. Maybe now I can cash in that ****ing Borders voucher.

I've been reading through the Complete Chronicles of Conan. Arnie's depiction is totally underplayed compared to the Conan of the original stories

[Space_Monkey]

Coming Up For Air – George Orwell

It is evidence to just how talented George Orwell was as an author that he could make a story about a very average, overweight middle-age man returning to his hometown so compelling.

I read something by George Orwell every year or so and each time I am similarly impressed by his ability to craft an engrossing and beautiful read. His descriptions of the English countryside ‘pre-war’ are breathtaking, his accounts of a modernised England ‘post-war’ are terrifying but similarly immersive.

There is so much complexity to this novel. It explores the end of an increasingly out-dated vision of England, the coming of modernisation, of war, fascism, middle-class life, gender roles, family and love.

As a fan of his work it’s great to see how this fits in as part of the evolution of his novels. Within the text the protagonist’s chilling visions of the future echo 1984 some ten years before it was published.

This is a beautifully written, compelling and richly constructed novel, I can’t recommend it enough.

[Knuckle Children]

I've just started Brett Easton Ellis' American Psycho (first edition hardcover that I bought for my wife - really nice copy).

I'm only 50-odd pages in, and I know it's setting up the character and the world he lives in, but talk about product placement overload. Maybe it's the fact I'm reading just before I go to sleep and I'm already dead tired, but the constant, verbose product descriptions make for heavy reading.

Enjoying it so far, it might end up being a long read though.

[Australian Ninja]

I've never read any of the various Sherlock Holmes stories, but my blissful ignorance shall swiftly come to an abrupt end. Ordered a rather hefty hardback tome of "complete" stories - of the adventurous persuasion - containing four Holmes novels and fifty-plus short stories by one Arthur Conan Doyle.

The combination of watching the two recent films and reading one of the graphic novels (Hound of the Baskervilles, selfmadehero.com) has me practically salivating at the thought of reading the original stories.

Think I may have to buy the graphic novels from selfmadehero as well, as they are rather good and a fine compliment to the original stories.

I also ordered some unmentionables in the form of I am Legend, as the three films are rather entertaining but lacking in substance.

[Zeph101]

I strongly recommend people read "How I Became A Famous Novelist" by Steve Hely. A must read for anyone who's into the current commercial side of modern literature.

[texta]

I've just started Brett Easton Ellis' American Psycho (first edition hardcover that I bought for my wife - really nice copy).

I'm only 50-odd pages in, and I know it's setting up the character and the world he lives in, but talk about product placement overload. Maybe it's the fact I'm reading just before I go to sleep and I'm already dead tired, but the constant, verbose product descriptions make for heavy reading.

Enjoying it so far, it might end up being a long read though.lol. It sounds like you don't get it at all.

[texta]

I've never read any of the various Sherlock Holmes stories, but my blissful ignorance shall swiftly come to an abrupt end. Ordered a rather hefty hardback tome of "complete" stories - of the adventurous persuasion - containing four Holmes novels and fifty-plus short stories by one Arthur Conan Doyle.

The combination of watching the two recent films and reading one of the graphic novels (Hound of the Baskervilles, selfmadehero.com) has me practically salivating at the thought of reading the original stories.

Think I may have to buy the graphic novels from selfmadehero as well, as they are rather good and a fine compliment to the original stories.

I also ordered some unmentionables in the form of I am Legend, as the three films are rather entertaining but lacking in substance.

You're going to be pretty disappointed if you expect the real Sherlock Holmes to be anything like those movies.

The modernised BBC version actually captures the spirit of Sherlock Holmes much more than the movies. Great books though.

[Azzaman]

I've been reading big book of basketball by Bill Simmons. About Half way through so far and I'm thoroughly enjoying it, I was fairly ignorant of the "ye old" basketball stars of the 60s and 70s but bill gives a great history of the era. It's obvious he's very passionate on the subject and writes in such a way that you definately feel his enthusiasm. He's also a very funny writer mixing in funny observations and pop culture references.

My only gripe is his overuse of footnotes, sometimes up to 100 in a chapter, I don't think it carries across to the kindle well. They are quite amusing though.

[Australian Ninja]

You're going to be pretty disappointed if you expect the real Sherlock Holmes to be anything like those movies.

The modernised BBC version actually captures the spirit of Sherlock Holmes much more than the movies. Great books though.

Stop being a moron for two seconds, please, young MacGuffin.

FYI Sherlock Holmes doesn't actually exist, there is no 'real' version.

Anyhow, I'll be enjoying the stories because they are good friggin stories! Not because of some slick modern retelling of said stories.

I'll watch that show, but not for a few months perhaps. Best let it ripen.

[Australian Ninja]

Angus & Robertson was doing 50% off everything, so I picked up American Gods by Neil Gaiman for $13. Haven't read any of his comics, but this looks interesting.

It's alright, he's written better stories though.

[BB2K]

Stop being a moron for two seconds, please, young MacGuffin.

FYI Sherlock Holmes doesn't actually exist, there is no 'real' version.

Anyhow, I'll be enjoying the stories because they are good friggin stories! Not because of some slick modern retelling of said stories.

I'll watch that show, but not for a few months perhaps. Best let it ripen.

if you seriously think you're smarter than texta, you're dumber than i thought

[texta]

Stop being a moron for two seconds, please, young MacGuffin.

FYI Sherlock Holmes doesn't actually exist, there is no 'real' version.

Anyhow, I'll be enjoying the stories because they are good friggin stories! Not because of some slick modern retelling of said stories.

I'll watch that show, but not for a few months perhaps. Best let it ripen.
U mad?

[texta]

Anyway.

I'm currently reading:
Ulysses - James Joyce. I recently finished Hunger by Knut Hamsun, which was a pretty good lead in to this. Hunger is ****ing brilliant by the way. One of the best books I've read ever.

I'm also reading 1Q84 as a bit of light fiction.

Just finished Snuff - Terry Pratchett (also read the Chuck Palahnuik version, but don't.). I'm a real sucker for Terry Pratchett and I think unlike most pulp novelists he's probably gotten better as he's gone along. This was a great Christmas read.

[Ad-Rock]

Reading 11.22.63 by Stephen King

Really enjoying it. It's rare that I enjoy a book I get for xmas.

[texta]

Just started As I Lie Dying by William Faulkner.

[Australian Ninja]

Currently

*Getting back into a fascinating biography of Vincent Price by his daughter

*Floyd Gotterson's amazingMickey Mouse comics from Fantagraphics

*Re-read Dark Knight Strikes Again (so much better the 3rd time around)

*Finished the first volume of Carl Barks Duck Comics reprints - a fantastic edition that shows what an absolute master craftsman Barks was, despite the tragic circumstances of his life (or perhaps because of them, depending on your world view)

*1/2 way into (humanistic social psychologist) Erich Fromm's Sane Society, one of his most ambitious and critical works on the flaws of Western Society, modern thought and mental health and social dysfunction, that builds on what he established in Escape From Freedom and Man for Himself - specifically his evidence of Lutheranism and Calvinism's effect on the modern day man's dysfuntional and destructive behaviours.

*Nearly finished Jane Roberts The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events, a book is one of her most exciting works, in that it relates to "mass reactions such as the overthrow of governments, the birth of new religions, wars, epidemics, earthquakes, new periods of art, architecture and technology" and talks at length about "unconscious and often negative beliefs pervading science and religion, medicine and mythology."

*Finished reading Richard Matheson's I am Legend. The three film versions - all of which I own and can enjoy on one level or another - are vastly inferior to the tightly paced, claustrophobic novella with it's rich but economical language, great sense of mood and futility at the mundanity in living in a world that has ceased to be.

I hope that in the next twenty years somebody adapts this into a small budget film with practical effects and changes NOTHING, or as little as possible from the novella. Each of the three films had some obvious concessions to an adaptation, but each of them also manages to ruin the core story and themes by bastardising to be more "entertaining". Give me bleak, unrelenting tedium without hope that leads to madness. Don't give me popcorn, lollipops and sunshine.

*Finished the first story in the handsome hardcover tome that is the collected Sherlock stories of one Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet.

I very much enjoy Doyle's rich descriptive language and the often incidental humour that comes not so much from a situation, but from the description of a situation, or something that Holmes is doing that seems perfectly ordinary to him, but amazing /confusing to any 'normal' human being.

I was surprised to find that near the end of the story, it takes a detour into what seems like a completely unrelated story, with different characters, on a different continent. At first I thought I had started reading another story altogether (this edition is an anthology), but then the 'other' story dovetailed back into the main 'reminiscence' of Dr Watson.

I feel rather fortunate to have picked up these stories at this point in time, because if I had read them years ago, I probably would have been turned off by them. The eccentricities and all consuming passion of Holmes for his mind to have 'work' makes for both amusing and compelling reading.


"Knowledge of Sensational Literature – Immense. He appears to know every detail of every horror perpetrated in the century."

[texta]

This thread is for books, not comics.

Post comics here: http://hyper.com.au/forums/showthread.php?t=20211&page=4



I knocked over Steig Larsson's books (ie The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series) over the last few days.

I really enjoy his anti-authoritarian feminism, but the books are way too simplistic and predictable and the third one should have been a 5 page epilogue at the end of the second one. But I guess that that's the downside of the author dying before their published. Still entertaining reads.

[Lazlow]

Since getting a Kindle for Xmas I've been reading a fair bit more

Snow Crash (Neal Stephenson) - Pulp cyberpunk. Is recommended a fair bit on a lot of forums, but I thought it was average. Good concepts but the writing was inconsistent.

The Forever War (Joe Haldeman) - Fantastic scifi about earth embroiled in a conflict with an alien race many lightyears away.It follows William Mandella and covers the usual inhumanity of war, apparently a portrayal of Haldeman's own time serving in the Vietnam war, but the main hook is how Mandella is affected by time dilation as a result of travelling such vast distances at close to the speed of light.

[Ad-Rock]

I recently read and thoroughly enjoyed Imperium and Lustrum by Robert Harris. Can't wait for the third in the 'series'! Halfway through one of his earlier best-sellers, Pompeii. Although I'm not enjoying it as much so far, I have the feeling shits about to get real!

[Space_Monkey]

Ordered some books that I’ve been meaning to read for a while now.

The Good Old Days: The Holocaust as Seen by Its Perpetrators and Bystanders by Ernst Klee, Volker Riess and Willi Dressen

This is a collection of real communications received from guards who were at the time working in Nazi death camps. It’s meant to be quite shocking how the language is used to dehumanize the camp’s victims and just how routine the day-to-day operation of the whole thing became.

My Grammar And I (Or Should That Be 'Me'?) by Caroline Taggart, J. A. Wines

Cause there’s nothing cooler than improving your spelling and grammar skills.

The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr.

And syntax.

Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist

I haven’t heard much about this one but considering Let the right one in, Little star and Harbor were all fantastic I have high hopes for it. I’m skeptical to be reading yet another zombie story but if there’s anyone who can reinvigorate the genre it’s Ajvide Lindqvist.

Only $35 the lot delivered from Abebooks, usually only takes a week and a bit to deliver too.

[Ad-Rock]

I finished Pompeii. It never really reached the heights I was expecting, but the description of the volcanic eruption is totally ****ing crazy.

[Lazlow]

Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist

I haven’t heard much about this one but considering Let the right one in, Little star and Harbor were all fantastic I have high hopes for it. I’m skeptical to be reading yet another zombie story but if there’s anyone who can reinvigorate the genre it’s Ajvide Lindqvist.

I've read this and I really liked it. And I'm ****ing over zombie themed media. It does for zombies what Let The Right One In did for vampires.

I hope the proposed film adaption stays true to the book and doesn't resort to the old zombie genre cliches, because this book brilliantly steered clear of all that.

And there was one moment that creeped me the hell out, a first for a book.

[Space_Monkey]

I've read this and I really liked it. And I'm ****ing over zombie themed media. It does for zombies what Let The Right One In did for vampires.

This is what I was hoping. Zombies as a genre have been stagnating (if you'll pardon the pun) for way too long. I would count the last innovation as Shawn of the Dead or 28 Days Later, which are both approaching 10 years old now.

If you haven't read Little Star, I would recommend picking it up too, it's easily the best novel I read in 2011, Harbour is great as well.

EDIT: I haven't seen the Walking Dead, although I hear it's pretty cool.

[JGC]

Currently finishing, The Well of Ascension (book 2 of Mistborn) by Brandon Sanderson.

After finished off the recent George R.R Martin, i think Sanderson is on top on this genre for me.

[VanAce]

Currently finishing, The Well of Ascension (book 2 of Mistborn) by Brandon Sanderson.

After finished off the recent George R.R Martin, i think Sanderson is on top on this genre for me.

I met Brandon Sanderson the other day at Supanova. I haven't read anything of his but I got a book signed for my friend.

[JGC]

Yeah, i was thinking about seeing him in Sydney, but life got in the way.

IF you like fantasy somewhat, his worth some time.

I keep following him on twitter/FB, seems his spending more time playing Magic the gathering out here than anything else. Least his having fun not being to serious.

[Vindik8or]

"his" instead of "he's"

in a thread about books

spare me

[Dunkurtin]

Once could have been overlooked as a mistake...

[JGC]

Well, I suppose 14 hour days at work for a week will do that to a person.


But for you, I'll try and do a better job.

Shall I read the Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation next? (Or was it green?)

[Vindik8or]

Maybe start with Spot the Dog