+1 for Gödel, Escher, Bach. Really interesting read, and very good for your brain. :)
Printable View
Currently? A book on eBay.
Jamrach's Menagerie
I've never heard of anyone but me having read that. It was the most entertaining and immersive series I've ever read.
Right now, I'm reading a book called Microserfs about people who worked at Microsoft around 1993. It's interesting, one of those books that's purpose is to convey a message, not entertaining at all. It's for English class.
I'm also technically reading a few books but have forgotten about most of them. I was trying to read like 5 books at a time, but I guess I'll try to stick with one at a time or I'll never actually get any read.
I just finnished reading The Wisa Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss and it's just as good, if not better than, the first book in the series.
Currently I'm reading Macbeth and it's taking me far longer to read that I thought it would, but it's still very interesting.
I am reading a thread on Dreamviews.com entitled "What are you reading?"
Also, ping replies.
It's taking everything not to write in all caps and just say "WAHT THE FUCK!? WISE MAN'S FEAR IS OUT!? WHEN DID THIS FUCKING HAPPEN!?" I guess I did it anyway. Seriously, I'm going to have to get this book right away. I finished Name of the Wind a few months ago and this is the first I've heard that the second book has been published.
Currently I'm reading Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It's strange, but somewhat entertaining.
Noteworthy novels I've read recently (since Christmas) is the Mistborn trilogy (very good!), The Wise Man's Fear (even better than the first of the series) and Pride and Prejudice (quite entertaining).
How about "I don't currently have it in my possession"? However I guess I'll read it when I'm at home during Easter.
Notes from the underground is a pretty good little book. I like Dostoevsky, his writing style is very dense.
Just started the collected works of Charles Sanders Peirce.
I had a writing prof who was absolutely obsessed with Dostoevsky, and Notes from Underground in particular. I found it interesting and certainly an early exemplar of Modernism (I read it for Modern Fiction), but as the Big Russians go, I'll take Tolstoy or Checkhov over the D-man any day. Really Faulkner is the only Modern I like much, unless you count Hemingway (or Checkhov, I suppose) who to me was doing something entirely different and less entrenched in the anxieties of the era.
Jason and the Golden Fleece, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (again). They're all very short, I know. I have a long list of books to read piling up for the summer, like always. I just can't seem to focus enough on books during the school year. :[
I'm reading Storm Front, by Jim Butcher. Among others.
I'm currently reading The Doors of Perception, by Aldous Huxley, and On the Suffering of the World, by Arthur Schopenhauer.
Love this series. I can't wait for the next book, it just gets intense. Savor. =)
I've been wanting to read this for a long time. I want a full book report, sir. ;)
I'm currently reading a book by Carlos Castaneda.
The Teachings of Don Juan. A Yaqui Way of Knowledge
It's a short little thing, but it describes a psychedelic trip with excellent detail, empirically. If you have experienced psychedelics before, you'll totally understand what Aldous is writing, trying to explain.
After you read that, you should read his Heaven and Hell. Another short, but great little book.
Just finished reading "The Desert Spear" Peter V. Brett, like that even though it has magic it is a different kind that hasn't been used much (wards)
Now I'm working on getting into the mood to read "The Liveship Trilogy" Robin Hobb, but just can't get the motivation to go back to a book about boats.
Lord of the Rings! Finally decided to start reading it.
My favorite book of all time, though, is Anthem by Ann Rand
I will probably be reading that 50+ more times in my lifetime lol
I read a fair chunk of We're All Doing Time by Bo Lozoff this morning. It was written as a guide to spiritual practice for inmates, as part of his Prison Ashram project. My sister was asking for some kind of introductory book on Buddhism--no she's not in jail, nor is the book strictly Buddhist, but I think it will make a good primer coming from somewhere she can understand.
That's the way it goes for some people, but fortunately a lot of people wise up after the fourth or fifth time through their Rand bible of choice. Also, it's Ayn, not Ann.
I'm reading The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud because my sister recommended it to me, but this far it's been quite boring. Fortunately it's a quick read, so I can soon move on to a more interesting book.
Currently reading "The Girl Who Played With Fire" by Stieg Larsson. The first book in the series "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" was so good I had to pick up the next in the series. I definitely recommend this series...:)
I just started reading The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and Mark Dahlby. It includes practical applications for lucid dreaming, very exciting to me!
Spoiler for Bits of the book and "THE FOUR FOUNDATIONAL PRACTICES:
I'm glad it looks inspiring to you. :) I'm enjoying it so far, though I haven't read very much yet.
I did find a pdf version that appears to be the entire book for people who can't afford to buy it now.
Sweet thanks for the link. I'm quite interested in learning about dreams from a yogic perspective :) could have some nice insights. It would also be nice to have some spiritual experiences in lucid dreams, like your last lucid. I still want to meditate in a dream too, its one of my first goals :meditate:
Heck yeah! I want to meditate in a lucid dream again too; for a more prolonged period this time. I listened to a talk (Sleep as a Spiritual Journey) with the author, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, on Buddhist Geeks that addressed dreams Buddhist teachers have had that taught them new meditation techniques, as well. So, I'm guessing the book will go into more depth on that topic too.
I recently read Markens Grøde (that's Growth of the Soil for you English speaking people) by Knut Hamsun. It was surprisingly good (that is to say, I was surprised that it was good). I also recently read the last two books of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. I don't really know the best way to describe this series, as I just haven't found the right English words. The closes I've come is "cozy", which I suspect can't be used like that at all. At any rate it's a great series to read if you want crime novels that do nothing but make you feel good.
Many Lives, Many Masters.
The other day, a co-worker lent me this book. I have a long weekend, so I thought this weekend would be perfect to read it. As I started the first page, I realized I knew these words. I don't own this book, so someone else, along the way, must have lent this to me. I read the whole thing within an hour, because I was mostly skimming...I knew these words.
So, I find it very interesting that people felt compelled to lend this book to me, twice. There must be a reason. I meditated, after this reading. Trying to figure out what I need to beat in my physical life, in order to move forward....or maybe teach in this life...
It is a good book...very thought provoking.
I've almost finished "Simplify Your life". Liked it :)
I'm still chugging along with the Shannara audio books, on Scions now, and also just read H.P. Lovecraft's story Herbert West: Reanimator, and today I started Steven Gould's Jumper. I saw the movie Jumper, and didn't realize how old the book was--the kid's talking about pawning VCRs to make some money :chuckle:
Jumper exceeded expectations. Most of the dialogue was exceptionally natural, and it was just a thoroughly entertaining and well put together story (with little relation to the movie aside from the obvious). There were three books, so I'm thinking the events of the movie may have been cherry-picked from all three.
Scions of Shannara is still my bedtime story, and I'm finally getting around to Godel, Escher, Bach--I read the introduction this afternoon, and while I'm not particularly interested in AI, I'm very interested in "strange loops," isomorphs, and the convergence of art and mathematics, so it's quite promising so far :)
Ah, I am currently reading "The Serpent War" by Raymond E. Feist one of my favorite fantasy/adventure writers. I have like 40+ fantasy book to read on my book shelves, it will be a busy summer!
-Evan
Robert Greens "The 48 Laws Of Power"
favorite series ever read were the "Vampire Chronicles" by Anne Rice.
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hendrix is fascinating! he was so shy at first but he turned into one of the greatest performers ever. really well written with interviews from all the key people in his story
I just got a Kindle, so I've been loading it up with books. Right now I'm reading The Hobbit by Tolkien and Atheism: The Case Against God by George H. Smith.
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder. Fantastic story. I never seem to stop reading..
Just started The Time Falling Bodies Take To Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture by William Irwin Thompson
Reading The Alchemist again, by Paulo Coelho.
I'm just finishing up The Structure of Delight, by Nelson Zink.
Neutrino by Frank Close, inspired by one of Xei's posts. Awesome book so far, a brief documentary of how the neutrino was discovered and the events that led up to it. Not wordy or redundant at all, gets right to the potent excitement of discovery but goes into enough depth. I'm also finishing up A Reason For Hope, by Jane Goodall, an amazing book. If your at all interested in what she's done and what it was like living 40 years in an African jungle studying chimp behavior, this is a good book to read.
Graham Greene - The Human Factor.
Spy story with less James Bond and more office paranoia.
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. In addition to being an interesting book, whenever I think of the title I change it to "Crypto-omnomnom" and titter inwardly.
just started on Feast for Crows by George R.R Martin. Also just bought a bundle pack of books for my new Kindle, so will plow my way through them shortly
I'm still poking at GEB intermittently, and also read A Farewell to Arms. I know a lot of people don't get Hemingway, but I'm a big fan. Here and there he tries to say too little and ends up saying nothing, but the way he manages to tell the bulk of his stories 'between the lines' is plain magic to me.
I read many books but I like general knowledge books.it is our best friend because they are useful in our life.books teach how to live in our life and how to help other people in our life.
Hemingway is great I have not read anything by him in a long time though, I'm probably gonna pick up "The Sun Also Rises" soon haven't read that one yet. Ive been reading The Blue and Brown book collection by Wittgenstein lately and have been reading a little bit of Big Sur, which is probably my favorite Kerouac book behind Dharma Bums.
I am currently reading A Game of Thrones. It's awesome. There's not really a specific plotline, and there's loads of characters that belong in different houses, but there's plenty of evil scheming and stuff and it's just awesome. I bought the next three books so it'll take me awhile. Not much mythical creatures or magic like most fantasy, but there's some mentioned so it'll probably become apparent in the next few.
After that I'm gonna read Best Served Cold. Got it for £1.50 at the charity shop, and it's in great condition. It doesn't even look used. Gonna shop there more often :D
THEN I'm gonna start on Lord of the Rings, it's long overdue for me. I can't call myself a fantasy lover until i've read those books! :panic:
Then after that I might read something light since i've been reading series after series of fantasy. I'll re-read something. Harry Potter maybe.
The mystical/fantastical elements are always subdued, but to great effect I think. I love the way he handles this. It's one of my favorite aspects of the books, actually. Nothing magical ever saves the day, so to speak, but there are some beautifully written scenes that do involve magic.
Long overdue... quoted for emphasis, lol.
Right now I'm caught up in reading for school and have no opportunity to read what I would choose. If I could I'd be reading Catch 22. But instead, I'm reading a book about the applicability of biological theory (namely: evolution) to explaining behavior. In other words: nature vs. nurture.
Well there was some overlap. I just finished a book that I genuinely wanted to read that also happened to be on my reading list for school: The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. And well, it was pretty awesome. It kind of reinforced some of my feelings about ethics, and helped to fill the gap in my understanding of evolution left by the superb public education I received while living in the Bible Belt. How convenient.
Though I've read it before, after finding this forum today, I'm going to go look for Ted Dekker's "Circle Trilogy" and read that. It's an amazing book about dreams, and I am anxious to read it again after reading all the different experiences of the members here.
*Edit: And to answer the question of what I'm reading right now, I'm actually finishing up the last of King's "Dark Tower" series... again. :)
last read-1222 by Anne Holt
current-Dead like you by Peter james
next i'll head for fantasy books........
I'm reading the Alchemist again, it's pretty much my bible.
George du Maurier's Trilby.
Oh Paris you so bohemian.
I actually borrowed a heap of books now. I am reading a book from Tero Laaksonen translated as Fighting and Life, assorted collection of anatomy and physiology books and Terry Pratchett for fun :P
Going to be a busy week with books.
I just finished The Alchemist yesterday, teaches you a lot of lessons :)
Also reading A feast for crows. Halfway through atm. Great series.
My english teacher is forcing me to read the Great Gatsby or something like that. I'll have to re-think my reading schedual :pissed:
The Internet is a Playground by David Thorne
Analysing books almost always makes me hate them because it becomes a chore :( If I just had to read it, it wouldn't be so bad.
I tend not to like books the english department like. Mostly because i'm a fantasy freak who hates anything without swords, magic and other fictional stuff in it...
But there have been some exceptions. Memoirs of a Geisha was a good book. I didn't really mind Of Mice and Men and I like Shakespeare. Wuthering Heights was actually quite good. I was thinking it's about time I read some Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, some Bronte. I just hate all the 1900's stuff english loves so much. Anything set in 1910 to 2000 just pisses me off. Especially things on WW2.
What have you actually read from that period?
Disliking WW2 literature I can understand. It's only recently (through memoirs from WW1, like Robert Graves' Goodbye to All That, which is exceptional, and his contemporaries) that I've seriously considered putting time into the subject.
But the turn of the century material prior to the disillusionment of the Great War is fascinating. The experimentation in literary form and idea really shows in poetry and novels and manifestos (a big literary form of the time with the Italian Futurists onwards). Woolf, Eliot, Pound and so on. The kind English departments love (for good reason from a technical stand-point and in teaching to deal with context that's still relatively fresh for modern readers).
And the inter-war and post-war material is similarly interesting. The British hey-days of the twenties and early thirties, for example. Try Wodehouse and unbridled farce and then watch it develop into Waugh's farce turning bitter as the Second World War looms. Or Eric Ambler for lighter reading (if it's the heaviness of the usual subjects that bore you), which is spy paranoia in the 30s at its best (written when everything was uncertain).
Or the fifties with the Beats, which are hard not to enjoy (even if they've been misappropriation from the time of writing to now by hipppstersss).
1900s to maybe 1980s is the golden age of literature. In terms of personal preference, rather than anything technical or objective.
It's just that century I don't like. I just feel like they're a kind of awkward century where everyone was fighting for rights. I mean obviously that's important and should be aknowledged but it just doesn't interest me at all. I prefer things that's either modern or set in times before technology. I haven't really read that many of them because they just don't keep me interested. I got half way through To Kill A Mockingbird but the themes just aren't my thing.
Was given The Crucible to read today. Looking forward to it actually.
1900s to 2000s is modern.
If it looks like the texts are just about fighting for rights, then it's been misrepresented to you. There was alot of fighting for rights, sure, but we're talking about a large large large period of time and texts.
If fantasy is your field, remember it was this period that created Tolkien, Lewis and the other Inklings. They damn near defined Western fantasy as we know it.
I spent today reading Graham Greene's The Ministry of Fear on another train trip. Will finish Trilby some other day, Greene is better than Victoriana for long travel reading.
Final Cut Pro 7 manual...
Man, it's huge.
You have Final Cut Pro 7? Luckkyyyyyyy.
I just started reading World War Z by Max Brooks.
Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell
I thought 1984 was phenomenal read so I thought I'd give his other works books a shot. I couldn't find a copy of Animal Farm but I've heard Keep the Aspidistra Flying is pretty good. I'm only like 30 or so pages in so I can't really formulate an opinion on the story itself but Orwell sure knows how to set the mood.
I only read Animal Farm and it was great. Now I'm reading Father Goriot. Balzac kinda loves to give long descriptions:)
I say it every time WWZ comes up, but do yourself a favor and get the audiobook. Even if you don't do audiobooks normally, it's the perfect format for the "oral history" conceit of this novel. Brooks acts as the interviewer, and the interviewees draw on a full voice cast including Alan Alda, Rob Reiner, Henry Rollins, Mark Hamill and a dozen others.
They're not modern to me. Remember i'm not talking about books that were only written in those times, but ones that are set in that period. I just don't like them. Maybe that'll change but at the moment they hold nothing for me. Is it a crime to have likes and dislikes? It's just the way I feel about them.
I just read my University of Glasgow Undergraduate Prospectus :D Can't decide what courses i'd like. They all look awesome!
Im gonna start reading the Thief Lord today or tommorrow. :D
I'm reading In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. Will be for a long time.
the more than complete Action Philosophers!
I just finished Crime and Punishment. It was fairly good. The I went right ahead reading Isaac Asimovs The Caves of Steel.
Recently finished No Country For Old Men, loved every page.
Now i'm waiting for the Bioshock book, Rapture, to come out next week.
I'm reading Kalevala. It has numerous authors but it's sampled by Elias Lönnrot.
It's actually Finnish myths and legends and I find it really enjoyable!
Lately I've read some Norwegian books. Mannen Som Elsket Yngve, Kompani Orheim and Charlotte Isabel Hansen by Tore Renberg. Good books. As far as I know they haven't been translated into English, though.
I'm currently reading A Passage to India (somewhat against my better judgment, but it's okay so far) and listening to The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. In the meantime, I finished off Cryptonomicon, which was solid but no Anathem, and Growth of the Soil, which was brilliant, considerably better than Hunger. I also finished the Shannara audio books through Talismans, and opted to take a break. I was extremely unimpressed with the first hundred-odd pages of Rothfuss' book, but it's getting more engaging.
I am reading the whole harry potter series :D currently on the prisoner of azkaban.
Currently reading CG Jung's Memories Dreams Reflections and also Mockingjay, the third Hunger Games book. Preparing to re-read Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun, the most amazing sci-fi/fantasy outing ever created (it's really literature on a par with the best, but classified as sci-f/fantasy).
The Hunger Games books are ok, kind of meh, but the others are excellent.
Note:
I saw a recent post by Juroara on O's thread about 2012 predictions about the Mayan predictions not meaning destruction but a changeover to the next solar cycle and spiritual rebirth, and suddenly I realized this must be integral to the Book of the New Sun - that's why I want to re-read it.
Primate Social Systems by Robin Dunbar (for school)... good times.
Just finished "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugor. Pretty emotional I guess.
Trilobite! Eyewitness to Evolution
Guess what it's about.
I had a stupid teacher in High School who would post quotes on the board. He posted a quote from the movie or play of this, but when he introduced it, he pronounced it "Less Mis-rah-bal-a-s" Ever since then, I cannot mentally pronounce that word without messing up and laughing.
Right now, I am taking a break since my Xoom tablet is out for repair. When it comes back, I am reading Penn Jillette's "God No!" and a few other. Right now, I am catching up on my web reading by tackling Masting Lucid Dreaming, a few dream technique threads, Slenderman ARGs, and German.
Fallout Equestria. Fucking Fallout Equestria.
My Little Pony crossed over with Fallout (mostly FO3)
...
It's Better Than It Sounds.
Just finished The Law by Frederic Bastiat. Moving on to Thinking as a Science by Henry Hazlitt.
I'm reading "The Dark Tower", currently on the 3rd book and almost done. Needles to say: EPIC STORYLINE
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"The Edible Woman" by Margaret Atwood. The only author I actually enjoy reading is Chuck Palahniuk because of his dry humor, Atwood's writing was so different and plain that I hated the book as a whole. Kind of silly storyline, too.
Justice League, #1, of course!
'In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts' by Gabor Mate.
I'm a bit over halfway through A Passage to India, and have moved on to The Wise Man's Fear for my bedtime story. I think I've seen more people say they liked The Name of the Wind better, but I'm finding The Wise Man's Fear to have more of the engaging and fewer of the off-putting qualities of its predecessor. The first was rife with forced conceits, and the framing story and the characters therein lacked all depth and color until the very end. The second book is not so overwrought.
Carlos Castaneda - The fire within. Not as good as the others, but very good nonetheless. The Art of Dreaming is an all time favorite and an EXCELLENT book
I really couldn't get into the Art of Dreaming. I wanted to, but the writing wasn't interesting enough.
A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin, these books are #@$&@%&*#$^&ing amazing.
Im rereading "Les Chants de Maldoror" by Comte de Lautreamont. Amazing book, a must read for anyone interested in surrealism or poetry in general. I also just started reading "Darwins Dangerous Idea" by Daniel Dennett.
Yes they are, Im reading the latest one, A Dance with Dragons, that was released this summer. I really really hope the next book doesnt take another 6 years to come out!!!
Once Im done with this one tho, Im going back to reading the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher. I read the first one, then a dance with dragons came out, so I had to put the second one on hold lol
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, by Philip K. Dick
Going to take a break from pkd after this one, going to read through some random books I've seen at the library that caught my attention next
I'm reading the second book in A Song of Ice and Fire. I've read the whole series a few years ago (minus A Dance With Dragons since it wasn't out yet). But I thought I'd refresh my memory of the series by reading it again, now that the HBO series and ADWD are out. It is still amazing the second time around. It was interesting in A Game of Thrones to read the specific scenes and notice what was left out and added. I want badly to read ADWD, and can't wait until I get to it. I want to know what happened with Tyrion and Sansa and others that were left out in A Feast for Crows.
Everyone in the world should read the series, even people who aren't fans of fantasy. They are just great books.
Much agreed.
I think it was like 2003 when I read them first, at the time book 4 hadn't come out yet so I went through that whole process when it came out... reading the first 3 books a second time to refresh myself for the newly-released Feast for Crows. At this point, I've been I've been in perpetual patience with GRRM and his series for so long, and I'm starting my graduate school in 3 weeks so personal reading is out the window for a while, so I'm going to see if his pace picks up for the next couple of books before I let make me refresh/re-read all the first books again. Which means as amazing as I'm sure DwD is and as long as I've waited for it, it's going to wait a bit longer.
The lost symbol by Dan Brown
Nothing by Frank Close. It's a summary on the subject of "empty" space, from the musings of ancient philosophers to the modern quantum vacuum. I'm almost done the book, it's great, I highly recommend anything written by Frank Close.
As boring as it might sound, I've never actually read Stephen LaBerge's EWLD before (only recently got interested in lucid dreaming, before I was more into AP) so now I finally get to enjoy it. It's really good.
Catching Fire -Suzanne Collins. :)
Thud!
The Chronicles of Narnia. I read the first book in two days, and I'm reading Prince Caspian right now. I strongly recommend these even though you might be an adult (shh I wont tell anybody).
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currently reading The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac.
he uses beautiful language and imagery and is generally just a really thoughtful writer.
huge recommendation from flyingspag :D
Chuck Palahniuk is awesome! i loved rant :D
Kerouac was such a poser. Far from being "the man who launched the hippie world," he was the original "guy who showed up at protests to get laid."
I've been reading up on postmodernism, Hegel, and Heidegger around the internets, and otherwise still have A Passage to India on pause and am most of the way through Stephen King's On Writing and halfway through the audio of Brandon Sanderson's Elantris, all of the above being pretty cool so far.
I'm trying to clear these off my plate along with a couple of tech projects before I get into Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 and/or Norwegian Wood, depending on how engaging I find the former. My history with the author is finding Kafka on the Shore decent but not compelling, and being fairly enthralled with Dance, Dance, Dance. Norwegian Wood seems to be a favorite among those who have read a lot of his works, though The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is probably his most widely read novel.
I also might just stick to philosophy for a while. The articles over at Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy have been pretty stimulating, and Jean-François Lyotard's The Postmodern Condition is also on my radar for the near future.
I've read a couple of noteworthy books lately. I read Jag vill inte dö, jag vill bara inte leva (lit. I don't want to die, I just don't want to live) by Ann Heberlein. It was a very interesting book, a good insight into the way people think when they're suicidal. I also read The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse, which was a very nice read. Sweet, in a way, and yet sad. Highly recommended. I read The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson, a sequel of sorts to the Mistborn triology. I had great problems catching the spirit of the book, but I did like it. I also read The Way of Kings by the same author, which is the first book in another series. It was supreme. Brandon Sanderson an is obligatory read for any- and everyone interested in fantasy. Lastly I'm catching up on Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, having read Small Favor and nearly Turn Coat, while Changes is lined up.
I just finished Inheritance, and it was fucking great.
Reading the Hitchiker's 'trilogy' at the moment, currently near the end of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
I just read Brutal Journey by Paul Schneider. It is about conquistadors in the early 1500s, the hardships they endured, and their encounters with the native peoples in America. Of an army of about four hundred who landed in Florida led by Narvaez, only four survived (three Spaniards and one African slave). These four men became known as "shamans" by the natives and traveled throughout the land performing cures. They made their way to Mexico. True story.
My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk. What to say, great book! This is the third time I'm reading it.
Right now I'm reading Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood. I've been on a Brandon Sanderson kick otherwise: just finished Alloy of Steel, which is a Mistborn sequel set in a Western/Steampunk era of that world's future, and a while ago I finished the Graphic Audio production of Elantris (9/10 zombies and royal intrigue, 1/10 Dragon Ball Z). In a way Sanderson's works are really derivative, but they're derivative of a rather unusual mash-up of influences. The Mistborn series, for instance, was certainly fantasy, but it was a closer relation to Full Metal Alchemist than Tolkien.
I also wrapped up a BBC radio play, The Water Babies, last night, and it was pretty cool--a straight up fairy tale in a Dickensian setting (protagonist is a child chimney sweep). I'm thinking the next audiobook on my plate will be Ringworld. I just started the Murakami, but the new Stephen King is probably up after that. I may sprinkle some postmodern philosophy in the midst of all that, as I've really been enjoying the articles over on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and, to a lesser extent, Wikipedia.
Im currently reading the second book in the Codex Alera by Jim Butcher titled Academ's Fury. This series is easier to read than lotr or ASOIF but it is also still quite entertaining. Im really in to fantasy books. Trying to think of some recommendations to put on my christmas list, anywone want to fire me some?
The above mentioned Brandon Sanderson is about the best thing going in fantasy right now, at least until Rothfuss finishes The Kingkiller Chronicles. Either Elantris or the Mistborn trilogy would be a good place to start.
It was very amazing! I'm sad the series is over. If only they had done justice with the movie, we'd still have a little part of it left.
I am currently reading Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer. It's about the Mormon faith. My friend at school was reading it, so I asked to borrow it when he finished. It is actually pretty interesting. After that I am going to dive into the Alex Rider series again. I recently discovered a few weeks ago that there has been 2 or so new books since I last read them.
As of now, I'm reading this thread. haha Just fooling around, anyways, I'm reading "Touch Me Not" by Jose Rizal.
Right now I'm in the middle of the dark tower series by stephen king. It's pretty.... EPIC
Acacia by David Anthony Durham. I wanted something similar to the a song of ice and fire series, it's not as good yet but I've only just started reading.
A few things at the moment.
Started yesterday This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Same feel as The Great Gatsby which is wonderful. The decadence and excess of the 20s is done perfectly, as always.
Oliver Twist by Dickens... Dickens is my favorite author but really struggling with this one. About half way through and the plot is still boring and predictable. Dickens has a thing for little perfect orphan boys. The mary sue of victorian era literature.
and finished that stupid eragon book - inheritance. regrettably started the series and had to find out how it ended. the whole series felt like an exercise in "stuff in as many fantasy story tropes as possible" and this book was no different. The ending was so contrived and forced I spent hours vomiting black bile and bone.
This book is brilliant. It sort of intellectualizes a lot of Buddhist ideas as well even though it comes from a person who wasn't educated in Buddhism. There are of course some parts which aren't in line with Buddhism.
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I've been re-reading a lot of things lately. For the past few days I re-read the novel "Santa and Pete" by Christopher Moore and Pamela Johnson, which is a really interesting look at the historical origins of various Christmas traditions and how traditions and cultures move from place to place. I'm also in the middle of re-reading "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski. Although it's still a delicious mindfuck, it's kinda disappointing re-reading because I know what's coming up. Still fun to read, though.
right now: "analysing institutional strategies for environmental policy integration: the case of EU enterprise policy" by Julia Hertin & Frans Berkhout :reading:
Mein Kampf- Adolf Hitler
Inspiring stuff.
I finally read The Kite Runner. Pretty good, slightly stereotypical but very interesting nonetheless.
I just finished the final book in the Fablehaven series. Yeah I have a thing for Fantasies. Tomorrow I am gonna start Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel.
Finished that Hitler-
-Onwards to TERRA NOSTRA
Somewhat daunting
Wrapped up Norwegian Wood and Ringworld on the same day this week, then moved on to Stephen King's 11/22/63 and started Altered Carbon on audio, but the latter doesn't sound too promising based on the opening.
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Started, but dropped due to boredom.
I finished Norwegian Wood recently too, I really enjoyed it. Have you read anything else by Haruki Murakami? I've also read Kafka on the Shore and After Dark.
I'm currently reading A Study In Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, I got the complete Sherlock collection for £5 on amazon. Also reading Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.
NW is one of my favorite Murakami novels, try The Elephant Vanishes, it is a collection of some of his short stories.
Right now I'm reading The Tell-Tale Brain by VS Ramachandran; its a culmination of his work in neuroscience in the past couple decades. I'm also skimming through a book I got for xmas, The Collected works of William James.
I actually traded in the Altered Carbon audiobook for The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle this morning, and apparently I've started the audiobook before, because I remembered the whole first 2-3 scenes, but I don't know where it's going, so I must not have gotten far beyond that point. But yeah, I've also read KotS and listened to Dance, Dance, Dance. Norwegian Wood was really good, but I think D,D,D is still my favorite. KotS was an interesting ride, but I think my experience of it was colored by just having read Italo Calvino's If on a Winter's Night a Traveller..., which to this day is my favorite novel and pretty much the peak of absurdist magical realism. KotS looked a bit tame and contrived in its wake, though again, still a good read.
Of all his stuff I've read, KotS seemed the most like a Tom Robbins book, and I'm not a fan of Tom Robbins. Wind-up Bird has that same flavor, though a lot more atmosphere than the couple of Robbins books I've started and one I've read (Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas). I'm thinking it won't be one of my favorites.
ETA: 1Q84 is on my reader ready to go, but got displaced by first Norwegian Wood, then the new Stephen King (which is widely reported as his best in a decade or so, and definitely has my attention).
I have really gotten into Murakami's style and I recieved Dance, Dance, Dance, Hard-Boiled Wonder and the End of the World and South of the Border, West of the Sun for christmas. So I have a lot to keep me going. I'll have to look up If on a Winter's Night a Traveller, sounds like it could be my kind of thing.
I've also got Solaris by Stanislaw Lem, Nausea by Jean-Paul Satree, the Watchmen graphic novel and Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer to read, books just tend to pile up for me. I buy/recieve them faster than I can read them.
You might want to start with something else by Calvino, or Traveler may just be incomprehensible. For novels, The Baron in the Trees won't blow your mind, but it's a good starting point. Cosmicomics and T-zero (short stories about the origins of the universe told in the first person) would probably be the best preparation.
I'll definitely look into them Taosaur, as I said I have a lot to read so it'll take a while to get through it all. But thanks for the recommendations!
art psalms / alex grey
Anyone read Anathem by Neil Stephenson? I heard it's really good but its a slow start so I was wondering what people thought about it.
(BTW I think House of Leaves is my favorite book of all time next to the HGTG series and Slaughterhouse Five)
I've always been so curious about House of Leaves, seems to have such mixed opinions though. Either love or hate kind of thing. I should pick it up some time.
HGTG is amazing, one of my all time favourite quotes from HGTG or anything else for that matter is 'Time is an illusion, lunctime doubly so'.
When people ask me why I hate celebrating New Years Eve, that's what I tell them. Nobody has ever recognised where it comes from.
A Streetcar Named Desire, for english class... Boring as hell.
I am about to finish The fellowship of the ring
Finished the Tell-Tale Brain. My reading has diminished because the semester started up again but I started reading "The Upside of Irrationality" by Dan Ariely. I bought it expecting it to be an expose into behavioral economics but it turned out to be more of a self help(?) book focusing on how understanding and recognizing cognitive biases can lead us to make better decisions in life. I thought it was an academic book but was a bit disappointed.
I'm almost done I don't know what I want to pick up next I have literally 50 books on my book list (I have the bad habit of pushing books on this list back when I get a new book). Thinking about picking up Patricia Churchland's new BrainTrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us About Morality.
William Gibson - Pattern Regonication
O Scott Card - the Chrystal City
and comic version of Kings Black Tower
nice and revealing compo and good raeding for passing times
Had chamomile tea, finished Liar's Poker.
Highly recommend it.
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time ... gave up on it, tho - the worst book I remember reading
Reading On the Genealogy of Morality by Nietzsche for my philosophy study :)
I recommend Alamut by Vladimir Bartol (a slovenian author) - a great novel
I'm about to start reading Siddhartha by Herman Hesse for my English class. I get the gist of the book, but beyond that I'm not sure what to expect.
Mythology Of The Success-The Axioms Of the Last by Ivan Gaberov. In essence, this work is form criticism of the Bible, providing quite interesting views upon life, success, death, matrix, civilization, god(s). The text is 'heavy' at some points, but the book is worth reading; this guy puts great passion in writing.
Im on to the third book in the codex alera, titled Cursor's Fury. It is definitely cool having the setting being roman rather than english for a high fantasy series. Im pleased that the plot has taken some interesting political turns and the main character hasnt developed any super powers yet (though i kind of hope he does by the end of the series lol)
Sophie's World Norwegian philosophers quick history on philosophy mixed in with a pretty two dimensional character (at least in my opinion), but the non-fiction bits are still an interesting read.
The Solitaire Mystery Extremely good multi-layered foreign fiction. Finishing this one up.
Insomnia Stephen King at his best. Enthralling story that is thoughtful and fucked. I'm re-reading it but its one of my favorites from him, and worth it.
I'm totally sucked into Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep. It has a heavy dose of space opera, but also some great commentary on the internet (pretty impressive considering the state of the internet in the early '90s) and cross-cultural interactions.
If it's the first Hesse you've read, just don't judge his work in general by that book. It's not a bad book, but it does tend to get overhyped, and it's hardly his best work. Narcissus and Goldmund is my favorite of his. Demian is also solid, and The Glass Bead Game (a.k.a. Magister Ludi) is dense, but rewarding.
The first bit of it has been pretty interesting, although after that I have a few things lined up that I'd like to get back to, not least of which being Brave New World, which I have on my kindle; however I could see myself enjoying some of his other works.
Just read Siddhartha this morning. Feel like reading some Herman Melville next.
I'm not reading anything :panic:
I have a couple hours left on The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle audiobook, but I wrapped up A Fire Upon the Deep yesterday (awesome! I can see its influence in a lot of sci-fi from the last 20 years, but I do wish it had a better editor to clean up Vinge's grammar/typos in a lot of places). I'm thinking about picking up Ready Player One, but only have it in big ol' dead tree format--ebooks have totally spoiled me :cheeky:
I. Loved. Siddhartha. So much so that I bought myself a hardcover copy for excessive re-reading.
I'm currently reading Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey for my Euro course, (we had previously read The Decameron.) and I'll be reading For One More Day by Mitch Albom, because my friend told me it's a "must."
After that I'll be reading the two new books I bought, Fahrenheit 451 (it's new to me) and Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World by HH The Dalai Lama.
Update on my readings: I read "Fahrenheit 451," which I now understand why it is considered a classic. I read Animal Farm again (although last time, I was in 7th grade, and none of us understood the themes other than 'haha talking pigs.') I'm almost through "Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World" by HH The Dalai Lama. Interesting read, that one. I finished Innocent Traitor (very good) and Cat's Cradle (not sure how I feel about it... but that's always a good sign.)
For Spring Break I have just started "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Friend." I've read one page. And laughed aloud, twice. I think that's a good sign, perhaps? (My friend hasn't gotten me "For One More Day" yet, but I'm sure I'll have it soon.)
My next required reading is "Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague."
/takes a breath I have a lot of reading coming up... gunna be a great Spring Break (I hope.)
I dont know if it counts but im reading DC's 52 series right now
The Alchemist
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Sanford Meisner on Acting
Of use even for those not interested in acting.
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep
Just started this one. So far it seems interesting, but I'm only on Chapter 3.
A Briefer History Of Time
I wanted to start learning about the universe and physics, so I decided to start with this and move upwards from there.
Linchpin
A completely different book focused on the mindsets entrepreneurs, and most people in general, ought to have for gaining maximum value.
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Those are the three I'm currently juggling.
"Other Lands" by David Anthony Durham (Book Two of the Acacia Trilogy)
Has anyone read "The Trouble with Physics" by Lee Smolin? If you did what did you think about it?
Read it and seriously be disturbed. It's so disturbing this book is banned in England :p
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Book-banning really grinds my gears.
There is never a good reason for banning ANY book.
@O, i was just reading that but I had to return it to the library xD
right now I'm reading this
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But I'm also dabbling in
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No one? I am dissapoint. I don't think I've ever had a better time reading a book.
Reading William buhlman's Adventures beyond the body and
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I've seen the movie. But they didn't put all the nasty stuff in the movie, I heard there are some deleted scenes. Something about him jizzing in his pants, excuse my language.
Pretty disturbing indeed.
and I'm reading Other Lands - David Anthony Durham (book two of the acacia trilogy)
I need to read a really good book. Everything I've read lately is manga. :3 Can anyone recommend a mystery with an awesome twist at the end?
I burned through the manga Berserk and started re-reading Gantz to get caught up to where I left off last time. I'm a little over halfway through Vernor Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky, and I'm asymptotically approaching the end of The Windup Bird Chronicle audiobook (I've been working through the last 90 minutes for about two weeks). All of the above have been great; characterization in Gantz is more shallow than I remember, but the mindfuckery carries you along. I haven't been so slow getting through TWBC because it's boring, but because I always turn it on when I'm ready to go to sleep :P
Read that - The section where it incorporates mediation practice into the success of lucid dreaming is very valuable, I've found. Though it appears that the ultimate 'dream state' of LD in the book differs from the usual, desired dream state; we like narrative, action, sequences of events, and magic. Insightful read though.
All I've been reading with my eyeballs are sci-fi short stories on the train and in waiting rooms (on my phone or tablet), but I've been burning through audiobooks. I even finished that Vinge novel mostly via text-to-speech, which was better than a badly narrated audiobook but worse than a good one. I still haven't finished the last 20-30 minutes of Windup Bird. I've got this thing lately where I save the endings of things I like, which is kind of new and weird.
After A Deepness in the Sky I started on a fantasy audiobook, Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. It had a novel and maybe-too-intricate magic system like the Mistborn books, but both the exposition and the dialogue got tedious at times, like the worst parts of the third Mistborn book. I stopped 1/3 of the way through and decided I was still in the mood for space opera, so I switched to the second Ringworld audiobook, which was a bit more pulp-adventure than the first but still a fun ride. When I went back to Warbreaker it was more palatable, but it's my least favorite of Sanderson's work that I've read. As I understand it he revised and re-released it at least once, so he wasn't that happy with it, either.
Now I'm listening to Ready Player One read by Wil Wheaton (which is funny, because Wheaton gets mentioned very flatteringly about halfway through the novel). Reviews suggested it's definitely flawed, but well worth the read, which sounds about right so far. There are some massive infodumps, mitigated by the fact that Wheaton reads them as if they're the most interesting thing in the world even if they're not. Some of the ideas have that 'futures past' feel of old books like 2001 A Space Odyssey or Neuromancer, even though RPO came out last summer. Still, there are some very cool ideas, too, and the central contrast of a near-future world dominated by the personality of an '80s-obsessed recluse stays pretty satisfying. I'd be interested to hear how many references in the book actually mean anything to 'millennials.' A lot of it is before my time, but I played me some Joust and Defender back in the day.
Hmm i just knew there must be a thread like this... finally found it :P
Currently i'm reading this:
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Gotta buy the next chapter soon..