Author Topic: What books are you reading? (Read 737224 times)

sword · « **Reply #275 on:** January 02, 2012, 06:48 PM »

Half through, "THINKING, FAST AND SLOW" by DANIEL KAHNEMAN.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #276 on:** February 28, 2012, 07:53 AM »

Just finished the first book in the Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson -- Mistborn: The Final Empire.

I'm most of the way through the second of the three books. Pretty entertaining!

40hz · « **Reply #277 on:** February 28, 2012, 08:47 AM »

Just finished reading, and then re-reading Dragonfly by Frederic S. Durbin. (Yes. It's that good.)

Dragonfly cover.jpg

If you like books like Ray Bradbury's October Country, The Halloween Tree, or Something Wicked This Way Comes (all highly recommended BTW) you'll enjoy this book too. It's the quintessential Halloween story narrated by a young "10 going on 11" girl named Bridget-Anne - although everybody calls her Dragonfly.

Dragonfly lives with her Uncle Henry, her town's slightly odd but marvelously wise undertaker:

With characters and a setup like this, how can you possibly go wrong?

This book ended up being a complete surprise. What at first seems to be your basic supernatural "save the world" adventure ends up being a very unusual and poignant coming of age story. Well worth a read although you might want to save it for Halloween week in order to get yourself immersed in the full atmosphere of the story.

(Note: with thanks to M.M. who recommended it and is my adviser on all things related to YA fiction.

)

MerleOne · « **Reply #278 on:** February 28, 2012, 04:26 PM »

Hi,
I am about to finish the installment # 6 of "The Plant" by S. King. I think I started the series about 10 years ago...

Deozaan · « **Reply #279 on:** March 04, 2012, 02:41 AM »

I can't remember if I mentioned this already or not, but I recently read the Hunger Games trilogy. I think it was back in January when I read them.

I loved the first book so much that I pretty much read it and the following two books in a single sitting. There may have been a bathroom or food break somewhere in there, but other than that I did nothing but read those three books from start to finish.

The first book was the best. The second book surprised me but made me like the protagonist a bit less. The third book was the worst, IMO, mostly because:

minor spoiler

in that book the protagonist was almost completely unlike how she was in the first book.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #280 on:** March 04, 2012, 08:21 AM »

My wife is dying to see the upcoming movie.

I have the Hunger Games trilogy on Kindle. Haven't read them yet because I'm currently finishing the Mistborn trilogy by Sanderson.

40hz · « **Reply #281 on:** March 12, 2012, 08:51 AM »

The Lost Memory by Junichi Fujisaki.

This is a short novel spin-off from the anime series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

I'm not normally inclined to read books based on movies or TV series. But this short novel hit all the right notes and actually made the anime series more interesting while remaining a good little book in it's own right. Not a bad accomplishment considering GIS is one of the better post-cyberpunk franchises out there.

The setting for most of the Ghost in the Shell stories is a big sprawling neo-Tokyo where cybernetic implants and brain alterations are the norm. It's a fairly complex story that isn't easily summarized, although the predominant themes center on what it means to be alive, "truly human" - and what constitutes what we accept as 'reality.'

The treatment throughout Ghost in the Shell is very adult, and lacks most , but not always all (in the TV series) of the cutesy adolescent elements that occupy center stage in so many of these types of stories coming out of Japan.

Here's the capsule summary of the plot from the publisher.

Since being formed as a shadow peacekeeping organization, Section 9 has faced almost countless adversaries both in the real world and in cyberspace, but none like "The Awakened," a group of terrorists who seem to have the ability to take over the minds and bodies of almost anyone and use them to commit crimes against the state, leaving their pawns unaware of who was controlling them. When Major Motoko Kusanagi is able to capture one of the boys used as a pawn she hacks into his cyberbrain to find out who the ringleader is, but what she discovers will take her and the operatives of Section 9 on a journey deep into the heart of cyberspace, and the answers she finds will shake Section 9 to its core.

Very well done. And even more amazing, that it survived translation.

About $9 in bookstores (if there are any still left where you live) or from Amazon for...hmm...the same price! What's going on here?

---------

Note: If you're new to Ghost in the Shell, I'd suggest possibly viewing some of the anime before plunging into the book. Especially if you don't have much experience with this genre. The best are the three feature-length animations Ghost in the Shell and it's quasi-sequels Ghost in the Shell2: Innocence and Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society - which is the lead-in for the subsequent Stand Alone Complex series.

What books are you reading?

Renegade · « **Reply #282 on:** March 12, 2012, 09:40 AM »

I've got a few books on the go. The only paper book that I'm reading is:

NSFW

But, I finally got myself a tablet, and am now reading a book on permanent magnetic motors, and this:

41DfCiw4S9L._SS400_.jpg

I plan to read more non-technical books (electronically) now that I have a decent reading platform (Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 - from Korea -- not the hacked down version everyone else gets.

)

I simply love having a truckload of books on my tab. It's so easy. And I don't have to deal with an BS from Amazon or Apple.

Deozaan · « **Reply #283 on:** March 12, 2012, 08:17 PM »

I picked up The Giver on Google Play Books for $0.25 the other day and I'm a few chapters in. It's interesting so far, but seems like it will be a short read.

rjbull · « **Reply #284 on:** April 23, 2012, 02:31 PM »

Just started "Operation Napoleon", by Arnaldur Indridason.

Just finished "Mortal Engines," by Philip Reeve.
Far-future science fiction? For children/young adults? This one is great. It deserves all the prizes awarded to it. Adventure, energy, betrayal, revenge, romance, loyalty, engaging characters, a complicated villain, an unexpected denouement. I couldn't put it down, and immediately requested the next in the quartet from the library.

Darwin · « **Reply #285 on:** May 06, 2012, 08:54 AM »

Ha! I just dropped in here to recommend Arnaldur Indridason (I'm working through the Erlendur series) an see that rjbull has beaten me to it. I'm currently reading "Arctic Chill" (book number 4) and am very impressed with Indridason's plot development and "mood".

rjbull · « **Reply #286 on:** May 06, 2012, 11:29 AM »

Ha! I just dropped in here to recommend Arnaldur Indridason (I'm working through the Erlendur series) an see that rjbull has beaten me to it. I'm currently reading "Arctic Chill" (book number 4) and am very impressed with Indridason's plot development and "mood".
-Darwin (May 06, 2012, 08:54 AM)

It's a great series, and from the little I know of Iceland (I visited years ago on photographic holidays, and read a bit about it), the backdrop of the merciless landscape is exactly right. Indridason had me worried with Outrage, the 7th in the series, in which Erlendur ominously doesn't feature, but I see there's now an eighth, Black Skies, to be published this June.

Not sure what it is with Scandinavian thriller writers, especially Jo Nesbo and Hakan Nesser. Is everybody up there really so polite? I mean, the detectives go to someone's house to interview them about a murder, but nothing can be done until they've all sat down and had a cup of coffee and a piece of cake!

cranioscopical · « **Reply #287 on:** May 06, 2012, 05:47 PM »

I thought I was reading

this

Preventing Alzheimer's: Ways to Help Prevent, Delay, Detect, and Even Halt Alzheimer's Disease and OtherForms of Memory Loss by William Rodman Shankle and Daniel G. Amen

but now I'm not so sure…

dragonmage · « **Reply #288 on:** May 06, 2012, 07:04 PM »

Reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes on Google Play Books.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #289 on:** May 07, 2012, 08:44 PM »

Just finished "Sundiver" by David Brin. Now reading "March Upcountry" by John Ringo.

Mark0 · « **Reply #290 on:** May 08, 2012, 05:58 AM »

Just started "iWoz - Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It".

MerleOne · « **Reply #291 on:** May 20, 2012, 03:00 PM »

Just started Games of Thrones from Georges RR Martin, and at the same time, thanks to Kindle, Telling from François Taillandier.

skwire · « **Reply #292 on:** May 20, 2012, 03:11 PM »

Just started Games of Thrones from Georges RR Martin
-MerleOne (May 20, 2012, 03:00 PM)

Settle in; you're in for a long ride. =]

MerleOne · « **Reply #293 on:** May 21, 2012, 02:36 PM »

Just started Games of Thrones from Georges RR Martin
-MerleOne (May 20, 2012, 03:00 PM)

Settle in; you're in for a long ride. =]
-skwire (May 20, 2012, 03:11 PM)

You couldn't be more to the point : I saw the paperback version, which gave me a fair estimate of the "volume" it represents. I find the kindle version less intimidating.

My ISP is broadcasting now the season 2 of the HBO TV show made after the series, but I doubt I'll be able to catch up... I am still in the part where Jon is staring is "job" at the wall....

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #294 on:** May 21, 2012, 06:10 PM »

Renegade, that book is too hard. It as all those ... eew... pages in them! Can you reduce it down to a tweet?

Deozaan · « **Reply #295 on:** May 21, 2012, 06:15 PM »

Can you reduce it down to a tweet?
-TaoPhoenix (May 21, 2012, 06:10 PM)

"Don't get attached to characters because everybody dies eventually."

kyrathaba · « **Reply #296 on:** May 21, 2012, 06:43 PM »

Just finished John Ringo's "March Upcountry", and Demetri Martin's "This Is A Book". Currently reading second in C. S. Friedman's 'Magister' series, "Wings of Wrath".

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #297 on:** May 21, 2012, 07:03 PM »

I might actually have a nice list of some re-unearthed books shortly.

mahesh2k · « **Reply #298 on:** May 22, 2012, 09:39 AM »

Just finished reading Psychological Thriller short story - Hidden Room.

Also finished Wisdom of Confucius.

skwire · « **Reply #299 on:** May 22, 2012, 10:14 AM »

My ISP is broadcasting now the season 2 of the HBO TV show made after the series, but I doubt I'll be able to catch up... I am still in the part where Jon is staring is "job" at the wall....
-MerleOne (May 21, 2012, 02:36 PM)

For the record, the HBO series is really well done and my wife and I both enjoy it (she hasn't read the books). As an aside, I'm hoping Martin lasts long enough to finish out the written series. It's somewhat frustrating when you invest several thousand pages worth of time into a series that doesn't get finished.