What Book Are You Reading? - Part IX

#107

I just finished reading this book called Spontaneous Evolution, by Bruce Lipton and Steve Bhaerman. It was a really interesting read, especially if you’re into movements like Zeitgeist, and there was a part that could relate to LDing, when they write about how we are “programmed” with a bunch of self-destructive behaviors by the people who raise us where we are young, and because they get ingrained in our subcounscious, they are quite hard to root them out. I am not sure if the authors are familiar with LDing, but I felt like it would be one of the ways to uprooting these behavior at an older age.

It was also a very spiritual book, which believed our next step in evolution is to lear n to cooperate and merge as an organism called Humanty, and they made quite a few fair points using knowledge from several areas.

(I loved it a lot, especially gonna use it and more LDing also as research for the book I want to write.)

I really want to reread Neil Gaiman’s Sandman (WHICH IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO EVERYONE HERE) now, but my Neil Gaiman collection is faaar far away :cry:

#108

A dream like reading was Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut.

A Ice and Fire Song was a fascinating reading, but now it will be a long waiting before Winds of Winter comes out.

#109

This is my absolute favorite book in the whole world!
My interpretation of it is:
He talks to the Tralfamadorians, who do not perceive time like we do. To them, they see past, present and future all at once. So humans they see like centipedes, where they are baby at one end and an old person at the other.
Because they cannot perceive the passing of time, their books are not linear stories. Instead they are lots of bits and pieces, tiny instances and scenes and descriptions, that when you read it all at once they become a complete beautiful picture.

I think Slaughterhouse Five was a Tralfamadorian book. It wasn’t linear, it was a bunch of pieces of Billy Pilgrim’s life, and different instances, creating a complete picture when you read the whole thing.

And of course it was about the horror of war and all that.

But Vonnegut is my hero. I’m reading God Bless You Mr. Rosewater by him right now.

#110

I’ve been (slowly) working on JK Rowling’s new novel (The Cuckoo’s Calling)

Recently, I’ve finished The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut as well as Stardust by Neil Gaiman. And holy cow, both of those are amazing reads.
Too bad my library doesn’t have many of the books that I really want to read. Good Omens and Slaughterhouse-Five are missing, so I have to order them from elsewhere, and I don’t like doing that for some reason. :shy:

#111

Lately i’ve been reading english books (as I am belgian english is not my first language).
I read some classics as The great gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Alice in wonderland and Through the looking glass by Lewis Carrol

And I’ve been reading a book about lucid dreaming : Dreams and how to control them (trad for “les rêves et les moyens de les diriger”) by Hervey-de-Saint-Denys. Quite interesting though I’m only at the beginning

#112

I’m reading “Think and Grow Rich.” It’s a classic motivational text, a la How to Win Friends and Influence People.

#113

Currently going through Lovecraft’s works again. I highly recommend it to lucid dreamers, because Lovecraft was also a lucid dreamer, and it shows. He’s public domain so his works are all free.

#114

I finally got around to reading the lucid dreaming book. Stephen LaBerge’s Lucid Dreaming: A Concise Guide to Awakening in Your Dreams and Your Life.

#115

Right, at the moment i’m currently finishing off The Wheel of Osheim, by Mark Lawrence, the third book of the Red Queen’s War trilogy. Really enjoyed it so far, and so close to the end I can taste it! After that, going to get onto Fool’s Assassin, the first of the Fitz and the Fool trilogy by Robin Hobb… A friend recommended Hobb’s books to me, I started them not too long ago, and i’m hooked. I really am hooked. Shame this trilogy is the finale. Or at least, I think it is.

#116

!!! Yay Fitz and Fool <3 I haven’t read Fool’s Assassin yet, I still have to read the Tawny Man series. I tried when I was younger but found out who Fitz gets with and got so mad I threw the book across the room and never picked it up again. But I will once I get Assassin’s Fate.

Have you read the whole series? Apparently the Rain Wild Chronicles should be read before Fool’s Assassin. They even released an official reading order:

Also, have you heard of Mark Lawrence’s newest, Red Sister? Harper Collings put up a sample, (not sure if you can access that). But it’s totally on my to read. I hear it’s a bit like Jay Kristoff’s Nevernight, but a bit more gory. So yeah. :content:

I’m (sort of) currently re-reading Harry Potter 6, but will start Frogkisser by Garth Nix soon. :cool:

#117

I’m halfway through A Memory of Light, and I’m not sure how I’m going to deal with the end of such a great series. I’m thinking about immediately going back to The Eye of the World, but I have soooo many books in my to-read list.

Among those are:
All of the Discworld books (40-ish books? Yeah, I’m set for some time.)
Stephen King: Misery, Salem’s Lot, The Stand, the Dark Tower series
Brandon Sanderson: the second Mistborn trilogy, the Stormlight Archive books
Neil Gaiman: American Gods
Steven Erikson: Malazan Book of the Fallen
Glen Cook: The Black Company (I have fond childhood memories of the first three books, might push this higher in the list)
David Eddings: Belgariad
Tamora Pierce: Song of the Lioness (by Eilatan’s recommendation)
Robin Hobb: Assassin’s Apprentice
Naomi Novik: His Majesty’s Dragon

^Those are just the urgent ones. I have a bunch of books on Kindle I got from deals and such. I wonder if I’m ever going to take a look at those. :tongue:

#118

/me whispers

Got a goodreads?

#119

I’ve got one now! Might take a while to fill in. I had wanted to make one since forever, but I haven’t had time.

#120

Ooohh, I just finished that one recently. Loved it. :content:

I’m currently listening to The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy on audiobook (those count, right?) and reading my way (admittedly slowly) through Brisingr (the 3rd Eragon book), because I never actually finished that series before.

This one sounds familiar. I might have it sitting on my book case, waiting to be read as well. Or I may be mistaken. I have several dragon books sitting around waiting for me to free up some time, and tend to lose track of what I own but haven’t yet read. :tongue:

#121

I have indeed read the rest of the series, in that order. I was waiting for Assassin’s Fate to be released before I began the Fitz and the Fool trilogy. Really enjoying it so far. Amazing read.

I haven’t heard of Red Sister yet, but I can imagine who it’s about already. Red Queens War is a great read, as was the Broken Empire trilogy, and they’re both related to each other, which is interesting, a huge common world built between the two trilogies. I get the feeling this is the start of another trilogy, would I be right in guessing that? Either way, i’m definitely interested.

Never read Nevernight, though. I’ve been getting through a few fantasy type books lately though, Scott Lynch’s books are especially good, The Gentleman B*stard series is one to keep an eye on. Imagine a dark (really damn dark, seriously) fantasy setting, not much magic going on but it is present, and we’re following a band of thieves and conmen. I’ve heard it likened to being a fantasy Oceans Eleven, but much more grim, and hilarious in places too.

Daniel Polansky’s Low Town books are also really good. Again, a criminal in a fantasy setting, this time following a guy called Warden, a drug dealer who used to be a soldier, and his life in Low Town.

And, for fans of Lovecraft, Charles Stross’s Laundry series is pretty fantastic, it’s like James Bond vs Cthulhu, sort of, except The Laundry (which is the branch of the secret service for this stuff) is equipped with paranormal weapons, and the main character is an IT technician rather than a suave super-spy. Thankfully, his IT skills do come in handy, because magic can be done via complicated mathematics, but generally is best to be done via computer program (or smartphone app).

#122

Mhm, mhm :yes: The Lies of Locke Lamora is probably my favorite book in the whole world, and Locke and Jean are my favorite literary duo, hands down.

I should also finish The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I started it, loved it, and then lost it somewhere. :confused: I’ve never read Eragon, I saw the movie first and wasn’t interested in the books after that (though I hear they’re much better).

#123

The movie was…I prefer to pretend the movie never existed. :wink:

There are definitely portions of the books that (in my opinion) get dull or easily predictable, but overall I think it’s a good story. Or maybe I’m just easily entertained. In either case, try to completely ignore the movie when decided whether or not to read the books.

#124

Red Sister is supposed to be a new trilogy, not set in the same world as his other works. So the character is a fresh face. But I have heard it praised by Mark Lawrence fans, so I am sure it stacks up to his previous world. :content:

Funny, I heard it described the same way! It is definitely on my to-read list. I believe En’enra also recommended I read it.

HB, If you are just getting into fantasy lately, am I correct in assuming it’s not your preferred genre? :open_mouth: What is?

En’enra, the movie was… ehhhhhh. As book movie usually go, I did like it more than others, but it chopped off quite a bit. I read Eragon way before the movie, so maybe my judgement is clouded. But like Xand, I also got bored after wading through Eldest. Xand told me Brisingr picks up again, though, so I will one day finish the series. I have heard people say Eragon stole its good parts from The Lord of the Rings (elves, dragons, magic, etc.), but it is an unfair comparison. Eragon is like if someone tried to make LOTR a Young Adult novel… I can’t say if they succeeded or not because I am yet to finish. :woah:

[size=75]/me waves to En’enra on goodreads.

Now you can stalk the fact I have read pretty much nothing.[/size]

#125

I found Sabriel on your shelf! I totally forgot about that series. <3

Well, I don’t think that “stealing” from Tolkien is such a bad thing; LOTR is probably among the first things that fantasy authors read, so it’s natural that it leaves a mark on their work (especially for someone as young as the writer of Eragon was, 15 if I remember correctly?). And it’s such a monumental work, too. Somebody made a story map for Robert Jordan’s The Eye of the World, and it matches The Fellowship of the Ring exactly. I still don’t think that makes it a bad copy of LOTR, in fact starting off with the familiar makes a stronger foundation for a story to grow on. :content:

Anyways, I’ll put it on a list and see for myself, if I ever reach it. :happy:

#126

Funny story with Sabriel. It was assigned reading in the Fantasy and Fiction class I took in San Francisco in 2011. It seemed my teacher was a big fan of Garth Nix and the Abhorsen series. It wasn’t until the end of last year at an Australian publishing house event that I realised Garth is actually an Aussie. He’s so internationally known, he even did signings in Ireland, and when I tell Aussies how I found his books they seem amazed that he’s well known out side of Aus! And in exciting news my bookclub gets to sit down with him next week, being about the only time he’s ever done an event with a bookclub. Now I just need to fully read Frogkisser. :content:

I totally recommend Frogkisser. It’s a “turning fairytales on their heads” sort of story, and definitely Young Adult fantasy, but it’s got such Garth Nix humour that I think everyone would enjoy it.