Books: What are you reading and what would you recommend?

[GRT]

i stopped reading WoT years ago, but picked it up when RJ passed, now on the last couple hundred pages of Knife of Dreams

i'm not sure what it is, but some of the chapters send a chill down my spine, others make me yawn like i haven't slept for days

[Ishido]

Has anyone read Brisingr, the third book of the Inheritance series? I heard is was extremely long, yet good.

If 750 pages is long, sure, and it's not even a long 750 pages (well spaced, not small text, etc). It seems to be about par with the other 2 books so far, though I'm only about 150 pages in so far. I read the first 2 around when each came out, so I'm not sure if it is because of me aging or maturing or what, but the plot seems pretty weak to me now. Brisingr has a synopsis of the first two books at the start, which I read and it definitely did not seem as good as I remember it being.

It's entertaining though, even if it isn't a masterpiece. And that's pretty much why I read, so I don't really have a problem with it.

[Eratosthenes]

I just picked up Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World today and am loving it so far.

[Jer]

i stopped reading WoT years ago, but picked it up when RJ passed, now on the last couple hundred pages of Knife of Dreams

i'm not sure what it is, but some of the chapters send a chill down my spine, others make me yawn like i haven't slept for days

Yea, I know what you mean, and it's not just the last book. I have them all and some of the middle ones are pretty much 'bleh'. I blame the publishing company for wanting him to expand past what he initially wanted to do. Success, the ultimate cause of downfall. The last book is supposed to be freaking huge.

[Deeke]

Everything Is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, both by Jonathan Safran Foer. 'Everything' follows a man looking for answers to his jewish ancestry, 'Extremely' follows a young boy dealing with the death of his father who died in the 9/11 attack.

Both books are vastly witty, deeply moving and uniquely written. Foer's an author who plays with the medium. He doesn't follow rules and doesn't hold the reader's hand through his explorations. Both books deal heavily with some rather universal themes: love, belonging and - especially - memory are all tweezed apart and exposed, to great, poignant effect. 'Everything' is the more accomplished of the two in my opinion, but 'Extremely' is way more accessible. Both are hilarious.

These two books come with a huge recommendation from myself.


Life Of Pi by Yann Martel. Easy to read, every page is fascinating. Has a deliciously open ending. I loooove this book.


The Year of Our War by Steph Swainston. Easily the freshest fantasy book(s) I've read in the past ten years (pluralised because there are two sequels also). It's fantasy with political intrigue, immortals, flying, cat-people, a parallel nightmarish universe and a world being attacked by a swarm of gigantic killer insects. But it's smart and cool and adult. The 'hero' is a junkie, everyone has their own selfish agenda and - even though it makes nods to many different sources - taken as a whole, it's quite unlike any other fantasy series I've read.

[Koyuki]

Elizabeth Hayden's Symphony of The Ages series, mainly the Rhapsody trilogy. After the first three books the series just became unbelievably stale to me. Others might actually like the others.

I also highly recommend The Death Gate Cycle series by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. It's a 7 book series and there are some sorta low points, but overall a great read.

[Foras]

For anyone interested in networking or pursuing a CCNA I highly recommend Todd Lammle's Cisco Certified Network Associate (sixth edition).

[Foras]

. . .In the Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss - Really different sort of Fantasy. Wrote in a first person perspective, but it really grows on you as the novel goes on. First book in the series second should be released in 2009.

Thank you for the recommendation, I just finished this and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s been awhile since I’ve read a 700 page book in a few days. The book wasn’t perfect, but it had some very enthralling parts that kept you going. I think I’ll pick up the first book of The Lies of Locke Lamora series while waiting for The Wise Man's Fear.

[Telamond]

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson is a particularly enthralling thriller, and a bestseller for a reason, sadly the author is dead and only now are his books making it into an English translation.

Ah! I'm glad that the english translation is good. I'm extremely fond of this thriller as well. I can recommend it to everyone.

There's only three books in the series, 4 and 5 are half-written and there are synopsis up to 8 books after the authors death. :/

[Jube]

Books I have read in the last month:
Tao of Wu by the RZA
The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (read in 1 day somehow)
End the Fed by Ron Paul
The Jefferson Bible by Thomas Jefferson
Hyperspace by Michio Kaku
god is not Great by Christopher Hitchens

Books I have and haven't started yet are
On the Shoulders of Giants by Stephen Hawking
The Teaching of Buddha
Bhagavad Gita by Stephen Mitchell
Tao Te Ching
Art & Physics by Leonard Shlain

Books I reread last month were
Falling Sideways by Tom Holt (love his style of writing)
Art of War by Sun Tzu

Still waiting on my 1914 leather bound edition of: Origin of Species I got off Ebay. Hope it's real >.>

[Abandon]

Sports Illustrated.

[Odesseiron]

Currently reading (and 75% done) with Stephen King's Under the Dome. I'm really liking it so far. It's a nice long read at 1074 pages, and has a lot of good characters. I don't think any other author I've read has the talent to make me hate a character as much as S.K. I kind of want to slow down reading it cause there probably won't be another King book for another year, but it's too good to put down.

[Dense]

Just finished Walter Tevis' Mockingbird. Fantastic read! Missed it in my collection for far too long, finally picked it up last week; three hours later, it totally engrossed me and convinced me. Great stuff. Without wanting to ruin the fun of the book, it's a kind of dystopian future book. I wouldn't read reviews if you want to get the most out of it...

[Jodwahh]

Just read World War Z, amazing book that I honestly cannot recommend enough. Also read Patient Zero a little while back, an exceedingly well written zombie book. It reads like the way the story in MW2 plays. Take from that what you will but I liked it.

[Elesirdur]

I was in Portland, OR a few weekends ago and finally found myself a good copy of Lolita by Nabakov which I am devouring, page by succulent page, as fast as time allows. His prose is just so enthralling and witty, I cannot think of another author of the 20th Century that matches his work. Fucked up subject matter though, that's for sure.