What are you reading now?

[Fader209]

Halfway through Clash of Kings and I have a huge urge to read some sci-fi! The Starks need moar spaceships in their stories but I don't think it's going to happen.
It's a chunky book anyway so a break from it would make sense to make it fresh again when I return to Winterfell.

Sooo, I'm thinking of revisiting The Skinner or Chasm City as they are modern classics in my eyes.

[Rossco]

Has an explosion of reading lately and in the last four weeks I have read 5 books. Most notabley though, The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas. What a book! Immediately gripped, I read it in two sittings which is absolutely crazy for me. Don't even know how to describe it well enough to make it appealing without ruining some parts of the story as I just picked it up and started reading without even looking at the blurb on the back.

Awesome book though, anyone else read it?

[Charlie]

Yeah, The End of Mr Y is brilliant. My uncle had the book and gave it to my mother, she gave the book to me, and I gave the book to my mate, and none of us could put it down. It's an incredibly addictive read.


Just finished reading:

Why I am So Wise - Friedrich Nietzsche



Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization, and helped make us who we are.

I didn't enjoy this very much. I've read a few of Nietzsche's books and he always comes across as miserable, hateful and arrogant. There's no doubting the man's intelligence, his insights, his moments of truth, his legacy on philosophy, but I have trouble accepting any philosophy when it can't even propogate happiness in the person who understands it best. Everybody wants to have peace of mind and be happy, and I can never fully trust the words of a man who has found neither. An interesting read nonetheless, but best read by misanthropes.

[Kieran76]

Has an explosion of reading lately and in the last four weeks I have read 5 books. Most notabley though, The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas. What a book! Immediately gripped, I read it in two sittings which is absolutely crazy for me. Don't even know how to describe it well enough to make it appealing without ruining some parts of the story as I just picked it up and started reading without even looking at the blurb on the back.

Awesome book though, anyone else read it?

I read it a few years ago and wasn't won over by it. I enjoyed parts of it, but found all the main characters lacked any depth. Just goes to show what different tastes we have.

I am almost too embarrassed to say what I am reading now after slagging off your book because I am reading some pure holiday trash. I am tragically addicted to the Jake Reacher books by Lee Childs. They are proper trash, but have some serious laugh out descriptions of hand to hand combat. Tom Cruise is playing him a film version and Werner Herzog is playing the baddie. Should be a riot.

[wicky]

Just read Elantis by brandon sanderson, really enjoyed it. About to start the mistborn trilogy.

[NeoStuey]

Working my way through a collective works of HP Lovecraft, some of the stories like The Color Out Of Space I had never read before but had me wishing I had. I can see myself returning to tales again in the future.

[RobRoy]

Just on Dance with Dragons (about 2/3s of the way through) and the whole Song of ice and Fire series has been excellent. Totally hooked on the whole westeros theme! Just sad its coming to an end...until the next book..whenever that is!

Any fantasy book recommendations?

[charlesr]

Vernor Vinge - Zones of Thought. It's a two book compilation of "A fire upon the deep" and "A deepness in the sky".

I'm about 1/3 of the way through "A fire upon the deep" and it's mind bogglingly good. Packed with great ideas that were way ahead of its time and an overarching view of the galaxy as "zoned" areas where technology can only reach a certain level for reasons unknown.

Anyone who likes epic sci-fi should enjoy this.

[averybluemonkey]

Read Outpost recently, a nice, original zombie-apocalypse story set in the arctic on board an oil rig. Pretty gory in places, nice character development, twists you don't see coming and full of menace throughout. It makes for a fantastic setting and is very immersive. Dour but in a good way.

Currently read Terminator Salvation: Cold War, if you liked the movie it's a must read, following dual timelines both on Judgement Day and 15 years later it also nicely fleshes out some of the side characters and adds a lot to the background. Genuinely enjoying both timelines (it alternates between them), and the two are unified in quite a nice way. It's not all action, there's plenty of human stuff in there.

[QualityChimp]

I might check out that Outpost, it looks right up my street, but I've been reading a fair few zombie books of late, so maybe a break is in order! Looks like the author's got a new book out, Juggernaut.
Elaniel and I were chatting about The Hunger Games and I joked about some other similar premises and it got me wanting to read some dystopian stories so I've read The Giver by Lois Lowry, Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry and Stephen King's The Running Man, which is very different from the film!

The Giver

Jonas lives safely within the Community, a place where there is no war, no hunger and no pain. But when he is selected as the Receiver of Memory, he starts to discover dark secrets that lie beneath the surface of his perfect world, secrets that will lead him to undertake an incredible journey...

Rot & Ruin

Nearly fourteen years ago a freak virus swept across the world turning those infected from the living into the undead. Benny Imura has grown-up never knowing anything different; his last memories of his parents tainted by the image of them becoming zombies. Now Benny is fifteen, and his brother Tom wants him to join the "family business" and train as a zombie killer. The last thing Benny wants is to work with Tom --- but at least the job should be an easy ride. Then the brothers head into the Rot and Ruin, an area full of wandering zombies, and Benny realises that being a bounty hunter isn't just about whacking zombies. As he's confronted with the truths about the world around him, Benny finds his beliefs challenged and makes the most terrifying discovery of all, that sometimes the worst monsters you can imagine, are human...

The Running Man
Well, you know the premise already, but the major differences are that the Ben Richards of the novel is an out-of-work and desperate man that needs to make some money to pay for his wife and daughter's medicine. The contest exists in the real world, not in a game maze and there are no colourful Hunters. I think both versions work well as they're so different, but I really enjoyed re-reading this. I can also reccomend the audiobook, brilliantly read by Kevin Kenerly.

I also read my first biography (I'm not really excited by famous people) - I Am Ozzy, which I found really funny and it's a great read even if you're not a big fan of his music. I just wish he talked about his time in Sabbath more than he does as it focuses a lot on his early years and his solo career. The Sabbath bit seems to be over very fast.

I'm currently reading King's Bag of Bones and Public Enemy Zero, which for 72p is bloomin' brilliant! I can't wait to see how it ends. I'll definitely be picking some more of author, Andrew Maine's books, which are also a bargain!

[smouty]

For the Running Man - Do I remember correctly that at the end [HIDE]He crashes a hijacked jet into the television centre?[/HIDE]

I'm currently reading How Firm a Foundation the fifth book in the Safehold series from Davis Weber.
It is an excellent premise for a book series - from Wikipedia

Safehold is a science fiction book series by David Weber. As of September 2011, the series consists of five titles. The series is mostly set around the 31st century, on a distant world dubbed "Safehold" where a group of humans has hidden themselves from an alien race known as the Gbaba. When first contact was made between the humans and the Gbaba, the Gbaba began an extermination campaign which nearly succeeded in destroying all known humans in the galaxy, including the entire population of Earth. The humans on Safehold managed to avoid detection by reverting to a pre-electrical and pre-industrial technology base and incorporating that into a religious belief system which discouraged scientific curiosity and forbade any higher technology on penalty of death.

[Dogg Thang]

I've just been working my way through the Discworld books. Finding them really good to distract from work-stress stuff. Not too deep and just fun. I've been going through the City Watch books and they've mostly been great (Jingo was a bit rubbish). On Night Watch now.

[QualityChimp]

For the Running Man - Do I remember correctly that at the end [HIDE]He crashes a hijacked jet into the television centre?[/HIDE]

Spoiler! Don't read this if you've not read the book as it's well-worth checking out!
[HIDE]Yes, he escapes on a plane after claiming he's got a bomb. He's escorted onboard by the top Hunter but Killian speaks to Richards on a video call and offers him a job as a Hunter. When Richards asks how it would affect his wife and daughter, Killian reveals they've been dead for 10 days in an "accident". Richard agrees to join them, but once he has their trust, kills the crew and the Hunter and lets his hostage parachute out.

The last thing Killian sees is a glimpse Richards in the cockpit flying straight towards him in the television tower, flicking him the middle finger.[/HIDE]

King says in his introduction that this is the closest thing to a Bachman (his pseudonym for this book) happy ending!

[Kieran76]

Just finished Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut, which I really enjoyed. I didn't know what the book was about before reading, just that it was meant to be good. It was.

[Matt~]

One Thousand and One Nights... but I haven't read much at all lately