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Thread: What are you reading?

  1. #1
    Dungeon Master alpha's Avatar
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    What are you reading?

    Ars have a thread like this and I thought it was a pretty good idea. So... to start things off:

    Just finished: Terry Goodkind - Wizard's First Rule
    Now reading: Terry Goodkind - Stone of Tears

    Want to read (near future):

    Terry Pratchett - Thud!
    Terry Pratchett - Going Postal
    Robin Hobb - Fool's Errand

    I mostly read fantasy books, as you can tell. Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series was recommended to me by my girlfriend, but I don't think I'll be reading any more of them for a while - I haven't really enjoyed the one I'm currently reading.

    Those two Terry Pratchett books I got for my birthday and am being patient not to start them NOW! As for Robin Hobb, the Farseer Trilogy was the best trilogy I've ever read, so I can't wait to start the next one. I was mega disappointed with the Liveship Traders trilogy though.

    So, what are YOU reading?

  2. #2
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    I'm reading Les mystères d'Osiris, vol 4, from Christian Jacq.
    Next two will be "El prisionero de Spandau" from Greg Iles and "Las Arenas de Saqqara" from Glenn Meade. To read I have a bunch of books....

    Also reading "Thermodynamics" from Çengel; "The Exergy Method of Thermal Plant Analysis" from Kotas; a few books about Radiation and Combustion Motors, all for the Master Degree.

    I read everything...papers about drying processes, math and so on....but the most important: the Free-DC Forum!

    Carlos

  3. #3
    I haven't read a book from front to back since the 8th grade but I can recommend:

    The Elven Nations Trilogy from Forgotten Realms. VERY good books.
    Distributed Hold'em


  4. #4
    on my side i'm currently reading
    - "thermodynamique des réacteurs" (turbojet thermodynamic)
    - "ifr navigation" (instrument flight rules navigation for aircraft)
    - "cisco ccna year 1 part 2"
    - "padi divemaster course" & "padi rescue diver"

    the first two is a refreshing, the three lasts are new learning to pass exam ...

    when i'm bored by those technicals books, i switch to science-fiction books (for those who knows, it's a french collection, "fleuve noir", with about 2000 books ... i allready read 150 of them 1850 to go ...)

  5. #5
    Old Timer jasong's Avatar
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    I kind of like Heinlein, especially the books where his main characters aren't perverts("Of course I'd make love to Daddy if he asked me, I LOVE him." Yuck).
    Stephen King is entertaining.

    Recently, I started,"The Purpose Driven Life," which is supposed to help someone become a better Christian(very good book, if you read it the way the book advises you to, which is a chapter a day over 40 days)

    I LOVE science fiction books, especially Catherine Asaro, her writing is AWESOME. The bad guys in her book are empathic,bu have a genetic flaw, that the pain of others causes them pleasure, and vice-versa, making it a race of sadists.(No, it isn't a book about torture, that's just a plot element) Within the context of the book, the Egyptians of long ago invented space travel while the Egyptians left on Earth regressed in their technology. It's a lot easier to build a pyramid if you have advanced machinery, lol. Basically, it's an undocumented amount of time in the future, and earth isn't even a concern in the book.
    Last edited by jasong; 10-25-2006 at 06:32 PM.

  6. #6
    Dungeon Master alpha's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CaptainMooseInc
    The Elven Nations Trilogy from Forgotten Realms. VERY good books.
    Hmm, that is a Dragonlance trilogy if I'm not mistaken? Those are sitting on my Dragonlance shelf waiting to be read. The best Dragonlance book I have read is The Soulforge by Margaret Weis. I'd recommend that to any Dragonlance fan unless you hate Raistlin for some reason!

    I've tried hard to enjoy anything by Steven King but always lose interest before the end. The closest I got was with Gerald's Game. Oh, I did enjoy some of the short stories in Skeleton Crew as well.

  7. #7
    Doh yes they are dragonlance. I get those mixed up with a couple of Forgotten Realms I have. Doesn't matter much though because if Tolkien didn't write it then it might as all be all under one brand of book anyways.

    -Jeff
    Distributed Hold'em


  8. #8
    Administrator Bok's Avatar
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    I've been reading a lot of Trudi Canavan..

    The Magicians Guild

    The Novice

    and

    The High Lord

    were some of the best fantasy I've read in a long time..

    I've also just read her newer trilogy, starting with

    Priestess of the White

    I highly recommend them if you like fantasy.

    I did recently read the Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card too which was very good sci-fi...


    I've got some Robin Hobb to read next actually.
    Bok

  9. #9
    Senior Member birdman2584's Avatar
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    Well, I read about a book or more per week due to a certain class that im taking at my college. The book I just finished is The Plague by Albert Camus, which is fiction about an epidemic of bubonic plague in a small coastal city in France. The author wrote this novel during the WWII years and the plague represents the Nazi's and the other types of oppression that have been seen through human history.

    For this week I am reading a play called "longday'sjourneyintonight". My wife tells me it is pretty depressing. I definately recommend the first book I mentioned as it is a classic and quite interesting to read. up!

  10. #10
    I haven't had a chance to read any novels for fun in a number of years. It has all been research papers.

    Actually I have been reading a lot of non-school/work related books in the past 16 months. But they are all baby/children's books that I read to my son every day.

  11. #11
    Ancient Programmer Paratima's Avatar
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    Just finished "How We Believe: The Search for God in an Age of Science" by Michael Shermer. Fascinating book - highly recommended. Also "Hoot" by Carl Hiassen, excellent - much better than the movie, which wasn't bad.

    Just finishing "Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco. This was the basis for the 1986 movie of the same name, starring Sean Connery. The movie was a LOT better than the book. Very heavy reading - NOT recommended.

    Currently reading "The Republican Playbook" by Andy Borowitz. It's a scream! Highly recommended.

    About to start "Enslaved by Ducks" by Bob Tarte.

    I typically read about 2.5 books per month and I usually have two going at the same time. "Name of the Rose" destroyed my average this year. Way too many words!

    I've read every book by Terry Pratchett at least twice. (See quote below.)
    HOME: A physical construct for keeping rain off your computers.

  12. #12
    Senior Member edorajh's Avatar
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    For my pleasure it's always SF. Currently reading "A Civil Campaign" by Lois McMaster Bujold. It's part of Vorkosigan Saga I spent almost all this year reading it. I think I have some 4-5 books that I still need to read from this saga.

    Also, read lots of children books to my daughter. Enjoy it almost as SF, maybe even more.

    And work related materials... from research papers to various reports, published and unpublished. The most boring things I have to read due to one research project I work on are EU directives.
    =@=

  13. #13
    Minister of Propaganda Fozzie's Avatar
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    Last thing I read was

    Darwin's Children by Greg Bear. For any Sci Fi junkies out there I completely recomend both Darwin's Radio and the sequel.

    For fantasy readers Raymond Feist and his Magician books are great reading, I'd also highly recommend Wizard's first Rule and the next couple of the Sword of Truth books, it kinda loses the plot for me later on in that series. JMHO.

    For something in between, try Stephen King's Dark Tower series, whilst monumentally hard going to start with it really rewards the reader going through the series. You can tell it has been written over a long span of years.

    A good gemmel book is one for a train or plane journey, just enough to get into not too much to get out of, simple formulaic stuff. You gotta love Waylander.
    Alas poor Borg, I knew it Horatio



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  14. #14
    Gone fishing...
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    I haven't read many books recently - I had a spell of reading Iain M Banks' SF books which were very good, but I can't seem to get into them now. I think I've read a Greg Bear book, he did a Foundation book based on the series by Asimov which I've read a few of, was a while back now; maybe I'll try the Darwin's books if I can find 'em

  15. #15
    Free-DC Semi-retire gopher_yarrowzoo's Avatar
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    Hmm last book I probably read was the last Harry Potter one, that and the latest (at the time) of the Kinsey Milhone series - R is for Ricohet.. good book, good series. I do have the last Douglas Adams book - interesting concept they did with it . I got too many DVD's and CD's so never bored enough to read + at work Im never gonna be able to do that :P
    Semi-retired from Free-DC...
    I have some time to help.....
    I need a new laptop,but who needs a laptop when you have a phone...
    Now to remember my old computer specs..


  16. #16
    Senior Member birdman2584's Avatar
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    Well, I am on to two new books...The first is called: The Youngest Science, which is about the progression of the medical field and its progression from house visits and the such to full-scale research and scientific study. It is a sort of boring book...to me anyways...but I have to read it for school.

    The next book, which I have yet to start, but must finish by Monday, is called Neighbors, in which this true story is set in poland in 1941 and the citizens of the town decide to murder all of the Jewish men, women, and children. The people who killed them were their neighbors and people the knew very well. I think this will be a pretty intersting historical account of the attrocities committed by the Nazis in WWII.

    I hope everyone elses books are going well!

  17. #17
    Peaches Moogie's Avatar
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    Ok, so I'm the oddball out here. I just got thru reading Running with Scissors which is supposedly a memoir. Very odd book. Before that I read: gods in Alabama. That was pretty good.

    Both of those books are somewhat off of the beaten path of what I normally read.

    Like DP...most of what I read are books geared towards kids these days. Not sure what I'll read next.





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  18. #18
    Senior Member birdman2584's Avatar
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    Well, I have finished both of my previous books, and have finished two shorter ones since I last posted. I just finished Darkness Visible, which is about the illness of depression, or melancholia as the author likes to refer to it as. It was a fairly sad book, but helped give a lot of insight into why and how people who are depressed act.

    The next thing I read was a play called "W;t". This play is about a woman who is terminally ill with ovarian cancer and the experimental treatment she goes through. This was not the happiest play to read, but it helped show how many medical patients today are treated more like guinea pigs than like humans.

    I am getting closer to being able to do pleasure reading again now that the fall semester of school is beginning to wind down. I hope everyone elses books are going well!

  19. #19
    Ancient Haggis Hound Angus's Avatar
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    Technical books - got into collecting old mechanical watches, and doing some self taught watch repair.

    Got a nice little collection going of automatic (self-winding) watches from the 50's to current: some old Heuer chronographs, Omega Speedmaster, Hamilton and Elgin automatics, and whatever strikes my fancy.

  20. #20
    Ancient Programmer Paratima's Avatar
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    OT Hey, Angus.

    Just waiting for my Seiko Bellmatic to get back from the shop. Late 60's vintage, self-winding with mechanical alarm.

    Even has its own website: www.bellmatics.com

    /OT
    HOME: A physical construct for keeping rain off your computers.

  21. #21
    Dungeon Master alpha's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bok
    I've been reading a lot of Trudi Canavan..

    The Magicians Guild
    Sounds perfect for my gf, I think I'll get it for her for Christmas. She loves the lead character to be female. She is currently storming through George R. R. Martin - A Game of Thrones but I don't think it fits that criteria.

    I'm nearly at the end of Stone of Tears now and I can hardly wait to get started on the next few books I have lined up.

  22. #22
    Hm, I'm stuck on page 73 in "Karamazov Brothers" by Fjodor Dostojevskij. Not that thrilling like his other book "Crime And ...? hm, don't know the English title, about Raskolnikov anyway.

  23. #23
    Administrator Bok's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by alpha
    Sounds perfect for my gf, I think I'll get it for her for Christmas. She loves the lead character to be female. She is currently storming through George R. R. Martin - A Game of Thrones but I don't think it fits that criteria.

    I'm nearly at the end of Stone of Tears now and I can hardly wait to get started on the next few books I have lined up.
    I certainly hope she likes it. The trilogy gets better and better. I've finished the 2nd book in the Age of the Five trilogy now, the 3rd one hasn't been released in the US yet (only Australia). I'm trying to find a copy to get imported

    I've just started reading the Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb, but only a chapter or two so far.

    Bok

  24. #24
    Stats God in Training Darkness Productions's Avatar
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    I'm currently reading a book entitled 'The Keanu Matrix'. I bought it at the Dollar Store about a week ago. I've only just started getting back into reading, as I've been too busy to do so previously. Up next, I think, is 1984, followed up with The Good Earth.

  25. #25
    Senior Member birdman2584's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cwhyl
    Hm, I'm stuck on page 73 in "Karamazov Brothers" by Fjodor Dostojevskij. Not that thrilling like his other book "Crime And ...? hm, don't know the English title, about Raskolnikov anyway.
    I really enjoyed "The Brothers Karamozov" though it takes awhile to really get good. The other one "Crime and Punishment" is an excellent book. Great taste!

  26. #26
    Quote Originally Posted by birdman2584
    I really enjoyed "The Brothers Karamozov" though it takes awhile to really get good. The other one "Crime and Punishment" is an excellent book. Great taste!
    OK, I'll give the Karamazov Brothers a new try.
    About my taste, hm that's questionable
    Last edited by cwhyl; 11-16-2006 at 06:19 PM.

  27. #27
    Dungeon Master alpha's Avatar
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    Has anyone read any of the "Gor" books by John Norman? I've only just come across them and they certainly sound interesting but I wondered how science fiction oriented they are?

  28. #28
    Minister of Propaganda ColinT's Avatar
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    I just finished the Temeraire series. I can't wait for the next book.

    Temeraire you say?

    Fair question. Imagine the Napoleonic Wars with a Dragon-borne Air Force. Yes, History is fudged, but the language! It's refreshing to read English writ so well.

    The three books have been optioned for a movie deal. Peter Jackson wanted them. I can't wait.

    By Naomi Navik, Here: www.temeraire.org/
    Colin Thompson

  29. #29
    Administrator Bok's Avatar
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    ColinT,

    Sounds interesting... I'm still reading and enjoying the Farseer series but this will be next on my list.. Ordered the first three from Amazon



    Bok

  30. #30
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    "Rogue Male" by Geoffrey Household. A classic adventure story I first read when I was 13 and still one of my favorites.

  31. #31
    Stats God in Training Darkness Productions's Avatar
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    Two weekends ago (about the 25th/26th of November), I started reading Eragon, and I have to say, I absolutely loved it. So much so, that I finished it this past Sunday night (the 10th of December). The only problem I had with it were the strange names for everything. Christopher seems to like using his 'symbol'd letters, ie: french style I's, umlauts on U's, etc.

    Sunday night, afterward, I started reading Stuart Woods' Two Dollar Bill. Monday night, I finished it. It was a great story.

    Now, I'm on to another Stuart Woods story: The Prince of Beverly Hills. It's good so far.

  32. #32
    Senior Member birdman2584's Avatar
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    Now that school is done for the semester I am able to do a bit of pleasure reading. I picked up a book I receieved for my birthday in August titled Collapse by Jared Diamond. It is pretty interesting so far and has a great deal to say about how different societies deal with their environmental problems and what role this and other things lead to the eventual collapse or success of a society through history.

  33. #33
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    I am reading "Os Maias" (The Maias), by Eça de Queirós. I've read 16 of the 18 chapters. Hard to read, but very interesting. The next book that I will read is "Crime e Castigo" (Crime And Punishment), by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It's a new edition, the first published in Brazil that was translated directly from russian (the other editions were translated from editions in english and french).

  34. #34
    Dungeon Master alpha's Avatar
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    I eventually finished Terry Goodkind - Stone of Tears. It was OK, but it didn't seem like the storyline was anywhere near as exciting as the prequel. I don't think I'll be in a hurry to read the sequel.

    I then read Terry Pratchett - Going Postal in the space of about a week. A very easy read and quite amusing but I thought the end was a bit of an anticlimax. I would definitely recommend it though because it is worth a read.

    Just about to start Terry Pratchett - Thud! and I have John Norman - Tarnsman of Gor (which I asked about earlier in this thread) to read afterwards.

    Bok, how are you getting on with the Farseer trilogy?

  35. #35
    Administrator Bok's Avatar
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    I'm midway through Royal Assassin right now. I forgot to take it on my last trip so picked up Stephen King's Cell at the airport. Read through that pretty quickly... was ok, first King book I've read in a long long time.

    I quite enjoyed the first Farseer book, so am looking forward to finishing the trilogy off.

    Did you get the Magician's Guild books in the end ?

    Bok

  36. #36
    Dungeon Master alpha's Avatar
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    Yeah, I got the first one. If she likes it we'll certainly pick up the rest and I'll hopefully get round to reading them myself.

    I got her George R. R. Martin - A Clash of Kings as an anniversary gift a few days ago which should now last her until Christmas, at least.

  37. #37
    Administrator Bok's Avatar
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    Finally finished Royal Assassin. I enjoyed it a lot. It certainly gained pace as I got into it. Look forward to the next one now.

    On another note, vaughan from AMD Users has picked up and shipped me a copy of Voice of the Gods fpr me, the 3rd book in the Age of the Five trilogy from Trudi Canavan. Only available in Australia at the moment. I can't wait for that one!!!

    Thanks Vaughan!!!

    Bok

  38. #38
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    No problem Bok. It was no trouble. Your book should arrive this week if Australia Post and the US Postal Service play nice together.

    Enjoy your read

  39. #39
    Downsized Chinasaur's Avatar
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    An Oracle tuning guide. I suck
    Agent Smith was right!: "I hate this place. This zoo. This prison. This reality, whatever you want to call it, I can't stand it any longer. It's the smell! If there is such a thing. I feel saturated by it. I can taste your stink and every time I do, I fear that I've somehow been infected by it."

  40. #40
    Gone fishing...
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    I managed to get an un-edited pre-release copy of a book by one of my favourite authours, it's not out until April I think Can't say more than that, I'm under strict instruction to keep all details 'under my hat'.

    Oracle tuning sounds great Chinasaur, although it surely can't be better than Unix Storage Management, an epic tale of disks & networking, I'm reading at the moment

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