What book are you reading?

Message

Desert_Storm · #1351 Post by **Desert_Storm** » 27 Jul 2011 20:14

ASOIAF 5.

little vero · #1352 Post by **little vero** » 11 Aug 2011 17:29

Desert_Storm wrote:ASOIAF 5.

Here, too

Like it a lot

Samps · #1353 Post by **Samps** » 12 Aug 2011 12:11

Ian Wilson's "The Shroud".

About the Turin Shroud and it's alleged origin. Really quite fascinating.

FantasyDrummer · #1354 Post by **FantasyDrummer** » 27 Mar 2012 13:49

George R.R. Martin - A Game of Thrones

wade-newb · #1355 Post by **wade-newb** » 27 Mar 2012 16:44

The First Collected Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach by Steven Erikson
The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
Wheel of Time: The Great Hunt by R.J
Echo City (on hold due to being kind of average) by Tim Lebbon

I need to read fewer books at a time.

Nanna · #1356 Post by **Nanna** » 28 Mar 2012 23:15

Molecular biotechnology: principles and applications of recombinant DNA by Bernard R. Glick, Jack J. Pasternak and Cheryl L. Patten.

One of my all-time favourites on this subject, it has lots of pretty pictures.
Yay.

Agea · #1357 Post by **Agea** » 05 Apr 2012 21:54

The Shadow Rising
4th book of The Wheel of Time.
Its a great book. It has so many cultures so many characters. Rest in peace Robert Jordan. I wish I could meet him.
I started to read Wheel of time because of Hansi and the wheel of time song.

Midnight · #1358 Post by **Midnight** » 06 Apr 2012 00:52

Agea wrote:The Shadow Rising
4th book of The Wheel of Time.
Its a great book. It has so many cultures so many characters. Rest in peace Robert Jordan. I wish I could meet him.
I started to read Wheel of time because of Hansi and the wheel of time song.

Same thing happened to me exactly a year ago. Wheel of Time has been my no. 1 song ever since I heard it so I just couldn't let it go and had to start reading it. I finished the 13th book in January and it took me roughly 10 months, but I have to say that it was worth the time. So ... Turn the Wheel of Time.

GreenAjah · #1359 Post by **GreenAjah** » 09 Apr 2012 20:58

Just finished my hundredth re-read of The Eye of the World, so now I'm gearing up for The Great Hunt. Also just read The Disabled Debauchee and Imperfect Enjoyment by the Earl of Rochester for Brit Lit. That was... interesting. At least I have a new semi-obscene phrase to add to my vocabulary, and will soon be yelling at bad drivers, calling them "oyster-cinder-beggars". I have a big "WTF" written in my book next to that one.

wade-newb · #1360 Post by **wade-newb** » 10 Apr 2012 02:15

GreenAjah wrote:Just finished my hundredth re-read of The Eye of the World

Please, god, tell me that that's an obscene exaggeration

Isis65 · #1361 Post by **Isis65** » 10 Apr 2012 18:03

Library of the dead Glenn Cooper, 2009

I'm about halfway through, but it isn't very convincing to me ... it's already discounted the guilty, and how the story goes, some of the murders are interesting, entertaining the idea of talking about the seventh son of a seventh son, enjoyable the time shifts that alternate in the novel , but there isn't a lot of tension ...
Too discounted how things will go between the detective and his assistant. Oh well... I'll get to the end ...

kanbera · #1362 Post by **kanbera** » 31 May 2012 20:43

I read "Oliver Twist". I wanted to read it for a long time, but I am doing it just now...

wade-newb · #1363 Post by **wade-newb** » 31 May 2012 20:58

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

majesty · #1364 Post by **majesty** » 07 Jul 2012 19:00

Paradise Lost by John Milton

Midnight · #1365 Post by **Midnight** » 09 Jul 2012 12:50

Dune by Frank Herbert.

A great book so far, however, I am having some trouble with the pronunciation of several names.

For instance Fremen. I read it as [fremən] but in Traveler in Time Hansi pronounces it as freeman.
Or Bene Gesserit but I think I may have figured that out already

Anyway, a book worth reading.

Gandalf de Grijze · #1366 Post by **Gandalf de Grijze** » 09 Jul 2012 16:13

Hansi's pronounciation of english has always been slightly off...

Sleeping Dragon · #1367 Post by **Sleeping Dragon** » 09 Jul 2012 17:32

it might help to know a bit of Hebrew and Arabic, then it all makes sense.

Midnight · #1368 Post by **Midnight** » 09 Jul 2012 21:11

Sure, but then not everybody is Jesus.

#1369 Post by **Led Guardian** » 13 Jul 2012 17:47

Midnight wrote:Dune by Frank Herbert.

A great book so far, however, I am having some trouble with the pronunciation of several names.

For instance Fremen. I read it as [fremən] but in Traveler in Time Hansi pronounces it as freeman.
Or Bene Gesserit but I think I may have figured that out already

Anyway, a book worth reading.

I would pronounce it [frɛmən] personally. Like Yemen. But I could be wrong.

Midnight · #1370 Post by **Midnight** » 13 Jul 2012 23:53

Led Guardian wrote:
Midnight wrote:Dune by Frank Herbert.

A great book so far, however, I am having some trouble with the pronunciation of several names.

For instance Fremen. I read it as [fremən] but in Traveler in Time Hansi pronounces it as freeman.
Or Bene Gesserit but I think I may have figured that out already

Anyway, a book worth reading.
I would pronounce it [frɛmən] personally. Like Yemen. But I could be wrong.

Yea, that is what I thought. I just don't really understand these pronunciation symbols

#1371 Post by **Led Guardian** » 15 Jul 2012 04:10

Midnight wrote:
Led Guardian wrote:
Midnight wrote:Dune by Frank Herbert.

A great book so far, however, I am having some trouble with the pronunciation of several names.

For instance Fremen. I read it as [fremən] but in Traveler in Time Hansi pronounces it as freeman.
Or Bene Gesserit but I think I may have figured that out already

Anyway, a book worth reading.
I would pronounce it [frɛmən] personally. Like Yemen. But I could be wrong.
Yea, that is what I thought. I just don't really understand these pronunciation symbols

You're missing the joys of IPA.

And if you want to get more technical and less English (as I'm sure you don't

) it should actually be [fɹɛmən]. Technically, [r] is a trill. Any more technical than that is beyond my knowledge, although I'm sure there are more details that could be added.

Midnight · #1372 Post by **Midnight** » 17 Jul 2012 18:54

Led Guardian wrote:...

Well, thanks for the enlightenment I can die in piece now

Anyway, while we're at it, I've always wondered how you native English speakers perceive songs that are sung by non-native English speakers - like BG. Can you hear the differences here or you find it quite natural? Because if I imagine I'd be listening to, let's say, a Chinese singing in my language I'd probably get cancer or something.

And I hope there are at least some native English speakers here

#1373 Post by **Led Guardian** » 18 Jul 2012 20:23

Midnight wrote:
Led Guardian wrote:...
Well, thanks for the enlightenment I can die in piece now

Anyway, while we're at it, I've always wondered how you native English speakers perceive songs that are sung by non-native English speakers - like BG. Can you hear the differences here or you find it quite natural? Because if I imagine I'd be listening to, let's say, a Chinese singing in my language I'd probably get cancer or something.

And I hope there are at least some native English speakers here

Hansi is decent at it. His singing accent is much better now than it used to be. There are the infamous ones like "eye-ron hill" and "whylderness" though. "Torin" is another. He uses some strange grammatical constructions still. Like "I have thought that this will never end" where he mixes verb tenses. Although I'm okay with that one, because This Would Never End is not as cool of a song title. One of the things I notice the most is his use of contractions, things like "I've to." Saying "I've to leave" instead of "I have to leave" is not really incorrect, per se, it's just not something I've ever heard any native speaker say.

But yeah, by around Imaginations to Nightfall, his accent sounded pretty normal to me. I can still hear traces of it, but nothing prominent. It's a lot easier to get accent right in singing than speaking. Listening to the first few albums can be amusing though, although it doesn't really bother me. It's just how he sounded.

Now Jonne...

I consider his his English to be part of Korpiklaani's charm though.

Midnight · #1374 Post by **Midnight** » 19 Jul 2012 19:29

Heh, all my life was a lie now that I know of these errors. But life goes on and I'll have to learn to live with it

After all, it doesn't really bother me since I usually can't notice anything

I think another one that even I can hear is Welcome to Dying - "Beyond the realms I've been" just sounds wrong. But let's stop it here. I only hope Hansi doesn't read these forums

Nahar · #1375 Post by **Nahar** » 20 Jul 2012 21:50

I've recently finished Dune Messiah

I enjoyed it quite a bit.. it's been a while since I've read Dune, and it was nice to get back into Frank Herbert's world (including his writing style and all).

I'm also re-reading The Return of the King atm.
Ukrainian Stories by Gogol.
Generation P by Victor Pelevin.
In the middle of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Pirsig, but quite paused.
I also recently started 100 Years of Solitude by Márquez.

kanbera · #1376 Post by **kanbera** » 19 Aug 2012 19:09

I have finished "The Map Of The Bones" (Kaulų žemėlapis in my native language) by James Rollins. I really liked it!

Midnight · #1377 Post by **Midnight** » 16 Oct 2012 00:09

It seems nobody is reading anything so I'll try to revive this topic.

Since my last update I finished a few books from which the most remarkable are Herbert's Dune Messiah, which is once again very unique but that goes without saying.

Another one was Abercrombie's Best Served Cold, which is a sequel to his The First Law trilogy, though it takes place in a different land with different main characters (not counting cameos), which is really refreshing. It still has those harsh humorous scenes and language Abercrombie uses. So if you like Abercrombie then I recommend you this book. And if you haven't read The First Law trilogy, try the first chapter of The Blade Itself. You might find it amusing just as I did.

#1378 Post by **Led Guardian** » 20 Oct 2012 05:31

Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov and The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie are what I'm reading right now. When I have the time at least.

Midnight · #1379 Post by **Midnight** » 17 Feb 2013 23:17

So... I've just finished reading the 14th and the last book of the Wheel of Time series - A Memory of Light and it was grandiose. Reading it was like sitting on a roller caster, which could not be stopped. The feeling of finally coming to the conclusion after 12 thousand pages is indescribable. I strongly recommend it to everyone who has read the previous books.

On the other hand I'm also sad because this book was a part of my life and now it is over. I'd like to live through it again so maybe I'll eventually find some other long series though I'm not sure which one and if there is any such as this.

Anyway, I secretly hope that BG will make another song based on WoT as a tribute to Robert Jordan and this fantastic reality he made.

Baby_Kürsch · #1380 Post by **Baby_Kürsch** » 24 Feb 2013 23:48

A Storm of Swords by George R R Martin

A song of Iced and Fire is probably now one of my favorite series Ive ever read. I can understand why the critics are calling him the next Tolkien.

Metal Fan · #1381 Post by **Metal Fan** » 25 Feb 2013 08:09

Halo: Cryptum by Greg Bear. At first everybody said it was horrible. Then Halo 4 came out and fit perfectly with the books. Now people love 'em. I'm not at a point where I can judge it for myself though.

Midnight · #1382 Post by **Midnight** » 03 Apr 2013 10:59

The Heroes: Joe Abercrombie

Abercrombie's 5th book and for the 5th time he made an amazing job. There were times I laughed and times I wanted to vomit. No wonder they want him to write at least 4 more books.

Little Dragon · #1383 Post by **Little Dragon** » 27 Jun 2013 01:24

Baby_Kürsch wrote:A Storm of Swords by George R R Martin

A song of Iced and Fire is probably now one of my favorite series Ive ever read. I can understand why the critics are calling him the next Tolkien.

They really do call him that? Sweet Jesus, they have gone mad. It's one of the worst books I've ever read. They really dare to compare him with Tolkien? Seriously that Martin doesn't even know how to write a good story, but then, if people are complaining about the Hobbit being too unrealistic it's no wonder they like that stuff being oh so realistic.

And currently reading, probably because of that people: Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn

pamelakumar · #1384 Post by **pamelakumar** » 21 Oct 2013 14:43

The book I am reading is 'Beloved' by Toni Morrison. An introduction to the ghost: "124 was spiteful. Full of a baby's venom." opens up the story. "Sixty Million and more," this figure is dedicated to the Africans and their descendants who died due to the Atlantic slave trade. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988.

#1385 Post by **Led Guardian** » 02 Nov 2013 19:03

The Once and Future King - T.H. White

arenamaster · #1386 Post by **arenamaster** » 16 Apr 2014 05:14

The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss

#1387 Post by **Led Guardian** » 17 Apr 2014 00:27

arenamaster wrote:The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss

!!!

Same here! This is my 3rd time, on my way to finally doing my second read-through of The Wise Man's Fear. Followed by the despair of being reacquainted with the interminable wait until The Doors of Stone.

Little Dragon · #1388 Post by **Little Dragon** » 17 Apr 2014 07:30

The stories about Kvothe are indeed quite entertaining.

at the moment I read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - A Study In Scarlet and Neal Stephenson's Diamond Age.

t.a.j. · #1389 Post by **t.a.j.** » 18 Apr 2014 13:17

Little Dragon wrote:The stories about Kvothe are indeed quite entertaining.

I must admit that, while The Name of the Wind quickly became one of favorites, in particular due to the excellent prose, likeable characters and a great sense of both humour and tragedy, The Wise Man's Fear suffers a lot from middle-book syndrom, as in it seems to lead nowhere and, which is quite a bit worse in my mind, manages to make Kvothe come across as less and less interesting and more and more a total mary-sue-ish superhuman who is just better at everything than anyone else. In particular the two episodes with the ninjas and the fairy sex goddess seemed a) superfluous and b) just there to show how amazing, interesting and great Kvothe is. I liked him better when he was just a smart guy trying to get by.

Neal Stephenson's Diamond Age.

ME TOO!
Well, listening to the audio book on my walks really, but, well... love Stephenson!

#1390 Post by **Led Guardian** » 30 May 2014 21:37

t.a.j. wrote:
Little Dragon wrote:The stories about Kvothe are indeed quite entertaining.
I must admit that, while The Name of the Wind quickly became one of favorites, in particular due to the excellent prose, likeable characters and a great sense of both humour and tragedy, The Wise Man's Fear suffers a lot from middle-book syndrom, as in it seems to lead nowhere and, which is quite a bit worse in my mind, manages to make Kvothe come across as less and less interesting and more and more a total mary-sue-ish superhuman who is just better at everything than anyone else. In particular the two episodes with the ninjas and the fairy sex goddess seemed a) superfluous and b) just there to show how amazing, interesting and great Kvothe is. I liked him better when he was just a smart guy trying to get by.

You know, a lot of people level the Mary Sue criticism, and I've just never agreed with it. He's brilliant and good at basically everything, yes. But honestly, that's the point. The whole thing is a hero deconstruction. The story is about his meteoric rise to notoriety and power. But as the reader, you already know that he completely failed in the end, in some horribly tragic way. The Chandrian are obviously still around (at least that's heavily implied), and he's somehow responsible for a bunch of monsters being set loose in the world, plus a war. He's living in misery and losing his own self-identity. All that despite his abilities. I don't think the story would work as well if he weren't great at everything, because the point is that his brilliance is not sufficient to save him from his human faults. What makes him an interesting character isn't his skill, it's his personality and his flaws as a person. That's what distinguishes him from a Mary Sue. He's heavily flawed in his person, and in his interactions with people, and like all tragic heroes these flaws lead to his destruction, in spite of his almost superhuman abilities. A traditional Mary Sue isn't just good at things, they also are unassailable in character is some fashion, unable to make mistakes. Everything always works out as they desire. That is not the case with Kvothe.

Anyway, that's my opinion about Kvothe as a character, and why I don't think the usual criticism is especially accurate. And while I still think TNotW is better, I liked TWMF better the second time I read it. I mean, I liked it the first time, but it felt less drag-y at parts the second time, and all its pieces felt like they had a purpose in developing the Kvothe hero mythos. Which in my opinion is the focus of the series, not just the obvious plot thread of his quest for revenge against the Chandrian. That's the impetus and the driving force behind him, but it's not the sole, or thematically even the main, purpose of the story.

schlampo · #1391 Post by **schlampo** » 21 Nov 2015 22:41

Rothfuss has been on the 'to do' list for awhile. Maybe after I finish up my first reading of Moby Dick and a re-read of Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy. Although I see Stephen King's pumping out books left and right again.

Who is online