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turin
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Books discussion

Post by turin »

A pretty basic question. What books are you reading right now? It'd be nice to have both the name of the book(s) and a short description of it(them), since they might be books no one else has ever heard of.

---

My answers (I tend to read a bunch of books at the same time):

* Nightside the Long Sun, by Gene Wolfe - I just finished reading the Urth of the New Sun, and decided to go on to the next Sun series... if you've never heard of him, Gene Wolfe is amazing, the Book of the New Sun was one of the best sci-fi/fantasy (well, it's both) books I've ever read, and I can't wait to get through the Book of the Long Sun and then the Book of the Short Sun.
* Gerard Manley Hopkins, A Very Private Life, Robert Bernard Martin - I'm reading a biography of GMH because I'm going to be doing a big project on him come the Fall 09 semester, and I'd like to get a head start; plus I think he's interesting (sprung rhythm FTW). I just checked out the only biography of him at the local public library.
* Poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins - See above.
* Ausgewahlte Kinder- Und Hausmarchen, due Bruder Grimm - i.e. selected fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm, in German. I'm trying to read this to improve my German, plus it's fun.
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Akkarin345
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by Akkarin345 »

The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen Donaldson

Well if anyone is reading the first i cannot say what the second it without half spoiling the ending of the first... So i'll say what the first are. Thomas Covenant is a leper and during an injury he goes into a coma and is 'transported' to a world where his disease is cured. The people of the land look to him as a hero as he wears a white gold ring and to them it the wild magic whielder which they need to defeat the enemy of the land who was sent down by the creator, the one who created the land, so the land is the enemies' prison. However Covenant think the land is just his imagination that it is leading him it a false sense of secruity and health. He doesn't want to be a hero and feels that by just going on he can survive and return to the world he knows, this unravels in the first three books and he becomes more imersed in the land and starts to love it. An amazing story to read.

Black Powder War by Naomi Novik

The third book of the Temeraire series. The set of books is based in the Napolionic wars but every country has flying squads, like the have an army. These are dragons and their aviators who ride them whilst the dragon is equiped with with riflemen etc. One man who is a navy officer finds a dragon egg in loot and it hatches for him. He is thrown into the world of aviators and has to adapt from the change as he is outcast from society and starts his trainign as an aviator.
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by JW »

turin wrote:A pretty basic question. What are you reading right now?
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by Livor »

I'm currently reading 3x Carlin: an Orgy of George. :lol2:

I've read about half of the first Chronicles of Thomas Covenant book. I should get around to reading it someday.
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by Max »

turin wrote:* Ausgewahlte Kinder- Und Hausmarchen, due Bruder Grimm - i.e. selected fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm, in German. I'm trying to read this to improve my German, plus it's fun.
that's some quite advanced stuff to read...
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by turin »

Max2008 wrote:
turin wrote:* Ausgewahlte Kinder- Und Hausmarchen, due Bruder Grimm - i.e. selected fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm, in German. I'm trying to read this to improve my German, plus it's fun.
that's some quite advanced stuff to read...
It's fun, I don't pretend to understand all of it. :P
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by Akkarin345 »

If it counts i am also reading / digging / researching what ever you want to call it on various myths and legends. Who knew that playing lots of Tomb Raider could get you an intrest in mythology! :lol2:


Turin if you read a book in another language, how much do you understand? Does it help you knowledge of the lanaguage as well? If it does i am out getting some french books to pass that exam :lol2:
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turin
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by turin »

Akkarin345 wrote:ITurin if you read a book in another language, how much do you understand? Does it help you knowledge of the lanaguage as well? If it does i am out getting some french books to pass that exam :lol2:
Kinda. Mostly it's just fun seeing if I can figure out what the story's about and pick up the meaning of sentences here and there - it's less reading and more seeing if I understand any of it. Plus I like the sound of the language, so I find it fun just reading the words in my head without paying too much attention to the meaning. I find it relaxing.

Yeah, I have a weird sense of fun.
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by Thrawn »

Reading grimm is why I took up german in the first place--so yeah turin ^_^

Currently I'm reading Doomwyte, by Brian Jaques--I've been a fan of his too long to not read his new books, despite perhaps being a bit too old for them. (read my first ones in 1st or 2nd grade, I think-mossflower, and mariel of redwall)

Also, the Oxford Book of Carols, which is a compilation of English carols: advent christmas, new years, candlemas, lent, easter. Interesting indeed.
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by Maeglin Dubh »

Currently reading two Terry Pratchett books when I can get time, and perusing the d20 Modern Weapons Locker, a 192 page book of guns and grenade launchers for the d20 system of roleplaying.

Also just got a book called Broadsides from the library. You know what this world needs? An open-source Fighting Sail simulator. Like Sid Meier's Pirates!, only better. And free.
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by Sgt. Groovy »

Does it help you knowledge of the lanaguage as well? If it does i am out getting some french books to pass that exam
Obviously reading books in foreign language helps you to improve your skill in that language, but if your skill level isn't too high to begin with, I would suggest reading comic books instead. It's much easier to follow the plot when you have the pictures as well, and they also help you to figure out previously unknown words without having to go for the dictionary all the time.

And if it's your French you're trying to improve, there are heaps of great comics in French...
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turin
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by turin »

That's what's nice about fairy tales, they're often illustrated. And the story conventions are well-known so they're not that hard to figure out.

Comic books are an interesting idea too.
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by Corvvs »

Akkarin345 wrote: Black Powder War by Naomi Novik
I liked that - enjoy. The fourth book is a lot worse though. :/


I'm reading "The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories" (H. P. Lovecraft). I'm not very far, but it is pretty awesome.

I just finished "The Electric Church" (Jeff Somers), which is kind of a combination of 1984 and The Catcher in the Rye, set in near future. The main character is a hitman, one of many poor people whose jobs were taken by robots ("Droids"), and who ended up on the streets after the Unification, a time of war and conflict that led to a global authoritarian state with a huge class rift. After several run-ins with the police, for killing officers (first by accident, later in defense of himself), he is offered a pardon by the head of the "SSF" (extremely powerful, scheming, but not secret branch of the world-wide police) to assassinate the head of the "Electric Church" - a society of cyborgs seeking a pseudo-Christian sort of salvation by living long enough to atone for all of their sins. There are suspicions that instead of these "Monks" becoming cyborgs, the human brains of what are claimed to be volunteers are actually imprisoned in the bodies, which allow them to have the legal rights of humans, but all remain under the control of the founder of the Church, essentially building him a secret cyborg army. Things go crazy and the main character resolves to be an anarchist in the end. [/unnecessarily long summary]
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by Limabean »

Right now i'm reading Nightfall, by Isaac Asimov.
It's set on an alien world that has six suns. The result is that the inhabitants are in constant daylight and consequently all have a terrible fear of the dark. I haven't gotten too far but my understanding is that there is going to be a rare celestial event which will cause all six suns to set at once for the first time in recorded history. So far it seems like "psychology fiction", with a lot more thought provoking passages than action. I don't really mind that but it just means I won't finish it in one day.
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Re: What are you reading right now?

Post by Max »

Limabean wrote:So far it seems like "psychology fiction"
it sounds a lot like "far fetched fiction"^^
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