Well, we have a super topic for music and movies, but we don't have one for books, and I just now realize how much that irks me, especially since I'm almost always looking for new books to read.
Right now, I'm about halfway through reading The Wheel of Time series, an epic fantasy written by the late Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson (for the final book, as Jordan died before finishing it). With loads and loads of characters, it makes for quite a complex story. However, despite every book having fifty plus chapters each, it's rather enjoyable to read, even when just about every character is holding the Idiot Ball (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IdiotBall).
I read a bunch of Orwell earlier in the year. I liked Animal Farm and 1984 a lot.
Animal Farm was a good book, even if you didn't tie it in with the rise of Communist Russia.
I never did get around to reading 1984, though; I suppose I should add it to the list of books I ought to check out from the library. Which I ought to start.
I recommend 1984 also, very good book.
I'm gonna say the Haruhi-ism novels, in my opinion it's much better than the anime.
If Visual novels count then Clannad.
and when I'm talking normal books, my favorite books ever are, The Count of Monty Cristo and Robinson Crusoe.
Why should visual/graphic novels and comic books not count? Sure, they have pictures, but they're in a book format and have to be read. Don't hesitate to bring them up.
Then I'm gonna put the Chobits manga on my list, because, despite being a little bit on the mature side it has a pretty good moral to it.
But on the Haruhi note, avoid the Manga, get the books.
Also 20,000 leagues under the sea was good, I liked it a lot.
And for visual novels if you want something that makes you think so much your brain explodes, while also giving yourself nightmares, there is the Higurashi novels.
Hey, I was also wondering if anyone here can just go into a library or bookstore, randomly pick up a book and read it. I can't do it so it makes finding books hard.
It depends on the bookstore's own policies. I do remember a library that had it's own Starbucks inside and you could read any book in it while drinking coffee.
Also, right now I'm reading the first book of the Dark Tower series, and so far it's good. King's crude style can be found throughout every paragraph.
As for books I've read recently, Graceling was good, very intense and I would dare say it has superior narrative than Eragon.
Quote from: Uximadesk on February 07, 2010, 09:52:49 PM
It depends on the bookstore's own policies. I do remember a library that had it's own Starbucks inside and you could read any book in it while drinking coffee.
I wasn't clear, sorry, I mean like, walk in pick up a random book and be interested in it.
I don't think Barnes and Noble mind customers reading books, just so long as you don't leave the store with a book you didn't pay for. Whenever I'm in an area with a Barnes and Noble, I usually go in and skim over some books I think I might be interested in (usually, it's the books in the humor section I'll crack open; everything else I just read the back cover), and then I write down the title on a slip of paper. No one has stopped me yet. And if you still don't feel comfortable with doing that, just write down the title and look it up online later.
Of course, with libraries, you can just check out the book, free of charge (supposing you aren't late returning it or damaged it somehow), if you can't finish reading it while in the library.
Well, I'm definitely one of those "comics are totally books gaize" people; it's an art form all it's own, though. It's all about the little spaces between panels; we don't entirely know what happens in that centimeters long space... comics are actually really intriguing because of that, imo. We just take for granted that action a flows from action b, or has some significance. (haha I will cut it off here because I don't think this is the topic for typing a three page essay on comics)
But here is a list of books I am reading:
Memoirs of a Geisha (currently about halfway through)
Frankenstein (I actually already read this one... but I'm re-reading it for English AP and picking up some stuff I missed the first time)
Creature Tech (comic book! finished, but I keep flipping back through it cause it's awesome)
I think everyone should read these:
Blankets - Craig Thompson (comic. but be warned, it has a bit of nudity/otherwise mature content! it's definitely worth it.)
Maus - Art Spiegelman (comic. but if you haven't read this, PICK IT UP NOW. warning, it's about the holocaust)
Creature Tech - Doug TenNaple (comic. no adult stuff, JUST BEWARE OF AWESOME.)
Sold - Patricia McCormick (novel. about prostitution, so..... yeah.)
Saint Iggy - KL Going (novel. about drugs/inner city kid)
American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis (lololol WARNING FOR EVERYTHING EVER. very graphic and sexual and violent and in some countries you have to be 21 to buy it)
The Notebook, The Proof, and The Third Lie - Agota Kristof (... okay so this is what Mother 3 was based on. except it's NWS to the highest degree. no, seriously, it has everything +1 that's in GTA.)
Some of the books that i've read recently and really liked would be;
Hush, Hush -Becca Fitzpatrick ~Centered around Fallen Angels and Nephilim (half angel, half human) and so has some mentions of things in the Bible, though I couldn't say how accurate those are.
The Mortal Instruments - Series by Cassandra Clare ~ They deal with the Nephilim as being a society of 'Shadowhunters', the ones who kill demons. There is plenty of action, hordes of evil, and bordeline good guys all through these.
Blue Bloods - A series by Melissa De La Cruz ~ Wherin Vampires are not evil, just rich, and never really die (suposedly). Deals with fallen angels again, but in a totally differant way than Hush, Hush.
The Host - Stephenie Meyer ~ Set in a time where the only real humans left are the wild ones and everyone else is just playing the part. Planet hopping aliens have taken over, planet, body and soul. It follows a Soul (one of the aliens) who's host is not fading like she should. I don't think that Meyer is capable of writing anything that does not have at least some slightly mushy romance, so be warned of that along with the fact that it's a bit slow.
On a side note, despite the fact that she uses the same style for both The Host and the Twilight saga, all of the dead boredom in the world could not make me want to read past the first book in the saga, but I read The Host twice.
I did read "Watchmen" over the summer, while I was in Scotland actually. It was amazing to me. Everything was so well planned out...far better than most normal books.
Quote from: Sfikx on February 12, 2010, 05:02:47 PM
American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis (lololol WARNING FOR EVERYTHING EVER. very graphic and sexual and violent and in some countries you have to be 21 to buy it)
I loved American Psycho, although there are some parts that were... unpleasant to read I still thought it was utterly brilliant. But it made me dislike my English teacher even more when we had to bring in a book we had recently read and when she saw I had that she was all like, "it's disgusting, you have to be mental to read it!" But she has awful hair, so you know, swings and roundabouts.
For my English coursework I have read Brideshead Revisited (by Evelyn Waugh), which is just so beautiful, I then talked to my (other) English teacher about it, and said I was interested in the way religion was 'discussed' so she suggested I read Moon Tiger (by Penelope Lively) as my coursework companion text. I looked it up and it looks good, so that (along with re-reading Brideshead) is next for me.
So, I recently finished re-reading the four Michael Chrichton books I have (Jurassic Park; The Lost World; Sphere; and The Andromeda Strain), and now I checked out J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion for a more in-depth look into Middle Earth's history. So far, it has me considering having one of the settings in my books have a more mythical beginning; you know, a creation myth, all of that razz-ma-jazz.
Oh, and in the event that I fail to find 1984 when I'm done with The Silmarillion, can someone recommend a sci-fi/fantasy book for me? I'm already in the middle of The Wheel of Time series, and I just finished Rhapsody, the start of the Symphony of Ages series, a month or so back.
The Haruhi novels (only 2 are out so far, another is released july) are a scifi story, uh, not sure of anything else.
New book for me I need to add, from the geniuses at Key, in fact there are 2.
Little busters, and Planetarian.
Both made me bawl like a baby.
Right now I am reading Tempest, which is the the third book in the Star Wars: Legacy of the Force series. I only bought it yesterday and I am already more than two-thirds of the way through it, and I am a really slow reader. I picked up Exile too, but I didn't think I would be able to get to reading it so soon.
Alrughr, I know I posted about Planetarian before but I just recently came across a copy and grabbed it, AND WOW, JUST... WOW.
Story is set in a post apocolyptic, toxic rain covered world where Germ bombs were dropped. In fact they were dropped everywhere 30 years prior. But this is different from your average post apocolyptia. This book takes place in... A planetarium where a small robot girl is the only thing around.
Shortly after near the end it moves out into that apocolyptic town and things take a Key-ish turn.
Filled with amazing visuals for a Visual Novel (fully animated BG art anyone?) and a short story guaranteed to make you preform the Key Ritual it's a must read If you can find it.
Also home to THE MOST TOUCHING PLANETARIUM SHOW YOU WILL EVER SEE!
Buy it online. Now. Your prophet is channeling Billy Mays and even he says to.
I am progressing through the Legacy of the Force books. I just finished reading Sacrifice and it was the best book in the series so far. I almost died of awesome. Even though I knew how it was going to end [spoiler] (Jacen Solo kills Mara Jade Skywalker), [/spoiler] it was still interesting to see how it all played out. It seemed a lot more eventful and exciting that the preceding books, like with [spoilers] Ben Skywalker assassinating the Corellian Prime Minister, then Lieutenant Lekauf taking the blame for it and blowing himself up. Man... talk a bout dedication to a cause. Then the part where Jacen Solo amended the law so he could arrest Chief Omas and become the new Chief of State along with Admiral Niathal was also pretty cool.[/spoilers]
I just finished reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. A hilarious science fiction book that made me wish I had known it was going to be quick reading so I could have checked out the rest of the series at the same time.
i have to read kite runner before the summer ends for my senior english class...
i have heard its a great book from some people and a horrible book from others.
i supose theres only one way to find out.
Kite Runner was actually banned at my high school for a while, until my class launched a massive effort to get the book back.
Quote from: Gamefreak on July 18, 2010, 03:52:44 PM
Kite Runner was actually banned at my high school for a while, until my class launched a massive effort to get the book back.
Can I ask why?
Was it really that bad?
There's some questionable content in it.
Questionable content as in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"?
Read a great little depressing visual (technically a kenetic) novel called Narcissu.
As it says on TVTropes:
"This is the story
of a girl whose heart was standing still
and a boy whose breath was being stolen away,
both of whom die. "
They don't lie. It's an amazing story.
I'm finishing up a book called Green Rider by Kristen Britain. I loved it, and I suggest fantasy lovers to swing by the closest bookstore and read the synopsis on the back to see if they'd be interested in reading it.
*Bump*
I'm almost done with The Stepsister Scheme, by Jim C. Hines, and I love it. It carries on Cinderella's story after the "happily ever after" part of the story. Not the Disneyfied version of it; the original version as written down by the Brothers Grimm. Cinderella's real name is Danielle Whiteshore, and shortly after her wedding she's attacked by her stepsister, Charlotte. Danielle is soon sucked into a mission to rescue her husband, Prince Armand, with the help of the martial artist Talia (Sleeping Beauty) and the sorceress Snow (White). Hines takes their stories and masterfully reworks them into an entertaining read.
NEED MOAR BOOK TALK!!!!
Hmm, where to start. Last year, I got into the "Women of the Otherworld" series by Kelley Armstrong. The books are excellent reads, with each book having a different narrator. The first book I read, Waking the Witch, was the eleventh book in the series, but despite this, I was able to easily follow the story, despite past references made to previous books. However, I would still recommend starting with the first book, Bitten.
I also recommend the "Parasol Protectorate" series by Gail Carriger. Set in Victorian England, it tells the tale of Alexia Tarabotti, a woman without a soul. It's steampunk paranormal romance, but it also has plenty of laughs; the series start with Soulless. Also in the steampunk Victorian England with a lot of humor category is Pip Ballantine and Tee Moris's Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Pecular Occurances Novel.
Another excellent author is Ann Aguirre, whose fifth Sirantha Jax book, Aftermath, was recently released. Sirantha is a jumper, a person able to navigate grimspace, a colorful dimension that allows for quick interstellar travel. But grimspace has a price; go on too many jumps, and a jumper will burn out, leaving nothing but an empty shell. And with grimspace's addicting nature, very few jumpers die of old age. Sirantha's adventures lead her across the galaxy, as she first tries to help a group of rogue fighters break up a corporation's monopoly on interstellar travel, and then as she tries to forge an alliance to help with an impending war. The first book in the series is Grimspace.
It should be noted that the above books all contain adult situations at some point, so I do not recommend them to the younger members of the forums. Of course, at this point, I think most of us are old enough to read these books anyway.