What are you reading?

[EventualDay]

The Discworld books can be grouped into different, for lack of a better word, storylines or arcs, with each generally dealing with the same people and places. There are also a few more stand alone books, but there is some overlap between these and also between the main storylines...

Wow that was a fantastic answer. I wasn't expecting so much detail and it was very helpful Also thanks, MomentOfInertia. The series looks much more understandable now!

On-topic, I'm prepping for a class next semester by reading some Shakespeare (Henry IV, to be exact). And though I really really should never admit this as an English major, I don't love Shakespeare. I don't even like him a little bit. Oops.

[Sundown]

An unabridged copy of Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days.

[the_wolfs_howl]

On-topic, I'm prepping for a class next semester by reading some Shakespeare (Henry IV, to be exact). And though I really really should never admit this as an English major, I don't love Shakespeare. I don't even like him a little bit. Oops.

Fear not, my fellow English major! Your fate is shared by many...and really, even though everyone talks like you have to love Shakespeare or you're an uncultured swine, it's really not necessary. It depends a lot on the professor you get, I suppose, but I hated Shakespeare until I studied him in class. I thought his plots were lame and boring and awfully melodramatic, but once I was forced to study them in more depth, I realized just how ingenious he really was. He had an unparalleled mastery over the English language, so even though I still don't think much of most of his plots, I enjoy reading him just for the beautiful turns of phrase. It also really helps if you can watch the plays, rather than just read them. Things that seem stilted and awkward on the page come to life on the stage, and you realize that's really the best (if not the only) way to experience the stories. My college put on a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which is my least-favorite of his comedies...and I loved it! It was hilarious. If there's no other option, at least check out a movie version of the plays you're reading. Especially if it's got Kenneth Branagh in it
So yeah, you don't have to love Shakespeare, but you have to admit stuff like this is beautifully wrought:

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.


...Anyway, to get back on topic, I recently read The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson. WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY FREAKIN' AMAZING, BY THE WAY. What a wonderful end to the trilogy. It was so exciting, so suspenseful, so unexpected! Loved it. And now I'm really curious about The Alloy of Law....

I also read Death Comes to Pemberly by P.D. James, which was...less amazing. The book's only real selling point is that it's a published piece of Pride and Prejudice fanfiction. It involves a (rather lame and boring, if you ask me) murder mystery on the grounds of Pemberly several years after the events of Pride and Prejudice. I could see right through it almost from the beginning, and I'm horrible at figuring out mysteries. So I wasn't impressed.

[Thunderscream872]

Finished up Star Wars Heir to the Empire. I'll probably start Dark Force Rising soon. I also plan to start reading Star Wars Tarkin by James Luceno.

[the_wolfs_howl]

I recently read John Calvin's Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life for class. And The War of Art for another class.

[Kaori]

Since I last posted in here:

Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton. Very interior and based on personal experience. Basically, the only way I could confirm whether something he said about the spiritual life was true was if I have also experienced it in my own life. If not, then I don’t know whether it’s generally true but something I have just not experienced or something that is only true to his experience and not necessarily true to everyone’s experience. So it had some good thoughts here and there, but for the most part I wasn’t able to get much value of it because I had to constantly hold it at arm's length in skepticism.

Ah, but your Land is Beautiful by Alan Paton was not very good; the author bit off far more than he could chew with this one. Set in 1953, in the midst of Apartheid South Africa, it is a collection of all sorts of fragments and letters and sound bites about various political events. He tries to weave throughout the stories of some individuals and families, and in some cases he somewhat succeeds, but in trying to include so many little snapshots of so many different things and in trying to be true to the way that IRL there isn’t always a decisive ending to things, he mostly forgets to tell a story. Highly recommend reading Cry, the Beloved Country instead.

[the_wolfs_howl]

I recently read Walking on Water by Madeleine L'Engle and Breath for the Bones by Luci Shaw, both of which are reflections on writing and how it relates to faith. I found Walking on Water more helpful/inspiring, possibly because it's more in line with the kind of things I like to write, and it also felt a bit more coherent. But both are good if you need some encouragement about writing or wonder how faith can interact with writing even if what you write isn't explicitly Christian.

[Sheenar]

Currently reading "Oliver Twist".

Recently finished Don Miller's new book "Scary Close" --I highly recommend it. Such a good book on relationships.

[the_wolfs_howl]

I recently read The Supper of the Lamb by Robert Farrar Capon, a beautifully written book that uses food and cooking as a way to meditate on God and our relationship with him. It's not really like any other book I've ever read, and it made me appreciate food in a much deeper way than I ever have before. It's kind of hard to explain or describe, but I highly recommend this to pretty much anyone. Though I doubt I'll ever cook like him

[Zeke365]

I'm currently reading Scriptwriter bible 6th edition.

[Lilac#18]

I've been reading Serenity Reflections and Scripture on the Serenity Prayer book. I'm using it as a stress reliever. Something that will give me peace of mind.

[GeneD]

Finished Mistborn 1, The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson today. I liked it, but idk, less than I though I would... Major beef I have with it is that there are basically zero female characters besides Vin (no, ex-of-the-love-interest and random-court-gossip hardly count). I feel like I'm seeing a lot of repeat... ideas/concepts in his work, like the all-powerful ruler or the inspiring rebel leader or the uprising of the oppressed population. Sure he uses them in a different way each time, and I guess it isn't necessarily a bad thing, it just kinda distracts me while reading. I also didn't find many of the twists/"fantasy trope subversion" surprising, even when things I thought would happen, did happen but in a completely different way than I expected/were subverted. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Like I was reading it while burning Atium and could see all the possibilities and just had to wait and see which one would be used. Not sure much of that makes sense but anyway. I liked a lot of the dialogue, at least I captured a lot of quotes, Sazed was my fav character, followed by Vin and then probably Kelsier.

I have the next two books, but I'm not good at reading related things consecutively, so started on the last Hunger Games book.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Sorry you were underwhelmed, GeneD I thought it was awesome, but then, it was my first Sanderson book, so I couldn't really compare it to his other work. Did you at least like the battles? I think that's the best part about that series, even more than the super-cool magic system; they read like an action movie if you ask me. Especially the one where SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Kelsier fights the Inquisitor and the Lord Ruler. There are a couple more important female characters in the other two books, though I kind of doubt they'd solve the problem for you Personally, I think it makes a lot of sense why there aren't many female characters as the focus, since the books center around war and thievery and that kind of thing. In a society like Luthadel's, women just aren't going to be in the thick of stuff like that unless they're Allomancers. And sure, Sanderson could have put in more female Allomancers, but I don't really see a problem with it the way it is. They have bigger fish to fry than gender equality Anyway, Sazed is awesomesauce <3 He might be my favorite character, but I can't decide between him and Vin.


For class, I read Christian Mythmakers by Rolland Hein, which traces the history of the fantasy genre from Dante all the way to Madeleine L'Engle and some of her contemporaries. It's a good summary and analysis of the genre, though a lot of it was redundant information for me because I'm writing a huge research paper on that very topic

[GeneD]

Oh yeah the action was great. I was literally imagining/picturing the SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Kelsier vs Inquisitorfight as a movie scene while reading it.

[Sheenar]

Depression: Looking Up from the Stubborn Darkness by Edward T. Welch.

Currently am almost halfway through. This is the most compassionate and Gospel-centered book on depression that I have read so far. I definitely highly recommend it if you struggle with depression or know someone who does.

[the_wolfs_howl]

^Definitely agree. That was a really helpful book.

Oh yeah the action was great. I was literally imagining/picturing the SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Kelsier vs Inquisitorfight as a movie scene while reading it.

I KNOW, RIGHT?! 8D I could even hear the epic soundtrack when I read the final climactic battle in The Hero of Ages <3

I recently read The Piazza Tales, a collection of Herman Melville's short stories. Some were better than others, but they were at least all more interesting and palatable than the majority of his stuff that I've had to read for this class of mine <_< My favorite by far was "The Bell-Tower," which is actually what you might call a horror story!

[the_wolfs_howl]

For class, I read Billy Budd by Herman Melville, which was kind of depressing :/

And for another class, I read The Christian Life by Sinclair Ferguson. Sort of a practical application of doctrine, I guess. It was pretty good.

[Thunderscream872]

I started reading Star Wars Tarkin by James Luceno. Someone had told me that this was the first book Star Wars book written after Disney took over the franchise, and previous EU was regarded as non-canon. Not sure if that's the case or not, but either way the book seems interesting so far.

[the_wolfs_howl]

I just finished reading Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, a really interesting dystopian future where at the age of 16, everyone goes through an operation to make them stunningly beautiful. But of course, when everyone is beautiful, normal appearances are seen as ugly.... It's a fascinating scenario, wrapped up in a gripping, exciting adventure story. The scenario Westerfeld begins with allows him to comment on a lot of things about the way life is for us, seen through the eyes of people in this future he's envisioned. I also sped through the sequel, Pretties, which was possibly even more exciting than the first one. Because these are YA books, they're a fast read, but they do a great job of talking about issues that are relevant for that age group in a completely new way that I think anyone would find compelling.

[the_wolfs_howl]

^Forgot to mention that I finished the series with Specials and Extras. An excellent series.

I've also recently read Night Watch by Terry Pratchett. A very fun read; I loved the kind of humor he writes. This was my first Discworld book, and I think I may have to hunt down the bajillion other books in the series now.

[GeneD]

High five the_wolfs_howl, for Night Watch.

I'm currently reading Mistborn 2 The Well of Ascension, extremely slowly, though I did pick up the pace a little today. I'm still not sure what I think of most of the characters.

[Animeniac]

I'm currently reading The Circle by Tedd Dekker it's absolutely amazing!!

[Sheenar]

Currently listening to an audiobook --Mort(e) by Robert Repino.

Am 1/4 of the way through.

This book is seriously weird. Really weird. Like, in a "what the heck am I reading and why am I still reading it?" way. O.o

[ClaecElric4God]

I keep trying to pick up Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. I really enjoy it, but I'm just so preoccupied lately.

[the_wolfs_howl]

The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton

I've been meaning to read this for a long time, but only got a chance to read it now. Obviously it's well-written, but I was impressed by how fast-paced and interesting the plot was, and how many good plot twists there were that actually made me gasp aloud. Definitely a good read.

The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia McKillip

Not quite such a rewarding read. It tells the story of a prince from a small island kingdom who goes on an epic quest to discover his destiny and why he was born with three stars on his forehead. My problem wasn't really that it was a typical plot; I was more annoyed by how far removed everything was from the characters' emotions. I never felt like I really knew what they were thinking, nor that I could relate to them at all. Also, it was just kind of weird because each chapter seemed like a separate adventure, like it would normally be the plot of an entire novel.

Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick

An engaging story about a criminal in a fantasy city based on Byzantium, who gets in way over his head with a fight for the entire criminal underworld. It was fast-paced and kept things interesting, and kept you guessing as to everyone's motives and plans. It was a worthwhile read, but I was a little confused as to why Hulick decided to write it all in first-person. Drothe, the main character, didn't have that interesting of a voice, so it didn't add anything to the narration, and it just meant that Hulick had to tell a lot more than show. I think it would have been smoother if he'd just stuck to the default third-person.

[Animeniac]

I'm read Manga Messiah yesterday. It's an awesome Manga version of the life of Jesus done by Japanese Baptists!!!!!!

[Zeldafan2]

Riryia Revelations, book 1, by Micheal J. Sullivan. It's a well-thought out high fantasy series with quite an interesting world.

[Zeldafan2]

Riryia Revelations, book 1, by Micheal J. Sullivan. It's a well-thought out high fantasy series with quite an interesting world. (oops, accidentally double posted )

[Panda4christ:3]

Started Jonathan Strange & Mr.Norrel but due to sickness and stuff I couldn't finish it within the library deadline.
So instead I picked up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, which I've never actually read XD. So far it's cute and fun to read.
I also just realized I haven't talked about all the other things I've read, so here goes.
Finished:
Coraline - Cute. Really started me on a Neil Gaiman kick.
Stardust - Words can't express how much I loved this one
The Graveyard Book - So he's one of my favorite author's now...
Ms. Peregrine's home for peculiar children & hollow city - Super good, can't wait for the final installment~
Splintered - Not half bad, better than thought it would be, not sure if I'll pick up the series though.

[TsubasaKamen]

Codename: Sailor V - Spin Off Manga to the Sailor Moon Manga.