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Read books?

Posted: 05/07/2006 - 9:16
by LMan
Hey all, anyone in for discussing books?

Stuff I read:
- Tolkien's stuff (LOtR, Hobbit, Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth)
- Philip K. Dick's stuff (about everything)
- Dune (everything)
- William Gibson (Neuromancer Trilogy, Bridge Trilogy)
- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- "The Demolished Man" by Alfred Bester (yes, the Psi corps guy of Babylon 5 is named after him)
- 1984 by Orwell
- A couple of Asimov books

Posted: 05/07/2006 - 9:46
by merman
I've just finished reading Lord of the Rings for the first time, amazing book.

I've also just read MOONDUST by Andrew Smith. In it he meets the nine remaining men who walked on the Moon and asks them how the experience changed them. It's fascinating stuff.

Posted: 05/07/2006 - 10:14
by Armand
Cool, Merman. :)

Stuff i've read - Jackie Collins :wink:, Philip K.Dick, Tolkien, Isaac Asimov(his Robots anthology is a very good read.)

Posted: 05/07/2006 - 11:12
by FFRenzy
I read mostlye Fantasy and Sci-fi.

some books i've read :
- LOTR and all related books
- Hitchhikers guide to the Galazy
- Dune ( the original 6 books, and a few of the prequels )
- Fionavar tapestry ( Guy Gavriel Kay )
- Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the unbeliever ( Stephen Donaldson )
- The Farseer series, Tawnyman series and Liveship series by Robin Hobb
ANd lots of others

My favorite writer is Terry Pratchett, with his Discworld series ! I've got all 26 books sofar, the 3 Science of Discworld, the 2 Tiffany books, an artbook and non-discworld stuff.

Posted: 05/07/2006 - 11:19
by Chappers
I mainly read old James Bond novels by Ian Fleming, those ones that are going yellow with age. :)

Still reading the old fighting fantasy gamebooks as well as the Lone Wolf gamebooks. Keen fan of sci-fi and fantasy.

Posted: 05/07/2006 - 11:44
by Rondo
I love books. Not surprisingly, I'm an avid fan of science fiction and fantasy, but I don't restrict myself to those by any means. I've acquired quite a taste for British classics, for instance, and I'm currently in the process of doing a complete reading of Shakespeare's plays. I like to read the lines aloud to myself because I find it to be excellent practice for my pronunciation of English. I read a lot of non-fiction as well, especially in the field of natural sciences.

I have the unfortunate habit of starting on a new book before I finish the previous one. What's worse, this tends to happen several times over a relatively short timespan so that I end up with half a dozen unfinished books, a couple of which I actually read actively while the others are slowly buried under a stack of newspapers and other random stuff, to be dug up later when the library sends me a friendly reminder that I've had them for three years and if it's not too much trouble they would like to have them back some time in the near future, thank you very much.

The last book I actually finished was called Software Architecture in Practice - yes, I took an exam on it, I don't think I would have touched it otherwise. Here are a few of those that I'm currently working on:
  • Galactic Pot-Healer by Philip K. Dick
    Pericles by William Shakespeare
    The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats
    The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
So that's one novel, one play, one poetry compilation and one classic of modern science. There may be others that I simply forgot about. Varied, eh? ;)

Posted: 05/07/2006 - 12:35
by Max Levin
All I Need To Know About Filmmaking I Learned From The Toxic Avenger
and Make Your Own Damn Movie are the two only books I've ACTUALLY read. I hate to read miles of text unless it's someone of the wacky geniouses at Troma who has written it(seriously, give me a book without Lloyd Kaufman's name on it and I'd rather eat it than read it)

Posted: 05/07/2006 - 13:19
by Makke
I don't go through that many books. 1 or 2 books per month, tops! I just have so much else to do that I rarely take the time to settle down with a book. I used to read a lot more when I commuted.

I tend to read a mixture of books on social issues, history, autobiographies and technology.

When it comes to fiction I've mostly read Pratchett and Robert Jordan (the Wheel of Time series). I got my girlfriend into reading Pratchett, and she reads a lot more than I do, which is great since she's always bought some Pratchett book I've not read yet. ;)

Right now I'm reading Pratchett's Sourcery (very slowly, because I only read it right before I go to sleep and am very tired). When I'm done with that I'm reading the autobiography of Lemmy (of Motörhead fame) called White Line Fever.

Posted: 05/07/2006 - 21:50
by merman
Another Thomas Covenant fan here, although I haven't read much of Stephen Donaldson's sci-fi...

Posted: 06/07/2006 - 0:36
by Steve B
Arthur C Clarke is the best sci fi writer ever.
Isaac Asimov comes a very close second.
Terry Pratchet ... what can you say about TP? The world would be a sad sad place without Terry Pratchet.
Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman are the number one for fantasy writing. The Dragonlance Chronicles/Legends etc are fantastic.
John Gribbin writes fantastic books on Quantum Physics (for example "In Search of Schrodinger's Cat") and I have just started his book "Stardust: The cosmic recycling of stars, planets and people"
Harry Harrison's "Stainless Steel Rat" series is great fun.
Joe Haldeman's "Forever War" is also a personal fav.

Posted: 06/07/2006 - 8:02
by Slaygon
Currently, I am reading Brian Greene's "The Fabric of the Cosmos" ... Fascinating book on string theory.
Other than that, I don't read that much. The occational Pratchett, LOTR, HHGTTG etc... Surprisingly few books on my shelves. Those that are there, are mostly programming books and stuff.

Posted: 06/07/2006 - 18:16
by tas
Tolkien (strangely never been impressed with his writing style but his immagination is staggering)

James Herbert (Much prefer his earlier stuff but i still enjoy his work)

Richard A Knaak (A wide range of styles in his pocket, always fascinated)

Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (Women in a mans realm showing it how to be done well)

My fave has to be.. Terry Brooks. Just magical stuff - anyone read the "Kingdom for sale/sold series"? Brilliant reading!

Posted: 06/07/2006 - 19:33
by ifadeo
my favorites are:

Nick Hornby, Timothy Zahn(esp. his starwars books), William Gibson,
Anne Rice(i like her vampire books), Douglas Coupland, Douglas Adams,
Terry Jones, Max Goldt, Robert Harris, Irvine Welsh, Frèdèric Beigbeder,
Oscar Wilde.....

Posted: 06/07/2006 - 20:17
by Jan Lund Thomsen
My current reading project is (of course) "On the edge: The spectacular rise and fall of Commodore". :D

Posted: 06/07/2006 - 20:33
by moog
i've just finished reading of 'short story of time' by Stephen Hawking, now i'm starting with 'Counterpoint' by K.Sikorski (music theory)