Last Book You Read

[Aderia]

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion.

 

I saw a trailer for the movie and thought it looked cute, so I picked up the book, or whatever the e-book equivalent terminology was. I expected a comical girl and zombie love story, nothing serious. Let me tell you, friend, I was wrong. There was so much heart and wit and insight in this book, and it really told a great story. A page turner, cleverly and accurately critical of the world we live in, I really want a hard copy now, so people can see what I'm reading and ask me about it. I would most definitely recommend it to anyone who asks. I'd love to go on and on and on and on and on about how much I loved it, and how much I need to read it again and again, but I really don't want to type it all up, I want to go read it again.

Edited December 30, 2012 by Aderia

[mistergryphon]

I just finished The Moffat Museum. It's a little bit simple for me, considering it was written for children my age, but I loved it. It takes place near my hometown, but about 90 years earlier than now. It's about a family that goes on adventures, and there are four books in the series, I think. I've read three of them, but I can't seem to find the fourth book. They're very old, so it's not surprising.

[Velox]

Since my last post 8 days ago I have read: Lost Light, by Michael Connelly; The Narrows, by Michael Connelly, The Closers, by Michael Connelly; Echo Park, by Michael Connelly; The Overlook, by Michael Connelly; and The Brass Verdict, by Michael Connelly.

 

Yep, a lot of Michael Connelly. I'm currently making my way through the Harry Bosch series. While I've already read The Brass Verdict, as well as 9 Dragons and The Reversal (which I'll be reading next), Harry Bosch Co-Stars in the first and latter, and is the star of 9D. I had previously read these while reading the Mickey Haller series, who also Co-Stars in the first and last (and technically, they are novels in his series, not Bosch's), and makes a brief appearance in 9D. But, since I'm going through the Harry Bosch series, I wanted to read every novel with Bosch in it, in order. And they are all fantastic books; I definitely don't mind re-reading three of them.

 

So after I finish re-reading 9 Dragons and The Reversal, I only have two more to go until I've read all of the Harry Bosch series. It's been a great read (as you can see, from my reading 6 novels in 8 days), and Connelly is definitely one of my favorite authors. I'm hoping to start and finish 9 Dragons tomorrow (Sunday), but I might have to read into Monday with various family things going on tomorrow. Oh well.

 

[shadow pridak money gang]

Haunted - Chuck Palahniuk.

 

Never have I truly wanted to laugh until I vomited out of pure revulsion so much in my life; probably the single handed best horror anthology I've ever read from one of my all time literary idols, Palahniuk proves once again that he is, without a doubt, just as gifted with satire as he is when he first wrote Fight Club.

 

If you're a fan at all of postmodern literature, transgressional fiction, bloody good satire, or crying yourself to sleep, read this book.

 

-Tyler

Edited January 25, 2013 by Marlon Brando

[otter]

Genesis, by an Unknown Hebrew. It's a real cool book, full of all sorts of action. Kinda hard to follow at times, though.

Edited January 25, 2013 by The Otter

[Aderia]

Horton Hears a Who. =') It was so beautiful. See, the elementary kid I tutor and I, we read that book together. I had to help him with the whacky Dr. Seuss words and it was really the best thing ever.

[Makuta of Time]

Romeo and Juliet by Shakspeare. Haven't actually finished yet, (It's for school.)

[Guest X-G.12]

Myths and Legends, a book on the various legends and myths of people such as greeks, japanese, indian, american, and roman

[Angel Beat]

Death Star by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry. It's quite a nice look at some of the unknown and known people that were involved with the construction and operation of this infamous battle station.

[Neelh]

I'm currently reading The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore, but the last book I finished was Looking for Alaska by John Green. It was witty, insightful and heartbreaking, though with some few adult parts.

[Noxryn]

Last "book" I read was the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, and rather enjoyed it. After I watched the movie, can't recall the director or actors' names though (aside from Robin Williams, who appeared as a messenger).

 

Right now I'm reading The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, and so far I'm really liking this one. Especially with all the imagery of flowers, nature and the focus around art that drew me in at the beginning of the novel.

Edited January 29, 2013 by Spink

[SgtPanda]

"The Best Of The Best of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader"

 

Love these books if you're into trivia.

[Simulacrum]

The Chocolate War - Robert Cormier

 

My god, where to start? From the description to the dialouge, everything in this book was simply amazing. I don't believe I've ever read a Young Adult's novel with such well-written characters. The end was darkly beautiful, and I honestly feel as if it has found a place among my top ten.

 

Next up is The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair.

[Velox]

Since my last post I have read: Nine Dragons, by Michael Connelly; The Reversal, by Michael Connelly; The Drop, by Michael Connelly; The Black Box, by Michael Connelly; A Clash of Kings, by George R.R. Martin; A Storm of Swords, by George R.R. Martin; and A Feast for Crows, by George R.R. Martin. Thus concludes the Harry Bosch series (now I just have to read Blood Word and Chasing the Dime to have read all of Connelly's books). And I can't wait to read A Dance with Dragons, by George R.R. Martin this summer after it comes out in paperback. Both Michael Connelly and A Song of Ice and Fire by GRRM are highly recommended, though be aware that ASoIaF has a lot of mature scenes throughout, unfortunately.

[Queen of Liars]

The Revolution of Everyday Life by Raoul Vaneigem. A very interesting and worthwhile read.

[Protodite Karzahni]

Last book I finished would be When She Woke by Hillary Jordan. It was actually far more enjoyable than I had originally expected, with the plot following the persecution of Hannah Payne guilty for the murder of "her unborn child". I'm not gonna say much more about any of the other events but I can tell you that when I went into it, I was almost expecting to see a demonisation of religion and its laws but I was more than pleasantly surprised to see a completely balanced view, as the author enforces the idea that there is no real evil, particularly in the final few chapters, simply differing levels of extremeness. It fluctuated in interest and had the grating feeling of dragging here and there but overall I enjoyed it. I'd probably recommend it.

[Lemony Lepid]

'stomping on the heels of a fuss' from Halo evolutions because my mom told me to go read a book.

 

best one in the entire book.

[~Shockwave~]

I'm working on "Freakanomics" quite an interesting read.

[Wotz]

The Catcher in the Rye. One of the shorter books on a list of 50 I intend to read, and my brother had told me it was great, so I went for it.

 

A lot of fun to read, I thought, and very realistic. The thing is, it was so realistic that there was no clear theme to it, and the beginning and ending were kind of sudden. At the start he implies there is a point he's getting at in telling us this story, but it never seems to be made clear. Even the title is only explained briefly. After some thought it does seem to make more sense than it seemed to while reading it, but yeah. In some parts it's very relatable, and you notice things about people you know that you didn't quite manage to put your finger on before, but in other parts I completely lose touch. Maybe I feel a bit too strongly about him not liking 'the movies' - I mean, he does explain his point fairly well and all. What's surprising is, all of this doesn't make it a bad book. The way it's written is just an addictive style, and the character is a very free-spirited, funny and great guy. It's like reading a letter from a friend (which is, of course, the intention). At the end of the day, it's a fun, entertaining read, and I'd recommend it to any poor soul that had to force their way through this massive paragraph of mine to get to this sentence.

 

So yeah, my Catcher in the Rye feels.

 

At the moment I'm reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and it's possibly the strangest thing I have ever read. I love it.

[Aderia]

Love and Other Perishable Items - By Laura Buzo. This was a short, sweet, and read in the February spirit. Nothing spectacular, but if you like chick-lit, then go for it.A Game of Thrones - By George. R.R. Martin. Since a bunch of people have recommended, bugged me to read, etc. etc, I picked it up over the summer. Aaaand just finished about ten minutes ago. There's a lot to say, but I'm going to forsake that because I have the sequel sitting right next to me, and it needs attention.

Edited March 2, 2013 by Aderia

[moochfloatjr]

...''BIONICLE Adventures #3: The Darkness Below''.

 

What? I'm marathoning all the books, considering I never got around to reading them before.

[Carlton Lassiter]

Well, I haven't finished reading it, but Halo Cryptum.

[Velox]

A Game of Thrones - By George. R.R. Martin. Since a bunch of people have recommended, bugged me to read, etc. etc, I picked it up over the summer. Aaaand just finished about ten minutes ago. There's a lot to say, but I'm going to forsake that because I have the sequel sitting right next to me, and it needs attention.

 

Yesssss. Man I love that book so much and I'm so glad you finally read it. GRRM is one of the most amazing authors ever.

 

Anyway, since my last post I have read:

 

Black, Red, White, and Green, by Ted Dekker ("The Circle"); X:15 - an Ambage anthology; The Stars My Destination, by Alfred Bester; Threat Vector, by Tom Clancy; and The Walking Dead vol. 1: Days Gone Bye, by Robert Kirkman.

 

And this also marks both the first Science Fiction novel I have read, and the first graphic novel I have read. I really enjoyed both and I'm sure I'll be rambling about them in my blog at some point.

 

 

[Dual Cee]

Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy: A trilogy in five parts, the most funny book ever made.

[Makuta of Time]

Night by Eli Wiesel. Very horrible story, but that's how life was.

[SolarSurge]

1984 by George Orwell.

Don't read it, it's depressing.

[fishers64]

Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card, for the second time. Lots of mystery, intrigue, action sequences, witty one-liners, and Card's famous moral conundrums. This one has a unique parallel method of storytelling that requires you to think. Recommended.

[Simulacrum]

Animal Farm, by George Orwell, for what must be the fourth time. Such a short book, yet enough vicious satire to fill a set of encyclopedias.

Next up, once again Nineteen Eighty-Four, by Orwell as well, one of, if not my very favorite book of all time.

Edited April 1, 2013 by Replicant

[Queen of Liars]

Nineteen Eighty-Four is indeed a fantastic book.

 

I just finished re-reading Gun, With Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem. It's always nice reading books like this again, this time knowing what all the subtleties are leading up to.

[Velox]

Just finished reading The Floating Admiral, by members of the Detection Club (including Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and G.K. Chesterton)--really an amazing book, and very well-done. There were a few minor character inconsistencies (at least, in my opinion--they're not too unbelievable, though), which is to be expected, but the plot flowed very well. And it was really fun reading each member's solution to the crime afterward.

 

Since my last post I've also read Black Light, by Stephen Hunter. Pretty good book, but a bit slow-paced sometimes, as Hunter really goes into the details. Not necessarily a bad thing, but yeah. And after that, Robopocalypse, by Daniel W. Wilson. This was also a fantastic book, and quite enjoyable.

 

 

[vataki]

I re-read The Hobbit after seeing the movie just recently.

[BBBBalta]

The last book I finished was Elie Wiesel's Night, which I read for school. It's incredibly powerful and thought-provoking, almost beyond description.

 

I'm currently reading House by Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti. I haven't read much, but it's good so far. I put it on hold to read America Again (Re-Becoming the Greatness we Never Weren't) by Stephen Colbert, which is hysterical. I don't recommend reading it in public if you don't like getting weird looks from the people around you when you burst out laughing.

[TNTOS]

I have read Stein on Writing, by Sol Stein. It's an excellent book for anybody who is looking to improve their craft, whether they write fiction or nonfiction. I imagine I'll reread it sometime.

 

-TNTOS-

[Velox]

Finished reading Killing Floor, by Lee Child, yesterday. The first Jack Reacher book I've read (been meaning to for a while), and it was pretty good--kept my interest throughout, and Reacher is a pretty interesting character. I'll definitely be getting the others in the series and slowly making my way through them at some point.

 

Since my last post I've also read 'A' is for Alibi, by Sue Grafton. It was okay. I felt like, in a way...it was kind of on the edge of two things: a good PI story, and a character story. But I'm not convinced that it actually accomplished either of those. It seemed like all of the "characterization" was forced in, and ended up just being distracting from the crime/crime-solving itself. Spoilers: Especially because it was extremely easy to guess. Throughout the whole novel she's trying to have this relationship with a character, who ends up being a bad guy. It felt like it was forced in, somehow to make the surprise "better" but to me, it just made it worse.

 

And before that I read The Floating Admiral, by members of the Detection Club (including Agatha Christie, G.K. Chesterton, and Dorothy Sayers). Now this is a good crime novel. It really worked surprisingly well, for being written by so many different authors. There were a few minor character inconsistencies (he seems calm one chapter, and then hot-headed the next, for example), but those were easily overlooked, and the plot itself moved along very smoothly. I just love the idea behind it: how they set about writing it as if they were actually solving a crime, leaving nothing to "chance" and having to use every clue. It was also extremely fun to read all of the solutions, as each author was required to come up with their own solution, in addition to the "official" one. It was fun seeing how all the ideas varied, and how one clue/point could mean something totally different to some people than to others.

 

If you're a fan of classic British mysteries (like Agatha Christie), I'd highly recommend this.

 

 

[Angel Beat]

Finally finished Rihannsu: The Bloodwing Voyages by Diane Duane and Peter Morwood.

 

Loved it.

[SgtPanda]

Finished "To Kill A Mockingbird".

 

"Scout, if you could learn a simple trick, you'll get along with all kinds of other folks..."

[Velox]

Since my last post I have read:

 

• The Last Werewolf, by Glen Duncan. Wasn't really a fan of this, but perhaps it just wasn't in my tastes. Personally I couldn't relate to the character at all, so I never really cared for him or what happened to him--something that seemed to be kind of key for this book. I felt like the main character--also the narrator--was supposed to be lovable in the way that Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden is, but he wasn't at all.
• Coup d'Etat, by Ben Coes. Pretty good novel with an interesting premise. Some of the writing was slightly jarring--Coes would repeat a few phrases a lot, and would repeat some descriptions sometimes only a few sentences apart--and it took a long time for the story to really focus on Dewey Andres. Not necessarily a bad thing, but when you're expecting a Dewey story, it was a little tedious reading through all the exposition, though one does have to commend Coes for how in-depth he went with everything, and his knowledge of things in the book. Overall it wasn't bad, and I look forward to reading more of Coes.
• The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster. Sometimes children's books are the best books, and this one was fantastic. So many clever phrases throughout and a fun adventure with enjoyable characters. One of my favorite books, and I'm quite disappointed it took me this long to read it.
• Holes, by Louis Sachar. Again, I can't believe it's taken me this long to read this book. But finally I have, and it truly was amazing--I couldn't put it down.. Every character was round and unique, a hard thing to accomplish when you're dealing with so many, and the plot was fun and exciting. Overall, it was simply a very enjoyable, easy to read, and fun book. Highly recommended in case there's anyone else out there that hasn't read it. My one criticism? It's over--I want to keep reading about Stanley Yelnats and Hector Zeroni. But that's hardly criticism, as the novel ended well and satisfyingly. I'll definitely have to look into more of Sachar's work.
• The Casual Vacancy, by J.K. Rowling. This book was depressing, for one. Imagine all the wrong things in the world, collected together in one small town. Throughout the book I was trying to find one--just one--character that could actually be considered "good", but there wasn't one (except possibly Barry Fairbrother, but he died on the second page)--though Kay Bawden had some good qualities about her. And overall, the book was just filled with so many unnecessary things, as if J.K. Rowling had to make up for writing seven children's books by stuffing as many (in my opinion) immoral things she could into one novel. Which would be the reason for the two star rating--"it was okay"--because I didn't like it. At the same time, it did keep me reading, because despite all that, it was not horribly written, and the plot wasn't as boring to read as it seemed like it would be, but all the same, it's not a likable book. One thing that I do have to commend Rowling for is the characterization--she did a good job of creating a lot of round characters, unique from each other. That said, I didn't have any emotional attachment to the characters, either. The only emotion I felt was at the end when it was so depressing I just couldn't help but feel depressed myself at how pitiful and horrible this town is. So no, I can't say it was a good book. I can say, perhaps, that it was a well-written book, especially if the intent of Rowling was to make her readers feel depressed at the world, but I really can't say I recommend it.
• The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. This, JK Rowling, is how you write a good depressing book. How you get your readers to care for the characters, to become emotionally invested in them. To drive your readers to tears, and actually care about the world--care about the situation the characters in the novel are in.This book, similar to The Casual Vacancy in that it shows the harshness of life, yet so much better—and so different—in that it never goes overboard, and it doesn’t do anything tastelessly. It’s a wake-up call about how people suffer horrible things, showing the harsh reality of life. How this world is not a perfect place. I hate even remotely relating this to The Casual Vacancy, but having read that book just before reading The Kite Runner, I can’t help but do so. Because The Kite Runner worked so much better. The Kite Runner was amazing where The Casual Vacancy failed. Both developed their characters well--but The Kite Runner took that and made you actually care about them, drawing tears often. Both were well-written from a purely grammatical/structural/etc. standpoint--The Kite Runner used that good writing to create a beautiful story about the very real struggles some people faced.Perhaps the best words for it would be from the New York Times Book Reivew: Powerful. Haunting. Because The Kite Runner was definitely both of those. The Kite Runner made the reader care--left an impression in the reader. Haunted the reader with the reality depicted within. In The Kite Runner, horrible, heart-wrenching things happened. But they happened to characters you cared about. Characters you cared about did despicable things--but they realized they had done wrong. The Kite Runner opens your eyes to the world, the harshness of life, yet the beauty that remains even through that harshness. The good that still exists through the bad. The Kite Runner is a beautiful but haunting book. Not for the faint of heart, but truly an amazing book, worth reading--unlike The Casual Vacancy.
• I Am the Messenger, by Markus Zusak. After reading The Book Thief, I knew I had to read more by Markus Zusak--and he didn't disappoint. While The Book Thief is still infinitely better, I Am the Messenger is a great book, and was extremely enjoyable. It captures your interest from the start, and the interesting plot and characters, coupled with Zusak's writing, will keep you reading to the end.
• Have Spacesuit--Will Travel, by Robert Heinlein. Not exactly my cup of tea, but the idea was enjoyable and clever, and I really enjoyed the main characters. I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it as much if I hadn't taken an astronomy class last semester, but it was fun seeing all the references to things we had talked about in class.

 

Currently reading The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern, which is just fantastic and amazing and already one of my favorite books.

 

[Mare Tranquillitatis]

The last I've finished reading has been To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, for what I presume to be the sixth time ( you know, awesome books never get boring ). It's a great one, because Atticus Finch shares many psycological traits with me. I consider this book as one of the best educational writings, to say so. Simple writing, but extremely effective.

 

I'm currently reading A Clash of Kings, by George R. R. Martin. Close to finishing it. Favorite fantasy series after Lord of the Rings, even though the two of them cannot even be put in comparison.

[BBBBalta]

In what seems to be a common theme, I am currently reading To Kill a Mockingbird. It's for school, but I'm enjoying it.

[tent163phantoka]

Finished: Lord of the Flies.

In the process: If I Did It by O.J. Simpson