Still have to read number9dream, but I did just finish The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet. Don't know if you've gotten around to reading it yet but it is quite good, another departure for him and the research must have been insane. I usually feel that most contemporary novels are too long but I kinda wish this would have been 100 pages longer.

Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream 8.5/10
Shakespeare - Macbeth 9/10

Did you buy one of those ten volume classic literature collections

That isn't a "quiet shot" or anything. My uncle has one of those and it pretty much had every relevant work of literature known to man.

No I just occasionally buy a play when I feel like reading Shakespeare, which I do at the moment. Currently reading Romeo and Juliet, which I read ten years ago for school, but feel the urge to read again. Going to buy Othello and Much a do about nothing next month.

brock lesnar's autobiography

don't waste the money

The Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny, 5 out of 5 stars.

Same, I think.

The Notebook

Pretty good, a little sad. Everyone is living in the past in this book.

Live Fast Die Young: My Life with James Dean by Jonathan Gilmore

really interesting bio on James Dean

Gilmore was a close friend of Dean's before he became famous

he doesn't hesitate to go into detail about Dean's sex life and about the times the two fooled around

and he really paints a portrait of Dean's personality as you really get to understand him

this book did not sit well with alot of his older fans who to this day refuse to believe he was gay

but I thought it was very good and would say it's an 8/10

Assassination Vacation - Sarah Vowell - 7/10

A little heavy on Lincoln but probably because it's Lincoln. Keeps the subject fairly light and is very readable.

http://images.contentreserve.com/Ima...F%7DImg100.jpg


8/10

Fragile Things - Neil Gaiman 8/10

Some pretty good short stories in there, but a couple of them looked almost unfinished. You should still read it just for "A Study in Emerald".

Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman 10/10

My favorite Gaiman book. In my opinion, better than American Gods. Characters are more charming, less brooding than Shadow is in AG. It's genuinely funny in a lot of parts, and scary when it gets near the end.

Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman 6/10

My least favorite book by this author out of those I've read. It's good, but I didn't feel as invested in the characters, and the setting didn't really grab me either. Just not my type of story, I think.

Yeah, I was a bit on a Neil Gaiman kick lately.

John Dies At The End - David Wong 7/10

It's both a horror novel and a comedy novel. It manages to be both very convincingly, but there's this two chapters span in the middle in which the story drags for a bit. The rest is top notch however. Legit scary, and surprisingly funny, even though there's a lot of dick jokes in there.

W. Somerset Maugham - Of Human Bondage 9/10

The Inbetweeners Yearbook - 10/10 I love the show and the film and now I can say I love the book.

W. Somerset Maugham - Moon and Sixpence 7.5/10

Darkly Dreaming Dexter

10/10

The first season of Dexter was based off this book. I saw the TV series before reading the book, and the book was a little different than the series which was nice. I really liked the difference. It was a good and quick read.

I am currently in the middle of the second book, Dearly Devoted Dexter.

People Like Us - Dominick Dunne

pretty interesting read

7/10

Woops, didn't notice this reply. Yeah I read all about Jacob de Zoet, another great book and fascinating story. Like you I could have read a lot more of it. His style of writing is almost hypnotic at times.

I'm currently reading 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, on to the second book. Pretty good stuff, although not as fantastic as Dance Dance Dance, Norwegian Wood or Kafka On The Shore for me yet.

I'm actually reading IQ84 as well, i'm about halfway through the first book and it's solid so far. I don't know how much of Murakami's oeuvre (hate this word but whatever) you've gone through, and while I love the three books you mentioned above, The Wind Up Bird Chronicle and Hard-Boiled Wonderland... are def my two favourites. So if you haven't gotten to those yet you're in for a treat.

I'll stick an order in for them now, cheers.

Everybody Wants Some - The Van Halen Saga - Van Halen 10/10
Red - My Uncensored Life in Rock - Sammy Hagar 10/10
No Regrets - Ace Frehley 10/10
Unbound - Metallica 10/10
Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal 10/10

Skipping books I've been re-reading, and instead going with the most recent new one:

Scarlet: 7/10.

I love Stephen Lawhead's narrative retelling Robin Hood as a Welsh nobleman, but the second book still has some of the flaws of the first. Namely that the well-crafted parts are interrupted by parts that drag so much they border on painful to read.

Lawhead would benefit from better editing or maybe stronger criticism. Otherwise, this would probably be a 9/10 or possibly even 10/10 (I'm a sucker for the source material and Welsh stories).

F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Beautiful and Damned 8/10

Back of a snapple bottle label - Snapple Beverage Corp.

9/10. Informative, fairly creative...dunno

A Game of Thrones - 8/10 - Took a while to get going, and the large range of background characters makes it difficult to keep up sometimes, but fantastic read which just continues to build and build the tension throughout.

The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

http://quarterlyconversation.com/wor...junot-diaz.jpg

8.5/10

It was written for the BBC as a series first then re-written into a novel, because it was done 'backwards' Gaiman has said himself he was never 100% happy with the way it turned out.

The series is pretty hit and miss although it does have Peter Capaldi in it as The Angel.

Ripper needs to post more.

Kinda wish the samples would go further in. I hear great things, but like you said...Slow start.

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse - 5/5

recently I read Official and Confidential, The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover by Anthony Summers

8/10

and am now starting A Separate Peace by John Knowles

The American Senator - Anthony Trollope.

6/10.

Started off very interesting, but quickly got diluted into an endless array of "social life" scenes, and basically, rich people and their problems. The main plot that was introduced at the beginning basically did not get adressed until the very end...

Nowhere near as good as Trollope's other works, such as Barchester Towers.

Roger Ebert-Life, Itself: 7/10. Seems like less a biography than a collection of blogs with a bunch of stuff about his childhood. But he's still a fantastic author.

Really couldn't tell you what happened in each individual book specifically, as the whole thing has sort of melded together into one giant story, as do most 'series' I read. So it's hard to tell exactly where I've read certain story points. However, I'll give a general statement of each.

A Song of Ice and Fire

A Game of Thrones - 9/10
Really fucking good intro to the series. I'll say that I was somewhat spoiled by seeing the TV show first, but I picked this up after and was surprised how closely the show followed the book. Still, book was even better.

A Clash of Kings - 8/10
Really good build-up, not as good as the first book IMO, but carried the story on great. Still, most of the book seemed like a build-up to book 3. Not enough Daenerys, although there never seems to be enough of her in any of these books really. Jon Snow is a badass.

A Storm of Swords - 10/10
Third book of the series, and easily the best. One of the best fantasy fictions I've ever read. The build-up was never dull, and once the book hit its rhythm, I was on the edge of my seat. Or bed/pillow as it were. Lots of laugh out loud moments, most notably from Tyrion. Incredible book. Tyrion is genius in this book. His character is witty, clever, and is sick of being pushed around. Fantastic. You just can't help but be overjoyed when certain things happen.

A Feast for Crows - 7/10
Weakest book of the series, although it was still good. For those unaware, this book and the following are 'essentially' one book. They were going to be a single book, but the author decided it was too long and decided to split up the timeline a bit and divided characters/regions of the world between the two. This book gave a lot of insight into characters we hadn't really seen much before, and opened up new regions of the world to us. However, they weren't the characters that I'd already come to love, and so it was somewhat of a letdown. Still, lot of good storytelling. I only hesitate to give it a 6 due to the amount of a certain Lannister and how satisfying his portion of the book was. Really loved learning about his character and hearing his perspective. Also, a certain Stark character was great to read about. The part of this book I just didn't care about were the perspectives of the Iron Island characters. I just.. didn't care about them. There was too much of them in it for me to give the book an overall higher rating. We could have learned about them more indirectly and I would have been happier.

A Dance with Dragons - 7/10
Picked back up as it went back to the viewpoints of characters I loved. Still not enough Daenerys. Damn you George R.R. Martin! However, it was great seeing Tyrion again and the story set up the next fairly well and left me wanting more. The drama at the wall left me wondering where the next book is going to take us. There's just so many options that could happen.

Gorgeous George: The Outrageous Bad-Boy Wrestler Who Created American Pop Culture

9/10

Honestly, probably one of the best wrestling reads I've ever picked up. The book is SO much more than just a biography on GG - which is great in itself, because there is just so many fascinating details on his life and interesting insights from friends / family, etc. - it's really a time period piece that paints a vivid picture of the many amazing changes in our history throughout the decades that it takes place in.

Great book, with quotes and info. from John Waters, Bob Dylan, James Brown, Ali and many others - after reading this, it [his story] definitely deserves a Showtime / HBO mini-series of some nature.

Pulphead: Essays by John Jeremiah Sullivan

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

8.5-9/10

finished A Seperate Peace - 8/10

am now trying to read the huge gigantic Andy Warhol Diaries again

pretty good stuff so far

Something From the Nightside-Simon R Green

7.5/10

Gritty hardnosed detective novel full of horror and a bit of fantasy..

The Hobbit (for the tenth time)

10/10

Just getting pumped for the movie.. It's in my top 5 books of all time and is so much better than the LOTR or The Silmarillion..

Resolution-Robert B Parker

Not really into westerns but I picked this up at the library for $1.. It was Gritty, bloody, full of actions and all around badassedness.. Might read more westerns now..

8/10

Currently reading Magic Kingdom For Sale: SOLD!-Terry Brooks.. It is an amazing story of a lawyer who after his wife's death buys a Magic Kingdom only to find out it is in shambles and he is determined as the new king to restore the whole world..

Gonna def read more of this guy's books..

Oh I also read both Inkheart and the sequel Inkspell by Cornelia Funke.. Liked the sequel better but both are easy reads and any fantasy fan should enjoy them..

(even though they are kinda kids books :$)

The Noble Fool: The Hungering Saga. 2/10.

I might have given it a 1, but I didn't finish it. Here's a summary of the first fifth of the book:

Dude gets accosted by scary dude. Dude wakes up, nothing happens. Dude gets attacked, nothing happens. Dude wakes up in a hospital ward, nothing happens. Dude finds out he's been "chosen," exposition, nothing happens. Talk about training, nothing happens.

I tried to stick with it, hoping setup eventually gave way to something good, but no.

Other recent books:

The Academy: 6/10
The Anathema: 7/10

For the above, books of the Central series, take a shot every time there's a fair comparison to Harry Potter.

Mercury Falls: 10/10. Must read if you're a Doug Adams fan, or just like humour.
Mercury Rises: 9/10. A little bit of sequilitis, and a little less content than there could be, but almost as good as the first.

Is that the first book in the series? Simon Green's work was promoted in several books I've read.

I dunno.. That main character could have been a continuation but this was a self sustaining story..

I buy most of my books randomly at the library for $1 a piece..

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline-9/10. Adored it :heart:

Looks like it is. Most novels I read in series are self-contained anyways. Pisses people off if it doesn't work that way.

9/10

Any fan of fantasy should read this.. I'm gonna go get Sword of the Shannara cause it is the first book in a series that seemingly ran through his whole career..

Ran? He's done a Shannara book in the last year. :p

(My mom looooooves Terry Brooks so I grew up on his books)

I'm now reading a book call "Dark Place".. It is about a girl whose whole family is brutally murdered when she was like 7 in 1985.. Her and her 15 year old brother are the only surviors but she terstified that the brother (who had turned into a black hair metal Satan worshiper) did the murders.. She is now like 30, socially awkward, and never had a job.. She has lived off of the "fame" gained by the murders.. So this group of people in a "kill club", bunch of weirdos who investigate old murders and do cos play and shit, contact her.. In need of money she goes to their meeting but it is taking her back to her "Dark Place"..

Book is kinda cool cause every other chapter switching between today and 25 years ago around the time of the murders..

The $30 hard back copy was def worth the $1 I paid for it at the liberary..

The Hunger Games 8/10

Very exciting book. Very action packed.

Catching fire 8/10

The Mockingjay also 8/10

Despite my weird rating system I would rank them in order

Hunger Games
Catching Fire
The Mockingjay

The Mockingjay seemed to move slower then the previous 2.

The Road: 9/10

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter: 9.5/10

Not a classic novel by any means, but I loved it.

Didn't like the ending that much.

Re-read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in hopes of finishing the whole series, which will never happen..

10/10

I'm still reading that, bout made it to the middle so far in the series.

Those I've finished........

Stephen King's IT- 10/10 because its professionally written but also a horror story that really gets to ya. Movie definitely does do it justice.

Frank Herbert's Dune- 10/10 because it is to science fiction what LOTR is to fantasy

William S. Burroughs Naked Lunch- 9/10 because it is a disturbing art form of word usage that's too alluring to put down. Not for everybody, as most would probably not understand it, let alone stomach its coprophilic rapist junky nature. I fell in love with it!

Hunter Thompson's Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas- 9/10 because it's a road trip with Hunter Thompson for crying out loud!

Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness- 7/10 because it's a dark journey into African ivory trade. Not as good as the movie, Apocalypse Now, because Kurtz had too small a role in the book.

Cameron Pierce's Ass Goblins of Auschwitz- 4/10 because it's weird enough, definitely, but it's written more like an obscene junior novel.

currently reading the 48 laws of power. Its my 3rd time reading it so I'd say its a good book. scale 1 - 10 a 9 and 3/4

William Faulkner - As I Lay Dying 7/10

Moved on to John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath now.

Wanderlust - 8/10

First book I have read in a long ass time.

10/10: Game of Thrones Book I. I got the first four books paperback and might start book 2 eventually. They did a damn good job on the HBO series though and I might just skip to book 3 seeing how good they followed the events of book 1 in season 1.

2666 - 10/10

Same, hooked on the 2nd book now.

Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse 5 8/10

I quite enjoyed it; his style was easy to read. I will definitely read more of his work.

I'm also currently halfway through John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, which I have been slowly getting through since June. I am enjoying it, but I don't feel the drive to read it often.

hate that book

The Grapes of Wrath that is

Read Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut next , It's great!

Don't skip to Storm of Swords. There are a few differences between A Clash of Kings and season 2 of Game of Thrones, plus some events that occur in the book that have been pushed to season 3.

Why would you fucking skip a book in a series unless you are literally a complete dickhead?

Because book 1 matched season 1 pretty much identically, but I didn't end up skipping it.

Now I'm reading the author's edition of Stephen King's The Stand.. Like 400 extra pages of backstory and build up.. Bout 75% through itand it's fucking immense..

A Dance With Dragons 9/10

Did not realise this wasn't the last book in the series, just the last one written so far, a fucking cunt of an ending...absolutely gutted now, love the series so far though, just a twat at all the cliffhangers.

Just got Terry Brooks first series of books in the mail from Amazon..

Sword of Shannara
Elfstones of Shannara
Wishsong of Shannara

Got like 300 pages left in The Stand and I'll start on these..

The Girl Next Door-Jack Ketchum

Fucking brutal book that is somewhat based on the Sylivia Likens case. Was made into a good film a few years back.

Dune- N/a

Dropped it for now. Just too slow paced for my mood as of late. None of the characters seem particularly interesting. I'll give it another chance at a later time.

Was still in the mood for some Sci-fi though, so:

Star Wars Darth Bane: Path of Destruction- 8/10

When it comes to Star Wars, I've always felt that the one-shots and trilogies are the best offerings. Stuff like New Jedi Order and Legacy of the Jedi drags on too long, plus the constant shifting of authors, and subsequently the writing style, can be distracting, and take you out of the story.

This book is the first part of a trilogy. I'd always been intrigued by Darth Bane. You see his name mentioned here and there. Even in the Episode I novel, which means he's official canon. But this is the first time anyone has delved this deep into who he is.

The story tells Bane's origins, and how he became a sith lord and created the rule of two. Bane is a great character, and his transformation is well done. My only problem is that it's a tad too short. There are some other characters that I would have liked too see fleshed out a bit more, given a larger page count.

Overall I enjoyed it, and reccomend it to any star wars fans. Will be starting the second book soon.

Anyone read Nate Silvers new book?

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Native Speaker by Chang-Rae Lee

I liked the whole cultural assimilation thing and paying attention to language and stuff but the subplots about the guy's wife and stuff did not interest me much.

Universal Baseball Association, Inc - Post-modern novel about a guy who obsesses over a dice based fantasy baseball game he created. I found it thought provoking and sad and next to Pafko at the Wall this is the best merging of baseball and literature I've ever read.

Churchill: The Prophetic Statesman by James C. Humes. Rather than a biographical study, this book focuses on the prophetic writings and musings of Winston Churchill, who predicted nuclear bombs, aerial strikes, both World Wars, the Iron Curtain, and the ultimate demise of the USSR. A very novel concept, as well as a quick and gripping read rather than the dry biographical studies of one of Western civilizations most important figures.

Just out of curiosity, how many of you own or use an e-reading device?

I am behind the times and do not use a device, still just paper + ink.

Book of Sketches-Jack Kerouac

10

Kerouac has always been one of my favorite authors. The prose poetry he has in this book is just eye-opening. Great off-the-cuff observations mingled with philosophical musings.

Ike and Dick: A Strange Political Marriage. If you are a political junkie, as I am, this is a book for you. It covers Nixon and Eisenhowers relationship from the Pres/VP 1950's, Nixons Wilderness years and Eisenhowers retirement in the '60's as well as the marriage between Ike's grandson and Nixon's daughter. An awesome read covering the two political heavyweights of mid-century America and the men at the epicenter of the Republican split that lives on till this day (they were both fairly moderate). If politics are your thing, or even history, check it out. Well written and great stories, mostly from the mens' own words.

Books??? What a buncha dorks. Wait for the movie!

Supergods by Grant Morrison.

It's partially a history of comic books, partially Morrison's own personal autobiography, and partially his philosophy on life, the universe, and everything. And it's fucking fantastic.

I did a whole blog article about it here, if you're so inclined.

Isn't It Pretty to Think So? by Nick Miller

Dunno, kinda interesting story about the disconnection of my generation, but some of the prose is just goddamned awful. Overlong and meandering too.

6/10

Coolidge by Amity Schlaes. One of the most penetrating biographies of a US President in recent memory, that of the 30th President, Calvin Coolidge (1923-29). Shlaes utilizes turn of the century New England as the backdrop of Coolidges formative years and how the Progressive era of American politics formed his philosophical (and economical) foundations. If you are an avid student of history, especially that of the 20th century American variety, this one is for you. From Benjamin Harrison through the New Deal it describes and vividly illustrates the first man that made a true frontal assault upon the size of government and it's debt.

A Storm of Swords 10/10. Best of the three I've read so far. Don't know how GRRM can top it, so I will assume he probably won't. Going to take a break from the series so I don't way too far ahead of the tv series.

The Bourne Identity - 10/10

I finally got around to starting the books after seeing the movies so many times. I'm actually glad I saw the movies first because I would have been really disappointed in them I think.

Love the premise and really enjoyed how much more depth there was in the book, though I know I would have enjoyed it without seeing the movies first. Really liked how the characters were introduced and "fleshed out" over the course of the story. The flashbacks were great too, and easy enough to follow.

I'm into Supremacy now, about a third of the way through. Loving it.

Game of Thrones- 10/10

Fantastic. Deserves all the praise it gets. Don't think I've ever despised a fictional character as much as I do Joffery.

The books are amazing.

I googled Darth Bane.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bWfLtWa_i6...2Wallpaper.jpg
Looks like some random melted cheese and cones mash-up.

I a few hundred pages into Stephen Kings Under the Do,e but am discouraged that they are making it a network miniseries..

Gonna go pick up something horror or dark fantasy related.. Prolly At the Mountains of Madness because its a classic and ive never read it..

any suggestions

i want to read Game of Thrones cause ive never seen the show but dunno if i want to get into a series atm

The Game of Thrones books are a massive chunk of time, if you have any doubts about committing to a series leave them alone.

i will read them, just want something that wont "tie me down" atm

They're hard going at times as well, overall good but personally I think they're over-blown at times and a little 'worthy'. David Gemmill is better for me and if you want something as a one of type try Knights of Dark Renown which while being part of his Drenai setting is a stand alone novel, or if you want something deeper Stephen Donaldsons Thomas Covenant books are well worth a look, pluss they're set in sets of three which is more manageable time wise.