What are you reading right now?

[zippypinhead]

Most of my light reading is done electronically these days. I have a small stack of favorite classics, and piles of art books and graphic novels I will never get rid of. I look at them all the time, and they bring me great joy. But I think those are the sorts of books that one is meant to keep.

 

[nekogasuki]

I'm a total book hoarder, but I'm trying to get better. I culled about half of my personal library a few months ago and took the ones I didn't plan on re-reading to Goodwill. I second keeping graphic novels! They're too expensive to read once and pass along I'm currently re-reading Transmetropolitan. Forgot how much I like it >_<

 

[VeronicaChaos]

I'm a total book hoarder, but I'm trying to get better. I culled about half of my personal library a few months ago and took the ones I didn't plan on re-reading to Goodwill. I second keeping graphic novels! They're too expensive to read once and pass along I'm currently re-reading Transmetropolitan. Forgot how much I like it >_<

Transmetropolitan is the best! I'm sort of in love with Spider Jerusulem.

I'm STILL reading The Count of Monte Cristo. I tend to read in phases and this is the longest book I've ever read in my life (1300 pages lol). It's so good though.

 

[Johndoe91]

Currently reading 1984, some would say that its a fitting one to read right now.
I must not be to the good part yet, because so far its a bit of a snore...

 

[DFT]

I only read on pulp. Suppose I'll be the next sort of old guy vinyl hipster for reading on paper, but it's not that. If read on a screen when I look up I'm blind. Eyes are locked into the focal distance of the screen, it hurts and takes many minutes to be able to focus any other distance again. Asked friends older than me, they don't have that prob. Guess me, and a dozen other people hold the screen such. So while I've bought a number of titles on Kindle, I've never finished one.

Anyone can borrow my books. Please don't bring them back, I could use the space.

 

[Alice_Biscuit]

I'm currently reading everything Robin Hobb has ever written. As a writer she just does it for me.

I' recommend starting with the Farseer Trilogy- 'The Assassin's Apprentice'. SO. GOOD.

 

[JerryBoBerry]

In the same thread--do you guys keep the books you have read, or do you pass them on?

I 'use' to keep every book I bought. But I transitioned heavily into ebooks and I got really tired of moving around 5000 books. So I've donated most of them to local libraries in smaller communities where they could use them. Now I only keep a few shelves of the more valuable ones.

5000 paper books...around 70 boxes. 150,000 ebooks...sdhc card the size of my pinkie nail. Yeah, I'm never going back.

 

[Gen]

I love this thread, it deserves a necro

Recently finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I wasn't too sure what to expect or even what it was about, so it was an interesting one to go into blind. The writing was definitely beautiful.

Currently reading a collection of short stories called I Am an Executioner: Love Stories. It's not much usual kind of book (and it's definitely not classic love stories), but I'm enjoying it. I love short stories.

What are you guys reading now?

 

[JGenius]

Actually, Ayn Rand Atlas Shrugged. Before I read another book by her "The Fountainhead"

 

[ExcellaExe]

American Gods! I fucking love Neil Gaiman.

 

[Dan Epstein]

My favorite Neil Gaiman is Marvel 1602
I'm getting used to reading on a tablet, because moving apartments with so many books is a hassle.
Currently reading "The Tailor of Panama" by John Le Care, I'm not an espionage fan, but damn, his character studies are good.

 

[_caesar_]

This is what i'm reading this week, i'm in love with World of warcraft lore, i'm a freak? lol

 

[n_i_c_u]

Recently finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I wasn't too sure what to expect or even what it was about, so it was an interesting one to go into blind. The writing was definitely beautiful.

Holy CRAP! WOW (sorry for the surprise but I like this guy and don't remember seeing him mentioned here)! Agree about his writing style. It is unique and doesn't seem to adhere to MLA rules. If there ever was a current writer that uses the written/typed word as an art form, it is Mr. McCarthy. If I can suggest one thing: watch "No Country for Old Men" by the Coen brothers and THEN read the Book by Cormac McCarthy. I loved having the visuals from the movie in my brain while I read the book.

 

[n_i_c_u]

(opps, sorry to say MLA. For some reason I thought they were the English language experts with little rigidity--not sure why I thought that and I will look into it. I would have edited to add: I guess Mr. McCarthy, doesn't adhere to normal standards of writing.)

 

[DFT]

An unfinished collaborative story by John Ringo and David Webber. Love their sci-fi story telling independently, curious to see them mix like Niven and Pournelle a generation before.

 

[NatalieP]

I too read on an e-book - just don't have space for paper books anymore - the only paper books I get are for the baby I often miss the smell of fresh print though, but my pocketbook has a dissolved "Pearl" backlight so I can read in the dark, which is kind of a deciding factor for me since all the reading I do is next to a sleeping child.

I'm a dork in terms of books scifi, fantasy - bring all of that on!

Right now, I'm halfway through the 40-book Terry Pratchett Discworld series and so fed up with it (it's good - jolly would be the best word for it and easy on the brain cells, while not being too dumbed down, but 20 books is a bit much) that I'm ready to put it down for some time and read something else. I never really break reading order on series unless I'm ready to give it up and it totally sucks, but in this case I just can't take another Discworld book.

I've already got the new Potter book (yes, I mentioned I was a dork ) and also a series I got recommended in a similar thread on another forum - called The Dresden Files https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dresden_Files for my time off from Terry.

Of the past 5 years of reading, if I had to recommend just 1 thing to someone, it would without a doubt be Vorkosigan Saga: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorkosigan_Saga - probably the one series I wish I could unread and read again. (Re-reading is not the same). But beware, it's addictive. To the point where you'll miss cam time, chores and even social outings because you're on a very interesting spot... which is pretty much any spot in every book past the first 50 pages that get you sucked in. I don't think GOT books sucked me in as much, and those were pretty addictive too. I read the dozen+ books in less than 2 months just because I couldn't stop reading... sleep deprivation - the whole 9 yards. Definitely a great mix of thought, humor, interesting plot and incredibly lovable characters.

 

[NatalieP]

American Gods! I fucking love Neil Gaiman.

God yes! And if you haven't yet, read Good Omens... it's super good too!

 

[NatalieP]

I'm currently reading everything Robin Hobb has ever written. As a writer she just does it for me.

I' recommend starting with the Farseer Trilogy- 'The Assassin's Apprentice'. SO. GOOD.

This looks really promising... any more "insider" info would be great. I.e. who'd like these and what you like about them. Looks like something I'd love too. I guess I'll go read the wikipedia on it but I'm afraid of spoilers there

 

[Dan Epstein]

When I commute, I like reading this book, Moscow Petushki, or Moscow to The End of The Line" by Venedict Yerofeyev. One of the funniest books ever, which is why I can read it more than once.
I wish I could read the original in Russian one day.
.

 

[Deleted member 37064]

I'm reading Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow because I like the musical, haha. I'm really enjoying it but I've been reading it for ages because I keep pausing to read other things.

One of the many books I have yet to read, sittin on my bookcase...

yeah if anyone wants free classics like wuthering heights or robinson crusoe or just about anything classic these are totally free on ibooks - all u need is iphone or ipad or apple computer download the app and browse -amazing collection they have!

They are also available via Kindle, and other apps too.

In the same thread--do you guys keep the books you have read, or do you pass them on?

It depends upon the books. Some, I'll keep to read again. Others, gladly donate to charity. But, lately, I have been picking up more books via Kindle because they are free, low cost, etc and don't take any physical space. I will tend to read a couple of chapters while standing in a line, or read while on a plane in one of the few trips I take each year. Less to carry, as all I travel with now is my cell phone and tablet.



For myself, I'm mostly reading study material related to my work, as I am working on career advancement. So, don't get a chance to read too much for entertainment of late.

Like many, I read a broad spectrum of topics. Non-Fiction such as history, tech manuals, various other things. Fiction is a mix of sword/sorcery, historical fiction, and military type books. Not overly big into SciFi novels anymore.

For anyone looking for a series of books to read, I highly recommend looking into "The Eternal Champion" multiverse by Michael Moorcock. It is a massive collection of book series about characters such as Erekose, Elric of Melnibone, Count Brass, Prince Corum, Jerry Cornelius, etc. Well over 75 novels.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Champion

While you can start with basically any character, since they can be standalone series. I would recommend starting with this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Eternal-Champion-Sequence/dp/1783291613

Over the years, I've had nearly all of his books at one time or another. But, I am slowly converting to ebook format.


Some of my favourite books over the years have been:

Dragonlance (The first two series, the rest kind of sucked, IMO)
Star Wars (Ep IV-VI)
Star Wars Thrawn trilogy
Hobbit/ LotR
Shanara
"Thieve's World"
"Without Remorse" - Tom Clancy
"Hunt for Red October" - Tom Clancy
"Flawed Dog" - Berkeley Breathed (of Bloom County and Opus fame)

My favourite childhood book is "Ferdinand" by Munro Leaf. I read it at least twice a year, and still have the book my grandmother gave me when I was 18 months old. It's turned into kind of a right of passage for me, in that I will give people I know with children about that age a new copy of the book as a gift.

 

[ExcellaExe]

God yes! And if you haven't yet, read Good Omens... it's super good too!

That's the book that introduced me to Neil and Terry Pratchett; now, I love them both! Good Omens is honestly one of my favorite books of all time. I got my copy from a friend who has really bad dyslexia and couldn't read it, even though he really wanted to, so in exchange I gifted him the audiobook version, seemed only fair since I ended up enjoying it so much.

 

[MemberBlasts]

Re-reading the entire Robots and Foundation series by Isaac Asimov. Like to do that every few years.

 

[NatalieP]

Re-reading the entire Robots and Foundation series by Isaac Asimov. Like to do that every few years.

omg the dorks have invaded right after my post lol
Love Asimov, his Foundation series is probably on my top 10 most favorite series lists of all times. Great stuff!

That's the book that introduced me to Neil and Terry Pratchett; now, I love them both! Good Omens is honestly one of my favorite books of all time. I got my copy from a friend who has really bad dyslexia and couldn't read it, even though he really wanted to, so in exchange I gifted him the audiobook version, seemed only fair since I ended up enjoying it so much.

Same here - my first book by both and caused me to read both of them! There's something special about books written by 2 authors in co-op. Really boost the humor - either because there's competition between the authors on who can do it better or because they're bouncing ideas off one another.
Very nice of you to help a friend like that.

When I commute, I like reading this book, Moscow Petushki, or Moscow to The End of The Line" by Venedict Yerofeyev. One of the funniest books ever, which is why I can read it more than once.
I wish I could read the original in Russian one day.
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I read it in original. They basically made me at school. It took away a lot of the fun, but re-reading now made me understand how funny it was.

 

[Terra Storm]

I am reading The Witcher series. It's fantastic!

 

[NatalieP]

I'm heavily tempted to start those after finishing the Witcher game on PS4. What I heard makes me reluctant though... that the guys who took up the theme asked the author for help in drafting it and he just took the money for royalties and told them to f off. That might be a good thing though since as far as the plot the game is only very vaguely a spoiler of the books.

 

[IsabellaSnow]

I'm currently reading everything Robin Hobb has ever written. As a writer she just does it for me.

I' recommend starting with the Farseer Trilogy- 'The Assassin's Apprentice'. SO. GOOD.

I've just started with this book, I am still not that far in but I am enjoying her writing style.

Recently I read the Garth Nix series starting with Sabriel which is pretty good. It's the kind of series that could be read by young adults or adults, has good storylines and good characters.
I love fantasy fiction, though I am pretty picky about what I read. I like a mixture of strong female and male leads, not too "for men" or "for women".

 

[AlexaCrush]

Right now I'm reading two books. War of the Worlds which I'm almost done with, and Women in Buddhism which I've been slowly chipping away at for a few months. I have a bad habit of buying books like crazy when I find them at thrift stores and places for cheap so I have what is probably an entire bookcase of books I haven't read yet. I'm trying to power through them so don't feel so bad whenever I think about how much I've spent on unread books hahaha.

 

[Dan Epstein]

There's one book that always cheers me up, and one of the only books I could read more than once, it's "The Periodic Table" by Primo Levi. Each small chapter is a short story around one periodic element until reaching carbon at the end of the book.

 

[Sav1996]

Reading A Handmaid's Tale by Atwood currently, but my favorite book is Memiors of a Geisha.

I lend a lot of books out that I never get back, but if I'm buying a physical book and not an E book it's usually because something about that book causes me to want to have a physical copy of it.

 

[Dan Epstein]

Reading A Handmaid's Tale by Atwood currently, but my favorite book is Memiors of a Geisha.

I lend a lot of books out that I never get back, but if I'm buying a physical book and not an E book it's usually because something about that book causes me to want to have a physical copy of it.

Margaret Atwood is a great author. If you wish to read another Canadian humble low key masterpiece, I definitely recommend "Obasan" by Joy Kogawa.