What Are You Reading Right Now? - Page 4

crackajack · 11-02-2010, 03:35 AM

Read Count Zero. The book was more suspenseful with its three at the beginning separate stories and more interesting more detailed characters than Neuromancer and some references to this first book. The 80s-vision of cyberspace and megacorps is again fascinating. I didn't like the somewhat again simple ending a lot, but i'm looking forward to read Mona Lisa Overdrive next though.

Cybrmynd · 11-03-2010, 06:00 AM

I tend to find it hard to read fiction books, so I mostly read non-fiction centered around my favorite topics, philosophy and science. I read a book named Supersense, a non-fiction book about the conceptual side of superstition, why people believe in it, with a hypothetical explanation, based around evolutionary psychology. Not always the greatest topic to suggest for a discussion, especially when you have friends or family members who don't agree with the premise of the subject or topic.

The truth is though, the book was a bit boring. The topic, ideas and concepts are intriguing, and they change how you think about the human mind. But it takes a long time to get the ideas across. Yep, but that's just me.

KittenMitton · 12-14-2010, 01:15 PM

The last book I read was Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Oh I want to finish Alice in Wonderland because it's the most wtf book ever =]

I know The Metamorphosis was mentioned; I'm taking a guess that it isn't The Metamorphoses, by Ovid. If so, sorry for being repetitive ._.; I get them confused. But yeah, amazing book if you like mythology!

Li-Ion · 12-26-2010, 09:02 AM

Last books I finished:

Bad Science - Ben Goldacre
Entertaining book about the often outright weird depiction of science and the scientiffic process in mainstream media.

Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
A sinister tale unfolding in Barcelona. Wonderful book and a love letter to literature.

Von Feuer und Dampf - Stefan Cernohuby
Collection of steampunk short stories, published by a friend of mine.

Now I'm halfway through Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

eaps · 12-27-2010, 02:44 PM

@Li-Ion, I loved Shadow of the Wind. I can't remember who in my family "discovered" the book. One hardback was shipped around the country multiple times. Right now I think it is with my best-friend-from-High-School's-Mom's-Cousin's-Friend. That copy has more frequent flyer miles than I do.

What I liked about it was that it came out of nowhere for us all. It must have been about 5 years ago and none of us had heard of it. We didn't talk about it, just passed it on with the note, "read this now." So far it has 100% approval rating.

I just finished The Passage and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

The Passage was very enjoyable and I tore through it very fast.

Abraham Lincoln felt a bit too clever for itself. It didn't have the weird charm of Pride & Prejudice & Zombies.

I'm now on "The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest." I'm excited to see how this arc of the story ends.

Codysseus · 01-26-2011, 10:16 AM

Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism" is really eye-opening. She compares the kind of economic policy overhauls that the US forces on devastated people's to elecro-shock therapy. It's incredibly convincing, well-researched, and ultimately a downer. Check it out!

william12dalie · 03-14-2011, 01:40 AM

Reading Shadow of the Wind. Found quite interesting.

Li-Ion · 03-20-2011, 06:59 AM

Finished Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. Central themes are loss and the futile search for what is lost. The protagonist is a drama student in Tokyo of the 1960ies. Includes a lot of sex, suicides, student protests and drinking in bars. Great book! Made me listen to a lot of 60ies music lately.

Now reading (and almost done with) Time's Arrow by Martin Amis. If you're one of those people who say the Dead Island-trailer blew your mind, better don't read this book because then your whole body would just explode. It tells the life of a war criminal backwards, starting from his death. Relationships start with a fight and turn into romance. Blows heal people after Doctors scar them. Cabs pay money upfront to bring people where they don't want to be.

Li-Ion · 03-27-2011, 03:49 PM

Finally finished Crime and Punishment. I read no less than 7 other books while working my way through this one...

RandomRob · 03-27-2011, 08:56 PM

Pedro · 03-29-2011, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Li-Ion

Now reading (and almost done with) Time's Arrow by Martin Amis.

I enjoyed this book; if you want something different and funny you should check out Lucky Jim, by his father Kingsley. It's completely different, but I think a few people here would enjoy it.

Haven given up all literature forever, I am reading the 4th book of the Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan - Shadow Rising. I have to say that every character bar two has turned into an unlikeable whingebag at this point in the series, and I don't know if I'll continue. At the same time I am kinda impressed.

Quote:

Finally finished Crime and Punishment.

Uuurgh. I found this in no way enjoyable to read. It made me feel like a murderer myself.

Li-Ion · 05-02-2011, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pedro

I enjoyed this book; if you want something different and funny you should check out Lucky Jim, by his father Kingsley. It's completely different, but I think a few people here would enjoy it.

Too bad I read that just now, last week I was looking for a book to add at amazon to get over the threshold for free shipping. I will check it out once I finished Hard Boiled Wonderland And The End Of The World - yet another Murakami I'm reading - and Consider Phlebas by Iain (M.

) Banks.

Quote:

Uuurgh. I found this in no way enjoyable to read. It made me feel like a murderer myself.

I don't think Crime & Punishment is a book that is supposed to be enjoyed. However, I enjoyed it more than Dragon Age Origins (hehe). But I won't read anything else from Fyodor for a while. I'm considering reading Gogol's Dead Souls.

Pedro · 05-02-2011, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Li-Ion

I don't think Crime & Punishment is a book that is supposed to be enjoyed.

That's true. Come to think of it, the sense of creeping dread that you experience at times in Demon's Souls isn't far off the Crime and Punishment experience. That'd be a good tagline (not):

Demon's Souls - not unlike reading Crime and Punishment.

I'm reading Before they are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie. It's part II of a trilogy and is very entertaining.

awesome6 · 05-27-2011, 02:35 AM

Currently i am into Five point someone from Chetan Bhagat. This is the award winning novel. It is a very beautiful story on the college life. You can't take our time out to something else, when your are reading this.

Li-Ion · 06-12-2011, 08:40 AM

Since I'm having a week off I found myself reading again:

Der schwarze Obelisk (the black obelisk) by Erich Maria Remarque
A book about a generation that lost it's youth to the great war, has to deal with hyper-inflation and get's prepared for the next war by the rising nationalists under Adolf Hitler. Remarques earlier books (like "Im Westen nichts neues" - "All quiet on the western front") have been burned by the Nazis in 1933 for being unpatriotic, harmful and unwanted. Der schwarze Obelisk is an extraordinary book. Tragic yet hilariously funny, intelligent and critical, cynical and optimistic at times. Best book I read in years.

Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman by Richard Feynman
Episodes of the life of Richard Feynman. Gives interesting insights in the character of the physicist. Good read.

This Gaming Life by Jim Rossignol
A tale of three cities. Jim Rossignol travels from London to Seoul and Reykjavik and meets people who love games. Specifically Quake, Starcraft and Eve Online. It is not specifically aimed at gamers, but at people who know some and wonder what they are so fascinated about. A book to recommend to someone you struggle to bring across what gaming can be all about.