# book club



## FishCharming (Apr 8, 2010)

so, what's everyone reading?

i realize that in this day and age that's kind of like asking what type of buggy people hitch their horses to, but i figured that since most of us are avid indoorsmen there's a better than average chance that there's a significant number of readers among us. 

i'm currently reading one of the later books of the Dresden Files series by jim butcher. not exactly an exemplary work of literature but it's an entertaining read and part of quite the sizable series...

what about you?


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## Zowie (Apr 8, 2010)

Hurrah, a book thread! I'll get my extra thick glasses.

I'm currently reading Alice in Wonderland for my english class (it's children's literature. Doesn't that sound like the best class ever?! NO. The teacher speaks in a monotone and is having a mental love affair with Locke.)
But yeah. On my own, I recently finished "After the Flood" by Margaret Atwood. It was somewhat lame, but it's the sequel to "Oryx and Crake", which I looooooved. 
Also, I re-read "Ender's game" by Orson Scott Card, that was very good too.


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## ogie (Apr 8, 2010)

right now i'm reading Why Does E=mc2?: (and Why Should We Care?) by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw. And i just finished a great book about George Washington called His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis. It got alot into how he wanted the US to be a neutral country and not get pulled into the conflicts of the old world and his disdain for the idea of a party based government. Great read.


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## NYC_FFA (Apr 8, 2010)

I just finished "The Wordy Shipmates" by Sarah Vowell, and I am currently working on "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell." Huge change from non-fiction about the puritans to war and magicians in Europe.


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## Hozay J Garseeya (Apr 8, 2010)

I'm currently reading, "Food Rules" by Michael Pollan.

He's written several books on food science and the subject of food. 

It's very interesting.


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## Esther (Apr 9, 2010)

bionic_eggplant said:


> Hurrah, a book thread! I'll get my extra thick glasses.
> 
> I'm currently reading Alice in Wonderland for my english class (it's children's literature. Doesn't that sound like the best class ever?! NO. The teacher speaks in a monotone and is having a mental love affair with Locke.)
> But yeah. On my own, I recently finished "After the Flood" by Margaret Atwood. It was somewhat lame, but it's the sequel to "Oryx and Crake", which I looooooved.
> Also, I re-read "Ender's game" by Orson Scott Card, that was very good too.



Man! I think we're literature soulmates. I totally took two different children's literature classes, but my professor was amazing and she made it a lot of fun.
I'm just wrapping up 'After the Flood' as well. I didn't like it as much as I liked Oryx and Crake either... it disappointed me. ALSO, Ender's game used to be one of my favourite books... but ever since I found out that Orson Scott Card has some pretty hateful things to say about homosexuals, I can't bring myself to read his stuff.


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## pdgujer148 (Apr 9, 2010)

I'm going through an anthology of Phillip K. Dick's later novels.

So far I've read "A Maze of Death" - Minor, but entertaining. "Valis" - It is neither as difficult or esoteric as people seem to think. Sure, it is a constant barrage of esoteric thought, madness, and unreliable narration, but once to stop trying to figure out all the religious who-ha (there is no point - the narrator and his split personality are both insane)you realize that it is a darkly comic rumination on the cosmic unfairness of death and loss. "Just started "The Divine Invasion" - So far, so good. Seems like this one is going to flip Valis on its ear.


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## WillSpark (Apr 9, 2010)

I recently read a book that was one of those high school award books. "Unwind"

It was very interesting. Dicussed some very current topics. It was doign very well because it never formed an opinion and left ou guessing about certain points. It was a great book because it wouldn't tell you, and then at the end it told you, as if the author could not finish without forming an opinion.

Meanwhile, I'm currently reading Frankenstein again, because it's just a fantastic book.


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## Zowie (Apr 9, 2010)

Esther said:


> Man! I think we're literature soulmates. I totally took two different children's literature classes, but my professor was amazing and she made it a lot of fun.
> I'm just wrapping up 'After the Flood' as well. I didn't like it as much as I liked Oryx and Crake either... it disappointed me. ALSO, Ender's game used to be one of my favourite books... but ever since I found out that Orson Scott Card has some pretty hateful things to say about homosexuals, I can't bring myself to read his stuff.


Talk about ruining the author for me, I'd never seen that. BEH. Well, seperate the art from the artist, as they say.
I took a Fairy Tale class last year which was BRILLIANT. I think, hands down, that teacher was my favourite of all time.
Did you read any of the others? Speaker for the Dead and such?


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## FishCharming (Apr 9, 2010)

I used to have a job that required me to drive around the desert for days on end with no radio so i joined up with a Talking Book World (like Blockbuster for Audiobooks) and I listened to Oryx and Crake. i don't really remember it much though. but i've always kind of loved children's books, especially neil gaimen's. In fact, up until a week before my daughter was born she was going to be named Coraline, lol. 

But if you want a maddeningly baffling book you should give House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski a shot. Very Lovecraftian horror that twists your ideas about sanity around.


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## HDANGEL15 (Apr 9, 2010)

Hozay J Garseeya said:


> I'm currently reading, "Food Rules" by Michael Pollan.
> 
> He's written several books on food science and the subject of food.
> 
> It's very interesting.



*Michael Pollan is amazing...he was on the show with Oprah and Alicia Silverstone, that got me to read *THE KIND DIET* and led me into the VEGAN diet I having been doing for the last 2 months. His insights into what we really eat are kinda shocking....*


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## Twilley (Apr 9, 2010)

Lately I've been trying to pick back up on the classics, all of those books you feel like you're supposed to have read but somehow haven't...I think the last book I read was _The Sirens of Titan_ by Kurt Vonnegut, but that was a few months back. Being so busy with classes, it's hard to find the time to read independently...


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## RVGleason (Apr 9, 2010)

I'm reading 'Me, The Mob and The Music' by Tommy James, which chronicles his music career and how involved the Mob were in it, especially the infamous Morris Levy. Tommy James is trying to parlay his book into either a Broadway show similar to 'Jersey Boys' or a movie. In the TV series 'The Sopranos', one of the Mob characters is a Record Industry executive who is modeled after Morris Levy.


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## Esther (Apr 9, 2010)

bionic_eggplant said:


> Talk about ruining the author for me, I'd never seen that. BEH. Well, seperate the art from the artist, as they say.
> I took a Fairy Tale class last year which was BRILLIANT. I think, hands down, that teacher was my favourite of all time.
> Did you read any of the others? Speaker for the Dead and such?



Man! If there had been a classic fairy tale class at my school I definitely would have taken it... sounds awesome! We had a class that looked at feminist re-tellings of fairy tales (Angela Carter and such)... it was interesting, but a bit heavy. It would have been nice to just look at the originals.
Ender's Game was the only one I read... were the others any good? The only other Orson Scott Card novel I read wasn't part of that series... one of his more recent ones, "Enchantment". I thought it was pretty delightful though. I found out about his vicious homophobia shortly afterward so that was the last of his stuff I picked up.


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## Durin (Apr 9, 2010)

What a timely tread I am also reading Changes by Jim Butcher like the OP. I am also reading the third book in the Shadowmarch trilogy I think it's called Shadowrise.

It is very good but everything gets put on hold until I finish Changes.


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## orinoco (Apr 9, 2010)

a latecomer i know but i'm finally getting round to reading my stieg larsson books, currently halfway through "the girl who played with fire" and enjoying it immensely


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## xxeell (Apr 10, 2010)

I just finished "The Fat Boy Chronicles" by Lang Bachugan. I loved it!


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## lovelocs (Apr 10, 2010)

I just finished "Wasted" by Marya Hornbacher. Interesting book about the psychology of eating disorders. For me, it was about as alien as the psychology of an abusive relationship. "Why doesn't s/he just eat?" is as useless a question as "why doesn't s/he just leave?" Either you know or you don't.


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## StarWitness (Apr 11, 2010)

_Diary of a Bad Year_ by JM Coetzee. And whenever I see the cover of the book, I think "Coetzee? More like JM Goatse!" and I giggle. Because I am a grownup.


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## MasterShake (Apr 11, 2010)

Just finished reading _A Thousand Sons_, a pulpy sci fi "novel" for a game I play (Warhammer 40,000). /guilty guilty pleasure

Thinking about rereading Mann's _Magic Mountain_ or anything by Stefan Zweig, who is my favorite author and makes me wish I was literate in German. _Beware of Pity_ is one of my all-time favorite novels, and I really wish I lived in the world he describes in _The World of Yesterday_.


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## Bearsy (Apr 12, 2010)

_The Gods Themselves_ - Isaac Asimov
_I, Robot_ - Isaac Asimov
_Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency_ - Douglas Adams
_God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (or Pearls Before Swine)_ - Kurt Vonnegut
_Breakfast of Champions_ - Kurt Vonnegut

I spread myself rather thin when I read... I find it difficult to focus on just one book at a time.


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## chicken legs (Apr 12, 2010)

I'm reading books on potty training, children's tales, erotica and health.

My Big Boy Potty...by Joanna Cole 
I caught my son reading (looking at the pictures) by himself....toooo cute:happy:

Potty Train Your Child In Just One Day ...by Teri Crane
Lots of good tips

Mom's Book...published by Parragon Publishing (lots of folks involved)
Great book filled with stories, nursery rhymes, poetry, and activities

Bedtime, Playtime...a multi-author book by Ellora's Cave
Three erotic stories...only read part of one so far.

Healthy Woman...by Prevention
Lots of healthy tips.


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## Nutty (Apr 12, 2010)

re-reading Don Quixote


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## pdgujer148 (Apr 12, 2010)

Nutty said:


> re-reading Don Quixote



REP!

I've been putting off the Edith Grossman translation for awhile now. I feel kind of guilty that I read Stephen King's 1074 page "Under the Dome" and skipped over this mega-lauded 900-ish page translation of Part I and II. I've only read part I and that is a shame. 

Time to get to work and read the genesis of the modern novel.


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## Nutty (Apr 12, 2010)

pdgujer148 said:


> REP!
> 
> I've been putting off the Edith Grossman translation for awhile now. I feel kind of guilty that I read Stephen King's 1074 page "Under the Dome" and skipped over this mega-lauded 900-ish page translation of Part I and II. I've only read part I and that is a shame.
> 
> Time to get to work and read the genesis of the modern novel.



Nice! And if you really enjoy Don Quixote, i recomend A Confederacy of Dunces. It is a hilarious modern day Don Quixote and it won a pulitzer prize.


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## pdgujer148 (Apr 12, 2010)

Nutty said:


> Nice! And if you really enjoy Don Quixote, i recomend A Confederacy of Dunces. It is a hilarious modern day Don Quixote and it won a pulitzer prize.



I've read "Confederacy of Dunces" about a half-dozen times now. In my top-ten all-time favorites.


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## Nutty (Apr 12, 2010)

same here. Ignatious is on my top 5 character list.


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## TheMildlyStrangeone (Apr 12, 2010)

NYC_FFA said:


> I just finished "The Wordy Shipmates" by Sarah Vowell



Interesting read


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## TheMildlyStrangeone (Apr 12, 2010)

Personally I always get bogged down reading multiple books at a time. Thus I always find it an adventure to actually read them to completion in a short amount time. 

Read These Recently and Enjoyed them: 
Eating the Dinosaur-Chuck Klosterman-
The Genius Factory:The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank-David Plotz
Bonk-Mary Roach


Currently Reading-

Voodoo History:The Role of Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History-David Aaronovitch


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## deanbpm (Apr 12, 2010)

A Red Death- Walter Mosley

Faust- Goethe


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## FishCharming (Apr 12, 2010)

Bearsy said:


> _The Gods Themselves_ - Isaac Asimov
> _I, Robot_ - Isaac Asimov
> _Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency_ - Douglas Adams
> _God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (or Pearls Before Swine)_ - Kurt Vonnegut
> ...



Dirk Gently's and Long Dark Teatime of the Soul FTW! if you enjoyed those i'd recommend Tom Holt's Portable Door series (kinda). It has a very Douglas Adams sense of humor but with more of a modern fantasy feel.


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## SanDiega (Apr 12, 2010)

reading a A Clas of Kings by George RR Martin. It's the second book in an epic fantasy series. I love reading but I never thought I could get into fantasy until my boyfriend turned me on to it


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## HDANGEL15 (Apr 13, 2010)

*I just finished LITTLE BIRD OF HEAVEN, Joyce Carol Oates, this woman writes so many dark books, but I love reading them.

Then for a quick read, did SWIMSUIT, James Patterson. I haven't read anything by him in a while, as I was sick of Alex Cross series. I just realized he has a ton of other books, and written with various authors.

Also enjoy Jodi Picoult, last read HANDLE WITH CARE*


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## TheMildlyStrangeone (Apr 13, 2010)

HDANGEL15 said:


> *I just finished LITTLE BIRD OF HEAVEN, Joyce Carol Oates, this woman writes so many dark books, but I love reading them.
> 
> *


*



Not familiar with her writing but Jason Reitman (Up In the Air, Thank You for Smoking)is adapting this one for his next film. *


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## Tad (Apr 26, 2010)

I :wubu: books, but somehow I missed this thread until now.

I just started re-reading Lois McMaster Bujold's "Vorkosigan" saga (this time in the right order!). I really love her writing, so this is a bit of a treat. I do need to go and find some new authors to read, though. I kind of handicap myself in finding good writers because I mostly read 'genre' stuff (fantasy, science fiction, some mystery), which is not always a hot-bed of good writing.

re: Children's Literature course in university: I took one of those, and really enjoyed it. But I think it was good that after the first class I switched from the session during the day to the session in the evening. The day class seemed to be full of very serious and sober undergrad students, while the evening session was half older folk taking the course for their own interest (mostly teachers and parents), and that helped give a lot more varied perspectives as well as more focus on content and less on marks. Flip side was I realized just how common it was for classic children's books to have a plot that essentially reads "child is different, sees self as outsider and rebel. Child clashes with others to general frustration and agony. Child bends somewhat, and gets accepted by the mainstream, and is then truly happy." I found that rather disturbing.


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## Bearsy (Apr 26, 2010)

Reading Stephen King's _The Gunslinger_ now


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## Ninja Glutton (Apr 26, 2010)

Finally getting around to reading "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers. It's lovely albeit depressing.


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## Hozay J Garseeya (Apr 26, 2010)

Someone super amazing talked me into reading "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," so I just started, only about a chapter in, but I've had a few laughs already.


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## pdgujer148 (Apr 27, 2010)

I'm reading a twisted Southern-Gothic, Science Fiction, Mystery novel called "The Devil's Alphabet"

The basic premise: A small southern town is mysteriously afflicted with a disease that is latter dubbed Transcription Divergence Syndrome. TDS alters the genetic makeup of its victims and the two splits into for distinct races.

Argos: Pale long faced giants (8 feet or more)
Betas: Hairless, featureless, wine-skinned.
Charlies: Extremely obese, the elderly males excrete a hallucinogen from boils on their skin. This substance "the vintage" is a aphrodisiac for female charlies.

The main character, Pax, was unaffected by TDS and can pass for normal. At his father's insistence he fled the town an moved to Chicago. Now, fifteen years later he has returned how to pay respects after the suicide of one of his close childhood friends.

Well, the suicide isn't a suicide. The town's mayor is up to something fishy with Charlie vintage. Pax's father is in ill health, the various factions are infighting.

The book is original, funny, grotesque, and weirdly touching.


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## gobettiepurple (Apr 28, 2010)

* I absolutely love books . . . so I love this thread!

I am currently reading several books:

~War and Peace [because I am unemployed and I want to say to people in the future that I have read it!]

~Lord of the Rings: Two Towers [shocking to myself that I have never read it]

~Dante's Inferno [One of my favorite books of all time!]

I have others on the back burner, but those are the main ones. 

Next I want to read the Eat, Pray, Love novel by Elizabeth Gilbert because someone I trust told me I would like it.*


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## Zowie (Apr 28, 2010)

gobettiepurple said:


> *
> ~Dante's Inferno [One of my favorite books of all time!]
> 
> *



Agreed, an awesome book, but a bit of a hard read, the mind tends to wander, and you end up realize you haven't retained the last two pages you just read.


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## gobettiepurple (Apr 28, 2010)

*So i actually had to read parts of it in Latin . . . lol! I don't know, I always loved the rings of hell, like how fitting their punishments were, like the guy who was a "sower of schisms" who had to eternally carry his head around because his body became a schism.

Great stuff! Thats why I always have several books going, because I get in different moods and funks!*


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## blackcaesarbhm (Apr 29, 2010)

I'm currently reading Lies And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right by Senator Al Franken...


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## Geodetic_Effect (Apr 29, 2010)

I don't read fiction. Here's a basic list of some books I like.

Tao Te Ching by Laozi, A Brief History Of Time by Stephen Hawking; Common Sense by Thomas Paine, Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul, Economics In One Lesson: The Shortest And Surest Way To Understand Basic Economics by Henry Hazlitt, Crash Proof: How To Profit From The Coming Economic Collapse by Peter Schiff, The Creature From Jekyll Island: A Second Look At The Federal Reserve by G. Edward Griffin, Human Action: A Treatise On Economics by Ludwig Von Mises, The Constitutional Thought Of Thomas Jefferson by David N. Mayer, Drug Crazy: How We Got Into This Mess And How We Can Get Out by Mike Gray, The Underground History Of American Education by John Taylor Gatto, The Art Of War by Sun Tzu, The Book Of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi, The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli, Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe, Science And Practice Of Strength Training by V.M. Zatsiorsky; Twisted Conditioning by Bud Jeffries; Tao of Jeet Kune Do by Bruce Lee


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## NYC_FFA (May 1, 2010)

Ninja Glutton said:


> Finally getting around to reading "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers. It's lovely albeit depressing.



Great book. Check out the film "Away We Go." It was also written by Dave Eggers with his wife Vendela Vida. Also, if you read "A Heartbreaking Work..." and then watch "Where the Wild Things Are" (which Eggers co-wrote), you will see just how much his life experiences have influenced his writing.


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## pdgujer148 (May 2, 2010)

Currently reading "Vile Bodies" by Evelyn Waugh. 

Waugh was an incredible stylist and satirist. In general, "Vile Bodies" seems to be about the last gasp of the Edwardian class system. If that sounds a bit stiff and dry to you trust me when I say that so far Waugh's take on the subject could easily be used to analyze the difference between Conrad and Paris Hilton.

If you haven't read Waugh before, a good place to start is "The Loved One". It is a quick read, and is one of the savagest satires every written.


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## FishCharming (May 5, 2010)

i've moved on to the His Dark Materials series by philip pullman. good stuff for a YA series


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## Zowie (May 6, 2010)

FishCharming said:


> i've moved on to the His Dark Materials series by philip pullman. good stuff for a YA series



Those were great books, but I have yet to find a kid who's read through them completely. I know I didn't when I was young, and I've re-read the 3rd book about 4 times now, still never finished it.


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## Tad (May 6, 2010)

I read them, as an adult of course. The thing that bugged me is that the series is a bit of a bait-and-switch, it starts off as this glorious steam-punk coming of age story, and ends as something like a metaphysical analysis of, or perhaps metaphor for, the faults of organised religion.


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## FishCharming (May 6, 2010)

yeah, i bought into the series under the whole paradise lost premise. i do wish it had more of the steampunk vibe though. although for children's books they get a little heavy, especially when they get into deicide and genital mutilation... not quite something i'll be recommending to my little girl any time soon, lol.


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## Nutty (May 6, 2010)

Re-reading Thomas More's _Utopia_ (just for fun )


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## WillSpark (May 6, 2010)

Reading H.G Wells _The Time Machine_.

I've read War of the Worlds and Invisible Man already, but hadn't picked up this one. Only a chapter and it's fantastic.


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## HDANGEL15 (May 7, 2010)

Ninja Glutton said:


> Finally getting around to reading "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers. It's lovely albeit depressing.



*I have read all of his books, and intriguing but dark for sure....don't know what compels me to read them...*



gobettiepurple said:


> * I absolutely love books . . . so I love this thread!
> 
> Next I want to read the Eat, Pray, Love novel by Elizabeth Gilbert because someone I trust told me I would like it.*



*Honestly one of the most enjoyable reads of ALL TIME....READ IT*




NYC_FFA said:


> Great book. Check out the film "Away We Go." It was also written by Dave Eggers with his wife Vendela Vida. Also, if you read "A Heartbreaking Work..." and then watch "Where the Wild Things Are" (which Eggers co-wrote), you will see just how much his life experiences have influenced his writing.



*wow I had no idea about that...I love the story Where the Wild Things Are, I watched about 1/2 of it...still have it on laptop....hmmmm*

*Currently reading Jodi Picoult - SALEM FALLS, pretty disturbing book about a teacher sent to the pen for molesting a student (because of her fantasy writing and a bad series of coincidences) and the afterwards is the story...
*


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## Ruby Ripples (May 7, 2010)

bionic_eggplant said:


> Those were great books, but I have yet to find a kid who's read through them completely. I know I didn't when I was young, and I've re-read the 3rd book about 4 times now, still never finished it.



I bought my son Northern Lights as part of his tenth birthday (in 2000), and he devoured it. So I bought him the second one which he did the same with, then the third. He read LOTR before he was eleven too. Hes not any big brain or prodigy, he just loved fantasy books. When the Amulet of Samarkand came out, he read that too, but didnt enjoy it nearly as much as LOTR or the His Dark Materials books.


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## Zowie (May 7, 2010)

Ruby Ripples said:


> I bought my son Northern Lights as part of his tenth birthday (in 2000), and he devoured it. So I bought him the second one which he did the same with, then the third. He read LOTR before he was eleven too. Hes not any big brain or prodigy, he just loved fantasy books. When the Amulet of Samarkand came out, he read that too, but didnt enjoy it nearly as much as LOTR or the His Dark Materials books.



Oh damn, okay, I'm going to make myself look really young, but I loved the Amulet of Samarkand. But I have a lot of trouble with series, that's another I never finished the third book.


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## Tad (May 7, 2010)

bionic_eggplant said:


> Oh damn, okay, I'm going to make myself look really young, but I loved the Amulet of Samarkand. But I have a lot of trouble with series, that's another I never finished the third book.



You may be really young  but there is no reason you can't read books aimed at younger folk when you are beyond that age. A good book is a good book, and we don't always need to deal with 'age-appropriate' themes. For that matter, even re-reading things I read when I was younger often let's me see things that I totally missed at the time.


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## pdgujer148 (May 9, 2010)

Reading "Creatures of Light and Darkness" by Roger Zelazny.

Just finished the first chapter (almost 1/8 the book) and love it so far.


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## Nutty (May 9, 2010)

Finished _Utopia_ last night and now to re-read _Sirens of Titan_ cause hell, it was funny


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