Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine So what are you READING?

PS I'm still reading and loving Adverbs. I don't think I've ever read a book like it in my life. VERY interestingly plotted/constructed. And it's very funny AND moving. I highly recommend it.

I'm currently reading Hammock Camping by Ed Speer and The Last Olympian by Riordan. Then it's on the latest Patricia Briggs novel.

A biography of Keith Richards, which I rushed through so I could finally donate it to my library.

Before that, it was "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies", the Jane Austen/zombie mash-up novel by a guy whose name I can't recall. I expected to dislike it, but it was pretty funny.

I got to meet the author at C2E2, and he seemed like a decent guy. Said his next project will have a similar theme to his previous books but won't use historical or famous literary characters. They were passing out free copies of his latest, "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter", to people waiting in line and I got a copy of that and the zombie book signed.

After watching season 1 of Lost on Blu-ray (yes, I have a lot of catching up to do), I'm trying to find my old copies of A Wrinkle in Time and Watership Down -- books that Sawyer is seen reading on the beach.

Lost references a LOT of books that I'd like to read someday but haven't yet. Those are two examples. Another is Slaughterhouse-Five.

I read Slaughterhouse Five a few months ago--I highly recommend it! It was unlike anything else, and I liked it so much, I read a whole bunch of Vonegut's other books. I also recommend Breakfast of Champions (after Slaughterhouse Five).

Vonnegut strikes me as one of those "really cool at a certain point in your life but not as interesting if you read him at the wrong point" kind of authors. I've read a couple of his books, but I can't say I'm really a huge fan.

I kind of see what you're saying Eryk, and I've agreed with you on the past that both 'Lord of the Flies' and 'On the Road' definitely fall into that category.

But I don't think I'd go that far with Vonnegut. His books strike me as his own way at lashing out against his perceived social ills of the world, and his writing style shatters any normal narrative structure. I think you can kind of relate to Vonnegut at any point in your life in terms of age or circumstance. He definitely expresses a frustration with governments, popular culture and people in general, and if you're feeling more optimistic than pessimistic at the time you're reading him, you might be turned off. Despite that string of pessimism though, I think Vonnegut expresses some really beautiful ideas and characteristics about humanity in his works.

Obviously, I was in a more sentimental, existential state of mind when I read his works than you were. So yeah, I guess you're right--your reaction to his work depends a lot on your mood at the time.

But I wouldn't rope it in with Lord of the Flies, which I think is really a book for teenagers.

I'm reading The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber. It's extremely gothic. An ethereal heroine, a Byronic hero, ghosts everywhere, and it's even set during the Jack the Ripper murders. It should be complete drivel, but I'm loving it. The author really knows the time period and there are little references to "true" ghost stories, which are fun easter eggs if you're into that stuff. It's also an interesting take on classical mythology, at least so far.

To be honest I've been so stuck in comics lately I haven't finished reading Winter Moon by Dean Koontz.

I'm not really into those type of books but for some reason your description there has gotten me quite interested in reading it, Arachne. I might have to look for it next time I'm in need of a book to read.

Which will unfortunately probably be a long way away as I already have a massive pile waiting to be read next to my bed -

* The Name of the Rose
* Netherland
* Revolutionary Road
* The New York Trilogy
* Everything is Illuminated
* My Name is Red
* The Letters of Jessica Mitford
* Cloud Atlas
* A Brief History of Time
... and many more.

I'm reading "One Thousand White Women" by Jim Fergus for a book discussion group ... a fictional account of a "Brides for Indians" program back in the 1870's ... very clever story with a well-developed array of characters eager to give up their unhappy lives and take "savages" as their husbands to help ease U.S./Native American relations ...

i am re-reading the gathering storm by brandon sanderson/robert jordan. it gives me courage.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larson.

Stieg Larson unfortunately died after completing these three novels, so no more stories about the maddeningly strange Lisbeth Salander.

Lisbeth is a peculiar young woman, anti-social to the point of being considered retarded by some people, angry and extremely violent in her own or others' defense, with an extemely troubled past. But she's also a brilliant hacker and analyst with her own strict moral code. She works as a free-lance investigator for a Stockholm security company.

Mikael Blomkvist is an investigative journalist, working primarily on financial crime cases.

The two come together in the first book to investigate a 40-year old unsolved murder, and uncover sensational corporate crime along with a modern-day serial murderer.

The second novel finds Lisbeth implicated in three murders, and she goes on the run as she tries to solve the mystery and clear her name. Blomkvist believes her innocent and works the case from his own end. The two are plunged into the worlds of sex trafficking and Sweden's most hidden security agency.

The third book continues the story... I'm mid-way through it.

There's a movie out based on the first book. It's pretty faithful to the novel, although much less complicated, with fewer characters. Lisbeth and Mikael are very faithfully depicted.

Wow... Some really interesting books being read by everyone here.

I'm reading The Outline of the History of the World by H.G. Wells.

I liked the Girl with the Dragon Tatoo quite a bit (think I talked about it earlier on this thread), but never read the other two. Are you enjoying those, FC?

Maybe I'll check them out. I found Lisbeth to be a great character I wanted to read more about.

They're all real page turners. Lisbeth reminds me somewhat of the Secret Six characters; although she's not a villain, she's pretty wild and dangerous and a little nutty in her own way, and I adore her - on paper, I don't think I could handle her in person.

The final book (Hornet's Nest) I'm enjoying more than the middle one. There was a lot of Lisbeth's personal story uncovered in the middle book, but this third one has a nicely complex tangle of secret agency hijinks, spies spying on spies.

On April 3rd I posted that I was reading "Toll the Hounds".

I'm still reading it. Egads I've been busy

Just finished From Hell, With Love and now I'm burning though Terrific Garden Tonics. I'm also working through DIY plumbing and patio, decks and pool books as well.

"The Lion" by Nelson DeMille, "The Prince of Mist" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, and "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins ... the first book for diversion, the latter two YA books for "research," for lack of a better word ..."The Hunger Games" is surprisingly moving so far ... not what I expected ...

I am on page 400 (approximately) of the Mists of Avalon.

can anyone tell me if it's worth going more into ?

I like it, and at first I was excited it was 1000 pages cause then it would last a while but now .... it's a bit slow.

Just finished a book on the history of California punk rock. Not bad; especially since a lot of the folks interviewed are not afraid to look like complete morons.

Next up is probably a history/tribute to the Hammer film studio.

I finished reading The Great Gatsby, even though I was supposed to read it for the 11th Grade I never really read it a few days ago.

Last night I finished reading a British teen horror novel called Nobody's Child, and then I read a book called The Wave, it's based on this event that happened in California in 1969, when a high school teacher's attempt to teach his students about the Nazi Party lead to an experiment that got out of control.

I tried to read a little more of Interview With The Vampire, which I haven't finished since I started it... in 2007. The only Anne Rice novel I've ever finished is The Mummy.

I started re-reading a book by Christopher Pike called The Midnight Club. It's about five teenagers in a hospice for people their age, who get together at midnight to tell stories.

I can relate. I tried to read it over 10 years ago and could only get so far because I thought it was so laughably bad.

My brother's tried finishing the Witching Hour since last year, but he says Anne Rice spends whole chapters just describing parts of the house.