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

The Five Find-Outers (and Dog) by Enid Blyton is another hilarious series. A kid's book, for sure, but I have a lot of fond memories of that.

Eryk, I am impressed that you could get through that much Dickens. I liked Great Expectations, but I was bored silly by A Tale of Two Cities and I could never even finish Oliver Twist.

IB, I have read every Sherlock Holmes story, but I have never read Swiss Family Robinson nor Moby Dick. What did you think of them?

Unfortunately, far too books are called classics because someone's English teacher/professor called it a classic, and the myth gets perpetuated. IMHO, of course.

The funny thing about Dickens is that with a lot of the books it would take me about half the book to really get into it, but by the end I'd be completely engrossed in the story. Some of the lesser known novels (like Dombey and Son) were actually a lot more interesting than some of the more widely read books.

I first read Moby Dick in high school, and it was a massive struggle to get through then, but I read it again in my 20s and really enjoyed it. It's probably about time that I should read it again.

I also read all of Sherlock Holmes awhile back, and have been going through the Poirot novels in order recently (I read some of them when I was a teen, but don't remember them that well). I've got a six hour drive twice a week right now, and the Audiobooks are pretty much the perfect length for the drive. I think once I run out of them, I'm going start the Nero Wolfe books.

I just finished Tom Sawyer. I have read several things by Twain, but for the most part, I just don't like it very much. Tom Sawyer is the exception, though, and is such a wonderful book it well deserves to be called a classic, and is one of the finest books I have ever read. I remember reading both it and Huck Finn many years ago, and while I loved Tom Sawyer, I did not care for Huck Finn. Still, that was a long time ago, and I am going to give it another chance.

Next up is a book I haven't read since grade school - Three Tales of My Father's Dragon.

This week I'm re-reading Wuthering Heights, an old favorite from High School. Seems to be holding up pretty well.

Swiss Family Robinson was interesting. I liked it as a child because of all the descriptions of interesting fauna on the island. I don't want to give any spoilers, but the decisions the family makes at the end are poignant and realistic.

As for Moby Dick, I remember hating that awful white whale when I was a kid. Now I can appreciate the deeper lesson behind it.

I loved Tom Sawyer, what a great character. I'm thinking of reading Huck Finn, too.

Right now I just got the paperback of Book 13 of the Wheel of Time - Towers of Midnight. So glad the plot is speeding up; many of the middle books were awfully slow-paced. Book 11 onwards really picked things up again.

So, this weekend I read Anne Bronte's Agnes Grey and now I'm reading Jane Eyre, which I'm pretty sure I've read before but don't really remember at all.

Anyway, once that's finished I'm planning to read Rebecca, which I've never read (but love the movie!).

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee and Walker Evans.

Lance, I agree with you. Lord of the Rings, for example - I appreciate it for being a forerunner, and the plot was good, but the writing bored me silly.

Which of the Sherlock Holmes stories did you like best?

IB, I don't remember which of the stories I liked best. It has been quite awhile since I read them. I do remember that I liked the short stories much better than the novels, though.

And I completely agree with you about Lord of the Rings.

Lance, thank goodness! I'm getting tired of people telling me I should love LOTR just for being LOTR. I tried reading it, but when I got to the part where Tom Bombadil showed up, I just had to put it down.

I agree with you on Sherlock. Hound of the Baskervilles went on pretty long; the short stories are full of plot, though.

I actually prefer Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple and Erle Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason to Sherlock Holmes. I'd say it's the writing style that causes my preference, though. I admire the Sherlock Holmes stories for their plot.

^ With LotR, except for the bit with the Barrow Wight, I found those opening chapters extremely hard-going and over-detailed/boring too (especially that Tom Bombadil part) - but it's almost immediately after that, when the four hobbits get to that town and meet Aragorn, that I think the book clicked into place and became completely un-put downable for me. After a while, I was so into the world, I couldn't get enough detail and could have read more than 3 comprehensive pages about the history of a specific plant (which I think we do get at some point).

I think some books are best read when you're ready to read them. I had tried to read LotR when I was a teenager and couldn't get more than a few pages in. I tried again in my late 20s just before the movies came out and I think that was the perfect age to do it.

I still think the writing of that book was beautiful/excellent but I did have some problems with the plot. And some of the characters bugged too.

That's exactly how I felt about the Wheel of Time series. It's hard to get invested in - 13 books are out, and the 14th (and final book) promises to be 1000 pages long.

I tried reading it when I was in elementary, but couldn't get past the first chapter. Tried again in junior year in high school and couldn't put it down. Even when the pacing of the stories slowed down in the middle books (books 6-10, especially 8 and 10) I stuck through it.

I may give LOTR another shot, if so.

I tried to read the Silmarillion a few months ago. I couldn't even begin to get through it.

I am currently reading the Foundation trilogy, which I have not read in maybe 20 years. The first 2 books were really good. The third one is probably just as good, but I am just getting a little tired of it.

I am also reading a book called Merlin's Bones by Saberhagen.

I am also reading a book called Great Soviet Short Stories. I usually read one of those short stories in between other books so it doesn't get old.

I have been having trouble reading fiction lately. While at the library today, I picked up books on the Russian Revolution, Byzantium, and World War I. I usually get books like these out of the childrens' area, so the books I have are geared towards maybe 12-yr-old kids. This means I can learn all I want about a subject, and not have to spend a week or two reading a 400 page book.

I remember liking LOTR well enough, but I didn't quite get the fanatical devotion that many of my friends seemed to have for it. Oddly enough, I remember really liking the Tom Bombadil segment, though.

High fantasy as a genre doesn't tend to do much for me, however.

I go through this phase every so often and tend to do like you do, and bury myself in some nice historiography. It's intellectually stimulating and you don't feel like you have to commit to characters and a plot that might not be doing it for you.

BTW, I'm a major, major, major fan of LOTR. So anyone who doesn't love it, I may be forced to slay you. All kidding aside, I'm a big fan but know its not for everyone. I loved the Silmarillion so much that I read it like three times in one year; some parts almost moved me to tears. But I've been heavily invested in Tolkein's book since I was about 12 years old and have reread them so many times that they mean something to me beyond just what's on the page.

IB, I prefer Agathie Christie's stories to Sherlock Holmes too, mainly because her writing style is so geared towards drama that its a fun experience. I do like the Holmes novels, but I've never really given myself the chance to completely engulf myself in them--something I hope to do *one day*. Perhaps then I'll know once and for all how I measure the Holmes books against other detective genres.

I actually prefer Raymond Chandlier to both of them, BTW.

Pov, let me know how you like the Dark Tower novels. The fourth one, "Wizard and Glass" is my favorite of the seven. And the fifth one is also excellent.

Eryk, do you have a specific Dickens novel(s) you could recommend that is *not* one of his better kown works, but you found it to be one of the better ones? I enjoyed Tale of Two Cities quite a bit many years ago, and I liked Oliver Twist. I'm really open to all kinds of subject matter and genres; I'll read anything if it's of high quality.

Oh, BTW, I'm on the fourth book of the "A Song of Ice & Fire" books (the Game of Thrones novels). This is the best series of novels I've read in a long, long time. Maybe ever. I'm totally engrossed in them at the moment and enjoying every word.

I've avoided the thread here on LW because I have absolutely no knowledge of spoilers and don't want to risk a single one. Readers of this series know that each book is contained with tons and tons of shocks and twists that continually enhance the bigger picture.

Just curious, but how many books do you all read in a week?

I used to be a voracious reader, but ever since college (or was it high school?) I stopped reading fiction, except for the Legion and the Wheel of Time. Lack of time, maybe? Or maybe my hobbies just changed. I don't really know why.

I personally have forced myself *not* to be a fast reader anymore, as I felt I tended to miss things at times. I know my brother can read a novel in like 2 days, and that's way too fast for me.

So for me, it usually takes me about 2-3 weeks to read a book. Sometimes even a full month.

In the meantime, I read about 90 or so comics a month, plus National Geographic every month, plus Comics Buyers Guide every month and parts of the New York Times and Wall St. Journal every day. So I do a lot of reading, but it's many different things at once.

I had to force myself to slow down, too. I remember once, I speed-read five Hardy Boys books in 24 hours. Bad part was, I couldn't remember a single thing after. What a waste.

A Tale of Two Cities was the book that turned the literary lights on for me. I can still remember that moment in my high school Junior English class when I "got it" and it felt like the world was suddenly so much bigger.

After class I asked the teacher for a list of other books like that one. She looked at me like she had many more important things to do, and suggested I go see another English teacher who already had a list made up. I don't think she had any idea that what had just happened to me was what good teachers hope to achieve.

IB, I manage to knock out maybe a book a week. My foreign language studies (which I am finding very interesting!) are eating into some of the time I used to spend reading.

Cobie - sorry, maybe I just didn't get LOTR. They are in the pile of books on my dresser, and I am going to reread them sometime within the next year or so. I did love The Hobbit, though. Oh, and I agree with you about Martin's Ice and Fire books. Absolutely wonderful, and they stand up to multiple rereadings. They all die at the end, by the way. (Kidding!) (Well, maybe I am, and maybe not! Bwahahahaha!)

I liked Dickens ever since we covered Oliver Twist all those years ago in high school. I didn't like Tale of Two Cities and couldn't even get through The Old Curiosity Shop. The remainder of his books I really enjoyed (I've read most if not all of them). I liked Bleak House and David Copperfield the best.
Once aspect of his work that is really nice is that there are no throwaway characters, EVERYONE is in someway significant in his books

I usually only read in bed these days, so a 600 page novel will take me around a month to a month and a half to finish.
Of course some books I just can`t put down. The last Wheel of Time novel I read in 1 day

Thats my personal favorite of Tolkiens work, but definitely not for everyone. Many characters have similiar names which can make it difficult to track who is who. And while I love his overly descriptive style and gravitate towards that type of writer its really not for everyone.