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Palm-of-the-Hand Stories by Yasunari Kawabata, translated by Lane Dunlop and J. Martin Holman. Kawabata is a Nobel laureate. This book is all short stories. Really short, 1-3 pages (or less), written throughout his life.
I haven't received my copy yet, but I thought it sounded interesting and I wanted a break from my usual fantasy fare.
~DragonHeart~
I just bought Mick Foley's third autobiography. I read his other two, but I never got around to actually going out and buying his third, so I took the time to do so.
Let's see here, I have two purchases from last night:
The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce. Any book filled with literary witticisms is worth having in my personal library. Especially for the $3.50 price tag! :D
No Plot? No Problem! A Low Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Chris Baty. For those who are not as informed, this author is one of the original founders of the NaNoWriMo contest. He gives advice on how he, and many others, have been successful over the years of this contest. I figure if I am serious about the contest this year, reading this book can't hurt my odds of reaching that finish line!
I just bought The Killer Angles, which, as everybody knows, is the famous work about the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. Anybody who doesn't know that obviously doesn't read. Well, I haven't read The Killer Angles yet, but I have read Gods and Generals, which is essentially a prequel to it, and I've seen the movie Gettysburg, which is a film adaptation of The Killer Angles.
Taoism: The Quest for Immortality By John Blofeld.
It's standard Taoist mysticism fare, but with a historical and mythological twist. Blofeld lines out the different creed of ancient Taoists and their (sometimes selfish) motives.
It speaks little about Lao Tzu, heavily about the immortals and contains several lyrical and serene poems (mostly about the mist and fog, you understand). There are a couple comical anecdotes about Confucious and Lao Tzu. And there is, as always, the basic Taoist "terminology". He also add chapters about the secret Taoist "alchemy" experiments both of a sexual nature and of a purely superstitious nature.
It seems some Taoist sages were commissioned, by the Jade Emperor and his heirs, to concoct an elixer of immortality. Barely researching it, some Taoist smartass thought it funny to make an elixer of immortality out of Jade, Cinnabar and the Salts of Mercury.
How intolerant of stupidity and contemptful of the unwise the old Taoists seem. Even Lao Tzu pointed out that they "hoodwinked rather than enlightened". Fooling the superstitious natives into believing that the sages could be called upon to banish evil spirits...for a price, of course. After all, those lovely mountain hermitages can't finance themselves.
-Sin
My $200 Chemistry Book Set! WOOO!
Last one for enjoyment was probably some sort of Manga- King of Hell, I think.
I have just started reading Stephen King`s The Dark Tower series beginning with The Gunslinger. I have always been a fan of books that have several volumes, finished not too long ago the Lord of the Rings series!:)
Sad that he recently died. He was on of my fav authors :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Sharzademar
anway the last book i bought was Sojourn, book 3 of the Legend of Drizzt books by R.A. Salvatore
Ratha's Creature: Book I of the Named by Clare Bell
The Night Angel Trilogy: The Way of Shadows, Shadow's Edge, and Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks
Yes, all three at once. They are actually all recent releases; Orbit published them in one month intervals. I'm currently on an assassin kick thanks to the awesomeness of Assassin's Creed, so I went ahead and ordered them. It's very rare for me to pick up an entire trilogy at once but I'm also tired of having shelves full of half-finished series gathering dust.
I think after this I'm going to start rereading some of the series I already have and work on completing the ones I still like, heh.
~DragonHeart~
The last book I bought was a textbook XD...I just don't bother reading actual books anymore. Very sad, I know..But the last couple of books i've read sucked so I'm kind of discouraged. I used to love reading though...*sigh*. And Stephen King hasn't written a good book in ages. That disappoints me.
Silent Hill 4: The Room guide.
I didn't really buy it for the info. Just for the fact that it has pretty pictures and adds a new addition to my Silent Hill collection.
Ulysses by James Joyce.
I cant really tell you what it's about because I'm currently reading it. I'm not that far in. I can tell you that it's difficult to read. By that I dont mean that it has shakesperian language change or anything. I just mean it's difficult to get into. It moves kinda slow and you have to read some bits 30 times before they sink in. To anybodt that has read it. Please messag eme and tell me if teh book ever pics up...
I have to finish it, though. It's a rule of mine.
Aimee.
Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov, it was a very good read. I like books with interesting titles.
Only Revolutions by Mark Z. Danielewski. I just finished reading House of Leaves, and it was amazing. I can't wait to get started on Only Revolutions.
The Grail Bird: The Rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker by Tim Gallagher
The Race to Save the World's Rarest Bird: The Discovery and Death of the Po'ouli by Alvin Powell
The Ghost with Trembling Wings: Science, Wishful Thinking and the Search for Lost Species by Scott Weidensaul
A bit different from my usual fare, I know. I've been rekindling my interest in birds of late and I've realized that I have no books about them at all outside of my field guides. The choices are not random; I've been looking at these for months.
The Ivory-billed Woodpecker fascinates me. It is a ghost bird, thought to be extinct for decades, rediscovered once in 2004, and hasn't been seen since. A grail bird in truth, for if it still lives, it is one of the rarest birds on earth. The few images I've seen of it are striking. The Lord God Bird, indeed.
The Po'ouli is a tragic story. I can't even imagine what they felt as scientists watched the last living member of a species die in a cage just a few years ago. I believe it is a story that must be told, for hope to prevent a repeat.
The Ghost will hopefully prove a more uplifting, if still dour look at species like the Ivory-bill and other lesser known ghost birds, and other animals as well. For me it's a deeply troubling, yet all the more interesting subject. I've long been enchanted by creatures of myth and legend, and these are the real counterparts of such stories.
~DragonHeart~
Here's my list:
- Survivor's Quest by Timothy Zahn
- Dragons of the Dwarven Depths by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
- Dragons of the Highlord Skies by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
- Amber and Blood by Margaret Weis
As you can tell from the last three entries, I love to read Dragon Lance novels. As for the first installment, it's a Star Wars novel.
Might as well include in here my Christmas gain in the realm of books. A few of these were purchased using X-Mas monies. XD
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Gulliver's Travels - Johnathan Swift
Twilight - Stephanie Meyer (I just HAD to see what the fuss is all about with this. And who wouldn't like a vampiric novel of sorts?)
Gardens of the Moon - Steven Erikson (Thank you sis, I remembered!)
The Neverending Story - Michael Ende ($3! "Are you for real?" is what I asked myself when I saw that price!)
Oooh!!! Epic of Gilgamesh!!
I got for Christmas, Red Herrings and White Elephants by Albert Jack. In it, he explains the origins behind many popular phrases and idiomatic expressions in the English language.
I also got Weird History 101, but have yet to read any of it. Oh, but I will...
-Sin
I last got The Thorn Birds and The Host.
I'm wondering how good the latter will be as it's by Stephenie Meyer, who massacred her originally-good Twilight series. The Thorn birds is supposed to be great though, so I will look forward to reading that after I finish compulsively reading the Harry Potter series for the umpteenth time.
I got Less than Zero for Christmas, I like it and all but I don't think it's a patch on American Psycho.
Well, I have went on a book kick the past two days, getting some new from Borders and some used from a collectable store that usually has very good priced books, and then this morning a few purchases from a comic store. LONG LIST AHEAD!
First, the used:
Death Riders of Hel by Asa Drake
Ordinary People by Judith Guest (Couldn't recall if I had it or not, this copy was under a dollar, I got it just in case. I really need to organize my books, lol)
The Anvil of Ice by Michael Scott Rohan
Attila the Hun by Louis de Wohl
Plague Dogs by Richard Adams (<3 his writing, this was a steal at a dollar!)
Bushido by Beresford Osborne
AND THE NEW FROM BORDERS:
On Writing by Stephen King
Prince of Persia: The Graphic Novel by Jordan Mechner, A.B. Sina, LeUyen Pham, and Alex Puvilland
50 Philosophy Ideas You Really Need to Know by Ben Dupre (What can I say, it was new for 3 dollars and I am a fan of learning, lol)
AND THE COMIC BOOK STORE:
Black Cat: Volume 1 by Kentaro Yabuki
Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
And Volume 1 and 2 of 5 in a comic series of Ender's Game. I'm such a nerd like that, I see this and HAD to get it!
China: A History - John Keay
The Penguin History of Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power 1850-2008 - Jonathan Fenby
Mao Zedong: A Political and Intellectual Portrait - Maurice Mesiner
Mao's China and After - Maurice Mesiner
Mao's Last Revolution - Roderick MacFarquhar and Michael Schoenhals
Post Colonialism - Robert Young (This one's for school.)
I seem to have a theme going.
The books that I got last were:
The Warrior Heir - Cinda Chima
The Wizard Heir - Cinda Chima
The Dragon Heir - Cinda Chima
Yah it's a trilogy, I got it because they were science-fiction novels which are absolutely my fav...They have wizardry in it which means lots of magic ^^...And I find that they're very great books, the last one made me cry though...The last few chapter chapters were such tear jerker...It was a really great series...I just finished reading them a couple of days ago =]
Hmmm last book(s) I bought were:
Timeline - Michael Crichton
Disclosure - Michael Crichton
The ThornBirds - Colleen McCullough.
All ready for my summer read! But soon I go out shopping for more x3.
The last books I have bought are...
JG Ballard's Collected Short Stories, Volume One.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman.
A Night Out With Robert Burns (for a Sri Lankan workmate who's going home)
The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood
And the one I'm most looking forward to is 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies', which I picked up yesterday. If I ever ****ing finish The Brothers Karamazov I will enjoy the above.
Last book I bought was the limited edition illustrated hardcover of Steven Erikson's Gardens of the Moon.
Last book(s) I bought with the intention of reading were Fool's Errand by Robin Hobb, Silver Phoenix: Beyond the Kingdom of Xia by Cindy Pon, Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines, Thunder by Felix Gilman, and Elantris by Brandon Sanderson.
Of the above I've read two, Silver Phoenix and Goblin Quest. I highly recommend Silver Phoenix to anyone who enjoyed Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away. Goblin Quest I recommend to anyone who wants a good laugh in the fantasy genre.
I also started Thunderer and so far I'm only far enough in to be thinking "wtf? o.O". It is very different from any fantasy I've read before. I haven't decided yet whether that's good or not, though.
~DragonHeart~
The Silent Blade by R.A. Salvatore.
I've been buying all related books offline, but it's a slow process as every store seems to only have one or two at random at any one time.
That's the problem with series, isn't it? I tend to be late to the party so I find a series I like and can only ever find half of it. That's why I shop online. Well that and it's a lot easier to find the book I'm looking for instead of scouring through a shop. I just hate waiting for said book to ship, it's one of the few times where I can be quite impatient.
Anyways, the last books I purchased were: Into Thin Air, Dog Days, New Tricks, The Hunger Games, and Catching Fire. All the books I've just read, in other words. I still have a ton of books lying around my room that I haven't read yet but they never seem as interesting as the 'new' stuff.
~DragonHeart~
I shall summon forth the dead and bring a new life, a better life, a necromonger life to this thread.
I bought two books today but I'll give a little tale that probably nobody will care about. I was thinking about purchasing volume 2 of the Elric series by Del Rey books and I was going to however as I was searching for any other possibilities I came across a science fiction book that pirked my interest. I'm not an avid reader of science-fiction so this book really got my attention, which I'll name later. I also was searching for a complete collection of the tales of Conan by Robert E. Howard however the Barnes and Noble did not have a copy.
I got Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson which is the first book in A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen. I got it because I bought books 2, 3, and 5 when a Waldenbooks was going out of business and the books were 40-50% off, however I wanted to start this series with the first book published.
The science-fiction book that so happened to be the SyFy essential book of the month it was released is The Unincorporated Man by Dani and Eytan Kollin. The premise of the book is a billionaire businessman was frozen in our time and discovered in the future. He is found and awaken into a civilization in which every individual is formed into a legal corporation at birth and spend many years trying to attain control over their own life by getting a majority of their shares. The businessman, being from a different time, is the only person unincorporated thus the title. Supposedly the authors consider this novel to have a social transformation in the tradition of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead and Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land.
The last novels I purchased are the 2009 Star Trek film adaptation which is quite an amazing book. Also Star Trek First Contact, also great (if you haven't already noticed, I am quite a Trekkie and I have no shame in admitting it) and last but not least, a collection of Herman Melville's novels, to which I must add, Moby **** is an incredibly book if anyone is looking for some great literature.