Currently Reading: Intellectual

[HUNK]

Just ended the Third Act of Cyrano de Bergreac.

Ah an excellent love story...well its accually a french play but we are reading it in English class and I like it.

Favorite part was when Cyrano went off and although you never read directly from the battle itself, you hear of Cyrano killing 100 soldiers with his sword and only being hit on the hand once...Epic.

[Govinda]

I'm still reading The Brothers Karamazov. Dostoevsky finally got around to killing off Fyodor around PAGE 600. That is two thirds of the way through the book.

Mitya's book, a long one which encompasses the death of Fyodor, was a largely boring one and I'm sort of glad it's over. There doesn't seem to be any real depth. Dostoevsky wasn't theorising, and since I'm doubtful Mitya even killed Fyodor then it can't be classed as a criminal's journey. He whacked Grigory on the head with a pestle and thought he'd lost Agrafena Aleksandrovna, so he tried to kill himself after having THE BIGGEST PARTY EVAR in Mokroye and pissing off some Poles. Big ****ing deal. Maybe the point of the whole thing is to show that police are ****s, or that Poles are ****s, or both. Maybe it's to show what was wrong with witness interrogation techniques in 19th century Russia. Whatever it was, it was looooong.

Ivan's still AWOL. Now that Mitya has been safely arrested and detained in the big 'He's innocent but looks so guilty, how can we ever truly know justice?' stream, we're back with Alyosha. I like Alyosha. Thankfully, after Book IX (Mitya's book), the author has skipped ahead two months. I feel for the moment that I have been saved from pages of administration. We will see.

Anyway, Alyosha's hanging about with children now, particularly one whose death has been sped up by Mitya dragging his dad around town calling him a loofah (I shit you not). So this kid, and his dad, have major pride problems. Katerina Ivanovna, once again proving herself far too sane to ever have married Mitya, gave this Ilyusha kid and his dad a few hundred roubles to see them through (Alyosha chasing Mr Loofah around and making him take the money was a fairly lengthy process). Now we meet someone new, Kolya Krasotkin, a 13 year old fatherless little egoist who is either going to kill Ilyusha with his IRONIC SMILING or make the whole situation better. I don't quite know what yet. I know that Ilyusha will die, because there is a chapter entitled as such.

Ivan hasn't been mentioned in like 200 pages. I assume he's still in Moscow, smiling ironically there. He still hasn't got it together with Katerina Ivanovna. I MEAN COME ON. They'd be perfect together. Agrafena claims to be totally into Mitya now, but that is 99.99% probably a lie.

So yeah. 400 pages on since the last time I wrote, and I guess things are different.

Mitya - is in jail but OMG innocent probably, although he's not exactly helping his own case through varied 'I'm not telling you that because it's disgraceful (read:retarded)' interview failures. Unless something drastic happens he will go down for beating up Grigory and smacking down Fyodor, but we'll see. Still obsessed with Agrafena, especially after he successfully fended off the Poles and she went all 'OMG Mitya baby'.

Alyosha - KEEP BEING SANE, BOY. WE NEED YOU TO KEEP BEING SANE. Apparently since Zosima kicked it and Alyosha gave up that whole monk gig, he's cut his hair and acquired a hat. He had long hair before? He is retaining his sanity after the whole 'I LOVE EVERYTHHHHHHING!!!!!!!!' rolling around in a field by himself episode, and remains my favourite. I like how he can keep loving everything. I wonder what kind of career he'll go for. I mean, does he still want to be Zosima 2? Zosima had the whole monk thing going on though, the whole travelling holy fool routine, and he expressly told Alyosha not to do that. Also, if Alyosha does end up gettin' it on with Lise (whom I might add is not only crippled, but also fourteen, as in FOURTEEN, years old) I am going to be pissed. Mrs. Khoklakova needs to die. I'm not even joking.

Ivan - smilining ironically in Moscow, but Dostoevsky appears to have, for all intents and purposes, forgotten that he exists for the past 250ish pages.

Dear Fyodor - OMG dead. Whodunnit? My money's on Smerdyakov. Fit of falling sickness so severe that it should have killed him yet did not? Hmm? Knew all the knocking-codes? Is generally a creep who feeds pins to stray dogs in bits of bread? Hated Fyodor, knew where the money was, IS A ****ING CREEP...?

Reading a Dostoevsky novel really is like going on a journey. There's nothing quite like it. I highly recommend you pick this one up. Although I am at a lull, the book always finds a way to pick you back up. I am close to the end now. It's kind of sad.

[Kilala]

Currently reading "The Taking" by Dean Koontz.
I love this book and this could be the 10th time I've read it. It's a sci-fi/thriller book. Starting off quite mysteriously.
Following a couple, it all begins with some bad weather. Heavy rain I should say. But... there's is something not quite right about this rain and everyone can feel it. Wild animals are even freaked by it etc...
Then the husband of the lady feels like the sky is coming down on them or a huge mountain is crumbling and falling. It's all very "Chicken Little" I guess xD.
But in the end it turns out to be an Alien invasion... I know it sounds immature but it is an excellent read. Honest .

[M16]

I'm really not a fan of Dean Koontz. His writing style is way too simplistic for me, and his books are entirely too predictable. I read a couple of his Frankenstein books, and the only reason I continued reading after I had finished the first half of the first one was because I felt that I had already committed and would be ashamed if I couldn't even finish the books.

I recently finished Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Both were extremely fun books, and were much different from anything I'd ever read before. I'm not sure what made me pick the book up at first, but I'm glad I finally did.

The books themselves recount fantastic adventures through clever worlds by a seven and a half year old named Alice. The characters she meets through her adventures are incredible creations with each of their own hilarious personalities. A lot of the language used can be viewed as double entendres, and the book is just filled with puns and riddles.

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone with a weekend off looking for a satisfying way to spend their time.

[Clint]

I had left a comment here saying that I was reading Next by Michael Crichton, but a hundred pages into it, I realized that it completely sucks, and stopped. There's no story to that book. It just focuses on a whole bunch of people who literally do absolutely nothing. I have never been so bored reading a book in my life. So I went online and typed in "exciting books that don't put me to sleep," into a search engine, and a book by the title of Rain Fall by Barry Eisler presented itself. I bought it online, used, for literally one cent. How the hell does somebody make money off of one cent? I have no idea, because I have free shipping. The book is exciting. It's about an assassin who falls in love with the daughter of a man who he assassinated, and there are CIA assassins after the daughter, because they think that she has a disc which contains information that could help end the political corruption in Japan.

[Fearless]

Currently Reading: The Blue Djinn of Babylon (Children of the Lamp #2)
By: ...I forgot ^^!

Kind of a kids book, but in a Harry Potter sort of way, as in Adults reading a childrens book.
Completely gripping, Its about a set of twins who find out they are Genies (Djinn) and go on adventures and stuff.
In this one the Girl (Phillipa) gets kidnapped and the other (John) has to go rescue her with help from his uncle and some other guys.
Twist: She's kidnapped by basically the equivalent of the President of the Djinn. (Hence the title)

I was just randomly looking through the school library and found it. I'm going to have to return it soon, though, it's nearly the end of the school year. Meh.

[Led Zeppelin]

Im currently reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets!!...Finished the first one so I'm moving on to the second...It's by J.K Rowling and it's a fantastic read...I've read the series before but it just never gets old and I find it to be an amusing past time
I'm reading this novel because in my English class we're doing a book report till the end of the year (Which is another week after tomorrow) and I decided to do a book report on the first book of Harry Potter... Just today though the teacher explained to us that we can do a bonus book and I decided I might as well do the second book in the Harry Potter series ^^
I've only started reading today and I'm already fascinated by it...I plan on reading more tonight though and possibly finish reading it this weekend and start the bonus work!! It's a really great series though for people who liked wizardry and I'm sure some of you (or all) have already heard of it :]

[Fearless]

Also Currently Reading: The Smart Girl's Guide to Tarot
By: Emmi Fredericks

Not really a novel, more of a How To book.
If you know me, you'll know I'm really into the Occult and Unknown. This book is helping me learn to read Tarot cards in a way that is understandable and not written in Ye Olde English.
I'm actually making my own set of cards 'cause I know I'll never be able to buy any with my mom in the house. So far, they're beautiful. <3
4/22 Major Arcana done

Frankly, the illustrations are pretty and the language is easy to understand and quite funny as well. Definetly recomended.

[Kilala]

Currently I'm reading Timeline by Michael Crichton.
It's a fun books so far, and I'm enjoying flicking through the pages to be honest.
The storyline is: Historians travel back through time to reach the Middle Ages, to rescue a friend who arrived there previously.
Obviously as you can gather this is a Science Fiction book...
The book is another one of Crichton's accomplishments where he manages to implement many technical details within it's pages - as well as action. He also goes as far to address quantum physics (which is why I LOVE this book <3) and time travel. It is a good read so far, and I hope it remains consistent throughout.

Dr E, you mentioned 'Next' by Crichton. I tried reading that a while back as well, and also ended up not finishing it. There's something in there which doesn't prove to be a good read ;;.

[RamesesII]

Currently reading Six Sacred Stones by Matthew Reilly, it continues on from Seven Ancient Wonders, In Seven Ancient Wonders the seven pieces of the golden capstone had to be collected and placed onto the Great Pyramid to stop the Tartarus sunspot on the sun from scorching the earth by absorbing the energy through crystals in the middle of the capstone.

Six Sacred stones sees Jack West Jr return with his team again to save the world again from a more devastating disaster. The ritual of the capstone was only the start of something bigger, now it is believed that a total opposite from the sun a dark sun orbiting the solar system will unleash vast amounts of negative radiation on earth destroying everything and it is up to Jack, Lily and his team of representatives from small nations to stop the destruction of earth.
But another nation a much stronger nation also has the same plans but with the rewards in mind and will stop at nothing to gain these rewards. So begins the next adventure across the world in search of six diamond pillars and a so called machine to prevent the dark sun from creating havoc while racing against deadly enemies in the meantime.

[Govinda]

I am currently reading I Am A Cat by Soseki Natsamune. I'm fairly sure I've spelled that wrong, but whatever.

My mum got me this one for my birthday. It's apparently a classic of world literature, but I was sold on the title.

So basically, it's narrated by this nameless cat. Because he's a cat, he views humans in an unbiased manner and aims to tell us lots of things about ourselves. From what I can gather, it's more or less a bunch of philosophical parables lived out, or described, by the cat. For instance, he gets his face stuck in a riceball, and ends up dancing around the kitchen being laughed at; however, in doing so, he learns four universal truths which he will keep. Whole adversity leads to triumph and enlightenment gig. Who was it who said that after? Oh yeah. Proust. He went on about how years where you don't suffer are pointless.

But anyway, it's not really that exciting, and the cat does ramble. He's got the hots for the beautiful cat next door, and gets routinely intimidated by a black cat from a poorer family. It is a big book, and I am barely into it. There is no plot yet, so I might have to read a book with a plot alongside it to preserve my sanity; however, have a slight suspicion that, based on how it's going so far, the lack of plot might be a symbol in itself. Who knows. All I know is that it is a very large tome, and continuing through something that big without discernible plot won't be easy. Just like life, huh?

[DragonHeart]

I am just about to start Dog Days, an urban fantasy by John Levitt. The author frequents the writing forum I am also a member of and the premise sounded neat so I picked it up. I've read perhaps the first few pages so far, haven't gotten into it at all yet. Maybe I'll spend some time with it tonight.

~DragonHeart~

[Freya]

I am currently reading "Here she lies" by Kate Pepper.
It's a crime about a woman who's life is destroyed by someone who steals her identity and kills in her name, steals things in her name, and even takes her child from her...
If you think: Hah, that's nothing really special, you're quite wrong.
Kate Pepper knows how to use her characters to totally lead you to false conclusions. When you think you know who is the murderer, there is yet another fact which shows: He's not. And then you think: Okay, perhaps the other one... until you have all the characters in one line and everyone has been the murderer once.
That's as far as I am. I'm totally unsure who the murderer is. I was quite sure for many hundred pages now (okay, only 200 XD"), but now I'm really not sure. (40 pages still till the end)

Why I read it... Well, that's a quite nice story xD" I needed a book because I had to go by train to meet a friend. And I always need a book that I can read while sitting in the train. x.x" So I went to my mother and said that I needed a book and she gave it to me. (I hadn't got much time left so the only thing I could do was take the book and go XD)
I've read another book of her once... But I don't remember the title. >_o" I also liked it, but it was much worse than "Here she lies".

Well, if you really want to read it, you have to fight the beginning. It's so boring... You're told every single thing the protagonist does. Everything she eats. Everything she thinks. Etc. There are so many details which aren't important (only few will be important in the end), you really think: "I don't want to read what she did all day long!" But after 150 pages it really will be interesting. ^^

[Govinda]

I'm currently reading Empire of the Sun by JG Ballard. And OH MY.

I'm about halfway through, and this one's pretty special. It's based around the author's own experience of being a child in Shanghai when the Japanese invaded China. It begins on the eve of Pearl Harbour.

The child, Jim, lives in a world of his own. His favourite things are aeroplanes. Early on, he's at a party before the Japanese declare war on the British and Americans. He steals away by himself and finds the Hungjao Aerodrome, an old, disused base littered with detritus from a battle between the Japanese and Chinese. There he finds a downed single-engined Japanese fighter plane, its bodywork and engines stripped but its cockpit intact. He lowers himself into the seat, and supposes that he can feel the spirit of the dead Japanese pilot. With him he has his own balsa wood toy plane, and he throws it in a steep arc; it lands at the feet of a Japanese sergeant and Jim's own father. Jim's father is careful and clever: he stands stock still, no arms movements, the way the Japanese like.

It's so vivid. I could talk about it for hours. Jim gets to see the Japanese take over the USS Wake (most of whose crew were on-shore) and the HMS Petrel. He then faces the difficulty of surrendering to the Japanese, so that he can be put into the prison camp system where he suspects his parents are.

Jim's vision of the war is so warped that it almost feels like a hallucination. He talks about the silver American bombers he spied while in the sickness detention centre, and refers to them repeatedly; Ballard cleverly works these planes into machines of fiction which represent the hope that overwhelms Jim when his sickness worsens. Jim automatically assumes that all of the other prisoners feel this way too. He stares at the sky constantly, learning the names of the planes.

Most bizarre is his relationship with the Japanese. Technically he is at war with them, but yet he had long recognised, even before the war, that the Japanese offered the only protection in Shanghai. It stays this way. At the point I've gotten to, Jim wants to join their Air Force, lifted by what he calls a war-kite into the skies to join the ranks of Nakijimas and Zeros heading west. He thinks they're all heading west to fight the Chinese; we know they're not.

I'm in love. So different from Kingdom Come. My faith in Ballard is renewed.

[Furore]

I'm currently reading the booklet in the middle of Led Zeppelin's 4 disc boxset.

It is an exciting and informative look into the music of Led Zeppelin with articles by several authors and lots of amazing pictures of Led Zeppelin doing all manner of Led Zeppelin-y type stuff. There is also this sweet foldout which has lots of little pictures which makes me wonder why they chose them for the fold out rather than one big picture that couldn't have fit on a normal page, but either way it looks really cool and makes me want to listen to the 4 discs it came with. Did I mention the discography in the back? No? Well now I did. =D

And the awesome twist is the music is way better than the booklet. YAY!

[RamesesII]

Currently reading Soldier Son Trilogy by Robin Hobb my favorite author.

Her latest installment is about a young soldiers son who is dead set on following his career path and the path chosen by his good god but when fate deals its blow he is wound up between the ancient magics of the Speck people who are the current enemies of his people, the magic of the plainspeople who are a wild race that have been settled by his people but for how long no one knows and of course the subtle magic of his own people. He doesn't know which way fate will take him but with the help from his best friend and his cousin who happens to be a medium will he choose that of his King or the wild of the magic.

Soldier son trilogy: Shamans Crossing, Forest Mage, Renegades Magic.

[Zargabaath]

I'm currently reading "The Dragons of Kyrnn" by a host of authors.

Why I'm reading this book is because it is a book in the Dragonlance series, it was appealing to my senses, and the short stories within add more to my knowledge of Krynn.

The book deals with tales about dragon(s) in some form. One short story was about a kender (similiar to a Hobbit in frame, except the perfect thief) transforming into a dragon and finding out how hard it is to be a dragon, bugs and birds biting him in flight, how hard it is too land, and not being able to eat meat raw after slaying a cow. One of my favourite short stories so far is about a man who was cursed by a gold dragon (Gold dragons if no one knows are good dragons) to tell the truth no matter what and his dealing with a corrupt baron wanting to get rid of a gnome; who created an invisible volcano detector that has not been seen since he turned it on.

I finally picked up the book again after starting it a while ago.


Edit: I finished the book a few days ago as my newest post on this thread has stated. I must say my favourite short story was the I told above about the Gnome and the invisible volcano detector called Fool's Gold by Jeff Grub. "The Final Touch" by Michael and Teri Williams was a warm tale about a woman's tale of how she took care of a dragon for some time and how she was glad that he was gone. What she didn't know was the dragon came back to see her in disguise and to keep her water bucket warm during the coldest winter nights so it wouldn't freeze. "Honor is All" about a knight enlisted by a town to vanquish a White Dragon that has been seen around, however it had never hurt anyone. After battling the dragon that acted strangley during the fight, he found out that in truth it was a Silver albino dragon and shame befell him. The dragon left him in charge of its child, the knight's wife had the natural ability tending to animals. "The Middle of Nowhere" is about a secluded town of scribes that had seen a dragon fly above and seeked the help from a mage that wasn't the most pleasurable company. The mage asked for a hefty price but the mayor of the town forced him to protect the town for the rest of his life, thinking that the mage did not have long to live. Unfortunately, the mage was alive twenty years down the road, the town was getting restless of paying the big toll to the mage when he has only defeated the one dragon when they first asked for his assistance. The mayor, who finds a bard of great skill, comes up with a plan to kill the mage. He and the bard go to the mage's residence where the bard begins to play, enchanting the mage as the mayor sneaks up and stabs the mage, who calls him a fool before he dies. The mayor goes back to town to give the good news that the mage is dead, however, it turned out that the bard had been a dragon in disguise and was destroying the town. Some of the townspeople asked the mayor about where was the mage's help, he had not been able to tell them before, and he couldn't bring the words out as he stared blankly. The book had a great collection of short stories that fleshed out Ansalon, a continent on Kyrnn.

[DragonHeart]

Just started The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

The premise is in the far future, the US does not exist as we know it. Instead there is one ruling city called Panem ringed by thirteen districts that provide their raw materials and goods. Long before the story began the districts rebelled against the city; district thirteen was destroyed and the other twelve forced to surrender. Now every year a boy and a girl (called tributes) are selected from each district and sent to Panem to participate in a televised battle to the death. It's the ultimate reality show.

The story is told from the POV of a girl who becomes a tribute and her fight to survive the Games.

I haven't gotten very far yet but it is excellent so far. If anyone else is as disgusted by all the "reality" shows on TV as I am, this is a must read. Hell, I'd say it's a must read even if you aren't.

The sequel is coming out in October; I'll more than likely be picking it up, unless something really gets effed up in the first one's ending.

~DragonHeart~

[Rocky]

Been in a reading mode recently, I pretty much plowed through Angels and Demons by Dan Brown in about two days of time. A&D was about how a symbologist is tracking the secret society of the Illuminati and has to find a bomb they planted in the Vatican City before it's too late. It kept me hooked, and showed how human and falliable even the most sacred of things are. It was an interesting read but the ending was a little lame in my opinion. Oh well, at least it tied up all the loose ends.

Now I'm reading the book Walden Two by B.F. Skinner. It's a more heavy read, but one that gets me thinking nonetheless. It's about when Professor Skinner visited a utopia village that one of his former colleagues started. Interesting stuff, but I'm not very far into it yet.

[Zargabaath]

I finished "The Dragons of Krynn" a few days ago, it had a lot of entertaining short stories.

I started "The Black Talon" by Richard A. Knaak of the Ogre Titans Trilogy.

Why am I reading this book? It tells the tale of Golgren ,who had a big role in the Minotaur Wars Trilogy also by Richard A. Knaak, and the fate of Ogres after the War of Souls. Each race has been given their own story after the War of Souls so I wanted to know what happens to the Ogres. There aren't many books in the Dragonlance world (there may even have been zero before this series) or short stories from the Ogre's perspective.

So far Golgren has won a big battle against rival chieftains challenging his claim to power. With the aid of the Ogre Titans, who are very adept at magic, normal ogres have no affinity to magic, have a phyical description that makes me think that they have kept most of their species original look of the Irda. The Irda were the original ogres created by the dark goddess Takhisis, whose beauty far surpassed the elves, their magical ability greater than any other race, who created beautiful cities but a seed of corruption was planted into the ogre race that transformed them into the brutish, ugly form that they have now. The Irda that aksed Paladine, the leader of the gods of the good pantheon, to be protected from the corruption and they were forced a life of seclusion from the other races or the corruption would start again. I have not learn the origin of the Ogre Titans but am eager for this find has intrigued me very much. Golgren is also trying to civilize the ogres, forcing all of his soldiers and citizens under his control must learn common and dress in better attire, inspired by elven design, than what is custom, and to rebuild the ancient Ogre city, Garantha, to its former glory.

Edit: Well I finished the book three days ago and it was a good book. A Solamnic Knight was captured by some ogres and brought forth to Golgren who wanted to make a pact between the orges and the knighthood against their common enemy the minotaur empire that has invaded the mainland. A wizard named Tyranos, who currenlty sides with Golgren found a High Ogre grave; he went inside and after searching found a signet, a powerful artifact. Tyranos gave it to Ildaria, a elf maiden servant of Golgren who secretly is a spy for some group. Ildaria gave it to Golgren as Tyranos instructed which helped Golgren in a fight against the Black Talon/ Dauroth when an army of undead attacked the capitol. Dauroth also killed his first apprentice and another member of the Black Talon before the final fight in the book so once he died from Golgren killing him, Dauroth's second apprentice took over.

[Azuteor]

Finished Books: Dracula by Bram Stoker; The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

I had to read both of these books for summer reading and I'm glad that my senior english teacher chose them. They have kept me preoccupied for weeks during my summer vacation. I love Dracula for its dark themes and vampirism within the story. Did you know that the Castlevania games was loosely based off from this book?

The Eyre Affair was a fun read and kept my imagination going. The book takes place in 1985 Great Britain, where time travel, cloning, and literature are taken very seriously. The interesting bits about the book is that it makes references to other literary works and characters are able to go inside literary works. It's pretty funny as well!

Currently Reading: The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks

I got a lot of weird looks from my family and friends when I read it around them, haha. When you actually read what's inside, you'll be hooked. The book is simply a guide that gives detailed explanations on how to survive Zombie attacks.

[OceanEyes28]

I'm reading a couple non-fiction books.

Currently Reading:
Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle by Chris Hedges.
Pulitzer prize–winner Chris Hedges charts the dramatic and disturbing rise of a post-literate society that craves fantasy, ecstasy and illusion.

Chris Hedges argues that we now live in two societies: One, the minority, functions in a print-based, literate world, that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other, a growing majority, is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. In this “other society,” serious film and theatre, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins.

In the tradition of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Hedges navigates this culture — attending WWF contests as well as Ivy League graduation ceremonies — exposing an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion.

This book will get you really fired up and disgusted. It did me, anyway. But it's interesting!

and

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks
Amazon review: Legendary R&B icon Ray Charles claimed that he was "born with music inside me," and neurologist Oliver Sacks believes Ray may have been right. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain examines the extreme effects of music on the human brain and how lives can be utterly transformed by the simplest of harmonies. With clinical studies covering the tragic (individuals afflicted by an inability to connect with any melody) and triumphant (Alzheimer's patients who find order and comfort through music), Sacks provides an erudite look at the notion that humans are truly a "musical species."

This book is truly fascinating. I'm going back and forth between these two books and this one has me saying "huh!" over and over again. If you think neurology is interesting, you will probably think this book is interesting.

[Freya]

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Somehow, I was in a rush when I bought the book, so I only read a few lines of the description and then decided to take it with me. I only had five minutes in the book store, so I didn't have the time to read a bit of it. I wouldn't have thought that this book was that great. XD"

So, firstly, it's the story about a man called Kvothe. He's a totally intelligent guy who fights evil but seems to be evil in some ways, too. It's a bit complicated and I've only read 150 pages so far. Anyways, it all begins in an Inn. Kvothe is the innkeeper (I hope that doesn't count as spoiler, but if you've read the description thoroughly you'll notice it soon enough xD" For me it was a bit of a surprise XD) and one day stumbles on a man called Chronicler. As you can imagine, Chronicler is a person who searches for stories to write down. And as Kvothe is a very famous person, he "interviews" him. This is where the real story begins. Kvothe will tell his whole life story.

This is where the book begins to be a bit bad. It's totally okay that Kvothe tells everything all by himself, but.. erm, honestly, I don't like that point of view. It is of course essential that Kvothe refers to himself as "I", but... argh, I just don't like it. And now there's this whole book, those 800+ pages to read. X.x" If the story weren't that great I wouldn't read it. XD" Sometimes the storytelling really lacks something.. it seems just unnatural.

When it comes to unnatural, Kvothe gives the best example. Erm, yes, he's intelligent. He is and he's always been. Even when he was only six years old. Okay. Quick learning. Okay. Totally strong. Okay. Learning things he shouldn't be able to learn. Oookay. At some point of the book I really could only shake my head because it was totally unnatural that a young kid could learn that much in such a short time. I don't like those kinds of characters. I mean, okay, he can be intelligent, but must he be a invincible one? <_<" Intelligent, cannot die, always doing the right thing, strong, etc. etc. There are many things I don't like about him, although at the beginning I really liked him. .-.

Why I read this book... has to be because it is always surprising. Even the smallest details about the life of Kvothe are so... fascinating. I have to stop myself from reading ahead all the time because I want to know what happens next. XD" There are even some things that were totally obvious - and still they surprised me because I just listened to the story of Kvothe and didn't think about it.
Every day when I go to work I read while going by train. And when I have to get out I'm always sad because I wanted to go on reading. And after work I can't wait to read on. XD"""

You should try this book - at least if you like fantasy. And try not to know about it that much. It's really fun when you don't know anything and just read XD (As I said, I didn't even know the story XD)

[Polk]

Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle by Chris Hedges.

God damn that sounds interesting. I generally don't read a lot of non-fiction for fun, but I may have to look that up.

Anyway...

Currently Reading: The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

Here's the blurb on the back of the book because I'm unoriginal and I think this really explains the book best:

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food- and each other.

I'm reading it because McCarthy is the author of amazing novel/film No Country for Old Men. Some of the main contributors to a movie website that I frequent also raved about the book.

The Road is really good so far (I'm about a third of the way through). It's such an intriguing tale about a father and son, who literally only have each other to keep them going. I love the haunting atmosphere that McCarthy gives the post-apocalyptic world, where even collecting food and starting a fire are daunting tasks.

Edit: Finished it as of Friday (October 23). Fantastic the entire way through. I'm probably going to pick up Blood Meridian next.

[Zargabaath]

I have picked up the second book in the Ogre Titans Trilogy, The Fire Rose, this explains why I'm reading it since I have just finished the first book.

So far, a commander of a Hand (Ogre legion) has defected from Golgren, teaming up with the Minotaurs who are encroaching on ogre lands. The Solamnic Knight who could not be found after the climatic battle at the end of book one was rescued by some ogres. During his stay with them he receives a vision from whom I believe is the god, Kiri-Jolith to help out. The Nerakans (dark knights) have also began their march into ogre lands. I have found out that Ildaria, the elf servant, is a spy for the Nerakans; Tyranos found this out and has made sure that her letters via bird will not get to them anymore through his watchful gargoyles. Sauroth, the new leader of the Ogre Titans has revealed that they will search for the Fire Rose, a powerful artifact of the High Ogres supposedly; Dauroth had forbidden all mention of it cause he thought it too dangerous to use.

Edit: Well I've finished this book a few months ago and just haven't updated this post. In the end the Ogre Titans got the Fire Rose and Golgren has pretty much lost his kingdom. The Gargoyle King made his presence known in this book though he did not have a big role; he becomes the focus in the last book aptly named The Gargoyle King. I'm thinking that the Gargoyle King is an Ogre Titan of old - not sure. I haven't picked up the third book yet due to a lack of funds but I will as soon as I can.

Overall it was a pleasant book and another good addition to the Dragonlance series.

[DragonHeart]

I started and finished Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. It's the true account of the Mount Everest tragedy that claimed 5 lives (12 by the end of the season) in 1996. I remember he came to my middle school back when the book was first published to talk about his experiences. I was too young to be interested in nonfiction at the time though and never read his book.

I finally picked it up cause it's one of those books I've always wanted to read, and because I'd already read his Into the Wild. I find with nonfiction the narrative voice makes or breaks the text. His is simple and honest.

Right now I'm reading New Tricks, sequel to Dog Days by John Levitt. Urban fantasy, short, fast-paced reads. They're very good books worth spending an afternoon on, imo. The use of magic in particular here is quite interesting.

~DragonHeart~

[Psiko]

Currently reading, and have been for a while: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Its a slow reading book with an immense scope and strong philosophical views portrayed. It is 1090 pages long with the smallest font I've ever seen in a novel. I've been working on this one since July in spurts and have, since about the halfway point, made a ton of progress because its gotten to that point where its nearly impossible to put down. And I still have another 300 pages to go. Talk about a herculean undertaking, huh?

I still need to figure out a book to take to work with me and read on lunch there now that I am done with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. I tried Milton's Paradise Lost but all the background noise there made it nearly impossible to read it as it should be...and enjoy the poetic style of it. So I'm back to pondering which book should be next.

[RamesesII]

Man i should have updated this thing ages ago but i have been to engrossed with one of the latest series from Robin Hobb i get goosebumps when i read or talk about her books she is an amazing writer and her style puts you in the shoes of the character, she is extremely detailed and every thought that her character thinks she writes but that never makes it boring.
Anyway i am almost finished one of her latest series called The Soldier Son trilogy and it is about a boy called Nevare who is the second son of a noble who is destined to be a soldier but when his father decides to leave him in the hands of a captured enemy to learn his ememy the plains people who are warrior nomads who emerse them selves in magic the two become friends and the plains man decides to introduce Nevare to the magic and help defeat an age old enemy the Specks who guard the bridge of the dead of his people and requests that he slay her but things turn around as Nevare is offered a life controlled by magic or death, and so controlled by the magic Nevare lives a life of two divided souls one devoted to the magic and one to his people but the magic doesn't like to be second to anything and will stop at nothing to stop Nevare's people from killing off the forests of the Speck people and will use Nevare as a weapon against his people at all costs.

[DragonHeart]

Finished New Tricks, started and finished Catching Fire last night. It's the sequel to The Hunger Games. No second book slump here; it's just as good, if not better than the first. There is one thing that's been nagging at me since the first book and was only amplified in the second: Katniss' naivete. In the first book it felt forced, now it's just heavy-handed. Hopefully Katniss will start maturing more in the next one or her character will start to stagnate.

Not sure what I'll read next. Plenty of choices but none of them are appealing at this particular moment in time. Hate it when that happens.

~DragonHeart~

[DragonHeart]

I'm now reading Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher, book two of the Codex Alera series. It's turning out to be a very good series so far. I'm not very far into it yet but there's already been some interesting developments and the return of several favorite characters from the first. There's not really much else I can say about it though since it would pretty much spoil most of the first book, Furies of Calderon.

~DragonHeart~