What are you reading?

[Sheenar]

The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis

[the_wolfs_howl]

[quote="bigsleepj (post: 1254662)"]Yay! My Borges proselytizing paid off! ]

I loved reading a ton of Borges, though his stories about gauchos and more ordinary sorts of people sort of took the magic away from his writing, the mystery of the three stories I'd read before. I even cautiously read "Three Versions of Judas". It wasn't quite as disturbing as I was expecting, but that's probably primarily because I couldn't understand half of what he was saying Also, I'd heard about the apocryphal Gospel according to Judas, which was similar to what I think Borges was trying to say. And I found "Paracelsus and the Rose"! It's in the volume "Shakespeare's Memory", which was his last volume of fiction, I believe.

Anyway, now I'm reading a book called Learning How to Write Fiction from the Masters. It's mostly reiteration of all the stuff I've reading in how-to-write books before, but this one has excerpts of good literature as well.

[everdred12a]

Just bought and briefly started on House of Leaves. Really interesting so far. Featuers a 4-page long footnote. Ftw.

[ich1990]

RE: Silence by Shusaku Endo
This book has long been on my list of things that I feel I should read eventually, so it is interesting to hear your thoughts.

I would recommend it. It is not a feel good book and it is not light reading, but it offers a unique perspective on martyrdom, one that I had not previously considered.

Just Read:

Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allen Poe

After reading a few select stories for school and whatnot, I had always intended to read more of Poe. I finally acted upon this intention when my family purchased several used books, one of which is this anthology of Poe's 27 best short stories.

Upon reading these stories, one fact immediately makes itself clear]Mort by Terry Pratchett[/b]

After a few weeks of resistance, I finally decided to surrender my life to discworld. Picking a story arc was easy; Death had already been recommended to me by several friends. Finally the book itself. I started with a test. I opened the book to a random page and read it. I laughed, it passed, I read the rest.

Positives:
(1 Very funny, usually in a dry sort of way. If you like Douglas Adam's style of humor, you will probably like this book.
(2 The book has a driving plot that contains some suspense. One of the downfalls of “Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy”, in my opinion, is that it has such a completely random plot, that you have little reason to anticipate what happens next. This book, on the other hand, has a plot and a structure in which you can properly appreciate the danger and suspense that it contains.

Negatives:
(1 Contains some crude humor and swearing. Don't read this book thinking that it will be perfectly clean. It is not.
(2 The author repeats some metaphors, similes, and uncommon words. This is an annoying habit that other popular authors, such as Terry Brooks have fallen into. They find a word or saying that they like, and they use it too often. I can't remember specific examples right now, but I remember being annoyed at the time that I read them.

Verdict:
This very funny book is a great start to what looks to be a great series. I plan to read more discworld novels in the future, but will attempt to read them sporadically so as to avoid getting addicted. Great for killing time (ha ha) or a quick laugh. (Considering this is the first discworld novel I have read, I do not feel qualified to give this book a suitable rating. For now, however, I will grant it a tentative 9/10)

[12praiseGOD]

Just finished Harry Potter 7...good ending, but didn't quite follow the rummors I had heard. I wasn't much of a reader until this summer when I got really interested in Harry Potter. Now I am reading Things Fall Apart...I know really different form Harry Potter.
Anyways, for you who do not know it is about the intertwining stories of two people in Nigeria and how their lives develope...don't really know to much, because I just started reading it.

I am also reading Deathstalker Coda...kinda confused at the plot now, but it seems pretty interesting for those of you who like aliens, outerspace, etc.

[KagayakiWashi]

I have a bad habit of not finishing books.....or not reading for that matter. I'm kinda off and on reading Igor Stravinsky's "The Poetics of Music".....it's a hard read.

[uc pseudonym]

The Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg

As per usual, a frustrating read. It is not what Borg denies that bothers me, but what he affirms. The brand of Christianity he promotes seems completely unappealing to me on every level. While I can understand what he says about the earlier model of Christianity being anti-intellectual, I fail to see how the emerging model is anything other than non-intellectual.

[Sheenar]

I'm taking a bit of a break from The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis because Watchmen was finally available from the library. So I went to pick it up. I'm still in chapter one, but I must say that I'm impressed and am looking forward to reading the rest.

[the_wolfs_howl]

I'm in the process of reading Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky; I'm ready to start Part II, Apropos of Wet Snow. I'm a big Dostoevsky fan, so I kind of automatically loved this book, but even so, I think it's really great. Awesome monologue and barely-comprehensible (for me) philosophizing that inevitably reminds me of Raskolnikov's thoughts and arguments throughout Crime and Punishment, when he's trying to justify murder. I'm loving it so far!

I'm also reading Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot, a tiny little book of poetry. I think it's the most aptly named thing I've ever read; Eliot's poetry just rolls off the page like music. Even when I can't understand any specifics of what he's trying to say, I can sort of understand it in my heart, which is the same with music.

[bigsleepj]

I'm currently attempting Gene Wolfe's Four Volume Book of the New Sun series again. I've managed to finish Shadow of the Torturer in a week's time this time, which is much better from the last time, which took four to six months. Very good but very grim.

[uc pseudonym]

Literary Nonfiction: Learning by Example edited by Patsy Sims

It has been a long time since I felt so negatively toward a book. For now all I will say is that I find the articles uninteresting and clumsy in their technique, and the commentary is the epitome of what I dislike in literary analysis. To give my full opinion and justify what I have already said would require a short essay.

[Htom Sirveaux]

Just bought and briefly started on House of Leaves. Really interesting so far. Featuers a 4-page long footnote. Ftw.

Yes. Read your [color="Blue"]House[/color] of Leaves. That book just starts out weird and gets weirder.
"This better be a case of bad math."

[ich1990]

Just read:

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

This is one of those books that you virtually have to read “to complete your education”. As such, I didn't expect to like it. To make matters worse, the only real knowledge I had of the plot of the book came from watching “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”, which was a less than stellar film. Out of a rather strange sense of erudite obligation, I picked up this book from my library, and, after putting it off for several days, began to read it.

I began to realize that my preconceptions may not be quite accurate when Lord Henry came on to the scene and began to launch fantastically witty diatribes against, well, anything that seems reasonable. Once the rest of the relatively small cast of characters got together, there was even more clever banter.
As it turns out, this well crafted prose is the highlight of the book, and almost all of the story, character, and plot development is derived from these conversations. This could be either a pro or a con, depending upon how dependent you are upon your stories having action.

Despite its rather lethargic and verbose plot tendencies, I enjoyed the book, and, especially, its message. This book showed, without being overly preachy, the utter futility of the aesthetic lifestyle. It basically summed up the first of Kierkegaard's three stages of being. I don't really plan on reading any more of Wilde's works because his style doesn't particularly suit me. Nonetheless, I am happy to have read this book, and I would recommend it to anyone who would like to read a slow paced, thought inducing book, without having to go so far as to read philosophy. 7/10

[the_wolfs_howl]

Finished Notes from Underground. Loved it! I think it was Dostoevsky at his best. Since it's such a short story, the cast is pretty small, and you don't get bogged down with all those Russian names that all sound the same, lol. And it also included one of the most dramatic scenes I think I've ever read. I was so into it that I started sweating and shivering like the main character.

I've now started Powers by Ursula K. Le Guin, and have read over 200 pages of it just today. Dude, I love this book! I'm not sure what exactly about it I like; I like just everything in it! It's like a mixture of the first two books, Gifts and Voices, yet it's a story all of its own. Gavir is a great character, a pure joy to read in my opinion. It doesn't quite reach up to the ethereal quality of Gifts, but I like it just as much. It's funny, but I yawned my way through Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle, yet I'm devouring her Western Shore series as if I hadn't read a book in a year!

[Alice]

Brideshead Revisited probably is his best, but I haven't read it. I know people who can get quite lyrical about it, though.

I read this recently. Skimmed the ending, though.

[Htom Sirveaux]

Started reading Moby Dick by Herman Melville a few days ago. I picked it up on a whim, as it was on the "free books" table in the basement of the library. I'm not yet deep into it, but so far it's actually pretty good. I hope to be entertained long enough to finish it.

[Kkun]

Started reading Moby Dick by Herman Melville a few days ago. I picked it up on a whim, as it was on the "free books" table in the basement of the library. I'm not yet deep into it, but so far it's actually pretty good. I hope to be entertained long enough to finish it.

Moby Dick is probably one of my favorite books. It's so multi-layered but even the surface story is excellent. I have a lot of fun with it every time I read it. The sermon toward the beginning is easily one of my favorite scenes in any piece of literature.

[jon_jinn]

Reading The Chosen by Chaim Potok

[sainttailfan]

As soon as I manage to get away from this screen, I'll be reading Alexander Kent's 'Passage to Mutiny'

[GhostontheNet]

I'm working on finishing Honor, Patronage, Kinship, and Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture by David A. deSilva.

[uc pseudonym]

A Contract with God by Will Eisner

On one hand, I find myself continually seeing elements that were absolutely foundational to graphic novels as a medium. But when it comes to the story itself, I am disappointed. It brings up so many issues of grief and the question of God's benevolence, yet then the story takes a turn without building upon them. The ending strikes me almost like a moral tacked onto the end, a heavy handed twist that ruins the ambiguity of the previous conversation with God. If someone else has an interpretive key I am missing, I would be more than willing to hear it.

[the_wolfs_howl]

I finished Powers - awesome, awesome book - and am now reading Fire Bringer by David Clement-Davies. It's about a red deer named Rannoch who must flee his herd because of a prophecy made about him that puts him in danger. It's like...Bambi, with the heirarchy and familial intrigue of Lion King But it's very original and enjoyable; I like it very much. You can tell the guy did his research about deer.

[Maledicte]

Firebringer! I love that book! Be sure you also read his book The Sight. I have his latest book Fell in my big pile o' "To Read" books.

And I agree with you, UC, regarding Eisner's work. I've read the whole trilogy but it's been long enough that all the stories have blended into a vaguely depressing mush in my head. Much as I respect all Eisner's done, I haven't been able to really connect with his writing.

As for me, I've been reading vampire novels. Lots of them.

I have a strange desire to read the standouts of the genre before this Halloween.

Lately I've read:
-Salem's Lot by Stephen King
-The Society of S by Susan Hubbard
-Hotel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
-Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Also, I have read the two Skulduggery Pleasant books. Please read them. There's a walking, talking, well-dressed, witty, firethrowing, Irish skeleton in them.

[GeneD]

-Sunshine by Robin McKinley

What do you think about it? I read it a while back but couldn't find anyone else had read it yet.

Currently reading "Jingo" by Terry Pratchett.

[uc pseudonym]

The Career Novelist by Donald Maass

Slightly dated, but there was a free PDF of it. It still struck me as having some useful basic information.

[ich1990]

After unsuccessful attempts at reading "How We Got the Bible" (too basic) and "The Sword of Honor Trilogy" (too big for my college schedule) I read the following:

Dark to Mortal Eyes by Eric Wilson

I first learned about Eric Wilson through his amazon reviews. As I picked out books to read, I noticed his name attached to many of the top reviews. As I came to find out, he is a top 500 amazon reviewer. A quick glance through his bio and a few of his reviews showed that he is a recovering Christian, loves Christian metal music, and has read pretty much every thriller/horror/suspense book out there. Pretty cool. I then noticed that he was also an author and had several Christian thriller/horror/suspense books in print. I was intrigued enough to pick up his first book, “Dark to Mortal Eyes”.

So, what kind of book does a book critic write? A pretty good one, as it turns out. It is obvious that the author loves words, and he seems to go out of his way to make vivid and creatively arranged sentences. Also, his characters seem vivid and relateable. He also wrote this story as a sort of “concept book”. That is, he fashioned the book into a sort of real life chess game (you will understand once you read it). The book is not without its faults, however. His characters act funny in high pressure and high danger situations, he likes using the word “Melt” a lot, every single character has a mysterious and twisted past, the danger never really feels palpable, the twists were easily predicted, and the author insists on using the word tummy instead of stomach. Mostly, however, these are merely mild irritants. For a debut, Christian novel, it is quite well written.

The closest stylistic comparison that I can give is Frank Peretti's “This Present Darkness”. It is not a perfect comparison, but if you liked that book, chances are you will like this one. Both books show a vivid picture of the supernatural world bleeding through into the natural. For a Christian novel, I think this book is edgy enough to feel honest but at the same time it does not glorify evil. Bad things happen, is the message, but there is still hope. Christian suspense fans will find this a worthwhile read, and I am sure that I will find it worthwhile to read more of this author's works. 8/10.

Also, some people may find it interesting that Eric Wilson just released the first book in his “Jerusalem's Undead Trilogy”. Yes, Jerusalem. Yes, undead. How awesome is that?

[Maledicte]

What do you think about it? I read it a while back but couldn't find anyone else had read it yet.

I liked it. It wasn't what I was expecting. The vampire hunter characters kept annoying me, but the two leads made up for it. There was quite a bit of infodumping about the world too, which irritated me some. I would like to see more stories set in this world, but if that never happens, the ending was full of hope, which I enjoyed.

[quote]Christian suspense fans will find this a worthwhile read, and I am sure that I will find it worthwhile to read more of this author's works. 8/10.

Also, some people may find it interesting that Eric Wilson just released the first book in his “]
Thanks for the heads-up, I was losing hope in Christian-written suspense/supernatural fiction. His Aramis Black series looks interesting.

Reading Strange Cargo by Jeffrey Barlough and Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris, concurrently.

[Radical Dreamer]

Alongside S. Morgenstern's The Princess Bride, I'm reading Imagine, by Steve Turner. I am loving this book so far! It's about the integration of Christianity and the arts, making quality art as Christians, the current state of Christian art and how Christians treat other art, etc. I'm only two chapters in so far, but I'm already wanting to recommend it to people. XD It's excellent!

[Sheenar]

I'm still reading Watchmen --it is an excellent, excellent novel --but I keep getting distracted/busy with school stuff and I haven't read any of it in 6 days. I've been carrying it around with me in my book bag in hope that I'll have some spare time on campus and can read it...

[Maledicte]

...I'm reading Imagine, by Steve Turner. I am loving this book so far! It's about the integration of Christianity and the arts, making quality art as Christians, the current state of Christian art and how Christians treat other art, etc. I'm only two chapters in so far, but I'm already wanting to recommend it to people. XD It's excellent!

Hooray! Spread the word! That's an excellent book. Madeleine L'Engle's Walking On Water is another good book in similar spirit.