What are you reading?

[Atria35]

The light novel Kamikaze Girls. Came across a misspelling that annoyed me- the lolita girl refers to the "Cocoro of Rococo". While I know that was put to make it more punny in English, it still annoyed me to no end!

[Tamachan319]

I am just starting This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pffefer. It's the third book in a end-of-world series (which, in general, I don't really enjoy this genre). I did like the first two books, so hopefully this one will be good too. I'll be interested to see how it turns out.

[airichan623]

The light novel Kamikaze Girls. Came across a misspelling that annoyed me- the lolita girl refers to the "Cocoro of Rococo". While I know that was put to make it more punny in English, it still annoyed me to no end!

Ah, Shinotsuma Monogatari (japanese title)! I own that book. I like it, though the yanki's language irks me. I guess it does get across how crass a yanki is tho...

Have you seen the movie? Like the book better (which is pretty normal for me).

I've started a book called How to Ditch your Fairy. We'll see how this book is... i do love the cover tho.
:lol:

[Kaori]

Finished rereading God in the Dock. I love Lewis’s rigorously logical approach. His humble and generous attitude towards his opponents, his readers, and his audiences is also amazing; I hope that someday I will be able to assert my beliefs towards people who hold opposing views with as much grace, charity, and humility as C.S. Lewis.

Read The Moon and the Face by Patricia McKillip, sequel to Moonflash. This is a novel full of understandable themes: being torn between two worlds, the death of a loved one, worry about people you love who travel far away, fear that the complexity of modern life will shatter life’s simplicity, the paradoxical way in which the complexity and the simplicity of life coexist. The outlook of the book is excessively sunny and optimistic (i.e., it is optimistic in an unrealistic and fluffy way; it’s not that optimism itself is bad), and that is my only major complaint about it.

Started reading Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? today!

That book is awesome.

[ich1990]

“Tuckâ€

[Atria35]

Ah, Shinotsuma Monogatari (japanese title)! I own that book. I like it, though the yanki's language irks me. I guess it does get across how crass a yanki is tho...

Have you seen the movie? Like the book better (which is pretty normal for me).

I'm a weird person- language by movie/anime/book characters doesn't bother me, RL useage like that does I've even gotten over that by a fair bit due to my brother picking up casual usage from his mechanics classes (though from the stories he tells me about the cars that people bring in, it sounds like they need some way to express their anger/frustration!).

I have not had the opportunity to see the movie- I heard the book was better, so I just went straight to that!

Artemis Fowl: Eternity Code- Slogging through the series. It's difficult when I also am busy packing for a move.

[Radical Dreamer]

That book is awesome.

Yeah, I'm really enjoying it so far! I just watched Blade Runner for the first time a few days ago, so I figured it was time to pick this one up off my shelf and read through it! I can't wait to see how the book and movie differ/compliment one another. XD

[rocklobster]

Starting on Children of the Mind, book 4 of Orson Scott Card's Ender series.

[uc pseudonym]

Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo

The subtitle is "Why aid is not working and how there is a better way for Africa." That is a pretty good description of the book, provided you understand that by "aid" she refers only to the sustained governmental money that passes directly to African governments. Being an economist, she writes like one, so expect a lot of studies and discussion of monetary theory instead of other kinds of prose.

It's a critical book, I would say. I'm not sure I'm entirely convinced that foreign aid can be blamed for as many problems as she suggests, but she does make a very convincing case that it is doing minimal good. Unlike some of Africa's problems, this is also one that we do have a major effect on in the west, so it demands more of a policy shift.

Sharing Boundaries: Learning the Wisdom of Africa by Annetta Miller

This is an attempt to be a refreshing look at culture differences through proverbs and poetry. I am a fan of neither and in general the worst possible audience for this book. Probably nothing else I should say about it.

African Friends and Money Matters by David Maranz

Very direct and practical information about how different cultures view finances, generosity, and business. The book was reviewed by people from multiple African countries before publication and their comments/rebuttals/agreement are frequently mentioned in the text. While this isn't good light reading, it's valuable when relevant.

[Kaori]

Humility by Andrew Murray. Murray has a well-defined concept of humility, and his view of it is more comprehensive than merely the feeling that results from contrition over one’s sins. Even in a book of only 100 pages, he does manage to repeat himself a bit, but overall, it is a good read and a topic worthy of reflection.

[Atria35]

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. It's not, ya know, literature per say, but it's still a fascinating look at what bodies go through after death, giving a bit of history to the various options that we have today and what options we may have for tomorrow. It's sometimes odd, sometimes a bit gross, sometimes a little heartbreaking, but a real look at what we do with the dead, and it's always handled with tact, compassion, care, and honesty.

[Shao Feng-Li]

The Overton Window by Glenn Beck

[the_wolfs_howl]

I just read The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, and loved it! It reminded me a lot of Myst (especially The Book of D'ni, which takes place between the second and third games); in fact, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the Miller brothers had consciously taken inspiration from it. The time machine itself was never described in great detail, but I could just picture it in my mind's eye as something that wouldn't be out of place in those games. It also said something about human nature and was actually really creepy, in my experience. Pssh, forget Frankenstein! This thing freaked me out.

Also, I found it interesting to learn that The Time Machine was the first story ever written where time travel was accomplished through means of a machine. Always before, people traveled through time by supernatural means. Interesting.

[Okami]

I'm still working on Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis, but have also added Craig Gross' and Jason Harper's Jesus Loves You This I Know and Jon Acuff's Stuff Christians Like.

[rocklobster]

Will be starting The Pillars of Creation, book 6 in Sword of Truth

[MomentOfInertia]

John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series book 7, Erak's Ransom.

[Kaori]

The Incarnation of the Word by Athanasius, a short treatise which can be read online for free. In the latter half of the work, Athanasius gives arguments attempting to combat the unbelief of the Jews and then of the Gentiles (who at the time were neo-Platonist Greeks). The section of arguments against the Jews is of some use, though a careful reader can find occasional errors or debatable interpretations; the section against the Gentiles is of somewhat less use, since most people nowadays do not hold neo-Platonist assumptions. However, this treatise is valuable not for its apologetics but as a work of soteriology; as such, it is solid, orthodox, accessible, and concise. Recommended.

A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor. The point of these stories is not always immediately obvious, although having read Mystery and Manners, in which she explains her approach to writing, does help. Having recently been made to read some Christian fiction in which the Christian characters are made out to be saintly and more or less perfect, I relish O’Connor’s way of creating characters that, despite their deep moral flaws, still have capacity for goodness and grace (her believing characters could generally be said to be either somewhat hypocritical or very hypocritical). “The Artificial Nigger,â€

[Radical Dreamer]

Finished reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and I really enjoyed it! I thought it had a very interesting way of hinting at the plot twist without explicitly stating it.

Also, I've picked Shutter Island back up in hopes of finishing it over the next few days!

[MomentOfInertia]

Today I finished reading Robert Jordan's New Spring. (the novel)

[CrystalChalice]

I have just caught the reading bug from my classmates and started reading Nahoko Uehashi's Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit.

[Abi-chan]

The Guardians Of Ga'Hoole book 2: The Journey. My friend let me borrow it, but I haven't read it for about a week. -_-

[rocklobster]

Currently reading book 2 of the second Warrior Cats arc. And I also read the first Sandman book. Will be re-starting The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan.

[ich1990]

"Getting Things Done" by David Allen

I have read a lot of self-help, productivity, pop psychology, and personal finance books in the last ten years; as an individual I have an almost insatiable desire to make my life more efficient, more productive, and all around less pointless. That being said, I have gotten almost to the point of giving up on those genres altogether, as everything I read seems to be hash of the same principles, laid out in a idealized forms that are difficult to apply to the real world. Honestly, I find that there is often far more wisdom and opportunity to learn about "self-help" (not to mention examples) in classic literature than there is in most of these books so my attention is directed accordingly. Perhaps that is why I hadn't heard of this book until about a month ago when I was talking with my supervisor and noticed that his e-mail inbox was empty (most people I know have a 1000+ e-mails in their inbox, so this was surprising). Intrigued, I inquired. My supervisor explained that the empty inbox was a product of a new productivity model he was following. He described it saying, "it is like Seven Habits for Highly Successful People --except it is actually useful". My curiosity overwhelmed my cynicism and I decided it was time to hit the self-help books once more.

After reading the book and applying the system to my own life for a couple of months, I can reaffirm my boss' findings; it is actually useful. What makes this book stand apart is that it is aimed at engineers, scientists, and the factually minded, with such principles as "get all of your ideas out of your head and on to paper where you can manipulate, process, and store them" and "constantly ask yourself what is the next action you can take in order to move a project forward". GTD is practical about these sorts of principles as well; the author never fails to give you detailed instructions on exactly how to get all of your ideas and obligations into your data management systems (and how to process them). This was quite refreshing, as I had almost started to take it for granted that self-help books were ideological rather than practical.

All of this sounds complicated, and to a certain extent it is. A reading of "Getting Things Done" and a look at its flowcharts (yes flowcharts) and chapter layout does much to make the system comprehensible, however. The basic principles aren't hard but implementing them can be a bit overwhelming. Yet, I am convinced that the results are worth it. You wouldn't believe the amount of relief that comes from taking all of the things floating in my brain and on my desk, and in my filing cabinets, and in my e-mail, and locking them into an airtight data system. I know where everything is (or rather, where to go to find out where everything is) and what needs to be done next, and exactly how. Put simply, it is the best self-help book I have ever read. Give it a try and see if it is to your tastes, it isn't for everyone. For those who can take to it, though, it is fantastic. 10/10

I'm still working on Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis, but have also added. . . Jon Acuff's Stuff Christians Like.

I have just recently RSS'ed his site, and I love it. He is appropriately self-aware about Christian Culture's shortcomings and does a great job making fun of them, yet never dips into cynicism or vitriol.

[Song_of_Storms]

[font="Garamond"]It's been so long, but I finished a couple. ^^ I found a new author, to me, and I absolutely adore her! >w< She has such memorable characters.

Georgette Heyer's :

Why shoot a butler?
No wind of blame
Envious Casca
Blunt Instrument
Behold, here is poison

--

I'm now reading Georgette Heyer's Cousin Kate and a collection of P.G Wodehouse shorts. (even though not all of them are shorts, but merely chapters taken from various books of his) [/font]

[ClosetOtaku]

A Concise History of the Spanish Civil War by Paul Preston.

[knightlee]

Finishing up Catching Fire and The Rise of Renegade X. Loving the former, not so much the latter.

[Atria35]

Kushiel's Dart. Interesting start to the story- I can't wait to see how this turns out!

[Blacklight]

Got "How Not to Write a Novel" and "Frankenstein" from the library today...

(I didn't make a mistake by picking up Frankenstein, did I? 0.0 I've read some bad books before, unknowingly... but haven't heard a "This is a bad book" about this one.)

[Sheol777]

Frankenstein is written in that older style where the story is told in a different structure. However it was ok by me and man is the monster different then every movie I have seen (with possibly the exception of the De Nero one).

[Atria35]

(I didn't make a mistake by picking up Frankenstein, did I? 0.0 I've read some bad books before, unknowingly... but haven't heard a "This is a bad book" about this one.)

Trust me, reading Frankenstein isn't a mistake. It is nothing like the monster movies that you've probably got running around in your head. It is a little slow in some parts, but overall is a great story. Just... don't expect it to read like Dracula.