What are you reading?

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Rick Yancey's: The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp

It's a lot better than it sounds. Think Indiana Jones, mixed with James Bond and you may have an idea of what it's like.

[FarmGirl]

Obsessed- Ted Dekker.
Just wanted to thank you guys for informing me of this author.
*Clears throat*
Thank you!

[spiritusvult]

Quicksilver - Neal Stephenson (not for those with short attention spans, 'cause it's really slow at parts)

The Year's Best Fantasy 2005 - Various. Some of them are good, some are... not so good.

[FaerieChica]

Wuthering Heights, novel by Emily Bronte. It's written in Ye Olde English so it's a little tough to read someitmes, but the plot is good. I'm trying to read all these novels, like Jane Eyre and such.

[yukinon]

Jane Eyre was somewhat painful at spots. I spent the entire summer reading it.

[uc pseudonym]

Today I had a bit of free time, so I decided to catch up on all the books that various individuals had recommended to me. Unfortunately, I couldn't find some of the ones I wanted most (particularly Ring of Truth which was always checked out) in the libraries immediately available, so I'm working on secondary recommendations.

A Little Exercise for Young Theologians by Helmut Thielicke

Short but pretty solid. He's a deep (and at times convoluted) theologian speaking frankly about the dangers of theology draining life from a person's beliefs. I actually finished this in two sittings.

Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh

Well, the author is Buddhist, so it shouldn't be at all difficult to figure out what he's saying. So far it is well written in a simple and direct style. Very quick reading, but a much longer book than the previous, so I am still working on it.

[EireWolf]

A Little Exercise for Young Theologians by Helmut Thielicke

Short but pretty solid. He's a deep (and at times convoluted) theologian speaking frankly about the dangers of theology draining life from a person's beliefs.

Unfortunately, I can attest to that. I'm still recovering from being a theology major.

[yukinon]

What about being a theology (or biblical studies) minor?

[Doe Johnson]

I'm finally reading Wonderful, Wonderful Times (Die Ausgesperrten) by Elfriede Jelinek. I've now decided that German works really are some of the most depressing/disturbing things you can read. Of course, it could just be the specific things my teacher has us read. I would not suggest this book to anyone. I suppose if you like A Clockwork Orange, this might be the book for you. Most of the people in my class really like the story, but it just doesn't agree with me on so many different levels. I mean, you are introduced to the main four characters while they are beating up a guy and stealing his money. But they supposedly aren't doing it for the money. One of the characters is extremely rich, so I suppose for her she has alternative reasons, but the other 3 are all lower middle class to poor. Anywho, the sexual content is rather prominent. One of the girls claimed she'd have sex with any guy who would stuff a needle under his nail...and some guy who was obsessed with her actually did it! And guess what, he got sent out of the room and she asked to go to the bathroom...which...she did do...but...yeah...that was an odd bathroom scene... She's quite a sexually active individual right now. Oh I forgot to mention, her father's a little messed up too. He used to work at a camp in WWII and when he came back he had lost of the use of a leg and became aggressive. But...yeah...his hobby is "photography"...*cough*...of his wife...*cough*...basically, I suggest to not read books by Elfriede Jelinek. Too bad I'm only half-way through it and still have to finish...

For my other class I just read the short story The Screwfly Solution by Raccoona Sheldon. Most people found it to be the most disturbing short story we've had. I actually found it entertaining. It made me laugh. I don't think I took it all that seriously, especially after the "I think I saw a real-estate agent" line. That was the best! (and yes, I did understand what she meant with that line) I found the story to be less disturbing than the next one we have to read, A Boy and His Dog by Harlan Ellison. I don't think I took that one extremely seriously, but there was something about it that definately made it worse for me than any of the other short stories we've had. And the end at the eating scene...I wonder if any people actually won't read between the lines to realize what Blood is eating...(and if you can't tell, I read all but one of the short stories for that class at the beginning of the semester)

[mitsuki lover]

Have you ever tried to read Dr. Faustus by Thomas Mann?That's a rather long and complex read.It's not until you're half way through the novel that he gets to the kernel of the tale where the protagonist makes his deal with the devil,but even there it's written in such a way that you are left guessing wheter or not it actually happened or if he was the victim of some insane hallucination(the ending kind of implies it might be the later since he attempts suicide by drowning).

[uc pseudonym]

Interesting. How would you compare the novel to Goethe's play?

What about being a theology (or biblical studies) minor?

Oh, those only decrease faith life by 10-15%.

The author certainly isn't saying that theology is harmful to faith, but merely pointing out how it can easily become a hindrance (to oneself, though also to others). He talks about a lot of things, from crushing other people's honest interpretations of scripture with excessive verbiage to deeper and more internal dryness. I think Eirewolf understands pretty well.

[silver1ightning]

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. It was supposed to be a scheduled reading for a book report (about 1-2 chapters per day) but it became very interesting to I decided to read ahead.

If you've never read it, I would suggest it. If you haven't read it merely because the first chapter, I don't blame you. The book doesn't really make sense until around chapter 5 (or at least for me), but after that, its actually really good.

[yukinon]

Could it be that theology itself is relatively harmless, but can be used either positively or negatively?

Am I digressing too much?

um.....I'm reading "Banner in the Sky".

[Technomancer]

At the moment, I'm reading "The Geographer's Library" by John Fasman.

[uc pseudonym]

Ring of Truth by JB Phillips

From what I have read of it so far it will be good when it addresses my issues but spend a fair amount of time on things that do not concern me. A good read, in any case.

A History of Philosophy, Vol 1 by Frederick Copleston

I may not have the time to read all nine volumes, but I'm finding it informative and somewhat interesting. Perhaps this will be my back-burner reading for a while.

[mitsuki lover]

Did you get to the part where he talks about seeing the ghost of C.S. Lewis yet?

I just finished reading The Song Of Hiawatha by Longfellow.

[Arnobius]

Love Hina: The Novel (Yep, real words)

very light material told from Keitaro's perspective. It is humorous and in the spirit of the original manga (and according to Akamatsu can be considered canon). Some of Keitaro;s musings are pretty crude though and discretion is advised

[chimera189]

The Thousand Orcs by R.A. Salvatore

[ZiP]

Eldest by Chris Paolini at the moment

[Doubleshadow]

Lord of The Rings, Fellowship of the Ring. Yes, I have never read the books nor seen the movies excpet for bits and pieces on the satellite Dish.

[yukinon]

cool! I'm currently halfway through the Two Towers for class.

[Kawaiikneko]

I read House by Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti yesterday. It took me about 5 hours, and it was very good, but there were some predictable parts, and I almost felt like I was reading Oath again... Maybe Frank's writing style just reminded me of that..

[mitsuki lover]

Eric Sloane's ABCs Of Early Americana.
A really easy to read and well illustrated book of all things Early American.

[uc pseudonym]

I've been reading a lot of poetry lately, which is unusual for me. Almost needless to say, this reading is for a class. The book is a collection of poems representative of the modern era and contains the work of dozens of different poets, but seven receive special sections of their own (however, I don't have those seven memorized).

[Kaori]

Most recently, Gilead by Marilyne Robinson. The book is written in the form of an aging pastor's memoirs that he is writing for the benefit of his son. It's beautifully written, and some of the narrator's thoughts about spirituality are thought-provoking or moving, but the book doesn't seem to have much of an overall plot. However, I'm only about a third of the way into it, so it may just be that I have yet to perceive any broad structure.

[Linksquest]

I'm Reading The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. I had read it before in my childhood, but for nostaligic reasons thought I'd pick it up again. It's actually quite funny. Juster takes cliches and english phrases and makes them become reality in this book... other plays on the english language abound.

For instance... there is a "watchdog" that is a dog with a clock for a body. XDDD.

In the APPRECIATION at the beginning of the book by Maurice Sendak, he quotes it being said that "'As Pilgrim's Progress is concerned with the awakening of the sluggardly spirit, The Phantom Tollbooth is concerned with the awakening of the lazy mind.'"

One passage that got to me: In reference to a wooden wagon that was going to become a means of transportation:

"'How are you going to make it move? it doesn't have a---'
'Be very quiet,' advised the duke, ' for it goes without saying.'
And, sure enough, as soon as they were all quite still, it began to move quickly through the streets, and in a very short time they arrived at the royal palace.'"


The book is filled with things like that. I am really enjoying it.

[BigZam]

"Green Shadows, White Whale" By Ray Bradbury.

interesting book....has anyone read Graveyard For Lunatics by Ray Bradbury?

[yukinon]

yayPhantomTollbooth!! I loved that book! Especially the orchestra scene.

Thanks for reminding me. That's one of the books I'm going to have my boyfriend read during his Star Wars hiatus. ^^;

[Linksquest]

"Green Shadows, White Whale" By Ray Bradbury.

interesting book....has anyone read Graveyard For Lunatics by Ray Bradbury?

Uh... no... *writes down on "to-read list"* I do love Bradbury's works though. He is one of my all time favorite authors! His Science Fiction is some of the best !


[quote="yukinon"]yayPhantomTollbooth!! I loved that book! Especially the orchestra scene.

Thanks for reminding me. That's one of the books I'm going to have my boyfriend read during his Star Wars hiatus. ^^]

lol, you're welcome!

[jon0]

"Dune" by Frank Herbert