The book thread

[Anonymous]

Ovbiously, most of us enjoy reading. So discuss your favorites or the ones you think were a complete waste of trees.

Liked: Anything by Garth Nix, Tamora Pierce, or R.A. Salvatore usually

Currently reading: The Once and Future King

Hated: Dragon Queen (Avoid it like the plauge)

[Rhindeer]

Ohh ohh ohh!! BOOKS! YAY!!!

*ahem*

My all time favorites are The Last Unicorn and Watership Down. Love those books. *_* And I've read both of them at least a million times, not to mention watched the movies. XD And the funny thing about them is...I saw the movies first when I was a child, and was traumatized by both of them. Watership Down, though it's about rabbits, is DEFINITELY not a children's story...it's a very mature story, very violent, and has a lot of deeper themes in it, even though it's also an adventure tale about rabbits. XD But they're not cuddly pet shop rabbits...they're friggin' warriors. So, needless to say...the animated film version of it is VERY freaky for a little kid to watch...it's one of the bloodiest animated films I've ever seen. And about rabbits. *nods*

However, the story is completely, 100% kickass. No matter how many times I read it, I love it. The language is beautiful, and the characters are relateable...and the villain...well, every time I read the book, I just want to throttle him. *ahem* The ending always makes me cry as well. ^^;;;; It's just a beautiful book. Very rich and detailed and just... *cuddles the book*

The Last Unicorn...yes...as an animated film and from a little kid's perspective...not a good movie to watch. XD There's one part in the story concerning a harpy...very freaky. Ahem. Anyway, the movie is beautiful and follows the book well, but of course it has nothing on the book, which is amazing. It's very poetically written, and I just love how the character of the Unicorn is portrayed. The book also covers a ton of themes, but...they aren't obvious at first. XD After a few readings, the themes become more obvious. *cough* Speaking from experience. *nods* The story itself is really awesome. And...and...I love how the book ends. Very bittersweet yet hopeful. And I love bittersweet endings. It's also really funny in a lot of places. XD Schmendrick owns ALL!

Lesseee...other favorites...

The Wheel of Time series is fun, though...after book 6 or 7...it starts to just...get drawn out. ^^;; I've only made it to book 9, and haven't read it yet, because...nothing is happening! XDD But, um, it is a really good series, just a ton of reading and starts to lose momentum after book 7. Which is sad. I know it's because the author is setting the stage for the grand finale and has a lot of loose ends to tie, but...ah well. I really do want to see the story through to the end (it's gonna end on book 12...there are 11 books out now) because it truly is a great epic. And it's one of the most detailed stories I've ever read. The story has like 50 main characters and thousands of lesser characters. O.O I kid thee not. But, hey, considering each book is no less than 600 pages, and that they get around 1000 pages, it's not really surprising.

The books Ishmael and My Ishmael by Daniel Quinn aren't fantasy, but are really good. Make ya think. *nods* And touch on some important stuff concerning the world and whatnot. Very good books. Very eye-opening. ^__^

And...I'll stop for now. XD

[Anonymous]

Reading currently: "Choosing Death"

About to read more of: "Lords of Chaos: Rise of the bloody Satanic Underground

Wanting to read more and more because its the first book he became obsessed with XD: "Intensity" by Dean Koontz

Hating: Books about God

[Anonymous]

Omg! I've fallen in love with Garth Nix, lmao. <3 I read.. Sabriel not too long ago, on Lirael now ^___^ They're at the top of my list.. I love the entire idea of the world, the magic, how it's incorporated.. Everything. It's great. I like it. I suck at explaining. HAH. Anyway..

Heartland series is a favorite, simply because I will never lose my obsession with horses. And then Phantom Stallion series... horses again. Mwuaha. Bother realistic, obviously.

Daughters of the Moon - they're good, too. Fantasy, mwuaha. Based a bit on greek mythology.. And then Chronicles of Ancient Darkness, that's brilliant, too. Uhhh.. OOHH. Devil in Gray was an AWESOME book, except for the.. uhm, oral sex scenes? LOL. Those were interesting parts of the book, of course the rest was really interesting. Uhhhhhh... There was, there was.. what the heck was it.. OHHH. Blood and Chocolate. Werewolves book, lovely, lovely, lovely. Tamora Pierce is kickass too, I've only read one of her books, but I want to read more, only problem is.. she has like.. a zillion freakin books, so I get confused on where to actually start.

OH. ANOTHER awesome book is In darkness, Death.. realistic with a hint of fantasy.. Yeah, sorta. Lol. More like beliefs.. BASED IN JAPAN, folks. It's awesome. I want to get more books by the authors... Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler ^^

That's all I can think of at this particular moment.. OHH. No. Julie of the Wolves books and the Face of the Milk Carton books... <33333333333 Hah.

Anywayzzz. I think I nailed down my ultimate favorites. Oh, wait. I also like stuff by Sarah Dessen - realistic, girly.. crap. Yeah.

The Silver Kiss [vampires] was awesome.. and Bitten [werewolves, and it's a series, and further in it's more fantasy stuff like witches], too.

[Anonymous]

I love just about all of these authors' books:  Matthew Stover, R.A. Salvatore, Michael A. Stackpole, Timothy Zahn, and JRR Tolkein.  Umm. most starwars books i like, especially the new jedi order and books after that.  and the thrawn books are awsome.  I really liked some other books too, .like Animal Farm, Angels and demons, the Da vinci Code, and theCassandra Compact.


Books I hate:  just about anything I have to read for school that isnt at least four-hundred years old, romance novels, any books made with a liberal or bible-thumping perspective.

[Anonymous]

I'm currently reading: "Why Josh and D-vad s0xx0rz so badly" Bu R. K. McHugh.

Good read if you want the truth on Lord leet and his lover D-vad.

And soon to be seriously reading: "The Book of Filth: A black metal bible" by dani filth.

*coughsafterxmascoughs* >.> <.<

[Anonymous]

well.. lessee.. anyone who knows me knows how much I read.. a couple years ago I was a reading maniac, but it has slown down a bit with school, drawing, and stuff...

my favs off the top of my head..
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Through the Looking Glass by Carol Lewis
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
The Lord of the Rings
Danny
Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchet
*cough* Harry Potter
the "Remember Me" trilogy.. forgot the author..
A Wrinkle In Time series by Madeleine l'Engle (sp?)
The Dark Is Rising series
His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman (holy crap, those were just awesome!)

I'll pick a few to send love to in this post... oh wait, I have two hours before I have to go >.>

The Haunting of Hill House was just awesome.. it is one of those I-can't-sleep-until-I-read-it-holy-crud-this-is-creepy-ooh,lookabunny-books. I simply love the writing style in it.. It sets a definitely creepy mood, and it is like the house was built to be alive, but not in the noticeable way.. sort of going into the subconscious, and the ways that the doors are all closed all the time, no matter if you prop them up.. and all the rooms, and the grounds.. it is just.. well.. go read it!

Narnia is, well... self explanatory. I get lost in that world whenever I read those books.. Same goes to LOTR and Harry Potter..

Danny is a story about a girl who wants a pony, and works really hard for it. Her father died when she was little, and the only picture she has of him is of him on a horse. It is a typical family living on what used to be a farm, her mother is seeing someone else, and the girl doesn't like him. She falls in adoration with this white pony that goes lame when it escapes from its stable, and someone forwards the owner the money to buy the horse for her. and the story goes on about what she goes through with the horse, with her once-friend-now-snob around and.. well, I ALWAYS cry when I read this book.

Remember Me is set in the present time, in the states.. california I think, and it is about this woman who commits a suspicious suicide and sticks around to solve the case, because she is sure she didn't jump off that balcony. The sequels are awesome. However, there is coarse language in it, so.. if you are offended easily by that, don't read these books.

The Dark Is Rising series has so much magic to the story that it is another series I can't just put down.

and I just recently finished the last book of His Dark Materials.. The Amber Spyglass... I absolutely love this series, it is like religion with almost more conflict to it.. There are witches, and there are the different things of christianity, and they are all coming after Lyra Silvertongue because of something we don't find out until the third book and is a spoiler so I won't write it ^_^ almost everyone has a daemon (kinda like.. a witch's familiar? the witches daemon's are different than all the others), and there are angels, armored bears, the dedicatedly nasty side of christianity that tries to purify everyone by breaking their spirits from sin.. ooo, it is FUN! I love all the theories and stuff that have been put into it, and all work, and eeee *squee**insert mindless zombie noises here*

I don't like this keyboard. I'll see you later... unless I think of a book that I've forgotten about...

oh yeah, Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchet had me laughing non-stop XD

[Anonymous]

Kanina, you read the whole Dark is Rising series? I can never find anything other than The Grey King. I liked it, though. I also like:

anything by Tolkien
The Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix
The Divine Comedy(even if I'm still in Purgatory)
Harry Potter
Resident Evil series by S.D. Perry
Magic: The Gathering books
Animal Farm
Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan
The Purple Emperor(sequel to Faerie Wars)

[Anonymous]

Books I <3:
- Anything by Neil Gaiman (esp. American Gods, Anansi Boys)
- Garth Nix - Sabriel/Lirael/Abhorsen, Keys to the Kingdom is pretty good, but I didn't like the 7th Tower series much
- R.A. Salvatore - the legend of Drizzt is all I've read so far
- Victoria Hanley! The Seer and the Sword/The Healer's Keep/The Light of the Oracle are muy fabuloso, and she's just finished another that's probably going to be out in ~ a year since it has to be edited and then go to BRITAIN first (her publisher's British, agh)
- So Yesterday by Scott Westerfeld--very awesome fiction book about fads and various things
- Harry Potter ^.~ (I'm seeing the movie on Friday!! Yee!)
- Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk (I haven't read anything else of his, but I've heard it's all really good)
- the only interesting biographies I've ever read-- The Long Hard Road Out of Hell (Marilyn Manson) and Mob Nemesis by some retired FBI guy. They were both very graphic, but I'd have to say MM wins for scaring me for life. ^.^ At least I'll never be shocked by anything ever again!
- Anne Rice. But be warned, if you read too many at one time, you yourself will turn into an utterly depressed vampire.
- Joanne Bertin's The Last Dragonlord and Dragon and Phoenix. I want her to write #3 already!!! If you haven't read these, they are the BEST dragon books I've ever read. Not that I've read that many. But I love these a lot!
- and there is sooooo much more....

Well, The Dark Is Rising series:
#1 Over Sea, Under Stone -- I disliked greatly, because I just don't CARE about these freaky little kids, I want to read more about Will who actually does things!
But the rest I LOVED. My mom didn't like them. But I made her read most of them anyway.

Books I h8:
- much of the stuff we had to read for school, except Fahrenheit 451 and To Kill a Mockingbird, which actually had a point!
- An Acquaintance with Darkness-- the first book I remember disliking to the point of hatred. Boring, boring, boring, and then everyone dies, and not even in interesting ways.
- the Elfquest graphic novels once they couldn't kill off Winnowill. I HATE WINNOWILL! Gah! Get on with life! But I liked them before that.
- The Bible. If ever there was a book that inspired more hatred or caused so many stupid deaths than this one, I would like to know about it.
- the Left Behind series. I was reading the first one because I thought it was an interesting idea, but all these people who were left behind completely LOST all traces of personality or interest the second they decided to convert. (How is this incentive to become a Christian?)

Soo... yeah. That's probably enough. ^_^

[Anonymous]

Oh, I completely left some out.
Anyway, I'm reading Into Northern Twilight on and off. It's set in that Exalted RPG. It's actually very well written and quite exciting.
And another favorite of mine is Urban Shaman. It's C.E Murphy's first novel. It's a little weird but in a good way. It has a bit colorful language though.

The books that my school picks out aren't really that bad. The only one's that I've really disliked were The Man in the Iron Mask and Dicey's Song. The first was nothing at all like the movie adaptation and was boring as hell. The latter just sucked, it was like a chick flick in book form with no plot whatsoever.

[Anonymous]

Ketsueki san: not only have I read them all, I own most of them, too XD

I love pretty much any book or anyTHING that employs mythology in the storyline. I am entranced by mythology ^_^

Garth Nix sounds good to me, I'll have to look up his books for future reading. I've heard about the Divine Comedy.. but haven't read it.. I think it is already on the list-of-things-to-read XD

[Rhindeer]

Ohhh...Interview With the Vampire by Anne Rice was awesome! ^___^ I didn't care for any of the other books in her vampire series, though...personally, I though she should have just ended it at IWtV, because that book was gorgeous, and to me...the others just felt like she was trying to milk the story for every penny. ^^;; But, that's me! I love that book. *huggles it*

And of course the Harry Potter series... *cough* Love it. >.>

Things Fall Apart is one I love! ^__^ Sad book, though. But I loved it. I enjoyed <U>The Bride Price, as well. ^___^ Both books about the Igbo culture in Africa and about the traditions. Very well written and I like the messages.

I used to HATE The Catcher in the Rye, but I had to read it again this semester for my adolescence in literature class, and...now I like it. Turns out I was reading it from the wrong angle. I always saw Holden Caufield as an annoying little angst monkey, but after my professor taught the book (and he's one helluva good teacher) I now see it as, well, frickin' hilarious. XD Now I love Holden. It's crazy what a difference perspective makes. None of my teachers before had ever mentioned anything about existentialism, either, and understanding that certainly makes a difference in getting the book. Or, at least, in my case it did.

The Outsiders. Awww. Read this in my adolescence in literature class, and...awww. Just aww. XD It was cute, haha.

The Sevenwaters Trilogy. I've only read the first two books, Daughter of the Forest and Son of the Shadows, but they're beautiful. Seriously. I can't believe I forgot to mention them in my first post. O.O The language is just...so vivid and poetic and gorgeous without being overkill. I don't know how the author does it, but every sentence is just...a work of art. And very sensual...as in...I could see, hear, taste, smell, and feel everything that was written. And as for the stories themself? Fantasy with reference to loads of Irish mythology! *SQUEE!* The stories are just wonderful...and I love the characters...very realistic, and I could sympathize with all of them. Well, except with a certain JERK from the Daughter of the Forest, but my theory is that if an author can make the reader feel strong emotions, they have succeeded! And the author is VERY good at that. *bliss*

Island of the Blue Dolphins. XD Read this as a little kid...it still has a special place in my library, heh.

Brave New World. Scary. Just...scary. Loved it, though! Bwahahah...orgy porgy...now THAT is classic...I still have that little thyme memorized. >.> It's great for breaking into song at random moments. AHEM! But, yes, great book. Very sad and freaky, but very good.

Citizen Girl. XDDD Oh man...this book is just hilarious. It's a satire about a young feminist (named Girl) making her way around the job market, and it's just...hilarious. Very well written. I probably would have NEVER picked it up off the book shelf alone, so I'm SO glad my mom's boyfriend bought it for me for Christmas, otherwise, I would have never read it, and that would have been a tragedy. O.O Because it's just really great, and... *cough* Girl reminds me of myself, with all the random thoughts that go through her head... XD Um, yes. Good book, good book. Loved the ending and its meaning.

Um...books I haven't liked:

+ Ragtime. UGH. Just...UGH! Had to read it this semester, and...UGH! That's all I can say.

+ The Human Stain. Once again...UGH!! >.< And once again, had to read it this semester.

+ The Wonder Book of the Air. Once again...had to read it this semester...and that book just bugged the blood HELL out of me. *TWITCH* I swear, if ANYONE EVER says the phrase "lady female member of the species homo sapiens human being" I will beat their face in. It's just...SUCH a stupid phrase to me and...and...they said it like 50 million times in the book for no reason whatsoever and I just wanted to take a sharpy and cross it out every time that damnable phrase was repeated! *heaves* Ahem. Overall...the book was just...annoying. SO annoying. I don't even know WHY it annoyed me so much, because it was well written I guess, but just...annoying. >.< I hated all the characters, hated the language used, and...UGH. Nails on a chalk board.

+ The Plague, which I also read this semester. Sounds all cool. Especially since it is about the plague (yanno, with rats and all). But...ugh. Not exciting at all. The book might as well not even be about the frickin' plague for all the detail it goes into concerning it. -_-;; But it's not THAT which made me dislike it...I couldn't tell one character from the next. They all just blended together. Might as well have just named them "A, B, and C". Couldn't connect with any of 'em. And the book is VERY existentialist and dry. Sure, it has a good message and deep meaning and all that jazz, which is good, but...*shrug* It might as well have just been a text book, not a story.

+ The Scarlet Letter. Yes. Let's drone on for 20 pages about some guy falling ill. Let's drone on for another 20 pages about how many stitches the big red "A" has in it. Great fun. Need I say more?

[Anonymous]

I know that I'm probably going to get burned or something for this but I'm reading The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin :oops: I mean...it's pretty informative...nothing else to read for now and I need to read it for Biology so you know...meh.

I do want to read The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett but I can only find the graphics novel in my school library so I'm pretty stuck!

[Anonymous]

Favorite: Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
Current: Silver is for Secrets by Laurie Faria Stolarz and Bridge to Terabithia by I don't remember
Hated: I dunno[/b]

[Anonymous]

I know that I'm probably going to get burned or something for this but I'm reading The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin Embarassed I mean...it's pretty informative...nothing else to read for now and I need to read it for Biology so you know...meh.

Burned? Awww you silly personez. Biology and Darwin's theory are AWESOME and I love them both with every fiber of my being. Just wanted to put that out there, I'm not qualified to do the little form thing because apparently you're (excluding Hylian, but that's about it) all talking exclusively about novels and I don't read novels.

[Rhindeer]

Nawww, I don't think this is exclusive to novels! Graphic novels and novellas and short stories could count! Don't see why not!

(And Origin of the Species is fascinating to moi!)

[Anonymous]

Graphic novels, novellas and short stories? I don't read any of those either from what I can tell. Rofl, I don't even know what a "novella" is. I mostly just read stuff about anatomy, animals, drawing, evolution, comedy, anything that involves crazy people and insane asylums and probably some other things that I can't remember. I have technically read a small portion of a graphic novel, though. It was about jesus and moses and stuff. The only reason I read more than half a page was because there were pictures and the bible is infinitely funnier and more amusing with pictures even though that wasn't it's intent because I have the attention span of a goldfish when it comes to lots of words about things I am not immediately interested in.

[Rhindeer]

XDDD You crack me up. *gigglefit*

Anatomy books and science stuff counts, I think! ^___^ They're fun, bwahahah!

[Rhindeer]

Memoirs of a Geisha is wundaful. *__*

I've been wanting to read it for years, but just always either forgot, had to get another book, or didn't have money. Then the movie adaptation that's coming out reminded me to read it, so I just got it a few days ago, and...yee! It's excellent! ^__^ One way for me to tell a book is excellent (at least, by my standards XD) is if the book gets me to feel stuff. Like, if the book can actually get me pissed off, or depressed, or happy, that's a good book to me! XD The worst book, in my case, is where ya just don't care. Heh.

So far, this book has done all of that. And I'm only 100 pages into it. ^^;;;

But, yesh! It's very beautifully and powerfully written. I have to literally pry myself away from it and make myself go to sleep, heh heh.

[Anonymous]

Ohhh! That's the book I'm going to get soon when we go back to Walden's Books! I also want to see/get the movie.. It looks awesome!