What Are You Reading?

[Dillon]

Yesterday I started on Und Sagte Kein Einziges Wort from Heinrich Böll. The English version is titled And Never Said A Word. It's about a man working in a telephone company soon after the end of WWII in Germany who left his wife and children when he got fed up with being poor in order to be poor on his own while sending money back to them. I'm really interested in the post-war period in Germany and the literature coming out of it (called Trümmerliteratur, or "debris literature") and this book is supposed to be one of the best and most indicative of the situation. It's the first time I've read an actual novel in German for fun, and I'm loving it.

 

[WaydeG]

Just picked up George R.R. Martin first three novels in his "song of fire and ice" series Game of Thrones is being started right now.

This is a well written, politically complex series if not a little long. Be patient as Martin is very adept at appearing to sometimes over explain or describe.

 

[SmokeyTweed]

to tell you the truth i am enjoying the heck out of this series. Paced great but frustrating in the fact that the characters i grow to love get killed off! no character seems to be on the no-kill list.

 

[Puff Daddy]

Clive Cussler's Valhalla Rising............

Thought it would be some light, fun summer reading. Strange. It has enough reasonably written dialogue to not be pathetic, enough action to keep you from just throwing the thing back in the bin (library book), but it really is poorly written in the sense that it's done in a way that suggests the author is writing down to a slightly illiterate audience who likes cornball one liners. As soon as I reach a point where I'm thinking I can't take any more of this crap the thing gets really interesting and the writing is fine. As soon as an interesting part gets going beyond a couple of pages the writing dummies down and the author throws in really bad dialogue. It's frustrating, but at this point I'm going to finish it.

 

[WaydeG]

to tell you the truth i am enjoying the heck out of this series. Paced great but frustrating in the fact that the characters i grow to love get killed off! no character seems to be on the no-kill list.

Absolutely - no one is off limits.
If you like political intrigue, Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow (David Gemmell) is a good read (trilogy). Not truly historical fiction but one of the better fictions dealing with the politics of Troy, the ambition of Agamemnon and the eternal hero, Odysseus.

The Godless World series by Brian Ruckley is a close second. Enjoy.

Current reading is Holy War: The Crusades and Their Impact on Today's World by Karen Armstrong

 

[whiskeywillow]

I have a bad habit of starting new books in the middle of other books, so I've currently got eight going ><;


Batman: Lovers and Madmen
The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
Introduction to the Biology of Marine Life by James L. Sumich
October Dreams by many, many horror writers
Dear Fatty by Dawn French
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling
Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
Witchcraft: An Alternative Path by Ann Moura

 

[Harlock999]

I have a bad habit of starting new books in the middle of other books, so I've currently got eight going ><;


Batman: Lovers and Madmen
The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
Introduction to the Biology of Marine Life by James L. Sumich
October Dreams by many, many horror writers
Dear Fatty by Dawn French
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling
Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
Witchcraft: An Alternative Path by Ann Moura

Hey, you're back! Good to see you!

 

[whiskeywillow]

I have a bad habit of starting new books in the middle of other books, so I've currently got eight going ><;


Batman: Lovers and Madmen
The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
Introduction to the Biology of Marine Life by James L. Sumich
October Dreams by many, many horror writers
Dear Fatty by Dawn French
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling
Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
Witchcraft: An Alternative Path by Ann Moura

Hey, you're back! Good to see you!

Thanks! It's good to be back.

 

[Harlock999]

I have a bad habit of starting new books in the middle of other books, so I've currently got eight going ><;


Batman: Lovers and Madmen
The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
Introduction to the Biology of Marine Life by James L. Sumich
October Dreams by many, many horror writers
Dear Fatty by Dawn French
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling
Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
Witchcraft: An Alternative Path by Ann Moura

Hey, you're back! Good to see you!

Thanks! It's good to be back.

:cheers:

 

[docwatson]

"TOWNIE" by Andre Dubus. A very interesting autobiography which takes place in an old Massachusetts mill town that I personally find quite interesting because of local familiarity. Dubus is the acclaimed author of "The House of Sand and Fog" which is also quite a read and fine movie.
If you care to read about the rough and tumble life of a city kids' experiences this is a fine read.
Doc

 

[Guy]

This weekend John Keats

 

[sburchett]

I am currently working my way through the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett and loving it!

I am currently on #15 Men at Arms, just about finished with it.

I love long series!

 

[Airborne]

Just finished A Quiet Belief in Angels by R.J. Ellory.

It was just an okay read. It was billed as a thriller, but it really wasn’t. A mystery, yes, but definitely not a thriller novel. The biggest flaw in the story was that the author decided to write it in the first person. There was far too much background information of the character that distracted from the main plot. At a few points in the book, I nearly forgot what the crime was. I think if he had written the story in the third person with multiple points of view and stayed focus on the main story line, he would have been more successful at writing a thriller.

 

[Airborne]

"TOWNIE" by Andre Dubus. A very interesting autobiography which takes place in an old Massachusetts mill town that I personally find quite interesting because of local familiarity. Dubus is the acclaimed author of "The House of Sand and Fog" which is also quite a read and fine movie.
If you care to read about the rough and tumble life of a city kids' experiences this is a fine read.
Doc

Yes, Dubus was a fine writer. A Marine and a ragin' Cajun, his prose was beautiful. Unfortunately, his personal life was a tragedy, but like a good Marine, he kept pushing forward.

 

[Buckshot]

The Scorpio Illusion by Robert Ludlum.

 

[Schacht]

Yesterday I started on Und Sagte Kein Einziges Wort from Heinrich Böll. The English version is titled And Never Said A Word. […]

Very nice book! I was 14 when I first read it, and I still love it now.

I just read "L´homme qui regardait passer les trains" by Geaorges Simenon. There´s an english translation called "The Man Who Watched Trains Go By", but I was reading the french original and can´t tell anything about the translation. What I can tell is that I love Simenons language for its intoxicating simplicity. I just couldn´t help it and read the novel in one night.

 

[Airborne]

Yesterday I started on Und Sagte Kein Einziges Wort from Heinrich Böll. The English version is titled And Never Said A Word. […]

Very nice book! I was 14 when I first read it, and I still love it now.

I just read "L´homme qui regardait passer les trains" by Geaorges Simenon. There´s an english translation called "The Man Who Watched Trains Go By", but I was reading the french original and can´t tell anything about the translation. What I can tell is that I love Simenons language for its intoxicating simplicity. I just couldn´t help it and read the novel in one night.

I just downloaded The Train (Neversink) by Simenon onto my Kindle. I wonder whether it's the same book under a different title. I'm eager to start my first Simenon novel!

 

[Schacht]

[…] I just downloaded The Train (Neversink) by Simenon onto my Kindle. I wonder whether it's the same book under a different title. […]

I hope you´ll enjoy it. Some call Simenons work trivial, but for every Belgian I met in my life, the man is a hero.

As far as I know "Le Train" is a novel Simenon wrote approximately 1966. This novel has been the tamplate for a famous radio play here in Germany, wich was my first encounter with Simenons work. It was also made into a movie by Pierre Granier-Deferre ("The Train, 1973). "L’Homme qui regardait passer les trains" is a different and earlier novel (he wrote it in the nineteen-thirties).

 

[whiskeywillow]

Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism by Isaac Bonewits

 

[Buckshot]

Exit Sherlock Holmes by Robert Lee Hall.