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I just finished reading...

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MonkeyCatcher said:
Dune by Frank Herbert. I have to say that although it was a good book, I don't think that it deserves the hype. I had to force myself to read to the end - not because it was horrible but because there are so many other books that I want to read (because of you guys) and it was getting quite tedious I thought. I think I was just disappointed after all the rave, but it is definately a book worth reading.
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Was there a lot of hype about it? I've never heard about it until I came on this site. Is it worth picking up in spare time? As soon as I finish Harry Potter and the Half Blooded Prince I'm going to need something for dessert. :D
 
AnnaRenae86 said:
Was there a lot of hype about it? I've never heard about it until I came on this site. Is it worth picking up in spare time?
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Yeah, _Dune_ is easily ranked within top ten of nearly every “science fiction” list.
(Not that I’m sayin’ that that means anything…)

As soon as I finish Harry Potter and the Half Blooded Prince I'm going to need something for dessert. :D
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Would you like to see the adult menu or stick with the kiddie specials?

On topic:
Just put down for the second time (which means it’s officially Laid to Rest (without a silly moment of silence) _Reading Lolita in Tehran_. Just another bland, boring, self-serving memoir (apparently Universities are now giving a course in how to do this(!)) that the masses are reading, probably never having read most (if any) of the books mentioned (and not mentioned enough) so that they can feel they have some small grasp of “the middle east”.
Read a history book, I say.

j
 
AnnaRenae86 said:
Was there a lot of hype about it? I've never heard about it until I came on this site. Is it worth picking up in spare time? As soon as I finish Harry Potter and the Half Blooded Prince I'm going to need something for dessert. :D
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I have to admit that I hadn't heard of it until I came on this site either, but when I did I noticed that is was indeed on many of the major booklists, and in the top 10 of most sci-fi/fantasy lists.

It is definately worth picking up in your spare time, especially since you wern't aware of all the hype and probably won't be let down like I was. It is a great read, but just not deserving of the high rankings it gets (in my opinion).
 
I finished reading The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold yesterday, just in time for the release of HBP :D . I really enjoyed the book and recommend it as a read for when you feel like something light and uplifting. 10/10.
 
Well come on! I jumped on here this morning to see who was going to be the first person to say that they have just finished reading Harry Potter and the HBP...who is it going to be??? :D
 
Sorry Francesca. It's not me.

The other day I finished The Third Secret by Steve Berry. It's a suspense novel that takes place in The Vatican.
There were many interesting background tidbits that I would'nt normally have read about unless done in this type of genre.


RaVeN
 
francesca said:
Well come on! I jumped on here this morning to see who was going to be the first person to say that they have just finished reading Harry Potter and the HBP...who is it going to be??? :D
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It’s me! It’s me! And holy hell…I was *really* surprised lil’ ol’ HP bites the Big One in chapter 27. Auto-erotic asphyxiation; who would have thought!
 
Griffin and Sabine by Nick Bantock. Loved it. Great book and very origonal. As much a work of art as a book. More detail in a thread regarding it here
 
Dry by Augusten Burroughs.

This is the second of his two memoirs (Running with Scissors is the first), and he seems to have organized his life into a series of anecdotes, some of which reappear in the second memoir. Of course, this is a natural thing to do, but it feels like buying a bands second release and finding three cuts from their first release on it. I read that his other book, Magical Thinking: True Stories, recycles material from the two memoirs.

He's a gifted writer and a great storyteller. His pacing and humor sustain the book effortlessly. But I think I'm done with him for now because I don't like that recycling thing. Makes me think he has limited material, which is the kiss of death for a writer, IMO.
 
I just finished Harry Potter and the HBP. Really great book - it's second on my list for the Harry Potter series, though. Nothing can top POA :D
 
Just finished Gore Vidal's excellent novel Burr. This is a great historical novel told from Burr's perspective regarding the various events in his life. Washington? An over-rated battle losing general who only looked presidential. Jefferson?, a brilliant but conniving politician. Hamilton?, relentless to gain power, a former friend. The deul?, a matter that it told unapologetically. Oh well, on to the next great book!. :D
 
Peter Straub's "Ghost Story".
In the heat and humidity, I figured I could do with a light read and some good chills to tide me over. Unfortunately the book didn't deliver any of the latter, but nevertheless provided a fairly good yarn. This is very much so a novel of the Stephen King school of horror: an evil lurking under the faces of people we know and love, slowly unveiling itself and being unveiled by the main protagonists, until it becomes physically and, per the author's definition, emotionally inhuman. Straub actually handled this side of the story quite well, better than King I'd say, as while the "badguy" here suffers from serious hubris, it's nice to see one that's self-aware and making actual choices rather than going by bloodlust, even if it makes it seem rather a lot like a child torturing an animal that has scratched him. Thematically it becomes a grand good VS evil battle, and an ode to personal strength, particularly in not letting the ghosts of your past break you down.

My main problem here was the episodic nature of the novel, despite it telling one coherent story with only a few steps into the past. It resulted in me never feeling any tension, but more like "ah, so now we're licking our wounds and gathering strength for the great big battle" (oh yes, it's one of those novels) and off they go. I enjoyed the plot overall though, and the prose was fairly effective, though the author has a tendency to turn sentences around in a matter that make them feel clumsy. This may be a byproduct of English not being my native language though.
There's plenty of allusions to classics of horror - hell, two of the main characters have the surnames James and Hawthorne - and a few jazz references as well, which might give some idea of the author's sources of inspiration. I doubt I'll ever read more by the author, but he kept me entertained throughout, even if I didn't feel like I got anything else out of his work.
 
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Most enjoyable of the series for me so far.
 
I read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince on Saturday and then finished the His Dark Materials trilogy on Sunday. Have to say that I thought His Dark Materials was better than Harry Potter. Still Harry was still unputdownable!
 
Sea Biscuit by laura Hillenbrand.

Facinating story even if your not into horseracing, going to watch the film now.
 
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