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I just finished reading...

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Just finished The Stand (Stephen King). Ugh - I've read it so many times, that it'll be the last time I read it. :rolleyes: Still loved the story, but it's gotten to the point where I remember so much about it, that it doesn't make much sense to re-read it. :rolleyes:
 
Even though my 'Currently Reading' thingy up there ↑ somewhere has said 'A Clash of Kings' for a few days, yesterday I had a sudden bout of unfaithfulness the next thing I knew I had (momentarily) cast aside my current read for the evening and settled down with a thinner model. :eek:

I'd been hearing good things about The Gunslinger for a while and I did all I could to resist its temptation but yesterday I buckled. I'm glad I did. I really really enjoyed this book (the first King book i've read for a while) and can't wait to tuck into the rest of the series, which i'm hoping can live up to it's fantastic start. aimages_eu.amazon.com_images_G_02_uk_shared_misc_stars_blue_5_0.gif

Now back to my old book, if she'll have me...
 
I just finished The Giver by Lois Lowry. It is an amazing book. It makes you think about some things going on in our society today.
 
The Ascent of Rum Doodle - W.E.Bowman

I listened to this on audiobook last week because it came with a recommendation from Bill Bryson, who regards it as a lost classic. It was first published in 1956 but has been out of print quite often since.

It recounts an atttempt to climb of the world's tallest mountain at 40,000 and a half feet by an ill-assorted collection of climbers. Our narrator, expedition leader Binder, is a terrible judge of character completely unable to discern the mood in the ranks. Their navigator frequently gets lost, the doctor suffers a wide variety of ailments and all live in mortal fear of the cook.

There's a lot of broad and obvious humour but it has aged well. However, having never read any books on mountainneering, I don't know how accurate it is as a parody. Nevertheless, recommended, if you are able to track down a copy.
 
starchild42 said:
The Dog of the Marriage - Amy Hempel

Can't think of the words to express just how good it was/is.
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I've heard alot of good things about her; she was one of the recommended authors on Chuck Palahniuk's website. Unfortunately, I have yet to find her books in any Sydney bookstore. :mad:
 
marlasinger said:
I've heard alot of good things about her; she was one of the recommended authors on Chuck Palahniuk's website. Unfortunately, I have yet to find her books in any Sydney bookstore. :mad:
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Highly recommend you give her a whirl, Marlasinger. She's great.

"Reasons To Live" and "The Dog Of The Marriage", you should be able to order from Amazon with no problems. "Tumble Home", ebay or an amazon marketplace seller, not expensive.

"At The Gates of the Animal Kingdom" - you'll be lucky to find. Paperback copies routinely sell for around $100US. Still looking for that one myself...
 
Night by Elie Wiesel

This story of a holocaust survivor is so incredible that I have a tough time believing all this actually happened to someone, but it did. That's why I suggest this book. The book takes you with the author from the moving of the Jews into ghettos, to being installed into concentration camps, to a 42 mile night march in the winter. Wiesel witnessed things no human should ever be subjected to, including the self serving nature of starved humans to fight and even kill their own parents for bread crumbs. The book details not only a struggle for survival but also a struggle to understand how God could allow this to happen to anyone. At one point in the book, a man proclaims that he has more faith in Hitler than he does in God because Hitler is the one keeping his promises to the Jews.

The writing is very cut and dried, no poetic descriptions, not that there should be. The flow is something like, "This is what happened, and this is how it happened." It's definitely not the feel good book of the year, but it was still a good read and very educational, not to mention emotional.
 
If you liked that book, RitalinKid, maybe you should have a look at 'Fateless' by Imre Kertész. The author, who himself has spent a year in Auschwitz, tells the story of a young Hungarian Jew, who is broght to Buchenwald and Auschwitz, too.
Especially the ending is very memorable, for the story is told without vivid descriptions neither is it very emotional until the very end..

Even back there, in the shadow of the chimneys, in the breaks between pain, there was something resembling happiness. Everybody will ask me about the deprivations, the terrors of the camps, but for me, the happiness there will always be the most memorable experience, perhaps. Yes, that's what I'll tell them that next time they ask me: about the happiness in those camps.

If they ever do ask.

And if I don't forget.
 
"Gabriel's Lament" by Paul Bailey.

I don't understand entirely. Can anyone elucidate?

Twin sister? Huh?
 
The Magicians' Guild by Trudi Canavan - unputdownable! I loved this book. Thankfully, it's the first of a trilogy, so I'm off shortly to order the other two.
 
Just finished 'Tuesdays with Morrie'. by Mitch Albom. It was a short book, read it in a day (could of read it in a couple of hours)
Didn't enjoy it as much as 'The 5 people you meet in heaven' but it's still a good sad story with touches of humour along the way. Worth a read.
 
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. Very fresh material, and I enjoyed it. Can't wade through this easily because of his descriptive style, and there were too many invented street and place names. His descriptions of them threw me off often.

The Curious Incident of the Dog at the Nighttime, by Mark Haddon. Didn't enjoy the book as much as I thought I would. IMHO, an average story in a new perspective. Appreciated the bits where he mentioned Malaysia though. And his explanation on the country and the orangutans were accurate too. :)

Off to the books' respective threads!

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The Little Country by Charles de Lint. This book reminded me a little of Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series. Same some of fantasy set in modern England, although this one was certainly of a more adult nature for it's sexual content if not the violence.

The ending was not as satisfying as I might have hoped, but all in all a good story to recommend!
 
Wolhay said:
dire, did you like Perdido enough to move on to the sequel "The Scar"?
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Yes, I think I will get the Scar. It's interesting enough and certainly different enough. From what I understand you don't really need PSS to enjoy The Scar.

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East of Eden by John Steinbeck.
I wish it lasted for ever. Really. You simply don't want it to end.
 
Maya said:
East of Eden by John Steinbeck.
I wish it lasted for ever. Really. You simply don't want it to end.
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I loved that book!!!!!!!! I just finished harry potter 4 and am starting to read The Archers Tale by Bernard Cornwall.
 
Just finished....

Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
A great book, not always easy to read, but if you concentrate you will understand everything, although i don't agree with everything he wrote. It's interesting to read his personal thoughts, but my thoughts about this stuff are (a little bit?) different than his.
It's not a book i actually want to rate with any grade or number of stars, because i can't and won't rate an opinion of someone else!
Everyone who is interested in the relationship between nature, animals and humans should read it, if the reader agrees with his views is up to the reader himself.
 
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