Favorite books / What are you reading?

Just finished One Child, written by Torey Hayden. How strong and touchy story!
It was published in 1980, but due to the Soviet occupation it wasn't easy to read the American literature before 1989 here in Slovakia.
 
Just finished Born Standing Up by Steve Martin, and just started Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War by Robert K. Massie.

Still in the middle of Thucydides. Lots of naval combat on my plate right now.
 
Along with Timeline, World Without End, Dearly Devoted Dexter, Shutter Island, and Hunt for the Red October, I just received the Fallout Survival Guide. So far, it's okay. Nothing really remarkable about it.

Will provide a link on Friday, if Management has no objections.
 
I recently found a bunch of the must-read classics at a local bookstore for a buck, so I'm finally getting to read them. Don Quixote may have its flaws, but for a 400-year-old book, it stands up pretty well. I've moved on to Crime and Punishment... I found it kind of iffy at first, but it's grown on me. Raskolnikov was the prototypical emo kid.
 
I love Don Quixote. Surprisingly fluid read, and really funny at times.

Crime and Punishment is often cited as Dostoevsky's best but I disagree heavily. Brothers Karamazow is much better, and in my personal view so is The Idiot, but I have a weakness for the Idiot.

I finally got around to reading A Farewell to Arms by Hemmingway. It's no For Whom the Bells Tolls so far, but it's, uh, well, good. That sounds trite. But it is!

Also recently read Wells' War of the Worlds. Man that did not age well, as you'd expect, but you can still see how incredibly imaginative it was for its time.
 
Are you reading the translation of Don Quixote? I keep meaning to give it a go, along with Les Meserables (sp).
 
You can assume he's not reading it in original 17th century Spanish, yeah.

Les Miserables is incredible. An amazing book. Even though most opt for condensed versions. I'm pretty sure the version I read was condensed to take out his meandering philosophizing (wish they'd do that for War & Peace). It can still be a tough read as it jumps from story to story and requires a bit of effort from the read. But a great read.
 
So, I've visited the annual Belgrade book fare, and got quite a bit of books for really cool prices.

1. Cormac McCarthy - The Road - I've been looking for this for quite some time now, and what is best about it is that I've found the copy in English, which is in every way superior to Serbian version (our translation is quite horrid, so I hear). Also, it was cheaper than Serbian, so it's a double win.
2. Kalevala - Another book I've been hunting for more than a year. '64 edition in the antiquarian section of the fare, very cheap, excellent condition. Great find!
3. Robert Jordan - Knife of Dreams - Eleventh book in Wheel of Time series, and the last Jordan's book. Quite good from what I hear. Previous books were translated by the same guys, and they were very good, so I'm happy.
4. Khaled Hosseini - The Kite Runner - Bought it, just for the sake of it. People tell me it's amazing.
5. Danilo Kiš - Hourglass and Early Sorrows - For Children and Sensitive Readers - Two books by an amazing Yugoslavian novelist. Cheap and of excellent quality.
I've read Early Sorrows earlier, but there are truly amazing books and I'm planning on getting all of his books. Highly recommended for those who can find them!
6. Bill Watterson - Calvin and Hobbes - The Days Are Just Packed - I wasn't planning on this one, but hey, another one in my Calvin and Hobbes collection.
 
WillisPDunlevey said:
Just finished Energiya-Buran (about the Russian Space Shuttle Buran) published by Springer Prexis.

Im now back to reading Red Mars.
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That book was so racist! (well the part I read anyway)

Starting to read rainbows end by Vernor Vinge, pretty good so far.
 
Sabirah said:
WillisPDunlevey said:
Just finished Energiya-Buran (about the Russian Space Shuttle Buran) published by Springer Prexis.

Im now back to reading Red Mars.
Click to expand...

That book was so racist! (well the part I read anyway)

Starting to read rainbows end by Vernor Vinge, pretty good so far.
Click to expand...
Vinge is awesome.
Oh, The Children of the Sky is out, I think. I hope our bookstore has it in stock.
 
Just finished Dexter in the Dark . . . Stay away if you prefer a psychological reasoning for everyone's favorite serial killer.
 
Evil DrPorkchop said:
I've been reading a lot of manga lately. Right now I'm reading Berserk.
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Me too. I was completely blown away by the work of Yoshihiro Tatsumi, especially his autobiographical epic 'A Drifting Life'.

I also read volumes 1 to 6 of Bryan Lee O'Malley's 'Scott Pilgrim' series. I find it utterly adorable stuff. I'm really too old for it now, but I can see how a thing like that would be successful among teens.
 
somebody was just telling me about the road --- should I read it, or save the bother and watch the movie?
 
The girlfriend tried to make me read Pratchett's Small Gods, but I'm having trouble getting into it. I'm taking a break from it and just started A Canticle for Leibowitz.
 
eom said:
somebody was just telling me about the road --- should I read it, or save the bother and watch the movie?
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I think the Road is one of those rare successful/ faithful book to movie adaptations but I would still recommend reading the book first.
 
I never could get into the movie. For some odd reason I found it soul-crushingly boring. Quite loved the book, though -- the prose has a unique styling, particularly when it comes to describing the world the characters wander through.

The movie just seemed to be Standard CGI Post Apocalyptic.
 
PainlessDocM said:
eom said:
somebody was just telling me about the road --- should I read it, or save the bother and watch the movie?
Click to expand...

I think the Road is one of those rare successful/ faithful book to movie adaptations but I would still recommend reading the book first.
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The Road was an excellent book and the adaptation was incredibly faithful - which doomed it's box office. Still a great movie, as long as you can live with a non-disney happy ending...
 
DammitBoy said:
The Road was an excellent book and the adaptation was incredibly faithful - which doomed it's box office. Still a great movie, as long as you can live with a non-disney happy ending...
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Concerning the ending of the Road:
[spoiler:68e9d09bf7]The kid lived. That's Disney enough.[/spoiler:68e9d09bf7]

As to how I know,
[spoiler:68e9d09bf7] I need to read it again, but wasn't it specified in the book and movie that it was the mother of the boy? Though in the book, the fellow was sent by the mother -- there wasn't a family group[/spoiler:68e9d09bf7]

Apologies regarding the tags, fellas.
 
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