Summer reading

I sit on a train two hours each way every day to work so I've been getting a lot of reading done. I read a lot of Jeffrey Archer which, while derivative and formulaic, is enjoyable and passes the time quickly. A Thin Red Line was an awesome book though it starts out pretty slow. The Postman Always Rings Twice is also really cool, though a real quick read. Wizard of the Pigeons is also an awesome book, about a homeless man who's "magical."

I read one dreadful book recently but alas, it's title slipped my mind.
 
SimpleMinded said:
Wizard of the Pigeons is also an awesome book, about a homeless man who's "magical."
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Indeed, by the alter ego of Robin Hobb. I like that you never quite discover whether he is or not, though it does seems likely that it is a delusion. Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy is fantastic, as is much of the rest of her work.

I've just finished Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny. A fascinating concept, though I think the ending is somewhat rushed.

Currently reading a couple of science fiction short story anthologies, a mixed bag, as these things often are, but usually worth it.

I sit on a train two hours each way every day to work so I've been getting a lot of reading done
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I'm currently getting a lift into work from a colleague, so I'm "losing" 1-2 hours of reading time compared to last year. Almost makes me wish I was still bussing in.
As it is, virtually the only time I read at the moment is on the throne (what? TMI?), as it's more or less the only time I can drag my self away from the computer.
 
I just finished the final chapter in the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. It really made me sad to be honest,but it left me with a little hope after a little contemplation.
 
just finished reading Dogs of War by Forsythe.

a lot better than i expected... expected some overhyped and overpraised macho book about mercenaries, popular in gunnut circles and actionmovie fans.

however, it turned out really intelligent and even quite funny (although often serious). macho, perhaps, but rather realistic.

i'd recommend it to everyone with a minor interest in mercenaries, wars, africa or even politics.
 
Finished Christkind by Boris Dezulovic, one of the best Croatian writers and journalists of the younger generation, as far as I'm concerned.
Right now I'm reading Strugatsky brothers' Roadside Picnic and after that I'll throw myself on Huxley's Brave New World.
 
Some textbooks on Linear Algebra and Advanced Calculus. Then I'm currently reading A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon, the same author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which I highly recommend. If I have some spare time I might read Don Quixote.

Any fans of Neil Gaiman here? American Gods is excellent as well as Good Omens which was co-authored by Terry Pratchett.

Someone mentioned Chuck Palahniuk which is also an interesting author, Survivor is an excellent book by him.

The Count of Monte Cristo was also one of the best books I've ever read, amazingly well written, beautiful characters, unexpected humor (for me at least) and just great in all places.
 
I'm currently reading 'The Dice Man' by <strike>George Cockcroft</strike> Luke Rhinehart. I really like it.

'If I roll an '1', I will rape a member of the NMA-community...'
 
"A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah was badass. Sierra Leone memoirs, a very good read.

Currently I'm reading "Shame of Man" by Piers Anthony. It's a journey through various eras, from the stone age, to the bronze age, to the renaissance. It's really interesting how he portrays the NPCs in the new areas.

I might re-read Michael Crichton's "tate of Fear"...
 
I'm reading Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky. Unfortunately, it's a real slow process as it's definitely heavy reading for 6AM and 7PM. Hopefully I'll be able to tackle it more this weekend.

My next book is gonna be Joel On Software which one of the guys at work has and looks really cool.

As for Neil Gaiman, I think he's crap. I haven't read him in a while but American Gods was way too out there for me. Good Omens was great but I have to take it with a grain of salt as I think Pratchett might have been what made it.
 
I liked American Gods, somewhat, but Gaiman's writing did get to me at times.

I'm reading some Essays and things by PKD, I can't remember the title, though.
 
I got kinda hooked on Kage Baker's Company series last year. This summer I read the 'last' in the series, Sons of Heaven. And now I'm on one of her short story collections, Gods and Pawns.

For classes I also had to read collections of essays by Walter Benjamin. Donna Haraway, and two others I can't remember the names of. My teacher is obsessed with cyberpunk...
 
Currently reading Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay.
Yes, it is the book the show is based on.
 
Zaron said:
Very good, I must say; the book is pretty humoristic, in a morbid way.
I strongly recommend it.
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So the show stays pretty true to the book in that sense? I guess I'll have to pick up a copy of it.
 
Well, it stays up partly to the show, but does add a few more morbid jokes, which I like more (and can't remember being mentioned in the show), such as one where Dexter fantasizes about a new Disney World attraction - Dahmer Land; 'Ridge the fridge', 'throw the garbage' etc etc.

But I am afraid that the book doesn't differentiate much from the book ,besides the above mentioned, heck, I'd even claim that the show contains more detailed plot and unexpected twists.
 
I was steering my way through the best of American short fiction collections this summer... The Sketch Book by Washington Irving (which contains some of his more famous works, including Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) offers a charmingly genteel window on the beginnings of mass American literacy, and Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger and Welcome to the Monkey House by <s>the unfaltering right hand of a smirking God</s> Kurt Vonnegut are perhaps some of the best short fiction collections I've read in my life, no qualifiers.

In between entries I'm picking my way through Phillip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, starting with The Golden Compass, an engrossing worlds-spanning coming of age story set against a low magic steampunk-cum-Victorian fantasy background. The simple prose hurts a bit at first, but stick with it. I didn't get halfway into the novel before I had decided it was this generation's Narnia.
 
Just finished Alas, Babylon last night. I never read/watched interviews about Jericho, but they obviously took many cues from this book. It's somewhat uplifting compared to The Road or A Canticle for Leibowitz. Good stuff, and I managed to blow through it in 2 days.
 
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