What are you reading? Showing 701-750 of 1,151

[Naz]

Finished the Mistborn trilogy today and my eyes are really tired. I'm going to start Flesh and Bone by Jefferson Bass as soon as my eyes uncross themselves.

[Monique]

Naz, how did Mistborn go? I read the first and loved it but struggled getting into book two.

[Naz]

I really enjoyed the whole series but book 2 was the least interesting. It gets better in book 3 though and the main excitement from book 1 comes back. Sanderson does tend to drag a bit and it can become frustratingly slow every now and then but as a whole, I think for his debut trilogy its brilliantly thought out and refreshingly unique. If you do decide to pick it up again just have some patience and give it some time, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

[Lu]

Lauren wrote: "I'm reading another fairytale mash-up - Snow White and the Seven Samurai by Tom Holt."

Lol

[Chrizette]

I just started HUNGER GAMES (received from my secret santa :) on Friday and am loving it so far. I am just two chapters in but have "met" two of the main characters, Katniss and Peeta already :) From all the buzz about the books, I know that there will be a third main character. I am enjoying the writing style of the author and the world she's building, so I hope that it will keep me sucked into the story.

[[deleted user]]

Ooooh thats a great book Chriz!
Going to start Mockingjay soon

[Emma]

I started reading Incarceron by Catherine Fisher but I cannot be bothered reading it anymore, its boring me, so I have moved on to a new series that I started a few weeks ago. Its The Womens Murder Club Series By James Patterson, I read the 5th Horseman as I got it from the library and didnt even know it was part of the series, so I am currently reading 1st to die, the 1st book in this series, and enjoying it. I no longer spend time reading a book that is no good.

[Barbara]

I will always try to finish the book. Maybe I don't like things to be unfinished. It's one of the reasons Moby Dick is still on my currently reading list. I started it years ago and I find it boring, but I want to finish it. It's been so long agon that I have to restart it though. But maybe this book is special for me. My mum has read it in her youth and she thought it was a good book. She hardly reads nowadays and it just made me interested in what she thought was a good book. But still I have read other books that I find boring and then I just set myself a goal. Like I have to read 20 pages a day and I read those before i read any other book that day. Since I normally read like at least 3 books at a time it's not a big problem to first read a number of pages in a book I don't like that much because there is a book that I'm reading that I do like and that I want to get to. Well it works for me.

[Lu]

Emma wrote: "I started reading Incarceron by Catherine Fisher but I cannot be bothered reading it anymore, its boring me, so I have moved on to a new series that I started a few weeks ago. Its The Womens Murder..."

Love the Womens Murder club!

Did you know there was a tv series?

[Lauren]

Barbara wrote: "I will always try to finish the book. Maybe I don't like things to be unfinished. It's one of the reasons Moby Dick is still on my currently reading list. I started it years ago and I find it borin..."

I'm pretty much the same Barbara. There are too many books that started out slow and dull, but then turned out to be fantastic reads. At the same time, an exciting start doesn't guarantee a good read.

If I really can't continue, I put the book back on my shelf for when I'm feeling more patient or in the right mood. At other times I'll admit I'm really not able to appreciate a book properly (eg. I'm not familiar with the mythology it's based on; I'm missing the imagery/themes) and will come back to it once I've learnt more or am willing to study it.

I feel that way because of books I read at school or in varsity that I know I would not have liked if I hadn't made any effort to understand them, but I loved them because I studied them.

[Barbara]

I know exactly what you mean and sometimes you just have to realize what the author is doing and sometimes it takes you a while to figure that out. Like two years ago I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I bought the book because I have family living on Guernsey and had never seen a book about the island.
I loved the book. It's about Guernsey during World War II and is a love story. I don't know if you know Guernsey but it is one of the Channel Islands and they were the only part of Britain that was occupied during the war. It's quite easily written even though it's made up of letters that people write to each other. In the discussion ablout the book there was someone who put the book away after reading 10 pages. How can you decide if you like a book after 10 pages? I was so shocked that I participated in the discussion. The most heard argument at that time was that the author had used a style of writing that was too modern and too simple, too much like Sex and the City. But that's exactly what the author was aiming at. She wasn't trying to write literature. She was trying to write an enjoyable book about a woman falling in love (with many things not just a man) at the end of the war. If she had used the style of talking that was used then it would have been a less enjoyable book. That was one of my arguments: What if a book is about 10th centure Germany, do you expect it to be written in medieval German, no one would read it then.
I never took it as this very serious book and just read it as something in between serieus books and took it on face value which is why I loved it. If you took it as this great novel about the war or an epic love story you were disappointed. But you just have to realize what the author intended to do and I think that was an easy enjoyable read.
So that was a long story to say take a book as it is and try to read it through, you never know what will happen at the end.

[Lauren]

I get what you're saying about period pieces, but I'd add that if the speech feels too modern or simply out of place, it can spoil the book because its world feels fake. You don't need to use the actual language/speech patterns of the time, but you do need to achieve a certain degree of verisimilitude.

[Barbara]

I don't feel like it's a problem in this book. Especially since it's an end of the war piece. The mood of people is always looser during and at the end of a war. It isn't that important to be stiff and conventional at that time. After a war it all comes back. Besides I didn't found it too much like Sex and the City. I just saw an independent woman doing her thing. Something that indeed happened at that time. I have two great-aunts that are exactly like that. One lived on Guernsey during the war and married my grandfather's brother and the other is my grandfather's sister and both women could hvae been the woman in the book.
I do agree with you that it has to feel authentic, but you can accomplish that in many ways.
My point was more how can you decide after 10 pages that you don't like a book. It takes more then 10 pages to introduce everyone. Even if you don't like the way it is written, give it a chance.

[Lauren]

Oh yeah, I definitely agree with you about the 10 page thing, it's impatient and unfair. Not every story can be immediately thrilling, nor is it a sign of bad storytelling if the book doesn't 'grab' you in such a short space.

Admittedly, I have dropped books after 10 pages or less, but that's only when I was sampling something I don't like in the first place, such as a romance novel. But usually I pick my reads carefully, and because I've decided that there's something worthwhile about it I almost never give up on it.

[Lauren]

Reading

It's a fantasy/sci fi/horror noir story set in an alternative dimension where all the "Darkfolk" went after they grew tired of living on earth.

So it's a society of shape-shifters, vampires, zombies, witches, warlocks, demons etc. Virtually any creepy mythical creature, plus a few others. The main character is a zombie detective, and he's helping a beautiful blonde (of course) vampire/human halfbreed find a missing artifact.

Entertaining read so far, with loads of interesting details.

[Chrizette]

Tonight I will be starting The Wolf by Jean Johnson. It is the second in the Sons of Destiny series and just paranormal romance fluff - and I want fluff :)

[Emma]

Reading: This is a fairly new series that I was introduced to, its very good but you cant really go wrong with James Patterson.

[[deleted user]]

Emma... I loved that series, read them all and I'm waiting for JP to write the next book :)

[Lauren]

For some reason - well, blogging and gym mostly - I have been reading far less than intended lately.
So I'm still on and .
Also did a book swap with my boyfriend so I'm reading

[Monique]

I am reading Feast of Souls by Celia Friedman. Brilliant dark fantasy that is certainly more unique than a lot of that genre I have read lately.

[Crusader]

Monique wrote: "I am reading Feast of Souls by Celia Friedman. Brilliant dark fantasy that is certainly more unique than a lot of that genre I have read lately."

Hey, are you shadowing my library reads? Read that a couple of weeks ago.

Oh, BTW those are nice pics of the hail damage you took...

[Monique]

Not at all! Just happened to see it on the returns shelf. I am fairly lazy with browsing and figure that is where the good reads usually are anyway. :)

Where did you see the pics? And thanks.:)

[Crusader]

Monique wrote: "Not at all! Just happened to see it on the returns shelf. I am fairly lazy with browsing and figure that is where the good reads usually are anyway. :)

Where did you see the pics? And thanks.:)"

Yeah, I almost read exclusively from the returns shelf. In actual fact, I think it was me that returned it last.

As for the pics, lets say I've got an inside source to the local newspaper. Poor tortoise...

[Monique]

It was one of two we found. Also found a puff adder who suffered a similar fate but the pic wouldn't look great in black and white.

I happened to drive Meiringspoort in that weather. Apparently narrowly missed the flashfloods!

[Crusader]

Monique wrote: "It was one of two we found. Also found a puff adder who suffered a similar fate but the pic wouldn't look great in black and white.

I happened to drive Meiringspoort in that weather. Apparently..."

Lucky you. Not nice being stuck on either side of Meiringspoort during floods, and deadly to be caught inside. Likely the hail just grazed the town that time but I hear the wine farms were hit quite badly.

[Monique]

The farm we visited was on the way to Leeugamka.

By the way, I see what you mean about Prince Albert being quiet. I am enjoying it though! And everyone seems to know who I am already.

Perfect for reading!

[Crusader]

Monique wrote: "The farm we visited was on the way to Leeugamka.

By the way, I see what you mean about Prince Albert being quiet. I am enjoying it though! And everyone seems to know who I am already.

Perfec..."

Yeah. News spreads fast in small towns like PA. I'm terrible with names, so I constantly get people who know me and I have no idea who they are.

[Monique]

I have the same problem. I met so many people at the market today and the number of names I can put to faces is two. They all knew me right away either by name or as the New Student. It probably doesn't help being one of the rare 20-30 year olds in town.

[Crusader]

20-30 year olds aren't that rare. I think there must be at least 20 of us. Mmm... maybe 15. ;)

[Monique]

Haha rare enough then! Sue has it guesstimated to being enough people for all ten fingers. ;)

[Crusader]

Something like that!

[Lu]

Reading and and

[Emma]

Another series that I have been wanting to read for awhile now. It doesnt disappoint and I cant seem to put it down. I have read about 92% of the book so far and only started it today so that says it all. Eager to read the subsequent titles. I think Niecole would love these books. :-)

[Barbara]

Hey, don't get to involved in these books. There are 4 right? Day after tomorrow we start The Count of Monte Christo :)
I always wondered about these books wether or not I want to read them. Can you tell a little more without any major spoilers?

[Monique]

Emma I have read the first two and they are good fun.

I am reading The Splendour Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore. It is really good so far! Fans of YA should get hold of it. :)

[Crusader]

Just finished Fractured. Not sure what I'm in the mood for now. Guess some D&D fantasy should work.

[Lauren]

D&D fantasy?

[Naz]

Dragon & dungeon

[Lauren]

Ah, thanks :)

[Claudia]

I started on the first Lord of the Rings book a few days ago. It's so good, I can't believe I didn't want to read it before.

[Lauren]

I loved LOTR in high school, I went totally nuts over it. Don't think I could read it again though, I'm not a big fan of sword and sourcery fantasy, and LOTR was really all I needed to read.

[Crusader]

It's actually Dungeons and Dragons. Based on characters and rules of the RPG game.

[Lauren]

I guessed :)

[Emma]

Barbara wrote: "Hey, don't get to involved in these books. There are 4 right? Day after tomorrow we start The Count of Monte Christo :)
I always wondered about these books wether or not I want to read them. Can y..."

You could say that it is Gossip Girl but set in 1899. It starts off with the disapearance of Elizabeth Holland a socialite who was due to be married the the very wealthy and handsome Henry Schoonmaker. It then goes back a few months to how all things began. I cant really divulge too much as it would give the game away. But finished it yesterday and loved it.

[Naz]

I realized that it was the otherway around just after a sent it. The coffee hadn't hit just yet ok :P

[Lauren]

Hehe, no worries.

Did something daft yesterday as well: I wrote on my blog that "my wallet is a lighter".
Must not hit the publish button when sleepy...

[Emma]

With all the money you spent on books the other day Lauren, im not surprised youre wallet is lighter ;-)

[Lauren]

Hehe :) Luckily it's payday today.

So now I can buy more books!
Yes I know I have a problem. But I'm kind of ok with it.

[Monique]

Haha Lauren you're in good company

[Lauren]

:D