What are you reading?

[jimeigh]

finished the fountainhead a bit ago, now im onto the hobbit

[David Octavius]

Originally Posted by Rhianann

After seeing John Cusack interview Naomi Klein, I am going to read The Shock Doctrine.

What is that about?

[thatguyoverthere]

Originally Posted by jimeigh

im not sure if this counts but for the summer i also bought myself 3 Sin City graphic novels, the 300 book, and Return of the Dark Knight. i'm an illustration major so i'll be looking at Frank Miller's work pretty intently, because i dig it.
i also plan on buying for myself Tomer Hanuka's compilation of comics The Placebo Man

The first "Dark Knight Returns" was amazing. The followup wasn't terrible and had its moments, but the first one is downright brilliant. Some friends were recently talking about comic characters for some reason and the whole "Batman vs. Superman" thing came up. They hadn't read "Dark Knight Returns", so they were incredulous that Batman could... ah, but that's a spoiler, sorry. But Miller makes it totally believable. Miller's "Batman:Year One" is very good too.

Alan Moore's run on "Swamp Thing" back in the '80's is pure genius. If you haven't read it, I would highly recommend it. There's some brilliant artwork and layouts as well, especially in the later volumes. Volume 6 in the paperback collection has an issue (Issue 60 " Loving The Alien") that had an atypical artistic style that totally blew me away. The run gets much better as it goes along, but this is where it starts.:

Amazon.com: Swamp Thing Vol. 1: Saga of the Swamp Thing: Alan Moore: Books

I recently finished "The Chris Farley Show" and Barbara Walters' "Audition". "Farley" is pretty sad, much like reading "Wired: Part 2". Co-authored by his brother, it's really an oral history that doesn't sugarcoat or pull any punches. It would be a good companion to "Live From New York" for fans of Saturday Night Live. "Audition" is interesting at times and gossipy, but very scattered. It's not really chronological. She'll tell stories whenever she feels like it. It's certainly intimate.

[jimeigh]

Originally Posted by thatguyoverthere

The first "Dark Knight Returns" was amazing. The followup wasn't terrible and had its moments, but the first one is downright brilliant. Some friends were recently talking about comic characters for some reason and the whole "Batman vs. Superman" thing came up. They hadn't read "Dark Knight Returns", so they were incredulous that Batman could... ah, but that's a spoiler, sorry. But Miller makes it totally believable. Miller's "Batman:Year One" is very good too.

Alan Moore's run on "Swamp Thing" back in the '80's is pure genius. If you haven't read it, I would highly recommend it. There's some brilliant artwork and layouts as well, especially in the later volumes. Volume 6 in the paperback collection has an issue (Issue 60 " Loving The Alien") that had an atypical artistic style that totally blew me away. The run gets much better as it goes along, but this is where it starts.:

Amazon.com: Swamp Thing Vol. 1: Saga of the Swamp Thing: Alan Moore: Books

yea Dark Knight Returns was awesome. after reading the Fountainhead i read my copies of Ronin and The Placebo man that came in the mail.

the story in Ronin surprised me, because it wasnt what i had been expecting at all. i liked it, but the illustrations were probably my least favorite of the frank miller comics that ive read so far. but he's really good, so, frank miller at his worst is still alright anyway.

[IminWonderland]

I just finished WHITE TEETH by Zadie Smith, and I'm starting Mrs. Dalloway by Virgina Wolff

[jimeigh]

finished the hobbit a couple days ago, picked up A Wizard of Earthsea from the library today

[PJF]

Climbing Mount Improbable. An explanation of the inherent elegance of Darwinian evolution by Richard Dawkins.

[jimeigh]

Originally Posted by PJF

Climbing Mount Improbable. An explanation of the inherent elegance of Darwinian evolution by Richard Dawkins.

oooooh good, good. i tip my hat to you.

[Smull]

has anyone read any J.M. Coetzee? I read an article about him recently and thought he sounded interesting

[jimeigh]

finished the earthsea trilogy, reading A Game of Thrones by GRR Martin

[jimeigh]

oh yea.

so i finished A Game of Thrones, and A Clash of Kings, and i'm currently reading A Storm of Swords. next, i'll read A Feast for Crows, and that'll be the last of my GRR Martin splurge until the next book damn well comes out.

amongst all that, i've also read Batman: The Killing Joke, and Batman: year One and i've ordered Arkham Asylum

my girlfriend has kindly added John Scalzi's Old Man's War to my list. after which i'll read Tales From Earthsea and We The living, and then i'll start tackling the LotR trilogy, and then the Simarillion.

i hope to at least start LotR before school starts up again. wish me luck!

[jimeigh]

i'm halfway through We the Living, and it's pretty different from the other Ayn Rand novel's i've read. for one thing, we're made to sympathize with a communist dude, who's a good friend of the protagonist. it's kind of intriguing, because the book is clearly anticommunist/antifascist.

and my LOTR experience has been put on further delay. after i finish we the living, i'll be reading Ishmael by Daniel Quinn and then Timeline by Michael Crichton

[Angus_Aboot]

I'm not really a fan of fiction but I just read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein and loved it. A line marriage sounds fun. Previously, I read Scooters: Red Eyes, whitewalls and Blue Smoke by Colin Shattuck.

If anyone here is a fan of Ayn Rand then they might be interested in The Driver by Garet Garret. Rand kind of rips him off.*

*Kind of meaning repeatedly!

[jimeigh]

Garet Garret? oh, those were cruel parents.

[Schrödinger's Cat]

Originally Posted by Angus_Aboot

I'm not really a fan of fiction but...

Neither am I, really. I seldom read fiction. I try to stick to books that are intellectually stimulating and potentially teach me something new. It is rare that I can find that in an average fiction book. I usually fall asleep in the middle of reading it.

[jimeigh]

Originally Posted by Schrödinger's Cat

Neither am I, really. I seldom read fiction. I try to stick to books that are intellectually stimulating and potentially teach me something new. It is rare that I can find that in an average fiction book. I usually fall asleep in the middle of reading it.

so, read fiction books that are "above average" then.

[jimeigh]

yo Schröd, do you read text books for entertainment, then?

[Schrödinger's Cat]

Originally Posted by jimeigh

so, read fiction books that are "above average" then.

Above average are still not worth it, since average fiction books are terribly boring, in my opinion, and above that isn't much better, in my experience. Reality is so much more interesting than fiction. Either that or I am just the boring one.

yo Schröd, do you read text books for entertainment, then?

Textbooks in the subjects that I read are a bit too technical for entertainment, but I do prefer non-fiction when I am reading before bed. Now, I'm reading the new book by physicist Leonard Susskind, The Black Hole War.

[avsp]

I've been picking thru FDR by Ted Morgan prior to reading it properly. It seems very forgiving of its subject.

Also just finished a pornographic Mills & Boon book which was really really crap

plus the usual re-reading of Pratchett, ..., cant get enough of him really etc

I've never really seen the attraction of Tolkien, ..., tooo "& then they & then they & then they" for me.
I prefered Richard Adams' Watership Down & Shardik but I'd not re-read them even so

[Rouger2]

Im reading De Tocqueville's Democracy in America or selections from the original book. He had some interesting insights into our Democracy. I thought he was a complete fan but he wasn't.