BOOKS!

[demik]

How many of you guys like reading?

E-books? Paperbacks?

I own a kindle, but sometimes I still like to buy a physical copy as holding a book is a million times better than a device. But knowing I can stuff 1000+ books in a single device is really awesome.

So, favorite books? Favorite genre?

My absolute favorite book is this:



That is the only book I've been able to pick up and re-read multiple times. I highly recommend it.

[Halverson]

Books books books.
I do not care fore E-books, even though I like the idea of them. I just prefer to have a physical thing, and to have a nice shelf filled with them.

I haven't been reading as much as I ought to be these days, but hope to get back into it.

One of my favourite writers is Stephen King. Really enjoyed the Dark Towers series, and most other books I've read by him.

Other than that, I like to dabble into hard to read philosophy books and epic poetry(although I've forgotten a lot by now).

Oh I just remembered, my most recent read was Ham on Rye by Bukowski. Spent a nice day reading that. I enjoy his work.

And last but not least, I do not like Hemingway, at all. I expect people to hate me for saying it, everyone loves Hemingway.

[asura]

I love books, I've got two on the go at the moment, one of them (The Mote in Gods Eye) I've read ohhh, four or five times already, and I'm working my way through the Gormenghast trilogy as well.  I read mostly science fiction, and technical books on architecture, gemmology and jewellery, though I do span sideways into anything that's a good read.

One of my favourite quotes;

I love books, I've got hundreds of the blasted things! - Ian Banks 15/6/11

[precarious]

"the stranger beside me" is a pretty fascinating read if you're looking to delve deep into the mind of everyone's favorite serial killer theodore robert cowell

"the society of the spectacle" although the translation is difficult to digest even for an accomplished reader

"thus spoke zarathrustra" -- "I love the great despisers, because they are the great adorers, and arrows of longing for the other shore."

And last but not least, I do not like Hemingway, at all. I expect people to hate me for saying it, everyone loves Hemingway.

i still need to read some of his books (leave me alone), but after reading about his personal life, i don't know if it's one i can necessarily relate to, though that's not necessarily telling of his writing and perhaps i would even disagree with myself were i to investigate further.  would you mind sharing why?

also, i grew up glued to various screens and i still don't like e-books, though i've never used one.  they do have some advantages, though they're never going to be as enthralling as turning over the musty pages of some dusty tome.

[SmallFry]

I personally like e-books better, but that's me. 'Specially handy for school books that come free (Guttenburg). My favorite book of ALL time is Enders Game by Orson Scott Card. I generally prefer spy books however, Young Bond/ Alex Rider etc. Harry Potter was very good as well. I suppose I just read what comes to me.

[hotlikedimes]

I love the brief wondrous life of oscar wilde, such a good book.  I started reading the game of thrones series, but I haven't read it lately, still on the first book, haven't been able to just sit and read... always end up getting roped into something else. I love the Harry Potter series. It's by far the one thing that I could just read and read and read and never get tired of.  I have all the books on tape and whenever I travel up to VT to visit old college buddies (3.5-4 hour drive from Boston) I have those with me, and when my brother and I drove cross country from NH to Southeast Utah to Colorado to Wyoming and then back to NH we had the HP books on tape. That's really my preferred method of books, really lets me kinda zone in and out when I want to and lets me do other things.

I'm also fascinated by Ayn Rand's novels Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. The fountainhead more because it's more realistic, but easily some of my favorite novels ever.

[metalliqaz]

Some of my favorite books: Ender's Game, Neuromancer, The Forever War, Altered Carbon (yes I like sci-fi)  My curse is that I start lots of books and finish very few.  I guess I have a short attention span.  Perhaps that is my personal measure of a good book.  If I actually finish it, I must have liked it.

[jwaz]

^ what he said. Snow Crash, Neuromancer, Ender's Game, Dune, The Crying of Lot 49, LotR, etc. I'm trying to start/finish Infinite Jest and Confederacy of Dunces ATM but haven't had anytime for serious reading.

[frostwoozle]

i still need to read some of his books (leave me alone), but after reading about his personal life, i don't know if it's one i can necessarily relate to, though that's not necessarily telling of his writing and perhaps i would even disagree with myself were i to investigate further.  would you mind sharing why?

With fiction it's often best to separate the author from the book. Regardless I usually find Hemingway very tedious to read. Just recently had to put down For Whom the Bell Tolls because the lengthy internal monologues got too much. But don't let that stop you from reading it! His stories are heavily based on personal experience so it's very apparent he writes things as they were and in a very incisive way. Still for me at least somebody like Graham Greene presents South America in far more enjoyable and readable form.

[cytoSiN]

Lately I've really been enjoying Brandon Sanderson's stuff (Mistborn, Way of Kings, etc), but all time, has to be Tom Robbins.  Jitterbug Perfume, Skinny Legs and All, and Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates are all amazing.

[Halverson]

i still need to read some of his books (leave me alone), but after reading about his personal life, i don't know if it's one i can necessarily relate to, though that's not necessarily telling of his writing and perhaps i would even disagree with myself were i to investigate further.  would you mind sharing why?

With fiction it's often best to separate the author from the book. Regardless I usually find Hemingway very tedious to read. Just recently had to put down For Whom the Bell Tolls because the lengthy internal monologues got too much. But don't let that stop you from reading it! His stories are heavily based on personal experience so it's very apparent he writes things as they were and in a very incisive way. Still for me at least somebody like Graham Greene presents South America in far more enjoyable and readable form.

Pretty much that. After reading through "The old man and the Sea" and "The sun also rises". Just didn't give any of his other stuff a try. I suppose it's mostly that it feels very personal and nothing I relate to. Almost like reading about someone's life who I don't particularly find enjoyable. I should probably give his other books a read someday, just to not judge his work based on few examples.

[jwaz]

Lately I've really been enjoying Brandon Sanderson's stuff (Mistborn, Way of Kings, etc), but all time, has to be Tom Robbins.  Jitterbug Perfume, Skinny Legs and All, and Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates are all amazing.

No Still Life with Woodpecker?! that has to be one of my favorites, I should reread that.

[cytoSiN]

Lately I've really been enjoying Brandon Sanderson's stuff (Mistborn, Way of Kings, etc), but all time, has to be Tom Robbins.  Jitterbug Perfume, Skinny Legs and All, and Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates are all amazing.

No Still Life with Woodpecker?! that has to be one of my favorites, I should reread that.

That too!  And I'm a redhead so it holds a special place in my heart.  But I like the other three better.  I've read all of his 3 or 4 times each, except Half Asleep in Frog's Pajamas...I just can't get into the 2nd-person narrative.  Interesting concept, but lost on me for the most part.

[jwaz]

That too!  And I'm a redhead so it holds a special place in my heart.  But I like the other three better.  I've read all of his 3 or 4 times each, except Half Asleep in Frog's Pajamas...I just can't get into the 2nd-person narrative.  Interesting concept, but lost on me for the most part.

hah, go team redhead! maybe that's why I enjoyed it so much. Have you read any other books that deal with absurdism? Which reminds me, Murakami has some pretty cool/ weird books.

[tp4tissue]

I stopped reading fiction, because scifi got "too real", I mean we have automatic doors AND Ipads...

[cytoSiN]

That too!  And I'm a redhead so it holds a special place in my heart.  But I like the other three better.  I've read all of his 3 or 4 times each, except Half Asleep in Frog's Pajamas...I just can't get into the 2nd-person narrative.  Interesting concept, but lost on me for the most part.

hah, go team redhead! maybe that's why I enjoyed it so much. Have you read any other books that deal with absurdism? Which reminds me, Murakami has some pretty cool/ weird books.

Yeah Christopher Moore has some pretty good absurd books, but he's just not as clever as Robbins.  I particularly liked "Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal," because it's as ridiculous as the title implies.

Also, +1 Metalliqaz for mentioning Forever War.  Really good book.  Similar good stuff, on the lighter side, is the Old Man's War trilogy by John Scalzi, which is actually being made into a movie right now.  Read 'em before Hollywood ruins 'em!

[Amarok]

I really enjoy reading. I got a tablet for Christmas last year and have mostly reading on that since then.

Some of my favorite books/series are The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King, A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card and Contact by Carl Sagan. Right now I'm reading The Fall of Hyperion after just finishing the first novel in the Hyperion Cantos series by Dan Simmons.

I also enjoy reading non-fiction science/physics books. Brian Greene's first two books, The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos, were very good and I have his newest book but haven't read it yet. The non-fiction book I've enjoyed the most is Black Holes and Time Warps by Kip Thorne.

[Amarok]

I tried the Dark Tower but it was so dry I gave up on it

The Gunslinger is a bit dry and slow paced, but I still enjoyed it. The revised edition supposedly helps with this a little bit. The story is actually very good though, and the novels after that are fantastic.

[fohat.digs]

I love science fiction.

My most recent incredible book was "Revelation Space" by Alistair Reynolds, and I am hot to finish the series.

For me, the "classics" from my awakening into adulthood were "Lord of Light" by Zelazny, the Hainish series by LeGuin (the Earthsea series is exquisite, too), and the "known space" series by Niven (and I suppose the Protector and World of Ptavs were more or less pre-quels to that).

In the "something completely different" a couple of books that I loved that do not fall into any category are "Sounding" by Hank Searls, "Adrift" by Stephen Callihan, "Acid Dreams" by Martin Lee, and "Replay" by Ken Grimwald.

And then there is "Sum" by David Eagleman.

[JPG]

I mostly read fantasy. Started when I was young, and never stopped, even if I read less since I got kids... Still, my favorite author is probably R.A Salvatore.

[Amarok]

I forgot to mention one of my all-time favorite books. It's called House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. If you haven't read it, the book itself it part of the (many) stories that are weaved throughout. Many parts of the book are also somewhat of a "riddle" to read, it's very interesting. One of the strangest and best books I've ever read.

[Halverson]

I tried the Dark Tower but it was so dry I gave up on it

The Gunslinger is a bit dry and slow paced, but I still enjoyed it. The revised edition supposedly helps with this a little bit. The story is actually very good though, and the novels after that are fantastic.

I think the best part is how huge of an amazing story it is. And Kings way of entangling it with most of this other novels is just awesome.

[jdcarpe]

Lately, I've been doing most of my reading by audiobook. I have an outside sales route, so I am in my vehicle most of every day. Instead of listening to music, I "read" while I drive. I do enjoy reading hard copy of novels, but the convenience of an e-book is undeniable. Especially when there are so many available for free simply by downloading. Both legal and otherwise.

Dark Tower series was awesome, but it's been a few years now since I finished. I started reading The Gunslinger when the series comprised only three volumes. But I've been a faithful King reader since I was young. The first King novel I ever read was Christine, and it's a fun read. Still one of my favorites of his. 11/22/63 was very enjoyable.

Recently, I've been reading dystopian sci-fi. Reamde by Stephenson. I love his novels. I read Snow Crash about a year ago. And I re-read In The Beginning Was the Command Line every year, it seems.

In the last few months I've read: 1984 by Orwell, World War Z by Brooks, Ready Player One by Cline, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Grahame-Smith, the entire Hunger Games trilogy by Collins, Twilight by Meyer,  Time and Again by Finney. I know there are some I'm leaving out.

Needless to say, yeah, I love to read.

[Lanx]

ereaders will be normal
http://us.txtr.com/beagle/

it's slated for 13bucks, yea not 133, but 13$, it's already out in europe for that price (whatever euros are), it runs on 2aaa and you xfer books by cell phone with blue tooth, it looks good

[Amarok]

ereaders will be normal
http://us.txtr.com/beagle/

it's slated for 13bucks, yea not 133, but 13$, it's already out in europe for that price (whatever euros are), it runs on 2aaa and you xfer books by cell phone with blue tooth, it looks good

That's pretty cool. I'll pick one up for sure just to try it at that price. Right now I'm used the Mantano Reader app on a Nexus 7.

[lazerpointer]

Favorite so far are the Dark Tower series by Stephen King - best freaking story I've ever read.... Lots of reading though - a 7 book saga. The Halo books are dope Narnia, Harry Potter, Dune... Ender's Game!

A few more locked away in my head that I'll probably remember later

[NikoGasm]

Chuck Palahniuk is my favorite author. I have most of his works.
I'm also a great fan of Shakespeare.

[jwaz]

I forgot to mention one of my all-time favorite books. It's called House of Leaves by Mark Mark Z. Danielewski. If you haven't read it, the book itself it part of the (many) stories that are weaved throughout. Many parts of the book are also somewhat of a "riddle" to read, it's very interesting. One of the strangest and best books I've ever read.

I'm actually getting this one for Xmas according to my sister,


JDcarpe: did you like Ready Player One? I found I quite enjoyed the audio book.


TP4T: Have you read Zelazny's Amber series? I picked up the combined volume but haven't dove in yet.

[rowdy]

I used to read books all the time.  Now I read ebooks instead, but seem to have less time to read.

Like William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, Stephen Donaldson and Dean Koontz are probably the favourites.  Oh, and Douglas Adams

[dorkvader]

I read books all the time! Both in the E-paper and dead tree formats. I'd never get an e-reader without an e-ink display. Toss up on other static displays (interferometric, etc.) until I see them. I own a Sony PRS-T1 that I regret not bringing with me.

I'm currently reading "My inventions" By Nicola Tesla. Just finished "Game of Thrones" By George R. R. Martin. I will read "Cold Days" by Jim Butcher next. Who knows after that?

I do enjoy a lot of SF/fantasy. My favourite author is Patrick Rothfuss (Followed by Brandon Sanderson, who writes a lot more, but isn't as perfect as Rothfuss. Rothfuss seems to only be able to manage one book every 4-6 years. He's also great at a book signing.)

[jdcarpe]

JWAZ, I really enjoyed Ready Player One. I also listened to it on audiobook. I got that one due to Leo Laporte's recommendation on TWiT of Wil Wheatons reading of it.

Which led me to Cory Doctorow. I read For The Win and enjoyed it, although I don't agree with all of Cory's ideas on organization of labor. It was an enjoyable read, as well. One thing I love about his novels, is that he has them all available for free download on his website, craphound.com. If you like it, you can do like I did and purchase a hard cover version to support the author.

[tjcaustin]

I'm a big e-reader fan, I've had experience with all three of the major readers plus a couple of the b-listers.  I keep the kindle app on every device that will allow it that I own and because of that I read constantly and don't have any favorite author that I focus on.  Hell, because I have a kindle app on my cell and pc right now I haven't been able to convince myself to get my kindle fire set up.

[tp4tissue]

I forgot to mention one of my all-time favorite books. It's called House of Leaves by Mark Mark Z. Danielewski. If you haven't read it, the book itself it part of the (many) stories that are weaved throughout. Many parts of the book are also somewhat of a "riddle" to read, it's very interesting. One of the strangest and best books I've ever read.

I'm actually getting this one for Xmas according to my sister,


JDcarpe: did you like Ready Player One? I found I quite enjoyed the audio book.


TP4T: Have you read Zelazny's Amber series? I picked up the combined volume but haven't dove in yet.

downloading now... will give a go..

I'm trying new things.. w00t..

[Shadovved]

This please 



EDIT: If it doesnt change your life, it ain't worth reading

[davkol]

I wish I could force myself to read more. If I were about to start something *now*, I'd go for something by Cory Doctorow. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Little Brother and some of his short stories are definitely in my TOP list.

[demik]

this is one of the books that i hated enough that i couldn't finish it.

main character was just so pathetic it was annoying.

[CPTBadAss]

I have a Kindle but I also like having a physical book. I think Kindles are fun book-related toys and are great for traveling. But when I'm at home I prefer a real copy. Currently I'm reading David Brin's Brightness Reef and just finished Chuck Palahniuk's Pygmy (mostly during a 3 hour layover). I love sci-fi, history, non-fiction....honestly I'll read just about anything lol.

[simkev]

I like to read and I like to do it with a actual physical book. E-readers and tablets in all their glory but they cant just beat a book or a pocket. I really like Thomas Harris and Tolkien.
Merry Christmas from Sweden 

[ashort]

Love Stephen King's earlier works, I haven't read him in years though. 

• Christine
• Pet Semetary
• The Dead Zone
• Firestarter was a bit outside of the others but still good
• Misery was good but it was a bit indulgent, like, "Look how good I am at what I do", through the eyes of the main character. 

I love how he takes inklings and oddball occurrences, and an idea, and uses them all to take a perfectly sane person to the brink of insanity, then shoves them completely over the edge when he exposes them to the supernatural that until then, they had only imagined...or so it seems.

Tom Clancy - His historical fiction paints a very real picture of the personalities that could have been involved in those times. 

• Clear and Present Danger
• Hunt for Red October
• Red Storm Rising
• Patriot Games
• Without Remorse (best one of his that I've read) - Clark was NOT a Willem Dafoe sized pipsqueak!!!
• The Sum of All Fears
• Cardinal of the Kremlin
• Debt of Honor

Khaled Hosseini - I wish he'd write a third book, I'd read it TONIGHT.  Historical fiction that makes Afghanistan a real country to the reader.

• The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
• A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

Love these too:

• To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
• Beautiful Boy - David Sheff - stunning non-fiction that every parent on the planet should read

I feel like I should have more than that.  I'm sure i do.

[hashbaz]

I spent a huge portion of my preteen and teenage years reading.  It's hard to make the time these days but occasionally I get hooked on something and enjoy getting lost for hours at a time.

My formative works were mostly science fiction and fantasy, like a lot of you.  All of Michael Crichton's earlier stuff (Sphere and Jurassic Park in particular).  Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke.  I loved Ender's Game but never read any of Card's other books for some reason.  Same deal with Neuromancer.  I think I made it through the entire Sword of Shannara series.  My mom read me The Hobbit while I was very young and so by the time I was 12 or so I had trudged through the entire LOTR even though I was too young to really appreciate it.  I tried to move on to The Silmarillion but was bogged down within 100 pages.  Same deal with Dune.  I reread both in my early 20s and loved both of them to death.  Still haven't made it back to the Silmarillion.

As an adult I've enjoyed Stephen King.  Pet Sematary was awesomely chilling.  Such a great, interesting take on the undead.  It also served to exorcise the demons of having seen the movie version way too young and being haunted by the scary cat and the Timmy Baterman sequence.  IMO not enough zombie stories capitalize on the uncanny loathing of dead bodies that is at the center of Pet Sematary.  Too much chase and scare and not enough dread and horror.  An awesome exception is World War Z.

I need to read more King.  Apt Pupil was very disturbing to me.  Desperation was tense at times but over all not very interesting.  The Shawshank Redemption was good, but I honestly feel the movie was better in almost every way.

I would heartily recommend the first three books of the Vampire Chronicles (Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, and Queen of the Damned).  I dutifully trudged through the entire series, but they start to get repetitive and uninteresting after a while.

I haven't really given e-books a fair shake, though I expect if I do I will still greatly prefer "real" books.  FWIW I don't like reading anything longform on my wife's iPad.

[Rinsaku]

Anne rice, William gibson, Robert Jordan, RA Salvatore are some of my favorites.

[rowdy]

+1 Anne Rice

[jeroplane]

Two of the best books I've read:

- Perfume by Patrick Süskind
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

On my to-read list:

- On the Road by Jack Kerouac
- Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

As a kid and teen I read a lot more (as I'm sure is the case for many of you) and it was mainly teen spy fiction and a bit of fantasy. These days it's more about trying to read the classics (or at least those that interest me) one by one, particularly those that are thought-provoking or philosophical in a way or those with a very unique concept (such as Perfume). I really can't read sci-fi or fantasy these days :\

[ashort]

Ann Rice.  I knew I was forgetting a big one in there.  I loved the Vampire Chronicles.  I've read the first four.  I started but never finished "Memnoch the Devil".  Maybe the series had run it's course with me.

[jdcarpe]

@hashbaz - given the industry in which you work, I'm not surprised that you don't read more books in print. Much of modern literature has moved from print to film, and I find nothing wrong with that. In fact, I took a class at the university here about 6-7 years ago entitled "Film as Literature." It was very enlightening to experience modern films for what they are, another medium for the telling of stories. We as a species have moved our storytelling experience from oral, to written, to visual, and now with some video games etc., interactive and immersive.

FWIW, I hate reading long form on the iPad as well. I much prefer an e-Ink screen for that.

[absyrd]

Two of the best books I've read:
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

On my to-read list:
- Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Read Unbearable many years ago and just happened to dig it out of storage for my wife to read last week!

And I have The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov that I dig into when I want inspiration for my own writing in regards to vivid imagery.

[Vyr1s]

I haven't done much reading since BCIT (oh the white papers and tech books) kind of burnt me out.
Aside from that, the GF reads a lot and has thousands of books.

She has a new review site, shameless plug...
http://kathrynreviews.blogspot.ca/

But personally, love the MTG books XD

[longweight]

I love to read. I do own a Kindle but I only use it for books that are available for free from project gutenburg. I read for an hour everyday on the train and I do try to read in bed at least 2 nights a week.


I have started buying hardback books as I want to keep my collection for ever and I would prefer it if the bookcase was full of beautiful books. I have been buying the Barnes & Noble leatherbound collection and some titles from [size=78%]http://www.foliosociety.com[/size]

[hashbaz]

Ann Rice.  I knew I was forgetting a big one in there.  I loved the Vampire Chronicles.  I've read the first four.  I started but never finished "Memnoch the Devil".  Maybe the series had run it's course with me.

You didn't miss much.  There is some interesting stuff in the later books, and a lot of backstory, but it's mostly a rehash of what Rice accomplished in the first three.  She spends two or three books uniting the vampire universe with the Mayfair Witches universe, which was only mildly interesting to me since I've never read the witch books.  Of the later books, Blackwood Farm stands out as one that was genuinely scary to me.  I read most of it in a single sitting late at night.

@jdcarpe I agree that movies have taken on an important role in passing on stories and values, and that there's nothing at all wrong with that.  I forget where I first heard this idea (a documentary probably), but I think it's true: films are the most complex and collaborative works of art that humans have ever produced.

[Krogenar]

Ready Player One by Cline,

I read it, awesome, awesome book. Kind of weird to see people writing about my childhood in nostalgic terms, but great book.