Anyone still read books?

[thedarkwolf]

Originally posted by: Madwand1

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
I'm reading 'A Feast for Crows' right now. It's the fourth book in the George R.R. Martin series (A Song of Fire & Ice).

So am I, and the reason is that this series was so hyped on this forum. I'm not sure why. There must be tons of better books.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=38&threadid=2031125&enterthread=y

I'm on the second book A Clash of Kings and so far think its a pretty good series. Also reading through it because of this forum. Better then most of the crap I've read lately but I read a lot of trash .

 

[paulney]

I finished "Chickenhawk" by Robert Mason. Memoirs of a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. That was an awesome book, and not just because I like helicopters.

 

[allies]

Originally posted by: Mo0o

Originally posted by: destrekor

Originally posted by: KarmaPolice
Just finished the Fountainhead

how is Rand's writing style? I want to read Anthem first, and have a curiosity in The Fountainhead. However, first I must read Huxley's Brave New World before I read Anthem, thus The Fountainhead will have to wait. I have a lot of books I want to read but need to get around to ones that are a higher priority.

Ayn Rand is ok. I'm not a fan of her politics and unfortunately it's really apparently in her writing. It's one of the reasons I avoided Anthem for the better dystopic novels liek 1984 and BNW. I read fountainhead as well and... it was alright. Felt a little longer than necessary but still enjoyable.

Mo0o - If you at all enjoyed The Fountainhead, definitely read Atlas Shrugged. It's much of the same as the Fountainhead, but the characters are MUCH more developed, and the story is better to boot. I'm about 700 pages into it, and although I had to take a break the past week due to midterms, I'm gonna try go get it done this weekend.

Although lengthy and an overall slow read, there's no denying that as a philosopher she doubles as an author quite nicely.

Her politics are somewhat overwhelming - however, it seems apparent in order to make a point one must be extreme. It's an eye opening book for sure. 1984 was great too, I should read that again after I finish Atlas Shrugged.

 

[Special K]

I just finished The Millionaire Next Door. I can't say there was really anything that surprising revealed, except for the people he interviewed who were in their 50's, had very high incomes, yet had next to nothing saved or invested. I guess I figured if you had that much money coming in, it would be almost second nature to invest it.

 

[Shadowknight]

Make Love! The Bruce Campbell Way - mediocre
World War Z - kind of boring actually. The guy writing it REALLY though it through, but it... laked any emotional resonance, any real sense of horror... consider it more of a fictional war book than a zombie-based horror novel.

 

[DarkThinker]

The Alphabet of Manliness

 

[DainBramaged]

I've read a few good ones lately:

Hunter S. Thompson - Rum Diary
Hunter S. Thompson - Hells Angels
Jack Kerouac - On The Road

Those are the three most recent

 

[greatfool66]

Last interesting book I read was Where Wizards Stay Up Late. A really well written history about ARPA and the origins of the internet

 

[hdeck]

i recently read the 2 books in the "dexter" series (that the showtime show is based on). they were both really good.

 

[imported_Tango]

Originally posted by: Mo0o
Currently working on The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. Trying to choose between Divine Comedy. Canteburry Tales or Paradise Lost afterwards

The divine comedy is in my very humble and subjective opinion the greatest book ever written.

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: thedarkwolf
I'm on the second book A Clash of Kings and so far think its a pretty good series. Also reading through it because of this forum. Better then most of the crap I've read lately but I read a lot of trash .

Thinking of it this way... I bought a copy of Milton's Paradise Lost and Regained even before I bought this series, and for much less money. In the time I've spent reading this .... I could have read a good part of Milton. Difficult though it may be, it could be the difference between doing something I'd think worthwhile in life vs. a waste of time.

 

[deerslayer]

I still read books. I haven't read an exceptionally good book for a while though.

 

[ggnl]

Last book I read (re-read in this case) was Blood Merridian by Cormac McCarthy. It's a modern classic, so I won't even bother to heap more praise on it, to say it's a great book just doesn't do it justice.

Now reading Something Happened by Joseph Heller. It drags on a bit at some points, but it's an interesting read so far and very insightful.

 

[Looney]

Just finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I had no idea the book was even an Oprah's book (it's depressing as hell!).

Currently reading Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.

 

[aCynic2]

"Midnight's Children," Salman Rushdie

 

[pontifex]

Currently reading Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph by T.E. Lawrence (aka Lawrence of Arabia). Its an autobiographical account of his time in the Middle East.

 

[jman19]

I've actually really gotten back in to reading as a past time lately... here's what I've read and what I'd like to read in the next few months:

Recently read:
[*]The Bourne Identity - Robert
[*]Den of Thieves - James B. Stewart
[*]Barbarians at the Gate: The Rise and Fall of RJR Nabsico - Bryan Burrough and John Helyar
[*]Liar's Poker - Michael Lewis


On my list (in no particular order):
[*]Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon
[*]The Predators' Ball - Connie Bruck
[*]Royal Assassin & Assissin's Quest - Robin Hobb
[*]House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski
[*]Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut
[*]A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking
[*]The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov
[*]On The Road - Jack Kerouac

I'm sure I'm forgetting some...

Of course, I should add to my list some stuff I don't want to read but have to: GRE and GMAT study material :frown:

 

[HombrePequeno]

Last one I finished reading was Freakonomics.

I'm currently reading White Man's Burden: Why the West's efforts to aid the rest have done so much ill and so little good by William Easterly. He's got some good points. Unfortunately there are some that are off the mark.

 

[Martin]

I go through about a book a week, so yeah, I definitely still read.

Some of the best ones I've read over the last few months:
-Before the Dawn: http://www.amazon.com/Before-Dawn-Recovering-History-Ancestors/dp/1594200793
-The Singularity is Near (don't forget your grain of salt though..) :
http://www.amazon.com/Singularity-Near-...?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1179938437&sr=1-1
-Slaughterhouse Five.