What book(s) have you read recently?

[Kafriel]

The legend of Parcifal and the heavenly stone... it was a very fun book to read, gotta love the ironic twists of fate. Too bad it only lasted 3 hours.

[stevetaylor30]

Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, pretty interesting book even tough it is quite old. The movie Apocalypse Now was largely inspired by it.

[Kytherno]

Do Ants have Assholes?

Real book, really awesome, I laughed so much from reading that.

[otakujohn]

Reading God is not Great by Christopher Hitchens at the moment. Pretty funny and insightful stuff so far.

Other than that I am trying to get through a bunch of books on Python, software testing, and perl. I have to bone up on writing automation for work. Testing high end networking equipment can be a real bitch sometimes.

[Lil' Wayne]

Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas. Really funny, really interesting book. Actually, my friend's dad once smoked weed with Hunter S. Thompson in college. That makes it even better.

[Umandsf]

I am in the middle of reading Watchmen and The Complete Sherlock Holmes, but I have not gone back to reading them in such a long time. >.<

[ganbaru]

Bradbury Story by Ray Bradbury, a compilation of 100 of his short novels .

[Lio]

Intimate Communion - David Deida, makes all other relationship books obsolete.

[Woopzilla]

Started reading Fallen by Tim Lebbon, another fantasy book after having just completed The Sword of Angels by John Marco.

The Sword of Angels seemed a little anti-climatic at the end, but I enjoyed the many sidestories and places that were shown. A good read overall.

[nanafan]

reading Grimms Fairy tales...just love the fairy tales and how gory they are..

[stubby42]

Just borrowed the halo book, the fall of reach I'm enjoying it, its a nice light read.

[MakubeX2]

A must-read heartwrenching story of a young sexual slave in India, April 20, 2009
By Books, Movies, and Music

The Blue Notebook was one of the most disturbing books I've ever read. Written by Dr. James A. Levine, this book follows the experiences of a young nine year old girl over a period of six years, during which time she is a sexual slave, serving up to ten men per day in the red light district of Mumbai. The underbelly of the rich, the poor, and those who serve them is brought to light through Batuk's interactions with a slew of disreputable individuals.

Author James A. Levine somehow manages very well to give a voice to the central character, Batuk, as she deals with her thoughts and one traumatic experience after another. Her innocence is stolen in one frightening moment, and from that point on her resilience to the world hardens. She likens herself to a clay bowl that can be anything, but once hardened becomes more fragile and can break.

This book leaves more questions than answers, but questions worth exploring. I'm left wondering if her father understood what he was doing when he sold her to Mr. Gahil. What precisely put her father in the position of needing to sell his daughter? Our only indication is that he says he is sorry and that he has lost everything as he parts with Batuk. Apparently they did not lose "everything" since he still had cash to bring her to Mumbai from his rural farming community and throw her a feast before her departure. There are so many more questions that remain unanswered but would be excellent to discuss in a book club.

The quality of the writing is as near flawless as I've read in a long time. The scenery is brought to life through rich but simple details. Batuk's state of mind is easily understood and explained as she tells her story in her journal.

Many people who otherwise would be too sickened to finish this book might be able to handle this short two hundred page book. Scenes of child rape occur frequently along with an even possibly more gruesome scene near the end. Wrapping up the story, Batuk writes a beautiful story of the Silver-eyed Leopard, taking up approximately ten pages. Even though the story is sad, it was the one bright spot in the book because it was a fairy tale told to her by her father.

As the problems that face the poor in India continue to swell, I can't imagine the issue of child sexual slavery and human trafficking getting better anytime soon. However, the author is donating 100% of the US proceeds from this novel to the International and National Centers for Missing and Exploited Children (http://www.icmec.org). My hope is that more children can be saved from this life.

Do I recommend this book? Yes, if you feel you can handle the material. The purchase goes for a good cause and your awareness of this ongoing situation will be heightened. The fact is, if every time you hear gruesome words like "child rape" you close your eyes and your ears, how can you possibly know what is going on? Dr. James A. Levine has made it easy for us by interviewing and writing about a real live child sexual slave in Mumbai, whom this story is loosely based upon. He's written the story for us and he giving the profits away to help alleviate this problem. As the world shines more light on this issue, the rats who rule this underworld will find less places to hide. Hopefully, with time, they will become extinct.

Amazon Link

[nanafan]

started reading Black Swan, White Raven retelling of well know fairy tales.

[ganbaru]

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

[Saleh]

Currently reading Mood Genes: Hunting for Origins of Mania and Depression by Barondes, Samuel H.

[calorie]

Yesterday I've finished reading Paulo Coelho's The Winner Stands Alone.

I mean, I liked it, but this definitely isn't one of his best works. The wisdom and quite an insight into human mind and society is still present, but the contempt against modern values and lifestyle was simply over the top overall. A lot of opinions he expressed are true, but c'mon, things can't be that grim. Nonetheless, the plot itself was interesting enough to keep me going throughout the story, nice build-up of tension as well.

[nanafan]

man i feel wierd everyone hear reads deep books, but i don't...i am reading charmed destinies short stories by mercedes lackey, rachel lee, and catherine asaro...basically romantic fantasy stories...

[einhorn303]

Originally Posted by nanafan

man i feel wierd everyone hear reads deep books, but i don't...i am reading charmed destinies short stories by mercedes lackey, rachel lee, and catherine asaro...basically romantic fantasy stories...

Hey, I've read a book by Catherine Asaro, and rather liked it.

I imagine it's likely that, when a person reads a "deep" book, they're more likely to post about it online than if they read something more fun and romantic. Right now I'm reading a collected volume of Frances Hodgson Burnett novels (The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, etc), and they might not have the pretentious edge, but they're some of the most charming and wonderful books I've ever read.

[nanafan]

true, i liked the stories in there they were interesting, then i am starting on Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears. It in a collection of retelling fairytales with fantasy writers and also writers like joyce carol oates. It's like the grimm tales except its' more for adults. I managed to find the three books in the series but not the fourth yet.

[JMvS]

Just finished reading The Skeptical Environmentalist by Bjørn Lomborg.

It was an interesting reading, altough the french translation was sometimes horrible.

Now I need to find his next books.