What book(s) have you read recently?

[Wild Goose]

The Sheriff of Ramadi, by Dick Couch. Fascinating look at how a victory was achieved in Anbar - victory that was repeatedly reported by the media as a loss.

[Kid Ryan]

I started reading Artemis Fowl Book 04: The Opal Deception, I'm really loving this nostalgic trip into my childhood (I was obsessed with the series when I was a teen).

[DMurphy]

At the moment, Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. I'm liking it, but not quite as much as I thought I would, unfortunately.

[Xagzan]

Finished Cro-Magnon - Brian Fagan.

The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films - Doug Adams

How to Read Literature Like a Professor - Thomas Foster

Currently returning to 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas now that I have a better translation. Man are there a lot of lists of scientific publications and fish

[mystogan]

Originally Posted by Toddler Naruto

I started reading Artemis Fowl Book 04: The Opal Deception, I'm really loving this nostalgic trip into my childhood (I was obsessed with the series when I was a teen).

i have read it, it is really good.

finished reading Bartimeaus:Ptolemy's gate(#3,Batimaeus trilogy) some weeks ago, now looking forward to reading Prince of Thorns(#1, Broken Empire)

[P99]

Recently finished The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling, and Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior by Leonard Mlodinow. They were all pretty good, though if you could only read one, I would recommend Haddon. It's written in the perspective of an autistic teenager, so the writing style is incredibly unique compared to other novels I have read. However, at the same time, this could be viewed as a drawback because the way it jumps around and makes it hard to understand at some points. So it is definitely not for everyone.

[Ii_chan]

read the cuckoo's calling on about of 100 pages or so.

not easy. i love read mystery book, but this book is, just perfect and slow explanation.

[Kafriel]

finished reading Bartimeaus:Ptolemy's gate(#3,Batimaeus trilogy) some weeks ago, now looking forward to reading Prince of Thorns(#1, Broken Empire)

Finished reading Prince of Thorns, by Mark Lawrence xD

Very well-planned story, I really liked the characters in the end, because the protagonist's actions are fully explained and despite my early disapproval of him, things took a turn for the better halfway through. Definitely getting the other two when they're released here...

[SaintessHeart]

Going to get this book.

The Invisible Force - A Photobook On The Gurkhas of Singapore

Legacy of peace forged by pioneer Gurkhas: Book extract from The Invisible Force

[Libros]

Fault in our Stars by John Green
Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck

Excellent reads the both of them; in the former the romance is beautifully written and in both of the books the themes are presented in a way that isn't preachy and just makes you think. 10/10 will read again.

[mystogan]

Originally Posted by Kafriel

Finished reading Prince of Thorns, by Mark Lawrence xD

Very well-planned story, I really liked the characters in the end, because the protagonist's actions are fully explained and despite my early disapproval of him, things took a turn for the better halfway through. Definitely getting the other two when they're released here...

yes it is a very nice read, i like a dark protagonist like him and his darkness is given a proper built, it's not just for the sake of it.
of all the books i have read till now, i think this is the most where the mental and psyche of character is most explored.

now reading Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony

[NorthernFallout]

Recently finished Bank's Hydrogen Sonata and Corey's Abaddon's Gate. God damn brilliant scifi.

Now I'm just waiting for my next batch, especially looking forward to Project Itoh's Harmony. Tried to get his first book, but it was sold out before I could manage.

[Magin]

The books I've finished within the past few months: Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson, Stormlight Atchives #2

Also on this list are Robert Jordan's The Eye of the World and The Great Hunt. Now, I'm currently reading The Dragon Reborn... or in other words, yes, I'm out the read through all the Wheel of Time books, and I welcome this challenge. Granted, Lord of Chaos and Crossroads of Twilight are going to be the two hardest books to get through, and possibly Knife of Dreams. Lord of Chaos because until the end, I'm going to have to quell my rage, and Crossroads because it's the most boring book that I'd read in the series... and not sure how Knife of Dreams will be, because I actully haven't read anything beyond Crossroads.

[vasya(russ)]

The god delusion and The selfish gene by Richard Dawkins. This really guy really deserves his fame.

[Libros]

Jane Smiley's A thousand Acres, is what I'm currently reading. For those of you who like a bit of family dramas, I strongly recommend this book.

Originally Posted by Magin

The books I've finished within the past few months: Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson, Stormlight Atchives #2

Also on this list are Robert Jordan's The Eye of the World and The Great Hunt. Now, I'm currently reading The Dragon Reborn... or in other words, yes, I'm out the read through all the Wheel of Time books, and I welcome this challenge. Granted, Lord of Chaos and Crossroads of Twilight are going to be the two hardest books to get through, and possibly Knife of Dreams. Lord of Chaos because until the end, I'm going to have to quell my rage, and Crossroads because it's the most boring book that I'd read in the series... and not sure how Knife of Dreams will be, because I actully haven't read anything beyond Crossroads.

Do you like Elayne? If yes, the books after COT won't be too bad. OTOH, if your answer is no...tough. You're going to be seeing alot of her and somehow when she finds out that

Spoiler for major spoilers:

her twins will be born healthy, and more importantly whole

she gets horrible. When I say "horrible", I mean she takes the most insane and unnecessary risks and all for the sake of pride and/or kicks. She does not seem to understand that 'alive' ≠ 'un-raped', 'un-maimed', 'un-scarred', etc. Nor does she understand that just because she is

Spoiler for more Elayne spoilers:

for all intents and purposes untouchable due to the twins

that her protection does not necessarily extend to the people around her. It just takes the

Spoiler for spoilers:

slaughter of most of her guard by the darkfriend to make her wise up to that.

On the plus side, Perrin and Matt's group get some great development.

[Magin]

Elayne I personally enjoy as a character, so that shouldn't be too bad. I also spoiled myself on events up to the end of whichever one is #13 (I'm getting Towers of Midnight and Gathering Storm switched around, not remembering which came first), and all I can say is that once Brandon Sanderson took over, it sounds like WoT really kicks into high gear. However, I also know part of the ending to the series, and it's a case of "Dammit, Rand."

And while WoT is going to take a few months to work through, and then I have LNs to read through as well... finding more high quality high fantasy is going to be the next challenge, since not much has appeared within the past 5 years or so

[Libros]

Originally Posted by Magin

Elayne I personally enjoy as a character, so that shouldn't be too bad. I also spoiled myself on events up to the end of whichever one is #13 (I'm getting Towers of Midnight and Gathering Storm switched around, not remembering which came first), and all I can say is that once Brandon Sanderson took over, it sounds like WoT really kicks into high gear. However, I also know part of the ending to the series, and it's a case of "Dammit, Rand."

And while WoT is going to take a few months to work through, and then I have LNs to read through as well... finding more high quality high fantasy is going to be the next challenge, since not much has appeared within the past 5 years or so

If you haven't checked her out yet, do so immediately. I'm talking 'bout Robin Hobb. Seriously, get on that sh*t. I personally prefer her work with Bingtown/

Spoiler for vague-until-you-hit-a-certain-point very massive spoilers:

Nu-elderlings and the dragons

but her Fitz and the Fool books are really quite good.

Crown of the Stars is really quite good as well, for many of the same reasons as The Elderling Saga(Robin Hobb's name for her collected works set in Fitz's world). Strong dialogue, powerful character development, excellent world building, etc.

The Sword of Shadows series. Despite it is not some generic high fantasy Tolkien clone.(:" Get the Ri-Sword, it must be destroyed else all will be lost etc.) No. It is grim and dark without being lol-grimdark. The protag is, to some extent, one of the peasant boys destined to save the world but the de-construction of that trope is so subtle in this book that frankly, you will never want to put it down. OTOH If we apply current morality there are no good guys. For example: In his youth the

Spoiler for spoilers:

Dogman

once destroyed a Trenchlander settlement that was too close to

Spoiler for spoilers:

Bludd

territory and so he took 200 men and went to slaughter them. Those women he did not kill he let his men rape. Granted, he didn't participate but not because of any moral compunction against doing so. Rather it was because the rape was - and I quote - "for his men."

Compared to some of the other characters he is a saint.

[SuitUp]

Last book I read (finished it last week) was Dead of a writer, by Michael Collins, wich I picked up because the excerpt on the back-cover made it sound like a good investigation novel... Ended up being a disscusion on the artistic value of writing and several ethical and writing dillemas (Does the tainting of an author's motive for writing affects the artistic value of said writing?), coupled with just a dash of investigation, all ambiented on a very cynical world, can't say I liked it too much, too many mistakes on the execution of what the writer was trying to achieve, but it's an interesting reading.

[DevilHighDxD]

After finishing The Great Gatsby (the movie), I have read the novel which was a great classic. Gatsby determination to be with Daisy truly get my admiration, Gatsby is my hero regardless of how he amassed his riches! I do admired a lot of rich people.

After that I finished The Crucible... All I can say is Abigail is total bitch, John Proctor have such a tragic fate.

After that I finished The Metamorphism, very interesting plot with the MC becoming the hideous unknown bug creature and again suffered another tragic end.

Last book I finished is Waiting for Godot, weird plot but humorous enough for me. What with these funny nicknames anyway? "Didi" and "Gogo" . The only book somehow avoided a not good fate for our MCs.

[P99]

I've recently finished Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and I'm currently reading Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh. Gaiman is a fantastic sci-fi/fantasy author so I definitely recommend any of his novels. So far Welsh's story is interesting and entertaining, but it's also not like anything else I've ever read, which I'm really enjoying.