Books you love or hate

[mustafaisb]

The guy who wrote that book, whose name escapes me at the moment, gave a speech at my university based on that book. It was pretty interesting.

Jared Diamond is the name of the author. I also heard that book is very good and another book by him Collapse: How societies choose to fail or succeed is also a very good book. I definately have to read those books soon.

Hey I was just on a site that measures how many words you can read per minute. http://www.rocketreader.com/demo/flashDemo.html I recommend everyone check it out. Choose Step A I read 358 wpm.

 

[crayon]

Oooh, very cool site! I got 466 words per minute.

 

[Fishman]

What I'm reading at the moment:
Greg Bear's Eon, a sci-fi novel.

Bad book:
IAEA Bulletin, issue title 'Our Changing Earth'. Its a magazine which looks interesting but is actually full of weird newfangled phrases that don't mean anything, like 'Global Schoolhouse', or 'Generation: Next'. Even the title is awful! It just makes you think that the government is doing nothing about climate change and just wants to invent new words to make us feel happy...

 

[crayon]

Ahhh this thread reminds me of how much I love books. They really are one of life's joys.
I'm reading Cry, the Beloved Country now and it's beautiful, the writing is superb.

 

[Faye]

My fave is Dan Brown (dont think anyone has mentioned him yet!!)
The "Davinci code" and "angels and demons" are so cool!

Sorry, but the Da Vinci Code is on my list of books I wouldn't read if I was stranded on a desert island, with only one book, nothing to do and no hope of rescue.

It has bad writing style, bad language, bad plot and 2 dimentional characters. I only read it because everybody was telling me how good it was. It wasn't. I think the only reason the book/author got so famous is that he is so blasphemous and foul-mouthed, it shocks people. Sort of like that authour, Salman Rushdie.

Who likes Linda Sue Park? I read her book "A Single Shard" and loved it, though it has almost no plot at all. But, just the writing style is so fabulously poetic that you don't realize that until you begin thinking about what you just read.

Other books that I am not sure I love or hate:
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin. Whenever I read it, I think that its just the most wonderful book around, but as soon as I finish, I begin thinking about the fact that the whole story is just about a man chasing his shadow around...and how stupid is that!!!
But I like the two books after that, The Tombs of Atuan and The Fartherest Shore

Another author that I have very mixed feelings about is Zenna Henderson. Her books are just so soppy, gooey, love-will-solve-everything, that I can't even read one page in normal circumstances. But when I am feeling very low, down-in-the-glumps, as if the world is a nasty place and everybody out to get me, then I pull out these books and read them. They are a very good sedative, prevent me from taking my feelings out on everybody around me , and usually improve my mood. I call her books my 'Chicken Soup for the Soul' (It works much better than the magazine of that title which a friend of mine used for the same purpose.)

 

[BintAmjad]

My favourites include Jane Austen (no ones mentioned her yet i'm into old english my fav's gotta be Pride and Prejudice), J.K Rowling, I wish i could say J.R.R Tolkien thing is i haven't got round to actually reading The Lord of the Rings but the films were fantastic! I like my fantasies, Roal Dahl books (those that i read) were hilarious and I enjoyed reading the da vinci code by Dan Brown.

Anybody read the books by Philip Pullman??? He wrote 'Northern lights' aka The Golden Compass ad His dark materials

 

[Faye]

I like Jane Austin (though my whole speaking style changes after I finish with one of her books). I have read Lord of the Rings and JK Rowling. In JK's books, my favoutite is the 3rd, then the 1st, then the 2nd, then the 4th. The quality decreases after that. As for Lord of the Rings + Hobbit, I love them. My cats are named Bombadil (Bombo) and Goldberry (Goldy) after two of the characters. But I must say that the Hobbit is my favourite.

Roald Dahl is the king of authors. He has been a favourite since I was 7. I still crack up when reading The Witches, or Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, and I have read them at least 1000 times since I first got them.

Dan Brown...I saw his books in the library and skimmed through them, but wasn't sufficiently intrested to borrow them. They seemed too sentimental/airy for my tastes.

Has anybody read Diana Wynne Jones' Chrestomanci series? Maybe Howl's Moving Castle? This author can beat JK hollow anytime.

 

[mediadave]

ah reading, I love reading.

At the moment I'm reading mainly history and historical fiction - loads of stuff on the Romans, the wars for Constantinople, the Second World War etc.

I've just finished a huge series of historical fiction on the Baroque period (by Neal Stephenson). It follows a load of real life and semi-fictional characters through the great moments of the age, the great fire, the black death, the founding of the royal society and the beginnings of real science, the search for the Solomonic Gold, and all round the world from Spanish America, to Moorish Africa, to Moghul India. If anything far too much is packed into them, but I really felt like I'd achived something when I finished reading them.

I also like Terry Prachett, Stephen King etc.

My favourite book is 1984 though , by George Orwell.

I also like graphic Novels/comic books. Unfiarly maligned by a lot of people, I feel.

 

[Faye]

SF Favourites

Who likes to read Isaac Asimov? His best book in my opinion is Foundation, though nothing he wrote is bad. You can get the most wondrous quotes out of it, ( [FONT=&quot]Violence, is the last refuge of the incompetent...[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right!...and so on[/FONT][FONT=&quot]. These always help me feel superiour).[/FONT] and it always put a grin on my face, at the sheer sly cleverness and brashness of the heros.

Who reads Cordwainer Smith? I haven't quite figured out whether I like him or not, but it is a fact that you will never be the same person after reading one of his books. I recommend Golden the Ship was, Oh, Oh, Oh to somebody who wants to begin with him.

Who likes A E Van Vogt? He has some really weird, twisty and interesting ideas. My favorite is The Voyage of the Space Beagle.

And there are two SF books which are must reads for every fiction reader, whether they like SF or not. The first is The Witches of Karres by James H Schmitz. You won't stop laughing till the last page, and a week after that whenever you think of the book. And those who don't like SF can pretend it is fantasy. It reads like one.
The other is the omnibus named Cordelia's Honor, by Lois Mc Master Bujold, containg the books, Shards of Honor and Barrayar. It really changes your views on important matters like honour, duty, responsibility, morality.

 

[BintAmjad]

Glad you approve of my taste sis lol Harry potter 3 was definately my favourite but on the whole I really enjoyed every single one i've lost count of how many times i've read them lol.

One of my favourite stories as a kid was Mrs Armitage by Quentin Blake (he worked alongside with Roald Dahl) LOL man i sooo recommend this book to all those who haven't already read it! It's just brilliant!

 

[Faye]

Hey, isn't Neal Stephenson the guy who wrote Snow Crash. You get more adrenaline from reading one of his books than from being in a plane crash. (I think, though I haven't been in a plane crash for ages and can't be sure)

 

[crayon]

Anybody read the books by Philip Pullman??? He wrote 'Northern lights' aka The Golden Compass ad His dark materials

I bought the Ruby in the Smoke in the 6th grade I think, read a few pages, got bored, and stopped. Then I picked it up about 2 years ago and made myself get past the beginning.. I remember it being okay..

Faye- I read "A Tale of Time City" by Dianna Wynne Jones. SO GOOD, I loved it. There was this one description which i still remember, about this food they used to eat, that was hot and cold and perfect. It was such a great book.

As for kids books, ROBERT MUNSCH WINS HANDS DOWN. I read like every single book he ever wrote, I still love to read them. If my little brother checks them out at the library I read them before he does, lol.

Here's a list of a few books I'm going to buy next, if anyone's read them, i'd appreciate it if you would tell me your thoughts about them, but NO SPOILERS, please!

Brave New World
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
I Am the Cheese
A Clockwork Orange
As I Lay Dying
Me Talk Pretty One Day

edit- bought them all today except for "the perks of being a wallflower" and "i am the cheese".

 

[BlissfullyJaded]

Pride and Prejudice was cool. That was the only of Jane Austin's books which I actually liked.

My all time favorite classic book is To Kill a Mockingbird. That was just too cool, funny, yet deep in it's message. Oliver Twist was also a great book.

I'm reading a book on Peter Jennings... A Reporter's Life: Peter Jennings. It has quotes about his life from his friends and family. It's such a awesome book..and makes me really miss his reporting so much more.

 

[Ibn Abi Ahmed]

I'm reading a book on Peter Jennings... A Reporter's Life: Peter Jennings. It has quotes about his life from his friends and family. It's such a awesome book..and makes me really miss his reporting so much more.

I remember the days I used to watch him on the 'World News Tonight with Peter Jennings" (I still remember the way it used to be announced). He was really one of the best news anchors.

 

[Malaikah]

btw in my opinion WOT or The Wheel Of Time by Robert Jordan-pen name- is the best historical fantasy series out there

My brothers are reading that. The series is soooooo long I'm not even going to bother!

I haven't have much exposure to historical fantasies, though recently I read the Sevenwaters trilogy by Juliet Marillier, it is a romantic historical fantasy and I really liked it! I can't wait to get my hands on some fantasy books.

Glad you approve of my taste sis lol Harry potter 3 was definately my favourite but on the whole I really enjoyed every single one i've lost count of how many times i've read them lol.

Book three rocks! But it's my second favourite after Deathly Hallows.

 

[crayon]

Book three rocks! But it's my second favourite after Deathly Hallows.

Deathly Hallows wasn't one of my favs, surprisingly.. i'm not really sure why.
I loved 5 and 6
1, 2 and 4 were okay
3 was good.

in my humble opinion, of course, lol.

 

[Keltoi]

I started reading Wheel of Time long, long ago. Initially it was meant to be a six part series...but the publishers convinced him to keep going. Now that Robert Jordan has passed away, the final book will be written by someone else. Plus...it was so long between books that I felt the need to read the whole thing from the beginning again to keep up...and that gets tiring after awhile.

 

[Malaikah]

It's okay for my brothers, they only started reading it about half a year ago so there's no issue of re-reading the series for them by the time the 12th book comes out.

Oh, I forgot to mention... Jane Austen bores me so much!

 

[truemuslim]

prisoner of askaban was best...well actually i wouldnt kno i didnt read any book but the first page of the first one then fell half alseep (TINY LETTERSS!!) thats why they got movies now

Anyone read stephen king?

 

['Abd al-Baari]

Deathly Hallows wasn't one of my favs, surprisingly.. i'm not really sure why.
I loved 5 and 6
1, 2 and 4 were okay
3 was good.

My ratings...

4 & 7 were awesome :thumbs_up
3, 5 & 6 were very good
1 & 2 were good.

My all time favorite classic book is To Kill a Mockingbird. That was just too cool, funny, yet deep in it's message.

As one of the books i had to read in School, i have to say it is an awesome read.

Anyone read stephen king?

I've read IT, Lisey's Story and Cell. Out of the three, Cell was the best.


I'm currently going through James Patterson's books, anyone else read any of his?