What book are you currently reading?

[Gobor]

I didn’t see a post anywhere on the first page for this or when I searched, so I figured I would start a thread of my own!

What book are you currently reading? Or what was the most recent book that you have read? I myself have just started reading a book called Drylor The First Artifact. It is an Action/Fantasy book created by Ryan Tomasella. So far it is actually damn good, it is a story about a man that suffers amnesia and struggles to regain his memory. As his memory starts to come back to him he realizes that his brother is an evil S.o.b and he makes it his mission to stop him.

It seems like a fairly generic story line but the author makes it his own. There are tons of twists and turns in the story (mainly when the main character thinks he remembers something from his past he realizes that it was only an illusion that his brother wanted him to think was true.) I must say I am really impressed with this book, then again I read almost anything that involved sword and sorcery. Below is the cover of the book and what the back of the book reads.



When a man wakes up inside a cage that is being carried through
an underground city, he has no idea where he is or what has
happened to him. As Von, a victim of amnesia, is taken to a jail
cell to await his fate amongst elves, humans, dwarfs, gnomes, and
halflings, he is told he is a member of the Royal Guard of Genisus.
It is not long before he is transported to the palace where he
meets an impatient king who eventually returns him to his jail
cell while deciding his destiny.

As Von’s memory slowly returns, he discovers that he is the only
one who can protect Drylor—a world that abandoned him—
from its greatest evil, his own brother. Through his journey to the
truth, Von meets an unlikely group of friends who are willing
to sacrifice everything to help him stop his brother Scarlet
from annihilating the only world they have ever known.

As Von’s past becomes clear and reveals his future, he soon
realizes the only way he can end his brother’s heartless
massacres is to find him and kill him.

[Gobor]

I didn’t see a post anywhere on the first page for this or when I searched, so I figured I would start a thread of my own!

What book are you currently reading? Or what was the most recent book that you have read? I myself have just started reading a book called Drylor The First Artifact. It is an Action/Fantasy book created by Ryan Tomasella. So far it is actually damn good, it is a story about a man that suffers amnesia and struggles to regain his memory. As his memory starts to come back to him he realizes that his brother is an evil S.o.b and he makes it his mission to stop him.

It seems like a fairly generic story line but the author makes it his own. There are tons of twists and turns in the story (mainly when the main character thinks he remembers something from his past he realizes that it was only an illusion that his brother wanted him to think was true.) I must say I am really impressed with this book, then again I read almost anything that involved sword and sorcery. Below is the cover of the book and what the back of the book reads.



When a man wakes up inside a cage that is being carried through
an underground city, he has no idea where he is or what has
happened to him. As Von, a victim of amnesia, is taken to a jail
cell to await his fate amongst elves, humans, dwarfs, gnomes, and
halflings, he is told he is a member of the Royal Guard of Genisus.
It is not long before he is transported to the palace where he
meets an impatient king who eventually returns him to his jail
cell while deciding his destiny.

As Von’s memory slowly returns, he discovers that he is the only
one who can protect Drylor—a world that abandoned him—
from its greatest evil, his own brother. Through his journey to the
truth, Von meets an unlikely group of friends who are willing
to sacrifice everything to help him stop his brother Scarlet
from annihilating the only world they have ever known.

As Von’s past becomes clear and reveals his future, he soon
realizes the only way he can end his brother’s heartless
massacres is to find him and kill him.

[woozerkristen]

This could be a great place for summer reading suggestions. I'm heading into my first summer ever since being an adult that I'm not teaching, taking classes, and/or working full time. That means lots of time for reading. FOR FUN. Choosing my own reading material, oh how I have missed you.

On my list to read so far:
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Brave New World Revisited by Aldous Huxley
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel
the Batman: Knightfall graphic novels
The Christian Atheist by Craig Groeschel
The Passage by Justin Cronin
Y The Last Man comic/graphic novel series
Deadline by Mira Grant
The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis (have read the first few stories already)
The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis
The Problem of Pain by CS Lewis
The Great Divorce by CS Lewis
Pushing the Antithesis: The Apologetic Methodology of Greg L. Bahnsen

Anything else you guys think I simply MUST read this summer while I actually have time?

My recommendations for others:

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Perhaps this resonates with me so much because I both live in the South and am teaching at an HBCU where many of the faculty lived through segregation themselves. It takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 60s and shows segregation from several characters' points of view. I had to keep reminding myself that this was not that long ago, that my mom was a kid when this happened. It's both disturbing that people could convince themselves and others to treat people so horribly based on the color of their skin, but also a testament to humanity that in one generation we've come a very long way in changing the way people think.

All of the Dexter books by Jeff Lindsay
If you like the tv series, DEFINITELY read the books. After the first season of the show, the two different mediums have totally divergent storylines, so there's no redundancy to be had. The show is really intense (moreso than the books, I'd say) but the books are so much funnier. If you appreciate dark humor, they are definitely worth your time.

Dystopian novels Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, and The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
These basically look at three different extremes of situations where a society was built on a certain philosophy being best, with people living in them (or at least in charge of them) finding them to be ideal but obvious problems being pointed out as the book progresses. We is by a Russian writer who wrote shortly after the revolution in the early 20th century, creating what he saw the world becoming if communism were applied for thousands of years. (It was actually banned in Russia until the 80s.) Brave New World takes a similar approach but with capitalism rather than communism. And The Handmaid's Tale is about a United States where extreme conservative/Christians have taken over, sharing the experience of this world through the eyes of a woman who is being forcibly kept in this society. I teach all three of these in literature classes from time to time, and students always seem to love all three. Oh, and read V for Vendetta, too. Don't watch the movie, read the book. (I like the movie, too, but the graphic novel is a hundred times better than the movie.)

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Every time I read this book I love it even more. It's a very tough read when you first start it because the narrator and most of the characters speak a version of English infused with Russian words, Cockney slang, and various other words that don't have obvious roots (at least to me), and none of them are defined for you, so you just have to keep reading and figure out their meaning from context. However, once you get partway through the book, you'll know what almost all of them mean without thinking about it. And the story is fabulous. If you've seen the movie, you should still read the book. It raises some fascinating questions about the role of free will in our humanity, and asking whether someone forced to choose good is really good, or even a human being at all any more, whether the better world is the one where people must choose right or one where people have a choice and choose wrong most of the time. After finishing teaching this for the third time a few weeks ago, I think I can say that this is my favorite book of all time.
_________________

Vocalist/Guitarist/Bassist for The PermaRockers | Vocalist/Bassist/Pather for Now-Retired Band Interrobang! | Interrobang! Full Band Vids/Solo Vox Vids on YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | Solo Accomplishments Thread

[woozerkristen]

This could be a great place for summer reading suggestions. I'm heading into my first summer ever since being an adult that I'm not teaching, taking classes, and/or working full time. That means lots of time for reading. FOR FUN. Choosing my own reading material, oh how I have missed you.

On my list to read so far:
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Brave New World Revisited by Aldous Huxley
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel
the Batman: Knightfall graphic novels
The Christian Atheist by Craig Groeschel
The Passage by Justin Cronin
Y The Last Man comic/graphic novel series
Deadline by Mira Grant
The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis (have read the first few stories already)
The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis
The Problem of Pain by CS Lewis
The Great Divorce by CS Lewis
Pushing the Antithesis: The Apologetic Methodology of Greg L. Bahnsen

Anything else you guys think I simply MUST read this summer while I actually have time?

My recommendations for others:

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Perhaps this resonates with me so much because I both live in the South and am teaching at an HBCU where many of the faculty lived through segregation themselves. It takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 60s and shows segregation from several characters' points of view. I had to keep reminding myself that this was not that long ago, that my mom was a kid when this happened. It's both disturbing that people could convince themselves and others to treat people so horribly based on the color of their skin, but also a testament to humanity that in one generation we've come a very long way in changing the way people think.

All of the Dexter books by Jeff Lindsay
If you like the tv series, DEFINITELY read the books. After the first season of the show, the two different mediums have totally divergent storylines, so there's no redundancy to be had. The show is really intense (moreso than the books, I'd say) but the books are so much funnier. If you appreciate dark humor, they are definitely worth your time.

Dystopian novels Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, and The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
These basically look at three different extremes of situations where a society was built on a certain philosophy being best, with people living in them (or at least in charge of them) finding them to be ideal but obvious problems being pointed out as the book progresses. We is by a Russian writer who wrote shortly after the revolution in the early 20th century, creating what he saw the world becoming if communism were applied for thousands of years. (It was actually banned in Russia until the 80s.) Brave New World takes a similar approach but with capitalism rather than communism. And The Handmaid's Tale is about a United States where extreme conservative/Christians have taken over, sharing the experience of this world through the eyes of a woman who is being forcibly kept in this society. I teach all three of these in literature classes from time to time, and students always seem to love all three. Oh, and read V for Vendetta, too. Don't watch the movie, read the book. (I like the movie, too, but the graphic novel is a hundred times better than the movie.)

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Every time I read this book I love it even more. It's a very tough read when you first start it because the narrator and most of the characters speak a version of English infused with Russian words, Cockney slang, and various other words that don't have obvious roots (at least to me), and none of them are defined for you, so you just have to keep reading and figure out their meaning from context. However, once you get partway through the book, you'll know what almost all of them mean without thinking about it. And the story is fabulous. If you've seen the movie, you should still read the book. It raises some fascinating questions about the role of free will in our humanity, and asking whether someone forced to choose good is really good, or even a human being at all any more, whether the better world is the one where people must choose right or one where people have a choice and choose wrong most of the time. After finishing teaching this for the third time a few weeks ago, I think I can say that this is my favorite book of all time.
_________________

Vocalist/Guitarist/Bassist for The PermaRockers | Vocalist/Bassist/Pather for Now-Retired Band Interrobang! | Interrobang! Full Band Vids/Solo Vox Vids on YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | Solo Accomplishments Thread

[Prong1978]

I'm almost finished with Decision Points by George W. Bush. I've enjoyed reading it very much. Like most memoirs that I've read, it's the anecdotes that really shine through. I plan on reading President Clinton's "My Life" next.
_________________

[Prong1978]

I'm almost finished with Decision Points by George W. Bush. I've enjoyed reading it very much. Like most memoirs that I've read, it's the anecdotes that really shine through. I plan on reading President Clinton's "My Life" next.
_________________

[GuitarHailz]

Right now I'm reading Stephen King's "IT" and I have a whole shelf-full of Stephen King to read once I'm through with this one. I suggest going out to Half Price Books and bringing in a great haul like I did.

Another highly recommended series would be The Hunger Games series. It has that sort of cool post-apolocalyptic feel (think like Fallout 3) and is awfully dark and really engaging (there is not one moment of "filler"). I've heard it compared to The Giver or The Long Walk. But anyway I was really into it and blew through all 3 books in a week at least. I'm depressed that those are overwith now haha.

And maybe this is considered a kid's book, but I'm also really into the Percy Jackson series. Maybe it's written for stupid people like me because I could never get into Harry Potter, but my love for Roman and Greek mythology and the clever humor and modern adaptation of the stories makes these books a fun read. I'll probably always have a soft spot for books for young readers, since as a kid I wanted to write and illustrate children's books. Another classic is "Holes" (which I actually got signed by Louis Sachar in the 5h grade )

[GuitarHailz]

Right now I'm reading Stephen King's "IT" and I have a whole shelf-full of Stephen King to read once I'm through with this one. I suggest going out to Half Price Books and bringing in a great haul like I did.

Another highly recommended series would be The Hunger Games series. It has that sort of cool post-apolocalyptic feel (think like Fallout 3) and is awfully dark and really engaging (there is not one moment of "filler"). I've heard it compared to The Giver or The Long Walk. But anyway I was really into it and blew through all 3 books in a week at least. I'm depressed that those are overwith now haha.

And maybe this is considered a kid's book, but I'm also really into the Percy Jackson series. Maybe it's written for stupid people like me because I could never get into Harry Potter, but my love for Roman and Greek mythology and the clever humor and modern adaptation of the stories makes these books a fun read. I'll probably always have a soft spot for books for young readers, since as a kid I wanted to write and illustrate children's books. Another classic is "Holes" (which I actually got signed by Louis Sachar in the 5h grade )

[sukergod]

Being a Math and Geography teacher and teaching English (which I am not trained in) I find myself reading novels just to teach them. I read Tuck Everlasting a few weeks ago and it was a great little book, movie was pretty good as well, and now I have to read Shiloh in the next day or two.

Now Im longing to read Dracula by Bram Stoker. Am only about 40 pages into it but it's really good so far. Had to give the book back to my grade 12 student who is dong it but I think ill pick up a cheap copy once I get to some second hand book store.

Oh and Im reading the 5th Harry Potter book again. Wanted to reread the 7th book cause I only read it once when it first came out so I figured after I see the 2nd part of the DH movie, it would be a good time to reread it

A great suggestion is the Sword of Truth books by Terry Goodkind. There are 11 novels (1 coming out next year I believe), took me about 2 years to read them, but they are worth the read. I hate science fiction but its like science fiction lite so its worth a look (and yes the tv series sucks ass, thankfully its very different from it)
_________________

[sukergod]

Being a Math and Geography teacher and teaching English (which I am not trained in) I find myself reading novels just to teach them. I read Tuck Everlasting a few weeks ago and it was a great little book, movie was pretty good as well, and now I have to read Shiloh in the next day or two.

Now Im longing to read Dracula by Bram Stoker. Am only about 40 pages into it but it's really good so far. Had to give the book back to my grade 12 student who is dong it but I think ill pick up a cheap copy once I get to some second hand book store.

Oh and Im reading the 5th Harry Potter book again. Wanted to reread the 7th book cause I only read it once when it first came out so I figured after I see the 2nd part of the DH movie, it would be a good time to reread it

A great suggestion is the Sword of Truth books by Terry Goodkind. There are 11 novels (1 coming out next year I believe), took me about 2 years to read them, but they are worth the read. I hate science fiction but its like science fiction lite so its worth a look (and yes the tv series sucks ass, thankfully its very different from it)
_________________

[bclare]

[bclare]

[thecaptainof]

I started reading 'Trainspotting' by Irvine Welsh a while ago. It's kinda heavy going, on account of being written how it'd be spoken in that urban Scots dialect. It's also generally pretty depressing - if you saw the movie and thought it was grim, the book is a lot more so - but it's good stuff if you can deal with that. I haven't finished it, but I'll get back to it when I'm more inclined towards that sort of thing.
_________________

yksi-kaksi-kolme wrote:

Wow Mr. Mad, who fucked your buffalo?

[thecaptainof]

I started reading 'Trainspotting' by Irvine Welsh a while ago. It's kinda heavy going, on account of being written how it'd be spoken in that urban Scots dialect. It's also generally pretty depressing - if you saw the movie and thought it was grim, the book is a lot more so - but it's good stuff if you can deal with that. I haven't finished it, but I'll get back to it when I'm more inclined towards that sort of thing.
_________________

yksi-kaksi-kolme wrote:

Wow Mr. Mad, who fucked your buffalo?

[youhas]

I'm currently reading through "Guns, Germs, and Steel". It's one of those non-fiction books on the sociological/anthropological axis that I've seen recommended by folks umpteen times, but just never got around to pulling the trigger on. It's probably slightly dated - and I'm sure I could have gotten exposed to the same general ideas involved via some creative aimless browsing - but probably a worthy use of my time all the same.

For those unfamiliar, the book analyzes and offers hypotheses regarding a lot of questions about the history of human development that (a) I'd never really considered at length before but (b) are ultimately pretty damn interesting. Despite having very similar climates, why did some ancient cultures start farming while others stuck with hunting and gathering? When the Old World met the New World, the New World was ravaged by foreign diseases; why weren't there any New World diseases to similarly plague Old World folks? How many times was writing uniquely invented by different cultures as opposed to passed on - and when passed-on, how often was it "I am totally bogarting your alphabet" and how often was it "I've been exposed to writing as a concept, but have to make up the details from scratch"? Lots of interesting concepts to think about. Fascinating stuff.

It's not a super-speedy read, but it's not overly technical or anything, either; pretty accessible. Slightly on the dry side, I suppose - a lot of chapters in "this is the point I'm addressing; these are the N possible factors I'm going to consider; I now elaborate on them one by one" format - but very solid, and the points are addressed quickly. Happy with my reading choice thus far.
_________________

Amusing the world 140 characters at a time: http://www.twitter.com/youhas

[youhas]

I'm currently reading through "Guns, Germs, and Steel". It's one of those non-fiction books on the sociological/anthropological axis that I've seen recommended by folks umpteen times, but just never got around to pulling the trigger on. It's probably slightly dated - and I'm sure I could have gotten exposed to the same general ideas involved via some creative aimless browsing - but probably a worthy use of my time all the same.

For those unfamiliar, the book analyzes and offers hypotheses regarding a lot of questions about the history of human development that (a) I'd never really considered at length before but (b) are ultimately pretty damn interesting. Despite having very similar climates, why did some ancient cultures start farming while others stuck with hunting and gathering? When the Old World met the New World, the New World was ravaged by foreign diseases; why weren't there any New World diseases to similarly plague Old World folks? How many times was writing uniquely invented by different cultures as opposed to passed on - and when passed-on, how often was it "I am totally bogarting your alphabet" and how often was it "I've been exposed to writing as a concept, but have to make up the details from scratch"? Lots of interesting concepts to think about. Fascinating stuff.

It's not a super-speedy read, but it's not overly technical or anything, either; pretty accessible. Slightly on the dry side, I suppose - a lot of chapters in "this is the point I'm addressing; these are the N possible factors I'm going to consider; I now elaborate on them one by one" format - but very solid, and the points are addressed quickly. Happy with my reading choice thus far.
_________________

Amusing the world 140 characters at a time: http://www.twitter.com/youhas

[Desertman123]

Just finished "To Kill a Mockingbird". Thought it was really good, with morals and all. Going to read "Water for Elephants", "Dracula", and probably another lovely tale by George Orwell (I've read Animal Farm and 1984 already). Got any suggestions?
_________________

Consoles:
Original Xbox, 1.0 TSOP flashed w/ 500gb HDD
PS3, Rebug 4.82
Xbox 360, Halo edition Jasper RGH1.2

[Desertman123]

Just finished "To Kill a Mockingbird". Thought it was really good, with morals and all. Going to read "Water for Elephants", "Dracula", and probably another lovely tale by George Orwell (I've read Animal Farm and 1984 already). Got any suggestions?
_________________

Consoles:
Original Xbox, 1.0 TSOP flashed w/ 500gb HDD
PS3, Rebug 4.82
Xbox 360, Halo edition Jasper RGH1.2

[newmandn311]

:3
But anyway, this series is actually really good. It's not like most books where the action takes place at the end of the book. All of the books really have a sense of action throughout the entire thing. The whole series is a really good read and I recommend it to anyone who likes Vampire books.
_________________

*insert sig here*

[newmandn311]

:3
But anyway, this series is actually really good. It's not like most books where the action takes place at the end of the book. All of the books really have a sense of action throughout the entire thing. The whole series is a really good read and I recommend it to anyone who likes Vampire books.
_________________

*insert sig here*

[newmandn311]

Double post
_________________

*insert sig here*

[newmandn311]

Double post
_________________

*insert sig here*

[voidedalive2x]

[voidedalive2x]

[OpenYourEyes]

I'm planning on picking up America by E.R. Frank on Monday. I've read it before, but it's been a couple of years. It's one of my favorites. <3
_________________

blingdomepiece wrote:

Eastwinn wrote: As a kid I wasted my time cheating in SimCity or the Sims, and now that I'm discovering how much fun it is to not cheat, I'm also discovering how stupidly hard it is Set all the tax rates to 9.

[OpenYourEyes]

I'm planning on picking up America by E.R. Frank on Monday. I've read it before, but it's been a couple of years. It's one of my favorites. <3
_________________

blingdomepiece wrote:

Eastwinn wrote: As a kid I wasted my time cheating in SimCity or the Sims, and now that I'm discovering how much fun it is to not cheat, I'm also discovering how stupidly hard it is Set all the tax rates to 9.

[Bendover]

I read through House of Leaves recently, but I can't really recommend that one, unless you can suspend your belief further than I can. It's a boring story unless you can get into it all the way.

I would recommend The Lies of Locke Lamora (by Scott Lynch) and its sequels for some of the most entertaining fantasy novels you'll likely ever read.

Already got a ton of ideas about what to read next from here, great thread idea. :3
_________________

Skype wrote:

[4:09:44 PM] Jared Brock: War Ensemble is easy as hell [on drums]

[Bendover]

I read through House of Leaves recently, but I can't really recommend that one, unless you can suspend your belief further than I can. It's a boring story unless you can get into it all the way.

I would recommend The Lies of Locke Lamora (by Scott Lynch) and its sequels for some of the most entertaining fantasy novels you'll likely ever read.

Already got a ton of ideas about what to read next from here, great thread idea. :3
_________________

Skype wrote:

[4:09:44 PM] Jared Brock: War Ensemble is easy as hell [on drums]

[bclare]

[bclare]