Whats everyone reading these days?

[MysCat]

If there are any fantasy fans in here, I highly reccommend George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire saga. It's currently at 4 books, with the 5th due out in the next few months. Fantasy generally stops for me at the end of Return of the King. Most everything else I've tried to read in that genre has left me wanting and/or I just have been unable to finish it. The stuff Martin is doing with this saga is unbelieveably well-written and he keeps you guessing from one page to the next. Characters are believeable and Martin has no qualms about killing off the characters you'd least expect to be killed off. Despite the fact that it's fantasy, in a land that's completely in the author's imagination, he doesn't go too far trying to make up "stuff" in his world. Diamonds are diamonds, pearls are pearls. Beasts may have different names, but if you can't figure out what a striped zorse is, you may need to go back to grade school

Love that series, hazmat, and am anxiously awaiting A Dance With Dragons. Martin is a fantastic writer and I've read alot of his other sci fi/horror stuff but his Song of Ice and Fire series is incredible. In fact, I named my daughter after Arya Stark.

[hazmat]

That's awesome, MysCat! I was a bit skeptical when my buddy suggested it to me. Most fantasy that I've dabbled into beyond Tolkein has left me wanting badly. Ice and Fire totally blew me out of the water. Tyrion is my favorite character, hands down. Can't wait for Dance to come out.

As an aside, how is Martin's other stuff? I haven't taken much of a chance on any of it yet, though I've read the reviews on amazon.com for most.

I'm also going to suggest pretty much anything by Jonathan Lethem. I started with Motherless Brooklyn, which is pretty much a murder mystery and moved on to some of his earlier stuff, which is all pretty much in the sci-fi genre. Another genre I'm not terribly into outside of a few books, but I got sucked in by Lethem's ability as a writer. He's got some interesting things floating around in that head of his.

[7611masari]

And because I have a 3 yr. old daughter, Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales and other assorted childhood classics.

I hope you read her "The Elephant's Child". That was my favorite story when I was a kid, especially the way my dad read it to me. It's a Rudyard Kipling story, so I'm sure you can find it somewhere. The other story I really liked when I was little is probably impossible to find now because of our political correctness thing: "Little Black Sambo". If they just called it "Little Sambo", nobody would have a problem with it.

I'm actually in between books right now, but I'm about to read Chris Matthews' Hardball because it's assigned for my AP Government class.

Hard to find Sambo no matter how it's titled. Also hard to find are any Brer Rabbit/Uncle Remus folktales. I had to have one ordered off the internet. I think amazon.uk has them. Good stuff, if you can get used to the dialect the stories are written in.

Yeah I actually have all those stories in this book.

[mjh]

The other story I really liked when I was little is probably impossible to find now because of our political correctness thing: "Little Black Sambo". If they just called it "Little Sambo", nobody would have a problem with it.

Sambo is our mascot at Browsers Quality Secondhand Bookstore, the coolest bookstore in New Zealand, where I worked before I came to Korea.

It's easily the most commented on book in the store, but it's not for sale. The owner has been offered some insane amounts of money for it, but refuses to sell.

[bigwhat62]

pavel's naked warrior

[ukdudeinuk]

I recently read a book on someone's account of their time in Auschwitz and Dachau. it was called "Where is God" but I do not remember the author's name, and now my grandmother has taken it home with her.

She bought it, I read it real quick, then when she was done with her visit, she took it, so I can't check the author. It was very chilling, and if any of you have played half life 2, that game kind of reminds me of what the author described, except OBVIOUSLY less so.

The point I make there is that, inside the camps, at least by this author's description, was like a post apocalyptic world gone bad, if that even makes sense.

[MysCat]

That's awesome, MysCat! I was a bit skeptical when my buddy suggested it to me. Most fantasy that I've dabbled into beyond Tolkein has left me wanting badly. Ice and Fire totally blew me out of the water. Tyrion is my favorite character, hands down. Can't wait for Dance to come out.

As an aside, how is Martin's other stuff? I haven't taken much of a chance on any of it yet, though I've read the reviews on amazon.com for most.

I'm also going to suggest pretty much anything by Jonathan Lethem. I started with Motherless Brooklyn, which is pretty much a murder mystery and moved on to some of his earlier stuff, which is all pretty much in the sci-fi genre. Another genre I'm not terribly into outside of a few books, but I got sucked in by Lethem's ability as a writer. He's got some interesting things floating around in that head of his.

Martin's other stuff is okay but I'm not a big sci-fi fan. He's got some interesting ideas. There is a book called GRRM: A RRetrospective which has all his other short stories and writitngs. Ice and Fire is so amazing, it far surpasses his other stuff. I have a love/hate relationship with Tyrion. My favorite character is Daenerys. You may like Robin Hobb who Martin highly recommends. My favorite book of hers is Assasin's Quest - it's part of a trilogy. Great read. I haven't heard of Lethem but I'll certainly check him out.

[hazmat]

That's awesome, MysCat! I was a bit skeptical when my buddy suggested it to me. Most fantasy that I've dabbled into beyond Tolkein has left me wanting badly. Ice and Fire totally blew me out of the water. Tyrion is my favorite character, hands down. Can't wait for Dance to come out.

As an aside, how is Martin's other stuff? I haven't taken much of a chance on any of it yet, though I've read the reviews on amazon.com for most.

I'm also going to suggest pretty much anything by Jonathan Lethem. I started with Motherless Brooklyn, which is pretty much a murder mystery and moved on to some of his earlier stuff, which is all pretty much in the sci-fi genre. Another genre I'm not terribly into outside of a few books, but I got sucked in by Lethem's ability as a writer. He's got some interesting things floating around in that head of his.

Martin's other stuff is okay but I'm not a big sci-fi fan. He's got some interesting ideas. There is a book called GRRM: A RRetrospective which has all his other short stories and writitngs. Ice and Fire is so amazing, it far surpasses his other stuff. I have a love/hate relationship with Tyrion. My favorite character is Daenerys. You may like Robin Hobb who Martin highly recommends. My favorite book of hers is Assasin's Quest - it's part of a trilogy. Great read. I haven't heard of Lethem but I'll certainly check him out.

If you're not much into sci-fi but want to check out Lethem, then try Motherless Brooklyn. I read his first novel, Gun, With Occasional Music and I liked it, but it was pretty bizarre. The guy's writing skills are just flat out amazing, though.

Daenarys has definitely come a long way I like her character a lot, interesting to see what's going to happen with her. With Martin, I don't want to consider the obvious because that's just not his game. Every time I think something is going to go one way, it goes exaclty the other. One of the things I love about how he writes. No characters are safe. Tyrion's my favorite because there's no quit in the little beast...he just keeps on keepin on. He also has some of the best lines in the series.

I'll give Robin Hobb a look. Thanks for the suggestion!

[Daniel]

I've been reading Marion Nestle's Food Politics, which really is a good book if you want to understand the amount of politics and junk science that goes into creating the USDA Food Pyramid and school lunches. I preceded that with Bill McKibben's Deep Economy and Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food and The Omnivores Dilemna. I'd recommend those last two to anyone here interested in where their food comes from and in eating well. He pretty much advocates eating clean and there's plenty to think about (The Omnivores Dilemma was what convinced me to give up vegetarianism).

I think next I'd like to read some fantasy or a mystery. Just some easy reading. I'm going to have a lot of heavy reading to do come this fall. However, a friend recommended What Color Is Your Parachute, because I'm 26 and still trying to figure out what I want to do with my life.

[jables]

Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas by Tom Robbins. Been reading a lot of his stuff - he's a mad genius.

[hazmat]

Currently reading Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield. Historical novel about The Battle of Thermopylae.

Also reading Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson.

[jak3dude]

I read it a while back, and being a martial artist I found it quite interesting

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwelll

It's very interesting, it talks about how our subconscious basically works so fast in making decisions, we do stuff before knowing why we're doing it. There are real life examples about firefighters and policemen, as well as how it can affect relationships, image, and even elections.

[Mehdi]

Bump.

Read this week: GenXPat:The Young Professional's Guide To Making A Successful Life Abroad. I'm going out a lot in Brussels and meeting lots of expats. The stories I hear lead to this book. Great info on how to make the move if you want to, struggles that you'll face (cultural shock when arriving and going back, but also stuff like dating & relationships) and will make you understand expats better.

[Mehdi]

You need to read more people.

Read during last 2 weeks:
* Spiritual Polyamory by Magic Life. Very interesting views on relationships, makes you think.
* Vagabonding by Rolf Potts. Will do that soon.
* The prophet by Kahlil Gibran. Short but powerful.

Right now reading Letters from a Stoic by Seneca, so far really good

[natew]

Mehdi,

Where do u find your novel choices? I find myself coming to this site and read what others say they are reading and then make a choice, but there must be some other sources that I'm missing