What Did You Read Today?

[Guest Neon Noodle]

Yeah fair enough, Battle Royale was the one that came to mind first for me because of the "forced to fight" thing - out of the first batch you've listed, the only one I've read is Lord of the Flies and it's not really comparable.

The later Hunger Games books get much more into 1984-for-teenage-girls territory for sure.

[SRN]

Now plowing through the first Mass Effect book again, two-thirds of the way through and the plot intensifies. Although it is painfully obvious with the entire deal is, which is a bit of a letdown; unless they decide to throw the...

"Oh no, it isn't Reapers! It is something even older and different and plot twisty!"-card...

... which would annoy me forever. It does still serve as a very good set up for the first game though, especially if you've read through the entire in-game Journal concerning history and whatnot (like I have; what? I am a massive Mass Effect nerd). No matter what though I am still going to get the other books in the series because Drew Karpyshyn does have an ability to write simple yet effective space opera/science fiction novels.

[Skummy]

To be fair, the book of Battle Royale does delve into the political situation behind the idea more than the movie does, if I remember correctly.

[VerbalPuke]

I actually just finished Battle Royale a few days ago. I really enjoyed it, it was hard to put down and made time in the airports fly by.

I'm off to the base library in a bit hoping to find something good, not having constant reading material sucks.

[Hickey]

I finally finished Wolves of the Calla, the fifth Dark Tower book. It was absolutely awesome. I recommend the series to anyone. It's just an incredible universe and a fantastic quest.

I'm about 35 pages into Song of Susannah. I'm hoping to finish it tomorrow since I have nothing else to do all day.

[SRN]

Finished Mass Effect: Revelation the other day. Even though I already knew the major parts of the book, it was a good read. Began with Mass Effect: Ascension today; should be a bit more interesting seeing as that part of the story isn't throughly covered in either games, like Revelation was.

[adamg]

Read Santiago: A myth of the far Future last week. I thought it was a very good enjoyable book that is a space western. Plenty of unique characters and the book is similar to Firefly.

[Maxx]

Lets see, still working on the Machine of Death anthology and Help! A Bear Is Eating Me! Also working my way through the first Sandman Slim novel and today I started Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

[Hickey]

Finished Song of Susannah and I'm going to start on The Dark Tower today. I liked Song, but it was pretty strange. The books get stranger and stranger, but it's really interesting. Can't wait to finally finish the series.

[fr34k]

Gotta get active in here again.

I recently finished Diary by Chuck Palahniuk and I thought it was his worst so far ( I'm reading his stuff in order, so I've read Fight Club, Survivor, Invisible Monsters, Choke and Lullaby as well). I mean, it wasn't bad at all, but not as exciting as his other stuff.

Next, I gotta read For Whom The Bell Tolls for university. I enjoyed Hemingway's short stories so far, but I'm not sure how his style will translate to longer fiction. I will know more in a bit.

I'm also reading Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud, which proves to be a very interesting and enjoyable read so far. It's definitely drawing attention to stuff I hadn't (consciously) considered prior.

[Damian WayLNKe]

I recently finished Diary by Chuck Palahniuk and I thought it was his worst so far ( I'm reading his stuff in order, so I've read Fight Club, Survivor, Invisible Monsters, Choke and Lullaby as well). I mean, it wasn't bad at all, but not as exciting as his other stuff.

Just wait until you give Haunted a try. I was doing the same thing you are doing and I haven't moved on to Rant yet after finishing Haunted over six months ago.

[=BK=]

In the middle of reading "The Anatomy of Motive" by John Douglas. Picked up four others at the library today, they are

Red Glove by Holly Black

Hold Me Closer,Necromancer by Lish McBride

Obsession by John Douglas

The Cases That Haunt Us by John Douglas

So I've got alot of reading for the next few weeks

[SRN]

Finished Mass Effect: Ascension today. Really much less of a bomb than Revelation was, seemed much too tame and such. However, it does seem to be setting up a whole lot for future books so yeah; transition reading, a-hoy. Still good for Mass Effect fans but unlike Revelation, Ascension would probably only keep fans interested and not the casual sci-fi reader.

[fr34k]

I finished For Whom The Bell Tolls, Understanding Comics and Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (by David Foster Wallace).

I didn't care that much for For Whom The Bell Tolls. Hemingway's short stories are much more interesting in my opinion. It's not badly written though, and it's definitely something other people will enjoy greatly. I found the main themes and ideas pretty boring though.

Understanding Comics was a very fun read and is definitely enhancing my comic book experience in the future. It also pointed me towards a few comic books that I will definitely check out (e.g. Art Spiegelman's stuff).

Brief Interview's with Hideous Men was awesome. I'm a David Foster Wallace mark and he never really disappointed me with anything. There are some great stories in there and all are well worth reading. If I had to pinpoint favorite stories from this collection, it would probably come down to "Suicide as a Sort of Present" and "The Depressed Person".

Currently, I'm reading Die Abschaffung der Arten by Dietmar Dath. Obvously German book, main idea is that humanity is pretty much extinct and animals have taken over the world. Pretty futuristic stuff going on, but so far it's been a pretty good read. I don't know if it's available in English though.

After that, I will be reading Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis and then I will finally start with the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin.

Quick Request: Can somebody point me to some great mafia books? Preferably fiction, but non-fiction is okay too. I don't really care if it's Italian Mob, Yakuza, Triad or whatever.

[Hickey]

I just finished reading The Game by Neil Strauss. Really interesting book.

I actually read it for entertainment purposes and not to learn how to pick up women. In terms of teaching you how to pick up women, it teaches a bit, but I'm sure there are much better books out for that purpose. Besides, I really don't agree with their methods and dehumanizing women, but I do understand it works for them.

It's really more a book about becoming obsessed with picking up women and all the tragedies that go along with it. It's about people in a community that want to be accepted by both the opposite sex and their own gender. And what happens when things become too serious and obsessive.

Honestly, I didn't think I would, but I really enjoyed the book and recommend it to everyone. Just don't expect to become a master pickup artist when you read it.

[Meacon Keaton]

Quick Request: Can somebody point me to some great mafia books? Preferably fiction, but non-fiction is okay too. I don't really care if it's Italian Mob, Yakuza, Triad or whatever.

Did you ever read The Godfather? That's one of the few mafia books I have read, and the others I'm drawing a blank on.

[Liam]

I just finished reading The Game by Neil Strauss. Really interesting book.

I actually read it for entertainment purposes and not to learn how to pick up women. In terms of teaching you how to pick up women, it teaches a bit, but I'm sure there are much better books out for that purpose. Besides, I really don't agree with their methods and dehumanizing women, but I do understand it works for them.

It's really more a book about becoming obsessed with picking up women and all the tragedies that go along with it. It's about people in a community that want to be accepted by both the opposite sex and their own gender. And what happens when things become too serious and obsessive.

Honestly, I didn't think I would, but I really enjoyed the book and recommend it to everyone. Just don't expect to become a master pickup artist when you read it.

Yeah, I've read it, good book, interesting indeed.

Been reading Bobby Fischer Goes To War, about his 1972 chess match with Spassky. I'm not overly into chess, but the story behind it, with Russia vs the US such a big deal during the Cold War era.

[hot rod]

In the middle of Let the Right One In, excellent book so far. I actually just watched the movie which isn't as good as the book but it's still definitely worth checking out on netflix. The US version Let Me In is also on netflix which isn't too shabby either.

[Damian WayLNKe]

Just finished The Nista Affair section from My Less Than Secret Life by Jonathan Ames. I'm not sure how to describe it other than being a mix of creepy and crazy.

[fr34k]

I've finished Less Than Zero, Game of Thrones and Notes from The Underground.

Less Than Zero was a very quick read, but still enjoyable. Typical Bret Easton Ellis style, but not his best book. Still good though.

Game of Thrones was fun, although I think the fact that I know what was going to happen from the TV show definitely affected my desire to continue reading. Without prior knowledge it would probably be a page-turner and you would just want to continue reading to know what's going to happen next. Since I knew what was going to happen, I took more breaks.

Notes from the Underground was fucking awesome. It was my first exposure to Dostoyevski and certainly won't be the last. The first part was better than the second, but all in all a great read.

Oh, I also just finished The Sandman comic World's End, which was, as always, awesome. I'm a huge Neil Gaiman fan and so far I have enjoyed everything from him. Definitely one of the best living writers.

Next Up: I'm not sure actually. Either Clash of Kings, Stardust or Sandman: The Kindly Ones.