Literature

[Skull]

I didn't enjoy Speaker as much as the other books in the series if I remember correctly. It was either that or Xenocide.

 

Edit: I don't think I read Xenocide actually. I just looked at the Wikipedia page and the plot doesn't seem familiar to me at all.

[SeanyTheSailor]

We are reading Huck Finn in school and as per usual over-analyzing it... what really makes me laugh is that at the very beginning Twain says DO NOT ANALYZE THIS BOOK.

 

To put in more constructive material, if you're into non-fiction I'd highly recommend Lone Survivor and Bravo Two Zero.

Also if you like fiction I'd recommend the Halo books (yes based on the video game) as dumb as it sounds I actually really enjoyed them. They are written by several different authors and I have a personal favorite, but if you're reading and you think "This is written nothing like the other book..." that's why.

^^^All of the above are recommendations from a war "nut" so if that isn't your cup of tea you might wanna pass them up (especially the non-fiction).

[Giordano]

A funny thing my friend said is that if today we're reading Shakespeare and Huck Finn and books like that, in three hundred years will people read Twilight and Harry Potter and anyalize that?

 

A scary thought...a very, scary thought. XD

[Sister Nicci]

Is Ender's Shadow the start of the Shadow Sage?

 

Yes. Ender's Shadow is essentially a companion novel to Ender's Game; they follow the same story, just from the perspective of a different character. But the books following each is where the split takes place. Ender's Game continues (in the following order) with Ender in Flight (published after the rest of the series), Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, and then Children of the Mind. Ender's Shadow continues (in the following order) with Shadow of the Hegemon, Shadow Puppets, and then Shadow of the Giant.

 

There's also a multitude of short stories Card published in a few sci-fi magazines, I just can't remember what the names of the magazines are.

 

Chronological order of the full Enderverse

 

The Ender Saga is in blue, the Shadow Saga in green. The short stories are in orange... the four short stories squared off in a group just after Ender's Game were compiled/merged into the novel Ender in Flight.

[EarthySun]

My mom and my brother both read Ender's Game and claim that it's a fantastic book. :P I haven't even picked it up yet (too involved in my non-fiction books that I just bought -- physics <3), but I plan to read it someday.

[Sister Nicci]

I highly recommend reading Ender's Game, as well as Ender's Shadow. As for the rest of the series... I preferred the Shadow Saga more, as it deals with events on Earth in a much more realistic manner. The Ender Saga goes off into the middle of nowhere, and it gets a little too metaphysical and philosophical for my tastes; still, it was also written rather well.

 

 

On a side note: I've seen mention of His Dark Materials a couple of times, and I'm curious if it really is a good book; I picked up a copy someone threw away at work, but I haven't had the inclination to actually open the cover just yet.

[Skeptical]

I highly recommend reading Ender's Game, as well as Ender's Shadow. As for the rest of the series... I preferred the Shadow Saga more, as it deals with events on Earth in a much more realistic manner. The Ender Saga goes off into the middle of nowhere, and it gets a little too metaphysical and philosophical for my tastes; still, it was also written rather well.

 

 

On a side note: I've seen mention of His Dark Materials a couple of times, and I'm curious if it really is a good book; I picked up a copy someone threw away at work, but I haven't had the inclination to actually open the cover just yet.

 

Ender's Game was awesome.

 

I've read some on Pullman's work before, and actually got bored of it and didn't finish: for me, that's exceedingly rare, I read about 150+ books a year, and it's rare that I abandon reading more than one or two. I found the plot stagnant, and although the writing was good, it was hardly enough to keep me reading.

 

I'm sure that half of TIF will start shouting me down now. :ohnoes:

[Asmodeous4]

Ah books, where to start...:) I love Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, all of Robin Hobb's books, specifically Fool's Fate which was simply amazing and for when you need a world to just drift into Raymond Feist is hard to be beaten. I'm also lately getting into the Terry Pratchetts, which in my opinion are some of the best on the fantasy market. Funny, philosophical and exciting, there are so many that they can keep you going for ages, I've specifically enjoyed Feet of Clay and Small Gods. I'm also planning on reading some [bleep]ens over Easter, I haven't read any before and I'm thinking David Copperfield. I'm a very fast reader so I may need to bring another book on holiday. :P

[nine naked men]

Yeah, Pratchett is the king. :3

 

Pity he won't be writing for much longer. :< [bleep] dementia, seriously. >_>

[Asmodeous4]

Yeah, Pratchett is the king. :3

 

Pity he won't be writing for much longer. :< [bleep] dementia, seriously. >_>

Yeah, the Alzheimer's is a [bleep]. But he says he'll write until he drops as it were. Ah, don't leave us Terry! I've seen some TV programmes on him and by him, he' so witty and nice irl, it'd be such a shame. I just wish I'd got into Discworld earlier...

[Dupin]

We are reading Huck Finn in school and as per usual over-analyzing it... what really makes me laugh is that at the very beginning Twain says DO NOT ANALYZE THIS BOOK.

That's one of the things that really bothers me about modern English classes. The whole analysis thing tends to destroy all of the pleasure of reading a book. Also, I sometimes feel like high school English programs are very narrow. At my high school we do a Shakespeare every year, including books from middle school I've read two works by [bleep]ens so far, and all this year we spent about three months on books that have no use other than to show us that China/Africa has culture. Meanwhile, many important authors who actually have things to say are ignored.

A funny thing my friend said is that if today we're reading Shakespeare and Huck Finn and books like that, in three hundred years will people read Twilight and Harry Potter and anyalize that?

 

A scary thought...a very, scary thought. XD

Fortunately, no. Harry Potter maybe, but Twilight has no holding power. Give it 5 years and nobody will remember it beyond the odd reference to "sparkly vampires".

 

Yeah, Pratchett is the king. :3

 

Pity he won't be writing for much longer. :< [bleep] dementia, seriously. >_>

Yes! I used to love Pratchett, unfortunately I read all of his books from the town library, and sort of lost interest. I hadn't heard he had dementia, that's a shame.

[tripsis]

On a side note: I've seen mention of His Dark Materials a couple of times, and I'm curious if it really is a good book; I picked up a copy someone threw away at work, but I haven't had the inclination to actually open the cover just yet.

I absolutely LOVE His Dark Materials.. it's probably my favourite series. I'll be honest, the first time I picked it up, I abandoned it after the first chapter. But I was in like 6th grade so that's probably a big reason why. I decided to give it another try a few years ago and absolutely LOVED it. So I'm obviously biased but I say give it a try :P

[Skull]

On a side note: I've seen mention of His Dark Materials a couple of times, and I'm curious if it really is a good book; I picked up a copy someone threw away at work, but I haven't had the inclination to actually open the cover just yet.

I absolutely LOVE His Dark Materials.. it's probably my favourite series. I'll be honest, the first time I picked it up, I abandoned it after the first chapter. But I was in like 6th grade so that's probably a big reason why. I decided to give it another try a few years ago and absolutely LOVED it. So I'm obviously biased but I say give it a try :P

I also really liked the series, although I think I was 13 at the oldest the last time I read them, so I know I missed a lot. I'm probably going to re-read it now, I'm pretty sure I have all the books somewhere.

[Sister Nicci]

Alright, cool. ^.^ I've seen more good than bad said about it, so I do believe that I'll at least give it a shot.

 

 

 

Also, another good novel (read that as 'novel' and not 'graphic novel') for those whose interest lies in the X-Men Universe: Wolverine: Weapon X by Marc Cerasini.

 

Awesomely well-written, done in such a way that it's medically plausible.

[Maze]

Just got done reading Perks of Being a Wallflower.

 

Great book, but I disliked the ending.

[pennywise]

I just read Mother Night by kurt vonnegut

 

i like his styyyle

[Mr_Adam]

A funny thing my friend said is that if today we're reading Shakespeare and Huck Finn and books like that, in three hundred years will people read Twilight and Harry Potter and anyalize that?

 

A scary thought...a very, scary thought. XD

 

My teacher has too many books analyzing Harry Potter.... TOO MANY. She is almost scarily in love with that book - her college thesis was on it and was 89 pages long :blink: (although I guess that's acceptable in college)

 

One of the papers goes far enough to analyze Harry Potter fan fiction...

 

 

 

 

I hate analyzation, past a certain point. At first it's cool to sort of make everything feel like it has more meaning... but then I think about whether or not the author really meant it :roll:

[1_man_army]

My teacher has too many books analyzing Harry Potter.... TOO MANY. She is almost scarily in love with that book - her college thesis was on it and was 89 pages long :blink: (although I guess that's acceptable in college)

 

89 Pages isn't too long, my university dissertation came in at 103 pages.

[xxamzyxx]

im reading 2 screen plays atm at college x

 

the glass menagerie by tennessee williams

and the betryal by harold pinter:) x

[The Dark Lord]

I'm adding two books to my reading list:

 

-American Poems (1776-1900) - Augustus White Long

-Pilgrim's Progress - John Bunyan

 

Also, I've thought about reading Red Badge of Courage. Is it a good book?

 

 

(Yeah, I'm trying to read a few Classics.)

[Dupin]

From a thread in Varrock Library.

 

[spoiler=Recently read: (in no particular order)]

Sherlock Holmes Vol. 1--Great book. Especially reccommended if you like to spend about half an hour before bed reading, or have any other short window of time to fill.

Frankenstein--Likewise, but a bit of a disappointment. The language was a bit outdated, and the question of identity didn't really get developed as much as it could have. Seemed more like an extended Poe story.

The Shining--Awesome, of course. The horror was better than any movie I've seen. Just don't get too caught up in questioning the supernatural aspect of it; it's fiction.

1st to Die--Good. The emotions were powerful, even if the writing seems a bit less intellectual compared to the other books in this list. Suspense is excellent.

Atlas Shrugged--Burn it on sight. I am not joking. The love and steamy scenes are completely ridiculous, the story is nonexistent, the philosophy is [cabbage], and somehow it fills more than 1000 pages of small text.

 

 

[spoiler=Am in the process of reading:]

Sherlock Holmes Vol. 2--not much to say, basically an extension of the previous one.

Twenty Years After--The sequel to Dumas' The Three Musketeers, which I liked. The translation is key here. Be sure to read a few pages to make sure it isn't some chopped english translation before buying.

E.A.Poe's works (not the real title)--Great stuff. 'Nuff said.

Robert Louis Stevenson's works--Possibly even better than Poe's, if only for the philosophy in some of them.

It--Because I wanted to read more Stephen King. I haven't gotten far enough to say whether I like it.

The Story of Philosophy-Will Durant--Makes a potentially dull subject very interesting, while providing you with good knowledge. I definitely reccommend it, but don't expect any excitement.

The Malcontents--A collection of satire and unhappiness from across the ages. At times a bit slow, but very entertaining.

 

 

[spoiler=Plan to read:]

Friday Night Lights--Because I found it on my bookshelf and it looked good.

The rest of the Three Musketeers series

20000 Leagues Under the Sea--Looks like a fun read.

Bram Stoker's Dracula--because.

Kafka's the Metamorphosis

Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground

 

 

 

That should keep any reader with similar tastes interested for a while. If anyone has read any or wants to warn me away from one, please do so.

 

 

Edit: I didn't really do what OP requested. For reccommendations, if you liked one book from the list, you'll like the rest, with the exception of the differences in writing styles. As for Atlas Shrugged...I reccommend that you leave it on the shelf.

[michel555555]

Budget cut at the moment so i've cut back on reading for now and the nearest library is just to far to make a weekly trip :evil:

 

Surepised no ones mentioned The wheel of time by Robert Jordan yet. The new book that just came out, "the gathering storm", was alright even though it was made by a different author, Forgot his name. His writing style is different then Jordan's but I like his style a little bit more. Can't wait for the next one.

 

Margret Weis and Tracy Hickman's books are also good reads. I just don't like their new Dragon Ship's series. Don't know why it just seems a little rushed to me, not as much detail as their other works.

 

Then of course theirs Anne Mcaffery's Dragon riders of pern series is also good. Her son is sstarting to take over the series for her. Some of his works are good but some arn't, it's still to early to say if he'll do the series justice or not.

 

Last series i've read was E.E. Knights "Age of Fire" series. It was alright and i'm waiting for the 6th book to come out.

 

Also, I'm trying to find some of his vampire earth books to see if they are any good. Any one here read them? And can recomend them or not?

[Range_This11]

I've been reading a lot of Hunter S. lately. The Great Shark Hunt is a fantastic book.

[Nom]

The Gathering Storm is the best Wheel of Time book since Fires of Heaven, with the possible exception of Winter's Heart.

 

I started reading Mordant's Need by Donaldson today. It's okay. His prose is pretty iffy and I hated the twenty page infodump, but I'm still reading because the concepts and characters have potential.

 

But to get away from fantasy, I'll be starting All the King's Men soon. So far in AP Lit this semester we've read:

 

Pride and Prejudice: Hated it. With a passion.

Wuthering Heights: Much more my style. Way better written too. I'm a fan.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: Hated it. With a passion. I did go on a bit of an imagery kick with my own writing after reading it though.

The Bell Jar: Pretty good.

Bright Lights, Big City: Also pretty good.

 

So far 2.5 for 5. Portrait counts for negative .5.

[nine naked men]

The Gathering Storm is the best Wheel of Time book since Fires of Heaven, with the possible exception of Winter's Heart.

 

I started reading Mordant's Need by Donaldson today. It's okay. His prose is pretty iffy and I hated the twenty page infodump, but I'm still reading because the concepts and characters have potential.

 

But to get away from fantasy, I'll be starting All the King's Men soon. So far in AP Lit this semester we've read:

 

Pride and Prejudice: Hated it. With a passion.

Wuthering Heights: Much more my style. Way better written too. I'm a fan.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: Hated it. With a passion. I did go on a bit of an imagery kick with my own writing after reading it though.

The Bell Jar: Pretty good.

Bright Lights, Big City: Also pretty good.

 

So far 2.5 for 5. Portrait counts for negative .5.

 

Yeah, the beginning was kinda hard to read for me as well. It gets better though. :3

 

It's not as bad as his other series though, in terms of vocabulary. I swore he went back in time to find words no one has used in like forever for those books. D: