Poll: Escapist book thread!

[BlackStar42]

An Utterly Impartial History of Britain, or 2000 Years of Upper Class Idiots in Charge by John O'Farrell. It's a history of Britain from the Stone Age to WW2. I'm enjoying it a lot, mostly because the writer is a snarky little munchkin after my own heart.

 

[soren7550]

I'm just reading Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges Into New York at the moment. It's a book filled with random facts, stories, and history on New York.

Normally, I'm an avid reader, but since I moved I haven't been able to go to the library to borrow books (the library closest to me has been undergoing renovation for quite some time, and the only other library that I'm aware of around here is a ways off. Plus, I'm not sure if I can get a new library card).

 

[Redingold]

What book: Fallout: Equestria (for the fifth time).
About: Ponies in a Fallout style post-apocalyptic wasteland. Have a link. [http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/04/story-fallout-equestria.html]
Enjoying: Very much so, it's a good read, especially considering that it's fanfiction.

Also reading: The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter.
About: One day, a means of travelling to parallel universes is discovered. Each universe contains an alternate Earth, with one difference - none of them have any humans on.
Enjoying: I just finished it, as it happens. It's a very good book and I can't wait for the sequel.

 

[Guffe]

Not reading at the moment anything.
Last book I read was the Autobiography of Ronnie O'Sullivan and the one before that was about Jimmy White.
Liked both of them, insane stories and what the lads haev gone through.

 

[Draken Steel]

Book: Legion of the Damned

About: Warhammer 40k, the...legion of the damned lol. Cursed, undieing space marines.....on fire.

Enjoying: havnt read much yet, always get distracted.

 

[dfphetteplace]

What Book: The Hobbit
About: If you don't know, then what hope is there for you?
Enjoying: Greatly, rereading it again just for the hell of it.

I don't get too many chances to read novels, since my job keeps me really busy, and I have a 4 year old, so my home isn't very quiet or I'm reading him books that he would enjoy.

 

[Baldry]

What book: The Odyssey by Homer.
About: T'is the story of how the Godlike Odysseus arrived back after 20 years of not being home. In which he kicks arse, climbs walls, cheats on his wife at least twice, mopes, hides under sheep, blinds Posiden's son, gets all of his men killed, goes to hell to talk to a guy. Meanwhile his loyal wife fights of an army of suitors and his son goes on a search to find out if he's dead.
Enjoying: Hellz yeah. Although this is my first proper read through of it I know the story of by heart since it's one of my favourite Greek myths. My only qualm with it is the obsessive use of the word Godlike, I swear Homer describes the same guy as Godlike at least once every page.

I have read so much greek history, man, you should check out the Iliad, it's more fun. Homer likes his ridiculous descriptors, things like: Wise Nestor, breaker of horses! And: Resourceful Odysseus, son of Laertes, seed of Zeus!

I was gonna go for the Aenied next, sure it's Roman but I like the story and I can't remember how it ends. But Iliad's up there for one Greek Epic I want to read it's just not that high on the list.
I know it's just ridiculous, I wouldn't mind if he mixed it up but Telemachus has been god like at least 60 times by now.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

What book: Sailor Moon vol 2
About: A teenaged girl named Usagi who learns that she is the reincarnation of the daughter of Selene (the Greek goddess of the moon) and that she is tasked with defeating the ancient evil that destroyed all life on the moon (which was once a verdant paradise) and has returned to do the same to earth.
Enjoying: Yes. The new translation is far better than the old one, and fills in a number of plot holes I remember from my previous read. Great job Kodansha Comics!

 

[Gabanuka]

What book: Last few pages of "The Seeress of Kell" last book in "The Malloreon"
About: ADVENTURE! Lot and lots of it
Enjoying: God yes. David Eddings is such an underrated fantasy writer

 

[zelda2fanboy]

Just started into Batman: Long Halloween. It's good, but I'm disliking how fast graphic novels go by. I try to read them slowly, but I'll usually get it done in a matter of days, even if I only read an issue at a time... and there goes my 15 bucks. Before that, I was starting to get into Hunter S Thompson, but then I read Kingdom of Fear and I really didn't like it. I hate when books stop and start and veer from topic to topic right when it gets interesting. At least in Great Shark Hunt, each piece was fully done. Kingdom of Fear just cuts everything short. I'll have to wait awhile before I try Rum Diary and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

 

[Kud]

I love comic books and manga, but I just don't have the time/effort to read a full all writing novel.

 

[Launcelot111]

What book: Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
About: The Air Force? Bananas? I don't have a fucking clue
Enjoying: I'm not very far in, but it's a little overwhelming. Interesting, but overwhelming. I might have to come back to this one with a fresher mind.

 

[catalyst8]

What: Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick.

Synopsis: As with most of Dick's novels the narrative is an existential exploration of the individual's place within the universe, & whether the universe & reality are real - Some years after 'World War Terminus' a bounty hunter tracks down rogue robots who masquerade as humans on an almost deserted Earth ravaged by nuclear fallout.

Enjoying It? Like his other work the author conjures a world of claustrophobic paranoia & self-doubt; it's compelling, but I'm not sure that 'enjoy' is the right verb to use.

What book: The Odyssey by Homer.
[...] My only qualm with it is the obsessive use of the word Godlike, I swear Homer describes the same guy as Godlike at least once every page.

I don't know if you've read it but he does something similar in the Iliad, calling the sea 'wine dark' at every opportunity.

 

[Limie]

I just started Jim Butcher's Storm Front upon recommendations from these forums, but I'm not far enough in to appraise it properly, so I'll go back to last week.

Me too!
I was originally reading the following book but I needed a break from the series so that i'll enjoy it more.
What Pillars of Creation Book 7 in Terry Goodkind'd Sword of Truth series

Synopsis Another book in the sword of Truth series. It changes perspective to show a different side of the conflict that runs throught the series.

Enjoying it? No I prefer the original "cast" of characters and found it difficult to engage with them so that I need a bit of a break from the series to allow me to appreciate the books more. The series itself is brilliant. They are fun to read and Goodkind never fails to provide an unpredictable ending to his books. The characters are well developed and are engaging. A few of the philosophies underpinning the books I find draw parallels to my current life and those that I disagree with generate thought about life in general. Even if heavy philosophy isn't something you look for in a book/series it is still an engaging fantasy story with a bit of everything.

 

[Dfskelleton]

Well, I have to read Great Expectations for school over the summer.
It's not that I dislike Dickens, he's an amazing writer, he's just not really my cup of tea.
I usually read a lot though, so I'll just pick the one I've been reading for fun in parallel with Great Expectations:

What Book: The Invisible Man
About: ...a man... who is invisible... do I really need to explain?
Enjoying: Yes, it's really good. I never knew that Griffin (the Invisible Man) was so, for lack of a better term, cool.

 

[D Moness]

book : Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
about : Boy goes into a walled of part of town filled with undead , gangs and pirates to try and clear his fathers name, mother goes after him to try and save him.
enjoying : Yes , i just started the novel but it already is getting interesting.

 

[Bazaalmon]

Book: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
About: Follows four characters - more or less, other characters jump in and out for a chapter or two occasionally - During the middle of a war between civilizations to capture Shardblades; magic swords that can cut through anything and shear through the souls of living creatures, and Shardplate; suits of armor that bestow amazing strength, speed, and agility on its wearer, and are nearly impossible to damage themselves. Highprinces also seek out "Gemhearts", giant jewels found in the carapaces of massive 30-50 foot tall crustacean monsters called Chasmfiends. These jewels, along with gemstones of all other sizes, are used to channel Stormlight, magic that can allow you to transform objects into other objects, change the orientation of gravity around you, heal the injured, and other mystical things.
Enjoying it: Yes, it's a ton of fun so far. There's lots of action, and I think it's very well written.
It clocks in at about 1,200 pages. I brought it with me on an airplane to visit family and I read about 350 pages while I was at the airport. I just got so sucked into it I found it hard to put down. So far I'm at page 470, and there's no sign of it letting up.

 

[Berserker119]

Book: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
About: Future shit.
Enjoying: Very much so.

 

[RedDeadFred]

Book: A Game of Thrones
About: way too much to put into just a little summary.
Enjoying: very much so.

 

[5-0]

I kind of have to read books, I'm an English student. But I'm not reading anything for my course at the moment.


What book: - Faceless Killers- Henning Mankell
About: One of the books in the Kurt Wallander series. A Swedish detective investigates a brutal crime at a farmhouse.
Enjoying: Very much so. There've been multiple adaptations of the Wallander series, both in Swedish and English, so it seemed natural to check the original books out.