Poll: Escapist book thread!

[Zoe Castillo]

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[janjanis]

What Book:Rules of Play ? Game Design Fundamentals
About:About concepts "design","play" and "system" and how they influence game design.
Enjoying: It is very interesting read even if sometimes it gets little too textbook-y for me.

 

[EHKOS]

I used to read all the time. I enjoy Saki (H.H. Monroe), Robert B. Parker (R.I.P.) and Elizabeth Peters.
The most recent book I read was Bioshock by John Shirley. It was decent, but it really wasn't anything new.

 

[Alex Cowan]

What book: Anna Karenina by Lev Tolstoy.

About: Three people in a love triangle including a couple children and a man questioning current socio-economic philosophy in Russia as well as whether life is worth living. Both of these stories are connected by characters knowing each other and there are other characters and subplots.

Enjoying: While romance isn't the genre of book I would identify myself with (male), I love Tolstoy's writing style as it's very immersive and I enjoy myself quite a bit. I can also overcome social stigma by saying the title quickly Annakarenina and mention it's Russian.

I just finished that; found the psychological aspect of it very intersting, Tolstoy captures how people think very well. Could have been several hundred pages shorter and still had the same effect, though.

OT:
Book: Joseph Cambell, 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces'
About: Comoparative ethnographical mythology. I'm a ponce.
Enjoying: Picking up on how modern 'myth'-style works (heroic epics a la Star Wars/LotR) borrow directly from the mythology of the past, both in terms of plot elements (magic swords, rings) and thematic goals (transcendent destiny.)

 

[Nansen]

I just finished reading one actually:

What Book: Discworld: Snuff
About: While on Holiday with his family, Samual Vimes of the Ahnk-Morpork Watch stumbles upon a crime that's been going on for years, that's deeply embedded in the town he's visiting and, which technically isn't a crime at all. At least until Vimes gets involved and rights the many wrongs having been ignored.
Enjoying Very much so! The only thing I didn't like was how there wasn't a Death cameo.

I so wanted to enjoy that book, Sam Vimes/the Watch have the best Discworld storylines in my opinion. But for some reason I never got into it and just left it to die slowly on my nightstand and eventually the bookcase. I feel sad.

 

[Master_of_Oldskool]

Book: Wuthering Heights. Don't look at me like that, it's a summer assignment for AP English.

About: The tale of a few generations of emotionally stunted nobles and the handsome, sleazy, and conspicuously Roma-descendant guy who devotes his life to ruining theirs, as told fifth-hand to a guy whose presence really doesn't have much bearing on the story.

Enjoyment: Actually enjoying it rather more than I'd thought I would. I'll admit to buying the idiotic interpretation that it was a standard Victorian romance, when it's actually a pretty vicious satire of them, so I was pretty dubious going into this one. I was pleasantly surprised when Bronte had the bullied-childhood-friend-turned-tall-dark-self-made-aristocrat act in exactly the same way those characters always act, and then devoted the book to explaining why these actions make him a sociopath.

 

[TimeLord]

What book: Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian - Eoin Colfer
About: The last in a series of 8 books about a boy genius who discovers the existence of technologically superior mythical creatures under the earth.
Enjoy?: It was a decent end to the series and I really enjoyed all the books even though they are more designed for teenagers, they got a few laughs out of me and I was really invested in the story in every book.

 

[Carbonyl]

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.

Obviously, Homer has a man-crush on Telemachus.

 

[A_Parked_Car]

What book: The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945 by John Toland

About: It is essentially the Japanese point-of-view of the Pacific War with a bit of the Second Sino-Japanese War and such mixed in.

Enjoying: I'm really enjoying it right now. My only complaint is that since it was published in 1970, some of the scholarship is a bit dated. Obviously you can't really hold that against the book though.

 

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

What Book: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel
About:Basically historical fiction about Europe in the 1800s, but with magic. The main character, (Norrel) is the only practicing magician in the last 200 years or so, and is trying to bring magic back to England. It's....actually lot more interesting that then makes it sound. The actual magic deals with some pretty dark stuff. Kinda reminds me of some stuff I've read by Edgar Allen Poe, actually.
Enjoying: Yeah, well enough. In some parts it's kinda dry and boring, but for the most part, it's equally funny, creepy, and inventive. Most importantly, it always feels like it's going somewhere, even if it might take a while. Overall, makes for a good read.

 

[Tahaneira]

What Book: The Long Earth, Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
About: It's an alternate-realities type dealy. A guy from our world accidentally discovers how to travel between alternate Earths, and gets involved in weird stuff. I'm not sure where the plot is going, I'm not that far into it.
Enjoying: There's nowhere near as much humor in it as Pratchett's Discworld series, but his worldview is still present, and so far I'm enjoying it immensely.

 

[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.

Obviously, Homer has a man-crush on Telemachus.

Who wouldn't, he's God like.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

I love reading and it is my goal to have my own home library!

Book:The Travels of Marco Polo
About: It's Marco Polo's journal as he travels around.
Enjoying:Hell yes! Some of the shorter chapters are just funny since they just talk about the women of the area, food, and other random crap. The "longer" chapters are really cool and talk about China (other places too) and meeting a warlord.

 

[Micromyni]

What Book: Dragon Champion by E.E Knight of the Age of Fire series
About: A clutch of dragons from the POV or each of the three hatchlings per book.
Enjoying: Hellz to the yeah. This series is my favorite fantasy books of all time. These dragons actually act like DRAGONS, and they have no problems killing and eating humans, but they also have the capacity for advanced thought and speech. Such a fascinating take on dragons; reading the book you feel like you're looking through the mind of an enormous predator. They see ambush opportunities and the prospect of a quick meal in everything, but can talk casually to the human that they just briefly toyed with the idea of eating a split second before.

 

[SquirePB]

I used to read heaps, mostly fantasy books, but now with uni I can rarely find the time.

 

[bauke67]

The King(when you translate it)(Dutch: de koning)
It's about an eight or nineteenth century sjah of Persia losing control of his empire.
I had to read for school and I didn't enjoy it very much, though it kept me busy, I suppose.

 

[newwiseman]

I read a ton of manga but rarely read books. Also I prefer to read things on my iPad or kindel because paper annoys me. Last two books I've read in order are:

Book:Mogworld by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw
About: If the makers of an MMO accidentally created sentient artificial intelligence from the perspective of a NPC living in the world as it goes Beta.
Enjoyment: Its one of the few works of fiction that I wholly expect to eventually happen, and I got to read it while imagining Yahtzee's voice the whole time since he wrote it.

Book 2:Candide by Voltair
About: A castle raised orphan is thrown into the real world and goes on a journey that gradually strips him of his optimism and beliefs.
Enjoyment: It is one of the greatest works of satire ever written and I've enjoyed it every time I've ever read it.

 

[Carbonyl]

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.

Obviously, Homer has a man-crush on Telemachus.

Who wouldn't, he's God like.

Truly! I am nearly overcome with desire, perhaps I will swoon!

 

[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.

Obviously, Homer has a man-crush on Telemachus.

Who wouldn't, he's God like.

Truly! I am nearly overcome with desire, perhaps I will swoon!

Perhaps this is the classic equivalent of 50 shades. Just with less BDSM.

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.

Well that's just great, I'm beginning to suspect Homer was all that great a writer.

 

[Andrew Drake]

What book is it, who's it by?
The Dresdren Files, all currently published in sequence, Jim Butcher

What's it about?
Paranormal Detective in Chicago. Formula for the book is something along the lines of Sherlock Holmes + Magic + Modern Age - Watson Expy = Dresden Files

Are you enjoying it?
Sweet Azura, YES!