What are you nerds reading? :D

[RedDeadFred]

Still working my way through A Song of Ice and Fire series. It's a good series, no doubt, but when there are anywhere from ten to twenty different storylines going on simultaneously and you're only interested in two, and you realize you're going to have to slog through another one hundred pages before you hit the perspective you enjoy the most... it gets a little hard to read.

I'm assuming that this means you're in the later books rather than the first three? If not, you're in for an unpleasant surprise as the most recent two books introduce a bunch of new characters, of which maybe half are interesting. They're necessary for where the overall plot seems to be going, but it makes me wish that he had simply gone with his original plan to do a time jump. Apparently, he will not be introducing any more POV characters in the remaining books (apart from maybe prologue and epilogue characters) and will actually be trimming down the amount there currently are.

OT: I've been rereading The Name of the Wind from the King Killer Chronicles. It is pretty fantastic. The author's writing style make everything interesting. I don't know how do describe it, it's just one of the most well written books I've ever read. Lots of mystery, great characters, some genuinely laugh out loud moments, and some genuinely terrifying moments. It's as close as I've ever come to the perfect book IMO. The second book in the trilogy, while still quite good, doesn't quite live up to the first one's greatness IMO. Still, I can't wait for the third book.

 

[Robot Number V]

I'm reading Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson. It's about a hacker called Hiro Protagonist who used to work as a pizza delivery guy for the mafia, and spends lots of time on the VR internet called the Metaverse. Great fun, and probably the best cyberpunk I've ever encountered.

Hey, I just read that a few weeks ago. Awesome book. As you said, lots of fun.

I'm currently reading a book called "Red Sea Under Skies". Second book in a series about a gang of thieves/con men staging elaborate cons in a creative fantasy setting. This one concerns what is essentially a casino heist. I went into the series with somewhat low expectations, but it's actually pretty great. The characters are all well written and unique, the setting is creative, and the plot has legitimately kept me guessing.

I definitely recommend it. The first book is called "The Lies of Locke Lamorra".

 

[Michael Tabbut]

The collective works of HP Lovecraft. Re-reading "Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath" and then I'm going to finally read "At the Mountains of Madness." After that I'll probably get a copy of and read The King in Yellow.

 

[Caostotale]

Well, I'm currently reading Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. That and Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. I'm one of those weird people who likes to read several books at a time.

I used to do that, especially when I was in school and taking more than one comp. lit course at a time. I tend to get pretty OCD about reading and doing my very best to immerse myself in a book, so I can't do it anymore. As I get older, even spending too much time away from a book and reading too much bullshit on the internet can serve to fracture the reading experience, leading me to backtrack, reread, etc...

I found the Pullman trilogy wonderful. My wife and I listened to the unabridged audio books, which included a full cast of voice actors for all of the significant characters. I would highly recommend that version of it.

Regarding the ending of The Dark Tower series, I didn't have a problem with it at all, though I've been reading King's books for almost 20 years and have grown used to his personal tropes. I still need to read that extra DT side-volume 'The Wind in the Keyhole' that he wrote just a few years ago. For now, I need something different.

 

[TheRiddler]

I'm in the middle of The Friends of Eddie Coyle. It's a great, unromanticized look at the Irish-American mob in Boston. Sort of the anti-Godfather, but in a good way.

 

[Vault101]

Well, I'm currently reading Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. That and Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. I'm one of those weird people who likes to read several books at a time.

I start about 50 at once and take to whatever sticks depending on my current mood....thats the good thing about e-readers

 

[ZZoMBiE13]

In my house, it's very difficult to find quiet time to really fall into a book and truly enjoy it.

Most recently I was trying to read the latest biography about Jim Henson. But I gave up a few chapters in when i couldn't get through a paragraph without a couple of interruptions.

 

[SoranMBane]

Way too goddamn much at once, I'll tell you that.

The one I'm trying to focus on most right now is Doomwyte by Brian Jacques, which is the only Redwall book I haven't read yet and after I'm done with it I'll finally be free! Well, okay, maybe not "free," but at least I'll finally be able to say that I've read all twenty-two of the blasted things.

After that, I was going to focus on either Yahtzee's Jam or Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself, after which I was going to finish up my re-read of Salamandastron, and then I was going to read The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, and then I was going to continue with The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams, and I've had both Neuromancer and Dune on the back-burner since forever, and I've been wanting to read more of this e-book I started called The Sons of Masguard and the Mosque Hill Fortune, and somewhere in the middle of it all Richard Morgan's The Dark Defiles is going to come out soon and I'm going to have to drop everything and read that. Oh god, why.

 

[Toejam]

Currently reading World War Z, I like how its broken down into survivor accounts to give the over all story but it seems to make me read it in very short bursts. Which is making it a bit of a struggle to get into. I think I just need to push on and force myself. After this I have alot of Star Wars books to read that my friend is very kindly forcing me to read. lol

BUT has anybody here read Ready Player One by Ernest Cline? Given the nature of this site and the over all shared interest, I know you guys would love it. Not sure about sharing links on here so i'll just post the blurb and you can take it from there...

"In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines?puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.
But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win?and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape."

It was 1 of those books that when you finish it you're gutted because there is no more, if I could wipe my memory i'd read this over and over. lol

 

[Nanondorf]

I was actually reading the entire Clive Cussler collection until recently I like the pacing the author sets.
But I was actually more interrested in getting my hands on some Michael Moorcock classics. Can't find em around here though.

 

[Ferisar]

Just finished The Picture of Dorian Gray as a follow-up/continuation of my trek through some older horror-esque English literature. Obviously, not really... horror, just a story that's unnerving and memorable enough to have spawned some horror, but I digress. Excellent book though, even if most of it was walking and talking about philosophical concepts with cute reversal quips by Lord "I'm so ****ing Clever" Henry, but, you know, that's just kind of fine with me.

Before that was Mountains of Madness, which was an absolute slog, but felt entirely worth it like the majority of Lovecraft, and I think before that were either Strange Case of Jekyll and Hyde, Dracula, or Treasure Island? Not sure.

There's also a ton of short stories involved in-between all those, but they're all either 'craft or Poe for now, because they have a loooot to get through. Some stand-outs for me so far have been: Haunter in the Dark, Azazoth, and Call of Cthulu in terms of Lovecraft, and Pit/Pendulum, Fall of the House of Usher and... Um... The one with the Teeth and the guy and his dead sister. I forgot the name. It actually might just be called teeth.

Currently reading through some Norse fairy-tales, specifically focused on the mythology of the Esir/Vanir/Egir nonsense, but I have a strange feeling that it's an interpretation of actual Sagas that I might need to find, which is a bit of a shame, since the ease of reading of these stories so far is going to spoil me to something prose-heavy and older, surely.

 

[OneCatch]

I'm on the Red Mars trilogy [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_trilogy] at the moment - hard science fiction which narrates the settlement and terraforming of Mars over a few hundred years.
All three of the books are doorstoppers because the author will often descend into rather in-depth discussions about lichens or atmospheric modelling or ore refinement or something - the characters are mostly scientists after all!

And it also discusses various social and political pressures in some depth as well - each chapter is narrated by a different character, most of whom intensely disagree with some/most of the others, so it avoids overly pushing one narrative (though it certainly still favours some over others!).

Well worth a read - I've been getting through one a week at the moment.

 

[Elfgore]

The First Law series by Joe Abercrombie. One of the better fantasy series I've read. I'm only about half-way through book one, but I'm having a total blast. It's a total of six books in the series, so it should take quite a while to finish.

I really need to read Glen Cook's newest novel. I just have it sitting there in my bookshelf, tempting me.

You have read The Malazan Book of the Fallen right?

Because if you're a Cook and Abercrombie fan, and you have not read that series than... Well. It's criminal it is.

I own all of the main series, still need to buy the spin-off series and the two stand-alones set in the universe. I've yet to read them, but they're next after The First Law series. What I've read though is great. The guy knows how to make one hell of a setting.

 

[dragonet111]

The Malazan Book of the Fallen. I'm currently reading Book 3 (Memories of Ice), i'm totally hooked. I simply love it.

I love fantasy when there is dragons, magic big battle and all the things. The Malazan Book of the Fallen check all the boxes for me.

A few month ago I finish reading The Wheel of Time. I loved it....in the end. But to enjoy the really good last books you have to go through some pretty slow (some would say boring) books. Still a great read but if I was to tell a friend to read a new serie I would go with the Malazan. it's just way more entertaining for me.


I also wait for day 3 of Patrick Rothfuss serie The Kingkiller Chronicle. For a first novel it's pretty good.

 

[hermes]

Tender is the Night, by Scott Fitzgerald. A little uneventful so far, but I just started it...

And The Necronomicon, By Abdul Alhazred. Of course it is not the original, but a compilation of authors that claim to translate it, or wrote about it.

 

[Amaror]

I am currently reading Warbreaker from Brandon Sanderson.
I can really recommend reading his Books. He usually writes fantasy novels, which feature unique and unusual worlds and magic system. Seriously i read tons of fantasy but his books are the most imaginative fantasy i have ever read.
What makes it even more interresting is that all these differen worlds exist in the same universe. I am not going to spoil anything, since it's really fun to find out yourself, but there are connections between these worlds and it's pretty cool to slowly find out more and more about the overarching story of the universe over the course of multiple books.
I will give a few examples of the different magic system and worlds. I won't say too much though since finding out more about the magic system can be a big plot point in some of his books.

1. Warbreaker - In the world which i am currently reading about the magic works through so called breath. Each person is born with a single breath, but they can volunarily give their breath to other people by speaking certain words in their mother language. Breath cannot, however, be stolen from a person and when a person dies all their breath dies with them. People that have a certain amount of breath, called Awakeners, can give their breath to inanimate objects in order to bring them to live. The closer the object is to a person, the less breath it takes for the animation of these objects. The Awakener has direct control of the awakened object and can get it to give it's breath back to the awakener. The whole system also seems to be tied to colors somehow, i haven't gotten too far into it yet however.

2. Mistborn - In this world there is a hereditary trait of Allomancy. Allomancy allows the Allomancer to "burn" metals that are within their body to get certain effects. Some metals give the Allomancer the ability to push metals away from them or to pull them towards themselves. Other metals give them greater strength and greater senses. While yet other metals allow them to increase or decrease certain emotions of other people. There are more, but i won't mention them all.
There are two types of Allomancers. Mistings are only able to burn a single metal, while Mistborn are able to burn all the different metals.

There are more worlds in his books, like the Stormlight archives or Elantris. Each one so far has been very well written, the different worlds and magic systems are unique and interrested and the stories have been very engaging while also surprising with several unexpected twists.
if your interested i can recommend reading the Mistborn trilogy first and then reading whatever you feel like. I personally started with The Storlight archives, but in my opinion the mistborn trilogy gives a better basic understanding of the consistent universe all these worlds are inhabiting. Though the reason for that might just be that the Mistborn trilogy is completed while the the stormlight archives are a long way away from being finished stories.

 

[Darth Sea Bass]

At the moment I'm reading. Die Trying, the second Jack Reacher. Don't hate me please!

 

[Rogue Trooper]

War and peace by Leo Tolstoy

And The US Army in Vietnam by Leroy Thompson

Both of them have been good reads so far

 

[Mimic]

War and peace by Leo Tolstoy

And The US Army in Vietnam by Leroy Thompson

Both of them have been good reads so far

I just finished War & Peace myself about a month ago, definately a good and interesting read.

A couple of days ago I finished re-reading Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett yet again, love that book. I've recently ordered a few books: Consciousness Explained (a non-fiction book by Dan Dennet), American Gods by Neil Gaiman, The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency for a light holiday read and I've just started The Name of the Rose which is like a medieval whodunnit. Finding it interesting so far and pretty wordy (lots of latin - which I don't know that much of).

 

[tippy2k2]

At the moment I'm reading. Die Trying, the second Jack Reacher. Don't hate me please!

Don't mind me, this is just the face I make when I'm silently judging someone

I actually do like the Reacher novels. They're a nice and easy read. I just finished book...9 I want to say? I'll say book 9 for now.

Anyway, they get a bit more ridiculous as it goes on but they're fun little reads. Kind of the popcorn blockbuster you have to see to keep yourself happy