The Sphere

General Garbage => Tropical Paradise of Hard Shelled Fruits => Topic started by: Rama on Dec 10, 2009, 03:08:58 PM

Title: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 10, 2009, 03:08:58 PM
Don't know how well this will go over here, but lets give it the old college try anyhow.


Currently I am reading Moonraker by Ian Fleming.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 10, 2009, 03:37:39 PM
Ha ha, I remember a thread like this one.  Did you start that one, too?

Since this thread's here now, looks like I have to own up to my latest hobby: reading cheesy Harlequin novels.
I just finished The Winter Bride by Lynne Graham.  Although WB was actually mostly decent.

If I start reading Bond, do I need to start with the first book or can I just pick at them in any order?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 10, 2009, 04:18:03 PM
I don't think I did...but I may have.

And you never struck me as the romance novel type, but hey if it makes you happy I'm not one to judge.

Well...he does back reference some, but not a lot. I didn't read them in order. Before I bought them I got what I could from the local library. I would start with Casino Royale though. It's one of the better ones, but has a drawn out ending. Book is over at Chapter 22 even though it's 27 chapters long. Then you'd have to get past the overt racism of Live and Let Die. I mean he never comes out and says it, but it's full of "Well he's a fine chap for a Negro" type shit. And he kinda treats women like children and homosexuals as evil and untrustworthy. And he seems to hate red headed men for some reason. You just have to keep telling yourself it was the 50s. It's a little jarring to modern sensibilities. I'd read them in order just to get all that shit out of the way. If you are still with it after that you'll read them all.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Merla on Dec 10, 2009, 04:53:52 PM
Sneaky Kid and Its Aftermath: Ethics and Intimacy in Fieldwork  by Harry Wolcott.

The story initially begins in the early 80's. Professor Wolcott was big stuff in world of anthropology back then.  He lives on 20 acres of forested property he owns in Oregon.  One day he discovers a 19 year old squatter, who he refers to as Brad, living on his property.  Brad had dropped out of society and had built a cabin.  For the next two years Wolcott studies Brad a self described "sneaky kid."  Brad got by on food stamps and stealing the things he needed.  Brad problems began when his parents divorced and he was tossed back in forth because he didn't get along with either step-parent.  He lost interest in school, skipped out, and was eventually sent to reform school. Upon his release he lived in a series of apartment rented by his mom and worked a few second rate job.  He eventually turned his back on society.  Wolcott concluded that once Brad left the system (school, work, family, friends) there was no one helping him to return to society.  There was no organization or agency to help him.  If Brad was going to return to society it was going to have to be through his own efforts.  Brad is one unique case but there are thousands of people like him who have drifted away from society.  Wolcott wrote several papers about Brad.   


One day Brad disappeared.  Two year later Brad returned, attempted to murder Wolcott and his partner, and burned Wolcott's home down.  It turns out Wolcott and Brad had a sexual relationship! Brad felt violated and victimized and sought revenge.  Brad was sentence to 20 years in prison.   While nothing happened to Wolcott who I personally feel should have suffered some repercussions for his serious breach of ethics.  This case is why there are strict rules in place when conducting research and why all research has to be approved by an Ethics Review Board.     
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 10, 2009, 07:24:22 PM
And you never struck me as the romance novel type, but hey if it makes you happy I'm not one to judge.

Ha ha, "happy" may not be quite the right word, but they are definetely entertaining.  Granted, I've found a handful that I really love but there are a LOT of losers to wade through for lulz.  Apparently, there are a hell of a lot of billionaires out there in need of virgin wives.

Quote
And he seems to hate red headed men for some reason.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 10, 2009, 08:40:45 PM
I like those particular comixeds.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Dec 11, 2009, 06:11:25 AM
I am reading tariff reports from 1917. See, despite us being allies in World War I, America levied a steel embargo against Japan (they depended on us for all their steel). All this because of the Zimmerman telegram. Why the hell would the Germans believe they could barter an alliance between Mexico and the Japanese? They don't even like each other. Stupid Germans.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Sam on Dec 11, 2009, 10:11:03 AM
I'm rereading House of Leaves.  Đis time, on đe suggestion of a friend, I'm reading the main text and Zampano's footnotes first, and đen going back to read all of Truant's editorial notes by đemselves.

More immediately, đough, I'm reading a whole pile of solar collector patents.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Dec 11, 2009, 03:30:51 PM
Birthing books -_-
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 11, 2009, 07:04:46 PM
Wouldn't it be cool it you pushed the middle of the book and a smaller book came out?


Oh, I'm also reading the Fullmetal Alchemist manga.  I count that even though I'm looking at the pictures more.  :D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Dec 11, 2009, 08:18:34 PM
That book should also have an option for cutting the smaller book out.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 13, 2009, 11:46:05 PM
Or just stabbing it into pieces.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 14, 2009, 10:18:18 PM
That book should also have an option for cutting the smaller book out.

Ouch.

Or just stabbing it into pieces.

Double ouch.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 15, 2009, 04:53:01 PM
This thread got awesome.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 15, 2009, 05:28:44 PM
Well I know a guy and if you serious and got about 300 clams, he can stick a coat hanger up there and scramble the little book all up and then scrap it out so the bigger book can get back to partying and having unprotected sex.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Dec 15, 2009, 06:40:01 PM
I wonder if Dyson makes abortion apparatus.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 16, 2009, 02:24:12 AM
I bet they could. And they could make it so the girl barely feels a thing.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 16, 2009, 08:05:11 AM
Well I know a guy and if you serious and got about 300 clams, he can stick a coat hanger up there and scramble the little book all up and then scrap it out so the bigger book can get back to partying and having unprotected sex.

Was I supposed to be picturing a wang being slammed into a book?  Furthermore, even though you said "unprotected sex" the one I pictured was wearing a condom.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 16, 2009, 01:30:58 PM
Well it's good that your wang on book sexual fantasies are at least practicing safe sex. It says a lot about you.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Dec 16, 2009, 07:57:06 PM
Once I read a story written by an eunuch, in which he described how he would stick needles in his balls and move them around, like a mixer :x
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 17, 2009, 02:23:04 AM
what . . . why . . . what
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Dec 17, 2009, 08:49:10 PM
It was an eunuch.

Have you never seen BME extreme? I posted the link here once
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 17, 2009, 10:24:57 PM
I've seen it, and will never ever ever ever go anywhere near anything with that acronym again.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Dec 17, 2009, 10:27:56 PM
Meatspin? Lemon party?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 18, 2009, 04:04:42 PM
BME, also those other ones.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 19, 2009, 01:00:59 AM
Finished Moonraker. Moving on to Diamonds are Forever.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 21, 2009, 11:44:31 AM
I just finished such fine literary works like The Sicilian's Marriage Arrangement (http://www.amazon.com/Sicilians-Marriage-Arrangement-Harlequin-Presents/dp/0373126042) and The Greek Tycoon's Convenient Mistress (http://www.amazon.com/Tycoons-Convenient-Mistress-Harlequin-Presents/dp/0373124457/).  The second one has three stars at Amazon so I wasn't expecting a whole lot from it anyway, but I only read the first one because seven people had rated it a five.  Apparently, they were very, very wrong.

For the curious, yeah, it doesn't matter what these guys are.  You can replace the words Sicilian and Greek for Martian and Canadian and it'd still be the exact same story.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 21, 2009, 05:07:49 PM
Oh, that reminds me, I finished 1984. Mindfuck. Did I mention that already? Now working on GI Joe classic comic re-releases IDW is putting out. I would be working on the Transformers G1 comics they just put out, but I didn't get V1 when it was first released, and now its going for ridiculous prices (last time I checked, about a month ago, $80+).
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Dec 22, 2009, 08:03:21 PM
Finished Moonraker. Moving on to Diamonds are Forever.
Isn't that the title of the book written by Pa ris Heiress-Whore?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 22, 2009, 08:40:46 PM
No. No it is not.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 25, 2009, 08:52:22 AM
Apparently not.  I looked briefly and let me tell you, it was very odd googling "Paris Hilton" and the word "book" in the same box.   :rawr:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 26, 2009, 12:10:48 AM
It's not if you put "has never read a" between them.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 27, 2009, 02:34:10 AM
Now I'm on to the Jan/Feb issue of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 27, 2009, 09:37:17 PM
All I can say about the shit I'm reading is that if I get knocked up by any billionaire, I'm sure as hell hitting his ass for child support.  "What?  u want dna testing?  how dare u, u dont luv meeeee!  that does it!  i'm living in abject poverty!!11 Me an' the kid'll barely eat!  that'll show u!"  Do the test and get the damn money to support your child.  Bwah.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 04, 2010, 06:25:00 PM
I was skimming through a little number called "At the Boss's Beck and Call" by Anna Cleary and lol'd at this fine nugget:

Quote
His voice was as dark and smoky as Satan’s.

Satan?  Really?  Okay, "devilish" is all right, it implies mischief.  But Satanish is just fucking scary.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Jan 06, 2010, 03:09:20 PM
I'm reading the manga version of Evangelion, which is even better than the tv series.

Shinji's depressed but not a pussy anymore. (http://www.onemanga.com/Neon_Genesis_Evangelion/41/16/)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Karmarose on Jan 06, 2010, 03:21:14 PM
Wicked by Gregory Maguire for the 97th time.
Manga: Yankee-kun to Megane-chan, it makes me laugh.
Finishing The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya then moving on to The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jan 06, 2010, 04:07:59 PM
Some Lovecraft stories. Shat brix with At the Mountains of Madness and almost had an orgasm when I found out the same guy who directed Pan's labyrinth is doing a movie of it
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 06, 2010, 05:21:50 PM
Wait, are you talking about Guillermo del Toro? Doing Lovecraft?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jan 06, 2010, 09:22:21 PM
Read a chunk of the second book of Samuel tonight. Interesting stuff. "Mephibosheth!"
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 06, 2010, 10:06:45 PM
You mean . . .

In the Bible?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jan 07, 2010, 12:07:59 AM
It IS a book....
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 07, 2010, 02:40:48 AM
A poorly written one. I do like song of Solomon, though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jan 07, 2010, 07:14:18 AM
Wait, are you talking about Guillermo del Toro? Doing Lovecraft?
Yesss
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 07, 2010, 12:59:06 PM
I was skimming through another Lynne Graham Harlequin book and busted out laughing when the hero asks the heroine "Why so serious?"  Well, there went that scene.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jan 07, 2010, 07:12:05 PM
A poorly written one. I do like song of Solomon, though.
Matthew 7:6 applies here.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 08, 2010, 12:03:23 PM
Get out of my Internet with your scriptures.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 08, 2010, 12:37:22 PM
Religious reading instinctively makes me pretend not to be home.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 08, 2010, 01:07:33 PM
I never got why Jehovah`s Witness's tried to convert people if they thought only 144000 were going to get into heaven. Wouldn't you want to keep that to yourself so you'd have better chance of making the cut?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 08, 2010, 01:12:50 PM
I would think.  Shoot, I wouldn't be tellin' anybody.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 08, 2010, 09:12:36 PM
Are they the one's who's heaven is ruling a planet?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jan 08, 2010, 11:34:35 PM
I never got why Jehovah`s Witness's tried to convert people if they thought only 144000 were going to get into heaven. Wouldn't you want to keep that to yourself so you'd have better chance of making the cut?

They believe that the rest will live forever in a new earth fashioned after the Garden of Eden.

Are they the one's who's heaven is ruling a planet?

That's Mormonism. Their ultimate aim is to have lived a life to ascend to godhood and get to create their own universe and be its god, which is what their version of god did.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 09, 2010, 12:12:47 AM
I never got why Jehovah`s Witness's tried to convert people if they thought only 144000 were going to get into heaven. Wouldn't you want to keep that to yourself so you'd have better chance of making the cut?

They believe that the rest will live forever in a new earth fashioned after the Garden of Eden.

And where did they get that info from?

But to tell you the truth, as long as they weren't constantly rubbing how much better Heaven was, I wouldn't mind that at all.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jan 09, 2010, 11:48:53 PM
And where did they get that info from?

I guess the same place that they got that the world was ending in 1914, 1918, 1925, 1941, and 1975.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 10, 2010, 01:51:22 AM
Oh...out their ass. Got ya.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 10, 2010, 03:00:04 AM
LMAO
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jan 11, 2010, 12:45:58 PM


That's Mormonism. Their ultimate aim is to have lived a life to ascend to godhood and get to create their own universe and be its god, which is what their version of god did.
That's very What-dreams-may-come of them
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 11, 2010, 03:56:19 PM
Except in What Dreams May Come, you have your little universe to yourself and don't have to rule over a bunch of assholes you don't want to be there.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jan 11, 2010, 04:54:40 PM
wait I didn't see him mentioning anything about having assholes in your own universe either
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 11, 2010, 07:22:00 PM
You become a god, and a bunch of people live in your world.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jan 11, 2010, 08:13:32 PM
I don't know...it actually sounds more Ghostbustarian: "If someone asks you if you're a god, you say...YES!"
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jan 12, 2010, 07:23:32 AM
You become a god, and a bunch of people live in your world.
So? Didn't Robin Williams' asexual looking daughter had her own universe with hundreds of people floating around in it?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 12, 2010, 05:59:57 PM
See, that was all more like Playstation Home.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jan 12, 2010, 06:12:40 PM
I never got that into PS Home. Kary went hardcore for a week or two, then nothing.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 13, 2010, 12:11:57 AM
What the hell is PlayStation Home?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jan 13, 2010, 12:57:49 AM
Like the sims kinda built into the PS3 where you make a person and walk around simulated environments playing wierd little games.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 13, 2010, 11:50:12 AM
Yeah, and you can get areas based on various games, like the Ghostbusters firehouse, the SIN lab from SFIV, etc.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Karmarose on Jan 13, 2010, 03:54:25 PM
It was fun, at least to me it was fun. But then I like that Sims kinda thing. I almost ended up getting all the items from the mini-games from the various areas but then the PS3 was sold. I miss it! @.x
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jan 14, 2010, 07:18:26 AM
My latest game addiction was Island of Happiness on DSi. I played it for exactly 8 hours in a row.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 14, 2010, 10:36:18 PM
My PS finally busted a few months back so I haven't been playing squat.  That's right, I said PS.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 14, 2010, 11:40:53 PM
PSOne? PSX?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 15, 2010, 12:05:44 AM
You must have taken care of it. The only system I have that's still up and running is my Xbox and not the one of the 360 variety. The PS1 and 2 gave up the ghost a long time ago.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 15, 2010, 02:54:17 AM
My SNES still works but I need a new box-thing... powet cord... ac adapter.  Whatever.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Karmarose on Jan 15, 2010, 08:30:23 AM
I have the PS2 and stil play my PS1 games when I can find them. My brother actually has the PS1 as well as the Sega Genesis among his mass of systems - still works too, we play Sonic 2 and 3 sometimes.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jan 15, 2010, 08:52:42 AM
We also have 2 Wiis. I'm glad Netflix is finally offering it's service to the Wii.

Hehehe. Wii.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jan 15, 2010, 05:11:26 PM
My SNES still works but I need a new box-thing... powet cord... ac adapter.  Whatever.
omgggggg i looove snessssssss! i wish i still had mine, I've been craving to play super mario world
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jan 15, 2010, 06:31:29 PM
They have it for the Game Boy Advance. I sometimes play it on mine.

Too bad the Doom port sucked. I only played Super Mario World, Doom, Zelda, and Super Metroid on my SNES.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 15, 2010, 10:27:55 PM
Dude, not only do they have that on GBA, they have mother fucking Yoshi's Island on the GBA, one of the lost gems of late SNES releases. Fucking incredible fucking game.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jan 15, 2010, 10:36:14 PM
Every console I own, save my original SNES, still work. A Sears Pong game, Atari 5200, NES, PSX, PS2, DC, XB, and Gamecube...they all work.  But I play most of my older stuff on PC through emulation.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jan 16, 2010, 12:09:33 AM
My SNES should work, but I have everything on my GBA or Wii now. I never play video games anymore, though. Last one I played was Resident Evil 5. Epic game.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 16, 2010, 04:26:32 AM
Gold edition has my shitting my pants, so .
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jan 16, 2010, 05:52:25 PM
The other game I miss from my snes is the captain tsubasa game. brilliant.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jan 16, 2010, 09:35:21 PM
I never play video games anymore, though. Last one I played was Resident Evil 5. Epic game.

One of the things I hate about being in school again is the lack of time to do things I want to do. Blogging. Gaming. Reading. Gardening. Kitbashing. Painting. All this is nigh impossible. It's all I can do to chell boards from time to time, and even then I can't really get into it. I haven't had a good back and forth fisk inducing internet argument in months.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 17, 2010, 02:00:36 AM
Fisk?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 17, 2010, 02:03:07 AM
Like the Kingpin?

Anyway, now I'm reading "Tigers of the Sea" by Robert E. Howard.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jan 17, 2010, 04:09:17 PM
Google and Wikipedia...two great tastes that taste great together. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisking)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jan 17, 2010, 08:10:16 PM
That is so nerdy.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jan 17, 2010, 11:21:30 PM
DON'T JUDGE ME!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 17, 2010, 11:56:03 PM
The latest Harlequin I tortured myself with was The Millionaire's Rebellious Mistress by Catherine George.  Both of the main characters manage property and I swear a huge percentage of the book was spent describing the houses and talking about fucking drywall.  The fuck?  When does this guy get into her "silken folds" or whatever already?  There wasn't even any of the standard laughably bad zomg drama.  Son I am disappoint.  What a snore-fest.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 27, 2010, 02:17:51 AM
Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson. This guy is a pretty damn good writer but terrible at making a likeable hero. I actually started this book about a two years ago and only got half way through it, but was able to pick up right where I left off without much trouble.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 27, 2010, 03:14:07 PM
Aspho Field by Karen Travis
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jan 28, 2010, 11:33:35 AM
She produces the worst St*r WarzzZZ books. Basically, she sucks off Boba Fett every book even if he's not even related to the subject. Han Solo is not amused.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 28, 2010, 11:55:54 AM
Nothing she writes can change the fact that Boba Fett went out like a total bitch in Return of the Jedi.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jan 28, 2010, 03:20:00 PM
Apparently this week's episode of Clone Wars (yes, the kids cartoon) contained something so egregious that she now refuses to write anymore St*r WarzzZZ books. As I've only listened to three of hers (books on tape), I can't say I mind.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 28, 2010, 04:18:34 PM
What happen?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jan 28, 2010, 06:41:38 PM
No idea, it hasn't aired. Since she attributes every Mandalorian (Boba Fett) to super beings more moral and powerful than the Jedi, who really knows. I'm hoping it's something small and meaningless to everyone else.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jan 29, 2010, 01:22:33 PM
from: http://theforce.net/latestnews/story/Preview_TCW_The_Mandalore_Plot_129055.asp

Quote
Nearly wiped out by the Jedi Knights in a long-ago war, deadly Mandalorian warriors emerge from the shadows to exact cold revenge upon their peace-seeking rivals. Cloaked in mystery and hardened by memories of their bitter defeat, they are fueled by a collective desire to reclaim the glory of Mandalore – no matter the cost. Pitting skill and determination against the powet of the Force, “The Mandalore Plot,” launches an epic, three-part clash that could turn the tide of the war itself. It’s an all-new episode of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS airing at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT Friday, January 29 on Cartoon Network.

Sent to look into troubling rumors surrounding Duchess Satine of Mandalore, Obi-Wan Kenobi discovers the truth behind the whispers of a mysterious conspiracy. But his investigation uncovers more than he’d originally anticipated, pulling back the shadowy shroud from a long-rumored splinter group and bringing to light a deadly threat to the Republic.

Originally introduced as concept art that ultimately became the basis for bounty hunter Boba Fett, the Mandalorians have been favorites within the St*r WarzzZZ fan community for years, even though much remains to be discovered about their culture, their history, or their in-universe origins. With only glimpses into the true nature of these mysterious warriors, they have long been the subject of rampant fan speculation and discourse. And now they are making their Clone Wars debut.

“This is how George has always envisioned the Mandalorians,” says Supervising Director Dave Filoni. “Of course, people immediately think of the iconic Fett armor, because that’s all we’ve had to go on for so many years; it’s mysterious, and we’ve built up that mystique as fans. But Boba and Jango Fett aren’t necessarily what I would consider accurate representatives of the Mando culture. They’re bounty hunters and outlaws – totally rogue. If you go way back to the original concepts, the Mandalorians were a group of supercommando troops; it’s only now that George is really bringing that to the screen. They’re in the series because he wanted to define their culture, to explore the foundations of this warrior faction.”

According to Filoni, the introduction of Mandalorians was something that had been discussed as early as the first season of The Clone Wars – although Lucas held off on approving the story arc until the series’ second season, once the larger conflict had been more firmly established.

“This was a running joke among the crew early in the production,” says Filoni. “A lot of people on the crew wanted to see the Mandalorians – especially our head writer, Henry Gilroy – but they were off-limits to us at the time. George definitely has a sense of pace, and of a natural order for St*r WarzzZZ storytelling; plus, it’s his universe, so we had to set aside our Mando ideas for the time being. Ultimately, though, he came back around and gave us his blueprint for how he wanted to see the Mandalorian culture represented, which is great because they bring so much to the conflict. The first season was pretty straightforward; we had the Republic versus the Separatists. But now we have these splinter groups – like the Mandos, the bounty hunters, and the Geonosians – who each bring something totally different to the table."

Voicing the leader of the Mandalorian warriors is actor/director Jon Favreau – a long-time St*r WarzzZZ fan. His involvement in The Clone Wars came as an indirect result of post-production for the first Iron Man film; he was working with Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound when his path crossed with Filoni’s at Lucasfilm’s Skywalker Ranch.

“I had mentioned that I would love to do a voice, and that I’d done voices before – and the idea for me to play a Mandalorian came up. I wasn’t holding out for a cool character, but I think the Mandalorians are probably the ones that the die-hards are going to be the most curious about,” says Favreau. “I grew up a fan of St*r WarzzZZ. It was the first time I had ever experienced that really iconic, mythic archetypal storytelling. What’s fun about St*r WarzzZZ is that it still has as much relevance and impact now as it did then. It seems to be a set of characters and a world that is timeless, and every generation seems to embrace. So it’s fun to be able to share with my family and my kids the excitement that I had when I was young.”

So this must be what angered Karen Traviss. She built he own preconceptions of Mandalorian history and culture, and it seems George decided he needed to reaffirm his desires. Nice.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 29, 2010, 04:22:11 PM
And so she takes her ball and goes home. I mean you are writing in someone else's universe. Stuff like that is going to happen and you have to just make it work. If you want god like final say then stick to fiction you create yourself. Course I'm sure she doesn't sell half what she does when "Retard Wars" is printed on the front.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 29, 2010, 04:31:08 PM
I can't wait to play as a Mandalor in SW: TOR
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jan 29, 2010, 05:32:18 PM
And so she takes her ball and goes home. I mean you are writing in someone else's universe. Stuff like that is going to happen and you have to just make it work. If you want god like final say then stick to fiction you create yourself. Course I'm sure she doesn't sell half what she does when "Retard Wars" is printed on the front.

Fiero bought it, there's one. Obama was right, the economy is improving!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 29, 2010, 09:39:52 PM
Its not a horrible book. Also, I've liked some number of the St*r WarzzZZ books, especially those written by Timothy Zahn, especially those featuring Thrawn.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 30, 2010, 02:10:44 AM
I always thought the Thrawn stuff was overrated. Course it's better then most of the EU stuff which is why I just threw it all out and act like it doesn't exist. Which is also what I did with the SE and the Prequels. There is now more SW that I ignore then accept.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jan 30, 2010, 09:15:10 AM
I checked out throughout the Yuuzhan Vong crap. The newer 9-logy books have been great.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Merla on Jan 30, 2010, 12:49:09 PM
Philosophical Foundations of Adult Education


It's for class and it is so boring that I want to cry.  :pout:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 30, 2010, 11:02:25 PM
I always thought the Thrawn stuff was overrated. Course it's better then most of the EU stuff which is why I just threw it all out and act like it doesn't exist. Which is also what I did with the SE and the Prequels. There is now more SW that I ignore then accept.

  What about Shadows of the Empire?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 30, 2010, 11:34:38 PM
Man I knew that would come up...


After some thought, No. But the N64 game was still boss.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jan 31, 2010, 09:39:11 AM
The book wasn't as good as the game. Nothing beat the Asteroid level. Also, I have respect for a game where the first level can be the most difficult (I HAVE TO TIE UP 4 AT-ATs!!!?!?!?!?!1jcodsadhfoisudh)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 31, 2010, 05:56:49 PM
It was a fucking awesome game, and I did like the game better, too.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jan 31, 2010, 07:17:23 PM
I tried reading the book, but I never got through it. Reading about it is insignificant when you're firing rockets at Boba Fett.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 01, 2010, 12:37:08 AM
I read the book too, but I don't remember much about it really.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 01, 2010, 02:06:32 PM
Man, I have never picked up a SW book and never had the urge to.  I just really felt the original trilogy told me everything I needed to know, especially after the prequels came out.

I didn't really know what you were talking about with the Karen Traviss thing, so I googled and stumbled upon this:
http://swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=112980

She protests too much: http://www.karentraviss.com/html/gaymandos.htm

So, tl;dr, did she make them gay peaceful hippies and George was all "no, they's warmongers"?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 01, 2010, 04:47:35 PM
I didn't read it, but look for the post by YodaKenobi:

http://boards.theforce.net/literature/b10003/28128642/p5
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Feb 01, 2010, 04:54:40 PM
Man, I have never picked up a SW book and never had the urge to.  I just really felt the original trilogy told me everything I needed to know, especially after the prequels came out.

I didn't really know what you were talking about with the Karen Traviss thing, so I googled and stumbled upon this:
http://swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=112980

She protests too much: http://www.karentraviss.com/html/gaymandos.htm

So, tl;dr, did she make them gay peaceful hippies and George was all "no, they's warmongers"?
I mainly listen to them as books on tape. The newest narrator is fucking awesome, he's a cartoon voice actor and does all the voices. The women kinda always sound alike, but it still works.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 01, 2010, 08:14:19 PM
I didn't read it, but look for the post by YodaKenobi:

http://boards.theforce.net/literature/b10003/28128642/p5

Wow, that's long.  Is there something in particular I'm reading for in that post?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Feb 01, 2010, 08:35:59 PM
The fanbase is split on her writings.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 01, 2010, 11:31:16 PM
All of those words adds up to something as concise as that?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 02, 2010, 03:29:02 AM
Geeks can never say anything short about something they actually care about.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Feb 02, 2010, 05:26:32 AM
Especially if they're in college. Then there's a tendency to overwrite and yet ignore words like 'slut' and 'worthless whore'.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 02, 2010, 04:03:07 PM
I liked the Gears novel, I did not like her St*r WarzzZZ novels (I think I only read one of them, though). The Gears book did a good job of providing some back story, though some of it was unexpected, specifically how Carlos Santiago died, and what Dom was doing at that time. I liked it overall, but I had little problems with it. Also, the Mandalorians are peaceful on Clone Wars so I don't know why she's bitching.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Feb 02, 2010, 06:39:25 PM
Not all of them. A main problem is, she portrayed Mandalorians as completely honor bound and living on a hilly farm world with sprawling forests and mountains. Yet, we see the main world is like Tattooine, while the moon is closer to her vision, and honor seems to place very low. Who knows why she left the series.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Feb 02, 2010, 07:32:51 PM
My boy is reading Jonathan Livingston Seagull cause he asked for a book and that's the first one that came to my mind (since its short and easy to read and he doesn't have too much free time). So everytime I see it around and he's not reading it I'll grab it and re-read a couple of pages. Love it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 02, 2010, 09:02:07 PM
I looked that up and was surprised to find it's actually about a seagull.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 03, 2010, 12:34:07 AM
That sounds like a bar bet won right there.

"Bet I can write and sell a novel about a Seagull."

"50 bucks says you can't."

"You're on."
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Feb 03, 2010, 05:11:45 AM
I looked that up and was surprised to find it's actually about a seagull.
For the longest time, I thought Catcher in the Rye was about baseball.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 03, 2010, 03:39:08 PM
Me too.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Feb 03, 2010, 05:53:08 PM
I looked that up and was surprised to find it's actually about a seagull.
It's not about a seagull per se, it has a deeper meaning!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 03, 2010, 07:49:15 PM
You're right. Its about a flock of seagulls.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 03, 2010, 11:16:55 PM
Even better!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 03, 2010, 11:18:06 PM
Yeah..not better.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 03, 2010, 11:29:55 PM
Hater!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 03, 2010, 11:32:32 PM
Wow...talk about irony. I have my 80s mix on and "I Ran" just came up. I shit you not. It is a sign! Maybe I have hated on the gulls to much...





























Nah!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 03, 2010, 11:36:19 PM
I just thought it was Satan at work somehow.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 03, 2010, 11:44:34 PM
I could see that. He does seem to give me extra attention.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Feb 04, 2010, 11:38:57 AM
You're all haters! Fine, don't read this book >:o
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 04, 2010, 03:19:43 PM
I actually do want to read it, because it sounds intriguing. One book I feel like I should read again is, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time (http://www.amazon.com/Curious-Incident-Dog-Night-Time/dp/1400032717)," by Mark Haddon. I love counting red cars.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 04, 2010, 10:33:38 PM
Still on Lord Foul's Bane, but this duder just pulled a Deus ex machina in the next to the last chapter. Doubt I'll be tracking down the sequels to this one.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 06, 2010, 06:17:05 AM
FAIL.  You should change that to Eddie Money or Eddie Money feat. Ronnie Spector.  In WMP the "Various Artists" should be the entry under Album Artist, not Contributing Artist.  *nitpick nitpick*


Semi-OT, I wanna read that seagull book, too.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 06, 2010, 11:54:54 PM
I actually already changed it. Noticed it after I took the screen grab as well. I ripped that directly from a CD and that's how it came off there. No idea why as it was the only one on the album that did.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 07, 2010, 03:23:16 AM
The Clocks of Iraz by  L. Sprague De Camp
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 11, 2010, 03:17:56 AM
I read another romance book, "Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It" by Lucy Monroe.  Books like these convince me more and more that anyone--be it me, Rama, E, anyone else here who writes, or a typing monkey for that matter--has hope of getting a book published.**  Stop now to avoid mini-rant:

It starts off pretty damn decently and as it progressed, that's when I looked at my scroll bar and realized there was too much of it left that it wasn't gonna be able to keep that pace up.  This thing just fell apart.  I would've cut this story off halfway and sold it to Harlequin.  Or, if I really had to go along with the 20 freaking chapters (NOTE: Harlequins are notoriously short and linger from 10 to 15 chapters at most), I would've expanded on the mystery of the corporate spy subplot.  The author introduces us to several potential spys at length, which would've been great if this were a mystery of some kind but I guess we were just supposed to care about these people enough to want to read about their boring bullshit.  Romances shouldn't have anyone besides the people neccessary for the story, so this annoyed me.  I would've even forgiven the typical eye-roll inducing foibles if this had been shorter and the extra people had been cut out.  Instead, Monroe pumps the story full of useless people, a mystery in which the most obvious person did it, another romance that is totally cheesy and has nothing to do with shit, drags "the chase and capture" out longer than she needed to, and gives us this freaking long ending filled with Noah Pairings--a book/movie/show/etc in which every fucking character has to have a mate like it's gonna rain for 40 days.  Even worse, this book is actually a sequel to another romance and that couple and this one have babies the same age of opposite genders who play with each other and I'm sure will be married in an equally meandering sequel or some shit.   ::) 


** But then again, I suppose one only has to look at Twilight.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Feb 16, 2010, 03:21:36 PM
Man I knew that would come up...


After some thought, No. But the N64 game was still boss.

You made me go to ebay to look for that game. I still have a perfectly good working N64 console. Gamestop doesn't sell N64 games anymore, I don't think.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Feb 16, 2010, 03:51:16 PM
Damn right they don't. I called them last week to ask if they sell the consoles or games but they said they stopped years ago :-(
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 16, 2010, 04:30:04 PM
Entertainmart and Movie Tradig Company are the places to go for old games in the dee eff dub, but I think those are not yet national chains. Also, CGX, but they are horribly expensive.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 16, 2010, 05:19:27 PM
Nothing like that in my town, but in Springfield (A town I try to visit at least once a month if I can.) has a Entertainmart which I think carries old N64 games still.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 16, 2010, 08:30:41 PM
They more than likely do.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Feb 16, 2010, 09:42:04 PM
Entertainmart and Movie Tradig Company are the places to go for old games in the dee eff dub, but I think those are not yet national chains. Also, CGX, but they are horribly expensive.
Never heard of those. Do they ship to your home?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 16, 2010, 10:02:25 PM
No, but chell Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_kk_1?rh=i:aps,k:n64&keywords=n64&ie=UTF8&qid=1266379300
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 16, 2010, 10:58:40 PM
They more than likely do.

Been trying to get down there for about three weeks now. Every time I make a plan to go it ends up snowing. Going to try to make there this weekend, but guess what's in the forecast? Snow. So we'll see, but if I do I was going to swing by there and try to find the last two bond movies I'm missing on DVD. I'll just look and see if they have them while I'm there.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Feb 17, 2010, 06:48:04 AM
Alan Brinkley's the End of Reform
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Feb 17, 2010, 07:35:58 AM
No, but chell Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_kk_1?rh=i:aps,k:n64&keywords=n64&ie=UTF8&qid=1266379300
400 bucks for a new one? fuuuuuuuuuck that. 33 bucks for a used one..thats good, that's like Ebay. But on Ebay they give it to you with controllers, vibration packs, memory packs, games, etc. I just can't make myself buy a used one, it gives me the creeps just to think what they could have done with it
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 17, 2010, 12:41:12 PM
The Tritonian Ring by L. Sprague de Camp
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 17, 2010, 02:02:39 PM
de Camp
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 17, 2010, 03:59:15 PM
 :-\
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 17, 2010, 05:24:42 PM
Would have been funnier if they were ring shaped like those chicken things from school lunches.

I am reading "How to Read Maya Glyphs," by Michael Coe.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 17, 2010, 05:28:10 PM
No, but chell Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_kk_1?rh=i:aps,k:n64&keywords=n64&ie=UTF8&qid=1266379300
400 bucks for a new one? fuuuuuuuuuck that. 33 bucks for a used one..thats good, that's like Ebay. But on Ebay they give it to you with controllers, vibration packs, memory packs, games, etc. I just can't make myself buy a used one, it gives me the creeps just to think what they could have done with it

I think the scarier part is the $349.99 for Goldeneye 007. I'm both glad we are getting Perfect Dark on XBLA, but its still sad to know we'll likely never see a re-release of Goldeneye.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 18, 2010, 12:16:43 AM
$350? Are you kidding? I saw that game at some gaming store a few years back for like 20 bucks. I didn't buy it cause 1. I didn't have a N64 anymore and 2. I though 20 bucks was too much for it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 18, 2010, 01:52:55 AM
Quote
I just can't make myself buy a used one, it gives me the creeps just to think what they could have done with it

Give it the once-over with a q-tip?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Feb 18, 2010, 03:12:54 PM
Do you think that'd be enough??????????
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 18, 2010, 03:30:12 PM
$350? Are you kidding? I saw that game at some gaming store a few years back for like 20 bucks. I didn't buy it cause 1. I didn't have a N64 anymore and 2. I though 20 bucks was too much for it.

Was it sealed in mint package? That is what they are selling for between $349.99 and $995.00. Used is selling for about $9 to a $110. Those that consider theirs to be "collectibles" between $17 and $88
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 18, 2010, 03:51:10 PM
Oh well that makes a lot more sense then. This was just the game, no box or manual.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 19, 2010, 08:17:28 PM
Do you think that'd be enough??????????

Or rub it all over with one of those Lysol wipes.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Feb 19, 2010, 08:37:59 PM
Que sexy!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Feb 21, 2010, 12:37:31 PM
Do you think that'd be enough??????????

Or rub it all over with one of those Lysol wipes.
Fuck Lysol, I use Clorox wipes with fresh lemon scent
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 21, 2010, 06:02:27 PM
I use Clorox too but I couldn't remember how to spell that.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Feb 23, 2010, 03:59:46 PM
Hah, I got Shadows of the Empire on ebay for the minimum bid amount... 99 cents. Was the only bidder. (Of course, there was also the $4 shipping...)

Now I'm considering what other games to buy. I'm totally considering Starfox and Conkers, since I haven't played either.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 23, 2010, 04:17:36 PM
Get Conker. Conker's Bad Fur Day is a really fun game.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Feb 23, 2010, 04:26:42 PM
Got Bioshock 2, but we are changing it for Alien vs Predator
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 23, 2010, 07:14:12 PM
Both of those games are exceptional, though Bioshock 2 is a bit of a grind game. It is kind of like playing Tower Defense over and over.

Regarding N64 games: Most of the St*r WarzzZZ games on N64 were exceptional. I loved Rogue Squadron and Shadows of the Empire.

Conker's Bad Fur Day is a GREAT choice. I do not think I ever beat it, but it is awesome and hilarious and totally against everything Nintendo stands for.

Other N64 games I liked: Mario Kart 64, Super Smash Bros, Banjo-Kazooie, etc.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 23, 2010, 11:45:18 PM
Oh yes Mario Kart. that's pure love right there.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 24, 2010, 01:24:42 AM
OT: I just finished "Reading the Maya Glyps," by Michael D. Coe. Pretty interesting. I do not think I can read the glyps properly, but given some time I can almost definitely write my name out phonetically.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Feb 24, 2010, 08:32:14 AM
Oh yes Mario Kart. that's pure love right there.
I was obsessed with playing Mario Kart. I also loved Mario 64, Goldeneye, Donkey Kong Country and ZELDA!! I actually got the new DSi just so I could play Mario 64. And then my heart broke when I found out they didnt have Ocarina of time :-(
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 24, 2010, 11:21:35 AM
I feel the same way about that, but Ocarina needed quite a few more buttons than Mario. They would have to rebuild it with touch controls, and it would not be the same game.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Feb 24, 2010, 07:48:42 PM
Wii has Ocarina of Time, either through download or the two Gamecube disks (I have both). When I put it up on my HD with the wireless, it's so cash.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 24, 2010, 09:02:32 PM
I heard that the two disc version was busted while playing on the Wii? My buddy bought me the download version, I still need to finish playing through it. I have never finished it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Feb 24, 2010, 09:37:46 PM
Well nothing bad's ever happened to mine.

I was watching a friend play Majora's mask, and it made me itch for it. I think I gotta play OoT first.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Feb 25, 2010, 08:17:02 AM
Wii has Ocarina of Time, either through download or the two Gamecube disks (I have both). When I put it up on my HD with the wireless, it's so cash.
NO SHIT.  wait, i dont have a wii. fuck. Maybe I can just d/l into my comp?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Feb 25, 2010, 08:40:16 AM
N64s should be cheap now. I have mine packed away only because it's not wireless.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Feb 26, 2010, 08:55:21 AM
Yeah they are cheap, but as I said before I get quezy just thinking about how they were used...there's many weirdos out there. And if a 007 game , mint condition, costs 350 bucks , I can just imagine how much a new n64 costs
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Feb 26, 2010, 09:16:07 AM
...I have a 007 game.

$ $ $
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 26, 2010, 07:10:38 PM
Yeah they are cheap, but as I said before I get quezy just thinking about how they were used...there's many weirdos out there. And if a 007 game , mint condition, costs 350 bucks , I can just imagine how much a new n64 costs

Cheapest new one on Amazon is $480. You can get them used for less than thirty. There are not that many weirdos out there that would actually do that sort of thing.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Feb 26, 2010, 07:45:11 PM
yeah but you never know which one you'll get! blah, its too late for me anyways. soon i wont even have time to wipe my own ass
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 26, 2010, 09:19:01 PM
I have made the decision that I am not going to worry about silly things like germs.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 26, 2010, 10:50:08 PM
yeah but you never know which one you'll get! blah, its too late for me anyways. soon i wont even have time to wipe my own ass

You best make time, missy!   :fingershake:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Feb 27, 2010, 06:41:51 PM
If I can find it, as far as I know everything is changing places down there right now. Everytime I move I can feel my pelvis cracking , its nasty lol
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Feb 28, 2010, 06:50:45 PM
Ah, the miracle of life. Wait, it's not a miracle. Fucking liars.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Mar 01, 2010, 03:44:49 PM
you guys are so lucky you don't have to go through all these body changes. but you'll suffer almost equally when your gf gets preggers bwahahaha
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Mar 02, 2010, 08:22:25 AM
Not if I feed her Plan B after every instance of coitus.

Yes, I know that would eventually kill her. I am being facetious.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Mar 02, 2010, 09:52:12 AM
Do it anyway?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Mar 02, 2010, 10:03:01 AM
Why? I have plenty of coathangers.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Mar 02, 2010, 10:19:26 AM
Oh, of course.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Mar 02, 2010, 03:40:34 PM
Not if I feed her Plan B after every instance of coitus.

Yes, I know that would eventually kill her. I am being facetious.
She'll bleed to death!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Mar 08, 2010, 08:12:39 PM
Damn, cheapest Conkers I can find on ebay's $40 bucks or so. Damn.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Mar 08, 2010, 08:49:11 PM
Seriously? I have seen it cheaper than that at a Gamestop before, but it was a few years ago.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Mar 08, 2010, 09:08:24 PM
I'm reading "The Prince".  Or at least Imma trying.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Mar 08, 2010, 10:16:21 PM
I am almost finished with Jurassic Park. It is interesting, yet preachy.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Mar 09, 2010, 11:02:58 AM
Warlock by Dean Koontz.

Been reading this for awhile. Just forgot to post it. Not really about a Warlock though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Mar 10, 2010, 09:53:43 PM
What a rip-off!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Mar 11, 2010, 12:43:10 AM
Yeah. It's kind of like a post apocalypse  world type thing where man has reverted back to like Dark Age level and forgot about all the cool stuff that human use to have, but then the bad guys find a stash of old tech beyond the Mountains and the good guys want to go get some too but they need this guy which is called a “Shaker” who has basically the same powers as your local fortune teller and is really more of a burden then a help, but he wants to know all about what they called “The Blank” which is the period of human history that everyone has forgot. I guess it’s one of those titles to draw you in, even if it doesn’t have anything to do with the story.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Mar 11, 2010, 12:58:54 AM
That kind of is what warlocks were. They had cool shit that other people did not understand so they made them selves out to be magicians and shit.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Mar 11, 2010, 01:13:50 AM
Yeah..but they are called Shakers here. So the book should be the "The Shaker" not "The Warlock". Plus I saw the movie Warlock before I read this book and I just pictured the duder from that movie through the whole book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Mar 13, 2010, 07:36:58 PM
Ha ha, shaker baby syndrome.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Mar 14, 2010, 03:17:12 AM
There is a brief mention of the origin of the name in the book. It was suppose to come from "Movers and Shakers". What the hell that had to do with psychic wizards is beyond me and they don't bother to make the connection in the book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Mar 14, 2010, 12:50:27 PM
So, uh, yeah, reading Lost World now.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Bernie AKA on Mar 19, 2010, 01:44:38 PM
Vampire Nation.  Finally someone figured out the prana/energy transferrence aspect.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Mar 19, 2010, 04:09:25 PM
Omha Abides by C.C. MacApp
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Mar 22, 2010, 11:05:34 PM
Dang, yew ppl done reed too dang fast!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Mar 23, 2010, 03:11:12 PM
I am reading Halo Evolutions because I am a silly fanboy.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Mar 24, 2010, 03:45:25 PM
Done with Omha Abides and now on to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction March/April issue.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Mar 24, 2010, 04:07:47 PM
Barbarian Virtues, Matthew Frye Jacobsen
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Bernie AKA on Apr 06, 2010, 01:00:52 PM
Started on the Dragon Knights manga courtesy of my bishonen - actually pretty funny.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 06, 2010, 07:00:37 PM
Anne McCaffrey's Dragonflight. I like it alright.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Bernie AKA on Apr 09, 2010, 03:17:39 PM
The World of Jeeves - P.G. Wodehouse
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 14, 2010, 04:15:49 PM
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by......you all know who it is by.


I actually wanted to read something new, but couldn't find anything at my limited choices in my near area, and with no trip out of town to go to better booksellers I just pulled this off the shelf since I'm still in a Fantasy mood.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 14, 2010, 08:26:29 PM
I am on the second Pern book, Dragonquest. She does a good job of making me think I am reading about dragons when it is really about some weird ass feudal politics.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on May 02, 2010, 01:44:25 AM
Finished Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, then read and finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and now on to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 28, 2010, 01:31:29 AM
Well now I'm on Deathly Hallows. I just got to the part when I realize that all the Harry Potter books take place in the 90s. I haven't this book since it first came out, and I had forgot all about that. It's strange to think that Harry Potter and I, are the same age.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jun 29, 2010, 05:20:55 PM
Creepy.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 29, 2010, 05:55:15 PM
And the Epilogue takes place in 2016. We should all go to London and see if we can see him that day.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jun 29, 2010, 11:37:36 PM
Where does it state the dates again?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 30, 2010, 12:08:20 AM
It's when Harry visits his mom and dad's grave. (Chapter 16: Godric's Hollow. Page 328 if you have the hard back American.) It shows the day they died as Oct. 31st 1981. It was stated that Harry was only a year old when his parents died. Thus he was born in July of 1980. Harry is turning 11 when the first book starts, which makes it July 1991. Which makes sense since that is around the time she was writing the book.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jun 30, 2010, 08:47:34 AM
Whats your next book? Twilight? hahaha it;d be funny to see you commenting on stuff like " I was really surprised when Edward decided to let Jacob blablalb"
DO IT.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 30, 2010, 11:41:39 AM
No. I won't touch the twilight stuff.

I'm actually reading Han Solo At Star's End. It was one of those EU novels before those become the lifeblood of all SW nerds. (I never cared for them myself.) But since this one was published in 79, a mere two years after the movie I decided to give it a chance.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jun 30, 2010, 04:29:48 PM
Is that one of the ones where he does stuff that seems out of character, like slave trading?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jun 30, 2010, 08:40:40 PM
Allies by Chrstine Golden. I liked it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jul 01, 2010, 12:02:25 AM
Is that one of the ones where he does stuff that seems of character, like slave trading?

No idea. Only a chapter and half into it. So far he's smuggled some weapons to some aliens and then escaped the planet.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jul 01, 2010, 10:00:46 AM
I'm not reading anything per se but trying to teach myself japanese. I have such a bad case of ADD, as soon as I open the book I start thinking about other stuff :-( Not only that but the only time I can study is at night and by then I'm so tired that I don't feel like doing anything else but sleep. Wtf am i going to do? btw im moving to japan so this needs to be done. Maybe some adderall? Does someone here has prescription for it?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jul 01, 2010, 10:01:01 AM
oh shit nm i cant adderall if im breastfeeding. fuck.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 01, 2010, 12:53:51 PM
I'm not reading anything per se but trying to teach myself japanese. I have such a bad case of ADD, as soon as I open the book I start thinking about other stuff :-( Not only that but the only time I can study is at night and by then I'm so tired that I don't feel like doing anything else but sleep. Wtf am i going to do? btw im moving to japan so this needs to be done. Maybe some adderall? Does someone here has prescription for it?
I might have a free copy of Rosetta Stone (open for anyone) of all their Japanese courses.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jul 01, 2010, 05:34:12 PM
i have books . hell, my husband is half japanese so even he can teach me. its just that i dont have the time and when i do, im too tired.  :-(
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 01, 2010, 08:17:42 PM
I'm not reading anything per se but trying to teach myself japanese. I have such a bad case of ADD, as soon as I open the book I start thinking about other stuff :-( Not only that but the only time I can study is at night and by then I'm so tired that I don't feel like doing anything else but sleep. Wtf am i going to do? btw im moving to japan so this needs to be done. Maybe some adderall? Does someone here has prescription for it?
I might have a free copy of Rosetta Stone (open for anyone) of all their Japanese courses.

For real?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 01, 2010, 09:38:33 PM
Of course. I run alot of black market things. :D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jul 02, 2010, 07:29:59 AM

I might have a free copy of Rosetta Stone (open for anyone) of all their Japanese courses.

For real?

*cough*weaboo*cough*
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 02, 2010, 07:54:07 AM
I have all the languages, including Farsi.

No one cares about Farsi unless Iran gets the nuke.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jul 02, 2010, 12:12:48 PM
darn how did you get them all, and whyżż
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 02, 2010, 12:41:35 PM
Downloaded them illegally. I actually had the University warn me when I did they knew I downloaded them via torrent and if I continued to share they would ban me from using their internet for a year. I lied my way out of the charges and I still have the files in one of my backup harddrives.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jul 02, 2010, 12:54:00 PM
Ha ha, excellent.

Whats your next book? Twilight?

Don't wish that upon even your greatest foe.

I wish I read more so I could participate in this thread.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jul 03, 2010, 01:58:01 PM
me too :'(
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 03, 2010, 02:35:38 PM
I listen to Books on Tape.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jul 03, 2010, 04:20:07 PM
While driving?  The last audio book I listened to was Bunnicula.  It was on a cassette tape.  And I was probably around eight or nine years old.  I remember in the early eighties, Merla and I had those little books that came with a small record.  Some of you fogier types should recall those.  Those were fun.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 03, 2010, 04:47:02 PM
We had some records, but no player.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 03, 2010, 04:48:28 PM
Whenever. iPods make listening to them easy as 123 abc.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jul 04, 2010, 01:02:00 AM
I remember in the early eighties, Merla and I had those little books that came with a small record.  Some of you fogier types should recall those.  Those were fun.

"You will know it is time to turn the page when you hear R2-D2 Beep like this..."

Yeah, I remember those.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 04, 2010, 01:23:52 AM
Your comment makes me wonder if you just listened to one.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jul 04, 2010, 01:32:49 AM
No, I had several. Both record and cassette ones. It's just that's the one I remembered best. Plus I had two that had that on it. Return of the Jedi and Droid World. I also had Mickey Mouse's Christmas Carol, The Story of Davey Cocket, Swiss Family Robinson, Peter Pan. And that is just off the top of my head. I had a lot of Disney ones.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jul 04, 2010, 05:32:37 PM
Ditto on the Disney ones.  The one I remember the most though was some generic one about Chicken Little.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jul 05, 2010, 01:03:06 AM
I seem to remember I got them in the mail or something. Like I got a Disney book a month or something like that.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jul 06, 2010, 09:33:55 AM
OH SHIT I had one of those too! it was the Beauty and the Beast one, it was AWESOME.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 06, 2010, 12:37:38 PM
Damn.

I sure do want to fuck some Disney princesses.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 06, 2010, 09:32:24 PM
Who doesn't?

Oh, Phage. That's right.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jul 06, 2010, 09:46:09 PM
Boo!  Old joke is old.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 06, 2010, 10:45:48 PM
S'not my fault he doesn't come around.

Now Rumble, that was my fault.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jul 06, 2010, 11:01:14 PM
Really?  I could've sworn that was my fault.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 06, 2010, 11:23:03 PM
Was it? I don't want to claim your work.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jul 07, 2010, 12:42:58 AM
It was my fault. Doesn't matter I wasn't here when it happened...still my fault. Everything is Rama's fault.  :blamerama:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jul 07, 2010, 02:01:25 AM
Not this one, plagarist.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jul 07, 2010, 10:06:34 AM
It was Tom's fault (said by Rumble himself) lol. He got a little too upset about what he said regarding that dutch murderer guy.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jul 07, 2010, 02:08:56 PM
"There's only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures and the Dutch."
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Jul 07, 2010, 06:07:32 PM
No. I won't touch the twilight stuff.

I'm actually reading Han Solo At Star's End. It was one of those EU novels before those become the lifeblood of all SW nerds. (I never cared for them myself.) But since this one was published in 79, a mere two years after the movie I decided to give it a chance.

I actually own an original copy of Splinter of the Mind's Eye which was the very first St*r WarzzZZ "EU" novel ever written (the first actual SW novel was the novelization of A New Hope). It was written before the first movie hit theaters and was planned as a possible low-budget sequel to the movie, but after Ep VI did so well they scrapped it and went with Empire instead, thankfully. The novel's all right but there are inconsistencies that clash with the later movies.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jul 07, 2010, 07:33:58 PM
It was Tom's fault (said by Rumble himself) lol. He got a little too upset about what he said regarding that dutch murderer guy.

WOW... I totally don't even remember that.  Which of the many Dutch murderers was this?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 07, 2010, 09:27:55 PM
The one murdered by Islamic Extremists, Van Gough's great nephew or whatever. Rumble's a whiney brat if that offended him. I didn't cut the guys head off in the name of he who shall not be named or else a bus explodes.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 07, 2010, 10:09:54 PM
Ep VI

Ep IV

I hate my life.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jul 08, 2010, 08:27:01 AM
The one murdered by Islamic Extremists, Van Gough's great nephew or whatever. Rumble's a whiney brat if that offended him. I didn't cut the guys head off in the name of he who shall not be named or else a bus explodes.
lol yeh. it took me sooo long to convine him to comr back and as soon as he does bang! tom says that and its bye bye rumble! the dutch really like their van   gogh huh
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 08, 2010, 11:44:12 AM
Bitchy primadonna. That Van Gough wasn't even that good at anything. There was not loss, he pissed on the wrong people to be edgy and ended up a martyr. I didn't even know who that was before this incident.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 08, 2010, 02:34:09 PM
When you said, "that Van Gogh," I was bout to open up a shit can. Then I figured out what you meant. And then I agreed with you.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jul 08, 2010, 02:46:17 PM
I actually own an original copy of Splinter of the Mind's Eye which was the very first Retard Wars "EU" novel ever written (the first actual SW novel was the novelization of A New Hope). It was written before the first movie hit theaters and was planned as a possible low-budget sequel to the movie, but after Ep VI did so well they scrapped it and went with Empire instead, thankfully. The novel's all right but there are inconsistencies that clash with the later movies.

I actually own a first printing of the novelization of the first movie. The one that says "Soon to be a major motion picture." on the cover and using concept art from the movie on the cover. Says it was written by George Lucas, but it was actually ghost written by someone else.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 08, 2010, 03:37:22 PM
Splinter of the Mind's Eye was awful. I remember hearing about it when I was younger, fresh off of reading the heir to the empire movies (friggin' kids don't realize how lucky they are now with all the comics, vidya games, and tv shows, etc.) and I thought that SotME was going to be awesome. It was horrid.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jul 08, 2010, 04:26:44 PM
When you said, "that Van Gogh," I was bout to open up a shit can. Then I figured out what you meant. And then I agreed with you.
Now that I think about it, Van Gogh looks like House. And no, I'm not obsessed.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 08, 2010, 08:38:57 PM
Gregory would never whine like a bitch.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Jul 08, 2010, 08:46:52 PM
Speaking of the Van Gogh guy, I'm not shedding tears over him but I think it's pathetic that he gets killed by some bitchy ass muslims who are offended by his work. Islam needs to take the fucking pinecone out of their asses and turn the other cheek.

Ep VI

Ep IV

I hate my life.
I suck at roman numerals.

I actually own a first printing of the novelization of the first movie. The one that says "Soon to be a major motion picture." on the cover and using concept art from the movie on the cover. Says it was written by George Lucas, but it was actually ghost written by someone else.
It was written by Alan Dean Foster, the same guy who wrote Splinter.

Splinter of the Mind's Eye was awful. I remember hearing about it when I was younger, fresh off of reading the heir to the empire movies (friggin' kids don't realize how lucky they are now with all the comics, vidya games, and tv shows, etc.) and I thought that SotME was going to be awesome. It was horrid.

I found it seemed kind of ... off. Such as Luke drooling over Leia and humping her leg, even though the movies show him having little interest in Leia because deep down he KNEW they were related (and all through the book I'm like EWWW INCEST!). And at the end of the novel Vader does this "Force Punch" where he makes a flying energy fist, something I've never seen him do in the movies (although I've heard of such a force powet mentioned in EU so it might be canon).  And then Vader falls down a deep pit which should have killed him, yet he's still alive for Empire?

Yea, I'm glad they went with Empire for the sequel.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jul 09, 2010, 09:40:38 PM
Ep VI

Ep IV

I hate my life.

Ha ha, good eye.  I always remember 4 as IV because I associate it with the soap, IVory.  I don't know why the fuck I started doing that but I never messed it up since.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blanktoe on Jul 18, 2010, 09:43:22 AM
I'm currently reading the post above this one. Now I'm proof reading this post.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jul 18, 2010, 08:01:05 PM
Je t'aimerais toujours. Its like a 2 minutes read but EVERYTIME I read it I baw at the end :'(
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 19, 2010, 12:09:42 AM
The Prince.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 19, 2010, 02:49:07 AM
I read some comic books earlier.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jul 19, 2010, 04:38:20 AM
Marie Claire magazine.  I know, I know.  Deep stuff.

I read some comic books earlier.

What comic books?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 19, 2010, 09:17:11 AM
Mostly Green Lantern stuff as well as the Brightest Day stuff. I also read Transformers and GI Joe books, but they seem to be wax and wane in quality by the month. I also read things that come highly suggested, such as Preacher (next month). Blah blah blah and some video game and movie licenses as well.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 19, 2010, 12:18:22 PM
Current X-Comics are so good. I choked up a bit when Cyclops looked at all the new mutant births and said "We were right". Golden moment.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blanktoe on Jul 19, 2010, 03:31:29 PM
Glad someone still likes the x-men books. Has Ellis's Astonishing X-men gotten any better?

Books I plan on buying/reading soon:
Absolute All Star Superman
Super God
Secret Avengers
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 19, 2010, 04:15:01 PM
Glad someone still likes the x-men books. Has Ellis's Astonishing X-men gotten any better?

Books I plan on buying/reading soon:
Absolute All Star Superman
Super God
Secret Avengers

No. It's an awful book, I avoid everything astonishing since Colossus came back to life.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 19, 2010, 04:35:05 PM
I can only think of one thing from Warren Ellis I like, and it only lasted twelve issues on purpose:

Nextwave.

And it was awesome.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blanktoe on Jul 20, 2010, 04:52:07 AM
No love for The Authority or Planetary?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 20, 2010, 12:56:56 PM
I have not read those.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jul 20, 2010, 01:27:54 PM
And I have not read any of those.  :happy:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jul 21, 2010, 04:50:55 PM
I want to read ALL of these books http://listverse.com/2008/09/29/top-10-most-disturbing-novels/
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blanktoe on Jul 21, 2010, 05:12:22 PM
I have not read those.
And I have not read any of those.  :happy:
from wikipedia
Planetary is an organization billing themselves as "Archaeologists of the Impossible", tracking down the world's secret history. Funded by the mysterious Fourth Man, who it is said could be anyone from Bill Gates to Adolf Hitler, the field team consists of three superhumans: Jakita Wagner, who is strong, fast and nearly invulnerable; The Drummer, who can detect and manipulate nearby information streams, most commonly used to manipulate computers and other electronics; the new recruit Elijah Snow, who can extract heat from nearby substances at will, freezing them; and the former third man Ambrose Chase, who has a "selective physics-distortion field".
The series is set in the Wildstorm Universe, along with other titles such as Stormwatch, The Authority, DV8 and Genął. Snow was born on January 1, 1900, as was Jenny Sparks of the Authority, and the two know each other. Planetary rarely crosses over with other Wildstorm series, although references are made to characters in other series, such as Henry Bendix from Stormwatch.
Planetary's field team travels the world investigating strange phenomena: monsters and other beings, unusual relics, other superhumans, and powerful secrets which certain individuals are trying to keep hidden from the rest of the world. Their purpose in doing this is partly curiosity, and partly to use what they learn for the betterment of mankind. There are, however, groups who oppose their goals, and the organization has a substantial history which is gradually revealed during the series.

The Authority, a team of superheroes who promised to get the job done by whatever means necessary. They were: Jenny Sparks, the Spirit of the 20th Century; Jack Hawksmoor, the king of cities; Swift, a Tibetan woman with wings and sharp talons; Apollo, a bio-engineered gay Superman pastiche; The Midnighter, a Batman pastiche who was the lover of Apollo and possessed the ability to foresee his opponents' moves in combat; The Engineer, a scientist who replaced her blood with nine pints of nano-technology; and the Doctor, a Dutch junkie with the combined powers of hundreds of shamans who had come before him.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Jul 21, 2010, 07:50:48 PM
We should have a "what video game are you playing", we already have every other type of "what are you" thread.

I just started on perfect dark for the first time, dragged my N64 out for it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 21, 2010, 09:25:46 PM
I started going through it on Xbox Live Arcade, but lost interest.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jul 22, 2010, 05:30:14 AM
I don't really play video games much these days.  Less so now that both of my consoles aren't working and I don't feel compelled to go an buy a new one at the moment.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jul 22, 2010, 05:33:31 AM
I want to read ALL of these books http://listverse.com/2008/09/29/top-10-most-disturbing-novels/

I wonder if the ending to Perfume the book is like the movie.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jul 22, 2010, 05:13:00 PM
What happened in the movie>??
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jul 22, 2010, 08:52:05 PM
Spoiler (hover to show)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jul 24, 2010, 06:29:30 PM
So its kind of like IT
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blanktoe on Jul 27, 2010, 01:00:47 PM
No...Perfume is better...and there's a lot more fucking.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Max Con on Jul 27, 2010, 02:28:59 PM
Perfume is one of the worst movies I've ever seen.


Just throwing that out there.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 27, 2010, 03:06:40 PM
I hate perfume.

Never seen the movie.

I just hate the smell of that shit.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jul 27, 2010, 03:48:08 PM
Its ok, you're a man. As long as you like cologne.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 27, 2010, 03:57:40 PM
I do not. I fucking hate fragrances. If it is only a little, it is not so bad. I honestly would rather smell a woman's musk than a bunch of chemicals.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jul 27, 2010, 04:53:25 PM
I agree with the hippie.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Max Con on Jul 27, 2010, 05:19:50 PM
9 out of 10 people put on way too much of the stuff.


I can't tell you how many people I've met who I could taste as soon as I entered the same room as them.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 27, 2010, 05:40:17 PM
So fucking gross. It smells like they left really fragrant soap on without rinsing.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 27, 2010, 07:36:51 PM
I wear Kenneth Cole Reaction. That's usually it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 27, 2010, 07:40:20 PM
Yeah, probably smells like the reaction that comes from his urine mixing with toilet water.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 27, 2010, 08:52:25 PM
Hur hur.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jul 28, 2010, 11:33:09 PM
I do not. I fucking hate fragrances. If it is only a little, it is not so bad. I honestly would rather smell a woman's musk than a bunch of chemicals.
Hahaha you;'re such a hippie.

I love perfumes. I don't want to sound racist or anything, but have you guys smell whatever it is that black women put in their dreads/ do's? goddamn I HATE that smell . It's like a sweet patchouli with something else, blah
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jul 29, 2010, 12:19:11 AM
So their hair smells like Stinkor?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 29, 2010, 01:14:25 AM
Faye, I do know what you are talking about, and it is also awful.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blanktoe on Jul 29, 2010, 05:25:16 AM
I do not. I fucking hate fragrances. If it is only a little, it is not so bad. I honestly would rather smell a woman's musk than a bunch of chemicals.
Hahaha you;'re such a hippie.

I love perfumes. I don't want to sound racist or anything, but have you guys smell whatever it is that black women put in their dreads/ do's? goddamn I HATE that smell . It's like a sweet patchouli with something else, blah

I forgot what it's called but yes, that shit fucking stinks.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 29, 2010, 05:42:46 AM
Fried Chicken and Grape soda?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jul 29, 2010, 08:31:50 AM
I can't tell you how many people I've met who I could taste as soon as I entered the same room as them.

Ha, yeah.  I've had people do little else than pass me by and it makes me nauseous.  You can, like, almost see the accompanying Pig Pen cloud.  But still, I'd rather taste some man-ho's Axe bodyspray or some old lady loaded on plumeria than b.o., piss/poo, or halitosis.  Reminds of me of Merla who could actually smell fucking off of some of the library patrons.  Wash afterwards plox.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 29, 2010, 10:55:03 AM
I do spray some Axe occasionally.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 29, 2010, 12:15:21 PM
I do not.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 29, 2010, 03:13:34 PM
You should, your BO is getting quite offensive.

Worst BO ever were these three Indian (not Native American) club kids who got into an elevator with me. The smell, concentrated in that small space, nearly made me die. I asked them if they showered, but they only answered back in Greek or whatever language it was. BLECH.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 29, 2010, 03:23:58 PM
Indians speeking Greek. Lulz.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 29, 2010, 07:46:53 PM
It wasn't Hindi, I know what that sounds like from working with pharmacists for 4 years.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 29, 2010, 07:49:56 PM
It was very likely a regional language. Hindi is sort of like a business language, known by most of the population. Similar to how the Arab-Muslim world speaks Arabic, but they all have regional languages.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 29, 2010, 09:51:41 PM
Duh. Thus, Greek. Who cares? They stunk.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 30, 2010, 11:18:05 AM
But that is not right.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Jul 30, 2010, 11:28:54 AM
Why does it have to be? You've never heard, it's Greek to me?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 30, 2010, 12:01:04 PM
But that is not right.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jul 30, 2010, 12:39:34 PM
And it's so sad when it rains Cats and Dogs outside. Those poor, poor, animals.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jul 30, 2010, 12:53:34 PM
I'm reading "Heir to the Empire". But I don't want to be. I'm not to fond of these book, nor the vast fan love they entertain. I ended up with a few copies just cause people knew I like StarWars and gave them to me. Actually never read them. Hope to find something else tonight to read so I can throw this one back up on the shelf.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jul 30, 2010, 06:18:25 PM
Indians speeking Greek. Lulz.

Ha ha, agree.

I'm reading "Heir to the Empire". But I don't want to be. I'm not to fond of these book, nor the vast fan love they entertain. I ended up with a few copies just cause people knew I like StarWars and gave them to me. Actually never read them. Hope to find something else tonight to read so I can throw this one back up on the shelf.

I forgot this thread was about buks.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jul 30, 2010, 11:58:03 PM
I was lucky. I got the July/Aug issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. That's what I'll be reading tonight instead.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blanktoe on Aug 05, 2010, 05:54:42 AM
I would be reading Absolute All-Star Superman right now but I'm broke.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Aug 05, 2010, 07:19:42 AM
rs.4chan.org
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Aug 05, 2010, 12:48:54 PM
I would be reading Absolute All-Star Superman right now but I'm broke.

Holy crap! (http://www.amazon.com/Absolute-Star-Superman-Grant-Morrison/dp/1401229174)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blanktoe on Aug 05, 2010, 01:02:36 PM
rs.4chan.org

'preciate it!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Aug 05, 2010, 01:03:34 PM
What's rs?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blanktoe on Aug 05, 2010, 01:29:32 PM
rapid shares
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Aug 05, 2010, 04:05:06 PM
Of pr0n?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Aug 05, 2010, 04:12:55 PM
Probably.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Aug 05, 2010, 04:20:42 PM
That answer isn't good enough!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Sep 08, 2010, 12:27:23 PM
I've been reading Dungeons & Dragons for Dummies. Yes, this book actually exists. Yes, thankfully it's for the 3.5 version of D&D.

Why am I reading it? I have never played D&D before and a friend heard that and decided to drag me to his gaming group, which comprises of anywhere between 4-6 overweight nerds playing D&D all night long and proving why D&D geeks are considered the bottom of the barrel, just above furries.

Since they just stuck me in the game and I'm confused half the time on what to do, I picked up this book from the library so I can learn how to properly play D&D.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Sep 08, 2010, 12:53:03 PM
Is it helping?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Sep 08, 2010, 01:11:56 PM
Remember, saving throws don't work in real life.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Sep 09, 2010, 08:10:27 PM
I'm reading /studying kanjis, yay.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Sep 09, 2010, 09:22:24 PM
I'm reading /studying kanjis, yay.
Want Genki / the college standard textbook? I have it in PDF form and all the audio lessons as mp3s.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Sep 10, 2010, 06:39:27 AM
I'm reading smut.  :nuriyes:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Sep 10, 2010, 12:41:54 PM
Oh yeah this thread was about reading. I just finished Marvel: 1602.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Sep 11, 2010, 09:21:28 PM
Began Batgirl: Year One.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blanktoe on Sep 12, 2010, 03:08:25 PM
Blacksad 01- Somewhere In The Shadows and Blacksad 02 - Arctic North
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Sep 12, 2010, 08:05:20 PM
I'm reading /studying kanjis, yay.
Want Genki / the college standard textbook? I have it in PDF form and all the audio lessons as mp3s.
Oh thanks but I have that one on paperback with the cd. Did you study japanese?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Sep 12, 2010, 09:45:34 PM
...resisting urge to be an ass.

*drinks some 7up*

Por supesto!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Sep 13, 2010, 09:30:31 PM
I don't get it
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Sep 13, 2010, 10:23:55 PM
It's a David Spade commericial. I now realize how horrible that was.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Sep 13, 2010, 10:32:25 PM
Oh thanks but I have that one on paperback with the cd. Did you study japanese?

He meant to say "Hai, I did desu."


Blacksad 01- Somewhere In The Shadows and Blacksad 02 - Arctic North

Dude, I bought both of those and the sketch files and it turns out Dork Horse is releasing them in a collection with the third one: Red Soul.  Goddamn double dip!  Screw that.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Sep 14, 2010, 05:38:40 AM
He meant to say "Hai, I did desu."

That is awful grammar.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blanktoe on Sep 14, 2010, 01:56:56 PM
Blacksad 01- Somewhere In The Shadows and Blacksad 02 - Arctic North

Dude, I bought both of those and the sketch files and it turns out Dork Horse is releasing them in a collection with the third one: Red Soul.  Goddamn double dip!  Screw that.

The Sketch Files? I needs that! How much did you pay for it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Sep 15, 2010, 07:24:13 PM
I was gonna say I didn't remember but it turns out I left the packing slip or whatever in the book.  I bought it on April 16, 2006 for $9.97 at Amazon.  :)

Looks like the Dark Horse hard cover has smaller artwork and doesn't include the sketch files.  That's kind of balls.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Oct 22, 2010, 01:52:08 AM
Interview with the Vampire. But I'm almost done with it.

My mom is reading The Girl with Dragon Tattoo and she said she'd let me borrow it after she was done, but since I finish like 4 books for everyone 1 she reads I doubt it'll be my next book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Oct 22, 2010, 02:05:48 AM
The Road to Serfdom
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Oct 22, 2010, 03:05:13 AM
My mom is reading The Girl with Dragon Tattoo and she said she'd let me borrow it after she was done, but since I finish like 4 books for everyone 1 she reads I doubt it'll be my next book.

I've been meaning to read that.




Getting back to Blacksad, the fourth one's floating about.  I read it online and I have to say it's the weakest one.  I think the best is #2, #1, #3, and then this one.  Art's still pretty fly though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Oct 22, 2010, 03:37:03 AM
China Mieville's Kraken. Good so far, about halfway through it. Imaginative and light but not boring by any sense of the word. It would make a good movie/show/miniseries I think.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Oct 24, 2010, 02:26:36 AM
I was reading the Name of the Wind, but I got sidetracked.

By vidjamuhgames! Yeeeeeehaaaw! :headbang:

I've been contemplating "The Girl" trilogy, since the entertainment media has decided IT'S IMPORTANT AND WE MUST ALL CONSUME IT IN EVERY SHAPE AND FORM, but I'll probably just wait for the Hollywood version to hit basic cable.

Nah, I don't really care about it.

That Blacksad jive youse guys mentioned looks pretty amazing, gotta check that out.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Oct 25, 2010, 10:48:53 AM
I've been contemplating the Millennium Trilogy, since the entertainment media has decided IT'S IMPORTANT AND WE MUST ALL CONSUME IT IN EVERY SHAPE AND FORM, but I'll probably just wait for the Hollywood version to hit basic cable.

Fixed it for you.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Oct 25, 2010, 06:14:35 PM
Grr. I'll fix you.

This is the only Millennium I recognize:

(http://i53.tinypic.com/2ptwbj5.jpg)

Wait, this one as well:

(http://i52.tinypic.com/atuec8.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Oct 25, 2010, 09:11:28 PM
Holy fuck, I wanna eat dat cookie.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Oct 25, 2010, 09:23:10 PM
Me too.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Oct 25, 2010, 10:56:02 PM
Is that real?  Did they actually make those?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Oct 25, 2010, 11:13:10 PM
Nah, it was a custom job by some chick. For all I know that's the only one that ever existed.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Oct 25, 2010, 11:20:16 PM
 :vaderno:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Oct 25, 2010, 11:29:57 PM
Hahaha.

I'm curious about that image. Was that from an official adaptation, or is it a parody?

I guess it could even be photoshopped.

It's just that the "NOOOOOO!!!" looks so comical. I mean, the scene in the movie was comical, but not intentionally.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Oct 26, 2010, 12:43:52 AM
I think that's official.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Oct 26, 2010, 10:06:28 AM
I don't know.  I hope it's legit.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Oct 26, 2010, 07:41:10 PM
So since my undiagnosed ADD kicks in everytime I want to open a book to study japanese, I decided I'm going to hire a teacher. I just need to fight the ADD that kicks in again everytime I want to call to set up the appt.
Why can't we get a machine like they had in Demolition man, that will give me all the knowledge while sleeping?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Oct 26, 2010, 07:46:37 PM
Have you tried Rosetta Stone?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Oct 26, 2010, 07:47:24 PM
So since my undiagnosed ADD kicks in everytime I want to open a book to study japanese, I decided I'm going to hire a teacher. I just need to fight the ADD that kicks in again everytime I want to call to set up the appt.
Why can't we get a machine like they had in Demolition man, that will give me all the knowledge while sleeping?

The theory is that this would not work very well because your mind would be worn out from thinking while sleeping.

However, recall that they used to have those language tapes that you listen to while sleeping.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Oct 26, 2010, 09:45:51 PM
You could always go to Recall and pay for implanted memories.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Oct 27, 2010, 03:17:28 AM
Have you tried Rosetta Stone?
It wouldn't work for the same reason that me studying by myself doesn't work. Add to that that I'm generally very tired by the time I'm finally "free" (meaning Lilli is sleeping). My lessons would be through Skype
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Oct 27, 2010, 04:03:56 PM
Get a teacher to do it in person and they can slap you everytime you don't pay attention.  It'll be hot AND educational.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Oct 27, 2010, 06:01:09 PM
What if it is an ugly teacher?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Oct 27, 2010, 07:45:42 PM
Get a teacher to do it in person and they can slap you everytime you don't pay attention.  It'll be hot AND educational.
Can't cause she'd have to come here and its a pain to concentrate with the baby and someone else here. Hence why the lessons would b at 10pm
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Oct 27, 2010, 09:30:14 PM
Whose baby? I didn't know you babysat.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Oct 27, 2010, 09:59:16 PM
She had a baby, dude. She lives in Japan and got married, too.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Oct 27, 2010, 10:24:42 PM
Really? Is her husband Japanese? Is her baby half-Japanese?

Is this Faye's husband?

(http://i53.tinypic.com/2cgeoud.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Oct 28, 2010, 12:50:22 AM
"Hai! I yo baby daddy!"
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Oct 28, 2010, 12:55:17 AM
God, he's such a WWII-era racist caricature. :laugh:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Oct 28, 2010, 01:37:03 AM
Her husband's like half-Japanese or something.  So her baby's Dean Cain.  But a girl.  And a ninja.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Oct 28, 2010, 02:41:06 AM
What's his other half?

Mexican?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Oct 28, 2010, 03:24:01 AM
From one of the equatorial countries, IIRC...Peru?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Oct 28, 2010, 03:40:25 AM
Whose baby? I didn't know you babysat.
lol you are such a douche, so because im latin it means im someone's babysitter? nigga i aint no babysitter, those biatches work for ME. (some day they will at least).

He's half jap and half german, all of the US' biggest enemies rolled into one.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Oct 28, 2010, 01:28:14 PM
I think the more likely stereotype would be that because you are Latin you have multiple children.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Oct 28, 2010, 03:42:49 PM
Or the stereotype of you weren't pregnant last time he was on the board. Catches 'em every time.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Oct 28, 2010, 04:06:47 PM
That is not a stereotype, that is regular logic.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Oct 28, 2010, 05:36:51 PM
He's half jap and half german, all of the US' biggest enemies rolled into one.

Too bad he didn't have some Italian, too.  Then he'd have the whole Axis Powers thang goin' on.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Oct 28, 2010, 08:14:03 PM
lol Nuri Italy doesn't count for anything. The only thing they are good at is making purses
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Oct 28, 2010, 08:25:11 PM
And pizza, and spaghetti, and such.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Oct 28, 2010, 11:37:14 PM
And... Jersey Shore.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Oct 28, 2010, 11:58:56 PM
And there was that whole Roman thing.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blanktoe on Oct 29, 2010, 06:04:57 AM
dont forget they killed Jesus too!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Oct 29, 2010, 07:08:59 AM
Those were the jews bro, didn't you listen to Mel Gibson?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Oct 29, 2010, 04:06:01 PM
Nobody's gonna listen to him anymore.  He's cra-zay!  In fact, we all call him "Crazy Old Maurice".  And he's always good for a laugh.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Oct 29, 2010, 08:31:30 PM
dude...MEL GIBSON IS AWESOME. He'll never stop being awesome! I think people that call him racist are hypocrites. Come on, who hasnt laughed at the "you go to the bronx ? YOU GUN GET RAEPD" joke before? He just said it out loud, that was his problem.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Oct 29, 2010, 08:48:25 PM
That is why different that on multiple occasions, in a drunken stupor, insulting another race. He was not joking, he fucking meant it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Oct 29, 2010, 11:42:24 PM
As if he's the only asshole celebrity in the world. It's enough for his ex-wife and ex-slut to take him to the cleaners.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Oct 30, 2010, 01:37:27 AM
I just wish he'd shut and make another Mad Max movie, but I doubt that will happen.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Oct 30, 2010, 01:49:55 AM
Honestly, yeah, that would be fucking awesome.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Oct 30, 2010, 07:25:51 PM
That is why different that on multiple occasions, in a drunken stupor, insulting another race. He was not joking, he fucking meant it.
Dude I've seen many many many guys making racist jokes when drunk. They just don't get into shit cause they're not famous.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Oct 31, 2010, 12:04:27 AM
That is why different that on multiple occasions, in a drunken stupor, insulting another race. He was not joking, he fucking meant it.

Honestly, I don't have problems with what he's said.  He's a crass moron like me.  Unfortunately, he seems fond of painting a giant target on his back and now he's kinda a joke.  I guess he just comes off too arrogant for his own good?  I mean, Charlie Sheen does shit and everyone's all "LOL, oh dat Charlie ;D" but Mel does shit and it's all "Oh, that Mel :finger:"

As if he's the only asshole celebrity in the world. It's enough for his ex-wife and ex-slut to take him to the cleaners.

Laundry Day, Riggs.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Oct 31, 2010, 03:07:08 AM
The difference is that Sheen is off fucking whores and this Gibson is making fun of Jews.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Oct 31, 2010, 10:04:11 PM
Yeah, he's making fun of them, not gassing them in his basement.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Nov 01, 2010, 12:21:10 AM
Who doesn't make fun of jews, black people, latin people, ANY people? He said some shit about wetbacks too, and I don't care. He's still awesome IMO
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 01, 2010, 01:38:34 AM
You ever see white people try to dance?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Nov 01, 2010, 03:19:04 PM
Whatever. Fuck Gibson, but I still like his movies.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Nov 01, 2010, 05:33:45 PM
You don't have to be lynching people to be a racist, but it helps.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 02, 2010, 01:16:36 AM
Definetely.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 02, 2010, 01:32:03 AM
What if you lynch people, but you lynch people of all races and faiths?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Derrick on Nov 02, 2010, 06:46:25 AM
THEN YOU'RE A GOVENRMENT! Hahaha, political humor.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 02, 2010, 03:58:18 PM
:lmao:  +100 pellets to you, sir.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 13, 2010, 01:49:40 AM
I know I should be reading something but I'm not.  I read the paper sometimes and stuff off the internet and I've been meaning to pick up more books but alas.  Anyone reading any good books this month?  Or even hilariously bad ones?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 13, 2010, 02:22:28 AM
I just finished "The Queen of the Damned" and plan to steal "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" to read next.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Nov 13, 2010, 02:36:22 AM
I just finished "The Queen of the Damned"

Ugh.

Remember the movie?

Ugh.

Ugh.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 13, 2010, 02:41:05 AM
Yes. I saw it in the theater. Only time I actually saw someone walk out of a movie.

The Book is....eh...in fact Rice seems to have lost some king of edge between Interview and Lestat, and continues to lose it through this book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 13, 2010, 02:45:41 AM
Don't shoot me but I LOVED "Queen of the Damned".  Yes, yes, the movie.  I haven't read the book.  I dunno why I like it.  I just do.




























*taps mic*

♫ I've been hearing your heartbeat inside of me
I keep your photograph beside my bed
Livin' in a world of fantasies
I can't get you out of my head uh
I've been waiting for the phone to ring all night
Why you wanna make me feel so good
I got a love of my own babe
I shouldn't get so hung up on you

I remember the way that we touch
I wish I didn't like it so much uh

I get so emotional baby
Everytime I think of you
I get so emotional baby
Ain't it shocking what love can do
Ain't it shocking what love can do
Ain't it shocking what love can do.... ♫ ♫ ♪
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 13, 2010, 02:48:55 AM
It's close to the book...the movie is a really, really compressed version of the book The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned. Although there was a lot of shit in Queen of the Damned that could be cut. Yeah I don't give two shits about Baby Jenks. I really don't.

Like all the stuff up to the concert comes from The Vampire Lestat, and the rest for Queen of the Damned.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 13, 2010, 02:50:15 AM
You must've explained this to me before like twice before and yet I'm still lost.  Drugs are a helluva drug.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Nov 13, 2010, 02:50:27 AM
I could just slap you guys for reminding me of this movie right now. I could just slap, slap, slap you.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 13, 2010, 02:53:51 AM
You must've explained this to me before like twice before and yet I'm still lost.  Drugs are a helluva drug.

Well if you'd just listen once. And if your memory span wasn't so short.

And on a related note, while i didn't like the movie so much...the soundtrack was awesome.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 13, 2010, 02:56:32 AM
I could just slap you guys for reminding me of this movie right now. I could just slap, slap, slap you.

(http://www.rabbitinasuit.com/emoticons/R-T/slap.gif) Got you first.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Nov 13, 2010, 03:03:51 AM
I hate you guys. I'm getting addicted to this shit again.

Why did I come back? Why?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 13, 2010, 03:08:39 AM
See Beck..it's turning up 99 again. Just like I said.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 13, 2010, 03:12:14 AM
I hate you guys. I'm getting addicted to this shit again.

Why did I come back? Why?

Just like old times, eh?  Oh, oh, you know who I saw post at Powet.  Rumble.  Time to organize the Sphere Reunion Show.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 13, 2010, 03:20:40 AM
Didn't Rumble leave in a huff or something. Might be hard to get him to show up again.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Nov 13, 2010, 03:22:29 AM
Just like old times, eh?  Oh, oh, you know who I saw post at Powet.  Rumble.  Time to organize the Sphere Reunion Show.

Dude, I totally saw that too!

I was like, "That can't be Rumble Rumble. No way."

And I'm still not sure it is.

Didn't Faye know Rumble? Isn't he the one who brought her here? If not, why do I think that?

By "here" I mean your domain. Obviously not this place specifically since it's relatively new in the grand scheme.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 13, 2010, 03:24:40 AM
In more ways than one since it's a completely new host and domain.  And I think he might've but I don't really remember these things.   ;D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 13, 2010, 03:28:29 AM
See, short memory span.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 13, 2010, 03:37:41 AM
And yet I still remember Gerry.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 13, 2010, 03:39:15 AM
That's good cause I don't.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 13, 2010, 03:47:12 AM
He was some dude who was a co-worker of mine for about a month or two who shook my hand so hard he permanently embedded himself in my brain so I still recall him years after he ceased to be relevant.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 13, 2010, 03:48:29 AM
Well that would be why I don't remember him.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 13, 2010, 04:01:07 AM
Précisément.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Nov 13, 2010, 04:21:22 AM
See, I shouldn't have said "domain" because that's also an internet term and as such is confusing in this context.

Demesne. There. That works.

Seriously though, I always thought Rumble was one of those people who moved on with his life and internet people are now below his notice.

Even though everyone is internet people now.

Have you guys noticed this?

Ever since Facebook got all big, it's like all these people are discovering the shit we've been up to for the past decade, only for the first time.

I read comments by people on Facebook, people I know in real life, and I'm all, "Good Christ, they're fucking internet people. Now they're all internet people."

The misspellings and horrible grammar, the constant, unnecessary LOLing.

It sickens me to know this is the truth of all humanity.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 13, 2010, 04:23:43 AM
Facebook killed everything I loved, but yet I use it like a good little whore.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 13, 2010, 04:26:53 AM
But the internet's always had a great deal of idiots to begin with.  The scary thing is that some people are posting things that remind me of myself ten or so years ago and I want to tell them not to do it because they won't get lucky enough to have 90% of that shit nuked.  It's gonna last the test of fucking time now.  I mean, we were the test run generation.  These days, any monkey can find that shit and most places come with a button or something to stick that thing on Facebook immediately.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Nov 13, 2010, 04:52:41 AM
That's why I've never even gone near Facebook. I mean, other than looking over someone's shoulder when they're using it.

My internet shenanigans and reality must never collide.

Even though, technically this is all real, but you know what I mean.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 13, 2010, 04:59:19 AM
So where abouts in Canada are you again?  *opens tab to Facebook*
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Nov 13, 2010, 05:19:42 AM
:vaderno:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 13, 2010, 05:23:03 AM
*types*  Let's see, that was like the vampire, right?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Nov 13, 2010, 05:49:29 AM
Snap!

Although, Google has made me realize there are far more of us than I had once believed.

Needle in a haystack por joo!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 13, 2010, 03:03:13 PM
Please tell me you are not the first hit I got for some place called "Rammstein Music".
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Nov 15, 2010, 07:21:57 PM
That's why I've never even gone near Facebook. I mean, other than looking over someone's shoulder when they're using it.

My internet shenanigans and reality must never collide.

Paranoid much? What internet "shenanigans" are yout alking about????
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 15, 2010, 08:11:53 PM
He's talking about the hidden art of Choo-Woo.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Nov 15, 2010, 08:44:43 PM
You're not the only who's starred in a load of skin flicks, Faye.

My crowning achievement was probably Dinocock vs. Tittysaurus.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Nov 16, 2010, 12:45:36 AM
Rumble was one of the original BONR posters. I figured he pulled a Chronoscythe and got uppity and only has fleeting contact with the online townies he used to post drunk stories for.

But the Facebook stuff...it's basically a giant message board of n00bies for newbies. And I'm with joe....I'm not going hog-wild on a site half my family looks at.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 17, 2010, 12:54:00 AM
You're not the only who's starred in a load of skin flicks, Faye.

My crowning achievement was probably Dinocock vs. Tittysaurus.

And you were Tittysaurus.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 17, 2010, 12:59:20 AM
The Novelization of The Empire Strikes Back.

I'm so afraid The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is going to disappoint since it's been so hyped, that I'm actually putting off reading it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Nov 17, 2010, 11:56:04 AM
And instead you are reading the novelization of a movie.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 17, 2010, 12:27:42 PM
Yep. I've seen the movie and I know I like it. No room for disappointment.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Nov 17, 2010, 03:29:13 PM
I guess I can't fault you. I read video game adaptations.

And I've read plenty of the St*r WarzzZZ books, just not the movie novelizations.

You could be disappointed with the writing.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Nov 17, 2010, 10:54:35 PM
I read the Crisis on Infinite Earths and Kingdom Come novels a couple years back.

Yes, those were comic book novelizations.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 17, 2010, 11:27:17 PM
You could be disappointed with the writing.

It's not great, but when its not it makes me feel better about my own chances.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 18, 2010, 09:44:30 PM
Ha ha, same here.  Whenever I think I'm a hack, I go read somebody else's stuff.  Self esteem boost!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 19, 2010, 12:47:39 AM
Exactly. This guy got published, so it can't be that hard.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 02, 2010, 12:37:05 AM
Dune. My favorite book of all time, but not one I read often as it's kind of hard work to read it. It's not a nice, non-thinking throw away book. You gotta be fully invested in it to read it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 02, 2010, 03:56:22 PM
I love Dune as well. I have read every book in the series including the ones his son did with Kevin J Anderson. I still love his original books as a whole more than the rest, but they had some great characters and concepts in the extended series as well.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 02, 2010, 04:16:53 PM
You know what I didn't like about those later books his kid did, that he took the concepts his father did and twisted them to support his own story. That whole bit about the old woman and man really being Evermind and Earamus from his own books kinda pissed me off.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 02, 2010, 04:55:56 PM
I could see that upsetting, yes.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 02, 2010, 05:31:07 PM
I mean I have no idea what Frank Herbert originally had in mind. He never got the chance to finish it, but I don't think his son knew what he had in mind there either to be honest.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 02, 2010, 07:59:58 PM
I could have sworn he had a large pile of notes from Herbert Sr, and I thought that was where all the writings were from, or perhaps that was only for a couple of the books he did.

Or maybe I am thinking of Tolkein's Children of Hurin (which is actually an excellent book).
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 02, 2010, 11:19:52 PM
There was a 40 page treatment he wrote for Dune 7, that they then turned into two books. So there was a lot padding there.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 06, 2010, 10:40:16 PM
Done with Dune, now reading Dune: Messiah.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Dec 06, 2010, 11:56:41 PM
Or maybe I am thinking of Tolkein's Children of Hurin (which is actually an excellent book).

I enjoyed that one, as well, but I imagine it'd be pretty hard to get into for anyone who hasn't read Silmarillion yet.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 07, 2010, 12:12:59 PM
Do you think? I had read the Silmarillion, but I did not think it helped me all that much.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Dec 08, 2010, 02:16:40 AM
Well, Silmarillion is hard to get into unless you've read Silmarillion first.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 08, 2010, 11:21:23 AM
Well, Silmarillion is hard to get into unless you've read Silmarillion first.

QFT
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 17, 2010, 12:06:05 AM
Finished Dune: Messiah.

Now I'm reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I've tried to read this before and didn't like it and stopped, and now I've returned to it and am giving it a second go. Not really liking it again so far, but I may just finish it to say I've read it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 19, 2010, 10:15:28 PM
Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies.  The graphic novel.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 20, 2010, 01:02:31 AM
Yeah, didn't make it through it again. Instead I am now reading The Coming of Conan the Cimmeria by Robert E. Howard. It's a collection of Conan short stories.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 20, 2010, 03:59:09 PM
Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies.  The graphic novel.

Ohhh, they did a GN? I actually enjoyed the book, but I think it was only due to the zombies.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 20, 2010, 09:22:31 PM
Yep, they did.  I haven't read the book for PP&Z, but I am a fan of the original story.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 12, 2011, 01:49:04 PM
The Complete Sherlock Homes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

I think I'll be on this one for awhile...it's over a thousand pages and the text is a very small font. A Study in Scarlet ends on page 68. That's how small the text is.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 12, 2011, 04:11:48 PM
Halo: Cryptum, the first in the Forerunner Saga. I am enjoying enough to have gotten through almost halfway in a few days.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 15, 2011, 12:05:01 AM
The Complete Sherlock Homes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

I think I'll be on this one for awhile...it's over a thousand pages and the text is a very small font. A Study in Scarlet ends on page 68. That's how small the text is.

You reminded me that I have a copy of the Hound of Baskervilles so I started reading it at work.  This job leaves a lot of time for reading.  I got halfway through it so I'll hopefully finish it tomorrow.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 15, 2011, 12:54:06 AM
Damn, I want your job. Course I've got in the habit for reading for hour or two before I go to sleep. I actually don't think I could go to sleep without doing it now.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 15, 2011, 07:15:09 PM
I tend to read my own stuff before I go to sleep.  I used to sometimes read other people's stuff but if something in it didn't set right with me or made me angry, I'd just go to sleep angry or thinking about it for a good part of the night. Which I guess sometimes helped me go to sleep but not if I was angry about it.  It has to be something I've already read and that I know I like.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 16, 2011, 12:15:23 AM
I could never read my own stuff before going to bed. I'd keep me up all night thinking about what I could have done better. The lamp would keep snapping on and I'd be back at with the red pen. As soon as I though I got it the way I wanted it, something else would come up and I'd be back at it.

I do need to write more and read less though, or at least write as much as I read. Which I'm not doing at the moment.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 17, 2011, 03:57:45 PM
Remember with your own writing, at some point, you just have to say it's finished and never correct it again.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Jan 17, 2011, 11:27:41 PM
My Kindle gets here tomorrow, at which point I will go Kindle kuh-raaaaaazeeeeee!

Finished reading The Name of the Wind, which was way better than I anticipated. It came out like three or four years ago, so I figured now I'll read the sequel, but AAAAAAHHH it's not out yet! March, I think, which is pretty sweet timing. Anyway, in a nutshell the book is like a more adult, badass version of Harry Potter, but that's kind of selling it short. I have to tell you though, every time the protagonist's college rival shows up all I could see was that fucking Draco Malfoy actor and it pissed me off and made me laugh at the same time, every time.

And The Crippled God comes out at the end of February and you damn well better believe I'm gonna shotgun that shit. If any epic fantasy series needs to be picked up as a film franchise, it's the Malazan Book of the Fallen. But it would have to be like 30 movies to get all the good stuff in there so it won't ever happen.

Which reminds me, HBO's Game of Thrones starts in April! Gonna be fucking sweet! George R.R. Martin needs to release A Dance With Dragons already, damn it!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 17, 2011, 11:44:38 PM
Remember with your own writing, at some point, you just have to say it's finished and never correct it again.

Yeah, I really fuck myself over at that stage which is probably why all of my stories are swiss cheese with not enough parts for anyone else to understand the entire plot.


Also, lol, that cover: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Name_of_the_Wind
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Jan 17, 2011, 11:51:21 PM
Haha! Wow, that's... pretty ugly. But still better than the generic one I got:

(http://i54.tinypic.com/6yp8a8.jpg)

It's like... I dunno, an African backdrop, maybe? With a fucking Jedi in the foreground? Fantasy cover art is supposed to BLOW OUR MINDS. This is just the laziest of the lazy. I hope no one got paid for it. The author could have photoshopped that crap from existing art assets for all we know.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 18, 2011, 01:15:29 AM
Remember with your own writing, at some point, you just have to say it's finished and never correct it again.

Yeah, I really fuck myself over at that stage which is probably why all of my stories are swiss cheese with not enough parts for anyone else to understand the entire plot.

I got nothing but plot. I have all these outlines that lay out the whole stories from start to finish, but they have no meat on their bones so to speak.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 18, 2011, 01:52:08 AM
Shit that reminds me I have a blog.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blanktoe on Jan 20, 2011, 10:19:56 AM
Fiero you're a DC guy right? Has Grant Morrison said anything about doing a sequel to All-Star Superman?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 20, 2011, 05:24:46 PM
No idea. Superman sort of bores me most of the time, though for some reason I enjoy some of his 'family.'

If I was going to read ONE Superman book, should that be the one?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jan 20, 2011, 09:40:23 PM
Sequel to All-Star Superman? Yeah, it's called "DC 1,00,000".

And everyone should read All-Star Superman at least once.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Jan 20, 2011, 11:09:46 PM
I was cheesed when it ended, but it's one of those things where if it had kept going, Morrison eventually would have become bored and the book would have suffered, or writing duties would have been passed along to someone unworthy.

So it's good that it ended.

And then there was also "All-Star" Batman...

Pffft.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 20, 2011, 11:38:50 PM
They're gonna adapt All-Star Supes for animation, right?  So I figure I may as well watch it first and then see if I'm interested enough to read it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Jan 20, 2011, 11:45:57 PM
Speaking of Frank Miller, does anyone else ever feel like Dark Knight Returns was simply a matter of right place, right time? Don't get me wrong, Miller is responsible for completely reinvigorating the Batman character, but to me the rest of his stuff always seems kinda one trick pony.

Even Dark Knight Strikes Again was just more of the same been there done that.

I really don't see why he agreed to do All-Star Batman in the first place. He's gone on record as saying the idea of Robin is ridiculous, and he obviously has nothing new to say about Batman, so... what's the point? They could have had someone else write and we might have actually gotten a decent run out of it.

They're gonna adapt All-Star Supes for animation, right?  So I figure I may as well watch it first and then see if I'm interested enough to read it.

I think it's out next month.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Jan 21, 2011, 12:10:18 AM
This is probably the wrong thread for all that. Oh well.

I gots my Kindle, and the first book I read on it was The Hunger Games. Someone's probably heard of it, I think it's relatively popular. Anyway, it supposed to be for teenage girls, but I don't care, I heard they're making it into a movie so I wanted to see what the hubbub was about.

It was pretty great. I'll probably read some other shizz before moving on to the second and third books, but it was interesting. One thing really fucking bothered me about it, though. It happened right at the end, for no apparent reason and with no explanation, and it's just a serious WTF moment. I'm sure it'll be explained eventually, but it almost ruined the story for me.

I'll probably read that Tattooed Dragon Girl or whatever it's called next.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 21, 2011, 12:12:17 AM
No, this is the right thread.

Also I jinxed myself in this thread because the boss would like us to curb our reading for now until our place raises our quality score.  So, yeah, I've been writing instead.  And sneaking in some Tetris.  Which is just as well because I need to go to Half Price Books and pick up some new shit to read anyway.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Jan 21, 2011, 12:22:35 AM
Haha. At first I was all, "How can your fucking boss tell you how to spend your free time?" but then I immediately realized you meant you'd been reading at work.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jan 21, 2011, 02:42:23 AM
I was cheesed when it ended, but it's one of those things where if it had kept going, Morrison eventually would have become bored and the book would have suffered, or writing duties would have been passed along to someone unworthy.

So it's good that it ended.

You say that like you didn't know that the whole book was made with the understanding that it would end at 12 issues. It wasn't ever supposed to continue.

And then there was also "All-Star" Batman...

...the GREATEST Batman story of the past 10 years! This thing was a friggin' hoot all the way.

They're gonna adapt All-Star Supes for animation, right?  So I figure I may as well watch it first and then see if I'm interested enough to read it.

There was so much stuff in that book, this animated version can't possibly distill the totality of its greatness and be worthwhile. I'd love to be disproven, however.

Speaking of Frank Miller, does anyone else ever feel like Dark Knight Returns was simply a matter of right place, right time? Don't get me wrong, Miller is responsible for completely reinvigorating the Batman character, but to me the rest of his stuff always seems kinda one trick pony.

That's like saying Casablanca was a mishmash of stopgap efforts driven by deadlines that happened to be well received due to the fact that it came out precisely when the real Casablanca was figuring heavily in world affairs. My point being, not everything starts out as a magnum opus; it just happens. And timing is a big part of that.

Even Dark Knight Strikes Again was just more of the same been there done that.

But...it was shit.

I really don't see why he agreed to do All-Star Batman in the first place. He's gone on record as saying the idea of Robin is ridiculous, and he obviously has nothing new to say about Batman, so... what's the point? They could have had someone else write and we might have actually gotten a decent run out of it.

I'd imagine it's for the same reason that Garth Ennis wrote Hitman and is currently writing The Boys...because he had a statement concerning something he thought of as stupid. I don't see why there's so much hate reserved for ASBAR (heh, ass bar) given the sheer quantity and shaky quality of Batman material out there. It was, as I said earlier, a hoot.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Jan 21, 2011, 03:16:21 PM
Quote
You say that like you didn't know that the whole book was made with the understanding that it would end at 12 issues. It wasn't ever supposed to continue.

I did not know this. Typically, I have no idea what goes on behind the scenes when it comes to comics. I don't follow previews, reviews, interviews, any of that stuff. The only thing I'm interested in is the comics themselves, and I don't want to know anything about them before actually reading them myself. And ASS wasn't marketed as a limited run, none of the covers had "#_ of 12" on them, so I just assumed it was originally conceived as an ongoing.

And I still say ASBAR was pointless crap. Just because, as you said, most Batman books these days are worthless doesn't excuse that.

You mentioned The Boys, which I'll admit is probably the best thing running these days.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jan 22, 2011, 10:54:22 PM
I picked it up for the first 25 issues or so, but it was just soooo slow developing. Plus, it was one of those things I decided that I didn't want to go to hell for supporting :P
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 22, 2011, 12:40:37 AM
Reading "The Kouga Ninja Scrolls".
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blanktoe on Feb 22, 2011, 05:23:50 AM
Sequel to All-Star Superman? Yeah, it's called "DC 1,00,000".

And everyone should read All-Star Superman at least once.

I was able to get most of the DC 1,000,000 books. I've only glanced through the books but Superman Man of Tomorrow seems like the only one that shows what happened after All=Star Superman.

They're gonna adapt All-Star Supes for animation, right?  So I figure I may as well watch it first and then see if I'm interested enough to read it.

They cut a lot of good stuff from the books out  of the movie and the ending is little different but it's still a fucking awesome movie!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Feb 22, 2011, 12:49:58 PM
I was able to get most of the DC 1,000,000 books. I've only glanced through the books but Superman Man of Tomorrow seems like the only one that shows what happened after All=Star Superman.

Well, the whole story is about the return of the original Superman from the heart of the sun after living there for something like 15,000 years. AS Superman is about how he got there in the first place.

BTW, if you never read Hitman #1,000,000 (http://shwiggie.com/hitman/hm-1000000/index.html), you're missing something.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 25, 2011, 12:18:45 AM
I finished reading MW.  http://www.vertical-inc.com/books/mw.html  I wish more manga was made nice and big like this book was.  Just all 26-something chapters in one tidy package.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 25, 2011, 12:03:30 PM
I finished reading MW.  http://www.vertical-inc.com/books/mw.html  I wish more manga was made nice and big like this book was.  Just all 26-something chapters in one tidy package.

I like when they put it all together like that as well.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 25, 2011, 09:55:41 PM
Yeah, any other publisher would've divided that into three or four books.  Boo.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Apr 07, 2011, 03:26:47 AM
Just finished Martin the Warrior and am about half way into Salamandastron of the redwall series.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 07, 2011, 12:34:05 PM
Still reading Sherlock Holmes, but am nearing the end and I already have the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy of 5" set up as my next read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Apr 07, 2011, 03:37:16 PM
Someone gave me this massive Sherlock tome back when I was a kid. I'm pretty sure I read all the novels, but I don't think I've been through all the short stories. That thing is a pain to read though, God damn.

Right now I'm reading Wise Man's Fear, and it's great. I never want to put it down, and most of the stuff I've been reading lately just hasn't been like that at all.

Anyone else read George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series? A Dance With Dragons is finally coming out July 12th! Choo-woo!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 07, 2011, 03:49:22 PM
I've read through several of Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern books last few months. I've always liked the premise and the books are pretty good. I wonder if her other work is good, as well. I'm also finally finishing China Mievelle's Kraken. I lent it to my GF when she was getting frustrated reading on her nook, now I have it back and I shall finish it with much haste, I have to beat her to the end, you see. (while she was borrowing it, she barely ready any of it).
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 11, 2011, 10:50:32 PM
I'm about halfway through with "The Deer and the Cauldron", which is a Chinese martial arts (wuxia) novel.  I wish more of Louis Cha's work was translated.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blanktoe on Apr 13, 2011, 05:59:35 PM
Just Started reading Preacher. I hate the artwork and the dialog is hard to read at time but I like it so far.

Quote
Chinese martial arts (wuxia) novel
so you just get to read but people doing kung fu?

Quote
Anyone else read George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series? A Dance With Dragons is finally coming out July 12th! Choo-woo!
I want to read those books but I want to see the show first.

Quote
Just finished Martin the Warrior and am about half way into Salamandastron of the redwall series.
Disney really should turn Redwall into a movie series.Actually,I kinda surprised the Dreamworks hasn't done this already. I know there was an animated aeries on PBS a few years ago but the animation was garbage.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 13, 2011, 11:18:42 PM
Quote
Chinese martial arts (wuxia) novel
so you just get to read but people doing kung fu?

They do other things, too.  The main character isn't even that good at kung-fu despite having two of the strongest masters in the story.  He usually resorts to some dirty trick, a clever lie (mostly this), or some pure dumb luck.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 14, 2011, 10:43:59 AM
Already done with 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". That book was really short. And I got the feeling he was moving towards wrapping it up and then thought "Oh wait...I could write a bunch more of these and make even more money. Let's do that!" I mean they are building the new earth and all that jazz and then they just stop doing all that and our Heroes just leave. Oh and Arthur and Trillian are now the last humans, but he doesn't even bother to spark any kind of romance between them. Those two have to fuck so the human race can live on, but they ain't even going to get to first base at this rate. Now I'm on to "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe."
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 14, 2011, 03:34:08 PM
Already done with 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". That book was really short. And I got the feeling he was moving towards wrapping it up and then thought "Oh wait...I could write a bunch more of these and make even more money. Let's do that!" I mean they are building the new earth and all that jazz and then they just stop doing all that and our Heroes just leave. Oh and Arthur and Trillian are now the last humans, but he doesn't even bother to spark any kind of romance between them. Those two have to fuck so the human race can live on, but they ain't even going to get to first base at this rate. Now I'm on to "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe."

Don't take these books seriously. They are only for fun, not for making sense.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 14, 2011, 03:55:34 PM
Oh I know...I just don't like that. I see it as short coming in planning and plot. I mean you don't want those two hooking up right away, but you have to at least lay the ground work for it. Right now, I don't even like Arthur and he is our main guy.

And really they could be more funny too. It has it's moments, but there are a lot of places he could be making something funny happen, or he doesn't take a joke to it's full potential. I'm not going to stop reading or anything, but for a book that's been so hailed I was expecting more.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Apr 14, 2011, 04:31:23 PM
Catching Fire, the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy. I don't mind reading these kinds of books every now and then, because they're like little vacations between fantasy epics.

Which is pretty much all I ever read otherwise. I should probably pick up The Girl Who Played with Fire Next, but I don't know that I'm ready for it just yet.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 14, 2011, 05:46:33 PM
All the Weyrs of Pern. I have to read every book with the word Pern in it's title. There are a lot of them.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 25, 2011, 01:36:35 AM
So I've finished both "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" and "Life, the Universe and Everything" , both by Douglas Adams and both are total cluster fucks of books. Just a real big mess that don't seem to have any common threads of real plot, and if they do they can't be bothered to stay on them for more then five minutes before they do something random just for the sake of being random and not cause it was kinda funny like the first book.

And I pretty much hate most the people in these books too. I don't like Arthur and he is suppose to be our main hero. I don't like Zaphod, and loathe Trillian, despite the books attempts to tell me how great she is. I do like Ford...and I love Marvin the Robot.

Now I'm reading "So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish" and it's like Adams suddenly remembered how to write. It is actually good, but then he is dicking around and nothing is happening. It is getting boring. Well written, but boring. On the plus side I actually like Fenchurch. She is already a hundred  times better then Trillian. Guess I'll see how this one turns out, but I have to say I pretty disappointed with this much revered series of books.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 25, 2011, 03:14:03 PM
Finished All the Weyrs pof Pern on my Kindle for iPhone app. I was surprised how quickly I read a full book on that tiny screen, but they do indeed format it well.

Now onto The Dolphins of Pern. They can talk and they are mam'ls not fish.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 27, 2011, 10:40:08 PM
Reading on that bitty screen doesn't hurt j00 eyes?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Apr 27, 2011, 11:52:01 PM
I'm reading the first Wheel of Time book. Seems good, but it's not knocking my socks off or anything.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 28, 2011, 01:20:55 AM
Reading on that bitty screen doesn't hurt j00 eyes?

I thought it would, but it does not. It's formatted well for the screen. I notice typos more, though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 28, 2011, 01:31:35 AM
About how much text do you get at a time on the screen when you use that app?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 28, 2011, 03:44:04 PM
If my top button wasn't broken I would screencap it. 10 lines for the book I'm reading now. I am sure there are some books that are not formatted well.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 28, 2011, 04:34:38 PM
I don't know, I like holding books. It feels more real. I mean I've read scripts online before, but never a book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 28, 2011, 07:28:32 PM
I know what you mean. It's an adjustment for me, but I'm tired of going to a book store and not finding what I'm looking for. At least if I look on Kindle, I haven't put forth much effort before being disappointed. Plus, I carry less with me, just my phone.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 28, 2011, 11:49:45 PM
You're preaching to the choir on the not finding what you are looking for bit. Imagine if you lived where I live. We have one bookstore that is just barely staying afloat and they have like nothing in stock unless it's the latest "hot" book that all the house wives are raving about in their book clubs. And that's the best we have. It falls to Wal-Mart, Target, and places like HyVee to make up the rest of the book selection. Walking into Barnes and Noble is like paradise for me and that's the kinda place most people take for granted.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 29, 2011, 01:13:48 AM
Oh ... and I HATE waiting for books. I only have to wait a few minutes for the digitally delivered book...

But I do miss smelling the paper.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 29, 2011, 01:28:56 AM
I like  leather bound books...that way you get the paper and leather smell, and that excites me! I mean...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 29, 2011, 10:23:54 AM
You ate a whole wheel of cheese? I'm not even mad, that's incredible.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blanktoe on May 01, 2011, 12:45:45 AM
Future Foundation #2 and Preacher.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on May 01, 2011, 02:12:56 PM
Dolphins of Pern is done, now on Dragonseye.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on May 01, 2011, 09:14:23 PM
I know what you mean. It's an adjustment for me, but I'm tired of going to a book store and not finding what I'm looking for. At least if I look on Kindle, I haven't put forth much effort before being disappointed.

Piracy?  Arr?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on May 02, 2011, 02:08:03 PM
I know what you mean. It's an adjustment for me, but I'm tired of going to a book store and not finding what I'm looking for. At least if I look on Kindle, I haven't put forth much effort before being disappointed.

Piracy?  Arr?


I don't do that really.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on May 02, 2011, 02:31:33 PM
I just finished "Mostly Harmless" the last of the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" book. This whole series was a total waste of my time. The ending was total bullshit.

Now I'm on to "Mountain at the Bottom of the World" by Ian Cameron. This book is very British. I half except Dick Van Dyke to come out of this book and offer to sweep my chimney.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on May 02, 2011, 03:33:57 PM
I just finished "Mostly Harmless" the last of the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" book. This whole series was a total waste of my time. The ending was total bullshit.

Now I'm on to "Mountain at the Bottom of the World" by Ian Cameron. This book is very British. I half except Dick Van Dyke to come out of this book and offer to sweep my chimney.

What, you don't like Scrabble?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on May 03, 2011, 10:33:20 PM
Quote
I half except Dick Van Dyke to come out of this book and offer to sweep my chimney.

What part of that horrible accent is remotely British?  :lol:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on May 03, 2011, 10:49:06 PM
It's not...but still, I just like the visual of it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on May 04, 2011, 11:54:08 PM
By "like the visual" do you mean Dick Van Dyke?  He can trip over me anytime.  :aroused:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on May 05, 2011, 12:17:18 AM
I just like to think that while I'm reading that he suddenly just jumps out of the book and lands in my room. Then I exclaim "DICK!!!" and then he say "I've come to sweep your chimney Gov'ner!"

Or at least that's how the gay pr0n screenplay I'm writing based on this event starts.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on May 05, 2011, 01:00:05 AM
And then he, um, sweeps your chimney?   :raiseeyebrow:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on May 05, 2011, 02:36:19 PM
If that's what you kids are calling it these days.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on May 05, 2011, 04:04:00 PM
It's what they call something.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on May 06, 2011, 01:10:08 AM
And that something is anal.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on May 06, 2011, 03:23:51 PM
ALRIGHT!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on May 09, 2011, 01:12:20 AM
The Jewel in the Skull by Michael Moorcock
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on May 09, 2011, 07:11:04 PM
Just got Neon Genesis Evangelion, volume 12 in the mail. I wish they'd hurry up and finish this thing already. By the time Sadamoto's work on the last two movies ends and he finishes the title, it will have been twenty years since it first debuted.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on May 09, 2011, 11:54:05 PM
The Pearls of Lutra by Joaquin something or other.  Same guy that wrote all the redwall novels.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on May 14, 2011, 08:27:24 PM
Finished another wuxia novel: "The Eleventh Son" by Gu Long.  Liked it but damn was it sad.  Started "The Water Margin".
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: spooie on May 14, 2011, 08:30:30 PM
Trade Paperback of Captain America: Operation Rebirth.   It's the original printing from the late 90s which is missing the prelude chapter and "Man Without a Country" that the newer ones have.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on May 15, 2011, 01:22:21 AM
No Acting Please
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on May 18, 2011, 11:45:11 AM
Cold War in a Country Garden by Lindsay Gutteridge

It's about little naked men that kill and eat insects. I think there is something about trying to spy on the Russians, but you wouldn't know it. Miss Gutteridge seems more intent on talking about how to kill bugs and the tan lines of the naked men, who for reason can't have shrunken slacks but can have shrunken radios and machetes.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on May 26, 2011, 02:03:40 AM
About 3-4 days into Tarzan of the Apes  by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on May 26, 2011, 10:47:32 PM
I couldn't finish "Water Margin".  It just wasn't keeping my attention.  Been reading part of something called "Rascals and Rogues" or some crap like that that has stories about British, er, well, rascals and rogues.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on May 27, 2011, 12:16:03 PM
I finished Tarzan, and at the end of the book one thing is clear; Jane is a bitch. Alright, first she goes to Africa with her father and drags this poor guy that wants to marry her with them, but she is stringing him along and won't answer him. So then of course she runs in Tarzan and he like takes care her and rescues her dad and then kills a Gorilla with just a knife to save her. Then she sails back to America and leaves him, but he walks out of the African jungle, learns how to behave in civilization, learns to talk, and also learns that he is Lord Greystroke and has money and title back in England (and the other guy Jane was stringing along is the current Lord Greystroke, which is very serendipitous.) Then he sails across the ocean to find her, where she is suppose to marry yet another guy who her dad owes money too. He of course is a total dick, and she doesn't want to marry him. So Tarzan gets her out of this by bringing back some Treasure with him that her Dad was looking for in Africa. Of course he wants to marry her, but what does she do? She is free for like 5 mins before she agrees to marry the other guy! So then not only does she break Tarzan's heart, but then Tarzan gives up his money and title so as to not take it away from her would be husband. It's all the whole "Oh your happiness is the most important thing to me." Yeah...but she didn't give two shits about his happiness. So fuck Jane!

Oh and I'm reading Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on May 27, 2011, 04:16:45 PM
I like Foundation.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on May 27, 2011, 08:19:41 PM
Reading Marlfox (another redwall novel...I got like tons of them for 1$ each at some temporary bookstore).
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 14, 2011, 01:23:41 AM
"And Another Thing" by Eoin Colfer

This is the 6th Hitchhiker's Guide book that was based on notes left by Adams after his death. It is really lacking something. I didn't really like how Adams wrote, but this just shows why someone shouldn't write someone else's characters.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jun 14, 2011, 04:22:27 AM
I didn't even know that existed. I'll have to chell it out ... but I can see being disappointed.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Jun 14, 2011, 12:21:44 PM
I started reading the first Wheel of Time book weeks ago, and right around the time they got their little party together and set out on their quest, I got really fucking bored with it.

I can't help but feel that if I had gotten into the series back when it debuted, I'd be a big fan today, but now all this time has passed and I've read so much other fantasy crap in the meantime that Wheel of Time just comes off as really hackneyed and rote.

Then I started reading The Picture of Dorian Gray and I'm not quite halfway through, but God is it ever dry. It's not very long, so I can probably slog through it, but what's the point? I read to be entertained.

Between those two and another one that was just plain awful, that's three books in a row that I couldn't get into. I don't know if I just made a few bad picks, or if I've suddenly developed ADHD.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Jun 14, 2011, 09:56:02 PM
Yeah I never finished the wheel of time shit either and I read like 7 or 8 of them maybe 6 who fucking knows I wonder if he finished them before he died...he's dead right?  NO i can't be bothered to look it up.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jun 14, 2011, 11:02:43 PM
"And Another Thing" by Eoin Colfer

Hey, it's the Artemis Fowl guy.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 15, 2011, 01:05:35 AM
Yeah...they tote that fact all over the book. Never read of those myself.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jun 15, 2011, 08:23:00 PM
Merla reads them.  I only have enough patience for the graphic novels.  Of which they've only done two so I'm pretty far behind.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 16, 2011, 01:04:16 AM
After reading this I don't know if I'd bother...I mean maybe if I saw them at the library and didn't have anything else to read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jun 17, 2011, 10:29:45 PM
Just hold off and by the time you remember, all the graphic novels will have been out.  For, like, ten years.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 20, 2011, 02:10:51 AM
I tend to like to read things in book form better. Plus I zip through comics something fierce and it won't sustain me. I might read the Graphic Novel, but only after reading the novels first.

And now I'm on to "Devil May Care" by Sebastian Faulks. It is a James Bond novel, but the thing is that under Faulks name it says "Writing as Ian Fleming" which is funny cause this guy's style is nothing like Fleming's. I think it was probably a cheap way to get Flemings name on the cover. Another strange thing is that at no point does this book tell you when it takes place. I figured out it to place in the 60's due to a few world events that were talked about briefly, but anyone that didn't know their history would be lost as to when this was.
\
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jun 21, 2011, 11:49:16 PM
I'm reading Butterfly Lovers based on the Chinese legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, which is basically Chinese Romeo and Juliet.  She falls in love with him while attending a school disguised as a man after they dormed together as sworn brothers for three years.  I love the blurb on the back of the book that redundantly asks "what is their inescapable Romeo-and-Juliet-type fate?"  Ho ho, I think they live happily ever after!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Jun 22, 2011, 12:40:01 AM
I'm almost out of redwall books :(
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jun 22, 2011, 04:27:00 PM
tada
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 23, 2011, 12:41:48 AM
I'm looking for the "like" button, but I'm not seeing it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jun 23, 2011, 04:24:31 PM
Welcome back to 2008.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jun 23, 2011, 10:59:25 PM
The "Like Button" is an Owl Pellet.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jun 24, 2011, 01:02:44 AM
The "Like Button" is an Owl Pellet.

For reals. Give me some poops.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Chopper Face 69 on Jun 24, 2011, 08:50:28 AM
So ... we're doing it German style where we shit on things we like?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jun 24, 2011, 01:00:34 PM
What did you think an owl pellet was?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 24, 2011, 01:04:37 PM
I find inherit corruption in the owl pellet system.

So instead I will give Fiero a pat on the back for posting it...and a hurts doughnut for that "Welcome to 2008" bit.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jun 24, 2011, 01:33:45 PM
I find inherit corruption in the owl pellet system.

So instead I will give Fiero a pat on the back for posting it...and a hurts doughnut for that "Welcome to 2008" bit.

What's a Hurts Doughnut? Never heard of that brand.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 25, 2011, 01:15:05 AM
*Punch*


Hurts don't it! HA HA!











Ehhhhhhh...that would have worked better in person.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jun 25, 2011, 11:11:16 PM
Ehhhhhhh...that would have worked better in person.

Motivation to save up for that ticket to Dallas.

So ... we're doing it German style where we shit on things we like?

Ich bin ein Owl Poopen!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 26, 2011, 12:54:32 AM
Might as well make it a tour de-force of Texas.

Crash on Bernie's couch, punch Fiero in the arm, rearrange the books at Merla's work, then try to get political asylum in the city that my Aunt is Mayor of when everyone gets pissed and tries to hunt me down like you Texans are known to do.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Jun 26, 2011, 02:52:41 AM
groan
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jun 26, 2011, 12:56:37 PM
.....then try to get political asylum in the city that my Aunt is Mayor of when everyone gets pissed and tries to hunt me down like you Texans are known to do.

Careful, they're hunting you here by chopper now.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 26, 2011, 01:24:41 PM
So they...."Get to tha Chopper!"


HA HA! Predator!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jun 26, 2011, 02:26:26 PM
It's "choppa".  "CHOPPA."
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jun 26, 2011, 04:14:32 PM
GEHT TO DA DEEPAK CHOPRA
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Chopper Face 69 on Jun 27, 2011, 08:10:05 AM
Chopper Face? o_O;
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jun 27, 2011, 12:38:51 PM
GET TO DA CHOPPA FAYACE
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Jun 27, 2011, 03:24:32 PM
GAR DER DRA CHARRFERRCE!

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jun 28, 2011, 10:37:47 PM
Hey, someone, what's the deal with this fuckin' baby?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jun 28, 2011, 10:47:21 PM
He's awesome, that's what.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jul 01, 2011, 10:02:00 AM
.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jul 01, 2011, 10:59:37 PM
:lol:  and, wow, he looks double-wide in that photo.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jul 09, 2011, 01:52:06 AM
Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper—Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Jul 09, 2011, 12:27:41 PM
Wet Hot American Summer.

If you haven't seen this, do so. Immediately.

It is the weirdest.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jul 09, 2011, 01:46:45 PM
Unless they made a novelization of it, I think you might be in the wrong thread.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 09, 2011, 02:06:43 PM
You can see a book, you know. Look at its cover and the pretty pictures next to the scribble that you can't read because public education failed you while you failed yourself.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jul 09, 2011, 10:28:56 PM
Catching up on my Usagi Yojimbo.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Jul 10, 2011, 12:32:33 PM
Whoops. I was thrown by that extended run of non-book gobbledegook. WHAS is indeed a film to be viewed and not something to be read.

Unless you're talking about the script, but I wasn't.

I started reading this Conan compilation. I'm not sure if it's everything Robert E. Howard ever wrote about the character, but if not it's gotta be pretty damn close.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Jul 10, 2011, 07:19:03 PM
I read that conan thing too.  It was a friends I need to buy my own copy.

The story telling is reminiscent of my every day life.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 29, 2011, 01:55:47 AM
I just finished another Pern book, Dragonsblood. This is the first Todd McCaffrey wrote without his mother, and it is actually really fucking good. I was expecting a bit of a let down, maybe not quite as good as his mother, but it was actually really good and on par with the elder McCaffrey's work. I only have a few more left in the series then on to Fire and Ice.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jul 29, 2011, 02:47:12 AM
I'm reading Asimov's SF August 2011. I also finished Analog SF and Fact September 2011. My local bookstore just started carrying these, which is good cause it help me watch the market and see what they are buying. I have to say if I could actually find the time to get something done I have a good chance to get something in here given the shit I've read in these issues.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Aug 02, 2011, 12:38:11 AM
I'm going to start reading the game of thrones books and then hopefully be on the show by season 3 or 4.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Aug 02, 2011, 01:36:33 AM
I'm reading Seven Heroes and Five Gallants by Yu Yue.  It's pretty much going everywhere and anywhere, but I'm still gonna try and finish it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Aug 04, 2011, 11:21:17 PM
Just finished A Dance With Dragons. It was confusing at times, because I kept forgetting that it takes place at the same time as A Feast For Crows, which I read six years ago, not after it.

And now God knows how long it will be before the next book comes out, and I really, really want to know what happens next.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Aug 06, 2011, 04:16:17 PM
By the time they get the book series done, all the characters in the TV show will have grown old. It won't be like Harry Potter, where the cast ages appropriately, it will be where they have to get an entirely new cast.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Aug 06, 2011, 08:22:51 PM
That fuck better write faster then!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Aug 07, 2011, 01:16:04 AM
That's if it isn't cancelled first.

It could happen.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Aug 07, 2011, 03:45:01 AM
How could it happen?

Unless the books turn to shit.

If they do don't tell me.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Aug 07, 2011, 08:36:26 PM
They confirmed a second season two days after the first episode.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Oct 18, 2011, 02:31:06 AM
Dracula, in honor of Halloween. Course I'll finish it before the 31st...so I requested a hold on The Shining at the local Library.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Oct 18, 2011, 02:45:53 AM
I'm reading the Twelve Kingdoms series book #3 although since Tokyo Pop went boom, none of the remaining stories after will be translated except on teh Internets.  (TP only got to book #4.)  Even more maddening is that the author stopped writing them.  I think she said she would resume them but who knows when.  I want to know what happened to the King of Tai, durnit.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Oct 18, 2011, 03:02:42 AM
That was a good anime too.


I'm reading the Bhagavad Gita for the 3rd time.

Soon I will transcend this world of action and reach the ultimate incarnation of godhead.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blanktoe on Oct 18, 2011, 04:18:14 AM
I need some new comics to read. Recommend something. Anything other than the new DCU shit or new Ultimate Spider-man please.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Oct 18, 2011, 07:43:15 AM
Who are you asking? And what do you mean by "new"? How can we tell if a comic is any good if it's only been around for a few months?

Do you read Locke and Key? That's the best thing I've come across in a long time, but it's not new by any means.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Oct 18, 2011, 10:05:33 AM
I need some new comics to read. Recommend something. Anything other than the new DCU shit or new Ultimate Spider-man please.

I've been enjoying the DCU stuff, personally.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blanktoe on Oct 18, 2011, 11:19:34 AM
Who are you asking?

Anyone who answers.

And what do you mean by "new"?

Anything I you think I haven't read yet.

Quote
How can we tell if a comic is any good if it's only been around for a few months?
I've been enjoying the DCU stuff, personally.

I wasn't calling those books shit. I just meant something other than those books. I'm already reading Ultimate Spider-Man, Action Comics, Animal Man, Storm Watch and Justice League.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Oct 18, 2011, 02:04:35 PM
Haha. See, I read your post as, "Man, all the comics fucking suck these days! I want something good! Wah! Wah! Wah!"

But such was not the case.

So do you read Locke and Key or not?

Locke and Key!

Locke and Key!

Locke and Key!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Oct 18, 2011, 02:43:11 PM
Fucking A Animal is so awesome. I'm cutting back on my comics sadly, so I'm down to mostly GL stuff. Hoping to pick up some of the big books in trades.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Oct 18, 2011, 02:57:24 PM
Hahaha! Cutting back? This is them's internets, where every day is FCBD.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blanktoe on Oct 18, 2011, 05:22:55 PM
Haha. See, I read your post as, "Man, all the comics fucking suck these days! I want something good! Wah! Wah! Wah!"

But such was not the case.

So do you read Locke and Key or not?

Locke and Key!

Locke and Key!

Locke and Key!

No, but I've heard of it. Not sure if it's for me. Wah! Wah! Wah! A friend of mine just sent me torrents of all of the Milestone books, The last Blacksad book, Shaolin Cowboy and The Sixth Gun. I'll probably chell out Locke and Key after I read those.  FCBD indeed!

Fucking A Animal is so awesome.

Yeah, I need to go find the Morrison run.

Quote
I'm cutting back on my comics sadly, so I'm down to mostly GL stuff. Hoping to pick up some of the big books in trades.

I like the idea of Green Lantern but never got into it.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Oct 18, 2011, 05:33:16 PM
Hahaha! Cutting back? This is them's internets, where every day is FCBD.

I totally understand what you're saying, but I really prefer to hold things in my hands. I've been able to transition to digital for novels, but I just can't seem to do it for comics.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Oct 18, 2011, 06:18:55 PM
Shut up, Fiero! Nobody cares, you asshole!

No wait, that's not an appropriate response.

I actually pay for all my digital novels. I'd feel weird if I didn't.

My scruples are so arbitrary.

That's it, from now on I'm stealing everything.

Someone figure out how to digitize food, clothing, and shelter.

This whole one or two sentences every two lines thing is becoming trite.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Oct 19, 2011, 11:44:06 AM
I also pay for my digital novels. Reading Clash of Kings now. Finally got back to Dany. I was waiting so long it was driving me crazy.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Oct 19, 2011, 08:16:12 PM
I don't like to have anything only digital. Be it movies, music, or books. I like the idea that my bookcase won't get a computer virus and erase all the books.


And I'm on to The Shining now.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 03, 2011, 05:10:20 PM
Done with The Shining and am now reading Frankenstein.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Nov 03, 2011, 09:15:16 PM
I'm on A Storm of Swords now. Every second with Dany makes me like her even more.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 04, 2011, 12:30:11 AM
am now reading Frankenstein.

I couldn't get through that.  Bleh.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Nov 04, 2011, 01:17:51 AM
I tried reading The Picture of Dorian Gray a while back.

Couldn't do it. It was so fucking dry. I cannot impress upon you how dry it was. There was one chapter where he just lists off all these things and stuff, carpets and furniture and whatnot. I don't even know how it pertained to the story.

To hell with that book. Classic literature? Bah. Humbug.

I've never actually read any Dickens either, come to think of it. I wonder if I'd have the same reaction.

Fiero is spoiling upcoming seasons of A Game of Thrones for himself. Why would he do that? It's been years since I read those earlier ones, so I forget a lot of the finer details and am therefore only semi-spoiled.

Don'tchu be spoutin' no spoilers now, chile.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 04, 2011, 12:58:16 PM
am now reading Frankenstein.

I couldn't get through that.  Bleh.

What got me is that we got 3 chapters detailing every little bit of the guys life...from why it will be ok to fuck his sister later on, to his whole education. But as for the actual creature....well we only spend 2 pages on his creation and then it escapes into the night. Uhhhhhhh what? That's as far as I've got so far, but come on...people are reading for the monster. You don't need to go into detail with all this other shit. It is something that could be told in passing. There is a reason the movie version starts with Frankenstein grave robbing, cause that is where the real story is.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Nov 04, 2011, 06:44:43 PM
Moby Dick has a recipe for clam chowder in it.

We need to toss out all the classics and replace them with novelizations of sharkboy and lava girl.

You people and your MTV attention spans.

I want to know about his education! I want to read about the habits of Narwhals! These things are important too!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 04, 2011, 11:10:22 PM
I haven't tried Moby Dick yet.

I'm sure I said so already but Treasure Island was pretty cool.  So the classics aren't all balls.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 05, 2011, 01:42:55 AM
I like Dracula...don't like that is all told from the point of view of people diaries and letters and such, but I like it as a whole.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 13, 2011, 02:07:17 AM
Reading Treasure Island now.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 13, 2011, 11:10:47 PM
You what would've made that better?  Dracula.


























No, not really but I just wanted to bring shit full circle.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Nov 14, 2011, 01:52:51 AM
I'm reading franny and zooey.

I don't really like it but I feel all intellectumual cause it's salinger.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 14, 2011, 11:56:10 AM
You what would've made that better?  Dracula.


No, not really but I just wanted to bring shit full circle.

No you have to read Dracula now, and then we switch back for it come full circle.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Nov 14, 2011, 01:29:20 PM
Let's start a book club.

Seriously.

Beck will pick a book, and give us weekly assignments (one chapter, two, three, etc. depending on average chapter length) and then we discuss on Sundays. Or something. Just an idea.

No Harlequin!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 14, 2011, 02:32:03 PM
Let's start a book club.

Seriously.

Beck will pick a book, and give us weekly assignments (one chapter, two, three, etc. depending on average chapter length) and then we discuss on Sundays. Or something. Just an idea.

Ohhhh... :)

Quote
No Harlequin!

OH.  :-\  Fine, ruin my fun!   :mad:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 14, 2011, 02:32:54 PM
In that case, everyone read Treasure Island.   :P
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Nov 14, 2011, 03:41:08 PM
A Feast for Crows

I'm already sort of annoyed with all the new characters that I care nothing about at all.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 14, 2011, 03:52:04 PM
No Harlequin!

Ah but I wanted to know if the virgin secretary ended up with the European Millionaire....for the 37th time.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 15, 2011, 12:39:46 AM
Don't forget she had his secret baby!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 15, 2011, 01:20:59 AM
Which is pretty amazing given that whole virgin thing.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 15, 2011, 04:08:25 PM
It came out the other hole!  :D

A Feast for Crows

I'm already sort of annoyed with all the new characters that I care nothing about at all.

Yeah, I hate it when books do this crap.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Nov 15, 2011, 04:16:03 PM
It came out the other hole!  :D

A Feast for Crows

I'm already sort of annoyed with all the new characters that I care nothing about at all.

Yeah, I hate it when books do this crap.

Luckily it was only two chapters so far. The previous books did the same thing, and they came to be interesting characters in most cases, but I still found it annoying. I wanted to know what happens with the remaining Starks and care little for what happens in Dorne.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Nov 15, 2011, 05:31:06 PM
A Feast for Crows is literally half a story. Half the cast is entirely omitted in that book.

That's why everyone was frothing for A Dance with Dragons for five years.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Nov 15, 2011, 06:09:16 PM
A Feast for Crows is literally half a story. Half the cast is entirely omitted in that book.

That's why everyone was frothing for A Dance with Dragons for five years.

Good to know I won't have to wait, I suppose, though I'm sure I'll be frustrated soon enough. I'll likely be through this one as fast I've been through the last three.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 29, 2011, 10:47:25 PM
I'm about half way through "The Coming of Conan The Cimmerian" by Robert E. Howard. I've read it before, and it is just a stand in till I find something I haven't read to....well, read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Nov 30, 2011, 10:53:50 AM
At the end of Feast for Crows I really enjoyed reading "hopefully next year."

I'm reading A Dance with Dragons now. I'm very much interested to see what Dany's been doing this whole time.

Am I again only going to get to read about half the cast members? Will I not know what's happening with Arya and Sansa in this book? And boy it's been a while since Rickon, Shaggydog and the wildling woman were mentioned.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Nov 30, 2011, 12:08:57 PM
I would need a refresher course on Crows, because it's just been so damn long since I read it. I think some characters that featured in Crows are also touched upon in Dragons, which was confusing because the events are all supposed to be happening concurrently. Arya is definitely in Dragons, those others are not.

Personally, I think George R.R. Martin has created a real mess for himself, and it's only going to get worse. How big is the next book going to be in order to encompass all story threads? Surely we won't be getting another of these split-down-the-middle fiascos.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 01, 2011, 04:31:33 PM
I would need a refresher course on Crows, because it's just been so damn long since I read it. I think some characters that featured in Crows are also touched upon in Dragons, which was confusing because the events are all supposed to be happening concurrently. Arya is definitely in Dragons, those others are not.

Personally, I think George R.R. Martin has created a real mess for himself, and it's only going to get worse. How big is the next book going to be in order to encompass all story threads? Surely we won't be getting another of these split-down-the-middle fiascos.

That's what I'm worried about as well. I'll still read it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Dec 01, 2011, 10:26:44 PM
In the care home.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 13, 2011, 01:00:50 AM
Peter Pan (aka Peter and Wendy) by J.M. Barrie.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 13, 2011, 01:21:52 AM
In the care home.

LOLOLOLOLOLOL
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 13, 2011, 01:38:10 AM
Wait, when did we start talking about IDE's house?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Dec 13, 2011, 03:08:09 AM
Shh! Don't mention Captain Liverspots by name, lest he materialize and boast of bedding __-year olds.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 13, 2011, 11:35:44 AM
Vag keeps him young Blah, blah, blah. Aging doesn't apply to a demi-god blah, blah, blah. Might actually be gay and is overcompensating blah, blah, blah.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 13, 2011, 09:06:11 PM
Vag keeps him young Blah, blah, blah. Aging doesn't apply to a demi-god blah, blah, blah. Might actually be gay and is overcompensating blah, blah, blah.

I can't tell, is that IDE or not?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Dec 13, 2011, 10:06:29 PM
Vag keeps me young blah blah blah. Aging doesn't apply to a demigod blah blah blah.  Might actually be ga...wait I never said that.


As if everyone here couldn't be replaced by chat bots.

Wahhh! There's no internet where I live.  Wahhh! People keep bailing on my interweb comic projects! Wahhh! <Random Ghostbusters Reference>
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 13, 2011, 10:21:26 PM
Vag keeps me young blah blah blah. Aging doesn't apply to a demigod blah blah blah.  Might actually be ga...wait I never said that.


As if everyone here couldn't be replaced by chat bots.

Wahhh! There's no internet where I live.  Wahhh! People keep bailing on my interweb comic projects! Wahhh! <Random Ghostbusters Reference>

LOL, do me now.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 13, 2011, 11:16:31 PM
Nothing about my shitty spelling and my love of shit movies. You sir...wound me.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 14, 2011, 01:06:24 AM
...vaginally.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 14, 2011, 02:33:40 AM
And didn't even buy me dinner first.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 15, 2011, 08:15:22 PM
I'm still on A Dance with Dragons.

I'm even putting off my comic books for awhile, because I don't want to read anything else right now.

I giggle every time the word 'cunny' comes up. I want to find ways to use this in everyday conversation without stretching it ... I just can't help but laughing when I say this word out loud to myself.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 16, 2011, 12:17:10 AM
Cunny?  Just how are they using that?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Dec 16, 2011, 08:26:56 AM
I haven't read the book but I bet I know how they're using it.

Whenever they can!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 16, 2011, 04:44:05 PM
I haven't read the book but I bet I know how they're using it.

Whenever they can!


That seems quite close to truth, actually. I believe they used it in three or four chapters in a row. Things like, "show us your cunny," "blah blah adjective cunny," etc.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Dec 17, 2011, 04:42:17 PM
My favorite is "cunny juice" from this Gangs of New York dialogue...


Bill: I killed the last honorable man, 15 years ago. Since then it's... You seen his portrait downstairs?
Amsterdam Vallon: Mm-hmm.
Bill: 'S your mouth all glued-up with cunny juice? I asked you a question!
Amsterdam Vallon: [angrily] I said I *seen* it, sir.
Bill: [smiling] Oh, you got a murderous streak in you!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 18, 2011, 02:11:53 AM
I'm actually debating what I'm gonna read next. It has to be something I can finish in 8 days. I always get books for one kind or another for Christmas and if it something I haven't read, I'll want to start on that as soon as I get it. But I don't want to leave a book half done either. I can read a book in a much shorter time then eight days. I've finished whole novels in one sitting before, but I doubt I'll have the time to do that this time. So I don't know what I'm reading yet. I know it won't be anything like the Lord of the Rings or DUNE or anything like that though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 19, 2011, 01:21:23 AM
Settled on trying to finish The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Got about 3/4 of the way through it and got sick of Mr. Holmes and read other stuff, now I'm coming back to it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 22, 2011, 09:18:05 PM
Finished Dance with Dragons ...

And now I have no idea what to do.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 22, 2011, 10:23:24 PM
Dude don't be a cunny. I'm sure you'll figure it out.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 27, 2011, 12:05:30 PM
That's funny you called him a cunny.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 27, 2011, 12:31:19 PM
To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 27, 2011, 12:35:10 PM
I just break their necks.  Don't know why anyone needed a whole book about that.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Dec 27, 2011, 12:46:46 PM
I got a nook for christmas :D

Gonna load game of thrones and hunger games onto it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Dec 27, 2011, 12:47:33 PM
and pr0n!

No more masturbating in the bathroom to just my mind videos.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 27, 2011, 12:55:01 PM
You're reading pron?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Dec 27, 2011, 01:05:34 PM
Yeah hot steamy pr0n novels!

I actually found some of those as a kid and used them...wow, what I wouldn't give for a reboot to a state where reading dirty stories did it for me.


But seriously,

The nook color plays videos.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 27, 2011, 01:07:39 PM
If Nook Color and Kindle Fire got into a fight, who would win?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 03, 2012, 12:33:55 AM
Finished Avatar: The Promise Part 1.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Jan 03, 2012, 05:39:11 AM
I'm having 2nd thoughts about my nook and wondering if I should get an android tablet instead...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 03, 2012, 11:30:18 AM
I think Kindle Fire would win, and I think it's one of the best options for an e-reader anyway. Suffice to say, I want one.

Also, I'm readking China Mievelle's The City and the City. It's interesting. There's basically two cities that occupy the same area, but if you're from one city or the other you're not supposed to 'see' the people from the other city, and their culture and fashion is different in a way that you know which is which.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Chopper Face 69 on Jan 03, 2012, 12:27:14 PM
masturbating in the bathroom to just my mind videos.
What do you live with your mother in a bachelor appartment?  Why would you do this?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Jan 03, 2012, 12:36:14 PM
Adam only ever whacks it on the back porch when the neighbors' teenage daughter is sunbathing.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 03, 2012, 09:29:33 PM
Who doesn't?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 04, 2012, 12:10:19 AM
I hit a nook real hard with a book...and the nook broke. So the book wins.


I finished To Kill a Mocking Bird and I'm now reading Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Jan 04, 2012, 05:43:42 AM
masturbating in the bathroom to just my mind videos.
What do you live with your mother in a bachelor appartment?  Why would you do this?

This is if I'm already in there pre or post deuce. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Chopper Face 69 on Jan 04, 2012, 11:11:31 AM
Adam only ever whacks it on the back porch when the neighbors' teenage daughter is sunbathing.
I wish my neighbour had a teenage daughter!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Jan 18, 2012, 12:21:20 PM
I finished the second volume of Lisbeth Salander vs. the World. What an abrupt ending. I suppose the aftermath plays out in the third volume.

Right now I'm plodding through the fourth Dexter novel. Pretty dull, especially considering how bizarre the third one was. I'm also having trouble readjusting to all the incongruities with the TV show.

Adam only ever whacks it on the back porch when the neighbors' teenage daughter is sunbathing.
I wish my neighbour had a teenage daughter!

Do tell. Is your neighbor a foxy older lady, and you imagine her offspring would simply be a younger, hotter clone of her?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 18, 2012, 12:36:51 PM
Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Chopper Face 69 on Jan 19, 2012, 10:10:31 AM
Do tell. Is your neighbor a foxy older lady, and you imagine her offspring would simply be a younger, hotter clone of her?
Not at all.  Both my hot neighbours are blonde and fairly young.  It wouldn't make mathematical sense for them to have teenage daughters.  I suppose my dude neighbour or old French Canadian lady neighbour could.  You better believe the French Canadian's theoretical teenage daughter wouldn't be above a little tanskies on the porch.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 19, 2012, 06:20:49 PM
I'm reading Lettin It All Hang Out by Rupaul.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 19, 2012, 07:07:46 PM
HA HA...Hang out cause he is really a guy...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Chopper Face 69 on Jan 20, 2012, 07:48:13 AM
Yeah I really hope Rupaul wins the Republican Primary.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 24, 2012, 08:06:47 PM
That would be awesome.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Jan 24, 2012, 11:08:54 PM
I'm about to start atlas shrugged.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Chopper Face 69 on Jan 26, 2012, 08:05:42 AM
Speaking of Ron Paul...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Jan 26, 2012, 07:02:31 PM
Currently reading the travel diaries of Karl Pilkington
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Feb 01, 2012, 01:50:20 PM
I started reading Joe Hill's 20th Century Ghosts, a collection of his mostly horror-themed short stories. So far it's been pretty good.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 02, 2012, 12:24:26 AM
Read RuPaul's second book, which is mostly recycled content from his first book but written in bigger font with purty pictures.  Quick, guess which one's RuPaul!  They both are.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 02, 2012, 02:38:19 AM
Interview with the Vampire -Ann Rice
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Feb 02, 2012, 03:41:43 PM
I'm about to start atlas shrugged.
I hear that's painful to read and Ann Rand can't write fiction.

Supposedly it's just a vehicle to promote her "fuck everyone else, fuck religion, trample over everyone to get rich quick" radical libertarianism.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Feb 03, 2012, 03:58:55 AM
It's strange hearing that sort of agenda from a woman.  She must be insane.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 03, 2012, 06:31:16 PM
The City and the City - China Mievelle
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Feb 06, 2012, 02:37:31 PM
Reading the Walking Dead novel Rise of the Governor
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 07, 2012, 08:20:25 PM
Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Feb 07, 2012, 08:55:50 PM
Fucking love neverwhere
Read it at least 4 times

Im reading wuthering heights on my nook
Im also posting from my nook right now as i take a dump.
Take a moment if you will to picturee me sitting here pushing out poop, my uppdr body conpletely shorn.  My lower body is covered in hair, like satyr sitting on the toilet.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 07, 2012, 09:13:03 PM
I'd likely stab you so I can sell your mystical pelt.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 07, 2012, 11:18:32 PM
Dibs on the flute.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Feb 08, 2012, 04:49:56 AM
How dare you even think of stabbing a mythical creature while its dropping the deuce.

Which im doing AGAIN right now actually.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 08, 2012, 07:30:24 PM
Fucking love neverwhere
Read it at least 4 times


You might like China Mievelle's stuff.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 09, 2012, 02:35:52 AM
The Vampire Lestat. Joe's Autobiography. Not as good as Interview, but better then Queen of the Damned....and pretty much everything that came after it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Feb 13, 2012, 03:22:06 PM
Reading Small Gods again, one of my favorite Discworld books
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Feb 13, 2012, 09:07:54 PM
Hey, maybe you can help me.

I've always wanted to get into the Discworld stuff, but I don't know where to begin. I started with the Colour of Magic, and it didn't really do it for me. But then I thought, hell, it's the first one, he wrote it God knows how many years ago, he's probably improved by leaps and bounds in the meantime. Are there any really good standalone stories that he's done more recently, or are they all pretty interrelated?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 14, 2012, 12:26:16 AM
If I can add onto that, where do you begin if you want to *watch* the Discworld stuff?  There some of it on streaming but when I tried to jump into one, I got the feeling that I was missing A LOT within the first ten minutes.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Feb 14, 2012, 01:58:45 PM
Hey, maybe you can help me.

I've always wanted to get into the Discworld stuff, but I don't know where to begin. I started with the Colour of Magic, and it didn't really do it for me. But then I thought, hell, it's the first one, he wrote it God knows how many years ago, he's probably improved by leaps and bounds in the meantime. Are there any really good standalone stories that he's done more recently, or are they all pretty interrelated?

Yeah, the first two novels are still pretty much a figuring out of things for TP, things get better from then on tho. And its possible to read any novel standalone, but you generally want to read the books that star the same characters in order. Besides Rincewind the most commonly used characters are the witches, Death and the city watch.
First book for the witches is Equal Rites, first one for Death is Mort and first one for the city watch is Guards, Guards. Of those I'd recommend Guards, Guards to start with. The witches books get pretty epic too, but its not until the second book Wyrd Sisters till that really takes off.

If I can add onto that, where do you begin if you want to *watch* the Discworld stuff?  There some of it on streaming but when I tried to jump into one, I got the feeling that I was missing A LOT within the first ten minutes.

Dunno what you've been watching. Some of the books were animated ages ago, but I've never seen those. More recently there have been some live action ones. Three of those so far: Hogfather, the Colour of Magic and Going Postal. Personally I like Hogfather best, but it's probably the most confusing one if you know nothing about Discworld. You might want to give Going Postal a try.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Mar 09, 2012, 03:49:12 PM
Reading a bundle of some of Plutarch's biographies of famous Romans
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Mar 10, 2012, 12:04:20 AM
I am well into Queen of the Damned now and already thinking of what I want to read next.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Mar 11, 2012, 12:57:44 AM
I'm reading Tina Fey's book Bossypants after reading Pride and Prejudice for the 800th time.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Mar 11, 2012, 11:20:51 AM
I've never read Pride and Prejudice.
However I did read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies


I probably win
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Chopper Face 69 on Mar 12, 2012, 09:32:14 AM
Is that the Jane Austen book about a woman who has to chose between the responsible decision of marying a man who would provide her a life or priveledge and the poor man she loves?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Mar 12, 2012, 06:18:06 PM
The Dark Tower comics
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Mar 14, 2012, 02:40:41 PM
Is that the Jane Austen book about a woman who has to chose between the responsible decision of marying a man who would provide her a life or priveledge and the poor man she loves?

Is that the plot of all Jane Austen novels?

This one has zombies.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Mar 14, 2012, 11:00:32 PM
I've never read Pride and Prejudice.
However I did read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies


I probably win

I've read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies the graphic novel.  Pictures always win.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Mar 14, 2012, 11:17:22 PM
Is that the Jane Austen book about a woman who has to chose between the responsible decision of marying a man who would provide her a life or priveledge and the poor man she loves?

Is that the plot of all Jane Austen novels?

Jane Austen wrote six novels before she croaked and none of them have that plot.

P&P is about a prideful woman prejudiced against a proud rich man who acts like a snobby jerk.  It turns out that snobby jerk prevents his best friend and prideful woman's older sister from getting married because prideful woman's family is not as wealthy.  Also the rest of her family, excluding prideful woman and prideful woman's sister, conduct themselves like trash so proud rich man is all "ewwww, NO."  Prideful woman also hears some shit being smacked around about proud rich man and believes it.  However, proud rich man later declares his love to prideful woman.  And she's all "ewwww, NO."  And he's "wut?  But I'm a proud rich man.  I was certain you'd be jumping up and down to marry me."  And she's all "Hellllll no, son.  I heard sum shit 'bout you!  Plus, you're a snobby jerk!"  So, through proud rich man's own admission and other circumstances, prideful woman comes to learn that smack she heard wasn't true and she was too prideful and quick to judgement.  Meanwhile, proud rich man's all "maybe I do act like a snobby jerk after all but I still want that chick so Imma gonna act nice and shit".  And some other stuff happens but eventually proud rich man and prideful woman end up together and all is well.  The End.


Also, Tina Fey's book was a very fast read.  I finished it back on Monday.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Mar 15, 2012, 12:44:23 AM
Man there sure is a lot of pride and prejudice in that plot. HEY! I bet that's why she called it that!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Mar 15, 2012, 04:12:16 PM
Well, it was originally called "First Impressions", also an appropriate title.  But then all of these other fuckers made their own stories called "First Impressions" before Austen could get published and Austen was "fuck dat shit, homes, I'll rip off the title from the title of the last chapter of this book I like".  And a legend was born.  Or whatever.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Mar 15, 2012, 08:48:21 PM
Is that the Jane Austen book about a woman who has to chose between the responsible decision of marying a man who would provide her a life or priveledge and the poor man she loves?

Is that the plot of all Jane Austen novels?

Jane Austen wrote six novels before she croaked and none of them have that plot.

P&P is about a prideful woman prejudiced against a proud rich man who acts like a snobby jerk.  It turns out that snobby jerk prevents his best friend and prideful woman's older sister from getting married because prideful woman's family is not as wealthy.  Also the rest of her family, excluding prideful woman and prideful woman's sister, conduct themselves like trash so proud rich man is all "ewwww, NO."  Prideful woman also hears some shit being smacked around about proud rich man and believes it.  However, proud rich man later declares his love to prideful woman.  And she's all "ewwww, NO."  And he's "wut?  But I'm a proud rich man.  I was certain you'd be jumping up and down to marry me."  And she's all "Hellllll no, son.  I heard sum shit 'bout you!  Plus, you're a snobby jerk!"  So, through proud rich man's own admission and other circumstances, prideful woman comes to learn that smack she heard wasn't true and she was too prideful and quick to judgement.  Meanwhile, proud rich man's all "maybe I do act like a snobby jerk after all but I still want that chick so Imma gonna act nice and shit".  And some other stuff happens but eventually proud rich man and prideful woman end up together and all is well.  The End.


Also, Tina Fey's book was a very fast read.  I finished it back on Monday.

But .... zombies....
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Mar 16, 2012, 11:34:10 PM
Well, P&P&Zombies is basically that above with zombies added.  It's a win for both the zombie and non-zombie folk.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Mar 30, 2012, 01:35:40 AM
Casino Royale,  but I'm already almost done with it. Going to a book sale tomm and hope to find something good there.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Mar 30, 2012, 12:16:35 PM
Rereading my 100 Bullets trades
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Mar 30, 2012, 01:03:39 PM
100 Bullets is so convoluted. I remember reading through it, and it mostly made sense, and I loved it, but then I caught up because it was still ongoing. Then I was only getting 20 or so pages of story every 30 days and I couldn't make heads or tails of what the hell was going on anymore. :laugh:

It was like, "Why is she trying to kill him? I thought they were together? And this other guy... is her father? But what about his brother? And now these two are plotting against those three? But weren't they just working together? And then... but what about... what the ffffff...?"
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Mar 30, 2012, 01:17:59 PM
Haha, yeah.
I never caught it as a monthly but just got and read all the trades at once, and even then I had to look back constantly in the stuff I already read. I would have been totally lost if I only got one chapter a month.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Sam on Mar 30, 2012, 01:51:56 PM
Just finished the 4th of the Song of Ice and Fire books I received for Christmas.  Now I need to go find the th in paperback.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Mar 30, 2012, 02:53:42 PM
Just finished the 4th of the Song of Ice and Fire books I received for Christmas.  Now I need to go find the th in paperback.

I really liked the first three books, but the 4th and 5th kinda soured me on the series. The guy really needs a better editor
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 01, 2012, 01:26:58 AM
I was reading "To The Stars: The Autobiography of George Takei".  I thought the beginning was very interesting but once he starts talking about his acting career, the book--surprisingly enough to me--gets kinda boring.  I just skipped through to some of the Star Trek related anecdotes but there was nothing that makes me want to finish it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 01, 2012, 01:41:42 AM
Nothing good at the book sale, so I'm reading Live and Let Die.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 04, 2012, 11:02:50 PM
Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

Same guy that wrote Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Apr 07, 2012, 07:50:13 PM
Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

Same guy that wrote Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

I read that one too.
I think I'll like the movie better than the book
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 07, 2012, 09:22:32 PM
Yeah...this book isn't blowing me away. It's ok, but I think it's title more then anything is what sold this book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 08, 2012, 10:54:46 PM
It definetely sounds very cool.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 09, 2012, 12:34:28 AM
It could be cooler. It hasn't lived up to the hype of the title so far. I mean there is some Vampire hunting...but it's sparse. It reads more like a guy wanting to sell a book about Lincoln and couldn't get sold so he just went..."and he is a Vampire Hunter too...Yeah...that's the ticket."
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 09, 2012, 11:43:22 PM
So don't just stand there.  Go and write George Washington: Werewolf Slayer and cash in on this shit.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 10, 2012, 12:05:02 AM
I was thinking "Man anyone can do this...it'd be like if I wrote a book called 'Mozart From Venus' " and then I thought, that might not be a bad idea.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 10, 2012, 02:52:04 PM
I was thinking "Man anyone can do this...it'd be like if I wrote a book called 'Mozart From Venus' " and then I thought, that might not be a bad idea.

I'd read that ... but wasn't it Leonardi DiVinci that's an alien?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Apr 10, 2012, 03:18:27 PM
My bank statement.

These fucks charge me 7$ if I don't direct deposit at least 500.  Well fuck that shit.  I'm getting out of their asap.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Apr 10, 2012, 04:45:50 PM
What's the problem?

I thought you were clearing $3000 US every two weeks.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 10, 2012, 08:01:31 PM
Credit Unions for the win.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 12, 2012, 01:47:57 AM
^ Truth.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Apr 13, 2012, 10:19:40 PM
The credit union is the one whose doing this.

Looks like I'm going Wells Fargo.

I'm not clearing anywhere near 3000 I'm a struggling artist/genius.  I do throw fliff like a sultan once in awhile, but to do that I need to save that 7 bucks every month so after 12 months I can throw that money on a hand of black jack.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 14, 2012, 01:51:19 AM
Don't go to WF, just change credit unions.  Cause that one was giving you a raw deal.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Apr 14, 2012, 02:20:24 AM
What kind of genius are you, again?

I mean, not a financial one, obviously.

I'll bet it's Laser Tag. He's a genius at Laser Tag.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 14, 2012, 03:12:04 AM
Laser Tag genius sounds awesome.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Apr 14, 2012, 08:05:06 PM
It's nothing as glamorous as all that, just standardized testing.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Apr 14, 2012, 08:10:35 PM
It would be a pain in the ass to start looking for another random credit union.  The one I'm with is for employees and you'd think that they would take care of you, but they don't.  Why would some random credit union that let's anyone in be any better?

The agents at wellsfargo are going to give me free checking if I jack back into the mainstream banking matrix.  I want my free checking.  I want my delicious steak.

That's how it will be until the time comes when we rise up against the fed and guillotine the rich or I decide to sell out and work for a private equity firm and oppress the poor.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 14, 2012, 09:33:43 PM
It would be a pain in the ass to start looking for another random credit union.

No, it wouldn't.  Just pick one and ask if they have free checking.


Quote
The one I'm with is for employees and you'd think that they would take care of you, but they don't.  Why would some random credit union that let's anyone in be any better?

I have no idea.  All I know is myself, Merla, and our mother are all with three different credit unions and we all have free checking.  Fifi's credit union gives him free checking.  The "exclusive" one you were with apparently ass-rams employees.  I have no idea why that is but the ones that let anyone in appear to do a decent job just the same.  I've heard nothing good about Wells Fargo.  If you decide to go with them, all I can say is I hope you have a better experience with them than others have.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 15, 2012, 02:32:28 AM
Finished Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter. Pretty bullshit ending that doesn't really match with the character of Lincoln that he spend the whole book building up...which is also very different then most accounts of real Lincoln anyway.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 15, 2012, 12:48:42 PM
Such as the part about him not hunting vampires.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 15, 2012, 03:47:38 PM
Such as...



Spoilers...














...becoming a Vampire after refusing the offer to have his first love, or either of his dead sons made one.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 15, 2012, 03:48:59 PM
Anyway I'm reading the first Harry Potter again...mainly cause I know if I read through the whole series it'll keep me from having to find something else to read for a very long time.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Apr 15, 2012, 10:07:15 PM
I think you should read Fifty Shades of Grey, then tell us about it, so that none of us ever has to read it.

Take one for the team.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 16, 2012, 12:57:28 AM
If I didn't have to buy it...I might.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 16, 2012, 12:59:04 AM
Joe will be happy to send you a copy he procured with his Canadian doubloons.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 16, 2012, 01:00:58 AM
Just try not to get any maple syrup on the pages eh!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Apr 16, 2012, 01:29:10 AM
Dude.

Dude.

I will totally buy you a copy if you agree to read and review it.

I am dead serious right now.

The only thing is you'd have to trust me with your mailing address.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 16, 2012, 01:41:00 AM
I'm not to worried about the address. I'll totally send it to you and I will read it. And when I get dirty looks I'll just tell people a Canadian gave it to me.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Apr 16, 2012, 08:15:42 AM
...becoming a Vampire after refusing the offer to have his first love, or either of his dead sons made one.

Yeah Linc becoming a vampire at the end was total bullshit, though I didn't even think about his sons and such. I just thought, hmmm ok so the sequel is gonna be called Abraham Lincoln, Vampire?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 16, 2012, 11:11:35 AM
I can only imagine how this went:

"Hey, Abe, would you like me to make your first love a vampire?  You can be together again."
"Eh, no thanks.  I'm cool."
"Abe, your dead sons can be made into vampires.  And you can be together again."
"Meh, didn't like them that much, homes."
"Abe, would YOU like to be a vampir---"
"Fuck, yeah!  Can I fly?  Abe Lincoln, HOOOOO!"  *WHOOSH!*
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 16, 2012, 11:46:38 AM
He never actually even asked. He let him get shot...and die(in this book Vampires can bring back the dead if too much time hasn't pasted) and then broke into his tomb and converted him. And then like 100 years later, when they go to see MLKjr talk in Washington, he is still hanging out with this Vampire. In the book he hated all Vampires by the end of it. They had killed his mother, his first fiancee, and one of his sons (other died naturally according to the book) and this one Vampire. that actually helps him hunt other Vampires, had offered to bring these people back and Abe goes on about not wanting to put them through the kinda living hell of being one of the undead. And he even talks about seeing his "boys" on the other side at one point. But this guy goes and does it to old Abe without even asking. I'm sure he would have been pissed off when he woke up. And not like he could just go back to his old life or anything either. Everyone thought he was dead. So it just goes against what was established in the book.

What would have been better would have been for this Vampire to come to him on his death bed and offer it to him then. And even though he knew he was dying, to still turn it down. It was foreshadowed through the whole book so they had to do something with it, but having him raise a dead Abe without even asking him, when Abe hated all Vampires by the end of the book, just doesn't fit.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Apr 16, 2012, 04:03:50 PM
I'm reading 'Don't tell mum I work on the rigs, she thinks I'm the piano player in a whorehouse'.
Just some random book I picked up on Saturday as I had to fly back and forth to London this Saturday for a stupid meeting, but it's great fun. Just a bunch of anecdotes of a guy who used to work on oil rigs around the world. Amazing stories
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 16, 2012, 11:25:56 PM
"Oil Rig Guy: Vampire Hunter."  Now go write it, Rama.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 17, 2012, 01:13:04 AM
I wish I could. Man, I do need to sell something again. And man everything is getting optioned for a movie these days. I could use me some of that sweet cash. Oil Rig Guy: Vampire Hunter it is!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Apr 17, 2012, 01:09:56 PM
Vampires are last year's fad.
Write something about mummies
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 17, 2012, 03:35:33 PM
Oil Rig Guy: Mummy for hire!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 17, 2012, 09:29:45 PM
I'd read that for a dollar.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Chopper Face 69 on Apr 18, 2012, 07:47:41 AM
It's hard for mummies to be sexy.  It'll never work.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 18, 2012, 11:34:47 AM
Perhaps the mummy doesn't have to keep the bandages on all the time?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 18, 2012, 02:24:23 PM
He didn't in the 1932 film. The Mummy only appeared in bandages for like the first 5 mins of the film.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 18, 2012, 09:34:22 PM
I'm tired. I was trying to sticker your post like canv.as
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Apr 19, 2012, 07:17:12 PM
It's hard for mummies to be sexy.

But they are more hygienic than zombies
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 19, 2012, 08:02:55 PM
And when you finish, you can change out the bandages.  Har har.  :joe:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Apr 19, 2012, 11:52:13 PM
I want to be reading this (http://www.amazon.ca/Darth-Vader-Son-Jeffrey-Brown/dp/145210655X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334897366&sr=8-1).

It looks adorable and hilarious.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 20, 2012, 12:06:31 AM
Awww, that's cute!  At the same time, I kinda want to see his hand get cut off.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Apr 20, 2012, 01:22:41 PM
But him's just a widdle bwoy! :(
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 20, 2012, 04:50:43 PM
And den at dah end da daddy trows da daddy's mean boss down da howl and his daddy died. I was sads.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 21, 2012, 06:57:05 PM
But him's just a widdle bwoy! :(

Cut it off!   >:(
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Apr 23, 2012, 09:30:30 AM
Reading the Ilias
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on May 14, 2012, 07:21:46 AM
Reading 'And Another Thing', the 6th Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book

It's not bad. You can tell it's by different writer, but its made me chuckle a few times so far
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Jun 11, 2012, 03:09:08 PM
The strange tale of dr Jekyll and mr Hyde
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 12, 2012, 02:40:18 AM
I'm on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as I work my way through all the Harry Potter books.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jun 12, 2012, 09:34:42 AM
Have a nice nap.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 12, 2012, 11:53:29 PM
I'm actually almost done with this...but this is the Harry Potter book I always forget about. When I picked it up, I couldn't for the life of me remember what happened. It wasn't until I started actually reading it, that it all came back to me.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Jun 15, 2012, 02:33:46 PM
I borrowed all the Potter books from my sister once and read them all. I can remember about 1% of the plot
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jun 15, 2012, 09:12:08 PM
I'm on my third reading of the single-volume version of The Lord of the Rings. It's taken a month of reading on the toilet, but I'm currently two chapters away from Return of the King.

This all started with a chance re-reading of The Silmarillion a couple months back, followed by a re-watching of the extended edition LOTR movies, and a smattering of Unfinished Tales. I'll probably take on The Hobbit graphic novel and then grit my teeth for an extended foray into Unfinished Tales and finish with Children of Hurin. I might chell the War of the Ring books after seeing the new movie this winter.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jun 15, 2012, 11:40:12 PM
It's taken a month of reading on the toilet, but I'm currently two chapters away from Return of the King.

More water and fiber will help with that.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jun 16, 2012, 11:55:49 AM
I'm more regular than a cheap tank of gas.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Jul 04, 2012, 03:43:45 PM
I'm reading 'This is not a drill, just another glorious day in the oilfield', the second book by oil rig guy
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 05, 2012, 04:36:51 PM
Seeking a Scribe by Marsha A Moore.

It's not bad. A bit heavy on the fantasy sex, though. Typical fantasy tropes abound.

EDIT: Also, it was only a dollar on Kindle.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jul 05, 2012, 08:27:35 PM
Finished LOTR a while back. Reading Unfinished Tales, pissed that I didn't re-read Children of Hurin first.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 06, 2012, 10:36:45 AM
Finished LOTR a while back. Reading Unfinished Tales, pissed that I didn't re-read Children of Hurin first.

You know, I thought Children of Hurin was great. I want a movie of that now, too.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jul 06, 2012, 09:14:23 PM
I wish we could get a Silmarillion HBO series, but I deem it impossible.

The thing about Turin's story is that he's fucked coming and going. It's the swan song of depression that is the latter two-thirds of Silmarillion. The only real up-side of his story is what happens at the Dagor Dagorath when Morgoth returns and Turin shanks his ass with Gurthang.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 09, 2012, 12:06:23 PM
I wish we could get a Silmarillion HBO series, but I deem it impossible.

The thing about Turin's story is that he's fucked coming and going. It's the swan song of depression that is the latter two-thirds of Silmarillion. The only real up-side of his story is what happens at the Dagor Dagorath when Morgoth returns and Turin shanks his ass with Gurthang.

I kind of like the stories where you're fucked no matter what, but still find a way to matter. Because that's pretty much life to me, except for the heroism.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Sep 27, 2012, 12:45:33 PM
I read The Hunt from Red October, DUNE, and am now reading The Hobbit.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Sep 27, 2012, 01:53:50 PM
I read Nigel Farage's autobiography
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Sep 27, 2012, 10:04:11 PM
I'm reading a book about Youkai (japanese demons) and afterwards I'll read its second part about Yourei (ghosts)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Sep 28, 2012, 10:54:37 AM
I read The Hunt from Red October, DUNE, and am now reading The Hobbit.

Why did you capitalize all the letters in Dune?

I want to find some books on kinbaku-bi.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Sep 28, 2012, 01:28:21 PM
I don't know. I just always do that. I guess cause on the front cover of my book it is all capitals and on the cover of both movies I own it is all capitals, but it really shouldn't be.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Sep 28, 2012, 04:08:15 PM
I don't know. I just always do that. I guess cause on the front cover of my book it is all capitals and on the cover of both movies I own it is all capitals, but it really shouldn't be.

It is, I figured that was probably why.

It would have been bad marketing to put it lower case on the covers, really. It would look so unimposing.

Both movies? When was there a second movie? I know about the mini-series.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Sep 28, 2012, 06:46:52 PM
That's what I meant.

There was suppose to another movie in the works awhile back though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Sep 29, 2012, 05:03:51 AM
They should make a movie of God Emperor of Dune
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Sep 29, 2012, 12:08:17 PM
That's what I meant.

There was suppose to another movie in the works awhile back though.

I believe they also did two mini-series.

The rights owner still wants to do another movie, but Paramount dropped the project last year because they are a bunch of losers.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Sep 30, 2012, 12:18:42 AM
The 2nd Mini-Series was Children of Dune...based on Dune's sequel Dune Messiah and Children of Dune.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Oct 01, 2012, 11:09:08 AM
The 2nd Mini-Series was Children of Dune...based on Dune's sequel Dune Messiah and Children of Dune.

Yes, yet no one has done God Emperor of Dune.

I agree with Rumble, that shit would be awesome.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Oct 01, 2012, 12:05:54 PM
Eh...I didn't really like that one. In fact I don't think Dune should have had any sequels. I've read most of them and none of them hold a candle to the first one in my opinion.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Oct 01, 2012, 12:57:16 PM
Eh...I didn't really like that one. In fact I don't think Dune should have had any sequels. I've read most of them and none of them hold a candle to the first one in my opinion.

Well, that's okay, because you're wrong.   :D
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Oct 01, 2012, 01:10:40 PM
In fact I don't think Dune should have had any sequels. I've read most of them and none of them hold a candle to the first one in my opinion.

I kind of agree, the first one was far superior to anything that came after. Messiah and Children are ok sequels tho, and I like God Emperor because it's so different.
Heretics and Chapterhouse are a bit of a mess tho, and I never read any of the books his son did.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Oct 01, 2012, 04:48:00 PM
In fact I don't think Dune should have had any sequels. I've read most of them and none of them hold a candle to the first one in my opinion.

I kind of agree, the first one was far superior to anything that came after. Messiah and Children are ok sequels tho, and I like God Emperor because it's so different.
Heretics and Chapterhouse are a bit of a mess tho, and I never read any of the books his son did.

I've read all of the his son and Kevin J Anderson's collaborations. They are not quite as good as the original works, and there are some plot points I just out right hated. I did come to very much enjoy some of the characters presented, especially Erasmus. The way Atreides and Harkonnen bad blood was shown to be ancient was also fairly intriguing to me.

But on a whole, they are inferior.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Oct 01, 2012, 11:10:13 PM
Yeah those ones by his Son were....yeah.


I guess I just didn't like God Emperor for the same reason Rumble liked it. Just too different from what came before.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Oct 17, 2012, 02:26:49 AM
Reading Dracula...like I do ever Halloween. If I timed it right I should wrap it up on or around the 31st.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Oct 17, 2012, 03:18:09 PM
I have yet to open it, but after all the Dune discussion here I bought Hunters of Dune last Sunday.
Figured I may as well find out how the son finishes up his father's story.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 07, 2012, 03:45:17 PM
Merla's reading a Discworld book and she says that shit's all over the place.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 08, 2012, 12:54:06 AM
I'm reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I've seen a 100 adaptions of it, and I've owned a collection with the story in it for over a year, but am just now reading it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Dec 08, 2012, 03:14:14 AM
Merla's reading a Discworld book and she says that shit's all over the place.

I've read all the Discworld novels (I've also read all the non-Discworld stuff Pratchett's written).
Brilliant and very funny writer
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 10, 2012, 03:41:11 PM
I'm reading another novel by this guy M.R. Mathias. I wouldn't say it's the best fantasy work ever, but he self-publishes and costs on his novels are pretty low. I enjoy his stuff, currently reading Kings, Queens, Heroes and Fools.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 11, 2012, 07:57:00 PM
Is that four books or the name of one book?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 12, 2012, 01:04:19 PM
Is that four books or the name of one book?

Forgive me for not including quotations. It is one book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Dec 20, 2012, 03:46:36 PM
Last book I read was a Dutch book whose title loosely translates as 'Can Mosquitoes get Drunk?'.
It's a compilation of some newspaper column where people could write in all sorts of strange questions, and then the columnist would research the answer. So now I'm even more full of useless facts then I already was.


Incidentally, apparantly mosquitoes can't get drunk from drinking a drunk persons blood. But they can die from drinking the blood of a smoker
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 21, 2012, 11:38:48 PM
Please tell me that book's available somewhere in English.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jan 06, 2013, 05:28:12 AM
A book with many of Edgar Allan Poe's stories.
And goddamnit now I cant stop thinking of John Cusack as EAP every time I grab the book. fuck
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Jan 06, 2013, 02:46:18 PM
I'm reading The Long Earth, by Terry Pratchett and some other dude
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 08, 2013, 11:34:10 AM
Please tell me that book's available somewhere in English.

I tried to find it, but could not.

I am now reading The Wizard and the Warlord, the third in the Wardstone trilogy. I decided I would go ahead and finish it up.

I'm also reading the Kickstarter draft rules for the newest edition of FATE.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blanktoe on Jan 09, 2013, 11:06:58 AM
Anyone read Superior Spider-Man #1? Just wondering.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 09, 2013, 12:21:59 PM
"Not I", said the fly.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Jan 09, 2013, 12:37:25 PM
Heh, there was actually something in the paper about it. Something about there being much fuss about it on your side of the pond because dr octopus is now spider-man?

Maybe I'll pirate it from somewhere to see what it's about
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 09, 2013, 01:17:05 PM
Ohhhh, yeah.  Is Superior Spider-Man #1 the first issue to come out since Spidey died-ey?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 09, 2013, 02:22:37 PM
Otto took over Peter's body, Peter died in Otto's body.

What the fuck, comic books, you are high.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 09, 2013, 02:22:50 PM
Otto took over Peter's body, Peter died in Otto's body.

What the fuck, comic books, you are high.

In ten issues somehow Peter will be back.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Jan 09, 2013, 02:32:26 PM
Just ripped a copy from filestube, I thought it was a fun read
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blanktoe on Jan 10, 2013, 09:54:08 AM
Otto took over Peter's body, Peter died in Otto's body.

What the fuck, comic books, you are high.

In ten issues somehow Peter will be back.

He came back at the end of the first issue.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 10, 2013, 09:59:08 AM
Wow... that was quick.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: blanktoe on Jan 10, 2013, 10:06:52 AM
Yup, Marvel played us like a fiddle.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 10, 2013, 02:14:23 PM
Remember when comics had good stories that engaged the reader, rather then cheap media deaths and events that could get them quick one time sales?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Jan 10, 2013, 06:23:32 PM
Oh, do shut up, you old man.

But he's right.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jan 10, 2013, 06:47:07 PM
So when "Peter" bones Mary Jane, it's actually Otto.

Huh. Does that count as rape?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 10, 2013, 08:46:33 PM
Yep.  Unless she knows it's Otto and actually consents.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 11, 2013, 03:19:01 PM
She would like it better if it was Odo.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 11, 2013, 09:54:54 PM
Who wouldn't?  :aroused:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 12, 2013, 01:04:55 AM
The man can shape shift any part of his body..he is like a living breathing sex toy.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Jan 12, 2013, 06:06:13 AM
What I don't understand is why he and others of his kind would choose to look the way they do, when they could literally look like anything else.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 12, 2013, 06:03:13 PM
HA ha, yeah.  If I'm a dude shapeshifter, I'm gonna look more Jason Stathamy and less like an Ed O'Neill wax replica beaten with 100 candles.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 12, 2013, 06:45:54 PM
I think he said in one episode that he had trouble with the human face for some reason. And I think the other founders looked like that to make him feel more at ease. And it is sad that I know that.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 14, 2013, 12:20:23 AM
I just finished Frankenstein and oh man...I don't think I'm gonna read this thing again anytime soon. It is more like a travel log then it is a novel. And if you are looking for a showdown between man and monster at the end you will be very, very disappointed. This is one time when the movie is far superior (and actually Bride of Frankenstein could also been seen as adaption of this novel.)

And I've started on Carrie by Stephen King.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 14, 2013, 03:58:46 PM
I think he said in one episode that he had trouble with the human face for some reason. And I think the other founders looked like that to make him feel more at ease. And it is sad that I know that.

You are correct. Many of the Founders had issues fully replicating humanoid faces. They were fairly proficient at the rest of the body, apparently. Other Founders were fully capable of it, able to infiltrate Starfleet and such without being detected (partially because of their awful countermeasures until Sisko and Odo fixed them up).

I literally just watched this part of DS9. This is where it really starts to get good, I think.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Chopper Face 69 on Jan 15, 2013, 02:48:31 PM
Fucking waste getting rapped by Doc Oc without getting tentacle probed.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 16, 2013, 04:01:14 AM
Finished Carrie and am now on to Salem's Lot.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jan 29, 2013, 12:01:26 PM
What do you think of the remake of Carrie with that chunky-faced girl whose name I cant recall?
Why is Hollywood making remakes of films that were great the first time around wtf
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 29, 2013, 08:04:21 PM
Well Carrie was a little chunky in the book actually, so that might be closer to true. The rest however, I haven't seen much on the remake and it's been a long time since I saw the original.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 29, 2013, 08:07:06 PM
Oh and done with Salem's Lot and have moved on to The Count of Monte Cristo....this one might take awhile.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Jan 30, 2013, 12:03:34 AM
That wasn't written by Stephen King!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 30, 2013, 02:11:26 PM
Alexandre Dumas was one of King's many pen names.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 30, 2013, 04:24:09 PM
Alexandre Dumas was one of King's many pen names.

I didn't know he was a Highlander.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 30, 2013, 04:28:52 PM
Uh...he isn't. He is clearly a Vampire. That's why he knows so much about them.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jan 30, 2013, 04:56:37 PM
Uh...he isn't. He is clearly a Vampire. That's why he knows so much about them.

That's a facade, bro.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Chopper Face 69 on Jan 31, 2013, 11:55:19 AM
Alexandre Dumbass.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jan 31, 2013, 10:48:34 PM
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought of that particular educational author.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 01, 2013, 12:26:31 AM
This is one fucking classy place. I can tell you that.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Feb 03, 2013, 04:09:47 AM
Could be worse, my first association was the bit from the video below at 8:53

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=xQ1sqsMjaA0&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DxQ1sqsMjaA0&gl=NL
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Feb 07, 2013, 09:12:11 PM
How to Archer. (http://www.amazon.com/How-Archer-Ultimate-Espionage-Cocktails/dp/0062066315)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Feb 11, 2013, 07:54:11 PM
Oh and done with Salem's Lot and have moved on to The Count of Monte Cristo....this one might take awhile.
One of my favorite books ever. Gotta love a guy who enacts revenge not with weapons, but with class, style, and brains.

I hope to god you're not reading the abridged version. They chop out some of the best parts.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 12, 2013, 01:52:07 PM
Noooo....no it is not. This thing is as long as a catholic wedding. But I've put it aside for the moment as I'm reading a book on Vampires as research on a comic I'm writing at the moment, but I will get back to it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Feb 13, 2013, 12:14:46 PM
Rama finally admitted hes reading Twilight
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Feb 13, 2013, 02:44:40 PM
Rama finally admitted hes reading Twilight

 :laugh:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 15, 2013, 04:04:16 PM
So I guess I'm a sucker for this guy's fantasy trope, because I am now reading "Through the Wildwood," by the same author and it's another trilogy.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Feb 16, 2013, 01:33:25 AM
"Through the Wildwood,"
Sounds like the name for a gay pr0n movie
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Feb 20, 2013, 01:53:47 PM
"Through the Wildwood,"
Sounds like the name for a gay pr0n movie

You'd like that, wouldn't you?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Feb 22, 2013, 01:23:19 AM
Only if it includes at least one midget
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Mar 04, 2013, 03:59:56 AM
I'm reading Conan The Conquer. I'll get back to the Count one day. It is still on my nightstand so it is going to get read, but that Dumas guy is one chatty bitch. No wonder that book is that long. I think he was pulling a Dickens and getting paid by the word or something.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Mar 04, 2013, 04:55:18 PM
Mobile Police Patlabor.

I finally found the manga translated. It's taken fucking forever.

I wonder how long B&N has had it, too.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Mar 05, 2013, 01:35:02 PM
I started rereading the history of Rome by Livy again, which should keep me busy for a few months
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Mar 14, 2013, 06:37:44 PM
I wish I liked to read more.  I need to read Dracula.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Mar 15, 2013, 12:11:12 AM
If you want my well worn paperback copy you can have it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Mar 15, 2013, 10:20:57 PM
No, I need to read one without so many stains on it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Mar 16, 2013, 12:45:37 AM
How dare you Ma'am. How dare you!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 12, 2013, 10:48:35 AM
Consider Phlebas by Iain M Banks. Nothing like an author getting terminal cancer to get you interested in his work.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Apr 12, 2013, 03:40:15 PM
I just bought American Psycho.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 16, 2013, 02:59:19 PM
I just bought American Psycho.

But are you READING it?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 16, 2013, 06:49:37 PM
No, she just places it on her coffee table to impress people.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 17, 2013, 01:57:20 AM
I'm reading Shadows of the Empire.


I was hard up for something to read. But on the good side I think I'm a better writer then this guy and he is working...so that's a bonus.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Apr 17, 2013, 03:28:44 AM
No, she just places it on her coffee table to impress people.
That was true for a couple of days.
But just started reading it and I LOVE it. The saddest/funniest part is that I know people that act like them (maybe I do it a little too sometimes) but either way I love the book. Rama I think you said you didnt like it right? something about the writing style? I cant recall
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 17, 2013, 04:46:16 AM
That was true for a couple of days.
But just started reading it and I LOVE it. The saddest/funniest part is that I know people that act like them

American psychos come visit you in London?  Best keep them away from the children.  :nono:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Apr 17, 2013, 08:10:10 AM
No lol
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Apr 17, 2013, 10:49:29 AM
American Sniper by Chris Kyle. Good read thus far.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 17, 2013, 03:02:35 PM
Rama I think you said you didnt like it right? something about the writing style? I cant recall

Not me. I've never read it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Apr 17, 2013, 03:11:42 PM
It must have been Fiero then.

Fiero??
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Apr 17, 2013, 03:31:50 PM
The Wind Through the Keyhole | Stephen King
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 17, 2013, 10:40:11 PM
The Wind Through the Keyhole | Stephen King

I just realized that man has a distinctive lack of "haw" in his name.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 18, 2013, 10:09:44 AM
I didn't read it either. I like the movie, though.

I'm reading Consider Phlebas by Iain Banks. Nothing like a guy getting terminal cancer to get you interested in his work.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Apr 18, 2013, 09:30:30 PM
Nice try, Fiero. Groundhog Day was two and half months ago!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 18, 2013, 09:35:11 PM
Nice try, Fiero. Groundhog Day was two and half months ago!

What? Did I post that already?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Apr 18, 2013, 10:30:05 PM
Almost word for word. At first I thought I was going nuts. But no! It's you.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Apr 19, 2013, 03:36:42 PM
I want to read Consider Phlebas by Iain Banks. Nothing like a guy getting terminal cancer to get you interested in his work.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 19, 2013, 10:58:19 PM
I also want to read Consider Phlebas by Iain Banks. Nothing like a guy getting terminal cancer to get you interested in his work.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 21, 2013, 01:10:44 AM
Predictably...The Hobbit.

Although I was given a leather bound copy for Christmas and have yet to break it in. So I'm popping this copies cherry here.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Apr 22, 2013, 06:28:21 AM
Predictably...The Hobbit.

Although I was given a leather bound copy for Christmas and have yet to break it in. So I'm popping this copies cherry here.
Are you going to use lube?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 22, 2013, 12:50:19 PM
I'm just gonna spit on it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Apr 23, 2013, 06:41:52 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/rK4IFcg.jpg) (http://imgur.com/rK4IFcg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Apr 23, 2013, 08:33:13 PM
I think he was pulling a Dickens and getting paid by the word or something.
Pretty much.
It's a great book but very verbose. Each chapter was published in a newspaper before the whole book came out, and I think that being a freelancer the paper paid him by word.
The abridged version is shorter, but they cut out some major plot points, including an affair and attempted infanticide, that are important to the story.

If you ever bother to watch movie versions of the series, I found the best one were the TV series with Gérard "Crooked Nose Tax Evading" Depardieu. It stuck pretty close to the novel except the part where the Count falls in love with a character not in the books.

 The 2002 movie deviated a bit from the storyline but still had the same feel and theme and was pretty good. The 1970s movie is okay, but has flaws.

If you want a real trip though, watch the Anime version of the book, Gankutsuou (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gankutsuou:_The_Count_of_Monte_Cristo). It's an amazing series.

I'm reading Shadows of the Empire.
I still have the n64 version of that.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 24, 2013, 12:16:27 AM
I think he was pulling a Dickens and getting paid by the word or something.
Pretty much.
It's a great book but very verbose. Each chapter was published in a newspaper before the whole book came out, and I think that being a freelancer the paper paid him by word.

Ahhhhhhh...I didn't know it was serialized first. That does make sense on why it so long. If I was getting paid by word I'd pad the shit of that thing too.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 25, 2013, 12:02:29 AM
If you ever bother to watch movie versions of the series, I found the best one were the TV series with Gérard "Crooked Nose Tax Evading" Depardieu. It stuck pretty close to the novel except the part where the Count falls in love with a character not in the books.

Ha ha, yeah.  That part elicited a mighty "wtf" from me.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Apr 26, 2013, 07:01:46 AM
Books of Blood | Clive Barker
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on May 10, 2013, 06:38:19 AM
I read Spaceman, a graphic novel by the same guys who did 100 Bullets.
Overall it was pretty great, but the ending had me even more confused than 100 Bullets.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on May 10, 2013, 07:17:45 AM
That's why I started reading it, because they were all, "From the team that brought you 100 Bullets," and I was all, "Fuck yeah!"

But it didn't click with me, so I dropped it after a couple issues.

I haven't even looked at a comic book in over a year. I don't miss it, either. That's not true. Some books, I do miss. But I'm not going back.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on May 10, 2013, 08:26:07 AM
Well, I read absolutely anything, from thick philosophical works and acclaimed literature to absolute pulp and Dutch Disney cartoons starring Donald Duck

I read Spaceman all in one hardcover tho, when it comes to serialized comics I don't do single issues. Good thing too, cause I'd probably even have dropped 100 Bullets after the first few ones and never have gotten to the good stuff.
Not saying Spaceman is as good as 100 B., but if you ever have the chance to read it all in one go you should give it another try.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on May 11, 2013, 06:59:25 AM
That's probably a good suggestion for most comics. Whenever I caught up with something I would usually lose interest waiting for a hit once every four weeks.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on May 11, 2013, 04:40:51 PM
I'm the same way, I even have a hard time keeping up with weekly tv shows without losing interest. Often I just wait till the season is over, download the entire thing and then watch like one ep a day.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on May 12, 2013, 07:53:05 AM
That's definitely the way to go.

Except Game of Thrones. I gotta watch that every week. And Breaking Bad.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on May 12, 2013, 12:55:24 PM
Finished the Hobbit and into The Fellowship of the Ring
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on May 13, 2013, 10:31:27 AM
Still reading Consider Phlebas. I think I just haven't been in the mood to read lately.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on May 13, 2013, 12:18:42 PM
Nothing like a guy getting terminal cancer to get you interested in his work.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on May 13, 2013, 02:04:27 PM
Nothing like a guy getting terminal cancer to get you interested in his work.

Yeah, but I've barely read it ... so maybe I'm not that interested?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on May 13, 2013, 02:55:21 PM
Just make it a game. See if you can finish the book before he dies a horrible death of his cancer.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on May 14, 2013, 12:33:45 AM
Nothing like a guy getting terminal cancer to get you interested in his work.

Yeah, but I've barely read it ... so maybe I'm not that interested?

So your interest level has gone....
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EYS002FnS6U/S8_e7hDsR9I/AAAAAAAAChc/EHENVaQ22_g/s1600/horatioglasspose.jpg)
...terminal.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on May 22, 2013, 03:06:11 PM
Yep.

Still reading it, too. Longest I've ever taken to read sci-fi. The chapters with the Eaters (skinny fucks who eat garbage led by a fat guy who eats people) was fucking fantastic.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on May 22, 2013, 08:00:31 PM
OH MY GOD SPOILERS YOU ASS
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on May 28, 2013, 12:40:03 PM
OH MY GOD SPOILERS YOU ASS

I was three when the book came out. I'm nearly 30. Deal with it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on May 29, 2013, 07:35:08 AM
I'm nearly 30.

Oh. My. God.

Spoilers, you ass!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on May 29, 2013, 02:12:13 PM
He didn't even leave any space before saying it.  Jeez!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on May 30, 2013, 07:24:57 PM
I'm just about done reading N0S4A2. The title is a vanity plate. GUESS WHAT IT SAYS.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on May 30, 2013, 09:30:35 PM
ILUVDIK?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Jun 03, 2013, 03:37:38 PM
Well in both cases the car owner would suck
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Jun 03, 2013, 07:49:20 PM
Ha! Nice.

It was disappointing. Started strong, but went on way too long. And the ending was so cookie cutter it beggars belief. To add insult to injury, in the acknowledgements he says that he had a different ending written and someone convinced him to change it! Now I want to know how it was supposed to end originally...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Jun 05, 2013, 07:05:01 AM
I'm reading Dodger, by Terry Pratchett.
It's not bad, but I wish he'd focus on putting out few more Discworld novels before the Alzheimers makes writing impossible
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Jun 12, 2013, 03:20:40 PM
I'm reading nothing right now but I'm going to re read all the conan stories and then I am going to write some fantasy stories of my own.  Loosely based on my own life, substituting in mythical monsters for frat boys, wanna-be thugs, etc.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 12, 2013, 03:58:14 PM
Now on The Two Towers.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Jun 12, 2013, 03:59:59 PM
Picked up Livy's history of Rome again. I'm now on volume VI (of 14)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jun 13, 2013, 11:58:04 AM
Just finished both American Sniper and American Guns by the late Chris Kyle.

Dude was awesome.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Jul 06, 2013, 04:47:45 PM
A Neil Gaiman graphic novel. Sandman: Endless Nights. It's a series of side stories about characters in the Sandman universe.

Awful lot of nudity in this thing.

In any case I'd probably understand it more if I had actually read the rest of the Sandman series.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jul 07, 2013, 01:23:43 AM
Return of the King
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Jul 07, 2013, 08:08:41 AM
Just started on The Long War, sequel to The Long Earth, by Terry Pratchett and some other dude
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jul 08, 2013, 11:56:59 AM
Just finished Happy, Happy, Happy by Phil Robertson, the Duck Commander. Currently working on Patton: Blood Guts and Prayer.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 11, 2013, 11:16:45 AM
Man, I am fucking disappointed in myself.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: IDE on Jul 12, 2013, 03:22:57 PM
Endless nights sounds interesting.  I've read all of sandman.  The 4th TPB is the best IMO. 

I think I'm going to read ender's game next.  I heard the characters are supposed to be kids but hollywood made them into tweens to get a twifagesque fan following.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jul 14, 2013, 02:11:46 AM
Im expecting Fuan no Tane volumes 2, 3 and 4 from Tokyo
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Aug 15, 2013, 09:22:06 AM
I'm reading The Science of Discworld IV
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Aug 15, 2013, 04:09:43 PM
Interview With The Vampire....actually almost done with already.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Aug 16, 2013, 05:19:38 PM
Jesus fuck.

I'm still reading Consider Phlebas. It's not that I don't like it, I'm just not reading like I used to.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Aug 17, 2013, 06:19:08 AM
Well, nothing like a guy getting terminal cancer to get you interested in his work.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Aug 18, 2013, 12:17:46 AM
I still think he is trying to time his finishing of the book with the guys death. Fucker just keeps on living.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Aug 18, 2013, 01:22:24 AM
Interview With The Vampire....actually almost done with already.
Damn that has been in my To read list for a while. I want to read all the books of that saga
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Aug 18, 2013, 01:05:56 PM
Yeah you might not want to read them all...that series started to turn into a bad slash fiction of it's self pretty quickly after the first couple of books.

I remember reading Blackwood Farm...where the main character fucked everyone from his maid to his priest....and by chapter 20 there was only a hint of an actual vampire. You know when the Vampire showed up in Interview? Page 1...and the 2nd vampire shows up 20-30 pages in.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Aug 19, 2013, 01:52:00 AM
Yeah you might not want to read them all...that series started to turn into a bad slash fiction of it's self pretty quickly after the first couple of books.

I remember reading Blackwood Farm...where the main character fucked everyone from his maid to his priest....and by chapter 20 there was only a hint of an actual vampire. You know when the Vampire showed up in Interview? Page 1...and the 2nd vampire shows up 20-30 pages in.

Ok so then I want to read the first 3, Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned and maybe the Tale of the Body Thief. I read the summaries for all these books some time ago and remembered I liked these the best. Im not sure but didnt the later books had witches? I rather focus on just vampires for now
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Aug 19, 2013, 03:42:20 PM
It really is diminishing returns. Interview is better then Vampire Lestat. Lestat is better then QOTD, QOTD is better then Body Thief...I've never read past Memnoch the Devil, except Blackwood Farm. So it really up to you when you go "Ok...enough of this bullshit."
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Aug 20, 2013, 03:00:49 PM
It really is diminishing returns. Interview is better then Vampire Lestat. Lestat is better then QOTD, QOTD is better then Body Thief...I've never read past Memnoch the Devil, except Blackwood Farm. So it really up to you when you go "Ok...enough of this bullshit."
Wasnt Blackwood Farm about witches? dang it i want to know where the witches are at!


Been reading all the Junji Ito stories Ive found online. I definitely recommend this author (if you like horror)

http://cloudmaking.tumblr.com/post/56010411415/junji-ito-horror-manga-masterpost

http://junji-ito-index.tumblr.com/tagged/Itou_Junji_Kyoufu
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Aug 20, 2013, 03:53:42 PM
Oh, I had the first book listed there in the first tumblr.  With the spirals.  Liked it but was downsizing, so off to Half-Price Books it went.  Thanks for the links.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Aug 20, 2013, 11:26:51 PM
It really is diminishing returns. Interview is better then Vampire Lestat. Lestat is better then QOTD, QOTD is better then Body Thief...I've never read past Memnoch the Devil, except Blackwood Farm. So it really up to you when you go "Ok...enough of this bullshit."
Wasnt Blackwood Farm about witches? dang it i want to know where the witches are at!



You are talking about the Mayfair witches...there was some of that in that book, but it was mainly about Vampires. There is a book called Merrick that is all about a witch.

And because of this thread I actually was at the library today and picked up Memnoch the Devil to try to read that since it was the next in line. So I'm skipping The Vampire Lestat, Queen of the Damned, and Tale of the Body Thief and going right to that one.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Aug 23, 2013, 03:08:01 AM
Oh, I had the first book listed there in the first tumblr.  With the spirals.  Liked it but was downsizing, so off to Half-Price Books it went.  Thanks for the links.
Youre welcome! Have you read the Fuan no Tane (Seeds of Anxiety) manga? There are 4 of them and are my favorite. Very short stories, sometimes only 2 or 3 pages. You will shit bricks if you read them at night.


You are talking about the Mayfair witches...there was some of that in that book, but it was mainly about Vampires. There is a book called Merrick that is all about a witch.

And because of this thread I actually was at the library today and picked up Memnoch the Devil to try to read that since it was the next in line. So I'm skipping The Vampire Lestat, Queen of the Damned, and Tale of the Body Thief and going right to that one.
Ohhh pls come back and tell me how that book was.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Aug 23, 2013, 01:50:19 PM
I can tell you something about it now. It is hard to believe that the same woman that wrote Interview wrote this...really is. It reads like Fanfic, not a published author.

It reminds me of Stephen King's first two books. Carrie was a very tight, good read....Salem's Lot was just a kind of "Get to the point" kinda book that needed to be about 100 pages shorter.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Aug 26, 2013, 02:25:44 AM
I can tell you something about it now. It is hard to believe that the same woman that wrote Interview wrote this...really is. It reads like Fanfic, not a published author.

Ah so shes the old version of 50 shades of grey?
will not read. Thanks for the review
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Aug 26, 2013, 11:44:08 AM
Well...Not really 50 shades like in this book yet, although I know in other books I know it is totally like that.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Aug 26, 2013, 04:16:19 PM
Guys.

I'm still reading that cancer guy's book.

What the fuck is wrong with me?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Aug 26, 2013, 08:10:06 PM
The complete Sherlock Holmes, book 1.
The first 5 novels and collections.

Finished the first one, A Study in Scarlet. It's about how Watson (the books are all written from Watson's point of view) first shares a room with Holmes and discovers his love of detective work, and then Holmes does his first major case.

The novel was good at first but the entire second half was a backstory for the murders and murderer, and just dragged on forever. It was set in Utah with the Mormons settling Salt Lake City and mormons being mormons. And Brigham Young. Some guy falls in love with a girl, but the girl is forced into a polygamous marriage by one of the elder families. Guy goes on campaign of revenge. They could have told this entire story in one chapter but I think Doyle was paid by the word... or maybe the letter. I also think Doyle had a hate-on for mormons.

Hopefully the second novel isn't as tedious. I know most of the stories he wrote were short stories, easier to digest.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Aug 27, 2013, 11:56:41 AM
Guys.

I'm still reading that cancer guy's book.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

Well I have read like every single day, without fault, for like the last 10 years and I put down like 30-40 pages a sitting...so I can fly through books in a few days (actually read Casino Royale in one sitting in a couple of hours) So maybe it's not you...maybe it's me. Maybe you just have more of a life then I do, and thus have less time to read.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Aug 27, 2013, 01:28:38 PM
Guys.

I'm still reading that cancer guy's book.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

Well I have read like every single day, without fault, for like the last 10 years and I put down like 30-40 pages a sitting...so I can fly through books in a few days (actually read Casino Royale in one sitting in a couple of hours) So maybe it's not you...maybe it's me. Maybe you just have more of a life then I do, and thus have less time to read.

I used to read like that. It's like I've lost a part of myself.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Aug 28, 2013, 02:12:17 AM


I used to read like that. It's like I've lost a part of myself.
Yeah me too. I used to read so much when I was younger :( Now i still havent finished American Psycho, but I have read all of the Junji Ito I have found online tho
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Sep 10, 2013, 12:08:54 PM
Finished Memnoch. It wasn't very good. Wasn't really a Vampire novel either. This is kinda what I think Ann Rice's new stuff must read like. Which is fine, but this was advertised as part of the Vampire Chronicles and it has little to do with Vampires. I mean other then it stars Rice's own personal Mary Sue, Lestat. I liked Lestat better when he was the bastard Louis hated...

Anyway I was going to read Merrick next, mainly because The Vampire Armand was chell out at my local library, but instead I'm starting on a novel called Kenobi. Which is about Obi-Wan in his time between in the end of Revenge of the Sith and the start of A New Hope. Hopefully by the time I finish that The Vampire Armand will have been returned.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Sep 10, 2013, 01:18:55 PM
I'm reading House of Cards, since I've seen both the UK and the US tv adaptation I figured I might as well chell out the book too
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Sep 20, 2013, 01:21:18 PM
Finished Kenobi.

Looking for what I'm going to read next.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Sep 27, 2013, 06:13:42 AM
Finished Memnoch. It wasn't very good. Wasn't really a Vampire novel either. This is kinda what I think Ann Rice's new stuff must read like. Which is fine, but this was advertised as part of the Vampire Chronicles and it has little to do with Vampires. I mean other then it stars Rice's own personal Mary Sue, Lestat. I liked Lestat better when he was the bastard Louis hated...

Anyway I was going to read Merrick next, mainly because The Vampire Armand was chell out at my local library, but instead I'm starting on a novel called Kenobi. Which is about Obi-Wan in his time between in the end of Revenge of the Sith and the start of A New Hope. Hopefully by the time I finish that The Vampire Armand will have been returned.

What is Memnoch about?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Sep 27, 2013, 02:04:33 PM
The Vampire Lestat, while being preoccupied with being charge by the ghost of a criminal he killed to take care of his Televangelist daughter, is courted by the Devil himself to become his right hand man in the war for human souls. The Devil takes Lestat to heaven, and Hell and tells him about Humans came to be in attempt to convince him to join him.

Might I add the ending of this book is kinda bullshit...but the whole thing was kinda bullshit too. I'm not surprised that after this book she got back to telling the history and life of Vampires.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Sep 28, 2013, 10:00:31 PM
The Vampire Lestat, while being preoccupied with being charge by the ghost of a criminal he killed to take care of his Televangelist daughter, is courted by the Devil himself to become his right hand man in the war for human souls. The Devil takes Lestat to heaven, and Hell and tells him about Humans came to be in attempt to convince him to join him.

Might I add the ending of this book is kinda bullshit...but the whole thing was kinda bullshit too. I'm not surprised that after this book she got back to telling the history and life of Vampires.

It does sound like bullshit. Will not read. Thanks for the synopsis
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Oct 03, 2013, 01:42:28 PM
I started and finished "Ghost Stories of Missouri" in one day.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Oct 09, 2013, 02:00:23 AM
The Vampire Armand -Ann Rice
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Oct 19, 2013, 02:30:30 AM
Damnit Rama you are such a fast reader.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Oct 19, 2013, 10:33:44 AM
This one has slowed me down...not very good.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Oct 20, 2013, 09:07:00 PM
Are you going to just read all the vampire books from her or stopping with this one?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Oct 22, 2013, 12:38:54 PM
I don't know...this one has got a little better, but not much. But if you ever wanted to know what it was like to be finger banged by a vampire, this book right here will tell you.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Oct 23, 2013, 08:24:49 PM
wtf?????
I thought Armand was gay? Was he fingerbanging the rear of Lestat or something?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Oct 24, 2013, 10:33:03 PM
No No...Mairus, the vampire that made Armand, was doing the finger banging. And according to this book Armand is Bi...but then every male Vampire in the Anne Rice Universe is....I mean without fault they all are. The only one that could even make a stand of straightness was Louis, or Enkil...and Enkil was only ever a statue and Louis never made it very convincing.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Oct 24, 2013, 10:35:45 PM
Actually I forgot about guys like Mael and Khayman, who seem to be straight but they are such minor characters.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Oct 24, 2013, 11:35:52 PM
I don't know...this one has got a little better, but not much. But if you ever wanted to know what it was like to be finger banged by a vampire, this book right here will tell you.

Cool beans, time to chell that one off my bucket list.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Oct 26, 2013, 05:21:45 AM
No No...Mairus, the vampire that made Armand, was doing the finger banging. And according to this book Armand is Bi...but then every male Vampire in the Anne Rice Universe is....I mean without fault they all are. The only one that could even make a stand of straightness was Louis, or Enkil...and Enkil was only ever a statue and Louis never made it very convincing.
holy shit now I really want to get the book but just to read that one scene. I cant imagine an old WASP writing about gay finger-banging.
brb searching the internets
Or you can just post it here........if you want


I thought that even though Louis was straight he was still giving some afternoon delight to Lestat? I mean Lestat transformed him to be his boytoy, no>
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Oct 27, 2013, 09:48:35 PM
Lestat changed Louis to get his house and money. At least that's what Interview said, I think The Vampire Lestat tried to come in and retcon it some to make him not such the douche bag...but honestly I liked bad guy Lestat better then super Mary Sue Lestat. But then Louis, not Lestat, is my favorite of all the characters...and he gets treated like such a bitch in later books. He shows up in The Vampire Lestat, The Queen of the Damned, maybe Tale of the Body thief, and he is at least Mentioned in Menoch the Devil and The Vampire Armand....but in almost all of these he is just another in a line of people who are constantly kissing Lestat's ass. He has never been as compelling as he was in Interview and most of the time he only gets a passing mention in those later books.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Oct 28, 2013, 06:46:07 AM
That sucks, I really like Louis too.

Fuck I have to read so many booksss! No, first I have to somehow get them here in Vietnam and THEN I can read them
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Oct 30, 2013, 01:24:44 PM
Just find and download pdfs?  Unless you don't like reading off of a computer or tablet.  Or does Vietnam chop off a finger or something if you pirate?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Oct 31, 2013, 03:55:52 AM
Just find and download pdfs?  Unless you don't like reading off of a computer or tablet.  Or does Vietnam chop off a finger or something if you pirate?
They are not anal with stuff like that( pirate dvds for 1 buck in every other corner). The only thing they are very anal with is internet, like facebook ( I need to use HotSpot to be able to access it), BBC, etc.
For some reason I prefer to read books irl, like to have them on my hands. I like reading manga on the computer tho
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Oct 31, 2013, 09:52:07 PM
For some reason I prefer to read books irl, like to have them on my hands.

Best way to do it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Nov 01, 2013, 05:17:53 AM
For some reason I prefer to read books irl, like to have them on my hands.

Best way to do it.

Yeah. I get easily distracted, especially if Im in front of the computer. So I rather have a book I can physically take with me in my purse to places so I can read when Im alone (which is, unfortunately, almost never).
Im still reading American Psycho :(
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 04, 2013, 12:53:57 PM
For some reason I prefer to read books irl, like to have them on my hands. I like reading manga on the computer tho

I have no problem reading books electronically, especially in a format where I can change the appearance or font to ease my eyes.  I actually don't like reading manga on the computer though.  lol  The scrolling up and down to read a comic kills me.  Western or Eastern comics.  Maybe if I had a bigger screen or a tablet.  I dunno.  I'd rather have it in my hands if I could.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Nov 05, 2013, 06:38:56 AM
I'd rather have it in my hands if I could.
Thats what she said

hue
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 05, 2013, 11:47:24 AM
Finished The Vampire Armand and I've now Started Merrick...the next book in the series. I was going to read The Stand, but the Library didn't have it. Plus I heard Merrick has a focus on Louis.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Nov 08, 2013, 08:45:20 PM
wtf? how many books are there in total? She really did milk the vampire thing, didnt she
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 09, 2013, 11:31:30 AM
Interview with the Vampire (1976)*
The Vampire Lestat (1985)*
The Queen of the Damned (1988)*
The Tale of the Body Thief (1992)*
Memnoch the Devil (1995)*
The Vampire Armand (1998)*
Pandora (1998)
Vittorio the Vampire (1999)
Merrick (2000)
Blood and Gold (2001)
Blackwood Farm (2002)
Blood Canticle (2003


* Denotes ones I've read so far.

There was also a spin off series called The Lives of the Mayfair Witches, which was spun off from Merrick.



 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Nov 09, 2013, 10:49:25 PM
Wow for some reason I thought she retired in the 90s, didnt know she kept writing up till these times
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 10, 2013, 09:07:03 AM
She is still writing now...just not Vampire books anymore.

Took a stint of writing Christian novels, and now I think she is writing Werewolf books. Published a book called The Wolves of Midwinter this year in fact.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 13, 2013, 12:48:31 PM
I had a blast reading the one-star reviews for The Wolf Gift when it came out last year.  I used have Anne Rice liked in Facebook and the Amazon link had popped up in my feed.  She also liked to whore her son's work.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Nov 13, 2013, 08:18:48 PM
She is still writing now...just not Vampire books anymore.

Took a stint of writing Christian novels, and now I think she is writing Werewolf books. Published a book called The Wolves of Midwinter this year in fact.
lmao
How did she go from vampire anal play to christianity and now to werewolves?
Women.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 14, 2013, 09:49:03 AM
She is a conflicted woman...and you can see it in her fiction.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Nov 16, 2013, 06:41:34 PM
She is a woman...and you can see it in her fiction.
ftfy
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 17, 2013, 04:09:06 PM
Finished:

Bold and Gold by Anne Rice
The Tommyknockers by Stephen King
Communion by Whitley Striber

and I'm now reading Pandora by Anne Rice
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 23, 2013, 08:05:40 PM
Finished Pandora...kinda a let down. It barely covers any Vampire stuff, and it didn't answer the biggest question which was who was the deal with the Vampire Pandora was traveling with. He is mentioned in The Vampire Lestat, Blood and Gold and this book...but he is glossed over in all three. Other then he is Asian and Pandora may or may have not made him...we know nothing about him and I thought this book would get into that, but it didn't. He is just mentioned in passing and what is mentioned about him doesn't match up with some of the stuff written in Blood and Gold. =\
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Jan 03, 2014, 07:35:19 PM
Since I spend way too much time alone and in a vehicle while at work, I wondered why I didn't listen to audio books while I did my job?


The first book I wanted to get was Lolita. This copy is read by none other than Jeremy Irons, the same actor who played Scar in the Lion King. Which means every time Humbert the Pedo goes to have sex with the 13-year-old Delores he starts singing "Be Prepared".


But the CD book was checked out so I checked out "The Sign of Four" which is the second Sherlock Holmes book and the first where it establishes his cocaine habit as well as his boxing past.
This book was actually better than A Study in Scarlet as it didn't devote half the book into the background of the bad guy. And it had some very creepy moments. Even so, I found the back story of the main villain too long. And unlike the first book, where I actually sympathized and agreed with the murderer (the people he killed were complete assholes), in this case the bad guy kept trying to act like he was completely innocent even though he had murdered a stranger for a large amount of money in the past.

Also, I predicted the ending halfway through the book, which was pretty impressive.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 03, 2014, 11:36:54 PM
Reading Vittorio the Vampire now. Kinda like this one...if for nothing else Lestat is no were to be seen and it is about a Vampire we have never met before and feels more like Interview then the other books do. Plus he hasn't fucked or wanted to fuck one guy....which is a refreshing change for Anne Rice.


After I finish this one I only have to read Blackwood Farm and Blood Canticle. I actually tried reading Blackwood Farm back in like the early 2000s when it first came out, but I got pissed at it as of Chapter 20 there was only a fleeting mention of a Vampire. So not looking forward to that, but my OCD won't let me not read it. So there you go.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jan 06, 2014, 04:56:05 AM
Finished:


Communion by Whitley Striber

 

DAMN YOU for reading all the books I want to read! Ive had Communion in my list for so looooong but i cant find it anywhere! Tell me how was it, was it scary as fuck? Boring? quick reading????

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 06, 2014, 11:52:20 PM
It wasn't boring. It also wasn't that scary...at least not to me. It was a quick read though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jan 08, 2014, 01:40:09 AM
It wasn't boring. It also wasn't that scary...at least not to me. It was a quick read though.
Have you seen Fire in The sky? if so, can you compare on the level of scariness? (cause the movie was damn scary)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 08, 2014, 10:16:35 AM
I actually own that movie.

I'd say around the same, but it is hard to compare a book to a movie in terms of scary. The scariest book I ever read was the Amityville Horror, even though I know it isn't true...still scary. But there is a movie version of Communion staring Chris Walken which I saw back in the early 90s before I read this book and there is a scene in that movie that scared the crap out me. It is when a "grey" peeks around the corner of the door at Walken who is laying in bed. Far scarier then anytime Leatherface put a chainsaw in a guy.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jan 09, 2014, 08:32:08 PM
I actually own that movie.

I'd say around the same, but it is hard to compare a book to a movie in terms of scary. The scariest book I ever read was the Amityville Horror, even though I know it isn't true...still scary. But there is a movie version of Communion staring Chris Walken which I saw back in the early 90s before I read this book and there is a scene in that movie that scared the crap out me. It is when a "grey" peeks around the corner of the door at Walken who is laying in bed. Far scarier then anytime Leatherface put a chainsaw in a guy.

OH SHIT I didnt know there was a movie of Communion!
Agree with you on the Amityville Horror book. I have it too and its my fave. The drawing of Jody running through the snow sends chills to my spine
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 10, 2014, 09:46:57 AM
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097100/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jan 11, 2014, 04:18:13 AM
Should I watch it before I read it?/

Have you seen Abduction in lake County? scariest ufo movie ive ever seen. Its like Blair Witch Project but alien version (and its old so it was made before the whole hand-held-camera movement was popular)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 13, 2014, 11:59:34 PM
Depends...that is how I did it, but I don't think it matters.

And no, never heard of it. Might watch it if I get a chance.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jan 15, 2014, 05:36:19 AM
Good stuff, good stuff.

Tomorrow Im going to get the first LOTR book, finally found a place they sell it in this freaking country. They have Justin Bieber books but no Tolkien, its bullshit
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 15, 2014, 01:08:44 PM
You should read the Hobbit first...I didn't and I should have. There are lots of call backs to the Hobbit in the LOTRs.


I'm read a book called Area 51: A secret history. Pretty good, but the author maintains that what crashed at Roswell was a captured Nazi flying wing piloted by Russians and then offers no support of this theory at all. Because having Russian in the 1940s having mastered anti-gravity and then never using it again through out the entire Cold War makes way more sense then Aliens.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jan 17, 2014, 01:41:22 AM
There are so many theories about the nazis and the ufos, the nazis and the hollow earth (have you heard/read about Admiral Byrd?)

You should read the Hobbit first...I didn't and I should have. There are lots of call backs to the Hobbit in the LOTRs.

Well like I said in the other thread I couldnt get the damn book. Didnt Tolkien write the Hobbit after the LOTR trilogy???

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edit: I dont want to read the Hobbit first because I want to be surprised when I see the movie! I know Thorin dies tho, goddamn people not saying they are posting spoilers
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Jan 17, 2014, 05:15:32 AM
Didnt Tolkien write the Hobbit after the LOTR trilogy???

Nope, he wrote the Hobbit first
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jan 18, 2014, 12:55:32 AM
For that matter, he wrote the Silmarillion before that...but I'd read it after Hobbit and LOTR, if at all. I loved it, but it's not for everyone. But that's Tolkien for you.

I read LOTR first due to having seen the movies (TTT pissed me off, and it was a year until I saw ROTK, so I read the whole thing in a week's time), and read Hobbit later. It was much more "kiddy", but not so much that I couldn't deal with it. I'd probably recommend reading Hobbit first, since LOTR explains a lot of it in the course of reading it, and then there are the appendices.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jan 18, 2014, 07:13:49 PM
For that matter, he wrote the Silmarillion before that...but I'd read it after Hobbit and LOTR, if at all. I loved it, but it's not for everyone. But that's Tolkien for you.

I read LOTR first due to having seen the movies (TTT pissed me off, and it was a year until I saw ROTK, so I read the whole thing in a week's time), and read Hobbit later. It was much more "kiddy", but not so much that I couldn't deal with it. I'd probably recommend reading Hobbit first, since LOTR explains a lot of it in the course of reading it, and then there are the appendices.

Goddamnit now I dont know what to do. I really dont want to know whats happening on the next movie, but I want to follow your advice :/
Why isnt Silmarillion for everyone? I was planning on reading it after the 4 books. Too many names? ala 100 Years of Solitude??



Didnt Tolkien write the Hobbit after the LOTR trilogy???

Nope, he wrote the Hobbit first

:-/
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jan 18, 2014, 09:16:22 PM
Why isnt Silmarillion for everyone? I was planning on reading it after the 4 books. Too many names? ala 100 Years of Solitude??
It's a tale sweeping across thousands of years, several lost continents, and the overlapping generations of numerous characters. Mix that with the epitome of disjointed storytelling (since it was compiled after the death of Tolkien by his son based on notes, letters, and other miscellaneous unpublished material dating back to before World War 1 all the way up to the man's death in '73), and you have the Silmarillion. Read it only if you've read the Hobbit and LOTR and find yourself wanting more. It's not something I believe you can just pick up and read and get the most out of it...you have to be willing to put forth an effort to piece everything together.

I recommend putting in the work. It's really something when you come to the realization that Hobbit and LOTR are only a very small part of what Tolkien crafted.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jan 21, 2014, 02:25:24 AM
Ok
I just got The Hobbit (still cant find the fellowship anywhere but this will do for now!)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jan 22, 2014, 11:32:02 AM
Dune by Frank Herbert
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Feb 12, 2014, 08:33:48 PM
I've started reading some of the short stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Doyle. Every time, I attempt to figure out whodunit, or at least WHY they're doing it, before the story reveals it, much in the same way I did successfully for "Sign of Four". I'm 4 for 5, with the only exception the Irene Adler story which isn't really a mystery, more of an adventure, so there's little to deduce there.


I just finished the audiobook of Lolita read by Jeremy Irons. And it was one hell of a book.

First off Jeremy Irons, while at times can be monotonous, does such a great infliction of a snooty British man.

Second off, I fully expected and worried about the novel being explicit, but thankfully any sex is alluded to in passing, or not even mentioned (but implied).

The book is written from the point of the pedophile Humbert Humbert (a pseudonym) writing to a jury to explain WHY he committed the crimes he did (rape, pedophilia, and murder). Humbert shows texbook predatory and grooming behavior, like hanging out on park benches and being touchy feeley towards girls. The entire book is written using lots of big words and tons of wordplay and allegory. In it, Humbert tries to victim blame. For instance, claiming that his interest in children is because he was unable to have sex with a girl he loved when he was a teen. Saying that "nymphets", the girls he's attracted to, are demons in disguise and blaming them for being attracted to them. Putting the blame of his acts with Lolita on her, saying "But she sexually experimented with a boy at camp so I wasn't her first" and "She came onto me and initiated sex the first time". He almost redeems himself at times where he admits that he destroyed her life, and sometimes seems remorse. But being the novel is from his point of view it's hard to determine if he's sincere or just fucking with you.

In the end I found it to be an enjoyable book. Sure you want to kick the crap out of Humbert for being such a dick, but thankfully there's no depictions of sex that would make the book unreadable, and Humbert's wordplay and snooty, sarcastic descriptions of post-war 1950s America are funny and brilliant.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Feb 12, 2014, 08:57:41 PM
I just started re-reading Lord of the Words...I mean, Lord of the Rings this week. This'll be the fourth run-through. I'm at the mushroom chapter now...I'm aiming for a chapter a day. I'm taking this one easier, since I've got a lot going on this month.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Feb 13, 2014, 12:27:29 PM
My brother-in-law dropped off some superhero comics. Most of it is just the crap you'd expect from the medium but there's a couple of issues of the Superior Foes of Spider-Man and this title is laugh-out-loud funny.
I'm gonna have to track down the rest of this series
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 13, 2014, 01:14:38 PM
Half way through Live and Let Die.

This is a pretty racist book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 15, 2014, 11:17:43 PM
Moonraker -Ian Flemming
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Feb 16, 2014, 04:42:16 PM
Reading the new Discworld novel 'Raising Steam'
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Mar 03, 2014, 08:24:48 PM
I read the Adventure of the Speckled Band, one of the most famous of Sherlock Holmes' short stories. Halfway through, when they were investigating the room where the murder occurred, I immediately knew HOW the crime had been committed and how the story would end, as if I had read it before. I don't ever remember reading the story before, but I must have, if I knew so easily how it would end. It does make me wonder if the other Sherlock stories I have read, where I deduced the culprit before his reveal, was because I had read those before as well even though I don't remember reading them. For instance, events in The Adventure of the Red-Headed League seemed a bit familiar, even though I hadn't read it before.


Right now I'm in the middle of re-reading Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz because I plan to read the entire series. I last read it 6 years ago and loved the charm and wit and humor of it. But this time around, I came to lines in the book like these:

"By the time [Elvis] died, most pop songs had become, usually without the conscious intention of those who wrote and sang them, anthems endorsing the values of fascism, which remains the case to this day.”
Wat? Pop music is fascist? DA FUCK?

"Charles Manson, the vicious manipulator whose fantasies of revolution and race war had exposed a cancer at the core of the flower powet generation and had led to the demise of the age of aquarius."

“Considering that the modern and contemporary literature taught in most universities is largely bleak, cynical, morbid, pessimistic, misanthropic dogmatism, often written by suicidal types who sooner or later kill themselves with alcohol or drugs, or shotguns, Professor Takuda was a remarkably cheerful man.”

"As a working environment, the rest of academia is a sewer of irrationality, hate mongering, envy, and self-interest. "


Okay, so Dean Koontz hates hippies, pop music, and higher education. Got it. I wonder if this has anything to do with him being a hardcore Catholic. Probably.
The quote about Pop music being fascist is what really got my attention, though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Mar 04, 2014, 04:33:21 PM
I read Speckled Band for an 8th grade assignment, and it was my first Holmes story, so it's a sentimental favorite. When I returned to my old school to sub for a few weeks back in '03, that story came up again. So I made the class read it for assignment, and we then spent a couple days reading it in class. Since kids can't read for shit these days and have no imagination, I knew they'd need someone to "translate" what was going on. After a comprehension quiz we watched it on TV (Jeremy Brett FTW) to see the difference between the written word and the (rather faithful) screen adaptation.

We did a lot of stuff like that. When that class graduated a few years later, a quarter of the kids I taught thanked me personally for teaching them how to understand what they read. And I subbed for them for 9 weeks in junior high. Maybe I should have been a teacher instead of an engineer/technician.

Pop music is generally crap, whatever it's about.


Just started book 5 of Lord of the Rings (first half of Return of the King). I've been taking it slow this time through.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Mar 09, 2014, 05:08:04 AM
Finished reading The Hobbit and now on to Howl's Moving castle.

Btw Rama about something you said regarding the Hobbit

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You said Fili took the place of Thorin as the new King when he died but Fili and Kili both died during the war. So Dain took the throne.
Cant wait to see the movie, I already know im going to be sobbing like a little school girl
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Mar 11, 2014, 02:38:41 PM
Huh...I thought Fili lived. Oh well...it's been awhile since I read it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Mar 11, 2014, 03:18:27 PM
Dain became King Under The Mountain. Thorin became wormfood under the mountain.

Dain died fighting Easterlings before the gate of Erebor during the same time the battle was waging in the Pelannor Fields of Gondor. Following the events of LOTR, Gimli settled the Glittering Caves behind Helm's Deep with a number of his people and eventually crossed over the Sundering Sea with Legolas, the only Dwarf to do so. Moria was resettled thereafter, re-establishing the most ancient of Dwarven domains in Middle-Earth.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Mar 12, 2014, 05:18:52 AM
Yeah I just read somewhere ( i think it was the lotr board in reddit) that Dain dies later with some other king dwarf during the war that was going on at the same time that other war was going on cause of the ring
oh shit i cant wait to read the rest of the books, im going to give stephen colbert a run for his money

I wonder whos going to play Dain...did they say it already??
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Mar 12, 2014, 11:19:09 PM
Billy Connolly's Dain.

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2012/06/18/57504-analysing-billy-connollys-dain-ironfoot/
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Mar 14, 2014, 10:05:06 PM
Yeah I just read somewhere ( i think it was the lotr board in reddit) that Dain dies later with some other king dwarf during the war that was going on at the same time that other war was going on cause of the ring

No, Dain died with King Brand of Dale...a man, the grandson of Bard the Bowman from The Hobbit. They had barricaded themselves inside Erebor after they were defeated by an Easterling army from the region of Rhűn. The kings died before they could escape, with Dain defending the fallen Brand, which was noteworthy as at 250 years old he was still on top of his game in terms of axe-wielding.

But after news of the victory at Pelennor the invaders lost heart and the Men of Dale under new Bard son of Brand and the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain under Thorin Stonehelm repelled them from the north. This was important, as according to Gandalf this army would have moved on to attack Thranduil's kingdom and boltered the assault of Lorien, which would have ended the strongest remaining elven strongholds in Middle-Earth and destroyed the army of the Lords of the West as it rode to the Morannon.

In case you're wondering, no, I don't just have these facts at my command at the drop of a hat. I finished re-reading LOTR this week, and the appendices were the last things I read.

I wonder whos going to play Dain...did they say it already??
(http://tolkiengateway.net/w/images/2/24/Decipher_-_Dáin_Ironfoot.jpg)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Mar 17, 2014, 11:37:44 PM
O shit i didnt know the other guy was Bard's grandson.
Im reading LOTR 1 atm so hopefully ill catch up soon :3


Billy Connolly's Dain.

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2012/06/18/57504-analysing-billy-connollys-dain-ironfoot/
never heard of that dude
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Mar 18, 2014, 10:20:08 AM
Marvel Masterworks The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Mar 18, 2014, 08:55:48 PM
Pop music is generally crap, whatever it's about.

If you're talking about anything past the 90s, and maybe even including some of the 80s and 70s, I'd tend to agree. And by pop you mean mainstream electronic-based music, not rock or metal.
Fascist, on the other hand, seems extreme. But considering that the main character in the book both calls music after Elvis "unconsciously fascist" and says that hippies were at the core cult-like and murderous, I feel like the author, being an older man and a catholic to boot, has that typical attitude that hippie music and anything that spawned from it is evil (you wouldn't believe how many times I've heard conservative Christians call any music past the 50s satanic). I certainly wouldn't call hippie-spawned music "fascist", either, as it seemed to be more anti-authority and "fuck da man" in any case.

Also, I forgot whether Fili and Kili actually died in the book and I'm sad to hear that they did... I loved their characters.


Odd Thomas, an odd review

I reread Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz... having read it about 6-7 years ago. It's about a guy in his early 20s named Odd Thomas who sees ghosts and evil shadows and tries to use them to solve crime. It's more supernatural thriller/action though, not detective/mystery, although there's detective-ish themes to it. In this story, Odd sees some evil spirits tailing an odd-looking man and has to prevent him and his buddies from committing mass murder.

The reason I liked it the first time was simple. The main characters were all colorful, three dimensional, and interesting, and the book, despite being dark and scary, had a great wit and humor to it. Full of off kilter humor and jokes and puns, it's not hard to laugh a little in the book. I found this the same the second time around... I enjoyed all the crazy characters and laughed many times.

Admittedly it has a dark side too, and a scary side. Although I knew what was going to happen I still found it creepy at times.

There's also a very tragic ending to it, where someone close to Odd dies violently. I liked this because it showed that the main characters were not immune or protected by plot armor, and could die. However, it was kinda sad, and it did feel like Koontz was giving readers the middle finger (especially considering there's now 7 books and graphic novels).

I'll go into more depth about the main character after I review the second book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Mar 18, 2014, 09:55:30 PM
Pop music is generally crap, whatever it's about.

If you're talking about anything past the 90s, and maybe even including some of the 80s and 70s, I'd tend to agree. And by pop you mean mainstream electronic-based music, not rock or metal.
Fascist, on the other hand, seems extreme. But considering that the main character in the book both calls music after Elvis "unconsciously fascist" and says that hippies were at the core cult-like and murderous, I feel like the author, being an older man and a catholic to boot, has that typical attitude that hippie music and anything that spawned from it is evil (you wouldn't believe how many times I've heard conservative Christians call any music past the 50s satanic). I certainly wouldn't call hippie-spawned music "fascist", either, as it seemed to be more anti-authority and "fuck da man" in any case.

By pop music, I mean popular music and not confined to any one genre. Also, there's a word in the original quote that you seem to have missed. "Generally" is by definition a blanket statement and by no means absolute yet found to be true more often than not.

As the resident fundie I wouldn't say the past sixty years of music is satanic--of course, some of it is by intention--but much is what I would call sinfully-themed. And don't bother arguing over it, because I'm right: think of all the songs extolling drunkeness, getting high, screwing around, violence, and the feelings of the same. That's just because most music is self-centered in nature, and it just happens to find audiences who feel the same way as and identify with the artist. I'm not condemning anyone for it, but it is a fact. Isn't that why we listen to it? It's life. Otherwise, who'd care?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Mar 23, 2014, 10:38:48 PM
Somewhat on topic, remember these people? - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parents_Music_Resource_Center  So many of the Filthy 15 are pretty tame by today's standards.  Listening to the radio these days gives me herpes.  Even people who didn't bother me before like Enrique Iglesias and Selena Gomez, ew, it's like everything they put out is all about bonin' now.  Get some other hobbies.

"As a working environment, the rest of academia is a sewer of irrationality, hate mongering, envy, and self-interest."
Actually, a lot of what I heard about it is pretty gross.  Lots of pettyness and viciousness and egos.  I'm not sure you understand the quote if you took that to mean he hates higher education.  Unless the rest of the quote provides a context I'm missing here.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Apr 20, 2014, 08:23:37 PM
On to LOtR the Two Towers. Read 1/3 of the book in one day and I love it. I can get the 3rd book here but I cant get the Silmarillion here so Ill have to wait until bae goes to Tokyo next month to get it there (from Amazon). Thinking about getting the Lost Letters too or whatever its called.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on May 02, 2014, 06:48:59 PM
Tough Shit by Kevin Smith
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on May 19, 2014, 10:03:29 AM
Doctor Sleep by Stephen King.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on May 20, 2014, 12:44:35 AM
On to Lotr 3!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jun 03, 2014, 02:42:57 PM
I'm the worst reader I know. I still haven't finished Consider Phlebas.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jun 04, 2014, 09:39:55 AM
Speaking of Consider Phlebas, I rather enjoyed this short fairly non-spoilery passage from the novel. Is it wrong for me to type this all out here?

Yalson saw Horza staring at something on the floor near the doors leading back to the station. She kept watching Balveda, but said, "What have you found?"

Horza shook his head, reached to pick something from the floor, then stopped. "I think it's an insect," he said incredulously.

"Wow," Yalson said, unimpressed. Balveda moved over to have a look, Yalson's gun still trained on her. Horza shook his head, watching the insect crawl over the tunnel floor.

"What the he''s that doing down here? he said. Yalso frowned when he said that, worried at a note of near panic in the man's voice.

"Probably brought it down here it down here ourselves," Balveda said, rising. "Hitched a ride on the pallet, or somebody's suit, I bet."

Horza brought his fist down on the tiny creature, squashing it, grinding it into the dark rock. Balveda looked surprised. Yalson's frown deepened. Horza stared at the mark left on the tunnel floor, wiped his glove, then looked up, apologetic.

"Sorry," he told Balveda, as though embarrassed. "... couldn't help thinking about that fly in the The Ends of Invention... Turned out to be one of your pets, remember?" He got up and walked quickly into the station. Balveda nodded, looking down at the small stain on the floor.

"Well," she said, arching one eyebrow, "that was one way of proving it's innocence.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 04, 2014, 11:04:34 AM
It's bad that you typed it all out...it is worse that I rewrote it in my head, as I was reading it, to be more engaging.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jun 04, 2014, 05:21:22 PM
It's bad that you typed it all out...it is worse that I rewrote it in my head, as I was reading it, to be more engaging.

:lol:

I changed the names.  Can we do that?  Because names like that make me wanna tune out.  I was writing this story when I was around 18 or so and I actually typed out what must've been a thousand pages.  Okay, so I actually went and dug out the manuscript because I kept it and took a picture of it.  Because I have nothing better to do right now.  So clearly not a 1000 pages.  I don't know how many pages that is.  And I didn't number them.  And it's in varying font sizes some are back and front.  The spiral next to it for comparison is about 75 pages.  So no freakin way it's a 1000.  Maybe it just felt that way when I wrote it.  Anyway, over half of the characters have weird-ass names.  I named a guy Safofanein.  And I'd type it all out.  He didn't have a nickname.  What the eff.  So it's not Yahlen, Yahlon and Orzo or whatever.  But the same principle I suppose.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 05, 2014, 06:12:44 PM
You going to do anything with it? I mean other then change the names.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jun 05, 2014, 10:51:33 PM
Even if I revisit the characters and that world--and I may I suppose--I'm junking that version of the story.  I can't make myself throw away what I wrote though.  Just like those stories I keep in the closet.  I've got a stack in about half a dozen or so of those presentation books... you know, those ones that have 24 or so sheets where you can slip in a piece of paper.  And those are a completely different set of characters and world.  That, I feel kinda done with.  But I have memories with those because I would read those Merla and we'd laugh.  I wrote those when I was in high school.  I'd take a pic of those, too, but it's late right now and I'm being lazy.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 06, 2014, 09:56:36 AM
It's early now. >=(
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jun 07, 2014, 08:58:43 PM
Im almost at the end of The Return of the King but Im stalling it because I don't want it to end :'( Also I feel like geeking out talking to someone about it but not one of my friends have read the books and if they have they don't talk about it.
Shit, its like I have blue balls for Tolkien
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jun 07, 2014, 09:33:57 PM
You could always end and start all over again.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jun 09, 2014, 01:33:44 PM
Yup: there and back again. But don't forget the appendices!

And there will always be Silmarillion lurking in the shadows...
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jun 11, 2014, 05:47:23 AM
Just got that one and Letters of Tolkien
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 11, 2014, 09:34:35 PM
I should be reading 2001 by Arthur C. Clarke, but  I left it at work...so maybe tomm.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jun 12, 2014, 10:04:42 AM
BUY CIALIS ALABAMER CAR INSURANCE?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jun 24, 2014, 07:50:26 PM
http://www.rabbitinasuit.com/sphere/index.php?topic=4704.0
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Sep 20, 2014, 09:55:03 PM
Almost finished with the Silmarillion. And i LOVE it. Have to confess there has been many times when Ive gotten all teary eyed and shit, Tolkien knows his shit.

Children of Hurin is next. Then the Unfinished Tales and Letters of Tolkien. Maybe then I'll see if I can get the 12 volumes of History of Middle Earth (but they are very difficult to get, at least in Japan).

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Sep 21, 2014, 08:15:14 AM
Children of Hurin was a more fleshed out version of that portion of the Silmarillion. If you were into the tragedy of Turin Turambar, you'll like Children of Hurin...otherwise I'd skip it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Sep 21, 2014, 08:29:10 PM
Children of Hurin was a more fleshed out version of that portion of the Silmarillion. If you were into the tragedy of Turin Turambar, you'll like Children of Hurin...otherwise I'd skip it.

Im actually on that chapter atm and this one has one of the moments that made me tear up (Beleg's dead) so I will definitely like Children of Hurin.
Did you like that book?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Sep 23, 2014, 11:18:34 AM
Eh. Not a big fan. But when I read Silmarillion I usually skip that chapter and read the Children book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Sep 24, 2014, 08:24:00 PM
What is the Children Book? Is it the english name of one of the following chapters? (skimmed it and didn't find it)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Sep 25, 2014, 01:25:04 PM
What I was saying without being too spoilerish was that when I read through Silmarillion I skip Turin's chapters and read Children of Hurin in place of it to get the full story.

In any case, it's my least favorite portion of the Silmarillion. Tragedy is something I'm not fond of, it's a slog to get through, and the NTR/incest component is the straw that broke this camel's back.

It does however give great insight on why Galadriel described their battles against Morgoth and Sauron as "the long defeat".
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Sep 26, 2014, 03:46:24 AM
Really? I really liked it. Very entertaining compared to other chapters in the same book. The incest part was definitely predictable tho.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Sep 26, 2014, 10:40:31 AM
Been reading a collection of Lovecraft stories, most recently finished At the Mountains of Madness and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.
Some pretty good stuff but I'm starting to resent the fact that he finds a way to put the word 'cyclopean' in every story. There ARE other ways to build walls.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Sep 28, 2014, 09:20:16 PM
I LOOOOOOOOOOVE At the Mountains of Madness. Was so happy when I heard the director from pan's Labyrinth was going to direct the movie but that ended in nothing :(
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Oct 01, 2014, 08:12:04 AM
It's a pretty good story but I did have to google a picture of the Elder Things cause I couldn't form a mental image from the descriptions
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Oct 01, 2014, 02:20:28 PM
It's a pretty good story but I did have to google a picture of the Elder Things cause I couldn't form a mental image from the descriptions

They are fucking bizarre.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Oct 15, 2014, 08:06:30 AM
Saucer by Stephen Coontz
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Oct 17, 2014, 02:00:20 AM
Finished the Children of Hurin and I loved it. I think its actually easier to read than the LoTR (and much shorter and entertaining than the Hobbit). I wish they did a movie of it but alas that will never happen. :-/
 Next the Unfinished Tales
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Oct 17, 2014, 12:27:02 PM
It's pretty disjointed, but there's some good info there.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Oct 20, 2014, 10:08:02 AM
Has anyone ever taken the LOTR books and edited them to one book?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Oct 21, 2014, 08:52:27 AM
I've seen LOTR compiled into one book...but not edited into one book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Oct 22, 2014, 01:23:11 AM
Has anyone ever taken the LOTR books and edited them to one book?
Actually the whole LOTR was supposed to be only one book with 12 parts.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Oct 25, 2014, 10:47:21 PM
Has anyone ever divided it into twelve books?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Oct 27, 2014, 09:21:42 AM
No...but you can probably find the diagram of how he divided it online
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Oct 27, 2014, 11:16:32 AM
Marvel Masterworks The Amazing Spider-Man Vol 5.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Oct 27, 2014, 12:07:22 PM
Book of Concealed Carry by Massad Ayoob.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Oct 28, 2014, 07:40:25 AM
Still reading Lovecraft stuff, but I've come to the short stories and they're a bit of a mixed bag
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 20, 2014, 11:58:29 AM
Dreamcatcher by Stephen King....which has little to nothing to do with a Dreamcatcher other then offhand mentions of one being in a cabin what a small part of the story takes place. I think he just liked the sound of the title and forced it into the story to justify it. I would have called the story Mr. Grey...but that's just me.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Nov 23, 2014, 06:47:11 AM
I didn't quite like Dreamcatcher. Are you planning to read his new book, Reflections? (Rumbly I read a review that says King used some Lovecraftian elements)

Reading the Letters of JRR Tolkien.
Loved the Unfinished Tales, especially the last chapters when they talk about the Istari (Gandalf, Saruman, etc) the Palantiri and even the Druedain
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 25, 2014, 11:38:55 PM
I don't know. I'm on the hold list for Prince Lestat which is Anne Rice's newest book..hopefully I'll get that soon.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Nov 28, 2014, 12:19:19 AM
Prince Lestat? innnnteresting. Will read the synopsis
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Nov 30, 2014, 06:42:07 PM
I've been reading this Walking Dead novel: Fall of the Governer pt 2
Wouldn't recommend it to anyone tho unless you're as much a fan of the comics as I am
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Feb 02, 2015, 06:09:23 PM
Reading installments of the Bommelsaga
(Which means nothing unless you're Dutch)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Feb 02, 2015, 08:07:04 PM
Isn't that the one where the kid sticks his finger in the dike? Sounds like a Dutch porno.

I kid, I kid. Complete works, or the new releases?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Feb 03, 2015, 05:07:28 AM
Complete works.
They have these hardcover releases now in the same format aa they used to appear in the papers (like before my time)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 03, 2015, 09:10:47 AM
Hideaway by Dean Koontz.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Feb 08, 2015, 07:42:37 PM
Van Gogh: The Life by Steven Naifeh. Big ass book tho
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Feb 12, 2015, 02:22:10 PM
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Mar 04, 2015, 08:15:35 PM
Had to take a mental break from reading the Van Gogh biography and chose the worst book I could have chosen for a relax time: "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. Amazing book, love his style but just soooo heavy and hard :'(  Anyways i finished it in two days (its short) and got Blood Meridian since its always on top of the "what to read" lists. I don't really like westerns at ALL but I hope this one is better since I heard its gory and stuff
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Mar 04, 2015, 09:38:30 PM
Heh. I work in a town called Meridian. Lately it's been pretty bloody, too. But that's good for those of us in the health-care racket.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Mar 05, 2015, 01:37:30 PM
Forever Odd by Dean Koontz. I still don't like this main character and I don't know why I am reading the 2nd book other then I was hard up for a book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Mar 08, 2015, 11:36:05 PM
And don't bother arguing over it, because I'm right:
is self-centered in nature
Mmm. The delicious irony. Say that music is narcissistic, egotistical, and self-centered, and then say "I know I'm right" with such certainty. No one is always right, ever. Even if you say "I'm sure I'm right about this," always a possibility to be wrong. And probably a bad way to start an argument. "I'm going to state something. But since I'm 100% sure I'm right, don't bother arguing over it." I don't think that's how debates work.

think of all the songs extolling drunkeness, getting high, screwing around, violence, and the feelings of the same. That's just because most music is self-centered in nature, and it just happens to find audiences who feel the same way as and identify with the artist. I'm not condemning anyone for it, but it is a fact. Isn't that why we listen to it? It's life. Otherwise, who'd care?
That makes it much harder, after that statement, to say that I do agree with you, at least on this. Doesn't make me or you right, or wrong, just that I agree with you and think we are right. Music "in general" nowadays and even to some extent in the past is narcissistic and hedonistic. Rap music with bling, women treated like objects, expensive cars, guns. Pop music with skimpy outfits and simple themes. Sex sells, yes, but it does get annoying.

I certainly wouldn't say a lot of classic rock is self-centered though. And it still doesn't explain why he said pop music was "facist".
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Mar 09, 2015, 12:01:38 AM
On the 24th of February, 1815, the look-out at Notre-Dame de la Garde signalled the three-master, the Pharaon from Smyrna, Trieste, and Naples.

A friend noted that this is how the Count of Monte Cristo began, and thus the novel started 200 years ago. Made me decide to pick it up again in the near future.

Forever Odd by Dean Koontz. I still don't like this main character and I don't know why I am reading the 2nd book other then I was hard up for a book.

What is it you don't like about the main character? What did you think of the first book and its tragic ending?


Odd Hours, 4th book
Apparently Dean Koontz is the Microsoft of novels: every other book he writes kinda sucks, like every other OS M$ comes out with is balls. Be warned Rama, the second novel wasn't that great to me and you'll probably dislike it some too.

One of the biggest issues I had with this, and I'm going to have to spoil this book, at first in general terms, and then explaining the motives of the main villain, but who cares.

*spoilers*
Okay, so the villains are terrorists who are trying to smuggle in nukes in a small fishing town on the California coast. Not islamists, but white terrorists. Okay, fair enough. But why? I would figure they are part of some Waco cult, or anti-government types like McVeigh. THAT would make sense.

But, as one of the idiot thugs the villain has working for him explains (and I just detest how generic/cartoonish some of these goons are depicted), the main baddie is a protestant priest who was in the middle east, trying to save Christians from murder and prosecution. And then he became disillusioned and gave up. Okay, but how the fuck does that equate to someone wanting to blow up major US cities because he was upset he couldn't save every Christian in the Mideast from being killed? How the hell does that save any of them?! "Well I can't save these Egyptian Coptics, let's blow up an America city and kill more Christians."
*end of spoilers*

Which brings me to the crux of why I didn't like this book... the ending was too rushed and forced, without explaining a lot. What did Odd hear in the sewer grate? Why did the coyotes attack him and who was controlling them? I have a feeling these issues will be explained in a later novel, but I'm not holding my breath.

 Speaking of the coyotes, I think Koontz has a hate-on for coyotes, because in at least three books he has packs of coyotes try to attack Odd, and the fact is, Coyotes do not travel in packs NOR do they attack humans.

Also, near the end of the book, Odd, despite being afraid of guns, ends up being a hell of a shot as he wastes people left and right despite them being better trained than him.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Mar 12, 2015, 04:31:44 PM
Some Halo shit.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Mar 22, 2015, 06:47:43 AM
On the 24th of February, 1815, the look-out at Notre-Dame de la Garde signalled the three-master, the Pharaon from Smyrna, Trieste, and Naples.

A friend noted that this is how the Count of Monte Cristo began, and thus the novel started 200 years ago. Made me decide to pick it up again in the near future.

Forever Odd by Dean Koontz. I still don't like this main character and I don't know why I am reading the 2nd book other then I was hard up for a book.

What is it you don't like about the main character? What did you think of the first book and its tragic ending?


Odd Hours, 4th book
Apparently Dean Koontz is the Microsoft of novels: every other book he writes kinda sucks, like every other OS M$ comes out with is balls. Be warned Rama, the second novel wasn't that great to me and you'll probably dislike it some too.

One of the biggest issues I had with this, and I'm going to have to spoil this book, at first in general terms, and then explaining the motives of the main villain, but who cares.

*spoilers*
Okay, so the villains are terrorists who are trying to smuggle in nukes in a small fishing town on the California coast. Not islamists, but white terrorists. Okay, fair enough. But why? I would figure they are part of some Waco cult, or anti-government types like McVeigh. THAT would make sense.

But, as one of the idiot thugs the villain has working for him explains (and I just detest how generic/cartoonish some of these goons are depicted), the main baddie is a protestant priest who was in the middle east, trying to save Christians from murder and prosecution. And then he became disillusioned and gave up. Okay, but how the fuck does that equate to someone wanting to blow up major US cities because he was upset he couldn't save every Christian in the Mideast from being killed? How the hell does that save any of them?! "Well I can't save these Egyptian Coptics, let's blow up an America city and kill more Christians."
*end of spoilers*

Which brings me to the crux of why I didn't like this book... the ending was too rushed and forced, without explaining a lot. What did Odd hear in the sewer grate? Why did the coyotes attack him and who was controlling them? I have a feeling these issues will be explained in a later novel, but I'm not holding my breath.

 Speaking of the coyotes, I think Koontz has a hate-on for coyotes, because in at least three books he has packs of coyotes try to attack Odd, and the fact is, Coyotes do not travel in packs NOR do they attack humans.

Also, near the end of the book, Odd, despite being afraid of guns, ends up being a hell of a shot as he wastes people left and right despite them being better trained than him.

Yeah that ending was...well I knew that character was dead. It was foreshadowed a lot...but I thought they'd end up being the main bad guy and I think if Koontz was brave he would have done it.


Anyway and the moment I've having Ménage a book with Dean Koontz's Frankenstein book 2 and Whitley Streiber's The Grays. What I read is just depends on where I am.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Mar 23, 2015, 12:14:29 AM
yea, but what exactly was it you didn't like about the main character?

Also, do you like his Frankenstein series? I've been thinking of trying it as well.


Odd Apocalypse

Has nothing to do with the Apocalypse, besides the fact a character in the book sees the future, and describes schoolgirls exploding on fire and turning to ashes and skeletons turning black and exploding into powder, which is supposedly what happens when people are killed with a nuclear weapon. In the last book Odd stopped nuclear weapons from coming to the US, maybe he didn't quite succeed.

Apparently Dean Koontz is like the Windows of novels; every other one is good, every other one sucks (like Windows). This one was actually quite better than book 4, but not quite as good as 1 or 3.

In the book, Odd is staying at a billionare's estate where time seems to stand still (literally?) and strange pig beasts roam the land. As usual though, Odd Thomas seems to know exactly what to say most of the time, seems to be a perfect shot with a gun despite being terrified of them, and probably due to plot armor never seems to ever be shot  when going against people who are better trained than him. Also, the villains once again always seem pure evil once you see their true side, which probably makes it easier for Odd to dispatch them left and right without even feeling remorse. At least in book 4 and previous books when he did kill people he felt at least a little shaken up about it.

Still, Koontz does a wonderful job describing what's going on in the world in rich detail, from a bizzare steampunk mechanism in a basement to even crazier stuff. And thanks to pretty good foreshadowing and clues (maybe ones too obvious) I figured out exactly what was going on before it was revealed to me. In the end not a bad read, and pretty suspenseful for the most part.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Mar 25, 2015, 02:11:11 PM
Odd is too good. Too plain...too unassuming...too unflawed. And if he is flawed it is always someone else's fault or a loveable quirk instead of something that might actually give him anything like depth.


And I actually like the Frankenstein books even less then the Odd ones. First this should have been one book that he has stretched out too many books (not idea how many) and instead of getting to spending time with characters you want you have to spend whole chapters with like someone you don't care about at all...usually used to advance a new plot point when he hasn't wrapped up any of the ones from before.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Mar 25, 2015, 05:40:36 PM
You people make me sad I don't read more.  Peer pressure almost.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Mar 25, 2015, 08:40:54 PM
Got #1 and #3 of the History of Middle Earth (#2 wasn't available) and Robert Frost's Guide to Middle Earth. Def on a backlog tho since I have had hardly any time to read the Van Gogh bio and Blood Meridian :-/
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Mar 26, 2015, 10:47:05 AM
You people make me sad I don't read more.  Peer pressure almost.

You ain't down with us no more...you ain't bad, you ain't bad.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Apr 07, 2015, 05:32:11 AM
Cant stand reading Blood Meridian, its boring, always the same shit, corpses here corpses there. Maybe reading American Psycho has unsensitised me :-/
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Jun 13, 2015, 04:59:16 PM
Odd is too good. Too plain...too unassuming...too unflawed. And if he is flawed it is always someone else's fault or a loveable quirk instead of something that might actually give him anything like depth.

Yes. Definitely started noticing this as the series progressed. While he's not perfect, he has almost no negative flaws. He gets angry but rarely, and is still able to control himself when he's angry. Always, ALWAYS seems to know what to say in any situation, even when he has a gun to his head or his life is in danger (the second book was the worst for this, a perfect retort for whatever Datura said to him). And yea, if he is flawed it's nothing that inconveniences him in a major way, just minor things he can shrug off.

I do think Koontz is gary stu-ing quite a bit with these books, the main character seems to be almost like the author. With the exception of Odd not being very religious, and Koontz being a strong catholic, I hear opinions Odd says that kinda sound like something Koontz might feel, and then there's the love of dogs both the character and the author share. I have heard the books were written about a character who experiences the loss of a loved one and is based off of Koontz losing someone who was very close to him, so there's that.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jun 14, 2015, 12:58:41 PM
All-Star Section Eight #1.

There were some funny moments, but absolutely pointless in itself. Hopefully the 6 issue series will work itself out.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jun 14, 2015, 09:19:03 PM
Finished Blood Meridian. Started on with the first volume of History of Middle earth
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jun 16, 2015, 06:16:38 AM
I've been continuing my slow reading of books and am now on "There Goes the Galaxy" by Jenn Thorson. I do not recall how I found this book but it may have been on sale or free on the Kindle store.

It's a bit like Hitchhiker's GttG but instead of a guy who's trying not to panic after being abducted by aliens it's a guy who's trained in psychiatry assuming that all the aliens and spaceships and things he's seeing are delusions because working on his doctorate broke his feeble mind. It's been fairly amusing so far. Not as good as HGttG but still funny.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Jun 17, 2015, 11:45:42 PM
So I decided to finish the Odd Thomas series just to get it over with. The books have been hinting at explaining everything that's going on since book 4 and I want answers.

So far, the book hints at bigger things while not actually revealing a lot. It hints that there are people in the world like Odd with powers. Also, there was a curb grate that was like the one in book 4... an old-fashioned one with a lightning bolt in the middle. In book 4 when he looked into it, he saw strange pulses of light and heard muffled voices and marching feet... but the phenomenon wasn't explained.

Other thoughts:
- The book takes a pretty good potshot at 50 Shades, which amused me.
- I haven't seen the Bodachs, the shadow demons, since book 3. What gives?
- In every book Odd mentions that he won't publish his stories until he is dead. Is this foreshadowing that he'll die in the last book? Oh well.
- Once again, a little old lady gives Odd a ride, and gives him a gun. Same stuff happened in book 4, doesn't Koontz have original material?
- Odd never wants to call the police, even when he'd have a valid case. A guy points a gun at him, and he's like "No one will believe a ranting young man saying some guy tried to shoot him." Really? For someone who had a cop for a buddy, he sure doesn't trust them.
- Odd seems to be really stuck in the 50s. He constantly complains like an old man about how today's society is so evil and horrible, and the 50s were so much better. He's constantly negative about modern society and culture and it's annoying. And he knows so much about 40s-60s era movies and music, and the ghosts that hang with him are all baby boomer celebs, like Elvis, Sinatra, and Hitchcock.
- Every person he meets is almost perfect in every single way, except for the bad guys who are pure evil. I'm getting sick of this. Good guys are perfect, bad guys are satanic. Really?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 19, 2015, 10:12:01 AM
I'm reading  Pet Sematary (that's how it is spelt on the cover.) by Stephen King and The Last American Vampire by Seth Graham-Smith....and I've been reading a few pages of The Tower Treasure which is Hardy Boy book on the side as well. My bed side table is rather crowded at the moment.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rumble on Jun 26, 2015, 01:49:42 PM
Just started on The Long Utopia, 4th book in the Long Earth series. Since Pratchett is dead now :( I hope it has a definite conclusion to the series
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Jun 27, 2015, 10:55:35 PM
Sigh. So finished Deeply Odd, book #6. And I KNEW this shit was going to happen.

So, apparently there's some kind of super-secret organization of good guys who have been fighting an evil satanic cult for... oh I have no idea how long but the cult has been around apparently since the Renaissance times.

And that's the problem with this book. You have these people who are way TOO perfect and nice. Near the end of the book they go to a family of off-the-grid types way out in nowhere and they're perfect. At the end of the book they go to a safehouse that's so friendly and good it makes the Brady Bunch look like a bunch of assholes in comparison.

And then the villains. Satanists. Not the LeVay atheists-with-another-name type, either, but the fun hollywood children-sacrificing-and-having-orgies type.  Pure evil, and evil for no reason either, just being evil for the sake of being evil. "Hey I'm bored want to torture children?" "Sure sounds fun!" I haven't seen characters this so fucking one-dimensional and bland in a while. And it's funny that he's reusing the shit he used in the first book. And I'm not sure if it's because Koontz is just a horrible writer and just uses bland, uninteresting villains that suck balls, or if because of his Catholic belief he's like some Christians and see the world as black and white, pure good fighting against pure evil, and no gray in-between.

I liked the series when it started, but at book 4 it just started going downhill. Book 5 was okay. And I will say that book 6 did have the dry wit and suspense that at least made it slightly interesting, but it felt like about half the book could have been removed and told the same story.

I'm going to read book 7 just for conclusions sake, and because I really want to know the answers to unexplained crap in earlier books. But it seems that the Satanists have a plan to destroy Odd's hometown and he has to fight them and find his purpose in the universe. I fully expect either for him to die at the end, or for there to be some Deus Ex, or "This was all a dream" or "You were dead all along" cliche bullshit to conclude it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Jun 30, 2015, 01:46:15 AM
Stephen King -- Mr. Mercedes. I prefer King's horror/fantasy stuff, but I guess this isn't bad. In the past Old Steve's been accused of including Magical Negroes in his stories, but in this one we've got a Mary Sue-type that's so idealized, the character comes across as either condescending or pandering, I can't decide which.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: The D on Jul 14, 2015, 11:13:16 PM
And now I finished Saint Odd and I am so glad to be done with this series. Started out good, but when the author decided to add an over-reaching plot over the whole thing later in the series it just got stupid.

First off, the book ended exactly how I expected it would end. It was a very anti-climatic ending, as well, considering all the build up.

One of my biggest issues was the fact that Odd would act very messed up after he killed someone, sometimes even saying he felt like puking... YET, had no problem shooting people left and right. Even, a few times, shooting people in the back. Of course this is supposed to be all okay because the people he was shooting were pure evil (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CompleteMonster) and one dimensional.

I was reading the TV Tropes (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/OddThomas) for the series and I felt these were pretty good descriptions of how I felt about the villains in most of these series:
Quote
Evil Is Petty: A recurring theme in the series. In almost every book there's a scene of one or more extremely evil characters acting either like petulant children or the dullest bores you ever met.
How about ALL of the evil villains acting this way.
Quote
Religion of Evil: Basically every book is Odd having to deal with one of these. The first book is Satanists, the second a psycho woman that has traveled all over the world studying occult stuff, the third is a guy that thinks he can create life, the fifth are a group of people who think they're gods, and the sixth are another (even worse) group of Satanists.
And the fourth, that they don't mention, are domestic terrorists following a former Christian pastor, and the seventh are the same Satanists from the sixth. For some reason this guy has a thing for evil religious stereotypes, or hollywood depictions of religions (Hollywood Satanists, a Hollywood occultist/pagan, ect...).

Another thing that bothered me is not everything is explained. What Anamaria really is. What was with those curb grates with the lightning bolts on them, where he could hear voices and feet through them. Why some animals acted semi-intelligent (but could have been someone with powers controlling them).

One of the good parts of the books was when Odd stays with a pro-gun Texas couple who chastise him for not carrying a gun at all times if people are out to kill him. About time someone talks with common sense. Later, a rather suspenseful scene happens when the Texans house is invaded and Odd runs to save them only to find the Texans kicking the shit out of the bad guys.

And here I go into spoilers about the ending and why it bugged me, because I can't describe why it bugged me unless I spoil it. So..
SPOILERS
So, Odd returns to his hometown after seeing a vision of the downtown area flooded with water, and lots of dead people. He hears of the cultists having somehow hijacked a military semi full of C4 (how that would ever happen in the real world I don't know). So he assumes they're gonna blow a damn and flood the town. Near the end of the book the cultists are blowing up shit left and right, a church, a fuel depot, a nut plant. So you think there's gonna be a violent ending to the book.

Nope. Odd figures out the cultists are really going to release a plague virus in the town. He grabs the virus canister, gets into a shootout with one cultist, kills him but is hit, staggers to the police chief, and dies in his arms with the canister. He goes to purgatory and meets his GF. And that's it.

First off, really? All this buildup of C4 and explosions and such and then an anti-climatic ending? I feel ripped off. And while I fully expected Odd to die and be with his girl, and people will say that's a beautiful ending, it seems selfish. I would have more expected Odd to join the league of doo-gooders and use his powet to better the world. Dead, and he's useless. Also, what about the truck of C4? The cultists still have it and it's somewhere being driven away to do another 9/11. The truck is basically ignored for the last part of the book.

Also, I wondered "How did Odd write the last book if he's dead" and then Koontz explains that in the dumbest way. A lighting bolt hits Ozzy's computer and it spits out of the printer. I shit you not. The most convenient way to explain how a dead person writes a story, and the dumbest.

This series started out good. It ended pathetically. I'm pretty disappoint.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jul 20, 2015, 06:29:42 AM
FINALLY found a place that had Salems Lot so I got that one.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jul 20, 2015, 01:28:50 PM
Still reading Pet Sematary, but I started and finished Odd Apocalypse which was meh....I have already read Deeply Odd. So I just have to chell Saint Odd off the list and be done with this.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jul 20, 2015, 10:21:29 PM
I recently finished reading the complete IDW run on Transformers. Over that ten year publication history there were some stinkers in there (most of All Hail Megatron and about half the formerly ongoing series), but by and large it has been an excellent treatment of the franchise. Particularly More Than Meets the Eye. That is a masterful comic.

You may resume your high literature discussions now.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jul 21, 2015, 11:23:10 PM
I'm reading a book!  I haven't cracked one open in quite a while.  Am now reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.  The philosophy behind it has really inspired me.  I'm don't even feel like I own that much, but I still have too many items I don't use.  I got rid of a bunch of old things.  All of my Japanese manga that I hadn't cracked open in years.  A bunch of old clothes, old shoes, purses, and other things.  And when I get back home, I'll be getting rid of more it.  I have too many damn papers.  And probably a bunch of my CDs.  My dad had mentioned buying himself copies of two CDs that I own and I was like "shit, have mine.  Oh, and here's your copy of AC/DC's Back in Black that I borrowed, like, ten years ago.  Sorry."  I still like the music but haven't actually played the discs themselves in years.  They don't need to sit in my room.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jul 22, 2015, 10:19:27 PM
Getting Bill Willingham's Fables books together for a straight-through reading. I stopped previously around issue 100 (it started getting too heavy on continuity, and I was getting short on time working on my third degree and starting a new job), so I'm a few years behind.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Jul 23, 2015, 12:20:36 AM
That sounds about when I dropped Fables. They were getting into some goofy superhero type stuff, and the new artist wasn't to my liking. Maybe? Did they change artists at some point? I want to say they did.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Sep 14, 2015, 08:20:33 AM
I'm reading a book!  I haven't cracked one open in quite a while.  Am now reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.  The philosophy behind it has really inspired me.  I'm don't even feel like I own that much, but I still have too many items I don't use.  I got rid of a bunch of old things.  All of my Japanese manga that I hadn't cracked open in years.  A bunch of old clothes, old shoes, purses, and other things.  And when I get back home, I'll be getting rid of more it.  I have too many damn papers.  And probably a bunch of my CDs.  My dad had mentioned buying himself copies of two CDs that I own and I was like "shit, have mine.  Oh, and here's your copy of AC/DC's Back in Black that I borrowed, like, ten years ago.  Sorry."  I still like the music but haven't actually played the discs themselves in years.  They don't need to sit in my room.

That book is very popular. Got a lengthy waiting list on it. 2-3 time a week someone comes up and goes "Do you have The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up?" and my answer is " Yes....but...." because there are like 30 people on the list for it and we have one copy.

Anyway, I've been reading Let the Right One In by.....hmmm.....that guy that wrote Let the Right One In.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Sep 15, 2015, 12:46:42 PM
That sounds about when I dropped Fables. They were getting into some goofy superhero type stuff, and the new artist wasn't to my liking. Maybe? Did they change artists at some point? I want to say they did.
They had some guest artists from time to time, but it was pretty consistently Mark Buckingham throughout the run. The side series has different artists, but I don't count that since they were separate to a degree.

Great series. Kind of a Shakespearian ending, though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Sep 15, 2015, 06:01:40 PM
I think I finished reading Jackoffables. That one started strong, but by the end it had gone completely off the rails. Maybe it was just that I didn't understand what they were even riffing on anymore. Also, I really dislike when comics become too wordy for their own good, as in, huge text dumps in every word bubble with only a cursory sketch to convey the speaker's emotion. The Walking Dead suffers from this immensely.

I was really on board for Fables up until they vanquished The Adversary. Everything I read after that felt like treading water. I honestly wonder if they had originally intended for the series to continue on beyond that.

Did you say you mostly read it in trades? I think that would have helped me. I remember getting into 100 Bullets and reading most of it in a couple sittings until I caught up to the ongoing story arc. Then after a few issues spaced a month apart, I couldn't even remember who was who or what the hell was going on. 100 Bullets is kind of needlessly obtuse with its chronology to begin with, and I was completely lost.

Does Vertigo still have a fairly decent presence in the comic world? I can recall trying to read practically everything that came out under the label and most of it was good. Seems like DC is more about their superheroes these days. They canceled Hellblazer and folded Constantine into mainline DCU, didn't they? That's awful.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Sep 15, 2015, 11:00:18 PM
That book is very popular. Got a lengthy waiting list on it. 2-3 time a week someone comes up and goes "Do you have The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up?" and my answer is " Yes....but...." because there are like 30 people on the list for it and we have one copy.

It's an awesome fucking book.  She really puts shit in perspective.  She's all "That shit don't give you joy?  You don't use that shit?  Then thank it and get it the fuck out of your house 'cause you don't need that shit, bitch.  Enjoy the empty space, bitch, 'cause you breathe better and actually have access to the shit you use."  But she does it all nice-like 'cause she's polite and Japanese.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Sep 16, 2015, 03:31:36 AM
I read that little diatribe in the voice of Rick Sanchez, complete with stammering and belching.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Sep 16, 2015, 01:13:35 PM
I think I finished reading Jackoffables. That one started strong, but by the end it had gone completely off the rails. Maybe it was just that I didn't understand what they were even riffing on anymore. Also, I really dislike when comics become too wordy for their own good, as in, huge text dumps in every word bubble with only a cursory sketch to convey the speaker's emotion. The Walking Dead suffers from this immensely.

I was really on board for Fables up until they vanquished The Adversary. Everything I read after that felt like treading water. I honestly wonder if they had originally intended for the series to continue on beyond that.

Did you say you mostly read it in trades? I think that would have helped me. I remember getting into 100 Bullets and reading most of it in a couple sittings until I caught up to the ongoing story arc. Then after a few issues spaced a month apart, I couldn't even remember who was who or what the hell was going on. 100 Bullets is kind of needlessly obtuse with its chronology to begin with, and I was completely lost.

Does Vertigo still have a fairly decent presence in the comic world? I can recall trying to read practically everything that came out under the label and most of it was good. Seems like DC is more about their superheroes these days. They canceled Hellblazer and folded Constantine into mainline DCU, didn't they? That's awful.

I confess that Ii read that as "Jackoff tables" first. But yeah, Jack lost virtually all its stream after the Great Fables Crossover. The ending was horrid. I never thought the Babe the Blue Ox segments were funny either.

Post-Adversary storyline was a bit of as letdown, but not for long. The Mister Dark stuff was cool, and then they started on Bigby and Snow's kids and their fates. Not all of it was great, but it was worth the read. I certainly got the idea that it was cancelled before they were done with storylines, thought, since so much was left hanging or hastily wrapped up.

I read most of it digitally, which was still out of order, but I numbered it according to a suggested reading order I found on a fan site. It flowed pretty well, though some of the surprises were not as effective due to foreshadowing that was lost by not following the publication sequence. So that's a choice to make.

As far as Vertigo,I have no idea: I stopped following DC when they rebooted the whole thing. Lack of continuity may attract new readers, but I took it as the end of a universe I had followed for over thirty years, so I just don't care. And the Transformers books are so good right now that I'm totally fine with it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Dec 02, 2015, 09:39:59 AM
A collection of Short stories by Lovecraft. Gone this far and never read any of this stuff, but so far it's kinda meh.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 02, 2015, 10:27:00 AM
Reading St*r WarzzZZ: Aftermath.

I'll be honest, it's not great.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jun 01, 2016, 05:26:42 AM
I'm reading "The Joy of Less: A Minimalist Living Guide : how to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify Your Life."  She should've started with the title.  *snort*  It's kinda a weirdly written book.  She puts in quotes by random people like Gandhi to make herself look all deep and shit.  I'm actually reading it over my phone when I have nothing better to do.

ETA - I was trying to visit the author's website on mobile the other day and it is surprisingly not mobile-friendly in the least.  I mean, for a lot of people living on less, they don't even have a computer anymore.  :-\  She should be prioritizing a mobile-friendly website. 
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 01, 2016, 09:53:44 AM
I have The Road by Cormac McCarthy on my night stand....haven't cracked it yet because I'm still reading through all the comics I got at Planet Con, and my buddy gave me a bunch of his brothers comics so those went into the read pile as well...but I'll get there.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jun 02, 2016, 08:49:10 PM
I forgot that the two main TF comics came out last week. More Than Meets The Eye has been consistently fabulous for years now.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Jun 12, 2016, 02:11:20 AM
I just stole Joe Hill's newest book, so I'll be reading that, probably. I'm a completely lapsed reader. Like, it's shameful. I used to read A LOT. Now it's like, not at all.

Also, sorry, Joe Hill. I totally stole your newest book. It was really easy. Digital age, etc.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jun 13, 2016, 06:04:17 AM
Also, sorry, Joe Hill. I totally stole your newest book. It was really easy. Digital age, etc.

:lmao:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Dec 04, 2016, 08:36:28 AM
I have The Road by Cormac McCarthy on my night stand....haven't cracked it yet because I'm still reading through all the comics I got at Planet Con, and my buddy gave me a bunch of his brothers comics so those went into the read pile as well...but I'll get there.

That book destroyed me. Its so freaking good and yet I cant read it again.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 02, 2017, 06:10:19 PM
I might read Mellen-head's Unstuff Your Life (https://www.amazon.com/Unstuff-Your-Life-Completely-Organize/dp/1583333894).  Of course if I pick it up and smell shit on the first page, I'm ditching it.  I swear to God he better not open with a fuckin' quote.  Nothing makes me stop a TED talk or whatever cold more so than opening up with a quote.  "Our life is frittered away by detail... simplify, simplify."  Or shit like that.  Shove your Thoreau up your fucking ass.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 02, 2017, 06:53:11 PM
Okay, so there's a sample of his book at his website.  Opened it up and... TRIGGERED.  :poo:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Jan 02, 2017, 11:23:46 PM
Holy shit, he looks like a grown up Charlie Brown!
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 03, 2017, 12:15:56 AM
His head got shinier and shinier as the talk progressed.  If I were a bald man giving speeches, I'd have a powder girl.  Just some hot chick with a giant powder puff and she just comes over and WHUMP! smacks that shit on my shiny dome.  That shit's distracting.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 27, 2017, 07:25:22 AM
Reading The King's Avatar light novel - https://www.webnovel.com/book/7176992105000305 and also here http://gravitytales.com/novel/the-kings-avatar

Also started reading "Goodbye Things: The New Japanese Minimalism" by Fumio Sasaki.  He's got quotes in this puppy, too, with at least two quotes from fucking Fight Club.  What's with minimalists/anti-consumerists and their fucking quotes?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Apr 28, 2017, 06:29:58 PM
Just downloaded the Wolfman/Perez run of The New Teen Titans from the early eighties. The Judas Contract movie sort of got me interested, as I've never read that stuff. It reads like so much seventies comics, except it's also very eighties in its look. Weird combination.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Apr 28, 2017, 08:17:54 PM
Read IT (yes,because of the movie coming out soon). It has become my #1 Stephen King book. Its huge but worth it. Also very easy to read so even though its thicker than my arm, its a fast reading.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on May 08, 2017, 01:20:51 PM
I finished reading Fumio Sasaki's Goodbye Things about a week ago. Merla and I were just laughing because that guy went seriously minimalist. Like he had one small towel that he'd dry his body with and he's also use it on his dishes. And Merla and I were all "ewwww, don't dry your balls and wipe down your dishes with the same towel, you filthy bastard." I want to go minimalist but not that extremely.  He actually went and got some more stuff and a bigger apartment, so it was a little much for him as well. He also needs to stop with the Steve Jobs worship.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on May 09, 2017, 03:08:54 AM
Does manga counts?  If so Ive been reading "14" by Umeo Kazuo . Its set on the future and involves a goddarn chicken called "Chicken George" that later on gains a doctorate so he becomes DOCTOR Chicken George. Its about his fight against humans because of the way they have treated the animals and plants. tl;dr: dont even read it, stay with Disappearing Classroom if you want some Kazuo goodness.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on May 14, 2017, 05:38:03 AM
Manga counts.

Omg, ha ha: http://sundaycomicsdebt.blogspot.com/2011/10/insanity-of-fourteen.html
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on May 16, 2017, 03:18:30 AM
Manga counts.

Omg, ha ha: http://sundaycomicsdebt.blogspot.com/2011/10/insanity-of-fourteen.html
Its so boring I didnt even finish reading that article lol. But yes its ridiculous. I think Im going to stop reading it.

I mae a mistake, its Drifting Classroom, not Disappearing Classroom :-p
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Jun 18, 2017, 12:43:31 AM
I'm going to start reading these trades of Dc's Bombshells series....here soon...any minute now...Just like I read that Bio of Lovecraft.....yep.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jun 19, 2017, 05:29:54 AM
Im stocked the eff UP because a new Tolkien book just came out- this time about Beren and Luthien.  (they are like the "original" Aragorn and Arwen, also she was Arwen's great great great great x10 grandmama)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jun 20, 2017, 06:32:24 PM
Oh, crap! I'd forgotten when it was coming out, since I thought I'd pre-ordered that on Amazon last year! I'm now debating whether I want to get it from Amazon or just pick it up tomorrow. Probably the former, as it's not material I haven't seen before (besides the illustrations included), but still...New Tolkien book.

Anyway, I'm reading a fanslated version of the DanMachi light novels. I liked the show, but I elected to read the LNs rather than the manga. It's not an easy read due to the poor English which assaults my senses, but it's not like I know where to get official translations.

DanMachi, if you don't know, is short for Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka, or "Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?" It's like reading a novel just to read what it's friggin' name is....
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jun 21, 2017, 02:52:32 AM
Oh, crap! I'd forgotten when it was coming out, since I thought I'd pre-ordered that on Amazon last year! I'm now debating whether I want to get it from Amazon or just pick it up tomorrow. Probably the former, as it's not material I haven't seen before (besides the illustrations included), but still...New Tolkien book.


Yes its all stuff that has been printed before in the Silmarillion and the Middle Earth books (which Im still stuck in volume 1 so Im waaayy behind).  But yeah Im definitely getting it.
Also, I heard that its an easy and fast read, like Children of Hurin.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Aug 27, 2017, 07:27:30 AM
I'm reading On Writing by Stephen King and half of it's his life story. Boring!  :joe:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Aug 30, 2017, 03:51:56 AM
How can he even remember most of it? He spent more than half of it on drugs/drunk off his ass
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Aug 30, 2017, 08:02:47 AM
Well, it's a 17 year old book so maybe it was a bit fresher back then. And some things he wrote in little blurbs. Anyway, it was really uninteresting. I rarely read biographies and his was never one I had any interest in.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Sep 04, 2017, 08:48:16 PM
Yes its all stuff that has been printed before in the Silmarillion and the Middle Earth books (which Im still stuck in volume 1 so Im waaayy behind).  But yeah Im definitely getting it.
Also, I heard that its an easy and fast read, like Children of Hurin.
I completely re-read the Silmarillion before starting Beren and Luthien today. However, what I've read of the latter reads more like textual criticism and an overview of textual transmission: highly academic and completely uninteresting to me. But I haven't gotten to the meat of it yet, having only basically taken on the foreword.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Sep 05, 2017, 08:34:24 AM
I completely re-read the Silmarillion before starting Beren and Luthien today. However, what I've read of the latter reads more like textual criticism and an overview of textual transmission: highly academic and completely uninteresting to me. But I haven't gotten to the meat of it yet, having only basically taken on the foreword.
Ah crap I hope it gets better! Im going to Nihon this month so Im def getting it over there.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Oct 08, 2017, 01:32:39 PM
My verdict on Beren and Lúthien: only get it if you're interested in new Alan Lee artwork, poetry, and a final example of just how big a chore it was for Chis Tolkien to edit his father's material. It is basically divided in thirds. The first part is primarily the original draft of the story, where Beren was an elf and it was Tevildo the Prince of Cats who captured Beren and from whom he was rescued by Luthien and Huan rather than Thű/Sauron. It's a comparatively rough draft, but close enough to what we wound up with and with enough altered names to be tedious.

The second part is old-school couplet poetry...I read somewhere that it is written in tetrameter, but since I haven't taken a literature class in decades I can't say that of myself. Reading poetry in the best of times for me is maddening (rhyme that doesn't end a phrase is annoying as hell) so while this is artistically the most important part of the book I will never read it again. Not only that, but it stops when the return to Doriath without the Silmaril. But that's a problem with everything here: none of the pre-existing material was ever in a final form or completed, so it had to be hodge-podged together.

The third part is, to borrow from Tolkien, flotsam and jetsam...pieces from various sources that didn't find their way into the Silmarillion narrative. Different accounts of how Beren obtained the Nauglamir and their attitudes toward it, and how it shaped the lives of their son Dior, his daughter Elwing, and her family, Eärendil, Elrond, and Elros.

Again, unless you love Alan Lee, ancient-sounding poetry, and textual criticism, stick with the Silmarillion version of events and forego the cost of the book.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Oct 11, 2017, 08:31:08 AM
Thanks for the comprehensive review!

Im a sucker for all things Middle earth so i will definitely get it but I will probably skip the poetry part since Im not a fan of it.


Didnt get the book here (they are only selling hardcovers in Amazon JP) so Ill get it in Deutschland. Here I got House of Leaves so Im looking forward reading that
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Apr 06, 2018, 07:12:24 AM
NEW BOOK ABOUT THE FALL OF GONDOLIN BEING PUBLISHED BY TOLKIEN

https://www.tolkiensociety.org/blog/2018/03/new-tolkien-book-to-be-published/

Haven't even bought the last one yet cause they still don't have it in paperback in Japan :'(
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Apr 07, 2018, 05:15:56 PM
If it's the same as the recent Beren and Luthien release, I will forego this one. B&L is really only useful as anal hygienic material.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Apr 08, 2018, 02:28:58 PM
I know this is the book thread, but seeing as there's so much Tolkien talk, how do you guys feel about the upcoming Lord of the Rings TV series? Optimistic? Apprehensive?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 10, 2018, 09:46:58 AM
Appremistic. :) I was telling Fifi on FB it's a win-win: it'll either be somewhat decent or it'll be a hilarious flaming trainwreck.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Apr 10, 2018, 06:01:41 PM
If it's based on existing story lines I'll give it a try so long as they don't stink it up (re: the Hobbit movies). But I'll pass hard if it's a bunch of barely related Hollywood fanfic.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 18, 2018, 04:10:09 PM
I tried reading "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI" and it just made me so fucking angry and sad. Here's the Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osage_Indian_murders) about the events in question if you're curious. The book's actually very readable in terms of how it's written but the subject matter just bothered me too much and I need more cheerful subject matter at this time in my life.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Apr 22, 2018, 09:56:59 PM
That book has been going out like crazy at work.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Apr 24, 2018, 03:51:39 AM
I know this is the book thread, but seeing as there's so much Tolkien talk, how do you guys feel about the upcoming Lord of the Rings TV series? Optimistic? Apprehensive?
I want to stay neutral as long as I can. Just wondering who will they get to play Luthien? IMO you wont find anyone better looking than Liv Tyler. I wonder if Cate Blanchett will sign up to play Galadriel again
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 24, 2018, 07:23:40 AM
Would not mind if they brought back Sir Ian McKellen and just recasted the shit outta everyone else. And they need to have plenty of hot elves. Really hope they don't go the route of trying to insert "big" names into this that don't belong... like Bieber-tier reality-show psuedo-stars. Please no Tauriel/OC shit either.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Aug 27, 2018, 05:57:20 AM
Silmarillion was packed full with hot elves.  All the daddies and grandaddies  :aroused:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Aug 31, 2018, 01:27:26 PM
They haven't actually confirmed what period the story will be set in, right? Other than the vague "prequel to LOTR" statement and a rumor from a fan-site saying they confirmed that it's about a young Aragorn (which could easily be speculation).

Some of the elves were alive through a lot of the Middle Earth history, so you could maybe see certain elves even if they did something set in the first age or something. I'd prefer to see something like the Fall of Gondolin (which actually just got released as a novel recently) than stuff closer to the core story.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on May 26, 2020, 08:44:28 AM
Whatever they do I hope they recreate the Fingolfin vs Mordoth fight. That's my top one, book narration included. Ive had a painting of it as my computer background for years now and I even had a poster of another one :3

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on May 26, 2020, 08:47:16 AM
Finished reading Inio Asano's "Oyasumi Punpun" like a month ago and I still think about it every couple of days. 10/10 it has become my Grave of Fireflies-manga. Amazing story (beautiful drawings) but will not read it again.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on May 26, 2020, 02:24:43 PM
Fingolfin vs Mordoth

You can't tell me this isn't the name of a kaiju film.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on May 27, 2020, 02:04:58 PM
A giant shark with a golf club vs an edgy moth?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on May 29, 2020, 06:13:47 PM
Whatever it is, apparently the Amazon LOTR series will cover the Second Age going by the maps they showed on Twitter. I'm not very thrilled about this, since it's a fairly spaced out time frame without a lot of focused narrative...that means a bunch of ad-lib without the constraint of a known and proven story. Would it suck if it just did it's own thing in the fantasy setting? Not necessarily, but how much of the setting would there be to appeal to fans of the Silmarillion who are likely jonesing for an actual adaptation of First Age stuff?
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 06, 2020, 01:25:25 PM
Whatever it is, apparently the Amazon LOTR series will cover the Second Age going by the maps they showed on Twitter. I'm not very thrilled about this, since it's a fairly spaced out time frame without a lot of focused narrative...that means a bunch of ad-lib without the constraint of a known and proven story. Would it suck if it just did it's own thing in the fantasy setting? Not necessarily, but how much of the setting would there be to appeal to fans of the Silmarillion who are likely jonesing for an actual adaptation of First Age stuff?


I don't think they are going to cover the entirety of the Second Age, for the reasons you mentioned. My guess at the most reasonable choice is a bit before the War of the Last Alliance. Gives room to establish characters before going into giant battle seasons.




I'm kind of hopeful that it'll be the lead-up to
Whatever they do I hope they recreate the Fingolfin vs Mordoth fight. That's my top one, book narration included. Ive had a painting of it as my computer background for years now and I even had a poster of another one :3

It's going to be mostly second age, based on what little promo we've seen since then. They might do something similar to the films, where we saw the end of the Siege of Barud-dűr as part of a recap of former events. Even if that's all we get, would be cool to see that, and the death of Glaurung, the fall of Gondolin, the Battle of Sudden Flame and more, even if it's from a big view and not down in the details of it. More likely in such a preview we'll get some of the War of Wrath as that was the last big event of the First Age, followed by Beleriand sinking into the sea and Númenor being established, likely some of the events that take place in Númenor before whenever the show's setting starts (rather than all of the biggest battles of the War of Beleriand).
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Jul 06, 2020, 01:29:36 PM
Reading China Mievelle's The Iron Council (third in the Bas-Lag "trilogy," in quotes because they're only loosely connected). It's been mostly fun. It hard a very strange section in the middle of the book where it broke away from a chapter structure and had probably the contents of 5-6 chapters as almost a stream of consciousness from one character's perspective, which the author did not do in the previous two books at all. That part was kind of difficult to get through, but the rest of the book has been quite good and what the character in the middle went through was still important to the story. I've enjoyed some of Mievelle's other work but I'm still unsure of recommending him in a general fashion. If you like weird semi-gonzo only-vaguely-steampunkish fantasy, it works.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Aug 24, 2020, 08:44:48 PM
The Fireman by Joe Hill. Not at all what I thought it would be. Compelling, though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Aug 24, 2020, 10:09:32 PM
"Working Stiff" by Judy Melinek.  About a lady who does autopsies.  Non-fiction.  She just provides anecdotes about primarily the part of her career when she was a medical examiner in New York. Interesting but once it got to 9-11, I started losing interest.  And the last chapter had too much about her kids in it that I just stopped reading.  But because it was the last chapter it didn't really matter imo.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Nov 23, 2020, 11:47:44 AM
Read through all the Earthsea novels by Ursula K Le Guin for the first time. It was a refreshingly different fantasy world from what I'm used to. Nice to see conflicts resolved some other way than blasting each other with magic or swords.

Read The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo. Excellent novella with a neat premise (cleric of an order that records memories talks to someone she finds in a ruin about the days at the end of an empire).

Currently reading The Fifth Season by NK Jemison. I'm not 100% sure what I think of it yet but compelled to finish it, at least. The setting is interesting (supercontinent where certain people are outcast because they can cause earthquakes, but those people also keep disasters from occurring through an organization that keeps them in line).
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 26, 2020, 04:11:21 PM
Thank you for reminding me that I need to pick up the Earthsea stuff again. I read the first book and then never bothered with the rest when I fully intended to read the series.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Nov 26, 2020, 07:22:46 PM
I finished re-reading all of Tolkien's major works over the past few months...now via digital e-book format! Anyway...the tablet weighs more than a paperback, so I probably won't do that again, but it was nice being able to pick up exactly where I left off every time and could scale the fonts at will. And reading in the dark is far, far easier.

Currently reading Strike the Blood light novels. Don't judge me, sempai. This is our fight.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Dec 15, 2020, 07:24:05 PM
Finished The Fifth Season and going to read the rest of the series. Halfway through The Obelisk Gate already.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 14, 2021, 06:37:31 PM
Tried re-reading Howls Moving Castle but got bored. I listened to the audio book of Earwig and the Witch since it got a CG Ghibli adaptation. Not a terrible story but I'm unclear on how this is being advertised.

--somewhat spoilery below for Earwig and the Witch if you plan to watch it--






















The movie poster shows three adult characters as musicians with Earwig screaming into a mike. But this story is about two of the three adult characters: one of them completely apathetic to Earwig and the other antagonistic and neither of them are hot like on the poster. They adopt the little girl, Earwig, to basically be a child slave and Earwig befriends their talking cat and unslaves herself with magic mischief. The End. I don't know where this musician angle is coming from. I think they might be making a backstory for Earwig's mother, who was a witch, but the mother herself has no bearing on the story.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jan 20, 2021, 08:43:21 AM
Tried re-reading Howls Moving Castle but got bored.
I loved that book!

I finished re-reading all of Tolkien's major works over the past few months...now via digital e-book format!
Major works as in? Im still stuck on tome 1 of the Middle Earth encyclopedia. That thing is more dense than the Bible.


Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jan 22, 2021, 06:36:22 PM
I categorize his major works as Hobbit (not so much major as important), LOTR, and Silmarillion. I have read People's and History of Middle-Earth before, but I'm not aching to revisit those.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Faye Valentine on Jan 23, 2021, 07:56:45 AM
I recommend "Unifinished Tales" if you want to read a bit more about stuff surrounding LOTR, Gandalf etc.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Jan 23, 2021, 08:29:09 PM
I read it some years ago. I kind of got overloaded on all the extra stuff after reading the last three books.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 17, 2021, 12:25:50 AM
I finished The Lightning Thief, the first book in the Percy Jackson series. I say finished because like it was an audiobook so I didn't read it. This is the book series about the kid who's the son of Poseidon. The series that everyone said should've been the next Harry Potter.

It probably should've.

It's a decent story for kids. And I'm saying that completely as a compliment. Not too scary but not too mature and even educational. I was using the audiobook to destress after work and I didn't want something overly complicated or "adult." So it served that purpose well.

The characters are good and all felt fleshed out and distinct. The story did make me chuckle several times. I mean genuinely in amusement, not in the snide way when I'm mocking something shitty.

Maybe it didn't grab the audience like Potter did because Potter dives headfirst into the fantasy of being in a magical world and escaping reality in a sense. Percy leaves his Hogwarts to venture on a quest and rejects staying there fulltime to be with his mother. And maybe having an barely-involved dad and a disgusting stepdad was a bit too real for some kids.

But the book was solid. The movie adaptation, which I haven't seen, apparently butchered everything on what should've been a paint-by-numbers production. All they had to do was cut some scenes and just shoot it as was written in the book.

But I am only one book in. Even though The Lightning Thief was solid, I'm actually not sure how motivated I am to actually get to the next one. But I plan to try the next book and see.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Apr 18, 2021, 03:10:46 PM
I haven't read the book, but I remember seeing bits and pieces of the movie, and it just seemed all-around embarrassing. As I was trying to get through it, questions kept popping into my head:

Why did they do this?

Why is he in this?

Who thought this was a good idea?

Pierce Brosnan ends up being some kind of centaur or something, and it just looks awful. Like, somehow worse than the centaurs in Harry Potter, and that's saying something.

I dunno. It just made a really bad impression on me.

You know what, though? I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and say it's probably still a better movie than Artemis Fowl. That one I did sit through for whatever reason, and holy shit it's fucking remarkable that that absolute piece of shit even got made. Like what the fuck.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 19, 2021, 11:15:07 AM
After enjoying Earthsea, figured I'd try Le Guinn's sci-fi stuff. I've heard so many good things about Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed, but wanted to start at the beginning of the Hainish cycle because I do that. Got a collection. Rocannon's World was a fun one, but I'm having trouble getting started on Planet of Exile.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 20, 2021, 09:52:40 PM
I feel bad that I started Percy Jackson when I meant to pick back up with the Earthsea series. I barely remember anything about it so I'd have to start over anyway. I'm going to continue with Percy Jackson while it's fresh in my memory. (Or if I get bored.)

From what I heard, the Percy Jackson movie is a shell of the book and it's not the way to get into this series. They age up the characters and screw with a bunch of plot points. Speaking of Artemis Fowl, there's another series that got utterly trashed by a shitbag movie. At least Percy Jackson appears to be given a second chance with a Disney+ series. Whether it (1) makes it out of production hell and (2) is any good, remains to be seen. But loads of properties get one bad adaptation and no second chances at all.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Apr 20, 2021, 11:13:18 PM
The Dark Tower comes to mind. People dreamed of the day that series would be adapted, and when it finally happened it was little more than a wet fart. And they didn't even try. It was clearly made on the cheap. It's like they had some contractual obligation to produce and intentionally whiffed it to cut their losses.

That's all speculation on my part, I'm just trying to justify in my head how it could have ended up so awful.

And someone might say, "Hey, man. The Dark Tower books aren't even as good as you remember them," and that might be so, but they still could have made for some great movies, TV shows, animated series, whatever.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on May 07, 2021, 12:27:07 PM
Golden Compass is one that had an absolutely awful adaptation and now has a decent adaptation, even though parts of it are still pretty meh. Switching adaptation goals from movie to series seems like a good idea for most book series.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on May 08, 2021, 01:46:32 PM
I'm currently re-reading the Dragon Ball manga...so far I've made it to the start of the Boo arc. What passes for the story goes a lot better when not dragged out forever and caked with filler.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on May 10, 2021, 01:07:42 PM
I read that arc before seeing that portion of the anime and, man... It moves so smoothly in the manga but is fucking exhausting in animated form. So I'm here fast-forwarding through my fansubs because everything is just stretched out. The anime really did a disservice to Toriyama's storytelling. Don't know how improved it might be in Kai since I had long dropped DB before then.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on May 14, 2021, 08:41:06 PM
I'm on Percy Jackson book #3 so I think I'm well on my way to finishing the series. I'm not sure if I would've stuck with this if I had to actually read it as I'm basically going through the books in audio book form. But the audio book narrator's delivery is nice. He does some funny voices. The talking pegasus cracks me up. But I don't think I would've given the same delivery of that dialogue if I was just reading things for myself.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jun 06, 2021, 09:53:55 AM
I've kinda stalled on PJ book three and noticed something. So far, each book has been a quest where characters go on a journey. And it seems hard for this to continue to be interesting book after book like this.

Book 1- Go to San Francisco, save Mom.
Book 2- Go to Bermuda Triangle, save buddy.
Book 3- Go to I forget where, save [future] gf.

I get that the author does this because the more popular myth stories were like this but it's a bit too repetitive. Maybe the last two in this series will shake up the formula but it's always in the midst of the journey (about 1/2 to 3/4 into the journey itself) that I get a little bored and have trouble picking the story back up.

This isn't a huge criticism or anything by any means but I've noticed periods where I've struggled a bit to continue the story and saw a pattern with where in the story it was happening.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Jul 11, 2021, 09:06:37 PM
I've been reading comic books again these past couple months. The superhero stuff all seems pretty status quo. DC in particular is just abysmal.

Highlights:

Something is Killing the Children ---> WOW. Wow. Woooooooooooow. This one just really does it for me. I'd rather not go into any detail in case anyone here decides to chell it out, because I went in blind and it just blew me away. I'm probably overselling it now, oh well.

Immortal Hulk ---> Man, if anything is begging to be made into a movie right now, holy shit. But of course, never. It's so, so grisly. You'd never see art like this in a mainline Marvel title even like, ten years ago. Yuck.

Runaways ---> I had no idea they started a new run of Runaways back in 2017. I love everything about this book. Artwork, subject matter, the sense of humor. God damn. Actually got me to go back and revisit the old books. I don't know why, but these characters are just my fucking jam.

Ultramega ---> Heroes vs. Kaiju but all existential and shit. Not like it's never been done before, but this one stands out. Really nice art, too.

Also, got caught up on Saga, but I feel like that one's old news by now. Really good, but it kind of petered out at the end there.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jul 12, 2021, 06:35:50 PM
I wish I wanted to read comics. I just finished the third Percy Jackson book a week ago. It took forever but it slogged a bunch. Have the fourth book ready to start.

There was the one comic I came across that I wanted to read but it was in French. Seems like a lot of the comics that interest me lately are French. Don't remember titles because... French. I could've written them down but... stupid. Heh.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Aug 23, 2021, 11:39:39 AM
I still haven't finished Planet of Exile and I've read jack shit elsewise.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Aug 23, 2021, 04:19:37 PM
Still comics. Man, I rediscovered Runaways like a month and a half ago, binged the current run and even went back to reread all the old stuff and chell out a bunch of stuff I had missed in the meantime and then...

The new issue comes out and it's the last one. They ended the series AGAIN.

I don't really get disappointed that often. Like, I'm talking legitimately upset. But this caught me completely off guard and left me with that punched-in-the-gut sensation. I loved, loved, loved this new Runaways series. I might just read it all over from the start.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 19, 2021, 10:19:55 AM
Tried reading Dune but I had been having headaches looking at stuff. So I thought I'd try the audiobook. The audiobook is extremely well done imo. The presentation is five stars. That said, I'm 90 min in and not sure what I'm supposed to get out of this story. I feel like I'm joerammstein playing Chrono Trigger: like I'm too late for this train.

I'm bored. On the plus side, listening to this was like some form of meditation and I needed to meditate.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Dec 19, 2021, 08:06:47 PM
What! Did I say that? Is that a direct quote, or are you paraphrasing? :laugh:

I heard somewhere that Yoshihiro Togashi hasn't published a new chapter of Hunter X Hunter in like 3 years, but the series is still considered to be "on hiatus." But I also knew there had been a number of chapters following the end of the most recent anime adaptation, so I started reading those.

So the anime adapts roughly 32 volumes of the manga, and the final volume available as of right now is 36. So I have 4 volumes to read (3 now, I suppose) and then... nothing.

I know the dude is married to Sailor Moon and essentially never needs to work another day in his life, but damn...

I want to see the end of Hunter X Hunter.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 19, 2021, 10:24:57 PM
I'm paraphrasing. I forget exactly what you said. Okay..., so searched for your comment before submitting this post. I implied this paraphrasing to myself upon reading your comment. As far as what you actually said, you only said you tried an emulated copy and couldn't get into it. I know for me, sometimes I think I can't get into things because I'm trying too late. I dunno, I just think CT was specific to its time. If you're already seen and played all sorts of other JRPGs, I'm not sure what it could offer anymore. But I'm a cynic and this is my cynical interpretation of your throwaway comment from 2016 in a random Johnny Depp thread. (http://www.rabbitinasuit.com/sphere/index.php?topic=4938.msg101815#msg101815)

Re: HXH... OMG, just end it, sir.  End it. I dare say... wait, I think what I'm about to say might be in the part you haven't read yet. Nevermind. I deleted the name I typed out before submitting my post. Anyway, I thought there was an opportunity to clean up at least one plot thread. But noooooo... I do have to admire the powet the author has. Just fucks off but HxH just remains on hiatus. If he was some peon, it would've been axed years ago.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 26, 2021, 09:18:15 AM
I've been listening to more of the Dune audio book. I wake up "worried" a lot so playing the audio book--which again is well done but doesn't seem to be saying anything--randomly distracts me and helps me clear my mind. Anyhow, I dare say it's actually starting to hook me now with its water politics. 30% or 6 hours into the audio book. But now my audio book's going to be due back to the library. I found a copy of YouTube but at 21 hours, it might get yanked before I finish. I might actually look for a copy of this to have so I can continue to listen to this story passively.

I'm also trying to read "Hello Habits. A Minimalist's Guide to a Better Life" by Fumio Sasaki. I mean, this book has something to say. I'm not sure if it's much, tbh. There's a tips in here I might write down. Otherwise, if you're read other minimalist and productivity books, I can imagine this book isn't going to give you any new information. It's a quick and easy read, I just have a hard time paying attention so I haven't finished it. Otherwise, I would've finished this a long time ago. I'll probably enjoy this better as an audio book. His previous book "Goodbye Things" is all over YouTube as an audiobook and I like to listen to it while I clean. I imagine I'll have a similar relationship with this book.

I'm trying to start "The Four Agreements." It also looks like a quick and easy read but I always get interrupted or distracted when I start it. :lol:
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 10, 2022, 10:22:59 AM
I'm having a hard time reading stuff. I just don't have a lot of concentration these days. Merla got me some books so I'm hoping to have them read by the end of Feb. But we'll see. I'm slogging through "The Four Agreements." I will finish it. It's a really simple book.

I did start Anne of Green Gables as an audio book for some simple escapism and I'm bored. It's not even something that can be used as meditation like Dune. The audio book presentation is very lackluster. I think this would've benefited from some voice actors like the Dune audio book. Also, I know the story already from Akage no Anne, the superb 1979 anime adaptation Nippon Animation's World Masterpiece Theater. (I watched it all on YouTube years ago and it's still all over there as of this post.) I may still try to read this once I find a print version I like. I did find a couple of copies at Barnes and Noble but I didn't like the formats I wanted. (in terms of size of the book, print/font, etc.)
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 26, 2022, 11:39:26 AM
I'm almost done with The Four Agreements. It's like "baBBie's first self-help book" so it should be fucking easy to read but like I said I can't concentrate. But I'm on track to finish it.

I started Happiness by Thích Nhất Hạnh. He died around when Meat Loaf and Louie Anderson did, but he was a Vietnamese buddhist and wrote a fuckton of books. Because he has so many, you don't run into the issue where an author dies and now you can't chell out their work because there's a long-ass waiting list through the library. A bunch of his works are free through the app I use to access my local library so I figured "why not?"

I did finish Hello Habits by Fumio Sasaki in its audiobook format. I put a hold on it so I could listen to it again.


----tl;dr: I go on too long about Percy Jackson----

You know, I never did pick up another Percy Jackson book even though I intended on finishing the series. Maybe when I start working again, I'll revisit the series since I was using these stories to relax after work. But it almost feels like the stories blew their load too early. Like the opposite of the Rowling problem where you wonder why the fuck Harry Potter has to live with his horrible relatives for each and every installment. But instead of this, Percy gets a bunch of resolutions in his books.

His crappy living situation is sorted out in first book. Then Mom's dating in the second or third book (I don't recall) but its not that big of a deal even though the book kinda tries to pretend it is. Second book, Percy meets a half-brother but they like each other and are friends by the end of the book. So no tension there. Percy sort of makes his peace with his absentee dad Poseidon so there's no tension there either. Annabeth, his little girlfriend, understands Percy's feelings and has come full-circle regarding her own relationship with her family so there's no tension there. Grover went to find Pan which is what he wanted to do and we have no reason to believe he won't find Pan so that's that.

There's the whole prophecy throughout the series that supposedly only fits Percy until other characters get introduced. The prophecy is such back-burner material that I don't recall what it is. It's so important that I can find no immediate outline of what it was on Wikipedia. But whatever.

The book wants me to feel uncertain about the prophecy but there's nothing to have you believe this wouldn't be Percy's prophecy. One of the other candidates for this prophecy is subsequently taken out of contention so there's no suspense here. Even though another possible candidate is introduced, he's some unstable little boy who still plays with action figures and had a sister-dependency so there's no way anyone could actually believe he'd be the subject of the prophecy. Honestly, he's the one that should've been taken out of contention. The girl was actually a formidable peer for Percy, a daughter of fucking Zeus, and was mentioned from the very first book. She was a contender for things not going smoothly and actually would behave contrary to Percy, acting as his foil. This was great tension. But the author resolves it and now there's no way it could possibly be her.  Meanwhile the little boy feels shoehorned in and useless. He's Hades's son but who cares?  We barely know Hades. We barely got to know this boy or his sister so I have no investment in him whatsoever.

In looking up stuff I have two things to note:

I realized I completely forgot about Luke. Luke is the running villain of the series. (Of course there's another bad guy behind him but Luke's the one we encounter all the time.) But it's funny that I forgot about Luke. I shouldn't be able to forget the main villain proxy this easily.

Also, the series that was proposed for Disney+ got greenlit and casting is going to start. The author will be involved this time so I'm happy for him. I still think the first book, The Lightning Thief, is pretty solid. But from the second book onward, it's diminishing returns. Hopefully for him and his fans, the entire five-book series gets a nice adaptation. I feel like I need to make a bet on who will be racebent.

Highest odds are that it's still Grover.
Mid-odds are that it's both Grover and Annabeth.
Dark horse is all three leads.

I'm not sure Percy has to be white. Or Annabeth. But there's artwork of their canon appearances on the author's website. So I think casting should match that no matter the race of the actor.

Luke will definitely stay white and blond.  Because "white man eVIL" or whatever.

Because of Hollywood trends, I'm betting any red-heads become black ladies. Juniper, Rachel, Calypso, Aphrodite, and Demeter. (In the movie, Persephone was Rosario Dawson so it's already a thing.) Also, because these fantasy productions love to make non-white people into monsters, bet we'll get a black Tyson, too. (Also in line with the black Grover we got before but there was a white Tyson in the second film.)

The author appears to try and make some sort of diversity attempt in his work already. He does have neuro atypical-characters since half-gods are known for having adhd. And he also already has some lgbt rep in the books. Granted, from the first three books alone, it's not out on display any further than what we already know about the gods themselves. (Apparently, the representation in this regard ramps up with later works and one of the characters has a "was gay the entire time" moment.) Just not clear if all that's enough given the adaptations that get churned out these days.

Non-binary stuff is trendy so I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of characters get pushed into this route.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 27, 2022, 11:25:28 PM
In the middle of the audiobook version of "The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter" by Margareta Magnusson. This book has been on my to-read list for a while since it gets recommended for people who enjoyed Marie Kondo and Fumio Sasaki. I'm in a group for Swedish Death Cleaning (SDC) so there are other books on the subject noted as well. But this one more than any other. There's no real ruleset or anything from what I can tell. It's just about getting rid of your useless shit before you croak.

Man, this book's a fucking bore. This is a short book about nothing useful. Not that it can't be interesting because it can. This is an old Swedish lady's recounting of her charmed life. "When I lived in Asia..." "I have eight grandchildren..." "Save your favorite dildo but throw out the other fifteen."

SHUT
 UP

Okay, that was rude. If you wanna hear a cordial Swedish granny blather on for two hours, this is the book for you. I feel like I'm there: sitting on a scratchy rug near the fireplace and hearing her go on and on and on and on... I'd leave if I could but I'm a guest in her house and I can't just walk off and be outwardly rude. So I just listen and listen and cry inside because she won't SHUT UP. She's lived a charmed life full of travels and shit. GREAT. This book's more like a flex combined with her general musings than anything that can be considered of any real use.

Maybe this lady never meant to present her book as a something intended to help others. I'd like to give her benefit of the doubt that this was always supposed to be about her life with a minimal tie-in to SDC.

This is a bestseller. Meh, whatever. I went to see what other low reviews said and some people pointed out that she advocates putting down your dog when you move. I played the chapter on pets and she really doesn't: she moved countries and put down the dog because it was very old, she couldn't find a home for him, and she didn't think he'd survive the required quarantine in Sweden. Which is kinda reasonable. But I wanna know why you're even getting a dog in a foreign country with no intention of staying there and eventually returning to Sweden. She rehomed dogs in the United States as well but... I'm biased I guess because I see dogs and cats as forever. Logically, circumstances can require them being rehomed at times. But for this lady in her book to be all "Yo ho, fucking back off to Sweden" and get her old dog euthanized comes off as gross. She just sort of glosses over it. Could've been lost in translation, I suppose.

I think the bigger question is: why are pets a part of SDC? I'm going to die so it's time to chuck out the goldfish? She even included something about a dead gerbil or hamster or some sort of small creature. Did you kill him to death clean him? Why even mention him? It just makes no sense to even bring up the death of pets in the context of getting rid of one's stuff. Again, probably a biased point of view at work here. It was probably more in line with the attitude that everything dies. But returning this book to the library anyway. See ya, granny.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 31, 2022, 12:21:06 PM
Finished the audiobook version of A Wizard of Earthsea.

MEH.

So there's some really good parts in this book. When it's good, I can't put it down for a second. Like when Ged goes to that one place being terrorized by the dragon and gets the dragon to back off. Then he travels and ends up in this other place with a magic stone. All of that was fantastic stuff. I also really liked the part where he meets the two "kids" on the sandbar and then reunites with his school-chum.  But there's parts of the story that just draaaaggg.  Mainly the beginning and the end. The ending in particular felt like the author just wrapping shit up in the messiest way possible.

I've read this book before but couldn't remember much of anything except the shadow. I've never read the second book at all so I'm gonna give that a try and see if I like it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 01, 2022, 12:56:10 AM
Finished Tombs of Atuan, the second Earthsea book. From what I see, this one is listed as a favorite among the four main Earthsea books. I have to say I agree, if at least to the fact that I find it vastly superior to the first. I'd even say a reader could start at this book and that would be better. It's a smaller, more tightly woven story that meanders far less than the first book.

The first Earthsea book is a Ged circlejerk: it tells us that Ged will be great and do a lot of cool shit in his future from the very beginning. The second one is about a girl but features an older Ged who is knowledged and in his element. Reading this one, especially if it's done without knowing anything else about Earthsea, it's plausible to the reader that Ged could actually die. This stake doesn't exist in the first book. (Frankly, I think it's to that book's detriment.)

The ending 1/5 of the book is a bit flat. The escape and death of two characters is dull instead of exciting. Then, after the escape, it feels like it's dragging on and on longer than it should. The ending is mostly world building and I would've preferred most of this world building earlier in the story. Maybe a portion of an earlier chapter being Ged approaching the Tombs of Atuan.

And, funny enough, while I like this book better overall, it doesn't beat the best portions of A Wizard of Earthsea.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Mar 03, 2022, 10:20:08 PM
Listened to some audio books. Only finished one: Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie. I think I've already mentioned it in this thread because I did reread it somewhere in the last couple of years. But I listened to the audio book because it's a new audio book for this story performed by Kenneth Branagh due to the recent movie version and it's pure gold. 11/10 performance. I will never watch the recent movie. I read a summary and I know they've butchered it. Plus, I kinda can't stand Gal Gadot. So that's whatever. But that movie gave us this audio book and I'll be re-listening to it again in the future.

Listened to a couple of other things. These two are self-help books: "Ikigai The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life" and "Niksen, the Dutch Art of Doing Nothing." Both were extremely underwhelming. "Niksen" is another "privileged woman living in another country circle jerks that country and provides no real insight or advice." How many times were you gonna quote rich-ass Gretchen Rubin. So meh to that. Also, if you played a drinking game with how often the author mentions her goddamn sofa, you'd die of alcohol poisoning. Sheesh.

"Ikigai" was a little more tolerable but falls into that trap of just regurgitating other people and ideas to the point where it offers nothing new. I got nothing from that other than "people who live in Okinawa and other locations with healty habits and long life spans live long." That does nothing for me, dude. In contract, Fumio Sasaki's "Hello Habits" also shoots back other people's words and ideas but Sasaki brings those things back to his own thoughts and his own way of managing/building habits.

I tried this other book called "Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times" that was a huge waste of time. A 10/10 concept that was just the author jerking herself off. The audio book reading of it is pure cringe with the weirdest accent from the person reading it. Bleh.

I did try to continue the Earthsea Cycle with the third book but I honestly got bored. I may give it another try in the future if only because I don't think it was the fault of the book necessarily. But I noticed that these Earthsea books tend to have slow starts to them.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Mar 08, 2022, 12:42:08 PM
The Genius Prince's Guide light novels. Just finished the second.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Mar 20, 2022, 11:50:02 PM
I wish the library app had Japanese light novels.  I know, I know.  I can just sail the high seas.  But it'd be nice if there were audio book versions and I could have people just read shit to me.

I did read most of the My Dress-Up Darling manga.  Despite my complaints with this show, this manga (and the show as well) manages enough humor, character, and heart to make it something I can continue with and not just dump in disgust.  I give it credit for that.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Mar 21, 2022, 12:55:39 AM
I read Shonen Jump every Sunday. Or whenever they update. That's about it.

Dandadan's pretty good. Started out a little rapey, though.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Mar 25, 2022, 11:42:56 AM
Started "The More of Less" by Joshua Becker.  Basically, another book about minimalism.  He narrates the audio book himself.  His narration is a mess.  I have to speed him up to make it passable.  I wish he had gotten someone else to read the book because so far the material is decent.  As a pastor and grandson of a pastor, he brings up his religion a lot.  Sometimes it throws me off because I usually delve into more secular material.

Also trying this book called "Biased" that Merla is going to be reading.  I don't know if I'll stick with this one because I prefer more relaxing material in the books I consume these days.  The author of this one also narrates her book and her narration is worse than Joshua Becker's.  I wish these people would get professionals to read the material.  Dan Stevens or David Rintoul or someone who doesn't read through their damn nose like I do.  But then again I'd like to make an audio book of my own material so maybe I should keep my mouth shut. :P
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Mar 25, 2022, 08:49:32 PM
I read all the light novels of The Genius Prince's Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt. The bad part: it continues the trend of excessively long and ridiculous titles. But that's about the only negative. I loved the hell out of it. Loved, as in past tense...I've read all 8, and the 9th doesn't come out until May. Fortunately, they are actual "light" novels, which means you don't have to invest a ton of time into it, unlike, say, DanMachi, which is beginning to resemble Harry Potter books in length the further it goes.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Fiero on Apr 02, 2022, 07:26:42 PM
I've probably read more in the last few months than all of last year, but it's still not much.
Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talent by Octavia Butler
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
The Left Hand of Darkness and The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K Le Guin. The Left Hand of Darkness was kind of a letdown for me but I think because I let it get a little hyped up in my mind. I've known a lot of people that thought it was a really incredible book. I thought The Word for World is Forest was actually a superior work while being less than half the length, and in some ways they touch on similar themes (they're both in the Haimish cycle, mostly disconnected stories set in the same universe).
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. Fun read, really enjoyed most of it.

Currently working through a fan's novella, Tools of a Thief by Danita Rambo. She DMs a D&D campaign I'm in set in the same world as her books. It's fine but it's not grabbing me, and some weird editing issues on the eBook are annoying me.

Part of the reason I've read more is some friends started a book club. This month we're going to read All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. Probably the most "real" of the books we've read. Butler's Parables are pretty heavy topically but there was still the aspect of sci-fi to distract me a bit. I'm a little worried I'm not going to be able to read this.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Apr 02, 2022, 08:46:47 PM
I dropped "Biased."  The full book title is "Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do" so I thought it would be more about biases in general.  Maybe it is. But the first part of it's focused heavily on biases against black men and law enforcement (or victim) biases. The author worked with law enforcement bias training so I understand why she wrote from this perspective. While it is a worthy topic, I did want something broader in scope that perhaps didn't mention Tamir Rice's intestine.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Aug 04, 2022, 09:44:22 AM
Currently reading "Lion," the story of Saroo Brierley originally published as "A Long Way Home." The book got re-branded as "Lion" to tie into the movie adaptation starring Dev Patel. (Saroo's actual given name means "Lion.") It's about the Indian guy who went on a random train as a child and got lost. He was adopted by an Australian couple but used Google maps to locate his hometown and reunited with his birth family over twenty years later.

Overall, it's a pretty good read. I'm not done with it yet. I do have one issue with it so far. Saroo interrupts his own engaging journey of adoption and acclimation to tell us about his adoptive mother's familial background with all of the grace of a Wikipedia article written by a high schooler. I'm sorry, my dude, but that's boring. That whole chapter never should've been in the book. I was blazing through the entire book and lost interest having some random white woman's family issues rattled off. And the thing is, his adoptive mother's life is actually not boring. But the chapter feels completely shoved in. Almost like he wrote the book, remembered he meant to include more about his adoptive mother, and wrote an extra chapter. The writing really suffers in this chapter.

The book does have a known ghostwriter, a journalist named Larry Buttrose. I have the feeling the "off" chapter is either a different ghostwriter or even by Saroo himself. Or maybe Buttrose himself just slapped the chapter together. Who knows. But I've read later parts of the book so I know the book improves.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Aug 04, 2022, 11:11:33 AM
Also, the [Percy Jackson] series that was proposed for Disney+ got greenlit and casting is going to start. The author will be involved this time so I'm happy for him. I still think the first book, The Lightning Thief, is pretty solid. But from the second book onward, it's diminishing returns. Hopefully for him and his fans, the entire five-book series gets a nice adaptation. I feel like I need to make a bet on who will be racebent.

Highest odds are that it's still Grover.
Mid-odds are that it's both Grover and Annabeth.
Dark horse is all three leads.

Mid-odds win.  https://www.distractify.com/p/percy-jackson-disney-plus-cast

BLEH.

I would've liked leads closer to the book descriptions. Literally none of them are, not even the white boy playing Percy. Sally, Gabe, and Mr. D look well cast. Chiron's not what I pictured but I don't care about Chiron.

Some people are using the MJ excuse with the Annabeth actress. About how they can make her hair blonde and give her contact lenses. I don't have the source on hand but I recall someone (the original author maybe) insisting no one will be physically changed like that for their roles. So no contacts or hair dye for stuff like that. Good for this little girl on getting the part. She doesn't deserve any harassment for it either. Internet harassment itself is heinous enough but it's grosser when it's adults against a child.

That said, no. I do not like her casting one bit and every other picture of her is irritatingly smug. I wanted tan, blonde, grey-eyed Annabeth. (It's also revealed Annabeth has Nordic relatives so... uh... yeah.)

The bully character of Clarisse, a daughter of Ares, also became black. The chick casted as Clarisse is gorgeous, but Clarisse is kinda a buff, brutish sort of girl. I have a feeling they're going to keep the actress looking gorgeous and make Clarisse into the Regina George Mean Girls' bully-type when Clarisse was a rough, tomboy bully.  MEH. With her being Ares's daughter, they should also cast Ares black. He could be a Wesley Snipes via Blade type. Could be really cool. But I have a feeling they won't do that.

Luke's just not what I pictured. The author has artwork of the characters on his own website so you can visualize what they should look like. Luke was probably one of the few characters the movies nailed visually. This guy is a bit jarring to look at when compared to the movie and drawing Luke. I don't know what's going on with his face.


Either way, not a watch for me and that's fine. I didn't grow up with these books or anything so I wasn't hugely attached to the characters. Ending post with some cool fan animation.

Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Sep 19, 2022, 09:45:14 AM
I finished I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy. It was a good book. Very well written. About some Nickelodeon child actor I never heard of because I never liked live-action kids shows. (Nevermind being far outside the target demographic at the time of her's but I don't feel I can use that excuse when I watched cartoons just fine.) I've heard of the show she was on and the star of the show she was in but that was the extent of it. I imagine I might have a different pov of this book if I had been a child fan of her show and had the personality suited to accosting celebrities out in public. But yelling out "Sam! Where's your butter sock?!" to a complete stranger is below my dignity no matter the circumstances.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Oct 16, 2022, 09:04:04 PM
Found out today that after completing Dorohedoro, the author (Q Hayashida) began a new manga called Dai Dark, and it's already five volumes deep. How could this have gone beyond my notice? I bought all of Dorohedoro from Amazon, you'd think they'd be trying to shove similar stuff down my throat.

Anyway, same art style, same sense of humor, only this time things are set in outer space. I've read one volume so far, and I'm totally on board.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Oct 18, 2022, 09:42:33 PM
I assume Amazon is like YouTube where it recommends stuff you've already consumed or inane shit that has nothing to do with your tastes?

I'm listening to the audio book version of Forgotten Peoples of the Ancient World by Philip Matyszak. I like the way this guy writes. He writes about ancient history but mainly in the context of ancient Rome. I don't know if the library has any more of his books in audio version form but I'm definitely interested.

I'm also reading Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death by Caitlin Doughty a.k.a. the Ask a Mortician lady on YouTube. My library doesn't have any of her books in audio book form unfortunately so I have to read this on my phone. I've found I really don't like reading books on my phone so it's a bit of a slog. No knock on the book itself. It's decent. But I don't enjoy reading whole books on my phone.

I was gonna start Metamorphoses by Ovid ("start" being the keyword, not necessarily "finish") in audio book form but my app told me someone else was waiting for it so I turned it in early and let them have it. I would've needed to renew my loan anyway since I had it for several days without touching it so I might as well try again another time.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Oct 23, 2022, 09:02:50 AM
So I checked out the audiobook version of new Stephen King isekai Fairytale. Imagine: being so rich and successful that you can put out a book where a character enters a portal to a magical world and then not fucking go there for over four hours.

I'm not gonna finish this.

Yeah, it's a 24 hours audio book. Even if the pre-magic stuff, or whatever, takes another two hours, that's only a fourth of the total book. But it feels very superfluous, like knowledge the reader doesn't actually have use for and never needs to refer to again. It doesn't serve to make the world feel more alive and rich. It feels like I'm hearing about nonsense like someone going through their sock drawer or making an omelet. Also, the audio book narrator sounds bland as shit.

I went to look up some reviews on this and of course there's tons of Stephen King flagellation. One of the two star reviews made a good point about something that nagged at the back of my mind but I couldn't put it into words: this book is written in first person narration of a 17-year-old in--presumably--modern times but sounds like a 45 year old man. Which, yeah, this sounds less like a modern kid at all and more like they'd be a member of my board. The choice of the narrator almost supports the notion. Now, I'm not finishing this. So for all I know, maybe this does take place in the nineties or something where the narrator's lack of tech and dated references make more sense.

I read reviews and a summary if only to see if I should continue this and didn't care for the rest of the plot. I also jumped around the book a bit and that's how I know the kid's still not in the other world four hours in. Anyway, there's going to be a movie version and I'm not interested enough to waste any more time on this.

A couple of reviewers made alternate suggestions in their reviews: The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly and Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub. (Yes, someone recommended a diff Stephen King book in their review.) But even reviews for the other Stephen King book mention a slow start. Don't know if I'll try either one of these.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Nov 15, 2022, 12:31:01 AM
I read the first two volumes of #DRCL. Holy fuck, the artistry. Good God, y'all. I'd never even heard of Shin-ichi Sakamoto before, but I have now.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 15, 2022, 06:44:55 AM
Dead zone by Stephen King...ok listening to the audiobook. I don’t have time to read anymore t seems
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Nov 15, 2022, 05:12:22 PM
The Fall of Numenor arrived today. I actually bought it for my oldest nephew's Christmas gift, but seeing as he just texted me a photo of the copy he ordered for himself I guess I'll be reading it henceforth....
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 22, 2022, 11:13:29 PM
Dead zone by Stephen King...ok listening to the audiobook. I don’t have time to read anymore t seems

I just have a real hard time concentrating these days.  At least I can close my eyes and rest with an audio book.  Or get chores done at the same time.  I spent my lunch the other day petting one of the cats while listening to twenty minutes of Kurashi at Home by Marie Kondo.  She released another book and I never heard about it.  So far, same old, same old.  You're not getting anything that different from her first book.

I tried listening to Mary Poppins the other day and... well... I mean, I was kinda bored.  But more than that, Mary Poppins really comes off as a bitch.  Which, yeah, she is.  But Julie Andrews gave her charm.  I wish Julie Andrews was reading the audio book to me.

I've also listened to about three mythology audiobooks by the same author, Donna Jo Napoli: Greek, Egyptian, and Norse. Norse myths kinda lose me, ngl. The books I listened to are pretty truncated versions of the myths. They're in the juvenile section but the presentation of the material is nice: it's concise and tries to use accurate naming while inserting relevant facts for the reader. Not like that sleep story on YouTube about Osiris and Isis that conveniently leaves out that they're siblings.  And while I liked these books, it's sucky that my city library has a really limited collected for mythology audiobooks.  Like, ONE book on Egyptian mythology?  Seriously?

The same author did a book called Tales from the Arabian Nights, which I'm listening to now.  This is the second book I've tried featuring the One Thousand and One Nights. And, like, holy cow, I understand that bullshit in The Journey anime movie waaaay better now. Flashbacks within flashbacks within stories within other stories.  What the shit? And, sorry, most of these stories are kinda stupid. Sure, I'll believe my wife gave birth to a goddamn dog. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sisters_Envious_of_Their_Cadette) Now I understand why all we hear about is Aladdin, Alibaba, and Sinbad the Sailor: because those are the only good ones. They apparently weren't even part of the original collection or whatever.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rama on Nov 24, 2022, 07:58:47 AM
I mostly listen to the audio books in my car. It’s the only time outside of sleeping m not doing something.

And I’m listen to Clash of Kings by George RR Martin. George really isn’t that good of a writer I’m discovering and the guy reading this can not do two voices.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Nov 26, 2022, 02:00:08 PM
Ugh, that's the worse: when the person reading out the book can't differentiate the characters for the listener. Like, look, you don't necessarily need to do like a whole Rob Paulsen range of characters but I need it to sound like you're at least playing pretend with yourself.

I'm listening to Mythos by Stephen Fry. I'm not familiar with his career. Blasphemy, I know. It's an okay book so far. It was bit lame in the beginning with some dumb jokes. As I get more into it, it feels more like hearing a friend recount what they heard about myths. Which is not a negative on it. It's getting better. I'm just not sure if I'll stick with it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 10, 2022, 09:10:19 AM
Mythos has continued to be okay as I give it more of a listen. I listen to audiobooks to relax and this one accomplished that.

Tales from 1001 Nights lost me. Even the Ali Baba tale was stupid. His Mary Sue servant, er, his Mary Suevant, saves everyone in the end.

I'm not bothering to finish Marie Kondo's latest book either. Her first book remains her only book necessary while every other book she writes is milking her brand.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Dec 18, 2022, 08:15:13 PM
I dropped everything I was, ahem, reading. I want to be more well-read but, shit, I can't scrape up the interest.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Jan 08, 2023, 11:42:17 AM
In-coming Jane Austen post that no one but myself will read so I should've just made this a blog post but whatever:

So I'm listening to audiobook versions of Jane Austen's works. Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice are my favorites and they remain as such. I also tried Emma and Sense and Sensibility.

At least two or maybe three audiobook versions of P&P get way too ridiculous. Yes, yes, the character of Mrs. Bennet is supposed to be this brash, sorta ridiculous woman whose fears of being destitute fuel the obsessive need to marry off her daughters. But the narrators play this up entirely too much for me to be able to relax to this story.

Persuasion gets props for being the more palatable audiobook. All of Austen's stories have characters with quirks. I feel Persuasion leaves less room in the story for an audiobook narrator to get too ridiculous because it's mostly through the quiet Anne's viewpoint. The narrator can be a snob with "No one will want you in Bath" or whine about how the Musgroves did not call upon Anne as they should and then story moves on. There isn't the space like in P&P for a narrator to get too silly.

Emma I just can't bring myself to even try to finish. Emma is too damn long of a book for starters. And the conflict in Emma can be summarized as "bored, rich girl matchmaker unbores self." What is Emma's risk or stake in the plot at all? The P&P girls risk poverty (if they do not marry well; inheritance doesn't allow girls to inherit from their father) and ruin (when one of the sisters runs off with a rake). In Persuasion, the family is also running into money issues because the patriarch is a spendthrift and the main character is sad, lonely, and unappreciated. Like, this is the first line of Emma:

Quote
Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.

And it just makes me dislike her. Fuck you and your rich, happy ass. :lol: I kept listening and it goes on about how she's sad her governess or whoever got married and left her house so now Emma and Daddy are all alone by rich, happy selves. Boo hoo. Why do I care about any of this?  Anyone remotely interested in this story is better off just watching "Clueless."

Sense & Sensibility is hard for me to rewatch as a movie or show because it makes me angry and unfortunately I find the audiobook no different. The main characters, the Dashwoods (a mother and three daughters), are supposed to be taken care of after the death of the family patriarch by his son. Instead they are let down and must leave their home; they are resented for their station in life; and the two elder daughters are meddled with by well-intentioned matchmaker. Marianne is led on by that carousing, callow jerk Willoughby who knocked up Col. Brandon's ward. Elinor must watch as Lucy the golddigger calls claim on the man she loves by virtue of meeting him first. All this story does is make me angry and it all goes on for too damn long.

I'm still trying to figure out why this book makes me angry because the Dashwoods aren't any more or less screwed over than other Austen characters. Maybe it's because this story makes the reader experience the "screwing over" too fully. In P&P, Jane Bennet is screwed over when she goes to London to visit Mr. Bingley and the latter's friend and sisters hide the fact that she's there (so she doesn't get to see her man). But the reader doesn't actually get to hear and see all of this happen. The reader experiences this through Jane Bennet's letter to Lizzy in which she talks about the Bingley sisters brushing her off and the fact she doesn't get to see Mr. Bingley. And Jane even gives the sisters the benefit of the doubt that they were only being unkind to be kind, so to speak. We don't have to wallow in the sisters being bitches to Jane and Jane feeling awkward and hurt. We are left to read between the lines of a second-hand account and don't fully grasp Darcy's involvement until he admits to it later in the book. While in S&S, we have to suffer bitches being bitches to people feeling embarrassed for it and it's tiresome.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Sep 18, 2023, 10:08:19 PM
I've been listening to audiobooks versions of The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen... well, I think that's what they are. It's like an AI reading the story so I doubt it's a true audiobook. But I appreciate who made these none the less. The story's quite good. The anime is very faithful to it. Not that there aren't flaws.

I wondered how much liberty the anime took with interpreting other character's feelings outside of Pride, the main character. But the story just flips perspectives. Some reviews I read on the books had some people put off by this and I could see why. You're not given any sort of warning. Maybe this is different if I actually read the light novel. Like font changes or something. But with it in audio form, I had a bit of a tough time with it sometimes. It also can feel like a bit much. Ultimately I liked seeing events from a different perspective but it could border on excessive.

But when it worked, it worked very well. Like when we first get insight into Arthur's perspective.

I'm almost done with volume three. That one got a little silly with a dude whose big secret was that he just loves his kingdom so damn much. It's like a job interview where someone's flaw is that they're such a hard worker. Give me a break. The writer worked with that concept the best they could but, man, that guy was a weak-ass character.

You have guy torn from his mother who was forced into slavery and made to kill his mother himself because of the evil queen; and then you have guy shut down from his dreams who watched his dad die due to the evil queen and gave up his identity in pursuing his revenge; and then there's the semi-immortal guy who wallows in depravity to save the love of his life and is so desperate he deals with slavers and would sell out the kingdom he serves; and then you have half-breed abandoned and abused rock-powet bandit who has never known love and suffers once he gains and almost loses his Found Family; and then you have... "derrrrr I luv muh country too damn much!!" There were other things to the character like his brothers conspiring against him but it wasn't enough. I've had communion wafers with more flavor than this ass-clown. At least he loooooves his country so much his ass is staying there. Hopefully this means he won't appear as much in the story in the future. I like all of the other characters but not him, lol. At least the other characters--the GOOD characters--made the rest of the story enjoyable.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Sep 19, 2023, 08:06:21 AM
I've been reading the Black Summoner light novels lately. I unexpectedly enjoyed the anime, but the manga was only about twice as far past it, so I jumped into the LNs. I've gotten to the last completed major arc from the manga, but I'm only on the fourth book out of twelve, so there's quite a lot of yet unseen content left.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Sep 19, 2023, 12:15:28 PM
It's tough following up on light novel source material because as much as I'd like to read ahead, unofficial translations are usually kinda ass and the official translations are downright glacial. At least for stories I've been interested in.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: Rodent of Unusual Size on Sep 20, 2023, 03:32:27 PM
Luckily these are official translations...of course once you catch up you become subject to the delays of long-term novelizations. I've been waiting on the latest volumes for DanMachi and Genius Prince for what seems like forever.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 03, 2024, 02:12:36 PM
Read most of the chapters of Maria no Danzai and, man, it's kinda hard to get through. It veers into torture pr0n, which disgusts me and so I skipped a bit of that shit; yet everything else about it has me hooked. That said, if this ever got an anime I don't think I'd be able to watch it.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: jonhammstein on Feb 03, 2024, 04:40:42 PM
You ever read Boy's Abyss? That's some real misery pr0n. I fell off out of distaste. I'll give Maria a look.
Title: Re: What are you reading?
Post by: B E C K on Feb 04, 2024, 07:21:39 AM
I'll do you one better: I've never heard of it.

So I tried to listen to an audio version of the Saint's Magical Power is Omnipotent and, man; It's literally "hot guy this" and "hot guy that" within the first three minutes. This doesn't bode well.