What are you reading?

[uc pseudonym]

Writing has been replacing reading recently, but I'm still working my way through A Song of Ice and Fire.

A Feast for Crows by George RR Martin

Only covering half the world makes it feel like half a novel (and at this rate it will be years before a normal book, because A Dance With Dragons will just be the other half even when it finally comes out). There's a whole lot of Cersei and Jaime, who are good characters but not ones I enjoy reading greatly. This is going one chapter at a time, except for the occasional Arya section.

[Htom Sirveaux]

Mark Z. Danielewski's [color="Blue"]House[/color] of Leaves for the second time, because it's that awesome.

[Wyntre Rose]

Just finished The War of the Flowers by Tad Williams. Over 800 pages read in two days, just to show you how devourable it was. Recommended, though there is a LOT of language to wade through, including taking the Lord's name in vain over and over...

Going to start Moonheart by Charles de Lint next, I believe.

[ich1990]

“Exploring Romans” by John Phillips

Phillips must have been a pastor before he was an exegete. I started this book expecting it to provide a thorough, analytical analyses of the book of Romans. Instead, it essentially gave me a collection of sermons on the letter of Romans disguised as a commentary. Personally, I was looking for something a bit drier, but it wasn't unpleasant.

Like most sermons, the primary goal of this volume was to make the Bible seem interesting, hip, and relevant to the modern reader. As a result, Phillips frequently resorted to analogies, loosely related stories, outright speculations, and at least one non-sequitur. Sometimes this helped to make Romans seem more vivid. Other times, it drove his commentary completely off track and onto his personal soapboxes (evolution, capital punishment, Just War Theory, etc.).

The asides were usually tolerable, however, because Phillips generally provided useful comments along the way. For instance, he went out of his way to unite the entire Bible with the book of Romans. Paul frequently quotes portions of the Old Testament to show that Christianity is not a new religion but perfected Judaism. Phillips followed closely in Paul's footsteps, not only explaining Paul's selection of verses, but also adding his own correlating verses. Additionally, Phillips spends a great deal of time situating the letter to the Romans among Paul's other missionary journeys and letters. Both of these emphases went a long way towards painting the “bigger picture” of what Romans is all about.

It is a solid volume, if not spectacular or faultless. If the potential reader comes from a conservative or Evangelical theological persuasion, then “Exploring Romans” will well serve them as a readable, introductory commentary on Paul's great letter. 7/10



“Some Fruits of Solitude” by William Penn

Two decades of reading has well cemented a fact in my mind; when it comes to searching for wisdom or thought provocation, a reader can rarely do better then study the writings of old dead people. Therefore, when I discovered a complete set of “The Harvard Classics” --a full twenty-three thousand pages of old dead people's writings-- hiding in a corner of my grandparents' basement, it was like stumbling across a stasis chamber holding King Solomon. Despite having half a hundred books already on my list to read (this summer), I couldn't help but take home the first volume in the series and find out what the founder of Pennsylvania had learned during his time of isolation.

The setup of “Some Fruits...” is quite similar to that of Proverbs. It contains about 850 single sentence aphorisms that are arranged according to theme. Many of these statements are quite striking and have a ring of truth to them: “And he that is taught to live upon a little, owes more to his Father's Wisdom, than he that has a great deal left him, does to his Father's Care.”

Penn also has a curmudgeon's sense of humor: “'T is a Happiness to be delivered from a Curious Mind, as well as from a Dainty Palate.”

All told, however, many of these profound statements have little usefulness outside of the proverbial cocktail party; even when the one-liners are practical, they usually overlap with Proverbs. “Some Fruits of Solitude” is entertaining to read, has plenty of quotable quotes, contains loads of random capitalization, but, unfortunately, doesn't go much beyond that. 8/10

[the_wolfs_howl]

Still attempting to finish The Shadow Rising. *sigh* I'm in a Lanfear chapter now, which isn't helping matters much....

Anyway, now I'm reading:

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
The writing's excellent, of course, and the court intrigue is...well, intriguing. But somehow it doesn't capture my attention as much as I was hoping it would, after the amazing Count of Monte Cristo. Maybe it's just that the main character seems so much more flippant and worldly, getting riled up at the slightest insult and falling in love with a married woman.

"Flowers for Algernon" (forgot the author)
A really good story about a mentally retarded man. Very tragic. It reminded me of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, but the two are very different stories. If you (like me) have a thing for stories about people with mental problems, then I would highly recommend this.

[rocklobster]

Currently reading Sabriel by Garth Nix. It's the first in his Abhorsen trilogy.

[Htom Sirveaux]

Terry Pratchett's Feet of Clay. Yay, another City Watch book! Those are some of my favorites in the series.

[bigsleepj]

Terry Pratchett's Feet of Clay. Yay, another City Watch book! Those are some of my favorites in the series.

Mine as well.

[BubblegumNinja]

Busy with my Dad's manuscript at the moment XD

[rocklobster]

reading Lirael, Daughter of the Clayr by Garth Nix.

[ich1990]

[b]“Surprised by Hopeâ€

[Fish and Chips]

A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Two books I had to read for a course, though I enjoyed both of them, particularly Things Fall Apart, the story of one of the greatest men in a small collection of Nigerian villages, who lives in constant fear of being thought similar to his father, a good humored but lazy and wastefully indebted musician, as the British empire encroaches on their homeland. Definitely a solid read.

[Radical Dreamer]

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

aslkjlakgj I haaaaated that book. XD Part of that is probably due to the fact that I studied it under an extraordinarily incompetent teacher and was given three enormous 80-someodd question tests on the book that asked really tedious questions, though. XDD

Anyways, my summer reading list has been thrust aside because of my Shakespeare class! I'm not complaining. XD Thus far:

The Taming of the Shrew
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Twelfth Night (I loved this onneeee <333)
Henry V

And we're starting Hamlet as of tomorrow. I've read it before and it's my faaavoriteee. I'm stoked. XD

[Htom Sirveaux]

And we're starting Hamlet as of tomorrow. I've read it before and it's my faaavoriteee. I'm stoked. XD

See if you can get extra credit for writing a dissertation on the MST3k episode.

[rocklobster]

Currently reading The Shack.

[BubblegumNinja]

I'm busy with Spoilt by Terry Denby now.

[rocklobster]

Just started book 2 in The Keys to the Kingdom: Grim Tuesday

[GeneD]

I just started ready The Carpet People again and am also reading Living in Times of Dragons part 3, albeit very, very slowly.

[Jingo Jaden]

Finished 'Charlemagne' by Derek Wilson.

Moving on to 'The Republic' by Plato.

[Technomancer]

Under a Green Sky: Global Warming, The Mass Extinctions of the Past, and What They Can Tell Us About Our Future by Peter D. Ward

In a fairly easy to read manner Ward explains the importance of much of the current research (including his own) on three particularly important mass extinctions that are generally held to be have been caused by catastrophic global warming: the Permo-Triassic, the Triassic-Jurassic, and the Paleocene-Eocene events. He also offers a discussion of what these periods mean for our own times. I recommend this book as being both well-written and accessible, but also because it considers much of the most recent fieldwork currently being done (the book was written in 2006, and is therefore quite up to date).

[Arya Raiin]

I'm reading Rangers Apprentice #3. Also I'm rereading Eragon.

[AngelicTotoro]

Just finishing up the third Lord of The Rings book, for the 3rd time.

[Maokun]

Storm Front, book 1 on the Harry Dresden series.

Overally I liked it. The writing felt really amateurish at points even to my unlearned eyes, but the book is pushed forward by the strenght of the main character, Harry Dresden, who's really well construed, charismatic and easy to relate to. I believe the author has some great ideas -and every once in a while deliver some awesome one-liners, but he needs to hone his literary and narrative techniques. (Which is no wonder, as he's just recently become a writer after a fruitful life dedicated to martial arts, horse riding and several other offices and passions.)

I'm positive I'll see an improvement in the next books in the series and I look forward to them.

[Kkun]

Trouble is My Business by Raymond Chandler

[christianfriend]

Finished Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer today.
And I'm working on my Driver's Manual, and Jobs for Travel Lovers by Ron and Caryl Krannich. (<-- picked that one up at the Library out of curiosity )

[rocklobster]

I'm starting Wuthering Heights.

[BubblegumNinja]

I'm starting Wuthering Heights.

Heh, I remember reading that back in high school for my exams. I really couldn't put it down.

[Strafe]

I'm looking into Sociology just a little bit, and I started The Republic by Plato. I have to think while reading it though. I can't just skim through and pick up the points like I do with School books.

[KagayakiWashi]

I'm going through a Bible study where we are reading Francis Chan's "Crazy Love".

[color="Red"]HIGHLY RECOMMENDED[/color]

[Htom Sirveaux]

I just got back from the local Farmers' Market where they have a nice used book store. Picked up:

The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson
The Sicilian by Mario Puzo
The Iliad by Homer
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
The Bird's Nest by Shirley Jackson

Don't know when I'll get around to reading them.