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Books!; Yummy, yummy words
Topic Started: Nov 22 2011, 01:18 PM (543 Views)
Braythor
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Dumped Scruff's mum
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snarwhal
Dec 8 2011, 01:54 AM
It's more of a post-apocalyptic, fantasy, western story. The first three novels are pretty short and quite good. You'll never look at a lobster the same way again!

That's exactly the way I'd describe it too.

Dad-a-chum? Did-a-chick?
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TheOneInYellow
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The Audiophile
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snarwhal
Dec 8 2011, 01:54 AM
You'll never look at a lobster the same way again!
Yeah, I still have bad images of Eddie's...erm...friend shall we say...being eaten O_O
Edited by TheOneInYellow, Dec 8 2011, 01:52 PM.
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cuddlebug38
THE Pretty Pretty Princess
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snickerdoodle
 
thanks to cuddlebug, i now want to reread the Chronicles of Narnia. <3


One really should just make reading the Chronicles of Narnia an annual event. They are amazing and dazzling. :wuv:

snarwhal
 
You'll never look at a lobster the same way again!


:facepalm: I haven't looked at a lobster the same since having a lobster dinner with my professor who gave us an anatomy lesson as he ripped his apart. "Now, guys, if you take apart the carapace you'll find the gills and near those the digestive system, it's the greenish colored stuff. You can eat this is you want. And oh look! I have a female with roe! If you remember, roe is the unfertilized eggs and is considered quite the delicacy." nom nom nom nom

Although I am a little curious as to how The Dark Tower will once again change how I look at lobsters... (I've never read any Steven King as I was under the impression they were horror which I tend to shy away from).
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snickerdoodle
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The Green Mile is seriously an excellent book. and like i said, was the only King book i'd read until Lisey's Song/Story/whatever. i read that out of desperation and it being the only book in my house i quite literally HADN'T read. it's a bit disturbing (not horror type disturbing at all, just a couple parts are a bit sad. :( ) but seriously one of my favorites ever.
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Scruff 815
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The Arbiter
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Posted Image

So, books.

I've been on a Philip K. Dick bender recently, and have read The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (which was awesome), Martian Time Slip (which was ok), Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (which was amazing and absolutely pisses on Blade Runner), UBIK (which was fine), and am now on A Scanner Darkly, which just might be my second favourite PKD book behind VALIS. It's really interesting watching his writing change as he got older, from fairly standard sci-fi with a 'real' message, to deep and depressing analysis of the modern world. The sci-fi stuff's also kind of fun to see in terms of predictions; he managed to write stories that feature global warming and what are essentially internet sex chat rooms long before anyone else did, but didn't see a future where smoking was considered bad or where data was distributed digitally rather than on disk. Lulz.

A while ago I also read the Hunger Games trilogy, which are just fucking astounding. Such very pissed off writing, with an excellent story, and massive balls to make certain decisions with the plot and what happens with certain characters. It's a shame that the film didn't even come close to the genius of the book but at least everyone tried their best, I suppose. Really don't understand why it was briefly referred to as "the next Twilight" though.

Now. 50 Shades of Grey. :curse: I FUCKING HATE THIS BOOK SO MUCH. I don't mind that it's porn. Erotica has been around for a very long time, and it is basically just porn for women (since men tend to be more visual), and women feeling sexually liberated ultimately leads to more sex, so no-one should complain. I don't mind the unrealistic portrayal of men, since real-life doesn't make for very interesting fantasy spank material. However. I hate the fact that my Facebook is constantly filled up with comments like "mmmm... mr grey". How would you like "mmmm.. audrey bitoni's tits" all over your Facebook, middle-aged ladyface? I hate the fact that every day in work, I get to hear an update on what's happened in the book in last night's hour of reading. I hate that it started out as Twilight fan-fiction. I hate that it's so very badly written. I hate that it's such a massive step back for feminism in terms of the content. I hate that people are acting like it's the first book with sex in it, when they don't even fuck until chapter 8, and a decent erotic book would've had 3 sex scenes in the first chapter alone. I hate that women are now claiming that men don't like it because we feel threatened. Srsly? ARGH I HATE IT SO MUCH. :curse: :curse: :curse: :curse:
Posted Image

Chances are at least one of the ladies here has read this, and it's certain that the ladyfriends of some of the men here are busy with this shit. On that note, may I please recommend some decent erotica, particularly The Hand of Amun, or perhaps the soon-to-be-published by Xcite Books "The Magician's Lover", which is written by a friend of mine who recently signed a contract for a trilogy :fluffy: and is a damn filthy slice of awesome.
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Peggy Peggy
Sergeant
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I read alot, mainly political/social/economic. Orwell etc.
I have to recommend this text, its a fantastic description of Socialism and critique of capitalism. Sorry if this is a little political/off topic :bag:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ragged-Trousered-Philanthropists-Wordsworth-Classics/dp/184022682X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341664467&sr=8-1
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PhoenixVakarian
Major
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I read tons and tons!!!

At the minute, i'm reading Aliens vs Predator: Prey, i've heard nothing but awsome things about this book, and i am already hooked only one and a ahlf chapters in. I've also got Aliens: No Exit, and Aliens: Cauldron, then i will purchase the other aliens and predator books (if anyone is interested in picking them up, they are all like £3 on amazon, this is awsome, because these books are out of print in the uk, so to pick them up at all is like gold dust).
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mr per0
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The Didact
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Hmm. Where to start?

I am a HUGE fan of Jeff Shaara. Probably my favorite author of all time. He writes historical fiction of the war persuasion and it is amazing. It is a bit US-centric, but really very good. He has series on the American Revolution (War of the Insurrection to you Brits?), the American Civil War, World Wars I and II.

That being said, my favorite book is probably Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlan. It is absolutely nothing like the movie (the movie had bugs and a few characters with the same names... similarity ends). It has what I feel to be insightful commentary on political/societal bs.

I enjoyed both Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card, as others have mentioned.

Also a huge fan of nautical/naval fiction, most notably Forrester's Hornblower series and Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series.

I have read, and sometimes enjoyed, most of the "classics" as I am certified to teach English at the high school level. I don't enjoy these as a rule because of all of the layers and symbolism and crap that you are required to slog through. Or, they seem pointless to me, and I just want to tell the characters to sack up and get on with life. Which means I tend to avoid things like Catcher in the Rye (sorry crazy) and anything in the existentialist or absurdist genre, although I do really enjoy me some Vonnegut. Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five being my favorites of his.

I tend to find dystopian works, like 1984, Animal Farm, etc. well written horrible books. I don't enjoy them, but periodically, I do re-read them.

I am a big fan of LOTR. I also find the language to be occaisionally dense, but it is an amazing work. I would say the same of the Simarillion, although that is even more dense, but rewarding nonetheless.

Narnia also = win

Much of the time I like to read things that just carry me along and don't make me think too much, as reading is a form of escapism for me. So I also tend to read a lot of Michael Chriction and Tom Clancy.

I enjoyed the Harry Potters.

I have, in my effort to keep current with my students/my wife, read both the Twilight series and the Hunger Games series.

I found Twilight to have the potential to be an amazing new take on the whole vampire mythology. I felt she did a really good job coming up with new explanations and ideas behind some of the accepted vampire rules, etc (no going in the sun... not because you'll burn, but because you are shiny!). But I could have done without all of the teen angsty bits (i love you, no i love you more, bite me, no, werewolf,...). It was a bit like going to see the movie Pearl Harbor that starred Josh Hartnett, et al. I went to see a war movie, and ended up in 4 hours of romantic mush, and oh btw Pearl Harbor got bombed for maybe 20 min. The parts that were good, were really good. The rest was mush.

Hunger Games on the other hand, I thoroughly enjoyed. The second 2 books in the trilogy, less so. They were good, but not stellar. That being said, they were a captivating read, and I pounded out the whole series in a weekend.

On the whole, books = win. End.
Edited by mr per0, Jul 8 2012, 09:42 PM.
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Scruff 815
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mr per0
Jul 8 2012, 08:55 PM
Vonnegut.
YES.
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PINK MIST PER0
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The Librarian
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How the heck did I miss the book thread? I love reading!

Read and LOVE the following (don't judge me! :nervous: )
ALL the Halo novels (Josh and I had to buy a minibookshelf just to put all our halo books/novels etc on)
Halsey's Journal (awesome! especially from a medical standpoint!)
Pride and Predjudice (Favorite classical book!)
Hunger Games Series (read all 3 in 3 days... epic)
Twilight #1 & #2 (the third one was honestly a bit TOO much for me... freaky vamp baby, broken spine... yeah... enough said) (Please don't kill me for adding that to my list)
All the Harry Potter Books
The Once and Future King
Frankenstein (LOVE IT! It's a story within a story within a story! Not to mention all the medical issues and ethics involved. A very modern classical book that is still relevant today...)
Also like Hamlet (yes I know it is a play, but it has fencing! :yay:)

Currently on my list to read: The Princess Bride but will be adding books from this thread to it as well...

Books that I read but did not enjoy (probably because I was forced to read them in English class in high school) -
1. Animal Farm - reason: I felt AWFUL for the horse... :cry:
2. Lord of the Flies - the crappy ending. Seriously it was JUST starting to get good and all of a sudden it was OVER! wtf?!
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Deadpool Psycko
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Oooh I'll put my list up ASAP. I haz quite the collection...
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ASLANS R0AR
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Spartan Pops
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Favorite series:
Narnia
Harry Potter
Lord of the Rings
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Hunger Games (was pretty good, but not in the same class as the ones above)

Favorite Single Volumes:
The Hobbit
Halo: Fall of Reach
Halo: Glasslands
Halo: Ghosts of Onyx

I just finished reading Halo: Cryptum, which was pretty good; looking forward to getting Primordium from the Library. I also am reading the Marvel Civil War stuff via graphic novels.
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Scruff 815
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The Arbiter
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Brandi Pero RN
Jul 10 2012, 09:38 PM
Lord of the Flies - the crappy ending. Seriously it was JUST starting to get good and all of a sudden it was OVER! wtf?!
Nooo! The ending was GREAT! I loved how by that point, you'd pretty much forgotten that you were dealing with 12-year-old kids, and had really got sucked in to the weird primal island wars. And then all of a sudden there's a grown-up there and the fearsome warriors are just crying kids with crap facepaint on. Loved it :D

On the subject of disappointing classics, I thought Watership Down sucked all the balls. 99% of it is lengthy descriptions of countryside, and for all the hype about it being a depressing book, all the bad guys get defeated and everyone lives happily ever after. ^o)
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porottaja
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Okay, I really like this manga series I just started reading. I read all the chapters that have been released so far, 161, in two days. It is called Cage of Eden.

Very minor spoilers ahead.

The artwork is really great. As for the story, it kinda begins like Lord of the Flies. Plane full of 300 people crashes on an unknown island. The island just happens to be full of extinct animals, mostly vicious carnivors. (No dinosaurus though.) It is a nice mix of action shounen and drama with a dash of psychological horror and ecchi.
Edited by porottaja, Jul 11 2012, 10:03 AM.
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Deadpool Psycko
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The Meta
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I'm a sucker for conspiracy thriller novels, mainly Dan Brown-esque and Zombie Anthologies. My Nook is full of the latter.

Angels & Demons, DaVinci Code - Dan Brown

The Sign, Sanctuary, The Last Templar by Raymond Khourey. I'm dying to read his sequel to Last Templar and his The Devil's Elixir
Deep Storm & The Relic by Lincoln Child (Relic was adapted into a movie in the 90's)
Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston who works with the above author. Dying to read more of his stuff too.
Syndrome by Thomas Hoover
The Mist, Thinner, Pet Cemetary and the Different Seasons Anthology (Hope Springs Eternal/Shawshank Redemption, Summer of Corruption/Apt Pupil, Fall of Innocence/Stand By Me, A Winters Tale/The Breathing Method) by Stephen King



Sci-Fi Adaptations

Transformers - Ghosts of Yesterday, The Veiled Threat, Graphic Novel Prequel
Halo - Evolutions I & II, The Fall of Reach, The Flood, Ghosts of Onyx & Glasslands Eric Nylund/Karen Traviss
Gears of War - Aspho Fields - Karen Traviss
Dead Space - Martyr - Brian Evenson
Silent Hero: A Tribute to the Legend of Zelda - Christine E. Schulze (Amazing FREE nook book)

[b]Biographies/Other[/b]

Christopher Walken: From A to Z
The Templar Revelation
Bill Maher: New Rules
Why We Suck: A Guide To Staying Fat, Loud, Stupid and Lazy by Dr. Denis Leary
Brain Droppings by George Carlin
Tucker Max: I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell & Assholes Finish First

Zombie Anthologies

The Zombie Survival Guide, World War Z & TZSG: Recorded Attacks graphic novel by Max Brooks
The New Dead Anthology
A Deck Full of Zombies: 61 Speculative Fiction Tales
The Undead Anthology
The Living Dead 1 & 2
Valley of Death & Zombies
Survivors (The Aftertime Series)
Nearly Dead: A St. Pete Zombie Tale
The Zombie Feed: Vol 1
Zombies: The Recent Dead


Then there's the long random list of my comics/graphic novels:

Marvels
Batman: The Killing Joke
The Death & Return of Superman
Civil War (main saga), The Road To Civil War, Peter Parker/Spiderman CW
Deadpool - Cable & Deadpool series, Suicide Kings, Wade Wilsons War, Vs. The Marvel Universe, Deadpool Corps Vol. 1
Planet Hulk, World War Hulk
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ASLANS R0AR
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I've also been reading recent military history -

American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in US Military History by Chris Kyle
- this was a great read about troops on the ground in Iraq (also insight into how Navy Seals operate)

just picked this up from the Library for my Oregon trip:
Lions of Kandahar: The Story of a Fight Against All Odds by Rusty Bradley

I've read some other of these types recently, just can't remember them. They give me interesting insights into our country (USA) from the perspective of our troops. Plan also to read Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell (who knew Navy Seal Chris Kyle)

Also plan on reading these soon on past military history:
Unbroken: A World War 2 Story (Hillenbrand)
Gates of Fire: Battle of Thermopylae, by Pressfield (Spartans!)

Edited by ASLANS R0AR, Jul 11 2012, 04:38 PM.
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snickerdoodle
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Just me.
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For Scruff. :flirt:
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ASLANS R0AR
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snickerdoodle
Jul 13 2012, 12:18 AM
mmmmmm, steak sauce . . . .
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ASLANS R0AR
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Just finished Lions of Kandahar by Maj. Rusty Bradley and was deeply moved by the way he ended it:
Quote:
 
“If in fact it is your time to be called before God, you typically won’t know it. Sometimes you will, and these are the hardest of times. When the blood pours from your nose and down your throat, clogging it, causing you to spit and gag. You heave for breath in the smoke and dust. Your equipment seems to suffocate you. You wipe the salty sweat and grime from your eyes, only to realize it is blood, either yours or that of the enemy. You would stand but you can’t move your legs. You grasp the open, gaping wounds in your body, trying not to pass out from the pain. You feel the anger thinking of the loved ones you will never see again, and losing your life infuriates your soul. You rage to get to your feet and grab for a weapon, any weapon. Regardless of your race, culture, or religion, you want to die standing. Fighting like a warrior, an American, so others won’t have to. For those looking for a definition, this is the price of freedom.” (274).

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