Been scattered and reading several books here and there. I'm on the last book of Plato's Republic, last act of Hamlet, and just started rereading Tender is the Night which is one of my favorite novels.

ghrur

United States3786 Posts

July 06 2012 03:49 GMT

#722

Finished All Quiet on the Western Front by Remarque. Beautiful book, and I loved it.
Just finished Death in Venice by Thomas Mann, Heim Translation. Interesting book, and I appreciate it, but did not enjoy it.
Currently reading No Country for Old Men by McCarthy.

Xayoz

Estonia373 Posts

July 06 2012 12:32 GMT

#723

On July 04 2012 22:22 Gotmog wrote:
If you want us to understand what you mean, you are going to have to elaborate on that =)

Well. I could rant rather lengthily on things that bothered me about him (not in english unfortunately).
In the end tho, what I hated most about Harry Dresden is that, every time he is about to do something remotely badass and/or human, he pussies out at the last moment and instead 'does the right thing'. Witch in truth should get him killed every goddamn time, but well...
You could say it's his various beliefs and ideals (that are mostly polar opposites to what mine would be in this setting) that made his character incredibly unsympathetic and since this is the sort of series that solely centers on his character...
You could also say that it's the American superhero stereotype that I can not stomach.

GoingGoingGone

Slovakia529 Posts

July 06 2012 12:43 GMT

#724

On July 06 2012 12:49 ghrur wrote:
Finished All Quiet on the Western Front by Remarque. Beautiful book, and I loved it.
Just finished Death in Venice by Thomas Mann, Heim Translation. Interesting book, and I appreciate it, but did not enjoy it.

Both of these are very good IMHO, I liked Remarque more, but Mann has some very interesting observation about art and the overall style is very, very refined.

I'm enjoying that I'm done with all the exams, so I have time to read something different than books I need for my courses

. Currently reading Tell-All by Chuck Palahniuk, almost done.

treekiller

United States236 Posts

July 06 2012 15:06 GMT

#725

Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power
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This book looks at the rise of Western military superiority. It looks at why, essentially, Europe conquered the world. Anyone interested in military history would enjoy this book. It doesnt delve into the details of military battles, but seeks to paint a broad history. You can read the first chapter for free on Amazon.

Golden Ghost

Netherlands1041 Posts

July 06 2012 15:13 GMT

#726

Just finished:
3 books by Danielle Hermans.
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Thrillers based upon real events from the Dutch history. Set in the modern world but with a story that reaches back to the 17th century and mixing the two timeframes. The first "Het Tulpenvirus" (the Tulipvirus) is about the overnight burst of the Tulip boom in the Netherlands. The second "De Watermeesters" (the masters of the water) is about the Dutch fight against the water and the third "De Man van Manhattan" (the man from Manhattan) is about the Dutch rule over the island Manhattan.

And these historical facts are linked to murder and complots in modern times.
Enjoyable read without having to think to much. Especially because I´m generally a fan of history.

Currently reading:
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It was written in 1957 but I don´t believe it´s translated. The title would be something like "The gang of Jan the Illuminated / The son of Jan the Illuminated". The story is set in Flanders in the 18th century and centers around the adventures of a charasmatic bandit.

I did read it already when I was a child but find now that although the story is okaish I´m reading it more because the beautiful way it´s written. The story just flows and almost every sentence is put together so beautiful it´s a joy reading them.

After I finish this book I believe it´s time for some "heavy" reading again. I always try to switch it up a bit so not to get to bored with a certain genre.

EpiK

Korea (South)5757 Posts

July 06 2012 15:21 GMT

#727

ThirdDegree

United States329 Posts

July 06 2012 15:30 GMT

#728

Read this one recently. I heard great things, but I was left kind of unsatisfied. I might try to read it again in a few months, but I was not super thrilled with this one.

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This one was pretty good. Sci fi/detective. The ending was sort of lackluster, but overall it was a good book. Takes some time to properly understand the setting.

I want to read this next:
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Basically a history of science

baummonster

Germany17 Posts

July 06 2012 15:35 GMT

#729

Nothing fancy or intellectual. The release of the new 6th edition ruleset for Warhammer 40k got me hooked again, so I got myself some new books from the Black Library: The "Tome of Fire" trilogy about the Salamanders Space Marine Chapter

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RvB

Netherlands6322 Posts

July 06 2012 15:40 GMT

#730

A biography about Alexander the great. Nice piece of work and it shows how great a general Alexander actually was. I've heard people saying that Alexanders succes is thanks to his father Philip but its doubtful Philip or any other general would've even come close to the achievement of him.

farvacola

United States18869 Posts

July 06 2012 15:54 GMT

#731

I've taken a bit of a break from serious reading, so to get my academic literary engines rolling again, I'm going to finally attempt this.
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Vardant

Czech Republic620 Posts

July 06 2012 15:59 GMT

#732

I've seen they're making a movie based on the main character, heard the books are pretty good, so decided to read up on it, before it comes out.

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Kimaker

United States2131 Posts

July 06 2012 16:56 GMT

#733

And various essay's by Edmund Burke.

lithiumdeuteride

96 Posts

July 06 2012 17:04 GMT

#734

The quintessential formative period in US history, and the roots of our global consumer culture:
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hpty603

United States262 Posts

July 06 2012 17:17 GMT

#735

I've almost cried reading this book. The whole Fourth Crusade is just tragic

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I've read parts of the full trilogy he wrote for term papers but this is really well done despite lacking some of Norwich's dry wit to shorten it

smr

Germany4808 Posts

July 06 2012 18:30 GMT

#736

I'm reading mostly these two right now:
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It's a very interesting read about moral and financial debts (as far as I read that is). Ethics are always a topic I'm interested in and being somebody who threw his economics studies I'm very open to his ideas. Maybe the most important part for me is the historical background which I'm most interested in.
and

Wanted to read some cyber-sci-fi whatever book. My gf got the audio book a format which I do not like. So I went to the library, got the first one finished really fast and am now reading the second one. There are a lot of interesting ideas and thoughts in it although sometimes I hate the constant switch between different storylines because one is much more interesting than the other (at that time, not in general).

Dreamer.T

United States3584 Posts

July 07 2012 03:32 GMT

#737

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. Was a quick read, but I enjoyed it.

aloT

England1042 Posts

July 07 2012 22:25 GMT

#738

in a few short days I will once again have Thursday Next in my hands. greatest literary series mankind has ever known and will ever know.

SamuraiJack

United Kingdom4 Posts

July 07 2012 22:53 GMT

#739

Hi guys first post long time lurker though. I work in a bookshop so have a keen interest in reading and have followed this thread quite closely. Recently I just finished reading Wild Cards Ed. By George R R Martin. [image loading]

Was pretty impressed I have to admit not my normal cup of tea. BUT could see myself getting the collection.
Just started reading The Twelve by Justin Cronin was so impressed with The Passage couldn't wait to start it. Only about 150 pages in and already hooked. One of those books I just can't put down ..... off to read .... back soon.
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snotboogie

Australia3550 Posts

July 08 2012 13:21 GMT

#740

Finished:

Many view Neuromancer as Gibson's best work and say that he went downhill from there; in my experience I have to say that I disagree. I actually preferred Count Zero to Neuromancer, though there are certain trade-offs. This one went in a different direction that you would expect given the overall themes of Neuromancer, but I do believe they flesh out the universe in a very believable way. It took the concepts further than previously and introduced new ones entirely - I would say that this one is actually less cyberpunk than the first book. However I enjoyed it immensely and plan to read a lot more Gibson in the future after this series.

Reading:

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The final book in the series. I'm liking it so far, though reading the books back to back has caused me to slow my pace down. I'm not too far in so I can't give anything substantive for the moment. All seems to be in good order, though.