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Post by Karen on Mar 12, 2012 10:31:50 GMT -5
I recently finished the audio books for:
'Johannes Cabal the Detective' by Jonathan L. Howard, it was really good. I am enjoying the Johannes Cabal character, and I'm looking forward to the third book in the series.
'The Magician's Elephant' by Kate DiCamillo, this was a children's story told in the style of a fable. I thought it was pretty good, and it had the interesting aspect of describing everyone's dreams in the story, even the non-central characters.
'The Buddha in the Attic' by Julie Otsuka, I really enjoyed this book. It was about Japanese immigrants coming to America just before the internment camps in the 1940's. Its told in a unique way. The entire story being told in 'we' and 'some of us' statements, as in 'We stood on the boat', 'We looked over the fields', 'some of us were seasick', 'some of us hated the vastness of the fields'.... each statement being as if a group of people were sitting together telling their story. I thought the style was very compelling.
Currently I am listening to the first book in the 'Hunger Games' series by Suzanne Collins, its great so far.
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Post by Karen on Mar 22, 2012 8:41:14 GMT -5
I recently finished the audio books for: 'The Hunger Games' , by Suzanne Collins, it was a really great book, I had to immediately buy the second and third books, (in actual book form) because the story was so good. If you haven't read this book, check it out! ;D 'Incarceron', by Catherine Fisher, I quite liked this book, its about a prison, that's the size of a cube bead on a bracelet, but inside there are vast landscapes, and the structure of the prison has long since broken down, so that the descendants of the original prisoners wonder about, trying to survive in a pretty gruesome environment. Its also about the world outside the prison, and how they interact with one another. 'Sapphique', by Catherine Fisher, this is the sequel to 'Incarceron', also good. Though I liked some of the original characters less in this sequel. I read in actual book form: 'Shade's Children' , by Garth Nix, this is a awesome book! Basically one day all the adults on earth just disappear, and these beings from another dimension come and start using all the children on earth in these twisted 'war games', the children are held in dorms until their 14th birthday, when they are taken away to be dismantled and remade into the various creatures the 'overlords' use in their war games, the story is centered around a group of children that managed to escape the dorms, and their quest to end the 'overlords' sick games. Awesome book! Check it out! ;D Currently I am listening to the audio book for: 'Mirror, Mirror', by Gregory Maguire, its okay so far, not the best book ever, I'm not sure if anything will ever live up to his book 'Wicked' and I am reading in actual book form: 'Catching Fire', by Suzanne Collins, the second book in the hunger games series.
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Post by geekguy on Apr 2, 2012 13:30:37 GMT -5
Finished two books recently. "Daughter of Smoke and Bone," classed as a young adult novel, was a really engrossing read of romance, intriguing characters, paranormal and an awesome setup for a sequel (which is being aimed for completion Q4 this year "Days of Blood and Starlight." To briefly summarise, a young girl called Karou is raised from birth by Chimaera, monsters that take on many fused aspects of animal forms and have their own language. She knows both the human world and the hidden shop of Brimstone, her guardian who always has her collecting teeth which he uses for an unknown purpose (I'm not going to spoiler anything). Events unfold and Karou at the center of it all struggles to figure out who she really is, as she feels empty, reaching out to find herself.
The other book was "The Painted Man." It's set in a fantasy land but alludes to the possibility that the world is quite similar to our own, but has collapsed from modern technology back into more medieval times thanks to these demons called Corelings that humanity can only defend against, having long ago lost the means to kill them. The story switches between 3 main characters, with an emphasis on Arlen and his fight to not be trapped hiding from the corelings, to take the fight to them even though they are so hard to kill without the long lost "Combat Wards." Magic and fun-times for all. The book is quite brutal in many of its themes. There are quite violent moments in the book, sexual themes, even some incest and rape are present, and a lot of "oh man that sucks" crossed my thoughts at various points in the book. It's not a happy-go-lucky world that is presented that's for sure. There is a sequel to this book to "The Desert Spear" which I am going to track down and get a hold of.
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Post by Karen on Apr 3, 2012 11:11:28 GMT -5
I recently finished: The audio book for: 'Mirror,Mirror' by Gregory Maguire, it was okay. Not great. It was a retelling of 'Snow White', with eight dwarfs instead of seven. I'll be honest and say, I didn't really love this book, it was okay, but that was it. The actual book form for: 'Catching Fire' by Suzanne Collins, it was fantastic! I read almost the entire book in one day, and the entire time I was ecstatically giving updates to a friend I was chatting with online. (which in retrospect, might have been annoying, but they were very nice about it) I wont give any details about the book, as I don't want to ruin any part of it for anyone. I'll just say, its the second book in the 'Hunger Games' series, and its a great read! Definitely check it out! ;D The audio book for: 'The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making', by Catherynne Valente, it was awesome! From the very title, I was excited about this book, and it did not disappoint at all. There were herds of wild bicycles roaming the plains, and witches, and djnnes, and dragons, and even Death itself. And many even more inventive creations by the author. I loved this book. There is supposed to be a sequel coming out in October of this year, which I am looking forward to. The audio book for: 'Why My Third Husband Will be a Dog' by Lisa Scottoline, it was okay. It was a collection of semi-autobiographical humor essays. I'm all about humor essays, they're one of my favorite things to read, but this collection was just okay, they were sort of funny, but also a bit boring at times. Currently I am listening to the audio book for 'Mister Monday' by Garth Nix, I've listened to the 'Keys to the Kingdom' series before, but I felt like revisiting them. I'm also reading in book form, 'Mockingjay', by Suzanne Collins, the third book in the 'Hunger Games' series, its very good so far.
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Post by Karen on Oct 16, 2012 18:55:55 GMT -5
I recently finished the audio books for:
'The Help'- Kathryn Stockett, I really enjoyed both the book and the movie!
'Bossy Pants'- Tina Fey, I liked it. She's funny and relatable, and it was interesting to hear about her career in comedy and as the creator of '30 Rock'.
'Excuse Me, But I was Next'- Peggy Post, A descendant of Emily Post, Peggy wrote a book about modern day etiquette issues. It was interesting to listen too, but really, it was mainly common sense.
'Killing Lincoln'- Bill O'Reilly.... Normally I would never read or in any way endorse a book by Bill O'Reilly since the guy is loathsome. But, my dad and I have a sort of book club going, as an attempt to build some form of father daughter relationship, and this book was his choice. I thought it was interesting enough. I did learn a few things about the Lincoln assassination. Like that it was much more complex that I originally thought.
'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents: EARTH, A Visitor's Guide'- Jon Stewart. Very funny! I liked it. Definitely worth checking out. Plus, the audio book was particularly good as it has most of the cast of the Daily Show, as well as a few extras doing the reading.
Currently I am listening to 'The Commoner' by John Burnham Schwartz, its a fiction based in Japan just after WWII. I'm really enjoying it so far, its very reminiscent of an Amy Tan novel.
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Post by marle on Oct 18, 2012 19:33:23 GMT -5
I recently finished The Phenomenon of Man by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. It was heavy reading, basically a theory of the universe having purpose through evolution, with humanity at the pinnacle. Teilhard was a French Jesuit priest and paleontologist who tried to reconcile his Christian faith with science.
I remember saying that I will post an audio clip talking about the book when I've finished reading it. I think I will still do that at some point. However, I'm still thinking through it. It will be a challenge to talk about it in a coherent fashion. The book is so wide-sweeping in its perspective that it makes me want to continue reading into other topics to understand things better, rather than try and sit back and analyze the main ideas in the book.
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Post by Zoe on Oct 27, 2012 6:38:57 GMT -5
Confessions of a GP - Benjamin Daniels . For me it is so interesting as a patient to hear things on the other side's perspective. I found it amusing and educational.
The Hero's Guide to Saving your Kingdom - Christopher Healy. I could not put it down, the tantalising twist of the good old fairytale love stories makes me drool with pleasure. (Ugh...that sounds downright wrong)
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Post by Karen on Oct 28, 2012 5:58:41 GMT -5
The Hero's Guide to Saving your Kingdom - Christopher Healy. I could not put it down, the tantalising twist of the good old fairytale love stories makes me drool with pleasure. (Ugh...that sounds downright wrong) This book sounds like it would be really good. I'm going to add it to my list! ;D
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Post by Farouche on Oct 30, 2012 2:06:38 GMT -5
I recently finished The Phenomenon of Man by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. It was heavy reading, basically a theory of the universe having purpose through evolution, with humanity at the pinnacle. Teilhard was a French Jesuit priest and paleontologist who tried to reconcile his Christian faith with science. I remember saying that I will post an audio clip talking about the book when I've finished reading it. I think I will still do that at some point. However, I'm still thinking through it. It will be a challenge to talk about it in a coherent fashion. The book is so wide-sweeping in its perspective that it makes me want to continue reading into other topics to understand things better, rather than try and sit back and analyze the main ideas in the book. Are you gonna go for it? I don't believe I saw this particular audio clip promise, but I DO remember you saying you would post a clip of you reading an Isaac Asimov story. So I vote you do both. ;D I got a big delicious tome (for 'tis a tome, no mere book!) of H.P. Lovecraft stories recently 'cause the cover looked trippy and I hadn't read anything of his previously. It reminded me of your idea to read something of Asimov's and made me want to join in and read something too. A thread for SUer-read excerpts could be fun...
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Post by simon51 on Oct 30, 2012 6:32:03 GMT -5
I quite like fantasy, i'm currently reading Terry Pratchetts Unseen Academicals, i've read the first four TP books too. The way they are written is so completely different, there is nothing else quite like them.
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Post by Karen on Oct 30, 2012 8:35:34 GMT -5
but I DO remember you saying you would post a clip of you reading an Isaac Asimov story. So I vote you do both. ;D I vote for both as well! ;D Isaac Asimov is a great writer (for the most part) and I remember thinking you would make a good audio-book reader Marle. I quite like fantasy, i'm currently reading Terry Pratchetts Unseen Academicals, i've read the first four TP books too. The way they are written is so completely different, there is nothing else quite like them. I really liked 'Unseen Academicals', it seems like Terry Pratchett just keeps getting better with time. Though his early books are great too. He's one of my favorite authors. If you like his work, and you haven't read "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" (by Douglas Adams) yet, you should check it out. It's the same sort of comedy/fantasy genre. Though I think in Terry Pratchett's later work (like Unseen Academicals) he adds a philosophical tone that, to me at least, makes his work beautiful as well as really fun to read. ;D
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Post by simon51 on Oct 30, 2012 8:45:01 GMT -5
I did actually have a read of hitchhikers guide to the galaxy [some time ago now i have to admit] and i couldn't find it quite as easy to warm too for some reason. I think Terry Pratchetts work has something that makes it just that bit different and easier to take in, as you say, i think its that philosophical tone that makes it so much more entertaining, and also small references to everyday life amongst the general fantasy genre, which makes that slightly bit more clever.
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Post by Karen on Oct 30, 2012 8:52:11 GMT -5
^ah well, you gave it a try. The Hitchhikers Guide was sort of the first real fantasy book I ever read, so I have a soft spot in my heart for it. I think you are absolutely right about the touches of everyday life in Terry Pratchetts work making it that much more clever. ;D
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Post by ura on Oct 30, 2012 11:42:27 GMT -5
I'm reading the first Terry Prachett book at the moment and I prefer the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, although I heard the colour of magic is meant to be the worst of all of them.
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Post by Scotty on Oct 31, 2012 9:58:59 GMT -5
The last book I read was Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan, book 3 in the Heroes of Olympus series. I'm still enjoying this series, and now I have to wait for book 4,lol.
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