The Official SHH Literature Thread

[04nbod]

I'm about to start Sherlock Holmes:The Sign of Four. I'm studying Literature and I'm starting to think that its ruining reading. I love theory and the changing approaches to fiction but its starting to make even leisurely reading seem like work

 

[Watson]

I'm about to start Sherlock Holmes:The Sign of Four. I'm studying Literature and I'm starting to think that its ruining reading. I love theory and the changing approaches to fiction but its starting to make even leisurely reading seem like work

As a fellow English major (in fact, graduate) I agree with you 100%. I love to read but some of my English courses made me want to pull my hair out. You can look into imagery and themes to a certain point, but after that you loose your interest for the book.

I just finished the last book of the Hungry City Chronicles. I would highly recomend the series to you all. The first book is called Mortal Engines (http://www.amazon.ca/Mortal-Engines...bs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226639987&sr=8-1). The whole series is set a thousand years in Earth's future. The world as we know it has been destroyed by wars, and a new world has risen in which towns and cities move and compete with each other. At the centre of the story is a teen who lives in (New) London, and the adventures he has. I know the concept sounds kind of cracked out, but it is amazing. The series has one of the most badass heroines ever, and really gets indepth in the world (all the way from politics to art). There are also some really arresting visual images that are created.

 

[Eggyman]

Let's not forget Dreamcatcher and the ass exploding aliens.

Jesus Crikey! What would I do without you? I liked Dreamcatcher. The sh**weasles were pretty bad though.

I only liked the book until Beaver died. He was the character I connected with and I felt should have been the main protagonist in the book. But he died

Jason Lee played Beaver in the horrible film. He was definitely the silver lining in that pile of sh**.

 

[Logan's Runt]

I just finished Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand- and while I can definitely understand why it's seen as such a world-view changing work, it didn't effect me to quite the extent that it seems to have others. I suppose if the theory of objectivism was totally new to a reader, it might be shocking/influential/life changing- but most of the philosophy is already in tune with my own so it was more a sometimes long-winded elaboration. Not to say I didn't like it, I couldn't put it down most of the time, but it was a chore at a few points. The main points of the philosophy are often-repeated and I found myself saying 'we get it already' a few times.

Before that, I read Desolation Angels by Kerouac. I love Kerouac. In contrast to Rand, his theories/philosophies are abstract and sometimes hard to access, but I prefer it to being hit over the head. You can read it purely topically, of course, but it'd be sort of boring- just people wandering around the country. But the struggle for him with personal spirituality and his continual search of peace that fuels both his writing style and lifestyle make it intriguing. Kerouac can be hard to read, but once you fall into it you'll find it refreshing from traditional lit.

I'm starting Demon Box by Ken Kesey today, and have Big Sur by Kerouac in the mail. I guess I'm on a Beat kick lately- I plan to venture into Burroughs, Ginsberg, etc, soon as well.

 

[Brick]

Just read The Road by Cormac McCarthy and it's definitely my new favorite book. I didn't find the ending all that depressing like i had been warned. I actually thought it ended on quite a positive note, under the circumstances.

 

[BlackLantern]

currently reading 'Confessor' by Terry Goodkind...its the last book in the 'Sword of Truth' series...I also purchased 'the Book of Lies' by Brad Meltzer and The Gypsy Morph by Terry Brooks

 

[Manic]

I'm currently on an Agatha Christie kick, and I'm about to start reading The Clocks. Can anyone recommend any good "whodunit" books by other authors?

 

[BlackLantern]

I'm more of a modern 'whodunit' type....any of the 'Harry Bosch' novels by Michael Connelly or any of the 'Prey' series by John Sandford

 

[Eggyman]

There's a great Scottish writer called Ian Rankin. He's written a series of books based on a police inspector called John Rebus. I love those books but I've read them out of order. Pretty much all of them set in a dirty Edinburgh that Rankin puts forward brilliantly in every book I've read.

He writes Edinburgh like Stephen King writes Maine.

 

[Jolie_Desastre]

Currently reading Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. It's about a woman living in Scotland in 1945 with her husband. After being separated for nearly 6 years because of the war, she was a nurse and he was a soldier, they decide to go on a second honeymoon. When she comes upon a structure of boulders, she touches one, then finds herself springing into the year 1743.

It's a bit slow the first 100 pages but now it's starting to get pretty good. These books are pretty long btw.

 

[raybia]

Currently reading Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. It's about a woman living in Scotland in 1945 with her husband. After being separated for nearly 6 years because of the war, she was a nurse and he was a soldier, they decide to go on a second honeymoon. When she comes upon a structure of boulders, she touches one, then finds herself springing into the year 1743.

It's a bit slow the first 100 pages but now it's starting to get pretty good. These books are pretty long btw.

Little sis? Is that you? You have changed your name! I hope all is well. Sounds like a good read. Let me know once you are done if its well reading. One that I recently read was "The Stranger." Very good and interesting book. Unlike anything I've ever read.

 

[Jolie_Desastre]

Little sis? Is that you? You have changed your name! I hope all is well. Sounds like a good read. Let me know once you are done if its well reading. One that I recently read was "The Stranger." Very good and interesting book. Unlike anything I've ever read.

Yes, I changed it a few months ago! All is well thank you for asking, how about yourself?

It's pretty interesting so far, the character is pretty smart and is trying to get back to where she came from without letting any of the people around her know she isn't from that time. It's a little tough to read considering some Scottish dialect is used frequently but it's an interesting read. I will let you know when I'm done.

 

[Arcturus]

I recently reread The Statement of Randolph Carter. It's truly a grim tale from the master of horror, H.P Lovecraft.

 

[PLAS]

at this moment, I'm reading Todas Las Familias Felices (All the happy families) by Carlos Fuentes, very depressing and gives you an insight on Mexican society from very different points of view, it's a series of short stories all interconnected

other books I've read this year:

Anansi Boys, Fragile Things, Smoke And Mirrors and Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman; Babylon Babies by Maurice Dantec, which was the basis for the new Vin Diesel crapfest; This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti, horrible book; Wicked and Son Of A Witch by Gregory Maguire; All The Names and Essay On Blindness by Jose Saramago; a collection of Kafka; Octavio Paz's Laberinto De La Soledad (labyrinth of solitude); Survivor, Fight Club and Diary by Chuck Palianuk and Hemingway's Farewell To Arms

and others I forgot, I love reading

 

[Watson]

Bump.

So how do people feel about Rock n'Roll literature? I ask because I am in the middle of reading I'm With the Band by Pamela Des Barres. She was one of the foremost rock groupies of the sixties and seventies (Kate Hudson based her performance in Almost Famous partially on Des Barres). The book is basically her memoirs of the period. It's a very entertaining read thus far. Great insight into life in LA in the sixties.

I would also really recomend The Uncensored Oral History of Punk. Interviews with everyone who was in the NY punk scene in the seventies and eighties. Great stuff

 

[Lantern Venom]

Recently read Rebecca, classic gothic love story that inspired Stephen King's Bag of Bones.

Also re-read Michael Crichton's Timeline, after he suddenly passed away.

 

[bunk]

at this moment, I'm reading Todas Las Familias Felices (All the happy families) by Carlos Fuentes, very depressing and gives you an insight on Mexican society from very different points of view, it's a series of short stories all interconnected

other books I've read this year:

Anansi Boys, Fragile Things, Smoke And Mirrors and Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman; Babylon Babies by Maurice Dantec, which was the basis for the new Vin Diesel crapfest; This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti, horrible book; Wicked and Son Of A Witch by Gregory Maguire; All The Names and Essay On Blindness by Jose Saramago; a collection of Kafka; Octavio Paz's Laberinto De La Soledad (labyrinth of solitude); Survivor, Fight Club and Diary by Chuck Palianuk and Hemingway's Farewell To Arms

and others I forgot, I love reading

I just finished The Sun Also Rises and I enjoyed it. It's the only one of his I've read, but I plan to move on to the others at some point.

 

[Eggyman]

All you vampire lovers, please read Let The Right One In. It's awesome and good and awesome.

[/haldassedreview]

 

[squeekness]

I'm currently reading a tribute book that has two books together by Dr. Paul Brand that was complied and edited by Phillip Yancey. The book itself is called "In the Likeness of God" and has Brand's two books -- Fearfully and Woderfully Made + In His Image. Now these are sort of nondenominational Christian books in that they compares how Brand thinks a church should work as compared to the human body. Flesh= People, Bones=Doctrine, that sort of thing. It really isn't preachy at all. What makes these books so fascinating is that Dr. Brand was a doctor who worked in India, helping leprosy patients. He won several awards for his breakthroughs on treatments and all that. These books are loaded with yummy medical facts about how the human body works and does what it does down to the cellualar level. I'm loving it for all the scientific facts that are written in such a way that they are easy for a layman to understand and enjoy. Both these books have been great and I would recommend them for anyone.

 

[PLAS]

I'm looking for the new Toffler book, Revolutionary Wealth

so, this year marks my book reading record break:

18 books in a year!!!
but the year's not over and I've got a couple of weeks vacation

 

[chamber-music]

I've read Chuck Palahniuk Rant this year (having previously read Choke and Invisable Monsters. I'm planning on reading Snuff next year.

I read Warren Ellis Crooked Little Vein last month and I'm currently reading Mark Gatiss Lucifer Box novels.

 

[Jolie_Desastre]

All you vampire lovers, please read Let The Right One In. It's awesome and good and awesome.

[/haldassedreview]

who wrote it?

 

[squeekness]

who wrote it?

I'd like to know as well. I heard it was a movie, I had no idea it was a book as well.

 

[Eggyman]

who wrote it?

I'd like to know as well. I heard it was a movie, I had no idea it was a book as well.

Well at least I only have to type it and not pronounce it

John Ajvide Lindqvist.

 

[Jolie_Desastre]

sweet, i'm adding it on to my list. i've been wanting to see the movie for awhile.