2226 replies to this topic

[jwheels]

On the last 100 pages of The Bourne Supremacy. It's been pretty good, although for some reason, and the same thing with Identity, it's taken me forever to finish it.

Identity I read through quickly, but both Supremacy and Ultimatum were stop-and-go books. I'd read a few chapters, read another book, then go back and read a few more chapters, etc. A lot of Ludlum's books have this effect on me. I enjoy them and want to finish them, but there's just something about them that makes me take a break partway through, refresh with another book by another author, then go back. Strange, I know.

Yes, that is the same with me. I don't read other books in between, but I'll stop reading the book for a couple days, one time a week, and then go back to it. It's taken me almost a month to finish, when I usually finish a book in about a week or two.

Edited by jwheels, 13 July 2009 - 08:34 PM.

[Jackanaples]

TREASURE by Clive Cussler. It had been recommended to me ages ago and I've only now had the chance to pick it up. It's not as good as it had been made out - right now, I think INCA GOLD and DRAGON are both better - but it's certainly a class above and beyond some of his later works like VALHALLA RISING and ATLANTIS FOUND.

I was a big fan of Cussler back in my teens. I started losing interest in him with INCA GOLD, and then found SHOCK WAVE unreadable. Looking at the list of books, the last one that I really enjoyed was SAHARA. My favorite was probably NIGHT PROBE, though I really enjoyed DEEP SIX and CYCLOPS as well. Love to go back and re-read the first ten books in the series (excluding PACIFIC VORTEX!) but I'm afraid they won't hold up and my memories of the great reading experiences I once had will be destroyed.

Now, as for what I'm reading:

I've read the first three Young Bond novels by Charlie Higson in the past week. These I thought were quite good, each one improving on the last. The little touches of Fleming Higson adds are wonderful. The books don't shy away from the darkness of Bond's character too much either, which is refreshing. The end of DOUBLE OR DIE where James faces off against the villain being a prime example.

Will probably take a short break and then tear into HURRICANE GOLD and BY ROYAL COMMAND.

[DaveBond21]

I am re-reading Stephen King's Everything's Eventual collection of short stories. Wonderful stuff from one of the great storytellers.

[Matt_13]

THE BOURNE SUPREMACY

LOVED Identity, Supremacy isn't too bad but doesn't have the fast pace of Identity.

[Tybre]

Almost done with The Ghost by Robert Harris, then it's on to Colonel Sun and the other continuations I've got sitting on my bookshelves. After that, who knows? Heading out to Borders tomorrow to see if there's anything worth reading.

[AgentBentley]

Six Suspects - Vikas Swarup, the author of Q&A (aka Slumdog Millionaire).

Nice structure, lots of local Indian color, but the one American character was way over the top and unbelievable.

[Tybre]

Is it funny over the top or annoying over the top?

[dodge]

A Mind Awake: an anthology drawn from nearly all of C. S. Lewis' work. A mind awake, indeed. I can't imagine anyone having survived a debate with him. The book's of interest in itself--and it's also serving the more important function of driving me on to read more of CSL's work.

[00Twelve]

A Mind Awake: an anthology drawn from nearly all of C. S. Lewis' work. A mind awake, indeed. I can't imagine anyone having survived a debate with him. The book's of interest in itself--and it's also serving the more important function of driving me on to read more of CSL's work.

Good for you, dude. Lewis' non-fiction work is fantastic, and, well, so's his fiction. So you can't go wrong.

[dodge]

A Mind Awake: an anthology drawn from nearly all of C. S. Lewis' work. A mind awake, indeed. I can't imagine anyone having survived a debate with him. The book's of interest in itself--and it's also serving the more important function of driving me on to read more of CSL's work.

Good for you, dude. Lewis' non-fiction work is fantastic, and, well, so's his fiction. So you can't go wrong.

Thanks, 00T. Anything else you'd recommoned, especially nonfiction? So far I've read Mere Cristianity and this one. Am not sure what to try next.

[ImTheMoneypenny]

For some reason I'd gotten in the mood to read The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence. I started reading aloud the oddest of the passages to my sisters. What a strange man, Lawrence.

[Byron]

"Murder on the Orient Express" - my first Agatha Christie novel. Still reading through (about halfway) and quite enjoyable so far. Although i was expecting more of a travelogue feel (including scenes in Istanbul and Belgrade, grand descriptions of the countryside and more of the details of life onboard this opulent train), it is very talky and currently the train is snowbound and at a stand still! But still intriguing.

Anyone (Qwerty?) recommend any other favourite Christie novels?

[Aris007]

The Complete Sherlock Holmes IV

The best books in their kind! It worths evry penny I gave!

[Kilroy6644]

Bundori by Laura Joh Rowland. A samurai investigates a series of murders, in which the victims' heads are turned into war trohies (bundori).

[jwheels]

Finishied The Strain the other day, and it was pretty good. There were a few cliche bits in it however, mostly about the characters. It had the older character that has seen everything that has gone on before, but no one would listen to him until it was almost too late. The vampires were described just like the Reapers from Blade II. They even had the "stingers" that came out of their mouths to bite people. The only difference was that in the book their jaw didn't split open down the middle, it just kind of dislocated to make room for the stinger.

The book was kind of split into two parts. The first was the mystery of what was happening, then the second half turned into mostly action. There wasn't any scary parts of the book, even though it was described as a horror. It was mostly just typical vampire action that you could see in Blade or other movies. It really felt like I was reading a novelization, and wouldn't be surprised if Del Toro made these into movies eventually.

For the first part of a trilogy, I think it was pretty good start, not anything that hasn't been done before, but still a fun ride. It kept me entertained and interested enough to check out the other two, and from the setup at the end, they should be bigger and better than this one.

[OmarB]

The Complete Sherlock Holmes IV

The best books in their kind! It worths evry penny I gave!

I just picked up the entire Sherlock Holmes series last week! Found them at a thrift store where they had books 10 for $1! Needless to say, my list of books I need to be getting to is pretty damn long now.

[Harmsway]

Nick Cave's screenplay for GLADIATOR 2, written at the behest of Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott.

It won't get made, which is a shame. As crazy and out-there as this script is (and believe me, it's very crazy, and very out-there), it's downright brilliant.

[DamnCoffee]

I started to read THE DEATHLY HALLOWS a few nights ago, currently on chapter 8 now, brilliant stuff.

[Aris007]

The Complete Sherlock Holmes IV

The best books in their kind! It worths evry penny I gave!

I just picked up the entire Sherlock Holmes series last week! Found them at a thrift store where they had books 10 for $1! Needless to say, my list of books I need to be getting to is pretty damn long now.

You'll enjoy every second of reading, I'm sure! That's waht I did!

Oh, and don't try to make your own conclusions of who's the murderer! You'll be miles from the real one!

[Jose]

Started reading 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl by Daniel Pinchbeck a few days ago. Haven't read enough to form an opinion but so far I'm not impressed, persuaded, or motivated enough to continue reading the rest. I'll still give it a chance.

[Tybre]

The Complete Sherlock Holmes IV

The best books in their kind! It worths evry penny I gave!

I just picked up the entire Sherlock Holmes series last week! Found them at a thrift store where they had books 10 for $1! Needless to say, my list of books I need to be getting to is pretty damn long now.

You'll enjoy every second of reading, I'm sure! That's waht I did!

Oh, and don't try to make your own conclusions of who's the murderer! You'll be miles from the real one!

Indeed. I was right only twice, and those were both very early stories, when Conan Doyle hadn't quite mastered the craft.

As for myself I've put my Bond book reading on hold and am about to read Vendetta for the Saint, which ordered about a week ago, and Arsene Lupin vs Sherlock Holmes (called Herlock Sholmes to avoid copyright infringement).

Edited by Tybre, 23 July 2009 - 03:43 PM.

[Aris007]

As for myself I've put my Bond book reading on hold and am about to read Vendetta for the Saint, which ordered about a week ago, and Arsene Lupin vs Sherlock Holmes (called Herlock Sholmes to avoid copyright infringement).

It looks quite interesting from what I read in Wiki! I might buy it when I find it!

[The Ghost Who Walks]

Currently reading Alan Moore's and David Lloyd's V For Vendetta (excellent), and Steve Alten's Meg (not the greatest book in the world, but since it is about giant ing sharks killing people I can forgive most flaws).

[DAN LIGHTER]

Just finished 'A Year in the [censuré]' by Stephen Clarke- Great Stuff!
Also just finished 'Notes from a Small Island' by Bill Bryson - Very witty.

Now on Ernest Hemmingways 'The Torrents of Spring'

[JimmyBond]

I'm currently reading 'Mostly Harmless.' For someone who enjoyed the first four books in the Hitchhiker's Trilogy, it's coming as a great surprise that this one is a bit hard for me to trudge through, perhaps it's the fact that Adams' wrote it while he was depressed, because the book is a real downer so far, not so much in it's tone, but just that nothing of much interest is happening.

[dodge]

Later on today I'll start on THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. I've heard so much about it. I'm also drawn by the fact that it's part of one of the most moving publishing sagas I've ever come across. Dude completes three long mysteries then dies shortly after turning all three in to his publisher. The first goes on to win international acclaim...Poor guy.

[Gabe Vieira]

I finnished David Mazzucchelli's Asterios Polyp last night for the 3rd time and all I can say, still, is, "...". Thats a good thing, a very good thing. It's actually a graphic novel, but is so far removed from what one expects when they hear the term "graphic novel". It's about the life of Asterios Polyp, a middle-aged man and archetect who suddenly looses everything he ever owned in an appartment fire. With nowhere to go, he begins a journey to start anew. It's an instant masterpiece, far diferent than anything you've seen. It is by no means a easy read, although it's 300-ish page length, alot of which is simply pictures, may say otherwise. Most of the pictures speak volumes over other works I've read, and in most cases the drawings are more important than what a character is saying. Come to think of it, the drawings are really a character, actually characters, of their own. I really don't want to say much more, cause I recomend this more than anything I have ever recomended. Go buy this now.

And whatever you do, do not look at the last couple pages, accidental or otherwise! It will ruin one of the most heartbreaking, or happiest, endings of all time, depending how you see it.

[MkB]

For some reason I'd gotten in the mood to read The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence. I started reading aloud the oddest of the passages to my sisters. What a strange man, Lawrence.

How odd ImTheMoneypenny! I did just the same thing at about the same time!
I'm only 6/10th through the book at the moment, and I like the quite "lyrical" style but I am very surprised by his constant interest in the mineral and geographical features of the many landscapes he travels through, with an obsessive sense of detail. At this point of the book, I know very very few about T.E. Lawrence's background, just bits I can infer from his comments / reactions. He says relatively few things about people and what he thinks of / what he feels about them.

[AgentBentley]

Just started on "A Most Wanted Man," John Le Carre's latest. Too early in the book to form an opinion of it.

Another book I might buy is "The Sandeaters" or something like that by BBC correspondent Ben Brown. About a reporter who gets killed in Iraq, probably by colleagues. Only 3 reviews on Amazon uk, but they're all positive.

[Qwerty]

Nick Cave's screenplay for GLADIATOR 2, written at the behest of Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott.

It won't get made, which is a shame. As crazy and out-there as this script is (and believe me, it's very crazy, and very out-there), it's downright brilliant.

Interesting - can you elaborate a little more, Harms?