Books.

[Kerauno]

That's right everyone, books. Whether it be for school, or for fun, what are you currently reading? What's your favorite book? Least favorite book? Favorite author? Least favorite author?

I, for one, am a huge fan of Rick Riordan and his books. The Percy Jackson books are my most favorite. I'm actually reading the Lightning Thief now for fun. And his new book, the Red Pyramid, is great too. I'm also a fan of the Harry Potter series and Stephen King's books, like Misery and the Shining. I also an a fan of the Classics, like Island of the Blue Dolphins, the Wizard of Oz and Moby Dick. There really isn't a book I don't like, I'll read anything.

So 'Charms, what do you read? Go crazy.

 

[Stark]

I have a copy of Clive Cussler's 'Plague Ship' sat here next to me in my bedside cabinet, so that would be my current reading exploit. Cussler always seems to deliver for me, I've enjoyed all of his old books and I still have his most recent few to get into

Though admittedly I have been on this book for most of the year - I used to get through books like that, but I rarely find the time to sit down and read nowadays.

 

[Shiny Motley]

... lol, Percy Jackson books XD I have the whole series, though I left my copy of The Last Olympian at school so it might be gone for good now.

For me, I personally love reading almost any book I can get my hands on. Good book, bad book, short book, part of a series book, Dr. Seuss book, Shakespeare play, textbook... the list just keeps going on and on. I personally prefer fantasy and animal books, and I tend to read books that're part of a series (Guardians of Ga'Hoole, Warriors, Redwall, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Twilight), though I have read some that're just lone-standing. I also enjoy the books we read at school, as long as they're not about Africans getting taken over by colonial missionaries and in the end the main character goes to hang himself *coughThingsFallApartcough.

Favorite author has to be Shakespeare, though. I mean, his things just flow and make sense, and after you read a lot of his things you can really begin understanding what on earth each character's saying. The plot's usually good, and the stories are timeless, because the emotions they give you are just so real.

Yes, I am a nerd |D (azn pride!)

 

[Tatile]

Currently Reading: Hero of Ages
Previously Read: The Well of Ascension
Next Up: Lolita

My least favourite book is acutally a tie between three: Wuthering Heights (dead lord, lovely premise of romance but a slog and a half at the time), Silas Marner (no, no thanks, GCSE English) and Shelley's the Last Man for undefined reasons.

Favourites, however, are more my thing. I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Idiot, Les Miserables, 1984 and Catch 22 - I will always reccomend Good Omens, American Gods and One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest.

I can't say I have any particular favourite author, but a Neil Gaiman work is likely to end up in my hands if I see it. Hurrah for the nine volumes of The Sandman behind me. I really need to read more, actually.

 

[Keleri]

I got a Sony Reader recently and promptly went crazy-- I'd got into the habit of saving books for reading on the bus after all the commuting I did and out of the habit of reading regularly. Now I'm getting back to my old habits. I think it's the best thing I ever bought. I highly recommend it or the other e-book readers to any bibliophiles.

Terry Pratchett is pretty much my favorite author, and one of those rare writers who has actually gotten better with time. Unfortunately he's developed Alzheimer's so we may be seeing the last of him. ((((( China Mieville and Guy Gavriel Kay are also favorites. Lois McMaster Bujold wrote two of my favorite books of all time, The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls but I've been going through a lot of her other work and it hasn't really grabbed me nearly as well. The Sharing Knife series in particular would have been excruciating dreck in the hands of a less capable author; as it was, it was merely annoying and boring. I'm also a big fan of Naomi Novik and her Temeraire series, and I recommend it to anyone who got into reading through, say, Eragon...

I read the Percy Jackson series--pretty decent, although I'm outside its target audience and would make anyone who knows--really knows--about Greek mythology extremely uncomfortable. The author largely glossed over all the rape and incest, but when you know about it, it makes things... icky. Even as mediocre as the series was, I was quite shocked by how terrible the movie ended up being, especially the cobbled-together Frankenstein's monster that was Annabeth-Christine.

I also miss Redwall-- one of my favorite series when I was younger, but it became formulaic and boring-- and I was disappointed by how species equaled morality and the thinly-veiled racism.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

Whoooooboy. I haven't read anything in ages. Haven't had the time or the energy.

I enjoy sci-fi and fantasy fiction most of all, especially when humor is thrown into the mix but not always.

My favorite books of all times would probably be... The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series (sans Mostly Harmless and the new one which wasn't even written by Douglas Adams and therefore Does Not Fucking Count) by Douglas Adams, The Death Gate Cycle (Dragon Wing, Elven Star, Fire Sea, Serpent Mage, The Hand of Chaos, Into the Labyrinth and The Seventh Gate) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, the first four novels of the Ender Wiggin Saga (Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide and Children of the Mind) by Orson Scott Card, Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, Dune by Frank Herbert, Solaris by Stanislaw Lem, The Snow Queen by Joan K. Vinge and Quest for the Fallen Star by James Richey, Alan Riggs and Piers Anthony.

I also enjoyed other works by Neil Gaiman (such as Neverwhere, Stardust, American Gods and the short story collection named Smoke and Mirrors - Shoggoth's Old Peculiar FTW), Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy, Terry Pratchett's Discworld series and Piers Anthony's Xanth series. That's what immediately comes to mind, anyway...

 

[Blarg]

Anything by Stephen King = pure win. My personal favorites are Christine, It, Carrie, Firestarter, and Cujo. I also like a series called Pendragon by D.J. MacHale.

It is a 10 book adventure series, that is really hard to explain, but if you want a fairly long series to hold you over, I highly recommend it. Since the series is over now (the 10th book was the last one in the story,) he's also starting a new trilogy called Morpheus Road (God, I hope I spelled that right,) which the first book was pretty decent, but doesn't compare in any way to Pendragon. I never really got into Harry Potter however, but I hear I'm missing out on a lot.

I also read a series of non-fiction books called the Uncle John's Bathroom Reader. All it really contains is a collection of news article-like reports on things that you will probably never need to know, but is nice to know anyways. As far as magazines go, I'm subscribed to/I buy at news stands, Nintendo Power, NGamer, Game Informer, Kerrang!, and Sports Illustrated.

 

[PkMnTrainerDiamond]

I've recently gotten into the Tom Clancy books. I'm starting to read "The Bear and the Dragons"

 

[Tatile]

Finished Lolita. I can understand why people might hate it so much, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be read. Onto Notes From the Underground now, and by "onto" I mean half-way through.

The to-read pile is still quite big, but I like choice:
Tess of the d'Ubervilles
Madame Bovary
Nineteen Eighty-Four (read it back when I was in secondary school)
Anna Karenina
A Tale of Two Cities
The (Divine) Comedy
Cranford

The only reason I don't have more is because I told myself I can't buy anymore books until I finish that pile. This order doesn't include comic books of course but I have yet to set my eye upon another Sandman.

 

[Secad MS]

What? I loved Lolita! However, I've always loved books that break taboos.

I read stuff from a great number of genres, currently, I'm only reading textbooks as class has started. However, I usually read Stephen King, Michael Cricton, various things from George Orwell, Ira Levin, the Space Odyssey series...

In short, I like fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Those are my favorite genres.

 

[Chadwyck]

Well I just finished Johannes Cabal the Necromancer and I have to say that it quickly became one of my favorite books of all time. So much so that I went out today and ordered the second one from Waterstone's, too bad the buggers didn't have it in stock or I'd be reading it right now. It was inspired by Something Wicked This Way Comes another favorite of mine, but with more dark humour. An all around good read.

Other than the Johannes Cabal books, I'm about to start Leviathan because the concept intrigued me. Pretty much an alternate history of World War One with the addition of Steampunk and strange monarchies. It's a bit bizarre, but interesting nonetheless.

My favorite series of all time would have to be the Inkheart Trilogy I've never been so completely enveloped in a series before, and then I picked those books up and was practically sucked into them.

Favorite Author: Neil Gaiman
There's not a single book by that man that I didn't enjoy. Though, I enjoyed Coraline less than I should have because I saw the movie first (not that the movie is bad, just not as /good/ as the book. The book was less scary when you knew what was coming).

Least Favorite Author: Dianne Wynne Jones (or however you spell her name)
The author of Howl's Moving Castle. I loved the film, even if it was horrendously inaccurate, it was still good. The book, not so much. I'm sure that there are plenty of people out there who disagree with me, and that's fine, but as for me; I just found the book boring. I couldn't stand how each chapter just seemed to drag on and I didn't particularly care for it. Now, I could have taken the easy way out and said Stephanie Meyer, but that's just too obvious. Again, people can disagree, but I read the books, gave them a fair chance and I couldn't stand them. Of course, I'm a Vampire purist and those sparkly douches can GTFO, only character I liked was Jasper, Alice was all right too. Other than that, the characters can all go die in a fire, and take the book with them. If you like Twilight, don't worry, we can still be friends. I'm only stating personal taste, after all

A few random favorites include: Percy Jackson Series, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass, and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

 

[pokefin]

That's right everyone, books. Whether it be for school, or for fun, what are you currently reading? What's your favorite book? Least favorite book? Favorite author? Least favorite author?

I, for one, am a huge fan of Rick Riordan and his books. The Percy Jackson books are my most favorite. I'm actually reading the Lightning Thief now for fun. And his new book, the Red Pyramid, is great too. I'm also a fan of the Harry Potter series and Stephen King's books, like Misery and the Shining. I also an a fan of the Classics, like Island of the Blue Dolphins, the Wizard of Oz and Moby Dick. There really isn't a book I don't like, I'll read anything.

So 'Charms, what do you read? Go crazy.

same with me i love rick rioaden. ive read all the percy jacksons and the red primid

 

[Ked]

I pretty much read anything, but I mostly like the Percy Jackson, Warriors, and Seekers series.
My favorite author is Erin Hunter (even though it's 3 people for Warriors and 4 for Seekers). Seekers is my favorite series followed by the Warriors.
I recently read Elijah From Buxton and From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, which are both very good books.
I really want a Kindle or something like it, so then I good have tons of books without having to lug them around.
I read Inkspell once. It took me 10 days to finish it, which is the longest I ever spent reading a book.
I liked Forest of the Pygmies, which I read on vacation.
I liked pretty much every book I read, starting with... THE FOOT BOOK!!! I was 3 at that time.

 

[Doubled]

I'm not a big reader, as I only read books when I'm forced to, even though I ironically like to write my own, non-deppressing stories.

Currently we have to read The Scarlet Letter. I hate its guts, as I can't understand its Olde Englishe.

However, I have to say my favorite book was Where the Red Fern Grows, ironically it was the last book I read to my grandmother (rest in peice).

 

[FirestarWind]

Im currently working my way through all the Warrior Cats series' God I love those books!

 

[Moonlight-Zelda]

I'm currently in the process of rereading the full version of White Fang, by Jack London. I'm halfway through, but I started last night. Not too bad of progress, considering I'm a fast reader.

But, one of my favorite authors is Anne McCaffery, and by far my favorite series by her is the Dragonriders of Pern, and the spinnoff prequel called Dragonsdawn. Most of her works are absolutely fantastic, but those four are my favorites. I didn't really care much for The White Dragon (the final book to the DoP trilogy), but the first two books had very satisfying characters.

On the other hand, I've also been looking for the Warriors series after having Firestar's Quest. It seems to be a series for all ages, and several friends have recommended it to me.

 

[Keleri]

But, one of my favorite authors is Anne McCaffery, and by far my favorite series by her is the Dragonriders of Pern, and the spinnoff prequel called Dragonsdawn. Most of her works are absolutely fantastic, but those four are my favorites. I didn't really care much for The White Dragon (the final book to the DoP trilogy), but the first two books had very satisfying characters.

Haha, I loved Pern when I was in junior high. Looking back, though, it has some really distressing attitudes on women and sexuality... alas.

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

"Looking back, though, it has some really distressing attitudes on women and sexuality... alas."

... Like just about everything by Anne McCaffery. That woman is seriously fucking b0rked. >>;

(She's also one of the scariest looking humans I've ever seen a photo of.)

 

[Freta]

I just finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird for class and I loved it... My friends are all making fun of me because they had to read it too and my friend Dylan actually fell asleep twice in class reading it. It was an awesome book though and I'll miss Jem, Scout and Dylan's tomfoolery.

 

[Moonlight-Zelda]

Haha, I loved Pern when I was in junior high. Looking back, though, it has some really distressing attitudes on women and sexuality... alas.

Well, that is her generation. Women were treated as the weaker sex every day, and that carried into her writing. I didn't really care for having so many weak females in her work of the trilogy, but you can't knock an author for where and when she was born.

Of course, everyone has their ups and downs in all kinds of writing. Amateur or professional.


(And now I'm reading a series called Exiles.)

 

[Linkachu]

Ooo... I'm bad with my reading. Since I finished high school I haven't being doing much leisure reading at all. I'm currently reading Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, but that's been going on for... months now. Didn't read any novels over summer whatsoever. If only I'd kept up the pace I'd been going at when I first started, I would've been done the book ages ago. =/

That all said, I'll comment on some of my favourite books from my childhood.

I was heavily into the Harry Potter series until book 5, which kinda killed things for me. Haven't really been able to get back into the series since, although I'll see every movie. Books 2 and 4 were my favourites, but I liked all of them to some degree.

Another series I loved as a kid was Animorphs by K. A. Applegate. I was obsessed with it. May it be the main saga or side-stories like Megamorphs, I read 'em all. It wasn't until book 36 that I started losing interest - not because the series had gotten boring, but because I just couldn't read it anymore. The writing level was simply too low for me. Sounds kinda silly, but that's how I felt. Plus it was hard to justify buying each book with my own cash when I could get through them in a couple of hours. Still... many fond memories. Her characterization was excellent. I tried to get into her other series back then (Everworld), but it just didn't grab me like Animorphs had.

After Animorphs I tried reading the Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay and instantly fell in love with it. Even if the book was criticized as being a rip-off of the Lord of the Rings, I loved the characters, the world, and his writing style. It was a really good read, although sadly I never did finish the 3rd book completely.

Now, random school novel that I adore... Forbidden City by William Bell. I read it in grade 9 or 10 (can't remember) and ended up buying a copy for myself to reread. I don't know why it struck me like it did... For a fictional story based on a real even, it was wonderfully written, gripping, and made me reflect a lot while reading it. It's not perfect, and everyone might not enjoy it, but I love it all the same.

And... Guess that's it, beyond stories like The Hobbit. Sadly, even if I do love Middle-earth, the Hobbit is the only Tolkien book that I could get through without my mind going numb. Language is not my strong point. ^^;

 

[Phanes]

Don't have many books I like to read but the Goosebumps series I used to love reading. The Barking Ghost was my first ever Goosebumps book and I finished it so quickly (regardless of how short the stories really are, they were seemingly big back then) and loved it, then after collecting many of them, my 2nd most favorite was Go Eat Worms and the Monster Blood trilogy.

Now the book series I love to read are zombie books, War World Z and Zombie Apocolypse Survival Guide by Max Brooks and some other authors which I can't get off the top of my head.

 

[Chibi]

Well, my favorite series have to be about Warriors, Redwall, the Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey, and the Inkheart Trilogy (at least those are the ones I've read so far)

Of course, I have a very broad liking of books, but fantasy's my main obsession. That's why I love books like the Inkheart Trilogy, but I have other loves as well. Like, oh I dunno, Good Omens perhaps, one of the best and funniest books I've read in a long time. Actually I want to get the Discworld series now, but all the bookstores I go to are completely retarded > Then there's Eon: Dragoneye Reborn, an absolutely fascinating book even though I'm the only one whose ever heard about it apparently I have bit of a long list of books to read at the moment, first I have to get done with Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind, a very chilling but original book; then I want to read City of Bones (I've already read the frst chapter and I completely love it) and then I need to get through with the Dragonlance series - yes, I'm that much of an oldie. xDDD

Actually, my school library got me into a series called The Heir Trilogy, which is a rather interesting take on wizards and warriors and such, and I liked reading it, even if I started on the wrong book : P

 

[SlowPokemon]

Let's see, my favorite book is definitely Howl's Moving Castle... outclasses the movie... which I also love!

Harry Potter is good, and my favorite classic is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

 

[Freta]

I just finished reading Animal Farm for class and once again I was the only person out of my friends who actually liked it. How Napoleon took power fascinated me and some parts even got me riled up over the cruelty and unfairness that was on that farm. I felt like crying when Boxer died. The book was that moving.

 

[SlowPokemon]

You're my new favorite.

That book was good.

We're reading Lord of the Flies next in class--already read, and liked, but everyone else will probably hate it... LOL

 

[Weeds]

Then there's Eon: Dragoneye Reborn, an absolutely fascinating book even though I'm the only one whose ever heard about it apparently

No you're not. I read it as well. And I loved it too I wonder if there's ever going to be a sequel though

I read a lot. And I love reading. I just finished The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (again), and I must say, that is a ridiculously good book. It's way too short (not even 200 pages) but it really gets you thinking. It's a very philosophical book. I strongly recommend it.

Then there's Robin Hobb. I've read The Tawny Man Trilogy, which is set fifteen years after Assassin's Quest, and part one of The Soldier Son Trilogy, Shaman's Crossing. All of these books are ridiculously good. I really must get my hands on The Farseer Trilogy.

And also there's J.R.R Tolkien and Dan Brown. But then again, who doesn't love them? Even though there's a major problem with the latter's books.

Spoiler

The villain is never who you think it is; it's always someone close to the main character.

But still, Angels and Demons was a masterpiece. Next job; The Lost Symbol, Brown's latest.

 

[BeginwiththeEnd]

Oh boy, do I know some great ones.

As someone else mentioned, Pendragon is a series by D.J. Mchale that I have LOVED to death since it first started. It carries on for 10 books (although each is about 500 pages, unlike Harry Potter's infamously huge 700 page books) Basically, it's about a kid from our world (called Second Earth, while there are 10 other worlds (territories) and one demon wants to rule all of them forever. (Halla) Think Kingdom hearts, but replace Disney Worlds with darker, more bad-ass ones. And what's better, is that unlike most series, is that the book ends with a fullfilled ending, and even goes beyond expectionations by giving the main character an unexpected, but happy ending. Only thing I can conplain about the series was how in the last book, the author started to get alittle too preachy about friendship, but makes up for it with fight scenes and storytelling that rival classics. It's just a shame how underrated this series is...

Other's I've decided to read were Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which I found had great storytelling and I sometimes got a chuckle out of the dialog. I just thought the author might have wacthed too many animes around writing the 4th book, becuase most of the story sounded like something ripped out of a 90's manga. I've tried Harry Potter, which was an outstanding book series by all means, but I have ADD and a tiny attention span, so I kinda got bored with how slow the plot went...

Now how about Maximum Ride? Sadly, this series really went down the road equivalent to Sonic games. The first 3 books (which were written by James Patterson around early 2000s) were amazing. Full of action, fast-paced scenes and a story that is sci-fi gold. as the series grew out, however, the story got really weird and stupid really fast. By the 5th book, I didn't even finish the first 30 pages becuase how politically stupid and annoying it was. Why do I say this? Well here's the original plot: 6 kids are science-experiments since birth and have been grafted with bird-DNA to give them wings and work for a secret company called "The School". Max, the main character, escapes with the rest of the mutant kids. After 5 years, the School finds them again and chases them down. Also, Max starts hearing a voice in her head who she thinks is the scientist who helped her escape. The plot now: Max and co. have been ordered by Max's voice to "save the world" by going to Antartica and help with stopping global warming...While getting new mutant powers like attracting metal and turning invisible...HUH??? Yeah, JP turned into a brainless left-wing and has killed the Max Ride series with ideas on how to stop pollution...again, HUH???

And Twilight...let me just put it this way. The plot is basically about a pretentious teenage girl deciding wether to commit necrophilia or beastialty. -_-

 

[SineCosineTangent]

I mostly read books about brains, brain surgery, or the effects of various chemicals on brains.

But recently, I've started reading Vonnegut. You know, Slaughterhouse Five, Cat's Cradle, that stuff. I love his writing style- it's incredibly witty and satirical :3