FF:NSW So what are you reading these days?

Still reading Mansfield Park - I think it's taking so long because I was given the 4th season of Lois and Clark and got distracted....

It's making a lot more sense now at least. Has anyone seen the movie of Mansfield Park that came out a couple of years ago? Is it worth watching?

 

Still reading CHILDREN OF MEN by PD James. Very good, but a slow read.

Meanwhile, finished reading HANNIBAL RISING, the prequel to the silence of the lambs series. It's okay, but not great. More one for the fans who want background info. Not really a book that could stand on its own merits. It reads more like the backgound material that he left out of HANNIBAL.

Today I picked up WICKED, the untold story of the wicked witch of the west. It's huge over here. Looks like a good read.

 

Finished Star Wars: Bloodlines, now dancing with The Risen Empire. Only pages into this space opera, I can see how it got published. Microwarfare. How often doest thou read that in books, where starfighters are thumbnails?

 

Just finished - Darth Bane, Path of Destruction.

Not bad at all....

 

Finished reading CHILDREN OF MEN. It's similar to the movie, same basic story but with a few changes, more of a focus on The Fishes and The Warden of England. Completely different ending, though. And the ending resolved a lot of questions people had about the movie (what happens to...?).


Now reading WICKED and am totally, utterly in love with the Wicked Witch. Seriously. She's gone straight to the top of my list of swoon-worthy female characters. *swoons*

 

Finished WICKED. Great book, although the end was a bit rushed.

Also finished NEXT by Michael Crichton. Interesting, but a little preachy.


Now moving on to FRAGILE THINGS by Neil Gaiman.

 

Matthew Riley - Seven Ancient Wonders.
only 20 pages into it but it's amazing.
read all of his other books ages ago, but only got holdof this book today...
also have yet to read The Island.

 

Just upto page 356 in Matthew Reiily's Seven Ancient Wonders almost at the end, so thats the only book i have been reading lately and im about to get my hand on Darth Bane: Path of Destruction.

 

Just finished The Name of the Rose by Umerto Eco and have started aslo King of the Murgos by David (and Leigh) Eddings.

Still making my way through Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter. My brain hurts after reading it, so am taking it in small doses.

 

Just finished Never Have Your Dog Stuffed by Alan Alda. Really nice book, an easy read in a conversational style that is fascinating. Sheds a lot of light onto his work in the public eye, especially the influence of his burlesque upbringing onto the comedic stylings of M*A*S*H.

Onto The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde now.

 

Just about finished REAPER MAN by Terry Pratchett. (Again)

Part way through WHISPERS FROM THE FOREST, by Tom Kenneally, a semi-fictional account of the signing of the WWII Armistice in the Black Forest...



Meanwhile, in what is sure to get a lot of fans rabid (one way or another), Tolkien's son has apparently completed one of daddy's books (89 years after it was started) and it is being published in the next few months ... "The Children of Hurin" ... another big epic with battles and romances etc ... look out for the Peter Jackson movie in 2011
http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/books/news/article2390834.ece

 

Still reading GOSSIP FROM THE FOREST (my bad).

Just finished THE GOSPEL OF JUDAS, by Benjamin Iscariot (Judas' son) -- actually Jeffrey Archer, collaborating with a high ranking catholic scholar -- written in Biblical prose, it presents Judas as a fairly sympathetic devout Jew trying to remain faithful to a Jewish messiah who seems more interested in destroying himself than saving the Jews from the Romans. It really only deviates from the Biblical version when it presents what they believe happened to Judas after the crucifixion. But I won't spoil.

Started reading LETTERS FROM A STOIC by Seneca. Loving it so much I stopped reading and ordered my own copy. It also contrasts nicely with GOSPEL, since LETTERS was written by a Roman who was born around the same time as Jesus.

 

I am reading...The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh. Much to my surprise it isn't a comedy...

 

haven't read in ages.

 

Well, surely you read this thread...

 

Now reading J.R.R Tolkien's CHILDREN OF HURIN. No bright cheery hobbits here. It's downbeat LOTR. LOTR for pessimists. Slow start, but it grows on you.

 

I'm reading Peter Jackson - A film-makers journey.

A nice biography chronicling PJ's filmmaking up to and including Kong. Heaps of input from PJ makes it seem as if it's just one big 500 page interview. About 300 pages in so far and loving it.

And it was a $12 bargain from Target, can't beat that.

 

Currently reading Band of Brothers by Stephen E. Ambrose, and The Anzacs: Gallipoli to the Western Front by Peter Pederson. Definitely very interesting...

 

Just finished "First and Only" by Dan Abnett. Not a bad read, especially if you're a warhammer 40k fan.
Just started on "The New Rebellion". Finally. I've been trying to get my grubby paws on this book since I read an excerpt in one of the Rogue Squadron books 5+ years ago. It's very good so far. I'll let you know if it's worthwhile.

 

Well, I finished the New Rebellion. Most of it is pretty good. Infact the only 2 parts I didn't like were the descriptions of how Ysalamiri effect Force sensitives, and the space battle at the end. But the characters seemed pretty true to what we'd expect. Most of the dialogue is decent and the plot isn't too shabby. Worth a read it is.

I'm just about to start Wicked. But I gotta watch singing in the rain and learn a 2 page monologue first. Damn!

 

Wicked: The Life And Times Of The Wicked Witch Of the West ... ?





Elphaba

 

Yep that's the one. I've only just started, Elphaba is still a baby. I better get my reading into gear or I'll have to return it before I finish it.
It's pretty darn good so far though, definately got my interest.

 

Finshed Wicked (2 days after it was due back to the library...)
Awesom book. I recommend it to anyone. Go forth my minions and read it!
Not sure what I'm reading next. My gf wants me to read this book about caring for your skin... I don't have anything better at the moment so I probably will. I'll let ya'll know if it's any good.

 

I'm midway through SON OF A WITCH, the sequel to WICKED (picked it up at a stocktake sale a few weeks back for $7). It's good, but it's no Wicked. I mean, there's no Elphie ...

And still reading Children of Hurin.

 

The last new book I read was "Un Lun Dun" By China Melville
Really nice easy read definately in the primary school to Young Adult reading level. Not that I knew that when I bought it but it's not bad and it had Bin ninjas in it ^_^