Books

[Stefan]

We have threads about movies, series, games, lots of threads about music, so why not one about books?
Post here about books which you have read, which you loved, hated, which you want to read and so on. If you write any spoilers, please use the board function so that people don't accidently read them.

I'll start with this book which I've read recently:


The author writes about his encounters with people who have  unconventional or absurd worldviews. He also tries to unravel and explain certain psychological mechanisms and fallacies (such as confirmation bias, cognitive dissonance, ...) and does not forget to mention that we all are susceptible to these. I highly recommend it!


Right now I'm reading this:


The Final Discorld novel. 



P.S: Comics are welcome here, too!

[Enjoyed]

Anything by Haruki Murakami.

Especially The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, his short stories collections (The Elephant Vanishes, After The Quake and Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman) and Dance Dance Dance, which is where that amazing collection of letters is taken from.
↓↓↓↓

[Bendy1001]

I've always wanted to read some Terry Pratchett books, and I probably will some day. Discworld seems like too much to choose from though, and I don't know which one would be the best to start with. I think I should read Hitchhiker's Guide first, then decide if I want more.
I'm currently reading Watchmen. I loved the movie when I was a kid, and I still think it's great, but I'd heard it pales in comparison to the original comic. I'm not one to impulse buy, but when I saw the graphic novel version on display in a bookstore, I couldn't resist. I'm about halfway through at the moment and I was kinda unsure how much I'd like it since I already know the plot from the movie, but there's so much that makes it just fascinating to read. Every panel is so well thought out, and I love all the details, like Rorschach stealing all the sugar cubes from Nite Owl's apartment. I don't read a whole lot of comics, but it's the best comic I've ever read, and I don't know if it counts as a book, but if it did, it would be one of the best books I've ever read.

[Enjoyed]

I've always wanted to read some Terry Pratchett books, and I probably will some day. Discworld seems like too much to choose from though, and I don't know which one would be the best to start with. I think I should read Hitchhiker's Guide first, then decide if I want more.

You know Hitchhiker's Guide is by Douglas Adams, right?

If you want a place to start with Pratchett, I'd recommend Carpet People. It's not part of the Discworld series but it gives you a really great sense of his writing style. And it's not overly long either.

[Stefan]

Maybe this helps choosing a discworld novel: http://de.scribd.com/doc/278398369/Discworld-ReadingGuide-Infographic
I'd recommend Guards, Guards, Mort, Amazing Maurice, Wee Free Men or Small Gods as your first novel. Adams and Pratchett are often compared to each other, but I think that Pratchett wrote better narratives. Daouglas Adams' best work is, in my opinion, "Last chance to see", where he writes about his journeys with the biologist Mark Carwardine to visit animals on the brink of extinction. There is also a great documentary TV series with Stephen Fry and Carwardine "based" on the book.

I agree on Watchmen, it is really great, both the comic and the movie. If you want recommendations for comics, you should check out the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman.
The Saga series by Brian Vaughan and Fiona Staples is worth a look, too. It's a blend of sci-fi and fantasy (a bit like Star Wars), but with much more gore and sex. What's also great about it is that the well-written characters don't fall into the classic good/bad categories.

[Bendy1001]

You know Hitchhiker's Guide is by Douglas Adams, right?

Wow. Yeah, I remember that now. I honestly have no idea how I made that mistake.
Well now I look like a bloody idiot.

[Ben_j]

[Biff]

Anything by Haruki Murakami.

Especially The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, his short stories collections (The Elephant Vanishes, After The Quake and Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman) and Dance Dance Dance, which is where that amazing collection of letters is taken from.
↓↓↓↓

I just finished reading every Murakami book (except his first one, which was just rereleased in hardback [I can't justify $25 for a 130 page book]). Wind-Up Bird is my favorite, 1Q84 is a good second, Dance, Dance, Dance was a good one despite never being mentioned in people's favorite Murakami books. What an amazing author, now moving on to read Raymond Carver!

[WhiteNoise]

I'll forever be hyping this book:



Extremely well written sci-fi grounded in reality and easily one of the best new book series of all time. Like reading a really well done blockbuster movie. Five books in so far, and they don't diminish in quality at all. Each book plays with a mix of genre tropes - for example the first book is somewhere between noir mystery, Firefly-style space opera, and zombie survival movie. Syfy is making a TV show out of it and it's looking like the best thing they've had since Battlestar Galactica. It comes out in December. I highly recommend picking up the book or at least watching the show when it comes out.

Pratchett is very much on my to do list to read. Book club time!

[rynostar]

Yeah, BOOKS!

Wait...I'm in Grad School now...I read a few books a week...DAMN!

[ACIDCHILDREN]

Currently reading A Song of Ice & Fire series, it's better than the show.

[sandelic]

Best place to start, in my opinion, with Discworld novels is Equal Rites.
It combines wizards, witches and night watch, three major characters story-lines in one book.
Dirk Gently's holistic detective agency is great book by Douglas Adams,  followed by Long Teatime of the soul, often in shadow of much more popular HGTTG. It's clever, dark, extremely funny. There is also Salmon of doubt, his last book, unfinished, contains parts of third story of Dirk Gently.
Last chance to see  is also funny book, quite different from his usual SF comedy routine, with few unforgettable stories (trying to get condom for underwater microphone to record Yangtze river dolphins had me laughing out loud).
Recently I bought  Hermann Hesse's Das Glasperienspiel (The Glass Bead Game), somewhere known as Magister Ludi, work of his I adored as a teen, and was surprised how 'heavy' this book was and how hard it was for me to get inside that world of his.
I'm getting old...
Also, I finished The Witcher books,  Lady of the Lake being last one I could get my hands on. Not sure if those books would ever get my attention if it where not for games.
Right now, I'm off to immerse myself in Terry Pratchett's last gift to humanity -  The Shepherd's Crown.
Last one and with Tiffany in the spotlight. Can't ask for anything better. Thanks, Terry.
Btw, Stefan, are you finished with it?
Ok, now I'm really off, can't wait anymore.   Discworld awaits.

[Stefan]

Yes, I already finished it. I thoroughly enjoyed it and wouldn't mind if the book was 100 pages longer.

[Stefan]

Recently read this brilliant work by Bertrand Russell (original title: History of western philosophy):
For those who are interested in philosophy, but don't really know where to start, this is a good place. He summarizes around 2500 years worth of philosophical ideas and how they influenced and were influenced by social, cultural, scientific and political ideas.



Currently:



And up next:

[Joslyn]

Currently reading A Song of Ice & Fire series, it's better than the show.

Couldn't watch the show, it's so slow. Stopped reading the books, the are even slower.

I'm reading Scott Snyders first 2 Batman books. Well written and he is adding to the Wayne origins without screwing with continuety.

[chemreact]

Currently reading A Song of Ice & Fire series, it's better than the show.

Finished reading it last month. I'm a slow reader sometimes so it took me a while but definitely better than series. So much of the world hasn't been shown!

[Bendy1001]

Been reading this lately. It's about an apocalypse where the whole of Brisbane is covered in man-eating Jam. It's pretty funny and has some really unique ideas.
I can definitely recommend for a bit of light reading.

[whirlygirl]

It warms my heart to see Terry Pratchett fans. He's one of my husband'so favorite authors (my husband is a much more avid reader than I - he can blow through 400 pages in one sitting and has read every book on our shelf multiple times whereas I tend to hang on every word as it forms images, worlds, and films in my mind's eye).

I recently read Heart Shaped Box by author Joe Hill. He's Stephen King's son and has inherited the gift of story telling in the horror genre. Next, I'll finish NOS4A2 which is by the same author. Also entertaining in the graphic novels arena is the Fables series which I was turned on to not too long ago. Takes the whole fairy tale fantasy to a much more grown up level.

[ThePumisher]

The last books i've spent time with are:
Matias Faldbakken - Macht und Rebel
Zadie Smith - London N-W
Dave Eggers - The Circle
Timur Vermes - Look who's back
Sebastian Fitzek - Passagier 23
Giulia Enders - Gut: The inside story of our body's most underrated organ
James Bowen - A street cat named Bob

Currently reading:
Tom Wolfe - The electric kool-aid acid test

Books on hold for the future:
Mark Bowden - Killing Pablo
Douglas Adams - Dirk gently's holistic detective agency
Douglas Adams - The long dark tea-time of the soul

[Wolkenkrabber]

Currently reading:
Tom Wolfe - The electric kool-aid acid test

Ah yes, I read that one a long time ago. Supposedly the inspiration for the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour.
Once I had read it, I felt obliged to read Ken Kesey's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Which was very enjoyable despite the fact that I had already seen the (Jack Nicholson) film.

Do you read the originally-English books in English or German Pum?