quote:Originally posted by minesurfer: Blockade Boy:
The way you are describing it now the plant people sound like the Yuuzhan Vong from the New Jedi story line. Don't know if I'd think of them as "Plant" people though as that limits there philosophy. I'd think of them as more "organic" and anti-technologic.
THAT's THEM! Good stories but as for philosophy, I tend to leave a lot of the deeper meaning of books on the floor, hence "Yuuzhan Vong" became "plant people." I'm not too interesting at parties, lol.
From: East Toledo | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by minesurfer: Gotta agree with Scott here on The Stand... that is a great story. But I read a story recently that I think blows The Stand away. I'll comment more on it in my next post.
Can't wait to hear what that book may be.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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I would have put this book in with one of my other posts, but this story deserves a post of its own.
It's not really a horror story although it is by an author that came up through the horror ranks. It even has monsters, ghosts, demons, and murder in it as well.
But this tale is really a story about life. The title (appropriately so) is Boy's Life and it was written by Robert McCammon. It's about a 11 going on 12 year old boy growing up in 1964 Southern Alabama. Even though I had not been born at that time, I had no problems visualizing or connecting with the period or the characters.
I ran the gamut of emotions reading it, which I suppose a good story will make you. But at the end, I felt deeply satisfied and inspired. It made me look at things that I'd been pondering about for several years and I found that I was able to express why and how those things were important to me in a way that I hadn't before.
I can not recommend this book enough. Just an absolutely fantastic read.
-------------------- Something Filthy!
From: NOVA by way of NOIN | Registered: Jul 2003
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Minesurfer, I read that book about a year ago, and I agree completely. A truely excellent read, well worth picking up if you haven't read it already.
From: Fort McMurray | Registered: Nov 2004
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I don't read anywhere near as much as I used to, or should, but I'm trying to get back into it.
I've only read two books so far in 2007.
The first was the old Robert Ludlum thriller 'The Osterman Weekend' - it was a pretty good page-turner but it felt a little bit dated and the twist at the end seemed a bit silly.
The second was the new Nobel Prize-winning masterpiece 'The Road' - loved it!
Extremely well-written and completely engaging. He developed the bleak post-apocalyptic world so, so well. Almost too well! There is no doubting that this is a grim, dread-filled book.
But what makes it so moving is that at the centre of all this death and horror (and the horror is pretty unspeakable) is this amazingly pure love between a father and son. And so despite the extremely depressing nature of the book there's also an amazingly uplifting quality to it. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to everyone.
From: Australia | Registered: Dec 2003
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I recently finished re-reading cultural commentator Ian Penman's 1998 collection of essays, "Vital Signs: Music, Movies, and Other Manias." Witty, eloquent, irreverent, and ever-skeptical, this book is both great fun and food for thought.
posted
Just finished reading "The Dante Club." It's a novel akin to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, with 19th century American writers as a group of crime stoppers.
From: Denver, CO | Registered: May 2004
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Just finished "Ender's Shadow," a book written to parallel "Ender's Game." Clever idea and fast paced from the beginning. Makes the first book even more interesting.
From: East Toledo | Registered: Jul 2003
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I'm reading a dark comedy written by a good friend of mine, who is a true wit:
"HOW TO BECOME A CEO - AND MAKE A KILLING" by CHRISTOPHER E. METZGER. (sorry for the caps - I did a cut and paste)
Chris draws upon his own pre-author Wall Street days to create a wonderfully sarcastic look at todays corporate culture. It's a gem.
From: Vancouver, BC, Canada | Registered: Dec 2003
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Just finshed Robin Hobb's Tawny Man trilogy. Well writen novels but not quite in the vein of what i look for in a fantasy novel.
From: Fort McMurray | Registered: Nov 2004
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I interrupted my Barsoom series reread when I noticed something on my local library's new-book shelf: Variable Star by Robert Heinlein & Spider Robinson. A good read; some of the background/worldbuilding details will be familiar to those who know their Heinlein. Then I noticed that my local library also has copies of several of the most recent "Rumpole of the Bailey" volumes, so I've finished Rumpole and the Angel of Death and Rumpole Rests His Case, am currently reading Rumpole and the Primrose Path, and have Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders to look forward to.
-------------------- "Gee, Brainy, what do you want to do tonight?" "The same thing we do every night, Bouncing Boy: try to take over the United Planets!!" They're B.B. and The Brain ...
From: Monty Python's Flying Circus | Registered: Aug 2003
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I finally(!) finished the old sci-fi book by Roger Zelazny.
Now I am finishing Count of Monte Cristo. I've been "reading" it for about 8 years now. I've restarted so many times I know the first third of the book by heart.
From: Tampa | Registered: Mar 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Blacula: I don't read anywhere near as much as I used to, or should, but I'm trying to get back into it.
I've only read two books so far in 2007.
The first was the old Robert Ludlum thriller 'The Osterman Weekend' - it was a pretty good page-turner but it felt a little bit dated and the twist at the end seemed a bit silly.
The second was the new Nobel Prize-winning masterpiece 'The Road' - loved it!
Extremely well-written and completely engaging. He developed the bleak post-apocalyptic world so, so well. Almost too well! There is no doubting that this is a grim, dread-filled book.
But what makes it so moving is that at the centre of all this death and horror (and the horror is pretty unspeakable) is this amazingly pure love between a father and son. And so despite the extremely depressing nature of the book there's also an amazingly uplifting quality to it. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to everyone.
Don't feel bad Blacula. I recently got back into reading books about 3/4 years ago. I used to read a ton in junior high and high school. Between 18 and 26? I may have read one book. I was busy getting drunk I think.
I've been averaging a blazing speed of 5 to 6 books a year. My wife reads 12 to 18 books a year. Damn you fast readers!!!
From: Tampa | Registered: Mar 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Ultra Jorge: I finally(!) finished the old sci-fi book by Roger Zelazny.
Now I am finishing Count of Monte Cristo. I've been "reading" it for about 8 years now. I've restarted so many times I know the first third of the book by heart.
LOL Good to see I'm not the only one having trouble with that one. I think I read somewhere that Dumas was paid by the word.
I'm reading the uncut version of The Stand now. All 1150+ pages of it. I'm over halfway through and I'm still not sure if I like it or not.
-------------------- arachne3003.deviantart.com Current Obsession: Birds of Prey/Secret Six
From: Canada | Registered: Jul 2003
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My wife reads 12 to 18 books a year. Damn you fast readers!!!
