Thread: The Return of just what exactly are you reading right now?
Planet Tolkien is archived and no longer updated, but the forums remain browseable. We have established a Telegram group for old and new visitors to stay connected and discuss all things Tolkien.<< [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] >>
Finished Dante, re-read The Hobbit, read Dune: House Atreides... Now I'm on the Unfinished Tales again!
I was reading the Left Behind books in school, but I decided to leave the rest for my later High School years. So now I'm reading:
The Body of Christopher Creed
By: Carol Plum-Ucci
The Body of Christopher Creed
By: Carol Plum-Ucci
Just finished Terry Pratchett's Wee Free Men and have now started rereading J.R.R.Tolkien's Smith of Wooton Major now that I've bought another copy to replace the one from the 70s that I've misplaced.
Now I'm rereading ’gidius Ahenobarbus Julius Agricola de Hammo* which is also included in the volume containing Smith of Wooton Major as well as being in the Tolkien Reader.
* Commonly known as Farmer Giles of Ham.
* Commonly known as Farmer Giles of Ham.
I'm rereading Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series for the third time.
Yay!!!!! I finally found:
Drumroll please...
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring!!!!
Yay!!! I've never read it before.
Drumroll please...
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring!!!!
Yay!!! I've never read it before.
Right now I’m reading "Killing Mr. Griffin" for English @ school :p
I picked up To Kill A Mockingbird recently-it is very interesting to reread as an adult. I was twelve or so when I read it last. It was in fact a very controversial novel at the time it was written, and I think a tad dated now, but still holds the interest.
**Warning** This book has very strong(and horrible) racial issues in the undercurrent-not for the easily offended, but tame by today's standards.
**Warning** This book has very strong(and horrible) racial issues in the undercurrent-not for the easily offended, but tame by today's standards.
The Letters of J.R.R.Tolkien
The Things They Carried (O'Brien), House on Mango Street (Cisneros) and The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence (Anna Freud) -- these are all for my classes; there is no pleasure reading during the semester...even though these have all been quite enjoyable...and heartbreaking. 
I'm currently reading:
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King,
The Hobbit,
The Silmarillion,
Unfinished Tales,
Some weird book I need to read for school but I don't want to and I'm still on page 2 and it has to be finished this week. *gasp*
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King,
The Hobbit,
The Silmarillion,
Unfinished Tales,
Some weird book I need to read for school but I don't want to and I'm still on page 2 and it has to be finished this week. *gasp*
Books!!! *gasp*
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring
Cascading Style Sheets: the designers edge
Het boek Eva (Evas bok or in english most likely the book of Eve) by Marianne Fredriksson
Medieval English Verse
Prophecy by Elizabeth Haydon
The Lost Road and other writings
Sauron Defeated
Let me add a very very capticating book that I bought a week ago and cannot put down (and what has been keeping me away from the pc
):
A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life ~ Queen of Jordan Noor
edited 9/11/2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring
Cascading Style Sheets: the designers edge
Het boek Eva (Evas bok or in english most likely the book of Eve) by Marianne Fredriksson
Medieval English Verse
Prophecy by Elizabeth Haydon
The Lost Road and other writings
Sauron Defeated
Let me add a very very capticating book that I bought a week ago and cannot put down (and what has been keeping me away from the pc
):A Leap of Faith: Memoir of an Unexpected Life ~ Queen of Jordan Noor
edited 9/11/2004
I am saving Tolkien for when the study sessions start again. At the moment I am reading Assassin's Apprentice (The Farseer Tilogy) by Robin Hobb (keep wanting to type Robin hood!) and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Recently finished Lyonesse Trilogy by Jack Vance and didn't like that much. I took a break in the middle of reading that and read Big Fish - from which the film was made. Good book!
I started reading autobiography of Klaus Klinski not so long ago but a friend borrowed it....
I started reading autobiography of Klaus Klinski not so long ago but a friend borrowed it....
Currently reading the Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, just as fantastic as you'd expect, really.
Anyhbody else read Terry Pratchett's latest Going Postal yet? A welcome return to form after the abysmal Monstrous Regiment, still now as funny as he used to be though.
Anyhbody else read Terry Pratchett's latest Going Postal yet? A welcome return to form after the abysmal Monstrous Regiment, still now as funny as he used to be though.
I'm reading first-hand accounts of survivors from the Titanic, can't remember what it's called so I'll put in later...
I want Pratchett's Going Postal!
I have just ifnished reading The Farseer Tilogy - Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin and Assassin's Quest - by Robin Hobb.
A very enjoyable series although like many trilogies there did seem to a quite a bit of repetition when I wanted it to get on with things. Having said that I couldn't put them down. I stayed up until about 3am last night to finish the last one and the ending was not disappointing. No quick fixes, no resetting the red button, no happy every after. A good fantasy book. Well worth reading.
I have just ifnished reading The Farseer Tilogy - Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin and Assassin's Quest - by Robin Hobb.
A very enjoyable series although like many trilogies there did seem to a quite a bit of repetition when I wanted it to get on with things. Having said that I couldn't put them down. I stayed up until about 3am last night to finish the last one and the ending was not disappointing. No quick fixes, no resetting the red button, no happy every after. A good fantasy book. Well worth reading.
I bought Duncton Wood for my son at the weekend, but could not resist re-reading it myself just one more time while he finishes the Hobbit. For those of you who haven't read it, it's a kind of a LotR story, but the characters are all moles. It is very well done.
Quote:
Currently reading the Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, just as fantastic as you'd expect
Currently reading the Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, just as fantastic as you'd expect
Hey, I read that this year. It was a great book, I really enjoyed it.
Quote:
Currently reading the Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, just as fantastic as you'd expect
I enjoyed all of Dr. Watson's books. I have a paper back, two volume set of his Complete Novels and Short Stories. I assume these are the same as the Complete Sherlock Holmes.Currently reading the Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, just as fantastic as you'd expect
Absolutely my Dear Grondy. Very cool stuff. btw. read Going POstal, did I already say that? Great book, really.
I'll wait until TP's Going Postal comes out in paperback. One-quarter of the fun is in the anticipation. 
Still reading Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. For some reason I can't read more than a few pages at a time. It is very interesting, but just not a barn burner, nor page turner even.
I liked the Letters of Tolkien a lot, but I agree it's a bit slow. Once you get past the begininning letters though, it gets very interesting, as Tolkien has some long letters to his readers explaining some obscurer parts of the story such as the origins of Gandalf and Bombadil, and some just beautiful explanations of the concept of dark and light and predestination in Arda.
Me on the other hand am reading Angela's Ashes now
Me on the other hand am reading Angela's Ashes now
I'm sure most people at PT have read this, but Alice's Adventure in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass are amazing! I am re-reading them from my childhood, and just as all those books (e.g. Chronicles of Narnia) you pick up on so much more and realize the true beauty of it all. I am mesmerized by it when i read it, really. So if any of you guys have read your ration of Lewis Carroll, go do it, now!
Right now I am reading The Dark Tower, by Stephan King. Since it is the last book in the series, I have been putting it off. I waited so long for it to come out, and now that I have it, I don't want to know how it ends. . . 
Tonight I will start Stephen Mitchell's new English version of Gilgamesh. I have never read the story before and when I heard this book reviewed on NPR I decided it was time.
I just finished reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. 
Here's a description from Amazon.com:
Really it is all that and more. I almost forgot it was a novel and not a memoir. I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in an amazing read.
Here's a description from Amazon.com:
Quote:
An epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the atrocities of the present.
The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father's servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption, and it is also about the power of fathers over sons- their love, their sacrifices, their lies.
The first Afghan novel to be written in English, The Kite Runner tells a sweeping story of family, love, and friendship against a backdrop of history that has not been told in fiction before, bringing to mind the large canvases of the Russian writers of the nineteenth century. But just as it is old-fashioned in its narration, it is contemporary in its subject-the devastating history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years. As emotionally gripping as it is tender, The Kite Runner is an unusual and powerful debut.
An epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the atrocities of the present.
The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father's servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption, and it is also about the power of fathers over sons- their love, their sacrifices, their lies.
The first Afghan novel to be written in English, The Kite Runner tells a sweeping story of family, love, and friendship against a backdrop of history that has not been told in fiction before, bringing to mind the large canvases of the Russian writers of the nineteenth century. But just as it is old-fashioned in its narration, it is contemporary in its subject-the devastating history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years. As emotionally gripping as it is tender, The Kite Runner is an unusual and powerful debut.
Really it is all that and more. I almost forgot it was a novel and not a memoir. I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in an amazing read.
Has anyone read the Sword Of Shannara series by Terry Brooks?
Quote:
Has anyone read the Sword Of Shannara series by Terry Brooks?
Has anyone read the Sword Of Shannara series by Terry Brooks?
I've read the first three. They're alright but the first one just seems to be a rehash of LotR to me. The third one, Wishsong of Shannara, I liked quite a lot. Brooks seemed to have come up with some better characters and ideas by then.
Ya, my dad and I feel the same way,but my friend keeps finding others that Terry has published and he keeps getting me to read them,my personal favorites are the Voyage trilogies,they seem to copy the Lord Of The Rings the least. I told my friend to come and check out PT but I don't think he has yet.You should really read the other eleven they're even better.
Not going to mention my favourite, that's for everybody here the same I think.
Apart from Tolkien, what am I reading? A lot, all at the same time, because I have to and because I like to.
Just finished Entropy from Pynchon and Galatea 2.2 from Powers. Never thought there were such amazing postmodern writers in America, really
! Continually reading Harry Potter - don't laugh: this is pretty good stuff! Some Dutch and Flemish literature no one of you out there would know (so I'm not going to mention it), some Borges and other than that just giving in to my addiction: poetry from T.S.Eliot, Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Jorie Graham, Paul Celan, Gottfried Benn and Georg Trakl.
You guess correctly: reading is my job ...
Apart from Tolkien, what am I reading? A lot, all at the same time, because I have to and because I like to.
Just finished Entropy from Pynchon and Galatea 2.2 from Powers. Never thought there were such amazing postmodern writers in America, really
! Continually reading Harry Potter - don't laugh: this is pretty good stuff! Some Dutch and Flemish literature no one of you out there would know (so I'm not going to mention it), some Borges and other than that just giving in to my addiction: poetry from T.S.Eliot, Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Jorie Graham, Paul Celan, Gottfried Benn and Georg Trakl.You guess correctly: reading is my job ...
Having last night finished reading Stephen Mitchell's new English version of Gilgamesh, tonight I'll start The Outlaws of Ennor by Michael Jecks, another of his 14th century murder mysteries starring Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, and his friend Bailiff Simon Puttock.
Quote:
Has anyone read the Sword Of Shannara series by Terry Brooks?
Has anyone read the Sword Of Shannara series by Terry Brooks?
Yups! Loved it! Read it years ago, before LOTR so I can't really say if it is much alike Tolkien. I found Feist an impressive copycat of Tolkien though....
Sir Thomas Mallory's Le Morte D' Arthur. (Well probably just the first of my four leather bound volumes.) At least I can read these in bed. My other full sized single volume is about four inches thick and weighing in at about twenty pounds, makes a good door stop.
These are a few other good fantasy reads:
Sunshine
The Blue Sword, By Robin McKinely
Dune
Dune Messiah
The Children of Dune,all three by Frank Herbert
The Sandtiger series,By Jennifer Roberson,including:
Sword Dancer
Sword Singer
Sword Maker
Sword Breaker
And of course,Anything by Terry Brooks (First fantasy books I read were by him)
Sunshine
The Blue Sword, By Robin McKinely
Dune
Dune Messiah
The Children of Dune,all three by Frank Herbert
The Sandtiger series,By Jennifer Roberson,including:
Sword Dancer
Sword Singer
Sword Maker
Sword Breaker
And of course,Anything by Terry Brooks (First fantasy books I read were by him)
Having finished Volume 1 of 4 of Sir Thomas Mallory's Le Morte D' Arthur last night, I started Roger MacBride Allen's new (in 1993) robot novel Isaac Asimov's Caliban. This book is about a robot in which the 'Three Laws of Robotics' were never included in its programming. Those laws being:
The creation of a robot without these three laws makes for a mighty sticky wicket, especially as it's on a planet where robot lovers and robot haters live in a tenuous coexistence.
Quote:
I. A robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
II. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
III. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such proection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
I. A robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
II. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
III. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such proection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
The creation of a robot without these three laws makes for a mighty sticky wicket, especially as it's on a planet where robot lovers and robot haters live in a tenuous coexistence.
I am re-reading The Wastelands, by Stephen King and The Reforms of Peter the Great by Evgenii Viktorovich Anisimov.
Michael Jecks The Tolls of Death, which is very convoluted plotwise. It is the 17th book in the series starring Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeoer of the King's Peace, and his friend, Balif Simon Puttock investigating murder in the 14th century, this time in Cornwall.
Anything by Wilbur Smith is excellent! Everytime i read a Wilbur Smith book for my first time, i think it's the best thing i've ever read, so much graphic detail at times, it's unreal. I'm currently reading his book called "Cry Wolf" and i love it!
I've always considered Tolkien as my all time favourite author, but everytime i stumble across another Wilbur Smith book, i think i'm starting to reconsider.
I've always considered Tolkien as my all time favourite author, but everytime i stumble across another Wilbur Smith book, i think i'm starting to reconsider.
Oloriniwasinmyyouth
has made 147 posts and is an Elf from Rivendell and is not online.
Posted Friday 14th January 2005 (08:40pm)
has made 147 posts and is an Elf from Rivendell and is not online.
Posted Friday 14th January 2005 (08:40pm)
I'm back into Humphrey's collection of Tolkien's letters, as I haven't read them in awhile.
And, honestly, keeping up with the posts and games in here is quite akin to reading a book. it just jumps all over the place - kinda like the Two Towers.
And, honestly, keeping up with the posts and games in here is quite akin to reading a book. it just jumps all over the place - kinda like the Two Towers.
I'm now rereading Jeff Sharra's Gods and Generals in which he tells the story of Generals Spike Lee, Herby Hancock, and Michael Jackson, and Colonel Wilt Chamberlain in the years leading up to that told in his fathers book about The Battle of Gettysburg titled The Killer Angels. Okay their given names really were Robert Edward Lee, Winfield Scott Hancock, Thomas Jonathan (Stonewall) Jackson, and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.
Tears again came to my eyes when I reread the chapter about party thrown by Captain Winfield Hancock and his wife for Major Lewis Armistead on the night these friends of many years separated, never to meet again, each going to serve on the opposing side during the American Civil War. This is especially poignant having read in the Gettysburg book, that Armistead, after sending his regards to the wounded Hancock, died within yards of him on Cemetery Ridge.
Tears again came to my eyes when I reread the chapter about party thrown by Captain Winfield Hancock and his wife for Major Lewis Armistead on the night these friends of many years separated, never to meet again, each going to serve on the opposing side during the American Civil War. This is especially poignant having read in the Gettysburg book, that Armistead, after sending his regards to the wounded Hancock, died within yards of him on Cemetery Ridge.
Aw Grondy, ya old softie. I'm reading guess what? TLOTR, for the 13th time. Maybe it's unlucky, it's taking the longest time it's ever took. And I just read Tree and Leaf, which I just got shipped over from England. Not a copy in NZ to be had, according to all the bookstores. And I"m memorising Mythopoeia. It's the coolest poem ever. Apart from the Lay of Leithian, but I've already memorised that. Well, the bit in the Silm. ANd I just finished reading the Homecoming of Beorhtnoth!!! Man, am I angry at King Arthur and Beowulf and Beorhtnoth especially at the moment!!! Useless heroics. Useless. They annoy me.
gimmie a Wilbur Smith book and you won't see me for a few days, i'm just that absorbed into it his writing. His books are an emotional rollercoaster, although no book has ever made tears fall from my eyes, but Wilbur came the closest with them being a little blurred.
Speaking of Wilbur smith, i'm gonna order some of his books online right now!
Speaking of Wilbur smith, i'm gonna order some of his books online right now!
No time for Fear by Alistair Maclean.
The Mysterious Ivory Ball of Wong Shing Li by Harry Stephen Keeler. Supposedly a Sci-fi concerening clairvoyance and telepathy and the many dimensions of our existance. As it was written in 1957, it is one of his more modern stories: most his books that I have read come from the twenties, thirties, and forties. I assume this plot will be just as convoluted as his earlier ones.
Elfstone
has made 1502 posts and is a Dunedain from Osgiliath and is not online.
Posted Tuesday 18th January 2005 (08:05pm)
has made 1502 posts and is a Dunedain from Osgiliath and is not online.
Posted Tuesday 18th January 2005 (08:05pm)
I just finished reading a most excellent book by the late Philip K. Dick entitled Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? On man what a great read, one of the best books I’ve read in a longtime!
For those that may not know, DADOES is the book that the film Blade Runner was based on. I can already tell I’m going to have to read it a few more times, because it’s the kind of book (and Dick was the kind of writer) that really messes with your head!
Now that I’m finished with that, I’ll be finishing up Phil Jackson’s book The Last Season. A Team In Search Of It’s Soul as I had started that one a couple of weeks ago and just need to knock out the last 85 pages.
For those that may not know, DADOES is the book that the film Blade Runner was based on. I can already tell I’m going to have to read it a few more times, because it’s the kind of book (and Dick was the kind of writer) that really messes with your head!
Now that I’m finished with that, I’ll be finishing up Phil Jackson’s book The Last Season. A Team In Search Of It’s Soul as I had started that one a couple of weeks ago and just need to knock out the last 85 pages.
Quote:
The Blue Sword, By Robin McKinely
Yay! I'm surprised, Rue. Most people I talk to have never heard of Robin McKinley... You don't like her other things as much, or just haven't read them?The Blue Sword, By Robin McKinely
Right now I'm reading The Sil at school and The DS9 (that's Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, for all you non-trekkies) Companion at home, because I can't carry it around as well.
I'm reading The Hornblower series by C. S. Forester before classes begin, then it will be 19th century American Gothic novels from there. I love the Hornblower books. They aren't difficult (well, some of the naval terms are a bit confusing), but they are difficult to put down.
The Silmarillion, then I will start re-reading my Daniel Silva (Gabriel Allon/MOSSAD series) Prince of Fire comes out next month.Feb 17,I think
P.S. Mailman just dropped off my new Tolkien Companion by J,E.A Tyler
