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[font="Comic Sans MS"]Finished [u]The Book of Heroes[/u] last night. It's pretty great. The ending is a bit unexpected, but it was actually foreshadowed and it was a pretty clever twist, so I can't say it was just out of nowhere. The ending is bittersweet, which is the way like 'em. It's not quite as amazing as [u]Brave Story[/u], but it's a good read, especially if you enjoy Miyuki Miyabe's writing style.

The ending was a major sequel hook, though. I hope she writes one, I crave more of this world.[/font]
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[quote name='Vicky' date='23 October 2010 - 06:26 PM' timestamp='1287851160' post='701263']
At the moment: [b]1984 by George Orwell[/b]

And before that: [b]A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgress[/b]

And previous to the latter: [b]Animal Farm by George Orwell[/b]

And further before that: [b]On Poets and Poetry by T.S. Elliot[/b]

I only read these because I detest most modern novels and fiction writers, save a few. Dan Brown is a particular dislike in my world.
[/quote]
In short you're just all pretentiousness, probably because you're getting married and decided not to invite me. Pff. At least say you detest novels in general if you're picking out some select pretentious novels to like. Vicky, Vicky, Vicky. :( Edited by Lady Shy
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[quote name='Lady Shy' date='25 October 2010 - 11:02 PM' timestamp='1288044134' post='701303']
In short you're just all pretentiousness, probably because you're getting married and decided not to invite me. Pff. At least say you detest novels in general if you're picking out some select pretentious novels to like. Vicky, Vicky, Vicky. :(
[/quote]

Pretentious?! I'm about as pretentious as Paris Hilton =p.

And I didn't have MSN or anything! It broke. But you're invited, I told you. Jeez man, I'll send you a plane ticket an' all! =D I loves you boy.

(PS: Further added evidence to my lack of pretentiousness and rather pointing to the fact I have good taste: I like 'Kathy's Story' by Kathy O'Brien. It's not 50 years old and it's very modern. I also love 'Goat' by Brad Land, which is totally modern - so HA.) Edited by Vicky
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A series that I started reading last Summer, not this Summer, but the one before that, was the Hunger Games Trilogy. I read the first two books then. But when the third book came out this year, I reread the first two books and then [i]started[/i] to read the third one, but I never got around to finishing it. But I'll finish it someday! And the Hunger Games is becoming a movie in 2013! I cannot wait!

And I also liked the Mortal Instruments trilogy, and I actually read all three books. lol But now there is a another series that goes with the Mortal Instruments that is the prequel to it. Haven't read it yet, but it takes place in the 1800s and it looks interesting.

And I started reading the House of Night series but never finished that, either. ._. I need to start reading again. >>; But my favorite book of all time is Hunger Games. <3
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I just finished reading [u]Fahrenheit 451[/u] in school. The book was okay, I guess, but it seemed really predictable at most parts. I was kind of impressed that the author made a couple of his antagonist characters have really decent cases [i]against[/i] books when the protagonists were so obviously [i]for[/i] books. Although I will say that it seems sort of counter-productive to give antagonists really good ammo like that.
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[font="Book Antiqua"][size="3"][color="#0000ff"]I just finished [u]Jane Eyre[/u], and I was very please with it. I'm a bit of a sucker of classics, but i never got around to reading it. But one day I was ranting about Heathcliff from [u]Wuthering Heights,[/u] when my girlfriend compared me to Mr. Rochester from [u]Jane Eyre.[/u] I, having never read it, was completely lost and definitely concerned about the comparison. So I read it, and loved it.

Like most classic novels by British authors, the book starts off slow, giving what seems to be too much background about the primary protagonist. But Charlotte Bronte seamlessly transitions from back-story to main story, and with the skill that only an angsty British author can muster, the plot picks up and the reader finds themselves riding Bronte's well-written cart following Jane Eyre's level headed (but emotional) roller-coaster of "desire -vs- sense". I definitely recommend it for anyone with a taste for British drama. Even fans of Stephanie Meyer's [u]Twilight[/u] series would enjoy it.[/color][/size][/font]
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[quote name='chibi-master' timestamp='1292878624' post='703004']
I just finished reading [u]Fahrenheit 451[/u] in school. The book was okay, I guess, but it seemed really predictable at most parts. I was kind of impressed that the author made a couple of his antagonist characters have really decent cases [i]against[/i] books when the protagonists were so obviously [i]for[/i] books. Although I will say that it seems sort of counter-productive to give antagonists really good ammo like that.
[/quote]I know right. The story was not really incredibly impressive, though still interesting enough. Though I thought the scene-setting of the book was pretty cool, the way the world was focused completely on BIG and OBVIOUS and IN YOUR FACE and how F°451 described violence on TV like we often see it now (ie. Happy Tree Friends) while it seems completely surreal when you read it.
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I'm occupying my free time with [i]Logical Dilemmas: The Life and Works of Kurt Godel,[/i] by John Dawson. This biography is in some respects a step above Rebecca Goldstein's [i]Incompleteness[/i], also on Godel. While the former assumes that the reader is familiar with foundational concepts in mathematics, the latter doesn't go too deeply into the formal logic. Dawson's book presents the facts as if he were doing a formal demonstration, which kinda fits the subject in some ways. However, Godel was one odd guy despite the rigor of his work: as he grew older he became intensely paranoid, which finally claimed him, sadly. His life, at times, echoes John Nash's life, as presented in Sylvia Nasar's [i]A Beautiful Mind.[/i] But Godel didn't reemerge the way Nash did, but went progressively deeper into himself. All in all, it's a fine book so far. I'm sure I'll return to it again and again...
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I'm reading a bit of everything right now, which is kind of exciting. (One of the perks of no longer being a student, I guess. Free time = reading time.)

[I]Gilead[/I] by Marilynne Robinson has been feeding my craving for fiction. Anything by Marilynne Robinson is a nifty read, mostly because she writes with a kind of unassuming thoughtfulness and attention to language that I don't see in most fiction these days. I find myself pausing after certain sentences or paragraphs to absorb the writing.

[I]The Palm at the End of the Mind: Selected Poems and a Play[/I] edited by Holly Stevens has been filling the poetry quotient. It's a collection of Wallace Stevens' poetry, and... it's very trippy. I'm a bit torn on Stevens. I like him and I loathe him. His poetry can be pretty long-winded and unnecessarily obtuse (in the sense that you can sit with one of his poems for an hour and [I]still[/I] have no idea what he's talking about), but his mind works in such interesting ways. He has a preoccupation with the abstract that most philosophers have. I feel like I'm seeing his thought unfold on the page. That part is cool.

[I]The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry[/I] edited by Norman Wirzba is what I've been reading when I don't feel like reading anything else. I pretty much adore Wendell Berry in any genre, so this one is fun for me.

Next on the agenda is to find a new fantasy book that I actually like...
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I am just really, incredibly late to the [b]Song Of Ice And Fire[/b] party. But my god, what a party. I had thrown the entire genre of high fantasy into a trash pin and mistaken it for a urinal. But it's such an incredible piece of fiction. I just finished the third book. And I'm so excited for the HBO series. Cersei is such a *****.

I'm reading [b]The Forever War[/b] by Joe Haldeman until I go out and get the next book. And as ever I am working my way through [b]Infinite Jest[/b]. I feel like it's hopeless, the thing is too brilliant to be read.
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I started reading a book called "A Necessary Evil" by Alex Kava. Her book (found out it was a her after about 30 pages, when I realized every single female character is a successful top-of-her-class type) is not the best... Which explained why I bought it for $1.08 ... but I do like the premise. It kinda takes on the role of fighting the greater evil. A back of the book summery can tell you that the FBI agent in the story eventually gets on the trail of a cereal killer, but she finds herself helping him because his targets are child molesters protected by the church. It is fairly fast paced (since its a short book... only about 400 pages for a paperback) so I am enjoying it. Plus when a published author writes like this... I feel better about myself.
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About a month ago, I started reading [i]A Light in August[/i] by William Faulkner. It was a lovely book, but I got halfway through it and distinctly heard a ping in the vicinity of my brain, and decided to take a break from Faulkner. Now I'm reading [i]The Eye of the World[/i], the first book in [i]The Wheel of Time[/i] series, by Robert Jordan. I'm a picky, often skeptical fantasy fan, so I'm interested to see how this book'll turn out. (I almost hope I'm not interested enough to continue the series, because, dayum, fourteen books?) Edited by Ducky
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I have just finished Neil Gaiman's [i]Stardust[/i], and am now looking at my pile of "to be read" books which include [i]American Gods, [/i]Terry Goodkind's [i]Temple of the Winds, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo[/i] and [i]Hunger Games. [/i]
Also, [i]The Hobbit [/i]is lined up for a re-read.

Oh decisions...
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[font=palatino linotype]I just finished reading [i]Nineteen Eighty-Four[/i] for maybe the third time now. It's still my favourite novel. The sheer horror of it - especially the final third of the novel - still gets to me.[/font]
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At the moment, I'm about halfway through [u]The Help[/u] by Kathryn Stockett. I am really enjoying the parts of the book that are told from the maids' points of view. However, the parts told from the white lady are so bland an uninteresting to me! I don't give a care about her dating situation when I'm reading this book to be told about the struggles of black housekeepers. I don't want to hear any of this mess about some guy being absurdly rude during their date! I have no interest in that!
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[size="1"]

One of the greatest series I've read this summer is the [i]Mysterious Benedict Society[/i] by Trenton Lee Stewart. I read all three back to back and couldn't set them down, it's a wildly whimsical series. The plot is fun and the characters are unique and exciting, all three books exceeded my expectations. I'm a huge fan of young adult fantasy novels, and these books have certainly gained a spot on my favorites in this category up with the [i]Artemis Fowl [/i]series and [i]A Wrinkle in Time[/i].

[/size]
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Normally I am not an avid reader, but for the past few months now I have been sucked into A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. I love how Martin writes from different characters' perspectives. Certain characters hold more interest than others, and I have gotten so attached to others. So much, in fact, that I am having a difficult time reading the fourth book because there is only one person I enjoy over the others (in this particular book).
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[font="Palatino Linotype"]I just finished reading [i][b]The Island of Dr. Moreau[/b][/i] for the first time. I really enjoyed it, even more so than I had expected. And now I'm a little annoyed at myself for not trying it out sooner!

I only vaguely knew about the story before reading it, so it was a pleasure to actually dive into the novel and discover the true nature of the plot. The story was particularly impressive given when the book was written, too.

Now I need to go and read [i][b]The Time Machine[/b][/i]...[/font]
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[size="2"][font="Arial"]I picked up [i]The Great Gatsby[/i] from the library today. I remember reading it years ago and I figured this book and I should become reacquainted --I'm also quite curious to see how different my current perspective is now, compared to what it was when I had first read it.[/font][/size] Edited by Shishou
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I picked up [u]Red Dragon[/u] and [u]Silence of the Lambs[/u] this weekend. I'm currently about 200-something pages into the first one, and I must say that it's even more gruesome than the film so far.

Also, I noticed a strange writing pattern while reading the parts with Lecter in them. The book is told in the past-tense. However, whenever Lecter is being described, the writing switches to present-tense. For example, Lecter's cell could be described like 'It [i]was[/i] small and clean.' but then all of the sudden we get 'His eyes [i]are[/i] maroon. He [i]is[/i] a small man.' I'm not sure why the author did that, but I just found it interesting.
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[center][img]http://www.angryrobotstore.com/user/products/large/empirestate-300.gif[/img][/center]

Empire State by Adam Christopher. It's a noir super hero novel, with dystopian and sci-fi elements to it. I bought it because the cover looks absolutely ace and it's actually a really cool novel.

Also, I am building a pile of books that still need reading. On top is Catch 22, then comes Submarine, then Old Man and the Sea, followed by a couple of John Irvings, after which I wanted to tackle some classicer classics like Homer, Sir Walter Scott, Verne, et cetera. To vary a bit, I've taken to reading bits and pieces of Bible and Norton Anthology of English Literature.

Oh, and I gave my gorgeous girlfriend Jemrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch for Christmas, and the cover looks awesome, so I wanted to actually mainly read it myself.

[center][img]http://www.louisereviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Jemrachs-Menagerie-Carol-Birch.jpg[/img][/center] Edited by Boo
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[color=#ff0000]Currently slowly making my way through [b]Nightlife[/b] by Rob Thurman. It sort of reminds me of The Dresden Files, only the main character is a bit younger. And a half LOLSPOILERsortof. And maaaaybe not quite as entertaining, but it's...okay so far (hence the slowly[/color] [color=#ff0000]bit)[/color].
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I just finished [u]Mockingjay[/u], the last novel in the Hunger Games triology. It was a good read, definitely a heart ache of an ending, though.

Next up is [u]Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy[/u]. I swear I was a detective in another life.
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