What book are you reading?

[Nikki]

I've just started reading "To Kill a Mocking bird". I haven't read enough yet to tell if I like it or not, but I will post something a little more detailed after I read more of it.

[The Man]

I finished 100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed. It was rather disturbing in some ways; not because of Melissa's age but because of her attitude toward matters. A lot of times she did things knowing or at least strongly suspecting that she would not enjoy them, and it seemed to take sizable tolls on her self-esteem, yet she did them anyway without questioning her motivation that she should participate in as many sex acts as possible because she thought it would result in her meeting and falling in love with someone. It was only toward the end of the book when she started to question this mentality; tellingly, the guy who actually did end up falling in love with her was one whom she didn't sleep with for quite some time after meeting him. One wonders what this says about the state of feminism amongst adolescent girls, at least in Italy.

Other than that, I'm halfway through a bunch of books. Despite the frequent comparisons I've seen drawn between them in the media, the contrast between Melissa's book and Catherine M's Sexual Life couldn't be starker; the latter revels in a sheer unadulterated joy in the mere expression of sexuality between human beings, and while her promiscuity can be reasonably questioned, I find that her attitude towards enjoyment of sex cannot, and it's refreshing to read such a measured intelligence philosophising about such intimate details without any attempt at preaching or practising moral judgments. It was so controversial precisely because it is so subversive.

I'm also nearing the halfway point in Pratchett's The Truth. As can be expected of Pratchett, it's a well-rounded satire, this time of journalism, and it features refreshingly amoral villains. Another gem from a true master.

I'm slightly more than halfway through Hitchens' God Is Not Great now as well; due to my satisfaction with this volume, I've placed his The Trial of Henry Kissinger on order for further reading. I've seen the documentary based on the latter, but never actually read the book; I figured it was nearing time for me to remedy that. As for God Is Not Great, it's a blisteringly on-target critique of religion thus far; it contained a lot of information I was not previously aware of and has convincingly made a number of arguments I'd never seen made before. Definitely a mind-expanding work.

Finally, I've just finished the first volume of seven in Grant Morrison's graphic novel The Invisibles. I can definitely see where the claims that the Wachowski brothers* plagiarised the work are coming from; there are distinct visual, characteristic, and thematic similarities between the works. I find it interesting, if a bit distressing as an anarchist, that the Wachowskis have done multiple works inspired by or adapted from anarchistic comic books (see also V for Vendetta, which they produced) that somewhat strip away the explicitly anarchistic themes of the originals. Nonetheless, the production of these films has unquestionably lead more people to check out the source material, and for that I can't hold too hard a grudge, since in both cases, the source material is quite fantastic. I've raved about the duality of V for Vendetta elsewhere, so I'll spare the repetition of such matters; The Invisibles is similar in some respects, except that instead of duality it embraces, like The Illuminatus! Trilogy (a work with which it shares many other similar characteristics), a multitude of realities. Morrison has achieved one of the most successful interweavings of historical personalities I've seen in fiction, especially with his use of the Marquis de Sade and of Percy Shelley (whom, interestingly, I had looked up on Wikipedia only a couple of days before reading the first volume of the comic). Morrison is an unquestionably talented comics writer and I look forward to reading the later entries in the series (I've got the next two on order and they should come in later this week).

Apart from that, I picked up Ursula K. LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness, which I'd been intending to read for quite some time. This is my first encounter with LeGuin's work, and I've only read her introduction thus far, which contains some provocative musings on the nature of science-fiction and fiction in general; what I've gleaned from searches of Wikipedia and other sources indicates that what I read heretofore is likely to match in quality.

Looking at the blurbs for the paperback reissue of A Feast for Crows has made me want to reread that series as well. I may find myself compelled to do that shortly in anticipation of the (hopeful) release of A Dance with Dragons later this year.

*Actually, they're apparently not brothers anymore. Larry is now Lana, according to a 2006 San Francisco Chronicle article; an earlier report from David Poland said, "Every indication I have says that Larry Wachowski is now in the process of changing his sex. Dressing in public like a woman, taking female hormones and yes, having a sex change operation."

[Beeble]

I'm really not in a mood to read anything new right now, so i thought reading something familiar might get me back to the right mood again, so i'm rereading Guardians of the west, first book in the Malloreon by David Eddings. It's not as good as The Belgariad, and it is a bit childish, but i really enjoy it and i really love some of the characters

[Shadow]

Dr. Euler's Fabulous Formula. For pleasure, believe it or not. Gotta appreciate the five most important numbers in math linked in a single formula though. If you're into that sort of thing.

Also, mixing up that bag of laughs with Halo: Ghosts of Onyx. Expansive subplots are fun.

[The Man]

Finished The Truth, which was just as good as I expected it to be, and then reread Going Postal, which was even better than I remembered it being as I was able to pick out the Ayn Rand parody this time around. Anyone who claims Pratchett is a libertarian capitalist is a bit delusional in light of that book, which absolutely skewers the ideology.

I'm now reading The Trial of Henry Kissinger by Christopher Hitchens, as I'd seen the documentary based on the book and found it quite informative but had never actually read the book itself. I'm also about 130 pages into Pratchett's Thud!.

[Scrutator]

About finished Ian Irvine's The Tower on the Rift for the second time and enjoying it, rereading it the now since I didn't have any new books to read at the time. After this I'll move on to either Frank Herbert's last Dune novel Chapter House Dune or George R. R. Martin's A Clash of Kings.

[The Man]

I'm a couple of issues through the third volume of Morrison's The Invisibles now, and it's proving as satisfactory as I'd imagined it would be. I can definitely see why Morrison feels the Wachowski brothers ripped off his ideas for the Matrix films, though there's nothing that corresponds directly on a scene-by-scene level thus far.

I'm also reading LeGuin's The Dispossessed, whose title is a reference to Dostoevsky's The Possessed. The lead character is a physicist from an anarchist moon of a larger planet that runs on capitalistic tendencies; it had quarantined its subversive elements to the moon so they didn't bring the foundations of its society crashing down, and the physicist is attempting to break down the barriers of civilisation that separate the two societies two hundred years in the future. It's an incredibly thought-provoking read, and I'm definitely going to have to check out more of LeGuin's work in the future.

[The Dude]

I just picked up The Children of Hurin today. It was a collection of writings by Tolkien had written but never published that his son edited together. So far it's pretty good. It takes place several thousand years before the lord of the rings story.

[kie_is_crazy]

i'm reading high druid of shannara - straken by terry brooks it's pretty good so far

[The Man]

I finished The Dispossessed. It's an intriguing and highly satisfying read for a number of reasons; while the physical and metaphysical speculation is intriguing, I would say the speculation on human nature is vastly more so. It contains a compelling depiction of how an ostensibly anarchist society would function, yet it does not shy away from criticising that society, as it clearly demonstrates that this society lacks several crucial qualities of actual anarchism and demonstrates why, in many cases, these disparities lead to suffering. Due to being housed on a drought-ridden moon the society suffers from frequent food shortages, and for many other reasons as well is by no means depicted as a perfect place to live, yet it is nonetheless contrasted with a "propertarian" society situated on a world of plenty which in many ways strongly resembles our own, whose hypocrisies are clearly revealed through the eyes of the lead character. In all it's a fantastic work of literature; I've never see anything on this scale even attempted, so the fact that it's actually accomplished is a triumph, and I will definitely be reading more of LeGuin's fiction in the future.

[Sublime]

(copied from my post at FFOF)

I'm currently reading the Left Behind series. It's orientated around the Christian apocolypse but it's very sci-fi and not exactly preachy as you might expect from something with a religious plot.

It's starts off with the Rapture when Jesus returns and takes all the 'forgiven' people. They just disappear and chaos ensues. As the books continue it details the rise of the anti-christ and the the trials and tribulations that those who are 'Left Behind' must go through before Jesus returns again in seven years time.

I'm not a religious person myself but even I find it a good read. Although there are over 12 books in the series now I think. So a very long read too.

[Teh Jamie]

Teh I hadly read Books Coz Im always Blamed when they Go Missing :O

[I AM THE CAPS MONSTER]

I read windows, Vista mags

[Veles]

On War, by Carl von Clausewitz
Il Principe, by Niccolò Machiavelli
Mein Kampf, by Adolf Hitler
The Myth of the 20th Century, by Alfred Rosenberg

And no, I am not a racist or a Nazi.

[The Man]

I finished The Invisibles. I'm definitely going to have to read that again because there was a ton of stuff I absolutely failed to comprehend on the first readthrough, especially toward the end. I'm probably going to have to do a lot of research on a lot of the concepts mentioned within it before I have a hope at understanding the plot, really. On the other hand, it became even more blatantly obvious that The Matrix was at the very least strongly influenced by if not directly plagiarised from Morrison's work. I've since picked up Anarchy for the Masses, which is Disinformation's companion to the series; I may go back through and re-read it alongside Disinformation's annotations.

Apart from that, I also read Pratchett's The Fifth Elephant. The satire of condoms mades me lawl, and overall the political intrigue was quite up to par with his usual course.

I also finished God Is Not Great. It was quite a fantastic deconstruction of religion; I had a difficult time reading several of the last chapters due to the huge number of disturbing details I'd never before realised.

I'm also two-thirds of the way through Catch-22. It's an absolutely hilarious satire of military bureaucracy that works on so many levels, and the sinister air behind it all is quite hard to miss. My only complaint is that I'm having a hard time following the continuity, but I gather that was intentional.

I've also picked up Daniel C. Dennett's Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon. Unlike other "professional atheists" throughout history such as Bertrand Russell, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and, well, Christopher Hitchens, Dennett's main tone isn't particularly shrill. Instead, he endeavours to study religion in as scientific a manner as possible, which, as he rightly and reasonably points out, has not been done yet. I'm only two chapters through the work right now, but it already might be shaping up to be my favourite atheist tome yet written.

I've also picked up Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen, which I'm finding to be a fine companion value to Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States as an antidote to Establishment history in the U.S. In particular, Loewen's chapter on Columbus is expertly rendered, with telling quotations, beautifully cited, that absolutely decimate the traditional "Columbus as noble exploratory hero" myth with which American students are presented. I'm only two chapters through this, as well, but he has already given a marvelous dissection of why American history classes are considered by most of their students as such a joke - for a start, their presentations of the primary characters of history are boring, as nearly everyone is presented as a Flawless Godlike Figure when in reality, all of history's leaders were human beings with emotions and human shortcomings like the rest of us.

Yesterday whilst on work at the bookstore I picked up John Pilger's Freedom Next Time for a British leftist perspective on the last couple of years, as I've not heard many of those and it seemed to have gotten quite good reviews. It was $1 in the bargain section, so I'm quite pleased with that.

Finally, I've picked up The Brothers Karamazov again. Dostoevsky's voice in this novel is (intentionally) particularly weird for a number of reasons; his narrator is quirky and subject to the sorts of foibles that often accompany non-professional writers' work. It leads one to question how reliable he is; I'm sure that's part of the intention.

I'd comment more, but I have a **** time remembering characters' names unless I'm looking directly at the character list, so cba I'm still only about 50 pages into it anyway. However, it's interesting the timing I've had with reading this because both Dennett and Hitchens have quoted from this book; it really is quite frequently cited

[Kionae]

I just finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (big surprise, I'm sure... XD ).

I'm in the middle of my third read-through of Michael Crichton's State of Fear, through I might put that one on hold, seeing as I already know what happens, and read The Eight by Katherine Neville instead. Just got it from a friend who says 'tis very good. Seems a bit like the DaVinci Code from the summary.

I also picked up Eragon at a garage sale last week, which I wanted to read purely because it got so much hype for awhile there when the movie came out. I'm curious.

Aside from that, I've just got one called Binary, by John Lange (who is actually a pen name of Michael Crichton's... meh, I'm a fan...) that took me ages to hunt down since it's been out of print for a long while now, as well as Crichton's latest, Next. I've got plenty to keep me busy.

[Exodus]

With so many people having me excited about Deathly Hollows, I've gotten eager to read it. Sadly I haven't read book 5 or 6 yet, so I can't read book 7 until I do. Thus at the moment I am reading book 5. I'm on chapter one, as I just started it. It's pretty entertaining so far. It surprisingly didn't bore me with how it started, unlike the others. This gives me hope the book will stay interesting the whole way through.

[FadedDreams]

I don't usually read, but I'm reading a book by Amy Tan called The Kitchen God's Wife. It's similar to one of my favorites called The Joy Luck Club so I figured, okee doke! maybe I'll actually try reading!

[Jurxos]

I've been reading "Bitterwood" by James Maxey. I have to say, it is a really good book. Dragons have a big role in the storyline and humans are dominated by them. The characters are simply great.

[Cik]

Lately I've been going between Saint by Ted Dekker and Darkly Dreaming Dexter by jeff Lindsay.
Both very good books.