What's The Last Book You Read?

[Maglorfin 219]

I'm "reading" Maltin's 2009 Movie Guide.

[henrythomasgirl 0]

I'm reading "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman and am really enjoying it.

[Taikomochi 1,460]

I read the first 4 Hitchhiker's books. I couldn't finish Mostly Harmless. It's the worst of the series.

[Marian Schedenig 11,694]

Read them again. Some parts I didn't like the first time around were my favourites on the second read. And Mostly Harmless has some cool stuff.

[QMM 4]

Just finished Michael Chabon's A Model World, and now onto Wonder Boys.

[Nick Parker 3,049]

I am currently reading "Music Is My Mistress" by Duke Ellington. It is a very informative (and entertaining) first-person narrative on the life and times of Duke Ellington (obviously). I would definitely recommend it.

[Johnnyecks 44]

Finally finished all of the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. What a great series of books this was. While I have to admit that, in parts it was a little dragged out especially The Wastelands and Wizard and Glass, it did go out with such a great bang. Some didn't like it because of some of the twists, but I thought it was .. partly .. original but it really fit the whole series and I got, at least, closure for the whole thing.

The track record for Kings' books to tv / movies is not that great, knowing that J.J. Abhrams has taken an interest in this.. I am a little confident that he would do a good job directing the movie version of this. However, it really should be done Harry Potter style and be one move per book. Or at least combine the first two books for one movie.

Now, I am delving deeper into the Dark Tower lexicon and reading other books by King that have something to do with the whole thing. I am now 100 pages into "It". VERY VERY wordy, but good. I never read the book, but the TV movie is forever burned into my mind because of my deep deep fear of clowns, so I cannot read this without thinking of the mini-series. Hopefully the second half of the book is better than the second half of the series. Because I do remember that sucking quite hard.

[Morlock 12]

I've been reading Neil Gaiman's Sandman series. Some are better, some our worse, but I love the world, and a couple of issues have absolutely blown my mind. No real surprise, given that it's my favorite living author (probably favorite living story-teller). First comic book that I've unequivecally fallen for (though I did greatly enjoy Watchmen).

[Hitch 60]

Currently reading "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell" by Susanna Clarke. Not the worst book I've read.

[Desplat13 1]

Just finished "Sinner" by Ted Dekker.

Reading "Paradise Lost" by Milton.

[artyjeffrey 20]

Reading "The Parade's Gone By," by Kevin Brownlow. Love old Hollywood history stuff.

[paleo 78]

I'm reading "Evolution" by Carl Zimmer and "The once and future King" by White. Both of them are enjoyable...

[Hitch 60]

Reading "Paradise Lost" by Milton.

"It's better to rule in hell than serve in heaven" - James T. Kirk

[Nick Parker 3,049]

I finished "Prey" by Michael Crichton. It was alright.

[indy4 160]

I liked Prey. But whatever you do, don't read Next.

Last book I read was To Kill A Mockingbird (3rd time).

[Nick Parker 3,049]

I am currently reading "Airframe" now. I like it, but I would not call it (to quote every book review I have ever heard) "a page-turning masterpiece". And I have mixed feelings about "To Kill A Mockingbird". The symbolism is wonderful, but... I do not know. There is something about the book that "turns me off". Perhaps it was the fact that my Honors English teacher "beat it to death" ( so to speak) with endless quizzes ( with questions like "Why did [that one guy that I cannot remember] drink Coca-Cola in a paper bag?") and projects. I will revisit the book in a few years, and then I will see if I truly dislike it.

[Desplat13 1]

Reading "Paradise Lost" by Milton.

"It's better to rule in hell than serve in heaven" - James T. Kirk

Star Trek is so educational.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

[Wojo 2,458]

I enjoyed Crichton's Prey a lot better than his Next. That book was worth only the one read it got. And it cost me $10. That'll teach me to go to the airport without some sort of interesting (non-work) reading material.

I still think of To Kill a Mockingbird every time I load my breakfast plate with syrup -- pancakes, waffles, eggs, sausage, potatoes, you name it.

Currently reading Children of Dune, I'm about 1/3 done with it.

[paleo 78]

Next is sitting on my bedside table; have started to read it, but it really didn't intrigue me, so I postponed it for now.

[Hitch 60]

Reading "Paradise Lost" by Milton.

"It's better to rule in hell than serve in heaven" - James T. Kirk

Star Trek is so educational.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

Message, Colin?

[Luke Skywalker 2,383]

I founf next to be very interesting.

And I liked the parrot hehe.

[paleo 78]

I founf next to be very interesting.

And I liked the parrot hehe.

I will give it a try, just not now. The only Chrichton book that ever disappointed me was "State of Fear."

[Wojo 2,458]

That's one book that doesn't interest me at all, and I never read "Disclosure" either.

[Desplat13 1]

Reading "Paradise Lost" by Milton.

"It's better to rule in hell than serve in heaven" - James T. Kirk

Star Trek is so educational.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

Message, Colin?

I think it is obvious. Rule in hell, and it may seem like the best of times before it becomes the worst. There is your morality lesson for the day.

Actually, you really should (re?)read "Paradise Lost". So incredibly poetic. You seem like someone who would appreciate it.

[indy4 160]

I founf next to be very interesting.

And I liked the parrot hehe.

I will give it a try, just not now. The only Chrichton book that ever disappointed me was "State of Fear."

SOF was a very entertaining read, even though I completely disagree with Crichton's stance on Global Warming. It was a fun read.

Next is the worst book I've ever read. Tons of subplots, none of which satisfactorily conclude, every other word seems to be "the f-word," and [the following isn't really a spoiler, it's like saying a lot of people die in Jurassic Park]

about every other person in the book has an affair.

Crichton enjoys short sentences in Next. Too much. He punctuates early. It gets annoying. Very annoying.

[Marian Schedenig 11,694]

It's not very well written, not very engaging, and most subplots go nowhere. It still brings up a couple of interesting issues though, so I wouldn't call it the worst book I've read. In fact, I still liked it more than Lost World, at least it tried to say something.

[Nick Parker 3,049]

"The Lost World" said something, too! It said why Michael Crichton should never write sequel novels.

[Koray Savas 2,260]

The Lost World was terrible. I had to force myself to finish that.

[indy4 160]

I liked TLW (though not as much as JP).

[Koray Savas 2,260]

Fortunately it picked up a little in the end. But the first two thirds were a borefest.

[Marian Schedenig 11,694]

I thought the whole thing was, but it probably didn't help that I put it down a couple of times and didn't read it in one go. But yes, with Next, at least I thought stuff was going on, even if it wasn't very gripping or focused stuff. But LW just seemed to be people running around a whole novel long. (I believe there were one or two gripping chapters somewhere in the middle)

I had to buy a book today, so I picked up Stephen King's Cell. Know nothing about it, but everything else at the store didn't seem too interesting, and this at least was King. No idea when I'll have time to read it, I've been reading Frankenstein for weeks or months now, but it drags a lot so most of the time (since finishing uni a few weeks ago) I've just been reading Disney cartoons...

[Koray Savas 2,260]

I loved Frankenstein when I read it. I hope Guillermo Del Toro's adaptation is more true to the book than the other films.

[paleo 78]

I liked TLW (though not as much as JP).

Second that. But maybe it was because I had "job interest" in his lengthy discussions of evolutionary theory...

The end of it is admittedly much better than the first half (and why could Spielberg not simply elaborate on that instead of going to San Diego with us?)

[Nick Parker 3,049]

I am personally very glad that the film was significantly different than the novel.

[Koray Savas 2,260]

Both films were.

[Nick Parker 3,049]

The first film retained far more novel material than its sequel, though. Only the most basic situation ( Ian Malcom in a "lost world"), a few characters, as well as the "trailer sequence" ( a wise choice) were retained.

[indy4 160]

The trailer scene in the film is one Spielberg's best action sequences.

[Nick Parker 3,049]

You have to love the music that accompanies that scene. I do not care what those losers on Amazon.com say, "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" is an awesome film with an awesome score!

[indy4 160]

It's a good film with an awesome score. The film has many flaws, but it is incredibly entertaining and fun to watch.

[Koray Savas 2,260]

Which is not something that can be said for Jurassic Park III.

[Hitch 60]

Reading "Paradise Lost" by Milton.

"It's better to rule in hell than serve in heaven" - James T. Kirk

Star Trek is so educational.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

Message, Colin?

I think it is obvious. Rule in hell, and it may seem like the best of times before it becomes the worst. There is your morality lesson for the day.

Actually, you really should (re?)read "Paradise Lost". So incredibly poetic. You seem like someone who would appreciate it.

I was hoping you'd continue the Trek quote scenario for me but never mind

[Jill Sandwich 11,165]

I just read every article in the latest issue of Playboy. The picture sections aren't very informative.

[Desplat13 1]

Reading "Paradise Lost" by Milton.

"It's better to rule in hell than serve in heaven" - James T. Kirk

Star Trek is so educational.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

Message, Colin?

I think it is obvious. Rule in hell, and it may seem like the best of times before it becomes the worst. There is your morality lesson for the day.

Actually, you really should (re?)read "Paradise Lost". So incredibly poetic. You seem like someone who would appreciate it.

I was hoping you'd continue the Trek quote scenario for me but never mind

Hey, I was hoping you would be impressed that I got one quote in, seeing as how it is from one of the only two or three Star Treks I ever watched and that was a few years ago. Don't ask me why I remembered it...

[Marian Schedenig 11,694]

Remember!

[Desplat13 1]

"None that I am concious of... except, of course, Happy Birthday. Surely the best of times."

[John Crichton 4]

Isn't there a thread for this?

I'm on a bit of a presidental biography kick, started by The Reagan Diaries over the summer. I've watched a bit of the John Adams miniseries (based on one of my all time favorite books, David McCullough's John Adams), and I'm currently reading Nixon: A Life (Johnathan Aitken) and next is Truman (also McCullough).

[Jill Sandwich 11,165]

Don't tell me it's all about Ronnie's accounts of what he had for breakfast, watching The Sound of Music before cabinet meetings, and Nancy changing his bedsheets?

[John Crichton 4]

Well, he did mention watching Star Trek III and not liking it.

A Saturday night movie was a regular thing with him, whether at the WH or Camp David, and for a while he kept really good track of what he watched (loved ET, by the way) but it got more sporadic as the years went on.

But aside from that it's a facinating read, Reagan was a person that did a lot of his deep thinking through writing, and there's some great insights into the thoughts behind his actions. And he wrote in his diary every day, from his first inaguration until the day he left office, one of only a handful of presidents to do so. The days around his shooting in 1981 in particular is riviting.

[Jill Sandwich 11,165]

I've seen it for $75 at Borders. I might grab it when I get one of those 30% off coupons.

[Desplat13 1]

Oh, I am also on the third in a trilogy of biographies of Franz Liszt by Alan Walker.