What are you reading/have you just read? Vol. 2

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Disney's Divinity
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Post by Disney's Divinity »

Currently reading The Lord of the Rings. I was just reading a review of the Peter Jackson adaptation by my favorite critic, and it made me realize how much I really should read this again (to get the details missing from the films). The only time I've read it before was when I was in Middle School (13, I believe) after seeing trailers for Fellowship of the Ring, and I really hated it and said I would never re-read it (mostly because of there being way too much detail in geography and traveling, etc. which I find to be a slog). I recently decided I should give it another chance now that I'm older and maybe more capable of understanding it. I've enjoyed it more, definitely, and it explains several things I had forgotten which make the plot seen in the movies more logical to me now. I went through Fellowship pretty fast, but that was always the best of the three, imo. Which is why I've kind of stalled in on the second chapter of Two Towers (after the death of Boromir), because I feel like it's about to get dull with all the flipping back and forth between Merry & Pippin's and Aragorn, Legolas & Gimli's povs, and the boring-as-death Ents... But I'm going to force myself to at least get to The White Rider chapter, because it might get better from there at least.

Oh, and as an aside--I had always heard people say Harry Potter has a lot of similarities to LotR, but I mostly brushed it off as superficial (such as the "Dark Lord," etc.). But I can definitely see it now.

I'm also in the mood to go back to Austen. I've been watching a lot of adaptations (mainly Masterpiece Classic) of Emma and Sense and Sensibility, both which I've read before but I feel looking at again. Emma is definitely my favorite of her novels, in nearly every way.
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Post by PixarFan2006 »

I am reading the two The Walking Dead graphic novels I own. I recently ordered the first compendium which basically has the first 8 volumes of the series combined.

After watching the series and then reading the comics, I have noticed some differences. One of the biggest are the characters and their personalities (The series has more time for them to develop I guess). Also I've noticed some characters that are not in the tv series yet (I am still on Season 2). Both adaptations however are still highly enjoyable.
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Post by disneyboy20022 »

Kingdom Keepers Shell Game

I just got done reading Star Wars: Specter of the Past and will finish Vision of the future after Kingdom Keepers
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Post by Dr Frankenollie »

The God Delusion, for the second time. Dawkins is a wonderful, witty writer...(sigh)

Next up: The Selfish Gene (again).
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Post by PixarFan2006 »

Here's what I've read the past month or so.

Saga Volume 1 - Probably one of the most enjoyable graphic novels I've read in a while. I really hate having to buy single issues so I'm going to wait for the next volume to come out.

Batman The Court of Owls - A good reboot to the Batman series (I'm sure it was a reboot). I am still waiting on the next voulme.

Fables Volume 1 Legends in Exile - I guess it could be like Once Upon a Time (not positive since I've never seen the show all the way through). It features Fairy Tale figures in the real world trying to solve a murder mystery.

Chew Volume 1 Tasters Choice - Another comic with an interesting concept. This time it had a with the ability to get a strange sense whenever he bit into any kind of food (except beets)

I am now on the The Walking Dead Compendium.
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Post by Disney's Divinity »

I'm still reading TLotR, on and off. I flew through Fellowship and it was a lot better than I remembered (I completely understand all the comparisons people find in Harry Potter now), and definitely makes more sense to my matured mind. :P I put it down around the beginning of Two Towers, because I always remember it as the worst part and wasn't ready to be bored... But I finally picked it up again and blew through the first book of it; I loved the parts with the Ents (which I used to think were the worst part) and "The Voice of Saruman" chapter. Book 2 of TTT is just Frodo and Sam, so I'm having trouble wanting to pick it up again. :lol: I almost want to jump straight into TRotK.

I also ordered a compilation of the Earthsea series by Ursula Leguin. I read the first book for English years ago, but it's another one I have an urge to read at a time when I can understand/appreciate it more fully--thanks to the Ghibli film I recently viewed, which was fairly different than I remembered of the series. She's an author I'm curious to read more of, since she's so well-regarded.

I'm also reading the YuYu Hakusho manga for the first time right now. I finally watch the anime for the first time in years (I adored it when I was young, back when it was on Adult Swim), and loved it just as much as I did all those years ago. I read that there are a lot of differences in the manga (differences in the anime is why Toshiro ended the series prematurely, apparently--which really depresses me. :( ), so I wanted to check it for myself. It's very good so far, and I've noticed a few, minor differences so far. The truth is I picked up the manga because it was too hard for the anime to just end; I needed more to ween myself. :lol:
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Post by TheSequelOfDisney »

1984 - George Orwell
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
Meine Freie Deutsche Jugend (My Free German Youth) - Claudia Rusch

And I just started Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
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Post by disneyboy20022 »

I'm currently Reading Star Wars: Vision of the Future which is the second book Star Wars book in the Thrawn Duology
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Post by PeterPanfan »

I recently finished [Frankenstein by Shelley and Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion. The former has entered my all-time favorites list, while the latter was enjoyable, although mostly mediocre, fare.

I'm almost done with Rowling's The Casual Vacancy, which I'm really enjoying, and should be reading either Ordinary People by Judith Guest or Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn next.
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Post by TheSequelOfDisney »

So, I stopped reading Cuckoo's Nest about 15 pages in because I decided to read Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut which I finished earlier today; I hadn't read the novel, but it was highly enjoyable, and I can't wait to discuss it in class. Now I'll start reading Cuckoo's Nest again.
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Post by Dr Frankenollie »

Disney's Divinity wrote:Book 2 of TTT is just Frodo and Sam, so I'm having trouble wanting to pick it up again. :lol: I almost want to jump straight into TRotK.
I found those parts a lot more interesting than Book 1 of TTT (although I found it so tedious that I didn't finish it all, so I'm not the ideal judge for it). Book 2 at least has Gollum, the best part of the series for me. However, its ending really angered me and afterwards I swore never to read Tolkien again; even though I knew Frodo wasn't dead, I wish he had died because it provided Sam with much development in the final pages of TTT, and he would have been a far superior protagonist for the third book. And after all the compelling development he receives, Tolkien pulls the rug out from under the reader at the end, essentially pissing all over the antecedent drama and emotion and rendering it pointless.
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Post by Chernabog_Rocks »

I've been reading the Sailor Moon manga each time I pick up a new volume, very close to finishing the series.

Today I picked up a very nice book for the Grimm Brothers' Fairytales, and I am looking forward to reading it when I have a chance.
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Post by Cheshire_Cat »

I finished Gone With The Wind today, after working on it for over four months. I really enjoyed it - the book was edgier than the movie. A lot of the content of the novel couldn't be incorporated into the movie because of Hollywood's strict production code.
Chernabog_Rocks wrote:I've been reading the Sailor Moon manga each time I pick up a new volume, very close to finishing the series.
I've been reading the Sailor Moon manga, too! I must admit though that I haven't been reading the last several volumes I bought.
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Post by Chernabog_Rocks »

^ It took me a while to get the first few, since I couldn't find them initially, but I'm all caught up now.

I've been wanting to read Gone With the Wind, but I still need to pick up a copy. Not sure how well I'll get through it, since I fell asleep during the movie as it is :lol:


Today I finished reading Wicked. Hoping to start/finish Frankenstein quite soon, depending on how busy I get.
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Re: What are you reading/have you just read? Vol. 2

Post by Chernabog_Rocks »

*Bump*

It's been over a week, so I figure a new post is fine.

I finally finished Frankenstein. Despite being such a short book, it took me way too long to finish. I found the writing style very hard to adjust to, being so used to modern day writers, and that is what really killed my momentum. I can certainly see why Frankenstein is considered a classic, and a literary masterpiece. There were only two things that sort of felt like 'negative' points for me.

The first is that everything, and everyone, sounds the same. Shelley is a very eloquent writer both in her descriptions and in the dialogue. The latter is sort of the problem. Nobody sounds different in my head. Frankenstein himself sounds eloquent, as do the other characters in his family, which is fine except for the fact that even the servant girl and the creature sound just as eloquent. While the servant girl shouldn't sound Stupid, it would just be more believable, imo, if she still showed signs of having been raised differently and in a less educated manner than the other well-to-do characters. Then there's the Creature himself. This is a character that started out not knowing what fire is, or even the moon, and yet he spent one year learning to speak, and the next thing we know he's just as intelligent sounding as Frankenstein who has had many more years of education at his disposal. This wound up being a slight debate between a friend of mine, and myself regarding the Creature.

I think that this first issue ties in with how everything sounds eloquent all the time. Since the dialogue doesn't have various accents added to it, the entire book feels like it has the same monotone from start to finish.

With that said. I still found Frankenstein to be quite good, and would not mind revisiting it again at a later time after I have become more adapted to reading older books.
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Re: What are you reading/have you just read? Vol. 2

Post by Disney's Divinity »

Chernabog_Rocks wrote:I finally finished Frankenstein. Despite being such a short book, it took me way too long to finish. I found the writing style very hard to adjust to, being so used to modern day writers, and that is what really killed my momentum.
Yes, the writing style was very boring for me. I remember reading it in one sitting and, while it was good, it was also a real chore. I remember enjoying a lot of the discussion about it in my Lit. class several years ago.
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Re: What are you reading/have you just read? Vol. 2

Post by PeterPanfan »

I, too, recently finished Frankenstein, but I had a slightly different experience. I absolutely loved it, raced through it, and have added it to my Top 5 list.

I finished The Stand and The Long Walk by Stephen King last week (both were fantastic), and now I've moved on to The Dead Zone.
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Re: What are you reading/have you just read? Vol. 2

Post by TheSequelOfDisney »

I finished Cuckoo's Nest quite awhile ago, and I finished Don DeLillo's White Noise on Sunday. It was definitely interesting; I can't say that I really enjoyed much of the novel (except for the end), but perhaps I'll give it another chance in the future.
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Re: What are you reading/have you just read? Vol. 2

Post by PixarFan2006 »

I am still working on The Walking Dead Compendium volume 2. More of the same happens that happened in the previous compendium; characters fight off walkers. some die, and some snap at each other (though not as often), and some new faces join the mix.
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Post by SillySymphony »

I'm currently reading Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch by Sally Bedell Smith
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