Hi, well its 3:49 in the a.m. in my neck of the woods, so I thought
I would post a thread about the splendors of reading.

Yes thats right folks, the God-given talent of reading.

I know it may seem hard at times to shift through page
after page of small letering, articulate influenced paragraphs,
and the fact that you have to visualize the picture in your head
an actually use that side of your brain, but after all the sweat
and sore backs, and hours of silence as your eyes dance from
side to side and page to page, it truly pays off.

So, what books are you reading, or have read.

I just started reading books in the Star Wars genre, so here is
mine.

Star Wars :Darth Maul- Shadow Hunter.

It's a very good read for all you Darth Maul obsessers out there
and even for the occasional Dark Jedi enthusiast.

I also had time to read a Comic/short story about Darth Maul
in which it showed him without his shirt and where
he took on the whole black sun operation single handedly.

Which I must say was impressive, He also fought a nightsister I
believe, which are acctually witches who study the dark side of
the force. They look like interesting characters.

In the area of other literature,

Black Hawk Down - good book, read it after the movie.

Spider Man - good book, read it after the movie.

Well thats my reading as of now, please, do share. :D

Well its 3:59 in my neck of the woods right now.

As for reading though I'd have to say that Timothy Zahn's trilogy is about the best Star Wars literature I've read.

Another good read is the Jedi Apprentice series. It is aimed more for the younger crowd, but it still gives alot of background on Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. It also has a good deal of info about the Jedi in general.

I've been reading Java 2 for beginners

at the moment, I read "The Siege" by Troy Denning, a Forgotten Realms novel...

I'm reading Traitor right now, but for now SW novels Douglas Adams has some good books

Good books, well...

If you want to be depressed, or if you are, and want to gloat in it:

Nick Cave- And the Ass saw the Angel: so ####ing terrific that you will be amazed. And, at some times, scared. In a way that one hundred Stephen Kings couldn't ever manage. Any Nick Cave fan should read this. Parts of it is available read loud by Nick Cave. Even spookier.

Patric McGabe- Francie Brady, the Butcher Boy: a good read, and the movie is not that shabby either.

Shakespeare - Macbeth, King Lear, Hamlet: a good language and some damn depressing tales. Macbeth is perhaps the best, since it has a high tempo and a lot of action. A true gorefest.

George Orwell- The Animal Farm: sure, he's known for 1984. It's a great book. But The Animal Farm is a much easier read, and frankly, more enjoyable.

Fjodor Dostojevskij- The Idiot: More action that 'crime and punishment'. Also made into a beautiful movie by Sasa Gedeon, "Navrat Idiota" (Return of the Idiot *can you find the hidden Star Wars link? Can you!?*). And yes, the movie IS, for once, better than the book, IMHO.(slow european movie with few lines alert!!! It's sort of 'Fargo goes Czech'. Needless to say, I love it)

Other than that?

Gabriel Garcнa Mбrquez- Chronicle of a Death Fortold: sort of a detective story with the end given away. Let's just say that he is one of the weird, funny guys who's got the nobel prize. In contrast to those who are just weird.

Miyamoto Musashi- Go rin no sho(a book of five rings): if you are into medieval japan

Alex Garland- Beach: Take the movie, remove Leonardo DiCaprio, and replace about 90% of the scenes. And HEY PRESTO! It's a good book! If you haven't seen the movie, it will be even better!

Isaac Asimov- The Rest of the Robots: Asimov is brilliant when it comes to short stories. About any collection is worth reading. But well, this one is the one I have in my bookcase...

Roald Dahl-Danny the Champion of the World: Roald Dahl is one of my heroes. Most of his books are just as fun, or even funnier, when you are 20 as when you were 12.

Fay Weldon: The Heart of the Country: Repressed women get their revenge, in different ways.

Cynthia Enloe- Bananas, Beaches and Bases: Really. There should be a law that noone had the right to open their mouth until they have read this book. Danger! It will force you to think. Perhaps even re-evaluate things.

any collection of short stories: this is where you find the true gems. Short stories are the perfect wedding of form and function. If one of the stories is really bad, just skip it. Does the fifth one sounds interesting? Skip ahead! Go for ones with different authors, you will be surprised with who you end up liking. Recently, Nick Hornby(read his novels, too) made a really good short stories collection, Speaking with the Angel. Really bizarre mix of authors. Short stories collections are low danger (if the story sucks, it will be over in 10 pages anyway. Not 510), and not as much work as reading novels. Definately my favourites.

Special note for Irvine Welch and other contemporary Scottish writers. I have read far to little by these authors. The scottish dialect is increadible funny, and at times more beautiful, to read. The fact that most of them have a wicked sense of humour makes it even better.

And then there's a ton of good swedish authors. But I have no idea how many of them are translated yet, so I left them out. No need for teasing.

Books to avoid:

Basically all books written in english between 1700 and 1900. To sum them up: They. Suck. Really. Much.

I mean it. "Silas Marner", by George Elliot, was so bad that I almost cried of suckiness when I was forced to read it. Same thing with that bastard Thomas Hardy. Jane Austen makes me puke. Badly. Avoid, avoid, avoid! Exceptions to the rule are rare, but they do exist (like Jules Verne, even if he can be the Lord of Suckiness at times, Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe).

Wow, that's a good list you got there Setsuko.:cool: problem with short stories is that half the time you don't know that you won't like one before you start reading it

GAH! That's the beauty of it, ewokhunter! If it is bad, just read the next one! :D

Besides, if you don't like it they're usually only like 10 pages long. hopefully that doesn't take you too long to read.....but also, anything by ray bradbury is the ####. Especially Something Wicked this Way Comes . The movie really kinda blew in comparison, except for the Prof. Dark actor. He was ####ing harsh.

one time when I was reading this story I didn't realize that it was an absolute peace of :p until I was more then halfway through with it. 100% reading 0% comprehension :D

don't ask me what that had to do with anything:rolleyes:

writing my post when you posted gaalgoth:D. 10 pages long? what short story books are you reading, most of the ones I read are 300+ pages with 10-15 stories:confused:

damn, did i say 10? i meant 20. Still, taht shouldn't take too long to read. and yeah, 20-30 is the norm.

agreed, 20 sounds about right:cool:

A good short story is between 10-30 pages. Some of the best ever are just one page long.

really, care to name names?

I could. If I had not been working at the pub tonight, and it's 7 am. Bedtime.

could sort of see it in your posts on the PAs board:o

I enjoy short stories, I had a book on them, but I dunno where it is,

I love scary stories also, but I cant seem to find a good one lately.

pleanty of books of and about short storys M@ul, do your self a favor and get annother one

i find i'm a big tom clancy fan. I read rainbow six which was just amazing and I loved it, and clear and present danger was good. I'm reading sum of all fears and hope to finish it before the movie comes out but those are long mother truckers.

You better watch out or Ewok will yell at you for bumping ;) .

But anyway didn't Sum of All Fears come out already? Maybe I didn't come out in Canada yet but it came out in the US.

well, I've preatty much given up on him and am on the verge of doing so for Rob...
anyway, yeah Sum of all fears did come out in the US, i was thinkng about seeing it some time

Well Red Rabbit just came out.Anyway I just discovered EU this summer and have been doing some serious reading. Im finishing up Young Jedi Knights with Crisis at Crystal reef which has some interesting stuff about Black Sun. Im just starting The Last Command after finishing Heir to the Empire and Dark Force Rising. I finished I Jedi about a month ago. Im up to Dark Journey in the NJO series and finally Im starting The Courtship of Princess Leia. I swear Ive picked up more on star wars this summer than I have in my whole life.

well, the best series of SW books is probably the X-wing series by Stackpole and Allston. if you can find them go ahead and buy them

The X-wing books are the best.. i just read the Wraith Squadron series again.. ( my personal favorite)... they Rock.. and they are SO funny :D

and if you can find a site with a good summary of NJO, then the new Allston SW books are preaty good also

yeah i just got rebel dream