(hello guys ;D long time no see~)
Well, do you have a favorite book?
Or, what book are you currently reading?
(sorry if there is already a forum like this)
I am currently reading: Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Summerset Sisters
I'm reading that on my nook that i got today~
How 'bout you?
My favorite book would have to be The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I never got around to reading the others in the series, but I loved the first one
Quote from: PentiumMMX on May 08, 2011, 10:04:12 PM
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
My friend has that book! o:
i don't read much outside of manga, but my 2 favourite books are A Clockwork Orange and Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (the latter is more of a novella than a novel, though). i like banned books. -w-
I also love reading anything in the Changeling: The Dreaming series of gaming books. I mention these because they account for 1. about a third of the stuff i read regularly besides newspapers and manga, and 2. alot of times it's more than just instructions for a game. :3
@pentium: a nerd classic. -w-
@canary: good on ya for making this thread. i get the feeling that this has already been done, but it's probably long dead so it's better to make a new thread. -w-
i have mixed feelings about those e-reader things.....like reading manga online :\
I've read all the HHGTG series.
It is also impossible for me to pick a favorite book so I'll just say that it's Midnight Sun.
Wheel of Time series.
However, since I'm a boundless narcissist and egomaniac, the EWAR-Main series will take that top spot once I get it going. >:3
Other favorites include Hitchhiker, Artemis Fowl and Trudi Canavan's different works. Marvels!
... Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. ;_;
Now I'm just copying all others, but in my defense I'll say my love for it is real and not because of peer pressure: it's the only book (series) I've read more than twice, and have also the Finnish radio play under the same title and the 1980s short television series under the same title as well, both of which I've gone through many times. Right now I'm waiting for the 25th day of this month for it's the International Towel Day.
Other favourites include but are not limited to Catch-22, Whipping Girl and Harry Potter series.
@nej: my sister loved the artemis fowl series. ^^
@pitkin: both me and my sister have a full set of the books, though she has the full hardcover set (the first 4 of mine are paperback).
i'd read hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy if it weren't so long. i get the feeling that i'm going to be chastised for only seeing the movie, but let me say this; it was very funny. -w-
I don't know what my favourite book is, but the HHGTTG books (minus Mostly Harmless, which sucked, a lot) and the Harry Potter series are among my favourites.
The HGGTTG and Harry Potter movies pale in comparison to their respective books, but I think the HHGTTG movie was far better than the Harry Potter movies are at capturing the essence of its novel... the Harry Potter movies are really just, like, blargh. >____>
I know, right? The HHGTTG movie took a LOT of artistic license to itself, but by HELL was it good - and most of all, fun to watch.
HP just crippled itself.
I've read some of the Artemis Fowl books. I've been meaning to catch up on that series; The Eternity Code was the last one I read before I lost track.
Also, I've of course read all 7 Harry Potter books and enjoyed them. I even remember fondly of going to the midnight release for the final book with my sister; drinking some punch and hanging out with her nakama while waiting in line.
@Choco: I liked the Hitchhiker's Guide movie; it wasn't quite as good as the books, but it was still funny. It thankfully wasn't a trainwreck like Ella Enchanted; my sister loved the book, but hated what they did to it when they made the movie.
@everyone: as a rule, the book is always better than the movie. take, for example, my favourite book, A Clockwork Orange. it is NOTORIOUS for being this torrid, god-awful, wretched piece of dark human psyche, but only because it was based off the AMERICANIZED version of the novel, which cut out the last chapter. i think the movie should be re-done in the british format. the movie would have been alot better with its proper conclusion.
When it comes to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the usual movie vs. book thinking is a bit unfitting as none of the different media in the universe has been really made "from" any other: the original format was a radio play (<3), and since it was a success Douglas Adams wrote it into book(s), but not really based on the original in the same sense as for example Harry Potter movies are based on the books. At the same time a brief television series was made, which handled more or less the same content as the two first books, and 20 years later the movie came out.
As just my personal opinion: none of the media was meant to really "fit" together with the rest, so I think seeing "just" the movie is comparable to "just" having read the books, as they're more separate entities with some things in common than two descriptions of the same thing. General mishmash, it's okay to panic. :/
Personally I've loved practically everything H2G2-related stuff since I first read the books in 2004, but the movie I didn't like very much: too many Vogons to my liking. xP
heh. making me think i should re-watch it.
The World According To Garp by John Irving is a great book IMO. I can't decide if I like that one or Until I Find You more, both are really excellent and gripping.
And then there's of course Kafka On The Shore by Haruki Murakami, sort of my personal all-time favorite. When I read that book first I thought "OMG, I can totally relate to that guy". And it has one of the most stunning endings I've yet read. (Murakami's books all have something special for me, but I HATED the ending of The Wind Up Bird Chronicles because it left me with a really really f***ed up feeling)
Murakami sounds familiar......what else has s/he written?
If pressed to answer, which I never have before because I refuse to believe in such things as a favorite book, I would reply the best book I ever had to read for class would by either Heart of Darkness by Joesph Conrad. Other then that The Rum War at Sea, George Washington's War, Go Dogs, Go!, Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel, and Commodore Perry in Japan are all pretty damn good.
Okay, I do have a favorite book. It's Cosmic Banditos by A.C. Weisbecker; opened my mind man, to quantum physics as well as other things all in the Seventh Grade. Who the hell bought that book for a middle school class, seriously, that's not 4 kids at all!
mike mulligan!! <333
Beowulf (the book) was damn good, too. (my high school teacher let me keep my copy of the book. :3)
Okay, not gonna lie Beowulf was a fantastic read too. I'd just forgotten about it. So was Persuasion. What? It's okay for guys to enjoy ONE Jane Austen novel.
Worst book I've ever read had to be either 1984 or Jane Eyre.
1984 the worst book? Care to explain, stew? :/
ugh, on the topic of WORST book we've ever read, i'm going to have to nominate Anthem by Ayn Rand. no offense to her, but i didn't like it the first time i read it, and hated it when i was forced to read it a second time. >__<
I think the book I hated the most was one Star Trek novel I read (I can't remember the title, but it took place between the final episode of the original series and the first movie). Unlike some of the others I read, this one was painfully slow; dragging down the pace of it's plot with J.R.R. Tolken-like detail on everything down to the already lengthy technobabble, which resulted in it feeling less like a story and more like a book on science from the Star Trek universe that happened to mention the crew of the Enterprise a few times.
yeesh. :\ it's like the problem i had with the 5th harry potter book, that there was a whole chapter about harry walking around the neighborhood. >__<;
It's been a while since I read any of the Harry Potter books, but I do seem to remember a chapter like that
I grant that 1984 is a superb work of literature, but I simply don't like it as a book to actually read. There are moments that I really want to like it (when Julia and Winston are arrested, any of O'Brien and Winston's interactions, the last chapter {not sarcastic, broken Winston sitting in the cafe and that ending line!}) and as a historian I love the whole theme on the ease with which the government can manipulate the news/information/truth. In the end though it was just painful, implausible, preachy, and overly hyped.
Okay. :D I wanted to hear the reasons for your opinion as - while I actually agree with what you say about it being preachy and hyped - I liked it a lot myself and hadn't heard anyone call it a bad book before you. Cannot really call it the best of reads myself either, and I don't think I'll be reading it again anywhere in the near future.
No one believes me when I say it; especially from people in my English class who conversely hated reading Heart of Darkness while I loved it.
i think i might upgrade my hatred of Anthem to a hatred of Ayn Rand's books in general; i've heard that the fountianhead is just as pretentious, uncomfortable, and fake as Anthem. :\
@stew: That sounds about like my opinion on Watchmen; it was good, but it was very overhyped.
Ayn Rand is ridiculously pointless if you don't subscribe to her theories.
Pentium: I couldn't make it through Watchman. Or any comic by Alan Moore or Frank Miller; I want to be entertained damnit!
@stew: don't we all. :\
and yeah, i found her work to be from an intellectual, but sound quite dumb. :\
should we mention favourite poets while we're here?
@stew: That's why, regardless of how good I heard it is, I'm avoiding The Dark Knight Returns; there's a strong chance it's just as overhyped as Watchmen. Personally, I prefer stuff along the lines of Deadpool; something that doesn't take itself too seriously
this is why most of the stuff i read is manga or newspapers. :\
Mmm, the Blue Beetle, Birds of Prey, and almost any war comic for me.
Quote from: stewartsage on May 11, 2011, 07:29:52 PM
Ayn Rand is ridiculously pointless if you don't subscribe to her theories.
Never read any of her novels, but I am familiar with objectivism... and never want to read any of her works simply because of it. >__>
@bella: then you can understand my plight at having to read one of her novels (the SHORT one) TWICE. >__<;
btw, i should say that a couple favourite childhood picture books i can name off the top of my head are:
Goodnight Owl by Pat Hutchinson
Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
Ronia, the Robber's Daughter (Ronja Rövardotter) by Astrid Lindgren
Erik Has a Squirrel by Hans Peterson
Love You Forever by Robert Munsch (always made me cry though)
i also took out a lot of books about tornadoes when i was quite young. :3
My favorite book when I was little, by long and far, was Go Dog Go (I don't remember who wrote it, but it's marketed alongside the works of Dr. Seuss). It had the two things I loved back then; dogs and cars, which automatically made it the best book ever.
Ronja! That was LONG, LONG ago. ^^ Which reminds me...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_r6MjX_wrI&feature=related
Ronja was awesome. ^^ i always loved it when my Grandma sent me books. ^^ which also makes me wonder, why did they put Ronja in that outfit for the movie? the cover illustration has her in more of a raggy outfit (it's not like it's super-revealing, or anything). :\
oh, and one i forgot to mention was The Pokey Little Puppy, from the little golden books series. ^^
@pentium: that sounds interesting. and if it was in the same vein as dr. seuss, i can probably say that almost everyone would like it, since dr. seuss books are one of the universal children's books. :3
Maurice Sendak died today. :[
i had 4 of his books growing up (still do), all of which were childhood favourites.
please tell me i'm not gonna be the only one to miss him.....
What!? No!
...I never actually had any of his books growing up, since at that age I preferred Bill Pete, but I did read a lot of his.
he will be sorely missed, considering i cried at the end of Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs. i was 7 and barely had a grasp of death, but i still cried.
and it makes it worse considering it's sort of happening to my own grandmother now.
Is is sad that I never heard of Where The Wild Things Are until the movie a few years ago? >_>;;
It's sad that he's gone, as he seemed like a great guy :3
this is not a smiling occasion ;^;
that said, the books i have by him are:
Strega Nonna
Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs
In the Night Kitchen
Chicken Soup with Rice (A Book of Months)
the last one was likely my favourite, though i loved Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs, no matter how sad it was. as for the former, i can see it from where i'm sitting in bed, and was a childhood favourite due to it being short with cute rhymes and great pictures. the pallet of colours is reminicent of the late 60's and early 70's, being very warm and slightly muted, as if done in watercolour.
if anyone wants to read it when they come here, and promise to be extra-special careful (i've had it since before i can remember), they can. ^^
This is sad news. : (
@Kari: Maybe this (http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/406796/january-24-2012/grim-colberty-tales-with-maurice-sendak-pt--1) interview (http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/406902/january-25-2012/grim-colberty-tales-with-maurice-sendak-pt--2) will make you feel better?
long interview is LOOOOONG. but thanks. i'll watch it after i sleep. :3
Currently reading: Defender of the Imperium omnibus from one of my favorite series, Ciaphas Cain, and The Forgotten Battle: Overloon and the Maas Salient,1944-45.
it always makes me so excited when i see an old topic has been revived!! :D
recently i've been reading 2 anime magazines. (dunno if magazines should count here.) out of the two, i seem to favour the british one (Neo) more, but that might just be because i recognize more of the series that are in there. the american one (OtakuUSA) is by no means bad, though; i've gained some new and interesting insight on some things thanks to their articles. (they had a review on one of the series that we're watching in club, which wasn't too favourable....but i like the series, and they seem to as well, so i'm gonna let it play out.) i'd like to get subscriptions to the two of them, and there's a third british anime magazine that i'd like to get as well. seems that OtakuUSA is the only anime magazine in north america anymore. :\
i've been wanting to get back into the habit of going to the bookstore weekly and buying up manga. i'm especially wanting to since they're re-releasing older titles. Loveless is back on the shelves (released in 02-03), and though it's $20, i've wanted to read it since i first bought manga. :3
@stew: what are your books about?
Cat's Cradle is a good one at the moment along with SiCP
Another Vonnegut fan, in MY OSC? :D
The first is Warhammer 40k, the second is about WWII.
Brandon Sanderson confirmed for Best Author
i found a book in the basement titled A Canadian History for Boys and Girls.
Imagining New England is almost certainly going to give me more justifications for my New Englandcentric worldview than I already have.... >>;;
Quote from: Chocofreak13 on October 18, 2012, 02:36:51 PM
i found a book in the basement titled A Canadian History for Boys and Girls.
I wanna read that book. ;^;
I'm really digging Grant Moves South by Bruce Catton
@bella: no you don't, it's from 1919 and appearantly reads like a bible.
Aw. I was hoping it'd be fun/having interesting pictures and stuff. : (
well, it might, i haven't looked it over much. the damn thing's SOOPER old looking, but in surprisingly good shape given its age. it seems to have some etchings on the pages, though, so it might have some cool history. but my friend james read a few lines out loud and it really, really does read in an archaic-sounding style. it might have been my grandmother's, since her family was raised EXTREME baptist.
Enders' Game
The Lady Knight: trilogy
Golden Compass Trilogy
thinking about reading Maggie: A Girl of the Streets again.