Author Topic: What have you read lately, and was it any good?  (Read 22326 times)

Offline Alina

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What have you read lately, and was it any good?
« on: March 25, 2014, 05:29:09 AM »
I know we're all busy with the day-to-day life, watching a movie or getting the latest X-Factor, but what about books?
Read any novel lately that made you rediscover the joy of reading, or made you want to strangle the author for lost time?

I'll start:
YA is sort of a guilty pleasure for me, I tried a lot of series, from terrible to great. Some of the ones that I enjoyed:
Barry Lyga - Jasper Dent series
https://www.goodreads.com/series/77924-jasper-dent
Some great characters (the son of a serial killer, his afro-american girfriend and hemophiliac best friend), mind-games and good mistery.
Two books are out and the last is coming in September.
Marie Lu - Legend series
My favourite out of all the distopian YA novels - two very lovable protagonists, good world-building, and almost no love triangle (there is one, sort-of, but there's no focus on it and it feels rather natural).
All three books are out.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/50673-legend

From time to time I like a good historical fiction, and I have a thing for all Alexander the Great stuff. I was in such a mood when I discovered Mary Renault's series on Alexander:
https://www.goodreads.com/series/42242-alexander-the-great
"Fire from Heaven" and "Funeral Games" are both fine books, but it was "The Persian Boy" that blew my mind.
I'd never before read a M/M book as the genre fell under my radar. So imagine my surprise when I read this and found myself walking in the shoes of Alexander's Persian boy, the eunuch Bagoas (it's first person story-telling). The book is brutal, heart-breaking, intimate and so, so beautiful, and as far as I understand, pretty accurate from a historical pov.
Praise the God of all, drink the wine and let the world be the world

NicoPony

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Re: What have you read lately, and was it any good?
« Reply #1 on: March 25, 2014, 06:46:37 AM »
I love YA fiction, I don't see it as being a guilty pleasure at all.  I got my book club to start reading the genre.  We just read Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children.  It was interesting, but not enough for me to continue reading the series.  We are reading The Road To Wellville now, which if you've seen the movie with Anthony Hopkins, it's a real trip.  I doubt the YA book will include all of Mr. Lightbody's shenanigans, but we'll see.

Another YA series I liked is Daughter of Smoke and Bone.  The final part comes out next month.  Demons, angels, anthropomorphic creatures.  What's not to like?

Last novels I've read: The Husband's Secret. Didn't care for it.  The Golem and the Jinni, loved it.  The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope, very good but I cried most of the way through it. The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman's writing in this book makes NO sense.  He's purposely obtuse and it's just is a mess.  I liked the flower-cat though.

Online Nekobaghira

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Re: What have you read lately, and was it any good?
« Reply #2 on: March 25, 2014, 08:40:32 AM »
I've tried YA. 

The Chronicles of Nick by Kenyon which is okay but I found I'm not as fond of the main character as Kenyon is so I only read one book and dropped the series.

The Arcana Chronicles by Kresley Cole.  Love the premise in general, not fond of angst.

At this point - I thought that maybe YA just isn't for me.  LOL

I have a book that I drag with me, and can't seem to get started with it.  It was a gift because one of the characters is a cat named neko and the cat talks.  You'd think that would at least get me started but it hasn't.  LOL


Offline cc008

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Re: What have you read lately, and was it any good?
« Reply #3 on: March 25, 2014, 10:05:34 AM »
I'm actually in the process of reading through Harry Potter again just for the fun of it. Started in mid-December and I'm halfway through Half Blood Prince now. Goblet of Fire remains my favorite of the 7.
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Offline RomeoSvengali

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Re: What have you read lately, and was it any good?
« Reply #4 on: March 25, 2014, 10:51:36 AM »
Wilderness: The True Story of Simon Girty, The Renegade (Graphic Novel): Very well told and the artwork (black and white) is very well done. From what I've read from reviews, there have been other books written about Simon Girty, but this is the most accurate written account of his life.

Vampire Hunter D (Novels): When I got this I couldn't put it down even though I knew what was going to happen since I had seen the anime film before I read the novel. Although the novels were not translated into English at that time. The first anime film is a very close adaptation to the first novel. There are Manga versions... but they come across like typical Manga.

Hatchet: I heard this on audio back in high school and it wasn't until recently that I was able to get them. It's read by Peter Coyote.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DfyIaNgKBU

How Six Men Got On in the World: A short story that comes very close to Baron von Münchhausen's famous tale. The title to this has changed several times.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/lfb/ye/yefb17.htm
« Last Edit: October 26, 2018, 12:04:32 AM by RomeoSvengali »
https://vimeo.com/49613968
-Romeo Svengali (Monican swordsman)

Offline RomeoSvengali

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Re: What have you read lately, and was it any good?
« Reply #5 on: April 10, 2014, 02:42:27 AM »
Choose Your Own Adventure: Long before KOTOR, Dragon Age and Mass Effect, this was my RPG. I haven't read all of them but there are so many to chose from, I can't just pick one or a few. But I what I loved about these books is the fact that you got to deiced what happen.
https://vimeo.com/49613968
-Romeo Svengali (Monican swordsman)

Offline RomeoSvengali

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Re: What have you read lately, and was it any good?
« Reply #6 on: September 26, 2014, 05:20:46 PM »
Star Wars The Old Republic - Revan: I haven't read all of it, but I already have mixed feelings about it. The scenes between Revan and Bastila are very sweet, it shows that they were a very loving couple. But so far, that's all I like about it, I tried listening to the audio version... but it's pretty bad. It only has one voice actor and he has to do female voices... was Jennifer Hale, the voice of Bastila, too busy? Did they not have enough money to even hire her or even one female voice actress?? Devices and digital enhancements that can change a male's voice to sound more female have been around for awhile. Audio books with only one voice actor is a mix bag for me, sometimes depending on the story and characters it can work, other times it doesn't.
« Last Edit: September 26, 2014, 07:24:01 PM by RomeoSvengali »
https://vimeo.com/49613968
-Romeo Svengali (Monican swordsman)

Online Nekobaghira

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Re: What have you read lately, and was it any good?
« Reply #7 on: September 26, 2014, 06:24:36 PM »
I had heard the Thrawn Trilogy was really good, but I haven't tried it yet.

Offline RomeoSvengali

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Re: What have you read lately, and was it any good?
« Reply #8 on: December 10, 2014, 06:06:40 PM »
The Hobbit: I have an illustrated version and the regular book version with audio but I like both far more than the film version.

Resident Evil: City of The Dead and Underworld: I wish S. D. Perry was writing the storylines, scenes, lines and dialog for the games, she's far better than the so-called writers that Capcom have.
https://vimeo.com/49613968
-Romeo Svengali (Monican swordsman)

Online Miss Misery

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Re: What have you read lately, and was it any good?
« Reply #9 on: December 10, 2014, 06:43:34 PM »
The last few books have been:

The Poisonwood Bible--Barbara Kingsolver
It was an interesting novel--about a missionary and his family in the Congo during the '60s-- but I couldn't connect with the characters

Stick-Figure--Lori Gottlieb
This was the memoir based on Gottlieb's diaries in the late '70s chronicling her struggle with anorexia. It was somewhat shocking to hear how ignorant people were about the disease then, and Lori's situation wasn't helped by her parents, especially her mother, who I found infuriating.

The Day Donny Herbert Woke Up--Rich Blake
This is about a firefighter who woke up from a decade-long coma, but the author really padded it out for length.

Currently reading:
My Sister's Keeper--Jodi Picoult
I'm enjoying this one so far.
“Sometimes I feel like you’re the only one who gets me, 1400-pound block of cheese.”—Gareth Reynolds

Offline RomeoSvengali

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Re: What have you read lately, and was it any good?
« Reply #10 on: March 29, 2015, 12:51:45 AM »
The Dark Crystal: A novelization of the film, writer A.C.H. Smith does a good job translating the film into fiction which couldn't have been easily. The novel contains portions from the script that never made it into the film. Like with most novels and books, there able to give more of backstory to the characters and the world they live in (but not too much) that films just don't have time for. It's not a long novel and the pace of the story has to keep moving since the storyline is of course a race against time. I found an audiobook fan reading.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3tbFa_Z4t4
https://vimeo.com/49613968
-Romeo Svengali (Monican swordsman)

Online Nekobaghira

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Re: What have you read lately, and was it any good?
« Reply #11 on: March 29, 2015, 08:59:48 AM »
Heir To The Empire by Timothy Zahn.  It was a Christmas gift.  I have the whole trilogy.  It's good.  It's Star Wars, and the only reason it was given to me is the bad guy is Chiss. The writer created the Chiss ... added to the lore of SW.  Though, none of the Chiss have been shown on screen.  I hope the new films because I like them (they are in SWTOR).

Offline Dantay

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Re: What have you read lately, and was it any good?
« Reply #12 on: March 29, 2015, 09:29:51 AM »
Berserk Vol. 1 -14 , seriously guys if you can get your hands on this Manga , do, it is amazing, there is a tv series from early 00s and WB brought out the golden arc trilogy in 3 movies
thety can also be watched on youtube here's a trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zwP0qIuX7g

Offline RomeoSvengali

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Re: What have you read lately, and was it any good?
« Reply #13 on: May 04, 2015, 08:47:46 AM »
I Am Legend: Listening to the audiobook, this was quite good. I've seen all 3 film adaptations and The Last Man on Earth (1964) is not only the better film, it's the most accurate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUMWR5zT4CI

Return of the Jedi: At first I thought this was going to be an audio book of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, The Illustrated Edition but it's The Star Wars Radio Dramas: Special Edition - Return of the Jedi from 1996.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvT7xS21-xo

I of course have The Illustrated Edition but it's old, falling part, a lot of pages are missing and it's been a long time since I've read it.

Contact: I've started listening to the audiobook... and it's much better than the film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMudkxogI8E
« Last Edit: October 26, 2018, 12:19:38 AM by RomeoSvengali »
https://vimeo.com/49613968
-Romeo Svengali (Monican swordsman)

Online Miss Misery

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Re: What have you read lately, and was it any good?
« Reply #14 on: May 13, 2015, 07:20:00 AM »
Currently reading the Founding of New Acadia: The Beginning of the Acadians in Louisiana, 1765-1803, , by Carl Brasseaud. A bit repetitive and pretty dry, but it's still interesting, even if I know pretty much what happened. It has me smiling in parts, because I see so many things that mirror Remy--his fierce independence, history of abandonment and exile, optimism amidst extreme hardships and familial loyalty.
“Sometimes I feel like you’re the only one who gets me, 1400-pound block of cheese.”—Gareth Reynolds