Philotic Web

Maybe EL would like this one a bit more? This would probably make more sense as just things recently finished, rather than in the middle of reading, but I was/am in the middle of a book when I thought of the thread, so feh.

The Castle, Franz Kafka. Not too far in yet (time for leisure reading is sparse these days), but still interesting. Quite dreamlike, which is very Kafka, from what I hear/read. Looks like I may really like this guy.

*laughter* Probably.

I don't much care what someone else is listening to in any random 5-minute space of time. I don't care, so I don't check the thread, so it remains unread and confusing things until I remember to click "all read" or something.

Books on the other hand take longer and involve more effort. It's not just a 5 minute snip of randomisty.

Books on the other hand take longer and involve more effort. It's not just a 5 minute snip of randomisty.

I wasn't intending it to be just books, though. Books, short stories, poetry, comics, the latest "Gaijin Smash" update, whatever*; I wasn't trying to be very specific. And people will make of threads what they will, anyway.

*And of course the obligatory sarcastic "I'm currently reading Pweb" post.

Edit: By the by, reading anything currently, EL?

Pride and Prejudice
Macrobius' commentary on Cicero's Dream of Scipio, with marginal notes from Berthold of Moosburg
Liar's Oath, by Elizabeth Moon

Reading anything at all is cool by me. I love reading. I'll even read cereal boxes and shampoo bottles if there's nothing else around.

I currently have NOTHING new to read. Absolutley nothing. So I'm re-reading Shadow Puppets (not my favorite in the series- that'll always be the original EG and SotG- but the other option is re-reading EG, which I've read about 10 times, or ES, which I finished prior to reading this again), and some stuff on the Internet.

Last weekend I read Songs without Words because I read a review of it somewhere, and The Timetravelers Wife because people had mentioned it on here. And then because I felt like something old and safe, I just reread SftD for the millionth time and will probably follow that up with Xeno.

Macrobius' strip was too long.
Microbius' strip was too short.
But Mobius' strip was just right.

The Once and Future King

For the five millionth time.

But, for the first time, with a lovely soundtrack!

*hugs Ali*

Isn't it just awesome? I have wanted to write a story based on one or two of her songs ever since I first heard them. Unfortunately, I know my skill is not up to the task of my dreams.

I'm currently reading three different books, each for a different reason.

For pleasure reading its: The Man in the High Castle from Four Novels of the 1960's by Philip K. Dick.

It's an interesting premise - The Axis won WWII and Japan and Germany split up the World. The real interesting part is when he starts describing an alternate history novel in the story that describes a future where the Allies did win the war. Kinda hard to wrap your mind around an alternate reality novel inside an alternate reality novel.

I'm also reading the study guide for Microsoft test 70-294, but that's for work, and not enjoyable.

Finally, I'm perusing the Sitepoint.com book The Principals of Beautiful Web Design. This is for my side hobby of web design.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling. Looking back... the way Sirius is treated by Order members doesn't make any sense.

The Art of War, Sun Tzu, Stephen Kaufman's translation. This one's a little too oriented towards the business aspect of things in someway, but overall there's very little of the translator's own bias which is good.

The Book of Five Rings, Miyamoto Musashi, Stephen Kaufman's translation. Again, Kaufman's translation is solid, but Miyamoto himself must've been a little off his rocker. Admittedly, my insterest in him spiked when the name Takezo Kensei kept coming up in Heroes.

The Lotus Sutra, translation by a UC Berkeley team. Very heavy on the original Sanskrit terminology, making it a slow read, but a good one. It's almost comical it it's bias towards itself at times.

Politics, Aristotle, T.A. Sinclair's translation. It's funny, as much as Aristotle is named as one of the great thinkers of ancient Greece, he seems to have done a lot of thinking without getting to very many answer.

Republic, Plato, Robin Waterfield's translation. Much more to the point than Aristotle is... and much longer in his writing.

A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking. Kind of obligatory as a physics student, but interesting none the less.

To Read:

Rest of the Harry Potter series, Locke's Second Treatise on government.

I've read a couple of Pratchett's lately (Thud! and Going Postal) and am now rereading "Hans Brinker" and enjoying it muchly...

I have just read War and Anti-war, and have already started Guns, Germs, and Steel. I heard that these books inspired OSC to write the shadow series.

Whew, been awhile since I've been here. Finished The Castle (eventually; school reading slowed me somewhat), which was great, as expected. Unfinished, although reading various tidbits that were discovered after Kafka's death was pretty interesting, like seeing various ways events could have played out. Still would have liked to see an ending, though; maybe I'll go for the The Trial or some short stories sometime.

Re-read John Steakley's Armor, which just seems to get better every time I read it. I think every time I start Section Five I just cannot stop reading until the end. A break or something in the middle of that is just unthinkable.

Also read Flight, Volume One (a collection of comics). Some were as good as I expected, Kazu's work included, of course; surprisingly, some (mostly the more avant-garde ones) weren't really my thing, but still certainly enjoyable overall. There was one specific comic that pissed me off a bit, though: Derek Kirk Kim's "The Maiden and the River Spirit". I liked the art (the girl reminds me of Girl from "Cat and Girl"), and liked where I thought it was going until the last page. I mean, are good deeds/honesty good for nothing but rewards? Many stories with morals could be interpreted as intenting that, and this explicitly perpetuates that. It's disgusting to me.

Also read (re-read, I guess, but first time reading it on paper) the first volume of Poe's "Errant Story". Things make more sense now; I will have to re-read the entire story sometime. Perhaps continuing in dead tree format.

Currently reading OSC's Wyrms. Good so far, but I am annoyed by that "magnanimous heart" crap. Reminds me of Treason in many ways, but the political subplots and such are reminiscent of Herbert's Dune series without being nearly as tedious as I find Herbet to be. None of that feint-within-feint-within-... until I get so tired of it I stop paying attention; I'm actually interested. Much of that may just be a result of how the protagonist is just so much better at it all than any enemy thus far is. But I think I just like OSC's writing style much better than Herbert's.

Hmm, speaking of which, is that sequal to Hunters of Dune supposed to come out anytime soon? I want to finally finish that damn series. Other than that, I'll probably be either looking at OSC's Heat's Hope, more Kafka stuff, or Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World next. Depends on what I can get my hands on.

I'm in the midst of reading Four Novels of the 1960s by Philip K. Dick which John had mentioned on here awhile back. The ideas are very interesting but I find his style kind of choppy.

I also just devoured a book that OSC had reviewed a few months back called Evil Genes: Why Rome Fell, Hitler Rose, Enron Failed and My Sister Stole My Mother's Boyfriend. It uses science, genetics and psychology to explain the "successfully sinister" or Machiavellian among us and in history. It delves into borderline personality disorder, narcissism, sociopathy and many other topics. I learned a lot about history that I never knew. It has prompted me to get some books from the library about Mao and Stalin. I highly recommend it if this kind of thing interests you.

I also just started Jumper by Steven Gould after seeing a preview for it at the movies this weekend. I read about half of it before falling asleep last night and found it very easy to read sci fi.

Currently reading:

For pleasure: Fatal Revenant, by Stephen R. Donaldson. It's book two of the Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.

For work, I need to study to re-certify as a lactation consultant (exam is this summer), so I am reading a textbook called Breastfeeding and Human Lactation.

I also read the newspaper (two, actually).

Re-reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, 'cause I just finished the 7th again and apart from it, I've read the 3rd the least times. And I sorta miss that "school" atmosphere the first 6 books have (a mild spoiler).

Stravaganza: City of Masks by Mary Hoffman

I'm only about a third into it, but I love it so far. It's about an English boy who has cancer and is given a journal to write in by his father. The journal, as it turns out, is from an alternate reality's equivalent of Italy and was brought to England by a time/reality-traveler.

I'll be picking ol' Jane back up afterwards, I imagine. Emma was just too much for whatever reason and I stalled on chapter 28. Persuasion was a relatively quick read, and may just be my favorite of the 3.5 I've read.

i am reading the Shadow Children series right now they are very short and not very deep, but they are entertaining and have that I cant put this book down kind of thing going for it.

Finishing up: Time Traveler's Wife. It's absolutely amazing.

Just reread Ender's Game, coincidentally.

I had forgotten...

I'm working on Brideshead Revisited and will soon be working on Jane Eyre.

Language of God, Francis Collins

Finished reading a compilation of several scifi short stories; but I got it for "I have no mouth and I must scream" by Harlan Ellison (good, of course). I'm going to try to find time to play the old adventure-y game of the same name, if I can.

Currently reading a volume of Lovecraft's short stories. So far, everything I thought Lovecraft would be. Not "and more" yet, though... but I haven't gotten to Cthulhu yet, either.

Right now I'm in the middle of The Unbarable Lightness of Being, which I am completely falling in love with. Anyone read it?

It's interesting, because I usually dive into stories that are very plot-driven... but his writing style is really more of a series of lovingly-written character studies written in overlapping waves, so reading forward doesn't really reveal more of a story but more about these two people. It's really very beautiful, and completely entrancing.

Next up is Curious inccident of a Dog at Nighttime, which has been on my list forever, and I finally picked up at the Strand the other day for Spring Break reading.

Anyone have any recommendations for more fun but meaty reading beach reading?

My suitcase is pretty much gonna be filled with a pile of books and a swimsuit.

"The Fire Thief", by Terry Deary.

I'm going to read Oliver Twist soon...

Reading: Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception (again)

Should be reading: My Grammar material, for the big test on Sunday. I hate tests, I hate sundays (our week starts at sunday, not monday) and I hate the first hours of school (school starts at 7:50 am, which means I have to go by foot at 7:30 am. And I despise it!). So you probably understand what the combination of all these things creates for me.

(OMG, I'm beginning to sound like you, D. P. !)

currently reading:
red seas under red skies - scott lynch

It's more Locke Lamora and Jean Tannen so that's good, but it's also a bit annoying still maintaining the style of before/after gotcha storytelling that was the biggest weakness of the first book. And really, the ocean's eleven comparison was obvious in the first book, but making the second book actually set in an over the top casino? wow. Still a fantasy series about super criminals/con men that has all the attributes of Goodfellas/Sopranos. Kinda irresistible. maybe I'll manage to finish it if I ever set aside time to read. :p

I've been working my way through The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke the past couple of weeks.

I just finished The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.

I never finished electric kool aid (stopped around the point the group of hells angels showed up at a big party about halfway through) How's the rest of the book?

I'd say that the first half (that you described) hooked me. It was the second half that sold me. The first half was great fun, but the second was more meaningful. I'd suggest reading it. You need the whole story.

I started rereading Dune last night. It struck me as a good time for a reread. for some reason the distinction between human and animal in the novel really struck me as I read the first chapter, in a different way than it had before. hard to articulate, but that's why I reread Dune every year or two I always get something new out of it as I grow as a person the book seems to grow as well.

I am in the middle of re-reading the Wheel of Time books.

I love the fact that there are so many, they are so long, and the story is so complex.

Now, if only the series would end. I want to know how it ends..........

"The Fundamentals of Biochemistry" -- Voet

"The Immune System" -- Parham

"Basic Animal Nutrition and Feeding" -- Pond