The book thread!

[Dangit2019]

Books! They're like movies, but for the lonely!

Escapists, tell me what book you're currently reading or the last book that you read, and post a good quote from it.

You know. For fun.

Mine's Kurt Vonnegut's Timequake. Pretty strange book, but it has its gems:

"Hooray for firemen!
Scum of the Earth as some may be in their daily lives, they can all be saints in emergencies.
Hooray for firemen."

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

I'm reading Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica. It's a series that pretty much shamelessly steals from all other famous stories (J. R. R. Tolkien and CS Lewis are some of the main characters), it puts them all together in a way that makes sense and forms a good story. Although it's not out of the current book, this is my favorite quote. (From the first book Here, There Be Dragons [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here,_There_Be_Dragons])

"My name is Samaranth" said the great red beast, "and all those you see around you declined my invitation (for tea), opting instead to help themselves to the treasure. So, Sons of Adam, choose. Will you drink with me, or do you want to plunder, and die?"

When a dragon offers you tea, you drink the tea...

Spoiler: Samaranth

Also, the author does all the illustrations himself, and they're all pen and ink. Which is awesome.

 

[Bobic]

Well, if we're quoting Vonnegut then the last paragraph of Cat's Cradle would be perfect but it'd also be a spoiler, so go read the book fools, it's awesome. And I'll tempt you more with this quote

Midget, midget, midget, how he struts and winks,
For he knows a man's as big as what he hopes and thinks!

Bokonism is truly the best religion.

 

[Yuno Gasai]

I'm currently reading "I Am Not A Serial Killer" (the first book in the John Cleaver series) by Dan Wells.

I don't know what I was expecting (some kind of Dexter spin-off, maybe?) but I am really enjoying it so far.

 

[Da Orky Man]

The last book I properly read was an ebook I got off amazon with the rather weighty title of 'In The Name Of The Queen: Al Qaeda, the SAS, and the Secret Service'.

Since it was a only a couple of quid, It wasn't expecting much. But it was actually good. Very good. Its a spy/espionage thriller which had just the right mix of the brutal truth of the world of espionage and moments of comical brilliance.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Right now I'm stuck with His Last Bow (the last Sherlock Holmes book). Before that, my last novel was Phil K. Dick's Man in the High Castle, though in between I read Poe's Politian (not sure if it counts, since it's unfinished). And BEFORE that, I read Breakfast of Champions, which I absolutely loved I loved a quote that more or less went "Just because life is dangerous doesn't make it serious", or something along those lines. Also, here's something I wrote down on my notepad that I have with me on my desk:

"I would write about life. Every person would be exactly as important as any other. All facts would also be given equal weightness. Nothing would be left out. Let others bring order to chaos. I would bring chaos to order, instead, which I think I have done".

I think this nails Vonnegut's style, though I don't think he was speaking for himself when he wrote that.

 

[Colour Scientist]

I'm reading A Storm of Swords by George RR Martin. Can't wait for tv show, must know what happens.

 

[Dangit2019]

Well, if we're quoting Vonnegut then the last paragraph of Cat's Cradle would be perfect but it'd also be a spoiler, so go read the book fools, it's awesome. And I'll tempt you more with this quote

Midget, midget, midget, how he struts and winks,
For he knows a man's as big as what he hopes and thinks!

Bokonism is truly the best religion.

I second this recommendation, as the reason I started reading Timequake is because Ive read Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse 5 both in the past 2 weeks. Vonnegut's an amazing author.

 

[PsychicTaco115]

Well, I'm about to start Thus Spake Zarathustra, if that counts

I hope it'll be a coming-of-age drama for the whole family

I hope to be pleasantly surprised

 

[Goofguy]

I just started OSC's Xenocide. Interested to see how it's going to play out as Speaker for the Dead is a tough act to follow. Say what you will about OSC being a douchey homophobe, the man can write a compelling story. Leaves me pretty conflicted, to be honest.

 

[DoPo]

Relevant.

Anyway, I'm actually about to start a book...though I'm not sure which one - it'd be either Jam by Yahtzee, Cold Days by Jim Butcher or This Book Is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don't Touch It by David Wong. I think I'll go in the order I listed them but I may change my mind, mostly I figure it's Jam because it's the shortest, then Cold Days because The Dresden Files, and then the other one simply because it's not as short or as desirable. Though still highly anticipated.

 

[Sir Christopher McFarlane]

Well, I'm about to start Thus Spake Zarathustra, if that counts

I hope it'll be a coming-of-age drama for the whole family

I hope to be pleasantly surprised

It's more like speculative fiction and the effects of space travel on the psyche.

I am reading Baudolino. It's about an adoptive son of Frederick I, growing up in the middle ages and going to find a magical Christian kingdom in the far East founded by Prestor John. He tells that story as an old man to a Greek scholar after saving him from an invading army.

 

[crudus]

The last books I read are the Scott Pilgrim series. Unless you count the book I am reading for my friend as a beta reader.

Books! They're like movies, but for the lonely!

I watch movies alone. I can't imagine what books are like.

 

[PsychicTaco115]

Well, I'm about to start Thus Spake Zarathustra, if that counts

I hope it'll be a coming-of-age drama for the whole family

I hope to be pleasantly surprised

It's more like speculative fiction and the effects of space travel on the psyche.

As long as the protagonist doesn't change into a sparkly BDSM loving vampire, I'll take what I can get

While we're at it, does the hero at least get the girl in the end?

 

[Darks63]

Just finished Dog Blood which is the second part of the Hater Trilogy by David Moody and i will be starting Us or Them the last of the trilogy shortly.

 

[Something Amyss]

Recently read Nightfall by Stephen Leather and Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut. Currently, I'm reading Dis enchanted by Robert Kroese, the other of the Mercury Trilogy (Falls, Rises, Rests, which I love love LOVE...). It's not as good as Mercury, but still.

 

[rawrnosaurous]

I'm currently reading Air Force Gator by Dan Ryckert.

 

[Kentr_Wrolfsong]

Finished The Name of the Wind last week (to anyone who hasn't read it, fix that now) and am currently reading Furies of Calderon. Unimpressed so far, though I'm told the series picks up by book 2.

 

[The]

I just picked up Maus by Art Speigelman and 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke. Good stuff so far. Maybe one day I might finish them.

 

[The Sanctifier]

Currently reading the Anne Frank diary. Not the most exciting book, but it definitely does offer some interesting insight into life in hiding.

After that I'm gonna devour the Sherlock Holmes series. The Adventure of the Speckled which I read for my university course pretty much got me hooked to the whole series.