Whatcha Reeeading?

[KingGolem]

I'm spending the winter vacation at my dad's house to try and get something productive done with my time off, mainly to learn programming with the C# programming language. But aside from the C# manual I'm reading from, I'm also reading:

The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories, by H. P. Lovecraft - It's a collection of some of H.P. Lovecraft's stories. I'm reading "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" right now.

Deathlands: A Pilgrimage to Hell, by Jack Adrian - This book is the first in an unimaginably long (86 books, apparently) series set in nuclear post-apocalypse land. It's kinda neat. It's all the good old apocalypse cliches you love before they even became cliches.

Aside from those two, I have a big stack of books with me that I haven't yet started on. I'm terrified of the idea of running out before my time here is up. Amongst the reading pile are:

Ars Magica by Judith Tarr
Mass Effect: Ascension by Drew Karpyshyn
Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka (never underestimate the power of a dead artist, he can sell books that aren't even finished)
The Dreams in the Witch House and Other Weird Stories by H. P. Lovecraft
Wizards by various artists (a collection of short stories by several fantasy authors, which I found at Books-A-Million on sale for $2)

As you can probably tell, I like short stories.

 

[Jedoro]

The Alphabet of Manliness

Certainly entertaining, got it for my brother but I thought I'd read it first.

 

[PunchClockVillain]

The Alphabet of Manliness

Certainly entertaining, got it for my brother but I thought I'd read it first.

That book is all kinds of awesome.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Blue Beard by Kurt Vonnegut

 

[Cherry Cola]

This thread. <--- smartass answer

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

Fatherland.
It's a book about the Nazis winning WWII and they are currently in a cold war with the U.S.A.
It's set in the 60's.

That sounds interesting. I assume in the book the USA never got involved in WW2 if its a "cold" war

 

[duckfi8]

Kill Bin Laden, Lone Survivor, Day by Day Amrageddon

 

[Dahni]

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy (for my english class)
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
The Pact by Jodi Picoult
The Pub Landlord's Book of British Common Sense by Al Murray.

fuck knows how i keep up with the ideas/storyline of each.

 

[Crystal Cuckoo]

Catch-22 for school, right now. It's actually quite good, even though it is a bit of a mindfuck with all the different perspectives of the same event and all.

Then Hiroshima, Frankenstein and Waiting for Godot, also for school.

But for leisure, I'm reading Crocodile Tears by Anthony Horowitz, and then the new book by Matthew Reilly (which I think is called the 5 Ancient Warriors).

Yeah, I have a fair bit of reading to do these holidays.

 

[brass munkey]

Candide by Voltaire

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

Fatherland.
It's a book about the Nazis winning WWII and they are currently in a cold war with the U.S.A.
It's set in the 60's.

That sounds interesting. I assume in the book the USA never got involved in WW2 if its a "cold" war

The world of the novel.

Throughout the novel, Harris gradually explains the historical development of the society. According to the novel's version of history, the German armies on the Eastern Front are stopped at the gates of Moscow at the end of 1941, as in our history. Defeated in battle but not demoralised, they launch a second major offensive into the Caucasus in 1942, cutting the flow of oil to the Red Army. The first point of divergence is that this second offensive is far more successful. With its armies immobilised for want of fuel, Joseph Stalin is forced to flee to the east, and a rump Soviet government surrenders in 1943.

The second major point of divergence is that around the same time, German intelligence (in a way never explained) learns the British have cracked the Enigma code, which is leading to the sinking of their submarines. They withdraw their submarines from the Atlantic temporarily and send false intelligence to lure the British fleet to destruction. The U-Boat campaign against the United Kingdom resumes, starving Britain into accepting a humiliating armistice in 1944. Winston Churchill, King George VI and other prominent British officials are forced into exile in Canada. Edward VIII regains the throne at the helm of a pro-German puppet government.

Germany tests its first atom bomb in 1946, and fires a "V-3" missile that explodes above New York City, to demonstrate Germany's ability to attack the continental United States with long-range missiles. Following this demonstration of power, the United States signs a peace treaty with Germany. This results in the Third Reich being one of the two superpowers of the world, along with the US, which defeated Japan, reflecting the actual history of the war, though a year later than in actual history.

Having achieved victory in Europe, Germany annexes Eastern Europe and most of the western Soviet Union into the Greater German Reich. Following the signing of the Treaty of Rome, Western Europe and Scandinavia are corralled into a pro-German trading bloc, the European Community. The surviving areas of the Soviet Union, still led by Stalin, become engaged in an endless guerrilla war with German forces in the Ural Mountains. Mounting casualties (at least 100,000 since 1960 stated in the novel and that the bodies have to be shipped back to Germany in the dead of night), have sapped the German military despite Hitler's earlier statement (quoted in the novel) about a perpetual war to keep the German people on their toes, like in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. By 1964, the United States and the Greater German Reich are caught in a Cold War and an arms race to develop more sophisticated nuclear weapons and space technology.

The novel takes place from April 14 ? 20, 1964, as Germany prepares for Hitler's 75th birthday celebrations. A visit by the President of the United States, Joseph P. Kennedy, is planned as part of a gradual détente between the United States and the Greater German Reich. The Nazi hierarchy are hinted at being desperate for peace because the German economy has been staggering since the end of the war and the cost of fighting the war against the Russians has led to a situation whereby German citizens are encouraged to make even larger contributions than before to "Winter Relief". The Holocaust has been explained away to the satisfaction of many as merely the relocation of most of the Jewish population to the East into areas where communication and travel are still very poor, explaining why it is impossible for most of their relatives in the West to contact them. Despite this, many Germans are aware ? or suspect ? the government has eliminated the Jews.

That sounds interesting. Any particular political slant other than "Nazis are bad" or is that where it stops?

 

[gamefreakbsp]

Wizard's First Rule. It is the first book in the Sword of Truth series that the TV show Legend of the Seeker is based off of.

 

[Blanks]

The first of the Night Angel Trilogy: The Way of the Shadows, it's about assassin's ^-^, and The Lord Of The Rings

I'm also reading alot of Manga: Future Diary, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Lucky Star each varying in volume

In comics I'm reading Looking For Group Vol. 2

 

[Actual]

Regardless, Its a Terry Pratchet book with Moist Lipwig, anyone know the title?

Going Postal, or Making Money? I think they were the only two with Moist in. I have them both here somewhere.

I've just finished reading 'John Dies at the End' - David Wong, which was, perhaps, even funnier than the Discworld novels.

I'll be starting either the next book in Brent Weeks' Night Angel trilogy or a Bernard Cornwell historical fiction next, depending on my mood.

The first of the Night Angel Trilogy: The Way of the Shadows,

What a coincidence! I hope you enjoy it, I did very much and about to start the second book.

 

[pedrnorth]

I'm reading a bunch of books about the nature of Art for a class I'm taking. Really interesting stuff so far. I think people should really spend more time thinking about what art is (since we consume so much of it) instead of just taking it for granted. Currently I'm on 'What is Art' by Leo Tolstoy.

 

[Misaek]

Reading the Mass Effect books to prepare for Mass Effect 2 and the Mass Effect Comics and when I am done with that hopefully I will be lended Stephen King's first Dark Tower book.

 

[ElephantGuts]

I'm pissed off because I was planning on reading the second Mass Effect book over Holiday Break (as I'll also be playing through Mass Effect again in preparation for ME2), but my English teacher decided to give us a book to read over break.

I guess I'll just forgo the books I'm interested and be forced to ignore my interest in reading for the expense of my school. Ironic, huh? Not so much ironic actually as much as stupid. Unintelligent teaching.

I figure out what book I'll be reading tomorrow. It'd better be good.

 

[Superasil]

The dark tower, book 7 (and the last so far) in The Dark Tower series by Stephen king. i love it, I'm almost done too! amazing series.

Hopefully too, i can get my hands on a Mass Effect book... but im in a nowhere town so i might not.