Mr. Shade!!!! Welcome back. ;D
I have had less time for books lately as I've been leading up to my New Years resolution of getting the heck out of school (by way of graduating, that is! ;
) So, the majority of my free time is spent practicing steno. I can't wait till I'm fast enough to make use of audio books (though I actually prefer to read books myself, but when you have to make use of time wisely... what can you do.) Plus, some audio books are annoying because of the narrator. Neil Gaiman is a wonderful narrator, by the way. Smile.
kudos to MsCali for giving him the well deserved shout out.
Here's what I've read in the past 8-10 weeks:
Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse .... by Stephenie MeyerYoung Adult Romance/Fantasy books... your typical teenager vampire love story. I'm on my 3rd time reading them. A box set of the books in hardback just came out right before Christmas. It's normally $55.00, but amazon.com had them for $32 not long ago. They are also all out in paperback now. smile.
My third reading was interrupted when I read the snopes article about The Golden Compass on this site actually. I later got some spam email about it too. I hate censorship and people blindly telling you to boycott something if they have no first hand knowledge of it, themselves. So... I started reading
Pullman's, His Dark Materials trilogy. (Began on Thanksgiving and finished the trilogy before the movie came out, which for the record... I enjoyed.
)
On the way back from Thanksgiving dinner at my Pop's house, I listened to
Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things on audio book. (again, say what you will... but they are great for long trips.) I'd recommend anything Neil Gaiman. He's absolutely AMAZING! Just think, if it wasn't for my love of Tori Amos and reading the Village Voice at the library in between classes... I might not have ever discovered him. (Thank you Matt for the introduction to The Sandman.)
I reread Alan Moore's
Watchmen sometime in between (and during) The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.
I started rereading one of Andrew Vachss's Burke novels (I don't remember which one... I own 2/3 of them) earlier in the week when I needed a break from steno writing. smile. I bought my sister his latest for Christmas as well as Patrick Carmen's latest ... I'll read both of those in the not so far off future. smile.
Andrew Vachss --- Burke series --- crime novels, that have some interesting characters. Burke is the hero, though he is a criminal. Yet, he sometimes takes on P.I. type work or revenge jobs, etc... where the true bad guys get what's coming to them. (the author also a lawyer; only works now defending youth who have been abused, molested, etc... --- so this is the seedy stuff that makes up much of his novels). While these books aren't for everyone... anyone who I've recommended them to, has liked them and asked to borrow more. (My sister has her own collection going now, too).
* OH... Matt sort of introduced me to Vachss, too. Almost forgot about that.
Next on my list:
---> finish watching Cowboy Bebop ( I know, not a book... but the Matt thing reminded me. A chance meeting w/ a kid on a movie review board, introduced me to this awesome series. I'm not a super huge anime fan, but this is fantastic.)
Now then: Other recommendations that are literally Next on my list:
>
Jennifer Government (yes, MsC... Max Berry) --- now I can say that 2 people gave it rave reviews. Another guy I met on a movie review board threw me this bone as a "returning the favor type of thing" for me recommending the Firefly series to him.
>
Hitchhikers Guide... (hangs her head in shame) as promised, Ms. C.
(at which time- upon completion- I can read the Neil Gaiman joint)
> Also... I had actually picked out the sheep detective book from previous conversation, MsCali. You had many of them, but this sounded the most "me", if you will. Not that I'm a sheep... but the idea of sheep dectectives... well, how can you go wrong???
So... my reading has been down lately, but thankfully I keep meeting intelligent people on movie boards who are keeping me busy.
Some of my recommendations for others:
Most things Stephen King (though if I know one personally, I can better help you. smile.)
The Stand is one that most people universally like.
The Green Mile is good for those who don't like the horror genre.
Eyes of the Dragon is a nice fantasy one that is very tame... even my Grandma liked this one. I proved to her that Stephen King was not the anti-Christ and his books aren't demonic w/ this one. lol/smile. Oh... and the one that he wrote with Peter Straub?
Black House was the sequel... what's the first one called??? It'll come to me. I really enjoyed this one. Again, fantasy... jumping between worlds. Loved it. Horror--- liked
It. smile. Oh... and
Insomnia was quite interesting. (If you are a Buffy fan, the creepy dudes from the episode, "Hush" are almost exactly how I pictured a couple of the characters in this book. )Also... as mentioned previously... if you want to read a good series ... then read the Gunslinger Series.
Another fabulous between-two-worlds book....
Neverwhere, by the aforementioned
Neil Gaiman.
My favorite book still remains
To Kill a Mockingbird (it really resonated with me as a child.) --- Harper Lee
Oh, and
Tally's Corner by Elliot Leibow is quite interesting. A really easy read, esp. since I am pretty sure it was his thesis work. Had to read it as a Sociology major, but I usually try to read it once a year. smile.
gotta get back to school work now.
Mr. Shade... tell me what you thought of
Blink, when you're finished with it.