Read any good books lately? - Page 6 - The Orange Mane

clintonwho · 02-02-2005, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MajikMan7

which one are you marykate or ashley?

Mary kate

Bronx33 · 02-02-2005, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clintonwho

Mary kate

Whats the shoot selling

? toothpicks?

Old Dude · 02-10-2005, 07:57 PM

A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin.

This was on the NY Times best-seller list for a long time, but I put off reading it because I sort of burned out on romantic fantasy and swords & sorcery and all that stuff a long time ago.

But I'm about 200 pages into this one and I can't put it down. This is like romantic fantasy where things went wrong. Very wrong. It's like someone took the war of the roses (the York & Lancaster one - - not the Douglas & Turner movie) and stuck it in the middle of a Mercedes Lackey novel about talking cats and psychic princesses.

Brutal I tell you. And facinating.

And several more books to go in the epic.

L.A. BRONCOS FAN · 02-10-2005, 10:30 PM

Just finished "My Life" by Bill Clinton a couple weeks ago.

Daaaaamn, that was a long book!

Now reading "The Harvard Medical School's Guide to Men's Health" (fun, eh?)

Anyway, the book contains a lot of useful info on nutrition, exercise, preventing illness, etc.

mosca · 02-10-2005, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Dude

A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin

dude, this book and the rest of the series is totally badass. easily the best fantasy i've read in a long while and a great refreshment from jordan's wheel of time (which just drags on and on). i can't wait for the next book to come out. who's your favorite character so far?

No1BroncoFan · 02-11-2005, 08:36 AM

"Dragon Tears" by Dean Koontz - Good book, but the suspension of disbelief became a bit overwhelming at points. Still worth a read though.

"Vigilant" by James Alan Gardner - Very good. I've read about half of this guy's work so far and haven't found a bad book yet.

Currently reading "An Alien Light" by Nancy Kress. Very interesting so far. After the first few pages I didn't think I'd finish it. One day later I'm half way done.

Ben

Old Dude · 02-11-2005, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mosca

dude, this book and the rest of the series is totally badass. easily the best fantasy i've read in a long while and a great refreshment from jordan's wheel of time (which just drags on and on). i can't wait for the next book to come out. who's your favorite character so far?

Jon the bastard son and Tyrion the dwarf.

LordHelmchen · 02-11-2005, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rohirrim

I just read two great books by the same guy: Steven Pressfield. One is called "Gates of Fire" about the Spartans getting wiped out at Thermopylae, and the other was "Tides of War" about the Pelopennesian War (Athenians vs. Spartans). It's historical fiction. This writer really makes the ancient world come alive. The battle scenes are amazing.

Indeed they are. I was interested in Sparta since I learned to read. And this book really made it all so alive. It's been a while since I read Gates of Fire but I can remember vividly how the shivers ran down my spine when the Spartans performed the "palming the pine" maneuver at the start of the battle vs. the Antirthionians.

Quote:

Originally Posted by No1BroncoFan

Ames got it. Douglas Adams. He wrote "The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy" and two or three sequels.

Ben

All in all there are five books in that series.

The Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Life, the Universe and Everything
So long, and thanks for all the Fish
Mostly Harmless

The later ones are not as good but still a good read. I read the whole cycle about once per year, usually in the sub on the way to work. I get strange looks when I suddenly burst into laughter and can't stop it. There is actually an old TV series produced by the BBC , and it's so trashy that it's cult!
Also, some of you geeks might remember the legendary text adventure by Infocom.
Other good books by Adams (R.I.P.) include The deeper meaning of Liff (no typo) and Last Chance to see (which is a more serious book about endangered species).

Also always good for some real funny entertainment is the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. The PC and PS game with the voices of Monty Python is also pretty funny.

Other books I really like:

Donna Gillespie - The Light Bearer
Marion Zimmer Bradley - The Mists of Avalon
Sun Tsu - The Art of War
James Clavell - Shogun
J.H. Patterson - The Man-Eaters of Tsavo
Gary Jennings - Aztec
Henri Sanson - The Executioners of Paris (written by the last "active member" of the Sanson executioner dynasty)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - Faust
Tolkien - Lord of the Rings
Tolkien - The Silmarillion
Tolkien - Unfinished Tales

And in general I'm always looking for good historic fiction and non-fiction. If anyone knows good books about history, please let me know. thx!

alkemical · 02-11-2005, 02:46 PM

are any of you guys cs lewis fans?

LordHelmchen · 02-11-2005, 03:06 PM

I just finished The Magician's Nephew. I'm not sure yet how much I really like it. But I like it enough to go ahead with the other books/parts of the Chronicles of Narnia. I just don't really like the name of the lion Aslan, always reminds me of a very unpleasent person I know who goes by the same name

mosca · 02-11-2005, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Dude

Jon the bastard son and Tyrion the dwarf.

hell yeah, jon snow is probably my favorite. tyrion's interesting too, i always liked the chapters from his point of view. the one scene at the beginning where jon and tyrion meet outside the banquet dinner is one of my favorites.

Mtbrncofn · 02-11-2005, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by No1BroncoFan

"Dragon Tears" by Dean Koontz - Good book, but the suspension of disbelief became a bit overwhelming at points. Still worth a read though.

"Vigilant" by James Alan Gardner - Very good. I've read about half of this guy's work so far and haven't found a bad book yet.

Currently reading "An Alien Light" by Nancy Kress. Very interesting so far. After the first few pages I didn't think I'd finish it. One day later I'm half way done.

Ben

Dragon Tears is my favorite Koontz book. It's an odd one, I know. I just picked up a new Koontz book that is the first part of a series, I guess. It's called Frankenstein and it looks great. Like the old Koontz books. I haven't gotten to it yet, but my mom said it was great.

Mtbrncofn · 02-11-2005, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LordHelmchen

I just finished The Magician's Nephew. I'm not sure yet how much I really like it. But I like it enough to go ahead with the other books/parts of the Chronicles of Narnia. I just don't really like the name of the lion Aslan, always reminds me of a very unpleasent person I know who goes by the same name

Wow! You're just now reading the Chronicles of Narnia? I thought everyone had read those when they were a kid. They are great books. I've loved them since I was a child. Matter of fact, I am going to have to go find them and read them again. It's been awhile.

No1BroncoFan · 02-11-2005, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtbrncofn®

Wow! You're just now reading the Chronicles of Narnia? I thought everyone had read those when they were a kid. They are great books. I've loved them since I was a child. Matter of fact, I am going to have to go find them and read them again. It's been awhile.

I may have to also. I haven't read tham since grade school. It would be fun just to see if they are as good as I remember.

Ben

Mtbrncofn · 02-11-2005, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by No1BroncoFan

I may have to also. I haven't read tham since grade school. It would be fun just to see if they are as good as I remember.

Ben

Yeah that was exactly what I was thinking. It's been that long since I read them also.

You're right about that happening though. You ever go back and read a book you thought was just the coolest thing when you were a kid, and realize it totally sucks now? Actually I can't really say that has happened with too many books, more so with movies, I guess.

I used to love the Little House on the Prairie books when I was a kid. I don't know how many times I read them. My daughter brought one home last year from school. I was so tickled that she was reading them, I went through and read them again. They were still as good as I remembered them to be.

No1BroncoFan · 02-11-2005, 07:35 PM

Thinking sbout the Narnia books got me thinking about the Prydain books by Lloyd Alexander (if you saw "The Black Cauldron" from Disney, you saw the absolute worst film adaptation in the history of movie making, but it was, very very loosly based on those books). I had them in paperback when I was a kid and absolutely read them to tatters. They've recently (1999) been re-released in hardback. I'm gonna be spending days on Ebay trying to find them at a reasonable price (always assuming my trip to the library doesn't reveal them as hopelessly juvinile, they are in the juvinile fiction section after all).

Ben

Mtbrncofn · 02-11-2005, 07:49 PM

I have the movie. I didn't realize it was a book adaptation. Maybe I'll have to check that out too.

LordHelmchen · 02-11-2005, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtbrncofn®

Wow! You're just now reading the Chronicles of Narnia? I thought everyone had read those when they were a kid. They are great books. I've loved them since I was a child. Matter of fact, I am going to have to go find them and read them again. It's been awhile.

I know no one who ever mentioned them to me , ever. I guess they just aren't really popular here in Germany as child books

The books I remember reading as a kid were Robinson Crusoe, Treasure Island, The Leatherstocking Tales, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Momo, Neverending Story (GREAT book),lots of books by Astrid Lindgren, stuff by the Grimm brothers at a really young age, and a bit later The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Almost everyone I know read those books as a kid.
But you got me interested, what other books are really popular and "classic" over there as kid's books?

Mtbrncofn · 02-11-2005, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LordHelmchen

I know no one who ever mentioned them to me , ever. I guess they just aren't really popular here in Germany as child books

The books I remember reading as a kid were Robinson Crusoe, Treasure Island, stuff by the Grimm brothers at a really young age, and a bit later The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Almost everyone I know read those books as a kid.
But you got me interested, what other books are really popular and "classic" over there as kid's books?

Well I feel stupid now. I didn't realize you were in Germany. I'd definitely say those were classics, and I was going to mention the LOTR but you got those ones too. The few others I can think of right now are ones like "Stuart Little", "Charlotte's Web", "Old Yeller". Maybe No1 can give you a few more ideas.

The Chronicles of Narnia and the LOTR with the Hobbit included of course were some of my absolute favorites.

LordHelmchen · 02-11-2005, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtbrncofn®

Well I feel stupid now. I didn't realize you were in Germany. I'd definitely say those were classics, and I was going to mention the LOTR but you got those ones too. The few others I can think of right now are ones like "Stuart Little", "Charlotte's Web", "Old Yeller". Maybe No1 can give you a few more ideas.

The Chronicles of Narnia and the LOTR with the Hobbit included of course were some of my absolute favorites.

No need to feel stupid, I never wrote that I'm from Germany I guess. At least not in the last year or so

I didn't realize that Stuart Little was also a book adaption, just saw the movie. It's a bit like The Thumbling by the Grimm brothers. I will look into those books you mentioned. Maybe I missed some real gems

No1BroncoFan · 02-12-2005, 04:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LordHelmchen

No need to feel stupid, I never wrote that I'm from Germany I guess. At least not in the last year or so

I didn't realize that Stuart Little was also a book adaption, just saw the movie. It's a bit like The Thumbling by the Grimm brothers. I will look into those books you mentioned. Maybe I missed some real gems

If you read Stuart Little" (a fantastic story) don't expect it to be anything like the movie. They don't share a lot in common except names.

Ben

Mtbrncofn · 02-12-2005, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by No1BroncoFan

If you read Stuart Little" (a fantastic story) don't expect it to be anything like the movie. They don't share a lot in common except names.

Ben

Agreed! The book ( as is usually the case ) is far better than the movie. It really doesn't resemble it at all.

LordHelmchen · 02-12-2005, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by No1BroncoFan

If you read Stuart Little" (a fantastic story) don't expect it to be anything like the movie. They don't share a lot in common except names.

Ben

I just ordered my copy

Looking forward to read it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtbrncofn®

Agreed! The book ( as is usually the case ) is far better than the movie. It really doesn't resemble it at all.

Yes, so true. Thinking about that.. is there any case where the movie is better than the book? For me the closest thing to that would be American Psycho, I just love how Christian Bale plays Pat Bateman. But I guess most fans of the book will strongly disagree with me liking the movie better than the novel.

Rascal · 02-12-2005, 05:31 PM

If you are looking for a historical fiction book I would recommend The Shogun. I haven't read the rest of the series, but that was good book. I see Lord Helmchen also recommended it.

As soon as I finish this law school class (product liability...very interesting) I plan on reading the books Rohirrim mentioned: "Gates of Fire" about the Spartans getting wiped out at Thermopylae, and the other was "Tides of War" about the Pelopennesian War (Athenians vs. Spartans). And then Chronicles of Narnia...never read them.

LordHelmchen · 02-12-2005, 06:10 PM

Also very good historical fiction: The Lightbearer by Donna Gillespie. I loved it! It plays in Rome and "Germany" , around the time of Nero.

Salambo by Gustave Flaubert which is about Hamilkar Barkas, the father of Hannibal, and the battles he had to fight at home, after the first punic war.

I remember reading another book about the battle of Thermopylae , it was a really great novel. I was like 12 years old or so, but I can't remember the title or the writer. It's a shame, I would love to read it again.

Also a great read is The Histories by Herodot (still our only source about the battle of Thermopylae) , the father of history.

Ken Follet's On Wings of Eagles, which is non-fiction, is also very gripping. It's about the rescue of EDS employees during the revolution in Iran.

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02-10-2005, 07:57 PM	#128
Old Dude Host Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: As if I'd tell you crazies! Posts: 14,152	A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin. This was on the NY Times best-seller list for a long time, but I put off reading it because I sort of burned out on romantic fantasy and swords & sorcery and all that stuff a long time ago. But I'm about 200 pages into this one and I can't put it down. This is like romantic fantasy where things went wrong. Very wrong. It's like someone took the war of the roses (the York & Lancaster one - - not the Douglas & Turner movie) and stuck it in the middle of a Mercedes Lackey novel about talking cats and psychic princesses. Brutal I tell you. And facinating. And several more books to go in the epic.

02-10-2005, 10:30 PM	#129
L.A. BRONCOS FAN Mo' holla fo' yo' dolla! Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: In a bunker in an undisclosed location Posts: 52,694	Just finished "My Life" by Bill Clinton a couple weeks ago. Daaaaamn, that was a long book! Now reading "The Harvard Medical School's Guide to Men's Health" (fun, eh?) Anyway, the book contains a lot of useful info on nutrition, exercise, preventing illness, etc.

02-11-2005, 08:36 AM	#131
No1BroncoFan Old School If you have to ask, you don't know Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Rocky Mountain High Posts: 3,106	"Dragon Tears" by Dean Koontz - Good book, but the suspension of disbelief became a bit overwhelming at points. Still worth a read though. "Vigilant" by James Alan Gardner - Very good. I've read about half of this guy's work so far and haven't found a bad book yet. Currently reading "An Alien Light" by Nancy Kress. Very interesting so far. After the first few pages I didn't think I'd finish it. One day later I'm half way done. Ben

02-11-2005, 02:46 PM	#134
alkemical Guerrilla Ontologist rorrim\|mirror Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Future Posts: 42,694 Adopt-a-Bronco: Prima Materia	are any of you guys cs lewis fans?

02-11-2005, 03:06 PM	#135
LordHelmchen Single-Malt Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Stuttgart Posts: 1,064	I just finished The Magician's Nephew. I'm not sure yet how much I really like it. But I like it enough to go ahead with the other books/parts of the Chronicles of Narnia. I just don't really like the name of the lion Aslan, always reminds me of a very unpleasent person I know who goes by the same name

02-11-2005, 07:35 PM	#141
No1BroncoFan Old School If you have to ask, you don't know Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Rocky Mountain High Posts: 3,106	Thinking sbout the Narnia books got me thinking about the Prydain books by Lloyd Alexander (if you saw "The Black Cauldron" from Disney, you saw the absolute worst film adaptation in the history of movie making, but it was, very very loosly based on those books). I had them in paperback when I was a kid and absolutely read them to tatters. They've recently (1999) been re-released in hardback. I'm gonna be spending days on Ebay trying to find them at a reasonable price (always assuming my trip to the library doesn't reveal them as hopelessly juvinile, they are in the juvinile fiction section after all). Ben

02-11-2005, 07:49 PM	#142
Mtbrncofn Ring of Famer Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Bigfork, MT Posts: 8,558	I have the movie. I didn't realize it was a book adaptation. Maybe I'll have to check that out too.

02-12-2005, 05:31 PM	#149
Rascal RIP Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 16,581 Adopt-a-Bronco: Turf	If you are looking for a historical fiction book I would recommend The Shogun. I haven't read the rest of the series, but that was good book. I see Lord Helmchen also recommended it. As soon as I finish this law school class (product liability...very interesting) I plan on reading the books Rohirrim mentioned: "Gates of Fire" about the Spartans getting wiped out at Thermopylae, and the other was "Tides of War" about the Pelopennesian War (Athenians vs. Spartans). And then Chronicles of Narnia...never read them.

02-12-2005, 06:10 PM	#150
LordHelmchen Single-Malt Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Stuttgart Posts: 1,064	Also very good historical fiction: The Lightbearer by Donna Gillespie. I loved it! It plays in Rome and "Germany" , around the time of Nero. Salambo by Gustave Flaubert which is about Hamilkar Barkas, the father of Hannibal, and the battles he had to fight at home, after the first punic war. I remember reading another book about the battle of Thermopylae , it was a really great novel. I was like 12 years old or so, but I can't remember the title or the writer. It's a shame, I would love to read it again. Also a great read is The Histories by Herodot (still our only source about the battle of Thermopylae) , the father of history. Ken Follet's On Wings of Eagles, which is non-fiction, is also very gripping. It's about the rescue of EDS employees during the revolution in Iran.