Kristen Gudsnuk
hey, thoreau wrote an essay about civil disobedience-- and then refused to pay his taxes and went to jail because he was protesting ... er.. something. So you can't say he didn't walk the walk!

The jail was nicer than his house, and he was furious when he was released. Sure, it was a demonstration, but don't think he was suffering there or anything.

I sort of understand WHY I have to read Walden, but I really don't like it as a book. It reads too much like a series of rants.

My favorite book and i Am pretty sure nobody here has heard of it:

The sorcerer's ship by Hannes Bok

hooray for the Count of Monte Cristo !!!

Geek Love

most recent book i've finished? "The Pulse" by Stephen King :P

Oh, good to see this thread getting some hits again!

I ditched that It's All Right Now book. It just got waaaay too boring and emo for my tastes.

I'm now reading a book called The Seven Types of Ambiguity by Elliot Perlman and it is a phenomenal book. I recommend it to anyone since it is such a fasinating story told through the eyes of seven different people. Although I would say it's for more mature audiences, just because some of the subject matter is rather... uh... adult.

I'm personally not a fan of Stephen King. He's too vulgar. It's like he'll write things just to write profane things and to make people sick. I don't doubt that he has a lot under his resume but it all just sort of blends together. Same type characters, same horror-like realistic but supernatural storylines...

Then again, you are definitely entitled to like him. I do admit there is one book I really do like by him, called The Talisman but it's very different from his usual style.

I just finished reading the last book in the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, The Amber Spyglass. I'd read it a very long time ago, but I didn't remember much about it, and they're making a movie of the trilogy soon, so I decided to pick this one up again.

The last book was kind of a letdown. It introduced all these unnecessary rules about traveling to different dimensions, and the sole purpose of the entire thing was to make the main characters absolutely miserable. Also a lot of characters that were really well developed early on just dissapeared in this book, or died. The author also created a lot of new characters, but those characters were mainly there because it was convenient and helped the author in his quest to make the church look like a bunch of evil, misguided fools bent on the destruction of human wisdom.

In short, it was an entertaining read, but not exactly uplifting or incredibly interesting. It left me with a "Hmm, well that sucks for them" feeling concerning the main characters, and a general apathy about everything else in the story. I think the author tried to do too much, although I would like to see this book as an animated movie, as opposed to the live action feature they're making.

shadowmagi
most recent book i've finished? "The Pulse" by Stephen King :P

Was that also called Cell? That one was okay, not one of his best. I liked the idea behind it but it just turned into another silly-epic gore thing with a tender ending. I gave it away to a used bookstore. :)

Mazoo
I'm now reading a book called The Seven Types of Ambiguity by Elliot Perlman and it is a phenomenal book. I recommend it to anyone since it is such a fasinating story told through the eyes of seven different people. Although I would say it's for more mature audiences, just because some of the subject matter is rather... uh... adult.

I think I put that book on a to-read list once and then forgot about it... hm. I kind of get the feeling that I did actually start reading it and got horribly bored by it. All I remember is a girl writing somewhat mysteriously about her boyfriend or something. I couldn't get through her chapter. (If it's the book I'm thinking of.)

If you liked The Talisman you might like Eyes of the Dragon. Many people who don't like Stephen King books like that one, it's more of a kid's book... like how Clive Barker did the Thief of Always (a very nice book, I don't like his usual stuff). A lot of people also like Stephen King's short stories... a lot of those turn out to illustrate a single strange idea or do something a bit surreal, and aren't so much about shock value. Skeleton Crew is probably my favorite, but Nightmares and Dreamscapes was good too. :)

ccs1989
I just finished reading the last book in the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, The Amber Spyglass.

I thought the last book kind of fell apart too, and I got the sense that he built the thing up just to make the ending the way it was. There were any number of ways that would have been logical for that universe that would have made fewer people miserable. Maybe he doesn't like happy endings. :)

I'm currently reading The Cadfael Omnibus (the second one)... it's a collection of 3 fiction novellas about a mystery-solving monk in the 1100s. It sounds silly, and it is a little, but it's also pretty well researched and is an entertaining look at medieval life. The main character isn't an annoying buttinski who gives himself liberties like a lot of mystery-solving characters either (Kat Scarpetta and every CSI show, I'm looking at you). It's a lot more fun to read than the usual airport-mystery crap.

Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut

I love most of Vonnegut with a passion, but Cat's Cradle just completley pushed me over the edge. I usually can't stand end-of-the-world stories, but I love how for once it's shown how anyone's bad idea can end it all, and how blind faith can be, and just the way it focuses more on the people than the end itself. I love it.

Yeah, Cat's Cradle is a crazy, crazy book. If you liked that one you need to read Breakfast of Champions.

I've just finished Watchmen by Alan Moore. That seriously blew me away.

Another really good one I read recently would be The Book Of Bunny Suicides

i've read it, but it wasn't as mind blowing as people describe it as.
maybe all that hype ruined it for me...

subcultured
i've read it, but it wasn't as mind blowing as people describe it as.
maybe all that hype ruined it for me...

I recommend reading it more than once. There's so much subtext in the book, and such stunning visuals. Dave Gibbons is a master if there ever was one. It also impacted the industry so much. For example today I was reading Animal Man by Grant Morrison and there were all kinds of visual cues that were tributes to Watchmen in it.

pet semetary (with the s) by Stephen King
I tried to read that before I went to sleep, not a very good move... XP I loved the story though

neil gaiman's neverwhere