What Are You Currently Reading?

[Lamp Post]

I can't believe we don't have this thread, I went through all the threads looking for it.  Brought back such memories, too.  :D  Tell me if I, however, missed it.

 

So, pretty self explainatory.  What are you currently reading?  'Tis appreciated if you'd also say whether or not you'd recommend/not recommend the book, too, so everyone can expand their reading list.  :D 

 

I'm curretly reading:

 - Symphony of Ages Seires -- Elizabeth Haydon.  They're great.  I'm adoring them.

 - The Messenger -- Markus Zusak.  'Tis lovely.  Very down-to-Earth, great writing style, fast moving without too much action. 

 - The Gates -- John Connolly.  Only a few pages into it.  'Tis beyond amazing, though.  I love this author.

 

[nathan_p]

Yeah, I don't regret reading it. Could have used some trimming, though -- the 70 page speech was beyond overkill, and the romance subplot was awkward as hell.

Ayn Rand is ace with apocalyptic fiction, though, which is rather odd.

[Megan (Fishy)]

I ignored The Jungle 'till I realized there's an exam on it... tomorrow.

I could seriously do without the communist rant that consumes the last several pages...

[nathan_p]

Socialism, not communism. Although honestly, okay, the difference is immaterial and no one really cares.

You can skip that bit. Only the hardest of hardcore douches will test on anything but the "HOLY SHIT" bits in the meatpacking plant.

[Megan (Fishy)]

...I think I just made it quite obvious that I just skimmed nearly the entire book in one day. Oops.

*nods* *will* The rest of it wasn't that bad, anyway...

[Contradiction]

Over the past two days, I've read An Abundance of Katherines, I am the Messenger, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. 

 

I loved the first two, thought the third was okay, and thought the last was awful. I like the premise of the Hunger Games, but Katniss is really goddamn annoying. 

 

And now I'm reading Lord of Light. But I haven't gotten very far into it.

[Contradiction]

Read Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. Excellent book, even though it is technically a book for kids.

 

Then I read this other children's book that's been sitting on my shelf. I found it five-ish years ago, and thought it sounded interesting at the time, because the cover implied it was a sort of dark fantasy.

The back reads as follows: Twelve-year-old Alexa Daley is spending another summer in Bridewell with her father. She looks forward to exploring the old lodge where she stays each year, with its cozy library and maze of passages and rooms. She's also eager to finally solve the mystery of what lies beyond the immense walls that were built to keep out an unnamed evil that lurks in the forests and The Dark Hills - an evil the townspeople are still afraid of.

As Alexa begins to unravel the truth about what lies outside the protective barrier she's lived behind all her life, she discovers a strange and ancient enchantment. Armed with an unexpected new power, Alexa exposes a danger that could destroy everything she holds dear - and change The Land of Elyon forever.

It was crap. Arrogant-as-hell narration, clichéd plot, annoying, Mary Sue MC. She was the "chosen one." She fucking talked to animals because she found a glowing stone at the bottom of a forest pond. The king of the forest is a grizzly bear named Ander.

Oh, and the "evil"? Her dad's best friend was a traitor who commanded a legion of convicts. We find this out about thirty pages before the book ends. The rest is time spent moaning about the head guard who despises her, longing to get outside the walls, talking to animals, and describing everything she does in detail. There's a 'battle' of sorts (where she throws a stone at someone's head, causing him to fall off the forty-two foot high wall - but he's only injured) on page 242/251.

And that's the whole fucking thing. There is no prominent evil or danger. The townspeople are only mentioned in passing. They tear down the wall and figure out everyone's happier that way. 

>.<'

/endrant

[nathan_p]

Patrick Carman is hilarious for that shit. I read most of the Atherton books because omg mad scientist, but man they weren't worth my while. Honestly I wanted to shoot the protagonist. And maybe everyone else. And myself.

[Contradiction]

I'm not reading anything else by him. His style is insufferable. >:|

[Fake]

Finished I Shall Wear Midnight.

 

:/

 

I loved it, but I felt that Pterry should have saved the romance thing for a fifth book. I don't like it when main characters get romantically involved with a new character with hardly any screen time, especially when it's the last book. It should have just been implied.

[Fake]

Oh, and I'm in the process of reading one of the short stories of Side Jobs.

[Contradiction]

Did you buy it? 

[Fake]

Yep. ^_^

 

Well, for a given value of, "Buy..."