Re: Literature Thread

by **Atrum** Sat Jun 01, 2013 12:28 am

S7 Skipito wrote:
AtrumX wrote:If you like historical books Breaking Open Japan is a great account of Commodore Perry's 1850's interaction with Japan.

Light and Liberty: Reflections on the Pursuit of happiness is also an invigorating read.

If you like books about Japan, Shogun by James Clavell

My friend nate recommended that to me while he was taking his Japanese classes. I definitely enjoyed it.

by **DeadSockPuppet** Thu Jun 06, 2013 12:06 pm

I can't remember if this one has come up yet or not but anyone that hasn't read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch needs to make that their next book.

by **S7 K1ll3rKlown** Tue Jun 18, 2013 12:43 pm

Just started Dan Brown's Inferno.
Read Da Vinci Code, Digital Fortress, Deception Point, Lost Symbol, and Angels and Demons.

Was a fan of his work before the movies and before it was the "cool" thing to be seen reading on the train. Anyway, just posting up. Only on chapter two so I'll let you know what I think later. Should be another good one. Only one I didn't enjoy was Lost Symbol. I think he tried too hard or was being pushed by his publisher and rushed it a bit. This one seems (so far) to be going back to his roots.

by **DeadSockPuppet** Tue Jun 18, 2013 5:50 pm

S7 K1ll3rKlown wrote:Just started Dan Brown's Inferno. Read Da Vinci Code, Digital Fortress, Deception Point, Lost Symbol, and Angels and Demons. Was a fan of his work before the movies and before it was the "cool" thing to be seen reading on the train. Anyway, just posting up. Only on chapter two so I'll let you know what I think later. Should be another good one. Only one I didn't enjoy was Lost Symbol. I think he tried too hard or was being pushed by his publisher and rushed it a bit. This one seems (so far) to be going back to his root

I'll have to avoid your comments until I get thru the book. I got that for Father's Day and it will probably be a slow read due to my limited reading time. I also got Vader's Little Princess to read to my daughter - excellent book for any dad of a young girl that's a SW fan.

by **DeadSockPuppet** Sat Feb 01, 2014 8:15 pm

Finally finished Inferno by Dan Brown. Took a long beak because I was on the Xbox and spending time with the family, but I've recently had a ton of time to read since there's never anyone on XBL on a 360 game that I have.

Overall I'd say that I was pleased with the book. Follows Brown's usual formula, so it's kinda predictable, but the end was slightly different than I thought it would be. Also, the main material it discussed I'm not familiar with so it was informative to read. For anyone that's a Brown fan, this is a worthwhile read. For those that haven't read any of his stuff, I'd start with Angels & Demons or DaVinci code first, both of which are better than Inferno.

Now that I'm done with that, I've moved on to The President's Club. Pretty neat book about how the past Presidents (starting with Hoover) helped, advised and sometimes fought with past and current presidents. For anyone that likes to read history/current events type non-fiction, I'd say pick it up. I'm about 230 pages in in only a couple days and it's definitely a great read.

by **S7 Panzer** Fri Feb 14, 2014 11:51 pm

Well I have fallen in love with Brandon Sanderson's writings and overall writing style. I have read the first Storm Archives book, book two coming out march 4th. I'm also going through book two of Mistborn another trilogy by Brandon. I also need to finish up the Divergent series but after reading books with so much deep its hard to go back to young readers book and really not long for more detail about the overall world I am reading.

by **S7 OC** Wed Mar 19, 2014 7:17 am

So recently I found out my library has a thing were I can borrow e books or audio books download them to my ipad and have them for 2 weeks. It's a cool system and nice to not have to buy books. I started listening to the first game of thrones book last night. Thought it was a cool way to do it. I have been wanting to read those books for a while now even though most people say the tv show does a good job and there isn't much need to read them. So listening to them is good while in the car, at home doing whatever and having it on in the background.

by **S7 Panzer** Wed Mar 19, 2014 9:32 am

Yep I do the same thing with Audible. I specifically use www.sunflowerelibrary.org but it is specific to Kansas. Find your own eLibrary if Kansas has one I bet almost all states have one.

by **S7 Panzer** Tue Jul 01, 2014 2:44 pm

Been listening to the first "Pathfinder" book by Orson Scott Card and "Garden of the Moon" by Erikson Steven. After getting into the "Stormlight Archives" by Brandon Sanderson I have been craving books with massive detail which books like "Allegiant" just don't really reach. But I can't give it a hard time it comes with the genre and target audience. Once I get these two series done I will have to tackle the Wheel of Time books.

by **DeadSockPuppet** Tue Jul 01, 2014 6:48 pm

And from what I hear, once you start Wheel of Time, you may as well miss your free time buh-bye.

by **S7 Panzer** Sun Aug 10, 2014 2:07 pm

I just finished up SteelHeart by Brandon Sanderson, another good book. I also finished up the Pathfinder series second books which was also really good by Scott Card. I plan on getting into Rick Riodan's Egyptian series next.

by **S7 Interseptor** Mon Aug 11, 2014 10:42 am

Finally finished all the Witcher books. Both collections of Short Stories are really good if you are into the series I think you would enjoy them. The 5 book saga is also good all the way through book 4. Book 5 is a little weird and terrible confusing. I pushed through it so I could finish the saga but it really was a hard read (and none of the books are particularly easy to read). Overall, I really liked the collection of stories and novels. Worth looking into if you like the games.

by **DeadSockPuppet** Mon Aug 25, 2014 1:15 am

Finished The President's Club today and anyone that's got even a passing interest in Presidential history would probably like it. There were some presidents that I had pre-determined opinions on and this book helped change some of those, some for the better and some for the worse.

I think the best thing I got out of the book was that the only people that could truly judge a president fairly was and is those that came before them, those that sat in the chair and made the decisions and had the buck stop with them. It was also interesting to see how people that had been bitter rivals were able to reconcile their differences out of respect for the office and for the good of the country.

by **S7 Panzer** Tue Aug 26, 2014 12:26 pm

I finished the first Kane Chronicles book, The Red Pyramid. If you are into the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan then you will also love this Egyptian series based around Carter and Sadie Kane.

by **S7 Panzer** Wed Jan 07, 2015 5:43 pm

I finished up all the Kane Chronicles books and they were very well done. I also just finished up Firefight, part two of the three part Reckoners series by Brandon Sanderson. I either plan on re-reading the two Storm light archives books by Bradon Sanderson, diving into The Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson, or finishing up the final book Visitors a Pathfinder series by Orson Scott Card. I am also interested in the Black Company series if anyone has read that and has input.

by **DeadSockPuppet** Wed Jan 07, 2015 6:42 pm

Finished up City of Glass, book 3 in the Mortal Instruments series and am now onto Present at the Future by Ira Flatow.

by **S7 Panzer** Tue Mar 31, 2015 8:23 pm

Just finished up the first two books of the Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne by Brian Staveley. I plan on getting into Licanius Trilogy by James Islington which some compare the first book to be an instant love for Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time fans

by **S7 K1ll3rKlown** Tue Feb 09, 2016 9:27 am

Just getting around to reading "The Revenant" (Michael Punke) before seeing the movie.
Ironic, since I just watched a documentary the other night called "grizzly man"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427312/

by **S7 Panzer** Fri Oct 14, 2016 9:16 pm

Started listening to the Witcher series. I really want to get through all the books so I can play the Witcher 3 one more time, including DLC. I've finished the first book The Last Wish" and I'm close to finishing book 2 Sword of Destiny which encompass all the short stores. After that its diving into the main book series which I believe is still going through translation somewhere around book 5 Lady of the Lake

by **Atrum** Fri Oct 14, 2016 9:40 pm

Has anyone read The Name of the Wind? First book from the Kingkiller Chronicles.

Highly recommend it if you like fantasy (such as GoT, Wheel of Time, LotR, etc.)
Exceptionally well written, but not a massive epic.

2 books out so far, 3rd due sometime soon-ish (hopefully)

by **S7 Panzer** Fri Oct 14, 2016 9:53 pm

Atrum wrote:Has anyone read The Name of the Wind? First book from the Kingkiller Chronicles.

Highly recommend it if you like fantasy (such as GoT, Wheel of Time, LotR, etc.)
Exceptionally well written, but not a massive epic.

2 books out so far, 3rd due sometime soon-ish (hopefully)

That is probably my favorite book series so far with the Stormlight Archive coming in second, for now.

by **DeadSockPuppet** Sat Oct 15, 2016 2:26 am

I'm currently reading The Global Acheivement Gap by Tony Wagner. It's about how there's a knowledge gap between the US students and students from other countries as well as there's a gap between the skills and knowledge base of college grads and what employers want from grads. Despite being 8 years old and a little dated, the info and analysis is pretty interesting.

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