Not reading below this post so may repeat,

but you could check out Shawshank or Green Mile. They're both very good and not really scary at all. The biggest problem is that they're both pretty accurate to the movies iirc.

Edit: That is, the movies replicate the stories. So if you've seen the movie, the read may not be as awesome.

Oh, and I'm reading Straight Outta Compton. It's a book written by my creative writing professor. I'm giving it a whirl, but I really cannot understand anything going on with it. It's a culture that I have no knowledge of or relation to. Lots of slanguage.

finished "Black Holes and Time Warps" by Kip Thorne yesterday...very good book, tons of info on general and special relativity through studying the history of black hole research...i'm guessing i understoon about 10% of it, not bad for a first read

starting "Hyperspace" by Michio Kaku...its about the study of higher dimensions and string theory and unifying the laws of physics etc...

i also hope to actually start going through a book called "Physics Demystified" which is kinda like a helper book for students, but i want to work my way through it as a fast learn so i can hopefully understand more of what i read in other places...

also got a copy of "Astrophotography with Digital SLR Cameras" by jerry lodigress (astropix.com) that im gonna start reading

Thirddan, ever see the 123di digital photography course/resource?

http://www.123di.com/default.htm

It gets pretty tremendously awesome reviews, like this one from the owner of dpreview.com, which is a great photography site, and other well respected industry types.

Anyway, it's like 50 bucks and a definite future buy for me. It sounds right up your alley.

thanks for the link blarg, i'll def check that one out when i get a chance...

i think the fun thing about astrophotography (other than that i love astronomy etc) is that it is super technical and involves a ton of different things than terrestrial photography because the exposures are so much longer and because of things that don't occur when photographing earth based objects, namely the rotation of the earth itself...

just checked out the table of contents...seems very comprehensive, will look into it more later...

Well after someone suggested reading Iron and Silk to me again on this forum I finally got around to it. It is a great little book about an English teacher in China during the 80s. His stories are very touching, and often time very funny. It's a real quick read and I suggest picking it up.

Another book I've started reading is A Game of Thrones. http://www.amazon.com/Game-Thrones-S.../dp/0553588486

I'm usually not one to fall in love with books, but this book is fiction crack. I haven't even really gotten into the actual storyline yet (only 200 pages in), but the writing is just so good. The characters are already developing and are great, and I'm already completely engrossed in this book. If you are into fiction, please give this a shot, I guarantee that after the prologue you will be hooked.

Glad you liked Iron and Silk. The writer also made a movie of the same name based on the book he wrote, and what's more, he stars in itself and does quite a good job. It also features the martial arts master and champion he mentions training under, who is fascinating in the film, as he is in the book.

I loved that the book had a lot of love and some real sadness too. It was a pretty interesting balance.

I'm still reading River Town now, and it is not as quick a read and meanders a bit, but about page 50 it is a tour de force on the power of learning and language that is genuinely moving, and goes up and down from there. I'm on about 180 now and it has been strong for a while. It is sometimes really edgy about the way people have to restrain themselves and conform, and even publicly demand conformity from others, in order to live in such a closed society.

Thanks for telling me about that. I'll have to check out the movie, if for no other reason than to see the martial arts instructor. He is certainly a character.

http://www.johndiesattheend.com/

Best book I've ever read. I actually bought the book after reading it online, because it's just that good. I'd review it, but if you click that link you can read the online version (which is slightly better than the book version).

Absolutely. Black Belt Magazine had a great article on him a number of years back, and they have archives. If a search turns it up, it's well worth the read. He wound up moving to Canada eventually.

Currently reading Death Star, obviously a Star Wars book. It's a fairly recent book and I got it on impulse at the library. I'd like to read the newest series of books (dealing with Han and Leia's son turning to the Dark Side), but it's 9 novels long. So I picked up Death Star instead.

It gets mixed reviews, but I find it enjoyable so far. The first third of the book basically deals with introducing the characters and how they get to serve on the Death Star. Apparently, the action occurs in the second half. I particularly like reading about other people's reaction to Vader. Vader, as we know, is supposed to be an evil character. That doesn't come through in the prequel trilogy. But it's definitely coming through in the book, as he inspires fear in every one. Even Tarkin.

It also, offhandedly, answers one question I've always had. Do people know that the Emperor is a Sith Lord? Apparently not, as one character makes an offhand remark suggesting that the Emperor would never carry a light saber.

Most of Clancy's recent stuff has been utter garbage, but RSR is quite good. Pretty impressive that five years before Desert Storm (i.e. before anyone had seen the combat capabilities of the Abrams tank, the A-10 or the Stealth Fighter) Clancy was able to put together such an accurate portrayal of modern war. There's a bit in it describing a Russian general surveying one of the battlefields in Germany and it reads like a verbatim copy of the descriptions of the Highway of Death and other Gulf War battlefields.

I think the A-10 warthog was around for a good while before Desert Storm, no?

It was around, but not tested in combat AFAIK.

Anyone else read any of Tedd Bell's Alexander Hawke books? Lots of fun. sort of a cross between Tom Clancy and James Bond!

Just finished The Power Broker by Robert Caro. A lot of you have probably read it. Utterly incredible, I thought. A must-read if you remotely are interested in history/biography/New York City, just unbelievably well written and researched.

Now planning on tackling Gotham: A History of New York to 1898 and Rhodes' atom bomb book, as well as What is the What for variety (got that from this thread). I loved Heartbreaking Work, so I'm excited.

This is all true, but by way of warning once you've finished Feast for Crows (which represents a considerable drop in quality from the first three), your in for a long, long wait. Indeed I don't think he will finish the series.

BTW Fevre Dream by GRRM is really good too.

I've hit the second half and now see what the action is going to be: telling the actions of Episode 4 from the Empire's perspective.

I disagree strongly about Feast for Crows. I finished it within the last month or two and absolutely adored it. The books have gotten better as they go along IMO.

And yea...Martin has a note in Feast for Crows that the second half of the book (not even technically the next book, just the parallel stories) was to be released like 6 months later, meaning Holiday '06 even with some slight delays. The scary part is that he had basically FINISHED all of that stuff already, because they decided to split the one book into two at the last minute. So even with him having been basically "done" with book 5, we're not seeing it until mid-'09 at the absolute earliest, 4 years after book 4. So him starting the sixth book from scratch? lol.

But still, he almost certainly has outlines, hopefully fairly detailed ones, so if he drops dead we'll get the Robert Jordan treatment.

****, I see I've been missing out on a lot of Stephen King discussion. Going to have to go back and read this whole thread am I?

Actually came into the thread just to post that I finished Blaze (written as Richard Bachman) last night. I liked it. I love the Bachman Books (Running Man, Long Walk, Roadwork, Rage; Thinner was a separate release and more standard King than Bachman), and I was pleased that Blaze really captured that depressing Bachman feeling.

Up now is Skeleton Crew, currently on The Mist. I love King's short stories/novellas, and I love his intros and notes.

Things that were mentioned recently in this thread - I liked the Uncut Stand a lot, but read it when I was 13, so who knows. The Shining I read somewhat recently and eh. Ditto Pet Sematary, liked it slightly better than the Shining though.

I was considering posting in the On Writing thread (oh just realizing - was that merged into this?), because I liked it a lot. I agree with his philosophy of writing, and it's the way I will do things if I ever write. The Running Man is the perfect example of what and how I would love to write...have a base idea, run with it, and churn it out in a 72 hour pace as frantic as the book itself.

the songs of Ice and Fire books are so damn good. there's a whole thread of them somewhere, either in The Lounge or OOT...probably the archives.

I'm half way through Blindness by Jose Saramago. I really like it so far which is a relief as I have quit on my last two books half way through.

The translation isn't great, but it hasn't interfiered with my enjoyment of the book.

Ken

i tried reading blindness a couple years back after famous 2p2er jason_t recommended it to me...i got about half way through before i put it down and never picked it up again...


there is a movie coming out based on it...

I'd love us to do King as a book club


Rage would be fantastic given Columbine et al but The Long Walk would be good too