What Have You Been Reading?

Post by **Shadowed Illusions** » Thu Jan 01, 1970 2:00 am

Okay... So I popped the question of good books in chat because I want something to occupy myself, and we started going on about some awesome authors and good titles. 
 
So, I want to know, so I can spare the poor souls in chat my questioning, what have you been reading lately? 
 
 
FORM: 
 
Title: 
Author: 
Genre: 
Pages: 
Summary: 
 
 
 
Title: The Brief History Of The Dead 
Author: Kevin Brockmeier 
Genre: Fiction 
Pages: 272 
Summary: 
 
In The Brief History of the Dead, the dead live in an afterlife called the City, and they can live there as long as someone alive on earth still remembers them. Luka Sims runs the City's only newspaper, bringing news from the other side to the afterlife. Recent arrivals tell of a virus sweeping through Asia, and the City is quickly overrun by new residents, who then quickly disappear as all those who remember them die soon afterwards. As the pandemic sweeps across earth, the City begins to empty. Luka searches the city, finding just a few residents left, and they're all remembered by one Laura Byrd. Back on Earth, Laura is trapped in an Anarctic research station, with her radio out, power failing, and her few supplies dwindling. Her survival is the only hope for the final residents of the City... 
 
 
 
Title: The Cat Dancers 
Author: P. T. Deutermann 
Genre: Mystery/Thriller 
Summary: 
 
During the robbery of a mini market, the robbers murder the store clerk. A shot goes wild, causing a gas pump to explode. A woman and child in a van near the pump are killed. 
The killers are caught almost immediately, and one confesses to the crime. However, the charges are dismissed on a technicality. Shortly after their release, videotape appears on the Internet showing one of the killers being executed in a homemade electric chair. 
Investigator Cam Richter of the Manceford County, NC Sheriff's Department is in charge of tracking the executioner down. Shortly after beginning his investigation, the judge in the case - who is also Richter's ex wife - is killed with a car bomb. 
The husband of the woman who was killed has disappeared, and when Richter finds him, he admits electrocuting the killers. He denies blowing up the judge. However, he says he received help in tracking down the minimart killers and tells Richter to find a mountain man named "White Eye" and ask him about the cat dancers. 
White Eye has a pet mountain lion, which he uses to terrify Richter and his dogs. After much prying, Richter discovers that cat dancing involves rappelling down a cliff face to take a clasp photo of a mountain lion in its lair. He discovers that this dangerous activity is an initiation for a group of rogue police officers. The group's aim is to right the wrongs of overzealous judges who let criminals off on what they consider minor technicalities. 
As Richter gets close to the group, he is lured into a trap - a cave in which two hungry mountain lions are trying to catch him. 
 
 
 
Title: Mary, Mary 
Author: Julie Parsons 
Genre: Thriller 
Pages: 431 
Summary: 
 
Late on a hot Dublin night, Dr. Margaret Mitchell, a widow in her mid-forties, phones the police with a sense of dread and foreboding. Her daughter, Mary, went out with some friends twenty-four hours ago. She has not come home. Two days later, Margaret receives an anonymous phone call. Having worked in an institution for the criminally insane, Margaret is all too familiar with what she hears on the other end of the line and it fills her with terror. A week later an old man walking his dog beside a canal finds the body of Mary Mitchell half-submerged in the water. She has been raped, tortured, and beaten to death. Inspector Michael McLoughlin, who has a reputation as a drinker and a womanizer, is assigned to the case. Although he was once a successful detective, there are now doubts about his stability. McLoughlin is taken with Margaret's beauty and the force of her personality: he becomes obsessed and watches her constantly. The killer, meanwhile, has transferred his desire to damage and kill to Margaret, who finds herself drawn to the man who ruined her life and destroyed her daughter's. 
 
 
 
Title: Shadows 
Author: John Saul 
Genre: Science Fiction 
Pages: 374 
Summary: 
 
A gifted child named Josh MacCallum joins a school exclusive to child-geniuses like himself. He finally fits in with the other kids, and makes friends. Then some of his friends mysteriously start committing suicide, and it is up to Josh to figure out why, and where they really go.

Post by **Raphus Cucullatus** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 7:00 am

Title: The Secret History 
Author: Donna Tartt 
Genre: Thriller 
Pages: 600-ish 
Summary: 
 
A young American university student called Richard meets five eccentric fellow students when switching his major to Greek. One unforseen tragedy leads to a bigger tragedy and eventually a third tragedy which ends all tragedies but scars the main characters for life. <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/tongue.gif ALT=":p"> 
 
A nice mix of a modern Thriller and ... a Greek tragedy. <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif ALT=":D"> 
 
Raphus really liked it, especially after chapter one and until the second tragedy.

Post by **Remagoen** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 5:51 pm

Title: Tales of the Otori (Book 1): Across the Nightingale Floor

Author: Lean Hearn

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 287 (Trade back)

Summary: While set in a Feudal Japan, the land has been reimagined, some magic is thrown in, and dashed with the helpless princess held in a castle by an evil Lord. Across the Nightingale Floor is a classic story told in a completely different way: silently. It’s hard to explain, but while you are reading it feels as though you are “reading a silent movie”. While there is dialog, its sparse and used only when truly needed. Plus, the ancient culture of Japan shines like a beacon. Truly a book I love, and one of the first to actually get me to say, “No more TV for today, I’m going to read.”

*****

Title: The Lost Fleet: Dauntless

Author: Jack Campbell

Genre: Sci-fi

Pages: 293 (Mass Market)

Summary: Imagine a war that lasted for a century between the Allies and the Syndics. In a desperate move, the Allies struck the Syndic in their home system to finally bring an end to the war. However, like the Battle of Endor, “It’s a trap!” The Allies, broken and beaten, are forced to surrender, but all is not lost. John “Black Jack” Geary, worshiped almost as a demi-god, is given command of the fleet and charged to take them home. But he is no god, just a man, and fights the fleet at the same time as guarding it. Any Galactica fan would love this book, and is a great filler between episodes and seasons! Certainly, with a complex world, a simple-story-told-simply was a welcome addition in my life.

Post by **Unicornfoal** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 11:27 am

Title: Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony (book 5)

Author: Eoin (pronounced 'Owen') Colfer

Genre: Sci-fi/Fantasy I think

Pages: My hard-back copy has 376

Summary: This is the fifth in a series about 14-year-old criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl, the only 'Mud Man', as the fairies call them, to know of the underground existance of Fairies and their kind. He and his bodyguard, Butler, are now looking into the existance of Demons, who disappeared thousands of years ago. Their fairy friend Holly and dwarf friend Mulch have meanwhile left the LEP, 'Lower Elements Police', and are running their own private investigator business.

Unfortunately, you really need to have read the first four books to understand this one, but it is a great read. The copy I have is cool, because underneath the dust-cover the title is written in the fairy language and style, and there is writing on the spine, too. Just like every really good book, I ended up bringing it to school and reading it every spare moment I got, even going as far as to say "Stuff homework, I'm going to read!" ... Needless to say, my teachers didn't approve of that. xD

Post by **Windra** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 4:19 am

Our library has an extremely sucky and minuscule fiction section. The books that are supplied are typically easy readers - little kids' books. Don't ask why. I haven't got a clue.

I requested The Haunting of Hill House a couple of weeks ago, but never got a word from the library.

Among the more ... "advanced" ... books, I found Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates and am checking that out. Yay for Tortuga de Mar. Turtle soup. =D

Title: Book of Pirates

Author: Howard Pyle

Genre: Fiction/Historical

Pages: 219

Summary: Fiction, fact, and fancy concerning the buccaneers and marooners on the Spanish Main.

Post by **CodeZX** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 4:24 am

Title: The Wastelands (The Dark Tower III)

Author: Steven King

Genre: fantasy fiction, science fantasy, horror, and western (all in one)

Pages: 509

Summary: Unknown. I haven't started reading. Yet.

Post by **Ourania Dreamchaser** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 3:41 pm

Title: Jurassic Park

Author: Michael Chrichton

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 399 (why couldnt he just writre 1 more page? xD)

Summary: You should know what it's about

xD

Post by **CodeZX** » Thu Dec 14, 2006 5:32 pm

Crichton was exorcised by a preist. I did some research on him for my Novel class, saw that and... well...

Post by **Ourania Dreamchaser** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 3:36 pm

wow, really? o_O;

Post by **Ourania Dreamchaser** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 3:32 pm

teh double post of DEWM

Finished Jurassic Park, started a new one =)

Title: The Source of Magic

Author: Piers Anthony

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 326

Summary: (from the back cover) As a ruler of a country steeped in enchantment, King Trent was naturally curious about the source of its magic. It made sense to order Bink, the only one of his subjects, immune to supernatural harm, to undertake a quest to discover the wellspring of Xanth's uniqueness.

From the beginning, Bink and his companions, Chester the centaur and Crombie, the soldier transformed into a gryphon, were harried by an unseen enemy determined to thwart them. Even the power of the Good Magician Humfrey, together with Bink's protective talent, scarecely saved their lives.

Then when Humfrey and Crombie turned against him, all seemed lost. But Bink's ingenuity and luck prevailed, and he reached his goal. The king's orders had been carried out.

But the King had not expected Bink's nect act- to destroy utterly the magic of Xanth!

Post by **ddpej** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 9:31 pm

That is an awesome series -- the Xanth books, I mean. ^_^

Post by **Ourania Dreamchaser** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 3:18 pm

Oh I know! I love them! Piers Anthony rocks my socks

Post by **ddpej** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 6:11 pm

Ever read Tamora Pierce? I'm rereading her book The Will of the Empress now, but she's got dozens of great books. ^_^

Post by **Ourania Dreamchaser** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 8:09 pm

I have one of her books, Trickster's Choice, and I started reading it but put it down. I'm gunna try to go back to it though. She's really hard to find around here for some reason.

Post by **ddpej** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 11:55 pm

I can only find her at the really big Borders...which is nowhere near me. lol

New book: A Spell for Chameleon (Piers Anthony).

Post by **XxJah LilaxX** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:02 am

Tamora Pierce was the author who first got me into fantasy (well, after the chronicles of narnia, naturally) in elementary school! I still have a shelf of her books from the Song of the Lioness Quartet to the books set in Emelan. ^_^ And as for Piers Anthony I own A Spell for Chameleon and Nightmare.

I'm reading a few different things at the moment.

Just finished:

Title: Jane Eyre

Author: Charlotte Bronte

Genre: Fiction/Classic Literature

Pages: 682

Summary: Jane Eyre is a remarkable girl. Orphaned as a baby, she was left to the cruel whims of her cousins and aunt, who regard her with nothing but hatred, no matter how she tries to win their favor. Eventually, they send her away to a girl's school, a cruel institution where she faces starvation and abuse. No matter what terrors befall her (and there are many--plagues, poverty, and heart break among them) Jane remains resolute, proud, and full of fire. This book was revolutionary at the time it came out not only because of the incredible skill of Bronte, but because it was one of the first books in which a young female protagonist was an intelligent, witty, and strong character. One of the best books I have EVER read.

Title: The Hellbound Heart

Author:Clive Barker

Genre: Horror

Pages: 164

Summary: Have any of you seen the movie Hellraiser, directed by Clive Barker? This novella was the inspiration for that movie. Rory and his beautiful wife Julia move into the huge house Rory has just inherited, and all seems well. But Julia has a secret. She doesn't love her husband, but lusts after his missing brother, who is widely acknowledged to be a monster, and now, long after their final parting, he's back, but not in a form anyone would recognize. Drawn by the demonic Cenobites into a hellish world of mingled pleasure and agony through a mysterious puzzle box, Rory's brother Frank seeks a way to escape his captors, and through the lovely Julia and a series of horrific murders, he has found a way. It's up to Rory's co-worker, Kirsty, to try to save him, but in attempting to do so, her own soul becomes the object of the Cenobites' hunt.

And right now I'm reading:

Title: The Most EVIL Pirates in History

Author: Shelley Klein

Genre: Nonfiction

Pages: 180

Summary: From Calico Jack to Blackbeard and Anne Bonney, fifteen of the most notorious pirates in history are biographied. Very interesting. This book outlines some of the remarkable and sadistic practices employed by pirates in general and these infamous characters in particular. I'm obsessed with pirates, btw.

Title: Trainspotting

Author: Irvine Welsh

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 344

Summary: This is the book that the fantastic movie with Ewan McGregor was based on. It follows the exploits of a group of Scottish heroin addicts in a fragmented series of short, often disturbing stories. Very interesting read, and quite compelling, but not for the faint of heart!

Post by **ddpej** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 5:13 am

I own A Spell for Chameleon and one (two?) other(s) from the Xanth series, and I now own three Tamora Pierce books as I got two for Christmas. ^_^

Anyway... Currently reading On Basilisk Station, first in the Honor Harrington series by David Weber. This is an amazing science fiction series that I highly recommend. ^_^

Post by **Ourania Dreamchaser** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 6:09 pm

I have a bunch of the Xanth series...my local library had kind of a spring cleaning and sold a bunch of old books one year and I grabbed all of the Piers Anthony stuff ^^

Post by **Windra** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 6:07 am

I haven't started to read it yet, but ...

Title: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
Author: Stephen King
Genre: Need you ask?
Pages: 224
Summary: On a six-mile hike on the Maine-New Hampshire branch of the Appalachian Trail, nine-year-old Trisha McFarland quickly tires of the constant bickering between her older brother, Pete, and her recently divorced mother. But when she wanders off by herself, and then tries to catch up by attempting a shortcut, she becomes lost in a wilderness maze full of peril and terror.
As night falls, Trisha has only her ingenuity as a defense against the elements, and only her courage and faith to withstand her mounting fears. For solace she tunes her Walkman to broadcast of Boston Red Sox baseball games and follows the gritty performances of her hero, relief pitcher Tom Gordon. And when her radio's reception begins to fade, Trisha imagines that Tom Gordon is with her--protecting her from an all-too-real enemy who has left a trail of slaughtered animals and mangled trees in the dense, dark woods...

Post by **Halcyon** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 8:31 pm

Title: Stolen Magic

Author: M.J. Putney

Genre: Fantasy/Romance

Pages: 410

Summary: Simon Malmain, the Earl of Falconer, enforces the law for the Guardians, humans with magical powers derived from nature. A routine mission to confront a rogue Guardian turns disastrous when Simon's quarry, Lord Drayton, captures his peruser in a transformation spell. Aid arrives in the form of Meg, a fey young woman who has also been ensorcelled by Drayton. Bound by the need for each other's magic, Simon and Meg join forces to defeat the evil Guardian- and in the process unleash the more ancient magic of passion. But even their combined power may not be enough to stave off Drayton's diabolical plans. Only a desperate act of love may win back the future- or destroy all they hold dear.

My sister got me that for Christmas. Considering she grabbed the Half-Blood series by chance to give me a couple Christmases ago, I'm reading this with a bit of hope. She has a knack to unintentionally grab little gems from the bookshelf.

Title: Forever Odd

Author: Dean Koontz

Genre: Murder-Mystery

Pages: Not sure

Summary: Besides having an unusual moniker, 21-year-old Odd Thomas (whom readers first met in Koontz's 2003 novel of the same name) has some very unusual powers, chief among them his ability to see the dead. He can see, feel and talk to them, too (though they don't talk back: "Perhaps they know things about death that the living are not permitted to learn from them"). These days Odd is still hosting the ghost of a morose Elvis Presley, still grieving his loss, and still worrying about his very fat friend P. Oswald Boone, whose cat, Terrible Chester, likes to pee on his shoes. Late one night, Odd is summoned by the ghost of Dr. Wilbur Jessup to the Jessup home, the site of a gruesome murder. Dr. Jessup is the father of Odd's best friend, Danny, who is afflicted with osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bones. Odd finds Dr. Jessup's body, but Danny is missing. Since Odd has what he describes as "psychic magnetism," he can follow an invisible mental trail, which in this case leads him to his endangered friend. After he finds Danny in a spooky, burned-out Indian casino, it is Odd who becomes the quarry. The beautiful and stunningly evil Datura, aided by two frightening minions, wants to use Odd for his supernatural abilities—and then kill him. Odd's strange gifts, coupled with his intelligence and self-effacing humor, make him one of the most quietly authoritative characters in recent popular fiction.

I read this at my work when I get a chance. I should just buy it but I'm too cheap :) I own the first book of this so far three book series. I love Dean Koontz and the character 'Odd' is so lovable. Pick up the first book 'Odd Thomas' if you can. It is definitely worth it.

What Have You Been Reading?

What Have You Been Reading?

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