My Current Reading, or How to Bankrupt Yourself and Fail Your Degree in 2 Easy Steps

1. Enter a bookshop.
2. Do what comes naturally.

So what am I reading at the moment? Far too much, and I have far too much to say on them to keep to comment conversations. So here's a blog post about some of the books on my shelf. These are what I have finished recently:

The Wise Man's Fear- Partick Rothfuss
Not particularly enamoured with Rothfuss' writing. The story and world bases set down in The Name of the Wind got me willing to read this eventually, but something that was massively foreshadowed in the first book and should have happened at the beginning of the second so the plot could develop freely still hasn't happened. I fear another fantasy author following the GRRM path of fretting out  after book, full of words, characters and magic: signifying nothing.

Ender's game- Orson Scott Card
Obviously read it because of the film and I've wanted to read it for ages anyway. It's so good. Thematically it reminds me of the Hunger Games, but with rather better intentions behind it and less death. Still brutal treatment of children for the sake of survival and stability. Plus space. Gotta love the bit about it being set in space! Anyway, it's well written, thematically interesting and compelling plotwise, so this one makes me happy.

The Books of Magic- Neil Gaiman et al.
I had never read a graphic novel before and I wanted to give the genre a shot. Someone mentioned this one, so I found it and bought it. It took some time to get used to reading speech bubbles and using the pictures as part of the story telling. It was amusing, but I don't think I'm going to return to graphic novels, especially considering the price. I understand why they are more expensive, but I still feel I am buying less.

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And this is what I'm actually picking up at the moment. It's a little much to be coherent in my mind. I don't tend to read one book straight through (except books which are badly written; really don't know why that is), so it's a longer list than such a one should really be.

Let it Snow- John Green et al.
Saw it on a shelf, stirred something in my memory, bought it. 1st print English ed. paperback. What took you so long Penguin? It was only published in the States 5 years ago... I've read Maureen Johnson's story. Rather good, although I'm going to wait to get into something of a more Christmassy mood to keep on reading.

Les Miserable- Victor Hugo tr. Norman Denny
I've only seen the musical 3 times (plus the film, but... doesn't really count does it?) I figured it was time to read the original. Well... a translation anyway. If I had been told how it began I would have been apprehensive about it. Chapter after chapter exploring the intricacies of a single character. But somehow it works. It was a joy to read about Monseigneur Bienvenu and learn of his brief encounter with the wretch who is to become the main character. To quote the translator's introduction, "[Hugo] was incapable of leaving anything out. The book is loaded down with digressions, interpolated discourses, passages of moralizing rhetoric and pedagogic disquisitions." This and more is already obvious from the short way I've travelled in this book, and I am really looking forward to continuing.

The Dark is Rising- Susan Cooper
This was suggested to me by a Nerdfighter Primary School teacher friend of mine due to my taste in fantasy. I'm not particularly impressed yet, but that might be the age of the target audience rather than the actual quality of the book. That said, I was told that it gets better in the rest of the series, so we'll see if I manage to get far enough to find out.

The Hobbit- J.R.R. Tolkien
Because I've always something from Tolkien on the go. My university room didn't feel like home until my LotR and Hobbits arrived. Nothing's changed. It's still as brilliant as last time I read it.

A Bibliophile's Favorite Books

Hi everyone! I have a confession to make, I cannot decide what my favorite books are. I am a book collector in training as it were. One of my goals in life is to have a personal library. :)

I've been trying to come up with a good list, but I have loved so many books I've read that it is really hard, so I'm going to try my best. As with my taste in music, my favorite books often shift to match what I have recently read, or just what I remember of what I've read in the past. I'm a huge fan of Fantasy/Sci-fi, having read mostly fantasy books, but I do like fiction in general. I will list a few books/series that I like a lot, but there are others I either forgot or did not want to make a list that is way too long.

Disclaimer, I have a fairly high tolerance for annoying writing and characters if I like the story. I do have my limits though.

These are in no particular order.

1. The Fault in Our Stars: This one almost doesn't need mentioning, but The Fault in Our Stars is an amazing book. I love it. Right now, this is easily one of my favorite books, if not my favorite book of the current moment. I have already said plenty about this book in my review of the book (link here: http://dmmaster42.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/the-fault-in-our-stars-by-john-green-spoiler-free-review/), so I'm going to move on, but if you haven't read The Fault in Our Stars then you should. You won't regret it.






2. Harry Potter: I'm most definitely a Potterhead. Ever since third grade when I started reading them I have loved them. I don't think I'll ever be able to watch the last movie without crying, but that's another story.

3. Hamlet: Perhaps the greatest piece of literature ever written, at least in my opinion. I might be biased. I love Shakespeare's plays, well most of them. A Midsummer Night's Dream is another of my favorites.









4. The Chronicles of Narnia: I don't remember them two well, but I remember I loved several of them and they were a major influence early in my life to continue reading fantasy books, so I can't leave them off this list. It was not until much later that I realized that the series is the story of the Bible only with a lot more talking animals.

5. Dragonlance: Chronicles Trilogy, Second Generation and Dragonlance: Chronicles Volume 4: Dragons of the Summer Flame/ Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman: The Dragonlance books, especially the ones written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman I have always thought were really good. The Dragonlance: Chronicles was one of the first fantasy series that I read, after the first couple of Harry Potter books, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (which I read when I was way too young for it and did not like the writing style *ducks the flying produce*; I should reread them, I just have not had the chance yet), and The Chronicles of Narnia. I had just gotten into Dungeons and Dragons about a year previously in sixth grade, and the series read like a D&D campaign story. I loved the story, the world and the most of all the characters. One of the characters, Raistlin the mage, is still easily one of my favorite characters I have ever had the pleasure of reading about. If you haven't read the series, I highly recommend it. The series is more than worth the read just for the character Raistlin, and he's just one character of many.


5.5. Dragonlance: Legends: Speaking of Raistlin, he and his twin brother Caramon have their own trilogy, Dragonlance: Legends. Written by the same two authors as Chronicles, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, it is a wonderful story that adds to both the brothers' character and relationships with each other and others around them. This series is just as good as, if not better than, the original Chronicles, but you really have to read Chronicles first to make sense of Legends, so read them both Chronicles first and Legends, and then you can go from there. You won't regret it. If you like antiheroes who have a sarcastic and witty sense of humor, then you will love Raistlin.




6. R.A. Salvatore's books about Drizzt Do'Urden and Artemis Entreri: These books were the high school version of the Dragonlance books in middle school. I read them fervently and I still am reading Salvatore's books about Drizzt. Yes I know there is a stigma about that character, but I don't care. I love the character and the stories. They are epic, not in the sense that Lord of the Rings are epic, but they feel epic especially the description of battle sequences. Salvatore does a really good job working with the world as well.




7. I have mixed feelings about the Sword of Truth series. I loved the first book, Wizard's First Rule. I loved the second and third books too, though Terry Goodkind's writing style is annoyingly repetitive at times and he obviously has a major crush on the main female character Kahlan, but I have heard the series is good until about book nine to twelve. That many books is a lot so it's not that surprising, but I intend to at least try to finish the series at some point now that I have started it. Zedd the old wizard totally makes up for everything.






8. Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens who Don't Float: Classic Lit Signs on to Facebook: One of the funniest books tearing apart classic books, plays and poems I have ever read. It takes apart tons of classics from The Odyssey to Hamlet to Wuthering Heights. Definitely worth it for any classic lit fans. You'll get all the jokes.

9. Eragon: Yes I know the story is basically Star Wars with dragons, but I still love it, and the first book rekindled my love of writing so I owe a debt of gratitude to it and Christopher Paolini.

10. The Great Gatsby: When I originally read it, I hated it. I thought it was a pointless book and I couldn't wait to stop having to go through the torture of having to be taught about it in school. I was young and was convinced I had better things to do, so sue me. I recognize I was wrong about the book, it's a beautifully written book, really the prose is like poetry, and it is a truly American classic. I mean that it is a tale that describes the quintessential American life, at least in the 1920s but it still has value in today's society.





11. Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy: The story is a bit sub-par, but the really great thing about this book is the philosophy within it. It really is a history of philosophy summarizing many different philosophers' points of view and thoughts. The book covers everything from the Pre-Socratics to 19th and 20th century philosophers. For those who are interested in philosophy and want a general overview of the major philosophers, this is the book to look up.






12. Anything written by this man: Carl Sagan. Seriously. Anything. The guy is brilliant and will blow your mind into the next century. In fact, don't stop at the books he wrote. He's got a TV series called Cosmos too and other works as well. Watch, listen to, and read everything he did. You won't regret it. He's one of the best and most poetic scientists of the 20th century. His works are utterly brilliant.




13. Same with this guy: Joseph Campbell. He was a scholar in comparative religion. He writes a lot about the relations of myths, religions, and the power of spirituality as it all affects our daily life. Amazing stuff. I highly recommend all of his works. He also has several video documentary works as well. All great stuff. Check it out.







Oh goodie, as I'm writing this post, the St. Patrick's Day celebratory obnoxiously loud fireworks have begun a few hours early, and likely will continue for the rest of tonight and tomorrow. Huzzah for drunk people! :)

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone!