Any good books we're reading right now?

[darkphoenix]

I just finished Ben Elton's Dead Famous. Very good whodunnit set in a reality show series. I've just moved onto Chart Throb from the same author, it's pretty good so far. I like how he depicts his characters.

[dragons_descent4]

I read this script recently called "Colder than Here" it's a dark comedy about this dying woman planning her own funeral with her family. For the subject matter it's pretty funny. A friend of mine and I are performing a scene from it for a class next week,it should be really fun.

[LadyCyclone]

I'm back on everything written by the genius that was Oscar Wilde - though I have to mention the Hunger Games trilogy which I read recently. They were fantastic; I think the second was the best of the lot.

Mockingjay, slightly disappointing. Killing the gorgeous Finnick Odair was completely unnecessary and the ending felt far too rushed.

Lemmy's edit: Tagged your spoiler

[Nikisaur]

^ Spoiler Alert maybe?

[Lemmy Claypool]

After deciding to do so when I was 9, I've finally gotten round to re-reading The Chronicles of Narnia, very enjoyable if you can get past the old-fashioned lingo and slang. Been enjoying them a lot, I've gotten three chapters into The Horse & His Boy (reading them chronologically to the storyline so this is book 3) in a month.

From the first book that is. It hasn't taken me a month to just read three chapters.

[sticky-runes]

I'm currently on book 12 of Wheel of Time. I haven't read the prequel New Spring yet, but will do so before reading the two final books (which I'm getting for xmas and birthday presents)

I've also read 3 of the 4 Boudica novels by Manda Scott - good bloody Roman and tribal action, with slight fantasy/mythical elements.

[LadyCyclone]

Oops, sorry about the Mockingjay thing!

Also - Narnia is amazing! Some of the best books ever written; really C.S Lewis was a genius, he wrote such simple books with important messages. They are definitely my favourite children's books of all time.

[Lemmy Claypool]

I'm inclined to agree. There's no way to argue against the fact that they are essentially children's books (they don't even seem to be written with an adult audience in mind at all) but I'm thoroughly enjoying them too, definitely the best novels I've read in a long time. I'd have to rack my memory banks but they could be a shoe-in for my all time favourite kids' books too.

[LadyCyclone]

Yup ... they just don't write them like that anymore! Though Harry Potter was genius ... but Narnia had something very special. I certainly wouldn't spoil anything but my favourite of the series - and it's very difficult to choose - is probably The Last Battle - beauty beyond belief, practically Suikoden style!

[Lemmy Claypool]

Yeah I'm looking forward to The Last Battle and Voyage of the Dawn Treader the most. I read some on my lunch today and Shasta has just met the Narnian delegation in Tashbaan, I'm starting to get gripped! Each book so far seems to really hook you onto the plot 3-4 chapters in. Has done for me at least.

Scratch what I said about my favourite kids books previously, somehow I completely forgot The Hobbit exists. That's gonna take some dethroning I reckon.

[LadyCyclone]

I don't know why this is but I always had a lot of difficulty with Tolkien's work - and I'm a wide reader - perhaps for me the description business was just too much, I'm more of a 'jump right into it' sort of person. Lewis will always be miles better than Tolkien though in my opinion I just can't believe he told Lewis not to bother with Narnia!

[catfriedrice]

some of Lewis's other novels are just a bit strange. Finished "Perelandra" not too long ago, along with Orson Scott Card's "Harmony" series and a few from the "Ender's Game" series. Last month I took out Patterson's "Cross" and Graham-Smith's "Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. I've switched to Steven King's "11/22/63", and it's quite hard to put down. I read a lot on breaks, and can down a novel in about a week or so depending on size.

[Lemmy Claypool]

I don't know why this is but I always had a lot of difficulty with Tolkien's work - and I'm a wide reader - perhaps for me the description business was just too much, I'm more of a 'jump right into it' sort of person. Lewis will always be miles better than Tolkien though in my opinion I just can't believe he told Lewis not to bother with Narnia!

I wasn't aware of that, I was always under the impression he was quite encouraging of Narnia. I do know he was disappointed Lewis went C of E instead of Catholic upon his conversion to Christianity though ha.

I get what you mean about Tolkien's work, I've never been too keen on LOTR, it's just not a particularly engaging book, the start is chronically slow and puts me off continuing every time. The Hobbit doesn't suffer from those problems though, and I find it a much better story for it.

Strange how catfriedrice? I do enjoy strange.

[Hirathien]

One book I've been reading now just because of the strange title. It's a Swedish book called "Testiklarnas herravälde" in translation it would be:
"Reign of the testicles". It's an odd book....

[Pyriel]

I wasn't aware of that, I was always under the impression he was quite encouraging of Narnia. I do know he was disappointed Lewis went C of E instead of Catholic upon his conversion to Christianity though ha.

If I remember correctly, Tolkien didn't necessarily dislike it, but he was disappointed by the fact that Lewis and some of his other contemporaries who wrote fantasy didn't sit down and flesh out their worlds more. Tolkien created entire languages, mythological backgrounds, and concrete histories of his world while he was in the process of writing his books. Meanwhile, C. S. Lewis created a fantasy realm where everybody speaks English (aside from maybe some "ancient" carvings; I don't remember); geography was created ad hoc; and the only extant history was covered in blurbs to provide background for the current narrative.

I never had any trouble with Tolkien. I think it's because I read Victor Hugo long before I ever touched The Lord of the Rings. Get through the unabridged version of Les Miserables, and Tolkien's descriptive passages will seem like the emotive text between lines of dialogue.