Which Book Are You Currently Reading?

[Curmudgeon]

Picked up the 12 books required for my course on modern topics in European history. I'm geeking out the most about
-Alabama in Africa: Booker T. Washington, The German Empire, & the Globalization of the New South
-Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as Civilization
-Disruptive Acts: The New Woman in Fin-de-Siècle France

 

[Terminus]

Currently on the last few pages of The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov.

 

[Mellow Ezlo]

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

I can't believe I haven't read these books before! I've seen all the movies, and I love them, but I've never read the books. I recently finished The Hobbit for the second time as a way to sort of prep this one, so I'm not that far into it. So far though, I'm loving it!

Also, we're currently reading Hamlet in English class. Only read Act 1 Scene 1 so far... I can tell this is going to be a weird play.

 

[Batman]

The Atlas of Middle-earth, by Karen Wynn Fonstad. It's phenomenal. The best book on Tolkien's geography I've ever read. I'll quote part of the back of the book to give an idea:

"Hundreds of two-color maps and diagrams survey the journeys of the principal characters day by day – including all the battles and key locations of the First, Second, and Third Ages. Plans and descriptions of castles, buildings, and distinctive landforms are given, along with thematic maps describing the climate, vegetation, languages, and population distribution of Middle-earth throughout its history. An extensive appendix and an index help readers correlate the maps with Tolkien’s novels."

 

[Snow Queen]

I'm struggling to sit through Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It's a tough read.

 

[Batman]

The State of the Art by Iain M. Banks. It's a novella set in Banks' Culture universe and deals with The Culture (a Type III civilization) visiting newly discovered Earth in the 1970s. The Culture is debating whether or not to contact Earth and give them utopia while one of the agents sent to investigate Earth decides he wants to stay on the planet indefinitely. It's a great commentary on the barbaric state of our current civilization juxtaposed against an infinitely better, yet still flawed, utopia. It's very socialist in theme and a fantastic discourse on the morality of inter-civilization interference.

 

[Yuuago]

Just finished reading a book about the Venetian Empire (City of Fortune by Roger Crowley). It was all right, though I wish it had expanded a little more on trade beyond the Mediterranean - it discussed the importance of London, Flanders, and Germany, but didn't go into any detail about that. But the main thing that I took away from this is that I really know very little about medieval history in the Mediterranean; my areas of interest are much more northerly. I really should read more about the Ottoman Empire some time....

Not sure what I'm going to read next. I've been in a huge mood to read about 17th-century Scandinavia, so I think I'll dig out one of my unread books on the Northern Wars.

 

[Sadia]

The Night Circus

It is just.... I have no words....

It's amazing ^^

 

[sailormars109]

I'm finishing up Beautiful Redemption and beginning Perfect.

 

[Cfrock]

I finished Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5 today. I enjoyed it. However, I was left with the hollow feeling I tend to get from books considered to be classics or whatever; that I was supposed to learn some kind of lesson, feel some kind of philosophical emotion, at the end, and, when I dont, I think I've either missed the point or not really read the book. I don't know, it's hard to explain. I read it and I liked it but it didn't make me feel any different about war or the nature of life and death. Maybe when I've had more time to mull it over in my mind I'll feel like it has some kind of resonance. Maybe.

Anyway, after that I had some tea and then got started on Ian Fleming's The Spy Who Loved Me. It's been ages since I read Fleming and right off the bat he had me hooked again. The man's attention to detail is superb and really draws you into the world he creates so completely. He knows how to make you feel close to a character, and when he needs you to understand them he devotes the time to getting to know them, but he never wastes a second of it. Greatly looking forward to devouring this one.

 

[Jiggly Jaws]

My friend gave me the entire Lord of the Rings series all in one book for me to read. I am thoroughly enjoying it to say the least.

 

[Snow Queen]

I'm currently reading the first book of the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. It really gives new meaning to fantasy in my opinion. It's so unlike any fantasy I've ever read before. I beautiful blend between a country Western and a fantasy. 10000986835/10.

 

[Claire]

I'm reading Full Fathom Five: Ocean Warming and a Father's Legacy by Gordon Chaplin. The book focuses on Chaplin's childhood with his father, Charles Chaplin, in the Bahamas. Charles Chaplin was an ichthyologist in the late '40s. The author helped his father conduct his research as a child, which later prompted a 50-year retrospective study on the reef they first conducted their research.

 

[pkfroce]

Just finished up The Fault in our Stars by John Green. Really good book btw. I just started Looking for Alaska the other day. Also written by John Green.

 

[Reaca]

A couple weeks ago, I started reading A Song of Ice and Fire, the series by George R.R. Martin. I finished A Game of Thrones last night, and I started A Clash of Kings earlier today. I can't wait until I get past where the show left off after season 3.