Anything by Chuck Palahniuk. Um... and comics. Lots of comics. Anything by Joss Whedon (Astonishing X-Men, Upcoming Runaways) Ed Brubaker (Captain America) and Brian Bendis (New Avengers, Ultimate Spiderman) are great.

I haven't read comics in a while, but I'm interested in the art form. Been looking at some "graphic novels" to explore, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Just finished 'The Archaic Revival' by Terence McKenna
About to start 'DMT The Spirit Molecule' by Dr Rick Strassman

Arthur C clarks collected stories. May re-read or look for some new fantasy after. Might take a look at something from this list as i really liked the SF series. Have read the first 54 of that so far.

May revisit my dads old Heinlein too. Been a few years.

People read aside from textbooks? I thought the latest version of Human Resource Management by Ivancevich was great!

I honestly wish I had time to read, if I'm not stuck waist deep in a business or physics book I'm off prepping for grad school exams.

Recently read "If Chins Could Kill" by Bruce Campbell, then blazed through the Rama series (second time), and currently re-reading the whole H2G2 series. It was a long time since I read 'em and I think they may in fact be my favorite series ever.

Nothing to profound for me. I got trapped in an airport and picked up the second Wheel of Time book, ever since then I have been reading them.

The Wheel of Time, Book 7

Crown of Swords

I just finished "the life and times of the thunderbolt kid" by Bill Bryson and now I read "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell," which is really getting fascinating and spooky (alternate reality thing set in a great britain where magin works.

I'm reading "Details of Modern Architecture" and "Advanced Building Structures". Outside of text books I'm reading "The Watchmen" again. Best graphic novel out there.

"Aquarian Universology"-"The Book of Omni-Science"
1977-M.E. Winfield

whaddaya know....the Library of Congress won't touch it......

Harry Potter FTW!
No, the last one I read was Inca Gold by Clive Cussler. Mystery/action novel. Pretty good.

Right now I'm reading The Blind Watchmaker (Richard Dawkins) and the Children of Hurin (J.R.R. Tolkien).

I'm a big fan of fantasy and Sci-Fi.

Some of my favorite authors are:
Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance Chronicles and The Death Gate Cycle)
Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time)
Terry Goodkind (Sword of Truth)
Robert Heinlein
Roger Zelazny (Chronicles of Amber)
J. K. Rowling (Harry Potter)
R. A. Salvatore (Drizzt Books)
George R. R. Martin (Song of Ice & Fire).

Well there are just a few

I'm working my way through all of Robert Crais' Elvis Cole / Joe Pike novels. Mystery, P.I. Noir. I'm hooked bad!

Well, as of right now I'm too busy with books for classes, predominantly about the conflict in the Middle East and Human Evolutionary Anatomy (soooo fucking boring btw, primate osteology is not my bag, but after this class, am all good with my science requirements)... but anyway, this summer, when I had time to myself, I was digging on the following:

Collapse, by Jared Diamond, the follow up to his more famous Guns, Germs, & Steel but arguably the more important of the two.

Desert Queen by Janet Wallach, which is a biography of Gertrude Bell, a surprisingly important historical figure, she was the first woman intelligence officer in British history, serving them during WW1 and afterwards she had a hand in determining the borders of modern day Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, and Syria... prior to that she had been an archaeologist of some note and an intrepid explorer, very much a female Lawrence of Arabia (and actually was a pretty good friend of his, one of the few women in his life he would deign to refer to on a first name basis), as she was also fluent in several languages of the Levant and Arabic and befriended many of the desert tribes on her far-ranging journeys prior to the war. During the war these friendships enabled the British to overturn the Ottomans and maintain relative peace in the region in the aftermath.

But until I picked up this book, I HAD NEVER HEARD PEEP ABOUT HER! But then again, how surprising is that? She was, after all, a chick, and we get no cred. She also founded the Museum of Antiquities in Baghdad that got looted when we Yanks rolled in four years ago... somewhere on her family estate in Britain she's probably chain-smoking and spinning in her grave as we speak.

So that's my book report... gotta say though, y'all seem to be reading otherwise similar books, Bruce Campbell's If Chins Could Kill is excellent, as is anything by Doug Adams and Robert Heinlein... still two of my very favorite authors.

addendum: I also keep up on my comic subscriptions/addictions to Warren Ellis' Fell & Desolation Jones, Ben Templesmith's Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse & Eric Shanower's Age of Bronze.... whenever the hell they decide to publish new ones. That's the problem with the indie comics, they are not nearly as regular as the high-gloss mass produced ones like Marvel... and speaking of Marvel, did anyone else fall for their 'Civil War' pyramid scheme? I did, but only so far as to buy the core seven issues... my dealer, I mean comic book store owner, tried to push all the side stories on me, but I can only imagine what that would have cost!

Currently:

Robert Heinlein - The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress

Before that it was:

Craig Mullin - Murder in Samarkand

Zaki Chehab - Inside Hamas

Current:
The Endless Knot (Song of Albion Series) - Stephen R. Lawhead
--It's OK I guess. Not too spectacular

Fatal Revenant (Chronicles of Thomas Covenant) - Stephen R. Donaldson
--Finally, after 30 years, Donaldson finishes the series. Fantastic!


My Favorites:
The Dark Tower (series)- Stephen King
--Probably don't have to explain this series. One of the finest series ever written. Only fiction novels I've ever read a second time.

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever (series)- Stephen R. Donaldson
--Perfect anti-hero/hero you love to hate saves/destroys the world in every volume.

Homecoming (series) - Orson Scott Card
--Any details are spoilers for this series. Orson might be the best fantasy/sci-fi writer alive.

The Stand - Stephen King
--The apocalypse according to Stephen King.


BTW, I'm looking for more fantasy novels that are especially otherworldly. I'm bored by knights and wizards unless their world is distinctly different than ours. I also like stories where typical folks are dropped into weird other worlds. Any ideas?

The last textual book I read in its entirety was a book about probability theory called "Struck by Lightning." It's very accessible and a good introductory "pop-science" read to the subject. The last graphic novel I read was Epileptic by David B, which deals with heavy material (the author's brother's severe epilepsy and all of the ill-fated attempts to cure him of it), but is very well written and has excellent artwork.

Currently, whenever I have a few minutes, I'm reading a couple books about logic, Logic Made Easy by Deborah J Bennett and 101 Philosophy problems by Martin Cohen.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Currently reading Brasyl by Ian McDonald. Though I'm not sure if I like it yet.

Just finished and highly recommend Eifelheim by Michael Flynn. Especially if you like medieval Germany, the black plague and trans-dimensional space aliens.

@Doc_M
Have you ever checked out The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny? It might fit the bill, I quite enjoyed it.

lol zifnab - I was going to suggest the same to doc_m.

I was reading a friend's copy of the Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson, but he took it back before I could finish. Procrastination delay in getting another copy, so I moved on to Roger Penrose's The Large, The Small, and The Human Mind.

Prior to that - Phthor, Piers Anthony; Shardik, Richard Adams; and a reread of the Dune series.


*quality post for generating a great book list.

Awarding rougy with one star point for this contribution to Sift Talk - declared quality by jonny.

@Doc_M How about the Song of Ice and Fire cycle by George Martin?

I'm sure I get huge nerd points for recommending a book that now has a game attached to it... and generally I wouldn't be into that sort of thing but a friend got me hooked on the book on tape versions during a road trip.

The world it's set in is maybe not so crazy (don't know what your standards are for that), and there are dragons but only a few. But the characters are great and extremely well written... to the point where you empathize with some of the villains... and the intricate political maneuvering and backstabbing among one another was enough to suck me in... its very rare that modern fantasy does that... also, there are zombies (of a sort) and that is always wicked cool.

alll you Heinlein and Zelazny whips, make a feel young.....

doc_m and anyone looking for an unconventional fantasy novel, try Grendel by John Gardner.

I'm reading Philip K. Dick short stories, The Blind Watchmaker, The Stuff of Thought, and other books I should return to the library so other people can have a turn.

Go Dog Go. It made me cry at the end because... well... *sniff*... he likes the other dog's hat! That's all he ever wanted...

currently reading "WHat's Going On In There?" which is a book about neuro-development from prenatal to 5 years.

REcently finished the entire Preacher series (I trade graphic novels with friends and in return for Preacher I am making two new 100 Bullets fans) and before that was... "Son of a Witch" - the sequel to "Wicked" which wasn't bad, but not as good as I hoped.

About to dive into a Stephen Brust series. Also have a Phillip K Dick I neglected to read while in the hospital. Need to get the latest "Fell" and "DNZ" in th series. I am a graphic novel FANATIC.

Doc_m I recommend Ursula K Leguin. The best there ever was in fantasy.

I also am a nut for anything by Ann Rule (True Crime/legal/true detective), Harlan Ellison (speculative fiction) and Chuck Palahniuk

last non-fiction book was "Blink" (sequel to The Tipping Point) - awesome fun read

Wow!

I wish I could touch base with everybody to find out more details, but I think the thread would be too long.

All of the contributions are very interesting and much appreciated.

I like getting a feel for where other people are regarding literature.

rougy and dag - there's one of your videosift sister sites.

Currently rereading "Mr. Palomar" by Italo Calvino.

http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/12/06/specials/calvino-palomar.html

"Cosa Nostra" by John Dickie

I haven't read a fiction book for a few years now. Currently got a stack of books I'm dipping in and out of. Currently reading "Influence Science and Practice by Robert B Cialdini". Learning a few tricks that advertisers use on us, interesting stuff.

Currently reading "Eldest," the second book in Christopher Paolini's "Inheritance" trilogy (the first is "Eragon"). I first learned of Paolini from a J.K. Rowling interview (and yes, I've read the whole HP series also). She was asked who her favorite new authors were, and she mentioned him.
I also pretty much enjoy anything from Stephen King, Dean Koontz, or Michael Crichton.

I was gonna tell DocM to sheck the Chronicles of Amber, too.....but he wants worlds dissimilar to ours....hmmmm....How about the Riverworld Series, Phillip Jose Farmer?? Incidentally, Irishman....this would be a good sci-fiction follow-up, to yer McKenna excursion......(LSD chewing gum, on yer first night in Riverworld.....!)

Currently reading William Blake's poetry+graphic design, Songs of Innocence and of Experience:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_of_Innocence_and_of_Experience

Last book I've finished is The Wheel of Time, book 11 (*SIGH*).

Now I'm almost done re-reading Rookies (a comic).

I'll probably read next Morituri te Salutant.

what a great question for Sift Talk. It's been interesting seeing such a diverse collection for users. A few brought memories while many sound interesting. Thanks for the quality question Rougy.

currently I'm re-reading

Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why, by Bart Erhman

From Booklist
The popular perception of the Bible as a divinely perfect book receives scant support from Ehrman, who sees in Holy Writ ample evidence of human fallibility and ecclesiastical politics. Though himself schooled in evangelical literalism, Ehrman has come to regard his earlier faith in the inerrant inspiration of the Bible as misguided, given that the original texts have disappeared and that the extant texts available do not agree with one another. Most of the textual discrepancies, Ehrman acknowledges, matter little, but some do profoundly affect religious doctrine. To assess how ignorant or theologically manipulative scribes may have changed the biblical text, modern scholars have developed procedures for comparing diverging texts. And in language accessible to nonspecialists, Ehrman explains these procedures and their results. He further explains why textual criticism has frequently sparked intense controversy, especially among scripture-alone Protestants. In discounting not only the authenticity of existing manuscripts but also the inspiration of the original writers, Ehrman will deeply divide his readers. Although he addresses a popular audience, he undercuts the very religious attitudes that have made the Bible a popular book. Still, this is a useful overview for biblical history collections.

and I just finished, THE FLUORIDE DECPTION, by Christopher Bryson

From Publishers Weekly
Concerns over fluoridated drinking water have long been derided as the obsession of McCarthyite cranks. But this muckraking j’accuse asserts that fluoride is indeed a dire threat to public health, one foisted upon the nation by a vast conspiracy—not of Communist agents, but of our very own military-industrial complex. Investigative reporter Bryson revisits the decades-long controversy, drawing on mountains of scientific studies, some unearthed from secret archives of government and corporate laboratories, to question the effects of fluoride and the motives of its leading advocates. The efficacy of fluoridated drinking water in preventing tooth decay, he contends, is dubious. Fluoride in its many forms may be one of the most toxic of industrial pollutants, and Bryson cites scientific analyses linking fluoridated drinking water to bone deformities, hyperactivity and a host of other complaints. The post-war campaign to fluoridate drinking water, he claims, was less a public health innovation than a public relations ploy sponsored by industrial users of fluoride—including the government’s nuclear weapons program. Legendary spin doctors like Edward Bernays exploited the tenuous link between dental hygiene and fluoridation to create markets to stimulate fluoride production and to prove the innocuousness of fluoride compounds, thereby heading off lawsuits by factory workers and others poisoned by industrial fluoride pollution. Bryson marshals an impressive amount of research to demonstrate fluoride’s harmfulness, the ties between leading fluoride researchers and the corporations who funded and benefited from their research, and what he says is the duplicity with which fluoridation was sold to the people. The result is a compelling challenge to the reigning dental orthodoxy, which should provoke renewed scientific scrutiny and public debate.

I'm glad the turn out was so great, and I agree it's fun to see what other sifters are perusing. Kind of adds a new layer of understanding.

I just finished “Before the Deluge” about Berlin from the late 1920’s to the election of Hitler. Quite a read.

Days after Hitler became chancellor, he banned freedom of opinion, freedom of association, and freedom of the press.

He had 120 people killed, some shot in cold blood, some taken to a warehouse and tortured first. Many of the people that he killed were members of his own party whom he was either jealous of or suspected of betrayal.

A man - “Dr. W” I’ll call him - was practicing his cello in his apartment with his wife and kids when some storm troopers came and took him to the warehouse. Dr. W - an active Nazi member - was suspected of plotting against Hitler. The thing is, there were two Dr. W’s in Berlin, and they tortured and killed the wrong one.

Just recently finished an all week-ish Tolkien-a-thon. The Hobbit, LotR trilogy, Tom Bombadil, and the Silmarillion (boy was that a heavy read!) all of which I've read multiple times before besides Bombadil/Silmarillion; that's all my library has of the great late Beren, ahem, Tolkien. His books are such a guilty pleasure and great for when you find yourself unable to sleep; as he describes the simple comforts of life (food, rest, music, a warm fire, etc) almost TOO convincingly & quite often as he can. All too easy to find myself getting lost in the Tolkien legendarium. Currently on the market for some new science-related reading material...taking notes of what to look out for from fellow Sifters.

Couple more recommendations, both by Parke Godwin -

Waiting for the Galactic Bus
The Snake Oil Wars


Both funny as hell - and should prove interesting to those following the evolution vs. ID debates.

hey - now we actually have a channel for this. *books

guess the invocation needs to be added? Lucky? little help here.

hmmm - it's capitalized in the channel list. *Books

*books

Moving post to Books Talk - requested by jonny.