Didn't know where else to put this thread.  Just thought there are a few of us out here that like to read books still.   Just wanted to know what you are reading currently and or have read.  Do you guys like historical novels?  Have any of you read anything from Bernard Cornwell?  Was thinking of picking up a book of his sometime. 

I am an avid reader, but almost completely fiction. favorite authors are

Salman Rushdie
Iris Murdoch
Michael Chabon
Vladimir Nabokov
Charles Bukowski
Mark Twain
Anthony Burgess
Thomas Pynchon

Best non-fiction book I have read recently was "The Black Count". Fascinating story about Thomas-Alexandre Dumas (father of author Alexander Dumas) who was a black man that rose to the level of General in Napoleon's army during the French Revolution. He was the highest ranking black man in a "white" army until Colin Powell. Dumas became so popular that Napoleon eventually became jealous and turned against him.

currently not reading anything. And mostly read Sci-fi or Fantasy books.

George RR Martin (song of Ice and Fire)
Stephen King - about anything
Michael Crichton -about anything
Terry goodkind (Sword of truth)
Robert Jordan ( Wheel of Time)

(04-28-2016, 05:51 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: currently not reading anything.  And mostly read Sci-fi or Fantasy books.

George RR Martin (song of Ice and Fire)
Stephen King  - about anything
Michael Crichton -about anything
Terry goodkind (Sword of truth)
Robert Jordan ( Wheel of Time)

I want to read the Song of Ice and Fire.  I'm REALLY wanting to get into that. 

I've already read the WoT series.  Thought that was awesome as well.  Was hearing rumors a while back that it could be made into a mini series. 

I'm ashamed to say that I haven't read a book in some time. Worse yet, I have a stack of them sitting unread not but a few feet away from me.

I used to be a voracious reader. In my 20's the ex and I would hit a mall bookstore just about every weekend, and I'd purchase a paperback and spend the next week reading it as time permitted. I read so many books and so many authors. Guess I've just gotten a bit lazy in that regard. Past time I picked one up and let myself get lost in reading.

(04-28-2016, 06:08 PM)BengalHawk62 Wrote: I want to read the Song of Ice and Fire.  I'm REALLY wanting to get into that. 

I've already read the WoT series.  Thought that was awesome as well.  Was hearing rumors a while back that it could be made into a mini series. 

as long as they dont butcher it the way they did the sword of truth series (the seeker)

ive only made it thru the first 5 books of the Wheel of time... i love reading them just dont make many trips to the store anymore.

(04-28-2016, 03:30 PM)BengalHawk62 Wrote: Didn't know where else to put this thread.  Just thought there are a few of us out here that like to read books still.   Just wanted to know what you are reading currently and or have read.  Do you guys like historical novels?  Have any of you read anything from Bernard Cornwell?  Was thinking of picking up a book of his sometime. 

Big fan of Bernard.  His most active series are the Saxon Stories, but he has other great series as well.  I can tell you that I had zero interest in the Peninsular Wars,(although the series begins with Sharpe in India) and stayed away from the Sharpe series like it was a plague, but then I broke down and started, and read it straight through.  If you like archers as I do, The Grail Quest series is very good. (Don't worry, the grail is a minor aspect). Bermard's real talent is putting his characters in the midst of real historical events.  

 Another good series about an archer is The Strongbow Series by Judson Roberts.

Bernard Cornwell also has an Arthur trilogy, but I never read it because I don't think anything will compare to the Camulod Chronicles by Jack Whyte.  A whole series dedicated to creating the Arthur legend, and surprisingly Arthur isn't a main character.  It's about creating what became Camelot.  If you pay attention, a lot of legends are included, but not by some magical means. 

Jack Whyte also has a Templar trilogy, and while i found the first one excellent (his version of the creation of the Templars in jerusalem) the other two were just OK.

I like the classics: Hemmingway, Shakespeare, Faulkner, Hawthorne. Poe, etc.

Haven't read much recent stuff. I like Stephen King and John Grisham.

(04-28-2016, 06:08 PM)BengalHawk62 Wrote: I want to read the Song of Ice and Fire.  I'm REALLY wanting to get into that. 

I've already read the WoT series.  Thought that was awesome as well.  Was hearing rumors a while back that it could be made into a mini series. 

just saw scifi is making a wheel of time show...

(05-03-2016, 05:39 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: just saw scifi is making a wheel of time show...

Sweet!  If done right, this has a good chance to be as big as or bigger than Game of Thrones.  But if not done correctly, it could turn into another Sharknado series.  If Scifi the TV channel has the rights to it, I'm a little hesitant. 

(05-03-2016, 05:59 PM)BengalHawk62 Wrote: Sweet!  If done right, this has a good chance to be as big as or bigger than Game of Thrones.  But if not done correctly, it could turn into another Sharknado series.  If Scifi the TV channel has the rights to it, I'm a little hesitant. 

dont have many details just the post i saw on facebook.... i probly need to get back on reading those before they ruin it lol



Also another author id like to mention is Clive Clusser... His main character dirk pitt has a lot of books and indiana jones type adventures.

Anne rice and the Vampire chronicals are good books... The Witch trilogy (name escapes me) was okay...

Anything by Kurt Vonnegut and Peter Mayle keep me entertained, either at home in the dead of Winter or on a Jamaican beach. Both write with such profundity and quirkiness that it's hard to put their books down.

(05-04-2016, 12:43 PM)wildcats forever Wrote: Anything by Kurt Vonnegut and Peter Mayle keep me entertained, either at home in the dead of Winter or on a Jamaican beach. Both write with such profundity and quirkiness that it's hard to put their books down.

Whoever wrote this doesn't know the first thing about Kurt Vonnegut.

(05-04-2016, 01:19 PM)michaelsean Wrote: Whoever wrote this doesn't know the first thing about Kurt Vonnegut.

Others will disagree with you, though I'm sure you are used to that. 
https://www.loa.org/news-and-views/1112-dismiss-kurt-vonneguts-modest-winking-profundity-at-your-own-peril-says-ron-currie-jr
http://blog.garrytan.com/kurt-vonnegut-goes-to-buy-an-envelope-profund

 

(05-04-2016, 03:44 PM)wildcats forever Wrote: Others will disagree with you, though I'm sure you are used to that. 
https://www.loa.org/news-and-views/1112-dismiss-kurt-vonneguts-modest-winking-profundity-at-your-own-peril-says-ron-currie-jr
http://blog.garrytan.com/kurt-vonnegut-goes-to-buy-an-envelope-profund

 

So, I always have at least one book going, sometimes I have one fiction and one non-fiction going. Some of my recent favorite fiction reading:

Giles Kristian Raven series (and God of Vengeance)
Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Tales (though I have gotten into the Grail series, just the first one so far)
Lev Grossman's Magicians trilogy (currently doing a reread in between seasons of the show on SyFy thanks to a book club on Reddit)
Jim Butcher's Dresden Files and Codex Alera series
JK Rowling's Harry Potter series (currently reading them again, slowly, in German)
Tolkien, anything by him
George RR Martin's ASOIAF series
Ben Aaronvitch's Rivers of London series

You can tell I like historical fiction and fantasy. I read some classics in between, not a lot.

For non-fiction/memoir type of stuff I have been reading Bill Bryson's stuff lately, as well as a local historian's works about the area in which I live. I like reading about history, specifically local history, but also European and specifically middle ages.

I've also been doing some reading of the works of Martin Luther.

has anyone read martins other series Wild Cards i believe its called?