The "What are you reading?" / Book recommendation thread

[Thetis ♦]

Currently reading The Life of Elizabeth I. According to the introduction, it was originally going to be about her private life, but she really didn't have one of those. I mean, she was always surrounded by servants, or men from the Council. She never was alone after accession. I'm up to the 1570's, and Mary, Queen of Scots is currently imprisoned, and because she's trying to claim the English throne for herself, she's intriguing against Elizabeth, who is her cousin, once removed. Parliament is trying to execute her, but Elizabeth refuses to do it.

I'm also reading The Lady in the Tower, which is about the final days of Anne Boleyn, the mother of Elizabeth I. Elizabeth was only two and a half when her mother was executed for treason and adultery. They say this, along with the execution of her father's fifth wife, Katherine Howard, was the reason why Elizabeth I never married. (They didn't call her the Virgin Queen for nothing. Oh, and Virginia was named after her.)

[pyroscar]

The Lost Hero and Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

[Black Hayabusa]

Started Reading Dostoyevsky's, Crime and Punishment. Only into the first chapter though.

Then I think I'll start on some H.P. Lovecraft.

I would highly recommend SciFi fans check out Larry Niven's, Known Space series. He's a little known but hugely prolific author that has influenced numerous other writers and creative professionals for decades. I started with Fleet of Worlds, since it's a prequel of sorts. Then Ring World (classic), followed by Juggler of Worlds (comes next after FoW, skipping around a bit). all three were awesome reads. 8.75/10

[sierner5701]

I am reading God father...
Its a good book to read....

[Thetis ♦]

I am reading The Chosen by Chaim Potok. I am curious if Nina has ever read this book, as it revolves around a deep friendship between two Jewish boys who are from different sects of Judaism. (One was Hasidic, the other...he may have been reformed? I saw the movie version too, so I might be confusing things around.) I also bought the sequel, The Promise. It really is a beautiful novel.

[Avarice]

I'm reading A Game of Thrones for the second time now. I figured I'd check the series out since everyone was raving about how great the HBO Adaptation is. I was actually very surprised because I didn't think I'd like it. Turns out I love the series, and I'm trying to get my hands on Books four and five right now, I highly recommend this series (A Song of Ice and Fire is the title of the series.)

I also recommend R.A. Salvatore's "The Dark Elf Trilogy" And "The Icewind Dale Trilogy" as well as any other number of sequal books of those Series. Awesome, awesome reading!!

[Anfini08 ♦]

Ahh, I wanna read The Game of Thrones. Sooner or later...

I recently finished Joust by Mercedes Lackey. I remember liking her stuff a lot in high school, so I decided to see if I would still like it. I'm not sure whether it was the book, or her... But... Well, I didn't like it as much as I remembered liking her work.

I'm about to start House of Leaves, whenever I get the free time to read.

[Black Hayabusa]

Well I couldn't make it through "Crime and Punishment." Way way way too stuffy for me. I read "Cat's Cradle," by Vonnegut, but I didn't really enjoy it all that much.

Funny you should mention "Game of Thrones," Started reading it about a month ago. Its pretty fucking awesome, but I haven't sunk much time into it lately. I don't read nearly as often as I should.

[Anfini08 ♦]

I'm almost done with House of Leaves. It addresses the question of what is fiction and what is not through a truly creative mode of storytelling. I desperately want to see the documentary the essay at the center of the novel is addressing, but I know it doesn't really exist. Yet that didn't stop me from googling it. Holy shit.

[Bragatyr]

Yeah, House of Leaves is really fun. It got me interested in reading more stuff by Danielewski, but I heard that Only Revolutions wasn't nearly as good. But yeah, I really liked the metafictional aspects of House of Leaves, and it was just a good, creepy, introspective book in all respects.

I've been reading China Mieville's Looking for Jake, a collection of short stories, and I've been slowly working through Heimskringla, since I love Norse culture and history.

[Shenorai]

Anno Dracula

Count Dracula has killed Van Helsing and is married to Queen Victoria, turning Great Britain into a police-state. Thanks to his position of power, vampires live freely alongside humans. Also, Jack the Ripper is systematically slaughtering vampire prostitutes. A human agent, Charles Beauregard, and a senior vampire, Geneviève Dieudonné, are hunting him down.

An interesting read, no doubt about it.

[Little Russian]

Just finished reading "Childhood; Boyhood; Youth" by Leo Tolstoy. I found his characterisation complex and fascinating, particularly that of the hero. And it's under 400 pages long.

[Thetis ♦]

The Butler's Guide to Running the Home and Other Graces. Actually, yes, I'm serious. I had my usual Christmas tea party this year, but it was expanded from my immediate family to about fourteen guests. And my brother got me this book about...well, keeping house and hosting and parties and such. Apparently, it's a reprint.

Also reading She-Wolves which studies four women who ruled in England before the accession of Mary I, then her half-sister, Elizabeth I. (I'm not counting the Lady Jane Grey since that was illegal and it only lasted nine days anyway.) The Empress Matilda, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France, and Margaret of Anjou. I've read other accounts of these women, but it was fascinating getting to see another historian's angle on it.

[Avarice]

At the moment I'm reading on A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin. It's book four of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. I got both Book 4 and 5 for Christmas. I see myself reading a lot more on it in the future. It's probably the lowest rated book of the whole series, but I enjoyed The Fellowship of the Ring. I think boring suits me fine XD

[Thetis ♦]

I found this really, really old and obscure book called Tailchaser's Song. The cast are all...cats. Yes, the domestic kind. They refer to their owners as M'an. The blurb on the cover is interesting in that they talk about going to the depths of cat hell to save the protagonist's best friend. Hmm. It's a bit strange, though it did get a lot of good reviews...