What's the last book you read? What was it about? Did you like it?

This seems vaguely similar to the "What Are You Reading?" thread only a few posts down.

True, but I'm temporarily willing to see if it's different.

The last book I read was Of Mice and Men, and the current book I'm reading is the 2007 World Almanac. Weird, but true.

I am currently reviewing books on New York most happening and travel stories. I found a few interesting books at Amazon.com

I’m pleasantly surprised by the book “Tales of a New York Limo Driver” by Nicky Testaforte, I am really liking this Book . Sex, Excess and Stupidity on Four Wheels... glimpse some excerpt . Down to the earth, so far it has my interest.

quote:

Originally posted by mark f:

The last book I read was Of Mice and Men,

Tell me again about the rabbits, mark?

Well I don’t think I have ever posted in the book threads, except for maybe when Kurt Vonnegut Jr. passed. Not because I haven’t read my fair share of books but because it is quite intimidating. I sometimes pop in to see what some people are talking about; the book tag thread is ridiculous—how people can guess those books is beyond me! Well anyways, I just wanted to share what I just finished reading, seeing as this thread is pretty lifeless.

I have recently gotten into the Harry Potter books. Haven’t seen/read one movie or one book before this. I just finished the third installment, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I really enjoyed the book quite a bit, it definitely is written to show these how 13-year old children are starting to mature and grow up. Rowling does a great job of filling this book with its most memorable characters and most poignant moments. It’s hard to say much without ruining it for people that haven’t seen or read the movies or books. I just wanted to say that I am becoming a big fan and I thought the third book—though the darkest—is easily the best one so far.

I thought the first two were solid, not amazing, but pretty strong. I love the very first chapter to the first book, “The Boy Who Lived,” what a great way to get people hooked.

After the first book, we saw the first film and I did think the book was a ton better than the film version. I haven’t seen the second film because I went straight into the third book. With the weekend ahead of us, I think I will talk my girlfriend into seeing the second and third films with me. I am especially looking forward to the third film, most say it is the best; I am a fan of Alfonso Cuarón’s films and like I said, it is my favorite book of the series so far.

After that, I will tackle the fourth installment.

Please share more FKA. We're a pretty lonely group in the book discussions, but by no means exclusive.

I've never read any of the Harry Potter books; I've only seen the movies. My wife has read them all. I figure once I have seen all the movies I'll read them. Why mess up the system now?

Just finished the fourth book in the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I have to admit, it is one laborious read—at first. This isn’t in the sense that it is technically hard to read but there are some draining parts where you wonder “what’s the point?” I guess that once the book is finished you see the point. But Rowling does take her time to get the book rolling and adds a lot of description and details at the beginning of the book. At 734 pages, it is by far the longest book so far.

I did enjoy it though, once I got into it, I went full-speed ahead. There were some great parts, some touching moments and a lot of exciting and amusing events here. There are some pretty sad parts though and the book does end on a somber, grave note. There is no “happy ending” here, the last line succinctly states that there is still a lot to come.

I am looking forward to seeing the film adaptation of this book though. It will be interesting to see how much they cut out and if and how they modify the story.

I’ll probably start the fifth book tomorrow. For now, I might take a break to search for Waldo some more. Devolving? Hehe, very funny, I’ll remember that, Padraig.

So I finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I think it was pretty good and overall, an enjoyable read. Like the last book which is now following this trend to make the books much longer, there are some parts that go on for far too long. I do think that this one is the longest at 870 pages, I think the last two are shorter, though I do not know because I haven’t gotten either yet.

I think there were some sad parts and some parts that really made you feel for Harry. There is a lot of dark in this book and very little light moments. There is some light at the end of the book though when Harry and Dumbledore are conversing, Rowling makes it an effort to point out that the sun is rising more than once in that scene.

I liked it and am now looking forward to the 6th book.

Wow, FKA. I completely didn't notice your posting here. I'm really glad that you're choosing to read the books - although the movies are okay, the books are better. I grew up with Harry Potter (a few years behind, but not a big issue), so I read them as I grew up. However, I've never tried re-reading them start to finish from book 1 to 7. Are you finding that Rowling's style changes from book to book, or is it more or less seamless? A little while ago, I compared a chunk of book 1 to a paragraph in book 7 and I was stunned by the amount Rowling's writing style had changed (for the better, fortunately). She's by no means the best writer I've ever seen, but by practise she's become better.

Cool, another Harry Potter fan! It seems like no one ever wants to talk about them since they are so “out-dated” now. I do like the series a lot and although I am older than you, this is my first time reading them.

Like I have said here (I think) and also definitely in the movie thread, I also agree with you that the books are much better than the films. It is neat to see the movie just to see how certain people would look and act and talk. But I also think that Rowling does enough in her books to paint a good picture of what they look like. One complaint that I have—and this is only on seeing the first 3 movies so far—is how they don’t convey just how dorky and goofy Ron is. In the third movie it seems like he is getting “cool” when in fact, in the books—and I just finished the 5th one—he isn’t cool at all yet! Harry however is starting to get a bit of a cool factor, as is Hermione but Ron seems like a late bloomer in the books.

Right now I am kind of caught up in just reading them but I am noticing that her writing style has improved as she has gone along. In a way, it’s kind of like: the kids are growing up and becoming more intelligent so she is also growing up and thus trying to make the books feel and sound like an older teenager’s book.

We should talk it up in the Harry Potter thread; I could use someone to talk about the books with.

i just crawled my way through Pynchon's Against the Day. it was a tough read for me, and i LOVE pynchon.

I still haven't cracked that one yet. I'm pretty sure I've read just about everything else he's written. Maybe I'll start in the new year.

yeah, i held off on it for a while cause its a ig one, and i was really into it until half way throuogh when i just...got.....bored.

and pynchon rarel bores me. gravity's Rainbow is one of my all time favorite books.

I'll re-read Against the Day within the year, and probably love it. I have to be in the right headspace for Pynchon.

If you go up a few pages into the What are you currently reading thread, you'll see my thoughts on "Against the Day." I found it frustrating, and ultimately unsatisfying. I never thought he figured out what tone he was going for. Was it splashy sprawling melodrama? Was it quaint alternative history? Was it romance, comedy?

Now, I don't necessarily expect linearity from Pynchon, and weirdness doesn't bother me at all. But, in the end, I also didn't have a good sense of what he wanted me to take away thematically. What the hell was the book about?

Over the break I finished the last and seventh Harry Potter book. It was somewhat of a depressing and intense book—all throughout. A lot about it is so much different than the rest and it seemed like J.K. Rowling was desperately trying to tie up all of her loose ends. It always seems to me like Rowling takes her sweet time throughout the first three quarters of the books and in the last quarter she is scrambling at frantically trying to jam as much in as possible.

This one circles the three friends bond very closely and so much happens until they finally end everything at Hogwarts—where everything started. And while they are on a crazed mission, so many characters die and drop like flies. This is where it is much darker and more serious than the other books. They realize someone dies but very quickly, must get back on with life and solving how to continue it—in the long run.

As a closer to the series, it’s impeccable. Even the Lord of the Rings-like “Epilogue,” though touchy, is nice. Like we didn’t know that so and so would end up together? I did think that it was a fulfilling ending, but I did feel kind of sad knowing that it was over. Oh well, they are a pretty great set of books and I was very pleased to have read them.

Snow (original title "Kar") , a novel by Turkish author Orhan Pamuk. Its an interesting view of the modern Turkey...

I tore through High Fidelity in about a day. Holidays are awesome!

I loved that book. Women should not be allowed to read it. It gives away too many of our secrets.

I finally finished No Country For Old Men. It's hard to believe I've read as many books as I have with how slow I read! To be fair, I did take a break from it.