I hope the topic got your attention

Since I suggested a bookworm thread, and PCA suggested I started it, I now do.

Let the discussions begin!

The first book that im going to talk about is Ayn Rand - The fountainhead. At first I found it scary, not because that it is scary, but this is a gigantic book (almost 1000 pages) and it's about architecture. But this book gets interesting after some time, when its message is introduced, and the introduction of several persons. In the beginning it's mostly about two persons.

It's a book about trusting your beliefs, doing what feels right for you, not caring what others think, told in architectural metaphors. Although i've only read 1/3 of it, I recommend it.

The second is Joseph Heller's Catch 22.
This is a satirical book about war. Yossarian is a pilot in an american militarybase in Pianosa. He's tired of missions, he dont want to risk his life anymore. After flying a certain number of missions the soldiers are allowed to go home to the US. Only problem is that the supperior keeps raising the number of missions. There is another way to get home though. If you are crazy you cant fly any missions. But catch 22 states that its very sane to lack will to going on the missions, so if you don't want any more missions, you're not insane.

This is a very entertaining book.

I'm short of time right now, I will probably edit this post later.

I haven't read Catch 22 for years, very funny and dark book though.

I'm currently reading The regulators by Steven King and to be honest, I'm not quite sure what to make of it, so far the residents of a normal street seem to be under attack from life size toy vans

At the moment I've got books queued up for me to get round to reading them (in no particular order) :-

Coldheart Canyon - Clive barker
Porno - Irvine Welsh
Diary - Chuck Palahniuk
Monstrous regiment - Terry Pratchett
Dead air - Iain Banks

I've just finished King of the Ants by Charlie Higson and it was a VERY rare case of the film being better than the book (!) - not particularily recommended although I might check out one of his others to see what his newer books are like.

That was Barker's worst IMO. Fealt like something he did only for the $$$.

Now, I haven't read Catch 22, but the movie was pretty good. Really shows how insane the whole idea is. And aren't they even making a sequel? Catch 44?

My favorites are:
Books of Blood - Clive Barker
This is packed full of amazing stories, that will often have you ghapsing in awe. Not only are the incredibly creative and engaging, but Barker's writing skill is also in a class of it's own.

Thief of Always - Clive Barker
Actually a childrens book, which also has much more to give adults. The story is as perfect as can be, but what makes it a true masterpiece is the fact that Barker has filled it with his own illustrations, all of which are very good, dark and fitting with the way I had imagined it to be.

The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Another childrens book, but like the above, it also contains much which only adults will see. It's essentially about what it means to be an adult, and why kids are sometimes much smarter, in their simplicity. Also has illustrations from the authour.

Different Seasons - Stephen King
Of the perhaps 20 - 30 or so King books I've read, this is the one I liked the most. It contains 4 stories, 3 of which have been filmed as 'Apt Pupil' 'Shawshank Redemption' & 'Stand by Me', the latter 2 which are tales so well told, it completley engulfs you. I heard a rumour that the last one was to be filmed as well, but as that wasn't very noteworthy, I don't have too high hopes.

Only Foreward - Michael Marshall Smith
I allready wrote how great this book was in my Michael Marshall Smith post, so I wont bother again. I'll just say that everyone I've shown this book to has absolutley LOVED it, and it is not something to be missed.

Joseph Heller wrote a sequel called Closing time, but I havent read it yet.

Todays recommendation is Luke Rhinehart's The Dice Man. This is one crazy book, about a respected psychologist who gets the idea of letting dices take decisions for him, and turns his life upside down. Beware, you might do the same after reading this book.

damn, that sounds nice Jensus. I'll hunt that down for sure. =)

I haven't read the sequel to Catch 22, but heard it's much worse. Speaking of this book, I like how it gets darker towards the end. It's almost like the whole satirical and rather cheersful image was built only to be totally smashed on the last few pages (I mean the description of the city, just a few pages before the end).

My recommendations: most books by Kurt Vonnegut. Especially Breakfast of Champions and Welcome To The Monkeyhouse, which is a collection of brilliant short stories. I think one of them was about a man who was able to control the dice, and then the whole universe.

Been thinking of buying Vonnegut for a long time, but quantumphysics comes first

is a top book!! well recommeded

Vonnegut is excellent

Staying with Sci-fi, Jeff Noon's books are also superb, very strange stuff though, but everyone should read Vurt and Pollen, also he's written a sci-fi pseudo sequel to Alice in Wonderland (which is also well worth reading if you haven't) which is very funny and clever.

I've been thinking of buying some books on british criminals. The ones im talking about are:

Essex Boys: A Terrifying Expose of the British Drugs Scene - Bernard O'Mahoney

Bloggs 19 - Ken Rugby

Cocky: The Rise and Fall of Curtis Warren, Britain's Biggest Drugs Baron - Tony Barnes



On a forum filled with brits, somebody must know these titles

These are a few of my stories, if someone's interested:

A 'horror' story:
http://home.online.no/~s.rast/Homeward%20Bound.doc

An educational play about Serial Killers. Written as a school assignment, so I had some rules I HAD to follow...
http://home.online.no/~s.rast/Serial%20Killer.doc

My version of the Three Billy Goats Gruff:
http://home.online.no/~s.rast/Three%20Goats.doc

A 'romantic' thing..
http://home.online.no/~s.rast/They%20me ... 20buss.doc

A true story about something which happened to me a few years ago:
http://home.online.no/~s.rast/Rug%20Brod.doc

I'm expecting 25 books to arrive in early december. Most of them may not interest you (i'm a science geek), but I think these two will:

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Cemetery Stories: Creepy Graveyards, Embalming Secrets and the Life of a Corpse After Death.

I'll give my review when I've read 'em. I've completed Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow, which I disliked. I thought that her personality was irritating in some way, and I found the story confusing. I've moved on to John Fowles' The Collector, which is similar to The Silence of the lambs in many ways, but in this book the story is told from the kidnappers view. It seems like a good read, but I haven't finished it yet.

What have you been reading lately?

Here's a few of my most recent:

Diary by Chuck Palahniuk
-quick read, keeps you interested, and an ok ending
-reminds me of Misery

Dark Water by Meimu and Koji Suzuki
-manga
-creepy stories, including the one that inspired the movie

The Culture of Fear by Barry Glassner
-explores the fears of America; crime, drugs, minorities, etc.

Just finished reading 2 'pick-up guide' books! =) Currently re-reading one of them. Amazing how well it actually works! =)

This is in my queue to read, probably next TBH

Cool. PM me what you think when you get finished. Save others from spoilers, who might want to read it too.

You've read "The System" by Roy Valentine? Many people recommend it. Haven't had time to read it yet though, the science of scoring doesn't seem important when you have a GF

Read Michael Chrichtons "Sphere" in 4 days. Couldn't lay down this book. Very exciting.

I just picked up 'The Books of Blood' and re-read the short story 'Down Satan!' for the nth time. What an amazing piece! It even gave me a nightmare of sorts afterwards. It was rather strange, cause as I know I should probably have been petrified by it, I was more intruiged and amazed... =)

I keep re-reading more from Barker's Books of Blood. I'd forgotten how amazing some of them were. 'How Spoilers Bleed' is so fucking awesome, it's overwhelming. 'Babel's Children' was also always one of my favorites. Not to forget 'Dread' 'The Forbidden' or 'Jacklyn Ess, Her Will and Testament' of course.