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Post by killerzzz on Nov 24, 2007 10:34:26 GMT
Ok, I can finally say I've finished reading all of IT, re-read the first six Harry Potter books, and read the seventh. *wiew!* ALL DONE! ;D I have a few books series I want to get started on, but I'm afraid I'll read them too fast before the last books of the series come out, which will be soon enough, so I'll wait. Right now I'm going to read my first Alex Cross novel "London Bridges" by James Patterson. I've seen Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider as movies, and this one seems to have a different tone. Rather than being about a psychopathic killer, its about two psychopathic killers-turned-terrorists and has that sort of "24" fast pace. A hunnert pages through, looks to be good. I'm even considering collecting the entire Alex Cross series eventually and reading them all. Killerzzz
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Post by Alrik on Jan 7, 2008 12:52:26 GMT
Finished "Skulduggery Pleasant" by one Derek Landy (he's seemingly from Dublin).
My verdict: It's a very nice book. I had some fun reading it, that's why I think I can recommend it.
But: Please keep in mind that this book is aimed at and lablelled "a children's book", so don't expect too much complicated and extensive story-outlines.
Because of that, everything reads a bit "simple" ... almost too simple for my own taste.
My heaviest point of critique is that the describing of the locations needs to be "fleshed out" (like the second protagonist, by the way). They're far too thin, and don't appeal to the senses at all (especially since I'm a defender of what I call "sensual writing"). My worst example of this is the description of the "replacement car", which is given to the second protagonist (Mr. Pleasant) after he had had a small crash with his own car. The point is that the description practically doesn't exist at all. Nothing. Nada. Niente. Niet. Nichts. All you can read is the reaction of the main protagonist (a twelve-year old girl), and the much later added nickname "Canary Car" - it is yellow. So, the sceneries desparately need much more sensual descriptions. Hopefully this will be better in the second book which is scheduled for release in the April of 2008.
Anyone who loves dry humour should definitively take this book into consideration. The dialogues are very funny in this respect, and belong to the best ones I've read for quite some time.
This has to do, I think, with the author writing "screenplays" before, the book and the web site say. This has led imho to a very strong development of dialogues, but on the other hand leaving the rest (especially the descriptions !) very weak - they leave a lot to be desired, imho.
So, all in all, what speaks for the book is the good, dry humour, the second protagonist (an undead one) and the theme - I think I can agree to the quotes presented in the book saying that this book is a "right thing" (by me) for Harry Potter fans. It's daily life story mixed with a "second world" or "second reality" which is kind of full with magic and strange things. In this book, this is leaning a bit towards the "horror" genre - which is no surprise since the author has written - as the book says "screenplays for a zombie movie and a murderous thriller in which everybody dies". But since is a "children's book", this horror theme is taken lightly - you won't see much blood, in fact. The only real "horror-themed" thing is the confrontation with the "big evil boss" at the end of the story, and his minions.
Well, I hope I've written enough for everybody to give everyone a clue on how to decide whether this book is the "right read" for someone or not.
Alrik
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Post by killerzzz on Jan 7, 2008 20:06:57 GMT
Oh, btw, London Bridges was OK. Not the best ever, but worth the read. Then I'd read The Bad Place by Dean Koontz. That one was also OK, but a better OK because its horror and Sci-Fi. ;D Interesting, and very much worth the read. Next was Gunslinger Born, but I've already had my say of that. Aaand, as I've mentionned, I'm on When All Seems Lost. I may crack out the Artemis Fowl graphic novel at the same time, but I'm still deciding. ;D And I just bought Ju-On the novel at a discount bookstore. I'll probably get to that in about a year. Killerzzz
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Post by cleglaw on Jan 17, 2008 1:39:59 GMT
I just finished Perfume by Patrick Süskind, Das Parfum in German. Very unusual and unique book. Worth reading. It is set in 18th century France, and tells the tale of a man who has an incredibly acute sense of smell.
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Post by ss on Jan 17, 2008 1:45:34 GMT
Just started "The Shark Mutiny" by Patrick Robinson.
about the Chinese mining the Straits of Hormuz and establishing a navy base at Bandar Abbas Iran to control the price of oil on the world market..and a mutiny onboard the US Submarine ferrying Navy Seals to counter it..
very intriguing senario...
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Post by The Sonar Chicken on Jan 17, 2008 2:12:44 GMT
Going to start on "The rise and fall of the third reich"
This will be my third attempt on trying to finish this book. I first started as a child... lol...
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Post by Galadriel on Jan 17, 2008 12:56:20 GMT
I just finished Perfume by Patrick Süskind, Das Parfum in German. Very unusual and unique book. Worth reading. It is set in 18th century France, and tells the tale of a man who has an incredibly acute sense of smell. I heard that it's a great book! I'll give it a try as soon as I moved Cleg, thx of reminding me of it
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Post by Alrik on Jan 29, 2008 12:43:08 GMT
Some found The Perfume rather creepy ... At least members of my own family. But all agree that it is a unique book, a good read. Besides, I had recently read The Treasure Island. The original - translated into German language. As an "adventure book", I can recommend it.
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Post by Ubereil on Jan 29, 2008 16:25:51 GMT
I'm rereading Harry Potter (since book 7 is out I thought I'd read all the books in once "session"), and am currently on book five. I'm allmost 1/5 into the book.
Übereil
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Post by SPS on Feb 9, 2008 19:09:09 GMT
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
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Post by Galadriel on Feb 10, 2008 21:43:42 GMT
I'm reading an interesting book that is roughly translated in "Back in the times of the small potatoes" It's a flemish book about the days of yore (sp?) and if it was really better back then. It's very interesting to read the prices for a simple bread, for milk and one egg was considered as the best thing you could eat. At one point even, during the great war, the Germans sold their horses for 50 Bfrc, wich is nowadays about 1.20€. Also the old spelling, old remedies to cure and recipes that replaced the usual products like milk etc.
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