What Book Are You Reading Right Now

[sapphire]

My hometown has a library with a similar system. I was so excited when they started it, and I definitely took advantage. I had books coming in from other libraries all the time.

The Count of Monte Cristo is an excellent book. I read it years ago, but I remember absolutely loving it.
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is also amazing.

Out of curiosity, has anyone here read A Game of Thrones? I haven't seen the TV show, but I'm almost halfway through the first book. I can see why people like it so much, but honestly I'm not that thrilled. It holds my attention fairly well, which I guess is a compliment, considering how hard I find it to read most fantasy these days. But it's certainly not my favorite book ever.

[Spectre]

When retellings of classic stories were mentioned, it got me thinking about a series I read a few years ago.

The Looking Glass Wars. It's an action-adventure story based on some Alice in Wonderland mythos, and it was a ton of fun for me. Not the most intellectually stimulating, but a crazy, sometimes emotional look at some darker reimaginings of characters that were, let's face it, already pretty strange.

[Raphael]

I could not stand Great Expectations. Charles Dickens might be a renowned classical writer, but that is as far as I respect him.
The Count of Monte Cristo is a great story; I feel really tempted to write a new one.
A friend of mine read the looking glass wars, were they good? Alice in Wonderland is a wonderful story i think. Every once and a while we need a story that was inspired by drugs, or something like that. I love how it really makes no sense, but you just have to go along with it.

[Endovia]

Oh! I saw the movie of The Count of Monte Cristo. So good! I'd love to read the book.

I've heard of A Game of Thrones both the books and the TV show, but I haven't read or seen it. A friend of mine is reading the first book and she likes it, but it didn't grab my attention when she was talking about it (other than the fact that there were horses in it ). The TV show just seems overly medieval dramatic to me from the commercials. I probably need to read the first book just to see for myself.

I haven't read The Looking Glass Wars, but I've never really liked Alice in Wonderland. Even as a little kid, it was just creepy. I liked The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Spirit, Mary Poppins stuff more.

[sapphire]

Oh, I think I read the first book of The Looking Glass Wars. I very vaguely remember it... It was good, though. I can't believe I forgot about it before the second book came out.

Raphael, Dickens is a slow read, I'll give you that. I have to be in the right mood for that kind of book. I did really enjoy Great Expectations, but I haven't really gotten into anything else of his.

Endovia, I think Game of Thrones is worth reading. Like I said, it's not the best book in the world, but it's pretty good. There are some elements that I'm not thrilled with (people aren't lying when they say it gets kind of racist, thought that's more the TV show, I think), but overall it's at least entertaining. It's very political, which normally isn't my thing, but there are enough good characters that I can stick with it.

[Raphael]

Pip was just nails on a chalkboard for me. His character was annoyingly pitiful

[lucia]

Isn't that the point- that he's so pitiful because he doesn't know who he is, and throughout the story he starts to learn about himself ?

[Raphael]

I was about to kill him myself. He didn't grow at all throughout the whole book. The origonal ending was better, the one where he still didn't marry Estella.

[lucia]

But he doesn't technically marry Estella in the end. They just kind of make up and she realizes how badly she lived her life and he's all depressed because the house is falling down or being knocked down or something. The thing I never understood was Ms.Havisham throwing herself on the fire. I always felt bad for Pip because he can never figure out who he is.

[Raphael]

That was his fault. Make good choices in life, kid.

[lucia]

Yeah but he had bad people in his life from the beginning

[sapphire]

I read the book years ago, so I barely remember it beyond liking it, but I didn't much like Pip, either. I was sympathetic toward him, but I didn't like him.
(Actually, there's a book somewhere out there about Pip's benefactor - I don't remember his name - but I don't know the title. I want to read it, though.)

[lucia]

I kinda hated Estella because she's so cruel and doesn't do anything for a good reason.

I read a good mystery a while ago. I'm pretty sure it was called the Leopards's Prey and it was pretty short, but still good.

[oracle]

I'm a little slow on the draw, but I've read the first and second Game of Thrones books Saphire. (The third is my next book to read actually) Personally I have found George R.R. Martin's writing style to be a bit annoying, but as you get into the late first book and the second book especially there is a plot twist or two per page. I suppose that's what you get when you have a convoluted political intrigue novel with the fantasy background. Things basically go crazy between the end of 1 and the entirety of 2. Honestly I avoid anyone talking about the show, because I'm more worried about Game of Thrones spoilers than I have been for just about any other series, and as I have said, it is not my favorite series ever, but it is one of the most crazy.

Returning to the thread's original question: I am reading "Red Storm Rising" by Tom Clancy. Very much not my normal to be reading a modern war epic, but it is turning out pretty awesome. It takes a hundred pages to heat up, but when it does... it heats up a LOT. It takes forever to wade through the obnoxiously realistic acronym soup, but if you can figure it out you feel smarter at the end of the day. Overall a good, but certainly difficult read.

[Endovia]

I'll check out A Game of Thrones over the summer and see how it is. I don't know if I'm really into political intrigue books. I don't think I've really read any. I've read Survivors by James Wesley Rawles and it's supposed to be apocalyptic because of politics. There was some good government stuff at the beginning (and by that I mean horribly corrupt and awful) which was awesome but that was about it. I was disappointed. It became hypocritical because it referenced Ayn Rand ideas and business principles (honestly, I don't think the guy even understood her philosophy) without even faintly sticking to them and flipped into familial and religious stuff, because that was what was going to save them after they spent the whole rest of the book talking about guns, which completely flew over my head. If there's an "A" and a "K" it's some sort of gun, that's all I learned. It's also a series, which means it has a dreadful ending. Really no ending at all just a muahahahahaha you won't know what happens. (Yeah, sorry if any of you wanted to read that book. Though I think I just saved you a couple hours of time. )
There is the political drama TV show House of Cards which is brilliant. Very gritty and rough. (And I mean that literally.) Though I got a bit bored of it by the end of the season, but that's probably because I got to watching episodes back to back.