Which fiction are you reading?

[meat]

Firstly I confess I don't read a lot, mostly because of how long it takes me to read, and looking up vocabularies. But I think fictions - novels, poems, sonnets, classics or new - are very important food for our creative mind and even soul. So I just want to put a thread here and ask if you've read any fiction - even the audiobook version - recently, that you enjoyed and would like to share - what it is, what you enjoyed of it, etc.

I suppose I should start, but I really haven't read anything recently - just halfway through the audio book of Romeo and Juliet on Youtube. I failed English classes back in high school due to all the Shakespeare, and hated The Bard for making me fail by writing weird English. But watching his play actually being played out on stage, or just in voices, made me realize many clever ways he played with each word in his characters' dialogues. He didn't have filler sentences, he manipulated every words like a master painter would manipulate every detail in his painting. So I guess my post is... check out The Bard, in his original words.

[Rognoll]

Well, the funny thing about Shakespeare is that so many native english speakers develop a hatred to it because they have to read it in school and it's hell. The same thing happens with latin americans and Borges.
When I first came across Shakespeare (not being a native english speaker) I was amazed. It's.... wow.

Now,
Reading takes 1/4 of my waking hours. I know I should read less and work more, but... ah, it could be worse, right?
Right now, I'm really into A Song of Ice and Fire. I'm finishing the last book, then the long wait will begin.

[Doolio]

Well, I don't think one could ever read too much:) This is also a self criticism, as I pretty much "deleveled" myself from a max level reader comprehension some ten years ago, to like stupid piece of shit that can read newspapers, if focused enough:D

So, if I would pick up something like Ulysses, it would probably be the same as reading hieroglyphs for me:)

But, my all time favourite would be Dostoyevsky, by far. The only thing that comes close would be a single book, The Tunnel, by Ernesto Sabato. Even more so because I stumbled upon it by accident, which made the impact even more powerful:)

I remember trying to wrestle with Thus spake Zarathustra:) I knew it's a formidable task, so I've read it like ten times in ten years or so, with making footnotes and googling and everything, but to no avail:) So, I stopped with that ahaha:) It would be too much of an investment, I suppose I could get close to grasping it as it should be grasped after like several decades, so I was like nah, I'm to coca cola for that:D

Oddly enough, I haven't neglected non fiction, so I very much enjoy Jung, Kierkegaard, Carl Rogers, Fromm, Berne, Copleston...

[StardustLarva]

I've just started reading Marcher by Chris Beckett, one of my favourite writers. I recommend him, his work doesn't recieve as much attention as it should in my opinion.

[Triggerpigking]

Just finished reading World War Z, Firstly to hell with the movie, hell there's no way to turn the book into a movie.
If you don't know about the book essentially it's done as a documentary made 10-20 years after humans survived the zombie apocalypse and is basically built up from loads of different accounts from survivors. Part of the reason I love the book is that it actually takes a very realistic aproach to it, well as realistic as you can take zombies but they actually bring the real life politics of different countries into it to show how it spread and how different countries dealt with it, for once the military does not magically disapear a month after the outbreak. They also went into the different changes that happened throughout it, such as the war movies being made to keep morale up with people, the different plans the countries made, they also go into the weaponry at the time, they began manufacturing these weird shovel like decapitation weapons out of the hundereds of abandoned cars, medieval weaponry came back in certain countries like england(as did proper castles seeing as they can be incredibly fortified), theres something I love about mixing up old and new era's like that.
Even if the book itself is'nt scary, I love how they made the undead actually seem threatening again, considering how they've pretty much become cannon fodder in recent years.
It's A shame they can't make a proper movie out of it, some of the storys would be really cool to see, maybe if they animated it but even then they'd have to hire alot ALOT of voice actors.

[meat]

...maybe if they animated it but even then they'd have to hire alot ALOT of voice actors.

And a lot of ARTISTS *eyebrow wiggle* like us *grin*~

[rmd]

I'm currently reading:

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

and The Art of Happiness by Dalai Lama

very opposite books but I like 'em that way :D

If you're into sci-fi I recommend Ender's Game. It's one of my favorites :p

[Ji-Li]

Feeling like being a kid again and currently rereading Pendragon series and some mangas lol.

Overall I enjoy Sci-Fi/Fantasy books the most, but often times spend more reading time with study books (for art or programming).

I really loved 1984, Brave New World, Some Anne McCaffrey Books, Pendragon Series, Uglies series, Harry Potter, and such the most.

[Amit Dutta]

Tthere was another thread that was sci fi and fantasy focused in the forums...you should do a search for it....lots of good stuff in there.

I'm currently re-reading neuromancer by gibson again after 12 years. It's amazing when an old book can still seem futuristic and plausible, he was soo far ahead of the curve at the time. Went on a Joe Halderman and Iain M Banks binge recently as well...lots of cool stuff. Also check out the peace wars and marooned in real time by vernor vinge. Great name, great ideas, great writing.

It's all sci fi of late, but that's because I'm doing research for personal projects. There is so much good fiction that isn't sci fi and fantasy out there. I wouldn't even know where to start.

[artoque]

A lot of stuff...which is a mistake since I can't keep up with anything.

> Doughnut by Tom Holt
> 1984 by George Orwell
> Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
> Four Letters of Love by Niall Williams
> A handful of books on blogging

This is why I end up renewing everything for months.