Last book you read?

[J T]

@JT: I started reading Ready Player One and I had to stop. I'm not commenting on the story here, as I never finished the book. I got a couple chapters in and was so annoyed by the overabundance of name dropping. I kept thinking "OK dude, we get it. You grew up in the 80s with a NES and PacMan. Get on with it." It felt like reading this:

"So I got up and turned off my DARTH VADER alarm clock, and pulled back my TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES bedsheets. I checked my email, which was [email protected]. I got an invitation to my friends 80s party, to which I would obviously attend dressed as VOLTRON. I decided to log into my school account, using my usual password: WHATISTHEMATRIX. After that, I played some DONKEY KONG on my GAMEBOY...."

It's like the guy was just relying on namedropping and nostalgia for people to like his book. I dont know, maybe the story was great, I'm totally not saying "only sheep liked that book", but it just seemed like he set out to drop as many nostalgic names as he possibly could, and succeeded.

Man, nostalgia just isn't what it used to be.

[indecks]

ok ok so my writing is pretty terrible, but you know what I'm saying, lol.

[BoringSupreez]

ok ok so my writing is pretty terrible, but you know what I'm saying, lol.

Yep. Basically, it sounds like self-indulgent fanfiction, right?

[indecks]

Yes! Again, Im not saying it sucked. I just didn't like the heavy handed name dropping. It's like someone constantly mentioning that they caught that big fish that one time. Sorta, lol.

[Luke]

I started reading Ready Player One and I had to stop. <snip> It felt like reading this:

"So I got up and turned off my DARTH VADER alarm clock, and pulled back my TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES bedsheets. I checked my email, which was [email protected]. I got an invitation to my friends 80s party, to which I would obviously attend dressed as VOLTRON. I decided to log into my school account, using my usual password: WHATISTHEMATRIX. After that, I played some DONKEY KONG on my GAMEBOY...."

Oh dear. Is it that bad with the references?

The Cartoon History of the Universe Volume II by Larry Gonick

I go through the III volumes I go probably at least once a year to bone up on my history. It's accurate, intelligent, funny, and educational. So educational in fact that after lending volume I to a history professor, he added it as required reading on his syllabus.

Highly recommended, even if you aren't a history buff. You'll learn more than your brain can contain, and you'll also be able to wax intellectual about history with your buddies and fact check them: "Actually *bites on eyeglasses earpiece* , the main error in the movie 300 is that the number was closer to two thousand".

[GamerMON]

I've been on a Robert Heinlein kick this year. Read puppet master which was an okay scifi/spy/adventure book. Then read Stranger in a Strange land. But the book I want to talk about is Number of the Beast.

I picked it up at a book sale at UMKC. It seemed like it was going to be another adventure/thriller book. I was prepared for some of Heinlein's views on women and marriage. But boy was I in for a shock. I liked it it. I think. Definitely not going to ever reread it (I rarely reread stuff). Anyone read this one? Cause I would like to hear some other opinions.

[SNKnicotine]

I finished "The Ultimate History of Video Games", By Steven L. Kent, two weeks ago and am finishing "Trigger happy: the inner life of videogames" by Steven Poole, after i finish "trigger happy" ill start "Reality is broken" By Jane McGonigal,

[SteveyMajors]

I just read The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. It's a novel about an Indian man from a lower caste and his rise from servitude to running a successful business. It's a politically-incorrect, amoral and hilarious story. Highly recommended!

[fastbilly1]

Tom Swift and his Electronic Rifle - as my introduction to Tom Swift it served well as a penny novel story. Its light, airy, but fun. The reason I read it was because the TASER was named after the book, and I was just curious. Now I plan on reading the rest of them.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Trying to read through all the Clive Barker books. Just finished Weaveworld, I really enjoyed it. Great mix of fantasy and horror. I can't remember the last time I read a book over 600 pages. Moving onto the next one!