JD Book Club: What Are You Reading Now?

[Phrubruh]

Just started reading "Tarzan of the Apes" by Edgar Rice Burroughs.



oh wait... wrong picture.... sorry....



In 1888 Lord and Lady Clayton sail from England to fill a military post in British West Africa and perish at the edge of a primeval forest. When their infant son is adopted by fanged “great anthropoid apes,” he becomes one of the most legendary figures in all of literature—Tarzan of the Apes. Within the society of speechless primates, Tarzan wields his natural influence and becomes king. Self-educated by virtue of his parents’ library, Tarzan discovers true civilization when he rescues aristocratic Jane Porter from the perils of his jungle. Their famous romance, which pits Tarzan’s lifetime of savagery against Jane’s genteel nature, has captivated audiences for nearly a century.
 
First published in 1914, Tarzan of the Apes is the first of several works by Edgar Rice Burroughs that delineate Tarzan’s manifold and amazing feats. Despite his reputation as a pulp writer, Burroughs spins an exhilarating yarn detailing the laws of the jungle and the intricate dilemmas of the British gentry as he examines the struggle between heredity and environment.

[Daigo-Bah]

I just finished Michael Crichton's 1972 novel "The Terminal Man", and started a Last of the Jedi young reader novel by Jude Watson called Death on Naboo.

[Nathan]

I get done with finals and I spend my break reading for fun. Go figure.

I killed this one in one evening:



Now reading these:



From the opening line of his breakthrough cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson plunges the reader into a not-too-distant future. It is a world where the Mafia controls pizza delivery, the United States exists as a patchwork of corporate-franchise city-states, and the Internet--incarnate as the Metaverse--looks something like last year's hype would lead you to believe it should. Enter Hiro Protagonist--hacker, samurai swordsman, and pizza-delivery driver. When his best friend fries his brain on a new designer drug called Snow Crash and his beautiful, brainy ex-girlfriend asks for his help, what's a guy with a name like that to do? He rushes to the rescue. A breakneck-paced 21st-century novel, Snow Crash interweaves everything from Sumerian myth to visions of a postmodern civilization on the brink of collapse. Faster than the speed of television and a whole lot more fun, Snow Crash is the portrayal of a future that is bizarre enough to be plausible.



Paper or plastic? Neither, say William McDonough and Michael Braungart. Why settle for the least harmful alternative when we could have something that is better--say, edible grocery bags! In Cradle to Cradle, the authors present a manifesto calling for a new industrial revolution, one that would render both traditional manufacturing and traditional environmentalism obsolete. Recycling, for instance, is actually "downcycling," creating hybrids of biological and technical "nutrients" which are then unrecoverable and unusable. The authors, an architect and a chemist, want to eliminate the concept of waste altogether, while preserving commerce and allowing for human nature. They offer several compelling examples of corporations that are not just doing less harm--they're actually doing some good for the environment and their neighborhoods, and making more money in the process. Cradle to Cradle is a refreshing change from the intractable environmental conflicts that dominate headlines. It's a handbook for 21st-century innovation and should be required reading for business hotshots and environmental activists.



The Separatists have launched a sneak attack on Coruscant. Obi-Wan Kenobi, wounded in battle, insists that Anakin Skywalker and his rookie Padawan Ahsoka leave on a risky mission against General Grievous. But when Senator Bail Organa reveals explosive intelligence that could turn the tide of war in the Republic’s favor, the Jedi Master agrees to accompany him to an obscure planet on the Outer Rim to verify the facts. What Obi-Wan and Bail don’t realize is that they’re walking into a deadly trap concocted by Palpatine . . . and that escape may not be an option.

[Phrubruh]

Finished Tarzan. It's very different from the Disney version. Much better.

Now starting Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy.



The men as they rode turned black in the sun from the blood on their clothes and their faces and then paled slowly in the rising dust until they assumed once more the color of the land through which they passed." If what we call "horror" can be seen as including any literature that has dark, horrific subject matter, then Blood Meridian is, in this reviewer's estimation, the best horror novel ever written. It's a perverse, picaresque Western about bounty hunters for Indian scalps near the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s--a ragged caravan of indiscriminate killers led by an unforgettable human monster called "The Judge." Imagine the imagery of Sam Peckinpah and Heironymus Bosch as written by William Faulkner, and you'll have just an inkling of this novel's power. From the opening scenes about a 14-year-old Tennessee boy who joins the band of hunters to the extraordinary, mythic ending, this is an American classic about extreme violence.

[Reid]

[Nathan]

"None of the stories people tell about me can change who I really am." -- Luke Skywalker

[Chris M]

Kill bin Laden.  It's written by the guy who was in command of Delta Force and the overall ground commander in the Tora Bora region during the search.  I've read two other books by guys who were with the CIA and actually on the ground so I'm putting a lot of belief in what they are saying was happening. 

One thing I've gotten tired of reading press reports by guys who were in country at the time, but weren't actually anywhere near the action.  I'm thrilled to be reading from the perspective of a guy in the thick of things.

[Phrubruh]

Now reading "The Call of the Wild" by Jack London. There are some additional short stores in the book also.



Inspired by the rugged landscape of the wild Northwest frontier, London's immortal "The Call of the Wild" has captivated readers of all ages with its unique perspective--a narrative from the viewpoint of the sled dog named Buck. Other selected stories include "Diable--A Dog", "An Odyssey of the North", "To the Man on Trail", "To Build a Fire" and "Love of Life".

[JediJman]

I just finished the Legacy of the Force series and was really dissapointed that they didn't tie up more loose ends. 

*SPOILERS*








 - Why did Jaina even train with the Mandalorians?  She didn't use her berserker fighting style to fight Caedus!
 - Could Allana's storyline be anymore predictible?
 - I thought earlier books referenced Lumiya talking with a future Caedus, but we never see Caedus flow walk back to talk with her.  Did they just forget about this or was it someone other than Caedus?
 - Could Jag's character be any more of a tool?  The guy just get's pushed into whatever role needs filling.  Hey fighter pilot, why don't you become a bounty hunter and make a suit or armor like Iron Man.  Then you can lead a task force to hunt down Alema. We don't have anything lined up after that, but you can take the Falcon out for a spin for no apparent reason and be a punching bag for Jaina.  Crap, the Empire needs a new leader - hey how about Jag?  Ridiculous. 
 - Tahiri wasn't much better.  I'm glad there was some storyline around her because I like the character, but it took Ben half a paragraph to talk her out of being a Sith.

In all, I felt like every sub plot was too rushed.  They need an extra page or two of conversation or detail to bring readers in.  As it is, it felt like reading a wikipedia summary of a real story.    I did like the middle books a lot - some focus on the mandalorians and background on the clones was great.  And I loved the run-in with the hidden Sith...that was a nice little plot connector for those of us reading the novels and the Legacy comic line.

[Angry Ewok]

I've got about 200 pages left in War And Peace.

 

[Phrubruh]

I've got about 200 pages left in War And Peace.

 

That's impressive. Did you enjoy it?

[Mikey D]

The last three books I read:



It's described as The Matrix meets Jaws.  A pretty good book - a bit eccentric, but still a good read.



Took a whooping 45 minutes to read, including all of Dumbledore's comments.  A nice little addition to the Harry Potter universe.



Just wrapped this up last night.  An absolutely fantastic novel start to finish.  I won't give too much away, but Serena is one nasty vindictive bitch.

[Phrubruh]

Just started on "The Run" by Stuart Woods. This seems to be your basic political thriller.



The prolific Woods returns to his roots with an unexceptional new episode in his Lee family saga, a series dormant since 1989. Will and Kate Lee, now a Washington power couple, decide to go for broke in their service to the country. Will, a popular senator from Georgia, jumps into the race for the presidency, while Kate, a deputy director at the CIA, cheers him on. Will is for the most part about as likable as a politician can be, and boasts impeccable Democratic stripes. The Republicans try to stir up trouble by rehashing Will's sexual dalliance with a movie star nearly a decade earlier and raise questions about his competency as a lawyer on a rape and murder case many years ago. Will deflects those charges, but other problems are brewing. The candidate's liberal leanings are anathema to a right-wing militia group from Idaho, whose leader, Zeke Tennant, tracks Will from one campaign stop to another with a duffel bag full of weapons. In a final showdown, Tennant makes one last assassination attempt, this time while Will debates his Democratic primary challenger at Ford's Theater in the nation's capital. This fourth entry in the Lee family story, launched in 1981 with the Edgar-winning Chiefs, sparks from time to time but never catches fire. Lee would probably make a great president, but as a character he's all smooth surface, no edge and not very compelling. Worse, his run for the presidency lacks any real suspense. The assassin is too much of a bumbler to take seriously, and the Republicans' dirty tricks fizzle out quickly. For edge-of-the-seat drama, Woods (Worst Fears Realized) tries to inject energy into the uncertainty of the delegate-counting process at the party convention. Even political junkies won't get a rise out of that.

[ruiner]

The perfect companion for the runs.

[Phrubruh]

The perfect companion for the runs.

The cheese factor in this book would probably keep that from happening.