Now Reading...

[Pellaz]

I'm reading the first of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan - The Eye of the World. So far, it's great!

Jordan actually paints a larger, more complex world than, say, Tolkien, so be prepared for it. There's a lot going on, a lot of complex linkages, prophecies and so on, but I loved the first few books.
Things slow down a great deal during the middle, but the last Jordan-written book, and the two most recent books by Brandon Sanderson, really tightened up the narrative pace.
New Spring, which is a prequel to Eye of the World, is also good, but I'd hold off on it for now since it may tip off some plot details down the line.

Almost done with Destroyer of Worlds, basically, I've gotten to the denoument.
GREAT book; I'll proceed directly to the sequel, Betrayer of Worlds, afterward.

 

[Harvester]

Things slow down a great deal during the middle.

Glaciers move faster.

 

[Pellaz]

Glaciers move faster.

 

[TheLongshot]

Jordan actually paints a larger, more complex world than, say, Tolkien, so be prepared for it. There's a lot going on, a lot of complex linkages, prophecies and so on, but I loved the first few books.
Things slow down a great deal during the middle, but the last Jordan-written book, and the two most recent books by Brandon Sanderson, really tightened up the narrative pace.
New Spring, which is a prequel to Eye of the World, is also good, but I'd hold off on it for now since it may tip off some plot details down the line.

I had to stop reading it because I realized that I was going to run out of book, and there is one thing I hate is long breaks between books in a series. It is odd thinking that I was in college when Jordan started the series and it is still not done.

 

[Pellaz]

True....however, if someone started the Wheel of Time series now, they would finish the books with not TOO long to wait for the final volume: A Memory of Light is currently scheduled for a March 2012 release.

 

[BenMech]

started listening to Girl/Dragon Tattoo in the car over the weekend (I've seen 2 of the 3 films). So far it's okay.

 

[AngraRULES]

started listening to Girl/Dragon Tattoo in the car over the weekend (I've seen 2 of the 3 films). So far it's okay.

I always wondered if there was anyone in the world that actually listened to audio books in the car - it just seems like such a weird idea to me, lol. Now I know at least one person who does it!

(And that wasn't an attempt to poke fun at you Ben. I honestly never actually knew someone who did that...)

 

[Cheiron]

I always wondered if there was anyone in the world that actually listened to audio books in the car - it just seems like such a weird idea to me, lol. Now I know at least one person who does it!

(And that wasn't an attempt to poke fun at you Ben. I honestly never actually knew someone who did that...)

I was doing it for a while, when there were good ones to be borrowed from the library. I hate paying for audio books, but I can also loan them digitally from the library too (when I can find good ones), but sometimes the loaning period isn't enough time to get through them (happened to me for David Copperfield, and then a series of issues later I lost my place in it).

I think its a great way to spend one's time driving, though now I just listen to tons of good podcasts.

 

[AngraRULES]

I was doing it for a while, when there were good ones to be borrowed from the library. I hate paying for audio books, but I can also loan them digitally from the library too (when I can find good ones), but sometimes the loaning period isn't enough time to get through them (happened to me for David Copperfield, and then a series of issues later I lost my place in it).

I think its a great way to spend one's time driving, though now I just listen to tons of good podcasts.

I can see it being fun if you're driving a lot (or even in a long road trip, for instance). I never tried, but I think I might actually give it a shot now.

 

[TheLongshot]

I always wondered if there was anyone in the world that actually listened to audio books in the car - it just seems like such a weird idea to me, lol. Now I know at least one person who does it!

(And that wasn't an attempt to poke fun at you Ben. I honestly never actually knew someone who did that...)

I have a friend of mine who it is his only form of "reading". (He did LotR and all of Harry Potter that way.)

Personally, I'd rather be listening to music when driving.

 

[AngraRULES]

I have a friend of mine who it is his only form of "reading". (He did LotR and all of Harry Potter that way.)

Personally, I'd rather be listening to music when driving.

Same here. I imagine that listening to an audiobook might actually be more distracting while driving than listening to music.

 

[jaimek]

I can't pay attention to books on audio. I just get far too easily dis...ooh shiny!

 

[NuclearFire166]

I can't pay attention to books on audio. I just get far too easily dis...ooh shiny!

Same here. Plus, they mess with my perception of the scene. When reading a book, I tend to imagine the scenes, characters, and voices in my mind. When someone's voice is reading to me, it takes away from that.

 

[Yippee38]

I always wondered if there was anyone in the world that actually listened to audio books in the car - it just seems like such a weird idea to me, lol. Now I know at least one person who does it!

I've listened to lots of books on tape back in the days when I drove an hour each way to work. The good ones are really good. I've missed turns because I was so engrossed. I never felt that it was so distracting that I couldn't focus on driving, but it was distracting enough that I couldn't focus on driving and directions at the same time. I've also sat in the driveway for 20 minutes because the book got to a really exciting part just as I was getting home.

Now that YardleyBates is driving an hour each way to work, she's started listening to them.

I beats music because, at least for me, I only listen to a couple of dozen CD, and then they start to get old. So then you start listening to old stuff, but usually one listen is to listen to those enough. Then you either get tired of listening to the same stuff so much, or you keep listening to it until you can't stand it anymore.

Audio books are a great way to multi-task. I personally used to listen to books that I considered reading, but never could get around to buy. Usually, that would be because I wasn't too motivated to read the book. So audio books work.

I just started listening to "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." I got it on Librivox. That's public domain books read by volunteers. I'm on the first chapter, and the guy reading it does a truly horrible job. I mean, really bad. I know that the next couple of chapters were read by other readers, so I'm going to give some of those a try. Hopefully, they will be better.

 

[RagePSV]

I can't pay attention to books on audio. I just get far too easily dis...ooh shiny!

I typically only listen on the way to work in the morning. I can't always do heavy metal first thing.

 

[Pellaz]

I finished Destroyer of Worlds -- truly excellent! -- and have embarked on the sequel (and I believe the last in this pre-Ringworld series), Betrayer of Worlds.

Also picked up A Dictionary of Imaginary Places at Barnes & Noble (as you promised, Derek, 'twas on the cheap) and will be skimming through it also.

 

[jaimek]

If you want to know just how much I can't pay attention to audio books, someone gave me Return of the Native read by Alan Rickman. I put it on, and I think within 15 minutes all I was processing was that Alan Rickman's voice was in the background, with very little idea as to what was going on.

Of course, this may be more the fault of the book than the fact that it was on audio. Perhaps I should try something I've read already. ...except no, I borrowed my mom's multi-disc LOTR (the one that comes in a carved wooden box) and I couldn't focus on that either.

I suspect if I actually had to pay attention to lyrics in music, I'd have issues then too.

I am currently rereading Lies of Locke Lamora. I visited the used bookstore when I was at my mom's for xmas, which has about 40 feet of sci-fi/fantasy, most of it older stuff, but my brother was with me and he's not patient enough to let me wander for an hour, so I only came out with a book of David Brin short stories - Otherness, I think.

Oh, and I got Exile, the graphic novel retake on Diana Gabaldon's Outlander. I should have thumbed through it more before I bought it, because I'm kinda not impressed. I was looking at maybe getting the first Walking Dead, but the store has only had #3 on up for the last month.

 

[Justin G]

I finished Side Jobs (which was totally fun if you're a Dresden Files fan), and have moved on to Down the Road: On the Last Day, a small press zombie novel. It's pretty terrible so far, and I'm usually willing to forgive a lot if the book has zombies.

 

[Justin G]

Oh, and I'm still working on Jon Stewart's Earth: the Book (upstairs bathroom) and Chuck Klosterman's Eating the Dinosaur (downstairs bathroom).

 

[Locust0311]

Finished "Indiana Jones and the Dance of the Giants" last night. It was just ok, not as good as the previous book and seemed a bit rushed. The next couple in the series are supposed to be among the best though ("The Seven Veils" and "The Genesis Deluge"). Up next though is Clive Cussler's "The Mediterranean Caper".