The Reading/Books Thread

Up near the top of my list of favorites is David Copperfield ( the unabridged Dickens).  I have too many favorite books.  But here's a list of my favorite authors, instead: Charles Dickens, J R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Ursula K. Le Guin ( who just recently passed away this January), Shakespeare, Madelaine L'Engle, Rosemary Sutcliff, Garth Nix, Neil Gaiman, Jacqueline Carey, Diana Gabaldon, Karen Cushman, Patricia C. Wrede, Terry Goodkind before he lost his literary way, Richard D. Blackmore for Lorna Doone, Brian Jacques for the Redwall series, and many, many others.     

Well...I read The Alienist by Caleb Carr before I saw the current TV miniseries.  I like that book, so I tried to read Surrender, New York, but Carr disappointed me there.  He just spent most of that book in his own private rant against the U.S. Judicial System and against Police Officers.  In that book, Carr kept saying that everyone was incompetent.

Then I read at least 3/4 of The Angel of Darkness, which is the direct sequel to The Alienist, before getting turned off by a very gratuitous character death-- while the main villain wasn't even polished off in a comparable way for her plethora of horrible  actions.  I was soooo dissatisfied with Carr, again, so I stopped reading.   

I was in book two of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series ( I have all seven or nine volumes?, and my Outlander copy is one of the oldest first print editions of the original title).  Unfortunately, Diana takes too long to get to her points...so sometimes I have to be in the mood to care about Claire and Jamie. 

I re-read American Gods by Neil Gaiman ( the author's unabridged copy) last year, before the TV miniseries debuted.  It's a shame they have already shelved/stalled the project because of literary/screenwriter and producer disputes.

I'm going back to reading more Neil Gaiman, and then perhaps Jacqueline Carey, whom I haven't touched in a while.  First, it's Gaiman's The Sleeper and The Spindle, and then Carey's Miranda and Calaban ( yes, it's her re-envisioned fantasy take on Shakespeare's play, The Tempest).  Like, I said, I've been in nursing school so long that this year has really been my first opportunity to visit a library more consistently.  I haven't been in a library ( that wasn't a university owned one) in the proceeding 6 years when I was finishing both my master's degree and becoming an RN.  My library card was so old, it had to be replaced, and I felt baaaaad.  lol.


Though I love reading fantasy/fiction, I couldn't stand J. K. Rowling. I stopped after book one of Harry and I never went back. I found the subject okay, but the characters in the Harry Potter series ( minus Professor Snape) were really, incredibly boring. Harry himself was also boring.  Anything involving going to school ( in literature) actually bores me. Me physically learning in a classroom situation can be enjoyable, but reading about someone else doing so? Nah. Pass. Which is why I don't normally read autobiographies-- and the only exceptions are forensic autobiographies.

I wish I had more time...and more energy...to put into my life. It's hard to want to read so bad, but then get aggravated with authors who miss the opportunity to finish the thrill they started.

I am newcomer when it comes to reading books. I read Harry Potter when the books came out and then it was it. School and university took over. I heard the GoT books on audiobook, but I get too easily distracted to pay attention.
But this Christmas suddenly, while being bored with family, I picked up a Harry Hole book that was on the table and thought "what the hell. I don't have anything better to do". I got hooked and then wanted to read the rest of the Harry Hole series by Jo Nesbø since Scandinavian thriller/crime is awesome until I saw the movie trailer of Annihilation. I was blown away. I had to read the book before the movie came out, so I read it from 7pm to 7am. It was the best thing ever and now I am reading the other two in the trilogy.
I will be reading Jo Nesbø eventually, but I am a scifi/fantasy-nerd so I think I will read Stephen King next and maybe books that have become shows and movies like Expanse or 2001: A Space Oddysey.
But I also enjoy Miss Marple and Poirot when they're on tv, so I will give those books a read as well if they are small.

Awesome suggestions guys. Thank you. Keep reading <3

Me too. I tried listening to an audiobook laying in bed and I was like "Ok, so what am I supposed to do while listening? Just stare at the ceiling?" 
If I am on my mobile or if I am cooking simultaneously, then I automatically stop paying attention. So the only solution is to just sit there and stare in the infinity. 

Yeah. That could be it for you. Haha. But now that I think about it I’m pretty much like this with everything. The right mood or it’s not happening, lol. 

oh i didnt know it was also a book! i'll make sure to check it out. thanks for the tip