Last book you read

[veetlebug]

Wicked Plants,Amy Stewart

[xsuzie]

currently in the middle of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. It's really really good!

[Beard Rape]

Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King. Not really a book, as much as a collection of short stories and novellas. Kind of crap, but there are a few good short stories. ie The end of the whole mess

Night Flier is in there, but it's too drawn out.

Also reading the GunSlinger. Volume I.

[black_pathology]

Kahlil Gibran's Collected Works.

12 of his books all in one omnibus. Very good read. He offers no easy way out or through life. He bids you to look within yourself. Reading these poems, Aphorisms, Stories, etc brought me face to face with my humanity.... Helped me realize the true struggles we all face. Gave me inspiration to push forth and live the way most conducive to my well-being.

The stories include:

The Prophet
The Madman
The Forerunner
Sand and Foam
Jesus the Son of Man
Earth Gods
The Garden of the Prophet
etc

more and more....

[G.B.H]

The Fourth Estate Jeffrey Archer

8/10

Lubji Hoch breaks the bonds of his humble beginnings as the son of an illiterate Jewish peasant, escapes the Nazis, changes his name to Richard Armstrong, becomes a decorated officer in the British army, and ultimately finds himself in Berlin, where his sharp mind and killer instincts win him the opportunity to head up a floundering newspaper. As rival papers in the city fail in the wake of his ruthlessness, he nonetheless yearns to move on to even greater things.

On the other side of the world, in Australia, Keith Townsend, son of a millionaire newspaper owner, is being groomed to follow in his father's footsteps. Private schools, an Oxford degree, and a position at a London newspaper lead him up to the time of his father's death, when he takes over the family business. His energy and brilliant strategic thinking quickly make him the leading newspaper publisher in Australia. Yet he too longs to move on to the world stage.

As both Armstrong and Townsend seize control of everything they see, their ambitions collide on a global scale. But suddenly they both find themselves threatened by finicial disaster and enormous debt. Frantic to save his crumbling empire, each man turns desperate. One's quest will lead to triumph, the other's will end in tragedy in this awesome tale of wealth and corruption, desire and destruction.

The Fourth Estate is the timely and compelling story of two men who, though they come from totally different backgrounds, stand face-to-face on the highest precipice, prepared to risk everything to beat each other and control the biggest media empire in the world.

Interesting fact:

Jeffrey often bases his protagonists on real people. In this instance, the rival newspaper magnates were modelled on the late Robert Maxwell and Rupert Murdoch.

[Beard Rape]

This reading isn't a book, but a short story... a damn good read.

"The Whistling Room", written in 1910 by William Hope Dodgson.

About a room in a house which seems to come to life and hold dominion over the living with some malevolent force... Something about the way Dodgson details some unseen horror, sends shivers down the spine. There is something malevolent that we cannot see but we are made to feel along with the protagonists. The writing is pretty good and the aspect of providing a sense of tension is very artfully done. He does a good job of building a feeling of dread. We never see the monster in its entirety, but we are made to feel it by the excellent sense of description the author uses. (if that makes sense)

I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe someone else is into this sort of thing?

Anyways, here it is.

http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/carnack3.htm

[DominatriX]

now i'm reading "The Cask of Amontillado" of Edgar Allan Poe

[Beard Rape]

Just finished reading the Uzumaki trilogy. Jesus, just when you think each story can't get more fucked up, it does. What a depressing ending to it all, but I liked it overall. It's weird when you become attached to characters and then see them suffering without knowing why. That there is some strange malevolent force that twists the heart and mind to the whims of some unknown, unseen malevolence. It's weird...

Maybe that's the brilliance of Junki Ito's work. It's senselessness personified but in a word, REAL. I don't read much manga, but if I were to continue checking stuff out, I'd like to see more of this type of work.

[Calgacus]

The Forgotten Soldier -- Guy Sajer

[Snoogins]

Originally Posted by Beard Rape

Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King. Not really a book, as much as a collection of short stories and novellas. Kind of crap, but there are a few good short stories. ie The end of the whole mess

Night Flier is in there, but it's too drawn out.

Also reading the GunSlinger. Volume I.

I like his short stories rather more than his long stories generally, the man has a tendency to go on a bit and have shitty endings and when he writes a short story he avoids that.

I recommend his "Skeleton Crew" collection, there's some good ones in there. (my personally favourites were The Jaunt and The Fog, Survivor Type was pretty good too.)

[Beard Rape]

I couldn't agree more. Long-winded is an understatement. Him and HP Lovecraft have a similar predilection towards nearly dooming their stories with too many goddamn words which aren't necessarily affective in exploring the plot or the characters or the environment or whatever.

Even in short stories, Stephen King is getting predictable though and I don't like that in an author so I'll probably not check out 'skeleton crew' for some time.
I want good horror, but I don't see it nor smell it, nor taste it.

[EndOfTheLine]

Your missing out on great early Stephen King if you haven't read Night Shift or Skeleton Crew.
He was at his best in those days. The Shining is one of the best novels ever.

[Dixie Normous]

[C_R]

Just finished reading a Richard Montanari series. Not amazing but a good read still.