Recommended Reading...

[Quo]

We've got threads for "What are you listening to?" and "What's your favorite TV show?", etc.

I thought it was time for a thread about what you've been reading lately. Please post what you have been reading, what category it falls into, and rate the book -- let's say 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest.

I've been on a real reading tear lately. I finished all four of the Halo books recently. I made the mistake of reading them 1, 3, 2, 4... which made them a little hard to connect. Overall, they're pretty entertaining. I thought Fall of Reach and First Strike were the best of the group. The Flood was little bit tougher to read for some reason (it's by Dietz instead of Nylund). Ghosts of Onyx was pretty good, but I thought the end kinda stretched the limits of what my mind was willing to accept on the whole suspended-disbelief thing.

Halo: Fall of Reach -- 7 of 10
Halo: The Flood -- 6 of 10
Halo: First Strike -- 7 of 10
Halo: Ghosts of Onyx -- 6 of 10

This next book is a must read if you're a science fiction fan. It's been out for a while now but I didn't hear about it until about a month ago. It's called The Old Man's War by John Scalzi at it is flat-out excellent. It's an off-beat romp through the universe of the future. It's hilarious, I actually laughed out loud in a few places. My wife thinks I've lost it. The plot is convoluted and extreme but it's too funny to even think bad about that aspect. I loved it, and I'd recommend it to anyone else who likes sci-fi.

The Old Man's War -- 10 of 10

Right now I'm reading 3 books, although I'm not far along into 2 of them:

Marley & Me by John Grogan -- kinda sappy, but a good read. Not exactly riveting, but it's a good, relaxing read. It's about a guy's misadventures with his dog.

Epicenter by Joel Rosenberg -- a look at current events and biblical prophecy. Very interesting stuff.

Authors I try not to miss books by --

Grisham
Clancy

Who do you guys read, what are you reading now, and what are some of your favorite books?

[ZoomZoom71]

The FairTax Book - About

Rich Dad, Poor Dad

The Millionaire Next Door

[Wondermonkey]

Good thread.

Read recently and would absolutely recommend:

Halo: Ghosts of Onyx

The Contortionist's Handbook

Choke

People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present

America

[BrewCityUpstart]

I loved Marley and Me.

The Shadows of Power is one of my all time favs.

[dmiller68]

My three fav's that I actually still read are Greg Iles, Clive Cussler and Dan Brown.

Currently reading: Turning Angel - Greg Iles

I highly recommend the following:
The Footprints of God - Greg Iles (10/10, it is very cool mix of tech, religion, head scans and murder)
Dead Sleep - Greg Iles (10/10, total twist and turns murder mystery)
Sleep No More - Greg Iles (10/10, total twist and turns murder mystery)
Atlantis Found - Clive Cussler (8/10, Dirk Pitt rocks)
Angels and Demons - Dan Brown (10/10, Better then The Da Vinci Code)
Digital Fortress - Dan Brown (8/10, computer geaks like it)

[NuclearCujo]

Flag of our Fathers- If you like history, this is an excellent book. More of a documentary

[Peench]

Awesome thread!

I've been reading a bit of Tim Lahaye's recent fiction about a Religious Archaeologist who goes in search of historical items to prove things in the Bible. I've finished the first two so far. The first one was pretty good while the second one got a bitch preachy - e.g. some conversations between people seemed to be put in just for the sake of passing on sermons. But other than that they were interesting - nothing too hard to follow, but entertaining nonetheless.

I just started the "Last Templar" last night, but I can't remember who wrote it and am only on the 3rd or 4th chapter so I can't recommend it yet!

I highly recommend the Halo novels. They were very entertaining regardless of whether you are a Halo fan. But do read them in order! haha.

One author who I've always thought to be entertaining is David Morrell. He wrote First Blood (go Rambo! haha). But his other books have been very entertaining (or at least I remember them to be). Brotherhood of the Rose, etc. He even has a few other random style books that are entertaining.

Eric Lustbader has some good and detailed novels. Not as detailed as a Tom Clancy novel, but very heavily Asian influenced and fun to read.

I'll try to think of a few more notables and post em up when I get a chance.

[Jon Liu]

DMiller, I am definitely going to agree that Angels and Demons was a better book than The Da Vinci Code. It would have also made a better movie, as well!

[MadBryan]

I like James Patterson. Picked up the latest last week. I don't like to think to much when I'm reading. Just tell me a story. I spend so much time lately trying to learn all the tech stuff, I just like to Zone out.

[CamDawg]

Great idea for a thread!
Angels and Demons (I agree with D and Jon about this being fantastic)
Noble Dead series
1776
The Wheel of Time series
Herman Wouk's Winds of War and War and Remembrance
A Song of Ice and Fire series
R.A. Salvatore's Forgotten Realms books
All of the Midkemia books by Raymond Feist

And least I forget the all time classic: Lord of the Rings Trilogy (if you haven't read this and you're a fantasy fan, you're doing yourself a huge disservice!

[BrewCityUpstart]

Oh yeah, I hafta add almost any Dragonlance book.

[breathofj]

I'm in the middle of Dune, and "In Harm's Way," which is about the U.S.S. Indianapolis.

I just finished "The Gunslinger"...again. I had to start that series over, and intend to get through the series. I read the first 4 books, but it had been so many years, I basically forgot what was going on when I started into Book V. So, yeah, started over.

Next up for me:
Drawing of the Three
Sherlock Holmes mystery by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that I can't remember the name of
Midnight Mass (vampires; I'm a sucker (get it? ) )
Biography of Edgar Allan Poe

[Jon Liu]

Dood, Brew, I went into Barnes and Noble and couldn't find any of the TONS of Dragonlance books! I wanted to get one to start reading again...

[CamDawg]

Originally Posted by breathofj

I'm in the middle of Dune, and "In Harm's Way," which is about the U.S.S. Indianapolis.

How is In Harm's Way? That's on my list of books I've wanted to read.

[BrewCityUpstart]

Originally Posted by Jon Liu

Dood, Brew, I went into Barnes and Noble and couldn't find any of the TONS of Dragonlance books! I wanted to get one to start reading again...

Really? The one here has plenty!

[Jon Liu]

Darn it, I'll have to look again, those books were one of the few books I loved reading in my younger years!