The last book you read?

[Mark Mania]

Just finished the first Sherlock Holmes book. A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Great read for those who haven't read any of the Sherlock Holmes stuff before. I've always been interested but never had a chance to sit down and start reading from the first official book of the canon.

[Gates]

I've seen the large volume of collected stories of Holmes come in at work, and always tell myself I should give it a look....maybe one of these days lol.

Finished "Fletch" by Gregory McDonald the other day. Decent book. Interesting and fairly easy read, worth a look if you read a lot of heavy stuff and want an easier read.

Next up: "Prince of Thieves" by Chuck Hogan (also known as the book that was turned into the upcoming movie The Town).

[Black Death]

Prince of Thieves is really good one , you like that.

[Gates]

Excellent. So far I'm only about a chapter or two in, but it's already reading pretty good.

[Mark Mania]

Just finished the second novel from the Holmes stories, The Sign of Four. I liked A Study in Scarlet more, but now I start in on all the short stories before getting into another novel.

[RickRampage]

Alright, so over the course of my night at work, I just finished Blackwood Farm by Anne Rice. It's a Vampire Chronicles book that tells the story of Quinn Blackwood, a young, fledgling vampire who enlists the help of Lestat to help rid him of the spirit of Goblin; Quinn's spirit doppleganger. It begins with his invasion of Lestat's home and his meeting of Lestat; and then goes on with Quinn telling Lestat his life story and the stories of him and Goblin. It also tells of his meeting the infamous Mayfair family and his turning.

I've had this book for years now and just never really sat down to read it until now. It was overall an amazing read and I enjoyed it. I was actually upset at the fact that I had to put it down several times over the past two nights to make my rounds and talk to dispatch. I however did finish the 600+ page book in two nights and found myself wanting more and wanting a true sequel to the book. I'll have to do some research to see if Anne Rice wrote one, but if she didn't, I know that I will have to go without as she is no longer writing books about the Vampire Lestat.

5/5 Stars for this book.

Now to show my really nerdy side. With the new site I am working, I pretty much can only read to pass the time, so I have four more books lined up that I will be reviewing over the next couple of weeks. They are all Star Wars books and come in this order. Star Wars: Darth Bane - The Rule of Two;  Star Wars: The Fate of the Jedi - Outcast; Omen; and Abyss. I am waiting more of the Fate of the Jedi books to hit paperback and the same with the third installment of Darth Bane. I won't give too much away on any of these books as per the fact that if you haven't read any of the books before them, it could potentially ruin them if you were hoping to read them and the books I am currently on. I will however say that I am particularly looking forward to Darth Bane - Rule of Two as I enjoyed the first book, Path of Destruction. The same author has written the second book so I am hoping it will flow together nicely. I am trying the Fate of the Jedi series, but I attempt it with some reservations as I did not enjoy The New Jedi Order, and I never attempted to read The Legacy of the Force due to it as well, but I am hoping I will not be disappointed as I am currently caught up on storyline to this point through summaries of The Legacy of the Force, but we shall see.


*edit - Also, there is a sequel to Blackwood Farms, so I will definitely be getting that; it's called Blood Canticle. If I can find it at Borders before I go to work, I might read that first, so we shall see.

[Zombie Gunn]

Pretty much love anything by Anne Rice.  I didn't get far into the Vampire Chronicles series, but I've read Interview about 5 times, Violin, Out of Egypt.  Amazingly good at placing you at the scene.

[Kurt]

Just read A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. I'd give it 4/5 stars. I loved Death of a Salesman, and this definitely had a few of the same themes that it had. Very enjoyable, and engrossing. I'd highly recommend it, especially since it's only about 140 pages.

[RickRampage]

Alright, I am coming at you guys with a 2 for 1 today. At work I finished Blood Canticle by Anne Rice and Star Wars: Darth Bane - Rule of Two.

Blood Canticle
3/5 Stars

This was a decent book which gave me what I wanted to know after Blackwood Farm, but nothing more. You learn a little bit more about the Mayfair Witches and a few other things, and it wraps up the Vampire Chronicles nicely, but it was definitely not Anne Rice's best work, but still enjoyable. If you've read Blackwood Farm and want to know more about the main characters, Blood Canticle is worth the read.

Star Wars: Darth Bane - Rule of Two
5/5 Stars

An amazing book and a good follow up to the first one. Not going to give away much even though if you are a Star Wars nut you've either read these books, or you've read about Darth Bane on Wookieepedia. Either way, I think what I find most enjoyable about this particular set of Star Wars books is that you can tell the writer enjoys writing Sith Characters. He has given them so much more life then the usual, I am evil and want to rule the Galaxy. He portrays them the way Lucas wanted the Sith portrayed, sort of the way Palpatine was portrayed in Episode 3. Once again, the nerd side has shown through. Either way, a rather enjoyable book and I can't wait to get my hands on the third on. Until then, I will be starting the Fate of the Jedi series.

[Black Death]

Star Wars: Darth Bane - Rule of Two
5/5 Stars

An amazing book and a good follow up to the first one. Not going to give away much even though if you are a Star Wars nut you've either read these books, or you've read about Darth Bane on Wookieepedia. Either way, I think what I find most enjoyable about this particular set of Star Wars books is that you can tell the writer enjoys writing Sith Characters. He has given them so much more life then the usual, I am evil and want to rule the Galaxy. He portrays them the way Lucas wanted the Sith portrayed, sort of the way Palpatine was portrayed in Episode 3. Once again, the nerd side has shown through. Either way, a rather enjoyable book and I can't wait to get my hands on the third on. Until then, I will be starting the Fate of the Jedi series.

you will enjoy the last one ,  it has some stuff in it that traces to the papatine in the later series.  love those books

[TheHardcoreLegend]

For those who enjoyed the Percy Jackson series, I just found out last night...that the new series is coming out in October.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Hero

[RickRampage]

Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi - Outcast
4/5 Stars

Overall a good book, and I am hoping the other authors can keep up the decent standard as I continue on. There are a few confusing parts and I am guessing that eventually they will be cleared up. My biggest complaint is that there are 3 main storylines going on at one time and it can be kind of hard to keep up. Still, if you like Star Wars books, this series so far seems to be worth a read. I will be reading the second book tonight at work and I will probably finish it tonight; and then I will also probably start and finish the third on Monday night, so this series might hold some strength.

[RickRampage]

Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi - Omen
4/5 Stars

A good follow up. Still three storylines, but these are broken up a little bit better and things have begun to become clarified a little bit. Things have unfolded a lot more and the threat to the Jedi has become more prominent. Looking forward to reading the next book, Abyss. Then I have no clue what will be next. I will have all Tuesday to decide, but hopefully I'll find something good. Anyways, my hopes for this series has sky rocketed now, and I would say if you're a Star Wars fan, it's worth buying the first two books as of right now, because I can promise that you won't be sorry.

[RickRampage]

Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi - Abyss
4/5 Stars

Another good book from this series and I am glad that I decided to read them so far. This is the last of the ones of this series that I'll be reading for a while because I am waiting for the others that are out right now to come out in paperback. Still, if the first three books are of any hint to what the rest of the series might be like, Star Wars fans might want to start buying today. Good book.

[Mark Mania]

Just finished The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes also by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

It's the first collection of short stories, it starts with A Scandal In Bohemia which is the first story to mention Irene Adler, Sherlock Holmes one female nemesis/love. And ends with The Adventure Of The Copper Beeches, which is a pretty good story, but nothing more.

I didn't enjoy these short stories as much as I did the novels, but since I'm reading the entire Sherlock Holmes canon and 52 of the stories are short stories while only 4 are novels, I better get used to it.

The highlights of these collections of stories were A Scandal In Bohemia, The Red-Headed League, The Five Orange Pips, The Man With The Twisted Lip, and The Adventure Of The Speckled Band.

It's good way to get into the Sherlock Holmes series, but if there is any real interest, I'd suggest reading them in order of the canon as very often in the stories, they'll allude back to cases that had been covered before.