The last book you read?

[Black Death]

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline think of it as Matrix or Tron meets the 80 pop culture(yes Tron took place in the 80's but still) and Charlie and the chocolate factory(the book not the awful tim burton film)/Willy Wanka with Atari's Adventure and Swordquest games(swordquest was a planned series of four games by atari that were tied to a special contest where players had to play through the game and solve the riddle to each installment the first batch of players to do so then compete in a special contest with a modded version of the installment they solved the winner would win a real gold treasure) 

tossed in and the chocolate factory where the world has gone downhill due to the worlds supply of fossil fuels has been used up leading to civil unrest and lead to the majority of people to take refuge in a virtual reality MMO called Oasis which now dominates the majority of human activity but the game's creator had left his vast fortune and his controlling interest in Oasis to anyone who can find the hidden Easter egg in the game which is hidden behind 3 special gates that are unlocked with with three hidden keys.

The story centers around a poor young kid named Wade who lives in a trailer "stack" think trailer park meets high rise becomes the first person to find one of the three keys..

It was a fun read, especially if you grew up in the 80's or are a gamer then it's a even better since you can get a bigger kick out of the little references and such.

glad that you  read it , love the book myself , I recommend it  to all.   The battle at the Castle rock  lol 

[Mike Powers]

Replay, by Ken Grimwood

Jeff Winston, forty-three, didn't know he was a replayer until he died and woke up twenty-five years younger in his college dorm room; he lived another life. And died again. And lived again and died again -- in a continuous twenty-five-year cycle -- each time starting from scratch at the age of eighteen to reclaim lost loves, remedy past mistakes, or make a fortune in the stock market. A novel of gripping adventure, romance, and fascinating speculation on the nature of time, Replay asks the question: "What if you could live your life over again?"

It is an older book, having been written in 1988.  I don't know how I missed this one, but it is EXCELLENT.  If you are into time travel, sci-fi type fiction at all, it is a must read.  I burned through it in 1 sitting.

Anyone else read it?

[Black Death]

damn ... read it back in middle school , it been a long time ,  you just brought back some old memories.  need to read it again .  Thank  you  mike

[Mike Powers]

In a note of extreme irony, in doing a little research about the book, I found out that Grimwood died in 2003 while writing a sequel to Replay.....of a heart attack. 

[Rob]

Danny Wallace - Yes Man. Awesome story... even better that it's completely true. The film with Jim Carey is somewhat based on the general idea but the book is so much funnier. From people asking "spare change" on the highstreet to a suggestion about going to Barcelona, it's a riot.

[Brock Rhysner]

Danny Wallace - Yes Man. Awesome story... even better that it's completely true. The film with Jim Carey is somewhat based on the general idea but the book is so much funnier. From people asking "spare change" on the highstreet to a suggestion about going to Barcelona, it's a riot.

I second this. Excellent book.

[Rob]

I second this. Excellent book.

I honestly can't get through his books quickly enough right now. Some of his ideas like starting his own nation or cult seem really interesting and he's just got this remarkably dry wit

[ToneCold]

Gerry Anderson's Gemini Force One: Black Horizon by MG Harris.

Scifi book, first part of a trilogy. This was Gerry Anderson's final project completed by another author and it kinda combines some of his most successful shows, (easy to spot elements of Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet in there) and updates the ideas in them to what we now see as the 'near-future'. It's also not short of Clancy-style technical stuff in among the action.

It left me wanting more (it's planned to be a trilogy), and in the meantime I'll probably be catching up on Tom Clancy's last few works.


This actually comes out in February/March 2015, I have a copy because I supported a Kickstarter for it.

[Conor]

I've been on a massive history kick for a while now. The last book I finished was The Inheritance of Rome by Christopher Wickham. It covers the period 400-1000AD and examines almost all of Europe in the Dark Ages, from the tiny kingdoms of Ireland to the rise of the Arab caliphate and the success of Charlemagne. It's a wonderful read if you have a thing for the early Medieval period.

Right now I'm getting stuck into The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, a massive six volume series written by Edward Gibbon between 1776 and 1789. It kind of set the template for how history books were written later.

I got a Kindle Fire and a ton of books for Christmas, so I'll be busy for the foreseeable future.

[Drama Queen]

I just finished Angela's ashes by frank McCourt, a book every Irish person should read.

A memoir of his childhood in limerick, a childhood filled with poverty and Catholicism, and I'm not sure which is worse. Despite the humorous way it's written, I can't think of another book that provoked as much anger since I read the grapes of wrath. The superstitious and alcoholic and generally cruel ways of many of the Irish people back then are shameful.

His style is first person, as obviously it is his own memoir, but what's interesting is he narrates at the maturity level he was at, at the time, so it really is through the eyes of a kid, which in this case is as profound as anything the greatest wordsmiths can conjure up. He doesn't use quotation marks, so following dialogue takes a bit of getting used to until you realise he's narrating like a child rushing home from school to tell about his day.... Which again is really effective for getting inside the mind of the youngster.

Overall an amazing read, I highly recommend especially if you are Irish or interested in Irish things.

[Duckman]

This is one everyone has probably already read, and seen the movie, but I just finished The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo.

I really enjoyed it.  Had great pacing to the plot and a really interesting lead female character.

I know it's a sort of 'read on holiday' book but sometimes those are actually worth checking out.

I've just started 'Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail' which is Hunter S Thompson's account of being on the 1972 (I think) presidential campaign.  It's so great and I'm only about 30 pages in!  I could read HST all day, every day.

[BamBamBunglow]

A series I've just finished (it's still going but we're now waiting on the next book) is the Cal leandros series by Rob Thurman - starting with Nightlife and up to the newest book Nightfall.

The basic is - most fables and monsters are real in the world (Pucks, spring heeled jack, vampires, werewolves etc.), Cal is half human, half monster, him & his brother are kind've a PI/crime fighting duo taking on rogue monsters.

Cal is the most sarcastic, foul mouthed git I've read in some time - extremely funny, I'd recommend anyone who likes urban fantasy take a punt on these.

[Drama Queen]

This is one everyone has probably already read, and seen the movie, but I just finished The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo.

I really enjoyed it.  Had great pacing to the plot and a really interesting lead female character.

I know it's a sort of 'read on holiday' book but sometimes those are actually worth checking out.

I've just started 'Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail' which is Hunter S Thompson's account of being on the 1972 (I think) presidential campaign.  It's so great and I'm only about 30 pages in!  I could read HST all day, every day.

I thoroughly enjoyed the trilogy, though I have no interest in watching the movies. So much of what happens in the book is behind the scenes narration, that I just don't see it as being entertaining on a screen. Pretty much how I feel about the davinci code as well.

[Drama Queen]

I also just finished "Cut" by Patricia McCormick. A shortbread, first person narrative of a girl with a self cutting addiction going through therapy at a center where she's in group discussions with people with food disorders and drug addictions. Quite insightful and actually touching in some places. I was impressed enough that I went strait into another of her novels "Sold", the firsthand view of a girl from Nepal sold into prostitution.

[Dorling]

Read the Red Cell Seven series by Stephen Frey over Christmas, three books about a family who are linked to a clandestine American Intelligence unit set up by Nixon, and their fight to survive against threats from abroad, each other, and an arrogant, liberal president who believes they should not exist.

Very enjoyable.