Quoth the Rodent Queen, "Squeak."

Sometimes I choose books solely by the title.

Reading now:  The Hunger Games and Philosophy

Saw it at the library and it looked interesting.  I’ve never really been into philosophy, but I thought I’d give it a try anyway. So far, there hasn’t been any astonishing revelations, and a lot of it seems like he’s digging for meaning that isn’t really there (read: how I wrote all my English essays in high school), but it’s interesting enough.

I’ve never read the Lord of the Rings series before (I know, I know - I’m a horrible geek), so the other day I decided to start reading Fellowship of the Ring.

Lo and behold, my copy is missing 30 pages.  No wonder the guy at the flea market gave it to me for free.

*sigh*

Reading this right now, and holy Crow is it good.  I remember liking it when I read it back in high school, but now I’m completely immersed in the story.  It’s like watching a movie in my head, and Sean Bean is Beowulf.  Remember kids, English class exists only to fuck up your enjoyment of literature.

Favorite books (in no particular order): Night Watch, by Sir Terry Pratchett

Two things:

1. I am currently reading three books and have about 100 books on my bookcases, twice that on my Kindle (almost entirely classics because free = good), and almost a thousand on my to-read list on Goodreads.  So what do I do when I’m itching to read?  Open up Night Watch for the third time.
2. I could put 90% of Terry Pratchett’s novels on my list of favorite books

Also, Vimes is a badass.

<3

(Source: beatborn)

What I’m reading now - The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman

As the title states, this book is an examination of what would happen to the world if humans were to disappear tomorrow.  From descriptions of how houses decay and cities collapse, to the consequences of our obsession with oil, plastics and nuclear materials, The World Without Us is a sobering view of the havoc humans have wreaked on the world and how permanent the scarring could be.

While Weisman is not a scientist himself, he bases his narrative on interviews with various experts across the globe - engineers, ecologists, marine biologists, petroleum engineers, zoologists, etc.

(back of the card says, “I don’t count Harry Potter!”)

This reminds me of those jackasses who, back when Titanic came out the first time, would say with great pride that they absolutely refused to see it, simply because so many people had already seen it.

So let’s go through this point by point:

1. Not reading a book simply because a shit-ton of people have read it does not make you a better person in any way.  What it does is make you look like a judgmental prick who lacks the ability to chose a book to read on its own merits instead of on the number of copies sold.
2. Books are popular for a reason.  There is something in them that speaks to a large audience, be it heroism, adventure, romance, mystery, fascinating characters, etc.  Brushing aside a book for reasons other than the book itself means that you may be missing out on something wonderful.  But hey, if it’s more important to you to say that you’re better than the Hunger Games fans of the world only because you’re not a Hunger Games fan, that’s your loss.
3. The fact that you’re a part of the biggest fandom of all - Harry Potter - makes you a giant-ass hypocrite and makes me wonder why I’m even responding to your ridiculous postcard.

Favorite books (in no particular order):  Guards! Guards!

The eighth in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, this novel is the first to feature Sam Vimes, an alcoholic cop who turns out to be a giant badass.  Filled with dragons, conspiracies, and Lady Sybil, Guards! Guards! is the perfect introduction to the seedy underbelly of that greatest of cities, Ankh-Morpork.

So the new book sensation that is Fifty Shades of Grey started out as Twilight fanfiction.  From the summary:

The plot traces the relationship between recent college graduate Anastasia Steele and manipulative billionaire Christian Grey. Steele is required by Grey to sign a contract allowing him complete control over her life.

Yep.  I can totally see the Twilight in this.

Seriously, why is it that so many people think being controlled by a manipulative asshole is romantic or desirable in any way?

*sigh*

Favorite books (in no particular order): Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal 

Lamb is a retelling of the story of Christ - or rather, it is an interpretation of Christ’s life in which he travels to Asia to seek instruction on how to be the savior of humanity.  Moore definitely did his research, inspiring several religious instructors to adopt this novel into their curriculum.  I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Christ’s life or in religion in general. 

Also, it’s fucking hilarious.

Books I hated but other people liked (in no particular order): The Eight

The Eight is a book about chess, as you might be able to infer from the cover photo.  The plot revolves around a bunch of people who are searching for pieces of a magic chess set that supposedly give their owner super powers or something.  Many A disproportionate number of the characters are chess grandmasters, and the parts of the book that are set in the past read like a historical mash-up of Forrest Gump (Want a cameo by Catherine the Great?  Sure.  Robespierre?  Of course!  Napoleon?  Why the heck not!).

But most importantly, this book is about chess.  And chess.  And more chess.  Chess chess chess chess chess chess chess chess.

CCCCHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Bonus trivia: By her own admission, the author is a fan of Stephenie Meyer.