Have you read any good books lately?

[Delion]

I'm a little boggled how I post a video about the Necronomicon and somehow spawn a thread about Twilight.

I don't know how you could be confused. You posted a video about the Necronomicon. Look what you did.

[Lansiron]

I admit, I read the first one, it was boring and I still don't quite understand why everyone keeps on calling Edward a Vampire when he seriously reminds me of a Fae, but anyhow, not my cup of tea. I giggle over the rage it causes mostly. Good books though?

You know, you saying this, it just dawned on me: The Twilight books wouldn't be nearly as obnoxious if the love interest was, in fact, some kind of faerie-prince, or elf, or other supernatural "fair folk" type of being, instead of trying to make him out as a vampire.

The quality of storytelling wouldn't really be effected by this, but at least we wouldn't be inundated with that nonsensical "sparkly vampire" crap.

As to the books themselves: The funniest thing relating to Twilight that I saw in recent memory was when I was at a movie theater last December, and my friend and I were trying to decide on what to see, when along comes a teenage-ish girl and her boyfriend, and she bubbles out, "You should go see New Moon! Everyone should see New Moon!", and giggle-bounced away; the boyfriend, in tow, turns around briefly and looks at us with this perfectly agonized 'help me!' expression before being hauled into the building.

(For the record, we ended up seeing Ninja Assassin. Which was a good movie, though it suffered for the fact that it attempted to have an actual plot.)

[Gryphonheart]

...

You know, you saying this, it just dawned on me: The Twilight books wouldn't be nearly as obnoxious if the love interest was, in fact, some kind of faerie-prince, or elf, or other supernatural "fair folk" type of being, instead of trying to make him out as a vampire.

...

And the werewolf should have been some kind of catguy?

[Delion]

Unicorn.

[Denne]

Unicorn.

Robot.

[Kost]

Unicorn.

Robot.

Hervé Jean-Pierre Villechaize.

[Israia]

I'm a little boggled how I post a video about the Necronomicon and somehow spawn a thread about Twilight.

Believe it or not, I actually feel really horrible about this. I hate ruining a good thread.

To stray back on topic; I have!

I'm trying to read 4 books simultaneously right now:

A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin
World War Z by Max Brooks
The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon
And, I'm actually trying to finish The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice. I get the feeling I probably shouldn't admit that one.

As for each;

A Clash of Kings is really good, of course. I will say, the point I'm at(near the beginning) isn't nearly as good as the end of A Game of Thrones, so I'm hoping it starts building back up. However, I'm enjoying the characters much more by themselves now, as I think removing the person who I thought was the main character of the series made me realize just how fantastically done everyone else is. I'm also having a hard time with the heavier inclusion of magic all over the book, considering that before, it was almost purely in the Daenerys sections(and there, it was more tribalistic magic- which is pretty awesome). Their world for me was largely a medieval one, and with this, he seems to be trying to make it very much a 'fantasy' world. I'm not against the idea, but it is going to take a hell of a lot of work. At least I'm enjoying it along the way. Also, I'm noticing just how influential this series has been- I'm seeing signs of it almost everywhere. Hell, now when I see the waterborne Vrykul along the Borean Tundra coast, I can't help but think of Theon Greyjoy's home.

World War Z is being horrible to me. I'm loving the book, and can easily swallow 60 pages of it while lying in bed, when I barely meant to read 5 or 6. The military sections could use some work(if only because apparently, his grasp of how guns work is horribly naive), but otherwise the way that the book highlights that this is a global catastrophe is awesome. I've never been a huge fan of zombies- I've grown up in an era with video games that routinely use them for nothing but fodder, and as a result they've become cliche and resonate especially with 'weak'. But with this book, he does an absolutely fantastic job of beating into you that these fuckers are not to be taken lightly, and furthermore, how quickly a zombie outbreak could force our world to look like cold war West Berlin- gigantic dividers, death strips, guards with assault rifles everywhere. It makes you think about how you'd be in a way that is a lot more realistic than we'd all like to think- one more akin to "How can I get to a larger group of people" instead of "How could I hole up in my house and still survive". This is the second good zombie book I've read(the first being the fucking amazing I Am Legend- seriously, the movie might be entertaining, but the book is one of the darkest books I've ever read. Absolutely fantastic.), and it's making me think zombies haven't ever been done right in games(Later edit: Except perhaps Left 4 Dead. Forgot about that.). And it makes me want to go back and persist through the opening of 28 Days Later so I can see what that got so right about zombies. I really recommend this, especially if you've never read any zombie literature before- it's a really great primer for better things like I Am Legend, and is a hell of a lot more enjoyable read in general(if not as substantive).

The Manchurian Candidate I picked up when the Denzel Washington movie came out a few years back, but it ended up just sitting in my closet as at the time, I had 4 books in my lineup. I cleaned out my closet of books to give to charity, but didn't want to give this one up yet, as I always enjoyed the writer's writing style. The book is incredibly cynical, or maybe that's just the main character, but regardless it turns quite a few sad, or hard situations into comedy rather deftly. However, when even that cynicism fails to break down the situation at hand, it gets to you. Not even halfway through the book, there was a point that had me fairly close to tears just because of how pathetic it was. I'm eager to finish this, as I've always been a fan of mind programming, and apparently this is the pinnacle of it. If anyone has better to recommend, feel free, I love this stuff.

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty is apparently 'the' introductory book for BDSM literature and BDSM culture in general. I'm enjoying reading it because it just constantly feels like it couldn't possibly get more absurd- even alone in a room, you feel guilty for reading it. That guilt forces an embarrassed grin on you. On top of that, it never lets up. Otherwise it seems like a pretty trashy novel, but that uncomfortable guilt alone is probably going to drive me to finish this one. This one reminds me that sometimes, reading what your friends recommend might not be the best idea for your self security.

Oh, and random odd point I'm feeling proud of: I found out last night I'm officially a pansexual. 'Cause man, I'd totally date Mehcad Brooks.