h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

or reading the dictionary backwards to look for subliminal messages........

i wanna read 1984, partly cuz every1 goes on bout it & i have no clue, but mainly cuz i think its cool that a book is titled after my year of birth!

i was born in '84!

Of course at the time, 1984 was supposed to be far off in the future, like Space: 1999 or 2001: a Space Odyssey.

Still on the same book, though I could mention my perusal of the Ontario Official Driver's Guide as well.

Yup. Orwell wrote 1984 in 1948.

I'm currently reading Glory Road, by Robert Heinlein. I've just finished Maskerade, by Terry Pratchett.

Just finished the Two Towers so I've hot footed on to Return of the King ...

I had to do a comparison of BNW and 1984 when I was at school ... didn't read either of them at the time so found it quite testing! Thought they were both brilliant if a little disturbing. The thing I find terrifying is the fact that elements of both seem to be coming true ...

I actually read both Brave New World and 1984 voluntarily, on my own. And yes, they're definitely disturbing. Especially (in BNW) the administering of saltpeter to the citizens so they wouldn't have any sex drive.

I've just finished Fellowship, and am waiting impatiently to read Two Towers. As a go-between, I'm reading Maskerade - again

My reading of 1984 and Brave New world was also voluntary. I didn't get to do fun things like that for A-Level. I've also read a Handmaid's Tale voluntarily, so yeah. From what I remember, it wasn't originally going to be called 1984. Orwell had to keep changing the title as it took him longer to write. Or so I heard. I could have made that up.

Has anyone read Dr Orwell and Mr Blair? (I think its called that, can't remember who it's by)... That's quite a good book, if you can find it based on the incredibly limited information I've given here. It's fictional but kind of cool. It focuses on the writing of Animal Farm more though, if I remember rightly.

Now reading 'How the Dead Live' by Will Self. Just for the record.

Oh, I loved 1984 and Animal Farm - such great classics.

Just finished Maskerade - perhaps I should start on A Clockwork Orange...

Caper Plip

Just finished "Two for the Lions" by Lindsey Davis. That's the same author as the aforementioned "Dying Light in Corduba" but spelt correctly this time.

Just started "Perry Mason and the Case of the Silent Partner", written by whoever it is that wrote the Perry Mason books.

'unfinished tales' tolkien, who else?!

it is...at present... unfinished tho!

Hmm...

"The Name of the Rose" - Umberto Eco [Rereading]

"Modern Linguistics - The Results of Chomsky's Revolution" - Neil Smith and Deidre Wilson [enjoying for the first time, in frequent dips]

"Artificial Intelligence in Psychology" - Boden [infrequent, but informative]

In my spare time I'm rereading Colony by Rob Grant

I'm also reading the following for my project

Special Edition using Java 2 Standard Edition - Cavaness, Frieson, Keeton

Programming in Java - Barry Holmes

Artificial Intelligence A modern approach - Russel & Norvig

on the noo: Crisis on Doona by Anne Mcafferey

Have we all stopped reading?

i've just finished the dark materials trilogy by Philip Pullman - fan-bloody-tastic!!!

better, bigger with more to think about than LOTR!

any suggestions about what i can read now ... i'm open to most things!

Martin Booth's biography of Aleister Crowley, which I finished this morning. Booth is not an occultist to the best of my knowledge, he certainly isn't an occult writer so it is very balanced in its views of his life.

I enjoyed it. Bit freaked out when all the lights in the house went off in the middle of the Channel 4 shockumentary about him though!

Just about to re-start reading Banco, the follow up to Papillon) by Henri Charriere. Had to take a break to quickly read The Time Machine by HG Wells.
After that I've got Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie to read.
That should cover me for the next 6 months

Phillip Pullman's Victorian set stuff is very good as well, The Ruby in the Mist et al. I did like the Dark Materials stuff
And, since you asked so nicely, I'm reading The Last English King by Julian Rathbone, all about Harald and William the B*stard (later Conqueror) and 1066. Blimmin good it is too with many an interesting snippet of historical fact.
Oh and I just finished Oliver Postgate's autobiography Seeing Things, which I thought was lovely.