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

What was the last book you read and what did you think of it? What are you reading now?

The last book I read was Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. I'm currently between books.

oops... I lied. The last book I read was Sky Coyote, by Kage Baker. Great book. I'm eager to read the next one in the series.

Nanotech - collection of short stories about Nanotechnology.

Mostly v. good - including stories from Stephen Baxter, Greg Egan, Greg Bear (the classic "Blood Music") and others including a few good ones by peeps I didn't know...

The majority of stories seem to be based around the loss of a loved one, and using nano to get around the "problem" this raises. All a bit downbeat....

Picked up Tarot (by Piers Anthony) this morning - I'm fairly sure I haven't read it before but I'm getting a terrible sense of Deja Vu reading it.

The last book I read was The Business by Iain Banks, which I enjoyed although it didn't feel quite as tight and sharp as others of his I read.
I'm currently reading Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson (I've not read Snow Crash yet, but thought Diamond Age was excellent). As I'm a mathematician by training and a software sort of person by profession I'm really enjoying all the cryptography stuff but it seems to be taking ages for him to work the plot strands together.

The last books I read were 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' and J.M Coetzee's 'Disgrace'. Slight contrast but both very good
And I'm currently balancing a history of the First World War with 'Cold Comfort Farm'

Last book I read was (as I type) Piers Anthony's TAROT - hmm interesting - not so much the story but the concepts therein. Basically it seems that this is the major work of Piers Life - all the rest of his books seem very Derivative of it now that I've finished it. Concepts keep turning up in all his other books - e.g. Xanth, Adept series, Cluster Series, etc...

I won't be able to read anymore of his work for a long time now, if ever....

Reading Lord Prestimion by Robert Silverberg now, I seem to have come in in the middle of something - despite this being the first book in a new series. It flows well, but seems a little directionless at the moment...

i'm rather in between books right now, but the last few that i've read have been Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Anne Rice's Lasher, and Jack Higgins' Memoirs of a Dance Hall Romeo. Again, quite a contrast, yet they were all enjoyable in their own way.

I finished Mendoza in Hollywood, by Kage Baker (In the UK it's called At the Edge of the West...same book different title). I'm looking forward to the new one. I think it's called Graveyard Game. Anyone else read any Kage Baker? Great science fiction. Time travel stuff. Quite interesting.

When in hospital recently I read loads of books - and while recovering afterwards at home too. Mostly sloppy women's literature. I love to return to the Jilly Cooper blockbusters for a laugh when I'm depressed.

At the moment I'm also reading The Business by Iain Banks and enjoying it. I haven't read any of his before, so I can't compare, but my sister who lent it to me confirms what you say.

I can't remember the order I read them in, but if anyone's interested, the books I read were

A Maggot, by John Fowles - very strange, historical novel, quite riveting and thought provoking
Closed Circle by Robert Goddard - I love Robert Goddard and his stories twist and turn at the ends quite amazingly
Peter Ackroyd - English Music - picked out at random in the book shop. Eery ending. Has come back to me again recently in several contexts.
Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson. A very deep book about a community I hadn't ever thought about. Anyone seen the film?
Bridget Jones, The Edge of Reason - always good for a laugh, so light you float off the bed
Charles Dickens - Oliver Twist. For some reason I read no Dickens at all at school or in my youth, so I am beginning to catch up now.
Henning Mankell - "The white lioness" (REad it in German, don't know English title.) Thoroughly recommend the Swedish crime writers. They are very thoroughly written and Kurt Wallander is lovable and revolting at the same time. The Swedish life style is captured very well.

Most recent is now Foundation & Chaos by Greg Bear, 2nd in new Foundation Trilogy - follows on in the tradition of Asimov, featuring Robots - with & without the 3 laws, Mentalics and Hari Seldon. This time all based on Trantor.

Just started the Deity Dozen by Andrew Harman, hope its as daft as it sounds as I could do with a good laff.

I have finally read the first two Gormenghast books
And I loved them, but am unsure whether to read the third in a hurry as all my favourite characters got killed off apart from Dr Prune

My latest book was "Being a Green Mother". (Incarnations of Immortality series) I'm slowly working my way through the series, and that is the fith one. (nature) Also "The Truth Machine", but I haven't finished it yet.

Currently I'm reading two books:
1) T.C. Boyle's latest "A Friend of the Earth", a satire of the enviromental movement. I stongly recommend his work to anyone who loves a wicked sense of humor combined with current and/or historical events. Boyle has been described as a cross between "Carl Hiaasen and Roald Dahl". He is definitely one of the best authors America has today!!
2) Frances Mayes' "Under the Tuscan Sun". Sort of the Italian version of "A Year in Provence" (another goodie, by the way)--true story of a couple purchasing and renovating a moldering pile in the sunny Italian countryside, with humorous observations on life and the locals in Tuscany.

I'd list the last books I read, but the list would go on and on...

Last books I read:
"Prelude To Dune: House Harkonnen" by Brian Herbert & Kevin Anderson
"The Secret People" by John Wyndham

I'm currently reading John Wyndham's "Chocky"

<BB<

I have been reading like it is going out of fashion of late but some of the better ones were;
The War at the End of the World - Mario Vargas Losa (I think that is how you spell it) All about a religious uprising at the end of the nineteenth century in Brazil. While it is fiction it is true which gives it an extra edge. Also, his descriptions of warfare are well confused and punchy which really creates a great atmosphere.
Round Ireland with a Fridge - Tony Hawks I laughed myself sick over this one. The true story of a man who hitchhikes around Ireland with a small fridge for a drunken bet. He takes it surfing, sleeps in a kennel, meets the poorest King in the world and has it blessed by a nun, amongst other things.
Sex and Drugs and Sausage Rolls - Robert Rankin It's Robert Rankin what can I say? This one involves cloning horses, time travel, Elvis, The Beatles and Gandhi's Hairdryer all on the same bill.

Oh, and Swiv, if you haven't read it yet, do read Titus Alone, the last Gormenghast one. It is not as good as the first two, but is still well worth a read.

Well, now I'm very disappointed. I finished "Under the Tuscan Sun" the other night (see posting above), and it totally disintegrated at the end. What began as a bucolic travelogue unded up as one of the worst impressions of William Faulkner I've read in a long time. Southern Gothic drivel does not belong in Italy! I don't know if I'd recommend it now. I'm having to re-read Chris Bohjalian's "Midwives" as a palate cleanser. Now that is a modern classic.

This is a great forum. I like getting ideas about new books to read. Thanks all!

Well, now I'm very disappointed. I finished "Under the Tuscan Sun" the other night (see posting above), and it totally disintegrated at the end. What began as a bucolic travelogue unded up as one of the worst impressions of William Faulkner I've read in a long time. Southern Gothic drivel does not belong in Italy! I don't know if I'd recommend it now. I'm having to re-read Chris Bohjalian's "Midwives" as a palate cleanser. Now that is a modern classic.

This is a great forum. I like getting ideas about new books to read. Thanks all!

Oops. Impatience led to a double click. Sorry!

Ok most recent books I've read include (in no particular order)...

MagicIan & Silverthorn - both by Raymond E. Feist OK, was forced to read them after I'd read his collaboration with Janny Wurts about the Empire. An enjoyable read but not very demanding. You kind of can see what's coming a way off, pretty standard Fantasy fair.

Whoops, didn't mean to post that one yet...

So to continue...

Also "Time" - by Stephen Baxter - Usual excellent Hard Sci-Fi - mixed in with a bit of Mysticism. Cephalopods (or Squids) star in this one, as well as a collection of Nasa rejects - looking forward to "Space".

"The TRUTH" - By Terry Pratchett, Excellent - he is returning to Top form, I can't believe he's churned out 25 Discworld novels - but he has - most of a high standard. Now one or two authors we know could learn a lesson from him...

That's about it... Just started Cryptonomicon by Neil Stephenson - as recommended in Irving's Book Nook, got the latest Iain M. Banks to read, as well as a slew of other books I want for Xmas...