vinay87

yep! That's what I do. I ignore the sex scenes. Martin really does overdo it and I don't feel it's justified. But then again, it's his book so whatever he wants flies. Dragons excluded, sadly. I'm waiting for the latest book to be released in India (in Paperback, I'm not paying through the nose for the hardback when he takes 7 years to write a book).

I've read a lot (relatively) WOO! Reviews : 1. Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons - Watchmen To a comic book fan, not reading Watchmen is something close to sacrilege. It isn't just a comic book though. For all of DC's efforts to present its books as "Graphic Novels", I think Watchmen is one of few which actually deserves that title. That being said, it's not something you read just once and understand 100%. It's deep. Watchmen isn't bound by Plot Armour, or Holier-Than-Thou-Heroics. The "heroes" portrayed in its dark pages are dark. They'd make Batman cringe. I always wondered what it would be like if there were masked heroes in real life. Watchmen is the answer. Surrounded by cruel injustice and corruption, we're deluded if we think that DC's heroes, if they existed in real life, would be "heroes"; that they'd be incorruptible. Well, they wouldn't be. In fact, they'd be the ones to really watch out for. There're so many storylines out in DC's pile that deal with the question of why we should even want a saviour. I mean, if Superman existed, would we welcome him? The answer, Watchmen will tell you, is a sad no. Not in the terms of how Gotham hunts the Batman or in terms of how Mutants are treated in Marvel's universe. No. This is darker than any of them. Take the protagonists, for example, Nite Owl, a more-than-obvious portrayal of the 70's Batman, and Roscharch, someone closer to Spawn, I think. Roscharch is most easily the most scarred "hero" I've seen till date. He's what the Joker would be if he was a "hero". Well, not exactly, but that's the most I can tell you without spoilers. I enjoyed Watchmen a few days after I read the book, once I watched scenes from the movie. I realised that I wasn't finished reading it. I'll need to reread it, if I have to understand it. Read it if you don't like comics. It's definitely not a comic. Read it if you like comics, because it's different. The art is brilliant, but I won't comment on what I do not know about. Apparently, there's a lot of symmetric symbolism in there that I totally missed. 2. Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Yu & Gerry Alanguilan - Superman Birthright *slow John Williams tune here, please* Superman. As a kid, I did everything to become Superman. I combed my hair backwards and let a tiny spit-curl hang over my forehead, had mom stitch me a cape (not red sadly), even wore my underwear on my pants. Hey, I loved everything to do with the Man of Steel. I still do, but I'd rather not dress up like him. Over the years, I realised that there was someone else in the universe I loved more as a fan than Superman. That was his "mild-mannered" alter-ego, Clark Kent. Waid nails it. I'm a fan of the old Superman from the 80s and the 90s, that's who I grew up reading. John Bryne was definitive in his root-origins story. But I do understand why DC would want to revamp the character every now and then. For those wondering, this isn't the present origin story. Birthright is the previous story for the last decade. Presently, the "official" origin story is the Superman Secret Origins storyline which is also brilliant. Waid, like I said, nails it. Clark Kent is alive in these pages. He isn't mild-mannered, no. In fact, it's obvious that he's just trying to be mild-mannered. I mean, this is Clark Kent the farmboy who doesn't see the need to do this, yet he learns. He comes to Earth wrapped in the banner of his dead home planet, Krypton. Wrapped in the red, blue and yellow banner bearing the insignia of Krypton, he is discovered by the Kents and raised as their own. He develops his powers and soon leaves home with a keepsake of his world, a computer of a kind that stores the history of Krypton. He can't understand the language but he can see the symbol everywhere. He learns why he has to help people, not from the shadows but in the open, without hiding his face. Also, Martha Kent's advice on how to make Clark Kent the disguise is hilarious. The art!! The art is beautiful and hilarious. In the scene where baby Kal-El (superman) is being placed in the spaceship by his Kryptonian parents, he gives them the thumbs up, as though to tell them he'll do okay. The book is spectacular, definitely worth the buy. Do read this one if you like the Man of Steel. 10/10 3. Superman/Batman - The Search for Kryptonite Hilarious, action-filled, fast. There isn't much else to say. Superman tells Batman he wants to rid the world of Kryptonite. They begin this seemingly impossible hunt. Also, check out Batman's "true" origin story (*snicker*) at the beginning. 4. Ramesh Menon - Siva - The Siva Purana Retold Ramesh Menon has a line of Hindu Mythology-based books. This is the first one I've read and so far, he's promising. To the uninitiated, Siva is the Hindu God of Destruction. He's one of the Trinity (the others are Brahma and Vishnu). He is said to have no beginning and no end. He appears as an ascetic, clad in deer-skin, half-naked, covered in ashes and his hair (or jata) in a wild knot on the top of his head with a crescent moon hidden in it while the holy river Ganga flows from the top. Hindus are roughly divided into two, Shiva-worshipers or Vishnu-worshipers. Of course each will claim that their own God is supreme, as is natural. I've had a highly secular youth, not by my parents' choosing but mostly because of my dad's fight with religion. He converted to Christianity in his 20s and converted back in his late 40s. Because of this, I attended church and grew up reading the Bible as a kid. I love the Bible, and I love Hindu mythology which my grandfather recited to me despite my father's strictest warnings. But we're Vishnu-worshipers so Shiva is a no-no. Well, superficially at least. I bought this first of all my Hindu mythology-based books because I was intrigued. Shiva is a strange god. He's Rage personified yet he's also the most benevolent one. He has gifted near immortality to even Demons and protected them as long as they recited his name. A little devotion goes a long way when it comes to him. Ramesh Menon's Siva is an abridged version. It is nearly impossible to think to translate the entire "Shiva Purana" into English. He does a spell-binding job though. If you are interested in Hindu mythology or religion, this is worth a read. But I'd recommend keeping wikipedia open at the side to understand the various names because, in Hindu fashion, he uses more than one name for Shiva which can be rather distracting. Also, beware the explicit descriptions. After all, Shiva's symbol is a phallus. 8/10 5. Terry Pratchett - Mort Terry Pratchett deserves applause, not for how prolific he is, but for the sheer idea of portraying Death as a person so hilarious that it'd be hard to be afraid of him. When Death takes on an apprentice, well it's just too hilarious to express. I read this one in January so I don't remember much of it except that I laughed a lot while listening to the audio-book. 10/10 for having Death in it.

I've only read Trudi Canavan's The Magicians' Guild. It had a boring start, nearly put the book down in several places. The ending was pretty decent though, yet I don't like that she needed 250 pages to make the story interesting. Does the series improve?

Updated the list with what I'm reading, reviews coming up when I have the time.

That reminds me that I've not read any new books (not sequels) in the fantasy genre for nearly three years! I stopped because I thought I was reading too much of that. Time to reread and discover new authors!

haha I know that but somehow I was hoping for some regularity. I mean Robert Jordan dragged out the Wheel of time from a trilogy to 7 books to 11 books to 12 books to 14 books! But he had a constant output until he died, except for the tenth book which took three years! I do understand Niel Gaiman's argument that writers don't work for us. I mean, I'm a writer so I know how hard it is to pen down a few words and be happy with the order, let alone an entire chapter. Yet, I wish GRRM had written this sooner. I hope the next book comes out soon too! Though there appears to be some good news on the aDwD front. Apparently he's putting in more content than ever. I hope it's larger than A Storm of Swords.

I've actually forgotten most of the storyline. And I don't agree that GRRM had any excuse to put off the book for so long. It somehow makes me feel he's drawing the story out.

I think it's time that I reread all the books before I buy the genesis series.

Yeah! I agree with Hyzenthlay! If even your favourite topics seem to disinterest you when it comes to reading, then trying reading fiction that is hooking. Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, anything by Sidney Sheldon or even James Hadley Chase.

I know you'll hate me for this but the answer is "one word at a time". Find something you like and read it, one word at a time. Also, welcome to BCF! Stay here, the book addiction's free!

@Topic, most definitely! Happened with all the Harry Potter books and the Wheel of Time books (well, with the latest ones I mean. _and_ the earliest ones.) Usually I flip through my favourite scenes and read the dialogs out loud. I read LOTR thrice in a row (and 36 times in three years) if I remember correctly.

Bought a copy of Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon and Round the Moon. Also bought Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conra, and HG Wells's A Short History of the World. Can't decide what to read next, I want something light though

I do this for textbooks. I read reviews for fiction after I finish it to see if someone shares my opinion of how awesome/crappy the book is.

1984 George Orwell. Disturbing thoughts his.

20 a year I guess. Sad number. This year I have read one book so far.

Please don't lose your obsessive behaviour of looking up new words! I have been trying to develop that habit for years and I've constantly failed. I've almost exclusively bought only classics for the last five years. This for a variety of reasons : 1. They're cheap. 2. They're somehow more interesting. 3. They've passed the test of time so should I get lost in time I can still discuss Hugo or Verne; I'm very skeptical about whether any of the present authors/books will last half as long. I'm still far from reading and enjoying these books at the same speed that I'd enjoy a John Grisham book though, I say that is because my language hasn't improved much in the last decade. In reading classics, you not only read a wonderful and timeless tale, but you also improve your language. As Vanwa said, present day writing exists because of the movement, the momentum, the rush. Classic literature exists because it is just beautiful and because most contemporary writers don't have it in them to write that way, present company included. Also, in Dickens's time, only a few write. Today, any idiot with a macbook can start a blog and goes down the line of writing with some practise. I'm not saying there aren't any good books in the making out there, I'm only saying that while classics are like water in a desert, the books we have coming out annually now are like the Nile flood. I mean, that was the best of times. This is the worst of times. Plagiarism if you will. Even so, Dickens will be studied and remembered, King will be enjoyed and possibly forgotten.

Don Quixote - Cervantes. 10~ years I guess

Nope no one in my family reads anything. I do have one or two friends who read but they don't read much either. Somehow everyone runs out of time when it comes to reading a book.

Oh! It's coming in July? Thanks for the info! That's fine and all but I hate what he's done with the last book, splitting one book in half by the viewpoint sucks! That way we don't get to find out what has happened to Jon Snow until the next book, which should come out in oh ten years or so, give or take three years. Edit: I just read that he's extended aDwD such that it extends alongside and beyond his last book. Whew. I still pray he finishes this soon. He's going to lose interest if he waits much long. If he hasn't already.