Argon9

Please ignore this post since I was commenting on something said 10 pages back and had not realized that I was not reading the most recent page. One thing though, woman, you read like a train! Don't you have a job or do you just not sleep?

Thank you guys ^,^ I'm already beginning to feel at home here

I do that a lot. I think this weeks most mind boggling strange words have been: "dulcet", I was convinced it had to be "decent" and I only figured it out after googeling it. And "defenestrate". Apparently that's the verb for "trowing something or someone out of a window". Who knew. I've also been quite amazed that conscience is spelled as con-science. Its like, fake science, makes no sense at all. On a related note, sciencing should totally be a common verb. I science, you science, we science, we have scienced, we are sciencing. "What have you done today John? I've spend my entire day sciencing!" Its perfect! Though the Oxford dictionary disagrees with me on that point.

Everything really. I've read a lot of fantasy though I'm slowly moving past that after the genre has become rather repetitive. There are so many writers who want to be just like Tolkien that it gets annoying. Besides that, everything with fun or believable characters that are not too dimwitted and with a story that is not to slow paced and decetly written prose I will pick up. Even without those factors I will pick up a book sometimes. I remember reading books purely because I liked the title and I've had this period I refused to read books that had less then 500 pages. To be honest, I'm still no great fan of short stories since I read them like one would eat a snack. They are good but not very satisfying. If I have to chose between a snack and a 5 turn meal I would go for the latter. I do, however, make an exception for Sherlock Holmes and the dark stories of Poe. What kind of books do you like?

Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter are the most obvious choices here. Though "The Eagle of the Ninth" by Rosemary Sutcliff has, to my surprise, been made into a movie though the movie is only called "The Eagle". "Tinker Taler Soldier Spy" by John La Carre has now a movie and so does "Never Led Me Go" by Kazou Ishiguro. (The last two are on my wishlist) I'm pretty sure that even the big hit "War Horse" has its roots in a book and so has "How To Train Your Dragon". Now I think about it, almost all big films of the last 10 years or so have been based or flat out adapted from books and/or comicbooks. Did you know that the storyline of "Inception" came originally from a Donald Duck story? The bad guys try to steal the old rich guys dreamed secrets by planting an idea in his head.

Tank you for your warm welcome everyone I'm already glad not to be told to shut up when I want to talk about, or comment on, a book I've just read.

Making my very own 1001-books-to-read-before-I-kick-the-bucket-list sounds actually like a fun idea. Thank you for that Though I might just begin with a 100 or so books I've been dying to read for a while now. It also might help my disorientated family members who never know what to buy me for Christmas and birthdays.

Well, now I've finally made my way trough the forum all the way down here I think It will be time to introduce myself. I'm Argon and trough the years I've become to suspect that I just might be the last of my kind. I'm one of those kids who partly lived in the towns library and now relies on the books others trow away. Yes, I've spend some wonderful Saturday afternoons defrosting some books I found in a skip with my sisters hairdryer. (I almost electrocuted myself with the damned thing and spend the rest of the day figuring out how to get the power back online). I do not know anyone who has done any reading outside the school assignments and is still under the 25 years of age. (with one exception, but she got a masters in literature)I guess that most "90ties" kids got the tv to keep them busy. And that is how I got to join the forum. Nice to meet you.

I began using them as a way to get trough my school literature faster. I found that most of the things we had to read for school were mind numbingly dull and I was bored to tears reading books that did not line up with my interests at all. I've also a really bad pair of eyes (I will never drive a car for example) and reading at the bad light in classrooms only gave me worlds meanest headache. My dad granted me an MP3-player for my birthday and by using it to put books on I could pick up on the story and characters when on my bike, shopping, doing chores or doing detention. I still use it at times for long car trips or when I'm drawing. I do find that a audiobook can be made or ruined by the one who reads it. Many sound like a robot has gotten a particular bored AI to read for him. My personal favorite reader is the Dutch Jan Meng. He has read the entire Harry Potter series among other things. It was my way of getting my family to read/listen to the books while in the car. They loved it and my mom is now a hardcore fan. Besides that, I prever an British accent over an American one with the exception when the text is overly "American".

Hehe, the only time I've ever read from a list was when teachers made the "obligatory reading/literature list" in highschool. I always ordered them from most tedious, fattest and hard to read to easiest and thinnest since I was always late with my reviews. I must say that it looks like a good list though and I just might pick some things up from it. Do you think there is anyone alive who has actually read all those books?

Oh, how that lists frightens me! So many books I would like to read, so little time to sleep or breath. I've never been the one for conscious reading from a list. I've never had the money to be picky and buy the latest bestsellers either. I'm more the girl that adopts books from other people who want to throw them away or finds them in a skip. I've always relied on libraries and second hand book stores which both are rare and far between in this part of the country. I only realize now that of the hundreds of books I've read only a few have had an author who is known to the world. These are the ones I've read. I might have read more but missed them due the fact that I've read a fair share of my books in another language and I do not always recognize the original/English title. Pre-1700 996. The Thousand and One Nights – Anonymous (These where read to me by an teacher long ago) 1700s 983. Gulliver’s Travels – Jonathan Swift (loved them as a kid) 938. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen 918. Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens 913. A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens 911. The Pit and the Pendulum – Edgar Allan Poe (not entirely sure, I've read a fair share of Poe in Dutch though) 909. The Purloined Letter – Edgar Allan Poe 908. The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas 906. The Count of Monte-Cristo – Alexandre Dumas 898. David Copperfield – Charles Dickens 896. Moby-Dick – Herman Melville (could not get trough it at the time and picked up an abridged version to finish it) 868. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll (read to me as a child by the same teacher who read 1001 nights) 848. Around the World in Eighty Days – Jules Verne (also read to me but I think it was an abridged version) 809. The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde 804. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (reading them, all of them, right now) 794. Dracula – Bram Stoker 1900s 781. The Hound of the Baskervilles – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Reading an collection of all Sherlock stories, this one is also there) 649. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley 610. The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien (Is there anyone alive who has not read it?) 564. Animal Farm – George Orwell 553. Doctor Faustus – Thomas Mann (I do think I read this one, and enjoyed it, but it might have been a book with a simular title) 547. Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell 494. The Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien (The book that got me reading) 437. A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess (My current "side project" for the moments that Sherlock gets annoying) 320. Interview With the Vampire – Anne Rice 312. The Shining – Stephen King 301. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams (My favorite) 200. Foucault’s Pendulum – Umberto Eco 2000s None. I guess thats what I get for relying on second hand books. 28 books that I've read and reconized in this list. Its not much. May I aks how you other readers go about a list like this? Do you begin at the top and work your way down or you just read the books you come across in the bookstore/library?

Well... I have some forgotten schoolbooks and school library books that accidentally ended up in a moving-box and I didn't realize I still had them till unpacking said box 3 years later... when I lived in another city....in another country.... on the other side of Europe I also have once taken a showbook from ikea (they use actual books). I had gotten bored on a tediously long shopping trip with my mom and younger sister. I simply pulled a book out of one of those billy bookcases and started reading, telling my folks that they could come and pick me up when they were done. When they did come I simply put the book in my bag and never thought twice about it until I got home. I never finished reading it. Of all the books you got possibly take....

I've simply taken out all the ones I have not read since we all know whats on the list by now. Since i have a horrid taste in literature I've read around 300-400 more books who are not on this list. A different nationality and speaking 2 languages besides english also helped ^-^ 1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien 4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (except the seventh book) 6 The Bible (Catholic school, had no choice in the matter. I read the Koran too, just out of spite) 8 1984 - George Orwell (long ago) 10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens 14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (either for school or adaptations/abridged) 16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien 25 The Hitchhiker�s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams 29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll 32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens 33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis 36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (isn't this a part of the chronicles of narnia? Why is it on the list twice?) 39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden 40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne (for my little brother) 41 Animal Farm - George Orwell (long ago) 42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (I dont even know why I thought reading this was a good idea) 52 Dune - Frank Herbert 54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen 56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon (and the follow up "An Angels Game") 58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley 70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville (though I read the second half abridged) 71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens 72 Dracula - Bram Stoker- 73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett 76 The Inferno - Dante (wasn't it called "divine comedy?) 81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens 89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 94 Watership Down - Richard Adams 97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas 98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare (I dont think I really understood it though) 99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl (and its sequel... glass elevator? ... or something. It has been to long ago)

Oh, how I remember the time that I averaged on 50 books a year. (one book a week ). Then I went to university and the only books I now have time to read are course literature and laboratory protocols. Why do they call themselves nerdfighters? Isn't excessive reading seen as something rather nerdy? Why would they want to fight that?

Maybe I should pick it up as well. I read the first book but for some reason I lost interest. After a few (rather annoying) friends spoiled it by telling me what happened in the tv series (I have yet to see it for myself though) I just could not get myself to pick up the second book. It seems to me that it just might be one of those series that finally gets lost in its own world and therefore never really gets finished. On the maps; I'm one that likes the maps. I wish that every writer would put one in their books so I can keep track of where and how the characters move about. I've a terrible sense of direction and I've found maps quite helpful at times.