The Book Thread.

[Tarry]

I downloaded it shortly after posting that, I had the same problem though.

[Astrozombie]

Just finished 'Mark of Athena'. That ending was amazing, like I hate that it was a cliff hanger, but I loved how it ended.

I'm still not really a fan of Frank (he just didn't really do much in this book in comparison to everyone else), but everyone else was wonderful. Hazel really stood out as well, so I look forward to things being in her pov in the next book. Also Percy and Jason's bromance was awesome, especially towards the end taking on the giants. I loved Piper and Leo as well. And Annabeth was my favorite character throughout the entire book. Well okay, both her and Percy.

SPOILER: Click to show

I think my favorite thing though was Percy and Annabeth. Just because you'd think we'd be sick of them by now, having 5-6 books based around Percy, and Annabeth playing a huge role in most of them. Like you started off with them at the beginning and watched them grow up, but in this book it really felt like they were bitter, like they really wanted a break. But as Mark of Athena went on, you still learned new things about Percy and Annabeth, whether it was from their point of views or other's.

But I think Hazel said something about how Jason and Percy both had a sadness to them, despite being two of the most powerful demigods, and even though the book didn't strictly revolve around Percy, I thought one of the recurring themes was the old main characters (Percy/Annabeth) were/are getting tired, they saved Olympus, and now they have to deal with Gaea and the giants. Like I love how the author portrayed their weariness in contrast to their heroic strength, and it ultimately ended with their loyalty to each other, falling into Tartarus together. Not necessarily like they were giving up on their quest or their friends, but after all they've been through, they both agreed that the one thing that they deserve is each other, so they fell together.

So many jumbled thoughts after reading it, but this is by far my favorite book in the series, maybe in both series. And I love how much darker it was, and how much darker it'll probably get. I'm excited for the next book, and it's obvious that Nico will play a much more prominent role, but I really hope we'll get to see Percy and Annabeth make their journey through Tartarus together. Also I'm expecting the conclusion to closing the doors of death to be really sad because someone has to be closing it from both sides, meaning someone is gonna have to sacrifice themselves and I'm not entirely sure who that's going to be, though I'm assuming it'll probably be Frank and/or Hazel.

[Astrozombie]

I started 'Hero' by Perry Moore today. This book is so incredibly awkward (and kinda depressing), but I can honestly say there has never been a fictional character I've been able to relate to since Thom Creed.

Thank you suggesting this MC, I already love it!

[Tarry]

I'm only four chapters into Russell Brand's 'My Booky Wook', but it's already tied with Chris Jericho's 'A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex' for my favourite autobiography.

[Tiarnán]

I regret leaving Whitman to the morning before I'm supposed to have it read. It's Song of Myself and I'm loving it.

[Mutant Couch]

Whitman really is fantastic. I tend to prefer English poets for anything written before 1930, but he's totally an exception.

I've just come off another journey into Russian literature. It's just so depressing. There are some really fantastic novels and short stories, but too many and suicide is basically a given. So, I wanted to read something uber-girlie with a happily ever after aspect. Naturally it means romance novels. I picked one that seemed totally innocuous and within the first couple of pages this was written:

"The simple truth is I just never thought pushing a tiny human out of me that turns my vagina into something resembling roast beef that no man would ever want look at, let alone bang, was a stellar idea."

I was initially paranoid the character was based on me and someone just overheard me say that, but as it progressed I relaxed on the paranoia.

Then this came up as well:

"I was screeching like a girl. I knew it, he knew it, pretty soon the whole house would know it. But my dick was bleeding. Did you hear me? My fucking dick was fucking bleeding. FUCK! It's not supposed to bleed. Ever."

It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but in a really good way. The humor was completely crude and it wasn't gushy. I loved it.

[jayzero42690]

Superman quits journalism to become blogger, derides 'dying medium'

Part-time superhero and (apparently) disgruntled hack Clark Kent is quitting his job at the Daily Planet newspaper to, of all things, run a blog.

DC Comics has confirmed that a new storyline will see the Man of Steel leave the paper in what USA Today describes as a "Jerry Maguire-type moment", with Clark ranting at his colleagues about their lack of integrity.

It's not the first time that Superman has left his job -- he went to work for a TV station for a while during the 1970s -- but it's the first time he's left in the new continuity established in 2011. In this universe, Clark Kent has been a reporter for the Daily Planet for five years, enough time for him to become frustrated with the shift in focus from news to entertainment at the paper. A mega entertainment corporation, Galaxy Broadcasting, has even bought out the Planet.

The shift to blogging, though, comes just over a decade since "blog" became a common term to describe an online journal, and indeed some people might think DC are somewhat behind the times on the shift from print to digital. Presumably we can look forward to a whole range of hi-tech, up-to-date plot arcs, like Superman struggling to unsubscribe from a free AOL dial-up trial, or reconnecting with Lana Lang through Friends Reunited, or asking Jeeves for recommendations to local restaurants.

Whether Clark Kent still finds his independence liberating when he's relying on Google Adword pennies to pay the bills will be interesting to see -- our guess is the shift will be only temporary, like many of the more dramatic shifts in Superman's history, such as the time Superman died in 1992, or that time he fell in love with a mermaid.

L... mao

[Mutant Couch]

Marvel Masterworks are really one of the more brilliant things put out. I'm a big fan of convenience. I finally received Vol. 1 -5 of the Uncanny X-Men and will be spending the next couple of days re-reading the early X-Men comics.

I finished off Joe the Barbarian last night. I love Grant Morrison so it was pretty much a given I would like it. The concept was cute too.

I have Ayaan Hirsi Ali's The Infidel on hand to counteract all the comic reading I've been catching up on lately.

[Tarry]

I've just finished reading The Infinity Gauntlet. I wish somebody had warned me that it's heavy on Silver Surfer.

I've heard nothing but good things about it, and it's always on recommendation lists, so I was incredibly disappointed to find that it was extremely dull.

[Tiarnán]

House of Mirth time.

I bought an anthology of Hans Christian Anderson fairytales too.

[Mutant Couch]

Since this is basically acting as a comic book thread too, I just want to take a minute to appreciate Sub-Mariner. Also, I've been reading old Sub-Mariner.















I just don't understand why he's not more popular. He's such an arrogant diva it's hilarious. Plus, he's badass. I want a movie and it needs to include some of the awesome costumes he's rocked.



Miz was pretty much born to play him a movie.

[Mutant Couch]

Just ordered this:



Zombie sex... eww?

[Astrozombie]

I'm currently reading 'The Enemy' by Charlie Higson. This book is kind of like a cross between 'Lord of the Flies' and 'The Walking Dead' (with all kids) and it's kind of depressing.

Also I'm sorta reading 'Rebel Angels' by Libba Bray. My friend lent it to me, and it's not bad, but it's not a particular time era that I care about.

[Mutant Couch]

A friend gave this to me:



Pretty sure I won't read it, but the cover was pretty brilliant.

[Tiarnán]

I'm a try to build on this now that I'm off 'cause I don't think I've done much at all since Summer, at least compared to the start of the year. It looks bigger than it is because of poetry and short stories and stuff. But anyways...

Novel (and um...short story and a bit of poetry) list 2012:
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Gregory Maguire)
Interpreter of Maladies (Jhumpa Lahiri)
One Day (David Nicholls)
Gulliver's Travels (Jonathan Swift)
Disgrace (J. M. Coetzee)
Notes on a Scandal (Zoe Heller)
The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ (Philip Pullman)
A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
The Road (Cormac McCarthy)
The International (Glenn Patterson)
Residence in London (William Wordsworth)
The Mill for Grinding Old People Young (Glenn Patterson)
The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
Brideshead Revisited (Evelyn Waugh)
Cashelmara (Susan Howatch)
Rule of the Bone (Russell Banks)
Gypsy Boy (Mikey Walsh)
Penmarric (Susan Howatch)
Gypsy Boy on the Run (Mikey Walsh)
Vertue Rewards; or, the Irish Princess (anon)
The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne)
Bartleby, the Scrivener (Herman Melville)
Benito Cereno (Herman Melville)
Song of Myself (Walt Whitman)
William Wilson (Edgar Allen Poe)
The Man of the Crowd (Edgar Allen Poe)
The Murders in the Rue Morgue (Edgar Allen Poe)
The Purloined Letter (Edgar Allen Poe)
Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
The Maltese Falcon (Dashiell Hammett)
Lyrical Ballads (William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
Native Son (Richard Wright)
England in 1819 (Percy Shelley)
The Mask of Anarchy (Percy Shelley)
Ode to the West Wind (Percy Shelley)

I've got so much books I picked up during the year in shops or from my dad that I still haven't touched but I probably won't be able to until like the Summer, and it's annoying me. Oh, and I'm half way through The House of Mirth after only reading part during the week it was due for.