What are you reading/have you just read? Vol. 2

Any topic that doesn't fit elsewhere.
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Margos
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Post by Margos »

OK, so.... I have less than 10 pages to go with Metropolis. It's odd, because in some ways, it's SO different from the movie. The side plots are twice as complicated, and some of the characters seem a little different. But on the other hand, more explanation is given for certain things than in the movie. Like, what really happened with Fredersen, Rotwang, and Hel. So all in all, I really think it's a great part of the "Metropolis experience," and anyone who is interested at all in the film should read the book, as well.

It's also interesting to compare the book to the musical. The musical is totally different in several ways from the book and film, but there are some themes and elements from the book that are better conveyed in the musical than the film, including Maria's personality, Fredersen's (Freeman's) desire that Freder (Stephen) takes over his empire, and Rotwang's (Warner's) lack of control over Futura/Parody/the Maschinenmensch.
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PixarFan2006
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Post by PixarFan2006 »

I finally finished reading Stephen King's The Shining today. It was a pretty good horror novel, though it was slow in a few parts. The ending seemed better than in the Kubrick movie.

Next, I think I will read either Watchmen or A Clockwork Orange (Or even alternate between both).
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Post by TheSequelOfDisney »

I finished Son of a Witch yesterday and it was pretty good. I think I liked Wicked better but only because I kind of new the story (from the musical, even though they are drastically different). Overall, it's a decent sequel to a slightly better first novel. Up next is The Picture of Dorian Gray, which I'm already in about 60-odd pages. I don't really remember it as I thought I would, but it is a great novel with the late 1800s feel (since, you know, that's when it was written). After that, if I can ever get it from the library, is A Lion Among Men. I read in this thread that it wasn't that great, but I just wanted to read it and see for myself. After that (can't you tell I like planning out which books I read?) I'll either read The Chronicles of Narnia or something out of the blue that I've never read/heard of. If anyone else has any suggestions of good books I'll much appreciate it. For some reason, all I really want to do is read this summer.
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PeterPanfan
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Post by PeterPanfan »

I just finished The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, for school. It was really good, a nice memoir. I felt that the ending was too rushed, like she just abruptly decided it needed to end lol. I'm a little over a hundred pages into A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseni, and it's alright so far.
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Scarred4life
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Post by Scarred4life »

I just finished If I Stay. It was pretty good, although the ending was sooo predictable. It was one of those books that have a plot line that isn't very clear, but the author did a great job of executing it.
Last edited by Scarred4life on Sun Jul 11, 2010 6:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by PixarFan2006 »

I finished reading Watchmen yesterday. I thought it was a great graphic novel with good artwork and quite a few twisis.

Now, I am working on Batman: the Long Halloween.
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Post by TheSequelOfDisney »

I finished The Picture of Dorian Gray on Tuesday and it was just as good as I thought I remembered it was. The 1945 film definitely stayed truer to the novel than the 2009 version did, but I'm thinking I like the newer one better. I finished A Lion Among Men a few days ago and it was just okay. It seemed to be less focused on just one character as the previous two were. Instead, it focused almost equally on both Brrr and Yackle. It wasn't as great as Wicked or Son of a Witch, but it was good enough. I'm planning on reading the fourth installment that's supposedly going to be about Glinda. Yesterday, I think, I started Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. I'm about halfway through and it is definitely a different perspective on the classic Cinderella tale. I must say, I do like how the point of view is that of one of the stepsisters. Hopefully, I'll finish it before I go to New York (on Tuesday) and after that I'm going to read Mirror, Mirror (I think I'm just getting all of Gregory Maguire's novels out of the way this summer, except for Lost).
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Post by PixarFan2006 »

Finished Batman: The Long Halloween Sunday night. Another great, dark Batman graphic novel.

Now, I am reading A Clockwork Orange (I had to print off a list to understand the nadsat language in the book).
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Post by carolinakid »

I'm reading The Disneyland Encyclopedia by Chris Strodder....it's absolutely fascinating! I wish there were one for Walt Disney World too!
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Post by PixarFan2006 »

Started reading Batman: Dark Victory Sunday night. Kind of interesting so far.
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avonleastories95
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Post by avonleastories95 »

I have just completed "The Street Lawyer" for school today! I loved this story! It was full of intrigue and suspense! I recommend this to you! I have completed the Gospel of Matthew not too long ago. It is my favorite of the Gospels not just because it shares my name but I find that it had the most beautiful wording of the Gospels. Now in the Holy Book, I am reading the Acts of the Apostles. I am liking it so far! When I am done that, I am going to read Revelations, or as I like to call it "The Book of Doom or the Apocolapse."
I am going to start reading "The Five People You Meet In Heaven" tomorrow not only for enjoyment and comprehenison, but also to give a better understanding of God's Promised Land. I look forward to it!
I am also reading "The Diary of Anne Frank." I am also enjoying it very much.
I am also reading a Red Literature Textbook, and nearly finished it! The stories in the book were quite fascinating!
For Now, Books I plan to read are:
1. Poems and Stories by Edgar A. Poe to get myself into a Halloween spirit.
2. Five People You Meet In Heaven
3. Flowers From Algernon
4. Anne of Green Gables for the 100th time!
5. The Christmas Blessing
6. A Christmas Carol
7. Tales from the Script
8. Anything for High School, obviously.
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blackcauldron85
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Post by blackcauldron85 »

I just read The Disney Villain by Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston. It's in the Disney Reference section of the library, so I had to go there three times to read it (:p) since you can't take it out. It's a really, really good book. It was more in depth than I was expecting. Today I just started Paper Dreams by John Culhane. I got through the first chapter, and I think I'll be going to the library Sunday next. :p It sounds ridiculous, but it's worth it...
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Scarred4life
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Post by Scarred4life »

PixarFan2006 wrote:I finally finished reading Stephen King's The Shining today. It was a pretty good horror novel, though it was slow in a few parts. The ending seemed better than in the Kubrick movie.
I finished that one a couple weeks ago, and I couldn't agree more. I found that the book explained a lot of things about the movie that weren't very clear.

I read The Gunslinger and the second one in the series, The Drawing of the Three, both by Stephen King. I enjoyed the second one more than the first. I found The Gunslinger was more to set up the series than anything else.
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Post by TheSequelOfDisney »

I haven't posted on here in awhile, but a week or two ago I finished Home by Julie Andrews. It was a fascinating read and thoroughly enjoyable. After that I read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larrson. I don't think I've ever read a crime novel, but this one was pretty good. There was a time toward the end where I thought I knew what was going to happen, then out of nowhere something completely different happened. And now I've just started The Girl Who Played With Fire. I'm only about 150 pages in, but it's definitely just as good as Tattoo. I'll definitely be reading Hornet's Nest either when I have the time or when I buy it when it comes out on paperback (I bought the first two and paperback because Target wasn't selling the hardcover copies in store and for the sake of uniformity, I'll be buying Hornet's Nest in paperback, too).
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Post by Escapay »

I'm 1/3 of the way into Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. It's about kids at a special school called Hailsham, who are constantly told that they're special and must remain healthy. The story is told by Kathy, who is a carer that is looking back on her time at Hailsham, and of her relationships with Tommy and Ruth. There's a lot more to it than that, but I'd be spoiling it.

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Post by TheSequelOfDisney »

^ I read that last summer for AP English. It was better than the other books I had to read, but it was just okay for me. I am excited about the movie, though.
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Coolmanio
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Post by Coolmanio »

I bought a few books my library today, as it was going out of buisness, and one of the books was Disney Dossiers: Files of Characters from the Walt Disney Studios, and I was quite surprised when there was a reference to Ultimate Disney in there!
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Scarred4life
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Post by Scarred4life »

Before I Die- Jenny Downham

8/10

Wow. This was an amazing book, and I've never read anything like it before. And I don't think I've ever cried that much about a book.
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Post by Phil Johnson »

I'm in the midst of "Naked In Dangerous Places" by Cash Peters who's a very reluctant adventure travel writer. Very funny.

And sitting on my desk to be read next is Luminous Dark Alleys, the new book and CD from Tah Phrum Duh Bush.
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Disney's Divinity
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Post by Disney's Divinity »

I've been reading several books:

Passing by Nella Larsen (something I'm trying to finish from a class I had last year--basically about racial tensions in the 1920s, and how some African Americans would "pass" for white/European)
Josphe Andrews/Shamela by Henry Fielding (for a class on the English Novel)
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (a re-read, for a literary criticism class)
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Taylor Swift ~ ~ "The Fate of Ophelia"
Taylor Swift ~ "Eldest Daughter"
Taylor Swift ~ "CANCELLED!"
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