Book Discuss

Bold the ones you’ve read
Italicize the ones you want to read
Cross out the ones you won’t touch with a 10 foot pole
+ Put a cross infront of the ones on your book shelf
* Asterisk the ones you’ve never heard of.

So have you read any non-fiction books lately?
What were some ones you like and didn't like?

What books do you find yourself reading over and over?

So what books did you read for March?
What books do you plan to continue/read for April?

What is your favorite book of all time?

Why is it so dear to you?

If you could recommend only one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?

1) Do you read a few pages at a time or in long stretches?
2) Do you read one book at a time or several at a time?
2b) What's the largest number of books you have read at the same time?
3) Where do you like to read?
3b) Where do you usually read?
4) Do you prefer silence, some light background noise, or a loud roar while reading?
5) How do you usually position yourself while reading (sit, lay down, reclined, etc)?
6) Do you primarily read for pleasure, or is it a requirement (work or school)?
7) Do you do other activities while you read?
7b) If so, what?
8) How do you mark a page (dog ear, book mark, leave a book open and turn it cover side up, etc)?

I finished Coraline, by Neil Gaiman. Coraline is another one of those tales for children which can still be enjoyed by adults. It's the story of a young girl, an explorer, who discovers an alternate world beyond one of the doors in her flat. I enjoyed Gaiman's Neverwhere, American Gods, and Stardust more than Coraline, but Gaiman's books have always been a pleasure to read.

After peeking into this blog, a blog that snarks books with bad covers, a question popped into my mind. Do you judge a book by its cover? How important is a cover to you?

100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000 (US)

For a little fun, list what books you're read on the list. Feel free to use a list more relevant to your location.
What do you think of the books banned? Do you think they deserve to be banned?

Ironically enough most of the books I've read that were "banned", were school requirements. I'm not a big fan of banning, but I could see why some younger kids would want to opt out of reading certain books. Though most of the list made me think "why the heck is that banned?".

Ban

ETA: I failed insanejournal. Please refer to the post above.
To make this post relevant, should this asylum allow the deletion of comments and posts? (Though you can ask a Mod to delete accidental posts/Mods can delete spam.)
May seem like an odd question, but I've seen some insanity in online communities where deletions of comments and posts caused lots of drama. I'd like to avoid that. Not saying we've been very drama filled, but I'm thinking about when hopefully this place expands.
However an asylum is nothing without its members so I'll leave it up to you fine folks to vote it out.

tl;dr Do you want the option to delete (posts and comments), even if it could incur drama, or do you want deletions to be only in certain circumstances (troll, spam, accident, post breaks rule/TOS...)? Also, should the Original Poster (OP) be allowed to delete both other memeber's comments in the OP's post?

Voting starts now. Will end April 25th. For now deletion is okay.

Feel free to add any suggetions, comments and concerns.

16. Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

Rendezvous with Rama is a classic of hard sci-fi. The plot revolved around a mysterious alien ship dubbed Rama by its discoverers, who initially thought it was a peculiar asteroid, until it got close enough for more detailed observations. A survey ship is sent to Rama, the only one close enough to rendezvous with it. The crew enter Rama and explore it, initially in darkness. At first it's believed that the ship was dead, that whatever its original purpose had been, it had failed and was devoid of any kind of life. But then it comes to life, though the creatures that fill it completely ignore humanity. They only had a few weeks to explore before they were forced to break off from Rama due to Rama approaching too close to the Sun. And then Rama simply slingshots around the Sun and leaves the Solar System, completely ignoring humanity.

It's a very interesting book. There isn't much in the way of interpersonal drama or other character-driven storylines (and many reviewers on Amazon considered the book rather dull for that reason), however, there is a strong sense of mystery and awe. It involved professionals attempting to figure out a scientific puzzle, and leaving nearly as ignorant as they'd come. It's one of my favorite Clarke books, but admittedly not for everyone.

1. Excel Saga Vol. 2 by Koshi Rikdo
2&3. Last and First Men and Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon
4. Odd John: A story between jest and earnest by Olaf Stapledon
5. Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas by Elaine Pagels
6. An Essay On The Principle of Population by T. R. Malthus
7. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
8. Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles Vol. 4 by CLAMP (manga)
9. Don't Think Of An Elephant!: Know your values and reframe the debate, the essential guide for progressives by George Lakoff
10. What Went Wrong?: The clash between Islam and modernity in the Middle East by Bernard Lewis
11. The Jesus Incident by Frank Herbert and Bill Ransom
12. The Best War Ever: America and World War II by Michael C. C. Adams
13. West of Eden by Harry Harrison
14. Mapping Time: The calendar and its history by E. G. Richards
15. The Seven Day Circle: The history and meaning of the week by Eviatar Zerubavel

I have 2&3 up there together because they are two novellas that are combined into one volume. Reviews of these books can be found on my journal, http://hand-of-paper.insanejournal.com/tag/2008+booklist (likewise http://hand-of-paper.insanejournal.com/tag/2007+booklist and http://hand-of-paper.insanejournal.com/tag/2006+booklist for previous years)

So what books have you read so far in 2008?

Here's my list:

A Short History of Nearly Everything -- Bill Bryson
Blue Like Jazz -- Donald Miller
The Anubis Gates -- Tim Powers
Replay -- Ken Grimwood
The Trumps of Doom -- Roger Zelazny
Blood of Amber -- Roger Zelazny
Sign of Chaos -- Roger Zelazny
Knight of Shadow -- Roger Zelazny
Prince of Chaos -- Roger Zelazny
Ella Enchanted -- Gail Carson Levine

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Resources
Here are some general online book related resources. This list is definately not complete nor meant to be exhaustive. The list is more meant to be a quick jump or something to waste your time when you have a bit to spare. So please feel free to add more websites and new categories. (Just comment on this post and I will add them.) I hope this helps us all with our book related needs. : )

Other Book Related Asylums:

book_recs
50bookchallenge
blkfeminfic
bookmarks
paganbooks
jodi_picoult
shakespeareans
afterpotter
odd_volumes

A Little of Everything:
The Modern Word
BookSpot

Free Books Online:
The Online Books Page
Project Gutenburg
Free e-books
Bartleby

Book Exchange/Book Find:
Bookcrossing
Pass the Book
Bookins

Book Lists/Social Networking:
Good Reads
LibraryThing
Shelfari
Revish
BookJive

Book Recommendations:
WhichBook

Blogs:
Book Covers
Judge a Book by its Cover
Fine Books Blog
Read Roger

Well to start off this asylum, let's have a little meme so we can all get to know eachother. Please take a brief look at the rules, located on the asylum profile, and feel free to post whenever you want.

Favorite Book:
Least Favorite Book:
Current/Last Read Book:
Favorite Genres:
Want to Read Next: