ooh, Dune! one of my faves!

I should read Dune again, I read it a long time ago and it didn't impress me.
Is it possible just to read Dune and not any of the sequels? I read Hyperion and the Fall of Hyperion and I felt I should have stopped at Hyperion and not read the sequel. i did not think it added anything, just finished the story, but I liked the way Hyperion ended.

Dune: personally, i'd read them all, but that's just me. but yes, i think you can read just Dune and not the sequels or prequels.

I'm not a real fan of sequels. I like to read one book and then be done. Very rarely have I felt that a trilogy or a sequel was worth it.

to each their own. everyone is different, i've always said, and that includes what you like to read. =)

Dune has been on my list since I saw the mini-series (haven't seen the old movie with Sting) but mostly since an acquaintance of mine and myself had a three hour debate on which was better, Dune or Lord of the Rings, except he had never read LOTR and I had never read Dune.

It was largely a debate on escapism, metaphor, and philosophy.

ah, but it's a good question.

i've read the Dune series; and i've read LotR. it's on my list to re-read again eventually.

i've seen the scifi mini-series and the original Lynch movie (the one with Sting), and i've seen all the LotR movies.

and after thinking about it since i first saw your comment this morning and am now able to answer 'which is better, LotR or Dune?' by hard and fast, no-question-about-it answer is 'Both.'

They are different entities, it would seem, which was probably why our conversation when as long as it did.

Changed my mind on The Princess Diarist and, instead, picked up Death by Video Game. A non-fiction book on gaming and how we attach ourselves to it, to be overly simplistic about it. I'll probably read it on the ferry when I head to the Island to visit my dad this weekend, if I don't get distracted by the magazines I have, as well.

yes, they are very different entities, i'll agree there! =)

I just thought I'd mention that the last book I read on the ferry and by the beach was Jaws. Co-incidence, entirely, but I find it amusing nonetheless.

You are so funny, I was waiting for the answer hahaha BOTH??? :p

Quiet: when I went to Florida this winter, I was sitting on the beach reading: Smilla's Sense of Snow!

yep, both. *nods* i like them both. =)

and i'm glad someone else thinks i'm funny, thank you =)

Trystan yeah I think you are adorably funny! I like talking about books, there is such a difference in opinions about books.

awww, thanks Moonshadow!

Wait, are Castle's books for real?? Are they for sale in the US?? Tell me all! xD

yep, there are a series of the 'Heat' books (and i think a 'Storm' book too) published by ABC Studios...that are 'written by' "Richard Castle - his picture is even on the back of the book (ok, its a pic of Nathan Fillion). there's been speculation as to who the actual author(s) is/are, but i think it was the tv show writers, actually

also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Castle#Nikki_Heat

Nuuu so unfair D:
I want to read them!!

i'm pretty sure my library has them XD

but since i want to own them, i try to look for them at library book sales - i have the first 5, but still need the next 4.

it's weird - if i've read it from the library and then i buy it, i won't re-read it. (which is why i haven't read Mentats of Dune yet - i'm waiting for it in paperback - august 29th!)

Yay! Almost finished with one of my bigger books!
It's only taken almost 6 months...
Would have finished it a lot sooner, but it's gotten sooo boring. If the author hadn't insisted on one of the characters obsessing over another of the characters in such an obnoxious way, the book could have been finished with half the pages, I swear!
XP
But I have less than 100 pages to go and then I can read some better books.

finally finished that Castle book.... i started it quite a while ago, so i'm glad i finished it. yaay!

now i'm starting the last book in the Chicagoland Vampires series. heh.

Okay that's pretty amusing. I haven't watched the show, really, but I know Nathan Fillion and the concept is fun.

Into Death By Video Game. The books is not about how it is that people an die playing games (lots of factors, and the usual stuff about sedentary pass times e.g. blood clots) but how we get to the point where our health is at risk in the first place. Pretty easy read so far. Not as in depth as I was after, I think (though I'm not too far in) but still interesting.

oh yeah.... the books are as if 'Richard Castle' really did write them!

and i did watch the show! =)

@ Kad: what book are you talking about? I usually quit a book that is boring to me.

Those Castle books sound interesting.
I remember Nathan Fillion from Firefly, what a great show.


Edit: Sorry for double posting, I got all confused, I am so sleepy tonight, not thinking straight.

the Castle books are fun!

and i loved Nathan in Firefly. heck, i love Nathan in anything he's in. XD

I used to insist on finishing every book that I picked up. I don't do that anymore. Better things to do than read crummy books.

for the most part, if i start reading it, i'll finish it. there's only been a few i haven't finished.

There are only a few books that I haven't finished. But I have plans to read them eventually. And actually, all of them were in high school. I just couldn't justify renewing them when I hadn't managed to even reach 50-100 pages in.

Most of my unfinished stuff is leftover University reading. If I didn't finish it then, I had to lay it aside to get to the new stuff in the curriculum. Except for Game of Thrones. I flat out jumped ship on that one.

Haha...it took me a little bit, and two attempts to get into Game of Thrones. I enjoyed it quite a book and would like to read the rest of the series (just atarting the second book now), but I can see how some people might not like it.

i read the all the books in A Song of Ice and Fire in 2011 - that was the year A Dance With Dragons came out, which i read about a week after it was published. i'd had A Game of Thrones in paperback, that i'd picked up at a library booksale many years before. i suspect it's the first edition paperback, but i'd have to check the copywrite date.

now i'm waiting for Winds of Winter, and i really rememeber the plot line of only one character from A Dance With Dragons... XD

Oh. That would be really awesome if it was a first edition! I only have the first 4 books so far. I bought Game of Thrones at full price when the show came out because my sister claimed that she had read the book and started watching the show and yhat they were both really good. And the others I picked up used.
I have honestly never seen the show. Maybe after I catch up on my giant list of other shows that I can only watch once a week at work...
But I generally prefer books to their tv and movie adaptations.
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here's what i got: i bought books 2, 3, 4 at Borders when i worked there. 5 i got at B&N when it came out in 2012 - they're all in paperback.

here's my cover for 1:
http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/...20090614231113

which a google search does tell me that it's the cover of the original paperback. whether or not mine's a first printing or nth printing with that cover will have to wait until i get home to look inside the book.

but, i'm glad my random 'this looks interesting' book sale purchase turned out to be a good one. =D

i enjoy the series, even if i need three bookmarks in the book while i'm reading it! XD

O.O
Three bookmarks? Why three?

I'm too late to the party for this year (and probably too lazy to read much haha, let's be honest xD)
But I wanna participate next year!

I did read The Others Series by Anne Bishop a month ago.. all 5 books..

Haha...you could always set a small goal for the last half of the year?

You can totally join us this year, just let me know if you decide and then I can add you to our list on members. :)

This is my next project. I picked up this beautiful edition for 50 cents!

Right now I'm reading The Evil Genius by Wilkie Collins.

Confirmed: I have a first printing of the paperback of A Game of Thrones - it says September 1997 in the front!

Kaderin - yep, three: one for my place in the story, one at the front of the book for the maps, and one at the end of the book for the cast of characters!

And hi there, Alatariel!

Yay! Awesome book find!
And ah, that makes sense. I don't usually reference those while I read, but I can see how it would be good to keep those marked.

Yep yep!

Yeah, I like to know who's in it and where places are