Thanks guys :)

I'm over halfway through A Game of Thrones! It's going pretty quick considering the tiny print and the 800+pages.

I'm now in the awkward position of not wanting to watch tonight's episode because of book spoilers..

Originally Posted by Knerd

Pretty!

Are you really reading seven books at once right now?

Yes, yes I am.
Some of those books are for school, to be fair, and two are volumes of poetry, one is a short story collection, and one I'm listening to on audiobook.
But yeah, I always have too many books going at a time, and I don't spend nearly as much time reading as I used to.

I read a lot of short stories and plays for my English class this semester. I feel like, if added all together, they should count as a short book. But I can't be bothered to see how many pages long each one was and add that all up.

Originally Posted by BellyButton

I'm over halfway through A Game of Thrones! It's going pretty quick considering the tiny print and the 800+pages.

I'm now in the awkward position of not wanting to watch tonight's episode because of book spoilers..

I understand that feeling. I've actually been trying my best to finish the books that pertain to each season before they air. Didn't watch one until I finished the book, same with two (though for that one I read books two and three one after another beforehand, as I didn't know which elements would be brought in from which three, as it's difficult to separate some of them given how many things are happening simultaneously across both of them).

/doesn't care for book spoilers

Of course, I spend so much time on the internet that book spoilers ended up being inevitable.

/sigh

I was once advised to watch a few episodes before reading the books just to help learn all the characters.

I could see that. xD It took me a little while to get them straight, which made parts of the book a bit more confusing than they needed to be. Every now and again I'll still encounter a minor character mentioned briefly a book or so prior and I'll be like 'wait, who?' and have to flip back to check or look it up online.

I have trouble with that sort of thing even with standard books. My eyes just tend to skim over names so I don't learn them very well in books, so if the character leaves for a bit, I forget who they are. >< If I remember "it's the person who did such and such," then I know. It's kind of weird because I'm fantastic with names in every other setting.

Having heard the names aloud before reading definitely helped me be able to digest the books. I had attempted to read these before the TV thing happened but there are so many characters he's introducing right at the getgo, and some of the names are spelled so "fantasy" - guy's fond of extra vowels - I kept choking on the names & couldn't get into it. So many characters, and I'd find myself forgetting who was who & trying to pronounce the more wacky ones aloud each time they came up which just got annoying.

.. I'm terrible with names in real life too.

I spent a while debating whether or not to read the Game of Thrones books before watching the show, but finally gave up and just started watching it. I really like watching shows with people every week, as they come out, anticipating each episode. Bingeing on a show can be fun too, and I did that with seasons 1 & 2, but there is something special about watching a show as it comes out. Then I loved the show, but I could tell that they were condensing the heck out of the storyline, so I started reading the first book. I don't have much time to read on top of all my school reading though, so it is going to take me a while to finish them all.

I think watching the show, hearing the names, and having clear faces to attach to them has made it much easier to follow the action in the book. But things are also different enough in the book - the descriptions of locations, for example, and the details of how events unfold - that I still get the pleasure of imagining the story while I read. The images I get in my head are a mash-up of the book and the show, which is kind of neat.

I recently finished the Bourne Legacy book and to be honest, I preferred the book far over the movie. The book depicted alot of trials for both Bourne and Khan after a hell-of-a-twist about a 1/5 of the way in. it was pretty epic. If you guys are into action-packed stories. I would highly suggest to read that novel.

All the Bourne books are alot better then the movies, mainly because there isnt Matt Damon as the lead.

Wow, I had no clue those movies were based on books!

I know I've had a conversation with my dad about Robert Ludlum, I just can't remember what the actual contents of it were. /fascinating post

The vacuum cleaner tried to eat my copy of A Clash of Kings today, not sure if that's a sign...

Not on topic, but your avatar is freaking me out.

Then my work here is done.

So on a happy book related note - I managed to get myself a copy of Dan Brown's newest book Inferno yesterday!! So happy! :D

Ooooh, do let me know how it is.

Will do! I'm only like 60 pages in so far - kinda fell asleep reading it last night - but I am loving it so far! Definitely already action packed!!

My mom is paying me to be her photographer for this weekend's mosaic class, and I convinced her to buy me the book and take that out of what she's paying me. *laughs* So I'm getting 20$ less than what I originally was going to get. :P But I got the book so that is a huge plus!

Considering I tend to spend my money on books when I have it to spend, that sounds like a fair deal to me.

I normally try to save my money - given that I do not work and I need to try to save money - for me this is a huge buy, but this book has been taunting me. *laughs* I just need to read it. I love how much research he puts into his books, it's crazy, but hey, it pays off! He's been a best seller many books in a row now. :)

I've found that most author's put quite a good deal of research into their books. But, yeah, he does seem to go above and beyond for what he does, and it's certainly paid off for him in terms of overall sales and popularity. Thus far, Angels and Demons is still my favorite though.

Given that it's about 5 years between each book, I agree with you that he does go above and beyond what some authors do put into their books. It's just crazy. I love DaVinci Code the best, but The Lost Symbol is up there, and Angels and Demons was ok. :) And this one is already up there, with being there with Lost Symbol. :) I'm taking my time reading it - because the last time I tried reading one of his books in one day it made my brain hurt - too many crazy twists and turns. xD LOL! Awesomely good though!

I never got around to reading Lost Symbol. I probably will at some point though. I've been heavy into fantasy lately and it's pulled me away from everything else. Though, now that I've more or less had fantasy ruined for me for a while, I suppose it's time to move back to other things for a spell.

I pre-ordered Lost Symbol as soon as it came out, and read it in like a few days. It was good - action packed, short chapters, villain being the person you last expect as always. :P
I'm reading like 3 books at the moment though - gives me a way to keep from going too crazy with too much going on at once. If I need a break from something, I can always just switch to another book. =]