It's a hilarious book. I love it. It's so different from the stories of Jesus that were dictated and read to us as children. In my opinion, Biff (I forget the authro's name) brings more of a real and human side to the image of Jesus. He also adds one hell of a childhood.

@Rhumbullion: Really? Alright what's one of your favourite scenes?

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

So far (I haven't read it completely yet)...lol...There is this scene when they are looking for Balthazar. They stop in whatever city they were in and Joshua (Jesus) and Biff slept in stalls next to each other. Joshua wanted to know what sex was like only Raziel (angel) told him he wasn't allowed to have sex. So Biff kept having sex with all these prostitutes and was describing what was happening and what it felt like as it was happening. At the end of their stay in that city, Biff remarks that he was glad to go. Sex is great and all but there was a burning sensation when he peed.

Hey guys!
Yeah . . . I'm sure that any "Gospel" with someone named Biff in it is completely NON-religious, like. . . not even close to accurate. Just saying. :)

Dorian Gray sounds cool, I bought it recently, but I haven't read much of it, yet. I plan to get to it soon, though. :D

Anyway, books = awesome. Right now I'm reading "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius." I can't wait to read some more of it, but as an English major a lot of my reading time is predetermined, LOL.

I never said it was true. :P I am not a follower of the Bible. I am a hardcore Heathen but growing up Mormon and later Jewish, I know a lot of the stories and I have always wondered what the hell HAPPENED to all those years of Jesus' life that they just skipped. This book adds something to that even if it isn't "biblical truth." To me, it makes Jesus seem more real now that someone has tried to plug the holes.

I have had a hard core crush on Dorian Gray since Advanced English and Literature in high school. I couldn't resist when I saw the book at the book store. It is hard cover, black with silverish whiteish peacock feathers running the length of it. The title is small and discreet. Like Dorian whispering in to your ear...he had to be mine...

I love getting crushes on fictional characters. :heart: I have a bit of a crush on Dorian myself from what I've read. **fans self** D: Your copy sounds a million times classier than mine. Mine is just a blue hardcover with the title printed in silver. :/
I found a pic on the Internet that looked so much like Dorian, but it's probably too fangirl-ish for me to even have mentioned it, geez, LOL (EDIT) I can link it, though. . . **to self** stop it!

I've always been curious about that part of Jesus' life, too! I'm a pretty hardcore Christian and I've always wondered what exactly the Bible means when it says that He grew up in favor with God and men. I hope those scholar dudes find something written by His brothers, but I kinda understand why they didn't. Jesus was probably studying most of his childhood, you know to get the Rabbi status he had and what not.

The Heir Trilogy by Cinda Williams Chima is a great series to read if you just want something fun that will last you a few days. :yes:

What genre is that, Seiki Nova? What's it about? I could use some more fun in my life. We're currently studying morality plays in Brit Lit which is not so . . . uh, entertaining on average.

Mwa: In the book, before they left to look for the three wise men it does say that Josh was spending a lot of time with the Rabbis and even get in to this great argument with some of them about Old Testament quotations. :P The book is by no means meant to be a part of the bible. It's meant to be witty, slightly insightful, funny and above all, entertaining like all books are.

No, I understand that, but someone had mentioned not being religious and I wanted to point out that there was NO way the book could be. I thought of mentioning that in my previous post, but didn't. LOL, guess I should have. :P LOL

Okay, here's another book recommendation. The Waterborn by J. Gregory Keyes, it was recommended to me by a friend of mine. At first it's a bit slow, but then it gets better. It's a bit complicated, so let me quote from Amazon.com.

Many elements in Keyes's first novel are traditional to fantasy?gods, politics, a princess and a barbarian warrior?but they're mixed in unexpected ways. Facts about the imagined world are presented only as needed; the plotting flows logically, supporting well-drawn characters. In this world, the River, a jealous and powerful god, runs in the blood of the nobility of the city of Nhol, including in that of a bright and independent princess, Hezhi. Ten years old, Hezhi wishes to understand the world she was born into and why her cousin and best friend, Den, was taken away to the River by the priests. Meanwhile, Perkar, a young warrior, has fallen in love with a Stream Goddess who fears being eaten by the River. Wishing to save his beloved, Perkar vows to kill the River.

That's weird. I seem to like stories with multiple threads. But when I was reading Eragon it annoyed me. :P

@Katurine: I really couldn't get into Eragon but maybe I didn't give it a real chance. Anyways the more you tell me about the other book the more I want to read it.

I went really quickly through Eragon because I loved it so much. But when I got into Eldest I lost all interest and couldn't even get through it. I have no idea what happened.

Well if you're into fantasy, mystery and the Dracula Bram Stoker created then the Dracula series by Fred Saberhagen are pretty good. I've only read two The Dracula Tape and A Seance for a Vampire. Both are pretty good. The first one is essentially Dracula telling his side of Stoker's story and the second one has Sherlock Holmes in it trying to solve this case that requires them to call on Dracula to help solve the case. It was a rather interesting take I think on the traditional view of Dracula.

@Arechi: I love Dracula! And vampires! So the other two sound like fun. :)

Well then those would definitely be some books for you. Both also have some rather humorous moments, so they're not always completely serious. Though there not things like slap stick humor. I think that you would really enjoy them though. :D

Lol alright, I'm not expecting to roll on the floor laughing so all is good.

Lol yeah they're not humorous like that. They're more like witty humor then anything I think. :D

One of the best type of humour.

@RisikaFox: Ahh thanks, I love Relient K, they are da bomb. That just so happens to be my favourite song by them.

I do rather like that song, but my favorite by them is probably "Be My Escape". What other kinds of music do you like to listen to? I pretty much breathe music, haha.

Oh, and have you read any of Tamora Pierce's works? I highly recommend them for anyone who is fond of fantasy.

I agree, I find that to be the most entertaining humor so far. Slap stick can be funny at certain times, but with witty humor it's usually always good for a laugh. :D

Here's yet another book recommendation. Since this is a steampunky event, I think it would be most appropriate to recommend Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti. There are clockwork mechanisms, punchcard computers, politics, intrigues, romance and everything nice. Here's the summary from the back cover:

Taya soars over Ondinium on metal wings. She is an icarus - a courier privileged to travel freely across the city's sectors and mingle indiscriminately among its castes. But even she cannot outfly the web of terrorism, loyalty, murder and intrigue that snares her after a daring mid-air rescue. Taya finds herself entagled with the Forlore brothers, scions of an upperclass family: handsome, brilliant Alister, who sits on the governing council and writes programs for the Great Engine; and awkward, sharp-tongued Cristof, who has exiled himself from his caste and repairs clocks in Ondinium's lowest sector. Both hide dangerous secrets, in this city that beats to the ticking of a clockwork heart...

Well, I don't really have a lot of book recommendations at the moment... The last couple of books I've read have been sorta... Average... But I've always loved the Bartimaeus trilogy... It's still one of my favorite fantasy stories, and I happily recommend it to everyone... It needs more love.

Here's a summary of the first book:

Nathaniel is a young magician's apprentice, taking his first lessons in the arts of magic. But when a devious hotshot wizard named Simon Lovelace ruthlessly humiliates Nathaniel in front of everyone he knows, Nathaniel decides to kick up his education a few notches and show Lovelace who's boss. With revenge on his mind, he masters one of the toughest spells of all: summoning the all-powerful djinni, Bartimaeus. But summoning Bartimaeus and controlling him are two different things entirely, and when Nathaniel sends the djinni out to steal the powerful Amulet of Samarkand, Nathaniel finds himself caught up in a whirlwind of magical espionage, murder, blackmail, and revolt.

Bartimaeus has the best humor ever, which is one of the main reasons I love that book. His character is just brilliant.

And if you're into darker stories about assassins, the Night Angel trilogy is, well... Interesting. I got through it (still only at the second book, but I'm gonna read the last), but there are just a lot of sub-plots, not all of which are that interesting and the main character gets very annoying at times.

Next I'm going to read Sherlock Holmes (A Study in Scarlet). I haven't gotten far enough to actually recommend it yet, though... ;)

Hmmm...I think I've heard of that Bartimaeus trilogy. My favourite professor from my college recommended it to us last year. Haven't had a chance to check it out yet, though.

Mmm, the thread died.