I agree, I found the third one a bit of a chore. They are good but I don't quite get the buzz a lot of other folk do.

i've got a lot better modern fantasy books on myshelves really.

(harlan taps ruler to desk)

Class...class...very interesting...really...but we are in Asian Art and Culture. Any readings that fall under this topic? (I am sorry Billy, but I don't eat apples.)

OK, I also read MONKEY recently so I could do a play with the kids at school.

Am reading 'The Magus of Java' by Kosta Danaos, published a few years ago.

It is not a fiction. However, not easy to believe everything in there. He claims his master, an Indonesian of ethnic chinese origin living secretly in Java, can levitate, perform telekinesis, pyrokinesis, all sorts of other '..nesis' and communicate with spirits of the dead, including speaking with the grandmaster who, after a physical death, is now an "immortal" and still dishing out advise to his star student.

Anyone spent good money on it and then found out the awful truth?

Being a puppeteer I read a book called "Puppets of Nostalgia" by Jane Marie Law. It is about japanese puppets and their history. It covers some interesting points that puppeteers were once a kind of psychic dustbinman (garbageman for our US friends) and would perfom rituals at village shrines to entrap the evil spirits and then carry them away.

I've read these books of Pullmans too a few months ago, quite enjoyed the read. My son hated them and wouldnt get further than the first couple of chpaters.

I just finished the dreaded Harry Potter, and The book of 5 Rings

currently reading:

Bokken by Dave Lowry

Le Manege Royale by Pluvinel

The InDesign Bible

Art of War by Sun Tzu

Tao te Ching

and

Training the Horse In-hand - Classical Iberian Methods of Schooling by Dietz

ALL at once, in no particular order. That is, I read a bit of one, get bored and pick up one of the others for a chapter or so.

Forgot! I recently re-read The Jungle Book, Metamorphosis, The Painting of Dorian Grey, Heart of Darkness and bits of Ulysses on my PDA whilst waiting for said son to come out of school.

Planning on reading Eragon & Eldest at some stage - my son says they are a good read so will give them a go too.

My reading 'theme' this week is...liberation through death. (don't ask!)

Doing simultaneous readings on The Tibetian Book of the Dead:

Luminous Emptiness : A Guide to the Tibetan Book of the Dead, by Freemantle (I highly recommend this book as a readable explanation)

and the English language TBOTD versions by Robert Thurman and Sogyal Rinpoche. The first 90 pages of Thurman's book gives a nice overview of the book and the historical context, but Sogyal Rinpoche's version is much more readable.

A real Necronomicon gem. fun stuff...

just finished 'The Way of Kata' - Kane, Wilder.

I'll be reading 'The Chronicles of Narnia' this week. (don't ask)