Books!

[Iceea]

Very cool illustrations Wyrm. Actually there are several 747 airplane bodies and other types also that are being used as dwellings. Apparently bought at the right moment it's a lot of floor space for cheap money. It all depends on the scrap market prices at the time.
Here in the states even with the wings removed you have to register it with the FAA so other pilots don't report it as a "downed" aircraft.

[Auxivele]

I just bought Artemis, the newest novel by the guy who wrote The Martian. I haven't read it yet, but I'm really excited.

[Glory]

I finally got around to reading David Brin's Uplift Saga series over the summer - only six books, but some of the best science fiction I've ever read. He's a great writer, and his books are also fascinating on a philosophical level. Totally worth reading.

[Róisín]

Fascinating books. Thoroughly approve of Brin.

[Quetanto]

Not strictly speaking reading it at the moment, but I will never pass up the chance to mention Small Gods by Terry Pratchett to people.

[Róisín]

Small Gods is an Excellent book. I like Pratchett, also Neil Gaiman.

[Nellie McEnt]

Small Gods is an Excellent book. I like Pratchett, also Neil Gaiman.

And their collaboration book Good Omens is MOST BEST!

[Róisín]

It is that!

And while on the subject of amazing collaborations, a book I highly recommend is the science-fact collaboration between Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine: 'Last Chance to See'. It is a tour around the near-extinct animal species of our world. And on a personal note, I was much amused by their interaction with one of my old bosses from the CSIRO: his wry sense of humour seemed intact, Not to mention the habit of keeping fairy cakes in the venom fridge....

[Lenny]

Going from Pratchett to Gaiman, I have to mention Diana Wynne Jones<3 Her Deep Secret has a most amusing section where Nick, one of the main characters, is half-asleep at a convention, waking up at breakfast, which is based entirely on how Gaiman handled mornings X3 (It's also one of my favourite books ever for other reasons - it merges reality and fantasy nicely, and has all the stuff I love about children's books in one meant for adults \o/) In general she has extremely good fantasy and some fun sci-fi - if you like The Graveyard Book and Stardust by Gaiman, she has lots of similarly styled stories. They were good friends. I also find her books are really fun to read, since her method of writing was to make sure it was fun to read out loud. (This does mean that if you're someone who skips over sections easily you can easily get lost.)

Also it's probably been mentioned earlier in this thread, but she wrote Howl's Moving Castle. And we all know what Ghibli did with that<3

[urbicande]

Only vaguely related to books, but I'm so psyched for the TV version of Good Omens

[RanVor]

My sister refused to finish Good Omens because it was too good.

On an unrelated note, I'm about to start delving into Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. Am I making a mistake?

[Mélusine]

Together or not, Pratchett and Gaiman are always a good idea

[Ragnarok]

My sister refused to finish Good Omens because it was too good.

On an unrelated note, I'm about to start delving into Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. Am I making a mistake?

Depends. How much time can you devote to reading, and how angry does plot sprawl make you?

[Nellie McEnt]

Also it's probably been mentioned earlier in this thread, but she wrote Howl's Moving Castle. And we all know what Ghibli did with that<3

I love Howl's Moving Castle (the book and the film)!

My sister refused to finish Good Omens because it was too good.

On an unrelated note, I'm about to start delving into Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. Am I making a mistake?

Ha! Yeah, it's seriously amazing. She's missing out on a great ending, though!
As for Wheel of Time, I wouldn't know, I've not read it.

Only vaguely related to books, but I'm so psyched for the TV version of Good Omens

I am SO PSYCHED!!!

And while on the subject of amazing collaborations, a book I highly recommend is the science-fact collaboration between Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine: 'Last Chance to See'.

That sounds awesome, I'll look for it!

[Oripoke]

I just bought Artemis, the newest novel by the guy who wrote The Martian. I haven't read it yet, but I'm really excited.

I've read both The Martian and Artemis (actually, listened to the latter as an Audiobook) and I cannot recommend them both enough. It's science fiction that's borderline science fact; the level of scientific details in both stories is staggering, but it doesn't bog down the pacing of the story at all. It's just thoroughly well-researched and a fantastic page-turner besides. Exactly what you'd expect from an author who's also a literal rocket scientist!

Big fan of Jaz, the protagonist in Artemis, too. Now that's a smart, resourceful heroine who knows what she wants!

Going from Pratchett to Gaiman, I have to mention Diana Wynne Jones<3 Her Deep Secret has a most amusing section where Nick, one of the main characters, is half-asleep at a convention, waking up at breakfast, which is based entirely on how Gaiman handled mornings X3 (It's also one of my favourite books ever for other reasons - it merges reality and fantasy nicely, and has all the stuff I love about children's books in one meant for adults \o/)

Deep Secret is one of my faves by DWJ. I think I read my copy so many times its covers fell off. It's been a long time since I read it though, so I don't remember much, but I recall it having these wonderful fever-dream-like qualities, being an interdimensional adventure that takes place at a fantasy convention. All the universe-hopping and quest to save all of existence does get kinda confusing, but the characters are strong and their stories are powerful. I'd nearly forgotten until your post reminded me how much I enjoyed it.

...All this to say, I love sci-fi & fantasy mostly. A book I read last year that I really enjoyed was All The Birds In The Sky by Charlie Jane Anders. It's about the end of the world, and it's also a love story between a magical girl who talks to birds and a genius boy who programmed the world's first sentient AI. It has talking trees, silicon valley startups, magic witch schools, a war for the fate of humanity, and a miracle dating app that tells the future. And it all somehow makes sense in the end! Definitely recommend.