what are we reading?
 

i tend to read mostly fantasy with a bit of sci-fi and mystery thrown in. im currently reading 'the hunt for the horn' (book 2 of the massive freaking wheel of time series!) by robert jordan. after the first two books im thinking i may need a break before starting the next. so i was thinking maybe some non-fiction or at least something i dont typically read. this group seems well-read, so i ask, what is everyone else reading?

~james

I tend to fiction and action-adventure.

Favorite authors are Clive Cussler, Stephen King, Anne Rice and whoever is writing the Executioner these days.

Brian

Admittedly, I haven't picked up a decent book in ages. I really should pick one up...I live right down the street from the library.

Re: what are we reading?
 

I used to read these, and loved them. In retrospect, most were horrible. After 5 books of "Nynaeve tugs her braid and makes a mad face.," you will realize that this is the WORST. SERIES. EVER. Well, not quite, but it's boring.
Try Dune. There are some striking similarites when it comes to plot elements, but Dune is much better.

i read dune a long time ago. i really enjoyed it. so far i like the wheel of time series, but i think certain characters could be done without. funny you should mention nynaeve, because shes at the top of the list. i dont really feel that the series compares to lotr, as the covers of most of the books proudly proclaim. dont remember the quote offhand, but its something like 'robert jordan has come to dominate the world tolkien began to reveal'. bah. i think the shannara series by terry brooks comes closer to that mark, and that series misses by a longshot (although i really loved the shannara series, especially the new trilogy). i was thinking of giving tom clancy's novels a try, the movies based on his books were always pretty good. and its been a while since ive read any vonnegut. 'mother night' is probably my favourite vonnegut. just a great story.

wow. that was a directionless rant.

~james

"Galapagos" is the last book I remember reading, circa 1997.

okay, in the past month or so i've read about 5 books...hm, let me count, and then i will list them for you. six. okay. this may be a month and a half or so, if i were constantly stocked with books i'd read them at the rate of one every two nights. this amazes paul, but it's only because i stay up late reading :)

the books, which i will assume (because of the previous content of the thread) will be of no interest to anyone else on the cellar, are listed below.

jane eyre by charlotte bronte. this book is one i've now read twice, infact it is the ONLY book i've read twice. i first read it 6 years ago, and figured i had forgotten enough of the details to safely read it again without getting bored. and i'm quite sure i couldn't ever get bored of this book, reading it at a normal pace. it's a really good book. if you are going to read this one, read wuthering heights as well (that one is by emily bronte, charlotte's sister). these books, if you know nothing about them, are basically love stories. but they're very well written love stories, and go far beyond typical "romance" plots.

missing marlene by evan marshall. this is the first in a series of mystery books, in which jane stuart and her cat winky are the crime solvers. besides the fact that there's a cute cat thrown in there, they're pretty good reads because they're suspenseful. probably (definitely) not for everyone, but i needed something to read and the cat on the spine of the book caught my eye at the bookstore :)

hanging hannah is the second in the jane stuart/winky series. i bought this one when i bought the first, and had read them both in 3 days.

stabbing stephanie is...the third in that series. i read this book and refused to read the teaser for the next, which is due out in november (hardback). i don't want to wait that long.

the yellow room by mary rinehart roberts. this book is another mystery, set and written during WWII. the solution gets a bit twisted and confusing along the way, but it was an enjoyable book. this book had me looking down towards the bottom of the bed to make sure there wasn't anyone there. i'm a wuss, what can i say?

where are the children? by mary higgins clark. after going a week or two without reading, i decided it was high time to find something else. i'm the type of person that finds it hard to read a book without first being recommended something, so i headed once again to the mystery section with the mindset that i'd find nothing. but alas i remembered that my mom was a big mary higgins clark fan, so i picked up one of the titles i knew she didn't own. i must say that i enjoyed this book and i'm now looking forward to reading more of her work.

--

now, if you've sat through my terribly written "reviews" of those books, you can sit through my recommendations.

neverwhere by neil gaiman. this book is a wonderful book, if you're into fantasy. it's not fantasy like i typically think, with unicorns and fairies, but it does have "creatures" :) i love this book, love it love it love it. and tori amos did too. so i suggest reading it. it has a great storyline and awesomely developed characters. A+.

watership down by richard adams. if you haven't read this book, DO. yes, it's about rabbits. yes, they "talk" to one another. but it's about their fight for survival after being pushed out of their homes. oh, what an endearing book and wonderful characters. i cannot give this story enough praise. A+.

the end.

ah, watership down. i win for forcing it upon you.

yes, paul wins credit for that book. i started reading it on the plane to virginia this past christmas, and i was a bit weirded out at the fact that it had TALKING RABBITS, but of course one must understand that they are not speaking english. i still think it's amazing how the author was able to learn so much about their actual way of life and then make up things to go along with what he learned (i.e., i doubt rabbits actually utter the word "hrududu" when speaking of motorized vehicles).

but anyway, paul told me it was a good book, and i am glad he was right.

HRUDUDU! paul, a HRUDUDU! heh. dork :p

what's wrong with talking rabbits? do you know for a fact that rabbits aren't speaking Lupine as i type this, jeni? well, do you? DO YOU?
anyway, as for that one mystery book that made you look under the bed in fear and... another word for fear, you can just wake me next time. i, in a tired stupor, will hop out of bed and be murdered immediately, giving you a chance to escape. good deal for everyone. but me. oh well.

awwww...nerd, you can't even kill a spider. how true. you're cute :) for the record, i'd be terribly sad and depressed and lonely if you died. that's no good. besides, no one can fit under the crouton anyway. and if ANYONE can, it's ABV and i don't think he has it in his heart (or mind) to kill anyone.

HHAAaaIIIiiIi!! JennERZ!! I'm ABV!! I'm GOING to WORK IN THE baKERY wiTH YoU!!

[/"inside" joke]

ok, so maybe i wouldn't jump out of bed due to bravery, but, as we've both seen, i am mostly braindead for the first half hour after waking up. anyway, i killed a big bug today in the shower. so whatever.
ABV is scary. if he is ever in here, i don't know what i will do. oh well, i'll just talk to you in real life now. we've already probably ruined this thread. suckers.

For excellent informative and entertaining reading, may I suggest a little book called "Who in Hell". It is written like an encyclopedia but it contains the names of every demon mentioned, in most religions, as well as human beings who are now thought to be in hell and why.

Names like 'Hitler' and 'Stalin' shouldn't surprise you. But according to the book, Walt Disney too is in the eternal depths. Go figure.

It is full of information about each person and demon and it gives great insight as to which religions think what of Hell. It is high on my list.

Until they thaw him anyway... ;)

Hmmm... to start with the books I'm reading now: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand; I'm liking it the more I read it, but it took about the first 500 pages or so to really get into. Death of Ivan Ilych by Tolstoy; all I can say is I still haven't figured out why I read Russian Lit. I guess I'm just a masochist. As for recommended reads: They came Before Columbus by Ivan van Sertima; a historical account of travel between Africa and South America that predates the Vikings by about a thousand years. Island by Aldus Huxley; my favorite of his and one of the best of the utopian genre. Anything by Thomas Pynchon is good but beware I don't care how fast of a reader you are, his plot lines are so convoluted that these take forever and make Vonnegut look like Dr Seuss. Tom Robbins is another author that I have been getting into. I place him sort of between Vonnegut and Pynchon. The Literary Mind by Mark Turner; came out as a theory of mind/language in about 1997, the rest of the world will learn about it in a couple of years, I have no doubt so be the first on your block. Its a little on the technical side but really readable. As far as poetry goes read Saul Williams if it is the last (or only) book of poetry you ever read (this goes for any one of them you can get your hands on). In the sci fi realm Octavia Butler is really good and writes in a manner different from most of the rest.

Hello all.
I too just finished "Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman this week.
After reading and enjoying every issue he did of the Vertigo, "Sandman" series he did for DC comics, I agree with jeni on this one. Great Charicters, and a well told tale. So people thats two of us telling you to read it.

Next up I bought all four of Thomas Harris's books off ebay for TWO BUCKS! So Im gonna be busy for a while...

"So Agent Starling,....you think you can discect me with this blunt little tool?".

Perth, that book is actually called, "The Great Hunt".

Anyway, my wife has gotten me into the Harry Potter series. We've downloaded the first three unabridged audiobooks off WinMX, and bought the 4th one on cd. So far i'm nearly done with the third.

Incidentally, there is a TON of Wheel of Time stuff on the web. Here's a pretty good index of most of it:

http://www.ece.umd.edu/~dilli/WOT/WOTindex/

duh. im a retard. it was sitting directly in front of me when i mistyped it.

my wife got me into the harry potter series, too. actually, the first 3 books were a novelty for me, but the 4th book really seems to be where the story gets interesting. i find it interesting that the series seems to get 'heavier' with each new book. while book one was mostly silly and whimsical, by book four the story has begun to get darker, foreboding. foreboding is not a word i would have ever expected to apply to the harry potter series, but once youve read it, youll see what i mean.

~james

I'm in the second book of Tolkeins trilogy, good stuff I should have read (actually thought I had) as a kid. Sci-Fi Ken MacLeod and Vernor Vinge are my two favorites.

Damn, Jeni makes me feel inadequate. I'm not reading anything at the moment, if you exclude my borderline obsession with Cellar, Fark, Slashdot, geekNews, etc.

Guess the last novel-type books (as opposed to tech books) I read were:
The Mote in God's Eye & sequel - Niven, Pournelle
Starship Troopers - Heinlein
Split Infinity & sequels - Piers Anthony
Xanth "trilogy" - Piers Anthony

Then my memory gets hazy...

ive always _intended_ to read watership down. i even have a copy on my bookshelf. for some reason though, i cant even bring myself to crack the book open, let alone start reading. i dunno. talking rabbits. reminds me of that dumbfuck trix bunny. i think ill try to hit it this weekend though. neverwhere sounds interesting, ill try to pick that up this weekend.

and for those with long attention spans: a tale of two cities is an amazing book. its the only book _ive_ read more than once. it has everything. suspense, adventure, romance and more. read it.

~james

Since were talkin literature...
How about Aldous Huxleys, "Brave new World"....if you never have, its a definate must read. Huxley was onto something when he wrote it.

And I always suggest Hunter Thompson...espc "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."

I know this is about what we're reading currently...But instead of magazines in the bathroom, I keep novels...not to say that im in there a while, or a lot....But These two have been in there for a year and I love to re- read them constantly.

:) well, i hadn't read anything in quite some time...i finished neverwhere about 13 months ago, and since then and up until a few months ago i hadn't really read any novels.

tonight paul and i went to border's and i got 2 more books, which i give a week. :) i'm going to end up spending hundreds of dollars on books if jenno doesn't come to my aid like she promised. :p jenno is great people. i trust her with books (among other things).

YES, neverwhere is an excellent book. it was recommended and mailed to me by an old friend, and i'd love to get more of gaiman's books but the only ones i can find are hardback, and well...i don't have that kind of money. :) i guess it's about time to get a library card.

am i allowed to go offtopic on my own thread?

until about a week ago, i hadnt been to a public library in at least 10 years. i went in to pay my wifes late fee (hi honey!) and noticed that not only do they loan out books, but cds, videos and dvds as well. i never heard of such a thing! im gonna go get a library card tomorrow, because they have a bunch of those national geographic specials (love the egypt ones), and tons of audio books.

~james

I suggest Island by Huxley and Hell's Angels by Thompson; I think they show those writers at thier best...

You guys are in for a surprise if your library is like mine; they now issue "smart cards" with a chip so that you can use thier computers. I don't know about libraries though, they always want thier books back :(

yeah, but if you're like me, you'll likely never read the book again anyway, so it's not a big deal :)

Hmmm I read a lot of stuff... I have to read.. all the time when I'm not doing something else. Somewhat compulsive, I guess. The problem is, when I'm very tired or wiped out, I just read "brain candy"... something I've already read several times. I sometimes end up with 2 or 3 books going at once, one for when I can concentrate and think, and one for when I can't. So what have I read recently?

In the last year I've become a fan of Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan series. Her most recent entry, Diplomatic Immunity, I actually purchased as an e-book, a format I'm not really in love with, because the publisher had that out a month before the hard copy!

I also noticed the third book in a series I read the first two of a long time ago, the Camulod Chronicles by Jack Whyte. It's a retelling of the Arthur legends based on the end of Roman presence in Britain. I just finished the third volume, The Eagles' Brood.

Ghost Soldiers tells about a WWII Army Rangers operation to rescue survivors of the Bataan Death March being held by the Japanese in the Phillipines. A gripping tale, told with lots of accounts from the men who were there.

Henry VIII: The King and His Court by Alison Weir is more interesting than it sounds. Having said that, I didn't finish it due to lack of time & mental energy. But it's fascinating to see how everything was managed. (Imagine if, when The Prez went down to his ranch in Texas, the whole government had to go with him! That's sort of what happened when Henry moved around.)

The Simulacra by Philip K. Dick. To early to tell. I've liked most of Dick's stuff. At the very opening of the books, psychoanalysis has been outlawed and analysts practice under pain of arrest. Why? A large pharmaceutical company has drugs that will treat all known mental ailments, and they've lobbied the government to outlaw the "quackery" of analysis to improve their sales.

Seriously? Not that I'm making fun of you at all, but that is wild.

The libraries in St. Louis have always offered stuff like that. One catch though--if you wanted the good stuff (the hard-to-find books, CDs, etc.), you had to go downtown to the central library. The branch libraries always had shit.

The last time I was in a library here in Philadelphia, I believe they do the same. (I have a library card here...but I've only gone to the library to get tax forms. :) ) The one by my house seems incredibly nice though...I might go up there Saturday.

yeah. generally when i decide i want a book to read, i just go buy it. i had no idea that music and movies were fair game for a library. i went in today, borrowed a couple of national geographic videos (one on egypt and one on vikings) and a book full of soup recipes. i looked for 'neverwhere'. the library has 7 copies, but all are out. theres a nice park next to the library, so i got on a swing with my son for a while too. it was a pretty good day. i think im gonna have to hit barnes and noble tomorrow for neverwhere tho. based on the recommendations here and the fact that all the librarys copies were checked out, i probably need to read this one.

so going to the library is a lot of fun. ill probably try to make that a weekly trek from now on.

~james

I just finished up "Naked" by David Sedaris, one of the funniest books I have read in a long time...

I'm now reading "The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton" by Joe Klein...

If you're not familiar with libraries, you may not know that you can ask to be put on the waiting list for a book that's checked out. They'll call you when it comes in and usually hold it just for you for a certain period of time. (Course it sounds like this book would probably have a list a mile long.)

I just finished <i>Choke</i> by Chuck Palahniuk, which was a fantastic read, and tried to finish <i>How to be Good</i> by Nick Hornby. The book was great, I just had a problem with a few of the characters. Maybe I'll try some other time.
I'm getting ready to start (tonight, maybe tomorrow) a collection by Robert Parker (of <i>Spencer</i> fame).

sorry about resurrecting my own dead thread, but i just finished reading bringing down the house by ben mezrich. its about a bunch of MIT students who devised a way to beat vegas at blackjack. this isnt a how-to book at all, but about what they went through, how they planned things, the lives they lived and how vegas caught on. i found it to be a very interesting read, and easily read in a day or two. a good weekend book.

~james

Just got done reading Destiny's Way, the latest Star Wars book. Yeah, I'm a junkie.

On my shelf (other than SW):

- Anything by Harry Turtledove. Turtledove deals in alternate history, a subgenre of Fantasy/Sci-Fi. The idea is that one pivotal moment in history pivots the other way (Washington doesn't escape New York, Constantinople falls to the Muslims early, Pilate pardons Jesus, etc.), and the story deals in what happens in the world afterward. His latest book, The Center Cannot Hold, is part of a thread in the aftermath of World War I, if the South had won the Civil War and was on the opposite side of the US. Really good stuff.

- Microserfs by Douglas Coupland. For the uninitiated, Microserfs is quite possibly the chronicle of early 90's geek culture. The book is written like a journal, telling the story of Daniel Underwood, a bug checker for Microsoft, who's been having trouble sleeping, so he starts the journal to find out why and it snowballs. Fun read.

- The Illuminatus! Trilogy This is the freakiest book I have ever read. I actually haven't finished it. I got half through it, and my mind was so blown, I had to read some Grisham to take a break. Illuminatus! was recommended to me by a friend, and when I told him of my difficulty, he said it helps to be stoned while reading. So there you go.

- The Lord of the Rings, one-volume edition All three books, w/ appendices, genealogies and maps. The maps help. Oh Lord do the maps help.

- Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong I got extra credit from a teacher because he saw me reading this book. The author, James Loewen, is a history professor in college. For this book, he read the dozen most widely-used High School US History textbooks and summarily points out how they alter, leave out, or outright lie about facts to paint America in the best possible light. Unbelievably valuable.

- Lamb: The Gospel According To Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal The funniest book. Period. There is nothing else. This is the gospel written by Levi bar Alphaeus, the friend since childhood of Jesus chronicling the "Lost 18", the eighteen years of Jesus' life that are unrecorded in the other four Gospels. Picture the movie "Dogma", in text form, and tenfold better. That's "Lamb".

Right now in my hand - The Hitchhiker's Trilogy, all five (that's right, five) books by Douglas Adams. Right now, I'm about midway through "Hitchhiker's Guide". So help me God, anyone ruins anything, and there'll be hell to pay. Much much hell.

~mike

At the moment I'm trying to read the second book in Terry Brooks Voyage of The Jerle Shannara trilogy. I'm also planning on picking up Stephen Kings newest book. From what I've read it sounds like another great one.

Speaking of Watership Down, I've become and addict of the Redwall Series, yeah it's a bunch of talking animals and if this is going to bother you then stay away.

without giving anything away, the second one gave me the creeps towards the end. the 3rd one is out now, i havent gotten it yet, but i really do hope its as creepy as that one. i bet terry brooks could write a mean horror novel.

~james

I'm reading Harry Turtledove's World War series. I felt guilty about it but since Chewey already justified it for me there it is.

Also by the bed, I'm occasionally flipping through Our Enemy, The State : A Study of Social Power vs State Power and of the State in Colonial America by Albert Jay Nock just in case the jackbooted thugs can't find anything to prosecute on. :)

I still have the third book The Return of the King in the Lord of the Rings series by Tolkein to read.

I also had a breakthrough in the one I've been scratching out but set aside until last night. Now if I can just keep myself from going pyro on this one maybe...

Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem.

Excellent. I also enjoyed "Shampoo Planet," also by Coupland. I like both of those more than "Generation X," the novel that coined the name we all know and lo{v|ath}e.

[Oddly enough, Microserfs is probably the only novel my dad has read in 40 years. I've never seen the man with a piece of fiction in his hands, and he once told me he had to take freshman English four times before he passed it in college, so it was a great surprise to me when he & mom were visiting a couple years ago and he picked up Microserfs and started reading it. My mom got hold of Tales of the City on the same trip, and when I asked her how she liked it, she said, "Well, I never knew there were so many perverts in the world."]

I just started "On Basilisk Station," the first book in the Honor Harrington series by David Weber. Weber came to my attention primarily because his publisher, Baen Books, also publishes Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan books, and I was poking around their web site. Too early to tell if I like it.

I read Watership Down when it was published, and several times since then ... I've always liked it, and so did many of my friends, nearly all of whom know exactly what I mean when I talk about "going tharn" ...

I read a LOT. Not as much as I'd like to, of course. Work keeps getting in the way of my reading. Hmmm ... I also think perhaps I've not been reading as much since I've been spending time on line, but well, that's KIND of like reading too, isn't it??

On the recent completed pile:

Slander Ann Coulter
Let Freedom Ring Sean Hannity
Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand (which I'd actively avoided for years until my boyfriend made me read it -- thank you, honey!)
Debt of Honor Tom Clancy (I've gotten behind on his books)
Pain Management Andrew Vachss
Shakedown Kenneth Timmerman
Bee Season Myra Goldberg (lots of local (Montgomery County) flavor ... and a really interesting story.

There's more, but that's what I remember right now ...

I've read a lot of Brian Jacques Redwall Books. They all are completely based on an animal world. There all quite good. I havn't read Watership Down so I don't know how they compare, but if your willing to read Watership Down , I recommend the Redwall Series.

Jack London-
 

I don't have a whole lot to say about books lately, but have written several myself. But of the one's I didn't, I read "watership down" and felt that even with the occasional drawing added it was overall a depressing experience for me and perhaps it was what I was going through at the time (middle school). I was however very pleased with Jack London's "dog's eye view" of our world and the justices these animals reaped against their abusers. I have written some animal stories as well and it is so much fun to wear those tiny shoes for a little while! Earnest Hemmingway is another big fave of mine as well as Jimmy Buffet but that is a whole other topic of discussion. As for my own books, I love lousy reviews! Did you know that Dean Koontz has thirty pseudonyms he has written under himself? Inside word is that he has also sponsored others to fulfill their wishes by even allowing other authors to publish under his name. I sure hope they were paid for their endeavors, individualy.

Great books to read anytime
 

Hi
My name is Alana and I am new to this site. I just read a great book called the sisterhood of the traveling pants, I know the title may sound a bit funny but it is a great read. Sorry all you guys it might not be your kind of reading material. It is basically about a group of 4 girls: Carmen, Bridget, Lena, and Tibby. This summer they are all going is different directions: Greece,and Baja California are a couple of examples. They share a pair of pants and document their travel in the pants. This is a very interesting book that I think is worth the reading time.
Talk to you later.

Re: Great books to read anytime
 

Joe wakes up and enters room, fully dressed and SOBER. He says "Hey Alana". And in my mind and heart it will never seem rediculous to me because I too am beyond understood. I am quite sure it is a very good read if you say so.

: )

Holidays are here and i can read again, finally! My lsit at the moment looks like
Plato - Republic
Plato - Laws
Salman Rushdie - Satanic Verses (finish off, 3/4 done)
Salman Rushdie - The moor's last sign
Ben Elton - high Society
John Wiilliams - The Philosophy of pooh
Terry Pratchett - Theif of Time
Last 5 issues of National Geographic
Simone de Beauvior - memiors of a Dutiful Daughter
Jean-Paul Sartre - Les Mouches
Tom Wolfe - The pump house gang

Last 5 issues of National Geographic
Last 2 of Adbusters
Last 2 of Colors

Sams C++ in 24 hours.

Should keep me going for a while.

Cam - Redwall books rock =)

Surely you jest ... nobody actually READS national geographic. They just pile up until the people from the nuthouse come to get you and they have to walk through the maze created by the piles of the damn things.

The maps are printed on very sturdy paper, though, and can be used to block the ultra-cosmic radiation from coming in and stunting your growth.

Hey, I thought I was the only one who liked Terry Pratchett! Bring it here and I will autograph it for you: ), seriously!

I'm currently carryig a copy of captain underpants around with me, dave pilkey-

He's in Melbourne tomorrow, so ill get it autographed myself thanks =)

Don't read all of nat geo but there is usually at least on interesting articel in there, always worth a look, i've got them all going back to 1985, always good if i run out of other stuff.

I'm going to make this perfectly clear as nicely as possible. Terry Pratchett is one of about a hundred pseudonyms I invented since I was a child. If you think that the person in the picture of the back cover is the actual author, then that's quite expected. HIS real name is David, and at random moments he is still a very friendly accquaintance.
Thanks for reading one of our books, hope you enjoyed it; )

..............dude! You HAVE to give me some of what you're smoking!

Too late Dave, my mother remembers reading it way back in the days before it was published. And yeah, I was still getting high back then. I gave her a copy on mother's day and she was pretty happy with the roses as well. Can't says I blame you for trying though. Enjoy your all expenses paid vacation to Melbourne, on ME.

: )

His name is Alecks. I'm Dave.

Mine are all re-reads since I'm unemployed ;)
Here are some I recently (re)finished:

Revenge of the Rose - Michael Moorcock

Mort - Terry Pratchet

Software, Wetware and Freeware - Rudy Rucker

Man in the High Castle, Dr. Bloodmoney, Time Out of Joint, Radio Free Albemuth - Philip K. Dick

The Illuminatus Trilogy - Robert Anton Wilson

I do have private messaging, for your convenience. I really don't wish to embarass anybody and I will continue to tell the truth about everything and anything I have actually penned and sung. I am not obligated to keep my mouth shut about any of this.

17 years worth ... you're well on your way to starting that maze. Got your tinfoil beanie yet?

Christmas Gift Idea for Jag

It's sitting next to my desk already nic.

Parentals started the collection, they fill up all the space round my stearo on the shelf neatly.