Hey guys, check out this awesome thread I found by DJ FC. It's old too! Over a year older than some other forums that deal with the same topic, but have dishonest, non-inclusive titles. Since it has thread seniority and all, and nobody gives a shit about Repug slowly becoming a religious apologist, we should revive it!
I'm halfway finished with
American Gods by Neil Gaiman. The basic plot is that all gods (and other objects of human worship) are real as long as there is some dwindling belief in them. America, being the melting pot/salad bowl that it is, has a huge amount of gods because of all the immigrants over the past few centuries who "bring their gods with them", and, after belief in them dies, they lose their powers and influence and become normal people, tricking, seducing etc. to leech what little belief they can from humans to get by.
Anyways, there's another overarching plot that everything is leading up to, but it's a great read and fun to try to guess who the gods in question are before they are revealed to you through hints. Almost nobody straight out says "Hi, i'm ___________, the god of ______________" --- a lot of it you have to pick up through conversational nuance or inferences.
Fantastic book so far. First Gaiman book I've read, and I really like his writing style. I highly recommend it.
Oh, also,
HBO is turning it into a series next year, so you know it's gotta be at least fairly good.