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What are you reading? - May edition

Witchfinder General

punched Wheelchair Mike
Wowzers, it's May already? How time flies.

Anyhoo, I'm currently reading:

Packer's Lunch by Neil Chenoweth

Packer_060509013711991_wideweb__300x454.jpg


So far it's an utterly enthralling and hilarious read.
I urge all Aussies to read this.
 
After succumbing to GAF peer pressure I started to read the series and I'm glad I did. On the second book right now and can't put it down.

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Ravager61

Member
I started the Malazan Book of the Fallen series recently. Im not quite sure how I feel about it so far, but I hear the books get better later so i guess ill keep reading.
 
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A feast for crows.

So far it's been the worst of the series for me. Some interesting perspectives but I haven't been able to get into a good hour or more grind with this one yet like I have with the others. Its probably more due to me doing other things a little more lately but there are definitely some annoyances I have with the book. Whenever I get to an interesting character and try to get a groove going, I jump right into some boring guys perspective and just take a break.
 

QVT

Fair-weather, with pride!
I'm going to finish up my re-read of Lolita then get through This Side of Paradise, then probably Pale Fire.
 

yonder

Member
I'm just about to start reading this:

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I just finished Middlesex and wow, I haven't read such a great book since I read 1984 last year. The second half of the book was superior and more interesting, but it was still an awesome read.
 

Ra\/en

Member
dark_tower_wastelands.jpg


I just started reading this one during my downtime at work.

I started the first one over 2 years ago, and constantly forget to read them even though i like them quite a bit.

My only complaint is that king seems to be overly fantastical and vague for the sake of being fantastical and vague sometimes. But overall it's a fun read.
 

Estival

Member
1037reu.jpg

It's pretty good so far, although she tends to exaggerate the strangeness of some things that I've always thought were fairly normal. What's so weird about an adult having some plastic pony toys?
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QVT

Fair-weather, with pride!
Skittleguy said:
Oh boy, its finally summer!
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not summer for me yet but i'm planning in search of lost time for june+july, ulysses in august, and something else in september. good luck with that though.
 

thomaser

Member
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The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, unabridged Penguin Deluxe edition. So big that it'll probably be my book of the month for both April, May, June and July if I don't pick up the pace. Very readable for a 1000 year old book, though.
 

Futureman

Member
tahrikmili said:
Tell me more about this please?

Yea, me too. I just read "Elegant Universe" and they had a little blurb in the back for "Fabric." Basically, it sounded like the EXACT same book as "Elegant." Anyone read both?
 

necron99

Member
41NVWqA5JNL._SL500_BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg


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And then most likely some new cyberpunk or post-cyberpunk stuff. Havent decided on who yet, but I have heard Richard Morgan is good. Any suggestions?
 

yonder

Member
PhlegmMaster said:
I've been meaning to read that for some time. Give us a review when you're done!
Will do! It might take a while, though. I just started working again and my spare time is greatly reduced :/
 
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Just finished this last night. Definitely Green's best book so far. I <3 this book.

I started Uglies, but I'm not sure if I'll stick with it. I think I might drop it for this:
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Crap, not to mention this comes out next week.
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Also, I still need to read In Cold Blood for English. D: I picked the wrong time to relearn the joy of reading.
 
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Some fantasy-like elements of an earlier sci-fi read A Deepness in the Sky inspired me to look for a mature fantasy title. Used suggestions from Amazon message boards, though I'm not surprised to see that GAF is on top of this one as well.
 
* Harry Potter series: Completed!


Awesome journey from the beginning to the end!
Dobby's death got the best of me! cries!




* A George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series: May to August.


I haven't started yet on this series cuz i took a break since i finished reading HP books few months ago. Now, i'm back to get ready for the wild ride again.

I got part 1 and 3 for now. I'm starting this sunday night.
 

Fritz

Member
I wanted to work on my backlog of american classics so I got Henry James's The American and a collection of his ghost stories.

Don't know about Henry James tho. I like the psychological aspects but his style is far too florid for my taste.

Then I got a collection of Bradburry Stories, and as much as I love his non-sci-fi stuff I hate his sci-fi stuff. Maybe I just don't get sci-fi and fantasy. It's like a clown reading you Nietzsche.

Can someone recommend me some Faulkner and Roth?
 
My love affair with genre fiction has had another interruption in the form of Cloudstreet by Tim Winton. His style of characterization reminds me of Stephen King, but the rest is definitely his own. The plot is firmly set in surburbia and explores the lives of post-war Australians. Of course, the themes extend far beyond that, but so far I'm in the camp that views the character archs as a bit too consistently negative. It's good, but definitely not a classic in my opinion.

After hearing a lot about John Scalzi and Jo Walton (all good, as you can imagine), I decided to read some of their earlier books before delving into Old Man's War (since I loved The Forever War, this sounds right up my alley) and Farthing, respectively.

So far, Agent to the Stars by Scalzi is imaginative, funny and quite enjoyable; I definitely made the right choice here, although it does have that rough-around-the-edges feel that most first novels have. Quite forgivable though, since it's available for free on the internets. (http://www.scalzi.com/agent/) Walton's Sulien trilogy comes with a recommendation from perhaps my favourite fantasy author, Robin Hobb, but I've only read twenty or so pages as of yet, so I'll be looking to fix that quite soon.

Witchfinder General said:
Packer's Lunch by Neil Chenoweth

So far it's an utterly enthralling and hilarious read.
I urge all Aussies to read this.

This has been on my horizon since it was released, but whenever I come close to purchasing it, the price puts me off.
 

nitewulf

Member
faulker? the sound and the fury.
other contemporary american recs from me,

the crying of lot 49 - pynchon
andrea - john o'hara (you HAVE to read this)
anything by salinger and hemingway

i couldnt be arsed w/ classics...so fuck that.
 

Meloche

Member
I just started reading Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything... just saw it at the library and thought it would be good read. I'm not sure how much I'll get out of it, but the first chapter was interesting enough at least.

On the fiction side of things I intend to start reading the Chronicles of Narnia sometime this month... for whatever reason I never read it growing up. Seeing ads for the new movie [didn't see the first one] made me want to finally give the series a try.

PrinceAdam said:
freakonomics.jpg
I recently read this book, which is probably along the same lines. It's excellent:

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How far in are you though; is it any good? I may want to check it out as well.
 

Guileless

Temp Banned for Remedial Purposes
The Sound and the Fury is tough sledding for a Faulkner virgin. I recommend Light In August or Absalom, Absalom.
 

Fritz

Member
nitewulf said:
faulker? the sound and the fury.
other contemporary american recs from me,

the crying of lot 49 - pynchon
andrea - john o'hara (you HAVE to read this)
anything by salinger and hemingway

i couldnt be arsed w/ classics...so fuck that.

I was thinking about the sound and the fury but I got the feeling its not his most accessible book.

Thanks for the other recs. Never heard of O'Hara before so I'm defenitely gonna check that one out. And I totally forgot that Salinger published two books. Hemmingway - not so much.
 

Fritz

Member
Guileless said:
The Sound and the Fury is tough sledding for a Faulkner virgin. I recommend Light In August or Absalom, Absalom.

Jepp, thats what i thought. I reckon its Light in August for me then. Thanks guys
 
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