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What are you reading? (September 2010)

J

joeyjoejoeshabadoo

Member
I'm working my way through Lord of the Rings again but I'm mainly going to be focusing on this:
2QL5L.jpg


I got my order early from Amazon so I'll break it open tonight if I get a chance. I'm really enjoying the world she has created.
 
F

Flizzzipper

Member
51D%2BhzLoEGL._SL500_AA266_PIkin3,BottomRight,-16,34_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

Practical Demonkeeping

I've found out I like Christopher Moore so I am going to start at the beginning and read all his books. So far I've read Bloodsucking Fiends which kinda sucked. And A Dirty Job which was fuck amazing.
 
J

Jerk

Banned
200px-Never_Let_Me_Go.jpg


I finally got it.

If I do not enjoy every moment of this novel, I will hold Dresden personally responsible.
 
D

Dresden

Member
Jerk 2.0 said:
200px-Never_Let_Me_Go.jpg


I finally got it.

If I do not enjoy every moment of this novel, I will hold Dresden personally responsible.
Click to expand...
:eek:

I do hope you enjoy it. Working through Remains of Day whenever I have time right now, and it's been excellent.
 
E

evilpigking

Member
Cyan said:
The fuck is this shit?
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Couldn't have said it better myself.

Might interrupt my completion of the Garrett P.I. series with The Gathering Storm now that it is out in MMPB. Might not though, only got Nickel and Zinc left for Garret.
 
P

peakish

Member
Just finished Paprika and it sure got much worse in the second half. It lost mostly all human elements, the characters (including the population at large) acted like they all had become sociopaths and the writing got very stale.

A lot of sex as well, which is never bad in itself, but with the characters acting the way they were it sure felt stupid. Also a scene
where a woman is raped and after a brief struggle just shrugs and says "okay then, as long as you satisfy me"
. Now I'm no expert on that subject but it sure isn't the way I expect characters to react.

On the plus side a lot of the dream sequences are amazing, especially in the first half where there's a lot of psychology babble inserted which I know nothing about but sure makes a good read :p

Will now be starting with

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Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. It's been thrown as a suggestion for fantasy so many times that I need to see what the fuzz is about.
(Edit: Plus it's pretty thick, I'm in the mood for that as a change)

steppenwolf-cover-1927mq6v.jpg

Steppenwolf, by Herman Hesse. I wanted a German language book (learning the language), browsed around and it seems interesting, I do have a feeling of taking water over my head but it will be interesting to decrypt.
 
N

nakedsushi

Member
I finished reading Barrayar(
61905.jpg
) last night. Ugh, who said it was better than Shards of Honor? Shards of Honor was not an astounding book by far, but Barrayar was just plain bad. I hated the main plot! Review below:

Someone said that this book was a lot better than Shards of Honor. I thought it was much worse. The first half of the book was pure political drama setting up for the action-packed last quarter of the book. Unfortunately, because of the way the author chose to name all of the lords and lordlings, things get very confusing.

My main beef with Barrayar was personality changes that both Vorkosigan and Cordelia went through. Cordelia in the first book was a strong-willed, clever woman who wasn't hung up on gender roles. Cordelia in this book was a whiney, stubborn woman who's only goal was to first have a son, and then later, to save this unborn son, even at the cost of her close friends, lots of death, and extended political turmoil.

Vorkosigan in this book turned into some no-direction, one-dimensional character that seemed to be hiding in the late emperor's shadow. Maybe that's what the author was trying to convey, but I rather liked him in Shards of Honor, and was just annoyed with him in this book.

To make up for my dislike of the two main characters, I found myself gravitating to the supporting cast this time. Koudelka and Drou's attempt at flirting was entertaining and I was relieved when they finally found a way to resolve their relationship.

I'm still torn about the Bothari character. The author takes great pains to point that he's mentally unstable. Funny how he always manages to find his stability to save the day in any situation that requires brawn. In fact, it's annoying how Cordelia *always* succeeds. There's just no tension at all because she always gets what she wants.

Perhaps I'm cold and I have no mothering instinct at all, but I was annoyed at Cordelia's reaction to the whole baby situation. She was willing to cause more political strife to try and save one unborn life. It seemed incredibly selfish to me, and I was hoping Cordelia was beyond that. Because of my annoyance of the central plot, I was disengaged from the entire book. Not sure if I want to read the rest now. I guess I should at least give the actual Miles books a try.
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F

Fritz

Member
peakish said:
Steppenwolf, by Herman Hesse. I wanted a German language book (learning the language), browsed around and it seems interesting, I do have a feeling of taking water over my head but it will be interesting to decrypt.
Click to expand...

Sweet! If you struggle with anything in particular, like slang or customs, feel free to pm me!
 
A

Adam Blade

WWKC
Antiphon.jpg


Just finished this bad boy up (no thanks to Amazon/Tor). A nice middle book to the series, but I still can't empathize with some of the characters, like
Vlad Li Tam
. Also, lol @
Nebios going Super Saiyan
.
 
V

VistraNorrez

Member
Just finished The Eye in the Pyramid, part 1 of The Illuminatus Trilogy. Wasn't sure if I was going to read the series the whole way through, but it was so good I have to continue. Plus whenever I would've picked up The Golden Apple I would've been confused, it's best to continue straight through.
 
U

ultron87

Member
Just started Old Man's War:

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Only a few chapters in but it is really interesting so far. Shouldn't take too long either.
 
Guileless

Guileless

Temp Banned for Remedial Purposes
That new Follett looks interesting. I like historical fiction set in and around World War I. My special lady is reading The Pillars of the Earth. It's a mass market paperback released in connection with the television series and holy shit is the type small. :lol
 
A

Attackthebase

Member
Guileless said:
That new Follett looks interesting. I like historical fiction set in and around World War I. My special lady is reading The Pillars of the Earth. It's a mass market paperback released in connection with the television series and holy shit is the type small. :lol
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I never understood how people like reading mass market paperback novels. Every time, I tried reading mass paperback, it felt awkward holding the book and the font size simply drives me crazy.
 
S

Stat Flow

He gonna cry in the car
Okay, GAF. I just finished reading Shadow Of The Wind and LOVED THAT SHIT.

It was fantastic. What are some books similar?

Also, gonna start The God Delusion tonight.
 
B

BenjaminBirdie

Banned
Eric WK said:
What else are you submitting as evidence? My Kindle comes tomorrow and I must know.
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New Rick Moody. New Franzen. The new David Mitchell. Along with Super Sad True Love Story, that right there alone is pretty much what 1999 was for movies.
 
E

eznark

Banned
Guileless said:
That new Follett looks interesting. I like historical fiction set in and around World War I. My special lady is reading The Pillars of the Earth. It's a mass market paperback released in connection with the television series and holy shit is the type small. :lol
Click to expand...

About 100 pages in and really, really digging it so far.
 
F

Fireblend

Banned
Last week I finished:

the_girl_with_the_dragon_tattoo-large2.jpg


2.5/5, definitely not my kind of book, but it was entertaining. I would compare it to watching a Jerry Bruckheimer Movie.

This week I started:

the-unbearable-lightness-of-being.jpg


So far so good. Being in Prague it only seemed logical :p

Next up:

gravitys-rainbow.jpg


Really excited for this one, it's been on my wishlist forever. :D

Edit: Images not showing? weird, is it just me? they were working on the preview panel.
Edit2: working again.
 
B

bggrthnjsus

Member
just finished never let me go

it's pretty depressing. i want to see the movie now, but unfortunately it's only playing at a few places in chicago that are pretty far from me (maybe this weekend i guess)
 
Guileless

Guileless

Temp Banned for Remedial Purposes
Attackthebase said:
I never understood how people like reading mass market paperback novels. Every time, I tried reading mass paperback, it felt awkward holding the book and the font size simply drives me crazy.
Click to expand...

If you live in a small town, the only place to buy books is probably Wal-Mart or CVS and those places mostly stock mass market paperbacks. So some people don't really have a choice unless they use mail order.
 
U

ultron87

Member
Attackthebase said:
I never understood how people like reading mass market paperback novels. Every time, I tried reading mass paperback, it felt awkward holding the book and the font size simply drives me crazy.
Click to expand...

I dunno if anyone *likes* it, but it's just a necessity sometimes. Every time I try to read one in bed I get that much closer to buying a Kindle. Having to roll half over every page gets really annoying.
 
K

KingGondo

Banned
Can anyone recommend a good book or books on North Korean history/culture?

Reading the official NK thread really makes me want to dig deeper.
 
S

sparky2112

Member
410fnArnheL._SL500_AA300_.jpg


Did someone mention a golden age? Don't forget this one. Currie does about as good a job of channeling David Foster Wallace (without looking at all like he's mimmicking) as anyone I've read. Just a brilliant performance. He slides in and out of various voices with a sickening degree of ease. This book deserves to be every bit as big as some of the recent heavy-hitters.
 
E

Eric WK

Member
BenjaminBirdie said:
New Rick Moody. New Franzen. The new David Mitchell. Along with Super Sad True Love Story, that right there alone is pretty much what 1999 was for movies.
Click to expand...

Have the Franzen, Mitchell and Shteyngart all ready to go. Will get the sample of the Moody.

I expect all of them to be really good save Freedom. I don't expect to enjoy that at all. (I loved The Corrections.)
 
S

sparky2112

Member
BattleMonkey said:
Want epic sci fi naval battles, and everyone keeps recommending this to me, so just started.
Click to expand...

I know there are Weber fans here, so I'll try to be delicate: I thought this was utter crap. I'm assuming this was early on in his career, and maybe his writing gets better, but that doesn't mean I can give this one a pass...

Besides, if you want naval battles, why not stick with the 'real' ones? Patrick O'Brian and Forrester are literary gods, so...
 
D

Dresden

Member
DesertEater said:
Im intrigued. What is this book about ? why is it good ?
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It's Shteyngart, so it'll probably be about a fat Jewish guy hooking up with an ethnic woman with tragic but hilarious results.

edit:
Shteyngart (Absurdistan) presents another profane and dizzying satire, a dystopic vision of the future as convincing—and, in its way, as frightening—as Cormac McCarthy's The Road. It's also a pointedly old-fashioned May-December love story, complete with references to Chekhov and Tolstoy. Mired in protracted adolescence, middle-aged Lenny Abramov is obsessed with living forever (he works for an Indefinite Life Extension company), his books (an anachronism of this indeterminate future), and Eunice Park, a 20-something Korean-American. Eunice, though reluctant and often cruel, finds in Lenny a loving but needy fellow soul and a refuge from her overbearing immigrant parents. Narrating in alternate chapters—Lenny through old-fashioned diary entries, Eunice through her online correspondence—the pair reveal a funhouse-mirror version of contemporary America: terminally indebted to China, controlled by the singular Bipartisan Party (Big Brother as played by a cartoon otter in a cowboy hat), and consumed by the superficial. Shteyngart's earnestly struggling characters—along with a flurry of running gags—keep the nightmare tour of tomorrow grounded. A rich commentary on the obsessions and catastrophes of the information age and a heartbreaker worthy of its title, this is Shteyngart's best yet.
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B

BorkBork

The Legend of BorkBork: BorkBorkity Borking
bytesized said:
collapse.jpg


I just started it and it's a long book (for my standards) so I think it will take me a good month to finish it. Has anyone read it here? What's your opinion?
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One of my favorite non-fiction books. I like it a lot more than Guns, Germs, and Steel. It's organized into different societies, and really really interesting. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on Easter Island, the three Polynesian Islands, Iceland, and Greenland. I like islands. :lol
 
D

demon

I don't mean to alarm you but you have dogs on your face
I'm currently reading multiple books, something I've never done in the past but isn't nearly as difficult to manage as I'd thought it might be. I kinda like it actually.

Just picked up Bradbury's The Illustrated Man and will be starting it soon.
 
B

BattleMonkey

Member
sparky2112 said:
I know there are Weber fans here, so I'll try to be delicate: I thought this was utter crap. I'm assuming this was early on in his career, and maybe his writing gets better, but that doesn't mean I can give this one a pass...

Besides, if you want naval battles, why not stick with the 'real' ones? Patrick O'Brian and Forrester are literary gods, so...
Click to expand...

Well it is the first book in the series so who knows, I haven't read them yet. And I've read lot of naval history stuff but it's sci fi pew pew that I want :lol

Main draw to me is that the series is supposed to have lots of space naval warfare.
 
F

Fritz

Member
BorkBork said:
One of my favorite non-fiction books. I like it a lot more than Guns, Germs, and Steel. It's organized into different societies, and really really interesting. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on Easter Island, the three Polynesian Islands, Iceland, and Greenland. I like islands. :lol
Click to expand...

I thought about grapping this for quite a while now. As I just finished a novel I might just give it a shot, could use some non-fiction for a change.
 
N

nakedsushi

Member
Alright boys, I'm going to make October Steampunk Month, where I read nothing but steampunk. So far, the line-up (click for links):



Anyone have any other suggestions I should replace the above with? I'm debating whether or not to add Diamond Age. Is it really steampunk? It's a massive book, so not sure if it'll take up the entire month or not.
 
A

Adam Blade

WWKC
out-of-the-dark.png


Just finished this. It was an average book overall, with the typical humans vs. alien invader set up, but I totally rofled at the deus ex machina at the end of the book.
 
B

BorkBork

The Legend of BorkBork: BorkBorkity Borking
41n7rBj9YSL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg


Amazon description said:
“I am convinced, both by faith and experience, that to maintain one’s self on this earth is not a hardship, but a pastime, if we will live simply and wisely.” So said Henry David Thoreau in 1845 when he began his famous experiment in living on Walden Pond. In this graphic masterpiece, John Porcellino uses only the words of Thoreau himself to tell the story of those two years off the beaten track. The pared-down text focuses on Thoreau’s most profound ideas, and Porcellino’s fresh, simple pictures bring the philosopher’s sojourn at Walden to cinematic life. For readers who know Walden intimately, this graphic treatment will provide a vivid new interpretation of Thoreau’s story. For those who have never read (or never completed!) the original, it presents a contemporary look at a few brave words to live by.
Click to expand...

Thoreau at Walden depicted in cartoon form. It has a super minimalistic style, which works wonders with the material. Super quick read, highly recommended.
 
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