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I'm chewing on the edges of Stephenson's "Cryptonomicon" and i can't get going on it yet, so I want something fun and brain candy-ish to read in betwixt. I love sci-fi and hard as poo poo sci-fi, Greg Egan is probably my favorite author right now. Big time faves/what I'm looking for: Blindsight Permutation City Schild's Ladder Quantum Thief trilogy Takeshi Kovacs Anathem Diaspora I also really liked The City & The City by China Mieville after not being able to get into it at first, so I'd be down with something more along those lines too.
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Aug 29, 2016 02:57
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Embassytown by Miéville? It's a different kind of sci-fi, but definitely counts as brain candy.
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Aug 29, 2016 05:33
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I'm after something with a Murakami like whimsy that's easy to read. I'm just about to wrap up Blood Meridian and before that Temple of the Golden Pavilion and need a bit of a decompress. While I would read another Murakami this year I feel like I should broaden out into some other writers before returning to that well again.
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Aug 30, 2016 06:55
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Megabound posted:I'm after something with a Murakami like whimsy that's easy to read. I'm just about to wrap up Blood Meridian and before that Temple of the Golden Pavilion and need a bit of a decompress. An Etgar Keret short story collection.
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Aug 30, 2016 12:20
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Loving Life Partner posted:I'm chewing on the edges of Stephenson's "Cryptonomicon" and i can't get going on it yet, so I want something fun and brain candy-ish to read in betwixt. You should check out Echopraxia if you liked Blindsight. It's by the same author and often labeled as a sequel to Blindsight but it's really more of a separate story that takes place in the same universe.
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Aug 30, 2016 16:59
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Megabound posted:I'm after something with a Murakami like whimsy that's easy to read. I'm just about to wrap up Blood Meridian and before that Temple of the Golden Pavilion and need a bit of a decompress. I know a lot of people didn't love it, but I'm a huge Cloud Atlas fan. It's whimsical and wild, but not terribly easy to read. Each "era" can take minute to acclimate.
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Aug 31, 2016 14:40
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Where's the best place to start with Hemingway?
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Sep 1, 2016 05:23
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The Old Man and the Sea I think, warming up to read The Sun Also Rises.
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Sep 1, 2016 08:07
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Picayune posted:Where's the best place to start with Hemingway? The Complete Short Stories.
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Sep 1, 2016 12:37
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I've gotten burned out on series and fantasy after fantasy. Whats a nice quick non-fiction to read to get me back into it.
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Sep 1, 2016 14:15
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Cerepol posted:I've gotten burned out on series and fantasy after fantasy. Whats a nice quick non-fiction to read to get me back into it. Of Dice and Men.
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Sep 1, 2016 14:23
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For this next month, I'm planning to read a bunch of books on China. I have my non-fiction sorted out, but need some recommendations for fiction. More specifically: please no Four Great Novels since I'll have a few long dense books to get through already. Historical or modern is fine though I would avoid spec fic; novel, short story collection, or graphic novel is fine; and the ideal book would use China's culture, food, geography and/or history. Thanks!
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Sep 1, 2016 15:58
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thatdarnedbob posted:For this next month, I'm planning to read a bunch of books on China. I have my non-fiction sorted out, but need some recommendations for fiction. More specifically: please no Four Great Novels since I'll have a few long dense books to get through already. Historical or modern is fine though I would avoid spec fic; novel, short story collection, or graphic novel is fine; and the ideal book would use China's culture, food, geography and/or history. Thanks! Everyone is going to say Bridge of Birds, so just go ahead and add that to your list.
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Sep 1, 2016 16:02
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Franchescanado posted:Everyone is going to say Bridge of Birds, so just go ahead and add that to your list. I'm sure it's a great book, but I am rather skeptical that it's for me right now. The thing I most wanted to avoid was a fantasy book, written by an outsider to China, which uses facsimiles of Chinese culture/ideas/myths instead of the authentic. Right now Bridge of Birds looks a lot like that; could you elaborate on how it's not?
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Sep 1, 2016 16:11
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thatdarnedbob posted:I'm sure it's a great book, but I am rather skeptical that it's for me right now. The thing I most wanted to avoid was a fantasy book, written by an outsider to China, which uses facsimiles of Chinese culture/ideas/myths instead of the authentic. Right now Bridge of Birds looks a lot like that; could you elaborate on how it's not? No, you pretty much have it. It does incorporate culture and myths in a fun way, but it's ultimately a fun adventure novel with strong characters and memorable moments.
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Sep 1, 2016 17:52
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Cerepol posted:I've gotten burned out on series and fantasy after fantasy. Whats a nice quick non-fiction to read to get me back into it. non-fiction on what man, you want like particle physics or north korea or
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Sep 1, 2016 18:08
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Anything interested that wouldn't be too hard to digest I guess. I don't really have a specific topic in mind.
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Sep 1, 2016 18:13
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Cerepol posted:Anything interested that wouldn't be too hard to digest I guess. I don't really have a specific topic in mind. Maybe one of a dozen or so books with the name Gies on the front cover? Frances and Joseph Gies were a couple of medieval history researchers (and married, too) who wrote very vivid and detailed books about medieval life. The books also tend to be quite short and interesting, especially the Life in... series. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_and_Joseph_Gies
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Sep 1, 2016 18:19
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Cerepol posted:Anything interested that wouldn't be too hard to digest I guess. I don't really have a specific topic in mind.
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Sep 1, 2016 18:21
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Cybernetic Vermin posted:The Old Man and the Sea I think, warming up to read The Sun Also Rises. For sale: Baby shoes, never worn
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Sep 1, 2016 18:28
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Splicer posted:"Stuff by Bill Bryson" he said nervously, inexplicably worried it's TBB taboo for some reason Never Bill Bryson.
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Sep 1, 2016 18:29
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Cerepol posted:Anything interested that wouldn't be too hard to digest I guess. I don't really have a specific topic in mind. Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of the Universe? It's a fun read. By the way, does anyone have a recommendation for a book for a 15-year-old boy who already plays D&D and enjoys comics? I'm already getting him Bridge of Birds and the first Elric compilation, which will probably piss off his parents but hey, when you're 15, you like stuff that pisses off your parents. I'd like something non-fantasy-ish for balance.
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Sep 1, 2016 18:29
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thatdarnedbob posted:For this next month, I'm planning to read a bunch of books on China. I have my non-fiction sorted out, but need some recommendations for fiction. More specifically: please no Four Great Novels since I'll have a few long dense books to get through already. Historical or modern is fine though I would avoid spec fic; novel, short story collection, or graphic novel is fine; and the ideal book would use China's culture, food, geography and/or history. Thanks! Almost any of Mo Yan's books would work, maybe The Republic of Wine? Lu Xun's short stories are good for seeing where the modern Chinese literature comes from, The Story of Ah Q is especially good. I also liked Chun-Chan Yeh's The Mountain Village, which is a really well written story about pre-revolutionary China and the coming of Mao as seen thru the eyes of a boy living in a small mountain village, but this novel might be difficult to find. If you're looking for something more experimental and modern, there's a very good buzz on Can Xue, but I haven't read any of her novels yet, so can't say much...
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Sep 1, 2016 19:16
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Flaggy posted:Never Bill Bryson. Why? No, genuinely curious here: I own his Short History of Nearly Everything and found it to be entertaining.
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Sep 1, 2016 19:27
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Anybody know any books out there about cities built to act as capitals, like Canberra, Brasilia and so on?
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Sep 1, 2016 22:33
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Burning Rain posted:Almost any of Mo Yan's books would work, maybe The Republic of Wine? Lu Xun's short stories are good for seeing where the modern Chinese literature comes from, The Story of Ah Q is especially good. I also liked Chun-Chan Yeh's The Mountain Village, which is a really well written story about pre-revolutionary China and the coming of Mao as seen thru the eyes of a boy living in a small mountain village, but this novel might be difficult to find. If you're looking for something more experimental and modern, there's a very good buzz on Can Xue, but I haven't read any of her novels yet, so can't say much... Thanks! I put Mo Yan's Sandalwood Death and Can Xue's Vertical Motion on hold at my library. Most of the Mo Yan and all the Lu Xun they have is in Chinese so I'll have to wait until my self-imposed book buying ban wears off to look at them more. Earlier I grabbed Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth by Xiaolu Guo and Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian; if you have any thoughts on those I'd love to hear them.
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Sep 1, 2016 22:57
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cloudchamber posted:Anybody know any books out there about cities built to act as capitals, like Canberra, Brasilia and so on? John Brunner's Squares of the City?
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Sep 1, 2016 23:53
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Borneo Jimmy posted:John Brunner's Squares of the City? That looks interesting, but I'm looking for non-fiction books about the phenomenon.
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Sep 2, 2016 00:11
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Franchescanado posted:An Etgar Keret short story collection. I picked up "Suddenly a Knock on the Door" and it's exactly what I need. Thanks!
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Sep 2, 2016 00:29
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Cerepol posted:Anything interested that wouldn't be too hard to digest I guess. I don't really have a specific topic in mind. Ever read any Mary Roach? I like the first three Sarah Vowell books, as well, but haven't cared for anything of hers after that. She's snarky, too, which annoys some people. ulvir posted:For sale: Baby shoes, never worn Oh, cut it out.
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Sep 2, 2016 01:02
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thatdarnedbob posted:For this next month, I'm planning to read a bunch of books on China. I have my non-fiction sorted out, but need some recommendations for fiction. More specifically: please no Four Great Novels since I'll have a few long dense books to get through already. Historical or modern is fine though I would avoid spec fic; novel, short story collection, or graphic novel is fine; and the ideal book would use China's culture, food, geography and/or history. Thanks! Okay so this doesn't really fit in your request, but if you're just getting into the subject and want a light, empathetic "dummy goes East," River Town is actually quite good. Then Hessler got popular, thought he was a historian and wrote Oracle Bones, which I thought was a bit contrived. This Amazon review hits the nail on the head. The Mantis fucked around with this message at 07:49 on Sep 2, 2016 |
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Sep 2, 2016 07:46
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thatdarnedbob posted:For this next month, I'm planning to read a bunch of books on China. I have my non-fiction sorted out, but need some recommendations for fiction. More specifically: please no Four Great Novels since I'll have a few long dense books to get through already. Historical or modern is fine though I would avoid spec fic; novel, short story collection, or graphic novel is fine; and the ideal book would use China's culture, food, geography and/or history. Thanks! Any thing by Mo Yan, Five Spice Street by Can Xue
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Sep 2, 2016 08:14
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How dry do you want to get actually. Some of the stuff I can recommend falls more into the village prose, romance, the living with through the revolution side of things and not so much adventure.
fantasy zone fucked around with this message at 08:49 on Sep 2, 2016 |
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Sep 2, 2016 08:16
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thatdarnedbob posted:Thanks! I put Mo Yan's Sandalwood Death and Can Xue's Vertical Motion on hold at my library. Most of the Mo Yan and all the Lu Xun they have is in Chinese so I'll have to wait until my self-imposed book buying ban wears off to look at them more. Earlier I grabbed Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth by Xiaolu Guo and Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian; if you have any thoughts on those I'd love to hear them. Haven't read either, sorry, although I was at an event where Xiaolu Guo was talking about I Am China, and she seemed very interesting and didn't leave an impression of somebody just knocking out commercial 'exotic' lit fic, which is the kinda impression I had gotten for some reason. And my friend who was a Chinese lit teacher in Hong Kong hated Gao Xingjian with passion, insisting he got his Nobel because of political reasons, and the description of Soul Mountain always seemed super boring to me, so I've always passed it by. but hey, we might be unfair, I'll be interested in hearing what you think of it! and, fantasy zone, post all the Chinese village lit you got, I'm interested. and i really enjoyed Peter Hessler's Country Driving, so if anybody's looking for non fic on China, i recommend him and Ma Jian.
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Sep 2, 2016 09:19
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Cerepol posted:I've gotten burned out on series and fantasy after fantasy. Whats a nice quick non-fiction to read to get me back into it. Moneyball. Even if you neither know nor care a whit about baseball it is a fantastic read.
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Sep 2, 2016 14:55
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Need some audiobook for travelling and I want to do some Cormac McCarthy that I haven't read before. Child of God, Orchard Keeper or Outer Dark?
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Sep 2, 2016 17:45
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StrixNebulosa posted:Why? I read Short History and loved it, then I read Brysons The Lost Continent and it was one of the single worst books I've ever read
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Sep 2, 2016 17:59
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Quandary posted:I read Short History and loved it, then I read Brysons The Lost Continent and it was one of the single worst books I've ever read Short History and A Walk In The Woods are both good.
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Sep 2, 2016 18:15
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Jerry Mumphrey posted:Need some audiobook for travelling and I want to do some Cormac McCarthy that I haven't read before. Child of God, Orchard Keeper or Outer Dark? Child of God. Child of Gooooooooooddd
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Sep 2, 2016 18:31
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End Of Worlds posted:Child of God. Child of Gooooooooooddd Read em all obviously, but I agree that this was my favorite of these three. edit Wiggles Von Huggins posted:Has anyone read a great nonfiction account of MK Ultra? I want it to be fun in the same vein as Command and Control was about the history of nuclear weapons/power. I asked this a couple months ago and I thought I'd try one more time. Thanks. Hackers film 1995 fucked around with this message at 18:52 on Sep 2, 2016 |
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Sep 2, 2016 18:50
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