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"War and Peace" by Tolstoy. What an amazing and long book. Probably as good as its critical reception.
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Sep 26, 2007 06:46
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Joshtafari posted:I finished The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch and it was a fun read. I finished this a few days ago. Really different from your standard fantasy rubbish, it's a great read. I thought it started off pretty quickly actually, I really like the way Scott Lynch handled the flashbacks to the past to give us a good idea of the background, it was really effective. The only thing I have creeping doubts about is what looks to be the main romance between Locke and whatshername. She sounds suspiciously sassy and red headed, and it looks like Locke might have a one true lurve for her which depresses me because I like a bit of depth in the character's relationships. How is it authors (especially fantasy authors) can never do both the plot and the characters and the romantic relationships really well?
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Sep 26, 2007 10:26
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Just finished Making Money by Terry Pratchett. Really enjoyed it. It was basically a rewrite of Going Postal, but I felt GP was his best book of recent years, so no complaints. His books are so incredibly easy to read (without being simple) that it's hard not to finish them in a couple of days.
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Sep 26, 2007 13:42
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Rukaya posted:I thought it started off pretty quickly actually, I really like the way Scott Lynch handled the flashbacks to the past to give us a good idea of the background, it was really effective. Rukaya posted:The only thing I have creeping doubts about is what looks to be the main romance
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Sep 26, 2007 14:25
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Pashazade by Jon Courtenay Grimwood - the first book of his Arabesk trilogy. Very interesting read - it's a thriller set in an alternate 21st century where the Ottoman Empire is still alive and well. It starts out with the protagonist having just been released from prison and returning to the Ottoman city of El Iskandriya - whereupon he discovers he's apparently the son of an Ottoman noble. Things rapidly get very complicated as his aunt turns up dead and he is accused of the crime. I have to say I enjoyed this quite a bit. The setting is unusual but intriguing and it reads like a toned-down version of Richard K. Morgan's Altered Carbon - some sci-fi elements combined with a detective thriller plot. Looking forward to starting the second book in the trilogy - Effendi.
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Sep 26, 2007 19:56
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Encryptic posted:
Without the creepy over drawn out sex scenes? The Music of Razors by Cameron Rogers. It the tale of an angel that fell on it's own and was refused by Satan to join the Fallen. Instead he is dismembered and erased from history. Unfortunately angels cannot die so his bones were fashioned into tools and and search for the right person to use them. This book deals with the tools user and his search for a replacement. Difficult description, fantastic read. I guess this goes under the heading of Subjective Fantasy, much like Gaiman9more in line with his short fiction), Mieville(more Un Lun Dun than Bas Lag), and with a touch of K.J. Bishop. Next up is The Trial of Flowers by Jay Lake. I have found a new obsession with Night Shade Books and the wonderful books they publish. Without even realizing it I bought five books from that company on my last trip to the store and when I got home saw the logo on the spine of each.
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Sep 26, 2007 20:41
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CrimsonGhost posted:Without the creepy over drawn out sex scenes? Heh. Yeah, I guess you could say that. Edit: Although, I'm most of the way through Effendi and Grimwood does appear to have some fixation on describing Zara's tits at every opportunity. OK, I get the loving idea - she's got nice tits. I'm a tit man myself, but I don't need to hear about them constantly. Encryptic fucked around with this message at 22:58 on Sep 28, 2007 |
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Sep 26, 2007 20:50
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Out of Africa by Isaac Dinesen/Karen Blixen It's so beautiful, I want to go to Africa....a hundred years ago. But maybe without the racism (although all things considered, she's a mostly neutral voice on it).
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Sep 26, 2007 21:28
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Foundation & Earth, Isaac Asimov I thoroughly enjoyed this final book in the saga, even though really it's just sort of Foundation's Edge Part II. The mystery of the hunt for Earth just had me riveted. The only book I have left to read is Forward the Foundation, and from the description it would seem it's another book about Seldon, as Prelude was. In contrast to the original trilogy, it seems Asimov got attached to characters in the later novels, instead of just placing them as actors on the stage of history. If I can manage to read Forward by the end of December, that'll be three complete series under my belt this year: the Bond novels, Dune, and Foundation.
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Sep 27, 2007 00:13
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Had to catch a plane last night to Auckland and forgot to grab a book from home before i left so i picked up something at the airport. Grabbed The Husband by Dean Koontz wasn't to bad of read and finished it in one sitting. Fair amount of suspense and it had a pretty nice twist that i never saw coming, but then again i am usually oblivious to twists even when they are obvious. Nice refreshing read if your looking for something entertaining and light.
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Sep 27, 2007 03:44
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Just finished Wieland by Brown and The House of Seven Gables by Hawthorne for a American Gothic class. Aside from schoolbooks, I am 300 pages into The Count of Monte Cristo. I just ordered "The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin" based on goon recommendations, The Stranger (a cloth "hardcover" edition), and a hardcover In Cold Blood. I love and hate this thread so much. Amazon just keeps sucking away my money. edit: haha, totally forgot I bought The Divine Comedy the other day too. Can't loving pass a Borders without stopping in to browse (and usually buy). Scott Forstall fucked around with this message at 05:24 on Sep 27, 2007 |
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Sep 27, 2007 05:20
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Find some used local bookstores, older editions are usually a few bucks and sometimes much nicer.
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Sep 27, 2007 14:32
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T. H. White’s The Once and Future King plus the conclusion, The Book of Merlyn. Really really good. I did not expect to enjoy these books as much as I did. I’m taking a month long tour of Europe and trying to read a lot of Europe-related stuff. Plus I love myths and Arthur is pretty much the only thing “Whitey” has. The Sword in the Stone is a whimsical tale of a boy turning into animals and learning from the wise old wizard Merlyn. It’s fun and bears MANY uncomfortable similarities to Harry Potter. Well beyond the point of homage or reference, in fact, and right into “Hey, waitaminute!” territory. The other stories are straight up tragic. Just very sad and powerful, since you know it’s not going to end well. Also, I guess Lancelot was hideous, and not, you know… Richard Gere. The last book is much more philosophical and deals with the concepts of government, might as right, nationalism and anarchism as the perfection of man. Really interesting stuff, but I always love to see someone tackle anarchism in a realistic way, rather than simply dismissing it. White had this great way of injecting humor into the old legends. If you haven’t read this book, you really should. And if you read Stephen King’s The Dark Tower without knowing anything about Arthur, you really owe it to yourself to learn up. Roland and Arthur are intentionally very similar.
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Sep 27, 2007 15:28
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Mack the Knife posted:Find some used local bookstores, older editions are usually a few bucks and sometimes much nicer. I'm sorry to hear that Roth's Plot Against America didn't fill you with white hot rage like me.
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Sep 27, 2007 16:38
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Finished Slaughterhouse-Five two days ago and am still wondering why I didn't read it earlier. I'm surprised how fast the book went by; even with the short length it felt as if I picked up the book and then had it finished an hour later. I think I'll pick up Cat's Cradle soon.
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Sep 27, 2007 18:36
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Speaker for the Dead, in the Ender series. I'll probably read Xenocide in a little while. A lot of people told me that Speaker was better than Ender's Game but I have to disagree.
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Sep 28, 2007 19:54
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Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. this one went really quick and i can honestly say i have never had so much fun reading a book. there were so many awesome moments which made me giggle like a schoolgirl. derail: should i ask for stephenson recommendations here or make another thread?
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Sep 30, 2007 01:07
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Just finished Survivor. drat good read, it kept me glued to the pages like...well, an industrial strength adhesive. I've heard people get annoyed by how Palahniuk repeats certain phrases ("According to me daily planner...") but I think he managed to make it work and really added something to the book (IMHO). I'm a little confused about the ending though. It looks as though he dies in the crash, but thinking about it, he never once leaves the microphone during his story. He talks about going away to get drink and let the pilot out, but he never stops talking. What I think happened is he set up some tape recorder to play his story into the mic, making it look as though he died in the crash so he could escape the plane and live with Fertility. Am I way off? Bah, rambling. I was so taken with Survivor that I immediately read Choke. Though I thought it was a great book, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading and i'm definitely glad I did read, i'm a little confused as to why this book is always singled out as one of Palahniuk's best. Not that it's not excellent, but i've read much better books my the man. I particularly enjoyed Denny's growing addiction to collecting rocks instead of masturbating, his therapy becoming another addiction. Also this may be a trait of mine, but the ending confused me a tad. Maybe i'm stupid. Next: Slaughterhouse-Five. Rubber Biscuit fucked around with this message at 11:40 on Sep 30, 2007 |
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Sep 30, 2007 11:35
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Baljot posted:Speaker for the Dead, in the Ender series. I'll probably read Xenocide in a little while. A lot of people told me that Speaker was better than Ender's Game but I have to disagree. Well, they're very, very different.
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Sep 30, 2007 14:30
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Finished Grimwood's Effendi the day before yesterday. Great read - a bit tricky to follow the plot at times, but otherwise it was quite enjoyable. I'm about 70 pages into the final volume of the trilogy - Felaheen.
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Sep 30, 2007 16:15
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In the last week I finished two Terry Pratchett books, Making Money and Wee Free Men and Jasper Fforde's The Big Over Easy I really liked all three of them and I don't know how I made it this far in life without discovering Jasper Fforde earlier, this was the first book of his I read. His writing style seems to be right up my alley. If you can't tell, I'm into humorous books 
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Sep 30, 2007 17:32
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I just finished Gods and Legions by Michael Curtis Ford and started The Last King by the same author.
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Sep 30, 2007 21:14
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Just finished The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. I found it to be excellent in how well the story weaves in and out, always turning what you think might be clues to unraveling the mystery of the story into further mysteries in of themselves. (non-spoiler) Is the governess crazy or not? The ending, which I won't give away, seems to point one way, but almost immediately, I found myself re-reading the last couple paragraphs and realized that it actually takes the confusion and doubt to another level. I am actually enjoying the confusion, which I think is a hallmark of a talented author. Fantastic work, Mr. James.
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Sep 30, 2007 21:36
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Rubber Biscuit posted:Just finished Survivor. I'm a little confused about the ending though. If you really need to know whether you have the ending right chuckpalahniuk.net has an explanation of the ending as explained by Palahniuk himself. If you don't want to be able to interpret it yourself.
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Oct 1, 2007 03:29
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Finished A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe last week. An alcoholic, self-absorbed cram school professor's son is born with a brain hernia, coming of age story ensues. I enjoyed it, and it seems like it marks an important change in 20th century Japanese lit. Where you'd have even Yukio Mishima talking with a lot of subtlety and ambiguity about being an outsider in a society that values conformity, Oe's always upfront, sometimes to a point that makes the reader uncomfortable. It's also probably the only thing you'll ever read by a nobel prize winner where the main character considers killing an ex-girlfriend and raping her corpse. Japan.  Next up: The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass.
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Oct 1, 2007 06:24
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I just finished a series of essays by Jaspers entitled Philosophy And The World. Irritatingly grandiose title, but some of Jaspers' thoughts on things like the Kantian idea of world peace, and his ontological stance on creation blew me away. It's only, like, 150 pages. Pick it up. SLAUGHTERCLES posted:Next up: The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass. This is my next one too. As soon as I have a positive bank account balance.
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Oct 1, 2007 08:03
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Enfenestrate posted:In the last week I finished two Terry Pratchett books, Making Money and Wee Free Men and Jasper Fforde's The Big Over Easy Read the Eyre Affair NOW
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Oct 1, 2007 10:59
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'Is it good for the Jews' - A satirical look at Jewish stereotypes. I've just posted a thread in this forum actually. I actually quite enjoyed it, the idiosyncratic commetaries were most uplifiting
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Oct 1, 2007 11:02
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Finished Felaheen last night. Good read, though I didn't get into it as much as the previous two books. It felt a bit more disjointed and more difficult to follow. Overall though, the trilogy was good, though - an offbeat but interesting mix of alternate history and sci-fi. Going to read the Leviathan Three anthology edited by Jeff VanderMeer next.
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Oct 1, 2007 16:07
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Encryptic posted:Finished Felaheen last night. Good read, though I didn't get into it as much as the previous two books. It felt a bit more disjointed and more difficult to follow. Overall though, the trilogy was good, though - an offbeat but interesting mix of alternate history and sci-fi. There is a fourth book coming out this month I believe. So maybe he can rekindle the spark. Leviathan 3 has its ups and downs but all in all was pretty good.
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Oct 1, 2007 19:28
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Lords & Ladies, Terry Pratchett Argh, witch overload. Pratchett's take on elves was certainly interesting though, and I saw the Ridcully/Weatherwax pairing a mile off. Thank god the next book is about the watch though, I seriously don't think I could stand any more witch stuff at the moment.
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Oct 1, 2007 19:54
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Patrovsky posted:Read the Eyre Affair NOW That's what everyone tells me. I'm waiting on someone at work to bring it in so I can borrow it from her.
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Oct 1, 2007 20:31
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Joshtafari posted:I think it has to be quite deliberate that the other party in the romance was kept off stage for the whole book. I'm going to guess that she will become important less as a romantic interest, though, but who knows (Still waiting on my copy of book two to arrive). I haven't read the thread here on the series yet, since I try to avoid spoilers. I just finished the second book Red Seas Under Red Skies. Just as good as the first one. I can't imagine these not being really good movies, but then again, maybe I shouldn't wish for it.
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Oct 2, 2007 03:22
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I just finished the God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. I found it to be a light read and entertaining enough. I don't really see why it has drawn as much attention as it has, I didn't read anything that I hadn't read multiple times before in books by Dennett, Karen Armstrong, Shelby Spong, Steven Pinker, Dawkins other books, etc. I would much rather read Richard Dawkins books on biology (I loved the Ancestor's Tale) rather than a layman's guide to atheism and more masturbatory discussion of 'memetics'.
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Oct 2, 2007 05:54
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Pocket Billiards posted:I just finished the God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. I was thinking about reading that soon, would you recommend it?
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Oct 2, 2007 13:18
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perceptual_set posted:I was thinking about reading that soon, would you recommend it? If you really want your atheistic viewpoint spit back at you, verbatim, then yes. Otherwise you pretty much already read the book. It's a decent book, but nothing you haven't heard before. Plus he's one of those "tee hee Spaghetti Monster!" atheists. Dawkins also wholeheartedly believes that wars would cease to exist if religion was gone. I'm an atheist, so I did mildly enjoy the book verbally calling me awesome over and over. But if you've got better books to read, then by all means, skip this one. You already wrote it in your head.
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Oct 2, 2007 14:10
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Zero Karizma posted:If you really want your atheistic viewpoint spit back at you, verbatim, then yes. Otherwise you pretty much already read the book. It's a decent book, but nothing you haven't heard before. Plus he's one of those "tee hee Spaghetti Monster!" atheists. Dawkins also wholeheartedly believes that wars would cease to exist if religion was gone. I'm an atheist, so I did mildly enjoy the book verbally calling me awesome over and over. But if you've got better books to read, then by all means, skip this one. You already wrote it in your head. That's the thing, I'm not sure if I'm an atheist or not. I'm reading another Dawkins book right now and am enjoying it. Is this the sort of thing for someone to read that will "convert" them?
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Oct 2, 2007 15:19
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Ehhhhhhhhhh... maybe. Since you're on the fence, I say read it. You'll probably get more out of it than most people then. Just remember to keep your own council on the subject and that Dawkins thinks that whole society of atheists (church of atheism  ) is a good idea. It's a decent book and Dawkins isn't stupid, he just wants to take disbelief in a direction I disagree with.
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Oct 2, 2007 15:47
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I just finished the prequel book Mass Effect: Revelations. I gotta be honest- I don't know what all the praise was for. I am still looking forward to playing the game, but the book was not as fantastic as the PC Gamer podcast led me to believe.
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Oct 2, 2007 17:57
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The Shroud of the Thwacker (2005) By Chris Elliot - Chris Elliot has had a pretty obscure-yet-influential role in the world of alternative comedy. He made Letterman's show in the 1980s what Canon O' Brien's show would become in the 1990s, and he also starred in one of the craziest short-lived sitcoms to ever exist, Get a Life. His first novel is written with the same persona Chris has been playing for over 20 years: an innocent, losery manchild who isn't quite sure of what's happening around him. Chris' first novel is of a genre that isn't published much anymore: the gag-a-minute, absurdist style made popular by authors like Douglas Adams. Thwacker takes this style and incorporates metafiction, 19th century lit, and the modern thriller for a combination almost as absurd as the events of the book. The best material comes out of Chris' portrayal of a 19th century New York, where he makes fun of the food, hygiene, racism, and rampant drug use of that era; this is a world where a giant statue of a KKK member holding a burning cross is erected before the Statue of Liberty. It's clever and wildly creative, but at a certain point I began to get sick of the book's style. Thwacker shouldn't have been longer than 200 pages -- this 360-page novel is just barely supported by the jokes holding it up. Thwacker also feels a bit lazy by the end, with a interesting turn of events amounting to Elliot ignoring the logic behind all the absurdity in the novel. I'm hoping his next novel (which he may be writing now) is a little less chunky.
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Oct 2, 2007 20:13
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