|
I just started The Black Company by Glen Cook. I love the straightforward style of storytelling. The first of the modern day gritty fantasy novels (mid 80s). I only plan on reading the first trilogy and The Silver Spike to wrap things up. Then I'll either go back to old school high fantasy like Lord Dunsany or continue the gritty with The First Law Trilogy.
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2013 18:37
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 30, 2024 20:00 |
|
|
Just started Duluth by Gore Vidal the other day. It's been fun so far: a socialite/author of popular romance books who can't read, an overwrought TV drama called "Duluth," a cop with a penchant for strip-searching and namedrops of everyone from Pynchon (as a mathematician) to Beowulf, the ideal family man. It's funny, but it's also pretty on the nose at times and some of the stuff with the female cop is, well, a little too out there for me.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2013 18:50
|
|
|
VideoTapir posted:Now go read some lolicon rationalizations on reddit or whereever they're hanging out these days for a less literate version of the EXACT SAME THING. Haha, true enough, I suppose. Though I was hoping it would go without saying that fedorabeards aren't factored into my expectations for humane opinions.  mnd posted:Hey there Gardner buddy. I first read The Art of Fiction back about a decade ago and still re-read it from time to time. Like now, actually! Along with On Becoming a Novelist. They're good books on writing I like to turn back to every now and again. I haven't read anything else by him yet. I went with this because it sounded like a decent starting point, and I'd only heard of him at first from one of my professors this year (granted, he used On Becoming a Novelist as his reference point for the class). I also don't own anything else by him yet. I know that there's some controversy about On Moral Fiction, and I'm certainly interested in reading it since I love books on fiction in general. Then again, I've also picked up a shitton of other books that I want to have read before I get back to school, including some things that I really should have read by now. Like The Brothers Karamazov! I've already read C&P and loved it, and this one's pretty good too after most of the way through it. Though for some reason I find Mitya intensely annoying, moreso than even the worst people in C&P. I dunno, man. All Nines fucked around with this message at 21:13 on Jun 6, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2013 20:49
|
|
|
Just started Murakami's The Wind-up Bird Chronicles in English (since that means it's edited). So far I'm really enjoying it. I picked it up on recommendation of a friend that is really into Japanese modern literature.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2013 04:16
|
|
|
Just began reading Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman which (so far) is full of (sometimes witty) parenthetical asides (that, most of the time, are unnecessary). Still, I've chuckled a few times so far, and it's a short read.
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2013 16:16
|
|
|
Just picked up Money, by Martin Amis, so far, it reminds me a lot of Nick Cave's The Death of Bunny Monroe, which was a brilliant book, but took me a long time to actually sit down and finish. Seems good so far though!
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2013 00:13
|
|
|
Just bought A Crack Up at the Race Riots by Harmony Korine after finding out he wrote a book since seeing Spring Breakers at the cinema and being blown away by it. I flipped through it and it definitely looks like his work, excited to get into it.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2013 15:05
|
|
|
I just started the Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey and I'm really enjoying it. It's also the reason. I just bought the Shift Omnibus.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2013 07:02
|
|
|
Embassytown by China Mieville. So far, I'm in love.
|
|
#
?
Jun 18, 2013 19:31
|
|
|
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. Passed the half, and it hits right with me, a bit in the same vein that Among Others by Jo Walton (a mix of magic, mysticism, family stories and childhood).
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2013 20:00
|
|
|
Just started the last 40% of A Storm of Swords last night. Finally heading into uncharted territories. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 20, 2013 09:59
|
|
|
Started the audiobook of The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman, narrated by the author. Already brilliant.
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2013 03:04
|
|
|
Currently, I am re-reading through Inferno by Dan Brown. It's his fourth book starring the character from The DaVinci Code, and this one is actually pretty good. I like it a whole lot more than I did the other ones he did. I like it because its like a reverse version of Angels and Demons, where they're trying to stay ahead of the plot in that one, but here they're trying to figure out where it left off and figure their way from there. The basic plot is that the main character wakes up in a hospital in Florence with two days missing from his memory and he has to stop yet another insane plot using clues left behind by the main bad guy, this time using clues inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy, specifically Inferno.
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2013 04:25
|
|
|
Picked up the entire Foundation trilogy for $3 at a Half-Priced Books near my house. Just about finished with the first book and already salivating for book 2.
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2013 06:42
|
|
|
I just picked up The Long Earth by Pratchett/Baxter, this will be my first book of Pratchett's that I have read (Won't be the last I'm sure). I'm several chapters in already and I am really digging it, a co-worker recommended it to me after hearing that I enjoy Douglas Adams books. If I really enjoy it I'll probably pick up The Long War, the sequel that just came out a couple days ago then maybe jump into the Discworld series but I have no idea where to begin.
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2013 09:39
|
|
|
I just bought Iain Banks' The Wasp Factory in honour of his recent passing and China Mieville's Perdido Street Station because it came highly recommended. As for where to start with Discworld, I say either Small Gods or Mort, as one is a very strong and fairly standalone novel and one begins one of my favourite mini-series within Discworld.
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2013 18:40
|
|
|
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. My mom insisted that I read it.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2013 01:04
|
|
|
Just started reading The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2013 18:15
|
|
|
Also just started America by Jean Baudrillard. Most of his writing I have tried to read has been hilariously dense. This one seems a bit easier on the brain.
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2013 01:37
|
|
|
Have you read The consumer society? I tended to dismiss Baudrillard as yet another impenetrable and mostly irrelevant postmodern author until I read that. Together with Elias and Bourdieu, he really helped shape my view of class dynamics in human societies and in Western (post)modernity in particular. I don't know what your preferences are like, but I would personally ignore the parts where he dabbles in psychoanalysis; if you manage to distill the 'hard' sociology from his work, it will probably change your worldview. Interestingly and paradoxically enough, it helped push me further towards views that a lot of goons would probably dismiss as 'evo-psych'.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2013 23:49
|
|
|
I'm 100 pages into Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland and I'm not enjoying it very much. It's incredibly schlocky, hyper-popularized history, written with all the depth and judgment of a celebrity tabloid - and like all popularized history/science books, it received rave reviews and is praised by fans of HBO's Rome as being "exhaustive" and "tremendously intelligent". I'm not a classics expert by any means, but the book is still noticeably shallow. I can see how the strong narrative voice, plus the judgment of ancient figures according to modern sensibilities, would draw novice readers in, however. I'm not surprised to learn that Holland wrote vampire fiction and his most recent nonfiction work is a vaguely islamophobic and poorly researched "untold history" (ha) of islam.
|
|
#
?
Jun 29, 2013 07:10
|
|
|
I've really denied myself the classics here; I started on "Fahrenheit 451" recently, got it as a gift from my high school media studies teacher (Thanks, appreciate you being prudent). So far, I am at the second part, and "The Sieve and the Sand" seems really intricate so far. Oh, and I recently got into "The Mountain and the Valley", which is on top tier with Hamlet as far as "tortured protagonists" go.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2013 04:11
|
|
|
busfahrer posted:Just started reading The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon. Full version or abridged?
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2013 06:21
|
|
|
Started several recently. Working on The Moral Animal as it's still a topic that I thoroughly enjoy reading about since college. It's a book described as "Why we are, the way we are: the new science of evolutionary psychology." For my fiction fill, I'm giving Consider Phlebas a shot. I've heard good and bad things and figured I'd just decide for myself.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2013 13:52
|
|
|
I'm just starting The Terror by Dan Simmons (creepy stuff in polar regions is totally my bag) and Abaddon's Gate by James SA Corey. I just bought Nazi Germany and the Jews by Saul Friedlander which I will read when I really want to be horrified. I got the abdriged edition, which I've heard good and bad things about, but to be honest 512 pages of utterly depressing history is enough for me, not the 1300+ of the unabridged version which would probably make me just kill myself.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2013 13:56
|
|
|
Finally attempting to read A Confederacy of Dunces. I've heard that I'll either think it's a masterpiece of American Literature, or after 50 pages I will throw it across the room because I hate everyone in it and want to cause them physical pain by throwing the book. I'm 55 pages in, so I think I made it!
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2013 13:28
|
|
|
SgtScruffy posted:Finally attempting to read A Confederacy of Dunces. I've heard that I'll either think it's a masterpiece of American Literature, or after 50 pages I will throw it across the room because I hate everyone in it and want to cause them physical pain by throwing the book. This is one of the funniest books of the 20th century. No doubt about it. There are apparently people who don't like it, which I'll never understand.
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2013 22:10
|
|
|
"1356: A Novel" by Bernard Cornwell So far so good but I caveat that with I haven't read a book by this author that I didn't like. So even if it was pages smeared with rat turd I'd probably still love it. Great character depth and he does a fantastic job bringing the battle scenes to life.
|
|
#
?
Jul 3, 2013 02:29
|
|
|
Horns by Joe Hill. So far, definitely reads like something his daddy would've written. Not that that's a bad thing... I feel like I'm laughing at some of the stuff way more than I should be, but I do love me some dark comedy.
|
|
#
?
Jul 3, 2013 14:38
|
|
|
Being a fan of the Temeraire-series by Novik, mainly for the setting, I decided to pick up the first couple of books of the series that (presumably) inspired it: O'Brien's Master and Command and Post-Captain. Aside from the period dialogue patterns and writing style, the naval jargon is pretty intimidating. I'm used to finishing books quickly, but I keep having to stop and look up words with this series. Its made for a fun and educational read so far!
|
|
#
?
Jul 3, 2013 20:42
|
|
|
After starting a bunch of books and setting them aside after just a few pages because none of the 100+ unread books I own seemed like something I wanted to read, I finally had my interest captured by Equal of the Sun by Anita Amirrezvani. A work of historical fiction set in 16th-century Persia, it focuses around Pari Khan Khanum Safavi, favorite daughter of the Shah who is forced to navigate the treacherous court politics after her father dies without naming an heir. So far the two primary characters (Princess Pari and the narrator, her advisor Javaher) are likable and the political intrigue is fascinating and tense. I can't wait to get further into it!
|
|
#
?
Jul 6, 2013 03:18
|
|
|
I just started A Confederacy of Dunces and it's great and hilarious and I like it a lot. It's startling how Ignatius feels like a caricature of various internet personas. I guess neckbeards are timeless.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2013 00:49
|
|
|
Qwo posted:I just started A Confederacy of Dunces and it's great and hilarious and I like it a lot. It's startling how Ignatius feels like a caricature of various internet personas. I guess neckbeards are timeless. Reading this so far makes me wonder if Sperglords read this book and think "This character GETS me, he's right about everything" 
|
|
#
?
Jul 12, 2013 21:12
|
|
|
Sivlan posted:Being a fan of the Temeraire-series by Novik, mainly for the setting, I decided to pick up the first couple of books of the series that (presumably) inspired it: O'Brien's Master and Command and Post-Captain. If you plan on continuing the series I would look into purchasing, at the very least, A Sea of Words 3rd Edition. Also worth looking into is Habors and High Seas which gives you various maps of their adventures which is organized by book. It helped me get my bearings geographically, because at times I wasn't really sure where they were sailing or what was near them. pixelbaron fucked around with this message at 00:59 on Jul 13, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2013 00:57
|
|
|
My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor. It's required reading for orientation. Female empowerment and all that. So far nothing much to write home about, though it's interesting how she took on a lot at a young age.
|
|
#
?
Jul 13, 2013 01:37
|
|
|
Reading through The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne. It's basically The Dresden Files, but the main character is a druid instead of a wizard. It's pretty fun so far. Going to binge through Dresden Files again after I finish.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2013 08:13
|
|
|
Started on Herman Hesse's The Glass Bead Game and... is this sci-fi? This feels like sci-fi. Like Starship Troopers if you replace shooting people with hyper-chess.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2013 09:23
|
|
|
Started reading Spies of Warsaw by Alan Furst. I really liked the first book I read by him, so my expectations were pretty high for this book. Fortunately, Furst does not disappoint but delivers instead another gripping spy-story, set a few years before WW2.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2013 14:26
|
|
|
SuperLobster posted:Picked up the entire Foundation trilogy for $3 at a Half-Priced Books near my house. Just about finished with the first book and already salivating for book 2. Do you recommend it to someone who is not a big sci-fi fan? I have a copy at home, got it for almost nothing, but haven't felt like picking it up and reading it. I've just picked up The Cheese and the Worms, from Carlo Ginzburg at the library. Better late than never, I suppose. Hopefully I'll start Football Against the Enemy, by Simon Kuper before the weekend.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2013 19:41
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 30, 2024 20:00 |
|
|
Kind Milkman posted:This is one of the funniest books of the 20th century. No doubt about it. There are apparently people who don't like it, which I'll never understand. It took me three tries to read this book. A creative writing teacher suggested it to me, because he felt that stylistically, it was right up my alley. I ran out and got it, and lets just say it took me awhile to actually read it. The first time, I probably got into the first 50 pages or so and found the whole thing so goddamned obnoxious I just couldn't take it any more. I would have given up on it, had it not been for the fact that my teacher had suggested it to me. The second time I started, but left it to read something else instead. The third time I sat down to read it, I absolutely loved it, and I couldn't quite understand why I hated it so much when I had tried to read it before. It's a bit of a strange and unusual book. You can't go into it expecting and looking for greatness, you just sorta have to let it do its thing. To contribute, I've been spending a bunch of money on books. Since I'm a teacher, summer is my main reading time, I decided I would take the time to try out a bunch of zombie books and expand my reading of horror novels beyond the "big names' like King and Koontz. Recently I've picked up Summer of Night by Dan Simmons (reading now) Feed - by Mira Grant Monster Planet & Plague Zone by David Wellington Area 187 by Eric Lowther ExHeroes and 14- Peter Clines Swan Song by Robert McCammon Patient Zero by Jonathan Mayberry Harbor & Itsy Bitsy by John Ajvide Lindqvist a bunch of Jo Nesbo mysteries And since the Cincinnati Public Library is awesome, I just snagged half a dozen audiobooks and stuffed them on my ipod. I think I overdid it a bit, and the worst part is that most of these have sequels I would like to read. Roydrowsy fucked around with this message at 01:31 on Jul 16, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2013 01:29
|
|
