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Starfish by Peter Watts: hosed up and very engaging from start to finish. Ends as an obvious serial, but hey, it is. I enjoyed it and plan to read the rest of the rifters trilogy.
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Oct 18, 2014 06:57
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nate fisher posted:Which one? I hope The Secret History. Unfortunately not no, I got 'The Little Friend'. Is the Secret History any good?
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Oct 18, 2014 17:09
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Itachia posted:Unfortunately not no, I got 'The Little Friend'. Is the Secret History any good? I read it many years ago, and loved it.
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Oct 18, 2014 17:13
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As someone who thought The Goldfinch was okay (didn't like Vegas or the conclusion), I really liked The Secret History.
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Oct 18, 2014 17:25
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Secret history is great
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Oct 18, 2014 17:43
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Just finished Garth Nix's new Old Kingdom book Clariel. I enjoyed getting a glimpse of early Old Kingdom history but overall didn't find it as enjoyable as his other Old Kingdom books.
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Oct 18, 2014 21:50
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After the Divorce by Grazia Deledda, one of the lesser known Nobel laureates. Fantastically written story of a young poor Catholic woman in the Italian countryside who chooses to remarry after her husband is imprisoned, and all of the moral and internal dilemmas she faces. It's free in the Amazon Kindle store, by the way, and is a fairly quick read. If you have an e-reader, I highly recommend it.
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Oct 18, 2014 23:20
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Clublife by Rob the Bouncer All about the life of a bouncer at the best and then the worst NYC nightclubs. And guidos, which seems passé now. It's my first time rereading this since the author died. He really didn't like this book, and I can kinda see why now. It could use another pass or two to be really good. Still, it's a firsthand look into a world I'll never be a part of.
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Oct 19, 2014 04:52
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DannyTanner posted:As someone who thought The Goldfinch was okay (didn't like Vegas or the conclusion), I really liked The Secret History. Yeah I don't really understand why it won a Pulitzer, though it was definitely a good read, just not amazing like some of the other Pulitzer winners I've read (looking at you, Tinkers, The Road, and Beloved!). Edit: Seriously, Tinkers is such a loving good book I can't read it without getting emotional.
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Oct 19, 2014 05:05
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Well, I just read a hell of a disturbing book. I just finished On South Mountain: The Dark Secrets of the Goler Clan. This book is no longer in print and goes for $50-$150 on Amazon but a friend managed to find it at an antique store for $16. It is a story of incest and childhood sexual abuse, so uh, trigger warning I guess? This non fiction book talks about the Annapolis Valley region of Nova Scotia, Canada, the province that I live in and an area I've visited a few times. It's a lovely farming area dotted with little villages and a main university town. However, near the Valley is an area called South Mountain, a rural area known for being inhabited by impoverished, ignorant, filthy redneck types. Everyone knew that the reclusive people up there were pretty hosed up, but one day in 1984 a girl from a prominent Mountain family called the Golers told her teachers and the police that her father was using her as a wife. The police raided the Goler home and discovered what many had suspected for years: The Goler adults had been sexually abusing their children for generations. The book goes into graphic descriptions of the awful things the Goler clan did to their children. You get to read about the monstrous adults who are so mentally underdeveloped they barely have any idea of what's going on. Many did not understand why having sex with children was wrong. It talks about the horrifying conditions the children had to endure, and the poorly handled trial that ensued: all the adults were charged, but only for one count of abuse when there were many, thus only serving 1-7 years of what should have been decades behind bars. One even had his record expunged, allowing him to be near children again. This book tells this sad story with a fascinating and disturbing cast of characters. I've grown up hearing stories about the "hillbilly sex ring" from the Valley but never got the full details until now and aside from a slightly boring introduction, I couldn't put this book down. It was graphic, hosed up, but it told a dark story from Nova Scotia's mostly uneventful history that should not be forgotten Here's a documentary from 1986 about these guys. They actually interview the defendants. It's some hosed up poo poo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwV0MdnlH84 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goler_clan
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Oct 19, 2014 15:07
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OilSlick posted:Everyone knew that the reclusive people up there were pretty hosed up, but one day in 1984 a girl from a prominent Mountain family called the Golers told her teachers and the police that her father was using her as a wife. Why was she even in school? I thought hillbillies avoided such things.
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Oct 19, 2014 16:02
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lifg posted:Why was she even in school? I thought hillbillies avoided such things. None went to school for long. They were too mentally deficient to get very far. In her case she enjoyed school as a refuge from constant rape.
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Oct 19, 2014 16:39
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Fool Moon by Jim Butcher: Book two of the Dresden Files and I actually liked it quite a bit more than the first. I'm not sure why people get so wound about it, but if the rest of the series cranks better and better from here as promised, I won't argue much. Having finished it in a busy day and a busy morning, the whole series will probably be quick and engrossing reads. E Stardust by Neil Gaiman The first chapter is slow to build a boring village and then picks up to a nice fantasy romp. I'm a sucker for adventure stories that talk about food and packs so six apples/a cottage loaf/cheese wheel/penknife/spare skivvies in a Gladstone bag had me  Nothing special, but it was a fun and quick read that leaves me really wanting to pick up the movie. Butch Cassidy fucked around with this message at 06:41 on Oct 22, 2014 |
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Oct 19, 2014 18:42
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I just finished Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. And I frigging loved it. When I got it I thought it would mainly be about courtly goings on with chapter after chapter of bland men and women speaking in Olde English, and page after page of tedious court decorum. I was wrong. Instead it's full of politics, back stabbing, heretics and Anne Boleyn being an alpha-bitch. Thomas Cromwell is painted as a ruthless but not unkind polymath whose genius slowly works him up the political food chain. Along the way he spars and destroys a number of opponents, but does it without satisfaction or remorse. He's a complex character who sees himself as a perpetual outsider a court, a rough handed mercenary turned political fixer in a world of lords and ladies. The book is centred entirely on him, but it never grates or grows tedious. Mantel has made him fascinating enough to carry the whole thing. It's not a perfect book by any means. Mantel's obsession with the phrase "he said" makes following conversations between the many, many male characters a pain, and sometimes Thomas Cromwell seems too progressive and competent. But the prose is fantastic. It's a hefty book, but it's so worth your time.
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Oct 22, 2014 22:30
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Sadsack posted:I just finished Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. And I frigging loved it. When I got it I thought it would mainly be about courtly goings on with chapter after chapter of bland men and women speaking in Olde English, and page after page of tedious court decorum. I was wrong. Instead it's full of politics, back stabbing, heretics and Anne Boleyn being an alpha-bitch. Thomas Cromwell is painted as a ruthless but not unkind polymath whose genius slowly works him up the political food chain. Along the way he spars and destroys a number of opponents, but does it without satisfaction or remorse. He's a complex character who sees himself as a perpetual outsider a court, a rough handed mercenary turned political fixer in a world of lords and ladies. The book is centred entirely on him, but it never grates or grows tedious. Mantel has made him fascinating enough to carry the whole thing. I couldn't get through it, I think I just don't like that sort of historical fiction that much.
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Oct 23, 2014 00:14
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tuyop posted:I couldn't get through it, I think I just don't like that sort of historical fiction that much. I can certainly see why some people would give up on it. It's fairly slow moving, and trying to keep track of who's who is a real pain. Also, any book that has three pages of dramatis personae and two family trees at the very start is going to be a dense read.
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Oct 23, 2014 08:23
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Butch Cassidy posted:E Stardust by Neil Gaiman The movie is actually a really great fun fantasy movie, and far better than the book.
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Oct 23, 2014 22:22
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We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson. Beautiful, haunting, touching. I wouldn't call it horror, but it is a perfect Halloween book. It might be in the top 25 list of the best books I've ever read.
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Oct 24, 2014 15:07
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Personal Days by Ed Park. Starts as a droll story about modern office culture. Focus gets more narrow until you reach a subplot that involves a weird interpersonal conspiracy. A charming read, but a bit of a slog at times.
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Oct 24, 2014 16:36
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The Haven Home for Delinquent Girls by Louise Tondeur. Got it out my local library. It's basically about a building which used to be an institution for teenage girls who were pregnant, criminals, lesbians, etc. being turned into a cookery school, and the heroine has just got out of prison and makes friends with a librarian, who lives next door and used to be an inmate of the home herself. Very odd book with a non-linear narrative (not that that's a bad thing) - it keeps jumping between the present day (2005-2007) and the '50s, when the institution was active, and later, the 1910s. There are two chapters at the end from a dead character's POV, which feel a bit tacked on. It was a pretty fun read, though, with a fair bit of queer romance thrown in (though I don't know if I'd classify it as an LGBT book). One book I read earlier this year which really stayed with me was Liliane: Resurrection of a Daughter by Ntozake Shange. She writes beautifully - the language itself kept me going as much as the plot. Very musical and full of sensual imagery, especially about flowers. It's basically about a young black woman growing up in the US in the '60s-'70s, and it's got multiple narrators; Liliane herself, her Puerto Rican boyfriend, her cousin, her psychoanalyst (there are a load of interval chapters which are conversations between Liliane and the psychoanalyst about her relationship with her mum), and so on. Incidentally, I'd love to read Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo - anyone read it? There's an extract from it in this book of women's fiction I got off my mum, and I really liked it.
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Oct 24, 2014 21:55
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Grave Peril by Jim Butcher: I can see why people think this is where The Dresden Files kicks off. The plot is more substantial with plenty of action, but is pretty repetitive. But that is okay when there are plenty of tits, asses, and knife play to repeat.
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Oct 25, 2014 06:43
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Olen Steinhauer's All the Old Knives is a very good, very le Carre-style spy novel that comes out in March and has already been optioned as a movie. I've sold his books before, but never read any, so now I'm planning to go HAM on his back catalog.
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Oct 25, 2014 12:40
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Latest thing I finished is Alan Massie's Antony. It's Marc Antony's story told through him dictating his memoirs to his secretary/slave/confidante Critias, with Critias often interjecting commentary and sometimes taking over the narrative when Antony gets too drunk or despondent to continue. Massie has a number of novels like this, with a most powerful and famous Roman's story being told either through that character's autobiography, or through another less-famous but close-to-the-action character's memoirs. The other ones I've read so far cover O.G Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius and Nero's Heirs(all the various, beefing emperors right after Nero). There's a Caligula one too I haven't read yet. They're very well-written and I like that they can be pretty much read as one long, chronological first-person chronicle of the emperors along with Graves' I Claudius.
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Oct 27, 2014 03:34
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tonytheshoes posted:We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson. I loved that book, I just read it for the first time myself last year. Someday I'm gonna shell out the cash for the first edition because I love the cover art for it. 
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Oct 27, 2014 04:59
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a kitten posted:I loved that book, I just read it for the first time myself last year. That cover is amazing. Funny how something that simple can capture the mood of a book so well.
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Oct 27, 2014 14:27
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Finally just read The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien. No idea why I never read them sooner since I was a big fan of the movies, but nonetheless they were excellent books. Will be starting The Return of the King tomorrow.
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Oct 27, 2014 22:52
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[spoiler]Sauron dies at the end.[\spoiler]
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Oct 28, 2014 20:35
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Finished "White Star" by James Thayer yesterday. Great sniper vs sniper story.
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Oct 29, 2014 02:25
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I just finished The Prize by Daniel Yergin. It's an extremely long and in depth history of the oil and gas industry and it's effects on the world, and was absolutely fascinating. It basically answered all the questions I never knew I had about the world and why so many foreign affairs relations were the way they are. It's not a quick nor easy read, but if you want to really understand anything about middle east foreign affairs or the state of the oil industry, or honestly even want to have a complete understanding of what happened in the 20th century, I'd highly recommend it.
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Oct 29, 2014 07:37
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I just finished the first Harry Potter Book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone I had never read the series so when I my mom had a copy sitting around when I was visiting I figured, "Why not?" The book isn't bad honestly. I enjoyed this kind of stuff as a kid. I was a big fan of the black cauldron series, Narnia, and other fantasy novels for children so I ate it up. I finished the book in one day. There were a few things I didn't get with it. I'll spoilers it in case people haven't read it. the whole professor having Voldemort on the back of his head inside the turbin It felt really awkward and I couldn't help but wonder, what if he had to sneeze? Or what if it was really stuff in there and he couldn't breathe properly? I know we're dealing with a land of magic and wizards, but it still bugged me. Oh well still a good book, and it is aimed at kids so I can't really fault it for that! On the trip back I picked up some crap from the bargain bin at half priced books and a copy of Ulysses. I picked up the spider man movie novelization as a bit of a self masochistic pleasure to myself. Needless to say it was worse than the movie. The movie was alright but reading the book felt like a really dry format. They didn't do a good enough job bringing out the character of Norman Osborn very well. The struggle between sane and the green goblin really lacked. They could have done it better but at 50 cents I really wasn't expecting much from it. Also they really brushed over the death of Peter's uncle. The main part that made Peter Parker what he was was brushed over. I mean seriously? The whole criminal getting away, peter's uncle dying, and the capture of the criminal couldn't have been more than two pages. Still in the end given the prompt the writer had to work with and basing it off of a movie. I'd imagine not much creativity of desire was sparked by the authors in doing it. I can't honestly blame them as it isn't their own personal work they're trying to carry over. Ulysses was definitely the more enjoyable of the reads. I don't think the Spiderman novel kept my attention at all and honestly I skipped through it rather quickly on the train back home. Ulysses was definitely more of a challenge. Having read Homer's Odyssey I was able to somewhat the parallels between the two. I will admit the book was a bit of a pain to keep track of everything going on. It definitely was chaotic. However, I did my best to not search for any super deep meanings and tried my best to enjoy it so the book went a lot smoother for me. The several protagonists was a bit of a surprise to me at the start but as the book progressed I began to expect it after every few chapters. I was definitely more fond of Bloom than Dedalus as far as the two went. I guess I was able to identify with him easier than the mopey poetry writer that Dedalus tended to be starting out. The book was okay overall, but I think if I"m being honest with myself I enjoyed Harry Potter a little more! (Sorry James Joyce!) It wasn't a bad book by any means but it wasn't my cup of tea. I was expecting something a little different going in.
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Oct 30, 2014 06:18
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Al Borland posted:I just finished the first Harry Potter Book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone I had never read the series so when I my mom had a copy sitting around when I was visiting I figured, "Why not?" Anyway you should keep reading.
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Oct 30, 2014 07:44
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bowmore posted:The first book is the worst book in the series IMO, the second book is decent but the third book is the best book. 4, 5, 6 and 7 are all fantastic (but not as good as 3). Results may vary! I for one think 4 and 6 are flawless, while 5 is so close to flawless. 3 is mostly great but the scenes with wacky & terrible* new classes (Divination and Magical Creatures) drag the book down even though they're plot relevant. 2 is way better than people would have you think. It gets poo poo on a lot but in some ways its the darkest/scariest of the seven books and is great for it. *Terrible as in they're boring for the characters and taught by incompetent teachers (sorry Hagrid, you're awesome, but a whole semester on flobberworms...) Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 07:54 on Oct 30, 2014 |
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Oct 30, 2014 07:51
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I read 3 first so maybe it's nostalgia. Anyway my point is that 2 to 7 are awesome and the first book is just ok so keep reading.
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Oct 30, 2014 08:55
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HAhahaha that the guy read Ulyssess and the first Harry Potter and the immediate posts are urging him to read more of the latter.
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Oct 30, 2014 11:50
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CestMoi posted:HAhahaha that the guy read Ulyssess and the first Harry Potter and the immediate posts are urging him to read more of the latter. Ulysses is poo poo, I mean he doesn't even go to a cool magic school or anything
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Oct 30, 2014 11:51
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CestMoi posted:HAhahaha that the guy read Ulyssess and the first Harry Potter and the immediate posts are urging him to read more of the latter.
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Oct 30, 2014 12:54
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CestMoi posted:HAhahaha that the guy read Ulyssess and the first Harry Potter and the immediate posts are urging him to read more of the latter. I think it's funnier that he wrote a review of Ulysses and the novelization of the Spider-Man movie side by side. "Guys, I just got back from New York, and here's my take on the food. I ate at Per Se, Daniel, and Olive Garden."
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Oct 30, 2014 15:52
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It's important to discuss where Ulysses fits against the canon of movie novelizations. It's superior to Spider-Man for sure, but it's no Alan Dean Foster's Alien.
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Oct 30, 2014 21:33
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Joel Don Humphrey's Over the Top is the best movie novelization.
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Oct 30, 2014 21:57
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Al Borland posted:Ulysses was definitely more of a challenge. Having read Homer's Odyssey I was able to somewhat the parallels between the two. I will admit the book was a bit of a pain to keep track of everything going on. It definitely was chaotic. However, I did my best to not search for any super deep meanings and tried my best to enjoy it so the book went a lot smoother for me. hilariously accurate review/response
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Nov 2, 2014 06:10
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