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Rabbit Hill posted:I tried reading Under the Skin many years ago and at the time I couldn't make heads or tails of it ( I feel like I went into Under the Skin with no expectations and just went along for the ride and that's really the mindset you have to be in to read the book because it defies all categorization but I thought about it long after reading it. Please do give it a try again because it's a beautiful novel!
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Nov 4, 2014 05:51
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) and was mad that it wasn't like the Crimson Petal, so I didn't get very far into it. I should definitely pick it up again.
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Re-reading Frankenstein.
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Nov 4, 2014 06:02
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Just got Denis Johnson's new book, The Laughing Monsters in the mail. It's only 210 pages or so which is welcome since Tree of Smoke was so goddamn long (although I enjoyed that a lot) and I feel that Johnson does better when he writes shorter things. Kind of pissed at Amazon for packaging the book, though, it slid halfway out of its dust jacket and got a bit dinged up in the box.
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Nov 5, 2014 15:37
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I've been meaning to read more Pynchon and I'm slowly but surely making my way through Gravity's Rainbow right now. I read Vineland a few months ago and liked it a lot even though it got pretty confusing at times. I wanted to read Inherent Vice before the movie came out (still do) but my local library has had it checked out for ages now so I decided to just tackle GR. So far I think it's great, I've been using a (pretty succinct) reading guide to actually pinpoint what is going on throughout and I think that's been helping a ton. I've also enjoyed checking out discussions about the book while I'm reading so I can keep an eye out for certain themes people are talking about. Lots of genuinely funny moments too, I was expecting it to be a much more "serious" read for some reason. I am excited to finally finish it and move on to some lighter stuff for a while, now I won't feel as guilty reading five John Green novels in a row.
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Nov 7, 2014 05:26
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The order of the death's head by Heinz hohne.
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Nov 9, 2014 01:13
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Decided to give The Curse Merchant by JP Sloan a try. Normally I don't grab an author's first book (especially not for 5$), but the sample kinda hooked me.
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Nov 9, 2014 17:14
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Dracula has become a total bore two-thirds of the way through, so before I dive back in and get it finished with energy and caring, I've started Redshirts by John Scalzi. About thirty pages in. I kind of hope it becomes more than just "this is a Star Trek joke, remember Star Trek?".
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Nov 14, 2014 18:12
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Captain Hotbutt posted:Dracula has become a total bore two-thirds of the way through, so before I dive back in and get it finished with energy and caring, I've started Redshirts by John Scalzi. About thirty pages in. I kind of hope it becomes more than just "this is a Star Trek joke, remember Star Trek?". It becomes far, far worse.
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Nov 14, 2014 21:49
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Continuing on my history angle, and wanting to know more about the American Civil War, I've just started Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson. It was either that or Shelby Foote, and this is a bit more digestible.
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Nov 15, 2014 17:20
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Just bought Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey. Its the fourth book of the Expanse series. Enjoyed the first three books of the series so far.
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Nov 15, 2014 18:07
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I'm going to see if Blood Meridian catches my fancy. I got it on audiobook.
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Nov 15, 2014 23:55
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 Too drat interesting so far, every time I finish a question I'm compelled to read the next one.
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Nov 16, 2014 03:52
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I just got paid so I bought three books online. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War by David Halberstam The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
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Nov 17, 2014 16:47
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Pushing my way through Robert Caro's The Years of Lyndon Johnson, almost halfway through The Path to Power. Really drat extensive but still great fascinating reading. I'm going to have to start a novel on the side though (maybe some Saramago I haven't read) before my brain oozes out of my ears. Any pain is me just fighting against my internet-lowered attention span. Can't believe he's still not even done, fingers crossed he manages to put out that last fifth volume. It's not like I'm "waiting to find out what happens" like say, GRRM dying (don't actually read ASOIAF but that's an example that comes to mind) but it'd still be a bummer to get through the couple thousand pages and find out he died.  As of April 2014, he's researching for the fifth and final volume soooo fingers crossed.
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Nov 19, 2014 00:28
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CNN Sports Ticker posted:I just got paid so I bought three books online. The Handmaid's Tale is definitely worth it. I got some other Atwood recently, need to start on those.
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Nov 21, 2014 01:29
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arcorn posted:The Handmaid's Tale is definitely worth it. I got some other Atwood recently, need to start on those. This will be my second Atwood book, the first being The Blind Assassin which I only just finished recently and loved.
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Nov 21, 2014 04:18
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Just started Gravity's Rainbow
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Nov 22, 2014 21:05
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Just bought and am reading Yes Please, which is Amy Poehler's autobiography. Sincere and hilarious (as expected) so far. Next will be Neil Patrick Harris's Choose Your Own Autobiography, which I've yet to buy but shall once I'm done with Amy.
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Nov 29, 2014 12:46
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No pictures this time, but this weekend I grabbed these from the Strand. Underworld by Don DeLilo The Village: 400 Years of Beats and Bohemians, Radicals and Rogues, a History of Greenwich Village by John Strausbaugh The Art of Racing the Rain by Garth Stein Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon The History of Rock and Roll in Ten Songs by Greil Marcus
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Dec 3, 2014 02:05
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Working my way through Michael Shea's "The Autopsy and Other Tales". Fat Face, Uncle Tuggs, and Polyphemus are the standout entries so far.
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Dec 3, 2014 08:54
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BisQuicken Deluxe posted:I've been meaning to read more Pynchon and I'm slowly but surely making my way through Gravity's Rainbow right now. I read Vineland a few months ago and liked it a lot even though it got pretty confusing at times. I wanted to read Inherent Vice before the movie came out (still do) but my local library has had it checked out for ages now so I decided to just tackle GR. I am not an experienced Pynchon reader. I have read his more recent stuff and it has left me a little cold, but I haven't read his more classic works. However, I have read They Crying of Lot 49 and that made a massive impression on me. I found it the most terrifying book I have ever read. As the main character becomes more isolated and worried she is losing her mind it must have been picking at my own internal fears. Please enjoy it!
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Dec 3, 2014 18:50
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iron_weasel posted:I am not an experienced Pynchon reader. I have read his more recent stuff and it has left me a little cold, but I haven't read his more classic works. However, I have read They Crying of Lot 49 and that made a massive impression on me. I found it the most terrifying book I have ever read. As the main character becomes more isolated and worried she is losing her mind it must have been picking at my own internal fears. Valis had a similar effect on me
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Dec 3, 2014 19:56
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Just picked up The End of Faith by Sam Harris. Interesting so far.
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Dec 5, 2014 10:15
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Got a softcover Perdido Street Station to start this weekend. I've been told I'll either really dig it or really hate Mieville's style. I work upstairs from a bookstore so it's hard to not go down and buy everything.
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Dec 5, 2014 23:00
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skooma512 posted:I'm going to see if Blood Meridian catches my fancy. I got it on audiobook. What do you think of it so far? I started a week ago and am thoroughly engrossed. It can be brutal at times, but McCarthy is a hell of a wordsmith.
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Dec 6, 2014 22:38
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I've just been given the series of The Witcher books by Andrzej Sapkowski (I think? It's four books I believe - they might not all be in one series I suppose) by my sister and her fiancee. So, what's the goon opinion on these, if there is one? Since the only thing I really know about the series' universe is the first segment of the original PC RPG of the same name (didn't finish it; damned swamp area) which seemed pretty good.
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Dec 9, 2014 06:53
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I just finished Les Misérables Unabridged after a good week or so. I enjoyed it but goddamn Hugo, thats a lot of poo poo I don't need to know. We do not need around 5 chapters on the loving Paris Sewers. All that aside I did like a lot. Right now I'm starting the Scions of Shannara as part of my quest to see that series through. After that I'll probably start [/b]The Crossroads of Twilight[/b] which I've heard is gonna be ah...fun.
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Dec 9, 2014 08:39
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iron_weasel posted:I am not an experienced Pynchon reader. I have read his more recent stuff and it has left me a little cold, but I haven't read his more classic works. However, I have read They Crying of Lot 49 and that made a massive impression on me. I found it the most terrifying book I have ever read. As the main character becomes more isolated and worried she is losing her mind it must have been picking at my own internal fears. The Crying of Lot 49 was actually my first foray into Pynchon and I ended up reading the whole book during a long bus trip. I think I want to try reading it again now that I'm more familiar with his style, I was a little overwhelmed on my first read through and felt like I dazed out a lot. I ended up loving Gravity's Rainbow because I knew what I was getting into and just enjoyed the ride. Also, I just started The Secret History by Donna Tartt and wow I can't remember the last time I was this enthralled by a book from the outset. I just love the way she writes and the story itself has been really interesting so far. I'm only about a quarter of the way in but I'm already recommending it to all of my friends.
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Dec 10, 2014 06:37
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Children of the Sky. Its been over twenty years since Vinge wrote A Deepness in the Sky. I hadnt realized hed got off his rear end and wrote a sequel.
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Dec 12, 2014 04:14
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Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery, Henry Marsh I like this a lot so far, it's a memoir from a British neurosurgeon. Very direct and clear prose, doesn't come across as self-aggrandising or overly dramatic.
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Dec 19, 2014 01:42
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I just started "Inherent Vice", which isn't at the top of my Pynchon list (still need to tackle V. and Gravity's Rainbow), but movie. I'm digging it, though. I really like the noir genre when done well, which it often isn't, in my opinion, so it's cool seeing the genre Pynchon-ized. All I've read of his is "The Crying of Lot 49" via my high school English teacher's recommendation, and I don't remember a loving thing about it other than its frantic prose, so I'm sort of considering IV to be my official Pynchon 101. Also recently purchased: Beckett's "Watt" David Foster Wallace's "Girl With Curious Hair" (I am also reading through "Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" on my phone) P.S. if you guys have any good noir recommendations, lemme know.
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Dec 20, 2014 01:40
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Starting to read the Marcus Didius Falco books by Lindsey Davis. I finished Silver Pigs, which was a re-read from about twelve years ago when I had an Ancient History class and it was required reading. Now I'm on to Shadows In Bronze. The Falco books are detective stories (he's called an "informer") that take place during the reign of Vespasian in Ancient Rome, and Falco ends up working for the Palace. They are quick reads, the stories are good and there's a lot of stuff about everyday life in Ancient Rome during the first century AD.
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Dec 20, 2014 17:27
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I have started to read Hard to Be a God by the Strugatsky brothers. The fact that it was releases over the summer and Amazon didn't tell me made me feel like the internet had failed me. So far I am enjoying it, however I can't help but feel like I am missing something. It is a bit frustrating. The story idea sounds like something out of a Star Trek episode (observe the feudal humans on a distant world) yet I can't shake the feeling there is more going on than I am entirely aware of. The main character and the other observers are not completely bound from interfering. In fact, they seem to have specific objectives to slowly bend society in the right direction. However, they are trying to move the feudal society in very small slow ways. For examples, the narrator refers to an earlier job he had introducing handkerchiefs to the court. All this is going on during an anti-intellectual freak out in court. I had the same problem with Definitely Maybe. Perhaps I don't know enough about Soviet purges, but still I like this book.
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Dec 22, 2014 23:10
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About a third the way through The Passage. Getting deep deep Fallout meets Koontz meets Girl With All The Gifts meets Carpenter's Vampires vibes.
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Dec 23, 2014 15:25
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I've begun a handful of new books for the new year: * Wicked by Gregory Maguire. Wow, this is very different to the musical. I'm digging the really grim tone. * Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett. 40% in so far and it's basically the Lancre coven travelling from place to place, commenting snidely on things. It's pure undistilled Discworld, and thus pure undistilled genius. * How Star Wars Conquered the Universe by Chris Taylor. This is a very in depth look at the entire Star Wars phenomenon, from George Lucas's first drawings of "space soldiers" as a boy, all the way through to the purchase by Disney last year. The book does a great job of alternating between chapters of a) how it all began and was written, filmed, etc, and b) various things it has inspired today such as cosplay groups, conventions, the Star Wars kid, "Jedi" as a religion, and so on. Pretty compelling stuff! Going to start very soon: * A Darkling Sea by James L Cambias. As soon as I get it back from my brother. It's a space opera/first contact kind of novel. (edit: gently caress it, I'm going to start Excession by Iain M Banks instead) * Dreamsongs by George RR Martin, his career-spanning monster of a short story collection. Hedrigall fucked around with this message at 09:53 on Jan 11, 2015 |
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Jan 10, 2015 15:24
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Just started Robert Fisk's The Great War for Civilisation after reading a couple of recommendations for it in the History Books thread. Barely 10 pages in and I'm already hooked (which is a good thing, given there's still +1000 pages to go), I like his writing style.
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Jan 14, 2015 12:26
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Won some money when I was down in Florida. I spent most of it on two pairs of sneakers in NYC back in November, so I had just a little over $100 left and went to pick up the stuff that I didn't get for my birthday or Christmas. Easy Street: The Hard Way - Ron Pearlman Wolf in the White Van - John Darnielle The Martian - Andy Weir As You Wish - Carly Elwes Silver Screen Fiend - Patton Oswald In Ebook Ten Thousand Saints - Eleanor Henderson
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Jan 26, 2015 00:04
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Just started reading White Teeth by Zadie Smith, and I'm loving it already.
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Jan 27, 2015 15:26
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I started Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain a couple of days ago and am already half through. Frazier reminds me a lot of a kinder, gentler Cormac McCarthy, both in terms of the prose and in the way they use landscape to tell a story.
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Feb 6, 2015 20:37
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Poutling posted:I feel like I went into Under the Skin with no expectations and just went along for the ride and that's really the mindset you have to be in to read the book because it defies all categorization but I thought about it long after reading it. Please do give it a try again because it's a beautiful novel! 2014 saw me become president of M Faber's fan club. He's one of my favorite authors lately; understated and able to tell a very fine tale. Under the Skin is excellent. The Book of Strange New Things is incredible, though - one of the few books that kept me up all night, and still finds its way into my thoughts. He wrote it while his wife was dying of cancer, and the increasing alienation and distance experienced by the novels protagonist mirrors the growing chasm between them. I can't recommend it enough. Just started rereading The Man in the High Castle. PK Dick is another favorite and I blew through most of his work 10-12 years ago but want to revisit it. The Amazon miniseries looks decent, too. Also working on Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror. Grad school may be over, but my fascination with the medieval lives on.
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Feb 7, 2015 07:53
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