|
Paragon8 posted:Oh that's interesting. For some reason I thought it was a standalone with a really open ending The second book should be arriving in stores next year, and the third book in 2014.
|
#
?
Dec 23, 2011 23:37
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 31, 2024 08:18 |
|
|
You know, I'm not generally a fan of modern action books, but I've been catching up on Matthew Reilly, this totally badass writer from Australia. Just finished Seven Ancient Wonders. More Indiana Jones-esque than his other books and not as good as Scarecrow, his best one so far. But I'm looking forward to the sequel, Six Sacred Stones. This guy's head and shoulders above most modern thriller writers.
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2011 03:36
|
|
|
I just finished the 2nd book of the Thrawn trilogy. I'm not the biggest expanded universe fan in the world, but I'm enjoying this series. What other Star Wars books do you guys think I might enjoy?
|
|
#
?
Dec 24, 2011 09:11
|
|
|
Aaron Allston's X-Wing books are absolutely brilliant. Most everything else, including Zahn's later work, is pretty hit and miss.
|
|
#
?
Dec 25, 2011 03:15
|
|
|
Does anyone else find it hard to finish books that you really enjoy? I have Midnight's Children, Madame Bovary and Dead Souls sitting on my shelf, like 50-100 pgs from being done and I just can't bring myself to finish them. I don't know what it is. Maybe I'm just afraid I'll regret finishing them or something.
|
|
#
?
Dec 25, 2011 10:08
|
|
|
Conduit for Sale! posted:Does anyone else find it hard to finish books that you really enjoy? I have Midnight's Children, Madame Bovary and Dead Souls sitting on my shelf, like 50-100 pgs from being done and I just can't bring myself to finish them. I don't know what it is. Maybe I'm just afraid I'll regret finishing them or something. This happened to The Hobbit with me for many years - I left about 30 pages I think. I finally finished it a few months back. I don't know why, but I loved that book so much.
|
|
#
?
Dec 25, 2011 12:26
|
|
|
A Dance with Dragons. Well, guess I'll see you again in 3 or 4 more years Westeros.
|
|
#
?
Dec 25, 2011 22:48
|
|
|
Conduit for Sale! posted:Does anyone else find it hard to finish books that you really enjoy? I have Midnight's Children, Madame Bovary and Dead Souls sitting on my shelf, like 50-100 pgs from being done and I just can't bring myself to finish them. I don't know what it is. Maybe I'm just afraid I'll regret finishing them or something. Oh, yeah; I think it's because I don't want the experience to end. It's like I wish the book never ended. Midnight's Children is definitely one I had a hard time finishing to because of that. Great book.
|
|
#
?
Dec 26, 2011 00:29
|
|
|
Big John McCarthy's Let's Get It On!: The Making of MMA and Its Ultimate Referee. Spends half of the book on his childhood and adolescence revealing how many beatings he received and dished out. Book picks up once the UFC era begins -- he was there for so much of it from the beginning, and as soon as he starts talking about MMA he sounds less like a jock meathead and more like an observant fan. Entertaining read overall.
|
|
#
?
Dec 26, 2011 03:44
|
|
man
|
I just finished Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson. Despite being pretty long, it was easy to read and gripping, without feeling like I was being dragged along on some rollercoaster ride. The bits about Japanese emigration and internment in the USA were really interesting to me because I'm not from the USA and didn't know a lot of the stuff mentioned. So, yeah, historically informative (to me at least) and I also learnt a fair bit about fishing boats.
|
|
#
?
Dec 26, 2011 20:42
|
|
|
Just finished Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Pretty dense read - I think I'd need to read it again to get all the details. Onto Neverwhere now.
|
|
#
?
Dec 26, 2011 21:40
|
|
|
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, it took me longer than I expected when I started it but it was totally worth it. I'm working on The Postman now.
|
|
#
?
Dec 27, 2011 02:54
|
|
|
Finished re-reading Richard Kadrey's "Sandman Slim" for an upcoming podcast. Every bit as great the second time through! Really love the world building he's done here with a skew on Heaven and Hell. Jack Stark's a decent character too.
|
|
#
?
Dec 27, 2011 05:58
|
|
|
Read the Christmas books--Side Jobs by Jim Butcher and Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold. Side Jobs: I really, really enjoyed Warrior. Heorot was decent too. Not as happy with Backup and Aftermath, though--Thomas and Murphy's "voices" aren't distinct enough, so they sound too much like Harry. I think both stories would have been more effective in the third person. Love Hurts felt a trifle contrived, the rest were okay. I'd read the first couple on Butcher's web site. Filled in some details in the series nicely, though. I'm hoping to see more of Ms. Gard. Cryoburn: This was a pretty fast read, while it was a fairly standard Miles story, it was well done and I enjoyed it. One thing I that I thought was particularly well done was the changes in Miles since he has settled down and started his family--I don't think it's a spoiler to say that when he has to deal with some children, you can tell he's a Dad now. The ending was a punch to the gut. I read the last line. I thought "Count?" I read it again. "But if Miles is Count, that means--Oh my God!" Dropped the ground right out from under me. The last drabble with Gregor was particularly touching
|
|
#
?
Dec 27, 2011 06:14
|
|
|
Finished Joe Meno's Hairstyles of the Damned not long ago. Wasn't bad. It shows that it's an early effort--the delivery overall feels a bit stilted--and at times it feels like he wants to veer a little too close to Catcher in the Rye, since in some respects it's a very similar story set in the early 90s with a slightly younger protagonist. The characters, at least, did feel like actual high schoolers to me; something I feel a lot of authors have a difficult time capturing. They're properly cynical without feeling like caricatures. It'll be a while before I feel any itch to re-read it, but it was enough to get me interested in more of Meno's work. Starting now on Cherie Priest's Boneshaker, an alt-history science-fiction novel set in a Depression-Era Seattle suffering a zombie infestation. Better than it sounds, so far. Also, that was a lot of drat hyphens and I hate myself for that. Also, because I'm a languagefag, I was squealing over a copy of How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One, by Stanley Fish, which was a Christmas gift. It's a book on, no joke, sentence appreciation, stopping to savor a particularly good sentence like one does with wine or chocolate. It sounds pretentious, but so far it's loving fantastic, sir.
|
|
#
?
Dec 27, 2011 08:35
|
|
|
GhostSalad posted:Starting now on Cherie Priest's Boneshaker, an alt-history science-fiction novel set in a Depression-Era Seattle suffering a zombie infestation. Better than it sounds, so far. Also, that was a lot of drat hyphens and I hate myself for that.  and all. You're right though, it is a lot better written than what you'd expect. I'm tempted to check out her book about a vampire thief since that sounds awesome and she seems to be good at taking silly sounding premises and writing them pretty well.
|
|
#
?
Dec 27, 2011 20:30
|
|
|
Just finished Zone One by Colson Whitehead. Simply put, it's a zombie apocalypse novel set in NYC. This isn't an out and out thriller; in fact, the first 1/3 of the novel dragged on as I became used to the narrator's wordy description of the mundane objects he encounters. You quickly become used to it as the story unfolds and the last 2/3's of the book is fantastic.
|
|
#
?
Dec 28, 2011 04:39
|
|
Top Class
|
Isaac's Storm (Erik Larson): I think this was Larson's first real book and you can sure tell it. The section or two before the storm is awkward in even its sentence structure. It's also as if Larson thought the feud between the Cline brothers was a more important angle than it was; he writes as if the hurricane caused the split, then finally admits at the end that there is no evidence to corroborate this. Fortunately, the stuff about the storm itself - the feud with the Cuban weather forecasters and the descriptions of the before, during and aftermath makes up for the awkwardness as Larson really finds his voice.
|
|
#
?
Dec 28, 2011 18:52
|
|
|
Stephen Budiansky's Her Majesty's Spymaster: Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Walsingham, and the Birth of Modern Espionage. Not a biography, but a narrative history of Walsingham's time as ambassador to France and Principal Secretary to Elizabeth, focusing on his efforts to create a kind of intelligence gathering organization. That sounds kind of dry but it really isn't: his 20 year efforts to keep Mary, Queen of Scots and her followers to enact a coup d'etat by enlisting the help of France and Spain form the main action, and Walsingham's use of prison informers, double agents, ciphers, and confidence trickery are all really cool. The book itself is so well written that the author uses the word "bruit" half a dozen times and didn't make me want to pitch the book out a window. Only once I read the bibliography did I realize how much research went into the book, a testament to the writing, since that research did not call attention to itself in the narrative. Fans of Erik Larson-style pop history will probably love this book.
|
|
#
?
Dec 28, 2011 19:12
|
|
|
The Steel Crocodile This was my gift from Quad for participating in the 2011 Secret Santa gift exchange. The book was published in 1970, and it was especially interesting in that the style was far denser than more recently published novels. The story takes its name from a quote in the book, attributed to Pyotr Kapitza: "The crocodile of science ... The crocodile cannot turn its head.Like Science, it must always go forward with all-devouring jaws" The Steel Crocodile of the novel is of course a computer, and the main theme is the idea of ever-expanding technology and a group that attempts to set themselves up as gatekeepers to decide what technology should be released. A good dystopian read, I found it sufficiently complex that I intend to reread it to pick up anything I might have missed the first time around. A note of interest: Kapitza was a real-life Nobel prize winner who commissioned a crocodile to be carved on a wall at Cavendish laboratory in honor of his mentor Ernest Rutherford
|
|
#
?
Dec 28, 2011 19:24
|
|
|
Robert Baldick's The duel: a history of duelling. Slightly dated history of legal duels and honor duels, well-researched but non-acedemic. Full of nice illustrations.
|
|
#
?
Dec 28, 2011 19:27
|
|
|
Zola posted:The Steel Crocodile That sounds interesting, I just added it to my Amazon Wishlist to remember to check it out.
|
|
#
?
Dec 28, 2011 19:52
|
|
|
Conduit for Sale! posted:Does anyone else find it hard to finish books that you really enjoy? I have Midnight's Children, Madame Bovary and Dead Souls sitting on my shelf, like 50-100 pgs from being done and I just can't bring myself to finish them. I don't know what it is. Maybe I'm just afraid I'll regret finishing them or something. I kind of dragged Rise of Endymion on for almost a month, not because it wasn't excellent (it was) but because I didn't want to be completely done with it. Now I'm finished, and the ending was fantastic... but I might be just a little bit depressed that it's over. God I love that series.
|
|
#
?
Dec 29, 2011 16:14
|
|
|
I have a small stack of Ace doubles that I inherited when a dear friend of mine passed away, and I somehow never got around to reading all of them. I located them in the box they were hiding in and decided I would check them out. I just finished Ghost Breaker by Ron Goulart and it was really a pleasant surprise. This is not what you'd call "littrature", but what a fun read! Max Kearny is an art director at an advertising agency. He's also an amateur occult detective. The first story set the tone, with the dialog reminding me of Friday and Joe in Dragnet. quote:Max lit a fresh cigarette from the old one. "I still don't have a clear idea of the problem, Dan." While it's not necessarily laugh out loud funny, it is definitely a light-hearted look at the occult. The stories were published in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction during the sixties, so sometimes the language is a bit dated, but it doesn't hurt the book a bit. I don't know if this one is available as an e-book, but if you could get it inexpensively, it would be perfect to bring along for an appointment or on your daily commute.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2011 06:43
|
|
|
Just finished Maus by Art Spiegelman, which is a much-lauded graphic novel about the Holocaust, where all the characters are represented as various animals. It was amazing. And depressing. And terrifying. And hilarious at times. I also finished 11.22.63 by Stephen King, which was pretty good but dragged in the middle. Still, one of his better recent novels. And I just finished The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien — well, the narrative part, that is. I'm going to try to burn through the appendices quickly so I can say I finished the whole book before the new year begins. It's the second time I've read LOTR all the way through and it's been absolutely incredible.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2011 07:05
|
|
|
Life by Keith Richards I really enjoyed this book. It's basically Keith Richards' autobiography. I think the ghostwriter really helped nail down this kind of awesome tone throughout the book, it's just basically like one big, coherent story. It's a must have for any fans of Keith and/or the Rolling Stones and gives pretty good insight into Richards' life. A Song of Fire and Ice by George R.R. Martin - I'd heard about these books but never got around to reading them. I decided to watch the HBO series and immediately fell in love and bought the first four. I blew through them in about a month and it was literally one of the best times I've had reading literature. These books deserve all the praise they can have lavished upon them and I can't wait to get A Dance with Dragons
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2011 20:12
|
|
|
Hedrigall posted:Just finished Maus by Art Spiegelman, which is a much-lauded graphic novel about the Holocaust, where all the characters are represented as various animals. It was amazing. And depressing. And terrifying. And hilarious at times. I love love love that book! My dad bought it me for Christmas when I was about 15 and I spent most of Christmas Day sitting with a very miserable expression on my face. Possibly not the best choice of reading material for that day, but I've read it countless times since and it blows my mind.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2011 01:41
|
|
|
missmomo posted:I love love love that book! My dad bought it me for Christmas when I was about 15 and I spent most of Christmas Day sitting with a very miserable expression on my face. Possibly not the best choice of reading material for that day, but I've read it countless times since and it blows my mind. I just started MetaMaus, which is a making-of of sorts, with lots of info about Art's life as well as his parents, and also tons of material like sketches and other artwork. It also functions as a look into the comics industry. The copy I got (for Christmas) came with a bonus DVD which has a full digital version of Maus, audio tapes of Art interviewing Vladek, and other stuff. It's a beautiful book, I'm enjoying it as much as Maus itself.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2011 02:15
|
|
|
2666 by Roberto Bolano. I've heard books/movies/music be described as visceral before, but I don't think I ever subjectively experienced such a thing until this book. There are parts that are just harrowing. I'm mainly referring to one of the longest sections (The book is in five parts.), The Part About The Crimes. Holy Christ. My original reaction to this section was one of almost boredom, because it was just the same thing over and over again, and it actually forced me to put the book down for a while. Then, when I picked it back up, and continued reading the exact same types of occurrences over and over, something different happened. I stopped being aware of myself as a person reading a book about murders in Mexico and started feeling actual disgust. Disgust at the incompetence of the police, or alternatively the corruption of the police (it's never really made clear). The matter-of-fact/police blotter style of most of this section started to make me feel physically sick and almost numb to the idea of death. Needless to say, I highly recommend it. The opening section is fantastic, the next two didn't interest me quite as much but still are written beautifully, the fourth part is what I mentioned above, and the fifth and final section, while beginning slowly, builds to a point that almost caused a tear to fall from my usually uncaring eyes. More specifically, there are moments at the very end of the fifth section that tie things together that occur in all of the previous sections, and upon realizing what was going on, I almost cried at the beauty of it all as well as my naivete in not recognizing it sooner. That's vague, I know, but I'd hate to spoil it for those who intend to read it. I was led to this book because I had seen it recommended by people who like Pynchon and DFW, and I've been on binges of both authors and enjoy them thoroughly. When I first began 2666 I didn't notice many similarities in style, but now that it's done I definitely see some connections. That said, I don't think any of Pynchon's or DFW's works (although Infinite Jest does come close) made me feel like this book has. And ironically, just like Infinite Jest, I now have the urge to go back and read the first section all over again. That is very exciting.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2011 02:36
|
|
|
House of Holes by Nicholson Baker. Wow, just wow--I don't know how to describe this one. If you could compress every insane porn into a book it might come close to House of Holes. I like it but a lot times it had me looking like this: 
|
|
#
?
Jan 1, 2012 03:11
|
|
|
Just finished The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss! Finally, now I can stop talking about it. It was awesome. I don't read much fantasy but I really got into this book. Moving onto The Wasp Factory and The Wise Man's Fear.
|
|
#
?
Jan 1, 2012 03:22
|
|
|
Just finished The Hunger Games. Great read for YA, loved the pacing, and I've got a copy of the next book bought, although I plan on reading the copy of Stephen King's 11/22/63 the wife bought me before I move on.
|
|
#
?
Jan 1, 2012 07:39
|
|
|
Just finished reading Bioshock: Rapture. It was actually really interesting, and surprisingly well done for something that's essentially a video game tie in book (The first tie-in I've ever read). Couple of flaws though. One is that the last third of the book is suddenly rushed so you're literally just skipping to moments in in the plot without the breathing room and the other is that because it is a tie-in there are some fates that are preordained, which is a shame. It was a good read though. Up next is Giant Shark Opus Meg and then I'll start on The Hunger Games since I've heard good things about it.
|
|
#
?
Jan 1, 2012 19:03
|
|
|
I just finished two completely different books. Deadhouse Gates by Steve Erikson, the second of the Malazan books. I love the way he ties all of his story threads together, and I love his complex characters and how they spend a lot of time thinking about stuff, but sections of the book got really repetitive. I'm taking a break before I try the third one. The other was Once on a Time by A. A. Milne; it turns out that he wrote a ton of stuff other than the Pooh books, and I've been checking it out. This is a Ruritanian fairy-tale, very silly and light, which made it a nice palate-cleanser after the dire doom of the Erikson.
|
|
#
?
Jan 1, 2012 22:44
|
|
|
Death In The City Of Light: The Serial Killer Of Nazi-Occupied Paris by David King. The first half of the book describes the discovery of a townhouse full of body parts and the search for the owner, who has gone into hiding. The second half describes his trial. The first half was excellent, filled with fascinating biographical details about the accused killer, asides about daily life in Paris in the months before Liberation, and contemporaneous accounts from newspapers and famous people like Camus and Sartre. The second half, about the trial, is not as interesting: it became a farce, with the accused and attorneys playing to the crowd endlessly. Well researched, well written.
|
|
#
?
Jan 2, 2012 16:43
|
|
|
Cider With Roadies by Stuart Maconie. I used to read Q Magazine and always enjoyed his writing - he was part of a trio of really funny writers along with David Quantick and Andrew Collins - and as someone who was briefly interested in music journalism, I've always wondered what it was like to be a music journo and actually get to meet your favourite bands, be disappointed by them if they turned out to be douchebags, work for the NME etc. His 'I'm so northern' shtik does wear thin - someone ought to tell him that not everyone in the south of England is middle-class - and his story about telling the Napalm Death drummer where to get off did have a whiff of bullshit. That aside, it was a lot of fun to read.
|
|
#
?
Jan 2, 2012 23:22
|
|
|
I should've read this years ago, but just finished reading Count Zero by William Gibson. This was one of those "What do you mean it's 2am?" kind of books for me. I'm currently reading Mona Lisa Overdrive - also by William Gibson.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2012 08:26
|
|
|
Just finished last book of Joe Abercrombie Last Argument of the Kings from First Law trilogy. Overall its a good dark fantasy and i really enjoyed it. Author did a great work, considering it was his first big work. Only thing that bothered me: Tolomei-Eater was immortal creature that Bayaz was unable to kill with magic, because she kept regenerating/mending bones/etc. So he closes her inside the Makers Tower. The tower that has balcony and exit to the roof (as was shown and described during their previous journey into it). So why the hell didnt Tolomei just jump down, broke a few legs/whatever and continue chasing them? She already fell from that tower once, and it doesnt look like it bothered her much. But he closed the door, and thats it, she is gone. Made no sense.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2012 10:30
|
|
|
So I've made it through two more George R.R. Martin Game of Thrones books: A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords . I think I am finally ready to put these books down at least for a long break. It really wears on the reader to be introduced and follow the storyline of a an entire family and have a majority of them killed. Rob and his mother's death did it for me. I understand a different type of story where the admirable characters die and you end up following what you originally thought were the "bad" characters, but drat...I just don't think I can do it anymore. Is that what Martin was going for? Non-predictable, maybe even realistic, character outcome?
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2012 12:30
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 31, 2024 08:18 |
|
|
Finally finished J.D. Salinger's collection Nine Stories. Some of them are too subtle for me to get anything from (eg Just Before the War with the Eskimos), and one of them does the clunky trick of giving a character magical powers to lend his point weight (Teddy) but the majority were beautifully balanced little things. For the most part the writing didn't particularly grab me; it's very good, just not pulpy enough for my tastes with the exception of The Laughing Man which is a parody of the stuff I like. Still fun for me though.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2012 12:49
|
|
