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I started 2666 by Bolano because TBB apparently hates it and my tastes are so radically different from TBB that I figured I would like it. Its really good so far 
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Apr 24, 2009 02:50
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ExCruceLeo posted:Yeah you're right, it's not as bad, I guess I just felt it was more real. My favorite line in the book is: "The crimes of the moonlight melonmounter followed him as crimes will." It's got a ton of good lines. I especially enjoyed the whole drunken brawl scene. Also, the scene where Harrogate is drunk in prison made me laugh out loud when I read it.
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Apr 24, 2009 03:34
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anathenema posted:I'm still reading aforementioned terrible book, so I'm sure I share whatever affliction plagues you. Eh, I guess I should've clarified: I didn't hate any one particular book (mostly I can't remember what happened in which one), but it's more of an overall feeling. Sure, parts of it were fun, I liked Glokta, and his is the first story where my eyes didn't glaze over at the descriptions of battles, but I have a lot of the same problems you do. ESPECIALLY the feeling I get that Abercrombie was beating you over the head with "This isn't like other fantasy novels! See? Bet you didn't expect that, HUH?" When it got to the point where even the characters themselves were commenting on it within the text ("'This never happens in the stories,' he thought") and he was doing fakeouts (knife vs. ring) it just got too obnoxious for me to let it slide.
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Apr 24, 2009 05:13
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I just started reading Les Miserables, purely on a lark, and my god it is just about one of the most fantastic books I've ever read. Up next is The Canterbury Tales. The original english version seems very difficult to get through, but the modern translation on the opposite pages is good and looks like it will be an enjoyable read. Looking forward to it.
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Apr 24, 2009 06:10
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 - Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks. So far it's pretty great! If I like all of it I'm gonna continue reading all his Culture-books. I started out reading The Algebraist which was awesome so I'm looking forward to more by this guy. Opal fucked around with this message at 06:39 on Apr 24, 2009 |
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Apr 24, 2009 06:37
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I'm on a Philip K. Dick binge this year. Bought Five Novels of the 60s and 70s since they didn't have it in my county's library system. I borrowed the other Dick compilation from Library of America, Four Novels of the 1960s, and every story was great. Finished Martian Time Slip and have started Dr. Bloodmoney. The remaining three novels in this compilation are Now Wait for Last Year, Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said, and A Scanner Darkly.
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Apr 24, 2009 08:42
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I just started Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. I had zero idea what it was about, but so far I'm really enjoying it. I was just a little disappointed that it wasn't all about the adventures of The Deliverator.
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Apr 24, 2009 18:10
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Just started "The Tough Guide to Fantasyland" by Dianna Wynne Jones. It's great so far; a send-up of fantasy novel cliches and conventions, in the form of a tour guide. (Example: the front has a "map of fantasyland" that's just a map of Europe turned upside down, with a bunch of names like "isle of dragons" written on and all the roads and country borders taken out.)
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Apr 24, 2009 18:38
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The Adama posted:I just started Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. I had zero idea what it was about, but so far I'm really enjoying it. I was just a little disappointed that it wasn't all about the adventures of The Deliverator. That book is loving awesome, I wish I could read it for the first time again. I've just started The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Been meaning to read this for years, finally getting around to it, pretty good so far.
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Apr 24, 2009 23:12
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Just bought Century Rain and Absolution Gap by Alastair Reynolds. I finished Chasm City and it was really awesome, I can't recommend it enough, so I went to the book store and bought these two.
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Apr 24, 2009 23:42
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Just started Gaiman's American Gods and bought a Sherlock Holmes collection (with illustrations!). A Game of Thrones is going swimmingly.
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Apr 25, 2009 01:19
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robomechatronsaurus posted:
I have this, but I haven't read it yet. Anyways, I just bought and started reading this:  Breathers: A Zombie's Lament - S.G Brown It's pretty good so far, I am glad I got it.
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Apr 25, 2009 04:50
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purchased Liberation: Being the Adventures of the Slick Six After the Collapse of the United States of America - Brian Slattery
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I'm about 4 chapters in to The River Why by David James Duncan. So far, it's fantastic.
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Apr 25, 2009 07:34
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Proust. loving Proust.
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Apr 25, 2009 09:39
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I just got The Forgotten Disturbed: It just came out and sounded like a fun read, I'm burned out from school so I wanted something light and entertaining. I haven't started it yet, waiting till after finals. I just finished The First Human by Ann Gibbons and really enjoyed it.  I think I'm going to have to pick up Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Breathers. Miscreant Fromage fucked around with this message at 17:02 on Apr 25, 2009 |
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Apr 25, 2009 13:59
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Finnegans Wake by James Joyce. It looks like an interesting little read, and seems to have a pretty engrossing plot.
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Apr 26, 2009 03:52
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I just started Oil! by Upton Sinclair. I enjoyed The Jungle and I've always wanted to read more from Sinclair, but never got around to it. Well, now I'm getting around to it and, even though I just started, I'm enjoying it very much. In fact, I think I'm enjoying it more than The Jungle.
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Apr 26, 2009 06:46
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Axissillian posted:I started 2666 by Bolano because TBB apparently hates it and my tastes are so radically different from TBB that I figured I would like it. Came here to say exactly the same thing. I can't put the loving thing down, but really can't work out why.
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Apr 26, 2009 14:36
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Macrame_God posted:I just started Oil! by Upton Sinclair. I enjoyed The Jungle and I've always wanted to read more from Sinclair, but never got around to it. Well, now I'm getting around to it and, even though I just started, I'm enjoying it very much. In fact, I think I'm enjoying it more than The Jungle. Oil! is loving fantastic. I read it about 3 years after reading The Jungle because the There Will Be Blood trailer had just come out. As for me I just finished rereading The Great Gatsby and I just got The Zombie Survival Guide in the mail from amazon. I bought it more for a toilet book than a solid sit down and read book. I'm thinking of buying The Winter of Our Discontent since I like Steinbeck and find his work easy to read, but I also only have 2 more Albert Camus books to read before I've read all his books. Or I could buy a nerd book theres that too.
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Apr 26, 2009 18:40
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Evil Adam posted:The Childrens Hospital, by Chris Adrian. I read this last year, I found it really interesting. Let me know what you think, I don't know another person that's heard about it let alone read it.
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Apr 26, 2009 19:11
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I like to read a few books simultaneously. I started Grave Peril - Dresden Files 3 and Why Fantasy Football Matters. Two drastically different books that provide a good break from each other.
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Apr 26, 2009 19:49
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I just started reading The Beach by Alex Garland. I caught some of the movie and thought it looked interesting, but I figured I'd much rather read the book. So far I really like it, and I'm amazed at how easy it is to read fast - I've read more than a hundred pages in two hours, which is not my normal reading pace.
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Apr 27, 2009 19:10
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The intro is boring the poo poo out of me, but I hear it gets amazing when you tear into the real meat of this thing:
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Apr 27, 2009 19:14
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I just started Paradise Lost, following along with the Yale course on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H62G9yIN5Wk). Amazing so far. For some lighter reading with that I just got Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, The Sun Also Rises, and McCarthy's The Crossing (I just finished All the Pretty Horses a few days ago).
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Apr 27, 2009 20:45
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 The Road to Jerusalem by Jan Guillou I stumbled on it in the bookstore and decided to take a chance on it based on the subject material. I had been in a reading rut where I really couldnt get into anything. This book has fixed that. It's a Swedish historical fiction novel that was recently translated into English. It's part one of a trilogy about the life of a Swedish nobleman going to fight in the Crusades. It's pretty slow but Im ok with that. Right now I'm just interested by the feudal intrigue and the setting (Sweden in 1150ish). I guess you could say that the first book is a coming of age story and Im really looking forward to finishing it and reading the rest of the trilogy. While on the subject, does anyone know how long it typically takes for a book to be translated and released? Im wondering when the second book will be released
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Apr 27, 2009 21:28
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Regarding The Blade Itselfanathenema posted:I hope you'll tell me your thoughts. I haven't met a lot of people who read it and I'm eager to see if I'm retarded in my thoughts on it. Half way through now and enjoying it enough to read the other two books. It's a nice change to read fantasy that doesn't appear to be taking itself to seriously. The characters are a little clichéd but come across well enough. I really enjoyed the POV switch from viewing the city for the first time as Logan to viewing Logan from Jeval. I'm remaining engaged, it's certainly above a lot of other fantasy I've read but of a different style from the Jordon / Martins of the world.
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Apr 28, 2009 10:21
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I just started my second reading of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle. I read it a couple of years ago and wasn't planning on rereading so soon, but I enjoyed it so much I couldn't resist. I'm finding myself enjoying the early chapters a lot more the second time round. The fact that they are fairly slow is a common criticism and there's a lot of people who stop reading because of this (probably in combination with a disjointed time-jumping narrative). But once you know more about the background it becomes a lot more interesting. There's also stuff you can't appreciate unless you've read the book before. The prologue, for example, contains some kind of reference to pretty much every theme explored in the books. It also has a big hint at one of the twists that comes much later in the series.
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Apr 29, 2009 16:48
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The Neutronium Alchemist by Peter Hamilton. Second book in a series---pretty good hard science fiction.
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Apr 30, 2009 00:33
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The Adama posted:I just started Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. I had zero idea what it was about, but so far I'm really enjoying it. I was just a little disappointed that it wasn't all about the adventures of The Deliverator. i just bought this today, im 2/3 of the way through the mars trilogy and need to take a little break. i also picked up i hope they serve beer in hell, looks pretty entertaining
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Apr 30, 2009 06:03
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Admiral Goodenough posted:I just started reading The Beach by Alex Garland. Interesting. I never knew it was a book. I actually caught a scene or two of the movie a few days back. I looked up the premise of the book after seeing your post and I believe I'll take a peek at it the next time I go to a bookstore 
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Apr 30, 2009 06:11
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Yarbald posted:i also picked up i hope they serve beer in hell, looks pretty entertaining Great read. Tucker Max is one of the funniest men alive.
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Apr 30, 2009 09:20
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The Adama posted:I just started Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. Yarbald posted:i just bought this today... Reading Infinite Jest David Wallace like right now. Still early stages but absolutely captivated by all characters so far. Mostly enjoying a thoroughly original writing style that i couldn't try to explain without coming across as a total tosser. I'm really into it at this early stage though..
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Apr 30, 2009 09:56
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I'm starting Jingo by Terry Pratchett. Books purchased recently: Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett The Dreaming Void by Peter F. Hamilton The Final Warning by James Patterson Singularity Sky by Charles Stross Glasshouse by Charles Stross Revelation Space by Alastair reynolds The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett Nightlife by Rob Thurman Deader Still by Anton Strout The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon Death's Daughter by Amber Benson Accelerando by Charles Stross Iron Sunrise by Charles Stross The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe I kind of buy books in bulk and depending on how I'm feeling will start and finish a paperback in 1-4 days, really depends on how depressed I feel. Also books are expensive.
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Apr 30, 2009 10:15
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2666 update: Still owns
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Apr 30, 2009 10:18
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I just started The Old Patagonian Express by Paul Theroux. I've read The Great Railway Bazaar and The Happy Isles of Oceania by him, and I loved them because of his attitude. I know lots of people are put off by Theroux's travel writing because he's a lot more negative than most travel authors, but I love his curmudgeonly attitude because it's a different attitude than most travel writers. That and I can't help but feel he does it a weird homage to the 19th century travelogues he often references. Anyhow, so far The Old Patagonian Express is more of the same, but with him traveling by train from Boston to Patagonia. I'm only about a hundred pages in, but it's pretty interesting to read his take on what was south of the border 30 years ago.
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Apr 30, 2009 18:37
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Yesterday as I was leaving the mall I stopped in Barnes and Noble and figured I'd pick up a book or two. I wasn't really prepared so I didn't know what I wanted, trying to remember what books I've read about here in TBB recently. I decided that I'd get started on the Malazan books but I couldn't remember what they were called. So I tried to think of the author which also wasn't coming to me, Steven...Stevenson? Neil Stephenson? That must be it. But they were either sold out or out of stock, can you believe that? I got Cryptonomicon instead.
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May 1, 2009 00:01
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Tristan Egolf's been favorably compared to John Kennedy Toole and seems like a relatively unheard of author so I'm going to give Lord of the Barnyard a shot this week.
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May 1, 2009 00:33
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I just picked up Slaughterhouse Five - It's my first Vonnegut book, I read the first third of the book in one sitting in the parking lot. I like it so far, but I want to see where it goes. I plan on picking up Mother Night next, regardless of how I feel about this book, I hear slaughterhouse isn't really like the rest of his books. I also picked up Guns Germs and Steel on reccomendation from the must read non-fiction thread.
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May 1, 2009 01:11
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I just started Neil Gaiman's American Gods a few weeks ago. Although I'm only a few chapters in because I can't find any spare time to read it. 
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May 1, 2009 02:15
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Sympodial posted:Tristan Egolf's been favorably compared to John Kennedy Toole and seems like a relatively unheard of author so I'm going to give Lord of the Barnyard a shot this week. That is a great loving book, good choice. If you like Egolf you should check out Arthur Nersesian, specifically The gently caress-Up.
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May 1, 2009 05:42
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