|
Just started The Algebraist by Iain M Banks this weekend, and I'm about 140 pages in. I'm quite enjoying it so far... I also picked up The Plague by Camus and Liberation by Slattery, and as soon as I finish those, I'm going to pick up Don Quixote (the Edith Grossman translation).
|
#
¿
Oct 21, 2009 02:53
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 15, 2024 00:02 |
|
|
Gonna finish up Under The Dome by Stephen King tonight and start reading either Breakfast of Champions by Vonnegut or The Stranger by Camus next. I'll be flipping a coin to decide. Either way, those are the next two books on my list.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 27, 2010 18:48
|
|
|
Blew through The Stranger in an evening and I'm now about a third of the way through Breakfast of Champions. Talk about a huge change of pace... I really enjoyed The Stranger, especially its absurdity. So far, Breakfast of Champions is the funniest thing I've read this year. The bit about the tap dancing and farting alien had me laughing for a good twenty minutes.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 29, 2010 20:56
|
|
|
muscles like this? posted:I'm part way through Assassination Nation by humorist Sarah Vowell and I'm really enjoying it so far. The book follows Vowell as she travels the country looking for places involved in the various assassinations/assassination attempts against US presidents. Despite the serious subject matter the book is hilarious. Not trying to be pedantic, but it's actually called "Assassination Vacation." At any rate, I love her work, and just bought "The Wordy Shipmates" this weekend. Just started the "Book of the New Sun" series by Gene Wolfe, and I'm loving the hell out of it. Can't wait to finish it so I can discuss it in the current thread.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 1, 2011 20:18
|
|
|
WINTER IS COMING posted:Have started Revelation Space, how long will it take to get into it! Need to set aside a couple hours. Took me three whole attempts at reading before this one really sunk in with me--I think I hated everything in the first chapter at the dig site, but once I got past that, it quickly became one of my favorite books. By the way, does anybody else have tons of formatting errors in their copy of Revelation Space? In my mass market copy, there were a few times where paragraphs ran into each other and sentences were kinda run on... If they've corrected it, I might need to pick up a newer edition.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 14, 2011 14:19
|
|
|
After going on a bit of a Sci-Fi binge I've been trying to douche my brain a bit, so I just finished up Carter Beats The Devil by Glen David Gold, which was excellent. Now, I'm reading the recent Pevear translation of The Three Musketeers, and so far, it's a whole lot of fun. Talk about a book that just bounds around with seemingly ceaseless energy...
|
|
#
¿
Aug 17, 2012 18:38
|
|
|
BobTheCow posted:Man this has been on my to-read list for so long now but I think I'm intimidated by it or something. Maybe I should finally give it a shot... Not in public places for fear of looking like a pedophile. (Is that a thing or am I just overly sensitive?) Honestly, my copy's cover was embarrassing enough that I felt weird taking it out in public... 
|
|
#
¿
Sep 28, 2012 02:16
|
|
|
Octy posted:And mine's this... At least she looks like she COULD be legal...
|
|
#
¿
Sep 28, 2012 16:43
|
|
|
Just began Zone One by
|
|
#
¿
Oct 1, 2012 15:16
|
|
|
funkybottoms posted:Hated this book, gave up about two-thirds of the way through. Not because of the lack of action- I actually dig the idea of the book, especially the protagonist as something other than a survivalist badass- but because Whitehead feels the need to cram the whole idea of our society being full of frivolous bullshit and thus unprepared for adversity down the reader's throat in such a smug, smarter-than-thou fashion. Didn't hate it as much some of the other, recent "literary genre" stuff, but also didn't loving care how it ended. Agreed, I don't necessarily mind a lack of action if the book itself is engrossing, but you're spot on with regards to the smugness. Ugh.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 1, 2012 16:13
|
|
|
Going all-horror for October, just finished The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. Not scary, but a little creepy, I guess. I've read that it would have been much scarier when it was written, mostly due to undertones of child molestation that would have been more apparent to that day's audience. Anyway... Just started Occultation by Laird Barron. It's a collection of short stories, and I've finished the first one so far, "The Forest," which was a clever little story that I don't want to talk too much about since, with horror, I feel that the less you know, the better.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 3, 2012 15:40
|
|
|
Reading Oliver Twist by Dickens. Just in case it wasn't clear in the book, Fagin is "a Jew." Dickens only mentions it about 2,000 times...
|
|
#
¿
Apr 17, 2013 14:51
|
|
|
i am paul newman posted:As the story goes Dickens considered "the jew" as his worst deed and a damage he could never ever undo. He's still a wonderful YA villain. I suppose it's a product of its time, and the book is actually pretty good. Also extremely funny in parts.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 22, 2013 14:15
|
|
|
Been reading The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach, and I'm quite enjoying it so far. I've read a lot of vitriolic stuff about the book (especially from The Atlantic--man, that guy came off like a pretentious douche), but whatever, I dig it.
|
|
#
¿
May 7, 2013 14:41
|
|
|
Just started The Petrovitch Trilogy by Simon Morden. So far, so good... Glad I grabbed it on the cheap for the Kindle a while back.
|
|
#
¿
May 22, 2013 15:02
|
|
|
Just began reading On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers--I've never seen the POTC movie based on it, and I never played the Monkey Island game based on it, so I didn't know anything going in--enjoying it quite a lot so far.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 3, 2013 14:36
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
Embassytown by China Mieville. So far, I'm in love.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 18, 2013 19:31
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
Patient Zero by Jonathan Mayberry. Sometimes you just gotta read a little fast food...
|
|
#
¿
Aug 26, 2013 18:40
|
|
|
Started Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock a couple of evenings ago--so icky and grimy in a good way... Imagine an entire town full of the sickest Cormac McCarthy characters, and you're in Knockemstiff, Ohio.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 10, 2013 15:32
|
|
|
Giving A Confederacy of Dunces another try--first time I tried to read it, I wasn't in the right frame of mind for something so "wacky," but this time, it's gone much better.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 26, 2013 19:51
|
|
|
Oldstench posted:Suttree. Just got to the melon fucker. This is a good novel. Yes. Yes it is. I need to re-read that one...
|
|
#
¿
Oct 13, 2013 02:57
|
|
|
Reading Stealing Light by Gary Gibson. Let's just say that it reads like a pale imitation of an Iain M. Banks' Culture novels crossed with James SA Corey's Expanse series. Still, I'll probably finish it...
|
|
#
¿
Oct 21, 2013 17:46
|
|
|
Just began "A Test of Wills" by Charles Todd. I was in the mood for a mystery and we had this one sitting around. Funny, it was written by a mother/son writing team--I couldn't even imagine what hellish nightmare writing a book with my mom would be...
|
|
#
¿
Jan 31, 2014 04:18
|
|
|
That's awesome. I love my mom to death, but the sheer amount of nitpicking would send me over the edge.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 31, 2014 14:39
|
|
|
Looking for something in the vein of The Silence of the Lambs, I just started The Bone Collector and it kinda sucks. Lincoln Rhyme is like a human Google, and the author can't stop talking about how hot the female lead is... it's... not good.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 27, 2014 19:51
|
|
|
About 120 pages into Arcanum by Simon Morden and I'm enjoying it quite a lot. It's a long book, but it's a fast read.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 3, 2014 17:35
|
|
|
Just began reading Dune by Frank Herbert. As a Sci-fi fan, I feel like it's one of those books I should have read years and years ago, but for whatever reason, I just didn't get around to it. So far, so good.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 16, 2014 15:29
|
|
|
Just started reading The Three by Sarah Lotz. Four airplanes crash in different parts of the world at the same time, and strangeness ensues. It's written in a World War Z style--various accounts, oral and otherwise, from a number of different characters. I'd seen quite a few blog posts recommending it. So far I have the exact same problem with this one as I did with WWZ. Essentially, all of the characters and accounts are written in the exact same voice. It gets monotonous. The story has been just interesting enough to pull me along, but I dunno--the author doesn't seem to be a good enough writer to pull this off. Also, this is a small pet peeve, but when writing from an American's perspective, it's probably wise to stay away from British terminology for things. It really sticks out.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 9, 2014 19:03
|
|
|
Started reading The Darwin Elevator by Jason M. Hough this weekend. Definitely written by someone with a background in video games, but it's a lot of fun. Mindless fun, but at least it's well-written. I tried reading a Reacher novel once, and i think my IQ dropped about 30 points. Lee Child sucks at writing, and he NEVER varies his sentence structure. Ever.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 21, 2014 14:57
|
|
|
Just began Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain and, so far, so much word vomit. Not bad, but way too wordy.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 19, 2014 18:25
|
|
|
Just began The Plague Forge, book 3 in the "Dire Earth Cycle," by Jason M. Hough. Big, dumb sci-fi action, but fun enough to finish the series--I hope he can stick the landing, but I'm not holding my breath.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 26, 2014 15:11
|
|
|
Just began (and already halfway through) The Dinner by Herman Koch. Nasty little book--I get a very Gone Girl vibe from it. Enjoying it for the most part. At first, I was annoyed by the main character's strange, meandering tangents, but it starts to make a lot more sense as the book progresses.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 9, 2014 15:29
|
|
|
Started Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino last night. Anyone trying to write about/create fantasy worlds and cities should check this out. So much imagination.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 11, 2014 21:31
|
|
|
Unfortunately, I'm going to have to put Invisible Cities on hold for now because the e-book edition is a mess. For example, "faces" shows up as "feces" every time, and needless to say, it creates some... interesting moments. I have a hold on a physical copy from the library so I'll continue then.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 12, 2014 16:20
|
|
|
Husk by Matt Hults. So far, it's like a cheesy Full Moon Pictures slasher movie, but that's not necessarily a bad thing... that said, I'm only about 6 (super-short) chapters in, so who knows. I've found that the only author who can get under my skin is still Stephen King--something about how he writes his violent scenes just gets me. I haven't had that feeling from this book yet.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 16, 2014 14:51
|
|
|
Butch Cassidy posted:The Hobbit is a very fun adventure tale That's exactly how I feel--I admire what Tolkien did much more than I actually enjoy it... Reading We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson, and wow. Might be one of the best things I've ever read.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 23, 2014 18:45
|
|
|
Just finished the first couple of chapters of American Gods by Gaiman. I have no idea why it took me so long to read this--so good so far.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 13, 2015 02:23
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 15, 2024 00:02 |
|
|
Starting Slade House by David Mitchell. I love how all of his books seem to exist in the same "Mitchell-verse," but unfortunately, I have read his books over so many years, I have a hard time remembering things. I might have to do a Mitchell mega-read at some point. Also through the first chapter or so of The Library at Mount Char.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 4, 2015 16:09
|
|