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I am in for 100. I hit over that the past two years, but I don't want to feel pressured. My secondary goal is to have about one fourth the books be nonfiction. First book is down already, second by tomorrow. My break only lasts a few more days, gotta make it count.
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Jan 2, 2014 20:01
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Two books down! I read "The Joy of Sex" because it was super cheap on the kindle. I can see why it was a big deal in the 70s, but it isn't anything special these days. I also read "Good Behavior" by Donald Westlake. It is one in a series of comedic heist novels. A lot of fun, but not very substantial. But I needed something like that to balance some of the other thing I'm reading. I find it is easy to read three books at a time if you find things that are very different from each other.
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Jan 6, 2014 00:26
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bowmore posted:People still don't know how to have sex and would probably benefit from reading it. Though the stuff about the armpits was a bit odd to me. Yeah, the armpit stuff was a little 'different' as was the emphasis on scent & odor. I've not spent a lot of time reading sex guides such as this, but I would imagine that this falls on the tame side of the spectrum these days. It probably serves as a pretty decent beginner's course for somebody uncomfortable or shy. Though I'm told that in terms of modern information, "The Guide to Getting It On" is probably a lot more informative and relevant than this '70s reprint. Meanwhile #3: Brilliance by Marcus Sakey - a bit of a twist on the superhero novel. It reads like an action movie. It can be a little predictable, a little cheezy at times, It's pretty entertaining and it's approach on having superpowers is different and refreshing. No flying, no hand blasts, powers are much more subtle than that. Perhaps like that Alphas show, which I've only seen the pilot of. #4: The Best American Essays 2013 A really interesting collection of creative, literary non-fiction. The writing styles and subjects are diverse. I really enjoy the Essays series.
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Jan 6, 2014 21:28
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5. Quirk: Brain Science Makes Sense of Your Peculiar Personality by Hannah Holms A really intersting book about how brain biology and brain chemestry influence our personalities. It also looks at the evolutional purpose for personality traits. 6. The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson I love Ron's stuff. It's really amusing, but equally entertaining and informative. With Ronson's work, its not just about the subject of psychopathy. It's the story of Ronson's investigation of the subject, and the strange cast of characters he ends up interviewing. I caught onto this from a This American Life episode a couple of years ago.
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Jan 9, 2014 02:41
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7. Jimmy The Kid - Donald Westlake Another Dortmunder heist novel, except in this case the heist was in the form of a kidnap. More comedic crime hijinx, but probably the weakest of the Dortmunder books. Seeking some levity amid books on Psychopaths, pop brain psychology, and the next book. 8. Give Me Everything You Have by James Lasdun A book that is supposed to be a memoir of being stalked by a crazy turns into an academic's efforts to prove how smart and humble he is, while telling the story about how he was harassed on the internet by an Iranian woman. In between discussions of stuff that is a little interesting, are long, drawn out essays about the literary themes of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, D.H. Lawrences' barely sexual pasttimes, and jewish people. Then he compares himself to God at the end. Decent prose from a pompous rear end.
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Jan 13, 2014 04:24
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showbiz_liz posted:I wonder- for the people who did this last year, could you say what your favorite book of 2013 was? It would help me (and maybe others) to choose books for the 2014 lineup. Mine was probably Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing. The most gripping nonfiction book I've ever read, I think. I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through. I read that one too, well more like listened to it. Top 3 from last year. Stephen King - Joyland. Doctor Sleep was okay, but Joyland really seemed to speak to me. It was a story about people, and personalities and human beings, and King does that really well. Summer of Night - Dan Simmons I suppose you can say it was like "IT" but for the midwest. The perfect blend of creepy horror and childhood nostaliga. Lost At Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries: by Jon Ronson A bunch of 'investigative journalism' pieces on stuff that seems a little strange, but is actually quite fascianting. Phoenix Jones the real life superhero, people dissapearing on ocean liners, Kubrick's obsession with detail and the mounds of stuff he left behind.
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Jan 14, 2014 03:29
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#9) Dan Savage - The Committment Basically a long drawn-out memoir about how Savage and his husband decided to get "married". It's an interesting, touching story and it's a satisfying follow up to "The Kid". Listened to this as an audiobook, and was bummed that Savage didn't read it himself. If you genuinely care, or are intersted in the personal life of Dan Savage, it's a good read. If not, it comes across as a run of the mill memoir. #10) Decemption Jonathan Kellerman There was a year or so in college when I had gotten caught up in all of the mysteries series I had been reading. I found and gorged on them for awhile. Once I got caught up, I sorta lost interested. I picked it up again once I found out I was a bunch new books behind. The first half of this book looked like it was going to be a really dark and edgy mystery. Woman dies, leaving a tape implying she was being viciously sexually harassed. The suspects all calmly admit to a sexual relationship. I was looking forward to a tale of vicious manipulation. Then the story takes a left turn and is all about cheating on SAT tests. Meh.
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Jan 18, 2014 23:25
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I love 4 day weekends (thanks to MLK and snow day!) 11. The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell. An interesting little book about how ideas and epidemics are spread, it reminded me a lot about the work I did in Communication Theories classes in college. For some, this can be an essential and informative book. I thought it was just alright though. 12. The Villain's Sidekick (novella) by Stephen T. Brophy. I'm pretty sure I got this for free on the Kindle. It's a short little story, that reads pretty much exactly like a comic. It's a little bit cliche (the villain's redemption against an evil superhero, makes him the hero). Brophy could have promise going forward, but he's got a way to go before he moves beyond 'generic super hero fiction' 13. Andy McDermott - The Secret of Excalibur I really like the series. It is silly, it is fun. It is a perfect piece of entertainment to fill the void left by a lack of Indiana Jones. That being said, this book felt about 100 pages too long. Probably my least favorite of the first three, but I don't see myself stopping any time soon. 14. I'm Proud of You: My Friendship with Fred Rogers by Tim Madigan A personal memoir of personal struggles, framed by the writer's friendship with Fred Rogers. It really gives you a look at what the real Mister Rogers was like, and the answer is he was an amazing and genuine human being. It's a pretty sad book, and not the Fred Rogers biography I was hoping for, but it was a good read regardless.
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Jan 21, 2014 22:20
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15. Black Echo by Michael Connelly I'm trying out some new authors this year, to see if any of them really stick. While nothing Bosh did in the book is ground breaking or all that special, it was an interesting book to listen to. It was light, entertaining and unlike other mystery novels, it makes an attempt to capture the time period it portrays. Most books try and keep themselves timeless as possible, preventing listeners from really nailing down a date. You know, and feel right away that this is taking place in the early 90s and it's nice. 16. Supergods by Grant Morrison First, Morrison is freaking crazy. But his literary analysis of comic books and superheroes in particular starting from the birth of Superman is interesting. As a person who reads comics from time to time, it is interesting to see in critical terms, the impact they have had on the world, as well as how they reflect the world around them. Grant gets a little kooky when talking about himself and his journey to being one of the biggest names in comics, but it doesn't hurt the overall message of the book.
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Jan 27, 2014 02:45
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17. Tom Clancy - The Hunt for Red October For the longest time, I've been avoilding Tom Clancy. Those moncromatic covers with pictures of airplanes and stuff on it, didn't strike me as being all that worth my time. Besides, most the people you saw reading them looked like douchebags. But, I actually really liked it. Its very technical and totally military porn, but it's also pretty easy to get into. I'm gonna pick up a few more. 18. Brad Meltzer - The Book of Fate Pretty generic political mystery. It wasn't a bad audiobook to work on for the past two or three weeks, but ultimately nothing that memorable or exciting.
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Feb 1, 2014 20:36
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Chamberk posted:
I stumbled on that book by accident quite a few years ago and loved the poo poo out of it. Moers has a couple other books out there, my understanding is that some of the are tied to this but they're not always easy finds.
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Feb 2, 2014 22:44
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What you put on your list is a personal choice. I know my list is 100 books. I know I will do more than that. I also know that some of them well end up being comic trades, some will be young adult novels and things I teach to classes in school. That being said, stand alone short stories, single issues, children's books i read to my kid aren't on the list. Ultimately, it is up to the individual as to why they are doing this. If you are doing the challenge just for shits, and you're just keeping track of what you're reading, it doesn't really matter. If you are using your good reads challenge as some sort of status symbol, you've got more issues going on than the people using comic books in their list. That being said, as an imperfect human being, seeing a comic trade now and then isn't a big deal, but when that is ALL a person counts, I get a little bummed over the lack of diversity.
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Feb 8, 2014 19:20
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19. Yesterday's Gone: Season 1 by Sean Platt The first 'season' of this serial novel was online for really cheap, I thought the premise was interesting so I gave it a shot. Platt is super prolific and has a number of series on Amazon. I don't see myself checking out others. Yesterday's Gone wasn't terrible, but it lacks the oversight that would have made it better. There are too many characters, too many points of view, too much jumping around. The second you start to get a grasp on a story, it steals you away to somewhere else. Also in a story about the population disspearing, we've now got zombies. 20. Patriot Games: Tom Clancy Didn't like it as much as Red October, but it wasn't a bad book. It's just really inconsistent. There are periods where the book is really fun and really exciting, and then there are long chunks of the book in which you watch the innerworkings of the American intelligence system. I can see why people dig Clancy, and I'll be reading more, but I don't see a need to binge on the guy. I'm going to give a few other spy thrillers a shot this month. I hope that's okay since some of us are now judging each other based on our reading choices.
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Feb 9, 2014 22:56
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Rando posted:I'm off to a late start but I feel like challenging myself. I'm going for 50 reads by the end of the year. I think I'm off to a good start. Wish me luck! I read this last year, and I was a little dissapointed. I feel that it lacks some of the imagination held by earlier editions. The mystery at the end was far to easy to resolve and created very little suspense. I think authors from earler decades had a much better handle of the genre and what it was capable of accomplishing. I also felt that the symbolism of the main characters was far too transparent and based around traditional ideas. That being said, they were a lot more captivating than the wooden, personality-less supporting cast who seemed to overwhelm the narrative. I would imagine if you just picked out the best parts and tossed the rest in the trash, it would be a much more satisfying experience, particularly for younger readers. Roydrowsy fucked around with this message at 01:16 on Feb 11, 2014 |
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Feb 11, 2014 01:13
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Inspector Zenigata posted:I don't know; I feel like it deals with some concepts that may be difficult for the so-called "target audience" to fully grasp, e.g. the complicated subtextual dynamic between empty calories and type 2 diabetes (two of the primary characters in the works of G. Mills). I think it really takes a discerning and discriminating palate to truly appreciate all of its subtleties. I understand where you are coming from. Mills takes a very similar approach regarding the homosexual African American experience in their follow up "Cocoa Puffs".
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Feb 11, 2014 03:34
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21. The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum I've not read many spy thrillers, so there isn't much basis to compare here, but overall it was pretty good. It is exteremly different than the film version, but it makes sense, as the book is a lot more involved and complicated than you can really put on film. I don't find myself anxious to run out and pick up the sequels right now, but I can only imagine that I'll pick them up over time, when convenient. 22. American Assassin by Vince Flynn Normally, I try not to overlap books in the same genre, but I was anxious to start this one. While the 11th book published in the series, it takes place first. Having not read any of the others, it felt like a decent enough start. THere are some attempts at building characterization and backstory, but really, nobody buys a book called "American Assassin" for characterization and back story. Overall, it was fun for what it was, a distraction and relaxation tool, but this isn't great literature by any means. Also, the praise from people like Glen Beck and Bill O'Reily plastered on the cover makes me feel dirty holding it in public.
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Feb 15, 2014 15:06
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:See, perfect reason for a kindle right there. That's how I'm reading the second one. There are probably like 2 books ahead of it on there.
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Feb 16, 2014 20:26
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23. From Russia With Love - Ian Fleming First Bond novel I read. It was intersting. It was fun. It is definately NOT the same Bond you see in the movies. Bond, at least in the book, seems a bit like a blank slate. He also doesn't do a whole lot, it's more like he lets a bunch of stuff happen, then kicks a little rear end at the end. Not anxious to pick up another Bond book right away, but I wouldn't discount it. 24. Wild - Cheryl Strayed Lady loses her mother. She goes a little crazy. Decides to hike 1100 miles through moutains by herself. An interseting memoir, a really interesting tale of hiking and adventure. I really liked it, though critics get really pissed about how the author is unrepentant about her casual sex and drug use.
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Feb 18, 2014 23:11
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25. Kill Shot by Vince Flynn - the direct sequel to "American Assassin" I didn't like this one so much. Flynn isn't a terribly writer. This would have made a pretty decent action thriller if put on film. Perhaps I'm expecting a bit too much from the genre, but it would be nice of characters had personalities that go a bit deeper than the surface. I'll probably do the next book, but there are a lot of other books to read first. 26. Shadow Season - Tom Piccirilli - starts off as a really dark, brooding, almost creepy novel about a blind guy and his demons, and then transitions into a pretty standard thriller. It seems like Piccirill had some good ideas and good intentions, it just didn't work with this book so much.
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Feb 23, 2014 23:59
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27. The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson. You can totally feel it's age, but that isn't a bad thing for this book. It's still strange and odd, but not very scary by today's standards. 28. A Wrinkle In Time - Madeleine L'Engle - I never read this one as a kid. I didn't care much for it as an adult. I can see why people like it, it has a lot of new and exciting things to offer young readers, but when you've been around the block a few times, 200 pages just isn't enough to do the job it set out to do. 29. Hounded - Kevin Hearne - people have been tossing around "The Iron Druid" chronicles as an option for impatient Harry Dresden fans. They're not as good, but they're still a whole heck of a lot of fun. It hits the right notes, while still managing to feel fresh. In the middle of book 2 now. 30. Stiff - Mary Roach - this is the fourth book of hers I read, and still not my favorite. It is really interesting and fun to read, i appreciate how she imparts real information, but it never feels like you're being lectured too. With the first 30, 36% are non-fiction. I'm going to try to keep it around a third, but I have a feeling the ratio will slip later in the year as I run out of choice titles. 23% written or edited by women. At the very least I want to maintain 20%
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Mar 6, 2014 02:46
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31 - Street Gang - Michael Davis The highly detailed story of "Sesame Street". It seems a bit uneven at times. There is a high ammount of focus on the people who created the show, and the first year, while later elements of the show tend to be glossed over. It's a fantastic and fascinating book on the subject, but you have to be interested in MORE than muppets to really enjoy it. Btw - audiobook is read by Big Bird! 32 - Hexed - Kevin Hearne Second of the Iron Druid series. Again, fantastic, fast-action fun. It's really an extension of the first book. If you like urban fantasy, you wil like this. 33 - Communion - Whitley Strieber When the book starts, Whitley sounds like a skeptic who attempts to explain and describe this terrifying and horriffic experience he had. As you go forward, you start to see that Strieber is pretty much a crazy person. If you want creepy visitor stuff, read the first 75% of the book and stop, as the kookiness takes over at the end. 34 - The Cellar - Richard Laymon I might read more Laymon, but "The Cellar" and I can only assume the sequels are about flesh ripping, rape-monsters who live in a house. It's horrible and uncomfortable and unplesant. In the end, the main character and her daughter are revealed to have wound up the sex slaves/brood mares for the rape-monsters. Just leaves you feeling dirty. 35 - Assassin -Ted Bell A rag-tag squad of Mary-Sue Macho-Men take on a bunch of terrorists and hold nothing back. It's a litle over the top and silly. And at 600 pages, just way too long. A sequel might make for a decent audiobook if I can't find anything else, but overall it's pretty meh. 36 - The Store - Bentley Little A really fun, creepy book that plays around with the idea of stores like Wal-Mart being 'evil.' The end is a little bit hokey, and the characters seem to just accept and move past some really horrible stuff really easily.
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Mar 22, 2014 19:25
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screenwritersblues posted:
I tend to do about 3 books at a time. For actual, physical books, I take trips to bookstores and pick things up I find here and there and then it gets tossed into the pile. Once I finish one, I'll pick up another off the pile. If the pile gets too big, then I cut it down and put the excess elsewhere. If my pile looks a little whimpy, i'll go back to the excess pile and pull things out. For audiobooks, when I've got time on my hands I'll download a couple from the library website (or audible) and when I finish an audiobook, I'll just start another from the assorted collection. It sorta works the same way for my kindle. I'll add stuff to my amazon Wishlist and when the price drops or it shows up as a daily deal I'll download it. I don't really plan too much in advance, because it's a matter of what I'm in the mood for. I also try and make sure that whatever I'm working on at the same time don't have anything in common to avoid confusion. I think though, that I might start going through my "To read" list and pick off some of the oldest titles, but it's not something I fret too much about. 37 Masters of Deception by Michelle Slatalla and some other dude. A really intersting book about second generation hackers, who did most of their stuff in the early 90s. I have no concept about how some of the stuff they did even works, but I love reading about it. 38. McSweeny's #45 - "Hitchcock and Bradbury Fistfight in Heaven" an assortment of new short stories combines with those culled from old Alfred Hitchcock and Ray Bradbury collections. I'm not really big on short stories, but I enjoyed most of the collection. Even the older stuff holds up pretty darn well. 39 The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell - ugh. I really couldn't stand it. Vowell should have focused on writing either a quippy book highlighting her cleverness, or a serious book on history. The attempt to blend the two was just unappealing. You can tell she really cares about the subject and is passionate about it, but it just comes across as a rambling mess. I feel like I've slowed down a bit, but its mainly because I'm slowly working my way through Wildbow's WORM which is freaking awesome, but it is INSANELY long.
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Mar 29, 2014 23:34
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40. Transfer of Power - Vince Flynn. After the last "Mitch Rapp" book was pretty bland, I figured I would give it one last chance. This book was actually a whole hell of a lot of fun. It's all about terrorists taking over the White House,and as far as I am concerned, it saved me having to watch a few crappy hollywood movies from last year. 41. The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi - people were raving about this book when it came out a few years back. I tried to read it back then, couldn't get into it and set it aside. As the book on my "to read" list for the longest, I decided to take care of it. It was pretty decent. It brings a lot of new ideas to the Science Fiction table, but i wasn't blown away by it. 42. Beyond Belief - Jenna Miscavige Hill - The autiobiography of a girl who was essentially raised in the church of Scientology, as overseen by her uncle David Miscavige. It's not a page turner, but what she has to share is depressing and horrible. Stories of child labor, human exploitation and manipulation, brainwashing and more... It's enough to make me wonder why people don't do more to stop Scientology, which is obviously evil. 43. Saturn - Ben Bova - nobody gives Bova much credit, but when it comes to writing a fun science fiction story about the exploration of the Solar System, its hard to find anybody better. Yes, aspects of his books are silly (every planet visited seems to demonstrate some form of life) but as unrealistic as some of the things are, the stories are still a lot of fun.
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Apr 6, 2014 22:16
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44.Good Poems for Hard Times - edited by Garrison Keillor I'm not huge on poetry. For the longest time I avoided it at all cost. When I started teaching English and Language Arts, I eventually had to give into poetry, but I made a promise to myself to only teach and work with poems that I genuinely enjoyed. A few years back I started teaching poems out of "Good Poems". This year, I found myself wanting more. Not every poem blew me away, but there is enough to make me happy. Keillor's anthologies are an EXCELLENT gateway into reading poetry, you can't help but find something you like, and the collection is diverse enough to give you a taste of everything. 45. Lev Grossman - The Magician King Way less depressing than "The Magicians," it suffers a bit from being the middle book of a trilogy, but at the same time Quentin finally gets the Fillory adventure he has been dreaming of. I loved every second of it and I can't wait for the third. 46. Laurell K. Hamilton - Bloody Bones. I will never read another Anita Blake novel, I promise. The first one I got via audiobook for two bucks and it was okay. I picked up a few others, this was the last. If you really like vampire novels and don't want to read anything but Vampire novels, I am sure you will be happy with this. But I am rather tired of vampire novels, especially vampire novels that are so up their own asses with overly convenient and always changing magic systems. If books are a meal, this one is dry white toast. There is worse stuff out there, but there are too many delicious books to read to waste time on these. 47. Jeff Gownly - The Dumbest Idea Ever I got this in the mail as a Goodreads giveaway. It's a graphic novel (I'm sorry but I'm counting it) and it's pretty much meant for kids. In my official review I called it "Blankets for Beginners". (This makes me want to re-read Blankets, which I love dearly). There is a big push in the publishing world thanks to Diary of a Wimpy kid to incorporate comics and story telling as a way to grab kids. A lot of the books are pretty silly and some of them are really dumb cash-ins. This isn't one of those. Gownley loves the format, and his passion for it shows through. That being said, it really lacks the depth that "Blankets", "Persepolis" or "Maus" have, but I think it's a good gateway for kids to read more than superheros and Wimpy kids. 48. William Gibson - Neuromancer I officially only read half of this book, but I am going to count it anyways. I know that people really love this book and it's important in the grade scheme of science fiction. It just didn't click with me, and this is the second time I have tried to read the damned thing. I couldn't force myself to care. I feel bad, and I feel a little guilty, but this one just wasn't for me. I am curious, when other people come across a book they can't force themselves to finish, do you record it? Does it count if you only really read half of it? I can see it both ways. Personally, sometimes it just isn't the right time for a book. If I believe I will come back to it at a later date, I won't record it. If I decide to walk away but I know that I have no interest in coming back to it, I'll just record it in my log - but i also attempt to give it a fair review. Meanwhile... I'll probably finish "Devil in the White City" by the weekend. I'm still working on WORM by Wildbow on my Kindle. I am loving this poo poo out of the book, but it is taking me FOREVER to read.
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Apr 17, 2014 02:11
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Fellwenner posted:Couple of recommends from me on this score ... I'll take a peek at them both, as I'm not one to turn away from a reccomendation, but in general, I think I'm just done with vampires in general. That being said, I've got Poppy Z Brite's "Lost Souls" in my audiobook waiting list, so perhaps my mind will change. In the end, there are just so many vampire books you can stand though.
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Apr 18, 2014 01:18
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49. Devil in the White City - Erik Larson I thought the stuff about the expostion was way more interesting than the murder stuff. Larson talks about juxtaposition, but it feels like he included the H. H. Holmes stuff to get people's attention. It's a good read, a solid non-fiction book. 50 - The First Dayas - Rhiannon Frater Ranked on goodreads as one of the better Zombie novels out there. I'm getting tired of zombie books, and ultimately this one was pretty mid-range. It doesn't add a whole lot to the genre, but it doesn't contribute much either. Zombie-obsessed readers should enjoy it well enough, but it isn't something to really seek out. 51. A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson I really loved this book. I am not really big on the outdoors, and I've never been camping, but this book makes the concept seem at least a little bit appealing, which at the same time recognizing that it is hard work. Bryson's voice in the book was entertaining, even with the 'dad-humor'. Also lots of interesting snippets of information about locations along the way. Good stuff, I want to read more books like this. 52. The Tourist - Olen Steinhauer A pretty run of the mill spy novel. One of the things i appreciate is that it isn't about fights and explosions and gadgets. The main character is just doing his job, gathering intelligence and trying to put the pieces together. Don't know if I'll be reading the sequels, but I certainly don't regret the time spent reading (listening to) this. 53. Jonathan Kellerman - Mystery I needed something really quick and easy, and my 'to read' pile in the living room is getting a bit tall. Kellerman isn't, by any means, my favorite mystery or thriller writer, but he spins a decent story. It was entertaining, but I feel in no way transformed by the narrative. It's just cheap, easy fun. 54. Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer While "A Walk in the Woods" and "Wild" really glorify and romanticize the idea of going out into the wild unprepared, and the amazing experience of coming out on top, "Into the Wild" is a reminder of the necessity of restraint at times when it comes to tangling with nature. It tells a fascinating story, but even now I'm not sure if it is a story of hurbris and stupidity, or a tragic story of adventure gone wrong. Kinda like Grizzly Man without the bears.
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Apr 30, 2014 21:52
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Argali posted:1. NOS4A2, by Joe Hill All you need to know about "the bat" is that he kills the murderer in Australia and he becomes a local hero for doing so. Aside from it being mentioned from time to time, it makes no real difference. The later books are quite good
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May 11, 2014 14:46
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55.THE TOMB by - F. Paul Wilson I absolutely love, love, love this book! It feels right at home with other urban fantasty novels, but I would say that this is perhaps a little darker, a little edgier. I can't speak to all of Wilson's work, but I know that I want more of Repair Man Jack. A whole bunch of books to keep you busy waiting for the next Dresden files book, or what-have-you. 56. WORM - by Wildbow loving amazing, and also insanely long. It is the only instance of superhero fiction you will ever need. THe cast of characters and their back stories is rather complex, but it is presented in a very simple-straight forward way. Everybody who enjoys genre fiction is doing themselves a HUGE favor in reading this immediately. There isn't a thread in the bookbarn on Wildbow for no reason. 57. Princep's Fury - by Jim Butcher So far, the worst of a pretty mediocre fantasy series. It feels like Butcher didn't have a whole lot planned for this chapter, because next to nothing actually happens. 58. Children of the Night - Dan Simmons A vampire book that actually impressed me, mainly because it takes some traditional vampire mythos and does something new and exciting with it. While it lacks the magic of Summer of The Night, this is probably my second favorite Simmons book (i've not read that many) 59. Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Suzannah Cahalan A pretty intersting first hand account of a woman's brain infection, and description of what it must feel like to literally go mad. Really short and straightforward. Not a MUST READ by any means, but it might be worth looking into. 60. Generation Loss - Elizabeth Hand Goodreads calls it a mystery or thriller, I found it suggested as a horror novel. Generation Loss defies conventions. It's a story that is dark and gritty. The protagonist might be an rear end in a top hat, but she's also intersting. Its just a cool little book.
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May 16, 2014 22:33
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The school year ended this week, which meant no more grading papers or planning lessons, so I knocked out quite a few books fairly quickly. 61. The Likes of Lock Lamora - By Scott Lynch People treat this book like it is the best thing ever written. To be fair, I really enjoyed it. I thought it was really clever, fun, and exciting, but I was surprised that people got so passionate about the book. It is a fantastic read, but the best books are the ones that hurt when they're over. 62. The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien. I've not read much about Vietnam, (though I did take a college gen-ed class on it, so I'm somewhat educated on the subject) and I don't find the topic compelling in and of itself, but this book was really good. Politics aside, chopped off ears on a piece of string aside, this is a book about the people who had to go to war, and how they got through it, and the baggage that followed them. I'm curious to read O'Brien's memoir on the subject as a basis to compare, as this book seems to really blur the lines between fiction and fact. 63. Hyperbole and a Half - Allie Brosh I read stuff on the blog a few times and I was amused by it. I actually got this book for my wife, as she is starting to pick up in her reading habit (from not reading at all to reading 3/4ths of books). It is a really funny, really quick and light read. It also takes a very open and honest look at depression and puts it into perspective in a way that doesn't bum you out. I think the story about the cake is the best thing ever. 64. Confessions of a Sociopath - M.E. Thomas Extremely self indulgent and narcissitic, which I suppose you should expect from a book about being a sociopath. With how 'hot' memoirs are right now, this book is trying to make some money off the crazy, but it really doesn't deserve it. It's a subpar memoir at best. That being said, if you are really intersted in psychology and sociopathy, it is interesting to view the topic from the first person perspective. But make sure you really want to read it before you try to. 65. Let's Pretend This Never Happenend- Jenny Lawson Another silly memoir book. The first half is really interesting and really fun to read. Lawson's childhood it quite spectatular. The second half, telling more contemporary stories, don't really have much of a connection or theme between them. It was more of a "here is a funny story" type thing. Lawson is actually pretty funny, but at times she really, really, really tries to hard. 66. The Keep - F. Paul Wilson A pretty decent adventure/horror story. Originally intended to be its own thing, Wilson would later go on to build an entire set of mythos around this book. Had that not been the case, this book probably would habe been easy to overlook. Don't get me wrong, it has plenty going for it, but what makes it special is the connections to other works. (tried to watch the movie, it's visually interesting, but otherwise a dud). 67. The Rithmatist - Brandon Sanderson A super quick read, and a whole heck of a lot of fun too. My favorite things about Sanderson are how prolific he is, and how he keeps creating worlds and magic systems that are always fresh and interesting. I never have to worry about feeling like "this has been done before" with Sanderson's books. I'm more anxious to read a sequel of this than Steelheart.
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May 25, 2014 18:03
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ToxicFrog posted:Unfortunately, I now have the two bugbears of "not knowing what I want to read next" and "having a newborn to take care of", so my reading is probably going to slow waaaaaay down for a while. Really consider audiobooks. They were a godsend when my son was born. Having your handsful tending to the kid, putting a book on the ipod was quite the sanity saver. More and more public libraries are offering downloadable collections which include audiobooks, so there are ways to get them rather easily.
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May 25, 2014 18:07
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ToxicFrog posted:Part of this may be that it's a good heist/con novel and those are far rarer than they should be. When I described Lies to my girlfriend and said I wanted more books like that, she had a number of recommendations that, while good, weren't at all what I was looking for. Then she read it and went "that's excellent but I now have no idea what to recommend to you as a followup". Some of my favorite "heist" novels are the Donald Westlake, Dortmunder books. They're pretty clever, and have quite a bit of humor. "Drowned Hopes" "Good Behavior" or "Get Real" would all be decent books to start with. Not so much 'heists' but I always really enjoyed Lawrence Block's Burglar books, in which burglary skills and trickery are used to solve murders. If you want to go way back, Arsene Lupin stories tend to be really good, as do the old Raffles stories. John Sandford had a series of "Kidd" novels about hacking, burglary and con-games. (Each title references a card in the Tarot deck. Order is not necessary). Not exactly the deepest stuff, but usually a lot of fun to read. Otherwise, pickin's are pretty slim. If you want Non-Fiction, you might want to give "Sex on the Moon" a shot, perhaps the greatest (and stupidest) heist people don't know about. Roydrowsy fucked around with this message at 23:49 on May 25, 2014 |
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May 25, 2014 23:44
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ToxicFrog posted:I will check out all of those. I've not read everything regarding Lupin, but what I have read are all stories about stealing stuff and getting away with it. There are some connections to Sherlock Holmes, but it was Maurice Leblanc using Lupin to basically make a fool out of Holmes. Doyle actually was so unhappy about it that Leblanc had to change the name of the Detective of Hermlock Sholmes. I'd say the best place to start is probably Westlake, and dabble about from there. Roydrowsy fucked around with this message at 05:05 on May 28, 2014 |
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May 28, 2014 05:01
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Roydrowsy posted:The school year ended this week, which meant no more grading papers or planning lessons, so I knocked out quite a few books fairly quickly. 68. The Keeper: Sarah Langan It started out interesting enough, but by the end it was really uninteresting and dull. This story about a small town in Maine falling under the weight of its own secrets and corrpution has been done by much better writers. 69. The Troop: Nick Cutter This book was so much fun to read. Delightfully creepy. The sort of thing that will make your skin crawl, and you'll start scratching as you read it. An excellent horror novel that doesn't take anything too far. Just good, creepy fun. 70. The Handmaid's Tale: Margaret Atwood. I really wanted to like this, and perhaps I would have enjoyed it more had I not listened to it as an audiobook. It was alright, it just wasn't that great. Stories about people treating women like poo poo because of religious values is sorta old news. 71. Everything Is Perfect When You're A Liar: Kelly Oxford Another bloggist memoir. She should probably just stick to blogs. The stories are mildly amusing, but the book has nothing holding it together. I think I'm done with memoirs for awhile. 72. Pressure by Jeff Strand Strand's books are super-cheap for the Kindle right now. Pressure was my first and it was fantastic. It's dark and grim, and it is a little messed up, but you never really feel dirty. It's also not the least bit comedic, which is how Strand is usually perceieved. I really nasty little book for somebody looking for something with bite. 73. Red Rabbit by Tom Clancy The first 100 to 150 pages is pure agony. It's so dry and dull, but as the plot comes together, it's actually rather intersting. What I appreciate about Clancy is that he makes an effort to at least make things feel real. I don't know much about how intelligence agencies function, but with Clancy at least you can say, maybe its like this. 74. Mr. Mrecedes by Stephen King As a mystery novel, this book is a lot of fun. The plot, the characters, all of that is really entertaining. When viewed in the light of "A Stephen King Novel" I can see where some people might find it lacking. It's not a game changer, it isn't one people will rank in their top ten, but I enjoyed every minute of it.
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Jun 10, 2014 19:25
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Argali posted:How was the ending? My mother still reads him religiously and said the book was okay, but that he "once again" cocks up the finish. it was alright, but nothing really special. A little silly, but it was at least satisfying. Again, in terms of mystery/thriller genre the bad guy gets caught and life more or less goes on. For the most part, it holds pretty firm to genre conventions with some king-isms tossed.
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Jun 13, 2014 04:23
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76 - Mira Grant - Deadline. The sequel was better than I was expecting. I might have to read the third at some point. 77 - Brian Keene - The Conqueror Worms. You would think a story about massive man-eating earth worms would be awesome. Evidently not when Brian Keene writes it. 78 - Jim Butcher - Skin Game. It's pretty much more of the same and I am okay with that. 79 - John Ajvide Lindqvist - Little Star. Nothing like the back of the book. Dark, creepy and intellligent. Perhaps my favorite read of the summer so far. 80 - Michael Connelly - The Black Ice. Run of the mill mystery/thriller. 81. Clive Cussler- Poseidon's Arrow. My first Cussler book. It was fun. But Cussler might me the sort of thing I read when I run out of other options. 82 Timothy Zahn - Heir to the Empire. Read this when I was in fourth grade and it changed my world. Rereading it now, it was just okay. When there was nothing but 3 Star Wars films it was a revolution, now it's just another Star Wars story. 83 Jeff Strand - Graverobbers Wanted: No Experience Necessary. I comedy horror novel. While entertaining, it's a little too silly to be great. 84 Harlan Coben - Six Years. If you've ever read any Harlan Coben novel before, then you've read this one. 85 Jeff Strand - Single White Psychopath:Seeks Same. Another comedy horror novel. While entertaining, it is a little too silly to be great. 86 Alex Kotlowitz - There Are No Children Here. An amazing look into the lives of people (particular children) living in the projects in the late 80s. Heartbreaking. 87 Jeff Strand - Kumquat A romantic comedy that was a decent comedy as well as decently romantic. I loved reading this book, and it is one I've passed on to a lot of people already. 88 Lawrence Block - The Burglar Who Counted The Spoons. I love, love, love Block. I especially love his Burglar books. This is a bit more comedy than the others, but still a treat. 89. Andy McDermott - The Covenant of Genesis. Another fine adventure novel, but it didn't excite me the way earlier books have. It might be getting old for me? 90 Terry Goodkind - Soul of the Fire. How can you tell if a Terry Goodkind character is evil? Just ask "are they a rapist?" 91 Peter Jenkins - A Walk Across America. A little preachy towards the end, but I really love these hiking travelogues. 92 Vince Flynn - The Third Option. It was absolutely average in terms of spy thrillers. 93 Jeff Strand - Casket for Sale (Only used Once): Okay, so I picked up 4 of these Andrew Mayhem books for cheap on the kindle. Still not terrible, just too silly. 94 Kevin Hearne - Hammered. It's not Harry Dresden, but there is something satisfying and fun about people on a mission to kill a god for being a dick. 95 Robert McCammon - Stinger. This book is totally 80s, and so much damned fun because of it. Lots of classic 80's tropes, aliens, a dome, street gangs at war. Love, love, loved it. 96 Brent Weeks - The Black Prism. What would it be like if Brandon Sanderson combined fantasy fiction with DC Comics "Lantern Corps"? It would be like this. 97 Hannu Rajaniemi - The Quantum Thief. Any enjoyment I could have gotten from this book was stripped away by how much work you need to invest understanding what the hell was going on. 98 F. Paul Wilson - Legacies. Another Repairman Jack book. It casts away the monster/horror stuff from the first book and focuses more on problem solving and rear end kicking. 99. Walter de la Mare - The Return. A hundred year old novel about a guy who fall asleep in a cemetery and wakes up with another man's face. The remaining 95% of the book is just people talking. blech. 100. Neal Stephenson & Friends - The Mongoliad Book 1. I liked this a lot more than I thought I would, as I'm not a huge historical fiction/alternate history fan, but this I enjoyed. Technically I've met my goal for the year.
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Jul 30, 2014 14:54
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Roydrowsy posted:76 - Mira Grant - Deadline. The sequel was better than I was expecting. I might have to read the third at some point. I've been busy with work so my pace has slowed down, but I've been doing my best 101 Lost Souls -Poppy Z Brite: Horrible, horrible emo garbage. It's essentially a book about pathetic, creepy, inappropriate gay sex. 102 - Best American Essays 2007 - There are some interesting things in this collection, but instead of focusing on just really good pieces of writing, David Foster Wallace (as editor) really focused on topical articles for 2007, which don't all age well. 103 - Sandman Slim - Richard Kadrey: There are some good and interesting ideas in here, but its ruined by trying to hard to do too much. 104 - Lost Homicidal Maniac Answers to Shirley: Jeff Strand. I really just read it to finish the series. It's not that good. 105 - Valediction - Robert B Parker: A really fun, entertaining Spencer novel, which was a nice change of pace from some of the stinkers I had just went through before. 106 - Turn of The Screw - Henry James: a ghost story with some interesting features, but the newer stuff is more fun. 107 - The City of Falling Angels: John Berendt: Absolutely fascinating look into the inner workings of Venice, Italy. The book itself is a work of art, and I wish that Berendt wrote more. 108 - If This Isn't Nice, What is" Kurt Vonnegut: a reprint of a bunch of old speeches. They're pretty nice. That's about it. 109 - Gone South - Robert McCammon: One of my new favorite writers, though I've been reading his old stuff. They're horror stories, but they are always well put together and they have heart, and not in a way that is hokey or preachy. You can seeMcCammon trying to do something new and different, which led to him leaving writing for awhile. 110: The Hidden: Sarah Pinborough: ghastly attempt at a horror novel that is more jumbled and confused than people have time for. 111: Off Season - Jack Ketchum: viceral and raw. This book is really short, a whole hell of a lot of fun, and leaves you feeling uncomfortable. Ketchum holds nothing back and its great. 112: Conspiracies F. Paul Wilson: Repairman Jack 3. Probably the weakest of the books I've read, but still a lot of fun. This book really sets up Jacks role in the bigger picture of Wilson's "cosmology" 113: All The Rage by F. Paul Wilson: Repairman Jack 4. This one is a lot more action packed, and a lot more intense. Jack takes on a nasty new drug and a villain from the past. I like how Wilson tells original stories, but still holds true to the larger framework that these stories take place between. 114: Hosts by F. Paul Wilson Repairman Jack 5. Another wonderful installment. Nothing terribly "new" just the same consistently good stuff from before. 115: Kill the Dead: Richard Kadrey - Sandman Slim 2 is even more of a confused mess than the first book. Really disappointing. 116 The Blinding Knife - Brent Weeks - i loved everything about this book, an amazing follow up to the first one. 117 The Ritual by Adam Nevill: common consensus is that the first half of the book is amazing and creepy and awesome, and the second half is less so. They're right, though i can imagine if you lived in Northern Europe the second half would have more of an impact. 118 The Exorcist - William peter Blatty: It's really, really close to the film. It's really quite intense, and interesting and fun. A lot of people were surprised this was a book. 119 Bad Luck and Trouble: Jack Reacher kicks rear end. He always kicks everybody's rear end, and it is always a joy and treat. 120 The Haunted Air: F. Paul Wilson - repairman jack 6. Another solid chapter, i really do recommend people check it out. 121 The Broken Eye: Brent Weeks - a slow burning sequel to the Lightbringer series, the ending is really intense. Probably the weakest of the bunch, but it sets everything up for an amazing conclusion.
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Oct 18, 2014 19:26
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Roydrowsy posted:I've been busy with work so my pace has slowed down, but I've been doing my best 122 Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence" Dark and edgy and fun. I devoured this book, appreciating how different it was from other things i've read. 123 The Bear: Claire Cameron - the story of two kids in the wilderness after their parents are killed by a bear. An interesting concept and well executed, but the audiobook version was a bit obnoxious. 124 King of Thorns - Mark Lawrence: Another satisfying read, but not as good as Prince. All the time skippy stuff allowed for some surprise endings, but it slows the narrative down. 125 Gone South - Robert R McCammon - This guy is totally underrated. He's on equal footing with a Dean Koontz or Stephen King(okay, old Koontz) but with heart. 126 Bad monkey - Carl Hiaasen : An entertaining story, an enjoyable audiobook, but sometimes i think Hiaasen tries a bit too hard to be wacky. 127 Not That Kind of Girl - Lena Dunham : I suppose it was interesting. I enjoy the show GIRLS, but overall the book was kind of dumb and people's complaints about her as a sex pervert and child molester didnt read the book or understand context. 128 Pagan Babies - Elmore Leonard : A short, clelver little book about a swindle. I enjoyed it and will probably spend more time with Leonard over the next year. 129 Red Seas Under Red Skies - Scott Lynch: This one started really slow for me, but by the end I was totallypulled in. LOVED IT! I really need to pick up the next book soon. 130 A Better World - Marcus Sakey - Brilliance was a better book. This one totally falls vicitim to the idea of being the middle of a series or trilogy. It spends more time putting the pieces into place that things like character development fall to the wayside. 131 Revival - Stephen King: I really loved this book. The horror aspect was pretty weak, but I could read King just writing about people living their lives all day long. 132 The Forest of Hands and Teeth - Carrie Ryan: If you have read "The Passage" and "The Twelve" then you have seen all this book has too offer. A zombie novel pregnant with whiney teenage emotions. 133 Skin - Kathe Koja - pretentious and dull. 134 MINE- Robert McCammon: Not his greatest work, but hippies kidnapping babies and going on the run does plenty to inspire anxiety and dread in the reader. 135 Kindred - Octavia Butler: This is one of those books that a lot of people should read, and then talk about it, having read it. Fascinating book, that in my opinion tries to discuss the fact that the things that happened during slavery are not just history, but bare relevance today. 136 Gateways - F. Paul Wilson: Perhaps one of the weaker Repairman Jack books, but it was still a pretty fun read. If you're this deep into the series, you like the characters enough to enjoy it. 137 Emperor of Thorns: Mark Lawrence: In retrospect, this book was pretty powerful. The ending and conclusion of the series was really enjoyable, but the lead up was work. 138 The Way of The Shadows: Brent Weeks - I blew through this in about three or so days. I loved it. I really enjoy what Brent Weeks is doing and can't wait to read more!. With four days to go, I want to make sure I get to 140, so I'm currently working on... Mr. Majestky - Elmore Leonard - evidently this was made into a Charles Bronson movie in the 1970s, about a man who is pushed too far and stands up for himself violently. About 1/3 of the way though it. Cop Hater - Ed McBain: The first McBain book. It's like reading Law and Order. It is very straight to the point and all about the procedure, but I enjoy it. I haven't crunched the final numbers, but I think by the time I get to 140, 20% of the books I read this year will have been non-fiction. 20% of the books I read this year will have been written or edited by women.
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Dec 28, 2014 17:35
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