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I slowed way the hell down in the latter half of 2013 and only ended with 40/52 so I'll shoot for at least 42 books in 2014! I'll post my goodreads when I'm not phoneposting 
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Jan 2, 2014 19:00
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 18:32 |
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As mentioned in my last post, here's my Goodreads profile!
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Jan 2, 2014 22:26
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As for goodreads, just don't select a date read for the book and it won't count towards your goal.
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May 16, 2014 10:33
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I just went hiking in the Alps for 11 days and managed to read quite a bit and actually caught up after being 4 books behind for ages--I've now read 26/42 books! I also realized that I haven't posted a single progress report in the thread so LET'S DO THIS! 1. Nothing Lasts Forever, Roderick Thorpe - Reasonably fun action book, though I was a bit put off by some of the politics. I should've written a review right after having read it so that I could articulate that feeling more precisely. 2. Hogfather, Terry Pratchett - Fun and funny as hell. Top-notch Discworld. 3. Salem's Lot, Stephen King - Mostly quite entertaining, though it had a bit of an anticlimactic ending and I'm really starting to notice King's reliance on certain recurring elements. I swear there's been a special psychic child in every single novel of his that I've read. 4. A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah - Harrowing, but in the end not entirely bleak considering the positive outcome for Beah. Still, it was a painful read a lot of the time because of how horrific the events are and how effectively Beah relates them. 5. Words of Radiance, Brandon Sanderson - Loved it and am excited for the next one, whenever it comes out. I get the feeling that some events (e.g. Nightblood from Warbreaker popping up at the end) would lose a lot of impact for someone who hasn't read Sanderson books outside the Stormlight Archive, but that's not a problem for me personally since I've read everything of his. My only sticking point is that Kaladin's arc is really similar to his arc in the first book. I guess he's a stubborn bastard, so I suppose it makes sense for the character. I hope that he doesn't have to keep learning similar lessons throughout the rest of the series, though. 6. The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins - Pretty good YA dystopian fiction. The writing is certainly nothing special, but it's plenty readable and paced well. 7. Me and You, Niccolo Ammaniti - Touching little book. The end was a gut-punch. 8. Without Blood, Alessandro Baricco - Fantastic and emotionally complicated. 9. Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins - I think this series would be a lot better if it weren't aimed at teenagers. Or maybe that's not quite accurate - it seems to expect that the audience won't catch what it's trying to say, so it overexplains poo poo. The most egregious example is actually in the third book so I'll talk about it in a bit. That being said, this was also good. Not too much of a rehash of the first book, despite the similar structure. The press tour stuff was a billion times more interesting than the arena section, though. 10. Red Country, Joe Abercrombie - loving GREAT. Totally unsurprising that I loved it considering I like dark, funny fantasy and Westerns. My Goodreads update from about 2/3 of the way through: "I just realized that this is basically Deadwood With Swords and maybe that's why I love it so much." 11. The Old Man and the Sea, Earnest Hemingway - I never read this in school, and I'm glad of that since I'm sure I wouldn't have appreciated it at 14. 12. Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins - The further I get from this, the less I like it. As inevitable as so much of it should have felt, a lot of it also seemed so contrived. The big chase sequence with the white lizard mutts that smell like blood came off as raising the stakes when they are already at their highest point with monsters that are more cheesy than scary, and that seem like they're just there to tear apart secondary characters to get a cheap emotional reaction. Also, the love triangle was irritating bullshit. Surprisingly, I didn't hate the epilogue. Sure, it had Katniss and Peeta married with kids, but it also kept their trauma and the horror of the world's past in mind, which I didn't really expect. OH! I almost forgot about the overexplaining thing. The worst instance was the Hanging Tree song, which I thought was actually well-written and interesting, but then Katniss spoon-feeds the meaning in her narration. It was so frustrating! 13. Touching the Void, Joe Simpson - Goodreads review: "I imagine this would be a lot less enjoyable to anyone with only a passing interest in/knowledge of mountaineering because there's a lot of unexplained jargon (moiraines, cols, climbing technique, etc.) but I thought it was terrific despite that. The fact that Simpson made it back alive is simply incredible, and his account of the experience is gripping." 14. And the Mountains Echoed, Khaled Hosseini - Goodreads review: "I loved the roundabout way that Hosseini used to relate the emotional arc he started at the beginning of the book. At first it felt a bit too disconnected, but after the first couple of new perspectives it was clear what he was going for. It certainly helps that he writes such vivid characters. The only nitpick I have is that he tends to use the same words and phrases over and over to describe certain things: 'limp hair' and things 'whooshing' popped out at me." 15. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky - While I probably would have appreciated it even more when I was a shy, introverted (though not molested by my aunt teenager instead of a slightly-less-shy 23-year-old, this was still a fantastic book. Charlie's voice is unique, funny, and vibrant and never feels like an author writing a character. 16. Columbine, Dave Cullen - Holy poo poo this was amazing. Goodreads review: "Incredible journalism - meticulously researched and without any feeling of trying to exploit the tragedy. Very readable despite the gruesome subject matter." 17. Redshirts, John Scalzi - Not quite up to the level of the Ghost Brigades books, but still really entertaining. It's sort of a one-joke concept, but the characters carry it through. 18. City of Thieves, David Benioff - Second time reading this one, and it remains one of my all-time favorite books. Goodreads review: "Even better on reread. Beautifully written, and it would be a thoroughly harrowing if not for the humor injected throughout, which doesn't end up clashing at all with the often-brutal subject matter. Kolya's death was just as heartbreaking when I knew it was coming." 19. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, and Other Clinical Tales, Oliver Sacks - Gotta read me some more Sacks. I've got a copy of Musicophilia lying around at home that I've been meaning to read for a couple of years. Goodreads review: "Amazing. Sacks treats the subjects of his stories as complete human beings despite their often having disorders that give them ways of perceiving the world that are difficult to imagine, let alone relate to. All of the cases are fascinating, and many are more than a bit scary or heartbreaking, but the best thing about all of them is Sacks's compassion." 20. The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks - Weird and disturbing, and all the better for it. It's hard to believe that this is his published debut since it's so confident and singular. 21. The God Engines, John Scalzi - Great concept and very cool extrapolations of that concept. I particularly liked how Scalzi looked at keeping faith despite getting the feeling there is something wrong with its basis. 22. When the Women Come Out to Dance, Elmore Leonard - Excellent collection of stories, and a wonderful introduction to Leonard. After this year, he and Iain Banks are two authors I wish I'd read more of while they were still alive. I just started reading Leonard because of Justified, so I particularly enjoyed "Fire in the Hole", but not one of the stories was less than great. 23. Pronto, Elmore Leonard - Again, I went straight for the Raylan Givens books because I loving adore Justified. Pronto was tight and fun, with rich characters and 24. Riding the Rap, Elmore Leonard - More or less direct sequel to Pronto. I loved the direction the characters went, and it's always fun to see a story I originally knew from Justified fleshed out into a full novel (yes, I know the novel came first). Goodreads review: "My only question is why none of you assholes told me to read Elmore Leonard before now." 25. We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, Philip K. Dick - Goodreads review: "The ending was a bit predictable, but it still made me laugh like a kid so that's okay." 26. Novecento: Die Legende des Ozeanpianisten, Alessandro Baricco - Totally different from Without Blood, and not just because I read this one in German. I wish my Italian were good enough to read the originals, but sadly my Italian is atrocious. I liked the monologue/play format, and the setting and characters were really evocative. The writing was really fun even in translation and reading in my second language. And I'm currently reading Raylan by Elmore Leonard! Whew, that was long. I should update more often so that I don't spend half an hour typing up something literally no one will read.
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Aug 10, 2014 10:46
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glowing-fish posted:Is this the short story, or is this an extended version? I've read the short story, in the issue of F&SF it was released in. As I understand it, there are several versions of the story, one of which was written by Piers Anthony. As far as I know, it was the short story. In retrospect I feel a little bad including it because it's like 25 pages long at most but whatever.
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Aug 23, 2014 22:41
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ToxicFrog posted:My biggest complaint about RSURS is that it felt like it wanted to be two books and ended up as two half-books awkwardly spliced together. I would have loved to have read Locke And Jean On The High Seas and Locke And Jean Rob A Casino as separate books, but as it is it felt like neither plot really got the time it deserved. Yeah this was basically my feeling as well. The pirates story gelled a little better, but the casino one felt kind of tacked on as introduction/conclusion. Uhhh, I don't remember the last time I updated but I've read 35 out of 42 books so far this year! Let's see if I can beat my goal, since I actually reduced it from last year after getting too busy Last few I read were: Storm Front by Jim Butcher - a reread in which I liked the book more than I did the first time! Looking forward to seeing where the series goes. Dresden is a bit of a loner nerd wish-fulfillment character, but a pretty interesting one as far as that goes. Half A King by Joe Abercrombie - I was pleasantly surprised that this was basically up to Abercrombie's usual standards! No significant reduction in quality of writing like I noticed in Sanderson's Steelheart. Yarvi was a cool character, and the secondary characters were all a lot less one-dimensional than you see in a lot of YA books. Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris - I love Sedaris, and this was a particularly good one of his books, so I had a blast. His parody stories are fun but the autobiographical ones are definitely the best. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon - LOVED this. The twisty conspiracy stuff was simultaneously creepy and funny; this was my first Pynchon, but I already dig his sense of humor. I picked up Inherent Vice, so that's up next within my next couple t books! Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn - this was fun enough I guess. Mostly what I came away with was that Thrawn is a fantastic villain who belonged in a much better series. The original SW characters were not interesting, and Zahn cribbed situations and lines from the movie trilogy like crazy. Also, Zahn was a terrible wordsmith (I understand this was an early book for him so maybe he gets better), so I was also distracted because I kept rewriting the prose in my head as I read.
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Oct 20, 2014 08:46
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I hope you got Wolf used so that you didn't give any more money to Jordan Belfort.
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Oct 29, 2014 10:09
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screenwritersblues posted:It wasn't. Oh well. At least he's not using his earnings to buy ludes anymore (although, do they still make ludes anymore?). I don't give a poo poo about his drug habits, I was more referring to him ripping off thousands of people and being an all-around lovely person. Edit for on-topic content: 36. Red Dragon by Thomas Harris - Fun read. Dolarhyde is an even more interesting killer than Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs. I did miss the themes of sexual harassment and patriarchal dominance that came with Clarice being the main character, but Will is a good protagonist in his own way. I liked seeing little moments in this book that the TV show used in different contexts; also related to the show, I can't imagine Jack Crawford as anything other than Lawrence Fishburne now, so it's weird when it pops up that he's white in the books. 37. Fool Moon by Jim Butcher - goodreads review: "Pulpy fun. Not incredibly good prose, but Harry has a distinct voice and the writing is quite functional and certainly not as painful to read as the writing in Zahn's Thrawn books. I also liked how the different kinds of werewolves were all distinct and also slightly different from the normal werewolf legend in their own way. Looking forward to where the series goes. But: ATTN HARRY DRESDEN: stop trying to protect women by withholding information from them; literally every time you do it only ends up hurting everybody involved and also it is pretty sexist." Starting up Inherent Vice next, woooo! Mahlertov Cocktail fucked around with this message at 11:42 on Oct 30, 2014 |
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Oct 30, 2014 11:32
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I've got three books left towards my goal and I think I'll make it. I misplaced my Kindle this past week so I've been stuck at halfway through Inherent Vice (I read a bit with Kindle app on my phone but it sucks to read on a phone screen), but school isn't as busy as usual right now and I have an 8-hour plane ride home and then Christmas break coming up, so I don't think it'll be too much of a problem!
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Dec 9, 2014 12:12
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Finished Inherent Vice on the plane yesterday, wooo! It was a great ride. Pynchon is so readable and I love his twisty conspiracy plots. Two more books and I've done my goal! First of those two is gonna be a reread of The Lies of Locke Lamora because I reread the very beginning and then couldn't stop. This book is so drat fun.
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Dec 20, 2014 19:14
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Hey hey hold up I got two days.
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Dec 29, 2014 05:39
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bowmore posted:I passed my challenge but writing it all up in the thread sounds like a chore (100+ books) Maybe just post all the titles but just give little reviews of your favorites for content?
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Dec 29, 2014 06:12
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Corrode posted:Turn this into a shameatar: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GO0Q9VKVbM8/StG859jqDKI/AAAAAAAAE4o/DSwZvfeXwRw/s1600-h/PICT0029.JPG Feverishly reading my last book now.
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Dec 29, 2014 15:58
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I met my goal! Just finished Drive by James Sallis, which was cool. I read it because I like the film, and I can definitely see the film's vibe in the book, though the movie made it even more stylized (for example, Driver is way more talkative in the book than I remember him being in the movie and the neon craziness is more emphasized, though that might just be due to the visual nature of film) and combined some plot elements. I liked the writing style, Driver is a cool protagonist (in the sense that he's interesting, not like admirable) and the supporting characters all feel full even when they're sketched out pretty thinly. So! 42/42 books this year, even if I padded it with a couple of novellas at the end. Here's my list (I've written a couple sentences about most of the books sporadically throughout the year, so I'll maybe just throw in a bit of commentary for a few of my favorites in this post): January: 1. Nothing Lasts Forever by Richard Thorpe 2. Hogfather by Terry Pratchett 3. Salem's Lot by Stephen King 4. A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah 5. Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson 6. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 7. Me and You by Niccolò Ammaniti 8. Without Blood by Alessandro Baricco 9. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins 10. Red Country by Joe Abercrombie - this book is so much drat fun. Considering how Abercrombie has a deserved reputation of writing grimdark fantasy, his sense of humor is fantastic and it never feels overly depressing even when bleak poo poo is going down. Also, knife fight on top of a speeding carriage. 11. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway 12. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins 13. Touching the Void by Joe Simpson 14. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini 15. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky 16. Columbine by Dave Cullen - this was AMAZING journalism; an incredibly thorough look at the shooting, the accompanying media circus, and the aftermath. 17. Redshirts by John Scalzi 18. City of Thieves by David Benioff - a reread, but even better the second time. 19. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks - wonderfully empathetic look at various cases of mentally ill patients. 20. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks - hosed up and great. 21. The God Engines by John Scalzi 22. When the Women Come Out to Dance by Elmore Leonard - my first Leonard book. Almost all of the stories were great, and I also loved all of the Leonard novels I read after this story collection (well, Raylan was just pretty good, but the rest were amazing). 23. Pronto by Elmore Leonard 24. Riding the Rap by Elmore Leonard 25. We Can Remember It for You Wholesale by Philip K. Dick 26. Novecento by Alessandro Baricco 27. Raylan by Elmore Leonard 28. The Last Legion by Valerio Massimo Manfredi 29. Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn 30. Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn 31. The Last Command by Timothy Zahn 32. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon - loved the tongue-in-cheek twisty conspiracy theory. 33. Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris 34. Half a King by Joe Abercrombie 35. Storm Front by Jim Butcher 36. Red Dragon by Thomas Harris 37. Fool Moon by Jim Butcher 38. The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker 39. Half Empty by David Rakoff 40. Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon 41. Sixth of the Dusk by Brandon Sanderson - speaking as a huge fan of his epic fantasy, Sanderson writes much tighter short-form fiction than he does epic fantasy. 42. Drive by James Sallis Woo! I think I'm gonna keep the same goal for 2015. Maybe bump it up to 45? I've gotten so busy I probably can't do 52 like I did for a couple years during undergrad but I think I could do a bit more than I did this year (even if I did cram a couple of novellas in right at the end. Shut up).
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Dec 31, 2014 19:52
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Stravinsky posted:I will be booklord next year. In that case, I'm really glad I don't read comic books.
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Dec 31, 2014 23:24
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 18:32 |
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I didn't think it came across that way at all. He wasn't trying to upset patients, he was trying to find out what they could or couldn't do/remember. You kind of have to do that. As for the soul thing, I thought that was kinda dumb just because it's such a non-question, but IIRC he asked the local pastor, not a family member. I could be wrong, though. What I found best about it was that he treated patients as entire people, not just as a walking pathology.
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Jan 1, 2015 00:26
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