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Going for 52 this year, going to be a solid mix I feel. What are people's thoughts on not finishing books, say getting through 4/5 and then quitting (because it's bad/you get the gist)? I had a number of books from last year (Dune, The 7 Habits if Highly Effective People) where I just stopped and said 'that's enough of that shite' https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/13421112-thomas
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Jan 5, 2015 23:41
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Christ, it's only the end of January and I'm already 2 books behind!
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Jan 30, 2015 02:15
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RedTonic posted:11. Read something on love - Robert Repino's Mort(e). Domesticated animals! Ants! A genocidal war against humankind! I expected a fun read, but that wasn't really what I ended up with. Repino was focused on making this a dour slog with dreadful maundering on the nature of religion, love, and humanity. Dreadfully dull, poorly paced, thinly characterized, yadda yadda. Kind of read like someone was going to write furry erotica but decided to clean it up for a general audience and then tack on poorly thought out cultural criticism for depthiness' sake. I finished it because I feel compelled to finish books I start. So that's a no? It looks beautiful, sounds exciting and fresh, but it's definitely not a recommendation? Could save myself some money...
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Feb 9, 2015 05:38
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drat, falling behind again, going to have to read some picture books.
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Mar 2, 2015 00:21
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Can someone throw me a wildcard? (note: I read a lot of SF, but also shouldn't cross off anything else on the list...) 1. The vanilla read a set number of books in a year. (so far 7/52) 2. Read a female author (can't believe I haven't yet! so bad) 3. The non-white author (not yet) 4. Philosophy 5. History 6. An essay 7. A collection of poetry 8. Something post-modern 9. Something absurdist 10. The Blind Owl (Free translation if your ok with reading on a screen or cant find a copy!) 11. Something on either hate or love 13. Something dealing with the unreal 14. Wildcard (Some one else taking the challenge will tell you what to read) 16. That one book that has been sitting on your desk waiting for a long time 17. A play 18. Biography 20. Something banned or censored 21. Short story(s) 22. A mystery The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber Not what you expect. A good example of lit crossed with SF. Beautifully written with some fantastic characters, the symbolism is what really drove it home for me. Making Habits, Breaking Habits: How to Make Changes that Stick by Jeremy Dean A thoroughly well-sourced book, the author meticulously takes us through what creates habits, where they come from, good and bad habits and then how we can change them - or why we should/should not. Very interesting look at the processes of the mind that is well written (easy to digest). A few issues with the arguments, but these were minor points. Overall a solid mix of theory and practice. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Amazing. I was worried after reading some of his short stories and The Martian Chronicles that I would get bogged down, but the world is simple yet convincing, the writing beyond elegant, and the points as salient today as ever. An absolute must-read. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino Yeah, look, the writing is good, really good, and there are some powerful images. But there's no narrative and to be honest I just felt like the metaphors were beyond me, and there's no shame in that. If there were metaphors? Only a handful of the descriptions of cities grabbed me. Definitely recommend it to creative writing students looking to study style, but aside from that, meh. Mirror of the Nameless by Luke Walker It is what it is. Not bad, author could probably work on character motivation ('We must find Ashleigh!'). The ending was pretty cool though and the action scenes were vivid and suitably horrible. Pacing was a little all over the place. Red Rising (Red Rising Trilogy #1) by Pierce Brown This is a mix between The Hunger Games and Warhammer 40,000 (which is of course heavily based on mythos and ancient empires). There was something really off with the pacing (felt like it skipped along like a jumping record) but it carried me and was definitely an engaging plot. The action is awesome, the research suitably deep for the audience and the characters are a bunch worth following, with some real standouts like Sevro. Some gender issues aside I'm looking forward to the next one in the series and all the twists and turns it will bring. Depopulation: An Investor's Guide to Value in the Twenty-First Century by Philip Auerswald, Joon Yun Reinforced some of my ideas around what the best investment opportunities would be in the future, namely recycling, healthcare and the 'meaning market'. Good short read on strategies for getting money in the near future with good references and back up data. Currently Reading: Debt: The First 5000 Years Chaos Walking Book 3 The Utopia Experiment Vietnam: Rising Dragon thehomemaster fucked around with this message at 00:04 on Mar 5, 2015 |
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Mar 5, 2015 00:01
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Cheers for the suggestions but I reckon I'll take Monte Cristo as the Wildcard as it's something I wouldn't normally read.
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Mar 5, 2015 03:50
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Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeannette Winterson
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Mar 25, 2015 09:15
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https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/13421112-thomasthehomemaster posted:
1. The vanilla read a set number of books in a year. (so far 14/52) 2. Read a female author [2/17] Paradise of the Blind; Lagoon 3. The non-white author [2/17] Paradise of the Blind; Lagoon 4. Philosophy 5. History [1/5] Vietnam: Rising Dragon; 6. An essay 7. A collection of poetry 8. Something post-modern 9. Something absurdist 10. The Blind Owl (Free translation if your ok with reading on a screen or cant find a copy!) 11. Something on either hate or love 14. Wildcard (Count of Monte Cristo) 16. That one book that has been sitting on your desk waiting for a long time 17. A play 18. Biography 21. Short story(s) 22. A mystery 8. Vietnam: Rising Dragon by Bill Hayton Read this while travelling through Viet Nam. Was a fantastic oversight of the current state of the country. It helped make sense of what I was witnessing first hand. Well written too. Definitely recommend if you are going to Viet Nam, or just interested in the country. 9. Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness Solid ending to the trilogy. Heaps of action, wasn't fussed with the introduction of a new POV (a Spackle). Maybe over-long and perhaps the writing style got grating, but it's unique and a powerful story of love and sacrifice. On par with His Dark Materials. 10. The Utopia Experiment by Dylan Evans Interesting concept, but the big problem is the narrator/author/creator of The Utopia Experiment. He's plainly unlikeable, mostly because HOW COULD YOU GO ABOUT THIS EXPERIMENT AND BE SO INCOMPETENT?!?! But what this does show is the delusion so many doomers believe in, the faith with which they hold that the world will end soon and that life was better in the past. Interestingly I am also reading Montaigne, and he also yearns for yesteryear, though not quite so far back as present day doomers. The further advanced we are the more we want it to crash? I felt like I knew most of the things this book had to say, but that the personal journey of Dylan Evans into depression and madness was interesting. A few salient points are brought up, but I guess I just got frutrated that it was so poorly thought out. 11. Julius Zebra: Rumble With The Romans by Gary Northfield Humorous, factual, illustrated - what more does a kid want? Read this for work, maybe not as good as Timmy Failure but still top quality. 12. Paradise of the Blind by Dương Thu Hương Read most of this on the flight to Viet Nam. This book has been banned in Viet Nam, though it doesn't appear that incendiary. It is an extremely touching novel about three women - a mother, her daughter and an aunt - who must each survive in their own ways. It provides great insight into what the country was like after the American War (now I'm talking like a Viet) and also what Vietnamese culture is like in general, such as food and family traditions. A good read with superb plotting, the translation is sometimes obvious, but for the most part the language is beautiful and vivd. 13. Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor Really cool ideas marred by constant character shifts and not much really happening. However, this could be a West African story telling mode, where a tale is told from many perspectives, so I don't want to judge it too harshly on my perceptions. The story involves aliens, super humans and a giant spider. Great premise but I never felt a release, although there was a good strong building of tension. There's this weird mix between ambiguity that left me frustrated at the lack of explanation, and the consistent exposition and reiteration of character thoughts/actions. Cool insight into Nigeria/Lagos (the slang!) and it's a challenging book on some levels, and for all the complicated plot lines I felt let down. 14. Clade by James Bradley Decent, quick read about the end of the world. Australian perspective told in stages that skip through time and through generations. Aside from the exposition dump at the start (pretty awful and boring really) and 1 or 2 weak segments this was a good and entertaining read. Also quite realistic but never went into too much detail. End of the world due to climate change and collapse was done more intestingly in The Book of Strange New Things, and the narrative shape of the novel was done better in Things We Didn't See Coming by Steven Amsterdam. Currently Reading: Debt: The First 5000 Years The Invisible History of the Human Race: How DNA and History Shape Our Identities and Our Futures Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic Mindfulness in Plain English Shōgun (Asian Saga #3)
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Mar 31, 2015 03:19
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Blind Sally posted:Michael Herr's Dispatches: http://www.amazon.com/Dispatches-Michael-Herr/dp/0679735259/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427828487&sr=8-1&keywords=dispatches+michael+herr Nice, as from my previous post I have read a few books on Viet Nam and just visited. This was the war book I decided to go with after visiting Ho Chi Minh City and being fascinated by it all.
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Mar 31, 2015 20:09
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Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut
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Mar 31, 2015 22:20
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Nope, although I'm trying to find it to publish it.
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Apr 4, 2015 01:37
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thehomemaster posted:https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/13421112-thomas 15. Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber Very good history of capitalism/debt/money, mostly from the point of view of 'how the f***did we get here?' A lot of interesting facts, great discussion, even-handed in many regards (capitalism =/= free market) and overall well-written, even if I noticed pet words. We all do that. The first section focuses on where debt came from, and the second looks at the history of humanity from the perspective of fiscal policy over the centuries. Must read. 16. The Invisible History of the Human Race: How DNA and History Shape Our Identities and Our Futures by Christine Kenneally The only book I've read from this year's Stella Prize shortlist. It's an indepth and fascinating look at genes and family history, DNA and our identity. It's very well-structured, informatively written and engaging. At times my mind wandered because there is a lot to ingest, but overall it's solid, with plenty of interesting anecdotes and personal accounts. Definitely recommend it for anyone interested in either their genetic past or future. 17. The Most Good You Can Do: How Effective Altruism Is Changing Ideas about Living Ethically by Peter Singer I wanted to read this book to learn a little bit more about Effective Altruism. However, you can probably get away with just reading about it online for free. But then proceeds from the book go to charity, so reading it for free online wouldn't be effective.... Nonetheless, this is a well put together documents of all the ethical reasoning and concerns that surround effective altruism aka How You Can Most Effectively Save the World! Interestingly Peter Singer never addresses whether or not people are worth saving (if you want to take a Malthusian, nihilistic view of the world). I also found it interesting on further research the types of jobs one should take in order to be an effective altruist. To me at least there seems to be a lot of contradiction, but that it's OK because it's for a Good Cause. I don't think Peter Singer presents a fullproof argument, and a lot of his arguments are based on his point of view being correct in the first place. It seems more aimed at people who already want to do good, don't know how and need a blue print for how to live an ethical life. Atfer all my thinking on the topic I've almost come to the conclusion that really unless you earn a ridiculous amount, the only thing you should be giving away is your blood (truly something that you don't need, seeing as it automatically replaces itself). Some contraditcions: - We should most effectively give our money to charities that have the best 'returns', yet we shouldn't have factory farming despite it being the most efficient source of feeding, I dunno, 7 billion people and growing. - On that topic, if going vegan is so good for the environment (it is) then why are we saving people? Surely having more people on this Earth is bad for the environment. To be fair Peter does mention sterilising the planet at one stage, but it isn't given considerable thought. - The Mongol invasion is Bad, and yet it had good consequences. Effective altruism is Good, and yet... (see above vis a vis world population) - Why push hedge fund managers, entrepreneurs and other high-flying careers on people, just because they are effective in that you earn more and can therefore give more? Interestingly there is no mention of emergency services as an altruistic career (or teachers) presumably because they don't earn enough. But also because the difference you can make is marginal over any other person who would get hired. Why is that a problem when, if you were offered a job as chemical engineer to make bioweapons you should take it because you will do marginally less harm? Is doing marginally less harm really that much more important than doing marginally more good? - Effective altruism to me means fixing the easy problems first. Consider your work day. You have a big report to do that is vital for a meeting with potential clients. But you put it off and do lots of tasks, like replying to emails, customer service, what have you. The report doesn't get done and the company loses the tender. Sure, you're moeny can fix the lives of many more people if you are treating malaia, worms and blindness, but something tells me these are momentary issues, almost feel-good charities as opposed to, I dunno, researching how to get off the planet, or even to reverse global warming? Overall I think this is a book of presumptions, and yet if you wish to give your money to charity, I would recommend this book so you don't end up giving it to the homeless because you feel bad, or something equally heart-string pulling. It also seems to have a neoliberal bent, with this focus on what the indivudl can do, how governments have failed, etc. It's almost a bit insidious, without meaning to be. Honestly, I probably have more questions about Effective Altruism now after reading it than I did before. 18. Resident Alien Volume 1: Welcome to Earth! (Resident Alien #1) by Steve Parkhouse, Peter Hogan, Philip Simon Pretty straight down the line mystery story. With an alien. Currently Reading: Shogun (Asian Saga #3) 20 Master Plots: And How to Build Them The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover's Secret FBI Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore The Iliad thehomemaster fucked around with this message at 07:35 on Apr 27, 2015 |
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Apr 27, 2015 07:16
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I didn't think it was too out there, and I'm not that fussed about reading anymore by him. This book did a pretty good job as an overview. But I will look into Practical Ethics, cheers.
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Apr 27, 2015 07:49
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Goddamn, I don't see how anyone could not enjoy Catch-22. What exactly didn't you enjoy?
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Apr 29, 2015 11:03
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Mahlertov Cocktail posted:If you didn't find the Major Major Major Major chapter even a little funny then I don't know what to tell you. I need to read that book again, it's been years. Pretty much this. The absurdity of the bureaucracy is the entire point. Probably one of the few laugh out loud books I've read! I suppose the only thing to learn from this is that not all classics are serious (at least, in form). Question though: did Heller ever write anything else at least close to as good as Catch-22?
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Apr 29, 2015 21:06
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MonotoneKimi posted:^^ I think it's up to you whether you count one book for multiple categories. You done gone read good books. Now I want to read Kevin.
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May 5, 2015 07:15
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I'm two behind, but with about 3 or 4 books near completion. It's hard to get ahead when I keep picking up new things to read (and they're compelling, like Aurora).
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Jul 17, 2015 00:55
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thehomemaster posted:
19. Something Coming Through by Paul J. McAuley DNF. Really can't recommend this. I mean, it's not bad per se just really boring. Twin narratives that I can see intertwining at some point, but it doesn't do the alternative world trope in an interesting way. Plus I really can't be bothered with SF/crime crossovers. I just don't care. Probably doesn't help that I watched Mad Max: Fury Road recently and the comparison makes this supremely dull. Counting as finished because goddamnit I'm not wasting time. 20. The Plane That Wasn't There: Why We Haven't Found Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 by Jeff Wise A thoroughly detailed account of what happened to MH 370. Conspiracy theory territory, but not particularly hard to believe, and is well-backed up by the author, an expert who had consulted for a year with other experts. Probably would have liked rebuttals to arguments against his theory. 21. The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness So good. Story in a similar vein to John Green (I imagine?), typical teenage love turmoil and finding oneself, but mixed in with all the tropes of a paranormal romance dark fantasy in a unique way. Make sure you read it. 22. The Wife Drought by Annabel Crabb At first you think this book will be about how tough women have it juggling work and home life. But the final conclusion actually rests the onus on men to change, and it is made clear that for all the hard work women and feminism have put in to changing themselves and society, men have languished and it is now up to them to evolve so that both sides of the equation are in harmony. Crabb is a great writer so it was an enjoyable read, and it seems well-researched, I think I've seen a fair few of the studies reproduced since. Overall very interesting historical look at modern day gender politics. Of course, one thing to note is that the wife drought refers to a lack of wives for women, and so this book doesn't really look at alternative families (polyamory, childless couples, and who knows what the future holds). 23. The War of Art by Steven Pressfield Really inspiring stuff. Became bit airy-fairy in the last segment, but overall gets you pumped up to achieve. Frames the difficulties of living in quite a unique and succinct manner, with plenty of quotes to use on a daily basis. 24. Convergence by David M. Henley READ THESE BOOKS IF YOU LIKE SCI FI! After having watched Mad Max, I think this series is quite similar, at least in style. Fast-paced action, multiple perspectives to drive the plot, and a very, VERY solid world that underpins it all. Content wise it's a very suitable climax. You have to appreciate how David has put this story together, if nothing else. The threads tie together and the pacing is solid. I suppose I would give it four stars because it didn't blow me away like, say, Blindsight did, but it is far above a lot of other books out there. Do yourself a favour and pick up the trilogy if you want a satisfying story that plays with fascinating ideas, with plenty of action and suspense to keep you hooked. 25. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel Great writing. At first I felt it kept going off on weird tangents and I just wanted to know more about the apocalypse, but Mandel brings all the threads together in a very satisfying way. Also, very optimistic ending which I suppose you need sometimes. 26. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon Well, that's one way to end a book. The book is confusing, though I'm not sure what it was exactly that did this. The plot is straightforward enough, though scenes are entirely dreamlike. The characters are interesting, though their name are so strange and their entries and exits so quick it's like a whirlwind. I love conspiracy theories, so that was a great element running through the whole novel. The best and most enjoyable parts are the use of language and imagery, and the very quotable, tangible sections that made me stop and appreciate. 27. Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson Halfway through the novel we end in disaster. Specifically we end this first part among the waves. Interestingly the book itself ends among the waves. Obviously the ocean plays a big part in our lives, and KSR mirrors this motif nicely. This is a generation ship story, but it's most than that. It's an oddly pessimistic view of escaping to the stars and leaving our cradle. It's a coming-of-age story, but not your conventional one, not by a longshot. It's a playful frolic, mooning KSR's critics. It's a fantastic exploration of science and human will and just how far we'll go to live. The characters are great, even if the pacing at the end falls away a little. Perhaps it could have done with a little extra editing. But in the end, it's a Must Read. Also, it would make a fantastic TV miniseries and I would pay good money for this to happen. 28. The Next Together (The Next Together #1) by Lauren James DNF. If I can't be bothered with a book I at least continue until halfway. So it is with this. I mean, I get it. It's good. It's for teen girls. It's actually decently written, and has a very fun, as well as unique, premise. I don't need to know how it ends, but I'd still recommend it for lovers of YA. 29. The Gervais Principle: The Complete Series, with a Bonus Essay on Office Space (Ribbonfarm Roughs) by Venkatesh G. Rao Another DNF. Got most of the way through it. A kind of convoluted look at how office politics plays out. Probably would have helped if I had watched The Office (American) to get a better grasp of the examples. Still, I took away a few fun little things, such as office hierarhcies and how the three groups interact (it's fun to spot these in your own office). Currently Reading: The River and The Book Summer in Algiers Discover Your Inner Economist: Use Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist Shogun (Asian Saga #3) 20 Master Plots: And How to Build Them The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover's Secret FBI Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore The Iliad thehomemaster fucked around with this message at 07:09 on Jul 23, 2015 |
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Jul 23, 2015 07:03
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Tzen posted:Thanks for this review/suggestion. Just finished The Martian and I'll be making Aurora my next fiction read. Gonna start it this weekend! Nice!
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Jul 23, 2015 21:18
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