Hey, did you ever read Sandman?
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What are you reading? (October 2015)
- Thread starter Maklershed
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Hey, did you ever read Sandman?
Manmademan
Member
Bought vol.1 from Amazon, haven't started it yet. I get distracted easily.
I think I need something much different than the luminaries after I'm done with it, so perhaps I should get to it.
Manmademan
Member
I don't read any Victorian novels, but that particular book sticks certain characters in the "clearly a villain" and "clearly a saint" categories without a lot of depth.
I'm not done yet (I'm up to the part with the seance) but it's a valid complaint.
Kyleripman
Member
Just finished:
(Thanks Witcher OT for the cover image)
I haven't played any of the games, but I really enjoyed this series (this was the last one). The fan translation work was very good in the last few volumes. The series got progressively darker as it went along, but it was the dialogue and relationships between characters that made it special for me.
(Thanks Witcher OT for the cover image)
I haven't played any of the games, but I really enjoyed this series (this was the last one). The fan translation work was very good in the last few volumes. The series got progressively darker as it went along, but it was the dialogue and relationships between characters that made it special for me.
Puck Beaverton
Banned
I keep flipping my opinion on whether I'm enjoying what James Ellroy is doing in White Jazz. David Klein is a fucked up character even by Ellroy's standards so there's that at least.
More directed to sparky who associates that with v novels
Imp the Dimp
Member
OK guys, finished Gone Girl within a week and hated the ending, but it was overally pretty fucking good.
For the next book, I'm looking into Khaled Hosseini. Should I read "Kite Runner" or a "A Thousand Splendid Suns"?
For the next book, I'm looking into Khaled Hosseini. Should I read "Kite Runner" or a "A Thousand Splendid Suns"?
kinoki
Illness is the doctor to whom we pay most heed; to kindness, to knowledge, we make promise only; pain we obey.
It's actually really fun. I really enjoyed reading it and have grown to love it during this past year. It's a bit tough but well worth the effort.
On the last of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy: Blue Mars. (Although it seems like he's continued the series? Are the other installments as good?)
I thought A Thousand Splendid Suns was a lot stronger than Kite Runner. It doesn't help that The Kite Runner's protagonist is pretty unlikable.
Imp the Dimp
Member
Getting back into reading after about a year. Working on the Inheritiors by William Golding for my fiction piece and finishing The Outline of History by HG Wells for my nonfiction, and Saddartha for my audiobook.
The Outline of History is quickly becoming my favorite book of all time.
The Outline of History is quickly becoming my favorite book of all time.
Mossybrew
Banned
This and Infinite Jest are two books I just could not finish, and it's extremely rare for me to start a book and not finish it. Got about halfway though both and said fuck it, not enjoying this in the slightest.
You should at least read Dubliners. It's short stories, and Joyce's prose (in that, anyway) isn't over complicated; it's just beautifully composed.
You're ok in my book.
Making slow progress on Piecake's Book of the Year, Make it Stick. Some profound information. When I return to grad school, I plan to utilize what I am reading. And when I can, I'll implement what I can in teaching little ones about HIV and sex.
I am juggling that with Kite Runner. I reached the point where Hassan reached a certain arc, and pounding the point in that the protagonist is a dick.
I am juggling that with Kite Runner. I reached the point where Hassan reached a certain arc, and pounding the point in that the protagonist is a dick.
Maklershed
Member
Just bought A Fire Upon the Deep for $2.99 since its a Kindle deal today. There are a few other books up there I recognize too ...
The Last Policeman
2312
Cider House Rules
Spin
Parable of the Talents <-- fantastic but make sure to read Parable of the Sower first
The Last Policeman
2312
Cider House Rules
Spin
Parable of the Talents <-- fantastic but make sure to read Parable of the Sower first
So far I've read:
and
I'll start with Ancillary Mercy. The first book in the series I thought was great. The second, eh, don't want to say it was bad because it wasn't but I certainly didn't like it as much as the first. The final one, Ancillary Mercy is better than the second but still not as good as the first I think. What drags the series down to me is really the military aspect of the novels, assuming I'm to believe that these ships and soldiers are actually something akin to what we would consider military. Justice of Toren's a pretty cool character and does some cool things but I never really feel the same about anyone else. Perhaps I missed something somewhere and we're only dealing with the highest ranking personnel of each squad so perhaps not everyone's into tea parties and shit and elsewhere on Breq's ship are a bunch of bad ass mofo's cleaning their guns but I feel that everything dealing with the crew of her ship is kind of silly. The story wraps up in an, I dunno, a not so satisfying but maybe the most plausible way it could given the world it's set in so perhaps as satisfying as it could be without turning anyone into Space Jesus?
I'd like to read more in the universe, I think Justice of Toren's a cool character and the book definitely leaves room for more stories but I think the first book's still the best in the series.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet was pretty good. Just a small crew hopping from place to place during a long job. Less stuff of consequence happening and more character interactions so it was fun for me as I generally like these sorts of tales. Between the two books I read so far this month this one's my favorite.
and
I'll start with Ancillary Mercy. The first book in the series I thought was great. The second, eh, don't want to say it was bad because it wasn't but I certainly didn't like it as much as the first. The final one, Ancillary Mercy is better than the second but still not as good as the first I think. What drags the series down to me is really the military aspect of the novels, assuming I'm to believe that these ships and soldiers are actually something akin to what we would consider military. Justice of Toren's a pretty cool character and does some cool things but I never really feel the same about anyone else. Perhaps I missed something somewhere and we're only dealing with the highest ranking personnel of each squad so perhaps not everyone's into tea parties and shit and elsewhere on Breq's ship are a bunch of bad ass mofo's cleaning their guns but I feel that everything dealing with the crew of her ship is kind of silly. The story wraps up in an, I dunno, a not so satisfying but maybe the most plausible way it could given the world it's set in so perhaps as satisfying as it could be without turning anyone into Space Jesus?
I'd like to read more in the universe, I think Justice of Toren's a cool character and the book definitely leaves room for more stories but I think the first book's still the best in the series.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet was pretty good. Just a small crew hopping from place to place during a long job. Less stuff of consequence happening and more character interactions so it was fun for me as I generally like these sorts of tales. Between the two books I read so far this month this one's my favorite.
Red Mars because I got it recommended on here.
Not too far into it but I'm enjoying it so far.
Before that I rushed through a book called Outpost by Adam Parker
An end of the world/zombie/apocalyptic thing.
I really enjoyed it even though the writing is kind of shit.
I'm going to read the rest of the series soon.
After those I'm looking to start of Frank Tayell's books, another zombie series.
Not too far into it but I'm enjoying it so far.
Before that I rushed through a book called Outpost by Adam Parker
An end of the world/zombie/apocalyptic thing.
I really enjoyed it even though the writing is kind of shit.
I'm going to read the rest of the series soon.
After those I'm looking to start of Frank Tayell's books, another zombie series.
Easystride
Member
I make a point to check the Kindle Daily Deals every day, and this is the first time in a while I've seen so many good books. I can highly recommend Cider House Rules.
I have been wanting to get into Sci-Fi, so I might give Fire Upon the Deep a try. Is it easy to get into?
AngmarsKing701
Member
Wow I am stuck in a reading rut. Still only 2/3 through A Crucible of Souls and actually can't remember the last time I picked it up. I hate dropping books but this one is just boring me.
Ugh.
I gotta switch out of fantasy for a little bit and see if that shakes things up I guess.
Ugh.
I gotta switch out of fantasy for a little bit and see if that shakes things up I guess.
chekhonte
Member
Yeah, Borges is the best. It's been hard for me to read much else since first reading his short stories 5 years ago.
Funyarinpa
Member
Reading Haruki Murakami's Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki And His Years Of Pilgrimage. I'm enjoying it immensely. I just hope that it will not become less enjoyable over time like Kafka On The Shore did. It's been a while since I read so much of a book in one sitting.
Will finish The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert A Heinlein afterwards, which I really liked.
Will finish The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert A Heinlein afterwards, which I really liked.
BlueDogAnchorite
Member
I finished reading all of the new Star Wars canon books.
The standouts to me were Lost Stars, and Tarkin. The rest was good to ok.
I thought Aftermath was decent. The interludes were the best parts of the book for me.
Other books I read:
I Kill Giants- This book was very well written, and the story was sad. The art was beautiful to look at. Highly recommended.
The standouts to me were Lost Stars, and Tarkin. The rest was good to ok.
I thought Aftermath was decent. The interludes were the best parts of the book for me.
Other books I read:
I Kill Giants- This book was very well written, and the story was sad. The art was beautiful to look at. Highly recommended.
Glad you are liking it!
Also, I wouldnt get too bogged down with figuring things out if you don't understand it the first time you come across something you have trouble with. The book practices what it preaches and uses spaced-repetition, meaning that you will see those ideas in the future, and everything will be recapped in the concluding chapter.
Since you are in South Africa atm, if you want to put these ideas into practice for languages and want a detailed guide how to do it I would check out Fluent Forever. I am using the strategies in it to re-learn Chinese and I am finding far more effective than my previous study strategies.
I would also check out Anki. It is a spaced-repetition testing program that you can download off the web. That is what I am using to study Chinese and study American History.
I, Claudius
Entertaining light reading. It's surprisingly consumable considering how it covers a really repulsive era of Roman history, but Graves writes it with such a contemporary touch that it feels so detached and unreal. It's an effective style though, because it focuses on the narrative and it becomes impossible at times to differentiate between the historical content and the fictional flourish, although I guess when it comes to history of this sort, even non-fictional sources can be questionable. One thing that stuck with me at the end of the book was the encounter young Claudius had with Pollio and Livy in the library and the debate about how history should be written. It seems that while Claudius' narrative sides with Pollio, Graves' preference is definitely Livy's - easily consumable even if the factual content can sometimes be questionable.
Entertaining light reading. It's surprisingly consumable considering how it covers a really repulsive era of Roman history, but Graves writes it with such a contemporary touch that it feels so detached and unreal. It's an effective style though, because it focuses on the narrative and it becomes impossible at times to differentiate between the historical content and the fictional flourish, although I guess when it comes to history of this sort, even non-fictional sources can be questionable. One thing that stuck with me at the end of the book was the encounter young Claudius had with Pollio and Livy in the library and the debate about how history should be written. It seems that while Claudius' narrative sides with Pollio, Graves' preference is definitely Livy's - easily consumable even if the factual content can sometimes be questionable.
nailbombxx
Member
The level of complexity and meaning that he was able to build in five fucking pages is nothing short of mindboggling. Borges was a genius.
RageWaffles
Member
Sillily, I started three books within a couple days of each other:
I finally got around to starting Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. Only on the first chapter (Columbus and Caribbean stuff), andmy godI was having to take breaks every page or two to process the many awfulnesses that were being discussed.
A couple days later I remembered that the newest Mistborn book, Shadows of Self was out. I didn't far into itmaybe 10 pages. I'm bit fuzzy on how the last one ended, but that doesn't matter as the very next day...
I received an early review copy of The Vegetarian by Han Kang. Only about 30 pages in, but so far it's written from the POV of an absolutely insufferable husband, which is becoming rather grating. Looks like it changes to third-person a bit later, so I'm looking forward to that. Seems like it's going to be a weird one; I'm looking forward to the rest of it.
I finally got around to starting Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. Only on the first chapter (Columbus and Caribbean stuff), andmy godI was having to take breaks every page or two to process the many awfulnesses that were being discussed.
A couple days later I remembered that the newest Mistborn book, Shadows of Self was out. I didn't far into itmaybe 10 pages. I'm bit fuzzy on how the last one ended, but that doesn't matter as the very next day...
I received an early review copy of The Vegetarian by Han Kang. Only about 30 pages in, but so far it's written from the POV of an absolutely insufferable husband, which is becoming rather grating. Looks like it changes to third-person a bit later, so I'm looking forward to that. Seems like it's going to be a weird one; I'm looking forward to the rest of it.
obin_gam
Member
I spent like an hour or so yesterday evening trying to find a book that sounded interensting. Literally nothing spoke to me. I have a helluva lot of books on my "to read list" at goodreads, but I wasn't feeling any of them at this time. (I'm waiting in vain for an audiobook version of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet)
So I went with this one at audible
It was the least "non-exciting" book I could find for now. I hope it's good and creepy. I'm expecting something like Super 8/Cigarette Burns in terms of scaryness.
So I went with this one at audible
It was the least "non-exciting" book I could find for now. I hope it's good and creepy. I'm expecting something like Super 8/Cigarette Burns in terms of scaryness.
I think this is an easy book to read even if you don't read often and would rather do audiobooks because the cast of characters is relatively small and the plot isn't so much their job but their day to day lives and so the way the book's structured each chapter's pretty much standalone. You could read a chapter a weak and spread the book over months and not really forget anything of consequence from an earlier chapter that would make a later one hard to get.
A Human Becoming
More than a Member
Finished The Dragon Reborn, Book Three of Wheel of Time. While I enjoyed it I found the book much less fun than the previous two making it more difficult to ignore the flaws in the series. I also disliked how Robert Jordan disregarded the main character for most of the story, which I heard becomes more common as the series goes on.
I'm tempted to see the series until the end, but I'm not sure it's worth it.
I'm tempted to see the series until the end, but I'm not sure it's worth it.
eddievanclaylen
Member
Reading through this one for the first time. Really good so far. Better than the movie!
chekhonte
Member
He really is fucking amazing. It's too bad that he wasn't really widely recognized as one of the greatest writers until Baudrillard wrote simulacra and simulation and even then it took 30 years for that to catch on outside of small, French academic circles.
D
Deleted member 125677
Unconfirmed Member
Do you have someone(s) to discuss it with? Maybe the highest form of knowledge is achieved dialectically, maybe not, but discussing Plato is fun. Also check out The Republic, for the epic democracy slam if nothing else.
EDIT: I'm reading All The Pretty Horses and it's pretty good. I don't think I've read a pretty good western before. Blood Meridian and The Dark Tower don't count.
kinoki
Illness is the doctor to whom we pay most heed; to kindness, to knowledge, we make promise only; pain we obey.
Broke my fast of reading with Murakami's Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. Now I'm tackling Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. Going to Scotland for a week so it'll be nice company for the minutes and hours spent in various locales.
It's actually really fun. I really enjoyed reading it and have grown to love it during this past year. It's a bit tough but well worth the effort.
Well i'm in no hurry to read it. So i'm just kinda chipping away. Enjoying the prose.
I had no idea it was 700 pages, I got it on kindle. I did notice after a while that my percentage wasn't moving on it!!
You just reminded me: Robert Harris' third novel of his Cicero triology is coming out this month - I think.
The first two books are excellent. Highly recommend it to anyone with the vaguest interest in the Romans.
EDIT: It's out already! <runs to kindle>
Jane Eyre is GREAT! I did find it a little slow to start off - once she is out of her childhood it gets more interesting. The prose is sooooo good.
And more Gothic-y than I imagined.
I spent like an hour or so yesterday evening trying to find a book that sounded interensting. Literally nothing spoke to me. I have a helluva lot of books on my "to read list" at goodreads, but I wasn't feeling any of them at this time. (I'm waiting in vain for an audiobook version of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet)
So I went with this one at audible
It was the least "non-exciting" book I could find for now. I hope it's good and creepy. I'm expecting something like Super 8/Cigarette Burns in terms of scaryness.
Night Film isn't scary at all. I was really disappointed with it - the characters being bland, and everything just being handed to the main character are just a few of the shortcomings the book has. Near the end of the book there are a few tense scenes, but the end completely invalidates it by turning into utter nonsensical drivel.
The idea behind the book was neat, I'll give it that.
kinoki
Illness is the doctor to whom we pay most heed; to kindness, to knowledge, we make promise only; pain we obey.
I'm enjoying the childhood immensely so that'll bode well for the rest of the book.
Also, hang in there with Leopold Bloom &c, they're a fun bunch if you let the book sink in.
BrokenFiction
Member
Does anyone know of any good narrative-based (as opposed to say a text book) accounts of human pre-history and migrations? Heard an interesting TED talk this morning, but wanted to read more about it.
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