Support NeoGAF

[Dispatch]

I'm still slogging through Hobb's Assassin's Quest. I'll finish it soon, but it's not grabbing me.

In other news, I'm going to start my umpteenth reading of Hamlet, because I'm teaching it. It's been a few years since I've read, watched, or taught it, so I'm really looking forward to that.

 

[fakefaker]

Blew through Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear as it didn't really grab me and I wanted it done. I've heard good things about my next read: City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett.

 

[dukeoflegs]

Picked up The Martian on Sunday for my kindle and really loving it. About halfway through right now.

 

[ShaneB]

Finished up The Son. Gave it 3/5. Loved the Eli chapters, liked the Peter chapters, did not care much at all for the Jeannie chapters.

I'll be reading this next.

The Secret Wisdom of the Earth by Christopher Scotton

 

[Cade]

The Anubis Gates is one of my favourite novels, and, in my opinion, much superior to On Stranger Tides.

I'll check that one out then, thanks!

 

[aidan]

2015 Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlist was announced today. It's great!

• The Girl with All the Gifts by M. R. Carey (Orbit)
• The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber (Canongate)
• Europe in Autumn by Dave Hutchinson (Solaris)
• Memory of Water by Emmi Itäranta (HarperVoyager)
• The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (Orbit)
• Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel (Picador)

 

[Kiritsugu]

Rationality: From AI to Zombies

For those of you who know about Less Wrong, it's the sequences in book form, reorganized, streamlined, and partially rewritten.

For those who don't know about Less Wrong, it's a book about rationality (defined as "systematically achieving your goals, whatever they may be") that reads like a series of blog posts.

 

[RangerX]

Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Notes from underground.

 

[Necrovex]

With Israel being in the headlining news over the past few months, I've been wanting to expand my knowledge on that nation. Any good books that I can read on that topic? Goodread has been promoting "My Promised Land," has anyone gotten the opportunity to read that?

 

[sparky2112]

With Israel being in the headlining news over the past few months, I've been wanting to expand my knowledge on that nation. Any good books that I can read on that topic? Goodread has been promoting "My Promised Land," has anyone gotten the opportunity to read that?

There is an older book about the founding of Israel, and the terrible violence that surrounded it called 'O Jerusalem!' by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins. Well worth your time if you can find it.

 

[Palmer_v1]

Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear.

I've seen this mentioned a few times. Can someone give me a non-spoiler idea of what to expect? I don't like reading the synopsis' when they so often spoil large swaths of story.

 

[aidan]

I've seen this mentioned a few times. Can someone give me a non-spoiler idea of what to expect? I don't like reading the synopsis' when they so often spoil large swaths of story.

Steampunk adventure starring prostitutes in alternate-history Seattle.

 

[Kiritsugu]

Heh, I had wondered if that was where your name came from.

Well, Eliezer took the name from Fate/Zero.

So how different is the book from the blog posts, really? Worth reading if you've already read most of them?

Not worth it if you're looking for new content. It is the best way to read (or re-read) the sequences.

http://lesswrong.com/lw/lvb/rationality_from_ai_to_zombies/

 

[Palmer_v1]

Steampunk adventure starring prostitutes in alternate-history Seattle.

Thanks!

I kind of want something... disposable to read right now, and this sounds like it will work. Entertaining enough to keep me reading, but without needing to think about it too much!

 

[Krauser Kat]

Quicksilver [Baroque Cycle book one]

its really fun and really long. But i am trudging my way through it. Half Cock shaftoe is a masterpiece.

 

[MikeyB]

A text on consumer law and policy. It is for work. I thought it would be dry as dust, but it's really interesting.

 

[Necrovex]

There is an older book about the founding of Israel, and the terrible violence that surrounded it called 'O Jerusalem!' by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins. Well worth your time if you can find it.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll snoop around and see what I can dig up. If it is available electronically then I can get it.

Just finished the second Harry Potter book. It was a pretty mediocre entry to the series. Some good world building moments and the reveal at the end was exciting, but overall it dragged pretty hard. I faintly remember the third book was legitimately good but I'll find that out next month.

Now I need to figure out what to read next. I find read a simple book before moving back to interesting title. I might finally tackle some of the new Star Wars EU novels before starting Station 11, Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, or City of Stairs.

 

[sparky2112]

Quicksilver [Baroque Cycle book one]

its really fun and really long. But i am trudging my way through it. Half Cock shaftoe is a masterpiece.

Jack *really* comes into his own in the second book, so if you like him now, just wait.

 

[Lumiere]

2015 Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlist was announced today. It's great!

• The Girl with All the Gifts by M. R. Carey (Orbit)
• The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber (Canongate)
• Europe in Autumn by Dave Hutchinson (Solaris)
• Memory of Water by Emmi Itäranta (HarperVoyager)
• The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North (Orbit)
• Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel (Picador)

That really is a great shortlist! I've read 4 from the list (also have one more on my library queue right now) and enjoyed all of them. I'd actually have a hard time picking a favorite

 

[fakefaker]

Thanks!

I kind of want something... disposable to read right now, and this sounds like it will work. Entertaining enough to keep me reading, but without needing to think about it too much!

I'd read the first chapter just in case you don't like the first person story telling. From reviews on goodreads some people luv it, and some people don't, me being in the latter.

Karen Memory on Amazon

 

[Rug Monkey]

I'm on a Thomas Hardy binge at the moment

Reading The Mayor of Caterbridge

Just got 19 of his books from Amazon for my Kindle, as they were all free

 

[kamineko]

Playing RE Rev2 reminded me that I am less familiar with Kafka's stories than I am his novels.

I've been picking at this, too

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

23. Last to Rise - Francis Black, April 8th, 2.5/5
24.

Finally finished the series. Something I could never get around: The series starts with guns just being invented and they somehow were already pistol sized. Not only that, but by the end of the series they had rifles that could hit at several thousand yards. And they didn't start with muzzle loaders, they started with honest-to-god pistols. And they had a way to make magic turn into energy but somehow couldn't grasp electricity. And electricity was in the book! They just couldn't figure it out.

Suspensions of disbelief only get you so far in fiction when you have to suspend things that weigh a ton.

Up next: Shit, I don't know. Still working on the first one, and I'm probably going to be reading Cold Ceral to my son so that'll take awhile. And I don't know what I expected from Pablo Neruda but it certainly wasn't a book that's almost 3" thick. Though I do like that the poems are available in Spanish as well as translations by various people. Holmes on the Range is a mystery (duh) in the Old West (double duh). I recommended it to a friend of mine who only get interested in books after reading Sherlock and some Elmore Leonard, so I figured it'd be a good present to him. He died from cancer shortly after, so I'm reading the series. (There wasn't a series when he died, for the record.)

The 13 1/2 lives of Captain Bluebear : being the demibiography of a seagoing bear ... and excerpts from the 'Encyclopedia of the marvels, life forms and other phenomena of Zamonia and its environs,' by Professor Abdullah Nightingale - Moers, Walter, 1957-

Holmes on the range - Hockensmith, Steve.

Cold cereal - Rex, Adam.

Johannes Cabal, the necromancer - Howard, Jonathan L.

Slice of cherry - Reeves, Dia.

Nobody gets the girl : a comic book novel - Maxey, James.

The poetry of Pablo Neruda - Neruda, Pablo, 1904-1973.

Greenglass House - Milford, Kate.

 

[BentMyWookiee]

I finally caught up on A Song of Ice and Fire and just finished reading A Dance With Dragons. I really enjoyed it and can't wait to see what happens with the characters after this. The next book can't come fast enough!

I was in the mood for some Sci-fi and have just started a book that has been sitting on my shelf for quite awhile. Dan Simmons' Hyperion

I have seen this book mentioned on many top Sci-fi lists and have been meaning to dive into it for years, but just never did for some reason. I actually had no idea what the book is about before starting it (I don't usually read a synopsis or back of the book since I like to go in fairly blind). I'm only about 175 pages in so far, but I am enjoying it and very interested in finding out where it's going. I know there are a total of four books in the series but I don't know anything about them. I'm hoping they're all good and keep me interested enough to read them all.

 

[Wurst]

Never judge a book by its cover. Well, I at least hoped this book would be good judging by this incredible cover design. I didn't quite enjoy it, though. It had a nice lighthearted but grim style to it, but it failed to grip me. Waited for something to happen, but to no avail.

I went straight to the newest fantasy sensation. 25% in and I love it.

 

[Bazza]

Finished these so far this month, I liked the Dread Empire books, they took me a little time to get into but worth it in the end, I will read the prequel and sequels in the series at some point.

I didn't think I was going to get on with the Garret P.I. books initially, it wasn't till I was about 80% done with the first that things started to click and I really got into the story.

Well into book 3 now, my only gripe with Glen Cook is the fact that most of his stuff is not available on Kindle, I know it makes no sense but I actually get more enjoyment out of reading on a Kindle than I do a physical book, probably because I like being able to sit out in the garden and read in the evening with a smoke & cup of tea without having to worry about not being able to see what I'm reading because its to dark.

 

[Nymerio]

Man, I love the Garrett, P.I. books. They're some of the funniest books I've read.

 

[JokerAceX]

Just finished Kate Daniels Book 8 and Gunmetal Magic

Started reading Mercy Thompson Book 1

The Expanse Book 1

and The Well of Ascension

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Alright finished The Religion of Democracy: Seven Liberals and the American Moral Tradition for my next amzn vine reads.

Unfortunately this book is a pretty dull read. The story is told in a biographical format but goes on way too many tangents. Worst than that the author puts in their own opinion and tries to be witty during these reads that it feels like the writer is just rambling the whole way through. For example in the chapter on John Adams, more time is spent on naming prolific preachers of the early states than on him. It becomes a more interesting read on seeing how the preachers are battling over traditional christian thinking and acceptance of how one ought to live their lives, than it is on John Adams work on helping shape the country. What could have been a great read ends up being pretty dull and difficult to get through in these 400 pages. Good luck trying to even read 50 pages a day as youll be bored and fall asleep many times in even your 50 pg chunk each day.

 

[besada]

https://review.oysterbooks.com/p/CsJZWweDo3pnr3cFHXfu9k/100-best-books-of-the-decade-so-far

I've only read three on the list, although another three are already on my reading list. What about the rest of you? How does the list seem to you?

 

[Dandy Crocodile]

https://review.oysterbooks.com/p/CsJZWweDo3pnr3cFHXfu9k/100-best-books-of-the-decade-so-far

I've only read three on the list, although another three are already on my reading list. What about the rest of you? How does the list seem to you?

I've read
This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Many of the books on the list are ones I've heard of or ones that literature-savvy patrons who come into the library request from me. A few choices that the local book club has read.

I do like the inclusion of some YA books, but I wasn't a huge fan of those that I've read that were on the list.

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

Started this because it was the shortest book in my stack. I'm a few chapters in and it's very interesting so far. The only thing that's put me off the book is the note from the publisher at the beginning (yeah, I read just about everything that's in between the two covers).

Phobos Books comes of age...comes of age in a time as turbulent as the one described in this book. Comes of age during a time when Somebody - somebody with eerie similarities to Dr. Know - may destroy the world under the guise of saving it. Who is that Somebody? The President? The American nation? Or is each one of us that Somebody?

The multivoiced citizenry, struggling to be heard as individuals, is relentlessly herded by pollsters and politicos into a giant chorale so as to sing a single son of Patria. How many of us can remember a time when we all, as a nation, sang the song of War as though the words and rhythm sprang spontaneously from out own just hearts? How many of us can remember when millions from around the world joined voices to chant the song of Peace?

Shall we choose to be citizens of the New World, America; or shall we choose to be citizens of the New World, Earth?

Science fiction has plotted the evolution of governing principles and government bodies from national to planetary, from planetary to extraplanetary. Holy scripture may seem predictive of the future to some; but at Phobos we prefer our science fiction hard. Our scriptures are literary, and out scriptures tell us: The Future is Here.

Gag gag gag. I had to check the date of publication - 2003, if you were wondering - to see what the midset of the 'citizenry' was for comparison's sake. Honest to God, that nearly made me put the book down. I'm glad I stuck with it because the book is a interesting take on this type of story and I can't wait to get further into it.

https://review.oysterbooks.com/p/CsJZWweDo3pnr3cFHXfu9k/100-best-books-of-the-decade-so-far

I've only read three on the list, although another three are already on my reading list. What about the rest of you? How does the list seem to you?

Sadly the page won't load here at work so I'll have to check it out later.

 

[Tragicomedy]

I've only read three on the list, although another three are already on my reading list. What about the rest of you? How does the list seem to you?

Seems like a fairly safe list, overall. I've read:

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain
Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
The Round House by Louise Erdrich

There are only six other books on that list that I plan on reading:

Going Clear by Lawrence Wright
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Thank You For Your Service by David Finkel
Redeployment by Phil Klay
Slow Getting Up by Nate Jackson
Flash Boys by Michael Lewis

 

[Mumei]

https://review.oysterbooks.com/p/CsJZWweDo3pnr3cFHXfu9k/100-best-books-of-the-decade-so-far

I've only read three on the list, although another three are already on my reading list. What about the rest of you? How does the list seem to you?

I've read two - Americanah and Annihilation. I'm not sure how I feel about the list. There are some books that were published in the last five years that I enjoyed so much that I couldn't imagine their not being included, but I don't know what books I'd want to kick off to make room for them without having read more.

 

[Mr.Swag]

I've read 7 of those on that list, but own 12

Not bad.

Heard about half of them

So many books, so little time

 

[ShaneB]

https://review.oysterbooks.com/p/CsJZWweDo3pnr3cFHXfu9k/100-best-books-of-the-decade-so-far

I've only read three on the list, although another three are already on my reading list. What about the rest of you? How does the list seem to you?

Have read 7 of them, and have a bunch of others already on my to-read list, and will add a bunch more. In the top 10 I really like the sound of "Skippy Dies" and "The Unnamed"

 

[jtb]

Open City? did not like.

 

[Necrovex]

https://review.oysterbooks.com/p/CsJZWweDo3pnr3cFHXfu9k/100-best-books-of-the-decade-so-far

I've only read three on the list, although another three are already on my reading list. What about the rest of you? How does the list seem to you?

I've only read two of the books listed on there, Goon Squad, and Flash Boys. I need to step up my reading game it seems!

 

[survivor]

https://review.oysterbooks.com/p/CsJZWweDo3pnr3cFHXfu9k/100-best-books-of-the-decade-so-far

I've only read three on the list, although another three are already on my reading list. What about the rest of you? How does the list seem to you?

Let's see

Life After Life (only half of it though)
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
Tenth of December
The Goldfinch
Dear Life
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (half of it, this book really sucked)

Lots of titles I already have on my to read list and some I wouldn't expect to see them make it.

 

[king_kerry2]

Stephen Hawking's Illustrated A Brief History of Time/Universe in a Nutshell

So far the writing and use of illustration and diagrams makes it easy to understand some of the complicated theories and concepts of time and the universe. A good read if you enjoy Interstellar or just knowing more about our place in the universe.

Dark Places

Piggybacking off of finishing Gone Girl.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

https://review.oysterbooks.com/p/CsJZWweDo3pnr3cFHXfu9k/100-best-books-of-the-decade-so-far

I've only read three on the list, although another three are already on my reading list. What about the rest of you? How does the list seem to you?

I have Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. Surprised nonfiction got representation.

 

[tariniel]

I just finished Malazan #7 Reaper's Gale last week and picked up #8 Toll the Hounds. I can see the light at the end of the series boys! This has been a long one...

 

[Mr.Swag]

If yall haven't read 11/22/63 then get on that

Also, if you feel like reading The Goldfinch, read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay instead.

 

[Necrovex]

If yall haven't read 11/22/63 then get on that

Also, if you feel like reading The Goldfinch, read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay instead.

Why not read all three?! What's up with the polarizing opinions when it comes to Goldfinch?

I also been meaning to read 11/22/63 but that page length is murdering my desire. :-(

 

[Mumei]

Why not read all three?! What's up with the polarizing opinions when it comes to Goldfinch?

I also been meaning to read 11/22/63 but that page length is murdering my desire. :-(

I haven't read it, but I have read this.

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

Days after she was awarded the Pulitzer, Wood told Vanity Fair, “I think that the rapture with which this novel has been received is further proof of the infantilization of our literary culture: a world in which adults go around reading Harry Potter.”

And just what's wrong with that? Christ. "If you're not reading Proust in the original French you should just go kill yourself." I get his point but he could have phrased it better.

 

[Mr.Swag]

Why not read all three?! What's up with the polarizing opinions when it comes to Goldfinch?

I also been meaning to read 11/22/63 but that page length is murdering my desire. :-(

Goldfinch is good enough.
Just doesn't feel worth the page count.
Those three books I mentioned add up to about 2,500 pages. Only two of them deserve to be that long tho.



On another note, just had an amazing moment in life. I was sitting outside on my white chair reading with my book in hand when the roar of the Air force jets from the base two miles away cause the book to shake slightly. Crazy. Also I look around and the grass looks so green, the sky so blue and white. My dogs so beautiful, and I'm just happy .


I'm not even reading that great a book, Decision Points by Bush.
Only a couple pages in and yea, still don't get why he was leader of the free world.

 

[aeolist]

i'm cross-posting this from another thread. this is regarding the new neal stephenson book seveneves.

bumping because i just finished reading this, my girlfriend works at a book store and got me an advance reader copy. by way of background i've read all of stephenson's novels except zodiac. my favorite by far (one of my all time favorite books in fact) is anathem, and i thought reamde was a huge letdown.

Spoiler

overall i think this is better than reamde but not by a lot. it is very obviously a book centered around some tech ideas stephenson had without much else. after reading the synopsis i was expecting most of the book to be centered around the far future time period but about 3/4 is present/near future dealing with the apocalypse. this part is pretty good but rambles on from time to time. it goes some places you wouldn't expect and has some solid characters.

after the timeskip there's basically no plotline and it ends really abruptly, which readers of snow crash and the diamond age will find familiar. the history side of things is interesting in that the pre-timeskip period is 5000 years old and thus has become a sort of epic legend that was almost entirely captured on high-resolution video. the path of development that humanity followed is well thought-out and unique, both technologically and socially, but he does almost nothing with it.

the prose is classic stephenson infodump style, maybe even heavier than before. since it's space-oriented there's some overlap with anathem on the technology and orbital mechanics side of things, which i guess is unavoidable. he references real present day stuff a lot in the first part, unlike cryptonomicon, so expect a lot of references to google and facebook. i found this offputting but others may not care. it's a fairly long book but i didn't think it dragged out too much, and i actually wanted it to be longer just so he could have something actually happen in the future part. maybe he could have even split it into two volumes, they're basically separate books anyway.

overall i liked it but was hugely let down by the ending. it was definitely better than reamde, not as good as anathem/cryptonomincon/baroque cycle though.

 

[sparky2112]

WWhat's up with the polarizing opinions when it comes to Goldfinch?

Don't get me started. My god, what a soul-sucking experience that book was.

On another note, just had an amazing moment in life. I was sitting outside on my white chair reading with my book in hand when the roar of the Air force jets from the base two miles away cause the book to shake slightly. Crazy. Also I look around and the grass looks so green, the sky so blue and white. My dogs so beautiful, and I'm just happy .

That made me smile. Even if you are reading W's fiction.

Me, I just got:

(Edit: MY GOD, IT'S HUGE!!!! Fitting, I guess, given the epic nature of the movie.) Looks really good. Lots of illustrations, and Thorne walks through the movie and addresses each of the scientific concepts it depicts.

And I'm slightly into:

Larsen's first novel The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet is a favorite of mine, and no less than Stephen King blurbed it as nothing short of being a national treasure, which it was/is. This appears to be a more conventional novel than Spivet, however. We'll see how it shapes up. It's big, like The Goldfinch, but probably not as sucky.

 

[noal]

I finished this in the last few days. I have always enjoyed Earth sciences.

A pretty good book to bring you up to date with the latest understanding although I say that but it was on my wish list for a few years...

I have just started

One problem I have is that the physical book is killing my hands! I have slight OCD with my books whereas I don't want to bend the spine so am very careful when reading. I am hoping this gets easier as I venture towards the middle of the book. Its a whopper!