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What are you reading? (August 2013)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
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Rushersauce
Banned
I just started "dance, dance, dance" by Haruki Murakami.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_R3al-WxHVwQ/TJ5DTroB20I/AAAAAAAALAw/g_Rja-HiQ1M/s320/9789626344354.jpg
Before that I read "Crime and Punishment" By Dostoyevsky
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_R3al-WxHVwQ/TJ5DTroB20I/AAAAAAAALAw/g_Rja-HiQ1M/s320/9789626344354.jpg
Before that I read "Crime and Punishment" By Dostoyevsky
Incandenza
Banned
Finished:
The Pale King by David Foster Wallace
Occasionally beautiful, occasionally frustrating. Reading the notes from Wallace at the end made me sad. The book was going to be sooooo much more than what it is now. But there's still a fair amount of insight and good prose in what's available. It's worth reading for the big ideas and a few absolutely gorgeous chapters, but don't expect anything more than faint whispers of plot. My favorite bits included
.
Now onto:
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Normally not my kinda thing but I keep hearing so much about it, so I'll give it a shot.
The Pale King by David Foster Wallace
Occasionally beautiful, occasionally frustrating. Reading the notes from Wallace at the end made me sad. The book was going to be sooooo much more than what it is now. But there's still a fair amount of insight and good prose in what's available. It's worth reading for the big ideas and a few absolutely gorgeous chapters, but don't expect anything more than faint whispers of plot. My favorite bits included
Toni Ware's trailer park upbringing, the "death of civics" conversation, and the psych ward story
Now onto:
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Normally not my kinda thing but I keep hearing so much about it, so I'll give it a shot.
EverythingShiny
Member
Went on a mini-vacation to Portland this past weekend. Naturally, I went to Powell's Books and picked up these:
I started reading The Passage yesterday and am halfway through. I'm enjoying it so far. Spoilers up through part three:
Almost forgot that Dust came out - is it worth reading? I finished Shift recently but didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I did Wool.
I started reading The Passage yesterday and am halfway through. I'm enjoying it so far. Spoilers up through part three:
I'm pretty bummed about Wolgast, though. 
Almost forgot that Dust came out - is it worth reading? I finished Shift recently but didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I did Wool.
sparky2112
Member
Finished:
The Pale King by David Foster Wallace
Occasionally beautiful, occasionally frustrating. Reading the notes from Wallace at the end made me sad. The book was going to be sooooo much more than what it is now. But there's still a fair amount of insight and good prose in what's available. It's worth reading for the big ideas and a few absolutely gorgeous chapters, but don't expect anything more than faint whispers of plot. My favorite bits included.Toni Ware's trailer park upbringing, the "death of civics" conversation, and the psych ward story
Still PISSES me off that they included 2 or 3 more chapters in the trade version. That, to me, smacks of taking advantage of DFW fantatics like me.
So since I'm running out of books to read, I'll be ordering a new 3-book batch soon. Right now I have in my cart:
Red Seas Under Red Skies
Neuromancer
And the third book is a tossup between The Shining Girls and Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore.
Any of you read either of those two and willing to help me decide on which one to read? I've read good and bad things about both books, but I like both their descriptions. I guess whichever I don't order will get bumped a little further down the wishlist, but I'll end up reading both eventually.
Red Seas Under Red Skies
Neuromancer
And the third book is a tossup between The Shining Girls and Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore.
Any of you read either of those two and willing to help me decide on which one to read? I've read good and bad things about both books, but I like both their descriptions. I guess whichever I don't order will get bumped a little further down the wishlist, but I'll end up reading both eventually.
Shining Girls gets my vote. I know it's gotten mixed reviews here, but I think it sounds pretty cool and I will read it someday to see for myself.
Also, Night Film is now available to buy, I'm excited to read that as well, but will wait for it to show up as a daily or something maybe.
Also, Night Film is now available to buy, I'm excited to read that as well, but will wait for it to show up as a daily or something maybe.
Finished t his last night:
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
Was my first Bujold book. Well written and a quite a departure from the other fantasy stuff I've read. Less action and more politics. Characters were a bit flat and the lead up to the ending was a bit too convenient IMO though.
I'm trying to get into Shift again but book 1 just bores me. Coworker told me book 2 and 3 get better so I might just power through it.
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
Was my first Bujold book. Well written and a quite a departure from the other fantasy stuff I've read. Less action and more politics. Characters were a bit flat and the lead up to the ending was a bit too convenient IMO though.
I'm trying to get into Shift again but book 1 just bores me. Coworker told me book 2 and 3 get better so I might just power through it.
It's good, not as good as Wool but it wraps up most of the plot threads at least.
Mr. Penumbra's is a fun, fast read, I picked it up at my local library a couple of months ago and read it over a weekend. It reminds me of a lower stakes, funner, Dan Brown novel. I've heard mixed reviews on The Shining Girls, but, from what I hear, it may be a more substantial work.
A Human Becoming
More than a Member
Anyone know a good eBook on understanding serial killers?
I rented Murakami's The Wind-up Bird Chronicles from my library. But after hearing about it being abridged and losing about 10-15 percent of its story, is this story still worth reading? I love Kafka on the Shore, and I really liked what I read of Sputnik's Love, before I had to turn it back in to the library.
Also, how is Ready Player One? I am somewhat interested in reading it because some of the characters being Hikikomori.
Also, how is Ready Player One? I am somewhat interested in reading it because some of the characters being Hikikomori.
I can't compare it to the Japanese original, but I really loved Wind-up Bird Chronicle. It did not feel incomplete or abridged in any way. In fact, the story feels fairly loose with lots of wonderful meandering into all sorts of nooks and crannies that aren't really nessecary.
I would count it as one of the best books I've read recently, and I thought it was much better than Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, which I read shortly afterwards.
Tragicomedy
Member
I'm writing one right now...just PM me your home address and I'll hand deliver it to you.
/creepy mode
It seems pretty much a love it/hate it book. I thought it was great fun, and a bit ridiculous at times, but the book clearly knows it and states that very fact at times. Gaming/Anime/80s references a plenty, so I had a blast reading it really.
Mackenzie 92
Member
It's an amateurish novel that gets by thanks to an interesting premise and appeal to nostalgia/pop cultural references.
Christoff Yurievich
Member
I just finished The Boys and it was pretty good. Now, take that statement with the following grain of salt: it was my first non big-two comic.
Couldn't help but see Vinnie Jones as Butcher and (obviously) Simon Pegg as Wee Hughie.
edit: Ready Player One was alright. The plot was interesting and the pop culture bits were fun. Good first effort if I remember correctly.
Couldn't help but see Vinnie Jones as Butcher and (obviously) Simon Pegg as Wee Hughie.
The movie is going to be so horrible.
edit: Ready Player One was alright. The plot was interesting and the pop culture bits were fun. Good first effort if I remember correctly.
After hearing this praise, I'll certainly start on the book very soon. Thanks!
Seems like I would understand a lot of the references. Sounds like Player Ready One is worth the risk. I'll rent it from the library once I finish the Murakami novel.
hardcastlemccormick
Banned
I finished Neal Stephenson's Reamde. Certainly the lesser of his work that I've read, but still fascinating, sort of like a Bourne chain of events with a dry sarcastic sense of humor and a nerd's fascination with certain details. Could have been shorter with less characters, but as it was I guess it worked alright.
Currently reading Mother Night by Vonnegut. I like it when I find one of his books that still feels fresh.
Might get a few more percentage points through Brothers Karamazov before meandering elsewhere.
EDIT: Finished Mother Night. Good stuff.
Currently reading Mother Night by Vonnegut. I like it when I find one of his books that still feels fresh.
Might get a few more percentage points through Brothers Karamazov before meandering elsewhere.
EDIT: Finished Mother Night. Good stuff.
TheKaeptain
Banned
I'm listening to Dan Brown's latest, Inferno because I find them generally mindlessly entertaining and it's a good kind of inconsequential book after reading a number of meatier tomes but I'm baffled. So, the protagonist Robert Langdon has saved the world from an evil pope, somehow did something about Jesus in DaVinci Code which also saved the world though I can't for the life of me remember how and also stopped some lunatic tattooed dude from I guess destroying the world yet, in his latest adventure, NONE OF THOSE PREVIOUS ESCAPADES IS EVER MENTIONED.
When describing Langdon he is still just a professor of symbology and art history. Not three time World Champion of Saving the World from history-obsessed lunatics.
What the fuck?
When describing Langdon he is still just a professor of symbology and art history. Not three time World Champion of Saving the World from history-obsessed lunatics.
What the fuck?
Dat dere gubments hushed it up.
Has the government ever played a role in any of these books? Your comment about this abysmal fiction is ignorant! (I wish I were still so ignorant).
But seriously, it's written mostly from Langdon's point of view. He participated in those events yet he never ponders them and is constantly wondering "how did I get into this mess?!" Not ever the more logical "how do I get into these messes?"
At least John McClane is fucking self-aware enough to know that it's ludicrous for one cop to get in so many damn predicaments!
AngmarsKing701
Member
He's the Indiana Jones of Christendom... Or perhaps Christendumb.
Indiana Jones never pretends that there is no reason for him to be doing the things he is doing. There is limited call back in those stories in part to convey that this is just kind of what he does. In Inferno, it's like this is a wholly different parallel universe where none of the other events ever took place. It's especially bizarre because in the other books he DOES touch on past escapades.
MMA-GAF book club pick of the month?
I'm so close to buying it, but I know I've got a mountain of things I already could be reading, but hell, so much for being frugal with purchases I guess, since I'm thinking of picking the daily "The Secret Rescue", seems like something I'd like.
dream
Member
I'm reading a Kobo version, which I'm guessing is pretty much the same thing. Did you want me to check something?
MMA-GAF book club pick of the month?
Let's do it.
It's really very good. The construction of the narrative evokes the feeling of playing an old Sierra adventure game. The Gabriel Knightesque story helps create that aesthetic too.
Legit question drm. I love my Kobo, but hate the kobo store with a passion, so I just buy from Amazon, and use Calibre to get my books onto my Kobo. Are you unaware of such capabilities? Because it's nice to be able to partake in the mystery of wondering what the Kindle dailies will be. It's a bit of extra work, but the Amazon prices sure beat the nonsense Kobo has.
God dammit, all those buzz words appeal to me
I'm sure I'll crack and read it after I'm done with Art of Fielding.nakedsushi
Member
Just finished some light (NOT) reading:
The Dark Road by Ma Jian
It's about a peasant family suffering under China's one-child policy. It was depressing and had a lot of awful things, but the writing also suffered from being too heavy-handed and didactic at times.
The Dark Road by Ma Jian
It's about a peasant family suffering under China's one-child policy. It was depressing and had a lot of awful things, but the writing also suffered from being too heavy-handed and didactic at times.
I thought the book included some images. I was just wondering if you had any trouble viewing them on an e-reader.
dream
Member
Yeah, I've used Calibre before, and I agree that the Kobo store is just abhorrent, but sometimes laziness wins out.
There are a lot of images, with some of them being screenshots of web sites. But I'm about 70% through the book and I have yet to come across an image that hasn't been very readable on eink.
The Artful Dodger
Member
My buddy said he had the same problem with Outlaws of the Marsh. Let me know how it is though, I'm curious to read it!
Finished "Literary Theory" by Clare Connors. A nice overview of the most important theories and how none of them really work.
Now, on to one of those books that have stood in my bookshelf for ages (5 years in fact):
The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde.
I bought it mostly to read The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest, but I bet there's a lot of gold in here that I don't know about.
Now, on to one of those books that have stood in my bookshelf for ages (5 years in fact):
The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde.
I bought it mostly to read The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest, but I bet there's a lot of gold in here that I don't know about.
Switch Back 9
a lot of my threads involve me fucking up somehow. Perhaps I'm a moron?
Currently reading this, about halfway through and really digging it.
I was never a Stones fan by any measure, and almost never read bios, but this has me quite enthralled. I would like to know if there are any comparable books about Led Zeppelin?
I was never a Stones fan by any measure, and almost never read bios, but this has me quite enthralled. I would like to know if there are any comparable books about Led Zeppelin?
AngmarsKing701
Member
So Christendumb then. Got it.
If you want a classic chinese novel, you should read The Story of the Stone (Dream of the red Chamber). Mumei knows whats up
dream
Member
I just finished Night Film (in 2 days!) and really, really enjoyed it. The whole thing is just so painfully Lacanian, and I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys films like The Game and Eyes Wide Shut.
In the end, I think I prefer Special Topics in Calamity Physics ever so slightly more
because the ending was so unabashedly insane
Having said that,
I found the finally twist entirely unnecessary, and I think the chapter where McGrath sits with Cordova in the nursing home is a far more natural (albeit neatly unambiguous) end point). The way the actual ending plays out just seems so artificially ambiguous to me.
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