mentalfloss
Banned
Always a welcome read 30-40 mins before putting the night cap on. :lol
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What are you reading? (December 2010)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
Always a welcome read 30-40 mins before putting the night cap on. :lol
Really loved that book.naib said:
A little LTTP, but I loved A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Dave Eggers can write.
Really enjoying it so far.
And after reading it, visit this link and read up about what he is doing these days (Valentino, not Eggers).
LINK
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
Took a brief detour from my Skippy Dies reading to get into this book:
And it's totally amazing.
And it's totally amazing.
ChoklitReign
Member
nakedsushi
Member
Finished this last night, although for the last third of the book, I just skimmed.
Great book cover, mediocre story. It's about a 12 year old girl who just so happens to be the 4th borne of a King, so a princess, who just so happens to have the unusual ability to talk to their allies, the pegasi. The book could have been a heart-warming story about the friendship between a pegasus and a human, but it turned out to be a watered down story of political intrigue and predictable plots. I also got annoyed at how often the girl mentioned she was short and what a burden it was. Yawn.
I was looking forward to this for months and started it this morning on the drive in to work.
I'm about 5% in and it's GREAT so far. It totally satisfies the 12-year-old girl in me.
[edit: awful book cover but great story. I see a trend.]
Great book cover, mediocre story. It's about a 12 year old girl who just so happens to be the 4th borne of a King, so a princess, who just so happens to have the unusual ability to talk to their allies, the pegasi. The book could have been a heart-warming story about the friendship between a pegasus and a human, but it turned out to be a watered down story of political intrigue and predictable plots. I also got annoyed at how often the girl mentioned she was short and what a burden it was. Yawn.
I was looking forward to this for months and started it this morning on the drive in to work.
I'm about 5% in and it's GREAT so far. It totally satisfies the 12-year-old girl in me.
[edit: awful book cover but great story. I see a trend.]
Eaten By A Grue
Member
About 10% through. You guys convinced me to read this. Plus it is as cold as balls in PA right now and my house is freezing so reading this book makes it 10x worse.
A B-movie feel, really? I thought it was written so well that it was practically realistic sounding accounts.TheOddOne said:
Eaten By A Grue said:About 10% through. You guys convinced me to read this. Plus it is as cold as balls in PA right now and my house is freezing so reading this book makes it 10x worse.
you lucky dog. i should read that again. although i think it should make you feel much BETTER about the weather in PA. I mean, it's not minus 130 degrees or however cold it gets in the Terror..and you ARE in a house. it should make you feel warmer.
Eaten By A Grue
Member
Burger said:
:lol I am actually wrapped in a comforter reading this book. It is 30F outside right now with a real feel of 21F and I can hear the wind. Goddamn, even though this book is fiction I cannot imagine being stationary in ice in minus 130 trying to find the NW passage. The book is great so far, I am really enjoying it. I was actually debating between reading this or the Longships, but I am glad I picked reading this book at this time of year.coldvein said:
Maklershed
Member
PA GAF whoooo!Eaten By A Grue said:
DanDeschain
Member
I stopped reading this series like 2 years ago after book 3. So much deus ex machina and after reading ASoIaF I was really disappointed in the lack of gray characters. I was desperate to find something on short notice and with all the recent hype I figured I'd give it another go. Half way through and so far not too bad.
Blackace said:
Me too! Well, I started last month on the plane to Taiwan, but I have more time now that I've returned from my trip. I've always liked stories told in different viewpoints, but together with the jump in time line is takes more of an effort to keep track of everything. Not a Kal fan yet, I'm actually more interested in reading about Shallan and Wit.
I want to get my nephew a cool book for Christmas so does anyone have any recommendations for a 12 year old who's into fantasy type books? He reads above his grade level but I don't want to get him anything to adult. Hes currently reading Jurassic World by Michael Crichton.
MisterNugNug
Member
Really enjoying it.
Az987 said:
Jack Vance - Tales of the Dying Earth
David Eddings - Belgariad books
Ursula K LeGuin - Earthsea Trilogy
Roger Zelazny - Princes of Amber books
Poul Anderson - The Broken Sword
Tolkien - Lord of the Rings
Sprague DeCamp - Complete Compleat Enchanter or Lest Darkness Fall
ymmv said:
I was about to suggest these as well. It's about the machinations of a large family of siblings who have the ability to travel through alternate realities and their vying for control over the prime reality they grew up in. The entire ten novel series has been collected in The Great Book of Amber, which Amazon will sell you for $17 with free shipping. That's 1264 pages of pure awesome. Well, okay, that's roughly 600 pages of pure awesome and roughly 600 pages of a pretty solid follow-up series. I read the Amber novels when I was around 12 and loved the hell out of 'em, so Az987, consider them highly recommended for your nephew.
FnordChan
junesongprovider
Neo Member
An oldie but goodie
At this point I just can't wait for finals to be over so I can dig into my reading list a little more voraciously. It has taken me far too long to get through this 100-page, physically tiny paperback.
demosthenes
Member
Trying to find something for a friend of mine for Xmas, she reads everything. I don't read nearly as often so it's hard trying to find something for her, anyone read anything recently that they might suggest?
Maklershed
Member
Any particular genre or type of book she's into?
You might want to check out BruceLeeRoy's Best of 2010 thread. You can find a lot of good suggestions there.
You might want to check out BruceLeeRoy's Best of 2010 thread. You can find a lot of good suggestions there.
demosthenes
Member
Maklershed said:
That's awesome! Didn't know it existed
Certain less into the fantasy side of stuff but she did enjoy Wicked and then Son of a Witch. I would draw the line at Sci-Fi though. Otherwise I think most of what she goes on would be Fiction.
Eaten By A Grue
Member
If you are getting him LotR, be sure to get him a fancy edition or boxset. I first read the series when I was 12 and I still have the same boxset 16 years later. I am even considering buying a fancy hardbound edition sometime soon. The only crappy thing is the hobbit is usually not included.Az987 said:
demosthenes said:That's awesome! Didn't know it existed
Certain less into the fantasy side of stuff but she did enjoy Wicked and then Son of a Witch. I would draw the line at Sci-Fi though. Otherwise I think most of what she goes on would be Fiction.
Has she read the Millennium Trilogy? Great thrillers that I ate up in no time.
demosthenes
Member
Xater said:
I know she's read the first one, don't know about the others. Love this thread w/ all the books though...it's making me want to read more! :lol
Hari Seldon
Member
Just finished that 2 days ago. Listened to the Audible version narrated by John Lee. It is seriously the best book I have ever read and I plan on re-reading this far into the future. Holy crap was it good.
Now I just started the latest Wheel of Time book and it is a seriously large drop in literary quality. :lol
I need some books for my christmas wishlist I've already have a few in mind, but there's still missing something. So I decided that I'd like to try a steampunk novel, a genre I find interesting but I have zero experience with so far.
To make it short: I need recommendations please. If possible the book shouldn't be part of a series.
I've already have a few in mind, but there's still missing something. So I decided that I'd like to try a steampunk novel, a genre I find interesting but I have zero experience with so far. To make it short: I need recommendations please. If possible the book shouldn't be part of a series.
movie_club
Junior Member
only gets betterTheUsual said:
Read the first chapter last night. Really good so far.
I've read every part in the Discworld series up until, Wyrd Sisters. Except for the first 'witches' Discworld story 'Equal Rites'. I'm not sure whether I'm liking it though. I like the story arcs of Rincewind and Death much more. But I'm not far in, so I hope it get's better!
Edit: does anyone know more books like 'Big Fish' from Daniel Wallace? I like fantasy stories like that
Tralfamadore64
Banned
I'd read up through Wizard and Glass back when that book came out, but I've been putting off finishing the series for years because of complaints about the last three books and due to my own growing dislike for Stephen King's deteriorating writing ability. Well, I've been mainlining these on my Kindle, and up through Wolves of Calla I was really in love with what King was doing -- he was approaching something really fascinating in building the world of the Dark Tower as being a sort of origin point for all creative storytelling. I'm in the home stretch, and I'm enjoying this book well enough, but there are some cringe inducing moments:
[Oy raised his head from his paws, gave a low, brief growl, then put his head back down again and appeared to go to sleep: Hell wit'choo, bad boy, I'm wit' my homies and I ain't ascairt.]
...anyway. There are some cringe inducing moments, but on the whole the book isn't so bad that I'm not going to finish it. It's just that... you know, it's just that this is kind of like the sixth season of Lost. It's readable, and it's close enough to what I fell in love with back when the story started, but I constantly find myself shaking my head and wondering what the hell happened.
After that I'm going to finally finish Simon's "Homicide".
Eaten By A Grue
Member
I believe i recommended this in another monthly thread....not really noir, but it is a pretty decent crime novel. And it also involves time traveling to boot!:BigAT said:
nakedsushi
Member
Finished reading this today. I think that I beat my record in reading speed on this. Didn't even skim that much either. Her writing's just very simple and easy to read.
Loved it and thought it was a wonderful way to end this series. I wish every girl who's ga-ga about twilight would read this book instead. It has:
- strong female characters who kick ass and aren't dependent on men at all
- HEALTHY relationships and young people putting out instead of some overly moral, convoluted device that prevents them from doing the horizontal tangle
- a refreshing take on the paranormal genre
But best of all, even the main character is flawed. I like it when not everyone is perfect, but learns how to make do with their shortcomings.
You could buy a lot of paperbacks for the price of a Kindle and honestly, that's what kept me from buying a Kindle all these years, but now that I've had one for a few months, I have to say that it's allowed me to read a lot more books than I did before. Most of it is convenience. It's lighter than most 700+ books I'd otherwise have to carry around, and it's easy to use with one hand (or even no hand if you prop it up on a table), which means I can be doing other stuff (like eating) at the same time. Also, I think at least for new releases, ebooks are cheaper if not the same price as a book, if you buy from Amazon or the other online big booksellers. Also, if you read books in the public domain, then it's free. And a lot of publishers are finally *getting* ebooks and putting out short, cheap novellas like here: http://www.angryrobotstore.com/category-9.html
It's weird. I just don't get all the love for Murakami. I read this book as an intro to him, since it's the most "normal" book he has and just hated his style and his characters. While reading this book, I just wished all the characters would stop whining and kill themselves. End their misery and mine so I don't have to continue reading. Read his After Dark too and thought it was trash.
For a quick read, I'd recommend:
It's a great, YA novel (1st in a series) about a girl impersonating a boy and getting a job on an animal blimp thing. Adventures ensue.
For something with more meat in it, I'd recommend:
It's not strictly steampunk, but has steampunk elements. It's neo-Victorian and there are all sorts of weird technology and gadgets. I'd say it's a mix of cyber meets steampunk.
Loved it and thought it was a wonderful way to end this series. I wish every girl who's ga-ga about twilight would read this book instead. It has:
- strong female characters who kick ass and aren't dependent on men at all
- HEALTHY relationships and young people putting out instead of some overly moral, convoluted device that prevents them from doing the horizontal tangle
- a refreshing take on the paranormal genre
But best of all, even the main character is flawed. I like it when not everyone is perfect, but learns how to make do with their shortcomings.
ymmv said:
You could buy a lot of paperbacks for the price of a Kindle and honestly, that's what kept me from buying a Kindle all these years, but now that I've had one for a few months, I have to say that it's allowed me to read a lot more books than I did before. Most of it is convenience. It's lighter than most 700+ books I'd otherwise have to carry around, and it's easy to use with one hand (or even no hand if you prop it up on a table), which means I can be doing other stuff (like eating) at the same time. Also, I think at least for new releases, ebooks are cheaper if not the same price as a book, if you buy from Amazon or the other online big booksellers. Also, if you read books in the public domain, then it's free. And a lot of publishers are finally *getting* ebooks and putting out short, cheap novellas like here: http://www.angryrobotstore.com/category-9.html
Salazar said:
It's weird. I just don't get all the love for Murakami. I read this book as an intro to him, since it's the most "normal" book he has and just hated his style and his characters. While reading this book, I just wished all the characters would stop whining and kill themselves. End their misery and mine so I don't have to continue reading. Read his After Dark too and thought it was trash.
wrowa said:I need some books for my christmas wishlist
For a quick read, I'd recommend:
It's a great, YA novel (1st in a series) about a girl impersonating a boy and getting a job on an animal blimp thing. Adventures ensue.
For something with more meat in it, I'd recommend:
It's not strictly steampunk, but has steampunk elements. It's neo-Victorian and there are all sorts of weird technology and gadgets. I'd say it's a mix of cyber meets steampunk.