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What are you reading? (February 2013)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
UpperCaseN
Member
84% through A Dance With Dragons. They're long books, it's not that I am disinterested, rather I'm just ready to be done. Hoping to finish it asap
Man I feel you. I'm half way thru ASOS and it's enjoyable but I feel like I could have gotten to where I am with half the page count. Self indulgent fantasy writers, man...
I need to think of a couple ~200-300 page burners to blaze through when I'm done with this to refuel.
Done with both of these -
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Dark Side of the Sun by Terry Pratchett
Anna Karenina was great of course, The Dark Side of the Sun was forgettable.
Moved on to and have already finished this -
Cold Days by Jim Butcher
Pretty good overall though reading it after Anna Karenina really just drove home a lot of Butcher's bad writing habits that annoy me. I'm interested enough in where the storyline goes and I've figured out by now which paragraphs are safe to skip so not a bad read.
Just started this -
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Dark Side of the Sun by Terry Pratchett
Anna Karenina was great of course, The Dark Side of the Sun was forgettable.
Moved on to and have already finished this -
Cold Days by Jim Butcher
Pretty good overall though reading it after Anna Karenina really just drove home a lot of Butcher's bad writing habits that annoy me. I'm interested enough in where the storyline goes and I've figured out by now which paragraphs are safe to skip so not a bad read.
Just started this -
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt
eattomorro
Neo Member
The Blade Itself. First Law Trilogy is really good.
I'm nearing the half way point of Leviathan Wakes, and I am really really loving it. Loving the characters and each chapter just hooks me with a cliffhanger to keep me reading.
I definitely need to stop reading in bed when I'm dead tired though, because the next time I start reading, I look back a few pages and wonder what the heck I read. lol
I definitely need to stop reading in bed when I'm dead tired though, because the next time I start reading, I look back a few pages and wonder what the heck I read. lol
Mackenzie 92
Member
Hmm, maybe I just wasn't it the mood for it.
Anyway, any Wool fans might wanna check out this short story set in the universe, The Runner. Haven't read it yet, but it's free today.
Thanks for the heads up on The Runner. Just finished up the Wool Omnibus and looking to pick up the Shift Omnibus soon.
ElectricBlue187
Member
Can't really recommend By Blood... it wasn't very good.
Am now reading
it's actually rather funny so far. I'm liking it
Am now reading
it's actually rather funny so far. I'm liking it
Tim the Wiz
Banned
China Mieville and Margaret Atwood are showing up at my university for a writer's festival next week. I usually suck at meeting people I admire in person, but it'll (hopefully) be nice to get my copies of Iron Council - apparently his personal favourite - and Handmaid's Tale signed.
Otherwise, reading some non-fiction: David Crystal's How Language Works and Tariq Ali's Obama Syndrome.
Otherwise, reading some non-fiction: David Crystal's How Language Works and Tariq Ali's Obama Syndrome.
Dr.NoiseWater
Member
Has anyone read "The Mongoliad"? How was it?
Maklershed
Member
Ohhhhhhhhh man jealous. I loved Handmaid's Tale, Oryx and Crake, and most of all - Year of the Flood. Say hi to her from Maklershed! :b
TestMonkey
Member
Interesting read. The link between legalized abortion and falling crime rates was an intriguing revelation.
Finished:
Thanks to everyone who recommended reading it ASAP - it was a great payoff indeed! I found the beginning a bit slow, but it became a very compelling read halfway through -
, but re-reading The Book of the New Sun with this hindsight sounds like it would be a lot of fun.
Now reading Worlds of Exile and Illusion by Le Guin (collection of the first three Hainish novels), and The Diamond Age on the Kindle side.
Thanks to everyone who recommended reading it ASAP - it was a great payoff indeed! I found the beginning a bit slow, but it became a very compelling read halfway through -
my favorite bit must have been seeing Severian becoming the Conciliator, step by step. I'm still a bit confused by all the time traveling and the multiple Severians
Now reading Worlds of Exile and Illusion by Le Guin (collection of the first three Hainish novels), and The Diamond Age on the Kindle side.
Literary festivals are just tremendously socially confusing events anyway.
I usually avoid the signing parts. I will get Julian Barnes to sign some stuff in a few weeks, though.
Eaten By A Grue
Member
I really was not impressed with Cloud Atlas at all. I thought I was going to be blown away, but instead I come away from this book really confused. I feel like there is some overall theme in this book linking the stories, but it probably went over my head.
. I was waiting for some big reveal in the end, but it never came. I even had some difficulty reading some of the narratives as well. I do not recommend reading it at all.
Finished:
Starting:
I have seen this recommended by a few Gaffers so I hope I am in for a good read.
What the hell was with the comet tattoo?
Finished:
Starting:
I have seen this recommended by a few Gaffers so I hope I am in for a good read.
Maklershed
Member
Non-fiction about pirates? Hmm I'm kinda interested in this now too. On the fiction side though, Pirate Latitudes was pretty good.
Haha, yeah, it sounds like a really interesting time period. I was waiting for the Kentucky game to start at my brother's house and we caught a few minutes of some pirate documentary on the History Channel. He's a history major and said pirate history is actually pretty fascinating.
Dune.
Just askin' cause I looked up the Wikipedia page for the series and there's a whole bunch of prequels and such. It's rather intimidating.
I always hear to stick with the original and its sequel Dune Messiah. After that, apparently the quality of the series takes a huge nose dive.
Only read those two personally. Dune is amazing, Dune Messiah not as much, though still enjoyable.
Just read Frank's original 6 in order:
Dune (1965)
Dune Messiah (1969)
Children of Dune (1976)
God Emperor of Dune (1981)
Heretics of Dune (1984)
Chapterhouse: Dune (1985)
The rest are just extra lore, cash-grabs his kid released post-mortem.
Like the hat?
Banned
My wife loves the Dresden books, I've been meaning to read them myself.
Well, I finished Pattern Recognition a few nights ago. Couldn't put it down for the last 100 pages or so. Really enjoyed it stylistically, although it seemed to drag at times (involving calculators, seemingly). The reveal at the end didn't have have what I imagine was its intended impact, and this was for a couple of reasons. First of all, it had a tone that resembled the ending scenes of Neuromancer, so there was more of the same there. Granted, it's still Gibson, so no accusations of pilfering plot. Second of all, I was reminded of a Cowboy Bebop episode. Specifically, and I'll mark this in spoilers in case you haven't watched Episode 23, called "Brain Scratch"....
Time for Gravity's Rainbow. Here we go...
the part where the evil cult mastermind turns out to be a hacker in hospice care. Did anyone else have the same impression? I suppose once you consume enough stories, things begin to repeat themselves. 'Cest la vie.
Time for Gravity's Rainbow. Here we go...
I'm about halfway through Embassytown.
Not really sure what I think of it yet, though I find myself looking back fondly on The City & the City so I imagine I'll end up feeling the same. I do enjoy how Mieville manages to make the increasingly fantastic elements of the worlds he creates seem plausible and internally consistent.
Not really sure what I think of it yet, though I find myself looking back fondly on The City & the City so I imagine I'll end up feeling the same. I do enjoy how Mieville manages to make the increasingly fantastic elements of the worlds he creates seem plausible and internally consistent.
Charrettizard
Member
I'm doing a research paper on the painting Bonaparte Visits the Plague Stricken in Jaffa and having trouble finding information outside of its wiki page. Possibly looking at books on French art, art within the Louvre, and if any exist, a book or journal on the painting itself. Can any art history majors steer me in the right direction?
Fools Errand took a good ~35% to pick up, but I'm loving it. I adored the Farseer trilogy and skipped Liveship.
Good call skipping Liveship. It's not bad, but the Tawny man trilogy is much better. And fools errand is boring early, like you said. Books 2 and 3 are much better. I might pick up more Hobb later, but I'm not sure if any of the other books are good.
I'm currently on this
And it's great...
I'm about halfway through Embassytown.
Not really sure what I think of it yet, though I find myself looking back fondly on The City & the City so I imagine I'll end up feeling the same. I do enjoy how Mieville manages to make the increasingly fantastic elements of the worlds he creates seem plausible and internally consistent.
One chapter of that book was enough for me to swear off Mieville forever. I'd read and enjoyed a bunch of his books before but somehow that chapter made me retroactively dislike most everything he's done and I'm not sure why. Kind of a "why did I EVER like this guy?" moment for me. Strange.
foomfoom415
Member
I loved The City & the City, and I initially liked Embassytown quite a bit too. But I found I liked it less and less as it went on, and the last 1/3 was particularly trying.
I recently finished:
And enjoyed both quite a bit, especially Ship of Fools.
Now I'm paralyzed by choice, and not sure what to read next.
Ventilaator
Banned
I watched Cloud Atlas and I'm now wondering. How does the book work exactly? Recognizing the actors in their different roles is the point of the thing. In text only, you can't really write "And he looked like the other guy from earlier!", so...how is that book written?
Also, I was just randomly thinking. I don't think I've ever read a steampunk themed book. If I were to pick up one, what would your first recommendation be?
Also, I was just randomly thinking. I don't think I've ever read a steampunk themed book. If I were to pick up one, what would your first recommendation be?
It's rather rigidly structured - basically follows 12345654321, where part one starts the books and ends it, and each following section picks up with the premise that they have stumbled upon/been sent/are watching/etc some account of the previous section. The first half is all beginnings, and the second half wraps up each character arc. Very gimmicky, tbh.
DouglasteR
Member
.jpg/200px-Chasm_City_cover_(Amazon).jpg)
After reading all this thread i pulled the trigger in three Alastair´s books (i love Scifi Space Operas), starting with Chasm City. To my surprise, it aint a dificult read and the story plot is becoming increasily interesting ! Already on chapter 11 ! (english isnt my main language, but the book to my surprise is smooth enough for a enjoyable read)
Thanks gaf
Using the same actors in different roles was something specific to the film - the book is quite different in this. While I did enjoy the movie, I actually wasn't too fond of the re-using of actors, felt it made things more confusing.
After reading all this thread i pulled the trigger in three Alastair´s books (i love Scifi Space Operas), starting with Chasm City. To my surprise, it aint a dificult read and the story plot is becoming increasily interesting ! Already on chapter 11 ! (english isnt my main language, but the book to my surprise is smooth enough for a enjoyable read)
Thanks gaf
One of my all time fav books! Enjoy it dude...then read the rest!
Probably more the style than anything, I'll take a look at the Thirteenth Tale.
finowns
Member
I haven't seen the movie, but the characters in the book don't look alike.
There is one important character in each of the "eras" with a specific birthmark, though, but there is no obvious connection between those "marked" characters.
Loved Ship of Fools. It was pretty minimally sci-fi (in that there wasn't much exploration or revelation of the sci-fi concepts in the book) but it was still great. And I'm definitely in the mood for more modern sci-fi.
So thinking of going with this? Opinions?
Edit: Reading Before They Are Hanged atm, loved the first book.
So thinking of going with this? Opinions?
Edit: Reading Before They Are Hanged atm, loved the first book.
sparky2112
Member
West of the Tularosas by Louis L'Amour
Didn't realize this was a collection of short stories. Delightfully pulpy.
Roadside Picnic by Arkady Strugatsky
Really enjoyed this and was thoroughly creeped out at times. I should probably reread it sometime as I was too caught up in the mystery of the Zone to appreciate the human themes.