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[Mumei]

My only consistent internet source will be my phone, and that will be 2 gigs max. And this will probably be the case until 2017. :-(

I suppose I forgive you. >.>

 

[bengraven]

Nailed it. You had the boring perfect lead, the second guy with random quirkiness substituting any kind of actual personality, and then a boring generic romantic interest. Bleh.


It becomes a bit more interesting later on, but if you're not enjoying it I don't think I'd recommend continuing on. It's not super great or anything. Extremely tropey, too much reliance on coincidence.

That's my issue with it. After spending the last two years reading some of the best of the newer works in the genre (including all of Abercrombie except Heroes), it's really weird that one of our most original writers is writing something so bland.

Now don't get me wrong, I love tropes when used creatively or just embracing it completely with no shame. Harry Potter comes to mind, or recently I read the Crowfield books which are fantastic but do nothing original with the idea of the Fae courts and demons, etc.

Half a King reminds me of a less qualified writer doing GoT for kids, like a Rick Riordan.

 

[LProtag]

I finished Sixth of the Dusk. It was 96 pages or so so I'm debating whether or not to count it as a book for my 50 for the year... I think I will, simply because at this rate I'm going to hit 50 books regardless of whether or not I count it.

Neat little story.

Anyway, I think I'm finally out of Cosmere stuff to read.

I should figure out what I'm going to read next... I'm wondering if I should continue delving into sci-fi and fantasy which I've sorely neglected since I started my undergrad about 6 years ago or so or if I should move back into literary fiction. I'll probably end up hopping around both of them for a bit.

Decisions, decisions.

 

[Piecake]

I finished Sixth of the Dusk. It was 96 pages or so so I'm debating whether or not to count it as a book for my 50 for the year... I think I will, simply because at this rate I'm going to hit 50 books regardless of whether or not I count it.

Neat little story.

Anyway, I think I'm finally out of Cosmere stuff to read.

I should figure out what I'm going to read next... I'm wondering if I should continue delving into sci-fi and fantasy which I've sorely neglected since I started my undergrad about 6 years ago or so or if I should move back into literary fiction. I'll probably end up hopping around both of them for a bit.

Decisions, decisions.

I've honestly felt like I've sort of run out of good fantasy (obviously some I am ignorant of that will probably be good), so I don't think there is any rush to immerse yourself in it.

You should read Hopscotch next. The only other person I know who has read it besides me is my brother and he wasnt a huge fan of it (is one of my favs), so it would be interesting to see what someone else thinks.

 

[LProtag]

I've honestly felt like I've sort of run out of good fantasy (obviously some I am ignorant of that will probably be good), so I don't think there is any rush to immerse yourself in it.

You should read Hopscotch next. The only other person I know who has read it besides me is my brother and he wasnt a huge fan of it (is one of my favs), so it would be interesting to see what someone else thinks.

I was considering it. I guess I will.

 

[LProtag]

Hopscotch is extremely dense and I have no idea if I know what's going on or not. The 'extra' chapters especially are especially difficult.

This is one of those books that makes me feel like I'm not getting something that I should be getting and that my degree in English was useless.

But also I read it for about an hour without the time passing by...

 

[Azulsky]

Read Norweigan Wood and Hard Boiled Wonderland and prepare to be punched in the gut.

Presently reading Papa Hemingway by A.E. Hotchner. It's a look into Hemingway's final years of life. Quite illuminating.

Thanks for the recommendations, I'll put them on my list. Might rotate into a different author instead of binging.

 

[Piecake]

Hopscotch is extremely dense and I have no idea if I know what's going on or not. The 'extra' chapters especially are especially difficult.

This is one of those books that makes me feel like I'm not getting something that I should be getting and that my degree in English was useless.

But also I read it for about an hour without the time passing by...

It has been about 5-10 years since I read it so I won't be much help. You can always not hop to the 'extra' chapters though

 

[Mumei]

I started reading Akimi Yoshida's Banana Fish. It's ostensibly a shoujo manga, but it has what I think of as seinen trappings - the New York setting, the crime-thriller plot, the utilitarian artstyle. You can see the shoujo elements, especially in the mild shounen-ai elements (the most risque we've seen 'on screen' has been a kiss so far), but it's resemblance to something like Sailor Moon or PSME is pretty remote.

 

[LProtag]

It has been about 5-10 years since I read it so I won't be much help. You can always not hop to the 'extra' chapters though

I couldn't put a book down and say I've read it knowing that I left a huge chunk unread.

 

[Piecake]

I couldn't put a book down and say I've read it knowing that I left a huge chunk unread.

Oh, I understand. I read it the hopscotch way as well. I am not going to pretend that I understood everything, because I am sure I didn't. I simply don't mind not understanding every theme, allusion, reference, etc and usually find that stuff interesting no matter what. It is kinda weird because I absolutely loath when I struggle to understand the meaning of actual sentences. Weird, interesting shit can happen, but the characters better be damn good and the sentences better not be so confusing that I need to spend 5 minutes figuring out what the hell it means.

I just started reading this. Apparently, Pynchon is a huge fan of this book. Luckily, this book doesnt have that whole "god damn, what the fuck does that sentence even mean?" thing constantly going on. The characters seem interesting, the writing great, and the setting is something new for me.

"Tombstone, Arizona, during the 1880's is, in ways, our national Camelot: a never-never land where American virtues are embodied in the Earps, and the opposite evils in the Clanton gang; where the confrontation at the OK Corral takes on some of the dry purity of the Arthurian joust. Oakley Hall, in his very fine novel Warlock has restored to the myth of Tombstone its full, mortal, blooded humanity. Wyatt Earp is transmogrified into a gunfighter named Blaisdell who . . . is summoned to the embattled town of Warlock by a committee of nervous citizens expressly to be a hero, but finds that he cannot, at last, live up to his image; that there is a flaw not only in him, but also, we feel, in the entire set of assumptions that have allowed the image to exist. . . . Before the agonized epic of Warlock is over with—the rebellion of the proto-Wobblies working in the mines, the struggling for political control of the area, the gunfighting, mob violence, the personal crises of those in power—the collective awareness that is Warlock must face its own inescapable Horror: that what is called society, with its law and order, is as frail, as precarious, as flesh and can be snuffed out and assimilated back into the desert as easily as a corpse can. It is the deep sensitivity to abysses that makes Warlock one of our best American novels. For we are a nation that can, many of us, toss with all aplomb our candy wrapper into the Grand Canyon itself, snap a color shot and drive away; and we need voices like Oakley Hall's to remind us how far that piece of paper, still fluttering brightly behind us, has to fall."

—Thomas Pynchon

 

[Salsa]

Kafka on the shore was sure odd, but I liked it.

I like Murakami but I havent read the wind up bird chronicle yet and after being on the middle of Kafka I was told it'd be best if I read that first

 

[Nappuccino]

Kafka on the shore was sure odd, but I liked it.

I like Murakami but I havent read the wind up bird chronicle yet and after being on the middle of Kafka I was told it'd be best if I read that first

I'd say the first half to 3/5 of WuBC is outstanding, but there's a solid 100 pages of slog before it really picks up again. The ideas in that section are great, but either murakami or his translator got a bit too pragmatic on the sentence level and the book lost some of it's initial zest. The ending is worth it, but I'm willing to bet some of his shorter works are more consistently impressive.

 

[Cade]

Finished Neuromancer. Solid eh. Prose was so draggy and it all felt like Gibson thought everything he was writing was way cooler than it was. Fun to see what inspired so much stuff I like, though.

On to

and I'm listening to

 

[420bits]

you're in for a treat, Jorge is an arsehole but he grows on you

Finished the first book and it was really good, started on the 2nd one but havn't gotten very far yet. Jorge is one fucked up character for sure but really awesome in a strange way

Edit: Talking about "The broken empire" series.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9579634-prince-of-thorns
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12891107-king-of-thorns

 

[Nymerio]

Finished Station Eleven yesterday. I only read it because someone compared it to Night Circus and I loved that book. Station Eleven was amazing as well, it was quite different from what I expected so I was pleasantly surprised.

After that I started with the first Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book. Pretty late to the party on that one I guess

 

[Tugatrix]

I started a new one

 

[LProtag]

I think Hopscotch is just not for me at the moment. I'm going to put it down and come back to it later, at some point.

I'm still feeling like a challenge though, so I'm going to go with this:

I made it through The Name of the Rose, so I think I can manage it.

 

[nakedsushi]

I finished a quick comic book:


Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

A small collection of creepy stories. I really liked the color choices for the pictures. The story that I felt truly creepy in this was The Nesting Place. The pictures accompanying that story (especially the reveal) gave me the heebie jeebies.

 

[sparky2112]

I made it through The Name of the Rose, so I think I can manage it.

Never have I had a more trying reading experience. There's a good story in there somewhere, buried as it is under Eco's showy erudition.

 

[obin_gam]

Finished Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief today.

What a wonderful, interesting and frightening book. Also a very important one. It's not that the religion beliefs in crazy stuff - every religion does, and that's not an excuse anyway - it's what they do to people that is dangerous. The stalk, harass, threaten, torture, kidnap, and murder people - all this is on record as well. I urge everyone that has the slightest interest in social and psychological studies to read this one.

---

Now off to the red planet again. Read Red Mars this fall and I rank it as one of the greatest books I've ever read. I'll start on the sequel Green Mars, tomorrow.

 

[Piecake]

I think Hopscotch is just not for me at the moment. I'm going to put it down and come back to it later, at some point.

I'm still feeling like a challenge though, so I'm going to go with this:

I made it through The Name of the Rose, so I think I can manage it.

If you thought Hopscotch threw around too many references, meaning, and what not that you were ignorant of, good luck with this book. I gave up like a 1/4th of the way through because the characters largely sucked and his ideas and philosophical musings greatly impeded the story. It didnt help that I really didnt care a whole lot about semiotics.

 

[A Human Becoming]

Finished this the other day. Unfortunately the interesting stories, positive life attitude and likable author are dragged down by constant references to Jesus and God, stupidity of the writer and weird expressions. I mean seriously, "leaking Jesus" was uncomfortable.

Bob Goff has lived an interesting life that shows a positive attitude and persistence go a long way. The stories do a good job of illustrating his advice, but connecting everything back to Jesus and God was very unappealing to me, as I'm agnostic. Some religion aspects are fine, but in my eyes the frequency diminished the value of the book. Listening to this on audio probably made matters worse, especially his belief that people without a relationship with Jesus and God are typical, which God did not intend us to be. That smug attitude alongside him excusing his poor thinking as being the path God put him on resulted in me disliking an otherwise likable person.

4/10

I started reading Akimi Yoshida's Banana Fish. It's ostensibly a shoujo manga, but it has what I think of as seinen trappings - the New York setting, the crime-thriller plot, the utilitarian artstyle. You can see the shoujo elements, especially in the mild shounen-ai elements (the most risque we've seen 'on screen' has been a kiss so far), but it's resemblance to something like Sailor Moon or PSME is pretty remote.

Surely it's been asked elsewhere, but why the demodding? Eat Children, someone else and now you!

 

[Tragicomedy]

Surely it's been asked elsewhere, but why the demodding? Eat Children, someone else and now you!

First they came for NBA GAF, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a frequent poster.

Then they came for the Eat Children, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a cannibal.

Then they came for Mumei, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a moderator.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

 

[lightus]

Surely it's been asked elsewhere, but why the demodding? Eat Children, someone else and now you!

Noo, lets not do this please. I like this thread, and I want it to stay open!



I just finished up The Martian by Andy Weir. I really enjoyed it. I liked the science-y stuff and the main character helped keep everything light-hearted. Some of the prose felt a bit simplistic, but it was easily overlooked.


Next up is City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. I'm about 40 pages in right now and it's starting to pull me in. Can't wait to get into the meat of it! Side note: I wish they had chosen a different font for the chapter titles/headers. It feels a bit childish and out of place given the tone of the book so far.

 

[LProtag]

If you thought Hopscotch threw around too many references, meaning, and what not that you were ignorant of, good luck with this book. I gave up like a 1/4th of the way through because the characters largely sucked and his ideas and philosophical musings greatly impeded the story. It didnt help that I really didnt care a whole lot about semiotics.

I think it was more the stream of consciousness style that made Hopscotch difficult for me. I don't do well with it; it's why I never finished Ulysses either.

 

[Cade]

The Road was fucking excellent and fucking disturbing and fucking powerful. Started last night, went to bed, woke up and finished it. God damn.

Still not sold on McCarthy's arbitrary use of grammar, but wow. Great stuff, definitely want to read some of his other stuff.

Not sure what's next, need time to decompress.

 

[sooperkool]

Finished the first book and it was really good, started on the 2nd one but havn't gotten very far yet. Jorge is one fucked up character for sure but really awesome in a strange way

Edit: Talking about "The broken empire" series.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9579634-prince-of-thorns
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12891107-king-of-thorns

It definitely has an interesting conclusion, I didnt find it satisfying but.....

 

[Tragicomedy]

Still not sold on McCarthy's arbitrary use of grammar, but wow. Great stuff, definitely want to read some of his other stuff.

That's what makes him the best writer living today. The Road is almost universally loved, and it's still somehow underrated.

Too bad he can't hold a candle to Nicholas Sparks.

 

[Cade]

That's what makes him the best writer living today. The Road is almost universally loved, and it's still somehow underrated.

Too bad he can't hold a candle to Nicholas Sparks.

I will say that not using quotation marks makes my eyes not immediately jump to dialogue on a page, often spoiling the rest of the page, which was nice.

 

[Tragicomedy]

I will say that not using quotation marks makes my eyes not immediately jump to dialogue on a page, often spoiling the rest of the page, which was nice.

Although our brains have been programmed to see dialogue a certain way, there's something way more natural and relaxing about how he does it. Our conversations blend together and there isn't hard punctuation or returns when we speak. I love how his dialogue flows seamlessly in and out of the exposition.

 

[Cade]

Although our brains have been programmed to see dialogue a certain way, there's something way more natural and relaxing about how he does it. Our conversations blend together and there isn't hard punctuation or returns when we speak. I love how his dialogue flows seamlessly in and out of the exposition.

It's definitely unique. The lack of apostrophes in contractions ending in not kept killing me though.

 

[Nymerio]

This is probably an unpopular opinion but I'm reading the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and I don't like it. I'm about 30% in and what it reminds me of are the discworld books only instead of funny it's annoying. It feels like it's trying to hard to be clever and funny and it fails miserably. I'm going to finish it and hope it gets better but I don't have high hopes for that to happen.

 

[fierrotlepou]

Bought myself a Kindle paperwhite and I'm really impressed. Can't wait to devour books like a maniac.

I'm reading The Count of Monte Cristo at the moment. I just started reading, but the atmosphere is awesome. I can already tell I'm going to like it.

Anyway, I don't mind reading two or three books at a time. Second book is The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Need to have more perspective on World War Two.

Finally: does anyone have a great non-fiction book to recommend? I'd love to read a biography about someone. Is the one about Steve Jobs any good?

 

[sparky2112]

Surely it's been asked elsewhere, but why the demodding? Eat Children, someone else and now you!

I did not understand a word of that. Thread closing? What's going on?

 

[bengraven]

Torn. I'm reading a few non-fiction books (The Children's Blizzard and The Dust Bowl because you know I love mid-west disasters) but I need a fiction book.

MASH - because yes, the show is on Netflix and I'm on season 3 and loving it
Station 11 - I tried Dog Stars and wasn't into it, but could use a good apocalyptic drama
Rain Wild/Liveship Traders - Read all the Fitz books but feel like I need the fillings. Apparently Rain will be important for book 2 of Fool and Fitz like Liveship was kind of important for book 2 of Tawny Man.

I finished a quick comic book:


Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

A small collection of creepy stories. I really liked the color choices for the pictures. The story that I felt truly creepy in this was The Nesting Place. The pictures accompanying that story (especially the reveal) gave me the heebie jeebies.

I fucking neeeeed to get this at some time. I adore her webcomics.

 

[Tragicomedy]

This is probably an unpopular opinion but I'm reading the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and I don't like it. I'm about 30% in and what it reminds me of are the discworld books only instead of funny it's annoying. It feels like it's trying to hard to be clever and funny and it fails miserably. I'm going to finish it and hope it gets better but I don't have high hopes for that to happen.

No, I'm with you. I read it a year or so ago and the humor didn't work for me. I generously gave it three stars, but that was pushing it.

I think it's one of those books you really needed to read as a kid. I'm not even certain I want to touch the sequels.

 

[FairFriend]

So I've finally finished Moore's autobiography My word is my bond.

I would suggest it only to Moore and Bond die hard fans. Otherwise as uninteresting and and anecdotical as it gets.

Now I'm reading Verga's I Malavoglia and the 1981 edition of Foley's Principles of interactive graphics. The latter I bought used for 5 euros, which have proved to be the best 5 euros ever spent on anything! Since it's such old book it absolutely gives nothing for granted and explain thoroughly even the most basic concept of computer graphics. Besides the book is the hardcover version and was delivered in pristine conditions, almost new. I evef found a perfectly readable receipt, dated january 1989 with the original owner signature!

 

[Jag]

Rain Wild/Liveship Traders - Read all the Fitz books but feel like I need the fillings. Apparently Rain will be important for book 2 of Fool and Fitz like Liveship was kind of important for book 2 of Tawny Man.

I just started Liveship Traders. Not as good as the Fitz books. Started slow, but I'm slowly getting into it.

 

[Bradach]

I just finished this;

They don't come much more dark or miserable than this and I absolutely loved it. I'll admit I had a lump in my throat a couple of times.
It's a tough read, literally. There are some words that even my kindles built in dictionary shrugged at. Here's an example of what I mean

Spoiler

"Ten thousand dreams ensepulchred within their crozzled hearts."

...

Anyway, for what it's worth, I highly recommend it.

 

[Cade]

I just finished this;

They don't come much more dark or miserable than this and I absolutely loved it. I'll admit I had a lump in my throat a couple of times.
It's a tough read, literally. There are some words that even my kindles built in dictionary shrugged at. Here's an example of what I mean

Spoiler

"Ten thousand dreams ensepulchred within their crozzled hearts."

...

Anyway, for what it's worth, I highly recommend it.

Twinsies! And I was gonna look up crozzled too and forgot, so thanks for the reminder. Of the handful of bizarre words, that was the one I wondered about.

 

[Bradach]

Twinsies! And I was gonna look up crozzled too and forgot, so thanks for the reminder. Of the handful of bizarre words, that was the one I wondered about.

Lol. No one knows what it means, but its provocative... gets the people going!

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

Finished Soon I Will Be Invincible on Saturday. This book started off better than it ended. Could it be because it ended exactly the same way it started? Could it also be because the book takes tropes from comic books like Superman and Batman and tries to do absolutely nothing different with them? It could even be that the book has an impossible (no pun intended) deus ex machina in the third act that defies logic.

The bad guy is doing all this because, basically, he wants the superhero he 'made' to know who he is *really*: that kid who was tormented so much as a teenager, the person that he was competing against even though he was the only one who knew the competition existed. I finished the book because I hate dropping something when I start but wow.

If you want a comic-trope destroying book, go with The Boys from Garth Ennis. It's a wild ride from start to finish and not nearly as safe as this book was.

Also finished volume 2 of "No Longer Human" and I'm confident that I'm better reading the manga than the book as there are scenes drawn that I could tell would take a page or three to describe with words and I don't need to think about it for that long. The character is irredeemable and every time life tries to get him to not be a sad sack of shit he finds a way to screw it up on purpose. Unless the point of the book is that if you're a fuck-off and never try to better yourself then you're an asshole.

Sorry, the book makes me mad when I think about it.

 

[Mr.Swag]

Reading 'The Road' in one sit down is still the second best literature experience of my life.
The first of course being, falling in love with reading when I read the first four harry potter books in second and third grade.


Someone here was reading Broken Monsters so I looked it up and got it on sale for $2 on Kindle. I'm only about 12 percent in and the author has already referenced social media about 15 times.
First time I read such a post-facebook era novel.
I dont like it, the social media references, but the novel is interesting enough.
There's a quote in the book that goes a little something like " his vision was hazy around the edges, like an instagram of his morning" I butchered it, but something like that. I put the book down for a second when I read that.

 

[BorkBork]

I just finished this;

They don't come much more dark or miserable than this and I absolutely loved it. I'll admit I had a lump in my throat a couple of times.
It's a tough read, literally. There are some words that even my kindles built in dictionary shrugged at. Here's an example of what I mean

Spoiler

"Ten thousand dreams ensepulchred within their crozzled hearts."

...

Anyway, for what it's worth, I highly recommend it.

One of my favourites. The prose is amazing. I wrote about the book in a bit of depth here, if people are interested.

 

[Piecake]

Bought myself a Kindle paperwhite and I'm really impressed. Can't wait to devour books like a maniac.

I'm reading The Count of Monte Cristo at the moment. I just started reading, but the atmosphere is awesome. I can already tell I'm going to like it.

Anyway, I don't mind reading two or three books at a time. Second book is The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Need to have more perspective on World War Two.

Finally: does anyone have a great non-fiction book to recommend? I'd love to read a biography about someone. Is the one about Steve Jobs any good?

What type of person are you interested in reading about? I havent read the Steve Jobs one, so I can't help you there.

Titan The life of John D Rockefeller
Peter the Great: His Life and World

are among my favorite bios.

 

[Maklershed]

Why oh why did I wait so long to read Province of Night? William Gay is brilliant. He's getting closer and closer to joining my favorite authors list.

 

[fakefaker]

Finished up Love in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction by Judd Trichter and give it a 4 outta 5. It's a gritty and realistic story of one mans love and search for the body parts of his robot lover and the issues of the whole endeavor. The story is well done, a little dry in parts, but morality tales can be like that. On a whole it's a complex book I much enjoyed. Now onto Moon's Artifice by Tom Lloyd.

 

[Virus]

 

[Mumei]

Bought myself a Kindle paperwhite and I'm really impressed. Can't wait to devour books like a maniac.

I'm reading The Count of Monte Cristo at the moment. I just started reading, but the atmosphere is awesome. I can already tell I'm going to like it.

Anyway, I don't mind reading two or three books at a time. Second book is The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Need to have more perspective on World War Two.

Finally: does anyone have a great non-fiction book to recommend? I'd love to read a biography about someone. Is the one about Steve Jobs any good?

Well, since you're reading The Count of Monte Cristo, why not read about Alexandre Dumas' father?

Here is the remarkable true story of the real Count of Monte Cristo – a stunning feat of historical sleuthing that brings to life the forgotten hero who inspired such classics as The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers.

The real-life protagonist of The Black Count, General Alex Dumas, is a man almost unknown today yet with a story that is strikingly familiar, because his son, the novelist Alexandre Dumas, used it to create some of the best loved heroes of literature.

Yet, hidden behind these swashbuckling adventures was an even more incredible secret: the real hero was the son of a black slave -- who rose higher in the white world than any man of his race would before our own time.

Born in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), Alex Dumas was briefly sold into bondage but made his way to Paris where he was schooled as a sword-fighting member of the French aristocracy. Enlisting as a private, he rose to command armies at the height of the Revolution, in an audacious campaign across Europe and the Middle East – until he met an implacable enemy he could not defeat.

The Black Count is simultaneously a riveting adventure story, a lushly textured evocation of 18th-century France, and a window into the modern world’s first multi-racial society. But it is also a heartbreaking story of the enduring bonds of love between a father and son.