Has anyone heard of or read The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers?
The description on Fantasy-Faction sounds awesome:
This just got a new cover and is supposed to be very good.
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What are you reading? (February 2015)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
This just got a new cover and is supposed to be very good.
Intheflorsh
Banned
Downgrade.
Tragicomedy
Member
Not when you consider what people look for in a book store. I probably wouldn't even pick up the first cover...the second is more iconic.
This is perfect.
Education really is the root of the endless poverty cycle, so this is right up with my interests.
8BitsAtATime
Member
Eeeee Eee Eeee by Tao Lin
I finished it in a couple of hours....yeah I have no clue wtf was going on.
I'm trying to decide if I want to read Dept. of Speculation, Get in Trouble, or Nobody is Ever Missing. Maybe I should read the The First Bad Man next.
I finished it in a couple of hours....yeah I have no clue wtf was going on.
I'm trying to decide if I want to read Dept. of Speculation, Get in Trouble, or Nobody is Ever Missing. Maybe I should read the The First Bad Man next.
I can't give you a comparative, but the first Master and Commander book is fantastic. The characters are incredibly well drawn and a pleasure to read, even when they aren't firing cannon into the ass of a ship. And it's much funnier than I expected it to be.
Rug Monkey
Member
I've read about 8 of the Hornblowers, and all the Aubrey/Maturin books. C.S. Forrester wrote his in the 1930's and they stylistically reflect that. Patrick O'Brian wrote his in the from 1970 until 2000.
I think the Hornblowers are great storytelling, but the Aubrey/Maturin have a lot more depth to them as well as cracking plot and brilliant battle scenes, so I'd recommend those.
Plowed through the remaining volumes in Bone. Jeff Smith really did a number for the medium with this comic. Fone Bone will have a special place in my heart.
Now I am getting ever closer to finishing Manning's biography of Malcolm X. I haven't decided if I will pick up another non fiction yet (at least for the remaining part of the month), or if I will continue to focus on my fiction reading.
I also cried a little the other day when I couldn't connect my Kindle to a free wifi spot. Damn it and its inability to have two taps open! I'll never get to read the Southern Reach books, City of Stairs, or Goblin Emperor. :-(
Now I am getting ever closer to finishing Manning's biography of Malcolm X. I haven't decided if I will pick up another non fiction yet (at least for the remaining part of the month), or if I will continue to focus on my fiction reading.
I also cried a little the other day when I couldn't connect my Kindle to a free wifi spot. Damn it and its inability to have two taps open! I'll never get to read the Southern Reach books, City of Stairs, or Goblin Emperor. :-(
Paper superiority reconfirmed!
Only by Luddites and book snobs
If I am reading a non-fiction book and want to write notes in the margins, I feel that paper is a lot better though. I find the kindle's my clippings highlights extremely useful though. Having a file on the computer that has all of your highlights for that book is just sooo convenient. So, basically, if the next kindle allowed me to write in the margins and mark up the text as easily as paper I would upgrade in an instant.
Maklershed
Member
Took me long enough but I finally finished Dark Places. It was ok. Definitely my least favorite of Flynn's three books.
Now back to The Witch of Hebron
The Witch of Hebron by James Howard Kunstler
Now back to The Witch of Hebron
The Witch of Hebron by James Howard Kunstler
Has anyone heard of or read The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers?
The description on Fantasy-Faction sounds awesome:
Sounds great! I'm about to finish City of Stairs which was obtained due to GAF recommendation. Its been a fun ride, I recommend it as well. I was going to read the second Vorkosigan omnibus, Young Miles, but perhaps my detour will last a little longer and I'll read this one right away before returning to Bujold's works.
Bleh don't bother with the Southern Reach. City of Stairs, however, is fantastic (or at least so far.)
I love you, too. <3
smooches
hardcastlemccormick
Banned
Finished The Man In the High Castle. Moved on to Wool. I adored the opening.
The first time I bought a book on a moving train via 3G I felt like I was living in a cyberpunk novel.
Totally destroys any theories involving the usual cliches, but it brings you so far.
The first time I bought a book on a moving train via 3G I felt like I was living in a cyberpunk novel.
The Count of Monte Cristo is relatively breezy for a book of its length, actually.
8BitsAtATime
Member
Finished Dept of Speculation. I loved it
sparky2112
Member
Pilatas? It kills me that you can have a sizable city where it's like 45 Fahrenheit, hop on a cable car, and end up on top of a mountain, where it resembles Antarctica on a bad day. Crazy stuff.
bengraven
Member
I wish I wouldn't have ruined Monte Cristo. Ended up spoiling myself on the ending while only 5% through the book.
Realized it was going to be a long, long trip until I got to those spoilers, so decided to just give up. I'll probably watch a couple of the adaptations and maybe someday read the abridged version.
The scene at the rehearsal where they first meet, Aubrey is rocking out with his fist and Maturin is annoying him. I laughed at how awkwardly gentlemen everyone is.
It's like Napoleonic Wars meet-cute.
Realized it was going to be a long, long trip until I got to those spoilers, so decided to just give up. I'll probably watch a couple of the adaptations and maybe someday read the abridged version.
The scene at the rehearsal where they first meet, Aubrey is rocking out with his fist and Maturin is annoying him. I laughed at how awkwardly gentlemen everyone is.
It's like Napoleonic Wars meet-cute.
It really does fly by! Just finished it and happy to report it's one of the best books I have ever read! I loved it!
Really enjoying 'Life is a Wheel', early on it felt a little too much of a travel log at times, but it really comes together with the retrospective a journey like that brings and a bunch of great stories and certainly love the look into his small town stops. Finding myself to have quite a few things in common with him as well, should finish it up today or tomorrow.
Liked this bit I just read (regarding how he met up with a friend on this trip, and wondered how they got in touch on the first cross country trip he did)..
Liked this bit I just read (regarding how he met up with a friend on this trip, and wondered how they got in touch on the first cross country trip he did)..
FUBAR McDangles
Member
Almost done with another Jack Reacher novel, A Wanted Man. It's been an interesting story but yet again I'm questioning how/why Reacher got involved with the events. Another fun but oddly disappointing story in the series.
Next on the list is one of three books. Which should I read?
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
The Martian by Andy Weir
Next on the list is one of three books. Which should I read?
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
The Martian by Andy Weir
Tawney Bomb
Member
Finished reading Cibola Burn last night, and was let down, definitely not on par with the other 3 books in the series.
Started Mistborn last night too, been meaning to read that for a while now.
Started Mistborn last night too, been meaning to read that for a while now.
The Martian
Everyone else is doing it
I really want that one
Tragicomedy
Member
The Martian is good. City of Stairs is amazing. Pretty easy decision!
Christoff Yurievich
Member
Been reading the Ron Perlman Autobiography. Some good stories in it so far.
That's the one! I went during the summer so it wasn't that bad. Maybe 50 F.
Interesting, I felt Abaddon's Gate was far far worse than the first two and that Cibola Burn started to point the series back into a better direction.
Agreed, it's okay to jump off the bridge in this instance.
Both are great books, you can't go wrong.
Mercury Fred
Banned
Just finished up The First Bad Man from Miranda July. I loved it-- totally bonkers with its own strange logical and weirdly emotionally resonant for being such a very strange book. Excellent stuff.
Working toward a deadline but about to pick up the Kim Gordon memoir, Girl In a Band this week.
Working toward a deadline but about to pick up the Kim Gordon memoir, Girl In a Band this week.
Mackenzie 92
Member
Just finished the first novel in the series The Black Company by Glen Cook.
It was recommended by a thread on gaming side.
It's definitely a refreshing premise to see the viewpoint from the eyes of the villains (who are morally grey, just the way I like it). Which is all the more surprising since this novel is more than 30 years old!
I really enjoyed his writing style. I know I've harped several times about how limited fantasy prose can be (Sanderson and Rothfuss come to mind for their 1st books). Here's an example of prose that's a cut-above what you find in a typical novel. It's more complex and it has charm. It colours the novel with a unique flavour (namely that this world is oppressive and dark). It's not quite Planescape: Torment level of writing-with-style, but it captures my interest.
I can't say there's significant development of the characters. They end mostly as they had begun; so in that erspect, they're fairly static. That doesn't make them uninteresting, though. I just wish the author would sometimes delve a bit deeper into the actions and thoughts of characters besides the narrator, just because they were so intriguing (Soulcatcher, the Lady, Raven, Cap, etc...).
I do have some more to say about the plot, ending, and such. Maybe when I collect my thoghts, I'll post them.
It was recommended by a thread on gaming side.
It's definitely a refreshing premise to see the viewpoint from the eyes of the villains (who are morally grey, just the way I like it). Which is all the more surprising since this novel is more than 30 years old!
I really enjoyed his writing style. I know I've harped several times about how limited fantasy prose can be (Sanderson and Rothfuss come to mind for their 1st books). Here's an example of prose that's a cut-above what you find in a typical novel. It's more complex and it has charm. It colours the novel with a unique flavour (namely that this world is oppressive and dark). It's not quite Planescape: Torment level of writing-with-style, but it captures my interest.
I can't say there's significant development of the characters. They end mostly as they had begun; so in that erspect, they're fairly static. That doesn't make them uninteresting, though. I just wish the author would sometimes delve a bit deeper into the actions and thoughts of characters besides the narrator, just because they were so intriguing (Soulcatcher, the Lady, Raven, Cap, etc...).
I do have some more to say about the plot, ending, and such. Maybe when I collect my thoghts, I'll post them.
Well, I finished The Left Hand of Darkness.
Probably the most intense story in the Hainish cycle, thought I'm not sure if it's my favorite. I need to revisit some of the other books, but I'm pretty sure I've finally read all of them now.
Oh, I'm missing Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile and City of Illusions. Dang.
Well, that's good actually. More Le Guin for me to read.
Probably the most intense story in the Hainish cycle, thought I'm not sure if it's my favorite. I need to revisit some of the other books, but I'm pretty sure I've finally read all of them now.
Oh, I'm missing Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile and City of Illusions. Dang.
Well, that's good actually. More Le Guin for me to read.
