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[Guileless]

Intriguing cover led me to best book blurb ever:

THE STARTER is the sequel to THE ROOKIE, a hard-hitting, bone-crunching YA sports/scifi novel described as "Any Given Sunday" meets "The Godfather" meets "Star Wars." It's high-stakes, win-or-die football action in the far future, as aliens and humans fill positions based on physiology and leave their blood, sweat and tears on gridirons across the galaxy. Last season, 19-year-old rookie quarterback Quentin Barnes overcame his racism and unified his team. He led the Ionath Krakens to a lower-tier championship, a championship that earns them promotion into the meat grinder known as "Tier One." Now, he and the Krakens have to compete against the greatest football teams ever assembled and do far more than just survive each game. As he rebuilds the team in his own image, Quentin's quest for a Tier One championship begins in THE STARTER.

As for legal thrillers, Grisham wrote some good ones. The Pelican Brief and The Firm are my favorites. If you want something non-Grisham, try Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow.

 

[Ryu]

Does anybody but me attempt to take breaks from reading, all in an effort to give some love to other hobbies (video games and guitar, in my case)? This idea always fails - I simply have no resolve when it comes to ignoring books. It's sad, really...reminds me of the phrase 'life well wasted'...

My current reading 'break' is really just a 'book break' to try and catch up with about a year's worth of magazines - Wired, The Atlantic, and Vanity Fair.

Plus, I've got those DK doorstop coffee-table books, 'Science', 'History', and 'Universe' that aren't getting any love, either...

Sigh.

I alternate as best as I can. Right now I'm on a big gaming kick (thanks Steam sales), but that will wane soon and I'll get back into reading heavily. I alternate all of this with writing and drawing with a full time job on top of that. I don't think I could multi-task all of those hobbies at once and still remain sane. I kind of liken it to what I refer to as the open world syndrom - if you give me too much I can do in a game, my brain just shuts down and doesn't want to do anything. Focusing on one thing is the only way I can finish anything.

I do try to read before bed every night though. Not always, but often. I'm currently reading the following -

Really enjoying this one. Am I the only one who finds joy in reading young adult books like this or Harry Potter or the Greek mythology spun books by Riordan? They present some pretty great stories while mostly remaining light and simple. I really enjoy them.

 

[nakedsushi]

Does anybody but me attempt to take breaks from reading, all in an effort to give some love to other hobbies (video games and guitar, in my case)? This idea always fails - I simply have no resolve when it comes to ignoring books. It's sad, really...reminds me of the phrase 'life well wasted'...

My current reading 'break' is really just a 'book break' to try and catch up with about a year's worth of magazines - Wired, The Atlantic, and Vanity Fair.

Plus, I've got those DK doorstop coffee-table books, 'Science', 'History', and 'Universe' that aren't getting any love, either...

Sigh.

I don't consciously take breaks as in, "Okay, I'm not going to read for three days" but I do find myself drifting to lighter stuff if I've just read a dense book. Even with reading 1-2 books a week, I still find I have plenty of time for my other hobbies (cooking & video games!) and even an episode of Madmen or two. I think the trick is to get the reading in when you're usually idle, like waiting in line at the post office, driving in to work (text to speech!), waiting for code to get released, etc.

 

[Guileless]

My reading changes seasonally. I read more than usual this time of year because of bad weather and short days. I also read a lot in August because of how hot it is. Spring and fall I don't read as much.

 

[SmoothCB]

How has this held up over the years? I used to love the series back in early high school but am hesitant to tarnish my memories.

 

[Max]

I finished Ubik and really liked it, probably my third favourite PKD book next to Scanner Darkly then Do Androids Dream

And now

 

[Ryu]

My reading changes seasonally. I read more than usual this time of year because of bad weather and short days. I also read a lot in August because of how hot it is. Spring and fall I don't read as much.

Another good point. I tend to read more during the hot days of summer - particularly outside. I can definitely see myself on vacation in some tropical resort with an umbrella overhead, beach in front of me, and a book in hand.

 

[SmoothCB]

Decent book, if a bit brief. I'm about 30 pages in (out of about 150) and it definitely fits with what I know about China.

----

Just about to start this one--very interested as I've heard good things.

 

[afternoon delight]

Good man! So tell us why we should read it. Have you read it before and can recommend it? Can you tell us anything about the author, maybe?

The author of the Chinatown screenplay is quoted on the back giving it extremely favorable praise. Good enough for me!

 

[sparky2112]

I kind of liken it to what I refer to as the open world syndrom - if you give me too much I can do in a game, my brain just shuts down and doesn't want to do anything. Focusing on one thing is the only way I can finish anything.

'The paradox of choice'. Too much choice makes us, not happier, but unhappier. We don't like making decisions as much as we think we do.

Kinda like Russia with Putin, you know? 'Gimme back my dictatorship, dammit!'

 

[Government-man]

Rarely have I read a history book so interesting and hard to put down. Though I am just starting, but it's been great so far.

 

[Guileless]

How has this held up over the years? I used to love the series back in early high school but am hesitant to tarnish my memories.

I reread Heir to the Empire recently for the first time since the original 1991 release, and it held up for me. A 20th anniversary edition of the book with annotations by Zahn is scheduled for release this summer I believe.

 

[Dwight Schrute]

Just starting:

Shadow of the wind is one of my favorite books ever, but I can't find the courage to start this one because I don't want to be very dissapointed...

How is it so far ?

 

[Canadian Psycho]

Just finished La Carte et le territoire by Michel Houellebecq (amazing IMO, on par with Platform and Elementary Particles as far as I'm concerned, although it's a bit different this time) and I'm a couple chapters into Crime and Punishment, which I am really enjoying at the moment.

 

[Maklershed]

Good man! So tell us why we should read it. Have you read it before and can recommend it? Can you tell us anything about the author, maybe?

Sorry but I can't. :lol

My impetus behind selecting it is that I felt there was a desire to start the book club again, afternoon delight requested we read this, and its relatively cheap and easily available in various formats. Plus its not overly long and the description seems somewhat interesting.

If you leave the book club up to me we're only going to read post-apocalypse books.

 

[zero margin]

Reading the girl who played with fire. I wasn't blown away with the first book but it was $5 on nook so giving it a shot.

 

[SoulPlaya]

I read Child 44 over the summer. It's a good book, a bit of a thriller, and it's mainly just popcorn fun. unfortunately, I thought the ending wasn't particularly well done, or very realistic.

 

[hey_monkey]

Reading the girl who played with fire. I wasn't blown away with the first book but it was $5 on nook so giving it a shot.

Kinda my response to the first one, too. Heard loads about it, so maybe it was just built up too much, but it seemed like more than half of the story was just told. I don't really like to throw around the show vs. tell thing, but when it's that much of the book, it's really noticeable.

 

[-Kees-]

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

Should be required reading.

 

[nakedsushi]

One of my co-workers whipped up a book challenge thingee for this year for those of you who want to set a numerical goal of books to read =)

http://www.goodreads.com/challenges/2

 

[survivor]

One of my co-workers whipped up a book challenge thingee for this year for those of you who want to set a numerical goal of books to read =)

http://www.goodreads.com/challenges/2

I entered in 50 books. I don't know if I will be able to do it but there are a lot of series that I want to finish this year so I should be close to my goal.

 

[nakedsushi]

That's pretty doable. I entered in 52 since it's a book a week.

 

[Salazar]

One of my co-workers whipped up a book challenge thingee for this year for those of you who want to set a numerical goal of books to read =)

http://www.goodreads.com/challenges/2

I will be reading too much for work to set a goal figure of books to read for pleasure, and entering the books I read for work seems awfully like cheating.

Reading Pat Rogers' Grub Street: Studies in a Subculture. It is a terrible shame, a cavernous cultural loss, that they renamed Grub Street.

 

[Bii]

One of my co-workers whipped up a book challenge thingee for this year for those of you who want to set a numerical goal of books to read =)

http://www.goodreads.com/challenges/2

Entered. Last year, I only read 4 books. I set a goal of 25 for 2011. Roughly two books a month is definitely doable but I get into slumps easily and I'm accounting for that as well.

I'm about a quarter into Child 44 and the book's pace is going along quite smoothly. Although, I'm starting to predict upcoming actions/events and I loathe books/stories/plots that are WAY too predictable or obvious.

 

[kinn]

Does anybody but me attempt to take breaks from reading, all in an effort to give some love to other hobbies (video games and guitar, in my case)? This idea always fails - I simply have no resolve when it comes to ignoring books. It's sad, really...reminds me of the phrase 'life well wasted'...

For me I need to take breaks from gaming. After completing a game I try to take a break to catch up on a film or 2 or to spend more time reading.

Its like how nakedsushi said about reading when you got a spare moment here and there.

 

[kinn]

How has this held up over the years? I used to love the series back in early high school but am hesitant to tarnish my memories.

Read the trilogy just last year for the first time. Enjoyed it.

 

[Frostburn]

Just finished:

I liked it quite a bit, I know what I'm getting into but I think I'll enjoy the series either way. This book took a bit to get started but I really like how well fleshed out everything is in the series so far. The imagery is excellent and I thought this book was really well paced once it got going.

Just started:

I also bought "The Long Ships" to read as it is now available on the Kindle.

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

I decided to take a look at Child 44 for the book club, It's pretty good so far. It also looks like this is the first book in a series so if it turns out to be good I'll pick up the next book.

Other than that I'm reading Havana Nocturne.

It's about the mob's involvement with Cuba's gambling halls. It's pretty dry so far but interesting.

Finally I'm still slowly working my way through The Lord of the Rings. I finished up with Fellowship of the Ring last week and I'm in the middle of The Two Towers. It's my second time reading the books so I'm not too hard pressed to finish.

 

[Salazar]

I also bought "The Long Ships" to read as it is now available on the Kindle.

Good idea. It's wonderful that it has seemingly come back into publishing vogue.

The New York Review of Books edition is exceptional, though, and I really do recommend their books. Wonderfully produced, and a terrific selection.

http://www.nybooks.com/books/

The blog is interesting, too.

http://nyrb.typepad.com/

The most recent one I bought and read was Bruce Duffy's The World as I Found It. Which was superb, allowing for a prior fascination on my part with Bertie Russell and Wittgenstein.

When Bruce Duffy’s The World As I Found It was first published more than twenty years ago, critics and readers were bowled over by its daring reimagining of the lives of three very different men, the philosophers Bertrand Russell, G. E. Moore, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. A brilliant group portrait with the vertiginous displacements of twentieth-century life looming large in the background, Duffy’s novel depicts times and places as various as Vienna 1900, the trenches of World War I, Bloomsbury, and the colleges of Cambridge, while the complicated main characters appear not only in thought and dispute but in love and despair. Wittgenstein, a strange, troubled, and troubling man of gnawing contradictions, is at the center of a novel that reminds us that the apparently abstract and formal questions that animate philosophy are nothing less than the intractable matters of life and death.

 

[hey_monkey]

I should really get into Goodreads, apparently. I started an account once and was immediately overwhelmed by the idea that I had to somehow enter every book I've ever read, which would be almost impossible, or even every book I own, which would be equally difficult. I'm a completist and was thus intimidated. :lol

 

[Jarlaxle]

I'm about 100 pages in and definitely enjoying it so far. I really enjoy the tone that Abercrombie uses in his books.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

Just got this beautiful bastard in the mail today.

Its that time of year.

 

[Dresden]

Finished Claudius the God tonight.

I bought the new Wheel of Time and Bujold's Cryoburn a few weeks ago, along with some other books, but I don't feel like reading them... just kinda down with fantasy and such right now. I think the new Abercrombie should get me in a reading mood, though.

For now, I might just pick up Water Touching Stone again. Maybe I'm in the mood for mysteries.

Take a look; hope you guys like it!

Awesome job, dude.

 

[Incognito]

and i'm going to have to pick up that Niall Ferguson book, too. looks pretty interesting. the good thing about being on the transplant list and the subsequent recovery is the amount of time i'll have to clear my backlog of books! :lol

 

[Beowulf28]

Decided to give it a try considering the author's giving digital copies away.

 

[Frostburn]

Good idea. It's wonderful that it has seemingly come back into publishing vogue.

The New York Review of Books edition is exceptional, though, and I really do recommend their books. Wonderfully produced, and a terrific selection.

http://www.nybooks.com/books/

The Kindle version is actually from NYRB so it should be great, thanks for the links too I'm looking forward to reading.

 

[Tim the Wiz]

The Harrington series begins to grow tedious and Mary Sue-ish, unfortunately. The big well-orchestrated space battles do compensate for a while, though.

 

[xir]

 

[hey_monkey]

Gearing up for a project and starting The Golden Bowl and The Age of Innocence. Also going to pick up the latest Wheel of Time, since I'd forgotten about it, though I hated the last one. I still want to know wtf happens.

 

[Tim the Wiz]

A distinctive series which has the temerity to reinvent itself with each volume. Shadow introduces us to the melange of societal and personal bonds which will determine the indeterminate future for the cities of the Khaiem. Betrayal is an excellent stepping-stone mix of Lear and MacBeth. Autumn War provides the necessary perspective on the power enmeshed by the poets and ruthlessly thrusts home with the culmination of fears previously honed. Spring realizes an aftermath most authors would not bother to imagine in brilliant fashion. The weight and momentum of emotional investment in the characters delivered is thoroughly earned since at least a decade passes between each volume. This is elegant fantasy for those tired of over-fat, hackneyed clones and it leaves only one question. Why didn't I read it sooner?

 

[nakedsushi]

^ I love when covers are consistent across a series.

 

[Aurelius]

My third book by Murakami after Norwegian Wood and The Windup Bird Chronicles. Really enjoying it so far.

 

[Salazar]

My third book by Murakami after Norwegian Wood and The Windup Bird Chronicles. Really enjoying it so far.

Murakami-GAF needs to spawn an Oe-GAF.

 

[LogicStep]

Well I just ordered Child 44, the synopsis got me interested.

 

[KuroNeeko]

These are more in the realm of resolution at the moment:

present from fellow gaffer nny via GAF's Secret Santa thread. Been meaning to read this for a while.

It's a bit dated now, but an awesome book. Read it and expand your mind!

Just finished:

I liked it quite a bit, I know what I'm getting into but I think I'll enjoy the series either way. This book took a bit to get started but I really like how well fleshed out everything is in the series so far. The imagery is excellent and I thought this book was really well paced once it got going.

Just started:

I really like the cover art. It runs circles around the copies I have. The series as a whole is not bad though I haven't finished reading it myself. The first few books (maybe the first 2-3?) were a bit stronger than what you'll get in the middle. I found the characters, especially the females, to get a bit grating the further I got but hopefully you'll have better luck.

Anyone have any impressions of the series since Sanderson "took over?"


I'm currently reading this.

Character dialogue can be a bit shaky at times, but the content just blows my mind. Great imagination.

 

[sparky2112]

Finished this myself a few weeks ago. Overall, I really, really liked it. When you finish, I'll spoiler tag something about the ending and see if you agree...

 

[hey_monkey]

In some ways it's not quite as good. Sanderson's prose isn't as good as Jordan's, and his POV work isn't up there with Jordan, though he's not bad by any means. Some of the characters just don't feel the same.

But the improvement in plot and pacing is enormous. Stuff happens. A lot of stuff happens. One thing that Sanderson has shown he's good at, in his own books, is knocking down all the dominoes at the end. That's what he's doing here, and he does it well.

The last two books are right up there with the best in the series.

I have only read his first one and I'll agree with this. Lots of stuff does happen, and that's cool. All the tower stuff was pretty awesome. But I'll also add that I don't just think the POV stuff is not up to scratch. I don't just think the characters don't feel the same. I think, in Sanderson's hands, many of them (most especially Aviendha) just seem stupid, and that bothers me. There's a lot of willful ignorance in Jordan's characters, but none of them are dumb. Ugh. Maybe ToM will be better for me. I did enjoy the other one more the second time I read it, I will say that.

 

[Ashes]

I'm in the process of reading After London by Richard Jefferies, which was written in 1885 and is one of the first examples of a post-apocalyptic novel - it's an account of the state of the world surrounding London two hundred or so years after an apocalyptic event. The book is divided into two halfs; the first being a detailed description of every aspect of the environment from which animal species remain and are dominant, to the changes in geography and plant-life and the breakdown of human society. The second half is a narrative about an inhabitant of post-apocalyptic London, but I'm just touching the surface on this half so far - although even without it, the first half is a well imagined and interesting concept that doesn't suffer from the dated feel of the prose in the second half and, although somewhat dry in places, Jefferies detailed historical-style account provides a genuinely intriguing window into this post-apocalyptic England, moreso than the prose will, I feel.

The book is public domain in the US and can be downloaded for Kindle and other devices from here; http://manybooks.net/titles/jefferie13941394413944-8.html

So this is the inspiration behind your theme in the poetry thread.

 

[Deleted member 20415]

I'm a little late to the party, but I'm finally reading World War Z.

I'm only about 60 pages in, but I'm loving it so far. The only thing that's bothering me is that all the character accounts sound the same. Whether it's a doctor in China, a housewife in America or an Arab in the middle east... they all sort of have the same cadence, the same pacing of dialogue. I wish he could write the character's dialogue a bit better.

That said, I'm definitely enjoying it.