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[DieUnbekannte]

I'm currently in the middle of Shadowrise by Tad Williams, but I needed a break and wanted to read something shorter. So I decided to start with The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. I can't believe that it took me so long to finally read this book.

 

[Mumei]

I'm currently in the middle of Shadowrise by Tad Williams, but I needed a break and wanted to read something shorter. So I decided to start with The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. I can't believe that it took me so long to finally read this book.

*squee*

Enjoy~

 

[Blitzzz]

Finished 33 last year which is the most I've ever read by a fair margin.

Flip flopped on a few books but settled on this to start the year:

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

 

[Mumei]

Who read the most books last year? I finished at 131 new ones.

Jesus. I read six books last year. lol And five of them were by Daniel Abraham.

Speaking of, still on Leviathan Wakes.

Glaurungr - 258/50 books | 67/50 movies. Good luck touching that.

I had 57 and was super happy with that number.

I think the number of books is less important than what you read. Different works can be of vastly different lengths or difficulty. To take an extreme example, In Search of Lost Time and a twenty-eight book series from Scholastic could have the same number of pages, but one counts as, well, one (or seven, if you're lame), and the other count as 28 - and reading the former, I think everyone would agree, is a more impressive accomplishment than the latter.

Spoiler

65, excluding rereads, comics, and works under 100 pages

 

[Tragicomedy]

Edmond Dantés, as ever, has a wonderful post on the matter:

That's some deep stuff there and makes me look at the issue in a different light. I've only read the Hobbit of his, and wasn't exactly crazy about it so I've overlooked the LOTR trilogy. The movies were great fun (particularly the first), but the books just didn't call out to me. Maybe I'll give them a go at some point this year.

As far as fantasy writing goes, having only read three books by Gene Wolfe (The Knight, The Wizard, and The Shadow of the Torturer), my money is on him. His writing is too good, with dense prose, beautifully evocative imagery, and three-dimensional characters with their own beliefs and motives.

The Shadow of the Torturer was particularly impressive in that the protagonist is unreliable, oftentimes choosing to tell half-truths or recollect events according to how he wishes they had transpired, instead of how they really happened. It's challenging stuff and worth every moment of the journey. I'm committed to finishing out the Book of the New Sun this year.

 

[coldvein]

i have never heard the word mythopoetic before ..

 

[lastflowers]

That's some deep stuff there and makes me look at the issue in a different light. I've only read the Hobbit of his, and wasn't exactly crazy about it so I've overlooked the LOTR trilogy. The movies were great fun (particularly the first), but the books just didn't call out to me. Maybe I'll give them a go at some point this year.

As far as fantasy writing goes, having only read three books by Gene Wolfe (The Knight, The Wizard, and The Shadow of the Torturer), my money is on him. His writing is too good, with dense prose, beautifully evocative imagery, and three-dimensional characters with their own beliefs and motives.

The Shadow of the Torturer was particularly impressive in that the protagonist is unreliable, oftentimes choosing to tell half-truths or recollect events according to how he wishes they had transpired, instead of how they really happened. It's challenging stuff and worth every moment of the journey. I'm committed to finishing out the Book of the New Sun this year.

You won't regret it. Then, when you're finished, reread it.

I had the pleasure of picking up the book off of my father's bookshelf when I was in sixth grade. Subsequently read the series, not knowing half of what the hell was going on. Then reread it two times in high school and found a much larger appreciation for the work.

I didn't hear good things about Wolfe's latest novel, though.

 

[crimsonheadGCN]

I am reading

If I want to read a book from Terry Pratchett, where should I begin? Not sure if I want jump into Discworld though.

 

[Mumei]

That's some deep stuff there and makes me look at the issue in a different light. I've only read the Hobbit of his, and wasn't exactly crazy about it so I've overlooked the LOTR trilogy. The movies were great fun (particularly the first), but the books just didn't call out to me. Maybe I'll give them a go at some point this year.

The Hobbit is written as a fairly straightforward children's adventure novel. It fits within the larger context (more or less), but it definitely reads very differently than LotR. I loved The Silmarillion, so if the background of LotR is more interesting to you than the actual story in LotR, you might try that.

I'm committed to finishing out the Book of the New Sun this year.

!

The best of luck to you. I hope these plans include Urth of the New Sun too~

 

[Entropia]

I received "Going Postal" by Terry Pratchett as a gift for Xmas. Slowly starting to read it, I am so far enjoying his writing style.

 

[Tragicomedy]

I think the number of books is less important than what you read. Different works can be of vastly different lengths or difficulty. To take an extreme example, In Search of Lost Time and a twenty-eight book series from Scholastic could have the same number of pages, but one counts as, well, one (or seven, if you're lame), and the other count as 28 - and reading the former, I think everyone would agree, is a more impressive accomplishment than the latter.

Does that book seriously have 4,211 pages? I don't even...

-----

Glaurungr did the math and was reading 210 pages a day. I think that's very damn impressive, regardless of how it would translate in terms of a book count. I probably read closer to 50 pages a day in hitting my goal, and I have a few questionable entries of my own. I'm going to stick firmly to your 100+ page rule in order for a book to count, but I'm going to have to up my reading game this year.

The best of luck to you. I hope these plans include Urth of the New Sun too~

But of course...anything less would be uncivilized!

 

[Red Mage]

Currently reading Book of Lost Tales, part 1, by Tolkien. Fairly interesting so far. Then again, I love the Silmarillion.

 

[Pau]

Currently reading another of Ursula K. Le Guin's short stories collection: Orsinian Tales. It's not science fiction like most of her other stories, but rather takes place in a fictional Central European country.

 

[ShaneB]

Well so much for my fantasy comment yesterday, after watching The Hobbit yesterday now I'm kind of in the mood for a Fantasy book! We'll see if that sticks after I finish Ordinary Grace, which I'm really loving so far.

 

[fakefaker]

Finished up The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk last night, and absolutely loved it. It's so well written, the characters so well done, I can see why it's so highly respected. A big 5 stars for this one!

Now onto The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino.

 

[Jotaka]

The Crimson Shadow by Una McCormack

 

[Mifune]

The Twelve by Justin Cronin

In so many ways I think this book is better than The Passage. The plot is weirder, more mysterious, with trappings of mindfuckery. The action writing is crisper. The cliches are less glaring.

But this series still doesn't have human characters worth a crap. They're interchangeable, their interactions stilted and unnatural. And when they come together for the big action climax it just feels like plot pieces clicking into place.

I'm enjoying this series and look forward to the third book but man I wish he could write people as well as he did worlds and action.

 

[lt519]

Just finished The Forever War last night. Anyone that liked Ender's Game should read it. Interesting militaristic look at light speed travel and a soldier who is caught up in it all with the Earth and everything changing faster than he is aging.

I'm slowly knocking off the classic sci-fi books. I think Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep is next. That or Starship Troopers.

Also just read Hugh Howey's next short, "Sand," it was fantastic. It's a dystopian future book where people dive into the sand to mine 'lost cities.' They use waves to distort and move the sand around them to dive. If you are a fan of the Wool books you'll love it (Wool gets my highest recommendation for any reader).

Also this wasn't January, but any gamer that enjoys books owes it to themselves to read Ready Player One.

 

[Mifune]

I refuse to set reading goals this year because I read regardless. Goals just make each book feel like a ticking clock. I don't enjoy them as much. I'm in too much of a hurry to STAY ON PACE.

Ultimately I'd like to understand the books I read more thoroughly. Slower, more careful reading is my goal for the year.

 

[Piecake]

I refuse to set reading goals this year because I read regardless. Goals just make each book feel like a ticking clock. I don't enjoy them as much. I'm in too much of a hurry to STAY ON PACE.

Ultimately I'd like to understand the books I read more thoroughly. Slower, more careful reading is my goal for the year.

stop, thinking, and reflecting is the best way that you are going to understand and remember what you are reading.

For my read a crap ton of history plan, I am making a pretty decent outline of the main points and important events of every book I read. It surprisingly doesnt take all that much extra time

 

[Lear]

Just finished The Goldfinch. Nowhere near as good as I wanted it to be. There are some genuinely great moments where the writing shines, but the plot gets so damn clunky, especially towards the end. And good lord is it long. I love a long book, I do, but this thing is so damn repetitive and unfocused. The last 50 pages or so were a slog to get through, not least because she decides, in the last few pages, to beat the life out of every moral and philosophical query underlying the book (which were half-dead banalities to begin with) in a tedious monologue.

Honestly i'm worried to re-read The Secret History (which I count among my favourite books) just in case it's actually been kinda terrible all these years.

I think I'll read the new Discworld novel, Raising Steam, as a bit of a palette cleanser.

Aiming to read 75 books this year. Here's my goodreads profile if anyone uses the site (I don't pay much attention to it other than as a record of what i've read, but it's quite handy).

 

[Jintor]

I get so intimidated by book length

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn is a mere 500 pages, and I'm enjoying reading it, but I'm still so... hesitant to actually pick it up and read at any given time just solely because of how big it is.

 

[Piecake]

I get so intimidated by book length

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn is a mere 500 pages, and I'm enjoying reading it, but I'm still so... hesitant to actually pick it up and read at any given time just solely because of how big it is.

Get a Kindle and you'll never have to worry about that again

 

[Tragicomedy]

Man, I bought the Wool omnibus on a daily deal ages ago, and still haven't gotten around to reading it. This is the year!

I'm going to finish the second half of the final book (Dust) this year and it's been an enjoyable ride. They're a great deal darker than I expected they would be, not having read anything from Howey.

Wool is very solid, Shift lost me for the first 2/3rds only to come screaming back at the end, and Dust has been very enjoyable so far.

 

[Masenkame]

The Dying Earth by Jack Vance: This novel is part of the large omnibus Tales of the Dying Earth, which has a pretty cool cover. The novel contains a bunch of short stories, sometimes related to each other, taking place on what appears to be a far future Earth with a dying sun in view. Civilization has regressed to a pre-industrial state due to some catastophe(s), and the world is full of sorcery and swords and magical creatures, all of which might be some lost form of science and mathematics.

It's a strange bunch of tales, mostly about adventure and discovery. Vance's prose is interesting, being flowery and too-ornate for its own good, yet it does fit the tone. The characters careen from thought to thought, action to action wildly, giving the novel an abrupt and disjointed pace. The males in the novel are especially lecherous and foolhardy creatures but somewhat distinct, with the females mostly wide-eyed and credulous. This is mid-century fantasy after all, though the style hearkens back to much older fantastical stories.

Plenty of fantasy and SF writers name Vance as an influence, and Vance's world here is definitely worth checking out. I have three more novels in that damn collection to read, so maybe there's some variety I'm missing out on.



Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by Hunter S. Thompson: Finally got around to reading this one, having enjoyed the film a while back. The novel straddles the fiction/non fiction line as it follows the drug-fueled paranoiac journey of Raoul Duke and his attorney Dr.Gonzo in Las Vegas. Duke, a stand in for Thompson, is sent on assignment to cover the Mint 400 motorcycle race in Las Vegas and more. Not much of a plot here, with the protagonists taking an inhuman amount of drugs while whipping around the city, destroying hotel rooms, and all the while Duke lamenting the failed movements of 1960s and the cultural wasteland of Vegas and America by extension.

Thompson has some nice prose here, sometimes touching, with surreal descriptions, a frenetic pace, and hilarious tone. All the characters are exaggerated to hell. Dr.Gonzo is a terrifying and erratic presence, played well by Benicio del Toro in the film.

---

I just started Perdido Street Station by China Miéville and finished part one. Mieville is doing some interesting world building, coupled with some great writing.

 

[Ashes]

I get so intimidated by book length

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn is a mere 500 pages, and I'm enjoying reading it, but I'm still so... hesitant to actually pick it up and read at any given time just solely because of how big it is.

Stop thinking of it in 500 page chunks. The only benefit of such thought processes is to make mountains out of molehills!

 

[Mifune]

I just started Perdido Street Station by China Miéville and finished part one. Mieville is doing some interesting world building, coupled with some great writing.

I love how leisurely he sets everything up in that book. You are reading it, wondering where it's going or if it's going anywhere at all and then, well, I don't want to reveal anything. Such a fun book, especially when you don't know too much about it beforehand.

 

[Jintor]

Get a Kindle and you'll never have to worry about that again

The unknown is even scarier!

 

[NekoFever]

Get a Kindle and you'll never have to worry about that again

Just not a touch Kindle, since it'll taunt you with how big the book is by giving you an estimated time until you finish it.

Spoiler

500 pages isn't that much.

 

[melonrabbit]

Finally making my way through American Gods. Don't know what I expected exactly--I loved Coraline and his comic offerings--bit of a slow start but definitely picks-up by the second act. I'm debating whether to read Anansi, Stardust or Neverwhere next. Any thoughts?

 

[Dash_]

Almost half way through George Perec's A Void. Kind of reminds me a little of Infinite Jest.

 

[Woorloog]

I haven't read Dune since high school and I was thinking about reading it again this year. What did you dislike about the writing?

I'm normally sensitive to bad writing but i don't see Dune being badly written. The style is a tad dated perhaps, Herbert uses omniscient narrator which is fallen to disuse, and Dune does deal with a lot with philosophic topics which do make it kind of difficult to understand at times (especially the musings about prescience and Time (and Time is nearly always capitalized in the book)).
Dune prequels and sequels and interquels though... now those are badly written. Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert have no idea what "show, don't tell" means and they do not understand Dune, its concept and settings, and make other mistakes too. Compared to them, Herbert is a master writer.

I read Dune every year by the way. Probably my most favorite book ever, the one that truly got me into reading.
Recently read it actually, and all the Frank Herbert sequels. Tried to re-read Hunters of Dune but i just couldn't.

Also, i was kind of planning of making a Dune OT, not because one is needed but because i thought i might do with a project, create some routine for myself (work on that for an hour every day from 10 to 11 for example).
Got the OT idea while reading "Chapterhouse: Dune", because i realized there is actually multiple Duneverses. "Heretics of Dune" and "Chapterhouse: Dune" are markedly different in theme and style from pre-"God Emperor of Dune" Dune books, and GEoD is different too. And then there's the expanded Dune, Dune encyclopedia and Dune in other media.

 

[Mifune]

Almost half way through George Perec's A Void. Kind of reminds me a little of Infinite Jest.

Infinite Jest without the letter "e," you mean.

I loved Life A User's Manual. Would love to read A Void one of these days. Please give your thoughts when you finish.

 

[Grenouille]

Treasure Island by Stevenson.
Fast-paced, easy and funny. Not a bit outdated. Jekyll and Hyde was great as well so no surprise here.

Also started the Father Brown stories

God, Chesterton´s writing is so so good. I hope though the endings arent as underwhelming as in The Man Who was Thursday (i know this musnt be a popular opinion).

I am reading Dune. It's not good at all:/ There are a lot of interesting ideas from a world-building standpoint, but the writing itself is really bad.

I am very hesitant to even read any sort of fantasy novels. I ordered LOTR, but I'm guessing I would have a hard time finding anything great in the genre. It seems really easy to build a world, but it's another to make us care about the characters. I like the idea of a good story in a made up world, but I think it must be pretty rare.

I have the same opinion on Dune and loved LotR. I´d recommend you to start with the Hobbit. The Fellowship is really a chore until halfway through, when the story starts really to unfold. The plot and some of the characters were some of the best ive found anywhere.

 

[Maklershed]

Finished Black Company 8 - She is the Darkness. Starting book 9 - Water Sleeps


Water Sleeps by Glen Cook

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Man, I bought the Wool omnibus on a daily deal ages ago, and still haven't gotten around to reading it. This is the year!

Just started this and the first 50 pages are great and have me hooked.

 

[Masenkame]

I love how leisurely he sets everything up in that book. You are reading it, wondering where it's going or if it's going anywhere at all and then, well, I don't want to reveal anything. Such a fun book, especially when you don't know too much about it beforehand.

Sounds good. I'm mostly going in blind here, and have been checking the city map quite a bit. The structure and layout of the city seem to be important.

 

[Bazza]

Finishing off dangerous women at the moment although I skipped the story by Jim Butcher because I might read his series next even though the last book is spoiled in the author note. I just read Wrestling Jesus and it was so funny, has anyone read any other Joe Lansdale books and how do they compare to this short story.

 

[Guileless]

Started Days of Fire by Peter Baker. It is a 650 page doorstop but great so far. Lots of great detail. The author assimilated virtually everything ever written about Bush and Cheney and interviewed many people himself too.

 

[X-Frame]

Oh wow, I just finished The Way of Kings .. and I want to start it over again!

I'm not going to though, but I think I may want to re-read it right before, or right when the sequel book comes out in March. Soon after finishing this book tonight, I immediately went to the Wiki and started reading up more on the lore, and I ended up having about 20 tabs open at once.

One thing in particular BLEW MY MIND, and I don't really want to repeat it here, not sure if it is a spoiler since the book is 3 years old, but it wouldn't be something I'd want to know if I hadn't read the book yet, but it has to do with Shallan and I learned of it from reading the Wiki -- then had to go back to the book to find proof of what I read. I couldn't believe that I missed such glaring details!

That means that I may have missed other details on my first reading, so reading it again would certainly help. This is a 5 star book definitely for me, and to say that I am excited for the sequel, and 9 other books in this series is an understatement.

I need to relax for a day maybe and just digest what I read.

 

[Piecake]

Oh wow, I just finished The Way of Kings .. and I want to start it over again!

I'm not going to though, but I think I may want to re-read it right before, or right when the sequel book comes out in March. Soon after finishing this book tonight, I immediately went to the Wiki and started reading up more on the lore, and I ended up having about 20 tabs open at once.

One thing in particular BLEW MY MIND, and I don't really want to repeat it here, not sure if it is a spoiler since the book is 3 years old, but it wouldn't be something I'd want to know if I hadn't read the book yet, but it has to do with Shallan and I learned of it from reading the Wiki -- then had to go back to the book to find proof of what I read. I couldn't believe that I missed such glaring details!

That means that I may have missed other details on my first reading, so reading it again would certainly help. This is a 5 star book definitely for me, and to say that I am excited for the sequel, and 9 other books in this series is an understatement.

I need to relax for a day maybe and just digest what I read.

Youre lucky that youre only going to have to wait 3 months for the new one. Been waiting 3 years... But yea, books awesome. As for what you should read next, Emperor's Soul and Blood Song. I guarantee you will love them

Hopefully they will start popping out quicker now that Sanderson is done with WoT

 

[Mumei]

I picked up the copy of The Gorgeous Nothings that I placed on reserve at the library. It's quite beautiful, and it is a nice experience to read Dickinson in this format - with life-size reproductions of the pieces of paper she wrote the poems on, with the formatting and spatial arrangement of words that she used. I haven't read much of her work before, and I find myself wishing there was an edition like this for all her extant works.

I also read more of Marriage, a History. I know a lot of it, but the way it is synthesized, combined with the elements I didn't know, makes me feel like I understand things much more clearly now. Great read.

 

[Woorloog]

Youre lucky that youre only going to have to wait 3 months for the new one. Been waiting 3 years... But yea, books awesome. As for what you should read next, Emperor's Soul and Blood Song. I guarantee you will love them

Hopefully they will start popping out quicker now that Sanderson is done with WoT

Blood Song?

 

[Ratrat]

Finished Black Company 8 - She is the Darkness. Starting book 9 - Water Sleeps


Water Sleeps by Glen Cook

Okay, I've read the first 3 books, particularly enjoyed the first but have one question.
I absolutely HATED how the 2nd and 3rd books had half their focus on one-off catalyst like characters instead of those within the Black Company. Does this trend continue?

 

[encephalon]

Began and read half of The Dinner by Herman Koch and so far I like it. I'm also a bit into The Goldfinch. Reading needs to be one of my hobbies, but I had been feeling a bit lost in terms of where to look. I feel like I'm regaining my footing now.

 

[Pau]

Finally making my way through American Gods. Don't know what I expected exactly--I loved Coraline and his comic offerings--bit of a slow start but definitely picks-up by the second act. I'm debating whether to read Anansi, Stardust or Neverwhere next. Any thoughts?

Anansi is a sequel of sorts to American Gods. Neverwhere is one of his earlier books and it kind of shows. I think the strongest of the three is Stardust. And you didn't mention it, but The Graveyard Book is my favorite thing he's ever written.

 

[Piecake]

Blood Song?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ABKGG0C/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Awesome book. New one is coming out in a few months as well

 

[Woorloog]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ABKGG0C/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Awesome book. New one is coming out in a few months as well

Ah, i wondered if it was Sanderson's as you wrote Blood Song after Emperor's Soul.

 

[FUBAR McDangles]

Has anyone read Zoo by James Patterson?

I saw this at the store today and I had a giftcard. Ended up buying some other stuff (ice cream and Man of Steel blu ray) but this certainly looked interesting.

Amazon reviews are very, very mixed. Over one third of the 1500 reviews are two stars or less.

Anybody have any insight? I have about 15 other books ready to read for my 50 book challenge this year, but adding this one to the long list is a possibility if anyone recommends it well enough.

 

[TheExodu5]