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[Tragicomedy]

After 4 years Goodreads finally fixed their reading challenge so that I can't set a goal of 0 books by entering in 0.5 books as my goal. (((((((((((((((((((((

End of an era.

Is this one of those "Every kid gets a trophy" type deals? Why would you ever set the challenge to zero books? I'd just close my Goodreads account at that point.

 

[Servbot24]

I'm reading "Storytelling" by Robert McKee. Only 50 pages in but I highly recommend it so far if you are interested in writing your own stories. It's directed at screenwriters but the principles apply to everything. It's 400 pages and quite dense so it's going to kill my 50 book pledge right from the start though.

 

[huxley00]

Rereading 1984 for the first time in 10 years. Still a great, compelling story.

 

[Error]

Hrm, the sequel of Nexus is on daily deals today. Just 2 bucks, might jump on that. Enjoyed Nexus quite a bit.

 

[lightus]

Finished up The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. I loved it! It was a slow burn, but I enjoyed every moment. After reading The First Law trilogy and A Song of Ice and Fire, it's refreshing to have some characters that are just "good' and not morally grey.

After reading, I'd recommend checking out the wiki as someone else has already noted. I'm surprised how many smaller details I missed. Also, through the wiki I was introduced to Sanderson's "Cosmere". Guess I'm gonna have to read the Mistborn series at some point...

Next up is The Terror by Dan Simmons. The premise sounds interesting, but I mainly just bought it for its cover. I mean, just look at it:

 

[Piecake]

I am currently working my way though Egypt, Greece, and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean. Its a lot better than that shit Egypt book I gave up on. I learned more about Egypt in the 50 or 60 pages than the 200 i read from that book.

Its basically an overview of current knowledge and scholarship (2004), so you arent going to get a good narrative or an interesting thesis, but it does a good job of giving a sense of Near East and Mediterranean Civilization, how they interacted and influenced each other. I am only up to Greece right now, but so far it mostly focuses on important civilizations and trends. Hopefully connections and interactions will pick up since I wish he had more about the Armana diplomacy situation in the 1500s since thats basically the start of international diplomacy. I find it rather fascinating

Still, a good read if you want to get an overview of the history from Sumeria to Rome (assuming the greece and rome part will be good like the previous bit)

 

[ant_]

Just finished Wiseguy

Now reading A Higher Call

 

[hythloday]

I just finished The Midwife of Venice.

Okay, I guess. I like historical fiction centered around the experiences of women, and this fit the bill, but overall it just felt lacking. Like it was the base for a good novel that wasn't finished yet. It was too short and I finished it in a day. The writing itself wasn't too bad at all, but some of the situations in the novel just felt contrived and everything wrapped up into a neat "happily ever after" package in the end. Slightly disappointing start to 2014.

Next up..

This has been in my backlog for a while. I would like to make good progress on this series in 2014. There are 3 books in other series coming out this year I've been looking forward to, so I'll have opportunities to take a break from it if need be.

 

[Incandenza]

Currently about halfway through:

Only Revolutions by Mark Z. Danielewski. Really, really weird. I think I kinda like it? It can be pretty frustrating at times though. Especially the endless graphic sex.

 

[suffah]

Built a lab, starting with this:

 

[Nymerio]

I just finished The Midwife of Venice.

Next up..

This has been in my backlog for a while. I would like to make good progress on this series in 2014. There are 3 books in other series coming out this year I've been looking forward to, so I'll have opportunities to take a break from it if need be.

I'm about to finish up the first book, you're in for a treat!

 

[sploatee]

I've just finished:

which was very good.

And I am about to start on

which is my first Japanese comic book. I've always been fairly suspicious (read: ignorant) of manga and anime but it seemed like a good place to start.

 

[Karakand]

Is this one of those "Every kid gets a trophy" type deals? Why would you ever set the challenge to zero books? I'd just close my Goodreads account at that point.

I think that if you had followed my Goodreads account back when I used it frequently you would understand why I did this. In short, it was for humor purposes since you couldn't set a goal of 0 books easily or intuitively.

 

[Uriah]

Currently about halfway through:

[im]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a8/Only_Revolutions.jpg[/img]

Only Revolutions by Mark Z. Danielewski. Really, really weird. I think I kinda like it? It can be pretty frustrating at times though. Especially the endless graphic sex.

Sounds like house of leaves

 

[noal]

I finished Zodiac by Robert Graysmith and am currently half way through Zodiac Unleashed.

A fascinating look at the Zodiac murders from a man that has spent 30 years looking into the case. I've always been fascinated by serial killers but Jack the Ripper is still, I suppose, the most famous.

Worth a read if you are into that kind of thing.

 

[Incandenza]

Sounds like house of leaves

Yeah, but in HoL it was at least contained to one section of the story so the overall proportion of words dedicated to wanton fucking was a lot more manageable. Here you've only got 180 words per page and 360 pages, and because of the dual perspectives you end up reading every one twice.

 

[Lear]

Finished Raising Steam last night. Pretty good, though not near the best Discworld novels. I'm getting bored of Moist von Lipwig now. Even Lord Vetinari, who i love as a character is wearing a little thin, It's interesting to see how the books are changing now Terry is ill. Main thing seems to be less dialogue. The wit is still there though, and the humour.

Going to read Penelope Fitzgerald's Offshore next (if I can find the thing. My bookcases have e started to overflow so I have chaotic piles of books everywhere. It's madness.)

After that I think I'll have a crack at Elizabeth Jane Howard's 'The Light Years'. It's been sitting on a shelf unread for a while and as she's just died, I figure I might as well give it a go. (Oddly morbid how an author dying is the impetus to finally read one of their books, isn't it? Same thing happened with Doris Lessing.)

 

[TetraxShards]

Finished "Tales from the Secret Footballer". Short and enjoyable, though not as insightful as the first book. Now onto:

 

[KidDork]

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.

If you enjoyed Lansdale, then check out his Hap and Leonard mysteries. The Two Bear Mambo is the first. You'll be laughing and cringing.

 

[Saphirax]

What would be the best edition(s) of Shakespeare to get? I was going to go with the Arden editions, but adding them all up gets pricey. Buying a 'complete works' edition on the other hand would be a mistake since, by general consensus, they're not as good as the individual editions.

 

[Piecake]

What would be the best edition(s) of Shakespeare to get? I was going to go with the Arden editions, but adding them all up gets pricey. Buying a 'complete works' edition on the other hand would be a mistake since, by general consensus, they're not as good as the individual editions.

The free ones?

 

[Saphirax]

The free ones?

Would prefer ones with annotations. The free ones for Kindle would not be my first option, but I'll probably end up getting them eventually anyway.

 

[TheCrazyGuru]

Just finished:

I really enjoyed it and it was interesting to get first-hand accounts of the Dresden bombing retold via a fictitious character as Vonnegut was actually a prisoner of war.

Moving onto the Hobbit now.

 

[lastflowers]

Just finished:

I really enjoyed it and it was interesting to get first-hand accounts of the Dresden bombing retold via a fictitious character as Vonnegut was actually a prisoner of war.

Moving onto the Hobbit now.

if you liked sh5 you would like Cat's Cradle. It's probably his best book (imo).

 

[Ashes]

Er... The quiet american?

 

[Mumei]

Er... The quiet american?

We exist, yes.

 

[ClassyPenguin]

Would prefer ones with annotations. The free ones for Kindle would not be my first option, but I'll probably end up getting them eventually anyway.

Norton Critical editions.

I have the Riverside Shakespeare but that's pricey.

 

[Kwixotik]

Would prefer ones with annotations. The free ones for Kindle would not be my first option, but I'll probably end up getting them eventually anyway.

I read the Dover Thrift Editions for my Shakespeare class and thought they were great for the price.

 

[Ashes]

they exist, yes.

Lies. & YES. I HAVE TALKED TO ALL 300 MILLION PEOPLE!

 

[Saphirax]

Norton Critical editions.

I have the Riverside Shakespeare but that's pricey.

I read the Dover Thrift Editions for my Shakespeare class and thought they were great for the price.

Nice, will check both out .

 

[Kuraudo]

What would be the best edition(s) of Shakespeare to get? I was going to go with the Arden editions, but adding them all up gets pricey. Buying a 'complete works' edition on the other hand would be a mistake since, by general consensus, they're not as good as the individual editions.

Both Norton Shakespeare and Riverside Shakespeare are excellent Complete Works. Neither is quite as good as a complete series of Arden or Oxford editions, but they're probably better than every other series of individual releases.

There's no definitive release so, if you're serious about Shakespeare, you'll end up with multiple copies of most of his plays anyway, so my recommendation would be to grab one of the Completes and the occasional individual play that interests you/you're studying at the time.

 

[FourMyle]

Started this yesterday

and I am greatly enjoying it so far. It's a story about the sudden slowing of the earth's rotation, and how that affects the lives of Julia, the main character, and everyone around her. I find it's similar in tone to Robert Charles Winston's Spin, which I absolutely loved.

 

[Saphirax]

Both Norton Shakespeare and Riverside Shakespeare are excellent Complete Works. Neither is quite as good as a complete series of Arden or Oxford editions, but they're probably better than every other series of individual releases.

There's no definitive release so, if you're serious about Shakespeare, you'll end up with multiple copies of most of his plays anyway, so my recommendation would be to grab one of the Completes and the occasional individual play that interests you/you're studying at the time.

Ooh, thanks! Think I'll get the Norton one alongside some individual works from Arden and Dover Thrift.

 

[bobbyrawlins]

Next up is The Terror by Dan Simmons. The premise sounds interesting, but I mainly just bought it for its cover. I mean, just look at it:

Book was a damn slog to get through at times, but overall I'd say I enjoyed the story.

Currently reading:

I really love the Sandman Slim series. Very easy to read after powering through Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion in just over a couple weeks.

 

[Marcovaldo]

I think that if you had followed my Goodreads account back when I used it frequently you would understand why I did this. In short, it was for humor purposes since you couldn't set a goal of 0 books easily or intuitively.

can you go to the other extreme and put in a really big number in standard form and break it that way?

 

[Nezumi]

Finished:

Though it was better than Teckla, I still didn't like this one as much as the other books in the series. Vlad's marriage problems aren't really interesting in my opinion especially since I didn't like Cawti's character to begin with. Other than that the ending really got my hooked as to what is coming next, though I wouldn't be surprised if the next book ends up to be another prequel.
And I think Kragar might be one of my favorite side characters ever.

The Ketty Jay Books are great fun to read. Nothing more and nothing less. Sure, most of the characters are walking stereotypes but somehow that doesn't matter because I don't read those books to be blown away by deep character development. Though to be fair like in the second book there was some character development in this one as well.

Now reading:

Just started but from the few pages I read I get the impression that I'll like this book.

Downloaded this ages ago when I was still listening to First Law, but when I had finished the series I realized that for the time I had enough of cynical characters, so I never listened to it. But since I have to wait for my audible credit to refresh before I can download the next Taltos book, I think I'm ready to return to that universe.

 

[ShaneB]

Now reading:

Just started but from the few pages I read I get the impression that I'll like this book.

!!!! Yay

 

[DagsJT]

Still reading "The Way Of Kings" and have been since November 3rd. It's a decent enough story but just not as gripping as I hoped. Only 49% in as well :/

 

[teruterubozu]

This may be the greatest book every written.

Let me guess. OMG stands for Overly Massive Genital?

 

[ymmv]

Finished reading: Red Seas Under Red Seas

I liked it. It started off in "Ocean's Eleven" mode and halfway through the book turned into "Pirates of the Caribbean". My only complaint was that the book was too long. It would have been a better book if was shorter by at least 100 pages. This is something that applies to 80% of all modern fantasy/SF novel, they're just too long. In the 50/60ies books were less than 200 pages. In the 70/80ies books became longer (300-350), now books are often 500 pages or more. Books aren't becoming better, there's just less and less editing. It's book bloat and I wish we'd go back to books that are shorter and better paced.

Now reading:

A sensible, short book at 250 pages (at least, that's what my Sony ereader says; Amazon says it's 370 pages).

 

[melonrabbit]

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.

Thanks! I'm leaning towards Stardust (really enjoyed the movie strangely enough). I didn't mention The Graveyard Book because it slipped my mind but it’s the first book of his I’ve read and the reason I’m now wanting to read everything else of Gaiman. I’m slowly collecting the Deluxe Editions of Sandman for a future marathon.


Since we are/were talking fantasy --- can someone recommended a series?

I’m having trouble finding some that’s similar in tone to what I enjoy: The Prydain series, the Enchanted Forest, and literally anything by Tamora Pierce are some of my favorites.

I was considering:
Earthsea by by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner
Either the Sevenwater series or Shadowfall series by Juliet Marillier
Also, have a lonely copy of the Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings sitting on my shelf.

What should I be reading?

 

[KidDork]

What should I be reading?

Have you tried Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn? You may enjoy that.

 

[lightus]

Book was a damn slog to get through at times, but overall I'd say I enjoyed the story.

Yeah I keep seeing this as a major complaint. Hopefully I'll get through it without getting too bored.

 

[Shengar]

Just finished the last book of The First Law Trilogy, Last Argument of King. Not quite my cup of tea, but still a decent read nonetheless. If only the first two book have consistency in its writing as much as the third book, I might be like it more.

Now currently I'm (trying to) reading this

 

[Zona]

Just finished the last book of The First Law Trilogy, Last Argument of King. Not quite my cup of tea, but still a decent read nonetheless. If only the first two book have consistency in its writing as much as the third book, I might be like it more.

Now currently I'm (trying to) reading this

I loved Embassytown. Mostly because it was fascinating, I really don't know how I would judge it as a story.

 

[imadinosaur]

The Bible.

Spoiler

I'm serious.

 

[Shengar]

I loved Embassytown. Mostly because it was fascinating, I really don't know how I would judge it as a story.

China Mieville is always about absurd and revolting ideas. His stories filled with weirdness, and strangeness, all come to life not just form sheer idea and imagination alone, but also his writing. Though I must agree that his story isn't the greatest (Perdido Street Station story went downhill after first half of the book), and if it not for his ideas and writing alone I wouldn't put him as one of my favorite fantasy writer.

 

[Mumei]

Currently reading:

No Turning Back: The History of Feminism and the Future of Women, by Estelle B. Freedman

Shahnameh: The Epic of the Persian Kings, by Ferdowsi

The Collected Poems: A Dual-Language Edition with Parallel Text, by Marcel Proust

I was considering:
Earthsea by by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner
Either the Sevenwater series or Shadowfall series by Juliet Marillier
Also, have a lonely copy of the Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings sitting on my shelf.

What should I be reading?

I have only read Earthsea, so I vote for that. It's quite short, at least the initial trilogy, and beautifully written.

 

[fakefaker]

Finished up The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino and thought it was a pretty intriguing murder mystery. A nice little twist seals the deal.

Now to go back in history with a story about WW1 with Parade's End by Ford Madox Ford.

 

[Kwixotik]