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[SniperHunter]

Almost done reading this:

I was always curious about how the Indian commandos cleared out this hotel, after reading this I am sure it was a complete failure.

Reading now:

Really loved The Lone Survivor so i picked this up, not really liking it so far. Seems very pro American and one sided.

 

[RepairmanJack]

Hahaha holy shit, would you look at that. I thought it was a 70 / 30 split

Wow, my assumption was even mentioned in the article:

Not to go too OT, but Last Week Tonight did a really good special about why there is this assumption.

 

[sparky2112]

Reading now:

Really loved The Lone Survivor so i picked this up, not really liking it so far. Seems very pro American and one sided.

Don't think there was a lot of depth to Kyle. In fact, that's one of the criticisms being leveled at the movie: he's not terribly introspective and saw things through a very black/white filter. Not saying he's wrong, in fact, as someone trained specifically to kill (rather than might have to - i.e. your typical soldier), I don't think people who tend to be conflicted are welcome.

Plus, he apparently lied about his knock-out of Jesse Ventura, who just won something like $1.5 million in court against Kyle's estate.

 

[You Are Viewtiful]

Just finished the audiobook What is the What? by Dave Eggers (narrated by Dion Graham). It's a (fictionalized) biography about a South Sudanese refugee named Valentino Achak Deng who fled at the age of 6 from his war-torn, "stuck 200 years in the past" village of Marial Bai to an Ethipian make-shift refugee town Pinyudo, to refugee camp in Kakuma, Kenya and finally settling in Atlanta at the age of 21. Achak lived in a peaceful village where Arabs and Denkar men lived side-by-side in relative peace. However, things quickly deteriorated when the Sudanese military coup brought now-war criminal Omar Al-Basshir into power. He is chased out from one town to the next trying to escape bombs, hostile tribes, slavery, famine, predatory animals, and disease.

I recommend it to anyone interested on how the modern nation of South Sudan came to be and what kind of suffering its people endured during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2006). I was absolutely clueless about this region of the world before, and now I feel like volunteering there or at least trying to find someway to help!

My main gripe with the book is that some parts -are- fictionalized, and these parts are very obvious. However, most the stuff that is fictionalized are things like personal conversations rather than the actual events that took place. I just wish it weren't so obvious as to which parts are fake.

 

[charlemagne]

Pretty fascinating book. Interesting to note how few hours many of these creative people worked - it was common to see between 3 and 6 hours of work per day mentioned, with the rest of the time often spent socialising and exercising. Pretty disappointing how few women were included, though.

 

[Doopliss]

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. I have been eagerly anticipating this one for a couple of years and overall it was a great read. Like Cloud Atlas and Ghostwritten it contains several shifts in narrative perspective, though here they are less drastic as the whole story takes place within a central character's lifetime and four of the five narrators are white and British. Still, Mitchell captures each of their distinct voices as convincingly as ever.

Aside from a protagonist, the other thread tying the sections of the book together is a conflict between morally opposed factions of superhuman psychics. While the supernatural themes are familiar from Mitchell's previous books, here they are presented much more explicitly. It feels very reminiscent of the war against the Death Eaters in the Harry Potter series, with spells being hurled, mysterious trinkets and even delving through other people's memories in search of answers. As a fan of that sort of stuff I was delighted and massively surprised to find it in this book. During the first two thirds I found it intriguing to try and piece together these strange events which occur alongside the characters' more mundane struggles.

Unfortunately in the penultimate section of the book when this conflict takes the primary focus it doesn't come together satisfactorily. The crucial mystery is solved by following a few direct and illogical signposts, then prior to a desperate all-or-nothing gambit, sleeves are lifted to reveal aces which will prevent it from ever reaching the state of hopelessness to which it aspires. Thankfully there's a final setting and perspective change so things end on a high (and existentially terrifying) note.

 

[RepairmanJack]

I'm about 70% through Pines the first book in the Wayward Pines series, and wow what the hell happened to this book. It did not go the way I was expecting it to, at all.

Definitely enjoying it.

Finished this yesterday.

I was surprised by where it went, but I'm not sure I liked where it went.

Spoiler

I feel like the idea of this being the third time trying to wake him up doesn't get explained very well. Well, it gets explained, I'm just not sure it makes sense. If Pilcher saw him as useful you would think the very first way you try to wake him is by telling him the truth. Otherwise how is he useful? I feel like the explanation that it's the third time and that this time they were using the psychotic angle is just a contrived hand wave at explaining why he has no ID and why he gets no answers on the phone and pretty much everything involving the first half of the book. With that said I still enjoyed it and blew through the book.

I'm going to jump into the second book pretty quick even though it seemed pretty heavily implied where the story is going from this point.

In the end he talks about how he was influenced by Twin Peaks, but it also seems like he was a fan of F. Paul Wilson. I think it's the first time I've seen an F. Paul Wilson reference in a book before, and (spoiler for last half of the book)

Spoiler

the abbies kind of reminded me of humanized Rakosh in a way.

If I had to give it some kind of score I think I'd have to give a 3/5. Good but not great with some surprises that are unexpected but may not be all that satisfying.

 

[Laieon]

I used to read all the time, then kind of lost interest. I've finally been on a reading kick lately (for the first time in years!).

Over the past week or two I've read:

and

Really liked both of them, especially "The Martian".

Not sure what I want to start reading next. I have something in my Kindle library called "The Cycle of Arawyn". Not really sure where I got it from, but I may start that.

I'm also thinking about starting "The Magicians" trilogy, but I've heard mixed things.

 

[Tragicomedy]

So far this year:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) and Charlie and the Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl. The first one was a joy to read, and I was shocked at how closely the Gene Wilder film version stuck to the source material. The only change (and this is NOT a damn spoiler for a 50 year old book!) is that Charlie and Grandpa Joe never sneak into the floating soda room and steal a drink. In fact, they are written as basically perfectly flawless characters who only have the best interest of Mr. Wonka and their family at heart. By contrast, the second book is an unrelated mess of aliens invading the world's first space hotel, random musings of Wonka, and general stupidity from Charlie's grandparents. ★★★ and ★, respectively.

Reaper Man (1991) by Terry Pratchett. This was not one of the stronger works I've read so far in Discworld, to the point where the only consistency I'm seeing in Pratchett's writing is inconsistency. There's a massive variance in the quality from one book to the next, and it's pure guesswork for which end of the spectrum any given book will end up. This is closer to the bottom then the top. ★★

The Shell Collector (2014) by Hugh Howey. Howey's stuff is always worth a read for me, and this book was no exception. It's a great deal different than his work in Wool and Sand, although the bleak dystopian elements are there. The Shell Collector feels like Howey was making an attempt at incorporating romance elements into his writing, with very mixed results. The basic premise and story here is good, if not a bit simplistic. The main issue is that the characters are far too straightforward in their thoughts and responses. The female lead is a full-on Mary Sue, and her love interest is a golden hearted softie. It hurts the story to have cardboard cutout characters. ★★★

Legion: Skin Deep (2014) by Brandon Sanderson. This series keeps my interest, but it feels the most "fast food" of all Sanderson's series so far. Great premise hindered by a predictable story. ★★

The Last Policeman (2012) and Countdown City (2013) by Ben H. Winters. This is a fun series, and I'm eager to start the final installment. Hank Palace is a great protagonist, and his interest in carrying on and doing what he considers right in face of the impending destruction of planet earth and all of humanity is refreshing. I love the idea of an honorable man who will keep his word and committments while the world around him burns. There's underlying hints at something more sinister and manipulative at work here than a mere asteroid strike, so I'm hoping the third book provides more answers to that. ★★★ for both.

 

[A Fish Aficionado]

I used to read all the time, then kind of lost interest. I've finally been on a reading kick lately (for the first time in years!).

Over the past week or two I've read:

This looks pretty intriguing.

 

[sparky2112]

So far this year:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) and Charlie and the Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl. The first one was a joy to read, and I was shocked at how closely the Gene Wilder film version stuck to the source material. The only change (and this is NOT a damn spoiler for a 50 year old book!) is that Charlie and Grandpa Joe never sneak into the floating soda room and steal a drink. In fact, they are written as basically perfectly flawless characters who only have the best interest of Mr. Wonka and their family at heart. By contrast, the second book is an unrelated mess of aliens invading the world's first space hotel, random musings of Wonka, and general stupidity from Charlie's grandparents. ★★★ and ★, respectively.

I remember Glass Elevator so fondly from when a teacher read it to us in elementary school. So it was with crushing disappointment to read it to one of my kids as an adult. It's an absolute piece of trash. All I can think is it was a cash grab by Dahl, maybe?

 

[Tragicomedy]

I remember Glass Elevator so fondly from when a teacher read it to us in elementary school. So it was with crushing disappointment to read it to one of my kids as an adult. It's an absolute piece of trash. All I can think is it was a cash grab by Dahl, maybe?

That's exactly what it feels like. I mean, it's not even related to the first book other than the fact that it features the same characters. It was absurdly stupid.

 

[obin_gam]

After two whole months I've finally finished Cornwell's The Winter King
It was really really good. Don't know what else I can say. This version of the Arthurian legend deserves to be the quintessential one imo.

And now off for something completely different: Greg Sestero's "The Disaster Artist" about the making of Tommy Wiseaus "The Room"

 

[Krauser Kat]

Witcher Time of contempt
Dresden Files Skin Game

 

[Amentallica]

Never heard of this book up until three days ago when I picked it up at Barnes & Noble at the recommendation of my girlfriend. I'm up to page 200 and I enjoy it so far. I'm curious as to how it will end.

 

[Incandenza]

Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson

I'm around 2/3rds through and liking it a whole lot. Erikson's storytelling skills improved dramatically since Gardens of the Moon. This one has excellent pacing and really strong setpieces, and you can't see the pen-and-paper RPG origins peeking through the way you could in GotM. The characters don't seem to have nearly the depth or richness of, say ASoIaF, but they're likable all the same and I'm only on the second book so there's room for growth there. I remain unconvinced that Erikson's "fuck you, figure it out" philosophy for worldbuilding actually leads to a better story but I think I have a handle on it for the time being. I really like all four storylines at this point and I'm hoping the climax doesn't disappoint.

As an aside, I did some timing of myself while reading this book and discovered that I read at a paltry 200 wpm when undistracted. I knew I was not a fast reader by any means but I'm not one of those readers that reads everything out loud in their head so I'm surprised I'm that slow. When I was in high school I was a pretty fast reader. I could get through a thousand-page book in about a week and a half averaging about two hours a day. My comprehension wasn't so hot though, and eventually I realized that I was not getting nearly as much out of the books I liked as I wanted to. So I forced myself to slow down and really take every detail into account, which is what I do now. I have to construct every scene in my mind, coming up with appearances, voices, or sometimes even outfits for every character. I feel like I could read faster but it would be sort of equivalent to watching a movie at 2x speed. Even if I was able to comprehend everything just as well, part of the experience would be lost. I don't feel this need as much when reading literary fiction but in those cases I feel like reading quickly does a disservice to the rhythm and weight of the prose. I know a lot of people in this thread read two, three, even four times as fast as I do and it's kind of a marvel to me how people like Mumei can just blast through difficult fiction and still speak intelligently about it.

 

[Mumei]

This month I've read:

And I am currently reading:

I plan on continuing The Wheel of Time once I finish War and Peace; I should have the next books by then.

 

[skybald]

Finished Why Does the World Exist by Jim Holt and Zealot by Reza Aslan this month after starting them last. Got 30 pages into Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon and had to give up because I didn't understand it. Pynchon must be a recluse so he doesn't have to explain his books to jackasses like me.

Currently 50 pages into Infinite Jest and loving it

 

[Necrovex]

Finally finished this little gem:

A fantastic comprehension of George W Bush's administration. It explains some of the misconceptions about his legacy, such as Cheney being a puppet master. While I still disapprove of Bush's Presidency, I have a greater understanding and appreciation of the difficult position he was placed during his time in office. Though more importantly, I have a greater respect for the man, for the successes he did gain such as PEPFAR (i.e. his concentration in helping Africa, which he outmatched every President before him in that regard) and his push on education.

Anyone who is interested in the Bush's Administration, I have no hesitation in recommending Days of Fire. The amount of research placed into this book is noteworthy.

And I am currently reading:

I plan on continuing The Wheel of Time once I finish War and Peace; I should have the next books by then.

Don't be reading too many giant novels now. All I have left to complete now is the remaining half of my Congo book, which is about 150 pages left, before I start going through our reading exchanges.

 

[kinoki]

While I'm currently scratching at Finnegans Wake I also started two more books... why settle for anything easy?

So, Stoner by John Williams and Dora Bruder by Patrick Modiano. Both are really good books so far. Stoner is the kind of book I used to read a lot of but have been forsaking as of late. Should find more like it.

 

[Mumei]

Just finished Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. *sniff* Sad it's over. What an amazing book.

Looking forward to the BBC adaptation?

Don't be reading too many giant novels now. All I have left to complete now is the remaining half of my Congo book, which is about 150 pages left, before I start going through our reading exchanges.

I'll finish War and Peace by Sunday~

 

[VanWinkle]

This month I've read:

And I am currently reading:

I plan on continuing The Wheel of Time once I finish War and Peace; I should have the next books by then.

How is Wheel of Time? I've been interested in it for awhile, but its such a big commitment.

 

[Piecake]

How is Wheel of Time? I've been interested in it for awhile, but its such a big commitment.

If you like world building and and an epic plot, you will probably like it. If you like believable characters, and especially realistic character interaction and reaction, you might not like it. If you need both? Well, thats hard to say.

 

[DeathoftheEndless]

I'm about halfway through I Am Legend. I've enjoyed it so far; been getting more tense as it goes.

 

[besada]

This is my year of re-reading. After doing the 50/50 challenge two years running, I got tired of not having the time to re-read stuff.

So far I've re-read the first eleven Wild Cards books, since New Year's. There are 21 in all, and I'll probably take a break from them soon. When I do, I'll be re-reading Rudy Rucker's Ware Tetrology (free here, because Rucker kicks ass), I think.

At some point this year, I'll be doing a re-read of Gravity's Rainbow, so if we do a book club read, let me know.

 

[nakedsushi]

About 30% into:


The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

It took me a while to get into because the framing was a bit distracting, but now I like it. Unfortunately, this showed up on my doorstep and I'm really excited to read it, so I think Blind Assassin is going to be put on pause for a bit:


The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

I think it has to do with Camelot.

 

[Alligatorjandro]

Swan Song by Robert McCammon

 

[Mumei]

This is my year of re-reading. After doing the 50/50 challenge two years running, I got tired of not having the time to re-read stuff.

So far I've re-read the first eleven Wild Cards books, since New Year's. There are 21 in all, and I'll probably take a break from them soon. When I do, I'll be re-reading Rudy Rucker's Ware Tetrology (free here, because Rucker kicks ass), I think.

At some point this year, I'll be doing a re-read of Gravity's Rainbow, so if we do a book club read, let me know.

I've reread almost nothing besides The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in the last four years, so I plan on setting time aside to re-read, too. I'm not interested in hosting, but if you (or someone else) made a topic for Gravity's Rainbow month later this year I would participate.

 

[sparky2112]

This is my year of re-reading. After doing the 50/50 challenge two years running, I got tired of not having the time to re-read stuff.

You know, I've thought about a re-read year, but my hundreds and hundreds of yet-to-be-reads call to me like orphaned children. And I still feel as though I have gaps in my reading history. Then again, what's the point? Is it a numbers game? No, probably not.

I just read an interview with a former American talkshow host, who said that we'd be better off reading half the books we do, but reading them multiple times. And wasn't it Nobakov who said, 'There's no such thing as reading, only re-reading.'?

Maybe a healthy balance is called for this year. A true Infinite Jest re-read is certainly called for.

 

[sparky2112]

I've reread almost nothing besides The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in the last four years, so I plan on setting time aside to re-read, too. I'm not interested in hosting, but if you (or someone else) made a topic for Gravity's Rainbow month later this year I would participate.

I'd be in on a GR group read as well, and I don't crap out on such things, fwiw.

 

[Mumei]

How is Wheel of Time? I've been interested in it for awhile, but its such a big commitment.

If you like world building and and an epic plot, you will probably like it. If you like believable characters, and especially realistic character interaction and reaction, you might not like it. If you need both? Well, thats hard to say.

It's basically what Piecake said. If you go into it expecting an epic high fantasy story filled with characters with undiagnosed OCD and unrelated personality disorders and a heaping dose of story sprawl, and that's what you want, you'll really enjoy it, overall. There are moments of sheerest irritation; some are probably intentional, where a character is being treated unfairly, and some are probably unintentional, where Jordan is on his hobby horse on how it totes impossible for men and women to ever really communicate. And on the other hand, there are lots of awesome moments of high fantasy wizardry and derring-do.

I've really enjoyed it in spite of the plot moving rather minimally in long stretches, and being unable to figure out whether Jordan feels that women are stupider or men are stupider. I don't know if I would recommend it given how long it is, but I will say this: Having read Mistborn and the first two books of the Stormlight Archives, and the first half of Wheel of Time, it's not at all surprising to me now that Sanderson was picked to finish it. So since you like him, at least give the first book a shot on that basis.

I can't imagine how they'll do it justice. But yeah, I'll definitely watch.

They won't, but I just want to see some representation of it on screen.

And wasn't it Nobakov who said, 'There's no such thing as reading, only re-reading.'?

“A good reader, a major reader, an active and creative reader is a rereader."

 

[Cerity]

Finished up Hard-boiled Wonderland & The End of the World. Pretty average tbh but Murakami ties to the two stories together oh so well. The semi sci-fi nature of the 'real' world was poorly done tbh, the idea of shuffling was cool but the whole info-wars, the attempt to tie in japanese mythology and especially the chubby girl. The other world, setting was kind of interesting but it didn't need to be so drawn out. Both took too long to get started.

But oh man, when the two stories finally converge, from there to the end of the book is beautiful.

 

[The Shadow]

Started reading this (thanks Maklershed):

Can't believe I've finished 3 books this year and starting a 4th already. This is probably the most I've read since I was in High School. I blame the huge amount of free time I was suddenly bestowed between school semesters. Makes me almost want to take a semester off.

 

[besada]

You know, I've thought about a re-read year, but my hundreds and hundreds of yet-to-be-reads call to me like orphaned children. And I still feel as though I have gaps in my reading history. Then again, what's the point? Is it a numbers game? No, probably not.

I just read an interview with a former American talkshow host, who said that we'd be better off reading half the books we do, but reading them multiple times. And wasn't it Nobakov who said, 'There's no such thing as reading, only re-reading.'?

Maybe a healthy balance is called for this year. A true Infinite Jest re-read is certainly called for.

Last year I kept hankering to read some old favorites, and then looking at my list and deciding I didn't have time. It really got tricky where a sequel had come out and I wanted to re-read the original before reading the sequel.

And I read so many of the classics when I was younger, and now would like to go back and re-read them with twenty years more experience. In my twenties I was all about reading the Western Canon, and I did most of my "serious" reading in that decade. So I'll likely revisit some of that, too. I'd like to go back to Trollope, Chesterton, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Chekov, Gorky, William James, etc.

 

[Maklershed]

Started reading this (thanks Maklershed):

PUSHING ICE

Can't believe I've finished 3 books this year and starting a 4th already. This is probably the most I've read since I was in High School. I blame the huge amount of free time I was suddenly bestowed between school semesters. Makes me almost want to take a semester off.

Sweet. I hope you like it. I sure did.

 

[thomaser]

Finished The Long War by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. Started pretty lackluster, with Pratchett's particular worldview being hammered into you by every character. Preachy. Much better middle, with some fascinating and clever ideas, especially regarding the world building. The end went out with a fizzle when there should have been a bang. I sincerely hope the rest of this projected 5-book series (this was number 2) will be less preachy and more exciting.

Now, starting Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks. It's about how music affects the brain, in both healthy people and people with certain neurological disorders. His books are always fascinating.

 

[RepairmanJack]

Made it about 20% through the second Wayward Pines book, and I don't think I'm going to continue. I just don't like where that first book went by the end of it and I'm not really interested in where it's going. Is there some other big twist that could come and maybe be worth it or if I'm out already there's nothing going to get me back in it?

 

[Tragicomedy]

Made it about 20% through the second Wayward Pines book, and I don't think I'm going to continue. I just don't like where that first book went by the end of it and I'm not really interested in where it's going. Is there some other big twist that could come and maybe be worth it or if I'm out already there's nothing going to get me back in it?

Eh, the second book largely builds on what you've already seen in the first. The line in the sand between "good" and "evil" becomes more firmly entrenched, and some crazy stuff goes down towards the end of it.

I would argue that the third book is a good deal more shocking in its revelations compared to the second, but if you've already lost interest I don't imagine it will be worth your time to stick it out.

I rank them Pines > The Last Town > Wayward.

 

[FUBAR McDangles]

Finished Brandon Sanderson's the Well of Ascension this morning. Going to go ahead and start the Hero of Ages tonight.

Much better series than it first appeared. Very fun. Good author, too. Went ahead and ordered the sequel to the Mistborn trilogy, along with the first Reckoners book or whatever. They should be here later this week.

Also at work I finished reading the Tale of Despereaux to all the kids. Boring plodding book with an iffy ending, but not much more can be expected of a long children's book. The kids voted and I'm starting the first Harry Potter book today. It'll probably take us all month to get through.

 

[RepairmanJack]

Eh, the second book largely builds on what you've already seen in the first. The line in the sand between "good" and "evil" becomes more firmly entrenched, and some crazy stuff goes down towards the end of it.

I would argue that the third book is a good deal more shocking in its revelations compared to the second, but if you've already lost interest I don't imagine it will be worth your time to stick it out.

I rank them Pines > The Last Town > Wayward.

If there are revelations in store I may just hang on just because it's such a quick read. If it was just going to be working out the stuff that has been set up already I wasn't too interested.

I was surprised by the twist in the first book, it just wasn't what I was looking for.

Spoiler

I think I would have been more satisfied with aliens or something even more dumb being the twist. I was just not really expecting a 'last people on earth' kind of story.

At this point my only hope is that they're not really the last people and the dude is just an insane power hungry rich guy.

 

[obin_gam]

Am about 30% into this now

and it is fucking fantastic! For those who dont know - it's a behind-the-scenes telling of how Tommy Wiseau's The room came to be, as well as when the author Greg Sestero (who plays Mark in the movie (guy in red shirt below)) first met Tommy and became friends with him.

At first glance it's an hilarious comedy about a fanscinating disastrous production of a movie which in itself is a giant plot whole. But then as we get to know more and more about Tommy something dark starts to emerge: Tommy Wiseau might seem to be a... creature... disguised as a human being, but when each layer slowly peels off, there is certanly a reason for his characteristics. And those reasons I personally feel might be tragic.

Everyone who has the smallest interest in either movie culture or character studies, has to read this book. I listen to it from audible, which makes it even better because when Greg is speaking as Tommy, he does the voice as well <3

An example of interesting tidbits from this book: The first seven seconds of this following scene, took 3 hours and 32 takes to get right.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ4KzClb1C4

 

[Necrovex]

I'll finish War and Peace by Sunday~

You're going to finish a 1200 page novel in under a week?! :-O

 

[Althane]

Mumei, what's your reading speed?

I tell people how fast I read books, and they usually go "Woah". But after looking at what you've read this month so far, I'm like "Holy shit". So, yeah...

 

[sparky2112]

Faber wrote the popular 'The Crimson Petal and the White', which I've not read. I asked for this one for the holidays because a) it has a lot of buzz behind it (David Mitchell even going so far as calling it Faber's 'second masterpiece', and b) because Faber wrote it as a love-letter to his wife, who was dying as he wrote it.

Basically, it's about a Christian missionary who travels to another world on which we've established a small colony to preach to the natives. In doing so, he can only communicate with his wife via email, and shortly after he arrives on the new planet, all hell starts breaking out back on Earth.

First, let me say that this is a case where the adulation for the work strikes me as far more rooted in regard for the author, rather than the merits of the work itself. This is another example of a novel that made me repeatedly ask 'Why does this book exist? Is it saying something new/important?' The answer: it's hard to tell, because at 500 pages the book feels overly long (even though it reads easily) and rather tepid with regard to the central question of faith vs. love - i.e. the love of thoughts we rely on vs. the people we rely on.

Masterpiece? No. Interesting? Sort of. Recommended? No.

 

[Yen]

I'm studying for an exam on Friday week, and Nel Noddings - Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education, and Virginia Held - The Ethics of Care are very enjoyable feminist ethics texts. Mind you, I might still flunk the exam.

 

[LProtag]

I finished the second Mistborn book, The Well of Ascension.

Not as good for me as the first book, but still enjoyable. I think I wanted to learn more about the world and some of the secrets behind everything and there wasn't as much of that as there was in the first book, considering the first book was the introduction to everything.

Here's hoping the third one is as enjoyable!

 

[Mumei]

You're going to finish a 1200 page novel in under a week?! :-O

Well, that's the plan, anyway. I read The Book of the New Sun (including The Urth of the New Sun) in four days.

Spoiler

I was unemployed and spent most of the weekend on a couch reading with a poodle I was dog-sitting. But still!

Mumei, what's your reading speed?

I tell people how fast I read books, and they usually go "Woah". But after looking at what you've read this month so far, I'm like "Holy shit". So, yeah...

I don't know. If I take a reading test, I might get 850 - 1000 WPM on it, with good accuracy. But because I'm actually taking a speed test, I automatically want to try to go faster than I might normally if I were reading for enjoyment or comprehension. It's mostly consistency. I read during my breaks (~15 minutes each) and during my lunch break (~40 minute of time spent actually reading), and maybe a few hours after work. It's pretty easy to get to ~60 - 100 pages during the day, and then just reading a few hours in the evening gets you to ~200-ish. I read faster than "average," but I don't read especially fast by any absolute standard. I'm not one of those people who would read 462 books in a year:

I've tried to slow this down, but realized that my natural reading rhythm is freakishly fast when an author friend asked me to go through the manuscript of her soon-to-be-published book for continuity errors. I sat in the La-Z-Boy at my parents' house with a pencil, went through page by page making notes but also enjoying the book, and had the whole task done in about 3-4 hours. This was a 350-page manuscript too, so roughly 80,000 words. Take away the pencil and the editor's hat and the reading speed would probably be close to 90 minutes. What also seems to happen is that I read a page not necessarily word by word, but by capturing pages in sequence in my head. The words and phrases appear diagonally, like I'm absorbing the text all in one gulp, and then I move on to the next sequence I can absorb by paragraph or page. It's like I'm reading from a whole-language standpoint instead of phonics -- that's the only way I can figure out how to explain it.

That's not me at all. I understand reading chunks of words instead of reading word-by-word, but being able to just swipe a paragraph with my eyes and have my brain take it all in? Doesn't work like that for me.

I finished the second Mistborn book, The Well of Ascension.

Not as good for me as the first book, but still enjoyable. I think I wanted to learn more about the world and some of the secrets behind everything and there wasn't as much of that as there was in the first book, considering the first book was the introduction to everything.

Here's hoping the third one is as enjoyable!

 

[whatevermort]

Faber wrote the popular 'The Crimson Petal and the White', which I've not read. I asked for this one for the holidays because a) it has a lot of buzz behind it (David Mitchell even going so far as calling it Faber's 'second masterpiece', and b) because Faber wrote it as a love-letter to his wife, who was dying as he wrote it.

Basically, it's about a Christian missionary who travels to another world on which we've established a small colony to preach to the natives. In doing so, he can only communicate with his wife via email, and shortly after he arrives on the new planet, all hell starts breaking out back on Earth.

First, let me say that this is a case where the adulation for the work strikes me as far more rooted in regard for the author, rather than the merits of the work itself. This is another example of a novel that made me repeatedly ask 'Why does this book exist? Is it saying something new/important?' The answer: it's hard to tell, because at 500 pages the book feels overly long (even though it reads easily) and rather tepid with regard to the central question of faith vs. love - i.e. the love of thoughts we rely on vs. the people we rely on.

Masterpiece? No. Interesting? Sort of. Recommended? No.

EXACTLY how I felt. I loved Under The Skin and Crimson, and his other books are all at least decent. But this felt undercooked to me. Actually, I think there's a far better novel in there that he balked at writing. But there we go. Left me totally underwhelmed.

 

[sparky2112]

EXACTLY how I felt. I loved Under The Skin and Crimson, and his other books are all at least decent. But this felt undercooked to me. Actually, I think there's a far better novel in there that he balked at writing. But there we go. Left me totally underwhelmed.

Well said - there's a far better book here than the one he delivered. I did read an interview where he admitted to writing it very quickly, and I think it shows. The themes were under-served, at best.

 

[nakedsushi]

EXACTLY how I felt. I loved Under The Skin and Crimson, and his other books are all at least decent. But this felt undercooked to me. Actually, I think there's a far better novel in there that he balked at writing. But there we go. Left me totally underwhelmed.

I see this problem a lot with established writers. I think part of it is that editors don't dare edit well-known authors as much, so later books just get so long and bogged down.