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What are you reading? (January 2015)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
sparky2112
Member
It be praised in this very thread by several peeps.
It is probably my favorite fantasy book that I've read in several years. This was my description of it in the 50 book/movie thread
I just finished this. The first 1/3rd was excellent. The last 2/3rds was okay. I thought his analysis of why Southern Politicians went crazy over abolitionist rhetoric was very interesting though since I always thought their reaction was just insane and counter-productive. Basically, he claims that their reaction was due to British Emancipation and the slaveholders perceived view of the horrors of Caribbean emancipation. Basically, they saw Abolitionists as a British plot to turn the South into a new Sainto Domingo for purely British economic reasons.
That makes a lot more sense to me than my previous conclusion that Slaveholders were just a bunch of posturing, power-crazed idiots who couldn't stand their authority being challenged, even from a minuscule minority.
Started listening to this
I am not very far in, but so far it is really interesting.
Yay!
He makes a pretty bold statement that slavery built Modern America, but it really does seem true. Since the beginning of American Colonization, the Northern economy was built on shipping goods to the Carribean slave societies and transporting the commodities produced by the Southern Slave states to Europe.
While the reliance on the West Indies trade became less important, Southern commodities became a lot more important with the explosion of Cotton and industrialization.
It is kinda crazy to think about how early America would even have an economy without slavery, and if we didnt' would America have attracted enough immigrants ensure its survival and fuel its territorial, economic and population expansion.
IISANDERII
Member
While reading
I'm listening to the soundtrack of
composed by the legend Ennio Morricone.
This is bliss, pure sex for the mind. This is a top moment.
I'm listening to the soundtrack of
composed by the legend Ennio Morricone.
This is bliss, pure sex for the mind. This is a top moment.
I listened to the audiobook, which I think adds a lot to it.
What chapter are you on?
Somewhere on the feet (chapter 1)
Ooh. Okay. I was going to say, he makes a broader argument about how the cotton production of the slaves had a broader impact not just on making modern America, but the modern world (where increases in production capacity in British textile mills were met by increases in production by slaves, to the point where the U.S. was supplying ~high-80-low-90% of Britain's cotton needs for decades), but that might be later.
Oh yea, he talks about that as well in the intro and chapter 1 as well, though just in passing. I am sure he will give more detail about that later on. Right now, the focus seems to be on slave movement and foundations of the American slave system.
I'm reading book two of Mistborn, and it's the first physical book I've read in about a year. My fiancee bought me the trilogy on paperback a couple of months back, bless her heart, but I had the first book already on ebook, which I just finished reading. So I'm now about 60 pages into the physical copy of book two.
I CAN'T DO THIS. The Paperwhite has spoiled me so much. It's so hard to read a physical book now. Holding those pages open, sitting something on top of it if you're brushing your teeth or otherwise preoccupied, worrying about the amount of light in the room or getting out my book light, not knowing how many minutes are left in the chapter, or having an easy way to look up a word. At LEAST twice I have put my finger against a word to start highlighting it. AT LEAST TWICE.
I'm so spoiled, you guys.
I CAN'T DO THIS. The Paperwhite has spoiled me so much. It's so hard to read a physical book now. Holding those pages open, sitting something on top of it if you're brushing your teeth or otherwise preoccupied, worrying about the amount of light in the room or getting out my book light, not knowing how many minutes are left in the chapter, or having an easy way to look up a word. At LEAST twice I have put my finger against a word to start highlighting it. AT LEAST TWICE.
I'm so spoiled, you guys.
I'm still not at that point yet. I love my eReader, but it's nice to get back in touch with a physical book from time to time, it was fun to have Lonesome Dove to carry around.
Same here ebooks are a lot easier to read now that I have a tablet but I still love the feel of an actual book and nothing beats the feeling of progress I get when I see that I'm 1/2 way or 2/3 of the way through a good book.
Oh I was definitely the same awhile back. I actually got back into reading when I bought the first Nook in 2010. I really liked it, but then I started buying physical books and I read about 70% physical and 30% ebook. The Paperwhite is what really changed my opinion. The backlit display, the light slim form factor, the reading features and Goodreads integration, as well as the great deals often going on, it's just so hard for me to go back.
Understandable
80/90% of my reading is on my Kobo, but I still love making trips to the bookstore and seeing if I can find something cheap. Mainly stick to digital as well simply because I don't want to have a stack of books around.A single WoT book (or similar size) per day?
Jesus. I read those things over a matter of months (or closer to weeks as I neared the end): reading one in its entirety in a single day is mindblowing.
Anyways, I hope you get better.
G-Bus
Banned
The shadow rising - book 4 in the wheel of time series.
Friend of mine has been houndingn me to read the series for years now. Took a break halfway through the dragon reborn and finally back into it. Reaaly ebjoying it but also a bit dismayed that it supposedly gets boring after the 3rd installment.
Friend of mine has been houndingn me to read the series for years now. Took a break halfway through the dragon reborn and finally back into it. Reaaly ebjoying it but also a bit dismayed that it supposedly gets boring after the 3rd installment.
Don't worry it doesn't, book 7+ is where the plot starts to slow and hits it's peak in book 10. But the book series is more than worth it in my opinion.
I read the first thirteen Wild Cards books since New Years. I've had to stop as the fourteenth doesn't have a decent ebook version anywhere.
I've moved on to the Ware Tetrology by Rudy Rucker. It's as amazing and weird as I remember. I'll do a full review when I finish all four, but Rucker -- a mathematician -- is the wild man of science fiction.
I've moved on to the Ware Tetrology by Rudy Rucker. It's as amazing and weird as I remember. I'll do a full review when I finish all four, but Rucker -- a mathematician -- is the wild man of science fiction.
Dang. Someone online said that I should read Warbreaker before reading Words of Radiance in order to understand some sort of reference?
Is it really that big of a deal? I kinda just want to continue reading because Way of Kings has me hooked right now and I imagine I'll want to move right on to Words of Radiance.
Is it really that big of a deal? I kinda just want to continue reading because Way of Kings has me hooked right now and I imagine I'll want to move right on to Words of Radiance.
No not that big of a deal there are two characters that get introduced from the novel but nothing that would leave you confused it's more of an easter egg than anything.
You can just read Warbreaker after WoR.
fredrancour
Member
They're not the same book series. Sanderson does some behind-the-scenes metaplot silliness connecting several of his series loosely, but I'd imagine that it amounts to nothing more than a novelty for ultra-fans at this point. It shouldn't hurt your enjoyment of the book's main plot at all to miss whatever the Cosmere reference is.
I haven't read either stormlight book yet, though. ASoIaF has kind of sucked out my desire to start a series when I know there's a decade or more til it ends.
That's actually funny because I remember thinking while I was reading your post earlier that I needed to tell you that you should read Warbreaker before WoR. I had to get back to work from my break, so I ended up not being able to.
Here's the thing. You don't have to. It's not necessary by any means. BUT, I read Warbreaker right after Words, and I can tell you that personally I was really mad at myself for not reading Warbreaker first. I could tell I would have squealed from glee while reading.
Ah, thanks. I know it's a separate series, but people seemed to imply strongly that you should read his stuff in publication order.
I'm interested in the whole Cosmere stuff, but I wasn't sure if it was a super integral reference or key scene or something. I'll probably just get around to that book later and go "oh, neat" once the reference makes sense.
Dammit. Well, I have 12 hours or so left in Way of Kings before I'm done, according to my kindle. So I'll have to decide over the next few days what to do, haha.
I'm interested in the whole Cosmere stuff, but I wasn't sure if it was a super integral reference or key scene or something. I'll probably just get around to that book later and go "oh, neat" once the reference makes sense.
Dammit. Well, I have 12 hours or so left in Way of Kings before I'm done, according to my kindle. So I'll have to decide over the next few days what to do, haha.
Agreed there's probably one character that you should probably brush up on and that is
Wit/Hoid
I read warbreaker afterwards and it was an, 'oh, neat' kinda thing for me. Not a big deal. And unless you are really big into Sanderson and his Cosmere, I don't think Warbreaker is a must read book. I mean, its pretty good, but pretty good is, well, pretty good.
Well two parts would have excited me had I read Warbreaker first: (spoilers for both Warbreaker and Words of Radiance)
Vasher, a huge character in Warbreaker, being the ardent swordmaster Zahel, as well as the implications of him being on this other world, and the end with Szeth getting Nightblood with Nightblood's signature "Would you like to destroy some evil, today?" line right at the end of the book.
I don't know, it excites me, at least.
A Human Becoming
More than a Member
Finished It. The end of the book gets weird and corny.
That aside, I do think it's a good book, albeit one that is starts too slow and could have been edited down.
Bev having sex with all the boys to bind them together was such BS and sending energy to Mike at the hospital was also dumb.
Nappuccino
Member
It is a weird book. I read it in 7th grade and I always wonder if I'd have a better perspective on the ending as an adult. I'm guessing I probably wouldn't.
Oh absolutely from someone who was a fan of Warbreaker it must have been a really awesome easter egg to figure out but isn't integral to understanding the main plot(
yet?
CapHarlock
Neo Member
That much is true. It's not needed to understand any of the plot. But, like I was said, I personally was mad with myself for not reading it first.
It's fine until about book 7. Books 6 and 9 both have stellar endings though.
On the topic of references in the Stormlight Archive, am I crazy or did the description for
The Almighty
both are essentially God who have the power of recording events in time as if it was a journal entry
The reference is impossible as WoK preceeds the game by a good 4 years, but I was wondering if there was some sort of archetype for this that both drew from.
For those who aren't familiar, Neil Gaiman (Coraline, American Gods, Good Omens) wrote a comic series called Sandman. For all of its issues a guy named Dave McKean produced the cover art, which is really striking stuff.
Cages is the only effort he has both written and drawn. At 500 pages, Cages is a graphic novel monster that bursts with talent. While not short, the length is breezy as you get caught up in the haunting, beautiful, and sometimes nightmarish images. The narrative is more of a thematic juggling rather than a story. I can say what I've derived from the text, but someone else may have a different takeaway. Using the backdrop of various artists sharing an apartment complex, it discusses the tension that when anything is possible, what is the RIGHT thing? Are the origins the most important part of a new development? Essentially, the tightest cage is yourself.
Emotionally effective and thought provoking. Easily recommendable as one of the best graphic novels I've read. 5/5.
I had to order the book from my store, and the hardcover is out of print. It's 30 bucks but the page quality and overall book composition is amazing. Get on it, guys!
Really liking 'A Deadly Wandering', but to bring back the discussion of forgetting what you read, it's a tale of 2 stories at the moment. There's the narrative of the crash and tragedy and the people involved and all that, and then it's the technical portion, revolving around the brain, and neuroscience, and the history of studying the brains way of focusing and attention and all this fascinating stuff really... but man I think I forget it as quick as I read it. I suppose it's a bit ironic.
Jag
Member
It is a fun ride.
WascallyWabbit
Member
I chugged through the Expanse series and got caught up.
I won't lie, I skimmed through the parts with characters I just wasn't as interested in but stuck around for all the parts with Holden and his crew. Though Bobbie Draper and Avasarala were pretty great as well
Anyways, can't wait for the next in the series
I won't lie, I skimmed through the parts with characters I just wasn't as interested in but stuck around for all the parts with Holden and his crew. Though Bobbie Draper and Avasarala were pretty great as well
Anyways, can't wait for the next in the series
Christoff Yurievich
Member
Finished Boneshaker (not the one I should have grabbed, apparently) is kind of like reading "Something Wicked This Way Comes" mixed with "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", the story of Robert Johnson, and finally some Heavenly Host and Stingy Jack for good measure. It's fairly YA but the story itself is an interesting amalgamation.
working through Gone Girl and The Explorer. I'm past the point of...realization? Explanation?...in Gone Girl and I am now reading just to figure out how it shakes out. Because holy crow at that change.
This is so apt:
crap. Forgot about Revival - Stephen King. I'm about halfway through it and I'm still not sure what kind of book it is. It's like a Ray Bradbury/Dandelion Wine book but written by Stephen King. Maybe a hint - the barest of hints - that there's something supernatural going on. I liked the Joyland nod, it was fun.
working through Gone Girl and The Explorer. I'm past the point of...realization? Explanation?...in Gone Girl and I am now reading just to figure out how it shakes out. Because holy crow at that change.
I literally fell in love with the Diary Amy because she reminds me so much of my wife so to have that change happen was jarring. It was almost literally like falling in love again and having your heart ripped out. Just wrenching.
This is so apt:
crap. Forgot about Revival - Stephen King. I'm about halfway through it and I'm still not sure what kind of book it is. It's like a Ray Bradbury/Dandelion Wine book but written by Stephen King. Maybe a hint - the barest of hints - that there's something supernatural going on. I liked the Joyland nod, it was fun.
I read Valis by Philip K. Dick once. Then, three or so years later, I picked it up and read through most of it again before realizing that I had actually read it before. Not my brightest moment.
Wait didn't that stuff happen in The Name of the Wind?
Twilight of Empire is awesome. I read through the first one pretty quickly, and then devoured the other two during my international trip. Didn't even last me one leg of the flight.
Highly recommend Green, but don't expect it to eat up much of your time.
sparky2112
Member
Yes.
This was Wise Man's Fear:
1) Some more money problems from the end of Name of the Wind
2) He has to leave, for some reason?
3) He has sex with a 9000 year old nature goddess who acts like she's 5, sort of like a 1000 year old dragon/vampire loli, but not physically icky
4) He learns kung fu from the not-Asians and has a lot of HAWT SEX
5) Spring break is over, back to school, has sex on the way back
6) I think he's poor again, I'm not sure
1) Some more money problems from the end of Name of the Wind
2) He has to leave, for some reason?
3) He has sex with a 9000 year old nature goddess who acts like she's 5, sort of like a 1000 year old dragon/vampire loli, but not physically icky
4) He learns kung fu from the not-Asians and has a lot of HAWT SEX
5) Spring break is over, back to school, has sex on the way back
6) I think he's poor again, I'm not sure