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[Cade]

I really need to read another Murakami book. I gotta get back on that weird, fucked-up horse even though 1Q84 nearly murdered me.

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Ancillary Justice is great. I was confused about the pronoun thing but now that I understand it I'm blowing through it. Haven't really read any Sci-Fi that's like this before, very diplomatic and unique. It's just a trilogy, right?

 

[Necrovex]

I completed this book last night:

This is seriously the best book I have read on The Apartheid. If anyone needs a starting point to understand this important historical era in South Africa's history, I recommend beginning here.

I really need to read another Murakami book. I gotta get back on that weird, fucked-up horse even though 1Q84 nearly murdered me.

I still need to finish the third book in 1Q84!

 

[Jasup]

Just finished Stephen Fry's The Hippopotamus, which is an old book of his. It was ok fun as long as it lasted.

Now reading:

Jouni Tilli: Suomen Pyhä Sota (loosely translated as "Finland's Holy War")
It's a history book which is based on Tilli's thesis "The Continuation War as a metanoic moment: a Burkean reading of lutheran hierocratic rhetoric" which can be found behind the link in English.

It's basically about how the priests in church of Finland reconciled the conflict between the commandment "you shall not murder" and the obvious offensive war Finland wielded against the Soviet Union as an ally with Nazi Germany during Continuation War. The reconciliation came as an amalgamation of lutheran idea of "just war" and nationalism. The priests preached about holy war, where Finland as a new Israel of the North battles against the eastern hordes of evil in a fight that's leading to formation of new Jerusalem as prophesied in the Book of Revelation (and how that changed when the war started to go badly for the Finns)

The book is not about how the church was used as one part of propaganda during the war time, but how the clergy got not only swept away by the nationalistic enthusiasm of the time, but were part of creating it.

So far it's been a really great read.

 

[Forsete]

Today I started Perfidia by James Ellroy.

Before that I was reading Live by Night by Dennis Lehane. I enjoyed it a whole lot, however the first book in this series (The Given Day) was a better read IMO.

 

[Maklershed]

Today I started Perfidia by James Ellroy.

*fist bump*

 

[pokeystaples]

In that order.

 

[Piecake]

What a fantastic book. This is easily one of the best fantasy books that I've read in a long while.

Does anyone know if this is going to be a series? Surprisingly, I couldnt tell for sure when I finished it, which just made the book even better in my eyes.

 

[aidan]

I didn't like Mark's humor, but I felt like it worked as a valid coping mechanism for a man essentially resigned to death and fighting against it despite that.

This is my takeaway, also.

What a fantastic book. This is easily one of the best fantasy books that I've read in a long while.

Does anyone know if this is going to be a series? Surprisingly, I couldnt tell for sure when I finished it, which just made the book even better in my eyes.

My favourite book of the year. Bennett's currently working on a sequel.

 

[DiddyBop]

Seeing the Freakonomics post, what are some good accessible Economic books for someone to understand the overall concept? I feel like I need a better understanding so I can properly tackle the Economist's Economic section without feeling too lost.

I just finished Naked Economics by Charles Wheelan and it did a great job at explaining real life economics and issues that it poses. He was a little heavy handed in pushing his viewpoint on to you when discussing the benefits of free trade but for the most part this book was really good and helped me better understand how modern economies work.

 

[Stasis]

This thread...

It's such a pleasure and a bane simultaneously. This is where I've found pretty much all of my reading material over the last few years, other than sequels of series I was already into or new works of authors I love, but if I come in here mid-novel/series it drives me crazy.

Too many books, not enough time!

 

[Piecake]

This is my takeaway, also.



My favourite book of the year. Bennett's currently working on a sequel.

Sweet. That is definitely good news

 

[KidDork]

Ancillary Justice is great. I was confused about the pronoun thing but now that I understand it I'm blowing through it. Haven't really read any Sci-Fi that's like this before, very diplomatic and unique. It's just a trilogy, right?

As far as I know, it is. Wikipedia seems to confirm this. I hope so, unless she intends to go all Banksian and just set stories in that universe.

I'm still in the Pronoun Confusion part of Ancillary Justice. I await the scales falling from my eyes with much anticipation.

Good luck with Reamde, bennywhatever. I loved most of that book. When it soars, it goddamn soars.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

As far as I know, it is. Wikipedia seems to confirm this. I hope so, unless she intends to go all Banksian and just set stories in that universe.

I'm still in the Pronoun Confusion part of Ancillary Justice. I await the scales falling from my eyes with much anticipation.

Good luck with Reamde, bennywhatever. I loved most of that book. When it soars, it goddamn soars.

She has tweeted that she's working on Ancillary Sword. I don't know if that's the last in a trilogy or if the series continues.

Edit: I screwed up the title. Not sure what the title of the third book is.

 

[KidDork]

Edit: I screwed up the title. Not sure what the title of the third book is.

Ancillary Mercy.

 

[Haly]

Pronoun spoilers:

Spoiler

"She" is the dominant pronoun in Radchai society and biological sex is actually a private matter so everyone is referred to as women unless that person's biological sex is actually important, like, say, during courtship. A lot of other cultures think this is strange and Radchai think other cultures that differentiate between the sexes in every day life are barbaric.

 

[TestMonkey]

Went to the library and picked this up.

 

[Cerity]

Time to tackle 1984 I think, I want to read Hardboiled Wonderland but I can't manage 2 Murakami books back to back.

I really need to read another Murakami book. I gotta get back on that weird, fucked-up horse even though 1Q84 nearly murdered me.

FWIW I've enjoyed most of his other books much, much more than 1Q84. Book is just too damn long and probably better off read in their original format (multiple books, with time between each book).

 

[Tragicomedy]

Went to the library and picked this up.

Two time Fobbit, checking in!

 

[cubicle47b]

Friday Night Lights.

 

[Piecake]

Just finished Saga volume 4, which was great. How is Y the Last Man? Is the dialogue just as good?

 

[Anon67]

Just started. Seems like a pretty cool book.

 

[survivor]

Finished reading Rubicon in late December but I forgot to post about. Great book, at first a lot of material introduced, I was already familiar with, but once it started delving more deeply into what's happening along the time of Sulla and then more into lives of Pompey and Cicero it got more exciting. A bit disappointed that not a whole a lot of details were focused on Augustus, but then again the Republic was pretty much dead at that point. Right now I'm trying to find a history book that covers the Empire after Augustus till its fall, I have almost no knowledge of that period but I do know that some of the emperors were pretty damn crazy.

Also finished reading A Clockwork Orange. I really enjoyed the whole made up language Burgess came up with and it made the prose flow really well when it's being used. Although at times it got annoying cause it feels like i'm reading more quicker than usual, but then I realize I barely comprehended what I just read with all the Nadsat works. Still a pretty great book. I also had no problems with the ending that was omitted from the movie, I thought it suited it fine. Though I haven't seen the movie yet.

 

[The Shadow]

Can anyone recommend some Sci-Fi? I recently read the Takeshi Kovacs novels by Richard K. Morgan which I loved, and Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clark which ended too soon, to give an idea of the books I tend to like.

I had a similar reaction. The events were interesting, but the character actually made me put the book down.

I *did* put the book down about 10-15 pages in, but picked it up about a month later and gave it a second shot.

I really hope the movie adaptation changes the character and makes him a little more professional and believable as a NASA astronaut. I honestly can't see Matt Damon acting like a pre-pubescent class clown.

 

[Cade]

Time to tackle 1984 I think, I want to read Hardboiled Wonderland but I can't manage 2 Murakami books back to back.



FWIW I've enjoyed most of his other books much, much more than 1Q84. Book is just too damn long and probably better off read in their original format (multiple books, with time between each book).

What's his shortest/least weird book? I'll give it a read sometime.

 

[ArcLyte]

 

[ClayKavalier]

Just finished Dirk Gently.

I don't really know how to feel about it. I didn't think it was that funny, there are a lot of clever lines but it didn't make me laugh out loud once. Even though it's still science fiction it feels a little more grounded than Hitchhiker's Guide and has more of a traditional plot.

I didn't know going in that it was science fiction, so that was sort of disappointing. Dirk Gently doesn't come in until the book is almost half over, and he really isn't the main character, which is too bad since he's really the only interesting character. Richard is a straight man the way Arthur is in HGttG, he was fine but not really entertaining. The professor was just there to further the plot.

By the end I was along for the ride and I liked it OK, but I'm not in any rush to pick up the other Dirk Gently book. I'd give it a solid B, but when HG is one of my favorite books/ series that's a big letdown.

 

[Beren the Empty-Handed]

Tried twice to get into Doctor Zhivago, and I just couldn't. I stopped at about 70 pages in. I just couldn't connect with anything. :/

 

[Cerity]

What's his shortest/least weird book? I'll give it a read sometime.

From what I've read, After Dark was the shortest and one of the least weird but I didn't 'get' it so I didn't particularly enjoy it. Others here can vouch for it.

 

[peach]

I just finished up The Girl in the Leaves by Robert Scott.

I read the book because I used to teach in the town where these murders took place and I recognized many of the people in the book. I taught a close relative of one of the victims. The book was terribly written. It was extremely exploitative of the female victim who survived this tragedy. If you followed the story of the three missing people from Ohio found in a tree at all and you like true crime stories, you may like this as long as you can get past the bad writing, repetitiveness, and attention-seeking father of the survivor.
Today Show
Dr. Phil
Sarah was removed from her father's home last year.

 

[Cade]

From what I've read, After Dark was the shortest and one of the least weird but I didn't 'get' it so I didn't particularly enjoy it. Others here can vouch for it.

I'll keep it in mind. Thanks!

 

[Maklershed]

Finished reading Rubicon in late December but I forgot to post about. Great book, at first a lot of material introduced, I was already familiar with, but once it started delving more deeply into what's happening along the time of Sulla and then more into lives of Pompey and Cicero it got more exciting.

This seems relevant to my interests. Added to my 'to read' list.

Can anyone recommend some Sci-Fi? I recently read the Takeshi Kovacs novels by Richard K. Morgan which I loved, and Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clark which ended too soon, to give an idea of the books I tend to like.

Hmmm you might want to try ...

Neuromancer by Gibson
Heechee Saga by Pohl
Pushing Ice by Reynolds
Eon by Bear

 

[ngower]

Picked up A Storm of Swords again recently. I was reading it when I moved a couple months ago and just didn't pick it up for whatever reason.

Also working on Charles Burns' Black Hole and once I finish that and "...Swords" I'll be reading Tom Spanbauer's "I Loved You More."

 

[Tragicomedy]

Just finished Saga volume 4, which was great. How is Y the Last Man? Is the dialogue just as good?

Y: The Last Man is only the greatest comic book run in history. Only.

 

[Necrovex]

Y: The Last Man is only the greatest comic book run in history. Only.

Preacher would like a word with you.

 

[Mumei]

Sandman is the greatest.

 

[sparky2112]

Two time Fobbit, checking in!

Fobbit was pretty good. Like a poor man's Catch-22 - nowhere near as good, amusing, sad, etc.

I should also add that Iraq has produced some great writing. Don't know that Afghanistan has, which is weird...

 

[ilikeme]

Finished Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome. Depressing story. Good read.

Nice to read about people with sad fates who try, but cannot, change the way their lives are going.

Now reading Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South. Well-written. Already saw the BBC mini-series so I know how it all goes. Interesting to see differences.

 

[Hanzou]

How does everyone find new books to read? I have generally read fantasy and science ce fictional I think a lot of people here have. I want to read some more general fiction but have troubles finding books. Do you have websites that recommend books? Just browse until something looks interesting or do you have people You know recommend books.

I don't know many people that read let alone many men (wife and I are not in the Same ballpark when it comes to books we like). I have read some detective novels and like them but am looking for more.

 

[LProtag]

I'm somewhere around the second half of American Gods, so it's time to start planning my next book to read.

Has anyone read Stoner by John Williams? I've been seeing it mentioned a lot as becoming really popular in the last few years even though it was published 40 years ago. I'm a teacher myself and I understand a lot of the novel deals with the protagonist being a college professor and what he thinks about his teaching. Worth a read?

I'm also considering the Mistborn triology. I'm a fan of Avatar and it seems right up that alley.

 

[Verdre]

How does everyone find new books to read? I have generally read fantasy and science ce fictional I think a lot of people here have. I want to read some more general fiction but have troubles finding books. Do you have websites that recommend books? Just browse until something looks interesting or do you have people You know recommend books.

I don't know many people that read let alone many men (wife and I are not in the Same ballpark when it comes to books we like). I have read some detective novels and like them but am looking for more.

I generally use threads like this on forums, lists such as those from Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/list and there's also the Readers Also Enjoyed list when you visit a book's page on Goodreads.

 

[whatevermort]

Just finished THE MAGICIANS by Lev Grossman. Behind the times here, but absolutely loved it.

 

[Hanzou]

I generally use threads like this on forums, lists such as those from Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/list and there's also the Readers Also Enjoyed list when you visit a book's page on Goodreads.

Yeah I should start digging around in those good reads lists. I use the site to track my reading and do some research on specific books bit never really used it do discover new books and genres. Thanks!

 

[Deleted member 125677]

I got this book from my mom for Christmas

Really enjoying it so far!

 

[LProtag]

Really enjoying it so far!

Looks like you've already answered my question, for the most part!

 

[Maklershed]

How does everyone find new books to read? I have generally read fantasy and science ce fictional I think a lot of people here have. I want to read some more general fiction but have troubles finding books. Do you have websites that recommend books? Just browse until something looks interesting or do you have people You know recommend books.

I don't know many people that read let alone many men (wife and I are not in the Same ballpark when it comes to books we like). I have read some detective novels and like them but am looking for more.

The majority of what I read comes from posts and recommendations in these monthly threads. Also I'll occasionally find stuff on Goodreads from their 'you might also like' suggestions and listopia lists.

And its funny - I'm in the same boat as you. None of my male friends/co-workers read. Most of them even wear it as a badge of honor that they haven't read a book since school. I know a lot of female readers but like you said, other than Stephen King or Gillian Flynn, their tastes don't match up with mine.

EDIT: And as for detective novels I can't recommend The L.A. Quartet by James Ellroy or the Philip Marlowe books enough.

 

[Mr.Swag]

I want to explore some Jorge Luis Borges. I speak Spanish but I haven't read it in a while. Would his work in Spanish be too complicated? Anything I should read before in Spanish as a sort of refresher?

 

[kruis]

How does everyone find new books to read? I have generally read fantasy and science ce fictional I think a lot of people here have. I want to read some more general fiction but have troubles finding books. Do you have websites that recommend books? Just browse until something looks interesting or do you have people You know recommend books.

Goodreads / Amazon recommendations are a good starting point. Or ask here. General fiction is a rather broad term. What do you want to read: rollicking adventures? historical fiction? highbrow literature? crime fiction? thrillers? cozy mysteries? 19th century classic fiction? Or some of those genres mixed together?

What fantasy/SF authors did you enjoy?

 

[Forsete]

*fist bump*

Hehe.

His telegraphy style of writing in this book is hard on the eyes at first, but I like it.
Very interesting so far. So happy he started a new LA series.

 

[Zeekaas]

Lock in - John Scalzi. Started yesterday and finished it yesterday. It's more mystery/thriller than sci fi. But the world setup is pretty nice. I really recommend anybody who likes this mix.

Started today in Mr Merced by Stephen King, probably gonna take a bit time though

 

[tauroxd]

Looks like you've already answered my question, for the most part!

I loved Stoner to death... I think it is a book that everyone should read, and giving your line of work it really is a must read for you.