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What are you reading? (January 2015)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
Tragicomedy
Member
The further removed you get from reading American Gods, the worse it is in retrospect. Give it a month and think back on what you've just read.
BronzeWolf
Banned
I just didn't like American Gods.
As a story it was very weak and as an universe, it didn't set the rules clearly enough. Colorful characters, I don't remember the ending and I read it last year :\
As a story it was very weak and as an universe, it didn't set the rules clearly enough. Colorful characters, I don't remember the ending and I read it last year :\
I've finished two books already this year, but seeing how I had about five going at once, this a sort of artificial boost. Anyway, the first book was Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky brothers:
If you like the Southern Reach books(and I know a lot of you did), you'll like this. If you like first contact books, you'll like this. If you like classic sci fi, you'll like this. If you like any sci fi, you'll probably like this... see how that broadens out? I think Roadside Picnic stops just short of an all time favorite, but it has plenty of legs past the premise. It really comes down to the characters, there's a depth infrequently seen in similar books.
Next up is The Martian by Andy Weir:
It was 2.99 on Kindle a while back, so why not? It's a conflation of Robinson Crusoe, MacGyver and space exploration on Mars. It's fun and fast. Now that I'm done, I can mostly sum it up by saying someone should have reworked this into a script for Cuaron's use. It basically succeeds everywhere Gravity failed and then some.
If you like the Southern Reach books(and I know a lot of you did), you'll like this. If you like first contact books, you'll like this. If you like classic sci fi, you'll like this. If you like any sci fi, you'll probably like this... see how that broadens out? I think Roadside Picnic stops just short of an all time favorite, but it has plenty of legs past the premise. It really comes down to the characters, there's a depth infrequently seen in similar books.
Next up is The Martian by Andy Weir:
It was 2.99 on Kindle a while back, so why not? It's a conflation of Robinson Crusoe, MacGyver and space exploration on Mars. It's fun and fast. Now that I'm done, I can mostly sum it up by saying someone should have reworked this into a script for Cuaron's use. It basically succeeds everywhere Gravity failed and then some.
Happy new year, reading thread!
The last book I finished was:
Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite by Suki Kim
It's written by Suki Kim about her 6-month stint teaching English to students at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. Just about every other book about North Korea I've read talks extensively about the labor camps and the conditions for the poor, but this was interesting because it was a look at the "upper class" (at least in a very narrow context). I also found it interesting that Kim's fellow teachers were at times just as controlling as the North Koreans. It's not a long book, and it's about an extremely small piece of the population during a short time, but I recommend it for people who read Nothing to Envy and Escape from Camp 14.
Wow, glad I came into this thread - just finished Escape from Camp 14 and started Nothing to Envy, so will add this to my list, thanks!
The story I feel is just kind of... vague and twisting and the plotlines go everywhere. It feels more like Neil had three or four short stories he kind of wanted to cram together. The bit in the small village town is by far the best part of it because it's largely self-contained.
Though generally I feel like Neil doesn't like his universes to have clear-cut rules anyway. He's a boundary man
TommyTosser
Member
Being 22 and an active person i know i shouldn't be eating some of the things i put on my plate so this book is a perfect guideline to help me change.
This is a great read and straight to the point. Even if you love meat and wouldn't think of changing your food intake its still enjoyable.
TestMonkey
Member
I really enjoyed Soon I Will Be Invincible but the jacket on this one makes it seem like an attempt similar to Ready Player One which I didn't like. Hope it works out.
Finished my first 2 books of the year, Crown of Shadow's was a good end to the Coldfire trilogy
Was gutted when I thought Tarrant had died, although if the trilogy ended with him being killed off it would have been completely justified.
mainly because of Hesseth's and Jenseny's death's that both caught me off guard and feeling a little sad afterwards.
As for The Martian I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it, I tend to like my scifi books set in the far future. I think the length of the books was spot on any longer and I think things could have gotten repetitive, there are only so many times a problem can occur only to be solved just in time without things getting boring.
American Gods or Rama II next hmmmmm....
When I read it, I would have called you crazy, but you're right. I dislike the novel more now than I did when I finished it a few months back.
I generally don't enjoy a lot of sci-fi but I've seen this book cover so many times in this thread that I may check it out.
Well, I have another one for you then:
Dear Leader: Poet, Spy, Escapee--A Look Inside North Korea by Jang Jin-Sung (Amazon and the book cover say the title is actually Dear Leader: My Escape from North Korea)
This is written by someone who was among those privileged enough to live in Pyongyang and actually (briefly) met Kim Jong Il. You might like it!
Mmhm. I liked the concept, but the execution left me cold.
This is very true.
Thank you all so much! I'm going to the book store tomorrow so I will check a lot of these out. I'm doing the 50 films and 50 books challenge this year, the films should be really easy, but books will be a huge challenge for me since I don't read a lot. Any suggestions are always welcome. For reference, some of my favourite books are Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury), Jupiter (Ben Bova), and Misery (Stephen King).
Your post reminded me of the protagonist's boneheaded move to walk into freezing weather without any clothing.
I also altered my three stars to two stars on Goodread. I don't understand why people love American Gods. Like you said, the concept is interesting, but the execution is poor.
Yes, well. You should still read Sandman.
I haven't read any of those, so unfortunately that doesn't help me narrow down my list. Hopefully you still find something you like~
I've read the first volume of Sandman. It was pretty good. Haven't motivated myself to complete the rest though.
And how have you not read Fahrenheit 451?! It's so iconic.
sparky2112
Member
Speaking of The Martian (HUGE Interstellar spoiler, so beware):
Matt Damon really gets around doesn't he? Dying in another galaxy and now getting stranded on Mars. Guy can't catch a break.
There are plenty of "iconic things that people usually read in school" that I managed not to read!
And find your motivation!
RepairmanJack
Member
I was kind of bummed to hear about him being in The Martian, because I thought he was horrible in Interstellar. I also can't see him pulling off the sense of humor, that's assuming they'd even be going for that.
Tragicomedy
Member
I went so far as to go back and re-review the book on Goodreads last year and drop a star from it. I never do that, but it had to be done.
Also, this will be the year I tackle both Preacher and Sandman. Believe!
I sometimes go back and look at scores I gave for things and change my mind. I tend to overrate sometimes, particularly by giving 4/5 to things that really should be 3/5 for me. 3/5 just sounds so bad (60% is terrible!) that sometimes it feels weird giving it to something I liked. Maybe I'm just weird.
Pretty please read them if you ever get the chance! Especially Fahrenheit 451.
Tragicomedy
Member
My first year doing the 50/50 challenge (2013), I overrated everything by a full star. Last year was a slight improvement. This year I'm sticking to a firm 3/5 stars = good, 4/5 = great, and 5/5 = amazing scale. I don't consider 2 stars as particularly bad, so that's an acceptable rating for a book that doesn't meet my "good" threshold.
I've already given a 1 star rating to Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, because it was nonsensical garbage. Such a disappointment after Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
bennywhatever
Member
All right, I'm a little ways into Reamde right now. For those that have read it, question for you (not really a spoiler since it's the beginning of the book):
When Peter and Wallace realize what happened with the list of credit cards and how hard it was going to be to get it back... Why didn't Peter just use the exploit and get the credit card numbers again? He said it took all of 15 minutes the first time. It feels like doing all that T'Rain grinding was kind of silly if he could have just got the numbers again.
When Peter and Wallace realize what happened with the list of credit cards and how hard it was going to be to get it back... Why didn't Peter just use the exploit and get the credit card numbers again? He said it took all of 15 minutes the first time. It feels like doing all that T'Rain grinding was kind of silly if he could have just got the numbers again.
That's the way I do it too. 3 is worth a read, but not particularly mind-blowing. 4 is great, but 5 is an all-time favorite - something I would actually want to own, since 99% of my books come from the library.
Thinking in terms of percentages completely throws it off because we're all so used to grades in school where anything less than a 90 is considered bad (or 80, or whatever your personal goal was). The same thing happens a lot with game reviews, and they almost all end up in the 7-10 range, though it is getting better than it used to be.
Ooh, didn't realize that was out already! I knew it was January but didn't know it was this early in the month. Awesome!
Just finished Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick. She is a former LA Times journalist who interviewed several North Korean defectors while on assignment in South Korea. Great read, very enlightening look into North Korea.
Also finishing up Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King. It's about Thurgood Marshall and his defense of the Groveland Boys in segregated Florida. Great history read, exciting and interesting.
Also finishing up Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King. It's about Thurgood Marshall and his defense of the Groveland Boys in segregated Florida. Great history read, exciting and interesting.
evilromero
Member
Just finished the first two Harry Potter books and am now working my way through Mirror Mirror, which had a slow start but is now pulled me in enough.
I will say some of my favorites from last year were The Magician King, Magician's Land, The Painter, The Human and rereading Watership Down.
I will say some of my favorites from last year were The Magician King, Magician's Land, The Painter, The Human and rereading Watership Down.
I don't think that's weird. I just had to decide for myself what the number of stars meant to me. If you think of it as 60%, that's bad, but on my Goodreads list, 3/5 means "it was a good book, I liked it well enough and finished it."
XT Vengeance
Member
A pretty damn good read.
Zuhzuhzombie!!
Member
Working through this at the moment.
Taco_Human
Member
I've never done any reading for fun in years. Went to 3 different libraries yesterday. Got a copy of 1984, The Hobbit, and the Silmarillion. Gonna read the complete Lord of the Rings after these.
But you gave American Gods a 3/5. So this must means you secretly like it but trying to hide your affections for it to keep your hipster cred. ;-)
And I have the same problem of overrating books; 3/5 feels like it's a bad rating. And I already went back to knock down American Gods to 2/5 on my Goodread account.
Who wants to buy me a digital version of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles?! I need to get back into reading fiction, and this, of course, begins with our holy savior known as Haruki Murakami. :-D
Zuhzuhzombie!!
Member
This is next.
First book was fantastic. Second one was okay, felt rushed. Hoping this one is a return to form.
New Years resolutions?
First book was fantastic. Second one was okay, felt rushed. Hoping this one is a return to form.
New Years resolutions?
I felt like December was a busy time for the reading thread. But regardless, I am always happy to see active conversations in here. <3
Heh, well there have been quite a few posts starting with "I've been wanting to read more" or "looking to get into reading more", etc. I'm sure eReaders are popular gifts as well.
Yeah, a big part is just the varied tastes here, so I just like to always see what folks are reading and build my backlog.
Christoff Yurievich
Member
Setre
Member
As far as ratings go my own personal opinion is this:
5 Stars - Awesome
4 Stars - Good
3 Stars - Okay
2 Stars - Bad
1 Star - Shit
I'm easily pleased though so a lot of stuff I've read I'd rate as 4 stars. Hell, even though I dropped What Dreams May Come I'd probably still give it 3 stars. I didn't think the book was bad I just couldn't stand it anymore. Maybe that doesn't make sense to anyone else though.
Finished
Good stuff, I felt the ending (like the last two pages) could have been better though. Glad I found a new author and she's only written a couple of books so it'll be fun reading her new stuff as she writes it.
Starting
Haven't read any of it yet but I've heard good things here on GAF and elsewhere. I've only read a couple of sci-fi books, besides Star Wars novels but I'm not sure those count as pure sci-fi, so I'm kind of apprehensive.
5 Stars - Awesome
4 Stars - Good
3 Stars - Okay
2 Stars - Bad
1 Star - Shit
I'm easily pleased though so a lot of stuff I've read I'd rate as 4 stars. Hell, even though I dropped What Dreams May Come I'd probably still give it 3 stars. I didn't think the book was bad I just couldn't stand it anymore. Maybe that doesn't make sense to anyone else though.
Finished
Good stuff, I felt the ending (like the last two pages) could have been better though. Glad I found a new author and she's only written a couple of books so it'll be fun reading her new stuff as she writes it.
Starting
Haven't read any of it yet but I've heard good things here on GAF and elsewhere. I've only read a couple of sci-fi books, besides Star Wars novels but I'm not sure those count as pure sci-fi, so I'm kind of apprehensive.
Ha! I understand the mechanics! It's the same question I ask of why some love the Tea Party or Ayn Rand. It doesn't make proper sense in my head.
Edit: Actually bad examples since I know why. But I am curious of the reasons of why people love American Gods.
Christoff Yurievich
Member
Some of it's probably because of plot but I think it was also because Peter was panicking and not thinking straight. Especially when you have the mob there ready to do really bad things.
Finally got Locked In, was supposed to get it before Christmas, but eh. Amazon Prime, right?
So, excited to start that. Girlfriend got me The Mallet of Loving Correction, so that'll be a fun browse as well. Scalzi's probably one of my favorite SF/F writers. Not that I agree with him on everything, but eh, you don't gotta to enjoy it, neh?
Speaking of which, and maybe this is appropriate for a different topic, how many of ya'll have authors that you won't read due to their politics? I was talking to a fellow book lover, and they've got several authors (John Ringo, Larry Correia) that they won't read due to their political statements. I thought it was silly, since both have written books that are a ton of fun (Monster Hunter, Troy Rising).
So, excited to start that. Girlfriend got me The Mallet of Loving Correction, so that'll be a fun browse as well. Scalzi's probably one of my favorite SF/F writers. Not that I agree with him on everything, but eh, you don't gotta to enjoy it, neh?
Speaking of which, and maybe this is appropriate for a different topic, how many of ya'll have authors that you won't read due to their politics? I was talking to a fellow book lover, and they've got several authors (John Ringo, Larry Correia) that they won't read due to their political statements. I thought it was silly, since both have written books that are a ton of fun (Monster Hunter, Troy Rising).
Tragicomedy
Member
Except you missed the part where I said I've been overrating books for the past two years. :/
I gave each of the first three Discworld books four stars...
American Sniper. I'll get around to watching the movie maybe, but I find it fascinating to be inside the head of someone who sees good and evil in such binary black-and-white.
It's always good to read from the perspective of someone who is politically so different from you (as long as the book itself isn't spouting harmful bullshit).
It's always good to read from the perspective of someone who is politically so different from you (as long as the book itself isn't spouting harmful bullshit).