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What are you reading? (July 2013)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
Maklershed
Member
Yeah it was an eye opener. Its hard to believe North Korea exists in our day and age. It sounds like something you read about in history or fiction books.
i read this
i liked it quite a bit. it's purportedly a fictional biography of a dead author by his brother in response to another biography which he found disagreeable, but is really a detective story about the brother trying to uncover the mysterious life of an odd, illusive person. the prose isn't as sparkling as in the other books i've read by nabokov - maybe the point as the narrator isn't that clever - but there's lots of puzzles and ambiguity to chew on and i generally found it a lovely and sad look at how much we really know other people, filled with people being mislead or misunderstanding or getting lost in their own interpretations. the times when the narrator discusses knight's various books and his interpretations of them were absolutely amazing.
i liked it quite a bit. it's purportedly a fictional biography of a dead author by his brother in response to another biography which he found disagreeable, but is really a detective story about the brother trying to uncover the mysterious life of an odd, illusive person. the prose isn't as sparkling as in the other books i've read by nabokov - maybe the point as the narrator isn't that clever - but there's lots of puzzles and ambiguity to chew on and i generally found it a lovely and sad look at how much we really know other people, filled with people being mislead or misunderstanding or getting lost in their own interpretations. the times when the narrator discusses knight's various books and his interpretations of them were absolutely amazing.
WARNING: I'm about to gush. This is easily the best thing I've read in quite a while. There's a reason it was nominated for The National Book Award, etc.
next read fo sho
GAF, I've been wanting to read some good Noir/Hardboiled detective novels lately. I'm thinking about picking up The Maltese Falcon (I've never even seen the film), but I was wondering if you guys had any better suggestions?
Also I kinda want a really good Space Opera. Like, one of my all time favorites was The Faded Sun series. I read all of Asimov's Robots and Foundation series as a kid, too. I also really liked the Pern series. So something like that would be nice. I dunno, just a good space story, possibly aliens, dudes with space swords and laser guns.
Also I kinda want a really good Space Opera. Like, one of my all time favorites was The Faded Sun series. I read all of Asimov's Robots and Foundation series as a kid, too. I also really liked the Pern series. So something like that would be nice. I dunno, just a good space story, possibly aliens, dudes with space swords and laser guns.
Maklershed
Member
L.A. Quartet by Ellroy and what I've read so far of the Philip Marlowe series (The Big Sleep and Farewell My Lovely) by Chandler are great.
And I read The Maltese Falcon as well. Its ok. Nothing to write home about. Worth a read though if you can get it cheap.
Commonwealth Saga, Heechee Saga, Expanse series
I went with these five:
The First Quarry
The Last Quarry
Quarry's Ex
The Cocktail Waitress
The Twenty-Year Death
Quarry in the Middle is in there and highly recommended.
Finished reading Ordeal by Innocence. The second Agatha I book I read that didn't feature a main competent detective. I was also surprised to see the book go into POV of the suspects. Generally, it's Poirot who has to figure out what other people are thinking about. Anyway the mystery was alright, I feel stupid for not figuring it out when a big hint was dropped 30 pages before the end of the book.
Not often that I get through a book in a day, but I blasted through The First Quarry today. Rather good, and exactly what I was expecting from the HCC books. Had some great laugh-out-loud lines.
Wiktor
Member
And the series gets a lot better as it progresses.
Ventilaator
Banned
Started The Gunslinger
Stephen King is really eager to tell me that the world has moved on. Made me laugh when one "The world had moved on" was added in parenthesis. Made it seem like he had a quota of it to fill.
Stephen King is really eager to tell me that the world has moved on. Made me laugh when one "The world had moved on" was added in parenthesis. Made it seem like he had a quota of it to fill.
Finished reading The Drowning Girl which I found very interesting. The perspective of a psychotic young woman was very intriguing. The book becomes a bit slow at certain points, but it never loses it's appeal.
I'm almost finished with Kitchen Confidential, which I read almost in one sitting. Anthony Bourdain's life sure is interesting...
I'm almost finished with Kitchen Confidential, which I read almost in one sitting. Anthony Bourdain's life sure is interesting...
haha yeah my tastes in fantasy have not excelled much past what i read as a teenager short of game of thrones
hes with the better writers of dungeons and dragons stuff though so its still fun
Tim the Wiz
Banned
I don't see it ever being green-lit. The names behind the adaptation aren't exactly stellar and the source material isn't exactly ripe for a cable or network drama. It would take serious creative vision to get something quality over the line.
Finishing this off:
Managed to track down a copy, and it was worth every penny.
Hilarious and rather thought provoking given the pulpy sci-fi nature of the book.
After that, my friends have convinced me to take up Terry Pratchett after seeing a Fringe Fest play adaptation of one of his books (of which I don't now recall the name... something about females in the army), so I was lent a copy of:
Managed to track down a copy, and it was worth every penny.
Hilarious and rather thought provoking given the pulpy sci-fi nature of the book.
After that, my friends have convinced me to take up Terry Pratchett after seeing a Fringe Fest play adaptation of one of his books (of which I don't now recall the name... something about females in the army), so I was lent a copy of:
Read Lee Child's Killing Floor, the first Jack Reacher book.
Most of the book was mediocre with bits of tedious for good measure, but the closer it got to the end the more ridiculous it became. At times Child makes sure to point out how exaggerated action scenes and such are in movies, but then he writes the ending which is out of some really bad Steven Seagal action movie.
Major spoilers:
So, yeah, I won't be continuing that series.
Most of the book was mediocre with bits of tedious for good measure, but the closer it got to the end the more ridiculous it became. At times Child makes sure to point out how exaggerated action scenes and such are in movies, but then he writes the ending which is out of some really bad Steven Seagal action movie.
Major spoilers:
The main character is some giant buff guy, so there has to be another even more gigantic guy for him to face off against. Except in the end it takes two .44 magnum shots, an entire clip to his back, and then his head being blown apart for him to die. And the main villains are confronted in the end atop a literal mountain of $40 million dollars in dollar bills wielding shotguns.
So, yeah, I won't be continuing that series.
Mackenzie 92
Member
They really don't take up that much time, especially in the 2nd book.
Still, not sure I see it working as a series.
Conscience Falls
Member
Still the most enjoyable and engrossing novel I have ever read. Cronin tweeted at me once, was enough of an excuse for me to go and re-read The Passage again-again.
Not kidding. Finally finished it tonight, and oh what a read. The characters, the prose and his storytelling were phenomenal and left me feeling like a kid again. Very impressed.
I just started the audiobook version of Angel's Game (book #2) this morning. Very similar atmosphere. The author is great at describing his world. Don't worry, the first book is a self contained story
Yeah definitely. I will likely do the same and pick up Angel's Game and the third book, of which name I can't recall. Like you said though, it was a very satisfying experience and hence I won't start them right away.
What to read next is the question. I initially wanted to finally read through Shogun, but the length of the book is simply intimidating still. Looking through my Kindle I reckon I will start on Crime and Punishment next.
After that, my friends have convinced me to take up Terry Pratchett after seeing a Fringe Fest play adaptation of one of his books (of which I don't now recall the name... something about females in the army), so I was lent a copy of:
Welcome to the Discworld rabbit hole
I have two guides who are willing to guide me down said rabbit hole, so as to avoid certain books/ storylines, but thank you. I hope it's as good as they lead me to believe.
Woah woah you shouldn't avoid anything, except possibly the Rincewind books, which aren't bad per se but definitely the lowest tier of all of Pratchett's works.
I don't know your taste, but I love short novels, so have a look at my list from last year:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=45928505&postcount=653
I'm now reading:
A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess.
Don't like it. Liked the film though.
edit: If you're looking for an exact recommendation, I'd say shoot for Hunger, Knut Hamsun
You can cheat with: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0071XO8RA/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Technically 5 books since they were self published sequentially and then later collected into an omnibus. At 550 pages that comes out to 110 pages per book.
Hey I'm reading that at the moment too.. I was counting it as one book... but good call, I'm gonna have to have to agree with you. Mind you, I've only just started the fifty challenge thing, so I'm very far behind.
edit: Guess, I'll have to separate it out for goodreads to count them as separate books,
hardcastlemccormick
Banned
I finished Engine Summer and it was achingly beautiful. John Crowley is a master. I may give the Aegypt books a go at some point.
Also the version I have is the best cover, even though every cover is grand:
I think I'll finally finish The Diamond Age next.
Also the version I have is the best cover, even though every cover is grand:
I think I'll finally finish The Diamond Age next.
RatskyWatsky
Hunky Nostradamus
So yeah, I finished this (The Final Solution by Michael Chabon) last night. Overall I'd say it was a very uneven novella. The first two chapters were quite dull, though the next 5 were pretty decent, but then the next few were dull again and then the last two were decent again. Honestly, despite the very short length, I found myself struggling to finish it.
The mystery, if you can even call it that, is very simplistic. The characters just sort of fumble around for a while and then the "mystery"
basically solves itself and then the book ends.
I was also bothered by the strange sentence structure: most of the sentences are extremely long, often going on for half a page, and are filled to the brim with commas. This might make me sound like an idiot, but I often lost track of the gist of the sentence because, 12 commas later, it had gone off in an entirely different direction than when it first began.
So yeah. It does have some neat parts (chapter 10 in particular), so it's not a total bust, but I'm definitely disappointed, especially having just read Chabon's "The Yiddish Policemen's Union", which I really liked.
I'm reading Slaughterhouse 5 by Vonnegut. I finished some Swedish litterature before that, Moberg and Lagerkvist, but I also read Johnny got his gun by Trumbo and Catch 22 by Heller. I hadn't read a lot of war litterature, or at least not this kind, and I absolutely love it. The absurdity can at times be hilarious.
Follow Her Home by Steph Cha
Been a while since I've read a good modern noir. Juniper Song is a self-styled Philip Marlowe for the modern Los Angeles. She's got the attitude and smarts to find out if her best friend's dad is cheating on his wife with a young assistant.
On its surface the plot isn't anything special. But Steph Cha's razor-sharp focus on character is stunning. Song is a great character, full of contradictions and baggage more mysterious than the plot's. She also writes really crisp descriptions that pull you into this world.
I don't want to spoil much about this book except to say that the mystery at its core is something of a red herring. The real question needing an answer is what makes Juniper Song tick. And it's this question that makes Follow Her Home such a great read.
On the book's individual page, there's some sharing options on the right side. Pick "Your Website" iirc and you'll see BBCode you can copy & paste.
Thanks, that did the trick.
My third attempt reading this book, and I am glad I finally stuck with it. The first two or three chapters are incredibly slow and seemingly nonsensical, but it slowly becomes a coherent story once you start learning about Severance's life in the guild. Right now I am at a crossroads in the story, and I am loving it so far. Its well written and the characters are well-realized, though severance and the prisoner are the only two that have really been developed
not sure how they expected a teenager to let a friend be slowly tortured to death over a month. Seems pretty stupid to have that kid develop a relationship with her and then be told and be present at her torture/execution. But who knows, maybe they expected that he would give her the knife, or some other way to end her life, and this was all a plan to put him in Thrax (though i highly doubt it). Thats currently where I am now. He has just been told he is supposed to go to Thrax
Im definitely interested to see what happens next.
Impressive you'd try it three times.
To highlight the mental dissonance of Severian as both torturer and a friend It's a big part of his character throughout the book, and it also serves to make the reader realize how alien this society is from ours.
Nah, this is a classic tragedy setup and serves to make his plight all the more agonizing.
Finished:
Had a lot of fun reading this book. It feels like in the last couple of years King has been in top form. There's not a whole lot of classic King horror here, but the characters and the world are both on point. Plus, I am a sucker for the way King writes dialogue. If you're looking for a breezy summer novel, you can't go wrong here.
Starting:
This is my first LeCarre novel, looking forward to it.
Had a lot of fun reading this book. It feels like in the last couple of years King has been in top form. There's not a whole lot of classic King horror here, but the characters and the world are both on point. Plus, I am a sucker for the way King writes dialogue. If you're looking for a breezy summer novel, you can't go wrong here.
Starting:
This is my first LeCarre novel, looking forward to it.
Mackenzie 92
Member
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Fun weekend read. I'd recommend it if you like YA.
The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis
Tempted to start a hard case crime book, but was already planning this as my next read.
Read J.K. Rowling's The Cuckoo's Calling.
I'm not familiar enough with the genre to really comment on its quality in that context, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I can see why no one guessed it was her until it was revealed, as outside of a few paragraphs (which I would have never noticed had I not already known) it doesn't really have anything in common with her other books. It's certainly leaps and bounds better than The Casual Vacancy. I look forward to any more books in the series.
My only real complaint would be that near the end the main character very obviously stops thinking about things he knows, so as to not spoil the big reveal.
I'm not familiar enough with the genre to really comment on its quality in that context, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I can see why no one guessed it was her until it was revealed, as outside of a few paragraphs (which I would have never noticed had I not already known) it doesn't really have anything in common with her other books. It's certainly leaps and bounds better than The Casual Vacancy. I look forward to any more books in the series.
My only real complaint would be that near the end the main character very obviously stops thinking about things he knows, so as to not spoil the big reveal.
Starting:
This is my first LeCarre novel, looking forward to it.
Would love your thoughts on this, if you get a chance.
I actually loved that book for pretty much exactly the same reasons you hated it. Jack Reacher is essentially a bad-ass action movie character in book form. Sort of like Sherlock Holmes, meets John McClane, meets The Punisher.
Some of the later books are better than that one, but many of them have even more of the elements you didn't like. I started with Echo Burning, was instantly hooked on the series, and continued to read them out of order. I think I read Killing Floor 3rd or 4th.
lastflowers
Banned
I was very pleasantly surprised to see that several people on GAF has read these books. No one I know, even English majors in college, had even heard of GW.
lastflowers
Banned
I read the New Sun books when I was in 6th grade, and it was fascinating to me then even though much of it went over my head.
Reading this now:
