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Maklershed · Jul 1, 2014

Maklershed · Jul 1, 2014

Kindle

Ahvarra: The Heart of the World by Brian J. Lang

Hard Copy

Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul by Karen Abbott

Audio Book

One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson

HORRORSHØW · Jul 1, 2014

thus spake zarathustra by nietzsche. more for the prose than the philosophy.

Victory Red · Jul 1, 2014

demosthenes · Jul 1, 2014

Kafka on the Shore.

lightus · Jul 1, 2014

Working on Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson now. I'm about halfway through currently and liking it a lot. It's nice knowing this is stand-alone as well. As much as I like longer series, it can get old having to read multiple books to figure everything out.

If anyone has been hearing about Brandon Sanderson's work but doesn't know where to start, here you go. So far it seems on par with the rest of his works, it's stand-alone and it's free!

To get the .pdf from his website use this link: http://brandonsanderson.com/books/warbreaker/warbreaker/warbreaker-rights-and-downloads/

Just make sure to get the Tor Hardcover First Edition down near the bottom.

SiDCrAzY · Jul 1, 2014

Really enjoying it so far. I'm liking how it's written more like a story instead of just a book of facts/information like other video game books I've read.

Tragicomedy · Jul 1, 2014

I'm taking my sweet time with this one, since I don't want the series to ever end.

fredrancour · Jul 1, 2014

Listening to sanderson's elantris as an audiobook. Its so refrshing to feel a fantasy story primed to resolve in a single novel. Not as much fun as the mistborn books, but I'm still enjoying it.

In the exact opposite of "standalone novel," I am now up to a feast for crows in a song of fire and ice. The whole (non-story-events related but spoilering just in case)

split half the characters into book four and put the other half in book 5

concept must have enraged people when this originally came out. I'm really enjoying it however.

arya, queen of the murderlist

continues to be the best character and

cersei's

various annoyances and frustrations have put me in stitches.

I finished jonathan strange and mr norrell last week. It was absolutely delightful. Fun worldbuilding, hilarious narrative voice, and spookiest faeries I've ever read about.

Aquavelvaman · Jul 1, 2014

I started Game of Thrones yesterday. I binge-watched the first 3 seasons of the show and figured I might as well jump into the books. Enjoying it so far.

Blargonaut · Jul 1, 2014

I've been chewing through The Book of The New Sun series by Gene Wolfe, super-compelling and descriptive story. I love the hints of the old pre-apocalyptic Earth scattered around.

BTW, Reading-GAF, I'm hosting a thread for a choose-your-own-adventure fantasy story which I update everyday with new arcs, and the plot's driven by GAF votes. We've just started 2 days ago, the tale's only began and I would super love more participants. You cast your vote on the everyday outcomes through multiple choice, and I write according to the majority vote. If anyone's interested in reading AND participating in a flintlock fantasy-type mystery, head on over to the thread:

A GAF Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Fantasy Story Thread

Please don't fret Mods, I'm not promoting for monetary purposes; the thread and story is just intended for GAF's enjoyment and will stay on GAF. It's only a place to practice my writing skills.

adamsappel · Jul 1, 2014

On my Kindle3, I'm reading Mannheim Rex by Robert Pobi, NOS4A2 by Joe Hill and The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie. In hardcover, I'm dipping into the Planetary Omnibus by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday.

Mumei · Jul 1, 2014

Blargonaut, that's the oddest cover for The Book of the New Sun. I did a double-take when I was scrolling down the thread.

Anyway, I just finished up Ideal and Actual in The Story of the Stone, and I'm currently working on Miles, Mutants and Microbes by Lois McMaster Bujold. I'm something like 2/3 of the way through Falling Free, the first book in the collection.

Plasticine · Jul 1, 2014

It's summer, so I figure it's the perfect time to read some bleak Gothic fiction. I read McGrath's Spider years ago, and was really impressed. I hope I enjoy this one just as much.

Piecake · Jul 1, 2014

Mumei said:
Blargonaut, that's the oddest cover for The Book of the New Sun. I did a double-take when I was scrolling down the thread.

Anyway, I just finished up Ideal and Actual in The Story of the Stone, and I'm currently working on Miles, Mutants and Microbes by Lois McMaster Bujold. I'm something like 2/3 of the way through Falling Free, the first book in the collection.

Ooo, how was that?

Ezalc · Jul 1, 2014

Just finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Starting on the first Vampire Hunter D novel, anybody read the others and can tell me how the writting develops. I'm finding it a bit lukewarm right now. Thinking of going back to Patrick Rothfuss with The Wise Man's Fear.

Blargonaut · Jul 1, 2014

Mumei said:
Blargonaut, that's the oddest cover for The Book of the New Sun. I did a double-take when I was scrolling down the thread.

Ha, I bought a set of these bright-yellow books in a thrift store a few weeks ago, they caught my eye too

Their part of a best-of collection or something.

AngmarsKing701 · Jul 1, 2014

Thanks, Maklershed, for putting my book in the OP!

Great birthday present!

Yes, that's the 701 in my user name.

ShaneB · Jul 1, 2014

Always glad to see a new thread, and new faces. Still completely stumped what I want to read. =/ Just in a bit of a funk I guess.

Piecake · Jul 1, 2014

ShaneB said:
Always glad to see a new thread, and new faces. Still completely stumped what I want to read. =/ Just in a bit of a funk I guess.

Stoner by John Williams

Kalamari · Jul 1, 2014

I just finished Asimov's Prelude to Foundation, so it's back to reading A Clash of Kings until I can check out the next book in the Foundation series.

Blargonaut · Jul 1, 2014

AngmarsKing701 said:
Thanks, Maklershed, for putting my book in the OP!

Great birthday present!

Yes, that's the 701 in my user name.

Hey, happy birthday!

Regiruler · Jul 1, 2014

I still have the attention span of a walnut so I'm still mulling through the Wheel of Time. Currently on Book 11: Knife of Dreams

According to what I've heard, the plot picks up quite a bit in this one, and so far it has delivered in that regard, so I am going to enjoy every minute of this one.

Mumei · Jul 1, 2014

Piecake said:
Ooo, how was that?

It's really great. It pointed out a lot of things I missed; I was bringing my own cultural experiences and views to the story so some things that would have been understood by his audience as "bad" weren't understood the same way by me (e.g. the inversions of ideal household authority; it seemed a good thing that authority was inverted because the women seemed manifestly more competent than the men). And the chapter about illnesses was really interesting because it demonstrates how much attention he put into the illnesses, their diagnoses, and what the doctors prescribed to remedy them, in ways contributed to the development of various allegorical / thematic elements. The section arguing that Bao Yu suffered from some form of ADD, and even that the author himself seemed to have a lot of those symptoms I thought was pretty compelling. As someone who has ADD myself, I found myself thinking, "Wow, that's like... exactly me. All of that." And I find it funny that I didn't think of it - I guess because I think of ADD as, well, more modern even though it's just the diagnosis that is modern. And the chapters about the role of poetry in the book are great.

It's my first introduction to Redology, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I'm excited to read Rereading the Stone: Desire and the Making of Fiction in Dream of the Red Chamber sometime in the near future.

Blargonaut said:
Ha, I bought a set of these bright-yellow books in a thrift store a few weeks ago, they caught my eye too Their part of a best-of collection or something.

Oooh. That makes sense. It's quite possibly the most mismatched cover I've seen for it, though!

AngmarsKing701 said:
Thanks, Maklershed, for putting my book in the OP!

Great birthday present!

Yes, that's the 701 in my user name.

I'll buy the paperback once the current billing cycle goes through, so in a few days!

CF_Fighter · Jul 1, 2014

Picked it up at the airport today. Enjoying it so far and I hope to have it done by the time the show premieres.

Cade · Jul 1, 2014

lightus said:
Working on Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson now. I'm about halfway through currently and liking it a lot. It's nice knowing this is stand-alone as well. As much as I like longer series, it can get old having to read multiple books to figure everything out.

If anyone has been hearing about Brandon Sanderson's work but doesn't know where to start, here you go. So far it seems on par with the rest of his works, it's stand-alone and it's free!

To get the .pdf from his website use this link: http://brandonsanderson.com/books/warbreaker/warbreaker/warbreaker-rights-and-downloads/

Just make sure to get the Tor Hardcover First Edition down near the bottom.

Hey, thanks for this. Was vaguely interested in Sanderson's work but didn't think he'd done any non-series stuff. I'm hoping I can get back into fantasy soon and this should be as good a start as any.

AngmarsKing701 · Jul 1, 2014

Blargonaut said:
Hey, happy birthday!

Thanks!

Mumei said:
I'll buy the paperback once the current billing cycle goes through, so in a few days!

Thanks! Hope you enjoy it!

hEist · Jul 1, 2014

finished:

great series.

currently:
reading

75% into it
like it very much, so far.

arrived a couple minutes ago on my kindle. finally!

FUME5 · Jul 1, 2014

Blargonaut said:
I've been chewing through The Book of The New Sun series by Gene Wolfe, super-compelling and descriptive story. I love the hints of the old pre-apocalyptic Earth scattered around.

Having seen it mentioned in a previous thread, I decided to start on The Book of the New Sun as well (suprised I hadn't read it long ago) while I wait for whatever the hell is going on with the reboot / re-release of the Chung Kuo Series - never did track down the 7th book for a decent price, but I digress.

I'm about to finish Claw of the Conciliator and I'm enjoying the series so far, although authors who think I want to read a play in the middle of a novel really piss me off, I'm giving Gene a pass this one time.

Tragicomedy · Jul 1, 2014

FUME5 said:
I'm about to finish Claw of the Conciliator and I'm enjoying the series so far, although authors who think I want to read a play in the middle of a novel really piss me off, I'm giving Gene a pass this one time.

Haha, I had the same response when I read it. But what if I told you it all makes sense in the end?

FUME5 · Jul 1, 2014

Tragicomedy said:
Haha, I had the same response when I read it. But what if I told you it all makes sense in the end?

Hah! Like I said, giving him a pass and reading it instead of just scowling and skipping forward like usual.

lightus · Jul 1, 2014

-Cade said:
Hey, thanks for this. Was vaguely interested in Sanderson's work but didn't think he'd done any non-series stuff. I'm hoping I can get back into fantasy soon and this should be as good a start as any.

No problem! Hope you enjoy it. If not, at least it was free, yeah?

Nymerio · Jul 1, 2014

Started Abaddon's Gate yesterday:

Only a couple pages in though.

Cade · Jul 1, 2014

lightus said:
No problem! Hope you enjoy it. If not, at least it was free, yeah?

No, if not the consequences are I will heap blame upon you.

+Aliken+ · Jul 1, 2014

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bjork · Jul 1, 2014

SiDCrAzY said:
Really enjoying it so far. I'm liking how it's written more like a story instead of just a book of facts/information like other video game books I've read.

I just finished this the other day, and the story bit is actually what kills it for me. It does say that stories and events are altered or condensed in the interest of storytelling, but the conversations are all so groan-worthy. Every Japanese person in the book is some statue, only capable of uttering a word or two at a time, if at all, and every American is some never ending one-liner dispenser. If it were just one character that happened to be that way, I get it. But to me it made the book read like a mid-grade sitcom during those parts, which doesn't have my hopes high for the movie they're making about this. I'm not sure if it rubs me the wrong way so hard because it's based on actual events or because Tom Kalinske rules and I'm still bitter about how they did him back then or what, because if it were a fictional scenario I likely wouldn't find it so tough to slog through.

I finished this after watching the US Oldboy remake, so then I went and reread the Oldboy manga to kind of cleanse my brain and eyes. Good times.

Bazza · Jul 1, 2014

Got a few short stories from Phase Space left to finish and after that I will be moving on to the Emperor series by Conn Iggulden. Feel like a little break from Fantasy and Scifi and with the Emperor, Conqueror and War of the Roses series' this Conn fella has me covered for a little while I think.

block tower · Jul 1, 2014

Judge Dredd and Conan The Destroyer volumes.

Jintor · Jul 1, 2014

Hell's Angels by Hunter S. Thompson

I've read Fear and Loathing before but Hunter S feels a little saner in this. Reminds me of David Simon a bit, but then again, at this point pretty much everything does.

GasProblem · Jul 1, 2014

Around a hundred pages left before I finish A Feast for Crows. I like the book, but I get how it'd be a dissapointment coming from Storm and having to wait years for it.

After that it's on to A Dance with Dragons.

Also bought Half a King, Leviathan Wakes and Blood Song, so I have some exciting reading ahead of me

Tapejara · Jul 1, 2014

I finished watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars last month and that got me on a Star Wars high. So I'm reading this:

When I'm done I think I might try and get back into George Orwell's Burmese Days.

Frost_Ace · Jul 1, 2014

Almost done with it, great book.

Think I'm gonna read The Casual Vacancy next, hope it's good, don't let me down J.K.

Princess Carl · Jul 1, 2014

Finally got around to reading it after watching The Wire a couple years ago.

Jintor · Jul 1, 2014

Lead Based Paint said:
Finally got around to reading it after watching The Wire a couple years ago.

enjoy, it's brilliant

TTG · Jul 1, 2014

I just finished reading The Fractal Prince, so it qualifies by about 3 hours. Found out about the series through GAF, so thanks for that, person who shall remain unnamed because I can't be bothered to look up the post... anyway, some thoughts:

The Fractal Prince is a sequel to The Quantum Thief(with a third and final book coming in about 14 days, but we'll get to that) and it's the best modern/contemporary/recent sci fi I've read. I like the genre a lot, but looking back on my favorite stuff like Neuromancer and Forever War, those titles are older. Even books where the onus is off the sciency stuff as much as possible, I seem to gravitate to relatively(by the speed with which this stuff is developed, which is so fast) older works. Which is why it's refreshing to read great sci fi where concepts like "exomemory" and uploading whole consciousnesses, or as the book calls them gogols, to do menial tasks plays a pivotal role. Well, what qualifies as menial by a humanity that bends quantum physics to its will, manages to stay borderline immortal for those with the power, creating copies of themselves along the way that unite in whole clans.

So, there are a lot of fresh mesmerizing ideas here, all wrapped up in an interesting journey with characters that have now traversed in one way or another around most of the Solar System. It packs quite the punch: gentleman thieves, metaphysical philosophy, godlike immortals, some sort of apotheosis of the internet, high tech warriors that make make marvel superhero fights seem pedestrian, virtual realities and... it goes on and on and is still under like 700 pages combined between the two books. And don't worry, I'm not spoiling anything, just outlining the stuff that gets dumped on the reader right away. Which leads me to the one real downside of the books so far. It's a lot to take in, especially with the sometimes abstract ways this stuff is described. What made me go from slightly overwhelmed but hungry for more to frustrated is that the second book takes place on another planet... that has all new terminology and approach to these things, wrapped in the mystical realm.

All in all, I recommend it wholeheartedly. It's new ideas and awesome high tech concepts that are the draw, but there's real quality that I think will make the trilogy an all time classic. Just keep in mind, it's as hard or harder to read than The Book of the New Sun, but for different reasons. And the third book is coming out later this month! I didn't even know that until I finished the first book, now I can't wait:

This latest cover is as tacky as the other two apparently. Oh well

SleazyC · Jul 1, 2014

Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield

The global war on terror caused us to do some pretty fucked up stuff. This book is as depressing as it is enlightening on how our special forces has operated the past 10 or so years.

Next up:

Tower Lord

S Street Rising: Crack, Murder, and Redemption in D.C.

Necrovex · Jul 1, 2014

Victory Red said:

Kirkman starts this series off with a major bang. Pity it teeters a little bit in the latter half. :-(

CF_Fighter said:
Picked it up at the airport today. Enjoying it so far and I hope to have it done by the time the show premieres.

Del Toro needs to stop with all of his silly side projects and focus on the only truly relavant project, Naoki Urasawa's Monster on HBO.

Angst · Jul 1, 2014

Wanted to read some fantasy after reading mostly scifi so I picked up

I've just started, maybe 15 % in and so far I'm pleasantly surprised.

itsinmyveins · Jul 1, 2014

It's taking me forever to finish. Only halfway through. It's good but it's also thick and has a rather slow pacing.

O.DOGG · Jul 1, 2014

Rereading old favorites. Finished Neuromancer, currently halfway done with:

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