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What are you reading? (July 2014)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
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I've been meaning to make a similar post posing the same question. I know I have a terrible memory, so when I look back on some books I thought I really liked, I've gone completely blank on remembering anything. Maybe it's a product of reading so much (you even moreso!), but I guess it just comes down to maybe liking something in the moment, but not feeling like anything stuck with me.
Yeah, it's hard to put into words, but I do still feel like I'm constantly wondering what is going to happen next, which I suppose is all that matters.
Always. I've just read too many books at this point to keep track of all the character names, unless they stick out in some fashion. But then I forget entire plots and worlds until I see the cover or the name of a book.
Salazar, and it was hilarious: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=440750
sixpackrules
Member
I finally started Dune: The Machine Crusade, i didn´t like the first one too much, so this one is been on the shelves like five years or so, but i finally started and i find it better than i expected
Jag
Member
Awesome. I'll have to go through it. I know his stuff is utter crap, but I have an issue with leaving series unfinished. I'm not ashamed to admit that I actually liked the TV show too (hot Mord Sith helped). My problem is I totally forgot which book I stopped at. This was pre-Goodreads.
sparky2112
Member
This is EXACTLY how I found The Goldfinch. It read smoothly, and by the time I was fairly far in, I really wanted to make it to the payoff.
There are a number of problems with this mindset, however. A) The Goldfinch has 250 pages of story. Related: The Goldfinch is 800 pages. 2) There is no payoff. None. C) This book, which I consider to be pretty darn close to a sham won the Pulitzer and has sold something close to a million copies, which has no doubt colored my tepidness to just a shade shy of absolutely loathing. 4) I was glad to see a critical backlash against this novel, even if it probably amounts to nothing. E) As has been pointed out by people smarter than me, I'd hate to think that this would be someone's intro to literary fiction, because, yes, it reads like Harry Potter if Harry were a drug addict of colossal proportion.
I did, however, like Boris. And the last 10 pages of the book, which, I guess, were supposed to justify the preceding 790 were beautifully written.
Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one! I thought of this when was looking at books I'd read this year and trying to think of which characters had been really interesting (if not necessarily likable or personable) and in many cases I'd look at a book and couldn't think of a single character. I think Nabokov's shade is trying to tell me something...
Curiously enough, one cannot read a book; one can only reread it. A good reader, a major reader, and active and creative reader is a rereader.
Has this article been linked here? I haven't even read The Goldfinch yet, but the article is interesting.
And Shane, I felt sort of the same way but it was this ... oddly disconnected feeling. Like, on one level I liked it and on another level I felt completely apathetic. Never had that experience before.
sparky2112
Member
I'm not sure that's the best place to start with Dickens (i.e. try more
). But what do I know - I started with Bleak House, which, while often considered his best, really lacks the lighthearted tone of some of his other work.My *only* complaint about the Sharpe series is that Cornwell can get/is formulaic, but the writing is great and the battle scenes are second-to-none.
Jag
Member
Not can, it is insanely formulatic, as are any Cornwell book about a young dashing hero. I still love them and devour each and every one though.
Thanks for linking this. Always interesting to read about the reception among US critics. The book was discussed very favourably in Germany, though that doesn't mean much as literary criticism here has been (pardon my French) fucked for a while now.
I get that a lot. Even for stuff I feel like I should know almost by heart I sometimes come up blank.
Half the challenge is at least hooking me, and it's done that much at least. The other half is hoping the payoff is worth it all. I do like it, and it is turning out to be a quick and easy read it seems.. just wish chapters were shorter!
AngmarsKing701
Member
Sorry. You talked about not reading a lot of scifi but your avatar is an alien maniacally smiling down on Earth. I thought it ironic.
And so could have quoted your avatar as a response.
Setre
Member
Finished
Reading
I was reading The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome by Susan Wise Bauer but got sidetracked along the way and never finished it. I plan to eventually but in the mean time decided to get my world history in another form. So far I've enjoyed both volumes even if it at times it was hard to follow along, looking at you Chinese history section. I'd actually recommend these to anyone who wants a general overview of world history. I've still got his other volumes to get into but I've no reason to believe they won't be just as informative as these first two.
Reading
I was reading The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome by Susan Wise Bauer but got sidetracked along the way and never finished it. I plan to eventually but in the mean time decided to get my world history in another form. So far I've enjoyed both volumes even if it at times it was hard to follow along, looking at you Chinese history section. I'd actually recommend these to anyone who wants a general overview of world history. I've still got his other volumes to get into but I've no reason to believe they won't be just as informative as these first two.
ZQQLANDER
Member
Almost halfway through Gerrard's autobiography and its pretty insightful, albeit poorly written (lots of repetition). I guess you can't be a world class player and a great writer. I didn't realize how shy and humble he is. Its necessary to write about your strengths as player/how good you are, but he doesn't go ten pages without praising a former teammate or coach for making an impact on his development.
Love it! Makes me glad I'm a Liverpool fan.
Love it! Makes me glad I'm a Liverpool fan.
Polishin8r
Member
Reading Catch-22 because its on all must read book lists...I almost gave up on page 80 such a piece of crap..but I wanted to find out whats gonna happen to Yossarian so here I am trucking and 3/4th done.
Just finished up The Lies of Locke Lamora. That first 10-20% of the book... Locke and the gang weren't... unlikeable but my view of them was pretty indifferent which made it hard follow their antics and continue on. The interludes weren't that great IMO either, the first few were okay, the ones about lore were nearly un-needed (i.e we get it, bond mages are bad ass and not to be fucked with). It's a bit cliche but the ones with Locke and the others as kids would have served better off as the first part of the book or something IMO.
Enjoyed it overall, continuing onto Read Seas under Red Skies. Would have been nice to see them actually pull off the heist without getting swept up into someone else's crazy plan though.
Enjoyed it overall, continuing onto Read Seas under Red Skies. Would have been nice to see them actually pull off the heist without getting swept up into someone else's crazy plan though.
BriareosGAF
Member
On the contrary, Joseph Heller is the greatest soporific invented by man. Reading four pages in Something Happened is guaranteed sleepy-time.
Man, Cyan is going to put you on his "Hope To Perm Someday" list for this, I'm sure.
I'm terrible with names, but other than that I don't have difficulty recalling a lot of the content. Do you engage in a lot of discussion about the books you read? Because that's a problem for me, not many readers among my friends at all, I'm not part of book clubs and I don't write comprehensive reviews and stuff.
I think the amount of stuff we retain is greatly diminished when all the attention we give to a book outside of actually reading it are those minutes before and after sitting down to read. Which is how I read a lot of stuff. After all, there's only so many outstanding, stimulating books. The subset of literature that I enjoy, but does not leave a lasting impression is much larger.
EDIT: since I was just talking about Rothfuss and his Kingkiller books, that's a great example. I like the books, but if it wasn't for these threads bringing them up every now and then, I would be checking out the wikipedia whenever the next installment comes out(2015?).
Yes! Siddhartha is splendid.
AngmarsKing701
Member
Especially for these long series with a ton of characters, I need to check wikis every time a new one comes out. I haven't read Words of Radiance yet, but I know I'll need to check the wiki on what the heck happened in Way of Kings before I do.
Same with ASOIAF. There's so time between them that keeping track of everything requires a refresher.
Same with ASOIAF. There's so time between them that keeping track of everything requires a refresher.
plus I'm an old
Gabriel_Logan
Member
Michael Crichton's supposed last book Micro. I don't know if I like it yet.
Horseticuffs
Full werewolf off the buckle
Years back an anonymous forum-goer on Something Awful recommended I read "Steppenwolf" since, in their opinion at the time I could have gotten a lot out of it. I was looking it up recently and sadly it is just one year too late to be in the public domain, whereas Siddhartha is. I've been giving that a consideration to see if I like Hesse before I go off and buy Steppenwolf. Maybe that'll be my next project!
I'm about 7 hours left to go on "The Stand" and really have loved it. After that I'm going to try "Walden" by Emerson. I've always wanted to get into it but have always found him a bit too much, I'm hoping audio format will help with that.
I've also finally started a GoodReads account and joined the Gaf group though it doesn't seem too active right now.
sparky2112
Member
All tastes are different. Having said that, yours stinks. KIDDING!!! I'd be curious to know what you normally read. Catch-22 isn't exactly the easiest of reading; things that stand the test of time usually aren't.
Tragicomedy
Member
Catch-22. The greatest book ever written.
When I'm made a moderator in 2025, I will return to this post and retroactively ban you for this post.
Just kidding.
I'm not.
sparky2112
Member
Man, more power to you. On the list of authors I could never see myself chain-reading, Murakami sits atop it.
Well I blasted through the first 3 books of The Hellequin Chronicles.
Typical Urban Fantasy, not exactly the greatest of writing, but it will do; "Good man bash bad man, save many other man and woman and child" with magic and those shenanigans thrown in and I am 'usually' hooked. The bad guys are a bit too sadistic though....
Moved onto the second book of the Dark Tower series.
Typical Urban Fantasy, not exactly the greatest of writing, but it will do; "Good man bash bad man, save many other man and woman and child" with magic and those shenanigans thrown in and I am 'usually' hooked. The bad guys are a bit too sadistic though....
Moved onto the second book of the Dark Tower series.
What the hell at the opening chapter? Poor Roland.
cheezcake
Member
I finished Kafka 4 days ago and I'm still sitting here night after night trying to figure out what the hell I read, all I know is that it was awesome and I went out and bought 1Q84 the next day
I loved the content but I disliked the actual writing. I felt it was bland.
sparky2112
Member
This might be an opportune time to mention Next Issue, which is $15/mo for all Conde Nast, Time, Inc., and other magazines (New York, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, etc.). It really is the greatest thing since sliced bread if you're a magazine addict.
Mackenzie 92
Member
disappeared
Banned
Put Dickens on hold.
Started Moby Dick.
Where has this book been all my life!!?
Started Moby Dick.
Where has this book been all my life!!?
It hurts my heart to read this. What are your qualms with the book?
Ended up dropping Dead Souls until I can nab a different translation. I was totally okay with Pevear and Volokhonsky's works on Dostoyevsky's stuff but for Gogol, in pursuing the various idiosyncrasies of his prose in the original language they've instead produced a translation that's neither Russian or readable English. What a fucking pain to read. Will probably grab the Rayfield or Guerney.
Ended up re-reading some Vonnegut stuff this week. S-5 is still his best work. I just don't like Cat's Cradle that much anymore. More ambivalent about Bluebeard now, though it's still one of my favorite works of his. Didn't think of it before when I last read it - in highschool? jesus fuck - but this is a pretty loving defense of modern art. In schlock Rabo finds his redemption. I really should have read some of his books I haven't read.
Ended up re-reading some Vonnegut stuff this week. S-5 is still his best work. I just don't like Cat's Cradle that much anymore. More ambivalent about Bluebeard now, though it's still one of my favorite works of his. Didn't think of it before when I last read it - in highschool? jesus fuck - but this is a pretty loving defense of modern art. In schlock Rabo finds his redemption. I really should have read some of his books I haven't read.
disappeared
Banned
I really got to get back to Vonnegut. Went through a brief stint with him with Sirens of Titan and Mother Night, then suddenly just stopped reading his stuff.
Have you read Breakfast of Champions? It's probably my second favorite novel of his.
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